Johnny Cash and the Paradox of American Identity

Profiles in Popular Music

by Leigh H. Edwards

Throughout his career, Johnny Cash has been depicted―and has depicted himself―as a walking social protestor and establishment patriot, drugged wildman and devout Christian crusader, rebel outlaw hillbilly thug and elder statesman. Leigh H. Edwards explores the allure of this paradoxical image and its cultural significance. She argues that Cash embodies irresolvable contradictions of American identity that reflect foundational issues in the American experience, such as the tensions between freedom and patriotism, individual rights and nationalism, the sacred and the profane. She illustrates how this model of ambivalence is a vital paradigm for American popular music, and for American identity in general. Making use of sources such as Cash's autobiographies, lyrics, music, liner notes, and interviews, Edwards pays equal attention to depictions of Cash by others, such as Vivian Cash's publication of his letters to her, documentaries and music journalism about him, Walk the Line, and fan club materials found in the archives at the Country Music Foundation in Nashville, to create a full portrait of Cash and his significance as a cultural icon.

Genres: Music, Biography

256 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2009

About the author

Leigh H. Edwards is Associate Professor of English at Florida State University.

Reviews

[Eyani · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great very focused arguement about a very broad subject, may overestimate Cash's mystique slightly.

[Paul Brewer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book embarks with an interesting premise, which is to try to place Johnny Cash into artistic representations of American identity.

The book is divided thematically, with an introductory chapter considering the idea of artistic 'authenticity' and how that can relate to the persona projected by an artist. In then treats Cash's career thematically, with chapters covering 'manliness/masculinity', gender, racial politics, class politics and religion. There is an introduction that asserts Cash's contradictory stances within each of these themes represent 'paradoxes' in American identity, and a conclusion that doesn't seem to conclude but rather joins in Cash in 'resisting resolution'.

Edwards does, I think, exactly what she sets out to do, which is to draw together a broad interpretation of Cash's work that moves in parallel with tensions being worked out in the country music history and the United States' as a society and a 'polity'. So my criticisms have to be directed towards her planning of the project in the first place. Most crucially, and like many Americans commentating on the idea of an 'American identity', she is trapped by the civic religion that America is a place and an ideology. While Americans repeatedly assert this as a fact, they rarely give it practical effect because concepts of 'nation' and 'culture', which go hand-in-hand with the Modern ideal of state formation, are in their nature exclusive, not inclusive. The result is that Cash's 'contradictions' or 'paradox' can never be resolved, but remain an eternal process battled over in different ways by academics and politicians. The fact that Edwards repeatedly connects Cash to an ideological framework that seems rooted in the South, rather than the country as a whole, defines part of the problem with Edwards' overarching 'American identity'.

The book is very clearly written for an academic audience, but it is short on the kind of jargon that the general reader can find off-putting. However, it lacks any narrative drive even within chapters. That said, the footnotes offer an entry-point into much wider reading on the topic of the evolving world of Country Music, and it is quite short, so I found reading it very much worth my time.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Johnny Cash was quite an interesting character. This reads like a college thesis about his work vs the American identity. It gets pretty technical and boring at points. But did make me want to read an actual biography on the guy.

[Tim Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable book. Any Cash fan would learn a lot from this book. The authored arguments are backed up my good research and they make compelling arguments.

[Amber Launstein · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cool look into how Johnny cash’s personality is both contradictory of itself and in society. But a boring read, really.