Woody's Road ' Woody Guthrie and his Masterplot

Date of Award

2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Clark, Maribeth

Keywords

Folk Music, Social Activism, Folk Revival

Area of Concentration

General Studies

Abstract

Woody Guthrie, as folk musician, embraced the stereotypical low-life image associated with musicians in American culture by merging it with that of the socially conscious artist. He embraced identification of himself as lower class (working-class clothing, the Oklahoma vernacular, the life of the hobo) as a way to protest against the economic disparity that punishes society's least privileged members. Claiming his place as a musician at the margins of society, Guthrie became a representative and a spokesperson for people occupying a similar position. In so doing, he elevated musicians to a new level, and effectively created the Masterplot of folk musician as social activist. He showed his solidarity with the people and created a role that became a new archetype during the 1960s � folk musician as hero of the people and a force for social change. I illustrate Guthrie's influence upon and establishment ofthe musician-associal activist Masterplot through analyzing Guthrie's 'Oklahoma Hills,' Bob Childers's 'Woody's Road,' Bob Dylan's 'Song to Woody' and Steve Earle's 'Christmas in Washington.' I will show how the Masterplot survives apart from Guthrie's persona, though his personal influence is still recognized and revered.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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