Street Smarts and Critical Theory: Listening to the Vernacular PDF
Preview Street Smarts and Critical Theory: Listening to the Vernacular
STREET SMARTS AND CRITICAL THEORY STREET SMARTS AND CRITICAL THEORY Listening to the Vernacular THOMAS McLAUGHLIN THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN PRESS TheUniversityofWisconsinPress 1930MonroeStreet,3rdfloor Madison,Wisconsin 53711-2059 3HenriettaStreet London WC2E8LU,England www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress Copyright©1996 TheBoardofRegentsoftheUniversityofWisconsinSystem Allrightsreserved Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrieval system,ortransmitted,inanyformatorbyanymeans,digital, electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,orotherwise,or conveyedviatheInternetoraWebsitewithoutwrittenpermissionof theUniversityofWisconsinPress,exceptinthecaseofbriefquotations embeddedincriticalarticlesandreviews. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Figure2onpage61isreprintedwithpermissionofAttitudeProblem. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData McLaughlin,Thomas. Streetsmartsandcriticaltheory:Listeningtothevernacular/ ThomasMcLaughlin. 190p. cm.- (WisconsinprojectonAmericanwriters) Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN0-299-15170-0(~loth:alk.paper). ISBN0-299-15174-3(paper:all<paper). 1.Americanliterature-Historyandcriticism-Theory,etc. 2.Popularliterature-Historyandcriticism-Theory,etc. 3.Criticism-UnitedStates-History-20thcentury. 4.Literature Publicopinion-UnitedStates. 5.Criticism-Publicopinion UnitedStates. 6.Languageandculture-UnitedStates. 7.PopUlar culture-United States. 8.Canon(Literature). I.Title. II.Series. PS25.M4 1997 810.9-dc20 "96-15117 ISBN-13:978-0-299-15174-4(pbk:alk.paper) Contents Acknowledgments vii 1. Introduction-TheoryoutsidetheAcademy: StreetSmartsandCriticalTheory 3 2. CulturalTheoryandSocialActivismintheSouthern ChristianAntipornographyMovement 31 3.Criticisminthe Zines: VernacularTheoryand PopularCulture 52 4. Storiesofthe NewAge: Narrative, Healing, and Transformation 78 5. TheCunningofthe Hand, theWeaknessofthe Heart: TheoreticalWorkintheAdvertisingProfession 101 6. TheTeachersMeettheExperts: VernacularTheoryin theWholeLanguageMovement 131 ZPedagogyand VernacularTheory 150 WorksCited 169 Index 179 v Acknowledgments Street Smarts and Critical Theory: Listening to the Vernac ularrequiredthehelpofspecializedlibrariesandcollections.I want to thank the reference and interlibrary loan librarians at Ap palachianState University for helping melearnabout, and gain ac cessto,materialsfrom a widevarietyofsources. I amalsoindebted toMarionHirschoftheSpecialCollectionssectionoftheDukeUni versity Library and Mimi Minnick of the Center for Advertising Historyat the NationalMuseumofAmericanHistory. Researchas sistants Shannon Perdue and Linda Hardin also came up with ex cellentleadsthatdirected me to importantsources. Thanks toJanetSmithand AmyGreer, secretariesin the English DepartmentatAppalachian, who wentoutoftheir way to help me communicate with editors and readers and libraries. Amy Greer saved me from computer chaos at a time when I was considering mass murderjustto letoffsteam. Thetimetodevotetothisprojectwasprecioustome,particularly because I work at a university with a heavy regular teaching load. DanHurley,GeneMiller,DonSink,and HarveyDurhamallhelped metofInd thetimethatthisbookdemanded.I wasparticularlyfor tunatetospendasummersessionatAppalachian'sloftinNewYork, where I was able to gain access to what seemed like infInite schol arlyresources. Many colleagues read all or partofthis manuscript and contrib uted to my growing understanding ofvernacular theory. I want to thankBurtCarbia,SusanStaub,Chip Arnold, Kathryn Kirkpatrick, Jim Winders, Sally Atkins, Bill Blanton, Gary Moorman, and Fuat Firatfor beinggood critics and good friends. I also gota lotofsug gestions for lines ofresearch from Bud Gerber,Jay Wentworth, Jay vii viii Acknowledgments Mackey, Jim Goff, MarkVogel, BruceDick,CeceConway, Bill Light foot, TomMcGowan,EllenArnold, andJoe Bryan. Thanksalsotomyfamily-JoanandKateandJulia,Rebekahand BenandNora-fortoleratingmyobsessionsandencouragingmeto keeponkeepin' on.RaySinclairandMarianneAdamswerefriends everystepofthe way. And thanks toeveryoneintheold guygame at Broome-Kirkgym. Asyouallknow, Iwill taketheopenshot. STREET SMARTS AND CRITICAL THEORY
The list of books you might like
