Romancing the Folk: Public Memory & American Roots Music. . - book review

Radical Teacher, Spring, 2003 by Aaron Lecklider

Third, Filene's study refuses to limit itself to only a narrow version of textual analysis, selecting instead to deftly juggle musicological, cultural historical, and textual interpretation. Though this eclectic methodology sometimes becomes unwieldy, it generally works to Filene's benefit to draw together the most convincing elements of various methods. His analysis of Muddy Waters, for example, is strengthened by considering the form, structure, function, meaning, and evolution of his music and cultural reception together.

As an early book-length study of the relationship between folklorists and folk artists and the centrality of memory to this relationship, Romancing the Folk is a resounding success. Filene's arguments are clearly thought out, his illustrations are strong, his clear writing style is compelling. His practical method of bringing together an astonishingly diverse collection of primary and secondary sources and methods is almost always unique and successful, and his encyclopedic knowledge of folk music is bordering on disturbing. Filene's willingness to take academic risks should be celebrated.

Perhaps the greatest detraction from Filene's book is his rather idiosyncratic selection of performers. This is largely due to the fact that his line of historical inquiry is still new. Filene says as much in the book's introduction: "I have tried to chart my course with an eye toward plotting connections and suggesting new avenues for inquiry, rather than with a concern for coverage" (2). Though a more effective disclaimer than most, the more glaring omissions, in their conspicuous absence, make some of the included artists seem like weaker subjects than they actually are. Muddy Waters, for example, feels lonely to me in a study on folk music and public memory that excludes Woody Guthrie from all but the introduction (what child doesn't know "This Land is Your Land?"). Filene's innovative treatment of Muddy Waters, as I have indicated above, is quite strong, but it is somewhat weakened by its isolation.

Of course, Filene makes no claims to have written an exhaustive study of roots music; this would, in fact, work in direct opposition to his premise that memory has been more important to the idea of roots music than form. Furthermore, the idiosyncratic selection of performers may be more apparent simply because the book flows more like a collection of essays than a linear argument. Filene is offering a new way of thinking about American roots music, not a new history of it (Peter Guralnick, are you listening?), so this is a forgivable offense. Perhaps we can be grateful for the brevity of each chapter; the work for future historians in filling the spaces between them is immense, and the permission to conduct such inquiries granted through Filene's research has been a long time coming.

The only other notable weakness of Filene's book is his apparent need to include "pet" subjects that disrupt the flow of the book. His introduction of figures like Bruce Springsteen into a section primarily concerned with Bob Dylan distracts from the subject at hand without really strengthening the argument, even while teasing the reader into wondering what Filene would say about these other artists. This complaint likely results from my own enthusiasm for the music Filene describes, combined with the obvious and refreshing excitement Filene brings to his study. As a complaint, it may also be read as a celebration, for it anticipates the promise of Filene's future work.