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Popular music and the New Woman in the Progressive era, 1895-1916

Title: Popular music and the New Woman in the Progressive era, 1895-1916 / by Erin Sweeney Smith.
Author: Smith, Erin Sweeney, 1980-
Publication: Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest, 2020.

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	JMF 23-60	Performing Arts Research Collections - Music

Details

Additional Authors

Case Western Reserve University, degree granting institution.

Description

245 pages : illustrations (some color), music; 28 cm

Summary

An emblem of youth and vitality at the turn of the 20th century, the New Woman existed simultaneously as both living woman and fictional icon. Her detractors and advocates skirmished with each other in editorials and magazine features, and their arguments created disparity between a character portrayed at one moment as aggressive and calculating, and at another as charming and educated. Popular sheet music of this period provides an untapped resource to demonstrate the interweaving of the fictional New Woman with the documented experiences and interests of female consumers. This dissertation sheds light on Tin Pan Alley's role in tying the New Woman's youth and freedom to the act of consumption. Through a nexus of sight, sound, and theatricality, this music offers a fresh way to explore intersections between public debates and the stereotypes adopted in the advertising and entertainment industries. Investigation into music as a key component of the New Woman has been neglected in favor of research into other media forms. I seek to remedy this lacuna by demonstrating Tin Pan Alley's role in defining the New Woman as an unruly figure shaped through sound, whether in lyrics that assigned disruptive sounds to female subjects, sheet music covers that depicted the soundscapes of the New Woman, or auditory qualities shaped by musical notation and performance. The New Woman persona crossed class divides from socialite to shop girl, and encompassed hot-button issues regarding appropriate female activity. Songwriters strove to create products that would appeal to both sides of the New Woman debates. My analysis demonstrates how songwriters turned to vaudeville's ethnic stereotypes and class humor to appeal not only to those who approved of what the New Woman represented, but also to those who viewed her as a threat to American society. To that end, I investigate New Woman girl "types" including the Working Girl, College Girl, Athletic Girl, and Technology Girl. Intended to attract an audience bombarded by an array of cheap amusements, Tin Pan Alley's New Woman forms a unique and valuable perspective on women's changing role in American society throughout the Progressive era.

Subject

Genre/Form

Academic theses.
History.
Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Note

"ProQuest 28099757"--Page 1

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 236-245)

Call Number

JMF 23-60

OCLC

1374278885

Author

Smith, Erin Sweeney, 1980- author.

Title

Popular music and the New Woman in the Progressive era, 1895-1916 / by Erin Sweeney Smith.

Publisher

Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest, 2020.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Thesis

Doctor of Philosophy Case Western Reserve University 2016

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 236-245)

Chronological Term

1900-1999

Chronological Term

1865-1999

Added Author

Case Western Reserve University, degree granting institution.

Research Call Number

JMF 23-60

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