021--The Carter Family and the Death of God

This episode looks at how early country music, particularly that of the Carter Family, dealt with the position of the South after the Civil War into the early decades of the 20th century. I discuss the ideologies of the New South and the Lost Cause and how that relates to country music's concern with tradition. I then turn to a reading of Nietzsche's notion of the "death of God" to reveal that Nietzsche's primary concern wasn't with atheism but rather with the loss of an "ultimate" value that created a vibrant hierarchy of values--a loss that resonates with the South's position as portrayed in the writing of William Faulkner and the lyrics of country music. The last segment offers a close reading of "Can the Circle Be Unbroken" employing these themes.