{"id":{"repo_id":"vcu","oai_identifier":"oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-2475"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vcu/oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-2475","repository":{"repo_id":"vcu","name":"Virginia Commonwealth University","base_url":"https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Gonna Spread the News all Around: Early, African-American Popular Song as Spoken Newspaper","abstract":"Most research into blues music over the past thirty years has examined either how the blues contribute to or reflect African-American identity, or how blues lyrics may be used as windows into African-American culture, values, and attitudes. Scholars have generally relied on more conventional songs about male-female relationships in this research, largely ignoring the subset of topical blues songs that related information about current events. Given the widespread illiteracy among African Americans during the height of the blues' popularity, these topical songs are particularly compelling. To date, however, no one has coupled topical blues together with their consumers' educational attainment to consider if and how songs about current events served as a mode of education in the African-American community. By employing Houston Baker's theory of the blues matrix to examine topical blues songs, it becomes clear that functionally illiterate African Americans relied on topical blues as a spoken newspaper during the 1920s, 30s, and 40s.","abstract_html":"Most research into blues music over the past thirty years has examined either how the blues contribute to or reflect African-American identity, or how blues lyrics may be used as windows into African-American culture, values, and attitudes. Scholars have generally relied on more conventional songs about male-female relationships in this research, largely ignoring the subset of topical blues songs that related information about current events. Given the widespread illiteracy among African Americans during the height of the blues' popularity, these topical songs are particularly compelling. To date, however, no one has coupled topical blues together with their consumers' educational attainment to consider if and how songs about current events served as a mode of education in the African-American community. By employing Houston Baker's theory of the blues matrix to examine topical blues songs, it becomes clear that functionally illiterate African Americans relied on topical blues as a spoken newspaper during the 1920s, 30s, and 40s.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Stamper, Randall Lawrence"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. L. Terry Oggel"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2006,"date_issued":"2006-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2006-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:55:25Z","subjects":["blues","music","literacy","ballad","folk song","adaptation","lyric","Arts and Humanities","English Language and Literature"],"languages":[],"rights":["© The Author"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1476"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1476","href":"https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1476","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://doi.org/10.25772/XJYW-2720","outbound_label":"DOI","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. L. 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Scholars have generally relied on more conventional songs about male-female relationships in this research, largely ignoring the subset of topical blues songs that related information about current events. Given the widespread illiteracy among African Americans during the height of the blues' popularity, these topical songs are particularly compelling. To date, however, no one has coupled topical blues together with their consumers' educational attainment to consider if and how songs about current events served as a mode of education in the African-American community. By employing Houston Baker's theory of the blues matrix to examine topical blues songs, it becomes clear that functionally illiterate African Americans relied on topical blues as a spoken newspaper during the 1920s, 30s, and 40s."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Gonna Spread the News all Around: Early, African-American Popular Song as Spoken Newspaper"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. L. Terry Oggel"],"dc:creator":["Stamper, Randall Lawrence"],"dc:date.available":["2014-07-09T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Most research into blues music over the past thirty years has examined either how the blues contribute to or reflect African-American identity, or how blues lyrics may be used as windows into African-American culture, values, and attitudes. Scholars have generally relied on more conventional songs about male-female relationships in this research, largely ignoring the subset of topical blues songs that related information about current events. Given the widespread illiteracy among African Americans during the height of the blues' popularity, these topical songs are particularly compelling. To date, however, no one has coupled topical blues together with their consumers' educational attainment to consider if and how songs about current events served as a mode of education in the African-American community. By employing Houston Baker's theory of the blues matrix to examine topical blues songs, it becomes clear that functionally illiterate African Americans relied on topical blues as a spoken newspaper during the 1920s, 30s, and 40s."],"dc:identifier":["https://doi.org/10.25772/XJYW-2720","https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1476"],"dc:rights":["© The Author"],"dc:subject":["blues","music","literacy","ballad","folk song","adaptation","lyric","Arts and Humanities","English Language and Literature"],"dc:title":["Gonna Spread the News all Around: Early, African-American Popular Song as Spoken Newspaper"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:55:25Z"}