Res Rhetorica Jul 2017 OA PDF

“I’m On My Long Journey Home”: Rhetorical Identification in the Bluegrass Gospel Singing of Ralph Stanley and the Stanley Brothers

Paul Koptak

Abstract

The gospel songs of Ralph Stanley offer solace by means of identifi cation with the singer’s losses and struggles, but they also offer a metaphoric framework of journey and homecoming found in many folk and country songs. The framework gives shape and meaning to the troubled aspects of life that make up much of the content of bluegrass songs, sacred and secular. Referencing Kenneth Burke’s early theories of rhetorical identifi cation and symbolic appeal, this study reads the inclusion of gospel songs in stage and recorded performance as a secularized means of self-definition: singers and listeners are linked as people with common origins and destinations. While expected themes of repentance and faith run throughout these gospel songs, the progressive form of home that is lost and then recovered sets up a secular analogy to the story of sin and redemption so common in American Protestant Evangelicalism. By scattering these songs throughout a bluegrass performance, the journey toward home becomes the pathway by which all the troubles of betrayal, heartbreak, conflict, and hard times are borne and transformed. In place of creed or practices of piety, all are invited to find common purpose in the experiences of disappointment, regret, and loss in the knowledge that they are on the “Long Journey Home.”

Journal
Res Rhetorica
Published
2017-07-01
DOI
10.29107/rr2017.2.3
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
OA PDF Diamond
Topics
modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

Cites in this index (0)

No references match articles in this index.

CrossRef global citation count: 0 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Res Rhetorica Apr 2026
    The rhetorical dimension of the justification for the absence of direct military support for Ukraine in Joe Biden’s statements ↗
    Marta Kobylska
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism editorial matter
  2. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Mar 2026
    Canon to Code: Rhetorical Rulemaking for Generative AI Content Audits and Governance ↗
    Miriam F. Williams
    classical rhetoric modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism assessment technical communication artificial intelligence
  3. Computers and Composition Mar 2026
    Wicked modes in UX: Pedagogical considerations for data détournement ↗
    Morgan Banville; Leah Heilig; Madison Jones
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism writing pedagogy multimodality artificial intelligence
  4. Computers and Composition Mar 2026
    Shifting rhetorical agency in multimodal UX composition with AI: Sharing rhetorical authority with technologies ↗
    Nupoor Ranade; Daniel L. Hocutt
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism writing pedagogy technical communication multimodality
  5. Poroi Feb 2026
    Using Stasis Theory as a Heuristic for Examining Epistemological Dilemmas in a Post-Truth Landscape ↗
    Bruce Bowles
    classical rhetoric modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument