Winner, Coral Horton Tullis Memorial Prize, Texas State Historical
Association, 2014
During the early 1970s, the nation's turbulence was keenly reflected in
Austin's kaleidoscopic cultural movements, particularly in the city's
progressive country music scene. Capturing a pivotal chapter in American
social history, Progressive Country maps the conflicted iconography of
"the Texan" during the '70s and its impact on the cultural politics of
subsequent decades.
This richly textured tour spans the notion of the "cosmic cowboy," the
intellectual history of University of Texas folklore and historiography
programs, and the complicated political history of
late-twentieth-century Texas. Jason Mellard analyzes the complex
relationship between Anglo-Texan masculinity and regional and national
identities, drawing on cultural studies, American studies, and political
science to trace the implications and representations of the
multi-faceted personas that shaped the face of powerful social justice
movements. From the death of Lyndon Johnson to Willie Nelson's picnics,
from the United Farm Workers' marches on Austin to the spectacle of
Texas Chic on the streets of New York City, Texas mattered in these
years not simply as a place, but as a repository of longstanding
American myths and symbols at a historic moment in which that mythology
was being deeply contested.
Delivering a fresh take on the meaning and power of "the Texan" and its
repercussions for American history, this detail-rich exploration
reframes the implications of a populist moment that continues to inspire
progressive change.
