Tell No Tales On Me: A Study of Murder Ballads Open Access

Abstract

Abstract

Tell No Tales On Me: A Study of Murder Ballads

By Melissa Winkler

Murder ballads are songs that tell instances of violent and bloody killings. Whether the murderers in these songs are men killing their sweethearts or mothers killing their newborn infants, the characters in these ballads are very closely linked to one another. The ballads demonstrate the proximity of love and death. The passion that allows the characters to love is the same passion that allows them to kill. This thesis is an exploration of murder ballads through three lenses. The first lens uses the ballads as examples of folklore and analyzes the symbols and conventions that the ballads draw upon. These symbols reappear in all ballads, and this section explores the instances where they appear in traditional and subversive ways. The second section uses a feminist framework to explore the implications of the ballads on gender and patriarchal discourse. In this section, I analyze the symbols for their contribution to gender norms and conventions. The third section moves away from the ballads themselves and uses two essays by Walter Benjamin, The Storyteller and The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, to explore the implications of technological development on ballad culture in general. In order to link these three readings together, I consider them in terms of Jacques Derrida's Archive Fever. In treating the materials as an archive, I explore the acts of remembering and forgetting that gointo the creation of murder ballads. Murder ballads work as metaballads that comment on ballad culture itself. Exploring them theoretically allows for a path toward understanding the implications of these songs on a larger cultural framework.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Introduction.......................................................................................p.1
Chapter One: Murder Ballads as Folklore................................................p. 5
Chapter Two: Murdered Maidens and Maidens Murdering..........................p.23
Chapter Three: Reading Murder Ballads Through Walter Benjamin…...........p.39
Conclusion…………………………………………………………....................................….p.53
Works Cited………………………………………………………...................................……p. 56
Bibliography…………………………………………..................................………………...p. 59
Appendix A: Song Transcriptions……………….........................………………….….p.64

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and Culture
Degree	BA
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Folklore Gender Studies Music
Keyword	Folklore Walter Benjamin Gender Roger Renwick Murder ballads Folk Music G. Malcolm Laws Ballads Archive Fever Folklore Symbols and Conventions
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Reed, Walter L, Emory University
Committee Members	Jackson, Regine, Emory University Caruth, Cathy, Emory University

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