EDITED BY CHERYL GLENN AND J. MICHAEL HOGAN
THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Editorial Board:
Robert Asen (University of Wisconsin–Madison)
Debra Hawhee (The Pennsylvania State University)
Peter Levine (Tufts University)
Steven J. Mailloux (University of California, Irvine)
Krista Ratcliffe (Marquette University)
Karen Tracy (University of Colorado, Boulder)
Kirt Wilson (The Pennsylvania State University)
David Zarefsky (Northwestern University)
Rhetoric and Democratic Deliberation is a series of groundbreaking monographs and edited volumes focusing on the character and quality of public discourse in politics and culture. It is sponsored by the Center for Democratic Deliberation, an interdisciplinary center for research, teaching, and outreach on issues of rhetoric, civic engagement, and public deliberation.
Other books in the series:
Karen Tracy, Challenges of Ordinary Democracy:
A Case Study in Deliberation and Dissent / VOLUME 1
Samuel McCormick, Letters to Power:
Public Advocacy Without Public Intellectuals / VOLUME 2
Christian Kock and Lisa Storm Villadsen, eds., Rhetorical Citizenship and Public Deliberation / VOLUME 3
Jay Childers, The Evolving Citizen: American Youth, the Deliberative Impulse, and the Changing Norms of Democratic Engagement / VOLUME 4
CONFESSIONAL CRISES AND CULTURAL POLITICS IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICA
DAVE TELL
The Pennsylvania State University Press | University Park, Pennsylvania
Some material in this book appeared, in a different form, in Dave Tell, “The Secular Confession of Jimmy Swaggart,” Rhetoric Society Quarterly 39, no. 2 (2009): 124–46.
Reprinted by permission of Taylor & Francis Ltd, http://www.tandfonline.com/.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tell, Dave, 1976–
Confessional crises and cultural politics in twentieth-century
America / Dave Tell.
p. cm. — (Rhetoric and democratic deliberation)
Summary: “Examines the role of confession in American culture. Argues that the genre of confession has profoundly shaped (and been shaped by) six of America's most intractable cultural issues: sexuality, class, race, violence, religion, and democracy”—Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978-0-271-05629-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Confession—Psychology—History—20th century.
2. United States—Social life and customs—20th century.
I. Title.
BF634.T45 2013
306.0973'0904—dc23
2012017706
Copyright © 2012 The Pennsylvania State University
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press,
University Park, PA 16802-1003
The Pennsylvania State University Press is a member of the Association of American University Presses.
It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper. Publications on uncoated stock satisfy the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Material, ANSI Z39.48–1992.
For HANNAH, JACK, and ASHLYN
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Confessional Crises and Cultural Politics
1 Confession and Sexuality: True Story Versus Anthony Comstock
2 Confession and Class: A New True Story
3 Confession and Race: Civil Rights, Segregation, and the Murder of Emmett Till
4 Confession and Violence: William Styron's Nat Turner
5 Confession and Religion: Jimmy Swaggart's Secular Confession
6 Confession and Democracy: Clinton, Starr, and the Witch-Hunt Tradition of American Confession
Conclusion: James Frey and Twenty-First-Century Confessional Culture
Notes
Bibliography
Index
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The project now known as Confessional Crises and Cultural Politics in Twentieth-Century America was ten years in the making. Although I often felt alone in front of my computer, the truth is that the past ten years have been filled with support from every quarter. Without that support, I don't imagine I would now have a book; if I did, it wouldn't be on confessional culture; and if it were, it would have been a far inferior rendition.
My foremost intellectual debt belongs to Ned O'Gorman. Ned was there in the Penn State copy room when, one year into the project, I was ready to call it quits. On that occasion, Ned saw merit in the project and encouraged me to press on. Since that time, through countless phone conversations, late-night drinks, and marked-up drafts, Ned has remained committed to the project. He has also challenged my thinking about the role of confession in American culture more than anyone else. While I have often resisted his challenges, that doesn't mean I haven't profited immensely from them.
A select group of people has amazed me with their depth and continuity of support. These people have read multiple drafts, written countless letters on my behalf, or otherwise gone beyond the call of duty in their support of Confessional Crises. In this category are Rosa Eberly, Mike Hogan, Shawn Parry-Giles, and Ned O'Gorman.
Without colleagues willing to critically engage with portions of the manuscript (in some cases its entirety!) and offer resistance and feedback, Confessional Crises would have suffered. In this category, I am indebted to Jack Selzer, Steve Browne, Steven Mailloux, David Zarefsky, Jim Aune, Chuck Morris, John Murphy, Cara Finnegan, John Lucaites, Bjorn Stillion Southard, Davis Houck, Jeff Drury, James Darsey, Carolyn Miller, Calvin Troup, Pete Simonson, Jerry Hauser, Mike Edwards, Roger Stahl, Robert Hariman, Mitch Reyes, Nicholas Thomas, Roseann Mandziuk, Jeremy Engels, and David Frank.
Beyond these, still others contributed material support to Confessional Crises. Here my debts run to Barbara Biesecker, Devery Anderson, Jeffrey Motter, Matt Newcomb, Sara Ann Mehltretter, Susan Wise Bauer, Brian Jackson, Debbie Hawhee, David Timmerman, Greg Spencer, Nathan Crick, Josh Gunn, Scott Wible, Trevor Parry-Giles, Susan Zaeske, and Ben Henderson.
A special thanks goes to those who made the University of Kansas an ideal spot to write this book. I have shared both drafts and life with these colleagues, and am better for it: Shawn Alexander, Robin Rowland, Ben Chappell, Beth Innocenti, Jay Childers, Anthony Corbeill, Henry Bial, Donn Parson, Sharon O'Brien, Kristine Bruss, Kundai Chirindo, Greta Wendelin, Mary Lee Hummert, Rob Topinka, Jason Barrett-Fox, Thomas Heilke, Brent Steele, Sally J. Cornelison, Laura Mielke, Amy Devitt, Frank Farmer, Christopher Forth, Jason Roe, Jill