‘Some are Preachers, Some are Gay’: Dolly Parton, Genre, Authenticity and LGBTQIA+ Belonging

Abstract

This project uses a critical understanding of genre to explore how Dolly Parton articulates LGBTQIA+ belonging within country music. Parton is recognised as an LGBTQIA+ ‘icon and ally’ (Barker, 2022a, p. 144) in a genre that has been perceived as homophobic, and lacking LGBTQIA+ participation. Using queer theoretical and methodological approaches, the work is rooted in an understanding of the genre’s aesthetics and affective logics. The thesis explores how claims to LGBTQIA+ belonging in country are articulated in Parton’s songs. This thesis explores three research questions. First, how does a queer reading of Parton’s repertoire construct LGBTQIA+ belonging in country music? Second, how do Parton’s songs navigate the contested cultural terrain around genre and authenticity? Third, to what extent does Parton as a case study enable an understanding of issues around LGBTQIA+ people’s marginalisation within the country music industry and the historical narrative of the genre? The thesis joins a conversation within country music scholarship that is increasingly acknowledging LGBTQIA+ participation in the genre and reveals country’s aesthetics to be deeply contested. Focusing on Parton as a case study, this thesis draws out discursive tensions within ideas of genre categorisation and authenticity within country music. This project builds on previous work around Parton’s ‘subversive’ ‘gender performance’ (Edwards, 2018, p. 4) and applies queer theoretical approaches to the representations of sexuality within Parton’s repertoire. Shifting the emphasis from Parton’s celebrity, the analysis focuses on the songs’ textual qualities and how queer reading can draw out possibilities around the positionality of LGBTQIA+ people within country. This thesis makes a vital call to action to integrate queer theory more widely within country music scholarship, which is a particularly urgent critical enquiry within an industry that perpetuates ‘exclusionary’ (Watson, 2022, p. 59) narratives around the genre’s audiences, aesthetics, and history.