Scholars@Hallwalls: Stephanie Vander Wel,
"Gendered Acts of Comedy: June Carter's Stages Performances in Country Music"

June Carter’s public image as a member of the esteemed Carter family ensemble and a wife of the iconic Man in Black, Johnny Cash, draws from the gendered concepts of traditionalism and domesticity. By focusing on her performances on radio, television, and recording, this paper offers a revisionist narrative of Carter’s career that centers on her role as one of the most prominent country comediennes of the mid-century. Her comedic acts of female unruliness served as a means to take control of the commercial spotlight and broadened the expressive opportunities for female country artists.

This event will be simultaneously live-streamed via the Hallwalls website. The talk will begin at ~4:15pm.

About Stephanie Vander Wel, Associate Professor of Historical Musicology

Stephanie Vander’s research focuses on the singing voice, performance, and representations of gender, class, race, and region in country music. Her book Hillbilly Maidens, Okies, and Singing Cowgirls: Women in Country Music, 1930-1960, named by PopMatters as one of the best non-fiction books of 2020, explores the sonic and embodied performances of female country artists in 1930s barn dance radio, 1940s California country music, and 1950s honky-tonk in Nashville’s country music industry. Her current research centers on humor and comedy in women’s country music of the 1950s to contemporary times.