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"His Immortal Song": The Place of John Howard Payne's "Home, Sweet Home" in the American Imagination

Panel: 
Performing "Home": Domestic, National, & Transnational Longing & Belonging
Abstract: 

This paper will examine how the 19th-century song "Home, Sweet Home" both formed and performed middle-class sentimentalism about "home" as idealized domestic space. It argues that the song's enduring popularity reflects American anxieties about mobility and rootlessness.

Presenter Information
First Name: 
Lora
Last Name: 
Burnett
Institution: 
University of Texas, Dallas