Entertaining the Forgotten: Southern Governors and the Performance of Populism. Issue 1 (March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Twardowski, Weston; Fine, Gary Alan
• Is Part Of: TDR. Volume 65:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 144
• Page End: 166
• Publication Date: 2021-03
• Subjects: Theater -- Periodicals; Theater -- Political aspects -- Periodicals; Theater and society -- Periodicals; Experimental theater -- Periodicals; Théâtre -- Périodiques; Experimental theater; Theater; Theater and society; Theater -- Political aspects; Aspect politique; Aspect social; Société; Théâtre (Spectacle); Théâtre expérimental; Periodicals; 792.05
• DOI: 10.1017/S1054204320000131
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1365-7518

Abstract

Abstract : During the late 1920s and '30s, performative populism played a major role in the politics of the American Deep South. In the gubernatorial campaigns of three of the most prominent populist politicians of the era—Huey Long, Theodore Bilbo, and Eugene Talmadge—performance skills and entertainment were key strategies for gaining voter support and crafting personas within a popular imaginary.