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My Impossible Soul
The Metamodern Music of Sufjan Stevens
My Impossible Soul
The Metamodern Music of Sufjan Stevens
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Pre-order. Available 05 Feb 2026
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Description
This book is the first academic volume dedicated to the work of “canonically” metamodern multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens.
Contributors critically examine Stevens' output and impact across the relevant fields of musicology, literature, queer theory, performance studies, religious studies, and cultural studies. The volume provides the first international and interdisciplinary analysis of the music, lyrics, performance process and cultural impact of Sufjan Stevens, through the framework of metamodernism.
Table of Contents
List of Figures and Tables
Acknowledgements
“Words are Futile Devices”: An Introduction
Tom Drayton (The University of East London, UK) & Greg Dember (independent scholar)
PART I: FAITH
1. “I Heard a Voice in My Mind”: Sacred Self-Protagonizing and the Oscillations of American Evangelicals
Joshua K. Busman (University of North Carolina at Pembroke, USA)
2. A Metamodern Analysis of Spirituality Through Music in Sufjan Stevens' Cover of Bob Dylan's “Ring Them Bells”
Libby Myers (Griffith University, Australia)
PART II: LOVE
3. “No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross”: Sufjan Stevens - in Search of (Queer) Faith
Ka Ki Samuel Wan (Robert Menzies College, Australia)
4. “Saying It Out Loud Is Hard”: Sufjan Stevens, Queer Interpretation and Fan Reception
Heather Salus (independent scholar)
5. “Make Me an Offer I Cannot Refuse:” New Sincerity and the Hermeneutics of Platitude in Sufjan Stevens' The Ascension
Paria Rahmani (University of North Texas, USA)
PART III: AMERICANA
6. America, My Beloved: “A Picture of the Scenery” in Sufjan Stevens' National Mythology
Tanya Jones (Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, Australia)
7. “Christmas in July”: A Musicological Analysis of Metamodernist Impulses in Sufjan Stevens' Christmas Collections
Daniel White (University of Huddersfield, UK)
8. Sufjan Stevens and the Metamodern Holiday
Michael Blouin (Milligan University, USA)
PART IV: DEATH
9. The Persistence of the “Murdering Ghost”: Sufjan Stevens and the Hauntology of (Im)Possibilities
Debakanya Haldar (University of Florida, USA)
10. Genuflecting Ghost: Sufjan Stevens' Javelin as Metamodern Mystical Memento Mori
Joel Mayward (George Fox University, USA)
11. Sufjan Stevens' Impossible Soul: Metamodern Intimacy, Polysubjectivity, and Plausible Deniability
Maren Haynes Marchesini (independent scholar)
About the Contributors
Index
Acknowledgements
“Words are Futile Devices”: An Introduction
Tom Drayton (The University of East London, UK) & Greg Dember (independent scholar)
PART I: FAITH
1. “I Heard a Voice in My Mind”: Sacred Self-Protagonizing and the Oscillations of American Evangelicals
Joshua K. Busman (University of North Carolina at Pembroke, USA)
2. A Metamodern Analysis of Spirituality Through Music in Sufjan Stevens' Cover of Bob Dylan's “Ring Them Bells”
Libby Myers (Griffith University, Australia)
PART II: LOVE
3. “No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross”: Sufjan Stevens - in Search of (Queer) Faith
Ka Ki Samuel Wan (Robert Menzies College, Australia)
4. “Saying It Out Loud Is Hard”: Sufjan Stevens, Queer Interpretation and Fan Reception
Heather Salus (independent scholar)
5. “Make Me an Offer I Cannot Refuse:” New Sincerity and the Hermeneutics of Platitude in Sufjan Stevens' The Ascension
Paria Rahmani (University of North Texas, USA)
PART III: AMERICANA
6. America, My Beloved: “A Picture of the Scenery” in Sufjan Stevens' National Mythology
Tanya Jones (Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, Australia)
7. “Christmas in July”: A Musicological Analysis of Metamodernist Impulses in Sufjan Stevens' Christmas Collections
Daniel White (University of Huddersfield, UK)
8. Sufjan Stevens and the Metamodern Holiday
Michael Blouin (Milligan University, USA)
PART IV: DEATH
9. The Persistence of the “Murdering Ghost”: Sufjan Stevens and the Hauntology of (Im)Possibilities
Debakanya Haldar (University of Florida, USA)
10. Genuflecting Ghost: Sufjan Stevens' Javelin as Metamodern Mystical Memento Mori
Joel Mayward (George Fox University, USA)
11. Sufjan Stevens' Impossible Soul: Metamodern Intimacy, Polysubjectivity, and Plausible Deniability
Maren Haynes Marchesini (independent scholar)
About the Contributors
Index
Product details
| Published | 05 Feb 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Hardback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 256 |
| ISBN | 9798216365549 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Dimensions | 229 x 152 mm |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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