My Impossible Soul - The Metamodern Music of Sufjan Stevens

This book is the first edited collection 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.

About the author

Tom Drayton is Senior Lecturer in Theatre at The University of East London, UK.

Joshua Kalin Busman is Associate Professor of Music and Assistant Dean of the Esther G. Maynor Honors College at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, USA.

Maren Haynes Marchesini holds a PhD in ethnomusicology and studies Christian music, ritual, ethics, and identity formation in contexts ranging from American megachurches to progressive and post-Christian organizations.

Greg Dember is an independent researcher and co-founder of the popular culture website, What Is Metamodern?. He is the author of Say Hello to Metamodernism: Understanding Today's Culture of Ironesty, Felt Experience and Empathic Reflexivity (2024).

Product details

• Authors: Joshua Busman, Joshua Kalin Busman, Greg Dember, Tom Drayton, Ma Marchesini, Maren Ha Marchesini, Maren Haynes Marchesini
• Assisted by: Joshua Kalin Busman (Editor), Greg Dember (Editor), Tom Drayton (Editor), Maren Haynes Marchesini (Editor)
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 05.02.2026
• EAN: 9798216365549
• ISBN: 9798216365549
• No. of pages: 272
• Series: Studies in Metamodernism: Theory and Criticism across the Disciplines
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Music > Monographs; Individual composers & musicians, specific bands & groups, MUSIC / Individual Composer & Musician, MUSIC / Genres & Styles / Rock, MUSIC / Genres & Styles / Folk & Traditional, MUSIC / Philosophy & Social Aspects, Of specific Gay & Lesbian interest, Theory of music & musicology, Music reviews & criticism, Popular Music, Musicians, singers, bands and groups, Of specific Gay interest, Relating to LGBTQ+ people, SOCIAL SCIENCE / LGBTQ+ Studies / Gay Studies, Music: styles & genres, Popular music, easy listening, Theory of music and musicology