The Battle Hymn of the Republic: A Hymnal

Bethany Collins uses language and text to examine the tensions and contradictions that shape US American history and identity. The Battle Hymn of the Republic: A Hymnal is a collection of songs that share the same melody but have different lyrics –– what are referred to in music as “contrafacta.” The hymnal begins with the titular song, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” written by Julia Ward Howe in 1861 in support of the Union during the US Civil War. The book documents one hundred different versions of the song in total, tracing how the song’s lyrics have been repurposed for various political causes over the past two centuries. On each set of pages, Collins has printed a musical score and burned out the notation so it is visible only as negative space framed by charred paper and ash. This songless songbook captures dissenting versions of what it means to be a US American in lyrics that share a melody, yet lack unity.

Throughout her work, Collins often turns to existing material such as newspapers, dictionaries, classical literature, and hymns to draw upon their potential to reveal multiple meanings. Though she is currently based in Chicago, Collins frequently draws inspiration from the US American South and her experience growing up biracial in Montgomery, Alabama. She works against tendencies to treat identities––whether regional, national, racial, or otherwise––as fixed and clearly delimited. Instead, she gravitates toward tactics of reversal, repetition, layering, omission, and ambiguity to show the fuzziness of boundaries and differences that refuse resolution.