Bruce Springsteen

New York, Aug. 31 (Reuters): A Marxist Perspective on ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’ and The Boss and the Bible are among the academic papers to be presented when a New Jersey university hosts an academic symposium devoted entirely to Bruce Springsteen.

More than 150 papers by academics from across the US, Sweden, Canada, Italy and Britain will be presented at the symposium, dissecting everything from the singer’s patriotism to his ruminations of the working man.

Titled Glory Days: A Bruce Springsteen Symposium, it will take place at Monmouth University in New Jersey from September 9 to 11.

Papers will be presented by a Lutheran minister, a Roman Catholic theologian, a Wall Street analyst and the principal of a school in Washington.

Why an entire conference on Springsteen?

“He was always shooting for something higher ? some broader socio-cultural theme,” said Kenneth Womack, one of the organisers and a professor of English at Pennsylvania State University.

He cited Springsteen’s lyrics on class, community and other issues that spoke to the heart of Americana, saying they made his work worthy of deeper introspection.

More than 500 people are expected to attend the event.

The themes will include Springsteen’s ties to his native New Jersey.

“Springsteen is to New Jersey what Santa Claus is to the North Pole,” said one abstract by a local newspaper editor. “How Bruce Made It Cool to be From New Jersey,” was the title of another.

Springsteen is not the first musician to be honoured by an academic conference revolving around his work. The Beatles have inspired similar academic efforts.