ABSTRACT
The Darwinian narrative embodies the notion that, like a species, a cultural phenomenon arises, develops and, potentially, decays throughout the course of its existence. The chapter notes that complications arise when authors transpose the delineation of interactions between human agents into a kind of moral allegory, indicating that something dubious occurs when contractual agreements take on the complexion of a bargaining of souls. Borrowing from Isaiah Berlin's time-honored distinction of mentalities between hedgehogs and foxes, the Darwinian narrative appeals to those of the former category, who latch on, visor-like, to a single point of view and defend it for dear life. The chapter explains that the propensity to succumb to single-mindedness attendant to such a monomaniacal perspective is evident at times in the works by Donald Clarke, Martha Bayles, Mark Gavreau Judge, James Miller and Chuck Eddy. Additionally, Donald Clarke's text, The Rise and Fall of Popular Music, epitomizes the Darwinian narrative in its most undiluted fashion and is explored within this section of the book.
