Encyclopedia of Southern Culture.

Abstract

The American South is a geographical entity, a historical fact, a place in imagination, and homeland of an array of Americans who consider themselves southerners. The region is often shrouded in romance and myth, but its realities are as intriguing, as intricate, as its legends.The Encyclopedia of Southern is the first attempt ever notes U.S. News & World Report, describe every aspect of a region's life and thought, impact of its history and policies, its music and literature, its manners and myths, even iced tea that washes down its catfish and cornbread.There are many Souths, many southerners. The region's fundamental uniqueness, in fact, lies in its peculiar combination of cultural traits, a somewhat curious, often elusive blend created by blacks and whites who have lived together for more than 300 years. In telling their stories, Encyclopedia of Southern ranges from grand historical themes to whimsical; from arts and high culture (William Faulkner and Leontyne Price) to folk culture (quilts, banjos, and grits) to popular culture (Gilley's and Gone With Wind).The Encyclopedia's definition of South is a cultural one: South is found wherever southern culture is found. Although focus is on eleven states of former Confederacy, this volume also encompasses southern outposts in midwestern and middle-Atlantic border states, even southern pockets of Chicago, Detroit, and Bakersfield.To foster a deeper understanding of South's cultural patterns, editors have organized this reference book around twenty-four thematic sections, including history, religion, folklore, language, art and architecture, recreation, politics, mythic South, urbanization, literature, music, violence, law, and media. The life experiences of southerners are discussed in sections on black life, ethnic life, and women's life. Throughout, broad goal is to identify forces that have supported either reality or illusion of southern way of life -- people, places, ideas, institutions, events, symbols, rituals, and values.The Encyclopedia of Southern was developed by Center for Study of Southern Culture at University of Mississippi. Contributors to volume include historians, literary critics, sociologists, anthropologists, geographers, linguists, theologians, folklorists, architects, ecologists, lawyers, university presidents, newspaper reporters, magazine writers, and novelists.