Appalachia on Our Mind

Appalachia on Our Mind
Author :
Publisher : UNC Press Books
Total Pages : 399
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781469617244
ISBN-13 : 1469617242
Rating : 4/5 (242 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Appalachia on Our Mind by : Henry D. Shapiro

Download or read book Appalachia on Our Mind written by Henry D. Shapiro and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2014-03-30 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Appalachia on Our Mind is not a history of Appalachia. It is rather a history of the American idea of Appalachia. The author argues that the emergence of this idea has little to do with the realities of mountain life but was the result of a need to reconcile the "otherness" of Appalachia, as decribed by local-color writers, tourists, and home missionaries, with assumptions about the nature of America and American civilization. Between 1870 and 1900, it became clear that the existence of the "strange land and peculiar people" of the southern mountains challenged dominant notions about the basic homogeneity of the American people and the progress of the United States toward achiving a uniform national civilization. Some people attempted to explain Appalachian otherness as normal and natural -- no exception to the rule of progress. Others attempted the practical integration of Appalachia into America through philanthropic work. In the twentieth century, however, still other people began questioning their assumptions about the characteristics of American civilization itself, ultimately defining Appalachia as a region in a nation of regions and the mountaineers as a people in a nation of peoples. In his skillful examination of the "invention" of the idea of Appalachia and its impact on American thought and action during the early twentieth century, Mr. Shapiro analyzes the following: the "discovery" of Appalachia as a field for fiction by the local-color writers and as a field for benevolent work by the home missionaries of the northern Protestant churches; the emergence of the "problem" of Appalachia and attempts to solve it through explanation and social action; the articulation of a regionalist definition of Appalachia and the establishment of instituions that reinforced that definition; the impact of that regionalistic definition of Appalachia on the conduct of systematic benevolence, expecially in the context of the debate over child-labor restriction and the transformation of philanthropy into community work; and the attempt to discover the bases for an indigenous mountain culture in handicrafts, folksong, and folkdance.


Appalachia on Our Mind Related Books

Appalachia on Our Mind
Language: en
Pages: 399
Authors: Henry D. Shapiro
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2014-03-30 - Publisher: UNC Press Books

GET EBOOK

Appalachia on Our Mind is not a history of Appalachia. It is rather a history of the American idea of Appalachia. The author argues that the emergence of this i
Among the King's Soldiers (Spirit of Appalachia Book #3)
Language: en
Pages: 329
Authors: Gilbert Morris
Categories: Fiction
Type: BOOK - Published: 1998-10-01 - Publisher: Baker Books

GET EBOOK

• From bestselling author Gilbert Morris and writing partner Aaron McCarver, a colorful historical fiction series that features renowned characters such as An
Hill Women
Language: en
Pages: 305
Authors: Cassie Chambers
Categories: Biography & Autobiography
Type: BOOK - Published: 2021-01-12 - Publisher: Ballantine Books

GET EBOOK

After rising from poverty to earn two Ivy League degrees, an Appalachian lawyer pays tribute to the strong “hill women” who raised and inspired her, and who
A Handbook to Appalachia
Language: en
Pages: 300
Authors: Grace Toney Edwards
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2006 - Publisher: Univ. of Tennessee Press

GET EBOOK

A Handbook to Appalachia provides a clear, concise first step toward understanding the expanding field of Appalachian studies, from the history of the area to i
Over the Misty Mountains (Spirit of Appalachia Book #1)
Language: en
Pages: 395
Authors: Gilbert Morris
Categories: Fiction
Type: BOOK - Published: 1997-02-01 - Publisher: Baker Books

GET EBOOK

A New Historical Fiction Series From an Exciting New Team! When Aaron McCarver met Gilbert Morris at the CBA convention in 1991, he never dreamed that those ini