Squashed myths : the cultural history of the pumpkin in North America / Cynthia Ott.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Microformat

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Ott, Cynthia.

Contributor:

George, Robert St, advisor.

University of Pennsylvania.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Penn dissertations--American civilization.

American civilization--Penn dissertations.

Local Subjects:

Penn dissertations--American civilization.

American civilization--Penn dissertations.

Physical Description:

xv, 429 pages : illustrations ; 29 cm

Production:

2002.

Summary:

This dissertation takes a holistic approach to studying North Americans' relationships with and understanding of the natural world through the humble yet ubiquitous pumpkin. The pumpkin's huge size, its animated growth, and its transmutability have made it both a staple crop and a formidable and flexible symbol for centuries. The thesis explores the pumpkin through artistic representations, ordinary places and things, and the people that have produced, used, and consumed them from pre-colonial times to the present. It investigates this "natural artifact" as a sign of larger cultural phenomena. It looks at food, not just as something to eat, but as it is interconnected with American ideas about the natural world, national identity, capitalism, community, and culture. It takes an interdisciplinary approach, examining the dynamic interplay between cultural studies, culinary history, ethnography, art history, botany, environmental history, and material culture. The dissertation's focus is on contemporary American culture, but it shows how Americans live with vestiges of history and how they reinvent the past to serve modern needs. Each chapter looks at the pumpkin from a different perspective---physical plant, commodity, crop, food, spirited persona, and as an honored ingredient of modern-day fall festivals---and analyzes the links between them. Looking at Americans' interactions with the pumpkin in many contexts at once helps to show the complexities of their relationships with the natural world and the complicated ways the natural world informs their everyday lives. The cultural history of the pumpkin reveals how Americans have usually perceived Nature more positively when it is detached from the human realm and less so as the association comes closer. It highlights how nature is not just "out there" but tied to humanity in both practical and poetic ways. And it shows how even common everyday pieces of nature, not just spectacular ones, contain deep meanings. It also illustrates how Americans' ideas about nature are informed by and then reshape the natural world.

Notes:

Supervisor: Robert St. George.

Thesis (Ph.D. in American Civilization) -- University of Pennsylvania, 2002.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

University Microfilms order no.: 3073039.

OCLC:

244972876