New Orleans : a cultural history / Louise McKinney.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McKinney, Louise, 1958-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

New Orleans (La.)--Civilization.

New Orleans (La.).

New Orleans (La.)--Social life and customs.

New Orleans Region (La.)--Description and travel.

New Orleans Region (La.).

New Orleans Region (La.)--History, Local.

Physical Description:

xv, 250 pages : illustrations, maps ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2006.

Summary:

Founded in 1718 by two French-Canadian brothers for French King Louis XIV, New Orleans grew from its roots as a Euro-Caribbean port city at the nexus of North, Central, and South America. Situated at the bottom of the Mississippi River Delta, the city became "Paris on the Mississippi," the fashionable cultural capital of the American South, home to America's first opera house, and the birthplace of jazz.

With its antebellum mansions, above-ground cemeteries, and ghostly mossbearded oaks, New Orleans is certainly the most un-American of American cities, creating its own laid-back "Big Easy" attitude from the customs of the people who founded it: French and Spanish colonists, gens de couleur libres, Northern adventurers, riverboat men, pirates, and Cajuns. From this eclectic mix of influences has evolved a distinctive Creole culture, expressed in language, architecture, and cuisine.

The city is also uniquely vulnerable to climatic disaster, but as the events of 2005 have shown, is resilient, and irrepressibly positive in its outlook.

Louise McKinney explores the soul of this deeply spiritual and hedonistic place, where every year the pre-Lenten Mardi Gras bursts forth with outrageous excess.

Contents:

City Afloat 3

Splendid Decay 5

"Red Beans and Ricely Yours" 8

Chapter 1 New Orleans People: Gumbo in a Melting-Pot 11

The First "Creoles" 13

Neutral Ground 18

Rich and Poor 21

A Legacy in Progress 23

Family Business 25

Chapter 2 River and Riverfront: "Paris on the Mississippi" 29

River Excursion 31

Gallatin and People of the Port 34

Economic Imperative 35

Jazz Journey: Louis Armstrong 36

Rue de la Quai/Decatur Street 39

The Old Mint 39

Hooked on Caffeine 42

Cafe du Monde 44

Market Day 46

Levee Lore 48

The Riverbend 49

Chapter 3 The French Quarter: "Splendid Bedlam of a City" 51

Colonial Crescent 54

Mississippi Myths 55

Saints... 58

...and Sinners 62

Bourbon Street: Shots and Hot Spots 63

The Real Beat 67

"Sahara of the Bozart"? 69

Sherwood Anderson and The Double Dealer 72

William Faulkner, "Count No-Count" 74

Tennessee Williams: "The Bird" Alights 76

French Quarter Fetes 77

So Many Lives 81

Chapter 4 Faubourg Treme, Faubourg Marigny and Bywater: Goin' Downtown and "Backa Town" 83

Shades of Difference 86

Treme's Territory 88

The Voodoo Queen 90

Gumbo Ya-Ya 92

Armstrong Park 96

Cities of the Dead 98

Street Sound 101

Marigny Remembered 104

Early Jazzers 109

R&B Roots 112

Mo' and More Music 114

Chapter 5 Uptown Haunts 117

Lafon's Lower Garden District 119

Facelifts and Jacklifts 122

St. Mary's Market Gang and the Rest of the Gangs 124

Pugnacious Ignatius 125

Suburb Chic 129

Saturated with Music 133

End of the Line 137

Maple on Oak 138

Chapter 6 Mid-City: The New Bohemia 141

Good Neighbors 142

Keepers of the Flame 144

"Fest" Fever 148

"Fest" Future 150

Gospel Testifies 153

Indian Red 154

Chapter 7 Canal Street, Central Business District, and the Warehouse District: Booms and Busts in the "Big Uneasy" 159

Dreams of "SoHo South" 162

River Gamblers 165

Metro Visionaries and New Orleans Ingenuities 166

Arts District 168

Chef Super Stars 172

Southern Repertory and a Cat That's Black 174

Nouvelle New Orleans 175

Chapter 8 The Lakefront: Crossing the Causeway 177

Milneburg Joy 177

Saving the Lake 180

Across the Causeway 183

Chapter 9 Cajun Country: Lafayette and Beyond 187

Perrin's Petition 189

Cross-Country Roadtrip 192

Chank-a-Chank 196

"Ragin' Cajuns" 198

Congres Mondial Acadien 200

Chapter 10 Culture of Celebration: Mardi Gras and Other Spectacles 201

Capitalizing on Excess 203

Imperative to Party 206

Saints Alive! 208

Pagan Party 213

Pointe du Mardi Gras 215

Carnival Time 221

Mardi Gras Mambo 222

Mardi Gras Mocked 225

Mardi Gras Rebirth 227

Map of New Orleans District xvi

Map of New Orleans Metro Area xvii

Southern Louisiana 185.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-240) and indexes.

ISBN:

0195301358

0195301366

OCLC:

60558641

Publisher Number:

9780195301359

9780195301366