Regionalism and the humanities / edited and with an introduction by Timothy R. Mahoney and Wendy J. Katz.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Mahoney, Timothy R., 1953-

Katz, Wendy Jean.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Regionalism--United States.

Regionalism.

Humanities--Study and teaching.

United States.

Humanities--Study and teaching--United States.

Humanities.

Regionalism in literature.

National characteristics, American, in literature.

Physical Description:

xxviii, 343 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, [2008]

Summary:

Although the framework of regionalist studies may seem to be crumbling under the weight of increasing globalization, this collection of seventeen essays makes clear that cultivating regionalism lies at the center of the humanist endeavor. With interdisciplinary contributions from poets and fiction writers, literary historians, musicologists, and historians of architecture, agriculture, and women, this volume implements some of the most innovative and intriguing approaches to the history and value of regionalism as a category for investigation in the humanities.

In the volume's inaugural essay, Annie Proulx discusses landscapes in American fiction, comments on how she constructs characters, and interprets current literary trends. Edward Watts offers a theory of region that argues for comparisons of the United States to other former colonies of Great Britain, including New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. Whether considering a writer's connection to region or the idea of place in exploring what is meant by regionalism, these essays uncover an enduring and evolving concept. Although the approaches and disciplines vary, all are framed within the fundamental premise of the humanities: the search to understand what it means to be human.

Contents:

Introduction: Regionalism and the humanities : decline or revival? / Wendy J. Katz & Timothy R. Mahoney

Sensing place : the authority of nature

Dangerous ground : landscape in American fiction / Annie Proulx

The ec(h)ological conscience : reflections on the nature of human presence in Great Plains environmental writing / William Slaymaker

"I don't know, but I ain't lost" : defining the Southwest / Mark Busby

A border runs through it : looking at regionalism through architecture in the Southwest / Maggie Valentine

Constructing place : the possibility of local representation

Willa Cather's case : region and reputation / Guy Reynolds

Dwelling within the place worth seeking : the Midwest, regional identity, and internal histories / Ginette Aley

Gendered Boosterism : the "doctor's wife" writes from the new Northwest / Barbara Handy-Marchello

"With powder smoke and profanity" : genre conventions, regional identity, and the palisade gunfight hoax / Nicolas S. Witschi

Place is a relationship : regionalism, nationalism, and transnationalism

Regionalism and the realities of naming / Stephen C. Behrendt

The Midwest as a colony : transnational regionalism / Edward Watts

Transcending the urban-rural divide : Willa Cather's Thea Kronborg goes to Chicago / Mark A. Robison

Preaching the Gospel of higher vaudeville : Vachel Lindsay's poetic journey from Springfield, Illinois, across America, and back / Larry W. Moore

Place is political : creating regional cultures

State pieces in the U.S. regions puzzle : Nevada and the problem of fit / Cheryll Glotfelty

Imagining place : Nebraska territory, 1854-1867 / Kurt E. Kinbacher

Architecture crosses region : building in the Grecian style / Patrick Lee Lucas

Societies and soirees : musical life and regional character in the South Atlantic / Michael Saffle

List of contributors

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780803276345

0803276346

OCLC:

221147815