Land of the Millrats / Richard M. Dorson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dorson, Richard M., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bräuche, Etikette, Folklore.

Manners and customs.

Volkskultur.

Folklore--Calumet Region (Ill. and Ind.).

LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General.

LITERARY CRITICISM / General.

SOCIAL SCIENCE / Folklore & Mythology.

Urban folklore--Calumet Region (Ill. and Ind.).

Local Subjects:

Folklore--Calumet Region (Ill. and Ind.).

LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General.

LITERARY CRITICISM / General.

SOCIAL SCIENCE / Folklore & Mythology.

Urban folklore--Calumet Region (Ill. and Ind.).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (263 p.): 1 Kte

Edition:

Reprint 2014

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2014]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Most of Richard Dorson's thirty years as folklorist have been spent collecting tales and legends in the remote backcountry, far from the centers of population. For this book he extended his search for folk traditions to one of the most heavily industrialized sections of the United States. Can folklore be found, he wondered, in the Calumet Region of northwest Indiana? Does it exist among the steelworkers, ethnic groups, and blacks in Gary, Whiting, East Chicago, and Hammond? In his usual entertaining style, Dorson shows that a rich and varied folklore exists in the Region. Although it differs from that of rural people, it is equally vital. Much of this urban lore finds expression in conversational anecdotes and stories that deal with pressing issues: the flight from the inner city, crime in the streets, working conditions in the steel mills, the maintenance of ethnic identity, the place of blacks in a predominantly white society. The folklore reveals strongly held attitudes such as the loathing of industrial work, resistance to assimilation, and black adoption of middle-class-white values. Miliworkers and mill executives, housewives, ethnic performers, storekeepers, and preachers tell their stories about the Region. The concerns that occupy them affect city dwellers throughout the United States. Land of the Millrats, though it depicts a special place, speaks for much of America.

Contents:

Frontmatter

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

INTRODUCTION: FORAY INTO "DE REGION"

1. MYSTIQUE OF THE REGION

2. THE FOLKLORE OF STEEL

3. A SPECTRUM OF ETHNICS

4. BLACK OUTLOOKS

5. CRIMELORE

EPILOGUE

A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

INDEX

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Mai 2019)

ISBN:

0-674-41923-5

OCLC:

1024024157