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Folk Nation

Folklore in the Creation of American Tradition

By: Simon J. Bronner

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Paperback | 1 August 2002

At a Glance

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256 Pages

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22.86 x 15.24 x 1.91

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This lively reader traces the search for American tradition and national identity through folklore and folklife from the 19th century to the present. Through an engaging set of essays, Folk Nation shows how American thinkers and leaders have used folklore to express the meaning of their country. Simon Bronner has carefully selected statements by public intellectuals and popular writers as well as by scholars, all chosen for their readability and significance as provocative texts during their time. The common thread running throughout is the value of folklore in expressing or denying an American national tradition.

This text raises timely issues about the character of American culture and the direction of American society. The essays show the development of views of American nationalism, multiculturalism, and commercialism. Provocative topics include debates over the relationship between popular culture and folk culture, the uniqueness of an American literature and arts based on folk sources, the fabrication of folk heroes such as Pecos Bill and Paul Bunyan as propaganda for patriotism and nationalism, the romanticizations of vernacular culture by popularizers such as Walt Disney and Ben Botkin, the use of folklore for ethnocentric purposes, and the political deployment of folklore by conservatives as emblems of "traditional values" and civil virtues and by liberals as emblems of multiculturalism and tolerance of alternative lifestyles.

The book also traces the controversy over who conveyed the myth of "America." Was it the nation's poets and artists, its academics, its politicians and leaders, its communities and local educational institutions, its theme parks and festivals, its movie moguls and entertainers? Folk Nation shows how the process of defining the American mystique through folklore was at the core of debates among writers and thinkers about the value of Davey Crockett, John Henry, quilts, cowboys, and immigrants as symbols of America.

Industry Reviews

Folk Nation is well organized and clearly thought out. The selections are especially well chosen and historically significant, and the introduction and the headnotes are engaging. -- Sharon R. Sherman, director of folklore program, University of Oregon
Will be immensely useful to teachers of the theory and history of the discipline and to students of American civilization. Bronner's volume will prove influential in reshaping our understanding of the development of the national aspect of our folk traditions-the point at which the academic disciplines meet the domain of the public intellectual. -- Joseph Harris, Professor of English and Folklore, Harvard University

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Society & Culture Popular Beliefs & Controversial Knowledge Folklore Studies / Study of Myth (Mythology)History Regional & National History History of the Americas Reference, Information & Interdisciplinary Subjects Interdisciplinary Studies Regional Studies Sociology & Anthropology

Preface and Acknowledgments	p. xi

In Search of American Tradition	p. 3
Suggestions for Further Reading	p. 71

The Field of American Folklore (1888-89)	p. 79
The Black Folklore Movement at Hampton Institute (1893-94)	p. 87
Quilts as Emblems of Women's Tradition (1894)	p. 99
American Folk Song (1915)	p. 105
"American" Folklore (1930)	p. 127
American Folklore (1949)	p. 131
The Folk Idea in American Life (1930)	p. 145
Folk Art: Its Place in the American Tradition (1932)	p. 161
Folk Arts: Immigrant Gifts to American Life (1932)	p. 169
American Folksongs of Protest (1953)	p. 177
Folklore and American Regionalism (1966)	p. 189
Border Identity: Culture Conflict and Convergence along the Lower Rio Grande (1978)	p. 199
Life Styles and Legends (1971)	p. 215
Another America: Toward a Behavioral History Based on Folkloristics (1982)	p. 225
American Folklife: A Commonwealth of Cultures (1991) (with text of the Folklife Preservation Act, 1976)	p. 237
Folklife in Contemporary Multicultural Society (1990)	p. 249
Children and Colors: Folk and Popular Cultures in America's Future (1994)	p. 265
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Folk Nation

Folklore in the Creation of American Tradition

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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