Full Description
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
List of Illustrations
Introduction: Regionalism and the Humanities: Decline or Revival?
Wendy J. Katz and Timothy R. Mahoney
Part One. Sensing Place: The Authority of Nature
1. Dangerous Ground: Landscape in American Fiction
Annie Proulx
2. The Ec(h)ological Conscience: Reflections on the Nature of Human Presence in Great Plains Environmental Writing
William Slaymaker
3. "I Don't Know, but I Ain't Lost": Defining the Southwest
Mark Busby
4. A Border Runs through It: Looking at Regionalism through Architecture in the Southwest
Maggie Valentine
Part Two. Constructing Place: The Possibility of Local Representation
5. Willa Cather's Case: Region and Reputation
Guy Reynolds
6. Dwelling within the Place Worth Seeking: The Midwest, Regional Identity, and Internal Histories
Ginette Aley
7. Gendered Boosterism: The "Doctor's Wife" Writes from the New Northwest
Barbara Handy-Marchello
8. "With Powder Smoke and Profanity": Genre Conventions, Regional Identity, and the Palisade Gunfight Hoax
Nicolas S. Witschi
Part Three. Place Is a Relationship: Regionalism, Nationalism, and Transnationalism
9. Regionalism and the Realities of Naming
Stephen C. Behrendt
10. The Midwest as a Colony: Transnational Regionalism
Edward Watts
11. Transcending the Urban-Rural Divide: Willa Cather's Thea Kronborg Goes to Chicago
Mark A. Robison
12. Preaching the Gospel of Higher Vaudeville: Vachel Lindsay's Poetic Journey from Springfield, Illinois, across America, and Back
Larry W. Moore
Part Four. Place is Political: Creating Regional Cultures
13. State Pieces in the U.S. Regions Puzzle: Nevada and the Problem of Fit
Cheryll Glotfelty
14. Imagining Place: Nebraska Territory, 18541867
Kurt E. Kinbacher
15. Architecture Crosses Region: Building in the Grecian Style
Patrick Lee Lucas
16. Societies and Soirees: Musical Life and Regional Character in the South Atlantic
Michael Saffle
List of Contributors
Index
