South Florida Folklife

South Florida summons tropical vacationland images—gleaming beaches exotic foods colorful costumes and grand hotels. Yet beyond this facade teems a rich folklife that is the subject of this alluring book.<P>The three collaborating authors present south Florida folklife from the 1930s to the present in four parts: the Everglades and Gulf Coast the Miami megalopolis the Keys and the seasonal residents and tourists.<P>Together these create a mosaic of contrasts. South Florida embraces extravagant wealth and heartbreaking poverty constant evolution and solid tradition tropical peace and devastating storms settled generations and the newest Americans. It is a folk region identified not by physical or political boundaries but by its hot sultry climate and the many people who interact with the land and with one another.<P><i>South Florida Folklife</i> explores the area for the first time from a folklorist’s perspective and firmly establishes it as a microcosm of the United States