The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture

This volume of <i>The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture</i> addresses the cultural social and intellectual terrain of myth manners and historical memory in the American South. Evaluating how a distinct southern identity has been created recreated and performed through memories that blur the line between fact and fiction this volume paints a broad multihued picture of the region seen through the lenses of belief and cultural practice.<br/><br/>The 95 entries here represent a substantial revision and expansion of the material on historical memory and manners in the original edition. They address such matters as myths and memories surrounding the Old South and the Civil War; stereotypes and traditions related to the body sexuality gender and family (such as debutante balls and beauty pageants); institutions and places associated with historical memory (such as cemeteries monuments and museums); and specific subjects and objects of myths including the Confederate flag and Graceland. Together they offer a compelling portrait of the “southern way of life” as it has been imagined lived and contested.