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Full-Text Articles in American Studies

In Another Day: The Historical And Cultural Relevance Of Gone With The Wind, Cody Rentz Jan 2014

In Another Day: The Historical And Cultural Relevance Of Gone With The Wind, Cody Rentz

Honors Theses

Although it was a massive success in its time and won a Pulitzer Prize, critics today tend to discard Gone with the Wind as a piece of low-quality, racist, historically inaccurate literature. However, the novel, through no intent of its author, parallels the Great Depression in many ways, a fact that likely contributed to its popularity. As such, the novel can be a useful tool in studying the culture of the 1930s. To study the cultural connections, I began by reading the novel, watching the film, and speculating as to the connections to Depression-era culture. I then researched the author, …


Big T-Shirts And Running Shorts: A Female Uniform And Southern Womanhood On The Ole Miss Campus, Abigail Abide Jan 2014

Big T-Shirts And Running Shorts: A Female Uniform And Southern Womanhood On The Ole Miss Campus, Abigail Abide

Honors Theses

This thesis attempts to understand why white female sorority members wear oversized t-shirts as a uniform to their classes and how this outfit affects the construction of white southern womanhood on the Ole Miss campus. In this exploration, I have interview male and female, black and white, undergraduates. I also used an online survey that I separated by sex. I have found that oversized t-shirts are related to ideas of social status, sexuality, class, constructions of ideas about the female body, and southern identity with in the Greek community. These ideas intensely affect the daily lives of Ole Miss students …


Uneven Ground: Figurations Of The Rural Modern In The U.S. South, 1890-1945, Benjamin S. Child Jan 2014

Uneven Ground: Figurations Of The Rural Modern In The U.S. South, 1890-1945, Benjamin S. Child

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

New modernist studies has opened wide the discussion about what modernism means, when it begins, and, compellingly for the purposes of this project, where it occurs. Exploring intersections between modernization, modernism, labor, and segregation in the agricultural South, this dissertation demonstrates how the effects of nascent industrialization, emergent technologies, and "modern" thought are animated by figures and spaces associated with--or performing--versions of rurality. The project is divided into three major sections. In the first, I suggest that the contradictions of African American life in the post-Reconstruction world are parsed in the period's literature through the presence of a veiled georgic …


The Discursive Commons: The Establishment, "Outside Agitators," And "Communist Subversives" In Gadsden's Depression-Era Political Environment, John Disque Agricola Jan 2014

The Discursive Commons: The Establishment, "Outside Agitators," And "Communist Subversives" In Gadsden's Depression-Era Political Environment, John Disque Agricola

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis addresses a turbulent and often violent political environment in Gadsden, Alabama during the Great Depression. Using a theoretical construct called the discursive commons my analysis suggests how very particular ideas such as the trope of the outside agitator, and the idea of the communist radical, were used by the establishment to incite violence against United Rubber Workers union organizers who came to Gadsden to enlist members in the 1930s and early 1940s. It is my contention that these discursive formations had affective power over the people who committed acts of violence against their own class interests. This thesis …


Cold War Pulp: Gender And Fiction In The Age Of Liberation, James Lewis Hood Jan 2014

Cold War Pulp: Gender And Fiction In The Age Of Liberation, James Lewis Hood

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The early decades of the twentieth century saw incredible changes in both literacy and general publishing. Once literature had been the domain of the elite, but now it was the daily pleasure of compeople. The changes in American culture in the middle of the century, combined with this revolution in publishing and literacy, combined to produce texts frequently referred to as pulp-fiction, works easily and cheaply produced for a mass-market. This market actively catered to diverse interests, perhaps most significantly the sexually alienated. Works of gay and feminist pulp fiction served to show alienated gay men and women, as well …


Bottling Hell: Myth-Making, Cultural Identity And The Datil Pepper Of St. Augustine, Florida, Anna Hamilton Jan 2014

Bottling Hell: Myth-Making, Cultural Identity And The Datil Pepper Of St. Augustine, Florida, Anna Hamilton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis interrogates the datil pepper (capsicum chinense) as a potent cultural symbol against a backdrop of heritage tourism in St. Augustine, Florida, widely known as "the nation's oldest city." the datil is a locally popular and regionally unique heirloom pepper endemic to St. Augustine and the surrounding environs. A romantic origin story and local lore are embedded on this spicy pepper, tying it to north Florida's Minorcan population, a group descended from indentured workers brought to the area in the late 1700s. The prominence of this mythology speaks to heritage tourism's demand for consumable cultural emblems, and the datil …


Silk Road: A Novel, Elizabeth Mckay Mcfadden Jan 2014

Silk Road: A Novel, Elizabeth Mckay Mcfadden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Silk Road: A Novel


The Life And Songwriting Of Vic Chesnutt, John Hermann Jan 2014

The Life And Songwriting Of Vic Chesnutt, John Hermann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an exploration of the life and music of Vic Chesnutt, and it accompanies a documentary film. Both components feature interview excerpts from over 30 hours of film footage with Chesnutt, as interspersed with archival documents of his life, along with dozens of interviews with his family, friends, peers, music writers, and bandmates. Chesnutt's story can only be properly told through the lens of southern culture. He was not just a charter member of an international group, but a southern songwriter whose rural Georgia upbringing was paramount to his work. He has often been compared in music journals …


When The Counterculture Picked Up A Southern Twang: A Cultural Analysis Of Late Sixties And Early Seventies Country Rock Movement, Xiang Xu Jan 2014

When The Counterculture Picked Up A Southern Twang: A Cultural Analysis Of Late Sixties And Early Seventies Country Rock Movement, Xiang Xu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My thesis is a cultural analysis of California-based country-rock movement in the late sixties and early seventies. Country rock is a hybrid music genre emerged during this period. Musicians active in the country-rock movement were mostly counterculture hippies, and they adopted country music to serve their own ends. There is no unified ideological thinking in this movement. Some musicians were political while others were not. Music critics generally agree that country rock was a cultural reaction to the cynicism and rootlessness of youth culture in the late sixties and early seventies. The counterculture looked to country music for inspiration because …


Southern Bestsellers In The Twenty-First Century, Jodie Free Jan 2014

Southern Bestsellers In The Twenty-First Century, Jodie Free

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the concept of bestsellers in the twenty-first century, with a particular focus on six novels written by contemporary southern authors. These novels are analyzed through the lens of social consciousness, with attention to how they reflect current social issues, and how they engage with and subvert cultural and literary stereotypes. Bestsellers are books that are widely read, shared and discussed, often because they connect to concerns about identity; this study speculates on the influence of bestsellers on national and regional reader identity, specifically race, gender and class. Chapter I explores feminine roles in Lee Smith's The Last …


The Ghost Of Ravishment That Lingers In The Land: The Beginnings Of Environmentalism In Seraph On The Suwanee And Go Down, Moses, Elisabeth Anne Wagner Jan 2014

The Ghost Of Ravishment That Lingers In The Land: The Beginnings Of Environmentalism In Seraph On The Suwanee And Go Down, Moses, Elisabeth Anne Wagner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Zora Neale Hurston and William Faulkner are recognized for their environmental writing. However, few scholars have acknowledged the sophisticated environmentalism present in Hurston's Seraph on the Suwanee and Faulkner's fictional depiction of Lafayette County in Go Down, Moses. This thesis seeks to prove that Hurston and Faulkner were keenly aware of the ecological problems of their hometowns through a close reading of each book alongside the environmental history each book was based on, Eatonville, Florida and Lafayette County, Mississippi respectively. Each author's distinct regional environmental knowledge helped Hurston and Faulkner to see larger national and global problems with using land …


Fixin' To Tell: Cultural Preservation, Multiculturalism, And A Delicate Double Commitment In Appalshop's "Insider" Activism, Kathleen S. Hudson Jan 2014

Fixin' To Tell: Cultural Preservation, Multiculturalism, And A Delicate Double Commitment In Appalshop's "Insider" Activism, Kathleen S. Hudson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From global non-profits to local community centers, many groups working with and from within mis- and under-represented populations have embraced documentary media in activist work as a tool for undermining stereotypes and engendering positive identity formation. Despite steady increases in community-based documentary work, such programs remain relatively underscrutinized, with the majority of scholarship praising the liberatory potentials of documentary self-representation. Further, of the many programs implementing community-based documentary work as a tool for social change, I found very few based in rural regions of the Southern U.S. Likewise, in scholarly discourse associated with such programs, the South, in general, remains …


Mississippi Motoring: Mom And Pops And Entrepreneurs, Erin Elizabeth Scott Jan 2014

Mississippi Motoring: Mom And Pops And Entrepreneurs, Erin Elizabeth Scott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the 21st century, motorists driving "off the beaten path" and not on the interstate now have the treat of gaining insight into a local area's foodways when they stop to eat. From tamales to the local fried experiment, gas stations have evolved to provide one stop shopping for the day tripper or sustenance and social interaction within a locale. The state of Mississippi has somewhat escaped the national burger or sandwich chain connected to the service station and instead has a "mom and pop" kitchen serving up often informal and local flavors. How do these establishments make a go …


Modern(Izing) Burial In Interwar American Literature, Victoria Marie Bryan Jan 2014

Modern(Izing) Burial In Interwar American Literature, Victoria Marie Bryan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation aims to study literary representations of interwar American deathways as reflections of modernity. The study of burial in United States history tends to focus on mid- to late-nineteenth century movements that distance the dead from the living. This dissertation argues that these practices left Americans ill-equipped to process the influx of death from the conflict areas of World War I, keen to allow the further development of the funeral industry during the interwar period, and anxious about the certain rise in death tolls that would result from World War II. Interwar literature, therefore, exhibits a difficulty in meaning-making …


Eleven Criminals: Stories, Brendan Steffen Jan 2014

Eleven Criminals: Stories, Brendan Steffen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is a work of fiction about criminality and masculinity. It explores all kinds of crimes, both real and imagined.


Suffering And Coping In The Novels Of Anne Tyler, Camden Story Hastings Jan 2014

Suffering And Coping In The Novels Of Anne Tyler, Camden Story Hastings

Honors Theses

Through an exploration of the causes of the characters' suffering and their mechanisms for coping, this thesis shows that by developing the perseverance necessary to navigate ordinary, everyday obstacles, Tyler's characters cope with extraordinary circumstances causing them pain. They also realize that victories in the little things lead to discoveries about themselves and the sources of their distress. The six novels discussed here include The Accidental Tourist, Saint Maybe, The Beginner's Goodbye, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Ladder of Years, and Breathing Lessons. Nine major characters from these six novels are explored and, while various causes lead to their individual …


The Chamberlain Estate Or: How Investors Will Learn To Stop Worrying And Give Me Money To Make My Movie, Connor King Jan 2014

The Chamberlain Estate Or: How Investors Will Learn To Stop Worrying And Give Me Money To Make My Movie, Connor King

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to have developed a competent pre-production packet for a feature length indie movie set in the South that would pique the interest of potential investors, while having ascertained the knowledge and skill set to fully realize the script as a leader of the project. Methods to achieve this goal include working on movie sets from all angles to gain first hand experience—from directing to holding sound equipment—and researching the market potential from films of a similar genre to see if this venture is worthwhile financially for myself and other stakeholders. After working on sets …


A Study Of The Life And Legacy Of Son House On The Identity And Character Of Blues Culture, Kyle Crockett Jan 2014

A Study Of The Life And Legacy Of Son House On The Identity And Character Of Blues Culture, Kyle Crockett

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the unique and pivotal life of Son House, a Mississippi bluesman from Lyon, Mississippi, who did much to change the identity and perpetuate the existence of blues music and culture. Furthermore, House was influential in shaping blues music as a medium for historical research, as they revealed a strikingly honest perception of the tumultuous and evil circumstances for African Americans in the South during the early twentieth century. Research on Son House was a unique experience, in that it called not only for academic exploration, but also human exploration. When researching the importance of blues music in …


Physicians, Patients, And Poets, Mary Ball Markow Jan 2014

Physicians, Patients, And Poets, Mary Ball Markow

Honors Theses

I examined the works of William Carlos Williams, Peter Pereira, Rafael Campo, Tory Dent, Lucia Perillo, and John Rybicki to gain a better understanding of the field of medicine. I selected these authors based upon their varied experiences with illness, disease, and loss. Their prose and poetry illuminate the nature of medicine and provide insight into human nature as well. The thesis has been edited for the SMBHC Thesis Repository to protect the copyright interests of some authors and publishers. The table of contents has been edited to reflect the changes.


Disaster, Displacement, And Voluntourism: Helping Narratives Of College Student Volunteers In Post-Katrina New Orleans, Mary Elizabeth Smithson Jan 2014

Disaster, Displacement, And Voluntourism: Helping Narratives Of College Student Volunteers In Post-Katrina New Orleans, Mary Elizabeth Smithson

Honors Theses

This thesis is an ethnographic study of volunteer tourists' motivations for contributing to the ongoing recovery of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, LA. While it has been nearly a decade since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, there is still much work to be done. The urgency that once accompanied the chaotic environment of a post-disaster landscape does not exist anymore. In effect, the strategies for recuperating from the hurricane's impacts mirror this shift from an urgent disaster state to a stabilized recovery state. Instead of issuing direct relief to people, recovery efforts are presently focused …


Gravity In A Jar: A Poetic History Of The People, Places, And Events Of Detroit, Morgan Mccomb Jan 2014

Gravity In A Jar: A Poetic History Of The People, Places, And Events Of Detroit, Morgan Mccomb

Honors Theses

In this thesis, I explore the history of the city of Detroit in order to better understand the factors that have led to Detroit's current state. The research materials I have used are standard history books as well as newspaper articles, journals, and published interviews with former and current Detroit residents. I have incorporated this research into the construction of both a strict research element as well as poetry in order to present varying accounts of the city of Detroit beginning in the early 20th century and continuing into the present-day. I have found that the history of Detroit has …


Developing The Marine Energy Sector In Scotland: A View From The Islands, Thomas Neal Mcmillin Jan 2014

Developing The Marine Energy Sector In Scotland: A View From The Islands, Thomas Neal Mcmillin

Honors Theses

In a world searching for environmentally-friendly alternative energy options, some people are looking to the ocean for answers. Through cutting-edge technology, engineers are devising ways to capture electricity from the power of the waves and tides. More than any other nation, Scotland is trying to develop a vibrant, domestic marine renewable energy hub. Instead of following the extraction-only model, Scotland seeks to achieve the entire ocean energy supply chain within the nation. An important first step towards this goal was the creation of the European Marine Energy Center (EMEC) in Orkney. The center hosts the leading test berths for tidal …


Exploring Acculturation And Intercultural Identity Building Of International Students At The University Of Mississippi, Rachael Clare Walker Jan 2014

Exploring Acculturation And Intercultural Identity Building Of International Students At The University Of Mississippi, Rachael Clare Walker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.