Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Mapping Myriad Positionalities In Amish Media Studies, Lars Stoltzfus-Brown

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

Within the United States popular and academic imaginaries, Amish/Mennonite identities tend to get flattened into a monolithic, anti-modern stereotype simultaneously fearful of information communication technology and yet titillated by their utility. This pan-Amish construction relies on reducing interpersonal and intercultural complexities regarding media into bite-size binaries easily understood by English outsiders, which is critical when distilling information about myriad Amish norms and sects even if it means choosing breadth over depth. As a result, academic literature on the Amish mediascape tends to focus on binaries of traditionalism and modernity from a variety of disciplines, and research has not kept up …