Cultures of the American South

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First and primarily, it is an attempt to define two of the several versions of Southern culture in terms of somewhat contrasting social models. Second, it is a plea for greater attention to a section of the United States that manifests many of the problems of social and cultural change that so intrigue anthropologists in studies of more remote underdeveloped areas and newly emerging nations. With respect to the latter purpose, certain ideological biases now tend to blind the profession to the potential research value of this readily available field laboratory. That is, anthroplogists devote much time and effort to sympathetic study of the restricted worlds of exotic folk peoples, peasants, and primitive tribes. They incline to nostalgic idealization of such simple ways of life. When they encounter similarly narrow and limited perspectives in their own country, however, the tendency is to discard principles acquired painstakingly in other settings. Instead of analyzing the sources and functions of the behavior, the natives are berated for their unenlightened beliefs and practices in a manner that contradicts anthropology's claim to a universal interest in understanding culture. A more fruitful approach reserves judgment while asking what is meant by Southern culture and why does the traditional past loom so large in contemporary affairs. Other questions follow. First, is there really a homogeneous regional culture and does continued existence as a viable society depend in some way on preservation of the past? If so, which past-that of the Colonial period or of Antebellum days, the past of the 1870's or of 1900, or perhaps the more recent past of the era between World Wars I and II? And whose past-that of the Negroes or poor whites, the past of frontiersmen or plantation owners, that of the early industrialists or mill workers, or maybe the past of today's urban or rural middle class? Certainly the influence of all these periods and population segments is discernible, and the first clear statement that can be made about Southern culture and society is that it is not now and never has been homogeneous.