Ozark country

413 Pages·1995·2.86 MB·English

by  W. K. McNeil

title: Ozark Country Folklife in the South Series
author: McNeil, W. K.
publisher: University Press of Mississippi
isbn10 | asin: 0878057293
print isbn13: 9780878057290
ebook isbn13: 9780585211282
language: English
Folklore--Ozark Mountains Region,
Material culture--Ozark Mountains Region,
subject Folk music--Ozark Mountains Region,
Ozark Mountains Region--Social life and
customs.
publication date: 1995
lcc: GR108.3.M35 1995eb
ddc: 976.7/1
Folklore--Ozark Mountains Region,
Material culture--Ozark Mountains Region,
Folk music--Ozark Mountains Region,
subject: Folk music--Ozark Mountains Region,
Ozark Mountains Region--Social life and
customs.
Page i
Ozark Country
Page ii
FOLKLIFE IN THE SOUTH SERIES
Cajun Country
by Barry Jean Ancelet, Jay Edwards,
and Glen Pitre
Kentucky Bluegrass Country
by R. Gerald Alvey
Upper Cumberland Country
by William Lynwood Montell
South Florida Folklife
by Tina Bucuvalas, Peggy A. Bulger,
and Stetson Kennedy
Great Smoky Mountains
by Michael Ann Williams
Page iii
Ozark Country
Folklife in the South Series
William Lynwood Montell, General Editor
W.K. McNeil
University Press of Mississippi Jackson
Page iv
Disclaimer:
Some images in the original hardcopy book are not available for
inclusion in the netLibrary eBook.
Copyright © 1995 by the University Press of Mississippi
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
98 97 96 95 4 3 2 1
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanenceand durability
of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the
Council on Library Resources.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McNeil, W.K.
Ozark country / W.K. McNeil
p. cm.(Folklife in the South series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-87805-728-5 (alk. paper).ISBN 0-87805-729-3 (pbk.:
alk. paper)
I. Ozark Mountains RegionSocial life and customs. I. Title.
II. Series.
F417.O9M36 1995
976.7' Idc20 95-14859
CIP
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication data available

Page v
To the Memory of Clay Anderson, 19311993
Page vii
Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
1. Historical Overview 1
2. Family Ties 17
3. At Work 51
4. Folk Customs 75
5. Ozark and Appalachian Folk Music 97
6. Games and Entertainment 131
7. Folk Narratives 151
Appendix The Ozark Folk Center 167
Notes 173
Bibliographical Essay 181
Bibliography 185
Index 189
Page ix
Preface
Folklife, a familiar concept in European scholarship for over a
century, is the sum of a community's traditional forms of expression
and behavior. It has claimed the attention of American folklorists
since the 1950s. Each volume in the Folklife in the South Series
focuses on the shared traditions that link people with their past and
provide meaning and continuity for them in the present, and sets these
traditions in the social contexts in which they flourish. Prepared by
recognized scholars in various academic disciplines, these volumes
are designed to be read separately. Each contains a vivid description
of one region's traditional cultural elementethnic and mainstream,
rural and urbanthat, in concert with those of other recognizable
southern regions, lend a unique interpretation to the complex social
structure of the South.
This comprehensive study of the Ozarks is the first such work since
Vance Randolph's books in the early 1930s. Utilizing field research he
and others have collected during the past two decades, W. K. McNeil
goes beyond the survivalist approach of Randolph to show that Ozark
folk culture is alive and well and constantly changing. He discusses
historical folk culture and compares it to the current cultural traditions
within this region, whose geographical boundaries include northern
Arkansas, southern Missouri, and parts of Illinois, Kansas, and
Oklahoma.
WILLIAM LYNWOOD MONTELLl
SERIES EDITOR