Many Wests: Place, Culture & Regional Identity
- ISBN-10
- 0700608613
- ISBN-13
- 9780700608614
- Category
- History / United States / 20th Century
- Pages
- 385
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1997
- Publisher
- University Press of Kansas
- Authors
- David M. Wrobel, Michael C. Steiner
Description
What does it mean to live in the West today? Do people tend to identify with states, with regions, or with the larger West? This book examines the development of regional identity in the American West, demonstrating that it is a regionally diverse entity made up of many different wests--Great Plains, Southwest, Rocky Mountains, and more--in which American regionalism finds its fullest expression.
These fourteen original essays tell how a sense of place emerged among residents of various regions and how a sense of those places was developed by people outside of them. Wrobel and Steiner first offer a compelling overview of the West's regional nature; then thirteen other rising or renowned scholars-from history, American Studies, geography, and literature-tell how regional consciousness formed among inhabitants of particular regions.
All of the essays address the larger issue of the centrality of place in determining social and cultural forms and individual and collective identities. Some focus on race and culture as the primary influences on regional consciousness while others emphasize environmental and economic factors or the influence of literature. Some even examine western regionalism in areas that lie beyond the West as it has traditionally been conceived. Each of the contributors believes that where a people live helps determine what they are, and they write not only about the many wests within the larger West, but also about the constant state of flux in which regionalism exists.
Many books speak of the West as a place, but few others deal with the West's different places. Many Wests presents a vision of the West that reflects both the common heritage and unique character of each major subregion, building on the revisionist impulse of the last decade to help redirect New Western History toward an appreciation of regional diversity and integrate scholarship in the regional subfields. It is a book for everyone who lives in, studies, or loves the West, for it confirms that it is home to very different peoples, economies, histories-and regions.
Get the book
Similar books
-
Slavery, Race, and American History: Historical Conflict, Trends, and Method, 1866-1953
By John David SmithSee George D. Terry , “ A Study of the Impact of the French Revolution and the Insurrections in Saint - Domingue ... iiin , 65n , 66n ; John D. Duncan , “ Servitude and Slavery in Colonial South Carolina , 1670–1776 " ( Ph.D. diss .
-
Class Struggle and the New Deal: Industrial Labor, Industrial Capital, and the State
By Rhonda F. LevineNew York : Macmillan , 1940 . Sherman , Howard J. Profits in the United States : An Introduction to a Study of Economic Concentration and Business Cycles . Ithaca , N.Y .: Cornell University Press , 1968 . Shively , W. Phillips .
-
The Watergate Crisis
By Michael A. GenoveseRecounts the events of the Watergate affair; identifies key players; and presents essays on its impact
-
The 1980s
By Bob Batchelor, Scott F. StoddartIn another first , Diahann Carroll joined the cast as Dominique Devereaux , a chanteuse once involved with Blake . Carroll's became the first African American to appear as a series regular on a major serial drama .
-
1927: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of the Jazz Age's Greatest Year
By Thomas S. HischakFrom January 1 to December 31 of 1927, the entries in this book cover every major news event—national and international—of this pivotal year in history.
-
The Vietnam Experience: A Concise Encyclopedia of American Literature, Songs, and Films
By Kevin Hillstrom, Laurie Collier HillstromHal Ashby Screenplay : Waldo Salt and Robert C. Jones ; based on a story by Nancy Dowd Principal Cast : Jane Fonda , Jon Voight , Bruce Dern , Penelope Milford , Robert Carradine Year of Release : 1978 ( United Artists ) American ...
-
1969: The Year Everything Changed
By Rob KirkpatrickDennis Wilson of the Beach Boys reportedly hooked up with two of Manson's female followers, and soon Manson and his Family had moved into Wilson's mansion, uninvited. While in prison, Manson had learned how to play guitar from Alvin ...
-
The Sixties
By Richard Avedon, Doon ArbusThe connection between all the rhetoric and all the poetry, between the words of a Black Panther and those of a rock star or a pacifist, between the scars of a pop artist and those of a napalm victim, have haunted and informed the ...
-
Change and Continuity in the 1984 Elections
By David W. Rohde, Paul R. Abramson, John H. Aldrich... Leslie - 11 Kleppner , Paul - 120 , 125 , 130 , 131 Kostroski , Warren Lee - 259 Kramer , Gerald H. - 205 - Ladd ... Jackman , Mary R. - 128 Jackman , Robert W. - 128 Jackson , Andrew - 73 , 292 Jackson , Brooks - 261 Jackson ...
-
Rise of Conservatism in America, 1945-2000 + Abraham Lincoln, Slavery, and the Civil War + Lyndon B. Johnson and American...
By Booker T Washington, Bruce Laurie, Professor of History Ronald StoryRise of Conservatism in America, 1945-2000 + Abraham Lincoln, Slavery, and the Civil War + Lyndon B. Johnson and American...