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Hillbillyland - by J W Williamson (Paperback)
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Highlights
- The stereotypical hillbilly figure in popular culture provokes a range of responses, from bemused affection for Ma and Pa Kettle to outright fear of the mountain men in Deliverance.
- About the Author: J. W. Williamson is professor of English at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, and editor of Appalachian Journal.
- 340 Pages
- Performing Arts, Film
Description
About the Book
Hillbillyland: What the Movies Did to the Mountains and What the Mountains Did to the MoviesBook Synopsis
The stereotypical hillbilly figure in popular culture provokes a range of responses, from bemused affection for Ma and Pa Kettle to outright fear of the mountain men in Deliverance. In Hillbillyland, J. W. Williamson investigates why hillbilly images are so pervasive in our culture and what purposes they serve. He has mined more than 800 movies, from early nickelodeon one-reelers to contemporary films such as Thelma and Louise and Raising Arizona, for representations of hillbillies in their recurring roles as symbolic 'cultural others.' Williamson's hillbillies live not only in the hills of the South but anywhere on the rough edge of society. And they are not just men; women can be hillbillies, too. According to Williamson, mainstream America responds to hillbillies because they embody our fears and hopes and a romantic vision of the past. They are clowns, children, free spirits, or wild people through whom we live vicariously while being reassured about our own standing in society.
From the Back Cover
In this book, the author investigates why hillbilly images are so pervasive in our culture and what purposes they serve. Williamson's hillbillies live not only in the hill of the South but anywhere on the rough edge of society. And they are not just men; women can be hillbillies, too.Review Quotes
"A complex, entertaining, and insightful book." -- Journal of American History
"Bold, adept, and often shrewd. . . . Rarely has so much rich food for thought been served with such panache." -- Journal of Southern History
"Convincing and well documented." -- CHOICE
"For this splendid book Williamson should be given some kind of prize. . . . It is that good. The questions Williamson raises have far-reaching implications." -- Journal of American Culture
"This book is highly likely to become a work as enduring as its popular subject." -- Southern Cultures
"To Williamson's great credit, he does not smuggle in a political tract under the guise of film criticism. He sees each movie, tawdry or sublime, as a setting for cosmic forces in collision. Producers, technicians, actors, and audiences come together in darkened palaces, smoky bars, and couch-potato living rooms. Williamson illuminates their respective visions; he manages to experience film from the perspective of bikers and hikers, dopers and ropers." -- Archie Green, author of Wobblies, Pile Butts, and Other Heroes: Laborlore Explorations
"Will be of value to those interested in film and popular culture, to those concerned with the invention (or continual reinvention) of Appalachia, and to those who just enjoy a good read. . . . An instant classic, required reading for hillbillies everywhere. Ma and Pa Kettle give it two thumbs up." -- West Virginia History
"Williamson reminds us that the themes in the hillbilly movies are versions of universals; and because the movies mirror, create, and are culture, the symbols and myths they employ are not just the stuff of literature or literary criticism but the stuff of life. As Pogo used to say, 'We have met the sub-text, and she is us.'" -- Henry D. Shapiro, author of Appalachia on Our Mind: The Southern Mountains and Mountaineers in the American Consciousness
About the Author
J. W. Williamson is professor of English at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, and editor of Appalachian Journal. He is author of Southern Mountaineers in Silent Films and coeditor of Interviewing Appalachia.