John Lowe

Louisiana Culture from the Colonial Era to Katrina - Southern Literary Studies John Lowe

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index. Table of Contents: Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Creole Cultures and National Identity after Katrina / John Lowe -- Part 1. Indian, French, Spanish, African, German: The Early Origins of a Unique Culture -- The Beginnings of Louisiana Literature: The French Domination of 1682-1763 / Germain Bienvenu -- Louisiana-the New Egypt: Charles Sealsfield's Report from the 1820s / Alexander Ritter -- Slavery in French Louisiana: From Gallic Colony to American Territory / Daniel C. Littlefield -- Part 2. The Creole Controversy -- Creole Cultures and the Process of Creolization: With Special Attention to Louisiana / Berndt Ostendorf -- One-Drop Rules: Self-Identity and the Women in the Trial of Toucoutou / Sybil Kein -- Part 3. Louisiana Literature: The Tradition and Three Contemporary Writers -- Louisiana and the American Literary Tradition / Peggy Whitman Prenshaw -- The Carnival Voices of A Confederacy of Dunces / John Lowe -- Ellen Gilchrist's False Eden: The New Orleans Stories of In the Land of Dreamy Dreams / Margaret Bauer -- Intimacy and/in Distance: The Poetry of Pinkie Gordon Lane / Carolyn M. Jones -- Part 4. Louisiana Mythologies, from the Kingfish to the Peculiar Fascination with the Dead -- The Kingfish as Trickster Hero: Huey Long in Louisiana Culture / Marcia Gaudet -- I Want to Die in New Orleans / Brenda Marie Osbey -- Part 5. Music that Soothes the Soul -- Hollers, Blue Notes, and Brass Sounds: Diverse Musical and Cultural Influences on Jazz in Louisiana / Wilfried Raussert -- One More Last Chance: Ritual and the Jazz Funeral / Brenda Marie Osbey -- Conclusion: Hearing Sappho in New Orleans / Ruth Salvaggio -- Contributors -- Index. Publisher Marketing: In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson acquired 828,000 square miles of French territory in what became known as the Louisiana Purchase. Although today Louisiana makes up only a small portion of this immense territory, this exceptional state embraces a larger-than-life history and a cultural blend unlike any other in the nation. Louisiana Culture from the Colonial Era to Katrina, a collection of fourteen essays compiled and edited by John Lowe, captures all of the flavor and richness of the state's heritage, illuminating how Louisiana, despite its differences from the rest of the United States, is a microcosm of key national concerns -- including regionalism, race, politics, immigration, global connections, folklore, musical traditions, ethnicity, and hybridity. Divided into five parts, the volume opens with an examination of Louisiana's origins, with pieces on Native Americans, French and German explorers, and slavery. Two very different but complementary essays follow with investigations into the ongoing attempts to define Creoles and creolization. No collection on Louisiana would be complete without attention to its remarkable literary traditions, and several contributors offer tantalizing readings of some of the Pelican State's most distinguished writers -- a dazzling array of artists any state would be proud to claim. The volume also includes pieces on a couple of eccentric mythologies distinct to Louisiana and explorations of Louisiana's unique musical heritage. Throughout, the international slate of contributors explores the idea of place, particularly the concept of Louisiana as the center of the Caribbean wheel, where Cajuns, Creoles, Cubans, Haitians, Jamaicans, and others are part of a New World configuration, connected by their linguistic identity, landscape and climate, religion, and French and Spanish heritage. A poignant conclusion considers the devastating impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and what the storms mean for Louisiana's cultural future. A rich portrait of Louisiana culture, this volume stands as a reminder of why that culture must be preserved. Review Citations:

Chronicle of Higher Education 01/23/2009 pg. 19 (EAN 9780807133378, Hardcover)