Douglas C. Comer
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520204294
- eISBN:
- 9780520918702
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520204294.003.0003
- Subject:
- Anthropology, American and Canadian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter introduces the concept of ritual as the re-enactment of the actions of the ancestors and gods which transformed primordial chaos into the order of the world, contending that the neotenic ...
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This chapter introduces the concept of ritual as the re-enactment of the actions of the ancestors and gods which transformed primordial chaos into the order of the world, contending that the neotenic nature of our oceanic desire structures ritual behavior in predictable ways, ways which conform to universal experiences and perceptions. It cites as an example the Sun Dance ceremony of Plains Indians, which has been appropriated by modern American culture as a paradisiacal model by which to legitimate unbridled concern for self and self-advancement.Less
This chapter introduces the concept of ritual as the re-enactment of the actions of the ancestors and gods which transformed primordial chaos into the order of the world, contending that the neotenic nature of our oceanic desire structures ritual behavior in predictable ways, ways which conform to universal experiences and perceptions. It cites as an example the Sun Dance ceremony of Plains Indians, which has been appropriated by modern American culture as a paradisiacal model by which to legitimate unbridled concern for self and self-advancement.
Margaret Bendroth
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469624006
- eISBN:
- 9781469624020
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469624006.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
This introductory chapter examines the role of the past in mainline Protestant churches—more specifically the Congregationalists—and how they have coped with modern, twentieth-century American life. ...
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This introductory chapter examines the role of the past in mainline Protestant churches—more specifically the Congregationalists—and how they have coped with modern, twentieth-century American life. The religious history of the modern era was as much about fortress building as it was about ecumenical cooperation: this urbane and presumably secular age saw far more debate about what it meant to be a Baptist or a Presbyterian or a Congregationalist—or, for that matter, a Roman Catholic or a Jew or an evangelical—than any earlier time. Congregationalists are especially apt for this kind of story. To begin with, from the early nineteenth century onward, they have played a major role in shaping American culture, exerting an influence well beyond their relatively modest numbers.Less
This introductory chapter examines the role of the past in mainline Protestant churches—more specifically the Congregationalists—and how they have coped with modern, twentieth-century American life. The religious history of the modern era was as much about fortress building as it was about ecumenical cooperation: this urbane and presumably secular age saw far more debate about what it meant to be a Baptist or a Presbyterian or a Congregationalist—or, for that matter, a Roman Catholic or a Jew or an evangelical—than any earlier time. Congregationalists are especially apt for this kind of story. To begin with, from the early nineteenth century onward, they have played a major role in shaping American culture, exerting an influence well beyond their relatively modest numbers.
Joshua Guthman
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469624860
- eISBN:
- 9781469624884
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469624860.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
This chapter describes the Old Baptist feeling, or “lonesome sound,” rooted in the folkways of dissenting Protestantism and in the nineteenth-century Primitive revolt that seeped into modern American ...
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This chapter describes the Old Baptist feeling, or “lonesome sound,” rooted in the folkways of dissenting Protestantism and in the nineteenth-century Primitive revolt that seeped into modern American culture through the singing of old-time musician Roscoe Holcomb (an Old Regular Baptist) and bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley (a Primitive Baptist). Holcomb's emergence during the postwar folk revival and long career as well as his more recent stardom mark the strange eruption of a distinctly Calvinist presence in the nation's popular culture that had been buried at least a century before. But outside the confines of church, sect, and denomination, religion can have a second life ruled by mood and metaphor, where believer and nonbeliever alike reconfigure an old faith to meet their current needs. In Holcomb's and Stanley's music, we hear Calvinism's second, altered life sung into being.Less
This chapter describes the Old Baptist feeling, or “lonesome sound,” rooted in the folkways of dissenting Protestantism and in the nineteenth-century Primitive revolt that seeped into modern American culture through the singing of old-time musician Roscoe Holcomb (an Old Regular Baptist) and bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley (a Primitive Baptist). Holcomb's emergence during the postwar folk revival and long career as well as his more recent stardom mark the strange eruption of a distinctly Calvinist presence in the nation's popular culture that had been buried at least a century before. But outside the confines of church, sect, and denomination, religion can have a second life ruled by mood and metaphor, where believer and nonbeliever alike reconfigure an old faith to meet their current needs. In Holcomb's and Stanley's music, we hear Calvinism's second, altered life sung into being.
David Gilbert
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469622699
- eISBN:
- 9781469622712
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469622699.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter explores how, by embracing and selling racial difference, black musicians were able to become leading cultural innovators, symbols of modern black representation, and central players in ...
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This chapter explores how, by embracing and selling racial difference, black musicians were able to become leading cultural innovators, symbols of modern black representation, and central players in the formation of modern American culture. This emerging racial formation was essentially strengthened by its diversity within the Manhattan marketplace. The popularity of ragtime empowered African American musicians to intervene in the city's local—but nationalizing—commercial culture industries with new and inventive musical commodities that, in turn, further propelled black innovators to the top of Manhattan markets. This reflexive, mutually propelling circuit promoted the increase of black artistry alongside the expansion of New York culture industries such as song publishing, musical theater, and vaudeville. It reinforced the idea that African American entertainers were some of the best in New York City and, increasingly, throughout America.Less
This chapter explores how, by embracing and selling racial difference, black musicians were able to become leading cultural innovators, symbols of modern black representation, and central players in the formation of modern American culture. This emerging racial formation was essentially strengthened by its diversity within the Manhattan marketplace. The popularity of ragtime empowered African American musicians to intervene in the city's local—but nationalizing—commercial culture industries with new and inventive musical commodities that, in turn, further propelled black innovators to the top of Manhattan markets. This reflexive, mutually propelling circuit promoted the increase of black artistry alongside the expansion of New York culture industries such as song publishing, musical theater, and vaudeville. It reinforced the idea that African American entertainers were some of the best in New York City and, increasingly, throughout America.
Jean M. O'Brien
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816665778
- eISBN:
- 9781452946672
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816665778.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
Across nineteenth-century New England, antiquarians and community leaders wrote hundreds of local histories about the founding and growth of their cities and towns. Ranging from pamphlets to ...
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Across nineteenth-century New England, antiquarians and community leaders wrote hundreds of local histories about the founding and growth of their cities and towns. Ranging from pamphlets to multivolume treatments, these narratives shared a preoccupation with establishing the region as the cradle of an Anglo-Saxon nation and the center of a modern American culture. They also insisted, often in mournful tones, that New England’s original inhabitants, the Indians, had become extinct, even though many Indians still lived in the very towns being chronicled. This book argues that local histories became a primary means by which European Americans asserted their own modernity while denying it to Indian peoples. Erasing and then memorializing Indian peoples also served a more pragmatic colonial goal: refuting Indian claims to land and rights. Drawing on more than six hundred local histories from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island written between 1820 and 1880, as well as censuses, monuments, and accounts of historical pageants and commemorations, the book explores how these narratives inculcated the myth of Indian extinction, a myth that has stubbornly remained in the American consciousness.Less
Across nineteenth-century New England, antiquarians and community leaders wrote hundreds of local histories about the founding and growth of their cities and towns. Ranging from pamphlets to multivolume treatments, these narratives shared a preoccupation with establishing the region as the cradle of an Anglo-Saxon nation and the center of a modern American culture. They also insisted, often in mournful tones, that New England’s original inhabitants, the Indians, had become extinct, even though many Indians still lived in the very towns being chronicled. This book argues that local histories became a primary means by which European Americans asserted their own modernity while denying it to Indian peoples. Erasing and then memorializing Indian peoples also served a more pragmatic colonial goal: refuting Indian claims to land and rights. Drawing on more than six hundred local histories from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island written between 1820 and 1880, as well as censuses, monuments, and accounts of historical pageants and commemorations, the book explores how these narratives inculcated the myth of Indian extinction, a myth that has stubbornly remained in the American consciousness.
