Grasping Things: Folk Material Culture and Mass Society in America

by Simon J. Bronner

Overview

America stocks its shelves with mass—produced goods but fills its imagination with handmade folk objects. In Pennsylvania, the "back to the city" housing movement causes a conflict of cultures. In Indiana, an old tradition of butchering turtles for church picnics evokes both pride and loathing among residents. In New York, folk—art exhibits raise choruses of adoration and protest. These are a few of the examples Simon Bronner uses to illustrate the ways Americans physically and mentally grasp things. Bronner moves beyond the usual discussions of form and variety in America's folk material culture to explain historical influences on, and the social consequences of, channeling folk culture into a mass society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813191423
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	12/14/2004
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 5.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Simon J. Bronner is Distinguished Professor of Social Sciences and Dean of the College of General Studies at the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee. He is the editor of the four—volume Encyclopedia of American Folklife, Manly Traditions: The Folk Roots of American Masculinities, Consuming Visions: Accumulation and Display of Goods in America, 1880—1920, and other volumes, and the author of several books, including Folk Nation: Folklore in the Creation of American Tradition, Killing Tradition: Inside Hunting and Animal Rights Controversies, Following Tradition: Folklore in the Discourse of American Culture, and The Carver's Art: Crafting Meaning from Wood.

Editorial Reviews

An academic with an eye for human drama, Bronner's firsthand observations include memorable snapshots of rural and small—town men and women struggling to preserve an old—fashioned way of life... this thoughtful book makes it clear that folk culture still flourishes in the byways of America.

Kirkus Reviews

This cleverly titled and richly illustrated study of the interplay between folk material culture and the forces of modern mass society reads like a sampler of small moments of resistance to the massive apparatus of contemporary consumer culture.

Winterthur Portfolio

This is the stuff of honest folklore, honestly presented. It embraces the best meaning and philosophy of folklore 'collecting' and scholarship, an enjoyable endeavor for readers and writer.

Journal of American History

"An academic with an eye for human drama, Bronner's firsthand observations include memorable snapshots of rural and small-town men and women struggling to preserve an old-fashioned way of life... this thoughtful book makes it clear that folk culture still flourishes in the byways of America." — Kirkus Reviews

"This is the stuff of honest folklore, honestly presented. It embraces the best meaning and philosophy of folklore 'collecting' and scholarship, an enjoyable endeavor for readers and writer." — Journal of American History

"This cleverly titled and richly illustrated study of the interplay between folk material culture and the forces of modern mass society reads like a sampler of small moments of resistance to the massive apparatus of contemporary consumer culture." — Winterthur Portfolio

From the Publisher