Material Culture, North American Folklore & Mythology, Regional Studies - Southern U.S., Southern Region - History - General & Miscellaneous

Upper Cumberland Country

Name: Upper Cumberland Country
Author: William L. Montell
ISBN: 9780878056309

by William L. Montell

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Overview

Tucked between Appalachia and the Deep South, the Upper Cumberland region straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee line along the banks of the Cumberland River. Here, dating from the days of the nation's earliest history, is one of America's richest repositories of folklife. Rather than revealing an artifact, however, this comprehensive study of the Upper Cumberland reveals a living tradition whose roots in the past continue to nourish the present. Rugged and rural, the people of the Upper Cumberland long have recognized the value of their traditions. The region's economic base in agriculture, logging, and river transport has sustained a style of life that derives from modes of self-sufficiency originating in pioneer times. Upper Cumberland Country relates a long-abiding fact that endures in this region - that, despite being the witness to many changes, the Upper Cumberland continues in modern times to embrace an abundance of diverse elements of its fascinating folklife. Documented here in descriptive text, photographs, and interviews are varieties of folk cultural expression in music, architecture, crafts, schools, religious life, folk medical practices, and customs surrounding birth, puberty, marriage, and death. Upper Cumberland Country explores the spectrum of folklore from yesterday and today - from pioneer life and early folk architecture to teens "cruising" and women deer hunters. In a region filled with relics, modern voices from the Upper Cumberland speak directly of the living traditions that give the region its unique character. Though rooted in pioneer heritage, the folklife here springs into the present with resonant meanings for contemporary times.