Product details
- ISBN 9780313330438
- Publication Date: 30 Dec 2004
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
Robert Penn Warren once wrote West is where we all plan to go some day, and indeed, images of the westernmost United States provide a mythic horizon to American cultural landscape. While the five states (California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Hawai'i) which touch Pacific waters do share commonalities within the history of westward expansion, the peoples who settled the region—and the indigenous peoples they encountered—have created spheres of culture that defy simple categorization. This wide-ranging reference volume explores the marvelously eclectic cultures that define the Pacific region. From the music and fashion of the Pacific northwest to the film industry and surfing subcultures of southern California, from the vast expanses of the Alaskan wilderness to the schisms between native and tourist culture in Hawa'ii, this unprecedented reference provides a detailed and fascinating look at American regionalism along the Pacific Rim.
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Regional Cultures is the first rigorous reference collection on the many ways in which American identity has been defined by its regions and its people. Each of its eight regional volumes presents thoroughly researched narrative chapters on Architecture; Art; Ecology & Environment; Ethnicity; Fashion; Film & Theater; Folklore; Food; Language; Literature; Music; Religion; and Sports & Recreation. Each book also includes a volume-specific introduction, as well as a series foreword by noted regional scholar and former National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman William Ferris, who served as consulting editor for this encyclopedia.
JAN GOGGANS
AARON DIFRANCO serves as Program Officer for the Pacific Regional Humanities Center at the University of California, Davis. He is completing his Ph.D. research in the U.C. Davis English Department, where he specializes in 20th century poetry, environmental criticism, and bioregionalist culture. He has published several pieces on American nature poets, including an article on Gary Snyder's poetics.
