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Culture of the Southern United States
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The Culture of the Southern United States or Southern Culture is a subculture of the United States that has resulted from the blending of a heavy amount of English, Scottish/Scots-Irish culture, the culture of African slaves, Native American culture, and to a lesser degree that of French and Spanish colonists. Southerners have a unique shared history, which includes remembrance of difficult times such as the institution of slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Great Depression, segregation and the Civil Rights Movement, and more recent events or tragedies such as Hurricane Katrina.
The South also hosts a vibrant African American culture, a sense of rural isolation, and a strong regional identity.
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The Culture of the Southern United States or Southern Culture is a subculture of the United States that has resulted from the blending of a heavy amount of English, Scottish/Scots-Irish culture, the culture of African slaves, Native American culture, and to a lesser degree that of French and Spanish colonists. Southerners have a unique shared history, which includes remembrance of difficult times such as the institution of slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Great Depression, segregation and the Civil Rights Movement, and more recent events or tragedies such as Hurricane Katrina.
The South also hosts a vibrant African American culture, a sense of rural isolation, and a strong regional identity. It has also developed its own customs, literature, musical styles (such as country music, bluegrass, southern gospel, rock and roll, blues and jazz), and cuisine.
People
The predominant culture of the South has its origins with the settlement of the region by British colonists. In the 17th century, most were of English origins who settled mostly on the coastal regions of the South, but in the 18th century, large groups of Scots and Ulster-Scots (later called the Scots-Irish) settled in Appalachia and the Piedmont. According to an 1860 census, "three-quarters of white Southerners had surnames that were Scottish, Irish or Welsh in origin."
250,000 settled in the USA between 1717 and 1770 alone. They were often called "crackers" by English neighbors. As one wrote, "I should explain… what is meant by Crackers; a name they have got from being great boasters; they are a lawless set of rascals on the frontiers of Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia, who often change their places of abode." Most had previously lived in Scotland, usually in the Lowlands and Scottish Border Country. The "Celtic Thesis" of Forrest McDonald and Grady McWhiney holds that they were mostly of Celtic origin (as opposed to Anglo-Saxon), and that the Celtic groups (Scots-Irish, Scottish, Welsh and others) were warlike herdsmen, in contrast to the peaceful farmers who predominated in England. Though it must be noted that these authors, whose surnames betray their ancestry, might have a biased view. Author James Webb uses this thesis in his book Born Fighting to suggest that the character traits of the Scots-Irish, loyalty to kin, mistrust of governmental authority, and military readiness, "helped shape the American identity," and indeed, these features commonly seen in the South have long been woven into fabric of American society and policy. Despite such theories, the belief in a Scots-Irish origin for many Southern surnames is suspect. A cursory glance at the surnames of Confederate generals will discover few that are not pure Anglo-Saxon.
The other primary population group in the South is made up of the African-American descendants of the slaves brought into the South. African-Americans comprise the United States' second-largest racial minority, accounting for 12.1 percent of the total population according to the 2000 census. Despite Jim Crow era outflow to the North (see Great Migration (African American)) the majority of the black population remains concentrated in the southern states, and have transmitted their foods, music (see "negro spirituals"), art, and charismatic brand of Christianity to white Southerners, and the rest of the nation.
Religion
Part of the South is known as the "Bible Belt", because of the prevalence there of evangelical or fundamentalist Protestantism, and sometimes conservative Catholicism. In addition, there are significant Roman Catholic populations along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and in most cities in the South (especially the port cities of New Orleans, Biloxi, Pensacola, and Mobile, which are not only urban but have a history as Spanish and French colonies), and preserve, primarily in New Orleans, Mobile and Pensacola, the continuing (and broadly popularized) Catholic traditions of Carnival at the beginning of Lent in Mardi Gras parades and related customs. These cities and some cities such as Atlanta, Charlotte, Charleston, Memphis, Louisville and Houston also have significant Jewish, and in some of the latter, significant Islamic communities. Immigrants from Southeast Asia and South Asia have brought Buddhism and Hinduism to the region as well. (For more information, see Charles Reagan Wilson, , Southern Spaces, March 16, 2004). Around 48% of Southerners attend church on a regular basis.
Southern dialect
The Southern American English dialect is often stigmatized, as are other American English dialects such as New York-New Jersey English. However, in recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in the Southern dialect. Southern American English can be divided into different sub-dialects (see American English), with speech differing between, for example, the Appalachian region and the coastal area around Charleston, South Carolina. The dialect spoken to various degrees by many African Americans, African American Vernacular English (AAVE), shares many similarities with Southern dialect, unsurprising given that group's strong historical ties to the region.
While traces of African language remain in AAVE, there are a few distinctively African dialect groups in the South, the Gullah the most famous among them. The Gullah people of the coastal low country of South Carolina have retained more aspects of their original African language and culture than any other African American group. They possess what some would even label a separate language and are the subject of rigorous study by linguists and anthropologists. Other, less known African American dialect groups are the rural blacks of the Mississippi Basin, and Africantown near Mobile, Alabama, where the last known ship to arrive in the Americas with slaves was abandoned in 1860.
There are several other unique linguistic enclaves in the American South. Among many is in the Outer Banks, which some scholars claim hosts an English dialect from the colonial South. The New Orleans or "Yat" dialect is similar to the "Brooklyn accent" because of an influx of German and Irish immigrants similar to what shaped Brooklyn. And many are familiar with the French-based Cajun French that is spoken in the southern half of Louisiana.
Tobacco
The South was world famous for its production and use of tobacco, which earned premium prices from around the world. Next to cotton it was the dominant cash crop from the earliest days to the late 20th century, especially in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Kentucky. Most farmers grew a little for their own use, or traded with neighbors who grew it. Commercial sales became important in the late 19th century as major tobacco companies rose in the South, becoming one the largest employers in cities like Durham, NC, Lexington , KY and Richmond, VA. In 1938 R.J. Reynolds marketed eighty-four brands of chewing tobacco, twelve brands of smoking tobacco, and the top-selling Camel brand of cigarettes, which had to compete with Chesterfields, Lucky Strikes, and eventually Old Golds. Reynolds sold large quantities of chewing tobacco, though that market peaked about 1910 as people shifted to cigarettes. In the late 20th century, use of smokeless tobacco by adolescent American males increased by 450 percent for chewing tobacco and by 1500 percent, or fifteenfold, for snuff. From 1978 to 1984, there was a 15 percent compound annual growth rate in U.S. smokeless tobacco sales. Usage is highest in the South and in the rural west. In 1992, 30 percent of all male high school seniors in the southeastern United States were regular users of chewing tobacco or snuff--more than smoked cigarettes, according to the Center for Disease Control.
Cuisine
As an important feature of Southern culture, the cuisine of the South is often described as one of its most distinctive traits. Popular sayings include "Food is Love" and "If it ain't fried it ain't cooked". Southern culinary culture has readily adopted Native American influences. Corn meal mush, cornfritters, hominy, cornbread, and brunswick stew are a few of the more common examples of foods adopted directly from southeastern Indians. Nevertheless, a great many regional varieties have also developed. The variety of cuisines range from Tex-Mex cuisine, Cajun and Creole, traditional antebellum fare, all types of seafood, and Texas, Carolina and Memphis styles of Barbecue.
Non-alcoholic beverages of choice include "sweet tea" and various soft drinks, many of which had their origins in the South (e.g. Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Cheerwine, and Dr Pepper). In many parts of Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Texas and other parts of the South, the term "soft drink" or "soda" is discarded in favor of "Coke" (though this could be seen as stating a preference for a brand, though the actual soft drink acquired is variable). Some people use the term "co-cola" when ordering a soft drink. In most restaurants, when someone orders "coke" or "co-cola", it is understood to bring whatever brand of cola the establishment offers. Lagers and Pilsners are generally preferred to heavier/darker beers due to the predominance of hot climate. Texas is also the center of a burgeoning wine boom, due to its climate and well drained limestone based soils, particularly in the Texas Hill Country. However, with alcoholic beverages, the South is mostly associated with whiskey, with popular brands including Bourbons such as Jim Beam, Wild Turkey, Virginia Gentleman and Kentucky Gentleman, Tennessee whiskey such as Jack Daniel's and George Dickel, as well as the liquor Southern Comfort. Moonshining enjoys a strong tradition in the South , especially (though by no means exclusively) in Appalachia , and this tradition has been represented frequently in popular culture.
Traditional African American Southern food is often called soul food. While not being spicy as is cajun food, it does tend to use lots of herbs, flour, and can also be called stick-to your ribs food. Of course, most Southern cities and even some smaller towns now offer a wide variety of cuisines of other origins such as Chinese, Italian, French, Middle Eastern, as well as restaurants still serving primarily Southern specialties, so-called "home cooking" establishments. Some notable "home cooking" meals include: fried chicken, corn on the cob, pot liquor, vegetable stew, chicken and dumplings, and country fried steak.
Literature
The South has a strong literary history. Characteristics of Southern literature include a focus on a common Southern history, the significance of family, a sense of community and one's role within it, the community's dominant religion (Conservative Christianity) and the rewards and burdens religion can often bring, issues of racial tension, land and the promise it brings, and the use of the various Southern dialects.
Perhaps the most famous Southern writer is William Faulkner, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949. Faulkner brought new techniques such as stream of consciousness and complex narrative techniques to American writing (such as in his novel As I Lay Dying). A preeminent writer who integrated a significant amount of Southern linguistics in his books about intriguing stories of young boys and life in the South in general is Samuel Clemens, under the pen-name Mark Twain. Other well-known Southern writers include Zora Neale Hurston, Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Connor, Carson McCullers, James Dickey, Willie Morris, Tennessee Williams, and Walker Percy. One of the most famous Southern novels of the 20th century, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, won the Pulitzer Prize when it was published in 1960.
Music
The musical heritage of the South was developed by both whites and blacks, both influencing each other directly and indirectly. The South's musical history actually starts before the Civil War, with the songs of the African slaves and the highlands folk music brought from Europe. Blues was developed in the rural South by Blacks at the beginning of the 20th century. In addition, gospel music, spirituals, country music, rhythm and blues, soul music, bluegrass, jazz (including ragtime, popularized by Southerner Scott Joplin), and Appalachian folk music all were either born in the South or developed in the region.
Rock n' roll began in the south as well. Early rock n' roll musicians from the south include Johnny Cash (Arkansas), Buddy Holly (Texas), Bo Diddley (Mississippi), Ray Charles (from Florida, though his musical career started in Seattle), Carl Perkins (Tennessee), Elvis Presley (born in Mississippi, although lived in Memphis, Tennessee during his career), and Jerry Lee Lewis (Louisiana) among others. Many who got their start in show business in the South eventually banked on mainstream success as well: Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton are two such examples.
Rap music is arguably one of the few major American musical genres not started in the South. Atlanta, Houston, and Memphis, however are noted hot spots for distinct styles of rap. During its early years, rap was dominated by a rivalry between East and West Coast styles and rappers, but has now developed into what is called the Dirty South or Third Coast .
Sports
While the South has had a number of Super Bowl winning National Football League teams (such as the Dallas Cowboys, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Miami Dolphins) the region is noted for the intensity with which people follow high school and college football teams, especially the Southeastern Conference and in Texas where high school football, especially in smaller communities, is a dominating activity.
Baseball became popular in the South, with spring training in Florida from the 1920s, and Major League Baseball teams like the Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins being recent World Series victors. Minor league baseball is also closely followed in the South (with the South being home to more minor league teams than any other region of the United States).
The South is also the birthplace of NASCAR auto racing. Other popular sports in the South include golf (which can be played almost year-round because of the South's mild climate), fishing, and the hunting of wild game such as deer, birds, and raccoons. Ironically, the hot-weather Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes were the 1998-1999, 2003-04 and 2005-06 National Hockey League champions. Atlanta was the host of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.
Film
Many critically acclaimed movies have been set in the cultural background of the South. A partial list of these films follows – for a more complete listing of Southern cinema, see list of films set in the Southern United States.
Television
Network Television Shows Set in the Southern United States
1950s-1971:
Following the boom of television in the 1950s, many shows were set in the South and/or became very popular with Southerners. They included:
1976-Present:
By 1971 sponsors had grown weary of this formula, and CBS consequently cancelled all of its Southern shows. (Only Hee Haw survived, in syndication.) However, in 1976 Jimmy Carter was elected as the first President of the United States from the Deep South (or arguably only the first since the Civil War; see Deep South.) The election resulted in reporters swarming into Carter's small southern town of Plains, Georgia, speculation about his lifestyle and Southern Baptist faith, and renewed interest in Southern culture.
A new crop of television shows followed within the next decade, such as:
In addition, network television shows set in the South since 1990 include:
However, critics point out that most of these shows, and most films in general, stereotype Southerners as "hapless hicks" or "a universally simple and often silly group of inhabitants" and argue that they do not fairly represent Southerners' culture.
Art
Though the region has been the home of many artists, the concept of Southern art as a separate genre is a 20th century phenomenon. Outstanding collections of Southern art can be found at the in New Orleans and the Morris Museum of Southern Art in Augusta. Southern expressionism and folk art are types of art generally considered to be part of Southern art. The Southern Arts Federation maintains a of contemporary Southern artists (including visual artists, performing artists, media artists and writers) who have been recognized by their state arts councils based on the outstanding quality of their work.
Some famous folk artists from the American South include Howard Finster (Summerville,GA) who mixed southern spirituality and traditional religious motifs with surrealism and dream-like post-modernism. Finster's work was featured on album covers by bands such as Talking Heads (Little Creatures, 1985) and R.E.M. (Reckoning, 1984). He has a permanent display at the High Museum Of art in Atlanta and his Paradise Gardens is still open to the public almost ten years after his passing.
Chris Flesher (Tennessee) has sold folk art as pieces and as concepts all over the world and has a collection at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City as well as in Carmel,CA. The influence of his art is mainly centered around the enchanting and beautiful landscape of the Great Smokey Mountains of Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina.
Pop artist Jasper Johns and African-American modernist Romare Bearden are two other prominent artists from the South: Johns was a native of Augusta, Georgia, while Bearden was born in Charlotte, North Carolina.
A major center of American modernism was located at the Black Mountain College in the town of Black Mountain, North Carolina. The history of the college - which attracted John Cage, Walter Gropius, Buckminster Fuller, Merce Cunningham, Willem de Kooning and other pioneers of varied mid-20th century arts - has been extensively detailed in several books and studies (notably, Mary Emma Harris' Arts At Black Mountain College and Vincent Katz' Black Mountain College: Experiment In Art). The school, which operated as an interdisciplinary, progressive institutuion for 23 years, was a key incubator for the American artistic avant-garde of the 1960s and beyond.
Culture of honor
Although not confined to the South, dueling was much more common there than in the rest of the United States. Thousands of Southerners died in duels.
In their study Insult, Aggression, and the Southern Culture of Honor: An “Experimental Ethnography” Dov Cohen and Richard Nisbett found that Southern white males follow norms characteristic of a “culture of honor.” This results in a higher aggressive reaction when insulted as compared to white northerners. In three experiments, people were insulted by a man who bumped into the participant and called him an “asshole”. Compared with northerners—who were relatively unaffected by the insult—southerners were
- more likely to think their masculine reputation was threatened.
- more upset (as shown by a rise in cortisol levels).
- more physiologically primed for aggression (as shown by a rise in testosterone levels).
- more cognitively primed for aggression.
- more likely to engage in aggressive and dominant behavior.
Findings highlight the insult–aggression cycle in cultures of honor for this ethnic group. Insults diminish a man's reputation and he tries to restore his status by aggressive or violent behavior.
Cultural variations
There continues to be debate about what constitutes the basics elements of Southern culture. This debate is influenced, in part, by the fact that the South is such a large region. As a result, there are a number of cultural variations on display in the region.
See also
Sources
- B. A. Botkin; A Treasury of Southern Folklore: Stories, Ballads, Traditions, and Folkways of the People of the South (1949)
- Cash, W. J. The mind of the South (1941)
- James C. Cobb Away Down South : A History of Southern Identity (2005)
- Fischer, D. H. Albion's seed: Four British folkways in America Oxford University Press 1989
- Gorn, E. J. "Gouge, and bite, pull hair and scratch: The social significance of fighting in the southern backcountry". American Historical Review (1985). 90:1, 18-43.
- Richard Gray and Owen Robinson, eds. A Companion to the Literature and Culture of the American South (2004)
- Mary Emma Harris The Arts at Black Mountain College The MIT Press (1987)
- Anthony Harkins; Hillbilly: A Cultural History of an American Icon Oxford University Press, 2004
- Suzanne W. Jones and Sharon Monteith, eds.South to a New Place: Region, Literature, Culture Louisiana State University Press, 2002.
- Charles W Joyner. Traditions: Southern History & Folk Culture 1999
- Vincent Katz Black Mountain College: Experiment in Art The MIT Press]] (2003)
- John Lowe and Fred Hobson, eds. Bridging Southern Cultures: An Interdisciplinary Approach (2005)
- Grady McWhiney; Cracker Culture: Celtic Ways in the Old South University of Alabama Press, 1989
- Naipaul, V. S. A turn in the South (1989).
- Ted Ownby; Subduing Satan: Religion, Recreation, and Manhood in the Rural South, 1865-1920 University of North Carolina Press, 1990
- Jeffrey M. Pilcher; "Tex-Mex, Cal-Mex, New Mex, or Whose Mex? Notes on the Historical Geography of Southwestern Cuisine" Journal of the Southwest, Vol. 43, 2001
- John Shelton Reed. The Enduring South: Subcultural Persistence in Mass Society (1986 (ISBN 0-8078-4162-5)
- John Shelton Reed. My Tears Spoiled My Aim: And Other Reflections on Southern Culture (1993) (ISBN 0-8262-0886-X)
- John Shelton Reed and Dale Volberg Reed, 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About the South (1996)
- James M. Volo and Dorothy Denneen Volo, eds; The Antebellum Period Greenwood Press, 2004
- Wyatt-Brown, B. The Shaping of Southern Culture: Honor, Grace, and War, 1760s-1890s 2001
- Zelinsky, Wilbur. The cultural geography of the United States Prentice-Hall. (1973).
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