Communities, Cultures, and Identity Groups
Edited by Simon J. Bronner
Includes: Topic Finder, A-Z entries, illustrations, master bibliography
Awards:
Editors’ Choice, Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin
Outstanding Academic Title, Choice
Reviews:
“This set is the most comprehensive reference source on this topic and its many subfields. No other title compares to its reach. Essential. All levels.” Choice
“Each entry is thorough in coverage and concludes with a list of sources and cross references. ... [T]his reference work is distinct in offering the most comprehensive coverage of these subjects. Suitable for public and academic libraries.” Library Journal
“Reference collections in academic and large public libraries will benefit from the addition of the Encyclopedia of American Folklife. ... Highly recommended.” Booklist starred review
“With accessible essays, suggestions for further research, and separate geographical, cultural group and subject indexes, this guide will serve students from high school through college.” Gale Reference Reviews
“The entries are well written and objective.... Each article has good cross-referencing and a bibliography.... This encyclopedia captures much of what is unique, diverse, and occasionally quirky about American culture. It provides a wealth of information that is not easily found in other sources.” School Library Journal
Description: American folklife is steeped in world cultures or invented as new culture, always evolving, yet often practiced as it was created many years or even centuries ago. This fascinating encyclopedia explores the rich and varied cultural traditions of folklife in America—from barn raisings and the Internet to tattoos and Zydeco—and expressions that include ritual, custom, crafts, architecture, food, clothing, and art.
Featuring more than 350 A-Z entries, Encyclopedia of American Folklife is wide-ranging and broadly inclusive. Entries cover major cities and urban centers; new and established immigrant groups as well as Native Americans; U.S. states and territories, including Guam and Samoa; social issues, such as education and intellectual property; and expressions of material culture, such as homes, dress, food, and crafts. The encyclopedia covers notable folklife areas as well as general regional categories. It addresses religious groups and the diversity within them, such as the Amish and Jews), diverse age groups (from children and youth gangs to retirees), and contemporary folk groups (skateboarders and psychobillies)—placing all of them in the vivid tapestry of American folklife. Beyond that, this rich resource also provides in-depth insights into the basic concepts and theories of folklife in entries such as “community and group” and “tradition and culture.” A list of sources with each article and a master bibliography provide a starting point for further research.
Contents:
Introduction
Adolescents
Aesthetics
African American Communities
Alaska
Allegheny Region
Altars
Amana
American Samoa
Amish, Nebraska
Amish, Old Order
Animals
Appalachia
Arab Communities
Archives and Libraries
Armenian Communities
Art Environments
Atlanta
Atlas
Automobiles
Baltimore
Banjo
Baptists, Old Regular
Barn Raising
Barns
Baskets and Basketry
Basque Communities
Belief
Bikers
Birth
Blue Ridge Region
Bluegrass Music
Blues
Body Modification and Tattooing
Bodybuilders and Weight Lifters
Bosnian Communities
Boston
Boy Scouts
Branding
Brooklyn
Buddhists
Bulgarian Communities
Cajun Communities
Cape Cod
Cape Verdean Communities
Carnival
Carolina, Down East
Carpatho-Rusyn Communities
Catholic Charismatics
Catholics
Chain Letters
Charleston and Lowcountry South Carolina
Chicago
Chicano and Mexican Communities
Childhood
Children’s Groups
Chinatowns
Chinese Communities
Christmas
Church of the Brethren
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Coastal Carolina Plain Region
Cockfighting
Communal Societies
Communication
Community and Group
Consumerism
Context
Courtship
Cowboys
Craft
Creoles, Louisiana
Croatian Communities
Croatians, Louisiana
Cuban Communities
Cults and Rumor-Panics, Satanic
Cultural Register
Czech Communities
Dance, Liturgical
Dance, Secular
Danish Communities
Deaf Communities
Death and Funerals
Delmarva and the Eastern Shore Region
Delta, Mississippi River
Denver
Des Moines
Detroit
Dialect
Dialect Stories
Dominican Communities
Drama
Dress and Costume
Easter
Eastern Orthodox Christians
Education
El Paso
Environment
Estonian Communities
Ethnic and Immigrant Folklife
Ethnography and Fieldwork
Family
Fans, Automobile Racing
Fans, Extreme Metal
Fans, Heavy Metal
Farmers
Feminism
Fetishes
Filipino Communities
Film and Video
Finnish Communities
Firefighters
Fishing Communities
Folk Art
Folk Festivals
Folk Music and Song
Folk Society
Folk Speech and Language
Folklife and Folk Culture
Folklife Organizations
Folklore
Folklorists
Foodways
Fourth of July and Juneteenth
Franco-American Communities
Fraternal Organizations
French Canadian Communities
Function and Functionalism
Gamblers and Gambling
Games, Drinking
Games and Toys
Gangs
Gangs, Youth
Gardens and Gardening
Gay Communities
Gay Fire Island
Gay San Francisco
Geography
German Communities
Germans, Great Plains
Gestures
Gospel Music
Goths
Gravemarkers
Great Plains Indians
Great Plains Region
Greek Communities
Grottoes
Guam
Gullah, or Geechee, Communities
Hair
Haitian Communities
Halloween
Hare Krishna
Harlem
Hasidim and Misnagidim (Haredim)
Hawaiians, Native
Healing, Faith
Healing and Medicine
Hillbillies
Hindus
Hip-Hop
History and Heritage
Hmong Communities
Holidays
Hospitals
Houses
Houston
Humor
Hungarian Communities
Hunting
Hutterites
Intellectual Property and Traditional Knowledge
Internet
Irish, Boston
Irish, Chicago
Irish Communities
Italian Communities
Italian Community, Detroit
Japanese Communities
Japantowns
Jewish Communities
Jews, Crypto- and Protestant Millennialism
Korean Communities
Ku Klux Klan
Landscape
Lao Communities
Las Vegas
Latvian Communities
Legends
Lithuanian Communities
Little Egypt
Little Havana
Little League Baseball and Youth Sports Organizations
Little Sweden
Loggers, Maine
Los Angeles
Love Feast
Lumbering
Lutherans
Macedonian Communities
Maine, Down East
MÄrchen
Mardi Gras
Martial Artists
Material Culture
Medicine, Folk
Memorial Day
Memphis
Men and Masculinity
Mennonites
Mennonites, Reformed
Mennonites, Wenger
Metal and Metalworkers
Methodists
Miami
Middle Atlantic Region
Midwest
Migrant Workers and Hoboes
Millennialists
Milwaukee
Miners, Anthracite
Miners, Bituminous
Minneapolis–St. Paul Metropolitan Area
Molokans
Montagnard-Dega Communities
Mormon Culture Region
Mormon Fundamentalists
Mormons
Museums and Exhibitions
Muslims
Names
Narrative, Personal
Nashville
Nationalism
Netherlands Dutch and Belgian Communities
New England
New Orleans
New Year
New York City
Northern Appalachian Region (Catskills and Adirondacks)
Northwest Coast
Norwegian Communities
Nuer Communities
Nurses
Occupational Folklife
Old German Baptist Brethren
Old Order River Brethren
Old-Age Communities
Old-Time Music
Oral and Folk History
Organization, Corporate and Work
Organizations, Voluntary and Special Interest
Outsider Art
Ozarks
Paper Arts
Parades
Pennsylvania Culture Region
Pennsylvania German Communities
Pentecostals
Performance Approach and Dramatic Arts
Philadelphia
Photography
Picnics
Pittsburgh
Place and Space
Polish Communities
Polka
Popular Culture
Portuguese-Speaking Communities
Potlatch
Pottery
Powwowing
Prisoners
Proverbs and Sayings
Psychobilly
Psychology
Public Folklife
Puerto Rican Communities
Punk
Quakers
Queens, Borough of
Quilting
Railroaders
Rangeley Lakes Region
Recreational Vehicle Communities
Region
Religion
Reunions
Riddles and Riddling
Rio Grande Border Region
Rituals and Rites
Rocky Mountain Cultural Region
Rugs and Rug Making
Russian Communities
Saddles and Saddle Making
Sailors
Saint Louis
San Diego
San Francisco Bay Area
Santa Fe
Scottish Communities
Senegalese Communities
September 11th
Serbian, Slovenian, and Montenegrin Communities
Shakers
Shenandoah Valley Region
Showers, Wedding and Baby
Shrines and Crosses, Roadside
Shrines and Memorials, Spontaneous and Vernacular
Sicilian Communities
Sikhs
Skateboarders
Skinheads
Slovak Communities
Snake-Handling Sects
Soldiers
South, The
South Asian Communities
Southeastern Indians
Southwest
Southwestern Indians
Spiritualists
Sports Teams
Steelworkers
Stone
Storytelling
Straight Edge
Students
Suburbs
Supernatural
Swedish Communities
Symbol and Structure
Taxi Drivers
Texas
Text
Thanksgiving
Tibetans
Toasts and Dozens
Tradition and Culture
Trial Lawyers
Truck Drivers (Long-Haul Truckers)
Tulsa
Twelve-Step Groups
Ukrainian Communities
Unions
Urban Folklife
Vietnamese Communities
Visual Culture
Voodoo and SanterÍa
Washington, D.C.
Weddings and Marriage
West African Communities
Wiccans
Wiregrass Region
Women
Wood
Wrestling, Professional
Zydeco
