From Storyville brothels and narratives of turn-of-the-century New Orleans to plantation tours; Bette Davis films; Elvis memorials; Willa Cather's fiction; and the annual prison rodeo held at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola; Jessica Adams considers spatial and ideological evolutions of southern plantations after slavery. In Wounds of Returning; Adams shows that the slave past returns to inhabit plantation landscapes that have been radically transformed by tourism; consumer culture; and modern modes of punishment--even those landscapes from which slavery has supposedly been banished completely.Adams explores how the commodification of black bodies during slavery did not disappear with abolition--rather; the same principle was transformed into modern consumer capitalism. As Adams demonstrates; however; counternarratives and unexpected cultural hybrids erupt out of attempts to re-create the plantation as an uncomplicated scene of racial relationships or a signifier of national unity. Peeling back the layers of plantation landscapes; Adams reveals connections between seemingly disparate features of modern culture; suggesting that they remain haunted by the force of the unnatural equation of people as property.
#254688 in Books The University of North Carolina Press 2003-08-25 2003-08-25Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.34 x .96 x 6.18l; 1.33 #File Name: 0807855030384 pages
Review
24 of 27 people found the following review helpful. Good Exploration of Civil War Western North CarolinaBy Gregory S. King-owenProgressing from his study of slaveholding in Western North Carolina (Mountain Masters) and other explorations of Southern Appalachian History; John Inscoe has teamed up with Gordon B. McKinney; the editor of the microfilm version of the Zebulon B. Vance Papers and author of Southern Mountain Republicans to produce the first scholarly synthesis of the Civil War in Western North Carolina. The book breaks new ground in relying on the scholarship of the past twenty years to revise the portrait of a part of North Carolina that was considered to be staunchly Unionist. It explores mountaineers attitudes toward slavery; secession; and the war in general in very broad strokes; these insights are fleshed out with details from specific locales. From the historian's point of view; the authors have not met the rigorous burden of proof in many cases; choosing to base their conclusions on just one or two primary sources; in some cases; they are forced to draw from examples outside of the region (such as Tennessee) which would fail to satisfy the most demanding of those who want conclusive evidence. However; the book is a wonderful tale and in many cases shows the myriad of responses to what has been described as the most influential historical event in United States History.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy nancy McNiven-Glennstraight on. tuns of references and facts0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy scottGood book.
