{"product_id":"hillbilly-a-cultural-history-of-an-american-icon-9780195189506","title":"Hillbilly: A Cultural History of an American Icon","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn this pioneering work of cultural history  historian Anthony Harkins argues that the hillbilly-in his various guises of \"briar hopper \" \"brush ape \" \"ridge runner \" and \"white trash\"-has been viewed by mainstream Americans simultaneously as a violent degenerate who threatens the modern order and as a keeper of traditional values of family  home  and physical production  and thus symbolic of a nostalgic past free of the problems of contemporary life. \"Hillbilly\" signifies both rugged individualism and stubborn backwardness  strong family and kin networks but also inbreeding and bloody feuds. Spanning film  literature  and the entire expanse of American popular culture  from D. W. Griffith to hillbilly music to the Internet  Harkins illustrates how the image of the hillbilly has consistently served as both a marker of social derision and regional pride. He traces the corresponding changes in representations of the hillbilly from late-nineteenth century America  through the great Depression  the mass migrations of Southern Appalachians in the 1940s and 1950s  the War on Poverty in the mid 1960s  and to the present day. Harkins also argues that images of hillbillies have played a critical role in the construction of whiteness and modernity in twentieth century America. Richly illustrated with dozens of photographs  drawings  and film and television stills  this unique book stands as a testament to the enduring place of the hillbilly in the American imagination.  Hillbilly received an Honorable Mention  John G. Cawelti Book Award of the American Culture Association.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45648251289653,"sku":"ByrdShop_0195189507","price":38.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780195189506.jpg?v=1781713750","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/hillbilly-a-cultural-history-of-an-american-icon-9780195189506","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}