Cultural Intermarriage in Southern Appalachia: Cherokee Elements in Four Selected Novels by Lee Smith

by Katerina Prajznerova

Overview

Examining four of Lee Smith's mountain novels from the point of view of cultural anthropology, this study show that fragments of the Cherokee heritage resonate in her work. These elements include connections with the Cherokee beliefs regarding medicinal plants and spirit animals, Cherokee stories about the Daughter of the Sun, the corn Woman, the Spear Finger, the Raven Mocker, the Little People and the booger men; the Cherokee concept of witchcraft; and the social position of Cherokee women.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415945875
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/16/2003
Series:	Indigenous Peoples and Politics
Pages:	172
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1470L (what's this?)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2. Nature and Cultural Roots 3. Stories and Cultural Communities 4. Vashti Cantrell and Ora Mae Cantrell: The Mysterious Half-Breed Women of Oral History's Hoot Owl Holler Appendix

Editorial Reviews

"A groundbreaking book [that]...employs the 'Marxist brnchf of cultural anthropology' to show how Cherokee ideas about climate, geography, religion, race, sex, and family intertwined with those of European settlers to create a distinct set of cultural codes now recognized as 'Appalachian.'...An especial treat comes at book's end where Prajznerova provides a twenty-one-page transcript of an interview she conducted with Smith." — Appalachian Heritage

From the Publisher