Mariah E. Marsden (The Ohio State University)
I propose a connection between print culture and folklore that can offer new insights into the communicative and cultural resources of a region shaped by its rurality. Rather than centering popular publications with broad circulation, I take a folkloristic approach to explore how people collect and share news, traditions, and knowledge through everyday genres of print that are often imagined on the periphery of media networks. Ultimately, I demonstrate how Ozarkers make use of print, both as a technology and as a modality tied to history and tradition, to envision and navigate their region in creative and unexpected ways.
Part of 03-14 Text, Translation, and Documentation, Thursday, October 13, 2:30 pm–4:30 pm