Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
Food Images in Traditional Appalachian Music: Inventing and Homogenizing a Regional Cuisine
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Old-time Appalachian tune titles and song lyrics frequently reference food and drink. These include specific dishes (for example, cornbread, biscuits, gravy, moonshine), ingredients (corn, cabbage, squirrels, chickens, sack of meal), and cooking implements (skillet, frying pan), as well as ways of obtaining food (hunting, farming, hoeing corn) and cooking it (frying, boiling). These references give descriptions of typical foods of the region, but they also offer an homogenized impression of what constitutes Appalachian foodways. While there are basic ingredients common throughout the area, there is a great deal of diversity in Appalachian foodways that reflects the diverse ethnicities, social classes, religious affiliations, education levels, and geographies that exist there. These other foods are usually not mentioned in the music. This paper examines the range and categories of food references in traditional Appalachian music. Assuming that most of these references really are about food (although some could also be metaphors for sex), these references define a unified Appalachian cuisine that would have been unintentionally promoted in the public consciousness through music.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Dr. Lucy Long is a folklorist, retired professor, and director of the non-profit Center for Food and Culture in Bowling Green, OH that produces educational materials and programs on various aspects of food as a cultural domain. She has published extensively on topics in foodways, music, and Appalachian studies, including books on, among other topics, culinary tourism, comfort food, ethnic and regional American food, and food and meaning.
Food Images in Traditional Appalachian Music: Inventing and Homogenizing a Regional Cuisine
Old-time Appalachian tune titles and song lyrics frequently reference food and drink. These include specific dishes (for example, cornbread, biscuits, gravy, moonshine), ingredients (corn, cabbage, squirrels, chickens, sack of meal), and cooking implements (skillet, frying pan), as well as ways of obtaining food (hunting, farming, hoeing corn) and cooking it (frying, boiling). These references give descriptions of typical foods of the region, but they also offer an homogenized impression of what constitutes Appalachian foodways. While there are basic ingredients common throughout the area, there is a great deal of diversity in Appalachian foodways that reflects the diverse ethnicities, social classes, religious affiliations, education levels, and geographies that exist there. These other foods are usually not mentioned in the music. This paper examines the range and categories of food references in traditional Appalachian music. Assuming that most of these references really are about food (although some could also be metaphors for sex), these references define a unified Appalachian cuisine that would have been unintentionally promoted in the public consciousness through music.
