Mediated Images of the South: The Portrayal of Dixie in Popular Culture

In the ambitious and sprawling collection of essays that make up Mediated Images of the South, the reader encounters a colorful, historical, and even whimsical region….Mediated Images of the South is a notable and valuable resource for those interested in the popular texts that help to define a community, state, region, or nation.

There has been a recent trend in scholarly studies to assess how popular media have depicted the South. Karen Cox’s Dreaming of Dixie: How the South Was Created in American Popular Culture (CH, Jan’12, 49-2870), for example, examines the ways in which southern stereotypes, largely generated by northern advertising and entertainment corporations, influenced the way the entire nation perceived the South in the 20th century. Communications scholars Slade, Givens-Carroll, and Narro gather essays on topics as diverse as the influence of hip-hop on southern black men, the historical use of traditional southern emblems in promoting Mississippi tourism, and the Blue Collar Comedy Tour’s representation of redneck culture. As such, this book goes beyond historical interpretations only. Including essays addressing representations of southern culture from the recent past along with essays focusing on how current media depict the South, the editors attempt, as the introduction states, “to explore and understand the impact of the image of the Southerner within mass communication and popular culture.” Most of the nine essays are relatively brief, averaging only 18 pages, including bibliographical notes. The introduction is a slight four pages. Summing Up: Recommended.