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Pennsylvania Germans

An Interpretive Encyclopedia

edited by Simon J. Bronner and Joshua R. Brown

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This comprehensive encyclopedia—the first of its kind—maps out three hundred years of German history and culture in Pennsylvania and beyond.

Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title of the Choice ACRL

Destined to become the standard reference on Pennsylvania Germans (also known as the "Pennsylvania Dutch"), this book is the first survey of this extensive American group in nearly seventy-five years. Nineteen broad interpretive essays written by a distinguished group of historians, anthropologists, sociologists, linguists, and folklorists tell the rich and nuanced story of Pennsylvania...

This comprehensive encyclopedia—the first of its kind—maps out three hundred years of German history and culture in Pennsylvania and beyond.

Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title of the Choice ACRL

Destined to become the standard reference on Pennsylvania Germans (also known as the "Pennsylvania Dutch"), this book is the first survey of this extensive American group in nearly seventy-five years. Nineteen broad interpretive essays written by a distinguished group of historians, anthropologists, sociologists, linguists, and folklorists tell the rich and nuanced story of Pennsylvania German history and culture.

United by a distinct (and distinctly American) language, the Pennsylvania Germans have been slower to assimilate than other ethnic groups. This sweeping volume reveals, though, that the group is much less homogenous and isolated than was previously thought. From architecture, media, and farming techniques to food, folklore, and medicine, the Pennsylvania Germans and their descendants display a wide range of cultural variation. In Pennsylvania Germans, editors Simon J. Bronner and Joshua R. Brown broaden the geographical and social coverage of the group, touching both on Pennsylvanian communities and the Pennsylvania German diaspora, including settlements in Canada and Mexico. They also expand historical coverage of the Pennsylvania Germans to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Beautifully illustrated, this volume—while paying tribute to the historical and cultural legacy of the Pennsylvania Germans—is the most comprehensive book on the subject to date.

Contributors: R. Troy Boyer, Simon J. Bronner, Joshua R. Brown, Edsel Burdge Jr., William W. Donner, John B. Frantz, Mark Häberlein, Karen M. Johnson-Weiner, Donald B. Kraybill, David W. Kriebel, Gabrielle Lanier, Mark L. Louden, Yvonne J. Milspaw, Lisa Minardi, Steven M. Nolt, Candace Perry, Sheila Rohrer, and Diane Wenger

Reviews

Reviews

Essential. All readership levels.

This volume admirably expands its analysis of culture to include the visual, from Taufscheine to Hollywood movies...

This book is a tour de force of Pennsylvania German history, language, and culture and points to many directions for future reserach... Considering the disciplinary breadth, array of methodological approaches, and theoretical foundations, this volume should succeed in starting important dialogues.

Here is a long-overdue and magisterial encyclopedia on the German-speaking peoples’ achievements in North America. Masterfully enhancing traditional approaches, this book sets new standards for practicing Pennsylvania German studies in our times and changes the way we think about the Pennsylvania Germans’ impact on North America.

Guaranteed to inspire future research in the field of study, this thought-provoking and comprehensive overview of the Pennsylvania Germans will broaden the discussion of the culture’s presence and diaspora throughout North America, not merely as a relic of a preindustrial past, but as a modern, dynamic, American identity.

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About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
7
x
10
Pages
592
ISBN
9781421421384
Illustration Description
27 color photos, 103 halftones, 1 map
Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments

Introduction: Pennsylvania German Studies
Simon J. Bronner and Joshua R. Brown

Part 1: History and Geography
1. The Old World Background
Mark Häberlein
2. To the New World

Preface
Acknowledgments

Introduction: Pennsylvania German Studies
Simon J. Bronner and Joshua R. Brown

Part 1: History and Geography
1. The Old World Background
Mark Häberlein
2. To the New World: Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
John B. Frantz
3. Communities and Identities: Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Centuries
Diane Wenger and Simon J. Bronner

Part 2: Culture and Society
4. The Pennsylvania German Language
Mark Louden
5. Language Use among Anabaptist Groups
Donald B. Kraybill, Steven Nolt, and Edsel Burdge, Jr.
6. Religion
John B. Frantz
7. The Amish
Karen Johnson-Weiner and Joshua R. Brown
8. Literature
Sheila Rohrer
9. Agriculture and Industries
R. Troy Boyer
10. Architecture and Cultural Landscapes
Gabrielle Lanier
11. Furniture and Decorative Arts
Lisa Minardi
12. Fraktur and Visual Culture
Lisa Minardi
13. Textiles
Candace Perry
14. Food and Cooking
Yvonne Milspaw
15. Medicine
David W. Kriebel
16. Folklore and Folklife
Simon J. Bronner
17. Education
William W. Donner
18. Heritage and Tourism
William W. Donner
19. Popular Culture and Media
Simon J. Bronner

Contributors
Index

Author Bios
Simon J. Bronner
Featured Contributor

Simon J. Bronner

Simon J. Bronner is distinguished professor of American studies and folklore and the director of the Center for Pennsylvania Culture Studies at the Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg. He is the author of Explaining Traditions: Folk Behavior in Modern Culture and the editor of Encyclopedia of American Folklife.
Featured Contributor

Joshua R. Brown

Joshua R. Brown is associate professor of German at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. He is a coeditor of The Comprehensive Pennsylvania German Dictionary.