Notions of southern culture run deep and wide through the American consciousness. Perhaps no region of the United States conjures up as many images or emotions as does the American South. Yet despite the stereotypes that resonate throughout society, it remains nearly impossible to categorize the many shades of culture found in the history of the southern states. Spanning from Atlantic coastal ecosystems to the Ozark Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico, the region is home to orange groves and Creole food; the Gothic Revival style and the New Urbanism movement; ragtime, Piedmont blues, and Appalachian folk songs; high school football battles and Tobacco Road basketball rivalries; the Cajun language, the Gullah tongue, and the famous Southern drawl. From sartorial fashions to William Faulkner’s Sartoris, this splendid volume documents southern culture in its many colors and forms.

The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Regional Cultures is the first rigorous reference collection on the many ways in which American identity has been defined by its regions and its people. Each of its eight regional volumes presents thoroughly researched narrative chapters on Architecture; Art; Ecology & Environment; Ethnicity; Fashion; Film & Theater; Folklore; Food; Language; Literature; Music; Religion; and Sports & Recreation. Each book also includes a volume-specific introduction, as well as a series foreword by noted regional scholar and former National Endowment for the Humanities chairman William Ferris, who served as Consulting Editor for this encyclopedia.