Appalachian Folkways (review)

John B. Rehder attempts to gain insights into Appalachian culture by examining the area's folklife, but his work falls short of that goal on several accounts, primarily because Rehder is a geographer. While he claims to use the tools and techniques of the discipline of folklore, his discussion is not informed by folklore theory. He seems to equate "folk" with "authentic" throughout this work, without ever discussing the problematic nature of authenticity in folklore. This problem is evident from the opening chapter of the book, where Rehder states, "The real Appalachia is Southern Appalachia" (p. 1). The notion of a "real" Appalachia is not problematic in and of itself. Indeed, many interesting and fruitful discussions on the variable reality of cultural identities have been made (most obvious being Regina Bendix's In Search of Authenticity, University of Wisconsin Press, 1997). However, Rehder does not explore the issue of authenticity in making his claim. Lacking nuance, he seems to assume that there is a "real Appalachia," which he describes in geographic terms as Southern Appalachia.

Rehder's cultural theory is woefully out of date in other ways. Chapter 3, "Ethnicity and Settlement," discusses the various cultural subgroups that make up the people of Appalachia. In describing the group commonly known as the Melungeons, Rehder attempts to explain their origins using outmoded racial terminology such as "Caucasoid," "Negroid," and "Mongoloid" (p. 61). He draws these expressions from past work in physical anthropology, but he never acknowledges the problems of such superceded terms, let alone the superceded theoretical framework from which they come. Rehder's training seems not to have equipped him to construct such a discussion using contemporary cultural concepts.

From a disciplinary standpoint, therefore, Appalachian Folkways has limited use for the folklorist, especially in the classroom. The unsophisticated cultural arguments are simply too pervasive for an undergraduate class to overcome, while a graduate class would likely want a better-developed argument using more current theory. For the individual folklorist, however, Rehder's text may provide some useful information on Appalachian culture. Each of the later chapters addresses an aspect of folk culture using recognizable genres: folk architecture, foodways, folk remedies and belief systems, music and art, folk speech. Once the problematic theoretical interpretations are removed, these chapters provide useful information about the folklife of Appalachia. Folklorists could make use of these chapters by considering them as raw material and overlooking the problems with the analysis. For example, Rehder gives the reader a useful discussion of the role of organized education in revitalizing certain traditional crafts in Appalachia: "Olive Dame Campbell got the idea for the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild after a 1923 visit to northern Europe, where she observed Finnish cooperative craft schools, Danish folk schools, and others" (p. 275). If one is patient enough to mine the text for such information, unpolished gems can be unearthed.

The most useful chapter of Rehder's book is, unsurprisingly, his examination of the geography of the Appalachian region. Chapter 2, "The Shape of Appalachia," gives an insightful examination of the landforms, rivers, and vegetation of the region. This chapter provides geomorphological contexts that most folklorists are incapable of accessing on their own. In this chapter Rehder's prose seems most comfortable and confident, perhaps because he is writing to his disciplinary strengths. I particularly enjoyed his description of the New River, a location in West Virginia that carries meaning for me: "The maverick northwesterly flow of the New . . . makes it a river after my own heart" (pp. 47-8). Such personal touches are sprinkled throughout this and other chapters, and Appalachian Folkways is more accessible for it. The author has long personal experience in Appalachia, and many times throughout his work, his analysis is framed in a first-person, anecdotal presentation. Phrases such as "a friend of mine who had been a high school teacher" (p. 134) or an endearing story about his sending a student out to discover what cat-head biscuits and sawmill...