From Anatolia to Appalachia: A Turkish-American Dialogue ed. by Joseph M. Skolnick, Jr., N. Brent Kennedy (review)

American community over a hundred years ago" 165). Parts Three and Four contain numerous previously uncollected, but published essays, articles, short stories,and poems. According to Martin and Primeau,these works powerfully illustrate Dunbar's own distinctive artistic vision" ( 215). Martin and Primeau's In His Own Voice is an exceptional collection that succinctly captures the passion, potency, and impact of the works of Paul Laurence Dunbar. The editors use both previously known and newly discovered literary pieces to highlight various dimensions of Dunbar that most people have failed to recognize. Without question, Martin and Primeau should be commended for such a meticulously researched and carefully crafted volume. Nevertheless, there are some shortcomings . One weakness is that the different sections of the volume are unevenly organized in length. In addition, the movement from a chronological to thematic approach is confusing at points. Despite these minor shortcomings, however, this volume deepens our understanding of Dunbar as the greatest African American poet prior to the Harlem Renaissance Era. Eric Jackson Northern Kentucky University Joseph M. Skolnick,Jr. and N. Brent Kennedy ,eds. From Anatolia to Appalacbia: A TurkishAmerican Dialogue. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press,2003. 136 pp. ISBN 0865547769 ( paper), $ 18.95. lthough officially a joint effort,this book is really a continuation of the work N. Brent Kennedy has done on the ethnic origins of the Melungeon people, located primarily in southwestern Virginia and eastern Tennessee. In his book The Melungeons: Tbe Resurrection of a Proud People tbe True Story of Elbnic Cleansing in America Macon: Mercer University Press, 1994), Kennedy challenged the standard anthropological definition of the gi-() Lip as " tri-racial isolates," and instead, focused on what he sees as the Mediterranean origins of these people. In the work under review, Kennedy focuses on the results of investigations into his claim that he and other Melungeons are of Turkish origin. In particular , he highlights the links established between the Melungeon Research Committee, which he founded,and the Assembly of Turkish American Associations ( ATAA), as well as contacts with people in Turkey itself. From these connections he hopes that this " exchange" will, " if properly understood and nurtured, bear beneficial fruit for all [ his emphasisl Turks and Americans,whatever their ethnic or political or religious inclinations (18). An introductory chapter provides background of this quest to " resurrect the true Melungeon heritage. The book concludesalthough Kennedy and Skolnick prefer to call it, " The Last Chapter in the Book"with an interview of Skolnick,a nonMelungeon professor of Political Science at the University of Virginia at Wise. In between,the book is taken up with interviews of Americans claiming Melungeon origin, other TurkishAmericans , and officials in Turkey. Respondents were asked a series of questions on their knowledge of the TurkicMe lungeon connection and how they would like to see it develop. All were positive toward the growing relationships,which include the twinning of Wise, Virginia, with Cesme, Turkey, and exchange programs between the University of Virginia at Wise WINTER 2005 85 From linatolia te Appalachia Aph u. vi, A, k, jr, „1\Hien! keii, vj, BOOK REVIEWS and Istanbul and Dumlupinar Universities. Kennedy' s ultimate aim is to build cultural understanding between the United States and Turkey through the Melungeons. In the process he hopes that this connection will be nonchauvinistic and embrace the broad definition of Melungeons,which he describes as " a model for a new ethnicity based not on skin color or national origins, but instead on shared experience" ( 14).This new definition can be best described, Kennedy believes, by the Melungeon " credo... ' One People,All Colors 14). Unfortunately, in this book Kennedy and Scholnick display the contradiction critics noted about Kennedy's earlier work ( see, for example, Melissa Schrift, " Melungeons and the Politics of Heritage," in Celeste Ray,ed. Southern Heritage on Display:Public Ritual and Ethnic Diversity within Southern Regionalism. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press,2003, especially 107120 ).While advocating multiculturalism, Kennedy's obsession with the Turkish connection promotes a certain racial exclusiveness based on DNA, and physical characteristics such as " shovel teeth"and the Turkish cranial bump 5, 3 92). The evidence of a cultural linkbased on linguistic analysisand genetic connections between Turks and Melungeons presented in this...