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Down in the Holler: A Gallery of Ozark Folk Speech
Down in the Holler, first published in 1953, is a classic study of Ozark folklore. The University of Oklahoma Press is especially pleased to introduce such an invaluable and delightfully written book to a new generation of researchers and Americans entranced by the Ozarks and the folkways of the past.
Until World War II the backwoodsmen living in the Ozark Mountains of southern Missouri, northern Arkansas, and eastern Oklahoma were the most deliberately "unprogressive" people in the United States. The descendants of pioneers from the southern Appalachians, they changed their way of life very little during the whole span of the nineteenth century and were able to preserve their customs and traditions in an age of industrialism.
When the many attractions of the Ozarks were discovered by "outlanders," the tourists—and television—reached the hinterlands, and the old patterns of speech and life began to fade.
In this perceptive book, Vance Randolph, who first visited the Ozarks country in 1899, and his collaborator, George P. Wilson, recapture the speech of the people who lived "down in the holler." Randolph, closely identified with the region for many years, hunted possums with its people and shared their table at the House of Lords (a "kind of tavern" in Joplin). Through the years his hobby became a profession, and he spent years recording the various aspects of Ozark folk speech.
Until World War II the backwoodsmen living in the Ozark Mountains of southern Missouri, northern Arkansas, and eastern Oklahoma were the most deliberately "unprogressive" people in the United States. The descendants of pioneers from the southern Appalachians, they changed their way of life very little during the whole span of the nineteenth century and were able to preserve their customs and traditions in an age of industrialism.
When the many attractions of the Ozarks were discovered by "outlanders," the tourists—and television—reached the hinterlands, and the old patterns of speech and life began to fade.
In this perceptive book, Vance Randolph, who first visited the Ozarks country in 1899, and his collaborator, George P. Wilson, recapture the speech of the people who lived "down in the holler." Randolph, closely identified with the region for many years, hunted possums with its people and shared their table at the House of Lords (a "kind of tavern" in Joplin). Through the years his hobby became a profession, and he spent years recording the various aspects of Ozark folk speech.
332 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1953
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 2, 2011
I think I expected more out of this book than what I got. NOT because it wasn't chock-full of information about the Ozark dialect...because it was. In fact, it was TOO much. Essentially this guy collected a 200 page laundry list of all the phonological/grammatical/idioms/slang he has personally heard or that other people have told him. Well, that's great, but I think you could choose some of the best ones and not feel the need to put every single one in the book. His resources are valuable, but the full extent of his linguistic examples should be kept for linguists only. The best parts in the book, however, are the chapters Sayings and Wisecracks and Taboos and Euphemisms. Apparently no one can recall what "school butter!" really means, but I think it might be the best insult ever. In sum, this book really needed an editor.
December 4, 2011
This is a very colloquially written but comprehensive survey of Ozark dialect. The authors discuss the history of Ozark dialect, regional variations, grammar, euphemisms, taboos, use of the dialect in fiction, and end the book with a glossary of Ozark words and phrases.
It's not organized like a reference book, so it's not easy to find a particular phrase or term, but if you are looking for an interesting read about Ozark customs and language, or want to get a good feel for the dialect for writing purposes, this is an excellent book.
It's not organized like a reference book, so it's not easy to find a particular phrase or term, but if you are looking for an interesting read about Ozark customs and language, or want to get a good feel for the dialect for writing purposes, this is an excellent book.
April 21, 2020
Vance Randolph is the authoritative voice of an almost now defunct culture, forced, despite its resistance, to step aside for progress. Randolph deserves the gratitude of the Ozark peoples for dedicating the latter decades of his life documenting everything hillbilly. He's got 6 or 8 books on the Ozark people, but THIS one belongs in your library first if you're interested in the Ozark people of the 19th and 20th century.
May 17, 2020
He is the definitive early Ozark researcher. Reading his books are like a stream of consciousness though. He might divide the chapters into topics, but after that it’s a free-for-all.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews