“Dreaming of Dixie” is a book that was drafted by Karen Cox to exhibit how the South became created by incorporating the popular American culture. This happened after the civil war era came to an end. Cox also criticizes the manner in which business people from the north developed pleasant images of Dixie with their clients to facilitate interaction.
This article is agreeable when it reveals to us various ways that benefited people in the South. It was clear when they acquired romantic and nostalgic views of the south. The interesting part is that Southerners played along well when they understood the benefits they would acquire from the visit. The author accomplished her popular status via the efforts that were generated by the writers, advertisers and the film-makers who made Hollywood movies. Another reason why I support concepts in this article is because it identifies the army of the north and how they formulated the view of bringing permanent changes to the South.
I agree with the author and the concepts that she incorporates in the book when she talks about slavery (Cox 69). Cox cites that as much as individuals still ignore the issue of slavery, the fact remains that it was inhuman. For instance, due to slavery, the whites mistreated the black people when they thought that they owned them and perceived them to be less human. I further support Cox when she articulates and discourages slavery. As much as this kind of business lead to much profit, it changed the way that human beings were supposed to treat each other. I further support the author when she claims that there should be honest conversation about the issue of slavery. This is essential to for individuals who have the focus to aid those who require to be assisted and are still “dreaming of Dixie.”
Furthermore, the article “Dreaming of Dixie” is agreeable when it cites on how the technological advances apply and improved the industry department in the northern America. It is in this context that readers learn how these changes had ironic meanings. This was evident when they facilitated the vision of a mythic ‘old south.’ As a result, this enabled them to accomplish development in distribution that spread in entire America.
However, it is odd to realize that only few voices that existed out of media houses were heard. They are usually accompanied by diverse images, critics and conflicts. It was also controversial when the author addressed the manner in which the poor were stereotyped in society. As a result, this situation subjected the white individuals in the South to be ignorant of the issues that were affecting them (Cox 82). This made them to divert their attention towards instilling efforts that could modernize the south. Another odd part is when they stopped selling romantic visions to promote individuals who came from the South region.
This book is believable in relation to the manner in which Cox articulates her ideas. For instance, she shows how southern stereotypes such as Jim Crow, jezebel, and Mammy who came from the southern belle managed to be hired by Madison Avenue. These were advertisers who were in need of employees to aid them to sell their products. Another aspect that makes this article to be believable is the nostalgic song that the author incorporates in it. This concerns the Dixie that attributed about the responsibility of Jewish immigrants. It was also inclusive of songsmiths by Pan Alley from New York which appealed to northerners.
This book is valued because after 16 years, veterans who were part of the civil battle merger became front lines in advocating for the modern tourist business. We learn that through the war fields and heritage sites that embraced slavery in the south, it led to a situation that made Margret Mitchell to be so annoyed. This was due to the fact that tourist trade had advanced which became facilitated by this situation her book. However, she failed to make good use of this chance in an effective manner. As a result, this contributed to tension between the reality and the false story that revolved around the matter. The reason was that this situation was tough and it required plenty of attention.
“Dreaming of Dixie” is a useful narration because Cox focuses on the surface representations (Cox 112). These are made possible through leisure, marketing firms and media sectors. Its significance is also clear through a variety of voices that came outside of the media organizations. The outcome of these messages was clear when they spread contributing to contrasting pictures and conflicts that evolved from the book. As much as these messages were teased, they were useful because they offered evidence concerning imaginations of the south individuals. This was to prove that the manner in which they reasoned was not the same in contrast to historical reality.
For instance, this situation applied to the popular reception of Tobacco Road by Erskine Caldwell. This was an article that was drafted in 1932 and later became a national phenomenon. Serving as a Broadway hit and a john fold film, it enhances negative stereotypes by reflecting the poor southern whites as ignorant. This further degenerate but it failed to portray any romantic visions of individuals who stayed in the south rural section.
Clearly, the above is the perception of idea when Karen Cox addressed on the way which various personalities from the north formulated a romantic version. This further contributed to a situation of pushing products in a calm way. Individuals who were part of this procedure ranged from film makers, manufacturers, writers and musicians.
The concepts that I learned in this article revolved around its Importance when articulated on way forward to fill the gap that was left by the historians. This was due to the fact that individuals had failed to focus on the responsibility of popular culture. It was in relation to the way it played in modifying the images of the south. She also focuses on the distance between the nineteenth century and the Second World War and its impact to society (Cox 163).
This is believable when she examined on the manner in which popular song advertising, radio programs, films, literature, and tourism defined the region. The consumers were provided with a romantic, pre modern, and pastoral vision to the people of the south and its’ inhabitants. Cox subsequently provides non southerners with an opportunity to inter connect with the places that were supposedly immune to the problems of urbanization in a society.
Evidently, the idea in this article worked when it proved to be the most interesting by highlighting on a dream that became popular to various cultures in America. For instance, the author reflects on various cultures in US when she evaluates and contrasts on aunt Jemima’s pancake mix and Maxwell house coffee. This was through describing by incorporating fascinating stories that were told about the commodities that originated from the South. Additionally, she also reveals about a destruction that contributed to a complicated mythmaking procedure. This was part of advertising that began in the northern part of the country. The idea worked because through it, we get to learn about the facts that the middle class clients exhibited. They further created reflective implications that defined their old days which were not complicated.
The views in this book enhanced American culture since the early nineteenth century. This was through the Second World War popular culture portrayed the American South as a region that still lived in its antebellum past. The author reveals that the chief purveyors of this nostalgia were outsiders of the region especially the advertising agencies, musician, publishers, radio personalities and filmmakers (Cox 135).
The writer portrays American culture when she cites ways that consumers interacted. This was via marketing the south as a region which was dedicated to American pastoral traditions. Cox interview how individuals who stayed in the South southerners embraced the imaginary romance that applied in regions which existed in the past. By the time the television was serving as one of the influential medium, American cultures was created. This was evident when the southern region started to change through the manner in which it conveyed information. A good example is clear when majority of news that shared in this location revolved around civil rights movements. This became emphasized by images of violence, protest, and conflict in the south.
Work Cited
Cox, Karen. “Dreaming of Dixie.” London: Sage Publications. 2012 Print.