Pennsylvania Germans: An Interpretive Encyclopedia

by Simon J. Bronner (Editor), Joshua R. Brown (Editor)

Overview

This comprehensive encyclopedia—the first of its kind—maps out three hundred years of German history and culture in Pennsylvania and beyond.

Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title of the Choice ACRL

Destined to become the standard reference on Pennsylvania Germans (also known as the “Pennsylvania Dutch”), this book is the first survey of this extensive American group in nearly seventy-five years. Nineteen broad interpretive essays written by a distinguished group of historians, anthropologists, sociologists, linguists, and folklorists tell the rich and nuanced story of Pennsylvania German history and culture.

United by a distinct (and distinctly American) language, the Pennsylvania Germans have been slower to assimilate than other ethnic groups. This sweeping volume reveals, though, that the group is much less homogenous and isolated than was previously thought. From architecture, media, and farming techniques to food, folklore, and medicine, the Pennsylvania Germans and their descendants display a wide range of cultural variation. In Pennsylvania Germans, editors Simon J. Bronner and Joshua R. Brown broaden the geographical and social coverage of the group, touching both on Pennsylvanian communities and the Pennsylvania German diaspora, including settlements in Canada and Mexico. They also expand historical coverage of the Pennsylvania Germans to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Beautifully illustrated, this volume—while paying tribute to the historical and cultural legacy of the Pennsylvania Germans—is the most comprehensive book on the subject to date.

Contributors: R. Troy Boyer, Simon J. Bronner, Joshua R. Brown, Edsel Burdge Jr., William W. Donner, John B. Frantz, Mark Häberlein, Karen M. Johnson-Weiner, Donald B. Kraybill, David W. Kriebel, Gabrielle Lanier, Mark L. Louden, Yvonne J. Milspaw, Lisa Minardi, Steven M. Nolt, Candace Perry, Sheila Rohrer, and Diane Wenger

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421421384
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	02/15/2017
Series:	Young Center Books in Anabaptist and Pietist Studies
Pages:	592
Sales rank:	828,975
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.10(h) x 1.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Simon J. Bronner is distinguished professor of American studies and folklore and the director of the Center for Pennsylvania Culture Studies at the Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg. He is the author of Explaining Traditions: Folk Behavior in Modern Culture and the editor of Encyclopedia of American Folklife.

Joshua R. Brown is associate professor of German at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. He is a coeditor of The Comprehensive Pennsylvania German Dictionary.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments

Introduction: Pennsylvania German Studies
Simon J. Bronner and Joshua R. Brown

Part 1: History and Geography
1. The Old World Background
Mark Häberlein
2. To the New World: Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
John B. Frantz
3. Communities and Identities: Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Centuries
Diane Wenger and Simon J. Bronner

Part 2: Culture and Society
4. The Pennsylvania German Language
Mark Louden
5. Language Use among Anabaptist Groups
Donald B. Kraybill, Steven Nolt, and Edsel Burdge, Jr.
6. Religion
John B. Frantz
7. The Amish
Karen Johnson-Weiner and Joshua R. Brown
8. Literature
Sheila Rohrer
9. Agriculture and Industries
R. Troy Boyer
10. Architecture and Cultural Landscapes
Gabrielle Lanier
11. Furniture and Decorative Arts
Lisa Minardi
12. Fraktur and Visual Culture
Lisa Minardi
13. Textiles
Candace Perry
14. Food and Cooking
Yvonne Milspaw
15. Medicine
David W. Kriebel
16. Folklore and Folklife
Simon J. Bronner
17. Education
William W. Donner
18. Heritage and Tourism
William W. Donner
19. Popular Culture and Media
Simon J. Bronner

Contributors
Index

What People are Saying About This

Oliver Scheiding

Here is a long-overdue and magisterial encyclopedia on the German-speaking peoples’ achievements in North America. Masterfully enhancing traditional approaches, this book sets new standards for practicing Pennsylvania German studies in our times and changes the way we think about the Pennsylvania Germans’ impact on North America.

William D. Keel

Everything about this anthology treating the numerous facets of Pennsylvania German studies is encyclopedic, comprehensive, multidisciplinary, and thoroughly riveting. As a compendium for the scholar and the interested lay person, Pennsylvania Germans offers up-to-date insights into an amazingly broad range of topics including history, language, literature, religious practice, material culture, cuisine, powwowing, folklife, and popular culture.

Karen Guenther

An outstanding collection that describes Pennsylvania Germans' varied contributions to American society. Chronological overviews of German immigration and specialized essays on language, religion, literature, art, architecture, material culture, food, and folklife highlight this engaging volume that is an essential addition to any library.

Patrick J. Donmoyer

Guaranteed to inspire future research in the field of study, this thought-provoking and comprehensive overview of the Pennsylvania Germans will broaden the discussion of the culture’s presence and diaspora throughout North America, not merely as a relic of a preindustrial past, but as a modern, dynamic, American identity.

From the Publisher

Here is a long-overdue and magisterial encyclopedia on the German-speaking peoples’ achievements in North America. Masterfully enhancing traditional approaches, this book sets new standards for practicing Pennsylvania German studies in our times and changes the way we think about the Pennsylvania Germans’ impact on North America.
—Oliver Scheiding , Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, coeditor of A Peculiar Mixture: German-Language Cultures and Identities in Eighteenth-Century North America

Guaranteed to inspire future research in the field of study, this thought-provoking and comprehensive overview of the Pennsylvania Germans will broaden the discussion of the culture’s presence and diaspora throughout North America, not merely as a relic of a preindustrial past, but as a modern, dynamic, American identity.
—Patrick J. Donmoyer, Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, editor of The German Bible in America

An outstanding collection that describes Pennsylvania Germans' varied contributions to American society. Chronological overviews of German immigration and specialized essays on language, religion, literature, art, architecture, material culture, food, and folklife highlight this engaging volume that is an essential addition to any library.
—Karen Guenther, Mansfield University of Pennsylvania

Everything about this anthology treating the numerous facets of Pennsylvania German studies is encyclopedic, comprehensive, multidisciplinary, and thoroughly riveting. As a compendium for the scholar and the interested lay person, Pennsylvania Germans offers up-to-date insights into an amazingly broad range of topics including history, language, literature, religious practice, material culture, cuisine, powwowing, folklife, and popular culture.
—William D. Keel, The University of Kansas

Editorial Reviews

Essential. All readership levels.
—Choice

This volume admirably expands its analysis of culture to include the visual, from Taufscheine to Hollywood movies . . .
—Mennonite Quarterly Review

This book is a tour de force of Pennsylvania German history, language, and culture and points to many directions for future reserach... Considering the disciplinary breadth, array of methodological approaches, and theoretical foundations, this volume should succeed in starting important dialogues.
—Birte B. Pfleger, H-Net Reviews

From the Publisher

This book is a tour de force of Pennsylvania German history, language, and culture and points to many directions for future reserach... Considering the disciplinary breadth, array of methodological approaches, and theoretical foundations, this volume should succeed in starting important dialogues.

H-Net Reviews - Birte B. Pfleger

Essential. All readership levels.

Choice

This volume admirably expands its analysis of culture to include the visual, from Taufscheine to Hollywood movies . . .

Mennonite Quarterly Review