Fighting in the Southern Backcountry

zhao

there are no accidents
"Gouge and Bite, Pull Hair and Scratch:" The Social Significance of Fighting in the Southern Backcountry

a historical account and sociological study from 18th Century on.

one of the most chilling, most horrendous and sickening things i've read in a long time (Deliverance ain't shit). but fascinating in terms of social history and anthropology... albeit in gruesome fashion. (origin of the phrase "tooth and nail"?)

this seems like in many ways an integral part of the "southern ethic" and early American experience, but so dark, so disturbing, and so embarrassing that it is altogether swept under the rug. i think it is important to know about this stuff, in relation to the particular American fascination and relationship to violence, and a specific set of social values, which to this day in some way shapes everything from film-making to politics.

a few excerpts:

"... a man’s role in the all-male society was defined less by his ability as a breadwinner than by his ferocity. The touchstone of masculinity was unflinching toughness, not chivalry, duty, or piety."

The southern ethic anticipated human evil, tolerated ethical lapses, and accepted the finitude of man in contrast to the new style that demanded unprecedented moral rectitude and internalized self-restraint.

"I’m a salt River roarer! I’m a ring tailed squealer! I’m a regular screamer from the old Massassip! Whoop! I’m the very infant that refused his milk before its eyes were open and called out for a bottle of old Rye! I love the women and I’m chockful o’ fight! I’m half wild horse and half cock-eyed alligator and the rest o’ me is crooked snags an’ red-hot snappin’ turtle…. I can out-run, out-jump, out shout, out-brag, out-drink, an’ out-fight, rough-an’-tumble, no holts barred, any man on both sides the river from Pittsburgh to New Orleans an’ back ag’in to St. Louiee. Come on, you flatters, you bargers, you milk white mechanics, an’ see how tough I am to chaw! I ain’t had a fight for two days an’ I’m spilein’ for exercise. Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

"Davy Crockett coolly boasted, 'I kept my thumb in his eye, and was just going to give it a twist and bring the peeper out, like taking a gooseberry in a spoon.'"

not for the weak of stomach -- this literally made me feel sick, so be warned.
 
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Agent

dgaf ngaf cgaf
I think you see this kind of dynamic iterated/aestheticized in Southern Gothic literature. That's why I've always preferred Southern Gothic lit to other American forms of the Gothic: its dread derives from the 'grotesque' of human nature, not the dread of nature as such.

Believe it or not these people still exist. Witness the legendary Oh Napier: http://ohnapierandbrowneyes.net/

The example of Oh Napier just begs for a study of hillbilly appropriations of the Internet. Maybe a future side project if I can find the time.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
Believe it or not these people still exist. Witness the legendary Oh Napier: http://ohnapierandbrowneyes.net/

The example of Oh Napier just begs for a study of hillbilly appropriations of the Internet. Maybe a future side project if I can find the time.

holeee shit. i ain't never heard o that before. but i kin sure see why it's "legendary"!

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http://www.slide.com/r/fEKC3E5h6T9H...tion=TICKER_ITEM_CLICK&ciid=72057594078645052

http://www.slide.com/r/VrpbvW8V5D_w...tion=TICKER_ITEM_CLICK&ciid=72057594182113484
 
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