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Articles Conference Reviews |
H.16 Theorizing IdentityH.16 Remixing and Theorizing Identity in Louisville I was given the assignment of chairing this session, as I had replied that I would when I acknowledged the acceptance of the panel on which I was a presenter. It’s too bad so few people were in attendance, because this session turned out to be the best I attended this year. I did not choose to attend it as a session to review, but the compelling nature of the papers leads me to comment on it anyway. There were two presenters: Eric Detweiler, a Louisvillian now teaching at Nashville State Community College and Belmont University, and Whitney Hardin, also a Louisvillian, now a Ph.D. student at Wayne State U. Both were young, in their 20s, I believe. Both their presentations were smart, sophisticated, and thought-provoking. Detweiler discussed the ways in which Louisville is and is not constructed as a Southern city, particularly through the institution of the Kentucky Derby. Louisville presents itself as a Southern city to tourists who come to town for the Derby, drawing on the “Southern” characteristics of charm and hospitality. At the same time, though, Louisville strives to be a cosmopolitan American city and, based on the voting of Jefferson County (of which Louisville is part) in the 2008 presidential election, it can be construed as “liberal” and therefore “not-Southern.” Hardin’s paper was about the “Keep Louisville Weird” movement of recent years, an attempt, initially by independent local businesses, to resist the cultural homogenization that comes with national franchises. She related how Louisville’s “weirdness” was first identified with The Highlands neighborhood where a particular record store – Ear-Xtacy – and other independent business were trying to hold off the establishment of new national businesses in the area. This campaign took the form, in part, of “Keep Louisville Weird” bumper stickers distributed at Ear-Xtacy. But then “weirdness” was further instantiated by people cutting up one or more of the bumper stickers and rearranging the letters to form different messages, such as “ax your cat” and “create art.” There was considerable discussion between the presenters and people in the audience about the “rhetoric of Louisville” in terms of both the Derby and the “KLW” campaign, so much so that as session chair I had to call a halt to it so the room could be cleared for the next session. |