The New South Language and Place in the 21st Century

Drawing on the authors’ extensive sociolinguistic and dialectological research in the area, this book comprehensively examines language in the contemporary Southern United States, otherwise known as the “New South.” Reed and Childs bring greater awareness to the cultural, social, and historical dynamics of this changing region and how these are reflected in language. The volume grapples with what defines the New South as an area of contrasts linguistically and socially, observing this dynamic in existing research on rural areas against emerging work on urban centers or in the complexity of the tension in the region’s wrestling with its long history as it continues to see rapid change. In situating the focus on these contrasts through the sociolinguistic practices of residents, this book offers a holistic portrait of the region through a linguistic lens, raising key questions and encouraging future research on our understanding of the language of the New South. This book will be of interest to students and scholars in sociolinguistics, dialectology, language variation and change, Southern studies, and American studies.