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Smothered and covered [electronic resource] : Waffle House and the Southern imaginary / Ty Matejowsky

Author
Matejowsky, Ty.
Published
Tuscaloosa : The University of Alabama Press, [2023]
Physical Description
xx, 210 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm
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Contents
Waffle House precursors: diners and lunch/breakfast counters -- The house that waffles built -- Waffle House after dark: shift happens -- Waffle House and race -- Waffle House in popular culture -- Conclusion: waffling on Waffle House? Post-southern possibilities.
Summary
"Waffle House has long been touted as an icon of the American South. The restaurant's consistent foregrounding as a resonant symbol of regional character proves relevant for understanding much about the people, events, and foodways shaping the sociopolitical contours of today's Bible Belt. Whether approached as a comedic punchline on the Internet, television, and other popular media or elevated as a genuine touchstone of messy American modernity, Waffle House, its employees, and everyday clientele do much to transcend such one-dimensional characterizations, earning distinction in ways that regularly go unsung. Smothered and Covered: Waffle House and the Southern Imaginary is the first book to socioculturally assess the chain within the field of contemporary food studies. In this groundbreaking work, Ty Matejowsky argues that Waffle House's often beleaguered public persona is informed by various complexities and contradictions. Critically unpacking the iconic eatery from a less reductive perspective offers readers a more realistic and nuanced portrait of Waffle House, shedding light on how it both reflects and influences a prevailing southern imaginary-an amorphous and sometimes conflicting collection of images, ideas, attitudes, practices, linguistic accents, histories, and fantasies that frames understandings about a vibrant if also paradoxical geographic region. Matejowsky discusses Waffle House's roots in established southern foodways and traces the chain's development from a lunch-counter restaurant that emerged across the South. He also considers Waffle House's place in American and southern popular culture, highlighting its myriad depictions in music, television, film, fiction, stand-up comedy, and sports. Altogether, Matejowsky deftly and persuasively demonstrates how Waffle House serves as a microcosm of today's South with all the accolades and criticisms this distinction entails"--
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ISBN
9780817321444 (hbk.)
9780817394301 (ebook)
Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 191-201) and index.
View MARC record | catkey: 42842378