Pining for turpentine: critical nostalgia, memory, and commemorative expression in the wake of industrial decline

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  • March 21, 2019
Creator
  • Prizer, Timothy C.
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of American Studies, Folklore Program
Abstract
  • The late twentieth-century decline of the turpentine industry in south Georgia and north Florida has inspired efforts on the part of former workers to memorialize their industry. Because the production of turpentine involved the tapping of pine trees for the extraction of resin or crude gum, the industry made a significant and conspicuous impact on the landscape. Today, former turpentiners employ this landscape – in addition to collecting and displaying turpentine’s material culture – to commemorate the disappearance of their industry. This thesis explores the intersection of work, memory, and nostalgia in commemorative expression. It argues that nostalgia is often misunderstood as idle longing for an irrecoverable past when in fact it inspires commemorative action, exhibits critical thought, and offers paths for the future. The thesis also addresses conflicting interpretations of the industry’s past as a result of race and differential identity.
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  • In Copyright
Advisor
  • Sawin, Patricia
Degree granting institution
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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  • Open access
Date uploaded
  • October 11, 2010

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