Draws on archival material, oral histories, and direct observations to provide an account of Amish life that explores the diversity within the community and its transformation and geographic expansion.
This accessible, illustrated reference for general readers and students delves deeply into Amish culture to discover how the Amish have changed their religious worldview, cultural patterns, social organization, and external interactions in response to modernity. The authors spent 25 years studying communities in many states, using research methods from the fields of religious studies, sociology, and anthropology, such as ethnographic description, participant observation, interviews, and analysis of primary documents. Some areas explored include religious roots, Amish identity, gender and family, tourism, and the Amish in the media. The book includes a timeline and an appendix on related religious groups, plus b&w contemporary photos. Kraybill is affiliated with the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. Johnson-Weiner teaches linguistic anthropology at SUNY-Potsdam. Nolt teaches history at Goshen College. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
The Amish have always struggled with the modern world. Known for their simple clothing, plain lifestyle, and horse-and-buggy mode of transportation, Amish communities continually face outside pressures to modify their cultural patterns, social organization, and religious world view. An intimate portrait of Amish life, The Amish explores not only the emerging diversity and evolving identities within this distinctive American ethnic community, but also its transformation and geographic expansion.
Donald B. Kraybill, Karen M. Johnson-Weiner, and Steven M. Nolt spent twenty-five years researching Amish history, religion, and culture. Drawing on archival material, direct observations, and oral history, the authors provide an authoritative and sensitive understanding of Amish society.
Amish people do not evangelize, yet their numbers in North America have grown from a small community of some 6,000 people in the early 1900s to a thriving population of more than 275,000 today. The largest populations are found in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, with additional communities in twenty-seven other states and Ontario.
The authors argue that the intensely private and insular Amish have devised creative ways to negotiate with modernity that have enabled them to thrive in America. The transformation of the Amish in the American imagination from "backward bumpkins" to media icons poses provocative questions. What does the Amish story reveal about the American character, popular culture, and mainstream values? Richly illustrated, The Amish is the definitive portrayal of the Amish in America in the twenty-first century.
