Tales from the Haunted South

Dark Tourism and Memories of Slavery from the Civil War Era

Nonfiction, Travel, Museums, Tours, & Points of Interest, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Discrimination & Race Relations, History, Americas, United States, Civil War Period (1850-1877)
Cover of the book Tales from the Haunted South by Tiya Miles, The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Tiya Miles ISBN: 9781469626345
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: August 12, 2015
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author: Tiya Miles
ISBN: 9781469626345
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: August 12, 2015
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

In this book Tiya Miles explores the popular yet troubling phenomenon of "ghost tours," frequently promoted and experienced at plantations, urban manor homes, and cemeteries throughout the South. As a staple of the tours, guides entertain paying customers by routinely relying on stories of enslaved black specters. But who are these ghosts? Examining popular sites and stories from these tours, Miles shows that haunted tales routinely appropriate and skew African American history to produce representations of slavery for commercial gain. "Dark tourism" often highlights the most sensationalist and macabre aspects of slavery, from salacious sexual ties between white masters and black women slaves to the physical abuse and torture of black bodies to the supposedly exotic nature of African spiritual practices. Because the realities of slavery are largely absent from these tours, Miles reveals how they continue to feed problematic "Old South" narratives and erase the hard truths of the Civil War era. In an incisive and engaging work, Miles uses these troubling cases to shine light on how we feel about the Civil War and race, and how the ghosts of the past are still with us.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In this book Tiya Miles explores the popular yet troubling phenomenon of "ghost tours," frequently promoted and experienced at plantations, urban manor homes, and cemeteries throughout the South. As a staple of the tours, guides entertain paying customers by routinely relying on stories of enslaved black specters. But who are these ghosts? Examining popular sites and stories from these tours, Miles shows that haunted tales routinely appropriate and skew African American history to produce representations of slavery for commercial gain. "Dark tourism" often highlights the most sensationalist and macabre aspects of slavery, from salacious sexual ties between white masters and black women slaves to the physical abuse and torture of black bodies to the supposedly exotic nature of African spiritual practices. Because the realities of slavery are largely absent from these tours, Miles reveals how they continue to feed problematic "Old South" narratives and erase the hard truths of the Civil War era. In an incisive and engaging work, Miles uses these troubling cases to shine light on how we feel about the Civil War and race, and how the ghosts of the past are still with us.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book Race Mixture in Nineteenth-Century U.S. and Spanish American Fictions by Tiya Miles
Cover of the book Under Sentence of Death by Tiya Miles
Cover of the book Sexual Injustice by Tiya Miles
Cover of the book Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolitionism by Tiya Miles
Cover of the book Charles I and the Popish Plot by Tiya Miles
Cover of the book Religion and the Racist Right by Tiya Miles
Cover of the book Talk with You Like a Woman by Tiya Miles
Cover of the book The Invention of Free Labor by Tiya Miles
Cover of the book Beyond the Crossroads by Tiya Miles
Cover of the book Pickett's Charge in History and Memory by Tiya Miles
Cover of the book Within the Plantation Household by Tiya Miles
Cover of the book Puerto Rico in the American Century by Tiya Miles
Cover of the book Fighting Their Own Battles by Tiya Miles
Cover of the book The Romantic Fragment Poem by Tiya Miles
Cover of the book Your Health, Your Decisions by Tiya Miles
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy