Hon Culture Wars: Revering and Reviling the Vernacular in Baltimore and Beyond

Open Access
- Author:
- Puglia, David J
- Graduate Program:
- American Studies
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 27, 2015
- Committee Members:
- Simon Josef Bronner, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Simon Josef Bronner, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
John Rogers Haddad, Committee Member
Anthony Bak Buccitelli, Committee Member
Clemmie Edward Gilpin, Special Member - Keywords:
- urban folklore
vernacular
local identity
Baltimore
authenticity
folk speech
nostalgia
invented tradition
festival - Abstract:
- In this study, I examine the identity politics of defining local authenticity through the construction of urban traditions in Baltimore. Using the conceptual framework of vernacular stages, I examine how once stigmatized local forms, that is, the stigmatized vernacular, transform into the esteemed vernacular, local forms celebrated for their authentic rootedness. By examining the definition, adoption, commodification, and contestation of local forms of reputed authenticity, I unravel the meaning and implications of being a “local” in a fragmented American city. Perceiving their stigma and lack of political importance, Baltimoreans have contested the high culture or cosmopolitan definition of cities with the adoption of a vernacular image, thus turning a negative connotation into a positive one. “Hon”—the word and the image—acts to reinforce this value, but because of the contested nature of its associations, it has also become a magnet for criticism. Thus the difficult discourse on identity has shifted to more manageable battlegrounds like the Baltimore-Washington Parkway’s “Welcome to Baltimore, Hon” sign, the HonFest festival in Baltimore’s Hampden neighborhood, and Café Hon owner Denise Whiting’s trademarking of the word “HON.” Through three Baltimore case studies that combine an ethnographic approach with rhetorical analysis, I examine how the esteemed vernacular plays a daily, consequential role in the identity formation of Baltimoreans. In response to the globalization, commercialization, and modernization that most cultural observers argue characterize contemporary society, attachment to the local has become increasingly important. In the face of these trends, the local provides a stabilizing force, giving Americans a perceptible attachment to place in an otherwise detached, impersonal, and ever-changing world. In the face of these modern challenges, some argue that ethnicity or family is the primary hedge against globalization and massification. On the contrary, I demonstrate that Americans cling to local tradition—not an abstract, objectified phenomenon existing beyond the human mind, but through those expressions constantly recreated and reaffirmed in the present as authentic attachments to history and place. Whether real or imagined, there is a need for local attachment that results in a cultural construction of place.