...look it up! The Encyclopedia of Southern Culture was cooked up by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. A wide range of folks contributed to this wise tome, including historians, literary critics, novelists, sociologists, anthropologists, geographers, linguists, theologians, folklorists, architects & newspaper reporters. The encyclopedia’s editors, Charles Reagan Wilson (a Texan) and William Ferris (a Mississippian), organized it around 24 different thematic sections – including music, history, religion, folklore, language, art and architecture, recreation, politics, literature, and the mythic South. The overall goal of this big ‘ol book is to identify the forces that have supported and shaped the Southern way of life – from people and places to ideas, events, rituals and values. The book even garnered some fancy awards when it came out back in 1990, winning the Dartmouth Medal from the American Library Association and the C. Hugh Holman Award from the Society for the Study of Southern Literature, among others.

U.S. News & World Report called it “the first attempt ever to describe every aspect of a region’s life and thought, the impact of its history and policies, its music and literature, its manners and myths, even the iced tea that washes down its catfish and cornbread.” And Esquire called it “a discriminating guide to Dixology.” Pick one up and check it out fo' yerself.