Item Detail
-
12698
-
9
-
0
-
English
-
Building Zion : Folk Architecture in the Mormon Settlements of Utah's Sanpete Valley, 1849-1890
-
Indiana University
-
Ph.D. diss.
-
"During recent years, a number of studies have shown that American frontier regions may be characterized by diversity in their early domestic architecture as immigrant building practices persist through the initial settlement period. Only after several generations of adapting old forms and adopting new ones does a regional architecture based upon a small number of shared house types emerge. The Mormon-settled Far West, however, has traditionally been set apart from this pattern of gradual regionalization; Mormon communitarian values, the planned nature of their communities, and an overriding emphasis on social order are seen to have caused a rapid convergence of architectural practices and the immediate creation of a uniform, "Mormon" building style. It is the contention of this study that the perceived uniformity in nineteenth century Mormon architecture has been the result of a pro forma validation of a prevailing form of historical explanation rather than the serious study of the buildings themselves. The purpose of this work has been to conduct the first systematic field investigation of early Mormon folk architecture and, in so doing, to test empirically the hypothesis of Mormon cultural homogeneity. The work was conducted in the Sanpete Valley of central Utah. This area contained the number of nineteenth century houses that would allow generalization yet was of a size that could be studied comprehensively. The results of the investigation of over 800 buildings reveal that folk housing in the Sanpete Valley in the years between 1849-1890 exhibited a diversity of immigrant building forms and techniques that remains consistent with that found in other American frontier areas. While it has been convenient to view the social world of nineteenth century Mormonism as a cultural monolith, the findings of this study contribute to a growing body of revisionist historiography that suggests that Mormon society must be considered from a multi-cultural perspective and that a new emphasis must be placed upon sources of community strength and cohesion that lie beyond simplistic theories of cultural convergence and theocratic oppression." [Author's abstract]
-
From the Outside Looking In : Essays on Mormon History, Theology, and Culture
Houses with Two Fronts : The Evolution of Domestic Architectural Design in a Mormon Community
Mormon cinema : Origins to 1956
Mormon Folklore : Cut from the Marrow of Everyday Experience
Seer Stones, Salamanders, and Early Mormon "Folk Magic" in the Light of Folklore Studies and Bible Scholarship
'The Best of Its Kind and Grade' : Rebuilding the Sanpete Valley, 1890-1910
The State of Mormon Folklore Studies
Up in the Rocky Mountains : Writing the Swedish Immigrant Experience
What the Mormon Cultural Landscape Can Teach Us