Leonardville: cultural expression in a rural Central Texas volunteer fire department
Abstract
This ethnography of a volunteer fire department (VFD) in Leonardville, Texas documents the maintenance and reproduction of community in rural Texas. Through stenographic analysis I illustrate how the VFD becomes a setting where the social world of Leonardville is created and where the people of Leonardville become shareholders in their community. This project builds upon the growing interest in the ethnography of North America, the anthropological analysis of work and what is often called ''worklore'' or the folklore of the work place. To understand the VFD and its place in both Leonardville and the state, I develop the concept of the ''conventions of work place'' or the job-specific actions and communicative practices that define the VFD as a social entity and establish a sense of membership, camaraderie and trust among its participants. Also, I use ''conventions of mutual obligation'' to talk about the responsibilities and commitments volunteers have to each other and their community. Finally, the VFD is examined in the context of its ''social fields'' (community, service area, county, and state) to understand the links that exist between Leonardville, the VFD and state programs/regulations as well as private organizations and businesses.
Description
Due to the character of the original source materials and the nature of batch digitization, quality control issues may be present in this document. Please report any quality issues you encounter to digital@library.tamu.edu, referencing the URI of the item.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 161-168).
Issued also on microfiche from Lange Micrographics.
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Citation
Krinhop, Kash (1999). Leonardville: cultural expression in a rural Central Texas volunteer fire department. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -1999 -THESIS -K75.