January 2013
“. . . The reenactors I encountered on the battlefield were a genial lot, at least to me, a white guy with the right accent who at least superficially fit in. They were at pains to portray the reenactment to me as ‘living history.’ There was no mention by them of what African- Americans might think of this spectacle (nor did I ask about it I was chicken). However, the reenactors were quick to correct my terminology: it is not the ‘Civil War,’ it is ‘The War Between the States.’ It seems that ‘Civil War’ implies that the South revolted against its government. ‘War Between the States’ implies that the South was a collection of sovereign states that organized in defense against Yankee unjustified meddling. So begins Whistling Dixie, Anderson Scott’s portrait of latter-day Confederates taken at Civil War reenactments across the southern United States. Scott has photographed in the years leading up to 2011’s sesquicentennial of the Civil War, with a keen eye for the earnestness and dedication of the reenactors, and a strikingly acute awareness of the irony and absurdity of the events.”
Ambivalence is key here. As Richard Benson, former Dean of the Yale School of Art and MacArthur Fellow, says of Scott’s subjects, “Historical reenactment has a slippery connection to history. The activities of those who re-imagine the
Benson, who contributes an insightful essay to Whistling Dixie, draws a useful comparison between the work of photography and war reenactment while also articulating precisely why everyone Southerner or Northerner should see this book: “Photography and reenactment fail once again to give us any sort of true window onto the past, yet they do carry the lessons and illuminations that all attempts at reproduction must.”
About the Book
Whistling Dixie
by Anderson Scott
with an essay by Richard Benson
10″ x 12″
110 pages
$60
Hardback
Available in January 2013
Columbia College Chicago Press
For more information about Whistling Dixie, please contact Lauren Salas at 773-702-0890 or lsalas@press.uchicago.edu
I recognise the lady sitting by the Confederate flag. Sylvia Siddons-Morrison. She was married to her reenactor husband. RIP.