Remaking New Orleans: Beyond Exceptionalism and Authenticity

by Thomas Jessen Adams (Editor), Matt Sakakeeny (Editor)

Approached as a wellspring of cultural authenticity and historical exceptionality, New Orleans appears in opposition to a nation perpetually driven by progress. Remaking New Orleans shows how this narrative is rooted in a romantic cultural tradition, continuously repackaged through the twin engines of tourism and economic development, and supported by research that has isolated the city from comparison and left unquestioned its entrenched inequality. Working against this feedback loop, the contributors place New Orleans at the forefront of national patterns of urban planning, place-branding, structural inequality, and racialization. Nontraditional sites like professional wrestling matches, middle-class black suburbs, and Vietnamese gardens take precedence over clichéd renderings of Creole cuisine, voodoo queens, and hot jazz. Covering the city's founding through its present and highlighting changing political and social formations, this volume remakes New Orleans as a rich site for understanding the quintessential concerns of American cities.

Contributors. Thomas Jessen Adams, Vincanne Adams, Vern Baxter, Maria Celeste Casati Allegretti, Shannon Lee Dawdy, Rien Fertel, Megan French-Marcelin, Cedric G. Johnson, Alecia P. Long, Vicki Mayer, Toby Miller, Sue Mobley, Marguerite Nguyen, Aaron Nyerges, Adolph Reed Jr., Helen A. Regis, Matt Sakakeeny, Heidi Schmalbach, Felipe Smith, Bryan Wagner

368 pages, Paperback

Published May 17, 2019

Reviews

[Jeffrey Bostick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collection of essays intended to dispel certain myths about the history and culture of New Orleans that have been commodified by the tourism industry while elevating ignored facets of our story that emphasize the city's working class and what has been done to it in various ways over the centuries. That's a mouthful (also a simplification) but it's what I would say is the gist of this very eclectic assemblage of topics by various authors. It's one of the most original and important books about New Orleans I've read in a while. At the same time I've noticed a few negative reactions from certain corners that have me confused. The common criticism I've noticed, that the book is for and by "gentrifiers," seems to me 180 degrees contrary to the book's actual purpose. It's so surprising, in fact, that I've wondered if it is even offered in good faith (or if some of these critics have actually read the book.) But instead of going into all that, just know that this exists and that more people should give it a look.