John Wharton Lowe
Biographic Data
| ID | 1114679 |
|---|---|
| NAME | John Wharton Lowe |
| GIVEN NAMES | John Wharton |
| FAMILY NAME | Lowe |
| SIGNATURE | LOWE J W |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Georgia |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 8 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1980 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Myth, performance, and creation
This testimonial essay about the career of Femi Euba, written from the perspective of a colleague, sheds light on Euba’s contributions to Atlantic Studies through creative writing, theater-making, and literary criticism. Before the groundswell of diasporan and Atlantic Studies began, Euba pointed to the centrality of West African myth, ritual, and performance in the literatures and cultures of the Americas. Alongside critics like Henry Louis Gate…
The Comedy of Survivance in James Welch's Fools Crow
Fools Crow (1986), by James Welch (Blackfeet/Gros Ventre), may seem an unlikely site of humor given that it is concerned with the tragic history of the Pikuni band of Montana Blackfeet in the nineteenth century. However, Welch foregrounds Native humor traditions central to the Blackfeet culture. This article analyzes the ways humor punctuates the narrative, taking the form of teasing sexual humor—familiar as adolescent discourse—and corrective hu…
Epilogue
A Tribute
How Northern Mexico Became South Texas (and Southern Too)
Jovita González and Eve Raleigh’s Caballero (1996) has emerged as an important text in Mexican American literary studies. It was written, however, in the wake of the monumental success of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind (1936) and was calculated to capitalize on the vogue for plantation novels. The authors, who considered Texas part of the US South, employ a narrative structure very like plantation school novels that have been called “roma…
Calypso Magnolia
Calypso Magnolia
"Focusing on the states of the Deep South in relation with Mexico and island nations such as Haiti and Cuba, Lowe reconfigures the geography of Southern literature as encompassing the "circumCaribbean," a fluid and dynamic framework within which to consider literary history, genre, and aesthetics."
In Memoriam
One of the greatest achievements of my friend Joe Skerrett’s career was winning the Council of Editors of Learned Journals Distinguished Editor Award. As the judges recognized, his service in his chosen field was heroic, pathbreaking, and immensely influential and valuable. During Joe’s twelve years as editor of MELUS , what was once an obscure journal with limited circulation became the leading periodical in the field of ethnic literary studies.…
The Legacy of Joe Skerrett
The Legacy of Joe Skerrett John Wharton Lowe (bio) I was devastated last summer when my dear friend Joe Skerrett suddenly left us; his legacy, however, of brilliant scholarship and teaching, and his generosity and greatness of spirit, remains. One of the greatest achievements of his long and productive career was winning the Council of Editors of Learned Journals Distinguished Retiring Editor Award. As they recognized, his editorship of MELUS was…
Qualitative Systems Theory
Qualitative systems theory as used by most archaeologists poses significant methodological difficulties. It is a valuable heuristic device, but it does not unambiguously specify the qualitative dynamic behavior of a system. One possible alternative is to cast relations into approximate quantitative form and then to solve the resulting equations either directly or through computer simulation. Even if relations and parameters cannot be specified wi…
Archeology
On Mathematical Models of the Classic Maya Collapse
Recently, Hamblin and Pitcher (1980) have attempted to buttress the class conflict explanation of the Classic Maya collapse using a series of mathematical models. However, despite the exceptionally good agreement between these mathematical relations and the empirical data, the same cannot be said for the fit between the conceptual and mathematical models. The relations employed are very general, so much so as to often be isomorphic with very diff…
Cultural Pattern and Process
Using time series analysis and systems theory it is possible to translate Kroeber's idea of a cultural configuration and its processual consequences into a less ambiguous model. By employing a mathematical formulation certain features of stylistic change in women's dress become evident: it is stochastic/probabilistic in nature and it is in stable equilibrium. The sequence of women's fashions through time would appear to arise from simultaneous op…
Systems in Archaeology
Salmon (1978) has discussed the role of systems theory and systems explanation in archaeology. Her article raises several salient points, such as the difficulties inherent in depending upon general systems theory to solve all archaeological problems. We would argue, however, that her conclusion, to wit, that general systems theory and mathematical systems theory are of no relevance to archaeologists, is overdrawn and that systems explanations off…
Cultural Pattern and Process
Using time series analysis and systems theory it is possible to translate Kroeber's idea of a cultural configuration and its processual consequences into a less ambiguous model. By employing a mathematical formulation certain features of stylistic change in women's dress become evident: it is stochastic/probabilistic in nature and it is in stable equilibrium. The sequence of women's fashions through time would appear to arise from simultaneous op…
On Mathematical Models of the Classic Maya Collapse
Recently, Hamblin and Pitcher (1980) have attempted to buttress the class conflict explanation of the Classic Maya collapse using a series of mathematical models. However, despite the exceptionally good agreement between these mathematical relations and the empirical data, the same cannot be said for the fit between the conceptual and mathematical models. The relations employed are very general, so much so as to often be isomorphic with very diff…
Systems in Archaeology
Salmon (1978) has discussed the role of systems theory and systems explanation in archaeology. Her article raises several salient points, such as the difficulties inherent in depending upon general systems theory to solve all archaeological problems. We would argue, however, that her conclusion, to wit, that general systems theory and mathematical systems theory are of no relevance to archaeologists, is overdrawn and that systems explanations off…
Archeology
On Mathematical Models of the Classic Maya Collapse
Recently, Hamblin and Pitcher (1980) have attempted to buttress the class conflict explanation of the Classic Maya collapse using a series of mathematical models. However, despite the exceptionally good agreement between these mathematical relations and the empirical data, the same cannot be said for the fit between the conceptual and mathematical models. The relations employed are very general, so much so as to often be isomorphic with very diff…
Cultural Pattern and Process
Using time series analysis and systems theory it is possible to translate Kroeber's idea of a cultural configuration and its processual consequences into a less ambiguous model. By employing a mathematical formulation certain features of stylistic change in women's dress become evident: it is stochastic/probabilistic in nature and it is in stable equilibrium. The sequence of women's fashions through time would appear to arise from simultaneous op…
Qualitative Systems Theory
Qualitative systems theory as used by most archaeologists poses significant methodological difficulties. It is a valuable heuristic device, but it does not unambiguously specify the qualitative dynamic behavior of a system. One possible alternative is to cast relations into approximate quantitative form and then to solve the resulting equations either directly or through computer simulation. Even if relations and parameters cannot be specified wi…
Calypso Magnolia
Calypso Magnolia
"Focusing on the states of the Deep South in relation with Mexico and island nations such as Haiti and Cuba, Lowe reconfigures the geography of Southern literature as encompassing the "circumCaribbean," a fluid and dynamic framework within which to consider literary history, genre, and aesthetics."
In Memoriam
One of the greatest achievements of my friend Joe Skerrett’s career was winning the Council of Editors of Learned Journals Distinguished Editor Award. As the judges recognized, his service in his chosen field was heroic, pathbreaking, and immensely influential and valuable. During Joe’s twelve years as editor of MELUS , what was once an obscure journal with limited circulation became the leading periodical in the field of ethnic literary studies.…
The Legacy of Joe Skerrett
The Legacy of Joe Skerrett John Wharton Lowe (bio) I was devastated last summer when my dear friend Joe Skerrett suddenly left us; his legacy, however, of brilliant scholarship and teaching, and his generosity and greatness of spirit, remains. One of the greatest achievements of his long and productive career was winning the Council of Editors of Learned Journals Distinguished Retiring Editor Award. As they recognized, his editorship of MELUS was…
How Northern Mexico Became South Texas (and Southern Too)
Jovita González and Eve Raleigh’s Caballero (1996) has emerged as an important text in Mexican American literary studies. It was written, however, in the wake of the monumental success of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind (1936) and was calculated to capitalize on the vogue for plantation novels. The authors, who considered Texas part of the US South, employ a narrative structure very like plantation school novels that have been called “roma…
Epilogue
A Tribute
The Comedy of Survivance in James Welch's Fools Crow
Fools Crow (1986), by James Welch (Blackfeet/Gros Ventre), may seem an unlikely site of humor given that it is concerned with the tragic history of the Pikuni band of Montana Blackfeet in the nineteenth century. However, Welch foregrounds Native humor traditions central to the Blackfeet culture. This article analyzes the ways humor punctuates the narrative, taking the form of teasing sexual humor—familiar as adolescent discourse—and corrective hu…
Myth, performance, and creation
This testimonial essay about the career of Femi Euba, written from the perspective of a colleague, sheds light on Euba’s contributions to Atlantic Studies through creative writing, theater-making, and literary criticism. Before the groundswell of diasporan and Atlantic Studies began, Euba pointed to the centrality of West African myth, ritual, and performance in the literatures and cultures of the Americas. Alongside critics like Henry Louis Gate…
History (10 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Art (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works) · Political science (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Literature (4 works) · Archaeology (3 works) · Art history (3 works)