Rountree edits book on new media and U.S. South

Dr. Stephanie Rountree, assistant professor of English at the University of North Georgia (UNG), served as one of three editors for the book "Remediating Region: New Media and the U.S. South."

The book examines the role of "new" media in helping peoples in the U.S. South negotiate their identities, engaging contemporary new media, such as video games and Twitter, alongside "old" media when it was new, such as hymnals for shape-note singing from the 1800s. "Remediating" is a follow-up to the 2017 book "Small-Screen Souths: Region, Identity, and the Cultural Politics of Television," which she also co-edited.

Rountree said the collection of essays offers a critical lens to the idea of "newness," which she says can too often be misleading.

"Some may champion newness to say 'we have made progress' even as those 'new' formations use old systems of exploitation and social hierarchies," Rountree said. "Every time someone evokes newness, they have some kind of ideological goal in mind because they attempt to differentiate from the 'old."

Reaching as far back as the 19th century, "Remediating" includes contributions that examine Frederick Douglass' use of photography in the abolitionist movement and highlight the present-day use of cutting-edge technology in traditional Indigenous practices by the Tunica-Biloxi Nation.

Dr. Gina Caison, associate professor of English at Georgia State University, and Dr. Lisa Hinrichsen, associate professor of English at the University of Arkansas, also served as editors on the book, which was published by LSU Press.