The River in Reverse: Flood Imaginaries, Old and New

Abstract

In this article, we turn to consider a specific region, and genre, that has spawned its own narrative tradition of environmentally perceptive songlore – the flood chronicles of the Mississippi Delta. Both real and mythological, this area constitutes a fertile source for the evolution of what we propose to call aesthetic imaginaries, and the article demonstrates how a distinct “flood imaginary” resonates through a specific tradition of songwriting, emerging and re-emerging with a set of poetic and musical tropes, serving different artistic purposes across time.