Harkins, Anthony

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HARKINS, Anthony

PERSONAL:

Male. Education: University of Wisconsin, Madison, Ph.D., 1999.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Western Kentucky University, 1 Big Red Way, Bowling Green, KY 42101-3576. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Author and educator. Iowa State University, Ames, assistant professor of history; Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, lecturer; Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, assistant professor of history.

WRITINGS:

Hillbilly: A Cultural History of an American Icon, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

Author and researcher Anthony Harkins is an associate professor of history at Western Kentucky University. His research interests focus on American popular culture, a specialty that led him to write his book, Hillbilly: A Cultural History of an American Icon. Harkins credits his love for comic strips, where the image of the hillbilly has changed very little over the past half century, with sparking his interest in the subject. In an online interview with Kimberly Shain Parsley for the Western Kentucky University Echo, Harkins said, "I thought it would be an interesting study of the constructions of a national stereotype and the role of the media in that."

Harkins's research indicated that the image of the hillbilly dates to the 1900 appearance of the word in an article about election tampering in Alabama that ran in the New York Journal. The concept spread through the media and was especially prevalent in the 1930s. While the image did occasionally fade, the popularity of the 1960s television show The Beverly Hillbillies revived it once again. Harkins is quick to clarify that while he is studying the image as it appears in popular culture, it is important not to confuse the image with reality.

Critics praised Harkins's approach to his topic. In a review for Journal of American Culture, Ray B. Browne commented that Hillbilly "is a balanced and prideful revelation of the role of this icon in America," while Library Journal contributor Daniel Liestman called the book "a fascinating and expansive account." Michael Kammen, writing for History: Review of New Books, commented: "Harkins's research is truly impressive, and his writing could not be clearer.… This is a significant, highly accessible book of considerable value to scholars and advanced students."