An ethnographic study of cultural influences on the responses of college freshmen to contemporary Appalachian short stories

Previous research on the role that culture plays in reader response to literature generally has not been based on clear operational definitions of the term "culture." More often than not, researchers appear to be using the term synonymously with the reader's race, nationality, or social class, rather than including specific anthropological explanations. Moreover, there has been no research reported that isolates and then studies individual readers' cultural backgrounds as influences on their responses to American regional literature; and, while there have been some studies reported that use ethnographic methodology to examine how cultural context or setting affects response, there has been no reported ethnographic research that focuses on the influences of readers' cultural backgrounds and the cultures depicted in texts.