Writing the Amish

From the early 1960s to the late 1980s, John A. Hostetler was the worlds premier scholar of Amish life. Hailed by his peers for his illuminating and sensitive portrayals of this often misunderstood religious sect, Hostetler successfully spanned the divide between popular and academic culture, thereby shaping perceptions of the Amish throughout American society. He was also outspoken in his views of the modern world and of the Amish worldviews that continue to stir debate today. Born into an Old Order Amish family in 1918, Hostetler came of age in an era when the Amish were largely dismissed as a quaint and declining culture, a curious survival with little relevance for contemporary American life. That perception changed during Hostetlers career, for not only did the Amish survive during these decades, they demonstrated a stunning degree of cultural vitalitywhich Hostetler observed, analyzed, and interpreted for millions of interested readers. Writing the Amish both recounts and assesses Hostetlers Amish-related work. The first half of the book consists of four reflective essaysby Donald Kraybill, Simon Bronner, David Weaver-Zercher, and Hostetler himselfin which Hostetler is the primary subject. The second half reprints, in chronological order, fourteen key writings by Hostetler with commentaries and annotations by Weaver-Zercher. Taken together, these writings, supplemented by a comprehensive bibliography of Hostetlers publications, provide ready access to the Hostetler corpus and the tools by which to evaluate his work, his intellectual evolution, and his legacy as a scholar of Amish and American life. Moreover, by providing a window into the varied worlds of John A. Hostetlerhis Amish boyhood, his Mennonite Church milieu, his educational pursuits, his scholarly career, and his vocation as a mediator and advocate for Amish lifethis volume enhances the ongoing discussion of how ethnographic representation pertains to Americas most renowned folk culture, the Old Order Amish.