Popular Culture Review 30.2
eas of the country were accessible to a growing number of people ( Baker 35 ). The public was fascinated by the possibility of travel to these new places , and literary depictions of the local color allowed them to visit without the financial and physical challenges of travel in the late nineteenth century ( Baker 36 ). The popularity of the publications was so prolific that many of the images of regional identity became ingrained in popular culture and are still recognizable today .
In turn , literature not only illustrates for readers what it is that makes a place different from other similar locations but also communicates , in part , what kind of behaviors are expected when visiting those destinations and introduces readers to what activities can be enacted while there . Montana , for example , has always been a sportsperson ’ s paradise but it was Norman Maclean ’ s novel A River Runs Through It , and later , Robert Redford ’ s film by the same name that sparked a wildly successful fly-fishing tourism industry ( Fraser ; Hepworth ; Seaman 52 ). Both Maclean ’ s vivid literary depiction and Redford ’ s beautiful cinematic interpretation gave people a reason to travel to Montana , and an idea of what to expect there ; they too could cast a line into a rushing glacier-fed river and pull out a large glistening trout . Some 25 years later , the fly-fishing industry remains healthy ( Puckett ), and just recently , the tiny town of Seeley Lake has begun hosting a biennial Norman Maclean literary festival . While it is extremely unlikely that every single potential visitor has read , seen , or even heard of A River Runs Through It ( in either manifestation ), scholars contend the images of place depicted in literature ( and film ) often permeate popular culture and are powerful influencers of people ’ s conceptualization of and behavior in place ( Ryden 60 ; Shortridge 285 ). Thus , while all places , including literary places , may be many things to many people , the ways we communicate about a place are influ-
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