The term “country bumpkin” is a slang expression. The phrase has been used for many years to refer to a person who is considered to be a hick or an uncouth and comes from the rural area. The phrase, with some negative connotation, has been used in different works of literature, movies and even in real life. However, the term also seems to capture the various and sometimes paradoxical attitudes that the city has towards the country and its inhabitants.
Meaning of “Country Bumpkin”
“Country bumpkin” refers to a person from the country side who seems to be foolish or inexperienced. Usually, this term has negative undertones, which reflects that the individual is unsophisticated and does not have the manners or the culture of a city resident. In some contexts, the terms is used in a humorous and a fond manner; however, it is often used in a negative or condescending way. It reflects a certain tension between the rural and the urban.
The term “bumpkin” is actually included in the title of the phrase. It is an old English term that originally refers to a clumsy or awkward person, and when paired with “country”, it amplifies the stereotype of rural people as being less sophisticated or less capable of navigating the complexities of urban life. Although, the term is usually considered as having a negative meaning, however, it also contains a positive connotation, which refers to the real or the simple in contrast to the perceived artificiality of the urban life.
Origin of “Country Bumpkin”
It is not easy to pinpoint the exact roots of the term “country bumpkin”, as the term has most probably developed from a combination of various linguistic factors and cultural practices over a considerable period of time. However, it is possible to analyze its evolution by looking into the origins of the words that were employed in connection with it, as well as the historical background in which such terms were used.
Etymology of “Bumpkin”
The term “Bumpkin” has been coined in the sixteenth century. It is derived from the Middle Dutch word “bommekijn”, which refers to a ugly, unattractive and lacking elegance. With the passage of time, the term “bumpkin” was used to describe someone who is clumsy and has not been brought up well.
The use of the term “country” with “bumpkin” might have been influenced by the early accumulation of urban culture in England and other European countries. With the growth of population and the development of commerce, culture and political governance, a clear separation was made between the urban and the rural.
People living in the cities, who considered themselves more sophisticated, began to develop prejudices about rural population, being less enlightened and less cosmopolitan. The term “country bumpkin” became a sort of means of distinguishing oneself from the people of the countryside.
Historical Context
This term became popular during the time when the role of European countries was rapidly changing especially during the industrial revolution in 18th and 19th century. When population moved from the rural areas to the urban areas in search of jobs, there was a clear distinction between the urban and rural lifestyles.
This migration also played an important role in the formation of social stratification where people of the urban areas tended to consider themselves as superior to those who still lived in the rural areas.
In the literature and the popular culture, the term is used as a character to denote the contrast between the city and the rural area. These characters were depicted as noble, kind and hardworking but at the same time they were ignorant and unrefined unlike their city counterparts.
The term ‘country bumpkin’ became a means of asserting that rural people were backward and had no understanding of the modern world or the life of the cities.
Use of “Country Bumpkin” in Literature
This phrase “country bumpkin” has been used in many literary contexts, most especially to create a comparison between the country and the town, or as a way of addressing issues of class, education, and manners. Following are some examples of how the particular phrase has been used in literature:-
Example#1
“She Stoops to Conquer” by Oliver Goldsmith
The term ‘country bumpkin’ had been firstly used in the play in 1773. The play is a comedy that focuses on social relationships and the mistakes that people make as they come into contact with members of the other classes.
“I love everything that’s old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wine; and, I believe, Dorothy, you’ll own I have been pretty fond of an old wife.”
“And I’m sure I should be ashamed of my choice, if I didn’t think that the man I’m going to marry is of such a good, old-fashioned, country bumpkin sort.”
Here, the protagonist is quite keen to express the simple and conventional attitudes of the ‘country bumpkin’ type of person. The author uses the term affectionately, indicating that there is something noble in the directness and simplicity of the country folk even if they are depicted as being less developed than their city counterparts.
The play depicts the life of a ‘country man’ and other characters which are more civilized, and shows how these social differences cause conflicts, misunderstandings and create humor.
Example#2
“The Mayor of Casterbridge” by Thomas Hardy
The rural and urban life is one of the significant theme in the book. The main character Michael Henchard is a man from the rural background, who becomes the prominent citizen of the town known as Casterbridge.
Henchard is an unworldly man, and, despite his business achievements, he is still very much a ‘country bumpkin’ who is unable to cope with the more deviousness of city life.
“Henchard had known no great refinement. His career had been an unbroken progress in the same kind of work, varying only from a lower to a higher grade. He was a ‘country bumpkin,’ unpolished, but with a firmness that had led him to where he stood.”
The author uses the character of Henchard to depict the values of rural and urban and the difficulties of the person who is in-between the two cultures.
Henchard is a tragic character whose downfall is partly attributed to his inability to erase the characteristics of the country simpleton and the contrast between the country and city.
Example#3
“Tess of the d’Urbervilles” by Thomas Hardy
In this novel, the author paints a positive picture of rural life and the country bumpkin. The female protagonist Tess, is a poor young woman from a rural working-class background and she is often described in the novel by characters of higher class as an ‘ignorant’ or ‘lower class’ woman.
However, Hardy’s Tess is the complete opposite of the Victorian woman; she is a helpless woman who suffers the cruelty of society but is a virtuous woman.
“Tess was no more a ‘country bumpkin’ than the richest lady in the land, though she had been born in a remote village and had never seen the world beyond her own parish. Her natural beauty and grace belied the simple life she led.”
In the passage, the author subverts the stereotype of the ‘country bumpkin’ because he describes Tess not in terms of her class but in terms of her personality.
The novel shows the life of rural people and the oppression of people of lower class. Through Tess, Hardy points at the social inequality where people cannot accept them as equals coming from the rural areas.
Example#4
“Cold Comfort Farm” by Stella Gibbons
In the novel, the main character Flora Poste, a young lady from London, goes to live with her unusual country relatives, the Starkadders, at Cold Comfort Farm. The novel is satirical that plays with the “country bumpkin” stereotype, using humor to deconstruct the romanticized and often patronizing portrayals of rule life found in earlier literature.
“They were all country bumpkins, Flora thought, though she wouldn’t have said so out loud. But their quaint ways and odd customs amused her to no end.”
The author uses the character of Flora to ridicule the country people as well as the urban inhabitants who patronize the former as if they were still in the Middle Ages.
The comic element in the novel stems from the caricature of the rural population and the absurdity of the “country bumpkin”. Gibbons also uses satire to mock the idealization of the notion of the English countryside and the way that people living in the countryside are treated.
See also: Deus Ex Machina Meaning
Use of “Country Bumpkin” in Modern Discourse
Over the years, the meaning and use of the term “country bumpkin” has also been changed. Although the terms is still in use today, it has different connotation as compared to the previous decades.
In some cases, it is used to refer to a person who is considered to be uncultured or ill-mannered. However, in other context, the term has been either reclaimed or redefined to denote a certain appreciation of the rural culture and heritage.
Reclaiming Rural Identity
In the past few years, people have been embracing country life and disregarding the bad perception that associates with it. For some, the term ‘country bumpkin’ is a title of dignity, the identification of which is associated with purity, modesty and closeness to nature.
This shift is part of the broader cultural shift which celebrates the idea of the rural life and its values like independence, togetherness, and less hectic lifestyle.
This reclaiming of the term is also visible in the media, where rural characters are no longer portrayed as weak, helpless and stupid, but as powerful, self-sufficient and knowing, as opposed to their previous portrayal as stupid and naive.
Most television shows, films and literature that portray the rural life and its values subvert the ‘country bumpkin’ stereotype, thereby undermining the assumption that sophistication and worth are determined by one’s exposure to the city.
The Term in Contemporary Language
Today, the term ‘country bumpkin’ is still in use, but the meaning of the term can vary with the context and the intent of the speaker. Sometimes, it is used in a humorous way or to refer someone who is considered to be sweet and simple in a way.
In some context, it may also be a pejorative to mean that someone is dull, regressed or does not live in the current century.
However, due to increasing recognition of the variety and the quality of rural life, the negative and stereotyped implications of the term have become less acceptable in many contexts.
Presently, the society has realized that being rural is not as simple as being referred to as country bumpkin and that people in the rural areas go through many things that are not associated with the urban areas.
See also: The Devil To Pay Meaning
