in American Literature Southern Gothic in American Literature

On the back of the notes sheet.. Write down at least ten things that come to mind when you think of the word “Southern”

Background Sub-genre of the Gothic style Popular in Europe in 1800s Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Dracula by Bram Stoker Unique to American literature relies on supernatural, ironic or unusual events to guide the plot uses these to explore social issues and reveal the cultural character of the American South.

Details Writers Use Takes classic Gothic archetypes, such as the monster or the heroic knight, and turns them into American Southerners a spiteful, reclusive spinster; an uneducated drunk a quiet, wise lawyer The “grotesque” a character whose negative qualities allow the author to highlight unpleasant aspects in Southern culture. Something in the town, the house, the farm is bizarre and often falling apart

Details Writers Use Cont. Lonely plantations Aging Southern belles Dusty downtowns Spanish moss and Southern charm

Other Specific Characteristics of Southern Gothic Freakishness Outsider Imprisonment Violence Sense of Place

Freakishness In most southern gothic stories, there is an important character who is set apart from the world by in a negative way by a disability or an odd, and often negative way of seeing the world.

Outsider Southern novels are filled with characters who are set a part from the established cultural pattern, but who end up being heroes because their difference allows them to see new ways of doing things that ultimately help to bring people out of the “dark.”

Imprisonment This is often both literal and figurative. Many southern gothic tales include an incident where a character is sent to jail or locked up. There are also Southern gothic characters that live in fate's prison.

Violence Racial, social and class difference often create underlying tension in Southern gothic novels that threatens, and usually does, erupt in violent ways

Sense of Place You can’t read a Southern Gothic novel without understanding what a Southern town “feels” like: old small towns Houses have front porches with rocking chairs Old downtown with stately but worn-down buildings

Themes Good vs. Evil Loss of innocence Social inequality

Characters Cast of off-kilter characters Women are powered by their desires on one hand, their obligations on the other Live on the outside of society Long to find a connection in this world Often strangers in strange places

Ambrose Bierce1842-1914? “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” Recurring theme: dark vision of life centering on war and the cruel joke it plays on humanity. Fought for the Union during the Civil War. Went to Mexico to cover, or join, its revolution in 1913 and was never heard from again.

Flannery O’Connor 1925-1964 Born in Savannah, Georgia Suffered from and died of Lupus Devout Roman Catholic Christian belief pervades all her writing and she uses violence to make a point. Her point: God is here and the devil is too.

Terms to Know She is a writer of satire: a type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about change. She is a master of the idea that there is truth in the grotesque (odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character; fantastically ugly or absurd; bizarre).

Southern Gothic Movie Trailers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiugxNeXj2Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfnPrMypS8U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSLYyPK2vsc

Credits “Southern Gothic” painting available @ http://www.internationaldigitalart.com/IDAA/2005IDAAGallery/pages/029_southern_gothic.html To Kill a Mockingbird Pictures available @ http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib/english/tkm/culminatingproject/pictures/ Genre information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Gothic http://www2.oprah.com/obc_classic/featbook/thlh/gothic/thlh_gothic_main.jhtml http://www2.oprah.com/obc_classic/featbook/thlh/gothic/thlh_gothic_features.jhtml