1. in American Literature 1830s - 1960s Laurie Miller
Southern Gothic
in American Literature
1830s s
Laurie Miller

2. 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.

3. Background
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
Most notable feature is 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

4. Influences in Southern Writing
Slavery
Civil War
Segregation
Revolution in culture
Poverty
Military/ War

5. Elements of Southern Writing Style
Dialect Writing
Not used often in other writings because it is viewed as condescending to the race or ethnicity being portrayed.
Popular in Southern writing and incorporates local speech and patterns i.e. ain’t, y’all etc. and misspelling of words to display meaning i.e. yuh (you) and lak (like)
Explain dialect writing

6. Dialect Writing Cont. Examples of books with dialect writing:
Tom Sawyer
To Kill a Mockingbird
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Huck Finn
The Color Purple
Example from Eyes Watching God, : p. 112 “Janie, everybody’s talkin’ ‘bout how dat Tea Cake is draggin’ you round tuh places you ain’t used tuh.”

7. Examples of Dialect Writing
Excerpts from Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
"At dat she ain't so ole as some of y'all dat's talking."
"She ain't even worth talkin' after," Lulu Moss drawled through her nose. "She sits high, but she looks low. Dat's what Ah say 'bout dese ole women runnin' after young boys."

8. Common Themes Chivalry
This theme reflected SAouthern culture where women were treated with respect and were delicate flowers to be doted upon (ideally).
Some of the best American romance novels are written by Southern authors because of this utopian romanticism. i.e. Gone With The Wind

9. Themes Continued Values and Morals
Many values and morals in Southern literature are a result of a strong Christian influence especially of the rigid Baptist church.
Family values are also very prominent. Usually this theme is presented from a traditional standpoint.

10. Defining Feature Cast of off-kilter characters
Broken bodies, minds or souls
Used to symbolize problems created by the established pattern
Used to question established pattern’s morality and ethical justification
The “Innocent” is a common character, who may or may not be “broken,” but who often acts as a redeemer for others

11. Other Specific Features of Southern Gothic
Freakishness
Outsider
Imprisonment
Violence
Sense of Place

12. 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.

13. Outsider
Southern novels are filled with characters who are set apart 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.”

14. 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.

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

16. 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

17. Sense of Place

18. William Faulkner
Many say Faulkner’s short stories resembled his life. They included struggles with rage, alcoholism, and adultery. Each of these hardships were sadly common in Southern America during the 1920s through 1950s and even today. His works were famous in the South and encouraged many more Southern novels.

19. Flannery O’Connor
Religion was a key factor in her life and thus reflected in her writing. She was raised Roman Catholic but many of the characters in her books were Protestant. It was her observation that Protestants expressed their faith through dramatic action, something she did not see in Catholics

20. The End