In this essay, the author Jessica Santosa Hidajat discusses the Southern Gothic Literature, the genre which To Kill a Mockingbird was written in, its historical background and respectively the political and social circumstances that have influenced it.
She has taken four books from the Southern Gothic Literature to present in this essay. She has chosen these books because each two of them represent two important subjects in the literature of the Southern States: A Streetcar named Desire by Tennessee Williams and The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner express the downfall of Southern nobility and the exclusion of their characters from society, Light in August , also by William Faulkner, expresses intimacy and homosexuality in the Southern States and Bastard out of Carolina from Dorothy Allison is at the same time a coming-of-age novel dealing with a childhood subjected to poverty, violence and sexual abuse.
In the attachment that is lightened by some colorful photographs, the author explains the backgrounds for the titles of these books.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Defining the Southern Gothic Literature
3. Historical Backgrounds
3.a. Political situation in the 19th century
3.b. Southern nobility
3.c. Poverty in the South
4. Literature in the Southern States
4.a. Civil War and Reconstruction
4.b. Queering in the South
4.c. Motives and narrative techniques
5. Southern Gothic in chosen novels
5.a. A Streetcar Named Desire
5.a.i. Content
5.a.ii. Typical characteristics referring to Southern Gothic
5.b. The Sound and the Fury
5.b.i. Content
5.b.ii. Typical characteristics referring to Southern Gothic
5.c. Light in August
5.c.i. Content
5.c.ii. Typical characteristics referring to Southern Gothic
5.d. Bastard out of Carolina
5.d.i. Content
5.d.ii. Typical characteristics referring to Southern Gothic
6. Why Southern Gothic is no longer existing in the Southern Literature
7. Conclusion
Objectives and Topics
This essay explores the Southern Gothic literary genre, examining its historical, political, and social roots in the Southern United States and analyzing its evolution and eventual decline. It investigates how selected canonical works portray themes of social decay, racial tension, and psychological trauma to define the Southern identity.
- Historical influence of the American Civil War and Reconstruction on Southern literature.
- Social themes including poverty, racial segregation, and the decline of the Southern aristocracy.
- Representation of marginalized characters, "outsiders," and non-normative sexualities.
- Analysis of specific Southern Gothic novels and their unique narrative techniques.
Excerpt from the Book
2. Defining the Southern Gothic Literature
The Southern Gothic Literature is a subgenre of Gothic fiction in American Literature taking place in the Southern States of the USA, lasting from the time of the American Civil War (1861-1865) until today. The Southern States in the USA are those which used to belong to the Confederacy (I will clarify this later). Typical for Southern Gothic are depressing, disturbing and deranged characters and symbols. Compared to Gothic itself, Southern Gothic focuses on social and cultural issues, such as racial suppression and violence, paying less attention to creating suspense in the stories. It especially centers on the history of slavery and the plantation of the South after the Civil War and deals with the post-war situation in society.
Referring to novels written in the era, they often include villains who disguise themselves as being innocent or victims and engage with the decline of the Southern aristocracy. The stories often contain dark humor as well as elements such as dialects and incongruous habits of their characters. Authors of the Southern Gothic literature examine the harm people can do to each other through their characters, which are typically broken in life and are struggling to find a place in the world. Protagonists and heroes of Southern Gothic novels are found to be outsiders; in fact, people who are ‘different’ in some way, whether physically or mentally, very often because of their race, their common language or class. The reason Southern Gothic authors preferably chose outsiders as the heroes of their novels is because they reflect the identity of the South, which back then was an errant society.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: The author outlines the discovery of Southern Gothic literature and defines the research scope based on four selected novels.
2. Defining the Southern Gothic Literature: This chapter establishes the core characteristics of the genre, highlighting its focus on social issues, broken characters, and the post-Civil War environment.
3. Historical Backgrounds: The chapter explores the socio-economic disparities between the North and South, focusing on the 19th-century political climate, the plantation aristocracy, and endemic poverty.
4. Literature in the Southern States: An analysis of how historical trauma, the "Lost Cause" ideology, and non-normative sexualities ("queering") influenced Southern writing.
5. Southern Gothic in chosen novels: A detailed breakdown of four key works, exploring their plot, characterization, and adherence to Southern Gothic tropes.
6. Why Southern Gothic is no longer existing in the Southern Literature: The author argues that modernization and the commodification of the South have diminished the conditions necessary for the genre to flourish.
7. Conclusion: A final synthesis emphasizing that the Southern Gothic remains a profound medium for expressing the region’s complex, often painful historical legacy.
Keywords
Southern Gothic, American Literature, Civil War, Reconstruction, Southern aristocracy, plantation, race, racial segregation, poverty, queer theory, trauma, outsider, narrative techniques, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this work?
The work examines the Southern Gothic literary genre, focusing on how social, political, and historical circumstances in the American South have shaped these narratives.
What are the central themes discussed in the paper?
Central themes include the decline of the Southern aristocracy, the legacy of slavery, racial segregation, poverty, and the representation of societal outsiders.
What is the research goal of this essay?
The goal is to analyze how four specific Southern Gothic novels reflect the historical identity of the American South and to determine why this genre has evolved or declined in modern times.
Which methodology is applied in this research?
The author uses a literary analysis approach, contextualizing the works within historical, political, and social frameworks of the American South.
What does the main body of the work cover?
The main body provides historical context, theoretical definitions, and detailed character and plot analyses of works by authors such as Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner.
Which specific works are analyzed?
The paper focuses on "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, "The Sound and the Fury" and "Light in August" by William Faulkner, and "Bastard out of Carolina" by Dorothy Allison.
How does the author explain the "queering" of the South in literature?
The author describes "queering" as the literary attempt to bring alternative sexualities and gender expressions to the forefront as a form of criticism against the South’s racial and sexual conservatism.
What role does the Compson family play in the analysis?
The Compson family, from William Faulkner’s "The Sound and the Fury," serves as a primary case study for the decay of aristocratic values, internal dysfunction, and the tragic results of societal pressure.
- Quote paper
- Jessica Santosa Hidajat (Author), 2017, Southern Gothic Literature, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/441974
