Southern Gothic Literature

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Southern Gothic Literature
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What is Antebellum?

• Antebellum Latin for before war
• Ante before
• Bellum war
• Antebellum period was referred to as Old South.
• 1784- 1860

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The Antebellum Period

• The Antebellum period is viewed by some with
  sentimental nostalgia
• Who are some?
• Who might not feel nostalgic?

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The Antebellum Period

• Nostalgia stems from the great prosperity of the
  time
• Why was there great prosperity?
• What are some images of pre-Civil War South?

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Imagery of Antebellum Period

• Southern belles
• Great mansions
• Plantations

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Antebellum Period

• Often these images are romanticized
• What made this type of life possible for
  plantation owners?

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Southern Belle

• French belle means beautiful
• Archetype for a young Southern woman of the upper
  class
• Southern hospitality
• Beautiful
• Flirtatious
• Chaste

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Characteristics of Old South

• Strong and proud family attachments
• Identification with Southern history
• Nostalgia for old plantation regime

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Characteristics of New South

• Integration of races
• Indifference towards previous Southern history
• Bleak outlook of the future

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The Southern Writer

• Harsh humor
• Criticism of Old South such as racist
  attitudes, social structures, ways of thinking
  and living
• Writing deals with conflict and break down in
  communication

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Southern Gothic Tradition

• Gothic a genre originating in late 18th century
  England
• Early Gothic writers used the genre in part to
  criticize what they saw as the moral blindness of
  the medieval era

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Southern Gothic Literature

• Mental disease
• Grotesque situations
• Disturbed personalities
• Damaged and delusional characters

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Southern Gothic Literature

• Often deals with the plight of those who are
  ostracized or oppressed by traditional Southern
  culture - blacks, women, and gays

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Southern Gothic Writers

• Flannery OConnor
• Eudora Welty
• William Faulkner
• Carson McCullers
• Tennessee Williams
• Truman Capote

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What you need to know

• What does Antebellum mean?
• What is a Southern Belle?
• What is the Old South?
• What is the New South?
• What is a Southern Gothic Writer?