Southern States

Southern literature is defined as literature about the South, written by authors who were either brought up in the South, spent many years in the South, or came from southern parents.  But exactly where does the “South” begin and end?  Geographically, the South can reach as far west as Oklahoma and Texas, and as far north as Kentucky, and Virginia.  Some might argue for the inclusion of parts of Illinois, Tennessee, or even Maryland.

Characteristics of southern literature are: the significance of family, a sense of community and one’s role within it, the community’s dominating religion and the burden religion often brings, land and the promise it brings, and the use of southern dialect.   History is held in high regard in the South, and so, the historical significance of the southern town in their stories is usually discussed at length.

When most people think of Southern Literature, they think of those authors who were distant enough from slavery and the civil war to write objectively, but still close enough to the long-reaching effects of the war to feel its oppressive, hard-hitting hand. This is referred to as the Southern Renaissance. It was during the Southern Renaissance that William Faulkner introduced us to his complex narrative techniques as in As I Lay Dying and Katherine Anne Porter used religious symbolism in her collection of short stories. And it was during this time that Robert Penn Warren wrote his highly-acclaimed novel All the King’s Men. William Faulkner, who is considered the leading figure in Southern Literature, has influenced southern writers more than anyone since Mark Twain.  Twain, who has seemed to influence every writers who has ever read him and is often called the father of American literature,  referred to himself as a southern writer even though Missouri is not the first state we think of when we think of “the South”. So while geography is a factor, southern writing is much more. Today, Southern literature continues to thrive with authors like Pat Conroy, Fannie Flagg, Alice Walker, Tom Wolfe, and Wendell Berry.

Tell about the South.
What’s it like there?
What do they do there?
Why do they live there?
Why do they live at all?”
~William Faulkner,
Absalom, Absalom!