Southern Fictions

In this course, we will explore the American South through a selection of short stories and novels. As we proceed, we will investigate the various Souths that exist in the literary imagination. We will explore, for example, Flannery O’Connor’s “Christ-haunted South,” filled with grotesquerie and grace, William Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County, and the contemporary New Orleans of Jesmyn Ward. Instead of viewing the South as a monolith, we will remain attentive to geographical distinctions, and the course readings will likely be organized by sub-regions within the South (Appalachia, Gulf Coast, etc.). The readings will offer several opportunities to think critically about race and the legacy of slavery in the United States, class distinctions within the region, and storytelling traditions.

Samuel Walker is exchange lecturer from the University of Virginia.