Southern Gothic

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Southern Gothic ( Southern Gothic ) is a subgenus of American lurid literature . In order for a work to be counted as Southern Gothic, the plot must mainly take place in the southern United States. Generic features are macabre, grotesque and ironic moments, eccentric figures and sometimes supernatural elements such as ghosts or ghosts . The texts often deal with violence, abuse or poverty. They present the morals and values ​​of the South in a critical light.

Origin and characteristics

The subgenre of Southern Gothic had some precursors as early as the 19th century, such as the poets Henry Clay Lewis and sometimes also Mark Twain , who uncovered the darker side of the south in their works. However, the subgenre of Southern Gothic in the true sense of the word did not emerge until the beginning of the 20th century, when authors addressed the social problems of the southern states with the help of black romanticism , literary naturalism and typical southern humor. Due to the gloomy and controversial form and effect, this new subgenre was viewed extremely critically, if not discredited, by literary scholarship and criticism. Edgar Allan Poe is regarded as the first recognized author to fully exploit the potential of this new subgenre in his works ; From a recent perspective, William Faulkner is one of the most important or representative representatives of this genre .

Faulkner's fictional Yoknapatawpha County describes the southern state of life after the bitter defeat in the American Civil War and the resulting social, racial and economic ruptures in the living conditions of people in the southern states. In his portrayal of the change processes as well as the fears that build on them in the experience of the Chickasaw Indians, the poor whites and blacks as well as the aristocratic southern families, Faulkner made use of diverse stylistic elements and forms of representation from Southern Gothic literature. In addition, its complex, modernist and, as it were, labyrinthine language creates a similarly creepy and gruesome feeling of uncertainty and alienation in the reader.

The generation of southern writers who succeeded Faulkner continued this portrayal and exploration of the contradictions between the old and the new south. Authors such as Tennessee Williams (1911–1983), Carson McCullers (1917–1967), and Flannery O'Connor (1925–1964) drew on design elements from gothic literature in their narrative prose , with O'Connor's work also being characterized by the Description of the grotesque was marked. African-American writers such as Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) and Richard Wright (1908–1960) developed their own perspective and narrative design of Southern Gothic literature to express the racial tensions as the basis of this subgenre. The genre elements of Southern Gothic literature also form the basis and the framework for the narrative work of the dark and shockingly violent stories of the contemporary representatives of the so-called Rough Southern writers such as Cormac McCarthy , Barry Hannah , Dorothy Allison , William Gay or Ron Rash .

The gruesome, sometimes supernatural events are set in a realistic, mostly rural setting. The landscapes play an important role in lending the works an atmosphere. In contrast to most works of classical horror literature, the aim is not only to create tension, but also to satirically criticize the values ​​and social problems of the South, which in the 20th century felt different from the rest of America, problems with had deep racism and became increasingly impoverished after the end of the Civil War . The characters of Southern Gothic are accordingly described with empathy, although they are often bigoted , difficult or grotesque personalities.

Well-known authors

Although the most famous Southern Gothic writers worked in the middle of the 20th century - including Nobel Prize winner William Faulkner - the subgenre continues to this day with new authors. Most of the names mentioned come from the areas they write about, so they are familiar with the living conditions there. Well-known authors whose works are at least partially included in Southern Gothic include:

Southern Gothic outside of literature

The Southern Gothic but is oriented not only to literature but also bands that in most cases the alternative rock are attributed as The Handsome Family , or even in his later works Johnny Cash tie in literature Southern Gothic with their texts to the. The works of the photographer Walker Evans with his famous pictures that he took of the poor southern population during the Great Depression are also regularly attributed to the culture of Southern Gothic. Some films are also heavily influenced by Southern Gothic, especially the literary adaptations of works by Southern Gothic writers. This includes classic films such as The Night of the Hunter , Who Disrupts the Nightingale , Lullaby for a Corpse and Blood Court in Texas . The recent television series True Blood has also been described as being influenced by Southern Gothic.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Thomas Ærvold Bjerre: Southern Gothic Literature. . Published online in the Oxford Research Encyclopedias - Literature June 2017; accessed on March 11, 2018.
  2. ↑ Flora, Joseph M .; Mackethan, Lucinda Hardwick: The Companion to Southern Literature (2002) pp. 313-16. ISBN 978-0807126929 .
  3. ↑ Flora, Joseph M .; Mackethan, Lucinda Hardwick: The Companion to Southern Literature (2002) pp. 313-16. ISBN 978-0807126929 . See also in detail Thomas Ærvold Bjerre: Southern Gothic Literature. . Published online in the Oxford Research Encyclopedias - Literature June 2017; accessed on March 11, 2018.
  4. ↑ See Thomas Ærvold Bjerre: Southern Gothic Literature. . Published online in the Oxford Research Encyclopedias - Literature June 2017; accessed on March 11, 2018. See Thomas Ærvold Bjerre: Southern Gothic Literature , ibid.
  5. ↑ Why southern gothic rules the world in the Guardian
  6. ↑ Why southern gothic rules the world in the Guardian
  7. ↑ Southern Gothic at Artsy
  8. ↑ Article on "True Blood"