Category: american literature

+ american literature, dry september, gothic literature, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, of love and dust, southern literature, william faulkner

Suffocation and Concealment through Dust in Faulkner’s "Dry September"

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After writing about Ellen Glasgow’s “Jordan’s End,” I picked up William Faulkner’s “Dry September” (1931). While not necessarily in the exact same narrative vein, Faulkner’s story, as with his other works, highlight the ideas of the Southern Gothic, specifically a place of suffocating oppression that does not resemble the idyllic region that authors sought to “recapture” after Reconstruction during the latter part of the … Read More Suffocation and Concealment through Dust in Faulkner’s "Dry September"

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+ african american literature, alice ruth moore, american literature, civilization, paul laurence dunbar, the love of landry, western

Paul Laurence Dunbar’s "The Love of Landry" and Civilization

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Recently, while preparing for the 2016 College Language Association Conference, I went back and looked at more of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s writings. I examined some of his newspaper articles, short stories, and The Love of Landry (1900). During his career, Dunbar wrote four novels, and three of them focused on white, not African American, characters. The Love of Landry was Dunbar’s second novel, and … Read More Paul Laurence Dunbar’s "The Love of Landry" and Civilization

+ american literature, ellen glasgow, gothic literature, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, jordan's end, southern literature, william faulkner

Ellen Glasgow’s "Jordan’s End" and the Decaying South

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Before the narrative starts in Frank Yerby’s The Foxes of Harrow (1946), we see a description of the contemporaneous edifice of Harrow in decay, dilapidated beyond repair. Nature has retaken the land, and the once glorious house stands as a shell of its former self. Apart from this image, the Southern Gothic and symbols of the decaying South do not necessarily appear, at least … Read More Ellen Glasgow’s "Jordan’s End" and the Decaying South

+ african american literature, american literature, arna bontemps, invisible man, louisiana literature, mr kelso's lion, ralph ellison

The Lion’s Presence in Arna Bontemps’s "Mr. Kelso’s Lion"

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At the beginning of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man (1952), the narrator relates the story of his grandfather’s death and the lesson that the old man wanted his son to know. He told him, “Live with your head in the lion’s mouth. I want you to overcome ’em with yeses, undermine ’em with grins, agree ’em to death and destruction, let ’em swollen you till … Read More The Lion’s Presence in Arna Bontemps’s "Mr. Kelso’s Lion"

+ african american literature, american literature

"Benevolence" in James Wilcox’s "Modern Baptists"

by Unknown's avatar

A couple of weeks ago, I noted some similarities between James Wilcox’s Modern Baptists (1983), Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer (1961), and John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces (1980). Today, I want to look at the African American presence in two of Wilcox’s novels: Modern Baptists and Hunk City (2007). I have covered this topic in relation to Percy’s novel before, and you can … Read More "Benevolence" in James Wilcox’s "Modern Baptists"

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