Category: louisiana literature

Conversation with Jennifer Morrison about “Of Love and Dust”

This semester, I finally decided to teach Ernest Gaines’ Of Love and Dust. For a number of years, I’ve cited Gaines’ 1967 novel as my favorite book, and as I reread it in preparation for this semester, I began to think about it as one of the most important works of the twentieth century American literature. On the surface, I know this sounds like … Read More Conversation with Jennifer Morrison about “Of Love and Dust”

Who is the Villain in Ernest J. Gaines’ “A Gathering of Old Men”?

Recently, I had a conversation with Jennifer Morrison, for my Multicultural American Literature class, on Ernest Gaines’ A Gathering of Old Men. At one point, we began talking about Fix and the ways that Gaines represents him, specifically through the eyes of an outsider to the community, Sully. This topic led me to eventually ask, “Who is the villain in the novel?” On the … Read More Who is the Villain in Ernest J. Gaines’ “A Gathering of Old Men”?

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The Roots Beneath Our Feet

Currently, I’m working on a paper that looks at the ways that Attica Locke’s The Cutting Season, amongst other things, critiques the plantation tourism industry in the South. As I was researching, I came across Rebecca C. McIntyre’s “Promoting the Gothic South,” an article that explores the ways that travel writers, after the Civil War, began to construct images of the South, specifically in … Read More The Roots Beneath Our Feet

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“Miss Jane is not in them”: Voices in Historical Narratives

Over the past couple of posts, I have written about the role of history and literature in countering prevailing myths about the past and the present. Today, I want to continue that discussion by looking at a couple of scene from Ernest J. Gaines’ The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1971). On Thursday, I will finish this series by looking at a section from … Read More “Miss Jane is not in them”: Voices in Historical Narratives

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I’m the Victim of America’s Sin. I’m What Sin Is.

Over the last couple of posts, I have written about Jeff Nichols’ Loving and the legal constructions of race. Today, I want to conclude that discussion by looking some at Jean Toomer’s Cane (1923) and Ernest J. Gaines’ The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1971). In each of these texts, published close to fifty years apart, Toomer and Gaines highlight the ways that words … Read More I’m the Victim of America’s Sin. I’m What Sin Is.