Southern Romanticism

Anahit Babayan
Professor Allison MacLeod
English 102
7 November 2015 Southern Gothicism and Dark Romanticism Since the Southern Gothic movement in literature was originated in late 18th and early 19th century, it shares some similarities with Dark Romanticism such as death, decay, and toxic relationships; however, Southern Gothicism is a genre of literature that has a very distinctive style of writing. In other words, while some of the main characteristics of Dark Romanticism have human imperfections along with the horrific symbols and themes, the Southern Gothic style employs the use of macabre and ironic events to examine the values of the American South. Flannery O’Conner and William Faulkner are two of the most iconic writers
In the article “What is Southern Gothic Literature?” the author mentions that one of the key elements of this genre is the grotesque, an element of the narrative that is "irregular, extravagant or fantastic in form". Then he writes that, “a grotesque character may possess an exaggerated personality trait or characteristic for the purpose of eliciting both empathy and disgust in the reader” (Volz, par. 3). To put it differently, in Southern Gothic genre, the stories normally concentrate on grotesque themes. Although they may include supernatural elements, they mostly focus on harmed and complex characters. William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is a great example of Southern Gothic literature in which such events and characters are clearly identified. Over the years, the story was in the middle of critical analysis, but still “it is virtually impossible to fully “report” the history of the critical discussion of this fascinating story” (Mays 514). From my point of view, one of the reasons is that the story is told through the eyes of an unnamed townsman who describes a woman named Emily, the main character of the story. As a result, many of the story's problems, with regard to its critical analysis, originate from the limited perspective of the narrator. Additionally, this issue reminds me of the story “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street,”
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Kornegay, Jamie. "The Evolution of Southern Gothic." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 2 Mar. 2015. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.
Mays, Kelly J. “The Author’s Work as Context: Flannery O’Connor.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. By Kelly J. Mays. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. 419-422. Print.
Mays, Kelly J. “Critical Context: William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. By Kelly J. Mays. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. 514-516. Print.
MacKethan, Lucinda. "Genres of Southern Literature." Sevaa. North Carolina State University, 16 Feb. 2004. Web. 7 Nov. 2015.
Prendergast, Kathy. "Introduction to the Gothic Tradition." Gothtrad. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2015.
Volz, Scott. "What Is Southern Gothic Literature?" Exploring Southern Gothic Literature. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.
Williamson, Jenn. "Traumatic Recurrences in White Southern Literature: O'Connor's “Everything that Rises Must Converge” And Welty's “Clytie”." Women's Studies 38.7 (2009): 747-764. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Nov.