Somehow I chose an article to read first that aptly describes the scope of our independent study. This article talks about the South as an oft castigated and sometimes valorized area of the country. McWhirter calls it, "a last line of defense, or so it is argued, against a soulless, rootless, corrupt urban industrial (hence 'northern') modernity." He points out that this model has come under fire from feminist and African American critics for, as Michael pointed out, its willful ignorance of history. A fairy tale South, lily-white and peaceful as a stroll on a country lane.
The south is connected to a concept of agrarian tradition, of old, homespun values, of life that resists urbanization and modernity. (In "With Drawl," 'hillbilly' Marvin 'Popcorn' Sutton, states about the northern (and even southern urban) environment, "You don't like your neighbor. You don't speak to your neighbor. You're bitter with the world... You drive down the street and everybody is wide open blowing their horns and don't know nobody and don't want to know nobody and don't care about nobody. It's quite a bit different up here." p. 10). Of course, that lauded "friendliness" and connection hangs on similarity not difference. It depends upon everyone doing and thinking the same way and that way is generally authentic, white, Christian, heterosexual values. Here's where my experience having lived there, especially as a gay teenager, helps me read between the lines.
McWhirter also raises the notion of the "unitary South" as a constructed, flawed idea. As AM and I are investigating, perhaps there is no "unitary South" but many Souths that connect and, at certain junctures, fall apart. The "unitary," McWhirter says, derives its otherness "from, and against, history." (Robert Dainotto, Place in Literature: Regions, Cultures, Communties). And, further, that fetishism for "authenticity" is divorced from African American history, culture and literature.
As Florida goes, I think there is also going to be additional influences from other multi-racial, and multi-cultural sources: namely, Native American culture (still relatively rich in Florida, and certainly not underground) and the Spanish.
In general, McWhirter's article raises key points for AM and I to consider as we develop our work. I had no idea prior to creating this IS that these ideas were being bandied about in what I now know to be Southern Studies. It seems AM and I have stumbled upon an entire area of inquiry previously unknown to us both.
Well the point of the IS is to read and explore subjects that will be helpful for your work as writers and teachers of lit and writing. So you all have picked well. Yes, I'm aware of Southern Studies and how contentious it can be. In general I think the elite power centers of American academia and media and business is still centered and influenced by Eastern intellectuals i.e. NY as is the American Media. Regional histories are shockingly unknown and generalizations permeate. It's part of the reason IMO that cultural divides are so intense. People from the Plains or South or "Midlands" or Southwest and Ohio Valley etc see their portrayal and rightfully dismiss elite eastern opinions based on such narrow experiences of these areas and cultural histories. I was reading something yesterday--just as an example of this--where Bernie Sanders in Alabama was appalled to learn how little attention the DNC has payed to the Democrats--Progressive Dems in particular there. It is both an interesting critique of the Democratic Party's eastern influence and power as well as another example of this laziness in recognizing how in different parts of America politics works differently b/c of the history and economic history as well.
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