The discourse of race and Southern literature, 1890 - 1940

The monograph looks at the literary representation of race relations in the American South from 1890 to 1940. Literary texts by Southern white and black authors form part of a complex discourse of race that incorporates historical, economical, social, and literary practices. In four historical periods the increasing opposition to the prevalent discourse of race is delineated. Each chapter covers four interlocked areas: 1. The grounding of the literary discourse of race in the economic and political developments. 2. The changes in the representation of the black 'Other' by white writers. 3. The tactics of subversion and resistance through 'black sounds' that established a counterhegemonic discourse. 4. The role of women writers and their attempts at undermining the patriarchal discourse.

Autorentext

The author: Andreas Müller-Hartmann is a lecturer at the Institute for teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) at Giessen University, Germany. He has worked as a secondary school teacher of English, French and German in various schools in Germany, France, and the USA. He holds an M.A. in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi, USA, and a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Osnabrück, Germany.

Inhalt
Contents: The racist Southern white discourse around the turn of the century and first attempts at its subversion, 1890-1914 The 'Harlem Renaissance' and the 'Southern Renaissance': Two attempts at revising traditional discourses, 1918-1930 The beginning of the Depression: Southern white writers probe the racist discourse of the Agrarians, 1930-1935 The emerging voice of resistance among Southern black writers during the second half of the Depression, 1935-1940.