Southern Gothic Literature

Southern

Gothic

Literature

1

Multiple Choice

Which literary movement do you think Southern Gothic Literature falls under?

• Native American Literature

• Colonial Literature 1600s-1700s

• Enlightenment and Revolution Mid- to Late 1700s

• American Gothic Early 1800s-present

2

Open Ended

Describe the shed on the previous slide

Background on Gothic Literature

The terms “Goth” and “Gothic” were
originally used to describe the Germanic
tribes that pilfered and plundered across
Europe from
the 3rd to the
5th centuries.

3

The architecture from the 12th to the
16th centuries is called “gothic.”

It is
characterized
by pointed
arches and
flying
buttresses.

4

5

Notre Dame

Westminster Abbey

Harkness

Tower

In 18th century England, the term “gothic”
became synonymous with Middle Ages - a

period of chaos and superstition.

6

The Castle of

Otranto

A novel by Horace Walpole written
in 1764 and considered the first
example of Gothic literature.

7

Characteristics of Gothic Literature

• Gloom and doom setting –

mysterious castles, dungeons,
frightening forests, labyrinths,
secret passages, cemeteries,

mist and fog
• Ambiguous heroes and villains –

neither absolutely good nor
absolutely evil

• Often involves an ancestral
curse and family secrets

8

Common Motifs

• Revenge
• Decay
• Transformation
• Superstitions
• Grave robbing
• Mystery
• Nightmares/dreams
• Necromancy
• Pursued female
• Unreliable narrator

9

Famous Gothic Literature

Frankenstein by Mary
Shelley 1818

Dracula by Bram Stoker
1897

Copyright 2014 Dianne Mason

10

Open Ended

Can you think of a movie that would be classified as gothic?

Gothic Literature Comes to America

Whereas traditional gothic literature
most often took the novel form,
American writers like Edgar Allan Poe
and Nathaniel
Hawthorne wrote
primarily short
stories.

Copyright 2014 Dianne Mason

11

Southern Gothic Literature

Southern Gothic literature turns the
tropes of traditional gothic literature,
such as the hero and the monster, into
American Southerners.

It focuses on their
moral and social
shortcomings of
damaged, even
delusional
characters.

13

Characteristics of Southern

Gothic Literature

“Grotesque” – This term can include
situations
as well as
flawed,
characters
exhibit anti-

and places
deeply
disturbing
who often
social

behavior while simultaneously
invoking feelings of sympathetic pity.

14

More Characteristics

• Outsiders become

heroes

• Dark humor
• Sense of

supernatural

• Generational decay

• Strong sense of

place

• Disturbing, realistic

or ironic events

• Nostalgia for past
• Broken or unusual

physical objects.

15

William Faulkner

From the Carl Van Vechten

collection

William Faulkner didn’t graduate
from high school or college, lived
in a small town in the poorest
state in the nation during the
Great Depression, faced financial
ruin, and still managed to write
multiple novels set in the
imaginary world of
Yoknapatawpha County,
Mississippi, that resulted in his
becoming one of the most
acclaimed writers of the 20th
Century.

Copyright 2014 Dianne Mason

16

Open Ended

What elements of Southern Gothic Lit do you see?

Timeline of Faulkner’s Life

• Born 9/25/1897 in New

Albany, Mississippi

• 1918 joined British

Royal Flying Corp

• 1924 published a book

of poetry, The Marble
Faun

• 1925 published first

novel, Soldier’s Pay

• 1930 married Estelle

Oldham

• 1929-1933 The Sound

and the Fury,
Sanctuary, As I Lay
Dying, Light in August

• 1933 daughter Jill born
• 1932-1945

screenplays

• 1936 Absalom,

Absalom!

• 1949 Won Nobel Prize
• Died 07/06/1962

18

Open Ended

What's one thing you remember about Faulkner?