"The Past Isn't Even Past": Society and Culture of the American South in Historical Perspective 4219-RS281
In Requiem for a Nun, William Faulkner wrote, “The past isn’t dead. It isn’t even past.” The American South is one of, if not the most, distinctive regions in the United States. The people settled there and developed the region developed a sense of difference earlier and maintained it longer than other areas. Only New England with its association with national origins and the American west with it mythic associations with the frontier come close to the South for its role in shaping the politics, society, and culture of the United States. In this course we will explore the origins of southern distinctiveness, its evolution over time, and its persistence in modern America. We will consider various ways of defining a region (geographically? economically? linguistically? by cuisine? religiously?), but I will suggest that, while these factors are relevant, but as Faulkner notes, for many in the South, the past is very much alive. So, seeing these elements in the context of their historical development will yield better insight to the South as a distinct region. Furthermore, we will include an examination of the South in popular culture, considering images of the South in music, literature, and film.
Topics:
Defining the South
The Old South
The Enslaved
The Civil War and Reconstruction
The New South
World War II
The Second Reconstruction
The Sunbelt
Religion in the South
Outsiders
Southern Music
Southern Food
Type of course
elective courses
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Knowledge
By the end of the course, students will
1. To understand the historical development of a distinct southern regional identity.
2. To analyze how various social and cultural work together to create a sense of difference in the American South.
Skills
By the end of this course, students
1. will develop skills in conducting independent historical research, analyzing primary sources, and evaluating the work of other scholars.
2. will improve their ability to synthesize the information gained from their research.
3. will become adept in communicating the results of their investigation in clear, concise English prose.
Competences
By the end of the course, students will
1. appreciate the role of regionalism in shaping modern America
2. gain insight into the role of popular culture in shaping and perpetuating myths about the South
Assessment criteria
Students are expected to attend class and come prepared to discuss the assigned material. Students will be require to complete a series of "process" tasks designed to practice various research and writing skills (20%) and to write a major research paper (60%). Additionally, students will contribute once during the semester to a forum about the suggested film (10%) and once during the semester serve as a discussion leader (10%).
Process Assignments 30 20%
Discussion leader 15 10%
Movie report 15 10%
Final Essay 90 60%
Total 150
Grading scale
5 92.5 138
4+ 87.5 131
4 80 120
3+ 75 108
6 60 90
Bibliography
Readings:
Cash, “The Continuity of Southern History”
Woodward, “The Discontinuity of Southern History”
Griffin, “The American South and the Self”
Clinton, “The Moral Bind”
Wyatt-Brown, Honor and Violence in the Old South, chaps. 1, 2
Genoveses, “The Yeoman and Planter Hegemony”
Bolton, “Edward Isham and the World of Poor Whites”
Raboteau, “Religious Life in the Slave Community”
Jones, “Black Women, Work, and the Family under Slavery”
Schweninger, “Prosperous Blacks in the South”
Clinton, “‘Southern Dishonor:’ Flesh, Blood, Race, and Bondage”
Chopin, “Desiree’s Baby”
Escott, “The Failure of Confederate Nationalism”
Harris, “Carpetbaggers in Reality”
Bethel, “Forming a Free Black Community”
Grady, “The New South”
Hall, “Cotton Mill People”
Hall, “The Mind that Burns”
Toomer, “Blood-burning Moon”
Bartley, “The New Deal as a Turning Point”
Sosna, “World War II as a Watershed in Southern History”
Gilchrist, “Revenge”
Sinclair, “Civil Rights in Baton Rouge”
Rachal, “White Reaction to Freedom Summer”
Schwarz, “Mississippi Monte Carlo”
Arsenault, “The End of the Long Hot Summer”
Carter, “Legacy of Rage”
Wheeler, “Mary Johnston, Suffragist”
Schmier, “‘No Jew Can Murder’”
O’Connor, “Good Country People”
Carney, “Country Music and the South”
Ching, “Country Music”
Podcasts:
“A Pea for the Past, A Pea for the Future”
“Biscuit Blues”
“Bottled Myth: Two Parts Nostalgia, One Part Moonshine”
“The Southern Story of Coca-Cola”
Films:
Jezebel
Mandingo
12 Years a Slave
The Birth of a Nation (2016)
Raintree County
Cold Mountain
Glory
Judge Priest
Sounder
Mudbound
Biloxi Blues
In the Heat of the Night
Mississippi Burning
Selma
Mississippi Masala
Norma Rae
Wild River
The Apostle
Daughters of the Dust
Matewan
They Won’t Forget
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
Coal Miner’s Daughter
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: