As a member of a distinguished South Carolina family, Matthew Calbraith Butler led a most interesting life. His cavalry service during the Civil War saw him rise from regimental captain to major general in command of a division. He began the war with Jeb Stuart and participated in all of his early campaigns. Butler was wounded in the battle at Brandy Station and lost his foot as a result, but he returned to duty and the battles outside of Richmond in 1864, then hurried South to resist Sherman's advance into South Carolina. Unlike many other Confederate generals, Butler remained influential after the War. He served in the U.S. Senate for eighteen years, oversaw the end of Reconstruction in South Carolina, and was a major general during the Spanish-American War.
A chronicle of the lives and deeds of five men who hailed from the South and affected the whole of America’s history. With depth going beyond the standard recounting of their glorious deeds, the book explores the land and the family heritage that shaped the lives of these great figures—men such as Daniel Boone and David Crockett, among others.
Selected as an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice Selected as an Outstanding Reference Source by the Reference and User Services Association of the American Library Association There are many anthologies of southern literature, but this is the first companion. Neither a survey of masterpieces nor a biographical sourcebook, The Companion to Southern Literature treats every conceivable topic found in southern writing from the pre-Columbian era to the present, referencing specific works of all periods and genres. Top scholars in their fields offer original definitions and examples of the concepts they know best, identifying the themes, burning issues, historical personalities, beloved icons, and common or uncommon stereotypes that have shaped the most significant regional literature in memory. Read the copious offerings straight through in alphabetical order (Ancestor Worship, Blue-Collar Literature, Caves) or skip randomly at whim (Guilt, The Grotesque, William Jefferson Clinton). Whatever approach you take, The Companion’s authority, scope, and variety in tone and interpretation will prove a boon and a delight. Explored here are literary embodiments of the Old South, New South, Solid South, Savage South, Lazy South, and “Sahara of the Bozart.” As up-to-date as grit lit, K Mart fiction, and postmodernism, and as old-fashioned as Puritanism, mules, and the tall tale, these five hundred entries span a reach from Lady to Lesbian Literature. The volume includes an overview of every southern state’s belletristic heritage while making it clear that the southern mind extends beyond geographical boundaries to form an essential component of the American psyche. The South’s lavishly rich literature provides the best means of understanding the region’s deepest nature, and The Companion to Southern Literature will be an invaluable tool for those who take on that exciting challenge. Description of Contents 500 lively, succinct articles on topics ranging from Abolition to Yoknapatawpha 250 contributors, including scholars, writers, and poets 2 tables of contents — alphabetical and subject — and a complete index A separate bibliography for most entries
American Studies is a vigorous, bold account of the changes in the field of American Studies over the last thirty-five years. Through this set of carefully selected key essays by an editorial board of expert scholars, the book demonstrates how changes in the field have produced new genealogies that tell different histories of both America and the study of America. Charts the evolution of American Studies from the end of World War II to the present day by showcasing the best scholarship in this field An introductory essay by the distinguished editorial board highlights developments in the field and places each essay in its historical and theoretical context Explores topics such as American politics, history, culture, race, gender and working life Shows how changing perspectives have enabled older concepts to emerge in a different context
This book examines ‘Southern Gothic’ - a term that describes some of the finest works of the American Imagination. But what do ‘Southern’ and ‘Gothic’ mean, and how are they related? Traditionally seen as drawing on the tragedy of slavery and loss, ‘Southern Gothic’ is now a richer, more complex subject. Thirty-five distinguished scholars explore the Southern Gothic, under the categories of Poe and his Legacy; Space and Place; Race; Gender and Sexuality; and Monsters and Voodoo. The essays examine slavery and the laws that supported it, and stories of slaves who rebelled and those who escaped. Also present are the often-neglected issues of the Native American presence in the South, socioeconomic class, the distinctions among the several regions of the South, same-sex relationships, and norms of gendered behaviour. This handbook covers not only iconic figures of Southern literature but also other less well-known writers, and examines gothic imagery in film and in contemporary television programmes such as True Blood and True Detective.
The literature of the antebellum South has often been described in literary histories as little more than glorified propaganda for the aristocratic, slave-owning class. While this might pertain to the region’s historical romances that feature a dashing, resolute hero committed to upholding the dearly held institutions of slave-holding society and that relegate women and African Americans to roles as meek supporters or loyal comic sideshows, this view does not describe all of the South’s literature from this period.In Unwelcome Voices: Subversive Fiction in the Antebellum South, Paul C. Jones argues that there was a subversive group of voices that dared challenge cherished southern traditions and raised questions about the issues facing the South in the years leading up to the Civil War, including slavery, democracy, and women’s rights.Jones examines the work of five southern writers from that era: James Heath, Frederick Douglass, Edgar Allan Poe, John Pendleton Kennedy, and E.D.E.N. Southworth. Each author was subversive in different ways: Heath featured a progressive hero who ignored the aristocratic assumptions of the South; Douglass presented a rebellious slave hero and made the slave-owning class his villains; Poe used horror to highlight the South’s hidden anxieties; Kennedy challenged the romantic visions of the South by opposing them with realistic depictions of the region; and Southworth employed abolitionist rhetoric to undermine traditionalist discourse. Jones clearly shows that the fiction of these writers diverged sharply from the South’s dominant literary formula.Unwelcome Voices represents a major turning point in the study of the literature of the antebellum South. It recognizes those authors who produced the counterweight to the writing meant to prop up the region’s elite class and slaveholding way of life. Unwelcome Voices will be a welcome and needed addition to the libraries of anyone interested in Southern history or the literature of the antebellum period.
Literary heroes represent the cultural, moral and spiritual texture of a country. They reflect the spoken and unspoken ideals, the dreams of life and the mundane existence of people of a nation. The concept of the hero generates some of the most existing criticism in the literary history of a country. The emergence of mythological hero or heroes gives proper direction to the people of a nation in formulating religions, morals, cultural and social ideals and values.
Rhetoric, Race, Religion, and the Charleston Shootings: Was Blind but Now I See is a collection focusing on the Charleston shootings written by leading scholars in the field who consider the rhetoric surrounding the shootings. This book offers an appraisal of the discourses – speeches, editorials, social media posts, visual images, prayers, songs, silence, demonstrations, and protests – that constituted, contested, and reconstituted the shootings in American civic life and cultural memory. It answers recent calls for local and regional studies and opens new fields of inquiry in the rhetoric, sociology, and history of mass killings, gun violence, and race relations—and it does so while forging new connections between and among on-going scholarly conversations about rhetoric, race, and religion. Contributors argue that Charleston was different from other mass shootings in America, and that this difference was made manifest through what was spoken and unspoken in its rhetorical aftermath. Scholars of race, religion, rhetoric, communication, and sociology will find this book particularly useful.
