Southern Gothic literature is a form of writing that became far less popular in the late 20th century. S-Town is a podcast that brought back this endangered genre, and is a real life version of it. As the story plays out in front of the listeners, people notice that the way the elements of Southern Gothic literature are used is different than the classic style people recognize. The Southern Gothic genre had become less popular in the 20th century, but this endangered genre makes a comeback with S-Town, which gives it a new life. Although S-Town seems like a classic piece of Southern Gothic literature, there are many differences the listeners catch after seeing the way it uses the genre’s elements, deterring it away from the classic style to a more contemporary style. S-Town is a piece of contemporary Southern Gothic literature because of its use of irony, macabre and grotesque, and the Southern setting.
The first piece of evidence of S-Town being in a contemporary style is its use of irony. In Southern Gothic literature, irony is defined as the story taking the characters and readers somewhere totally unexpected, the exact opposite of where the readers would expect it to end up. This has to do with the history of the South. The region was very wealthy for a lot of its history, due to the institution of slavery. Once the south lost the Civil War, the slaves were set free, and almost everything in the south fell apart. Southern Gothic writers take advantage of this and write
Southern Gothic literature, which is a sub-genre of the Gothic writing style, is unique to the American South. Southern Gothic literature has many of the same aspects as Gothic literature; it focuses on topics such as death, madness, and the super natural as well has having many mystical, bizarre, violent, and grotesque aspects. These tools are used "to explore social issues and reveal the cultural character of the American South (Wikipedia)."
Is Stown a classic or contemporary piece? S-Town, a classic piece of southern gothic literature, the story of John B. McLemore, a man living in the terrible town of Woodstock, Alabama, who has to deal with violence, social issues and decay everyday. S-Town brings back southern gothic literature in this classic southern story of John B. McLemore and his town. S-Town fits into the southern gothic classic category although it’s a bit different from most stories from this genre. S-Town, a classical piece of southern gothic literature, the story of John B. McLemore, a man living in a terrible town, who has to deal with violence, social issues and decay everyday.
S-Town is a contemporary piece of Southern Gothic Literature because of the use of social issues, outsiders, and violence. Southern Gothic literature has been around since the early nineteenth century. This type of writing deals with the moral issues and conflicts surrounding the South. More contemporary versions of Southern Gothic Literature can be found today and differ greatly from classic pieces due to the elements inserted throughout the plot. Southern Gothic pieces of literature such as S-Town teach many moral lessons that people of today’s time can relate to. Elements such as social issues, violence, and the portrayal of outsiders make up the structure of the genre. S-Town is a contemporary piece of Southern Gothic Literature because of the use of social issues, outsiders, and violence.
“John B McLemore lives in Shittown, Alabama,” Brian Reed quoted. Many people today can relate to some of the problems John faces in S-Town. Most of these problems are derived from southern gothic characteristics within the podcast. The podcast uses many different southern gothic characteristics in order to make it more interesting. Many of the examples of these characteristics are more modern so that they relate to our current society. S-Town is a piece of contemporary Southern Gothic Literature because of its use of social issues, irony, and outsiders.
The most important and defining aspect of southern gothic writing is the use of macabre, or grotesque, events. To define, “The grotesque is a literary technique or style that distorts the normal to the point of absurdity, ugliness and caricature. A setting, character or action can be bizarre, incongruous, ugly, unnatural or fantastic. In Faulkner, West and O’ Connor the grotesque is a mixture of the comic and tragic. Their characters are not only physically but spiritually deformed, and hence are signs of deeper, tragic conflicts.” (qtd. in Harmon and Holman). These macabre
Southern Gothic literature is a sub-genre of the Gothic writing style. It is unique to Southern America. Southern gothic style is a style of writing that engages very ugly and ironic events to study the value of the American south and its people. In this essay, I’m going to go over each story and give some details about the authors and their backgrounds. On one page, I will be comparing and contrasting all three stories. I will show how they’re similar through tone, plot, and scene in the story. And at the end, I am going to describe the three stories; “A Rose for Emilycomma inside quotes”, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, and “Sanctuary”. Period inside quotes All of these short stories are good examples of southern gothic writing, because
Southern Gothic literature has rooted itself in American culture and created several classic short stories that have pushed literary boundaries and minds. Among the most influential of these Southern Gothic stories is “A Rose for Emily”, by William Faulkner; “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, and “Good Country People”, both by Flannery O’Connor. After first discussing what characteristics make up the genre of Southern Gothic, each of these stories will be evaluated and discussed in terms of what makes each of them a prime example of Southern Gothic literature.
Authors use morbidly dark and eccentric characters combined with southern charm and the ever-present gender divide to tell stories that represent a writing style known as southern gothic literature. “Southern Gothic is a subgenre of Gothic fiction unique to American literature that takes place exclusively in the American South. Elements of a Gothic treatment of the South were apparent in the 19th century, ante- and post-bellum, in the grotesques of Henry Clay Lewis and the de-idealized visions of Mark Twain.[3] The genre came together, however, only in the 20th century, when Dark Romanticism, Southern humour, and the new Naturalism merged into a new and powerful form of social critique.” (Wikipedia) Almost all stories told in the southern gothic genre have blemished characters that act in strange and weird manners, often told with dark, deadly humor. Set in the south, story lines are always ominous and disastrous focusing on poverty, estrangement, illegal activity and/or brutality. These writings are fraught with gender bias and typically centered on common southern themes such as the downfall of the southern upper class and the futility of the southern plantation. Southern gothic style attempts to uncover social issues specific to the south with the use of ghoulish and ironic events, disturbing and damaged characters, and grotesque themes ultimately revealing a less than desirable culture. Perverted countryside settings became the norm, with southern gothic writings
Southern gothic lit is a writing genre from the south, which means that stories that are written under this format usually focus on grotesque themes. The writing usually focuses in characters that are in pain or that aren't okay. The setting of a story usually takes place in a gloomy environment and it relies on ironic or unusual events. For example in “ Desiree's baby” the writer makes it seem like the girl is the one that's not full white and it causes her pain seeing that her husband doesn't lover her or their baby because she is not full white, but in reality he's the one that's not full white, and the pain he caused her could've been prevented.
S-Town contains some characteristics of southern gothic literature, like irony. The irony in southern gothic literature is a big part of the whole thing. During the podcast, we encounter a lot of irony. An example that catches my eye is the ironic statement that John makes about people having piercings and tattoos, when he has both of those. John states “ Whoever has piercings or tattoos are dumb, worthless crackheads.” It's ironic that John talks about this, because he has both of them and a lot of them too. Irony is heard so much in the podcast about people talking about other people. Kendall bought John’s land, and John was trying to get his son imprisoned. Kendall is going to tear the house down and use the land. Irony is one of the most used characteristics. Violence is another main characteristic in southern gothic literature. There is a lot of Violence that happens in
E d g a r A . P o e , a n d M i s s P e r e g r i n e ’ s H o m e F o r P e c u l i a r C h i l d r e n b y R a n s o m R i g g s a l l i n c o r p o r a t e t h e thrilling elements of Gothic literature to captivate the reader.
Throughout the course of history, literature has gone through considerable changes. Dating back to its humble beginnings in folklore, fables, and storytelling all the way up to the scientific books and dramatic novels of today. Literature is arguably the centerpiece of all mankind. It is useful for record keeping, education, and bringing cultures and societies together. It has allowed us to expand our minds by painting a picture of the beautiful places this world has to offer outside of our corners of the earth. One genre of literature I find especially intriguing is Southern Gothic Literature. It is a subclass of gothic fiction, specifically set
William Faulkner was said to be one of the best Southern Gothic writers and the Southern Gothicism was brought about by Edgar Allen Poe in 1839. His novels and short stories such as Absalom! Absalom! (1936), The Sound and the Fury (1929), and “A Rose for Emily” (1930) were of the Southern Gothic genre. This paper will discuss what Southern Gothic is and its characteristics, along with William Faulkner and how Faulkner’s work conforms to the Southern Gothic genre.
Gothic literature is a type of storytelling that uses dark themes and morals in order to employ creepy and harsh tones, while also creating effective and memorable settings and conflicts. Authors such as Edgar Allen Poe, William Faulkner, and Richard Matheson, created many pieces of gothic literature, such as “The Black Cat” and “The Raven,” by Poe, “Prey” by Matheson, and “A Rose For Emily” by Faulkner, in order to accomplish this goal and to spread their transcendentalist views. In particular, these authors use gothic elements such as entrapment and violence to efficiently create the settings and conflicts within their short stories.
As Brian and John B. Mclemore walk through the maze John had built himself, John exclaims “It’s kind of funny being lost in something you designed yourself.” This ironic statement perfectly describes the life of John in this piece of southern gothic literature. The story of John’s eccentric life is told spectacularly told by Brian Reed in Stown. Stown’s southern setting and values makes it a piece of southern gothic literature, but Stown goes further and relates to today making it more contemporary. S-town is a contemporary piece of southern gothic literature because of the social issues, decay, and irony it presents throughout.