The history of thought and thinking in the American South is now alive
with curiosity and poised for a new maturity. Thanks to the efforts of a
growing variety of critics, the region is increasingly understood as a
cultural habitat comprised of flows of ideas and sensibilities that
originate both inside and outside traditional boundaries. This volume of
essays uniquely combines perspectives from historians and literary
scholars to explore a wide spectrum of thought about a region long
understood as distinctive, yet often taken to represent "American"
culture and character. Contributors first engage with how southern
thinkers of all sorts have struggled with belonging--who is an insider
and who is an outsider. Second, they consider how thought in the South
has over time created ideas about the South. The volume capitalizes on
an interdisciplinary synergy that has come to characterize southern
studies, exploring current creative tensions between classic themes in
southern history and the new ways to approach them. Region and identity,
intellectuals and change, the South as an idea and ideas in the
South--these continue to inspire the best new research as showcased in
this collection.
Contributors are Michael T. Bernath, Stephen Berry, John Grammer,
Michael Kreyling, Scott Romine, Beth Barton Schweiger, Mitchell Snay,
Melanie Benson Taylor, Jonathan Daniel Wells, and Timothy J. Williams.
