American Southern Literature: Poverty Without Progress…

Poor Whites in the American South in Works by William Faulkner, Erskine Caldwell and Carson McCullers

During the 1920s and 1930s, American writers were keen to explore the economic situation of their country. With the 1929 crash, more people found themselves in precarious situations. The South, which had been neglected since the end of the Civil War was even more affected than the rest of the country. Its most realist writers endeavored to show the everyday hardships of those derogatorily called “white trash.” This class will focus on works by three major writers of the American South, William Faulkner, Erskine Caldwell and Carson McCullers, and deal with the depiction of race relations, the place of women, and southern landscapes. Students are advised to use electronic resources at the library and to look up the books available at the Bibliothèque Vauban.

Short stories included in the reader:

• Erskine Caldwell, “Saturday Afternoon” (1930) and “Kneel to the Rising Sun” (1935).


• William Faulkner, “Adolescence” (circa 1920s), “A Rose for Emily” (1930), “Dry September” (1931).


• Carson McCullers, “A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud” (1942).

Novels to be purchased in recommended editions:

• William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying, 1930. New York: Norton Critical Editions, 2010. [ed. Michael Gorra]


• Carson McCullers, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, 1940. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.