Eng. 423, Spring 2004, T Th: 2:15-3:30
Joe Essid, x8935
jessid@richmond.edu
Office Hours: M W 10-11 and by appointment

About the Class:

Americans usually associate "frontier" with the far West; in literary terms, this region has come to be equated with the work of writers such as Brett Harte, Jack London, Willa Cather, and Stephen Crane. Long before the gold rush of 1849, however, Southerners were pouring into the rich bottom lands and rugged back country that stretched from western Georgia to the Texas border. As settlement progressed and the wilderness of Davey Crockett vanished before the farmer's' axes, the region produced good crops and a strong economy, albeit one based upon slave labor or white "clay eaters" always a loan payment away from the poor house.

At the same time, the "old Southwest" generated a literary tradition that continues today. Early work consists of a series of humorous sketches of backwoods life by gentlemen travelers, lawyers, ministers, and adventurers. After the Civil War, this body of work, with its raucous and violent events, folk dialect, and general flaunting of Victorian propriety, evolved into important works of fiction and drama by Mark Twain, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, and Flannery O'Connor.

The wild humor of the Southern frontier continues today. As Hollywood discovered the region, poking fun at the hicks in films (usually taken from novels) ranging from Tobacco Road to Sling Blade, writers such as John Kennedy Toole have incorporated elements of the vanished frontier and its literary style into their work. Meanwhile, African-American writers such as Charles Johnson have turned the narratives of the white Antebellum humorists on their heads by using the region for the picaresque adventures of educated black characters (if you don't believe this, consider the epic adventures of Ellison's protagonist in Invisible Man). Finally, in an interesting return to its roots, the oral tradition of storytelling has undergone a strong revival in the age of Nascar and Wal-Mart.

In this seminar we will study the work of the early humorists and the tradition that evolved thereafter. We will consider films and other media, and all students will do original research with materials in the Library of Virginia and Boatwright's Special Collections.

Grading & Policies

Midterm Paper: 15%
Prospectus & Bibliography: 10%
Final Paper: 50%
Participation: 25% (presentations, discussion)

You are strongly encouraged to visit the Speech Center well before final presentations.

Do not miss class. Since class meets only twice per week and we cover a lot of ground, any skips, except for a serious illness, will reduce your final grade, without exceptions. You may attend films during the screenings or watch them at the MRC on your own. All films will not circulate and will be on three-hour reserve.

Required Texts: at bookstore.
We won't slow down for page notations if you use other editions.

Caldwell, Tobacco Road
Cohen & Dillingham, Eds. Humor of the Old Southwest
Faulkner, As I Lay Dying & The Hamlet
Johnson, Middle Passage
O'Connor, Three by Flannery O'Connor & Collected Stories
Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces
Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Williams, Plays 1937-1955

Strongly Suggested

Current edition of the MLA Handbook. All bibliographies must follow MLA format.

Online Resources

Spirit of the Southern Frontier main page
Class schedule of readings and assignments
Reading questions from and literary terms from class
Newspaper database and other materials
Library of Virginia main page
Image links and notes on sources
Notes about archival materials