Research Catalog

The Christ-haunted landscape : faith and doubt in southern fiction

Title
The Christ-haunted landscape : faith and doubt in southern fiction / by Susan Ketchin.
Author
Ketchin, Susan.
Publication
Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, ©1994.

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StatusFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
Book/TextUse in library PS261 .K416 1994Off-site

Details

Description
xix, 408 pages; 24 cm
Summary
  • "Old-time religion" has been and still is a uniquely potent force in shaping the imaginations of southern fiction writers. A little more than a generation ago, Flannery O'Connor made a startling observation about herself and her fellow southerners: "By and large," she said, "people in the South still conceive of humanity in theological terms. While the South is hardly Christ-centered, it is most certainly Christ-haunted. The Southerner who isn't convinced of it is very much afraid that he may have been formed in the image and likeness of God." Still earlier in the century H.L. Mencken wrote that the South consisted of a "cesspool of Baptists, a miasma of Methodists, snake charmers, phony real estate operators, and syphilitic evangelists."
  • This book explores the roles that various strands of southern religion, most prominently Evangelical Protestantism (both black and white) and Catholicism, have played in shaping contemporary southern fiction. The Christ-Haunted Landscape collects works by twelve southerners living and working in the South - Larry Brown, Reynolds Price, Allan Gurganus, Lee Smith, Clyde Edgerton, Harry Crews, Will Campbell, Doris Betts, Sheila Bosworth, Mary Ward Brown, Randall Kenan, and Sandra Hollin blowers. Susan Ketchin has included a descriptive profile and an original interview with each author, critical commentaries on each author's works as a whole, and representative fiction (short story or excerpt from a novel). Her introduction discusses the religious and cultural forces that have impact on today's imaginative writers whose fiction is enhanced by the legacy of Faulkner, O'Connor, and Percy.
Subject
  • 1900-1999
  • American fiction > Southern States > History and criticism
  • American fiction > Christian authors > History and criticism
  • American fiction > 20th century > History and criticism
  • Christian fiction, American > History and criticism
  • Christianity and literature > Southern States
  • Religion and literature > Southern States
  • Belief and doubt in literature
  • Faith in literature
  • American fiction
  • Christian fiction, American
  • Christianity and literature
  • Religion and literature
  • Religion
  • Religion Motiv
  • Romancier
  • Interview
  • Roman
  • Littérature américaine > États-Unis (sud) > Histoire et critiques
  • États-Unis (sud) dans la littérature
  • Roman religieux américain > États-Unis (sud)
  • Roman américain > Auteurs chrétiens > Histoire et critique
  • Roman américain > 20e siècle > Histoire et critique
  • Roman américain > États-Unis (sud) > Histoire et critique
  • Religion et littérature
  • Destin et fatalisme > Dans la littérature
  • Roman
  • Southern States > Church history > 20th century
  • Southern States
  • USA > Südstaaten
Genre/Form
  • Church history.
  • Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (p. [396]-398) and index.
Contents
1. Lee Smith. God Not Only Speaks But Sings. "Tongues of Fire" Interview -- 2. Reynolds Price. Saintly Outlaws. "Full Day" Interview -- 3. Larry Brown. Proceeding Out from Calamity. "A Roadside Resurrection" Interview -- 4. Sheila Bosworth. On Being Southern, Catholic, and Female. From Slow Poison. Interview -- 5. Sandra Hollin Flowers. Something's Got a Hold on Me. "Hope of Zion" Interview -- 6. Will Campbell. Mississippi Madness, Mississippi Magic. From Cecelia's Sin. Interview -- 7. Doris Betts. Resting on the Bedrock of Original Sin. "This Is the Only Time I'll Tell It" Interview -- 8. Randall Kenan. Ancient Spells and Incantations. "The Strange and Tragic Ballad of Mabel Pearsall" Interview -- 9. Mary Ward Brown. Celebrating the True and Lively Word. "A New Life" Interview -- 10. Harry Crews. The Writer as Shaman. From Scar Lover. Interview -- 11. Clyde Edgerton. A Garden of Paradoxes. From Raney. Interview -- 12. Allan Gurganus. When I'm Fog on a Coffin Lid. "It Had Wings."
ISBN
  • 0878056696
  • 9780878056699
  • 087805670X
  • 9780878056705
LCCN
93030875
OCLC
  • ocm28631374
  • 28631374
  • SCSB-2008071
Owning Institutions
Princeton University Library