An Interpretation Of Carson Mccullers’ Subversion From Female Gothic Perspective

Carson McCullers is a unique female writer in American South in the twentieth century. In her short life she created an oeuvre of impressive literature. Her works express intensely the spiritual isolation of human beings. Therefore her works are often commented as allegories of human beings’isolation in life; their concern and critique on the issues and culture of American southern society are somewhat neglected. Selecting three important fictions that McCullers wrote in1940s, namely The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and The Member of the Wedding, as research subjects, this thesis interprets these fictions from the female Gothic perspective so as to reveal their challenge and critique of the dominant southern culture at that time.Female Gothic is a research field that combines feminist study with Gothic genre. However there is no unanimous definition of female Gothic among researchers. Thus in this thesis female Gothic mainly refers to the depiction of marginalized people in society through Gothic writing. As a female writer growing up in American South, McCullers shows her concern over female characters in her fictions. But these female characters possess various types of grotesqueness, which are quite different from the "Southern belle" image promoted by the dominant southern culture. In addition to females, McCullers also devotes her works to depict marginalized people who have no voice or power in society. Therefore from the female Gothic perspective the thesis mainly analyzes three female protagonists and two marginalized male characters in McCullers’fictions, and then explores her creative strategies and intention. Through the analysis and exploration we find that McCullers is a writer with intense awareness of social interference. Her fictions are not simple allegories of human being’s spiritual isolation. With the depictions of marginalized people, McCullers’works are the challenge and subversion of the dominant southern culture at that time. Furthermore her works provoke readers to rethink over the generally accepted social and cultural values.