| We're Not Ourselves Anymore is a collection of short stories written in the Southern Gothic tradition inspired by the writings of William Faulkner, Katherine Anne Porter, Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty, Carson McCullers and Zora Neale Hurston. These authors relied on supernatural and ironic events to guide their stories as well as the nuances of unusual characters to portray the culture of the American South. This thesis will do the same in an effort to question the morality of established societal patterns characteristic of the South. Consistent with this genre, many of the stories are thematically dark, as betrayal, addiction, violence, racism, death and male-dominated cultures are often the subject of my writing. We're Not Ourselves Anymore will explore and utilize the techniques of the Southern Gothic genre, which I will define in the introduction of my scholarly chapter.;Much of the content in this thesis is derived from my own childhood memories in a small Texas town. During my early youth, I was raised in a turbulent household. After my parents divorced, my father ceased to be an active figure in my life, while my single mother assumed full parental responsibility. Perhaps because of this tumultuous time of my life, the events I remember about my hometown and the families in it, including my own, are sharp and detailed and appear repeatedly in my writing. Zora Neale Hurston was also heavily influenced by the happenings in her childhood home of Eatonville, Florida. Later, this became the setting for many of her literary endeavors. Similar to Hurston, I have drawn much of my writing from the formative first years of my life in a geographic area that, although not considered the South, still retains many aspects of the Southern culture. However, working in the Southern Gothic genre, I have amplified realistic events and settings in order, as Flannery O'Connor stated, to make come "alive the experience which we are not accustomed to observe every day, or which the ordinary man may never experience in his ordinary life" ("Aspects of the Grotesque" 1419). Katherine Anne Porter is another writer known for her abilities to transform her own memories into fictional story. This is also the goal of We're Not Ourselves Anymore .;The plot of the Southern Gothic tale revolves around the supernatural, ironic, or unusual. In We're Not Ourselves Anymore, I strive to make the irrational rational in an effort to distort the reality to which the reader is accustomed. The goal of this technique is to motivate the audience to reconsider social customs, relationships, and stereotypes that they may have long taken for granted.;Writers in the Southern Gothic genre frequently make use of the Grotesque, a character or situation that is deeply flawed, though nonetheless interesting. Often, authors will use the Grotesque as a means for emphasizing problems in society without becoming overly didactic. As an individual suffering from muscular dystrophy, I have personal insight into the Grotesque, or characters who may be considered "different" from society at large, and the empathy to treat them with the compassion advocated by O'Connor. We Aren't Ourselves Anymore will not ignore the flawed individual, preferring instead to highlight difference (both physical and psychological) as a means of exposing the problems of established patterns in society and the sometimes violent explosions that can occur when these patterns are challenged by characters set apart from others.;Although the pieces included in this thesis do not occur in a specific location, a certain common Southern atmosphere pervades We're Not Ourselves Anymore. The settings are a reflection of my background growing up in a small, rural town in Texas, less than an hour from the hometown of Katherine Anne Porter. I spent much of my childhood in farming and ranching communities. Like a sponge, I absorbed the dynamics of rural families and the cultural patterns of such societies that are so very different from urban areas. As a result, isolation, loneliness, desperation, patriarchy, imprisonment (both mental and physical), poverty, and other dark themes characteristic of the South and the Southern Gothic tradition saturate this collection.;My goal for this thesis is to hone the craft of writing short stories and to present a coherent body of Southern Gothic literature. Ultimately, I will seek publication of We're Not Ourselves Anymore. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
