Calls and Responses: The American Novel of Slavery Since Gone With the Wind (Southern Literary Studies)

273 Pages·2008·2.99 MB·English

by  Tim A. Ryan

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Winner of the Jules and Frances Landry Award for 2008
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caLLS and reSponSeS
Southern Literary StudieS
Fred Hobson, Series Editor
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Calls

and
Responses
the american noveL
of SLavery Since
Gone with the Wind
tim a. ryan
Louisiana State University Press
Baton Rouge
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caLLS and reSponSeS
For three remarkable women,
Dee Anna Phares, Susan Ryan, and Octavia E. Butler
Published by Louisiana State University Press
Copyright © 2008 by Louisiana State University Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
First printing
Designer: Michelle A. Neustrom
Typeface: Adobe Jenson Pro
Printer and binder: Thomson-Shore, Inc.
Chapter 1 first appeared, in somewhat different form, as “Designs against Tara: Frances Gaither’s
The Red Cock Crows and Other Counternarratives to Gone with the Wind,” Mississippi Quarterly
59 (Winter/Spring 2006), and is reprinted with permission.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ryan, Tim A., 1971–
Calls and responses : the American novel of slavery since Gone with the wind / Tim A. Ryan.
p. cm. — (Southern literary studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8071-3322-4 (alk. paper)
1. American fiction—20th century—History and criticism. 2. Slavery in literature. I. Title.
PS374.S58R93 2008
813'.6—dc22
2007042885
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Commit-
tee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. ��

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contentS
preface vii
Introduction: Calls and Responses 1
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Designs against Tara: Representing Slavery
in American Culture, 1936–1944 20
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From Tara to Turner: Slavery and Slave Psychologies
in American Fiction and History, 1945–1968 63
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You Shall See How a Slave Was Made a Woman: The Development
of the Contemporary Novel of Slavery, 1976–1987 114
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Scarlett and Mammy Done Gone: Complications of the
Contemporary Novel of Slavery, 1986–2003 149
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Mapping the Unrepresentable: Slavery Fiction
in the New Millennium 185
Conclusion: Beyond Black and White 209
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appendix
Major Historical Studies, Fiction, Drama, Films, and TV Presentations
since 1918 concerning Slavery in the United States 215
noteS 227
WorkS cited 237
index 249
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preface
The central argument of this study of American slavery in fiction and his-
tory of the last century is that a truly scholarly approach to the subject
should seek to transcend basic binary oppositions and divisive barriers,
whether these are between disciplines, races, or ideologies. In these pages, I
approach individual novels and historical studies as contributions to a com-
plex, developing cultural conversation about American slavery.
Calls and Responses is one such contribution, and it does not merely re-
spond to a long history of discourses about slavery, but is also the result of
a lifetime’s conversation—a continuing series of instructive, inspiring, and
edifying dialogues with teachers, colleagues, friends, students, family, and
even talkative strangers. This book owes its existence to the collaborative
energies of all of those who have participated in many personal and profes-
sional calls and responses with me.
My heartfelt gratitude to all my friends, colleagues, and mentors in the
Department of English and the Core Humanities program at the University
of Nevada, Reno, for a decade of stimulating intellectual exchange, challeng-
ing work, inspiring examples, impeccable collegiality, bighearted support,
and trivial gossip. Particularly deserving of mention are Daniel Anderson,
Phillip Boardman, Michael Branch, Dennis Cronan, Dennis Dworkin,
David Fenimore, Cheryll Glotfelty, Jimmy Guignard, Jen Hill, Paul Knox,
Robert Merrill, Esra Mirze, Marc Oxoby, and Patricia Stich. I must also
express my gratitude to Cami Allen, Alec Ausbrooks, Jodie Helman, Geri
McVeigh, and Rachel Richardson for their sterling administrative support.
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Special thanks to Bernard Schopen and Richard Abram, not only for be-
ing wonderful teachers but also for providing me the opportunity to guest
lecture on American slavery in their Core Humanities 203 classes, and thus
to explore a few of the ideas that eventually developed into this project.
Especially honorable mention must go to three particular stars of the
UNR firmament. I extend a shamefaced apology to Eric Rasmussen for
my incurable Americanist tendencies and my sincerest gratitude for ev-
erything he has done for a lowly non-Renaissance man. Scott Casper—
at whose legendary Spring 2001 session of History 721 this project really
began—gave more than magnanimously of his time and expertise. I have
particularly fond memories of long lunches spent discussing Gone with the
Wind and The Known World, and I am extremely eager to read the fruits of
Scott’s own researches into American slavery, which I know will be remark-
able. Above all, I am thankful to Stacy Burton, who steered me unerringly
through the many pitfalls of this project and tirelessly devoted hours of her
barely existent time to provide incisive critiques of my sloppy drafts.
Beyond the doors of Frandsen Humanities, I hail my wonderful and
inspiring longtime friends: Neil Humphries, Peter Mitchell, and Sherone
Rogers, and salute three particularly invaluable comrades—Scott Walker,
without whom my failing English would have been far from “unpossible,”
Ellen Penny, for all her support and care, and Christine MacLeod, for luring
me into this profession in the first place. Thanks as well to Alan Marshall,
John Howard, Kimberly Springer, Janet Floyd, Gail MacLeitch, Shamoon
Zamir, James Miller, Stephanie Green, Rosa Torrado, and all who sailed the
good ship American Studies at King’s College London during my lecture-
ship there. Especially warm regards are due my immediate family—to my
parents, Sue and Tom Ryan, for all their sustenance and encouragement
over the years, and to Garry Ryan, Paula Crawford, and their fine families.
I also owe a debt of gratitude to the new members of my kinship group,
particularly to the incomparable Johanna Sizemore and to Daniel Doornbos
and Gillian Flato for their inexhaustible generosity as well as their photo-
graphic expertise.
I am very appreciative of the professionalism of the team at Louisiana
State University Press. Executive Editor John Easterly was unwavering in
his enthusiasm for this project from day one, while series editor Fred Hob-
son and my anonymous outside reader provided wonderfully astute, helpful,
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and supportive evaluations of the initial manuscript. Sincere thanks as well
to LSU Press director MaryKatherine Callaway and to Derik Shelor, free-
lance copy editor extraordinaire. I also extend grateful thanks to Noel Polk
and Laura West at Mississippi Quarterly for graciously providing an initial
forum for my interpretations of slavery fiction.
Finally, I offer eternal loving gratitude to my most intimate collaborator:
a brilliant scholar, loyal friend, astute editor, exhilarating partner, and quite
awesome humorist—Dee Anna Phares, who has encouraged, inspired, re-
deemed, and renewed me. Without her shrewd judgment, unyielding good
humor, and invaluable cheerleading, this project would never have been
completed.
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