It's Not Your Faulkner's South, Sociologist Says

Lexington, KY, Herald-Leader ^ | 01-11-04 | Jester, Art

[Theodore R.]

It's not your Faulkner's South, sociologist says By Art Jester HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

There comes the famous moment in William Faulkner's novel Absalom, Absalom! (1936) when Mississippi's Quentin Compson is asked by Shreve McCannon, his Canadian roommate at Harvard, to tell about the South, its people and how they live.

The fictional response that Faulkner spun out bore a certain truth for his time, and even today. But his saga doesn't -- it couldn't -- include the massive transformation of the nation's most bedeviled and enchanting region over the last 40 years.

Why, if Mr. Bill Faulkner had been in a Centre College classroom one day last week, he would have heard noted Southern sociologist John Shelton Reed report that the South "has gone from the least industrialized section of the country to the most, something I don't think has sunk in yet."

If that news wouldn't have sent Faulkner off on one of his frequent benders, then surely he would have reached for his favorite sour mash when Reed added that North Carolina is now the nation's No. 1 industrial state followed by Faulkner's own Mississippi, based on the percentage of the population in industrial labor.

This is no shock to Reed, however, who as the Humana Visiting Scholar is teaching a "short-term" class to 42 Centre students this month on "Defining the South."

Reed, 62, retired from a prestigious Kenan professorship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is the foremost sociologist on Southern life and culture of his time and one of the most distinctive ever.

He stands out for:

• His irrepressible sense of humor.

• His vigorous, entertaining prose.

• His use of survey research to find out what Southerners think about themselves and their region.

As Reed reminded his students the other day, "the South is both a place and a state of the mind. And while there is a South, there are also many Souths."

"The South of blues singers, Spanish moss and alliigators is not the South of country music and whiskey distilleries and stock-car racing," Reed said.

His research shows that the 13 states "where most people think they're in the South" are: Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas.

And he said there are five characteristics that many, though not necessarily all, Southerners have in common:

• Language: "It's exporting the use of 'y'all' now."

• Values: "It's more conservative than the rest of the country, not just politically but also culturally. This is true not just of whites but of blacks, too."

• Religion: "It's more Baptist and at least as evangelical as it was 100 years ago."

• Taste in music: blues, gospel, Bluegrass, country.

• Food: "There's even a Southern Foodways Alliance now."

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IF YOU GO

Sociologist John Shelton Reed will speak Monday at Centre College in Danville on "Forty Years of Southern Studies," a look at the history of this academic specialty. The lecture will be at 7:30 p.m. in Young Hall 101. For information, call (859) 238-5200.

[Savage Beast]

"bedeviled and enchanting"

That sums it up about as well as anything.

BTW, "y'all" was exported long ago; in fact, it probably never was confined to The South. Just listen with an honest ear.

[Support Free Republic]

	Linda Carter is completely unrelated to Free Republic. But if I am going to have to post donation begs until the Freepathon is over, I'm going to occasionally post something I want! And there is only one way you can stop me!

[07055]

Is Oklahoma considered "the South"? What about Missouri (not on the list).

[Maria S]

Just finished reading "As I Lay Dying". Darndest book I've ever read! I got the Cliff Notes to read along with the book itself so I could understand what the heck was going on. When I finished (not a very long book), I WAS amazed at what an incredible writer Faulkner was!

[Savage Beast]

I don't know. But travelling eastward from the west coast, when I stopped at a store in Oklahoma, and the clerk greeted me with characteristic Southern loveliness and grace, I whispered to my wife, "I think we're in the South."

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Linda Carter has irritable bowel sybdrome.

[Savage Beast]

I had a similar experience. I read The Sound and the Fury FIVE TIMES! And I didn't understand it. After I read Faulkner's explanation, I was even more confused.

Then one night at a cocktail party, I met a woman who taught Faulkner in college. I said to her, "You are not leaving here tonight until you tell me what that thing is about."

So the two of us spent several hours on the sofa, and she explained everything to me, in detail and very well.

Then I re-read it. It was crystal clear.

I too was amazed.

I love The Sound and the Fury and Absalom! Absalom!. I don't know which I like better. I also like As I Lay Dying.

One of his best stories was a made-for-TV movie, back in the '60's or '70's, starring Robert Duvall. It's called Tomorrow. I have never forgotten it.

[speedy]

I concur with both of you. He was a very great, if disturbed, writer. It is worth the effort to plow through him -- and it is an effort. To read something more straightforward -- and flat-out funny -- by him, you might want to try "The Rievers," which seems to me to have little in common stylistically with his other novels. Also a very unusual allegorical work set in WW I called "A Fable." It's been ages since I read it, but again it is a different kind of Faulkner. You can visit his home in Oxford, MS. Any Thomas Wolfe fans out there?

[Guillermo]

If you have to ask, it's not.

[07055]

You can visit his home in Oxford, MS. Any Thomas Wolfe fans out there?

The last I had checked, both Faulkner's house and Wolfe's house in Asheville, NC were shut down for renovations.

[speedy]

I know there was a bad fire at Wolfe's place several years ago. Another good Faulkner site is the Musso and Frank Grill in Hollywood. He drank himself into a stupor there many a night when he tried the Hollywood screen-writer routine back in the 30s.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

"Is Oklahoma considered "the South"? What about Missouri (not on the list)."

You hit the nail on the head there.

In my home town Kennett, Missouri if you said they were not from the south, they would think you ignorant and rude. If you called them a Yankee, they would think it is about time to whoop somebody's (yours) arse.

The vast majority of people in Missouri identify with the south.

Pres. Harry Truman's mother came to visit the white House and was told she would be sleeping in the Lincoln bed room. She exploded, and said in no way would she sleep in the same bed that damn Yankee republican had.

[Frank_2001]

She can use my bathroom anytime;)))

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

"One of his best stories was a made-for-TV movie, back in the '60's or '70's, starring Robert Duvall. It's called Tomorrow. I have never forgotten it"

I too saw it once a long time back, and at three score plus, it continues to haunt me to this day.


From my youth back in Missouri I have known people like those portrayed in the movie. Simple seeming G_D fearing people who could not be swayed from their convictions once their minds were set.

Robert Duval has to be one of the best actors to be found.

[Tuba-Dude]

Funny that you should ask. I've often wondered about that, namely for Oklahoma. I've seen it listed in three geographic regions- the South, Southwest, and Midwest. Having lived there most of my life, I'd classify it as being more in the South--there's enough of an accent (one that I still carry), and the cliched Southern charm & hospitality is easy to find around the Sooner state.

[RobbyS]

It helps if you grow up talking "Southern" As I read I "hear" the voices of the characters in my head, and they "sound" like people I have met.[My mother's family is from Mississipppi and I grew up in East Texas]. I have only a slight accent, but once after reading a Faulkner novel I came away talking with a Mississipi brogue.

[Dianna]

I read The Sound and the Fury FIVE TIMES! And I didn't understand it

I think the first page should explain that there are two Quentins. Would have saved me a lot of confusion.

[zip]

ping

[NYCVirago]

Other than the Panhandle, I don't think of Florida as being part of the South. Too many people from my neck of the woods have moved down there.