Peculiar Whiteness : Racial Anxiety and Poor Whites in Southern Literature, 1900-1965

Justin Mellette

ISBN 10: 149683254X / ISBN 13: 9781496832542

Published by University Press Of Mississippi, 2021

About this Item

nach der Bestellung gedruckt Neuware - Printed after ordering - Peculiar Whiteness: Racial Anxiety and Poor Whites in Southern Literature, 1900-1965 argues for deeper consideration of the complexities surrounding the disparate treatment of poor whites throughout southern literature and attests to how broad such experiences have been. While the history of prejudice against this group is not the same as the legacy of violence perpetrated against people of color in America, individuals regarded as ''white trash'' have suffered a dehumanizing process in the writings of various white authors. Poor white characters are frequently maligned as grotesque and anxiety inducing, especially when they are aligned in close proximity to blacks or to people with disabilities. Thus, as a symbol, much has been asked of poor whites, and various iterations of the label (e.g., ''white trash,'' tenant farmers, or even people with a little less money than average) have been subject to a broad spectrum of judgment, pity, compassion, fear, and anxiety. Peculiar Whiteness engages key issues in contemporary critical race studies, whiteness studies, and southern studies, both literary and historical. Through discussions of authors including Charles Chesnutt, Thomas Dixon, Sutton Griggs, Erskine Caldwell, Lillian Smith, William Faulkner, and Flannery O'Connor, we see how whites in a position of power work to maintain their status, often by finding ways to recategorize and marginalize people who might not otherwise have seemed to fall under the auspices or boundaries of ''white trash.

Seller Inventory # 9781496832542

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Peculiar Whiteness : Racial Anxiety and Poor Whites in Southern Literature, 1900-1965
• Publisher: University Press Of Mississippi
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 149683254X
• ISBN 13: 9781496832542
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 229W x 152H x 13D millimeters 229 millimeters width by 152 millimeters height by 13 millimeters depth
• Weight: 352 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Peculiar Whiteness: Racial Anxiety and Poor Whites in Southern Literature, 1900–1965 argues for deeper consideration of the complexities surrounding the disparate treatment of poor whites throughout southern literature and attests to how broad such ex-periences have been. While the history of prejudice against this group is not the same as the legacy of violence perpetrated against people of color in America, individuals regarded as “white trash” have suffered a dehumanizing process in the writings of various white authors. Poor white characters are frequently maligned as grotesque and anxiety inducing, especially when they are aligned in close proximity to blacks or to people with disabilities.

Thus, as a symbol, much has been asked of poor whites, and various iterations of the label (e.g., “white trash,” tenant farmers, or even people with a little less money than aver-age) have been subject to a broad spectrum of judgment, pity, compassion, fear, and anxiety. Peculiar Whiteness engages key issues in contemporary critical race studies, whiteness studies, and southern studies, both literary and historical. Through discussions of authors in-cluding Charles Chesnutt, Thomas Dixon, Sutton Griggs, Erskine Caldwell, Lillian Smith, Wil-liam Faulkner, and Flannery O’Connor, we see how whites in a position of power work to maintain their status, often by finding ways to recategorize and marginalize people who might not otherwise have seemed to fall under the auspices or boundaries of “white trash.”

About the Author

Justin Mellette is a visiting lecturer at Northeastern University. He earned his PhD from Penn State University and has also been a postdoctoral teaching fellow at Auburn University. His work in American and African American literature has appeared in African American Review, Mississippi Quarterly, Studies in the Novel, Southern Cultures, and the Southern Quarterly, among other venues.