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Literary Criticism
Abstract/Description
The purpose of this essay is to examine the works of the American short story author Flannery O’Connor through a postcolonial critical literary lens. O’Connor is widely recognized as an influential Catholic American writer from the South. As such, her writing demonstrates a unique blend of Catholic mystery with Southern manners. A well-known characteristic found in her short stories is the concept of violent revelation.
This paper explores the idea that Flannery O’Connor enters the colonial world herself and assumes the role of colonizer. In this particular context, Miss O’Connor invades and conquers the Southern states with unconventional ideals that are foreign to the region. As a colonizer, she follows historical Catholic conquests and attempts to indoctrinate the Protestant South with her Catholic beliefs through the use of violence. Scores of Biblical references are made throughout her works. This approach connects her to post-colonialism in that one denomination is forcefully indoctrinated by another. She also acts as a colonizer by infiltrating the South with allusions to the impending power of the North. There exist traces of Reconstruction in her stories as her southern characters adapt to the normality of increased northern ideals and influences. This approach calls upon spatial theory in the postcolonial literary school, addressing the division between two geographical neighbors located within the same country.
The research conducted for this project calls upon several prominent voices within the realm of postcolonial literary criticism. These include the works of Edward W. Said, father of “orientalism” and the study of culture and imperialism; Ann B. Dobie, author of “Theory into Practice” and professor emerita at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette; and Wilfred L. Guerin, Earle Labor, Lee Morgan, Jeanne C. Reesman, and John R. Willingham, professors of various universities and co-authors of “A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature”.
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as part of a class
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Jeffrey Tucker
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Flannery O'Connor as a Colonizer
The purpose of this essay is to examine the works of the American short story author Flannery O’Connor through a postcolonial critical literary lens. O’Connor is widely recognized as an influential Catholic American writer from the South. As such, her writing demonstrates a unique blend of Catholic mystery with Southern manners. A well-known characteristic found in her short stories is the concept of violent revelation.
This paper explores the idea that Flannery O’Connor enters the colonial world herself and assumes the role of colonizer. In this particular context, Miss O’Connor invades and conquers the Southern states with unconventional ideals that are foreign to the region. As a colonizer, she follows historical Catholic conquests and attempts to indoctrinate the Protestant South with her Catholic beliefs through the use of violence. Scores of Biblical references are made throughout her works. This approach connects her to post-colonialism in that one denomination is forcefully indoctrinated by another. She also acts as a colonizer by infiltrating the South with allusions to the impending power of the North. There exist traces of Reconstruction in her stories as her southern characters adapt to the normality of increased northern ideals and influences. This approach calls upon spatial theory in the postcolonial literary school, addressing the division between two geographical neighbors located within the same country.
The research conducted for this project calls upon several prominent voices within the realm of postcolonial literary criticism. These include the works of Edward W. Said, father of “orientalism” and the study of culture and imperialism; Ann B. Dobie, author of “Theory into Practice” and professor emerita at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette; and Wilfred L. Guerin, Earle Labor, Lee Morgan, Jeanne C. Reesman, and John R. Willingham, professors of various universities and co-authors of “A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature”.