University of Mississippi eGrove Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2016 Sookie's Place(s): New Roadways Into The South Of The Southern Vampire Mysteries Sarah Holder University of Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons Recommended Citation Holder, Sarah, "Sookie's Place(s): New Roadways Into The South Of The Southern Vampire Mysteries" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 878. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/878 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of eGrove. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. SOOKIE’S PLACE(S): NEW ROADWAYS INTO THE SOUTH OF THE SOUTHERN VAMPIRE MYSTERIES A Thesis presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Southern Studies The University of Mississippi by Sarah Holder May 2016 Copyright Sarah Holder 2016 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT Charlaine Harris’ bestselling paranormal romance series, the Southern Vampire Mysteries is only beginning to be understood as more than a cultural phenomenon, but rather as a highly politicized and critical work of fiction that shines through genre designations such as romance, mystery, and fantasy. Much of this praise can be attributed to the series’ heroine, Sookie Stackhouse, who gracefully traverses boundaries that divide what are arguably racial and ethnic groups ever at odds with one another as they share political and social space. Her adventures therefore pose significant questions concerning diversity, equality, and nationalism, but more obviously they ask what southernness has to do with these issues of identity.