Acta Universitatis Umensis Maria Haar The Phenomenon of the Grotesque in Modern Southern Fiction Some Aspects of Its Form and Function Universitetet i Umeå Almqvist & Wiksell International, Stockholm, Sweden ACTA UNIVERSITATIS UMENSIS Umeå Studies in the Humanities 51 Maria Haar The Phenomenon of the Grotesque in Modern Southern Fiction Some Aspects of Its Form and Functio n Doctoral Dissertation by due permission of the Faculty of Arts of the University ofUm eå to bepu blicly discussedin the lecture hallF on March 11,1983 at 10a.m . for the degreeof Doctor of Philosophy Umeå 1983 ABSTRACT Author: Maria Haar Title: The Phenomenon o f the Grotesque in Modern Sou thern Fiction - Some Aspects of Its Form and Function Address: Department of English, Umeå University, S-901 87 Umeå, Sweden After a general historical outline of the term and c on­ cept 'grotesque' attention is focused on the grotesque in Southern fiction and an attempt is made t o explain the abun­ dance o f this mode in the literature of the South. It can seemingly be linked to the distinctiveness of that region as compared to the rest of the United States—a distinctiveness that has been brought about by historical, geographical, socio­ logical and economi c factors. Basing the discussion on the theory of Philip Thomson, who d efines the grotesque as "the unresolved clash between in­ compatibles in work and re sponse," various critical approaches to the Southern grotesque are examined, all of which are found to be too all-embracing. An e ffort is then made t o analyse the grotesque as displayed particularly in Caldwell, Capote, Faulkner, Goyen, McCullers, O'Connor and W elty. The study deals first with the macabre-grotesque, then the repulsive/frighten- ing-grotesque and finally the comic-grotesque. The last chapter is devoted to more rec ent authors writing in the 1960s. Their works reveal that the South is still a breeding ground for the grotesque. Key Words: Caldwell, Capote, Faulkner, Goyen, McCullers, O'Connor, Welty, macabre-grotesque, repulsive/ frightening-grotesque, comic-grotesque, Philip Thomson ISBN 91-7174-119-4. Umeå, 1983. Distributed by Almqvist & Wiksell International, Box 62, S-101 20 Stockholm, Sweden Maria Haar. Diss. Umeå 1983 Errata p. 46, note 16: prob- read: orobably p. 73, 1. 30: 61 read: 62 p. 88, 1. 23: dawrf read: dwarf p. 93, 1. 14: (see pp. read: (see pp. 143-44). p. 121, 1. 34: never kno w read: never now p. 172, note 24: the title of the work by Blotner & Gwynn given in note 42 should appear here p. 180, 1. 22: Lousiana read: Louisiana p. 197, 1. 9: want read: wants The square brackets round the following words or phrases present in the original, are missing due t o a technical fault: p. 6, 1. 24—real p. 9, block quotation, 1. 1--sic p. 13, 11. 39-40—the South's p. 26, 1. 11--grotesque p. 33, 1 . 37—sic p. 44, note 1,1. 29--in King Lear p. 61, block quotation, 11. 2 and 4- -sic p. 62, 1. 5—who p. 63, block quotation, 1. 1—Mrs. Mclntyre p. 66, 11. 8-9—Mr. Fortune p. 70, block quotation, 1. l--great- p. 79, 1st block quotation, 1. l--the rooster p. 135, block quotation, 1. 2--the comic as well as p. 145, block quotation, 1. 4—Sister's p. 148, 1st block quotation, 1. 6--of Troy p. 150, 1st block quotation, 1. 12—which p. 158, 1 . 20—her farm p. 162, 1. 6—Addie; 1. 22—sic p. 169, 2nd block quotation, 1. 1—the congregation; 1. 2—his i p. 180, 1st block quotation, 1. 1—war p. 187, 1. 38—sic p. 188, block quotation, 1. 1—as the narrator comments p. 189, 1. 9—is p. 194, 1. 17—s in places Acta Universitatis Umensis Umeå Studies in the Humanities 51 Maria Haar The Phenomenon of the Grotesque in Modern Southern Fiction Some Aspects of Its Form and Function K * O ^. Umeå 1983 Almqvist & Wikseil International, Stockholm, Sweden .v •/ 3 i © Maria Waat '1983 Tryckt hos GOTAB, Kungitv ISBN 91-71-74-119-4 In memory of my late husband, Arthur Haar, without whose encouragement this dissertation would never have been written TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii ABBREVIATIONS vii i PREFACE ix Chapter One INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 1 An H istorical Outline of the Term and Concept 'Grotesque' (1) Possible Reasons for the Abundance o f the Grotesque in Southern Literature (8) Two CRITICAL APPROACHES TO T HE SO UTHERN G ROTESQUE . 22 Spiegel's Theory of the Southern Grotesque (22) Spiegel's definition (22) The grotesque character (26) The grotesque versus the Gothic (33) Conclusion (38) Other Critical Approaches (39) Three THE M ACABRE-GROTESQUE 49 The Macabre-Grotesque Used Primarily for the Sake of Entertainment (50) The Macabre-Grotesque Used as a Criticism of Society (54) Fiction meant to draw a ttention to the de­ plorable situation of the poor white farmer or sharecropper (54) Stories describing the lynching or mutila­ tion of Negroes (57) The Macabre-Grotesque Used to Convey a Re- 1igious Message (60) The Macabre-Grotesque Used to Reveal the Dig­ nity and D epravity of Man (72) The Macabre-Grotesque Used to Depict the Folly of Man (76) Four THE RE PULSIVE- AND/OR FR IGHTENING-GROTESQUE . 86 Repulsive/Frightening-Grotesque Characters (86) Repulsion/fear due to physical deformity (36) Repulsion/fear due to mental disorder (91) Repulsion/fear due to physical and mental deformity (100) Repulsion/fear due to a deviating sexual be­ haviour (103) v Repulsion/fear arising from other causes (109) Frightening-Grotesque Characters (114) Repulsive/Frightening-Grotesque Situ­ ations (122) Five THE CO MIC-GROTESQUE 135 "Limping Heroes" (137) Mentally Disturbed Comic-Grotesques (142) Various Eccentrics, Including the Indol­ ent (145) Comic-Grotesque Pursuers of Love (148) Comic-Grotesque Intellectuals and "Cultural Grotesques" (154) Religious Comic-Grotesques (163) Six THE G ROTESQUE IN NEW W RITERS OF T HE SIXTIE S . 179 Racism (131) Eccentricity and A bnormality (184) Religious Fanaticism (187) Grotesqueness en mass e (191) SUMMARY AN D C ONCLUSION 204 BIBLIOGRAPHY 212 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I should like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to my d issertation adviser. Dr. Ingrid Melander, for her unfailing interest in my work and for her many h elpful suggestions. I should also like to thank my very good f riend Pearl Sjölander, who has been a patient 'sounding-board' for my 1grotesqueries* and has given me a great deal of good adv ice and moral support. Thanks a re also due to another good f riend, Margareta Nystedt-östergr^en, who has assisted me i n proof­ reading; to Pat Shrimpton, who has checked the language; and not least, to Britt Johnson, who has typed the final copy of the dissertation. Umeå i January, 1983. Maria Haar ABBREVIATIONS COD The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English OALD The Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English Webster's Webster's New T wentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language vii i PREFACE A g reat deal has already been written about the grotesque in Southern literature. My reasons for nevertheless venturing to add to the many s tudies on the subject are threefold: firstly, I feel that the term 'grotesque' has been used much too loosely, and I therefore wish to advocate a theory that might limit its misuse; secondly, I think that a systematic de­ lineation of the grotesque can be of general interest; thirdly, I believe that an effort should be ma de t o counteract the almost complete lack of commentaries on the grotesque in Southern fiction in the sixties. My own study begins with Faulkner in the twenties and covers approximately fifty years. Although restricted to fic­ tional prose and works by non-black writers, the subject never­ theless proved so extensive that the high hopes I originally entertained of being exhaustive in the field soon foundered. There has also been som e d ifficulty in acquiring information about relevant primary sources actually in existence. This ap­ plies particularly to the grotesque in more recent fiction, which has therefore been treated in a less comprehensive way than was planned from the outset. ix INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER An Hi storical Outline of the Term and Concept 'Grotesque' If one l ooks up the word 'grotesque' in some of our most frequently used dictionaries, such as the COD, the OALD and Webster's, one w ill undoubtedly become con fused. Apart from cor­ responding definitions of the grotesque in art, where, to quotè the COD, it is seen as a "decorative painting or sculpture with fantastic interweaving of human and animal forms with foliage" or a "comically distorted figure or design," there seems to be no real agreement as to what the word actually means.' Many ad­ jectives, such as 'distorted', 'bizarre', 'absurd' and 'fantas­ tic' are enumerated as possible synonyms, but leave one w ith the feeling that in themselves they cannot convey the meaning of this intricate term. Such important aspects of the grotesque as the horrifying and t he macabre a re not mentioned at all. If there is a lack of agreement amongst the compilers of the various dictionaries about the meaning o f the term, the dis­ agreement is even more obvious amongst the critics, scholars and writers who have probed more deeply into the subject. As a 2 French critic has put it, "l'ambiguïté est souveraine." However, to prove the point about the variance that exists, and always has existed on the subject of the grotesque--perhaps due to its radical and extreme nature, as Philip Thomson suggests--and in the hope of making this dissertation more com­ prehensible, a brief historical outline of the term and concept 'grotesque' will first be presented.