Understanding the Short Fictio

UNDERSTANDING THE SHORT FICTION OF CARSON MCCULLERS uses diverse critical techniques to identify how McCullers's writing maintains lasting appeal because it captures both the joy and sadness of humanity, especially the meaning we draw from connections with others and the pain of isolation when we find it difficult to cultivate these relationships in modern culture. While critical assessment of McCullers's work has more often focused on her concern with loneliness and belonging, this collection depicts an author who was deeply invested in the social and political state of the world. Her short fiction includes interrogations of class-based, racial, and ableist prejudice, disconcerting portrayals of the social and political anxiety surrounding the Second World War, satirical eviscerations of some of the most oppressive social norms of the mid-twentieth century, and bold suggestions that lesbian desire, queer relationships, and female autonomy have a valid place in American culture.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Mercer University Press
Published: 04/01/2020
ISBN: 9780881467420
Pages: 218
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.30w x 1.00d

Review Citations: Choice 11/01/2020