Writing the South through the Self: Explorations in Southern Autobiography

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WRITING THE SOUTH THROUGH THE SELF This page intentionally left blank Writing the South through the Self Explorations in Southern Autobiography JOHN C. INSCOE Published in association with the Georgia Humanities Council The University of Georgia Press Athens & London © 2011 by the University of Georgia Press Athens, Georgia 30602 www.ugapress.org All rights reserved Designed by Walton Harris Set in 10.5 Garamond Premier Pro Printed and bound by Thomson-Shore The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. Printed in the United States of America 15 14 13 12 11 p 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Inscoe, John C., 1951– Writing the South through the self : explorations in southern autobiography / John C. Inscoe. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn-13: 978-0-8203-3767-8 (hardcover : alk. paper) isbn-10: 0-8203-3767-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) isbn-13: 978-0-8203-3768-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) isbn-10: 0-8203-3768-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Southern States—Biography. 2. Autobiography—Social aspects—Southern States. 3. Autobiography—Psychological aspects—Southern States. 4. Southern States— Social conditions. 5. Race discrimination—Southern States. 6. Miscegenation— Southern States. 7. Social stratification—Southern States. 8. Segregation in transportation—Southern States. 9. College students—Southern States—Attitudes. 10. Appalachian Region—Social conditions. I. Title. f208.i67 2011 975—dc22 2010032652 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available Chapter 3, “‘All Manner of Defeated, Shiftless, Shifty, Pathetic and Interesting Good People’: Autobiographical Encounters with Southern White Poverty,” was previously published in different form in Richard Godden and Martin Crawford, eds., Reading Southern Poverty between the Wars, 1918–1939 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2006). Reprinted by permission. Chapter 6, “Sense of Place, Sense of Being: Appalachian Struggles with Identity, Belonging, and Escape,” was previously published in different form in the Journal of Appalachian Studies, vol. 12, issue 2, Fall 2006, by John C. Inscoe. Copyright © 2008 by the Appalachian Studies Association. Reprinted by permission. To my father and father-in-law, both of whom have written beautifully about their lives as southern boys who came of age on the front lines of World War II To know oneself is to know one’s region. . . . The writer’s value is lost, both to himself and to his country, as soon as he ceases to see that country as a part of himself. —flannery o’connor ...