Date of Award
2-9-2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Heritage Studies, Ph.D.
First Advisor
Edward Salo
Committee Members
Lauri Umansky; Robert Lamm
Call Number
LD 251 .A566d 2022 R53
Abstract
Since the late twentieth century, scholars of Heritage Studies have spoken of the processual nature of cultural inheritance, claiming that even the most respected traditions are often composed of memory, imagination, and fragments of history combined and artfully assembled. This contemporary analysis of heritage as an ongoing construction or creation shares points of similarity with the process of literary creation. Both blend the observation of fact with the operations of imagination to construct a desired reality. Both can be used to construct a sense of place. Using the paradigm of heritage constructionism, this dissertation examines fiction in the form of the novel as a type of heritage creation, surveying novels set in the Mississippi River Delta and written by residents of the Delta. The Mississippi River Delta is a place both geographical and cultural. A dominant feature of North America and of the United States, it serves as the watershed for much of the American heartland. Along the main watercourse of the Mississippi River, human settlements have over centuries made a home of this place. Dividing the river corridor into five population centers distributed along the course of the Mississippi River, this dissertation examines Delta novels written between 1850 and 2021, investigating themes and styles which typify the region. To understand the intersection of history and literary expression underlying the fiction of the region, the discussion calls upon the voices of southern literary figures steeped in the social and intellectual traditions of the South. The scene thus set, the exploration turns to an inventory of Delta novels, diving into plot, theme, characterization, and style. A reflective chronology establishes the place of the Delta novel within the historical development of the novel and responds to the postmodernist critique of tradition and place, showcasing the manner in which selected twentieth century southern literary figures anticipated such criticism. Writings from the twentieth century Vanderbilt Agrarian movement and related scholarship offer a prescient defense of southern writing and suggest a recipe for the generation of meaningful literature, affirming that enduring central characteristics of southern writing exist, are of value to both the writer and society at large, and reveal the nature of place. In conclusion, this dissertation identifies themes characteristic of Delta novels, relates them to regional issues, and proposes literary creation as a type of heritage creation.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Richmond, Maureen T., "Writing Mississippi Delta Heritage: The Literary Creation of Place" (2023). Student Theses and Dissertations. 208.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/208
