![]() ![]() While often disturbing, Southern Gothic authors commonly use deeply flawed, grotesque characters for greater narrative range and more opportunities to highlight unpleasant aspects of Southern culture, without being too literal or appearing to be overly moralistic. One of the most notable features of the Southern Gothic is "the grotesque" - this includes situations, places, or stock characters that often possess some cringe-inducing qualities, typically racial bigotry and egotistical self-righteousness - but enough good traits that readers find themselves interested nevertheless. Instead, the writer takes classic Gothic archetypes, such as the damsel in distress or the heroic knight, and portrays them in a more modern and realistic manner - transforming them into, for example, a spiteful and reclusive spinster, or a white-suited, fan-brandishing lawyer with ulterior motives. The Southern Gothic author usually avoids perpetuating antebellum stereotypes like the "contented slave", the "demure Southern belle", the "chivalrous gentleman", or the "righteous Christian preacher". ![]() Unlike its predecessor, it uses these tools not for the sake of suspense, but to explore social issues and reveal the cultural character of the American South. Like its parent genre, it relies on supernatural, ironic, or unusual events to guide the plot. _NOTOC_ Southern Gothic is a subgenre of the Gothic writing style, unique to American literature.
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