Hal’s Comments (group member since Aug 17, 2014)

Hal’s comments from the Southern Gothic discussions group.

I guess Southern Gothic is like Pornography - I'm not sure how to define it, but I know it when I see it.
That being the case, and considering Harry Crews novels as undeniably Southern Gothic, I would say that in ATTEMPTING to define Southern Gothic, it would have to be fiction, use locales in the Southern U.S., feature characters of lower socioeconomic classes and Southern upbringing at least some of whom have over-sized and exaggerated Southern personalities, and include humorous tension related to the interactions of these characters (So a novel about a Redneck solo hiking the Appalachian Train while overcoming Nature's obstacles could never be Southern Gothic) . That's my minimal definition, but one could argue that at least one character has to have a physical disability.