Southern Literary Renaissance Second Wave (1945-1965)
Southern Literary Renaissance Second Wave (1945-1965)
While the first wave of Southern writers were writing with an agenda, in reaction to H.L. Menken’s claims that the South could not produce great art, the Post-1945 Southern writers came of age under the spell of the a group of writ ers studying at Vanderbilt University who named themselves the Agrarians (John Crow Ransom, Allen Tate, Robert Penn Warren, Andrew Lytle, etc) as well as several commercially successful Southern writers such as William Faulkner. In turn, they internalized a story telling tradition that was already on-going. These Second Wave writers had concerns of their own, as the South, along with the rest of the World, entered the Cold War, in the post World War II period. Yet, while the South tried to keep pace with a changing world, Southern literature continued to produce some of the most innovative, critically acclaimed work of the time period. Eudora Welty’s debut novel, The Robber Bridgegroom (1942), gained national attention for her as a short story writer who had already won back-to-back O. Henry awards, including one for her well anthologized short story, “A Worn Path.” Carson McCullers was the literary “wunderkind” who exploded onto the national spotlight at the age of twenty-three with her debut novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940). Flannery O’Connor emerged as the super star of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, winning multiple accolades, including two O. Henry Awards, as her short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” (1955) became widely anthologized. Doctor turned lawyer, Walker Percy’s debut novel, The Movie Goer (1961), won the National Book Award for mixing theology, philosophy, and the Mardi Gras into one beautifully written novel. From Percy to Porter to Peter Taylor, the Southern Literary Renaissance remained strong well after 1945.
The Cold War and the Southern Literary Renaissance
America’s war efforts bolstered the national economy, especially in the South, which is home to several military training bases. While the South still suffered from Jim Crow laws and antiquated racial politics, it did offer more progressive roles for women who found themselves taking professional jobs, filling positions vacated by men who had left for war. This shift became a major theme in Katherine Ann Porter’s “Miranda” stories. Flannery O’Connor saw such role changes firsthand when she studied at Georgia College for Women where the WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Services), a female naval reserve unit, were training. As the country continued to change drastically after World War II, the South tried to keep pace.
Economic Prosperity
The post World War II South was positioned for economic prosperity, as soldiers returned home to find more infrastructure and a trained workforce. The rise of the middle class also helped develop major Southern cities, such as Atlanta and Birmingham, into national prominence. The South had finally begun to embrace the shift from agricult