Introduction

Culture is something that a group of people share within a place, a region, or a country. To be specific, it could be food, customs, social values, or spoken and written language, commonly shared by a certain people. It also gives the people in this culture an identity that is widely recognized by other people. Without the coat of culture, a people may lose their identity as well as recognition. To introduce Southern Culture, I would like to discuss literature, painting, and food that I have learned in Oxford, Mississippi, as the miniature of Southern Culture.

William Faulkner


When it comes to literature in the south, William Faulkner, the winner of Nobel Prize for literature in 1950, is probably the first thing that people would talk about.

As a young man, Faulkner’s romance was not as smooth as people thought. He first fell in love with Estelle. But she was dating some other boys while in romance with him. It turned out that her parents wanted her to marry one of the boys she was dating. Sadly, she got divorced ten years after her marriage. After that, Faulkner married her.

Mr. Faulkner’s life as a writer is not as easy as people expected. Just like many writers, “the thrill of a penny more of less” put him under intensive pressure. In order to buy Rowan Oak, which is said to be $250,000 at his days, he had to write a lot. In addition, in search for inspiration for his writing, he drank a lot alcohol, and that is widely known as binge drinking.

The center of Faulkner’s works, as he described “postal stamps of native soil”, is about where he lived: Yoknapatawpha, where is actually Lafayeff Country. It was his ambition to write everything he had experienced in Mississippi. In one of his famous works, “A Rose for Emily”, he wrote about a family back in his days which used to be a big family. He detailed what was going in this town, what people at that time would do, and Emily’s family.

Reading William Faulkner helps us uncover the veil of Southern Life. He gives us some pictures of what the social values in this town were like. For example, back in his days women from high-class family might have to follow some kinds of social rules to maintain their prestige. Another example is that most of the people in the town were involved and concerned about Emily family. They were curious about what happened to Emily and eager to know what became of her. Finally, but not limited to, the story might be a fabrication, meaning that it might not be based on a true story. But the whole idea is based on where Faulkner lived.

Folk Art

Folk art, known as naïve art, outsider art, or primitive art, plays a significant role in Southern Art. Those artists don’t go to schools to be trained. They use whatever they have to create their styles of painting. I went to The University Museum. There is a huge collection of folk art, like painting on plywood or quilts. Among the collection, Theora Hamblett is my focus.

Theora Hamblett was born in Lafayeff County in 1895. She went to school in a small town of Paris. When she was young, she loved drawing. Graduating from Lafayeff High School, she became a teacher and taught for over fifteen years, in a small one to two teacher school. In 1939, Theora moved to Oxford, and much of her income was made renting rooms in her house to college students.

Theora Hamblett is best remembered as a memory painter. She produces a lot of paintings from the memories of her childhood. Without learning all the techniques for her paintings, there is no perspective in her paintings. There is a painting that some cows are running in circle in a field. Because of no perspective, it looks like the cows are running without Earth’s gravity. One of the series of her paintings in the museum, “Untitled”, is about some children are playing in circle. Another series is about her religious vision. There I saw some people ascending to heaven and Heavenly Father welcoming them.

Farm life is very important to Miss Hamblett. From her autobiography, she gave a miniature of what her life was like. Farm life is the center of her childhood, and it gives her the sources to paint, and churches her religious vision. In addition to farm life, churches also play an important role in Miss Hamblett’s life. Among her paintings, there are three religious ones the most important.

My Hamblett’s Style Painting

I did a painting, just like Miss Hamblett did. It is very interesting to do a painting like this. I have never learned any skills for drawing or painting. After I finished my painting, I realized how hard it was for Miss Hamblett to paint three hundred paintings, especially when she put two coats of paint on her trees. I did the same thing when I painted my trees. I first painted the sky, and then all the way down to the grassland. In order to show different colors of leaves, I put three to four coats on my trees.

Southern Food

Under the influence of many countries, Southern food is a various blend of food. Today, I went to Ajax with some other IEP students and teachers. We ordered some Southern food at. I ordered Plate Lunches, with pork chops, hash brown casserole, and turnip green. Another student also ordered Plate Lunches, but with chicken &dumplings, broccoli, and red beans.

Southern food is really good. My first impression on Southern food is just like any typical American food. But, after eating in Ajax, I could tell people that American food is not bad at all. I am really glad that there are some good food luring out there and waiting for me in America.