SOUTHERN CULTURE

The Southern Culture

The culture of a society can be defined as the way that people live and think as a group. Culture also includes musical styles, cuisine and customs. In America, There is a different between The South and other parts of the country. The combination of its unique history and “ fact that many Southerners maintain—and even nurture—an identity separate from the rest of the country has led to its being the most studied and written about region of the United States.”(Wikipedia)

CUISINE:

The influence that this part of The USA undergoes from Europeans contributes to the emergence of this unique culture. Their cuisine is often described as one of its most distinctive traits: “ Everything is fried”. Southern culinary culture has adopted an early Native American cuisine. Some notable "home cooking" meals include: fried chicken, corn on the pot liquor, vegetable stew, chicken and dumplings, and chicken fried steak. Even if the South shares so many characteristics, there are some differences between some States and their cuisine. The variety of cuisines range from: Tex-Mex cuisine, Cajun, and Creole, traditional antebellum fare, all types of seafood, and Texas, Carolina and Memphis styles of Barbecue. (Southern Culture, p456)

ART:

The Southern Region has been home of many artists.They present different kind of works from folk art, to expressionism. Artists in the South sometimes mixed spirituality and traditional religious motifs with surrealism and dream-like post-modernism. One of the most famous artists in the South is Howard Finster. Techniques used by these artists were very different but the results were still perfect. For instance Mari Hull is one of the famous artist in Oxford, Mississippi. Her technique is usually the utilization of pastel on paper to create a presentation original. Her influence is such that Marry Bawel said: “Any reference to art in Mississippi and the South since the early part of the 20th century would not be complete without Marie Hull. Her art and life as a painter and teacher have influenced hundreds of young artists to make their way in art.” The contribution of Southern artists in the developpement of the art in the US is widely acknowledged by people interested in the field. The paintings of artists from the South are sometimes a representation of the Civil war and the participation of their states in the building of the Modern America. Theora Hamblett is also one of the famous artists that people are proud of in the South. My painting is an example of her techniques.

LITERATURE:

As for art, Southern writers are well kwon and they present the reality of their region in their writing. Among famous writers in the South, we can cite William Faulkner, one of the most famous writers of USA. Faulkner won a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949. His writing is sometimes the description of the area where he lived. Faulkner brought new techniques such as stream of consciousness and complex techniques to American writings (As I lay dying). Other famous writers in the South deserve acknowledgement such as Mark Twain for his extensive knowledge of the Mississippi River and The South .He included in his works the injustice of slavery and the culture of Protestant public morality. Southern writers are known for their novel and their great capacity for transmitting to the reader their point of view.

The Southern of USA is very different because of its culture, its history, its people and their economic situation even if it is not homogeneous.

ERIC ROLEX JOSEPH