The article examines the functioning of racial narrative as a fundamental structural model for constructing the image of America in the literature of the “Southern Renaissance” (1920s–1950s). The author analyzes how writers of the region rethought the national identity of the USA through the categories of “whiteness”, segregation, and the trauma of defeat in the Civil War. Drawing on the works of W. Faulkner, Z. N. Hurston, C. McCullers, and R. P. Warren, it is shown that the racial narrative ceases to be merely a thematic element, transforming into a plot-forming principle that determines the spatio-temporal organization and polyphonic structure of the text.
Racial Narrative as A Structural Principle of The Image Of “America” During The “Southern Renaissance” In American Literature
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American Passages: Unit 13 – Southern Renaissance. (2019). Learner.org. https://www.learner.org
Faulkner, W. (1936). Absalom, Absalom! Random House.
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Matsui, M. (2014). Passing into the darkness: Sexuality, race, and integration of the segregated in the works of the Southern Renaissance (PhD abstract). Hokkaido University.
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Southern Renaissance. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved May 25, 2026, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Renaissance