For immediate useNov. 20, 1997 -- No. 874

First W.W. Norton anthology of Southern literature includes first-of-its-kind CD

By BRET JOHNSON
UNC-CH News Services

CHAPEL HILL -- Spanning 400 years and including 87 classic and contemporary authors, a new Southern literature anthology has just been published along with a first-of-its kind audio companion, a compact disc containing 26 songs, sermons and stories.

“The Literature of the American South: A Norton Anthology,” is W.W. Norton's first such publication to focus on Southern literature.

Dr. William L. Andrews, E. Maynard Adams Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was general editor of the 1,200-page volume. Co-editors were Drs. Minrose C. Gwin, professor of English at the University of Mexico, and Trudier Harris, J. Carlyle Sitterson professor of English and Fred Hobson, Lineberger professor of English, both at UNC-CH.

Although problems often arise in defining Southern literature, Andrews said, “the editors of this anthology believe that it is still possible and worthwhile to identify and trace distinctive Southern literary and cultural traditions from their roots to the present day.”

The book is divided into four sections. The first begins in 1580 and runs to 1880 and the second goes from 1880 to 1940. The third and largest part of the book deals with contemporary writers from 1940 to present day. The fourth includes printed text from the audio companion as well as pieces not included on the CD.

Andrews said he and his co-editors saw Southern literature as a diverse mix of writers and traditions in dialogue with each other. The editors sifted through 400 years of literature to compile the anthology.

“We consider race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, locality and socioeconomic conditions among the factors that require serious attention,” he said.

The first entry in the anthology comes from John Smith, “A Description of New England.” Other writers represented include Thomas Jefferson, Edgar Allan Poe, Frederick Douglass, Samuel Clemens, Zora Neale Hurston, William Faulkner, Ralph Ellison, Lee Smith, Doris Betts of UNC-CH, Randall Kenan, a UNC-CH alumnus, Maya Angelou of Wake Forest University and Reynolds Price of Duke University.

The CD contains recordings of Southeastern Indian origin tales, Martin Luther King's “I Have A Dream,” spirituals, blues and ballads by singers such as the Stanley Brothers, Robert Johnson and Elizabeth Cotton, and humor by contemporary white and black storytellers.

“ `The Literature of the American South' is intended to represent in some detail, though not with a pretense of finality, where we think Southern literature is presently and where is seems to be heading,” Andrews wrote in the preface.

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Note: Andrews can be reached at (919) 962-4029.

Contact: David Williamson