Southern Literature, Cold War Culture, and the Making of Modern America by Jordan J. Dominy (review)

• Published in: Modern Fiction Studies Vol. 67; no. 4; pp. 789 - 791
• Main Author: Barnhisel, Greg
• Format: Journal Article Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: Baltimore Johns Hopkins University Press 01.12.2021
• Subjects: Cold War; Cultural instruction; Culture; Diplomatic & consular services; Ellison, Ralph (1914-1994); Faulkner, William (1897-1962); Literary devices; Literature; Metonymy; Morality; Nobel prizes; Politics; Southern literature; War; World War II; United States > US
• ISSN: 0026-7724; 1080-658X; 1080-658X
• DOI: 10.1353/mfs.2021.0042

Separateness, in fact, became the South’s identity: it saw itself as a captive region, a rump nation, within a larger and not particularly benevolent state. [...]it seems improbable that Southernness could become a central component of a larger, amalgamated American identity, especially when crafting and selling that identity was a primary concern of American intellectuals and policymakers as the US became, in the years after the war, the world’s primary power and a synecdoche for the Free World. Area studies, a foundation-funded academic endeavor that began in the 1930s, became an urgent priority after World War II, when the US had to train leaders and technocrats to lead a loose global empire. [...]overall, Dominy’s book is a welcome addition to the quickly growing body of work on Cold War culture and the marketing of American identity after World War II.