Little Postage Stamps

doi:10.1017/9781009292863.019

Chapter 14 - Little Postage Stamps

The Short Story, The American South, and the World

from Part III - People and Places

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 May 2023

Coleman Hutchison

Edited by

Michael J. Collins and

Gavin Jones

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Michael J. Collins: Affiliation:
King's College London
Gavin Jones: Affiliation:
Stanford University

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Summary

The short story remains at heart of southern literature. Anthologies, surveys, and criticism all tout the centrality of the form to the representation of the region. But the short story form does not merely facilitate a focus on diverse, local southern cultures. Because short stories can be easily republished and collected, these “little postage stamps” also allow such diverse, local cultures to circulate broadly. In examining the ways short fictional forms enable access to and communication with far-flung places, this chapter offers case studies of three accomplished short story writers: Kate Chopin, Zora Neale Hurston, and Oscar Cásares. Theirs is a literature of the provinces that is far from provincial – a regional literature par excellence that remains very much engaged with the broader world.

Keywords

US South regionalism cultural difference circulation Global South transnationalism place Chopin Hurston Cásares

Information

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge Companion to the American Short Story , pp. 221 - 235

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009292863.019 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2023

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References

Work Cited

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