Tell About the South: Southern Literature (1915-1940)

FILMS MEDIA GROUP (NEW YORK)

James Agee Film Project, Ross Spears

In his 1917 essay, "The Sahara of the Bozart," H.L. Mencken berated the American South for its artistic and cultural poverty. Within a decade, however, his assertions had become irrelevant. This program depicts the rapid development of Southern American literature during the first half of the 20th century. It explores the work of William Faulkner, Thomas Wolfe, Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Toomer, Erskine Caldwell, Margaret Mitchell, John Crowe Ransom, and others. Dramatized readings help to illuminate passages from Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Toomer's Cane, Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!, Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel, and Ransom's poem, "Bells for John Whiteside's Daughter."

Contents

American South: Vast Plain of Mediocrities (2:28)

American South: Unique History (1:46)

Essential Nature of Narration (0:57)

Fugitive Poets/Blues Poets (9:54)

Harlem Renaissance: Jean Toomer (9:55)

Mississippi Myth Maker: William Faulkner (18:36)

Storytelling: Southern Tradition (3:53)

Popular Southern Storytellers (3:12)

Leaving the South: Zora and Tom (25:14)

WWII and Southern Writers (2:53)

Credits: Tell About the South: Southern Literature, 1915-1940 (1:26)

James Agee Film Project was founded in 1974 by filmmaker Ross Spears, who was involved at the time in producing a documentary on the life of Tennessee author James Agee (1909-1955). The company's documentary productions have included The Electric Valley (on the Tennessee Valley Authority), Tell Me About the South, and Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People.

Release Date: 1999

TRT: 81 minutes