Skip to Main Content

Counterfeit Gentlemen: Manhood and Humor in the Old South

Online ISBN:
9780813039480
Print ISBN:
9780813033372
Publisher:
University Press of Florida
Book

Counterfeit Gentlemen: Manhood and Humor in the Old South

John Mayfield
John Mayfield
Samford University
Find on
Published:
1 February 2009
Online ISBN:
9780813039480
Print ISBN:
9780813033372
Publisher:
University Press of Florida

Abstract

This book is a reappraisal of Southern manhood and identity that uses humor and humorists to carry the reader into the very heart of antebellum culture. What does it mean to be a man in the pre-Civil War South? And how can we answer the question from the perspective of the early 21st century? The author does so by revealing how early 19th-century Southern humorists addressed the anxieties felt by men seeking to chart a new path between the old honor culture and the new market culture. Lacking the constraints imposed by journalism or proper literature, these writers created fictional worlds where manhood and identity could be tested and explored. Preoccupied alternately by moonlight and magnolias and racism and rape, we have continually presented ourselves with an Old South so mirthless it couldn't breathe. If all the author did was remind us that Old Southerners laughed, he would have accomplished something. But he also offers an analysis of the social functions humor performed and the social anxieties it reflected.

Contents
Close
This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

Close

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

View Article Abstract & Purchase Options

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Close