Broken Homes, Injured Furnishings & Narrative Renovations in the Postbellum South

Rounding out the panel, Kristen Treen explores the literary afterlives of Confederate possessions that were rifled and torn by invading northern troops, damaged things that became an enduring reminder of lost privilege, lost... [ view full abstract ]

Rounding out the panel, Kristen Treen explores the literary afterlives of Confederate possessions that were rifled and torn by invading northern troops, damaged things that became an enduring reminder of lost privilege, lost slaves, and lost selves. In “Broken Homes, Injured Furnishings & Narrative Renovations in the Postbellum South,” she examines the fin-de-siècle writings of Mary Noailles Murfree as well as Marion Harland and discovers a new kind of housework conducted by rebellious white hands. Could broken household things be effectively recast as the stuff of a beguiling southern race, the result of a feminized project in southern exceptionalism that still fascinates and enthralls?