Graphic credit: 
"The Brown Pelican" 
by John James Audubon
http://www.audubon.org/bird/
BoA/images/originals/
00704p2.gif

For Audubon's commentary, see
http://www.audubon.org/bird/
BoA/F41_G4b.html
© Richard R. Buonanno, 1995 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase has brought renewed interest in the history of our state and its contributions to the nation.  With its rich and diverse cultural heritage--French, Spanish, African, Native American, English, German, Italian--its strategic economic location at the mouth one of the great watersheds of North America, Louisiana has been the site of very complex cultural intersections. That complexity has created the kind of mystery and intrigue that writers simply cannot resist, and as a consequence, the state can lay claim to an astonishing array of talented literary artists, both those who were born here, like George Washington Cable, those who lived here, like Frances Parkinson Keyes, and those who, like William Faulkner and Kate Chopin and Robert Penn Warren and countless others, only passed through, but who were changed by the experience forever.

As we begin this course, then, I'd invite you to read a portion of an essay that I wrote on the history of Louisiana literature. It should give you some ideas about the non-English traditions of writing in Louisiana and give you some taste for its diversity. I've added some links to the essay; explore a few of them, and then use them and the essay to pose a few introductory reflections on the beginnings of Louisiana's literature.

[Essay excerpt also available here].

QUESTIONS

After reading the essay, what was most surprising to you about Louisiana's literary roots?

Which of the writers or hyperlinks made you want to learn more?

What common threads can you identify in these works? Which ones do you expect to encounter again?

Post a comment on the Discussion Board before Friday's class, if possible, but no later than Tuesday, September 2.