Wolfgang Kayser and Mikhail Bakhtin's typology of the grotesque: Flannery O'connor's selected short fiction

This thesis aims to analyze the development of American Southern gothic literature and the grotesque characterization as its essential feature through the characters in Flannery O'Connor's selected short fiction based on Wolfgang Kayser's classification and Mikhail Bakhtin's theory. American Southern gothic flourished as a subgenre of American gothic following the Civil War (1861-65) in the 19th century, and its increasing popularity coincides with the 20th century when O'Connor published her works. American Southern gothic writers dwell on the inherent problems of the society such as the stigma of slavery, racial discrimination, and class distinctions. They also make a number of references to Southern history and culture. O'Connor is regarded as one of the leading figures of this subgenre. In her fiction, which is the quintessence of American Southern gothic, she deals with the grotesque theme in order to expose the shortcomings of the society. Three categories of grotesque characters have been identified in her short stories on the basis of Wolfgang Kayser's classification in his The Grotesque in Art and Literature (1963). These categories are the characters whose appearance is grotesque, the intellectuals with their flawed perception of the world, and the demonic characters with a tendency to violence and cynicism. Keywords: American Southern gothic, the grotesque, Flannery O'Connor, Wolfgang Kayser, Mikhail Bakhtin, The Grotesque in Art and Literature.