Harvard University Press, 2010

In Our South: Geographic Fantasy and the Rise of National Literature, Jennifer Greeson is not concerned with southern identity or what the South is; rather, she explores what role the South has played in the broader culture of the United States. Employing a comparative, transnational approach, Greeson looks to answer the question, “What is the South good for?” In doing so, she suggests that a marginalized South, or an “internal other” to the national narrative, is central to the nation’s understanding of itself.