The Unregenerate South: The Agrarian Thought of John Crowe Ransom, Allen Tate, and Donald Davidson (Southern Literary Studies)

552 Pages·1997·1.32 MB·English

by  Mark G. Malvasi

The Unregenerate South : The Agrarian
Thought of John Crowe Ransom, Allen
title:
Tate, and Donald Davidson Southern
Literary Studies
author: Malvasi, Mark G.
publisher: Louisiana State University Press
isbn10 | asin: 0807121436
print isbn13: 9780807121436
ebook isbn13: 9780585300092
language: English
American literature--Southern States--
History and criticism, Literature and
history--Southern States--History--20th
subject century, Ransom, John Crowe,--1888-1974-
-Knowledge--Southern States, American
literature--20th century--History and
criticism, Davidson, Do
publication date: 1997
lcc: PS261.M28 1997eb
ddc: 810.9/975/09041
American literature--Southern States--
History and criticism, Literature and
history--Southern States--History--20th
subject: century, Ransom, John Crowe,--1888-1974-
-Knowledge--Southern States, American
literature--20th century--History and
criticism, Davidson, Do
Page i
SOUTHERN LITERARY STUDIES
Fred Hobson, Editor
Page v
The Unregenerate South
The Agrarian Thought of John Crowe Ransom, Allen
Tate, and Donald Davidson
Mark G. Malvasi
Page vi
Copyright © 1997 by Louisiana State University Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
First printing
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Designer: Amanda McDonald Key
Typeface: Bembo
Typesetter: Impressions Book and Journal Services, Inc.
Printer and binder: Thomson-Shore, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Malvasi, Mark G., 1957
The unregenerate South : the agrarian thought of John Crowe
Ransom, Allen Tate, and Donald Davidson / Mark G. Malvasi.
p. cm. (Southern literary studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8071-2143-6 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. American literatureSouthern StatesHistory and criticism.
2. Literature and historySouthern StatesHistory20th century.
3. Ransom, John Crowe, 18881974KnowledgeSouthern States.
4. American literature20th centuryHistory and criticism.
5. Davidson, Donald, 18931968KnowledgeSouthern States.
6. Tate, Allen, 18991979KnowledgeSouthern States. 7. Southern
StatesHistoriography. 8. Agrarians (Group of writers) I. Title
II. Series.
PS261.M28 1997
210.9'975'09041dc21 97-10950
CIP
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and
durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book
Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

Page vii
For my father and mother
Sempre con amore
Page ix
Have I forgotten
The dead young men whose flesh will not reflower
But in this single bloom which now I pluck,
Weaving it into my spirit as victors weave
A chaplet, gathered from mould, for honor's sake?
This is my body, woven from dead and living,
Given over again to the quick lustration
Of a new moment: This is my body and spirit,
Broken but never tamed, risen from the bloody sod,
Walking suddenly alive in a new morning.
Donald Davidson, "The Sod of Battlefields"
Page xi
Contents
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
Abbreviations xix
Introduction: The Southern Conservative Tradition in the 1
Modern World
1 23
Ransom's Agrarian Aesthetic: What These Have Done in
Love
2 61
Ransom and the Republic of Letters: A Faraway Time of
Gentleness
3 89
Tate's Agrarian Faith: Knowledge Carried to the Heart
4 128
Tate and Southern Redemption: All Are Born Yankees
5 153
Davidson and the Southern Tradition: That Rage of Belief
6 189
Davidson's Defense of the South: A Land Still Fought For
7 220
The Southern Conservative Tradition in Retrospect and
Prospect: Generations of the Faithful Heart
Index 255