Ritual performance in the fiction of Flannery O'Connor

"Cynthia Seel's study offers a decidedly new way of reading O'Connor's stories. She analyzes six works in depth: the short stories "A Circle in the Fire," "The Artificial Nigger," "The Lame "Shall Enter First," "The River," "A Temple of the Holy Ghost," and "A Stroke of Good Fortune." These analyses examine O'Connor's primary use of ritual as form (or aesthetic frame) and as transforming action, and thus illuminate the method and impact of O'Connor's works afresh. While O'Connor's affinity for ritual has not gone unnoticed, no one has before assembled and analyzed ritual as it has appeared in a wide range of her fiction as this book does." "The study begins with an exploration of O'Connor's Southern milieu, a survey of relevant scholarship (particularly feminist theory), and a clarification of essential terms and concepts surrounding ritual. The remaining chapters are then dedicated to the six short stories, each of which depicts certain ritual patterns and archetypal models. In this way, the study furnishes a prototype that can be applied to O'Connor's entire oeuvre." "Ritual Performance in the Fiction of Flannery O'Connor is an excellent resource for teachers and students of American literature, Southern Studies, feminist theory, and ritual studies. Because it is story-centered rather than theory-driven, it will appeal to those who are looking for ways to read (and teach) O'Connor's astonishing stories more deeply."--BOOK JACKET.