"I have been so many people": A Study of Lee Smith's Novels - Paperback

by Tanya Long Bennett (Author)

A comprehensive analysis of all of Lee Smith's fiction up through her 2006 novel, On Agate Hill, including her short stories, this study argues that Smith's fiction examines the psychological challenges of living in a society that is, on some level, "rootless." Using post-structuralist theory and narratology, Bennett elucidates Smith's unique narrative explorations of identity. She argues that Smith has made an important contribution to Southern literature, in her consistent focus on the Southerner's post-Civil War self-conflict, and to contemporary literature in general.

Author Biography

TANYA LONG BENNETT is a professor of English at the University of North Georgia, where she has taught for thirteen years. She earned her PhD in English at the University of Tennessee. Her research focuses on twentieth- and twenty-first-century fiction, as well as gender studies.