DIALECT IN THE FICTION OF CARSON MCCULLERS, FLANNERY O'CONNOR, AND EUDORA WELTY (SOUTH)

The importance of dialect as a literary technique is nowhere more obvious than in the fiction of three twentieth-century Southern writers: Carson McCullers, Flannery O'Connor, and Eudora Welty. Study of their use of dialect provides insight into their fiction and also meaningful information about Southern English.;Finally, the works of McCullers, O'Connor, and Welty provide concrete materials through which it is possible to study the broader subject of how dialect functions in literature as a whole--what the options are for the writer and what his limitations must be.;The letters and essays the three authors have written about the art of fiction show their conscious awareness of the richness of Southern English and its importance for Southern writers. Each one has used dialect differently to define character and reinforce key themes and symbols. At the same time, their representations of Southern speech suggest a great deal about the structures, sounds, and vocabularies of Southern dialects.