The Bill and Carol Fox Center
for Humanistic Inquiry
Emory University
2013-2014 Great Works Seminar
Margaret Mitchell’s
Gone with the Wind
Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel, Gone with the Wind, is at
the same time one of the most popular and enduring
works of American literature, and one of the most fraught
and controversial. Both the novel and its innovative and
popular 1939 film adaptation have elicited popular
acclaim, critical praise, and political critique. This
seminar will begin by situating the novel historically, as a
response to the political, ideological, and economic
pressures of the new South in the 1930s. Examining the
novel through the cultural studies themes of race, class,
gender, and sexuality, we will consider the novel itself, as well as its film adaptation and its
circulation within the culture of the South, the United States, and beyond.
The seminar will be moderated by Erich Nunn, Assistant Professor of English at Auburn
University, and Fox Center Fellow Alumnus, with guest lecturers including Amy Clukey
(University of Louisville) and James A. Crank (University of Alabama). It will meet for four
consecutive Thursday evening sessions (April 3, 10, 17, and 24) from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at the
Fox Center. Everyone from the Atlanta community is welcome and invited to join us for this
free seminar. For further information and to reserve seating on a “first-come basis,” email the
Fox Center at foxcenter@emory,.edu , or call 404.727.6424.
We are grateful to the National Endowment for the Humanities for its support of this program. Any views, findings, conclusions or
recommendations expressed in these seminars do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.