Reassessing the Old South: Intertextuality, Neo-Slave Narratives, and "The Wind Done Gone"

"Gone with the Wind" is a title that most of us are familiar with, both as a novel and as a movie. The novel, written by Southern-born U.S. writer Margaret Mitchell, quickly became a bestseller after its publication in 1936, breaking all sales records and winning the hearts of millions of readers. Nevertheless, as is often the case with novels dealing with the Civil War and the institution of slavery, it presents important flaws. This thesis aims to reassess many of the misconceptions embedded in "Gone with the Wind," doing so by reading it alongside one of its retellings, an unauthorized parody titled "The Wind Done Gone," written by African American author Alice Randall. Special attention will be paid to the role that rewritings (especially those that fall into the genre of "neo-slave narratives") play in shaping new representations and claiming the right to tell a story from a different point of view. Hopefully, this will spark a conversation on themes related to history, memory, identity, and healing. In particular, the objective is to acknowledge the slave and African American experience, seeking to see beyond the stereotypes and misrepresentations that have long defined and confined it.