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otherreligiousdenominations,thepercentageofCatholicsintheSouth,stillvery
low,hasneverthelessbeenonanupwardtrendforsometimenow.
TatspiritualchallengeiswhatthecontemporarySouthisaferbecomeseven
moreclearvisibleintheessaybyMarcelAlbeitentitlednReligiousandSecular
PerformancesandRitualsinChrisFuhrman)sDangerousLivesofAltarBoys.”Tis
essayanalyzing(viaFuhrman)snovelandinconnectiontothegenreofhorror)
theroleCatholicritualplaysintheSouthalsoactivatesreligiousperformance
asanimportantculturalpracticeintouchwithotherwalksofthesouthernlife
suchase.g.politicsorsociety.Tisisbecause,asachurchofimmigrants,Cathol-
icism,providingasitdidajustificationforthesouthernnhorror,”i.e.inequali-
tyandhierarchyissues,atonceallowedforthesameproblemstobeapproached
fromadiferentangleandthushelpedtransformthem.Inthisway,Catholicism
managednotonlytobecomensouthernized”-orndomesticated,”asArbeit,af-
terHaddox,callsit(61)-butalsotoincorporatetheSouthanditsperformances
itselfintothebigger,nuniversalteaching”contextbegunatthetimethenovelis
setin.Teregion)sconsequentlocalizationasGrimes)(whoseritualtheoryArbe-
italsoquotes)nextraordinaryordinariness”thereforealsochallengesthesouth-
ernspirittoperformsymbolicallyasaliminalentity.
Tedramawhichsuchachallengecreatesisstagedwithintheframesofyetan-
otheressaybyGisèleSigalentitlednDramaandTraumainElizabethMadoxRob-
erts)MyHeartandMyFleshwhichclosesthe(Post)Spiritualsectionofthebook.
SigalexaminesRoberts)ssecondnovel,astoryofawhiteelitesouthernfamily,as
anembodimentoftheregion)sownnchaosandconfusion.”SheclaimsRoberts
attainsthisefectbyfollowingtheafectivedestinyofTeodosiaBell,thewhite
genteelprotagonistofthestory.Concentratedonthensearchforthelight,”(83)
despiteallthesuferingandtraumathatsheexperiencesinthe-deeplytroubled-
reallifeoftheinterwarSouth,theheroineofRoberts)s1927bookfindsit,Sigalbe-
lieves,inherself.ItisonlywhenTeodosiabeginstoassertagencyintheevents
ofherownlifethatshebecomesitsactor,and,likeactorstrugglingtoconstrue
theroles/heisabouttoplay,sheusesher-conflicted-emotionstodoso.Rob-
erts)sdemonstratingthisviathebook)snarrativetechniqueofthestreamofcon-
sciousness,whenaddedtoSigal)sownattemptatcreatinganorderofwhatmight
beperceivedasthesoutherndisorder,thusmakesMyHeartakindofthetra-
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