The Boogie in the Bush

Abstract

This essay considers Welty’s engagement with race through the lenses of nature and space. Through seemingly insignificant references to manmade outdoor space, Welty points to nature as an essential aspect of race making. Natural boundaries come to symbolize the separations of Jim Crow as well as associated iterations of the “black beast rapist” myth that include tropes of “oriental” and Native American masculine others. But, Welty’s African American characters overturn these dominant myths, signifying on white masculine violence and feminine desire.