As our panel title suggests, the American South has re-appeared in a number 

of recent television series, prompting a reporter for the New York Times to 

compare the bare bones parochialism to the slow food movement and simply 

call it “slow television.” He writes about “Memphis Blues” on TNT, “This series 

is to Memphis what the HBO series “Treme” is to New Orleans and “Justified” 

on FX is to Harlan County in Kentucky—timeless indigenous music is set 

against the exoticism of temporal subcultures. Atmosphere is the real hero of 

all these shows and music is the sidekick, be it R&B, jazz, or as is the case 

in “Justified,” bluegrass tinged with rap.” Our host city and conference theme 

provide a strong incentive to explore what we consider a slight resurgence 

and renewed interest in the American South as it is being re-imagined across 

the contemporary television landscape. Investigating the various intersections 

of race, class, gender, and place, on the one hand, and industry, narrative, 

and style, on the other, each presentation on this panel is principally 

concerned with the ways these factors determine whether and how one 

belongs to the South. That is, who is most at home in this place and why? 

Taking seriously the range and diversity of the individual titles contributing to 

the “slow television” movement, this panel also aims to produce a 

conversation whose parameters extend beyond a single series and offer a 

much richer understanding of what is at stake when the national imaginary 

pulls inspiration from below the Mason Dixon Line. 



Please send 200-350 word abstracts and a bio to [log in to unmask] by 

August 14, 2010.



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