Abstract EN:

William gilmore simms, an ante-bellum planter and writer of south carolina, published several works of short stories. His stories of the south, are among his best achievements in short fiction : many of them, collected in the wigwam and the cabin, published in 1845, provide a colorful picture of the southern states in the first half of the 19th. Century and a vivid portrayal of their inhabitants, often drawn from first-hand experience and observation. In these stories, facts and fiction often combine to give a picture of the south which is at once genuine and mythical : they build up an image of a society progressing toward an ideal, the plantation serving as a kind of microcosm for an ideal social organization. Hence, simms's short fictionpartakes of the myth of the old south in so far as it transcends mere reality. In his fiction, william gilmore simms turns out to be a writer deeply concerned with the art of the short story. His stories are carefully built up in order to achieve a pre-conceived effect or "design". His skilfull handling of characters and situation, his use of dialect, his close descriptions, his racy and pungent humor, and his carefully wrought out plots make him rank among the great pioneers of the short story in american literature. His use of folkish materials and local scenery and characters to dramatize universal themes makes him a forerunner of the local colorists and of the great writers of modern southern literature.