Bohemian Groves, Grooves, Gardens, and Guns

This chapter examines the hybrid world of Southern magazines Garden and Gun and Oxford American, with particular attention to the ways that these two magazines employ elements of bohemia while also incorporating bourgeois lifestyles. The two magazines are compared, particularly with regard to the ways they address Southern identity, including the consumption and critical analysis of this identity. In exploring the ways these magazines portray two different bohemias and two different Souths, the author explores how they are remaking and questioning Southern myths. Southern creativity is explored as both a product and authentic experience.