Positive Self-Identity: Neighborliness in Lillian Smith’s Memory of a Large Christmas

While the literary merits of Smith’s Memory of a Large Christmas have been largely overlooked, April Conley Kilinski provides analysis in this chapter that reveals the memoir’s subtle sophistication and richness. Framing her study with “neighborliness” theory, Kilinski asserts that the book’s strategically unfolding episodes map the possibility for building and sustaining healthy community. According to Kilinski, Memory reveals the clear set of values and agrarian practices, intergenerational family dynamics, and faith, by which the Smith family operates and thrives. Throughout the narrative, Smith’s parents reinforce these values through scripture recitation, large family meals comprised of farm-sourced foods, gift giving, and, most importantly, hospitality. The chapter examines Smith’s development of the argument that when we recognize the redemptive potential in others while also making space for the alterity that comes from encompassing their sinfulness, we create a moral Third that sees beyond any easy binary.