Introduction

Framed by the removal of the Alfred Mouton statue in Lafayette, Louisiana, this introduction defines the meaning of reading in the volume, arguing that Confederate monuments require interpretation because they exceed their literal denotations. It suggests that readers harness the tools of literary and cultural studies to produce meaning, enriching their breadth and depth of understanding of the patterns of erasure, narration, and performance that surround Confederate monuments, memorialization, and memory. The introduction argues that the varied and layered approaches and methods used in literary and cultural studies scholarship uniquely positions thinkers in the collection to enhance and expand upon the terms, analyses, and ethical frameworks through which Confederate monuments, memory, and memorialization, as well as resistance against them, have been previously understood.