Abstract

In the United States, Southerners have created a simulated reality of the Civil War and of the Old South. They focus on the bravery and resilience of the soldiers and disregard the actual horrors of the war. The genuine perspective on the war can no longer be retrieved – “never again will the real have the chance to produce itself.” It is irreversibly lost on account of forgetfulness and overproduction of copies (motion pictures, books, celebrations, etc.) that distort the reality of war by “filtering” the past through Southern mentality. Southerners’ need to create a hyper-reality of the Civil War (and of the past in general) is perfectly illustrated in “A Late Encounter with the Enemy” by Flannery O’Connor.