How does the literature of William Faulkner reflect and shape the historical transition of the American South into a fossil-fuel-dependent society? Jay Watson, a scholar of Southern literature, utilizes the framework of the energy humanities to examine the intersection of industrial development and regional identity. By analyzing Faulkner’s prose, Watson argues that the author’s work serves as a record of the social, cultural, and affective shifts necessitated by the rise of oil, coal, and electricity in the twentieth-century South.

Scholars in the field of Southern studies identify this work as a significant contribution to the growing sub-discipline of energy humanities. The text is noted for its academic rigor and its ability to bridge the gap between literary analysis and environmental history.