Hal:  some idea of "southernness" can be had from

Piacentino, Ed, Ed. The Enduring Legacy of Old Southwest Humor. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2006.

There are fourteen essays with some of the usual scholarly suspects–William Faulkner, Erskine Caldwell, Flannery O’Conner, and Eudora Welty.  In addition, a new generation of writers that includes Harry Crews, William Price Fox, Cormac McCarthy, Fred Chapell, and Barry Hannah is examined.  Also: stand-up comedians like Jerry Clower and Jeff Foxworthy.

good luck

Jim