Remembering Mayberry in White and Black: The Andy Griffith Show’ s construction of the south

Abstract

The 1960s situation comedy The Andy Griffith Show and its fictional setting, Mayberry, comprise a lieu de mémoire, a site of memory, with multiple and shifting meanings tied to history and identity. The series relied on sophisticated notions of nostalgia to invent a seemingly traditional yet unconventional American South. Although its lead character was a Southern sheriff during the volatile Civil Rights Movement, Mayberry eschewed racial tension by having no recognizable Black residents. Yet, the obituaries for its star, Andy Griffith, in 2012 not only illustrated the program’s stamp on American and Southern identity and memory but also the ways Mayberry as a site of memory had been embraced, reinterpreted, and reimagined by a twenty-first century audience that includes African Americans. Decades after its prime-time run, The Andy Griffith Show is a beloved reconstruction of Southern history, memory, and identity that spurs nostalgic notions of community even from African Americans shut out of its original narrative.