The Routledge Introduction to American Modernism

203 Pages·2016·3.697 MB·English

by  Linda Wagner-Martin

THE ROUTLEDGE INTRODUCTION
TO AMERICAN MODERNISM
The modernist period was crucial for American literature as it gave writers the
chance to be truly innovative and create their own distinct identities. Starting
earlier than many guides to Modernism, this lucid and comprehensive guide
introduces the reader to the essential history of the period including technology,
religion, economy, class, gender, and immigration. These contexts are woven
into discussions of many significant authors and texts from the period. Wagner-
Martin brings her years of writing about American modernism to explicate
poetry and drama as well as fiction and life-writing. Among those authors
emphasized are Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Zora Neale Hurston,
Langston Hughes, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Willa Cather, John Dos
Passos, William Carlos Williams, Mike Gold, James T. Farrell, Clifford Odets,
John Steinbeck, and countless others.
A clear and engaging introduction to an exciting period of literature, this is the
ultimate guide for those seeking an overview of American modernism.
Linda Wagner-Martin is Frank Borden and Barbara Lasater Hanes Professor of
English Emerita at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA. She has
recently been awarded the Hubbell Medal for her lifetime of work in American
literature.
ROUTLEDGE INTRODUCTIONS TO AMERICAN LITERATURE
Series Editors: D. Quentin Miller and Wendy Martin
Routledge Introductions to American Literature provide a comprehensive over-
view of the most important topics in American Literature in its historical, cultural,
and intellectual contexts. They present the most up-to-date trends, debates, and
exciting new directions in the field, opening the way for further study.
The volumes in the series examine the ways in which both canonical and lesser
known writers from diverse cultural backgrounds have shaped American literary
traditions. In addition to providing insight into contemporary and theoretical
debates and giving attention to a range of voices and experiences as a vital part of
American life, these comprehensive volumes offer clear, cohesive narratives of the
development of American Literature.
The American literary tradition has always been flexible and mutable. Every
attempt to define American literature as a static body has been thwarted by the nature
of its subject, which is—like its nation’s ideals—pluralistic, diverse, democratic, and
inventive. Our goal in this series is to provide fresh perspectives on many dimensions
of the American literary tradition while offering a solid overview for readers encoun-
tering it for the first time.
D. Quentin Miller and Wendy Martin
Available in this series:
The Routledge Introduction to African American Literature
D. Quentin Miller
The Routledge Introduction to American Modernism
Linda Wagner-Martin
The Routledge Introduction to American Women Writers
Wendy Martin and Sharone Williams
THE ROUTLEDGE
INTRODUCTION
TO AMERICAN
MODERNISM
Linda Wagner-Martin
First published 2016
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 Linda Wagner-Martin
The right of Linda Wagner-Martin to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this title has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-84739-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-84740-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-72683-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Book Now Ltd, London
For Paul, Carly, and Jessica Wagner
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
1 Some origins of Modernism 1
2 The “foreign” in American modernism 25
3 Poetry as origin 38
4 Hemingway, Dos Passos, Cather, Lewis, and the American style 55
5 Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Wolfe as American romantics 84
6 The Harlem Renaissance and after 108
7 Reconstructing the 1930s 126
8 1940s writing 158
Bibliography 171
Index 184
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Because this study is wide-ranging, discussing literature from more than sixty years,
I have systematized references to excerpts of poetry and fiction so that several
accessible anthologies serve as key sources. (The books listed here also appear in
the Bibliography under the lead author’s name.) These are the anthologies:
The New Anthology of American Poetry, Vol. 2. Ed. Steven Gould Axelrod, Camille
Roman, and Thomas J. Travisano. (Rutgers UP).
The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Vol. C, D. Ed. Paul Lauter et al. (Houghton
Mifflin).
Anthology of Modern American Poetry. Ed. Cary Nelson. (Oxford UP, 2000).
Chief Modern Poets of England and America, Vol. 2. Ed. Gerald DeWitt Sanders, John
Herbert Nelson, M. L. Rosenthal. (Macmillan).
Within the text, the books will be abbreviated A (Axelrod), L (Lauter), N (Nelson),
and S (Sanders), followed by page number. In the case of the Heath, excerpts
from Volume C will be noted L C, page number and from Volume D, L D, page
number.
This book would not exist were it not for the encouragement of the series editors,
Professors Wendy Miller and D. Quentin Miller. My thanks to them and to Polly
Dodson, Senior Editor at Routledge.