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A Successful Revolt?: The Redefinition of Midwestern Literary Culture in the 1920s and 1930s

Kosiba, Sara A
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1183804975

Abstract Details

2007, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English.
Following Carl Van Doren’s 1920 declaration of the “revolt from the village” trend in American literature—based on his observation of the backlash toward small town, provincial life prevalent in so many novels of the time, many of them Midwestern—the Midwest became a more complex place to define due to increasing modernization and cultural changes. Midwestern writers began to document a struggle in their fiction that traced these changes, while at the same time negotiating the influence of literary modernism. My study contrasts writers who stayed loyal to the Midwest with writers who left the region, examining how these authors addressed contemporary literary, economic, and social issues that redefined both the Midwest and the nation as a whole. Chapter one examines the definition and history of literary regionalism, modernism, and the historical role of the Midwest in American literature and culture. Chapter two focuses on Midwestern writers who stayed within the region during the 1920s, writing stories that while not typically classified as modernist were addressing many of the same themes and concerns. Chapter three examines Midwestern writers who left the region, exploring the work of these “expatriate” Midwesterners as they tried to reconcile their exposure to more experimental literary forms like modernism with the regional history they were often trying to leave behind. Chapter four addresses writers in the Midwest with a more radical agenda, examining their texts for the influence of Communism, Socialism, and even modernism that combine to argue for improved workers’ and farmers’ rights. While regional distinctiveness is often dismissed in favor of an increasingly globalized view of American culture, the stereotypes and mythologies that characterized much of early twentieth century regional identity are important in understanding the way we perceive contemporary American culture. Examining the interaction between regionalism and modernism in early twentieth century Midwestern literature provides insight into the way that American and regional identity evolved, further informing our view of that period of literary history and suggesting answers as to our current struggle for regional and national definition and distinctiveness.
Robert Trogdon (Advisor)
197 p.
Literature, American
Midwestern literature; Midwest; Regionalism; Modernism

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kosiba, S. A. (2007). A Successful Revolt?: The Redefinition of Midwestern Literary Culture in the 1920s and 1930s [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1183804975

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kosiba, Sara. A Successful Revolt?: The Redefinition of Midwestern Literary Culture in the 1920s and 1930s. 2007. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1183804975.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kosiba, Sara. "A Successful Revolt?: The Redefinition of Midwestern Literary Culture in the 1920s and 1930s." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1183804975

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1183804975
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© 2007, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.