American Literature in Transition, 1920–1930

The most comprehensive critical treatment of American letters in the 1920s. Over twenty distinct aspects of the topic explored in depth.

Ichiro Takayoshi (Edited by)

9781108418218, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 December 2017

510 pages, 6 b/w illus.
23.5 x 16 x 2.9 cm, 0.97 kg

American Literature in Transition, 1920–1930 examines the dynamic interactions between social and literary fields during the so-called Jazz Age. It situates the era's place in the incremental evolution of American literature throughout the twentieth century. Essays from preeminent critics and historians analyze many overlapping aspects of American letters in the 1920s and re-evaluate an astonishingly diverse group of authors. Expansive in scope and daring in its mixture of eclectic methods, this book extends the most exciting advances made in the last several decades in the fields of modernist studies, ethnic literatures, African-American literature, gender studies, transnational studies, and the history of the book. It examines how the world of literature intersected with other arts, such as cinema, jazz, and theater, and explores the print culture in transition, with a focus on new publishing houses, trends in advertising, readership, and obscenity laws.

Introduction Ichiro Takayoshi
Part I. Players: 1. The late Victorians Clare Eby
2. Middlebrows Joan Shelley Rubin
3. Innovators 1: poetry Charles Altieri
4. Innovators 2: Prose Philip Weinstein
5. The new woman Catherine Keyser
6. New immigrants Aviva F. Taubenfeld
7. Radicals Alan Wald
8. The new negro Ichiro Takayoshi
9. Americans abroad Craig Monk
10. Columnists, pundits, humorists Christopher B. Daly
Part II. Influences: 11. The Great War Keith Gandal
12. Urbanization Sunny Stalter-Pace
13. Freudianism Eli Zaretsky
14. Secularization Jason Stevens
15. Prohibition Kathleen Drowne
16. European imports Richard Pells
Part III. Intersections: 17. Cinema David Seed
18. Jazz T. Austin Graham
19. Stage Cheryl Black
Part IV. Publishing: 20. New publishers Lise Jaillant
21. Small magazines Greg Barnhisel
22. Pulp magazines Brooks E. Hefner
23. Obscenity trials Loren Glass
Echoes of the twenties Sarah Churchwell
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary reference works [DSR], Literary studies: from c 1900 - [DSBH]