LE3 .A278 2009

2009

Narbeshuber, Lisa

Acadia University

Master of Arts

Masters

English

English & Theatre Studies

Depression era literature has never been the darling of the English department. Despite the tireless work of Americanists such as Janet Galligani Casey, Barbara Foley, and Alan Wald, the literature of the 1930s just seems to lack a certain cachet. However, as the economy continues to deteriorate and the nation sits precariously on the edge of a new Great Depression, there is no better time to revisit these texts than now. This thesis examines the ways in which Carl Sandburg‟ s The People, Yes, John Steinbeck‟ s The Grapes of Wrath, and John Dos Passos‟ The 42nd Parallel engage with the production and reproduction of capitalist- dominated space, highlighting the ways in which capitalist ideology manifests itself in the form of a dystopic material reality. However, as this thesis will also argue, there is also a highly problematic ambivalence toward capitalism in these texts, and this effectively blunts any prospects for the realization of utopic visions. In short, these authors look to the idealism of the American past for a cure to the ills of the nation in their own time, and what they find is a discourse which suggests that capitalist space and utopia are not mutually exclusive. However, this project extends beyond the 1930s, offering a brief history of American economics since the Great Depression, tracing a national trajectory in an effort to elucidate the factors that led to the current state of the nation. The problems facing America in our own time bear an alarming resemblance to those of the depression era, and there is an urgent need to analyze the qualities and the workings of space now, just as Sandburg, Steinbeck, and Dos Passos did then. However, it is only with a clear understanding of the past that we can hope to avoid replicating past failures and build a better tomorrow.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:135