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The Resource American socialist triptych : the literary-political work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Upton Sinclair, and W.E.B. Du Bois, Mark W. Van Wienen

American socialist triptych : the literary-political work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Upton Sinclair, and W.E.B. Du Bois, Mark W. Van Wienen

Creator
Summary
"A meticulously researched, highly informed, carefully argued, and very accessible account of American socialism, socialists, and socialistic thinking, from the late nineteenth century through the 1960s ... challenges the intellectual and political legacy of Werner Sombart's Why Is There No Socialism in the United States?, whose spirit still hovers over animated discussions about the 'failures' of socialism in the United States."--James A. Miller, George Washington University "A valuable rethinking and reframing of the traditions of leftist literary scholarship in the U.S."--Sylvia Cook, University of Missouri, St. Louis American Socialist Triptych: The Literary-Political Work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Upton Sinclair, and W.E.B. Du Bois explores the contributions of three writers to the development of American socialism over a fifty--year period and asserts the vitality of socialism in modern American literature and culture. Drawing upon a wide range of texts including archival sources, Mark W. Van Wienen demonstrates the influence of reform-oriented, democratic socialism both in the careers of these writers and in U.S. politics between 1890 and 1940. While offering unprecedented in-depth analysis of modern American socialist literature, this book charts the path by which the supposedly impossible, dangerous ideals of a cooperative commonwealth were realized, in part, by the New Deal. American Socialist Triptych provides in-depth, innovative readings of the featured writers and their engagement with socialist thought and action. Upton Sinclair represents the movement's most visible manifestation, the Socialist Party of America, founded in 1901; Charlotte Perkins Gilman reflects the socialist elements in both feminism and 1890s reform movements, and W.E.B. Du Bois illuminates social democratic aspirations within the NAACP. Van Wienen's book seeks to re-energize studies of Sinclair by treating him as a serious cultural figure whose career peaked not in the early success of The Jungle but in his nearly successful 1934 run for the California governorship. It also demonstrates as never before the centrality of socialism throughout Gilman's and Du Bois's literary and political careers. More broadly, American Socialist Triptych challenges previous scholarship on American radical literature, which has focused almost exclusively on the 1930s and Communist writers. Van Wienen argues that radical democracy was not the phenomenon of a decade or of a single group but a sustained tradition dispersed within the culture, providing a useful genealogical explanation for how socialist ideas were actually implemented through the New Deal. American Socialist Triptych also revises modern American literary history, arguing for the endurance of realist and utopian literary modes at the height of modernist literary experimentation and showing the importance of socialism not only to the three featured writers but also to their peers, including Edward Bellamy, Hamlin Garland, Jack London, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Claude McKay. Further, by demonstrating the importance of social democratic thought to feminist and African American campaigns for equality, the book dialogues with recent theories of radical egalitarianism. Readers interested in American literature, U.S. history, political theory, and race, gender, and class studies will all find in American Socialist Triptych a valuable and provocative resource
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
1 online resource (vi, 390 pages)
Contents
  • Looking backward, working forward : fin de siècle socialism according to Charlotte Perkins Gilman
  • The multiplicity of American socialism : Upton Sinclair and the "party of agitation," 1901-1914
  • The feminism of American socialism : Gilman and company at work, in love, and on trial
  • Within the veil : W.E.B. Du Bois and the Second Internationale, 1909-1919
  • Call and response : the politics of literary utopianism and realism
  • Utopia and apocalypse : social democratic fiction and the Great War
  • Heaven and earth : revelations and doubt in the Sacco-Vanzetti decade
  • Once more unto the breach : social democratic advance and retreat in the Red decade
  • Reading The jungle at breakfast : the new deal and other social democratic legacies
Isbn
9780472028085
Instance
Label
American socialist triptych : the literary-political work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Upton Sinclair, and W.E.B. Du Bois
Title
American socialist triptych
Title remainder
the literary-political work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Upton Sinclair, and W.E.B. Du Bois
Statement of responsibility
Mark W. Van Wienen
Creator
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"A meticulously researched, highly informed, carefully argued, and very accessible account of American socialism, socialists, and socialistic thinking, from the late nineteenth century through the 1960s ... challenges the intellectual and political legacy of Werner Sombart's Why Is There No Socialism in the United States?, whose spirit still hovers over animated discussions about the 'failures' of socialism in the United States."--James A. Miller, George Washington University "A valuable rethinking and reframing of the traditions of leftist literary scholarship in the U.S."--Sylvia Cook, University of Missouri, St. Louis American Socialist Triptych: The Literary-Political Work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Upton Sinclair, and W.E.B. Du Bois explores the contributions of three writers to the development of American socialism over a fifty--year period and asserts the vitality of socialism in modern American literature and culture. Drawing upon a wide range of texts including archival sources, Mark W. Van Wienen demonstrates the influence of reform-oriented, democratic socialism both in the careers of these writers and in U.S. politics between 1890 and 1940. While offering unprecedented in-depth analysis of modern American socialist literature, this book charts the path by which the supposedly impossible, dangerous ideals of a cooperative commonwealth were realized, in part, by the New Deal. American Socialist Triptych provides in-depth, innovative readings of the featured writers and their engagement with socialist thought and action. Upton Sinclair represents the movement's most visible manifestation, the Socialist Party of America, founded in 1901; Charlotte Perkins Gilman reflects the socialist elements in both feminism and 1890s reform movements, and W.E.B. Du Bois illuminates social democratic aspirations within the NAACP. Van Wienen's book seeks to re-energize studies of Sinclair by treating him as a serious cultural figure whose career peaked not in the early success of The Jungle but in his nearly successful 1934 run for the California governorship. It also demonstrates as never before the centrality of socialism throughout Gilman's and Du Bois's literary and political careers. More broadly, American Socialist Triptych challenges previous scholarship on American radical literature, which has focused almost exclusively on the 1930s and Communist writers. Van Wienen argues that radical democracy was not the phenomenon of a decade or of a single group but a sustained tradition dispersed within the culture, providing a useful genealogical explanation for how socialist ideas were actually implemented through the New Deal. American Socialist Triptych also revises modern American literary history, arguing for the endurance of realist and utopian literary modes at the height of modernist literary experimentation and showing the importance of socialism not only to the three featured writers but also to their peers, including Edward Bellamy, Hamlin Garland, Jack London, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Claude McKay. Further, by demonstrating the importance of social democratic thought to feminist and African American campaigns for equality, the book dialogues with recent theories of radical egalitarianism. Readers interested in American literature, U.S. history, political theory, and race, gender, and class studies will all find in American Socialist Triptych a valuable and provocative resource
Member of
Cataloging source
YDXCP
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Van Wienen, Mark W
Government publication
government publication of a state province territory dependency etc
Index
index present
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
  • dictionaries
  • bibliography
Series statement
Class : culture
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Gilman, Charlotte Perkins
  • Sinclair, Upton
  • Du Bois, W. E. B.
  • Du Bois, W. E. B.
  • Gilman, Charlotte Perkins
  • Sinclair, Upton
  • Du Bois, William E. B
  • Gilman, Charlotte Perkins
  • Sinclair, Upton
  • Sinclair, Upton
  • Du Bois, William E. B
  • Gilman, Charlotte Perkins
  • Socialism and literature
  • Socialism and literature
  • Socialism
  • Socialism
  • LITERARY CRITICISM
  • LITERARY CRITICISM
  • Political and social views
  • Socialism
  • Socialism and literature
  • United States
  • Literatur
  • Sozialismus
  • USA
  • Sozialismus
Label
American socialist triptych : the literary-political work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Upton Sinclair, and W.E.B. Du Bois, Mark W. Van Wienen
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Looking backward, working forward : fin de siècle socialism according to Charlotte Perkins Gilman -- The multiplicity of American socialism : Upton Sinclair and the "party of agitation," 1901-1914 -- The feminism of American socialism : Gilman and company at work, in love, and on trial -- Within the veil : W.E.B. Du Bois and the Second Internationale, 1909-1919 -- Call and response : the politics of literary utopianism and realism -- Utopia and apocalypse : social democratic fiction and the Great War -- Heaven and earth : revelations and doubt in the Sacco-Vanzetti decade -- Once more unto the breach : social democratic advance and retreat in the Red decade -- Reading The jungle at breakfast : the new deal and other social democratic legacies
Control code
ocn773348837
Dimensions
unknown
Extent
1 online resource (vi, 390 pages)
Form of item
online
Isbn
9780472028085
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
Note
JSTOR
Other control number
9786613375056
http://library.link/vocab/ext/overdrive/overdriveId
  • 337505
  • 22573/ctt1d8k9d9
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
(OCoLC)773348837
Label
American socialist triptych : the literary-political work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Upton Sinclair, and W.E.B. Du Bois, Mark W. Van Wienen
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Looking backward, working forward : fin de siècle socialism according to Charlotte Perkins Gilman -- The multiplicity of American socialism : Upton Sinclair and the "party of agitation," 1901-1914 -- The feminism of American socialism : Gilman and company at work, in love, and on trial -- Within the veil : W.E.B. Du Bois and the Second Internationale, 1909-1919 -- Call and response : the politics of literary utopianism and realism -- Utopia and apocalypse : social democratic fiction and the Great War -- Heaven and earth : revelations and doubt in the Sacco-Vanzetti decade -- Once more unto the breach : social democratic advance and retreat in the Red decade -- Reading The jungle at breakfast : the new deal and other social democratic legacies
Control code
ocn773348837
Dimensions
unknown
Extent
1 online resource (vi, 390 pages)
Form of item
online
Isbn
9780472028085
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
Note
JSTOR
Other control number
9786613375056
http://library.link/vocab/ext/overdrive/overdriveId
  • 337505
  • 22573/ctt1d8k9d9
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
(OCoLC)773348837

Subject

Genre

Member of

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