Introduction: The Literary History of Chicago

Køhlert, Frederik Byrn ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7567-0138 (2021) Introduction: The Literary History of Chicago. In: Chicago. Cambridge University Press, 1–14. ISBN 9781108477512

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Abstract

This chapter outlines the literary history of Chicago from the city’s inception to the present day. Guided by the idea of Chicago as the crossroads of modern America, the chapter argues that the city occupies a distinctive place in American literature by virtue of its particular geographic and material features. As Chicago developed from prairie outpost to modern metropolis inthe nineteenth century, it became home to a diverse range of literary voices that grappled with representing the city’s new urban realities in its literature. The introduction also outlines how especially women, African Americans, and ethnically diverse immigrants have contributed to Chicago literature, and how successive generations of writers have provided different visions of the city that are influenced by the complex cultural and historical contexts of both the city and America at large. Pointing out that the literary history of Chicago is one of reaction by individual writers to their urban environment, the introduction considers the centrality of Chicago literature for styles and movements such as realism, naturalism, and modernism, before providing a short outline of the book’s five sections.

Item Type: Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords: black chicago renaissance,capitalism,chicago history,chicago school of sociology,crossroads,literary history,modernism,naturalism,realism,urban literature,arts and humanities(all) ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1200
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Art, Media and American Studies
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > American Studies
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Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 23 Sep 2021 00:30
Last Modified: 20 May 2024 08:30
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/81469
DOI: 10.1017/9781108763738.001

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