The Chicago Renaissance In American Letters A Critical History

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The Chicago Renaissance began in the early 1900s and lasted until approximately 1930. The leading writers of the period, including Theodore Dreiser ("Sister Carrie)

This study examines the genesis of Chicago's two identified literary renaissance periods (1890-1920 and 1930-1950) through the writings of Dreiser, Hughes, Wright, and Farrell. The relationship of these four writers demonstrates a continuity of thought between the two renaissance periods. By noting the affinities of these writers, patterns such as the rise of the city novel, the development of urban realism, and the shift to modernism are identified as significant connections between the two periods. Although Dreiser, Wright, and Farrell are more commonly thought of as Chicago writers, this study argues that Langston Hughes is a transitional, pivotal figure between the two periods. Through close readings and contextualization, the influence of Chicago writing on American literature--in such areas as realism and naturalism, as well as proletarian and ethnic fiction--becomes apparent.

Sherwood Anderson's plain spoken language typifies the spirit of the Chicago Renaissance, a movement that expressed the new tone and pace of American life in the twentieth century. Challenging established English usage by boldly experimenting with a variety of dialects, Chicago authors created a modern urban idiom. Woolley expands the story of the Chicago Renaissance to encompass women and African American writers, including reformers Jane Addams and Ida B. Wells, magazine founders Harriet Monroe and Margaret Anderson, and Bronzeville poet Fenton Johnson, in addition to famous writers such as Carl Sandburg and Vachel Lindsay. These newly recognized authors probed the boundaries of language to convey simplicity, democracy, and Americanness--qualities that have come to be associated with the Chicago Renaissance. Known primarily as journalists by profession, most of these Chicago writers learned the language of common folk through social work, oratory, editing, live performance, and the creation of an African American literary aesthetic. These experiences helped to teach them how American literature should sound. Shedding fresh light on a critical period in the history of American letters, Woolley's groundbreaking study illuminates the distinctly American character of Chicago writing and shows us how to listen to the diversity of its voices.