Radical Culture in 1930s: A Study of Selected American Writers Discovery of Radical Art and Culture

FAIN: FB-10442-70

John M. Reilly
Howard University (Washington, DC 20059-0001)

Selective Study of several American authors--including James T. Farrell, Joseph E. Freeman, Mike Gold, Jack Conroy--who tried deliberatley in the 1930s to develop a radical culture and thereby to encourage revolutionary change. Each came to radicalism through personal experience, so each wrote autobiographically as well as in the form of radical jouranlism. Study focuses on the path each followed in radicalizing himself and the divergent programs each adovcated for America. Fellow's previous work has been concentrated in Afro-American literature. Sees that experience of embattled black author attempting to define himself while protesting social injustice has application for the provincial and lower-class white writers of the 1930s, although there are significant differences.