 . . . Fall 2000
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Suggested Reading: Books by U-M faculty and graduates, and works published by the University of Michigan Press. Michigan Today cannot review or acknowledge all books received. |
THE RADICAL NOVEL RECONSIDERED
Series edited by Alan Wald, University of Illinois Press.
In the decades between the two World Wars American activist/writers created a new genre—the radical novel—dedicated to showing that life should and could be better for more Americans, not just the wealthy and powerful. Mainstream presses published a number of these works, especially after the Depression. But the onset of the McCarthy era, during which several leftist authors went before the House Un-American Activities Committee and had their lives uprooted, saw these novels tossed into the attic of literary history.
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Photo by Paul Jaronski
U-M Photo Services |
In 1995 the University of Illinois Press decided to dust these books off and give them new life in a series called the Radical Novel Reconsidered. The scholar chosen to edit the resurrection project was Alan Wald, professor of English and chair of the American Culture program at Michigan. Wald, a specialist in the 20th century cultural left, is the author of five books including Writing from the Left, The Responsibility of Intellectuals and The New York Intellectuals.
Wald says the series focuses on undervalued works published between 1920 and 1960 with a concentration on the 1940s and 1950s. Many of those authors are still alive, he says, "and I want to see them get some recognition while they can still appreciate it. My hopes are to get as many out-of-print leftwing novels—particularly those by women and writers of color back into circulation as I can." To date, the series includes 14 titles, and Wald says he has 200 more titles on his growing list of potential reissues. A synopsis of four of novels will convey some of the qualities of the genre:
 The Great Midland (1948) by Alexander Saxton. Stephanie Koviak, of working class origins, teaches at a major university while pursuing a doctorate. By day she is among the "aristocracy of scholars"; by night she teaches classes at a Communist Party-sponsored night school. Her husband returns after two years fighting in the Spanish Civil War, and Stephanie finds herself "widowed" by his attention to his other love, the Party.
 The Big Boxcar (1957) by Alfred Maund.
An example of the genre of travelers' stories, in the tradition of The Canterbuty Tales or The Decameron, this work places a group of disparate African Americans in a boxcar headed North. To pass the time and quell their anxieties, they decide to tell stories with the proviso each will be about a white man.
 The People from Heaven (1943) by John Sanford.
This portrait of a backwater upstate New York village in the pristine Adirondacks begins one night with the arrival of a mysterious Black woman whose real name is never discovered. She becomes known as America Smith. Her presence reveals the true nature of each person's character through his or her interactions with her.
 To Make My Bread (1932) by Grace Lumpkin.
The women of an Appalachian family forced to move to a mill town become embroiled in the Gastonia textile workers strike.
For more information about the series, contact bookstores, the publisher or visit http://www.press.uillinois.edu/series/rnr.html
on the Web—Monica Finch.
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