John Steinbeck and His Contemporaries

by Stephen K. George (Editor), Barbara A. Heavilin (Editor)

Overview

In March of 2006, scholars from around the world gathered in Sun Valley, Idaho for a conference devoted to not only John Steinbeck but also to the authors whose work influenced, informs, or illuminates his writings. This volume represents the many unique papers delivered at that conference by scholars from around the world. This collection includes studies on authors who influenced Steinbeck's work, discussions of writers whose work is in dialogue with Steinbeck, and examinations of Steinbeck's contemporaries, whose individual works invite comparisons with those of the Nobel-prize winning author.

Revealing Steinbeck's penchant for culling "all old books," the first section focuses on Steinbeck's European forebears, particularly Sir Thomas Malory's retelling of the legend of King Arthur, Le Morte d'Arthur, and Henry Fielding's novel Tom Jones. This section also includes articles on his American forebears: Walt Whitman and Sarah Orne Jewett. The second part, "Steinbeck, Hemingway, Faulkner, and Cather" includes a personal reminiscence by Ernest Hemingway's daughter-in-law, Valerie, as well as comparisons of Steinbeck with other great American authors of the 20th century. The third section includes an essay by National Book Award winner Charles Johnson (Middle Passage), as well as articles that compare Steinbeck's work with Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison. Further articles are concerned with Steinbeck's moral philosophy and strong sense of social justice, eliciting comparisons with Sinclair Lewis, Tom Kristensen, and Charles Johnson. The fourth section, "Steinbeck, the Arts, and the World" includes articles on the film adaptation of The Moon Is Down, on Steinbeck and Mexican Modernism, on the American experience as portrayed in The Grapes of Wrath and Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep, and on Steinbeck and ecocriticism. The book fittingly concludes with John Ditsky's keynote address, "In Search of a Language: Steinbeck and Others," which was delivered

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810860100
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	10/02/2007
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	6.39(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.08(d)

About the Author

Stephen K. George taught literature, writing and philosophy at Brigham Young University-Idaho. He was cofounder and coeditor of the academic journal, The Steinbeck Review and Executive Director of The New Steinbeck Society of America. His books include The Moral Philosophy of John Steinbeck (Scarecrow, 2005).

Barbara Heavilin is the cofounder of The Steinbeck Review and currently serves as its coeditor. She is the author of numerous articles and books on Steinbeck, including John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men: A Reference Guide.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Foreword Part 2 Preface Part 3 Acknowledgments Part 4 Introduction: John Ditsky, Stephen George, and John Steinbeck Part 5 Photograph: Sue and John Ditsky Part 6 Photograph: Stephen George, Barbara Heavilin, and Charles Heavilin Part 7 Part 1: Steinbeck and Literary Influences Chapter 8 1. The Influence of Sir Thomas Malory'sMorte d'Arthur on John Steinbeck Chapter 9 2. "Being in it myself": Echoes of Fielding in Steinbeck'sEast of Eden Chapter 10 3. Steinbeck'sTo a God Unknown andThe Grapes of Wrath from the Perspective of Whitman's "Song of Myself" Chapter 11 4. Limited Lives in Steinbeck and Jewett Part 12 Part 2: Steinbeck, Hemingway, Faulkner, and Cather Chapter 13 5. Rivals and Revelry: Hemingway and His Contemporary Literary Scene Chapter 14 6. Steinbeck, Hemingway, and the Nobel Prize Chapter 15 7. "Surrendering to the Feminine": Implied Author Compassion in "The Chrystanthemums" and "Hills like White Elephants" Chapter 16 8. John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway's Attitudes towards Otherness Chapter 17 9. The Unspoken Heritage: The Influence of Famliy in Steinbeck and Faulkner Chapter 18 10. Faulkner and Steinbeck: Thematic and Stylistic Resonance in the Early Stories Chapter 19 11. Steinbeck and Cather: The Divergent Religious Visions Chapter 20 12. John Steinbeck and Willa Cather: Almost on Speaking Terms Part 21 Part 3: Steinbeck, Ethnicity, and Ethics Chapter 22 13. Reading the Character of Crooks in Of Mice and Men: A Black Writer's Perspective Chapter 23 14. The Possibilities of the Grotesque in Steinbeck'sOf Mice and Men and Hurston'sTheir Eyes Were Watching God Chapter 24 15. John Steinbeck and Zora Hurston Neale as Folklorists Chapter 25 16. Victimized Wives in Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums" and Alice Walker's "Really, Doesn't Crime Pay?" Chapter 26 17. Into the Heart of Darkness: Travels with Sinclair and John Chapter 27 18. John Steinbeck's Parsing of the Ethical Imperative: "Respect Persons" Chapter 28 19. The Quest for Authenticity: The Moral Philosophies of Steinbeck and Kristensen Chapter 29 20. Embedded Care, Embedded Harm: Challenges to Caring in Steinbeck and Morrison Chapter 30 21. "There is one story": Good and Evil in Steinbeck'sEast of Eden and Morrison'sSula Chapter 31 22. Moral Issues in the Fiction of John Steinbeck and Charles Johnson Part 32 Part 4: Steinbeck, the Arts, and the World Chapter 33 23. A Map of the Countryside: Elia Kazan and John Steinbeck Chapter 34 24. Flies Conquer the Flypaper: Learning to Fight the Nazis in Hollywood's adaptation ofThe Moon is Down Chapter 35 25. Steinbeck, Rivera, and Mexican Modernism Chapter 36 26. Promise and Reality inThe Grapes of Wrath andThe Big Sleep Chapter 37 27. Conquering the Flypaper: Steinbeck, Shostakovich, and Yevtushenko on War Chapter 38 28. Makers of Myths: John Steinbeck and Frank Hardy Chapter 39 29. John Stienbeck and Munshi Premchand: Some Striking Parallels and Contrasts Chapter 40 30. Américo Paredes's "Interchapter": A "Mexicotexan" Counterpart toThe Grapes of Wrath Chapter 41 31. John Steinbeck, Ecocriticism, and the Way Ahead Chapter 42 32. In Search of a Language: Steinbeck, Faulkner, and Others Part 43 Works Cited Part 44 Index Part 45 About the Contributors and Editors