1 Geographies of (In)Justice: Radical Regionalism in the American Midwest, 1930-1950 A dissertation presented by Brent Garrett Griffin to The Department of English In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the field of English Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts April, 2015 2 Geographies of (In)Justice: Radical Regionalism in the American Midwest, 1930-1950 A dissertation presented by Brent Garrett Griffin ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities of Northeastern University April, 2015 3 ABSTRACT In the decades bracketing World War II, a group of Midwestern radical writers promoted a new form of radical literary expression—proletarian regionalism—both to counter burgeoning right-wing extremism in the United States and to renew a spirit of grass-roots democracy, egalitarianism and place-based working class action. For Meridel Le Sueur, Jack Conroy, Nelson Algren, and Mari Sandoz, four of the most regionally conscious and committed writers of the period and the focus of “Geographies of (In)Justice,” proletarian regionalism was a vehicle for interpreting localized social, economic, and environmental injustices and for making connections between these places and larger-scale processes of capitalist accumulation. By tracing regional discourses through a broad range of forms, including social realism, little magazines, conference presentations, fictional autobiography, and political allegory, this recuperative literary history demonstrates that proletarian regionalism appropriated many forms in an attempt to interpret and represent an affective geography of capitalism and capture the socio-spatial experiences of people struggling to live and work in the region. Arguing that Midwestern proletarian regionalism presents a counter-narrative to the still-dominant view of regionalism as inherently conservative and backward looking, this dissertation continues work by scholars such as Michael C. Steiner, who have begun to recover a “woefully neglected tradition” of left-leaning regionalism, and puts this tradition in conversation with recent theories in cultural geography (3). Ultimately, “Geographies of (In)Justice” is an attempt to revise our understanding of these writers’ contributions to radical literature and reinvigorate a Marxist analysis of regionalism as a form of social critique and cultural analysis. The central claim of this 4 dissertation is that proletarian regionalism maps and interprets the complex geographies of capitalism and involves readers emotionally in the experiences of being situated within marginalized and often neglected places. By reading this body of literature alongside cultural geography, this research offers a better understanding of how regional writing can be understood as a vital representational strategy for imagining a broad geography of empathy and unity among socially responsible readers, and, as such, can be a force of progressive social action. 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This document is the product of social interaction and collaboration that connects many people and many places. To begin with the most immediate, I owe a tremendous amount of thanks and appreciation to my dissertation director, Professor Carla Kaplan who provided unwavering support and encouragement over nearly seven years. Not only did her belief in my project act as a beacon during particularly dark times of uncertainty, but she also provided me with the space and a place to work—her office—for when working at home with a toddler became next to impossible. In addition, I’d like to thank my two other committee members, Professor Mary Loeffelholz and Professor Elizabeth Dillon. They encouraged me to ask and address difficult questions throughout my research and in my writing, to “dig deeper,” and as a result they pushed me to be a better scholar. While I certainly have not addressed all the concerns they have raised, I want to thank them here for giving me so much to continue thinking about. The Northeastern English Department staff helped me over many years to navigate the logistics of teaching and being a graduate student. Special thanks go to Linda Collins who went to great lengths to schedule my teaching assignments around my childcare needs and ensure that I had the number of classes that I needed to survive financially. And many thanks to Melissa Daigle Briggs for promptly answering each and every question I had about the program requirements and procedures (and I had many) and always welcoming me and my questions with a warm smile. One of the greatest attributes of the program is the overwhelmingly supportive and collegial graduate student body. My identity and ideas were profoundly shaped by numerous 6 interactions and exchanges I had with graduate students over the years. Special thanks go to my Dissertation Writing group: Laura Hartmann, Vicki Papa, Lauren Kuryloski, and Tabitha Clark— all of whom provided insightful, meaningful commentary on various chapter drafts. In addition, Hania Musiol, Jim McGrath, Aparna Mujumdar, Jen Sopchockchai Bankard, Gregory Cass, Tim Strange, Tom and Jess Witty, Jessica Nelson, Steve Kapica, Max White, James Richie, and Art and Erica Zilleruelo, and many others have provided support, inspiration, and friendship. I am deeply indebted to Professor Michael Lackey, whom I met as an undergraduate at SUNY Brockport, and who introduced me to the rigors and rewards of the life of the mind. Moreover, he taught me about the power of teaching. Great teachers change lives, and Mike, indeed, changed mine. During those moments when I struggled to navigate the space of the academy and my position within it, I recalled the many ways in which he inspired me to recognize and advocate for my place. What began as teacher-student relationship has, over many years, evolved into a genuine friendship. Thank you, Mike, for fostering my longing for knowledge and helping me remain mindful of the difference between Truth and meaning. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the deep debt I owe to Enrique Martinez, whom I worked with for several years in a small optical manufacturing plant in Rochester, New York. Enrique volunteered to work a nightshift for an entire year so that I could go back to school during the day and finish my Bachelor’s degree. In order to keep me on full-time and finish a project I had been solely responsible for, management created a nightshift. And because management would not allow me work the shift by myself, they asked for volunteers to work at night. Enrique was the only one to volunteer. By then we had become good friends, and he gave up precious time with his wife, daughters, and grandchildren, all of whom lived with him and 7 were fast asleep every night when he returned home, to help me, a then twenty-seven-year-old escape the drudgery of factory work—a drudgery that, unfortunately, race, language, immigration status and age precluded him from escaping. In many ways, without Enrique’s insistence that I take advantage of my privilege, I never would have made it out of the factory let alone to Boston to pursue graduate work. Enrique, I owe your more than you could ever truly know. To my large circle of family, extended and in-law, and friends who motivated me to continue, to persevere—Dad and Linda, Mom and Roger, Brandon, Becca, Paul and Carol, Bret, Erica, Steve, Lisa, Mike, Stacey, Ted, Paul, and Johnny Mac—your encouragement and expression of pride over what I was doing and where I was going has provided me with the courage and strength I needed to continue all of these years. My deepest debt, however, goes to my partner Melissa Wolter-Gustafson, whom I met when I arrived at Northeastern many years ago. I knew the moment I met her that she was someone special. She is a remarkable teacher and has one of the sharpest minds of anyone I’ve met. Being in her presence is often an experience of spirited intellectual exchange; at other times it’s marked by a wonderfully refreshing silliness. Melissa helped me think through a number of ideas related to this project, but perhaps most importantly, she helped me stay grounded in my research and balanced in our life together. Without question this dissertation would not have been completed had it not been for her unconditional love and support. And while I asked much of her, perhaps more than one person should of another, Melissa always responded in kind, managed the bulk of the responsibilities at home, including most of the care for our daughter Katherine, as well as my dissertation-related neuroses. For these reasons, and many more, I dedicate this project to you, Melissa, with all of my love for you and the life we share. 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 5 Table of Contents 8 Introduction 9 Chapter 1: “’When the Radicle Plunged into the Soil:’ Meridel Le Sueur and Regional Production 37 Chapter 2: Mobilities of Labor and Community in Jack Conroy’s The Disinherited. 69 Chapter 3: “’Behind the Billboards with the Painted Smiles’: Informal Economies and Social Reproduction in Nelson Algren’s Never Come Morning.” 113 Chapter 4: Public Space and ‘The ‘Right to the City’ in Mari Sandoz’s Capital City” 149 Conclusion 182 Bibliography 185 9 INTRODUCTION: Placing Proletarian Regionalism, the Midwest, and the U.S. Literary Left: A Brief Cultural History In October 1934, at the national conference of the John Reed clubs in Chicago, Phillip Rahv, an influential literary critic and co-founder of the Communist Party’s literary and political journal Partisan Review, reproached a group of Midwestern radicals for their insistence that regionalism could be a force of progressive social transformation. 1 Meridel Le Sueur, a target of Rahv’s vitriol, was also in attendance at the time and recalls Rahv’s stinging claim that there was no such thing as radical or progressive regionalism.