The first book-length literary analysis of the WPA's Federal Writers' Project (FWP)a massive New Deal program that put thousands to work documenting the country during the Depression. Drawing on critical histories, archival documents, and select works of fiction, the book examines the nature and history of the FWP's documentary method and its literary imprint, particularly on three key black American writers: Ralph Ellison, Dorothy West, and Margaret Walker. By aiming their documentary lenses so precisely on individual voices, folklore, and cultural communities, FWP writers would ultimately eschew the social realism of thirties culture in favor of themes surrounding personal and cultural identities in the postwar era. **** This concise volume demonstrates how the FWP served as a repository from which many of the most treasured 20 th century writers drew material, techniques, and philosophical direction in ways that would help steer the course of American writing.

Fills a critical scholarly void, representing the first full-length study of the Federal Writers' Project and its impact Pores over an abundance of archival research, including historical documents and manuscripts Features writers Ralph Ellison and Nelson Algren to showcase the larger impact of the Federal Writers' Project

Autorentext

Sara Rutkowski is Professor of Literature and Writing at the City University of New York: Kingsborough Community College.

Inhalt

.- Introduction: A Literary Venture, Sidestepped.- Pioneering a New Literary Form.- From Politics to Personalism: A Historical Perspective.- Ralph Ellison: Capturing the Idiom.- Beyond Hurston and Wright; Toward West and Walker.- Conclusion: Forging a Critical Path: Other Considerations for Pursuing the FWP's Literary Legacies.