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John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath: A Literary Portrayal of Historical Truth

Aida Thamer Salloom

Abstract

John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (1939) is one of the American classics that record a socio-political climate of the American history in 1930s. It succeeds in representing the harshness of the Great Depression, the dust bowl and the subsequent tribulations of West American people and more specifically, the Okies. Retelling the struggles of migrant farmworkers and the severity they encountered throughout their journey from Oklahoma to California, the novel, despite its plethora of areas of investigation, provokes critical awareness when viewed through the lens of New Historical perspectives. As a well-acclaimed literary theory, New Historicism pays considerable attention to the historical period, in which the literary text was created, bearing in mind that the literary work is a reflection of its socio-political context as well as the author's historical consciousness. With regard to the intertextuality between history and literature, the present study seeks to present a panoramic account of the historical accounts of America in the 1930s and the people's miserable migration as they are thoughtfully reinterpreted in Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.

Keywords

John SteinbeckThe Grapes of WrathNew Historicismthe Great Depression and the Okies.

References

Bartáková, Irena. (2010). Naturalism in Selected Works OF John Steinbeck: Diploma Thesis. Charles University in Prague: Prague. Bloom, Harold. (2005). John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath: A Study Guide. USA. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers. Brannigan, John. (1998). New Historicism and Cultural Materialism. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Cherubini, Lorenzo. (1993). Naturalism and the Individual in The Grapes of Wrath, As I Lay Dying, and Old Man: A Thesis. McMaster University: Hamilton Antorio. Chilton, Martin. "The Grapes of Wrath: 10 surprising facts about John Steinbeck's novel." Available at https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/john-steinbeck-grapes-ofwrath-what-you-should-know/ Heinz, Elizabeth M. (2011) "Mothers of the Great Depression: Aesthetic Intent of Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath": A Thesis. University of North Carolina: Wilmington. Jasim, Shayma' Abdul Ali. (2008). "Biblical Allusions in Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath" in Buhuth Mustaqbaliya vol. 23 PP. 7-26. Khoudi, Mohamed Amine. (2011). "The Idea of Post-War America in Selected Novels by John Steinbeck and John Dos Passos" M. A. Thesis: Mouloud Mammeri University of Tizi-Ouzou Klages, Mary. (2012). Key Terms in Literary Theory. India: Newgen Imaging Systems Pvt Ltd. Lahdenranta, Fredrika. (2020). "Place in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and The Red Pony:" MA Thesis. School of Languages and Translation Studies, Faculty of Humanities: University of Turku. Parker, Robert Dale. (2019). How to interpret literature: critical theory for literary and cultural studies. Fourth edition, New York: Oxford University Press. Pinilla, Miguel Laporta. (2019). John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath: Sociopolitical Perspectives: A Thesis. Universidad Zaragoza. Santosa, Budi Tri. (2015) An Analysis of the Main Female Character’s Efforts in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath: A Thesis. Faculty of Languages and Arts: Yogyakarta State University. Schultz, Jeffrey and Li, Lichen. (2005) Critical Companion to John Steinbeck: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Library of Congress Cataloging. Steinbeck, John. (1972). The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin Book Ltd. Veeser, Aram ed. (1989) The New Historicism, New York: Routledge. Venturino Steven J. (2013). Literary Theory and Criticism. Special Markets, Alpha Books, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014. Mike Sanders.

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