From Warm Center to Ragged Edge

The Erosion of Midwestern Literary and Historical Regionalism, 1920-1965

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States
Cover of the book From Warm Center to Ragged Edge by Jon K. Lauck, University of Iowa Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jon K. Lauck ISBN: 9781609384975
Publisher: University of Iowa Press Publication: June 1, 2017
Imprint: University Of Iowa Press Language: English
Author: Jon K. Lauck
ISBN: 9781609384975
Publisher: University of Iowa Press
Publication: June 1, 2017
Imprint: University Of Iowa Press
Language: English

During the half-century after the Civil War, intellectuals and politicians assumed the Midwest to be the font and heart of American culture. Despite the persistence of strong currents of midwestern regionalism during the 1920s and 1930s, the region went into eclipse during the post–World War II era. In the apt language of Minnesota’s F. Scott Fitzgerald, the Midwest slid from being the “warm center” of the republic to its “ragged edge.”

This book explains the factors that triggered the demise of the Midwest’s regionalist energies, from anti-midwestern machinations in the literary world and the inability of midwestern writers to break through the cultural politics of the era to the growing dominance of a coastal, urban culture. These developments paved the way for the proliferation of images of the Midwest as flyover country, the Rust Belt, a staid and decaying region. Yet Lauck urges readers to recognize persisting and evolving forms of midwestern identity and to resist the forces that squelch the nation’s interior voices.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

During the half-century after the Civil War, intellectuals and politicians assumed the Midwest to be the font and heart of American culture. Despite the persistence of strong currents of midwestern regionalism during the 1920s and 1930s, the region went into eclipse during the post–World War II era. In the apt language of Minnesota’s F. Scott Fitzgerald, the Midwest slid from being the “warm center” of the republic to its “ragged edge.”

This book explains the factors that triggered the demise of the Midwest’s regionalist energies, from anti-midwestern machinations in the literary world and the inability of midwestern writers to break through the cultural politics of the era to the growing dominance of a coastal, urban culture. These developments paved the way for the proliferation of images of the Midwest as flyover country, the Rust Belt, a staid and decaying region. Yet Lauck urges readers to recognize persisting and evolving forms of midwestern identity and to resist the forces that squelch the nation’s interior voices.

More books from University of Iowa Press

Cover of the book The American H.D. by Jon K. Lauck
Cover of the book Myself and Some Other Being by Jon K. Lauck
Cover of the book Reading as Collective Action by Jon K. Lauck
Cover of the book Jefferson in His Own Time by Jon K. Lauck
Cover of the book Mary Jane's Ghost by Jon K. Lauck
Cover of the book Art Quilts the Midwest by Jon K. Lauck
Cover of the book First We Read, Then We Write by Jon K. Lauck
Cover of the book The Selected Letters of Elizabeth Stoddard by Jon K. Lauck
Cover of the book Dubuque's Forgotten Cemetery by Jon K. Lauck
Cover of the book Performing Whitely in the Postcolony by Jon K. Lauck
Cover of the book Campaign Inc. by Jon K. Lauck
Cover of the book Screenwriting for Neurotics by Jon K. Lauck
Cover of the book The Rainy Season by Jon K. Lauck
Cover of the book Sky Dance of the Woodcock by Jon K. Lauck
Cover of the book Dickinson in Her Own Time by Jon K. Lauck
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy