Erskine Caldwell Criticism
Erskine Caldwell (1903-1987) remains a pivotal figure in American literature, renowned for his vivid and often controversial portrayals of Southern life. His works, including Tobacco Road and God's Little Acre, are celebrated for their graphic realism and exploration of the socioeconomic challenges faced by impoverished rural communities in the South. Influenced by his upbringing in various Southern towns as the son of an itinerant preacher, Caldwell's writing often blends humor and social criticism, creating a unique narrative style that echoes the work of contemporaries like John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway. As noted by John Donald Wade, his early works invited debate over his lasting significance, yet they continue to be recognized as critical social commentaries.
Despite selling over sixty million copies by the 1960s, Caldwell's critical reception was mixed. Early critics, including Henry Seidel Canby, commended his sociological insights, though others, like Carl Bode, criticized the uneven quality of his oeuvre. More recent critiques, such as those by Ronald Wesley Hoag, have argued for a reevaluation of his stories, emphasizing their structural and thematic depth. Caldwell's ability to transition from tragedy to comedy, highlighted by William Peden, is a testament to his craftsmanship and attention to detail.
His short stories, collected in volumes like We Are the Living and Kneel to the Rising Sun, offer poignant examinations of social injustices, while experimental works such as The Sacrilege of Alan Kent reveal his literary breadth, as James Korges discusses. His collaboration with photographer Margaret Bourke-White in You Have Seen Their Faces, analyzed by Robert L. McDonald, further explores Southern hardships through a blend of visual and textual storytelling.
Caldwell's use of grotesque humor and caricature, as observed by Richard Gray, critiques the economic and social decay of traditional agrarian society, evoking nostalgia for lost ideals. His transition from popular fiction to more provocative themes, particularly in Tobacco Road, is explored by Robert Cantwell. Caldwell's prose style, marked by repetition and colloquial diction, is likened to musical prose ballads capturing Southern life, as noted by Scott MacDonald. Despite some criticisms of affectation, as discussed by T. K. Whipple and Malcolm Cowley, Caldwell's works continue to offer significant insights into the interplay between socio-economic forces and human behavior.
Through his fusion of humor and social commentary, Caldwell opened new avenues for critique in Southern literature, a legacy that endures alongside other notable authors of his time. His impact on the development of twentieth-century American social themes is recognized by critics like Andrew Silver, who argues for Caldwell's lasting influence. Interviews, such as one with Richard Kelly and Marcia Pankake, further explore his literary techniques, emphasizing rhythm over dialect in dialogue to maintain authenticity and experiment with traditional narrative forms.
Contents
- Principal Works
- Caldwell, Erskine (Vol. 1)
- Caldwell, Erskine (Vol. 8)
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Caldwell, Erskine (Vol. 14)
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Two Judgments of 'American Earth': Part I
(summary)
In the following essay, T. K. Whipple argues that Erskine Caldwell's collection "American Earth" successfully captures an American folk narrative style through its simple, unsophisticated storytelling, yet warns that Caldwell's affectation and the influence of highbrow literary circles could undermine his promising talent.
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Two Judgements of 'American Earth': Part II
(summary)
In the following essay, Malcolm Cowley argues that Erskine Caldwell introduces a unique and violent poetic mood to American fiction, particularly evident in the third section of "American Earth," despite some unevenness and affectation, and attributes acknowledgment of his talent to "occult" magazines.
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Caldwell's Characters: Why Don't They Leave?
(summary)
In the following essay, Robert Cantwell examines Erskine Caldwell's "Tobacco Road" as a significant work that transitioned popular fiction from sentimental romance to sexual shocker, highlighting its social impact on Southern welfare, its portrayal of enduring rural poverty, and the theme of dehumanization due to agricultural depletion.
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Deflower Street
(summary)
In the following essay, Sylvia Millar examines Erskine Caldwell's persistent theme of stunted sexuality across his works, highlighting how his portrayal of female characters reflects a cynical view of innate female concupiscence and inevitable retribution.
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Caldwell Skips About Midwest
(summary)
In the following essay, Eve Ottenberg critiques Erskine Caldwell's travel book "Afternoons In Mid-America" for its lack of cohesion and heavy reliance on generalizations, despite acknowledging its clear morality and rare perspective that transcends the divide between popular and academic writing.
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Repetition as Technique in the Short Stories of Erskine Caldwell
(summary)
In the following essay, Scott MacDonald argues that Erskine Caldwell's use of repetition in his short stories creates a unique prose style that emphasizes character traits, narrative structure, and emotional intensity, often blending with colloquial diction and rhythm to produce musical prose folk ballads that vividly depict aspects of Southern life.
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The Good Farmer: Some Variations on a Historical Theme
(summary)
In the following essay, Richard Gray examines Erskine Caldwell's portrayal of rural characters in works like Tobacco Road and God's Little Acre, arguing that Caldwell uses grotesque humor and caricature to critique the social and economic forces that have led to the degeneration and moral collapse of traditional agrarian society, drawing influence from Southwestern humorists and expressing a nostalgic longing for Jeffersonian ideals.
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Two Judgments of 'American Earth': Part I
(summary)
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Caldwell, Erskine (Short Story Criticism)
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Two Judgments of 'American Earth'
(summary)
In the following, Whipple generally praises the stories in American Earth but bemoans what he perceives to be the elitist influence of small literary journals on Caldwell. Cowley, on the other hand, defends the little magazines: "By publishing his work, the best and the worst of it, they have encouraged him to develop something original."
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Modern American Writing
(summary)
In the following review of We Are the Living, he greatly admires Caldwell's ability to "push through to the core of feeling" in the stories in the collection.
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We Are the living
(summary)
In the review below, Strauss praises the authenticity of the pieces in We Are the living, declaring that "Caldwell's stories are as indigenous to the American soil as a corncob pipe or a Ford car."
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Caldwell: Maker of Grotesques
(summary)
Burke examines the interrelation of themes, symbols, and characterization in Caldwell's work, particularly focusing on the story 'The Sacrilege of Alan Kent' from 'American Earth'. He discusses the unique structure and tonal qualities of the piece, contrasting it with Caldwell's other works.
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Progress or Retrogression?
(summary)
In the mixed review below, Rolfe finds many of the stories in Kneel to the Rising Sun amusing and pleasant, but he also considers them evidence that Caldwell's writing has stagnated, failing to address profound and complex issues.
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Sweet Are the Uses of Degeneracy
(summary)
In the excerpt below, Wade surveys Caldwell's early work in an effort to assess the Caldwell virtues and to wonder whether they are virtues good enough and numerous enough to sustain for very long the impression that he is important.
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A Caldwell Item
(summary)
In the following review of The Sacrilege of Alan Kent, written at the time of the work's publication as a separate volume, Strauss finds it an interesting but "youthful and unsuccessful" experiment.
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Caldwell Has Seen Their Faces
(summary)
In this review of Southways, Soskin detects a change in these stories from Caldwell's earlier work, observing a greater brevity and intensity: "he writes the bare, bedrock story hammered into an immediate situation as though he could not bear to write at greater length."
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Caldwell's Stories
(summary)
In the review of Southways below, Ferguson asserts that this collection of short stories is less imaginative but more mature than Caldwell's earlier efforts.
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Southern laughter
(summary)
In this review, Du Bois considers Georgia Boy "an unalloyed delight" and declares that one "would have to go back to Huck Finn to find a more companionable storyteller" than William Stroup, the narrator of these linked stories.
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An introduction to The Pocket Book of Erskine Caldwell Stories
(summary)
In the following essay, which was first published in 1944 as Canby's introduction to a collection of Caldwell's stories, the critic likens Caldwell to a sociologist for his detailed examinations of humanity in his short fiction.
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An introduction to Kneel to the Rising Sun
(summary)
The following essay was first published as the introduction to a 1951 edition of Kneel to the Rising Sun. Caldwell here defends the short story form, arguing that "the most exciting and memorable happenings are usually brief and explosive" and therefore well suited to the compact structure of short stories.
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Mr. Caldwell's Moods
(summary)
In the following review of The Complete Stories of Erskine Caldwell, Nichols includes the author's own recollections about the composition of such stories as "Country Full of Swedes" and "Kneel to the Rising Sun."
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Erskine Caldwell: A Note for the Negative
(summary)
Bode disparages Caldwell's artistry generally but judges his short stories superior to his novels: "the sagging architecture which weakens all his novels does not develop in the short stories. They are better for being brief." He argues that Caldwell's novels do not enhance his literary reputation, unlike his short stories.
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Down Tobacco Road Into Town
(summary)
In this review, Dempsey contends that Certain Women demonstrates a decline in Caldwell's talent.
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An introduction to Men and Women
(summary)
Collins accounts for Caldwell's great popularity by pointing to the sexual content of his stories, their element of social protest, and their humor.
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Erskine Caldwell
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Korges discusses The Sacrilege of Alan Kent, considering it essential to understanding Caldwell's full range and his place in contemporary literature. To understand Caldwell fully and thus to illuminate his best books as well as to prevent oversimplification, one needs to know the early The Sacrilege of Alan Kent. The book is made of three sections, each separately published: "Tracing life with a Finger" (1929), "Inspiration for Greatness" (1930), "Hours before Eternity" (1931)—titles significantly different from those of the other short novels published during the same years: The Bastard (1929) and Poor Fool (1930). Kenneth Burke in his remarkable chapter on Caldwell in The Philosophy of Literary Form calls this early work a "sport," in that it is so different from other works by Caldwell. The book is closer to a series or a collection of Joycean "epiphanies" than to a novel or collection of three stories. The numbered paragraphs, some as short as a sentence, are about what is remembered and about the tricks of memory as the central character recalls moments made sharp by intense feeling, whether of pain or joy. The moments are not idyllic; the tone is often downright grim: life is a sacrilege, we live in pain and hurt.
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Repetition as Technique in the Short Stories of Erskine Caldwell
(summary)
In the following essay, MacDonald details Caldwell's use of repetition in his characters' speeches, in descriptions of settings and events, and in the structures of his short stories.
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The Sacrilege of Alan Kent and the Apprenticeship of Erskine Caldwell
(summary)
In this essay, Owen closely studies The Sacrilege of Alan Kent within the context of Caldwell's fledgling writing career.
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Caldwell's Stories: common Reader Response, Analysis and Appreciation at Home and Abroad
(summary)
Comsa surveys the critical response to Caldwell's stories, declaring: "With few exceptions, judgements passed on Caldwell [have been] onesided, sectarian, subservient to fashion as well as blind to his art, his range and significance." The critic then calls for a reappraisal of all Caldwell's work, particularly his short stories.
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Caldwell Country Revisited: Some Rambling Comments
(summary)
Peden is an American poet, novelist, and educator. In the following essay, he extols Caldwell's short stories as "important sociological documents, bleak testimony to the devastating effects of poverty upon human behavior."
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Erskine Caldwell with Ronald Wesley Hoag and Elizabeth Pell Broadwell
(summary)
In the following interview, Caldwell discusses his writing process, emphasizing his preference for rhythm over dialect in capturing Southern speech, his experimental approach in works like "Candy-Man Beechum" and "The Sacrilege of Alan Kent," and his belief in writing as a calling rather than a profession driven by financial success.
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The Role of the Short Stories
(summary)
In the following excerpt from his book-length study of Caldwell, Devlin assesses the language, imagery, themes, and other facets of the author's short fiction.
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Canonize Caldwell's Georgia Boy: A Case for Resurrection
(summary)
In the essay below, Hoag examines the ways in which the pieces in Georgia Boy comprise a unified story-cycle.
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The Short Stories
(summary)
In the excerpt below, Cook surveys the themes of Gulf Coast Stories and Certain Women, detecting a narrowing of the range of issues and concerns from Caldwell's earlier collections of stories.
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Two Judgments of 'American Earth'
(summary)
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Caldwell, Erskine (Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism)
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Fifty Years since Tobacco Road: An Interview with Erskine Caldwell
(summary)
In the following interview, Erskine Caldwell, with Richard Kelly and Marcia Pankake, reflects on his Southern upbringing, literary influences, experiences with rejection and censorship, and the importance of rhythm over dialect in character speech, while emphasizing the value of experimentation for aspiring writers.
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The Moment of ‘Three Women Eating’: Completing the Story of You Have Seen Their Faces
(summary)
In the following essay, McDonald discusses the significance of the photograph “Three Women Eating” to the collection of photographs in You Have Seen Their Faces.
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Changing South, Unchanging Writer: Caldwell in Decline—and in Resurgence
(summary)
In the following essay, Mixon argues that Caldwell's later works were less successful than his early writing because he failed to recognize major social changes in the American South.
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Laughing Over Lost Causes: Erskine Caldwell's Quarrel with Southern Humor
(summary)
In the following essay, Silver contends that Caldwell's departure in Tobacco Road from traditional nineteenth-century Southern humor opened the way for the social criticism of later Southern writers.
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Fifty Years since Tobacco Road: An Interview with Erskine Caldwell
(summary)
- Further Reading