Studies On Edmund Wilson’s Criticism Of Literature: 1914-1950

Edmund Wilson stands a unique role in American literacy history. Matured in era with residual classics, he absorbed nutrition from rationality and modern wisdom. He was equipped with whole western tradition of humanism but endeavored as flagship to meet new century challenge.Wilson’s literary essays and reviews stem from a popular critical journalism characterized by an emphasis on certain psychological and social aspects of the lives of writers. These essays and reviews are generally concerned with contexts of the social and literary milieus of authors, the mimetic features of written texts, and the role and requirements of the readers and the production of books. History developments, such as personal background, experience and knowledge, tend to compose part of the background, while social and literary contexts are consistently foregrounded.This dissertation is constructed in six sections. The introductory part presents a profile of Wilson’s biography. The unique writing style is also summarized within a framework of tension between his work and western tradition of literacy criticism. The following three chapters launch in-depth textual analysis to explore 1)the dilemma and breakthrough of 20th Century’s European-American literature; 2) the convergence and divergence of literature and politics and 3) interrelation between literature and social factors. Early and medium works are surveyed (e.g. Axel’s Castle: A study in the Imaginative Literature of 1870-1930; The Wound and the Bow; The Triple Thinker: Twelve Essays on Literary Subjects; Classics and Commercials: A Literary Chronicle of the Forties; The Shores of Light: A Literary Chronicle of the 1920s and 1930s ). The fourth chapter focuses on relevant diaries, notes and letters which are mirror of Wilson’s spirit. Such“soul travel”in literature enriches our understanding toward social characteristics and literary trend at that time. In concluding remark, the author restates the significance of Wilson’s literacy criticism while comments the inadequacies in works as reflection of his assertiveness and aggression.