John Dos Passos, 1919

Ian Afflerbach (University of North Georgia)

Ed. by Christopher Hugh Gair, University of Glasgow
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.3: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Early Twentieth-century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1932

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

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Recommended Reading

1919

is the second of three volumes in John Dos Passos’

U.S.A.

It was published as a single volume in 1932 and as part of the complete trilogy in 1938. Largely a novel of World War I,

1919

swings on what Michael Denning calls “the irony of apparent victory, of winning the war and losing the peace” (168). Along with a few new characters, figures such as Eveline Hutchins and Joe Williams who appeared in the narratives of Eleanor Stoddard and Janie Williams in

The 42nd Parallel

return with narrative sections devoted to their own wartime experiences. As he does throughout

U.S.A.

, Dos Passos intersperses his “Camera Eye”, “Newsreel”, and biographic sections within these more traditional third person narratives.

The first page of 1919 opens with Newsreel XX, its fragmented war song

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2605 words

Citation: Afflerbach, Ian. "1919". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 February 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7245, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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John Dos Passos, 1919

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