Sherwood Anderson's early fiction: A study in culture, psychology, and technique

This dissertation aims to apply the sociological poetics of the Bakhtin School to the study of Sherwood Anderson's early fiction in order to open up a new understanding of Anderson's handling of culture, psychology, and technique in his early works. The first chapter introduces the Bakhtinian concept of dialogic discourse as an important tool for the understanding of Anderson's early fiction. The second chapter tries to see how in Windy McPherson's Son the Protestant ethic functions as a centripetal force. This chapter also tries to see in what sense Marching Men is about the dialogic discourse between industrialism and populism. The third chapter attempts to show that Winesburg, Ohio helps to establish in American fiction a level of psychological exploration. The fourth chapter discusses a central paradox of American history as it is revealed in Poor White. Finally I come to the conclusion that Anderson is very much involved in the anti-culture of the 1920s and that he is a modernist in technique.