How did the Great Depression and
the New Deal Influence Art and
Literature? Did Literature during the
1930’s present a positive or negative
view
Suzie Moneta
Courtnee Portlock
Mikka Croskell
Kristina Sheyko
Outline
Art and Literature was more serious and sober
•
•
•
Depicted the real conditions of depression America
Focused on the hardships faced by average Americans
Much of artistic work conveyed a more uplifting message about the strength of
character and the democratic values of the American people
• A number of artists and writers embraced the spirit of social and political change
Artists decorate America
• The federal art project-paid a living wage to produce public art
– Two functions:
• Increase public appreciation of art
• promote positive images of American society
– Outcome: artists created posters, taught art in schools, and painted murals o the walls
of public buildings (typically portraying the dignity of ordinary Americans at work.)
•
A number of American artists produced outstanding works of art.
– Edward Hopper- a New York who continued to depict scenes of urban life in a striking,
highly realistic style.
– Thomas Hart Benton-helped create a regional style of painting that drew on
Midwestern cultural roots.
– Grant wood-famous painting "America Gothic"
•
Federal Theater project
– Artists hired provided sage sets and props for the throatier productions
– Featured noted actors such as John Houseman and Arlene Francis
– Subsidized the work of important American playwrights
• Clifford Odets-play "waiting for the Lefty" dramatized the labor struggles of 1930's
Writers depict American Life
•
Federal writers project
– Gave writers relief support
– Hired unemployed writers
– Gave many important artists assistance
•
Saui Bellow- Future Pulitzer Prize winner with the first writing job
• Richard Wright-African American writer, completed Native Son
• Zara Neale Hurston with her stirring novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God
• John Steinbeck with his novel The Grapes of Wrath (reveals the lives of
Oklahomans who left the dust bowl and ended up in the California where their
hardships continued)
•
Books examined the difficulties of life during the 1930's
– James T. Farrell- studies Lonigan trilogy (A bleak picture of working class life in an irish
community of Chicago)
– John Dos Passos- U.S.A (A detailed portrait of 20th century American history)
– John Conroy- The Disinherited (Portrays violence and poverty of the Missouri Coalfields)
• Other writers found hope in the positive values of American Culture
– James Agee- Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (A book about Alabama sharecroppers)
– Thornton Wilder- the play Our Town (Captures warmth and beauty of small-town life in
New England)
– William Saroyan- Play, The Time of your Life (A tender look at a diverse assortment of
characters in urban America)
– Margret Mitchell- Novel, Gone with the Wind (Embraced cultural nationalism)
Key Terms
• Grant Wood- From Iowa, was an artist who said that his best ideas,
"came while milking a cow," his work includes the famous painting
American Gothic, which shows two stern-faced farmers, a father
and daughter, standing stiffly in front of their farmhouse.
• Richard Wright- an African American author who completed his
acclaimed novel Native Son in 1940, novel depicts the difficulty
faced by a young man trying to survive in a racist world
• Federal writers project (FWP)- many writers received relief support
through this, this project hired unemployed writers to produce a
series of state and city guides and to write histories of ethnic and
immigrant groups, including a major study of southern slavery.
• Federal Theater Project- Artists who provided stage sets and props
for theater productions that played around the country
Diagram
Pictures and Cartoons
Questions
1. How did the Great Depression and New Deal influence art and
literature?
A. Led to more serious sober art
B. Depicted the "real" conditions
C. Made people want to help each other
D. A and B
2. Did literature during the 1930's present a positive or negative view
of American society?
Questions
1. How did the Great Depression and New Deal influence art and
literature?
A. Led to more serious sober art
B. Depicted the "real" conditions
C. Made people want to help eachother
D. A and B
2. Did literature during the 1930's present a positive or negative view
of American society?
Literature painted both a positive view and a negative view of
American society in the 1930's. Some books examined the difficulties of life
during the Great Depression while other writers found hope in the positive
values of American Culture