<p>This dissertation argues that the
boundaries between capitalism and criminality have become increasingly blurred
over the past two centuries, and it traces this development through the
Victorian era into American modernity. Operating on the premise that popular
literature reflects wide-spread concerns and anxieties of a common audience,
each chapter focuses on one primary text as a cite for analysis through which
we gain a window of insight into the popular perception of criminals and the
role of criminality in developing capitalism. In an attempt to provide relevant
context and establish a solid foundation on which to work, the dissertation
begins with an introduction that outlines major developments in the British
literary field, with a particular eye toward bourgeoning popular mediums,
beginning in the eighteenth century and leading into the Victorian era. This
foundational work establishes urban compression and rapid industrial
development as major concerns for a Victorian audience and figures them as the
backdrop on which the discourse of criminality will play itself out.</p>
<p>The first half of the dissertation
focuses on the Victorian era, whereas the latter half analyzes works of
American literature in the early-twentieth century. Chapter one looks to <i>Oliver
Twist</i> as the preeminent example of Victorian criminality, with particular
emphasis on middle-class complicity in reinforcing the social structures and
environmental determinism that Dickens identified as major causes of Victorian
crime. Chapter two progresses to the late-Victorian era and discusses Anthony
Trollope’s <i>The Way We Live Now</i>. Doing so allows approaching Victorian
criminality from the opposite vantage point, seeing the advent of white-collar
crime and fraud as now more significant than the formerly dominant concern of
petty crimes as seen in <i>Oliver Twist</i>. These early chapters mark a
progression of criminality that gradually enmeshes itself in the habits of
ambitious capitalists, which I argue is paramount to the construction of the
discourse of criminality and capitalism. Rather than isolated incidents, I
forward these texts as representative of thematic shifts in the literary field
and public consciousness.</p>
<p>Such a progression is carried over
into American modernism, which constitutes the focus of chapters three and
four. In chapter three, systemic violence inherent in laissez-faire capitalism
and cronyism become the focus of the discussion, as presented in Upton
Sinclair’s <i>The Jungle</i>. This chapter presents Sinclair’s didacticism as a
necessary and significant progression in popular social-critique literature,
and it contends that the gradual shift away from the personalized narrative of
Jurgis to the heightened awareness of his political awakening marks an
important development that figures criminality as not only part of, but indeed
integral to, capitalism and its smooth functioning. This is contrasted with
chapter four which presents <i>The Great Gatsby</i> as a misinterpretation of
the lessons presented in <i>The Jungle</i> and reverts back to individualism as
a flawed solution to capitalism’s ills. Whereas <i>The Jungle</i> was critiqued
based on socialist didacticism and so-called lack of artistry, <i>The Great
Gatsby </i>experienced immense success for its artistry, despite the fact that
it falls back into the trap of individualism, romanticizing the criminal and
capitalistic success of its protagonist while ultimately slating him for
sacrifice to reinforce the status quo.</p>
<p>These four chapters, I argue,
constitute four major stages in progression of the discourse on criminality and
capitalism, but leave many questions still unanswered, particularly as regards
how society should appropriately and adequately engage the issues contained
within these texts. An epilogue is included at the end of this project as an
attempt to look forward to expansion of this research and continue to trace
this progression up to present-day texts of popular culture. In doing so, my
research will engage the development of the criminally-capitalist antihero in
popular culture and argue that such figures are representative of the crisis of
contemporary capitalism that sees no legitimate (nor illegitimate) ways of
succeeding in capitalism.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/12657008 |
| Date | 29 July 2020 |
| Creators | Alexander C Long (9127250) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Criminality_and_Capitalism_in_the_Anglo-American_Novel_1830-1925/12657008 |
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