Gold, Michael. (1893 - 1967).
L i f e
- originally Irving Granich, son of Jewish immigrants in NY, adopted the penname of Michael Gold
- a social and political activist, novelist, playwright, and essayist
- sympathiser with Marxism, member of the US Communist Party, kept faithful to his ideals for his whole life
W o r k
- published his attack on the genteel writers in The New Republic (1930s)
- urged the proletariat, workers, and revolutionaries to replace the ‘genteel’ writers: declared himself the first American writer of proletarian literature to be followed by the rise of a world proletariat
- developed the concept of art as a weapon of social protest: urges the modernistic pessimism to be replaced by revolutionary optimism
- edited several socialist journals, including the revolutionary The Masses
- co-founded several theatre circles, including ‘Workers’ Drama League’ and ‘New Playwrights’ Theatre’
Battle Hymn (1936):
- a play about John Brown
Jews Without Money (1930):
- a typically proletarian autobiographical novel
- the oppressed childhood in NY slums x the vision of revolutionary struggle in the adult age
- the protagonist sets of for America as for the Promised Land, fails to achieve material success x but: finds his identity among the other poor proletarian Jews
- identifies Marxism and revolution with Mesias
The Hollow Men (1941):
- a collection of essays urging the writers and intellectuals to stick to the Marxist ideals
Quote
"O workers' Revolution! ... You are the true Messiah"!
Michael Gold's motto from Jews Without Money (1930).
Basics
(Photo: Eskimo com).
-
Author
Born Itzok Isaac Granich. Accepted the name Irving Granich. Penname Michael Gold. (1893 - 1967). American. -
Work
Novelist. Essayist. Social activist. Author of Jews Without Money (1930). -
Genre
Proletarian novel.
Literature
Baym, Nina, ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W. W. Norton, 1995.
Bercovitch, Sacvan, ed. The Cambridge History of American Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Cunliffe, Marcus. The Literature of the United States. London: Penguin, 1991.
Lauter, Paul, ed. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Lexington: D. C. Heath, 1994.
McQuade, Donald, gen.ed. The Harper American Literature. New York: Harper & Collins, 1996.
Ruland, Richard, Malcolm Bradbury. Od puritanismu k postmodernismu. Praha: Mladá fronta, 1997.
Vančura, Zdeněk, ed. Slovník spisovatelů: Spojené státy americké. Praha: Odeon, 1979.