Bodies and Machines in 19th-Century
American Literature and Life
Jason Maxwell
Major: English/History
Advisor: Jane Thrailkill
Background/Goals
Using the writings of economic-political philosophers like Marx
and Althusser as a starting point, I wanted to explore the ways in
which particular economic arrangements shaped cultural and
social ideas—specifically the understanding of the human
body—in the United States during the emergence and expansion
of industrialization in the late 19th-century.
Furthermore, I hoped to determine whether these cultural and
social conceptions, once formed, actually changed any of the
initial economic conditions.
I planned to use a variety of sources, especially literary texts
(mainly works of naturalist fiction during the decade of the
1890s) to help answer these questions.
Findings
During this period, the body became a site of intense conflict between
between American idealism and certain social
realities. More specifically, notions that one could achieve individual
individual fulfillment and growth clashed with the
lived experiences of many workers who were confined to repetitive
repetitive tasks using only portions of their physical
capabilities. This conflict is represented in a figure like Jorgus
Jorgus Rudkis from Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle,
Jungle,
who immigrates to the United States in search of a better life only
only to find tedious jobs which continually wear
down his body.
Tensions also existed concerning the stability of the human body.
body. Since people understood the world as
constantly changing and evolving—
evolving—a fact made especially tangible by the enormous technological
advancements of the time—
time—it was difficult to not also apply these beliefs to the body. An effect of this anxiety
was the emergence of the popular figure of the engineer, who represented
represented a fixed presence able to adjust to
varying conditions and fit them to his or her own needs. Maintaining
Maintaining this conception of the body as a known
and durable entity proved difficult, however, as both natural and
and cultural forces beyond an individual’s control
often contributed to his or her failure to survive, seen in a character
character like Hurstwood from Theodore Dreiser’s
novel Sister Carrie.
Common oppositions such as those between the body and machinery (a specific example of the naturenature-culture
dichotomy) were often merely parts of a much larger structure of power. For example, in Frank Norris’s novel
The Octopus,
Octopus, the opposition between the rural farmers (seen as being unified
unified with nature) and the industrial
railroad (seen as an outside force threatening this natural order)
order) is ultimately understood as two interdependent
parts only given their respective identities within a capitalist economy. The writings of thinkers like Michel
Foucault and Donna Haraway served as useful guides in understanding
understanding this problem.
Works Cited/Future Research Plans
Stephen Crane- The Red Badge of Courage
Daniel Dennett- Kinds of Minds
Theodore Dreiser- Sister Carrie
Michel Foucault- The History of Sexuality, Volumes 1 +2
Donna Haraway- “A Cyborg Manifesto”
Vicki Kirby- Telling Flesh
Jack London- Before Adam
Karl Marx- The German Ideology
Louis Menand- The Metaphysical Club
Frank Norris- The Octopus
Mark Seltzer- Bodies and Machines
Upton Sinclair- The Jungle
Cecilia Tichi- Shifting Gears
This summer project constituted preliminary research for a more extensive honors thesis
which I intend to pursue during the upcoming school year.