In this thesis, I explore depictions of fascism in 1930s American literature. Specifically, I analyse William Faulkner’s Light in August, John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, and Sinclair Lewis’s...Show moreIn this thesis, I explore depictions of fascism in 1930s American literature. Specifically, I analyse William Faulkner’s Light in August, John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, and Sinclair Lewis’s It Can’t Happen Here. The former two novels do not explicitly engage with fascism, but aspects of the texts were linked to fascism by their authors. Faulkner retroactively referred to the character Percy Grimm from his book as a fascist, and Steinbeck linked the agriculture sector in California, which features heavily in his novel, to fascism. Lewis engages with fascism directly in It Can’t Happen Here as he envisions a fascist dictatorship in the United States. These texts are relevant today as fascism is not a concept of the past. They can be used to discuss visions of fascism in 1930s American Literature and what fascism may look like in the United States. I use a combination of close reading and the theory provided by Robert O. Paxton in The Anatomy of Fascism, as well as additional sources for necessary historical context to analyse each of the novels. I will argue that while only one of the novels explicitly engages with fascism, all three texts portray fascism to some extent and can be used to identify possible bases of fascist action.Show less
In the 20th and 21st centuries it can be witnessed that the portrayal of migration was linked with the economic situation of the receiving country. In an era of economic growth the migrants could...Show moreIn the 20th and 21st centuries it can be witnessed that the portrayal of migration was linked with the economic situation of the receiving country. In an era of economic growth the migrants could be utilized and be beneficial to the economy and in a period of economic decline the migrants could not be utilized and were therefore a ‘threat’ to the national economy. However, official economic statistics do not show that migrants do have a negative economic effect on the receiving country. This means that there is no clarity on the effects of migration. This lack of clarity will be explained by analyzing the influence of the media on the political sphere and the target audience in both the 1930s and the early 21st century, through the framework of securitization studies. The aim is to show that the negative portrayal of migration by the media will lead to the implementation of right-wing anti- immigrant rhetoric across the political spectrum and create a negative sentiment among the native population towards migrants.Show less
