history of American literature

The article seeks to explore the concepts of masculinity and androgyny in the works of the American writer Frank Norris (1870-1902). Based on two novels, “Moran of the Lady Letty” and “A Man’s Woman”, the study examines the peculiarity of male and female images. The interaction of the sexes often grows irreconcilable, and the theme of emancipation becomes one of the key ones in the writer’s work.

This article traces the history of Jack London’s business relationships with The Cosmopolitan magazine, which are reconstructed on the material of the scientifi cally commented The Letters of Jack London (1988). In this relationship London originally acted as an independent writer, who was attracted by the maximum royalties paid by The Cosmopolitan, then he began writing by request of the magazine’s editors, and fi nally signed a permanent contract with them, in which, contrary to his expectations, he was forced to perform the functions of a literary day-labourer.

The article analyses what Russian authors were on Albert Maltz’s reading list. In this regard special attention is paid to the correlation between Maltz’s aesthetic evaluations and political views, and the official line of the USA communist party guidelines in the field of art. Comprehensive examination of Maltz’s contacts with Soviet dissidents sheds the light on the dynamics of his attitude to social realism which was founded by M. Gorky.