Boxcar politics : the hobo in U.S. culture and literature, 1869-1956 /

The hobo is a figure ensconced in the cultural fabric of the United States. Once categorized as a member of a homeless army who ought to be jailed or killed, the hobo has evolved into a safe, grandfatherly exemplar of Americana. Boxcar Politics reestablishes the hobo's political thorns. John Le...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Lennon, John, 1975- (Author)
Format:	Book
Language:	English
Published:	Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, [2014]
Subjects:	American literature > 19th century > History and criticism. American literature > 20th century > History and criticism. Tramps in literature. Homelessness in literature. Marginality, Social, in literature. Social values > United States > History. Political culture > United States > History. Tramps > United States > History.

Table of Contents:

Introduction
Views from the boxcar: a historical and theoretical framing of boxcar politics
The cramped boxcar: Jack London and Kelly's industrial army
The polyphonic boxcar: the hobo in Jim Tully's Beggars of life
The radicalized boxcar: hobos, the "speech of the people," and John Dos Passos's U.S.A
The interracial boxcar: Scottsboro, the great Depression, and wild boys of the road
The spiritual boxcar: lostness in on the road and the end of the political hobo
Afterword: the end of boxcar politics.