Regionalists on the Left: Radical Voices from the American West Edited by Michael C. Steiner (review)

Regionalists on the Left: Radical Voices from the American West is a study of sixteen regional artists focused mainly on the 1930s and beyond. This collection of essays, each by a different scholar, examines artists from the Great Plains, the Midwest, the Northwest, and California. The fifteen scholars who wrote these studies closely examine how each of these artists represents regionalism and the depth to which their radicalism informed their works. In this study, “left radicalism” has been painted with a broad brush, a radical being defined as anyone who steps outside the mainstream. Meanwhile, the definition of a leftist runs the gamut from humanitarian to Communist and member of the Popular Front. Regionalism, too, has been redefined in several ways, as noted in each of the essays. The overall thesis behind these studies demonstrates that, where once all regionalists were considered conservative and regressive, many were actually radical and progressive.

The radical writers Meridel Le Sueur, Josephine Herbst, Mari Sandoz, Sanora Babb, B. A. Botkin, Angie Debo, J. Frank Dobie, Américo Paredes, and the artist Joe Jones are familiar to many readers in the Great Plains. These regionalists covered the entire spectrum of radicalism and often reinforced each other’s work. In addition, many midwesterners will also be familiar with the works of Joseph Howard, D’Arcy McNickle, Robert Cantwell, John Sanford, Carlos Bulosan, John Steinbeck, and Carey McWilliams from the Northwest and California. Many of these regionalists were acquainted with the Great Plains writers, often traveling in the same leftist circles.

Each brought his or her own interpretation to regionalism: Le Sueur and Herbst emphasized how local voices strove to be heard through the regional myths created by those later arrivals who conquered them and the land. Jones, in spite of efforts by local city fathers, insisted on painting the dignity of downtrodden workers. Botkin, on the other hand, took the unusual tack of demonstrating that diversity is integral to any understanding of regionalism. These are but a few of the radical regional stances presented in this book.

But it is love of the land that informed their works, and through which these defenders of the downtrodden helped redefine regionalism while also broadening the definition of socialism to include human rights and human dignity. Thus these radical regionalists attempted to speak for the people who made the region what it really was; significantly, this was at a time when anyone who spoke against conservatism and accepted traditions was viewed as a Socialist or worse.

Steiner has brought together a well-documented and informative study. The essayists have detailed the beliefs and actions of their chosen regionalist and fully demonstrated what made each effective radicals. Every essay is well constructed, highlighting regional perspectives, accomplishments, and failures. In addition, each scholar brings his or her own “regionalist take.” This not only broadens the understanding of these regionalists and their works, but also expands the definitions of regionalist, left, and radical, squarely placing these writers in the forefront. Regionalists on the Left points the way for further studies into the lives of lesser known but no less important regional radicals whose works helped shape the ideas of class, community, and region that still inform us today.