Regionalism in "Spoon River Anthology"

The entire book "Spoon River Anthology" is actually a collection of over two hundred poetic monologues told by the inhabitants of a small town. The setting of the town is the main emphasis that holds the pieces together, and therefore the work is classified into the subgenre Regionalism, which comes out of the larger genre, Realism.

Regionalism is defined as a subgenre of Realism and is all about the location of the story or work of literature that falls into it (Anderson). Regional works take a certain location and build the entire story around it. Sometimes the story is all about the particular location itself, and sometimes the location simply serves as a backdrop and inspiration for the events and stories that happen within it (Anderson).

"Spoon River Anthology" is a clearly Regionalist collection because of the setting all takes place in one town, and it details the many stories of dead people living in the graves of the local cemetery (Masters). This location was inspired by two very similar towns that the author, Edgar Lee Masters, grew up in (Cone). These towns were Lewistown, Illinois, and Petersburg, Illinois. By using these towns as inspiration, Masters was able to create a very realistic fictional town (Cone).

One aspect of Realism, the larger genre that this story falls into, is that it talks about things that are real (Werlock). All Realist works were about something that was commonplace in that period of time. Also, the heroes were ordinary, everyday citizens who were just trying to make sense of their worlds (Werlock). In "Spoon River Anthology" the citizens and narrators of the various monologues are just exactly those types of everyday people, because they are simply the inhabitants of a town in the midwest (Masters). The following is a quote by Temple Cone about the various real and applicable instances detailed in "Spoon River Anthology":

"His characters speak of guilt and loneliness, of the disappointments and thwarted ambitions caused by parenthood, insufficient talent, and bad luck, of the grief of loss and the pain of betrayal, and of the misery inflicted by small-mindedness, bigotry, and misunderstanding. More than anything, though, Masters' characters seek to tell the truth about their lives."

These concepts, specifically the last sentence, are all very real and important. Because in the end, all anybody really wants to do is tell the truth about what happened to them and feel as though they left some sort of impact on the world. In this way, Masters created monologues that were able to touch people because they struck so close to home with many common issues of the time that we still share today.

Regionalist works also tend to use dialects and vernacular particular to the region they are set in (Anderson). For this reason, Masters' use of a simple dialect with not a lot of complicated words was a reflection of the region that he was telling about (Masters). The midwest was commonly thought to have spoken plain English in those days. This concept also reflected Regionalism by using the language of the area.

Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds."regionalism." Encyclopedia of American Literature: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, vol. 3, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL1330&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 14, 2011).

Cone, Temple. "Spoon River Anthology." In Kimmelman, Burt, and Temple Cone, eds. The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 2. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CTAP0520&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 16, 2011).

Masters, Edgar Lee. "Spoon Rivers Anthology." Bartleby: Great Books Online. 2011. Online. http://www.bartleby.com/84/index.html. February 16, 2011.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Feb 13, 2011.