Lost John Steinbeck essay about American democracy published
An article by John Steinbeck about American democracy, written 70 years ago, will be published in English for the first time this week.
The piece, titled How About McCarthyism? was originally published in 1954 in French in Le Figaro Littéraire, although Steinbeck wrote it in English. The piece is being published in English in the Strand Magazine, a US-based print magazine that publishes short fiction, articles and interviews.
The piece, said Andrew Gulli, managing editor, suggests that American democracy has always and will in the future face threats from within, but in the end will emerge stronger.
The title of the article refers to the phenomenon named after US senator Joseph McCarthy, who, during the cold war period, aimed to root out secret communists he thought were present in American institutions, including in government. A number of his accusations were found to be false, and he began to lose popularity in the mid 1950s.
In his article, Steinbeck writes: “We have always had a McCarthy. I could list names and movements going back to the beginning of our history. And always the end was the same … It changes its name every few years. It always uses the bait of improvement or safety.”
Steinbeck warns of “the taking of power by a self-interested group at the expense of the whole”.
Strand Magazine requested rights to publish the original piece from the Steinbeck estate.
Gulli said: “We often think of Steinbeck
as a fiction author, but this shows the political side to him where despite all the pain and destroyed lives caused by McCarthyism he takes a longer-term view that it’ll be a distant memory.
“But the primary message from Steinbeck is a prescient one and warns readers be under no illusions that once McCarthyism ends the rest would be smooth sailing. He suggests that our democracy will face more threats from within and from looking at the news headlines every day, it seems his fears were justified.”
Steinbeck is perhaps most famous for his book The Grapes of Wrath, regarded as one of the great American novels. It follows the Joad family, who are torn apart by poverty and desperation in the Great Depression. The novel grew out of a series of newspaper articles Steinbeck wrote for the San Francisco News.
Strand Magazine has previously released unseen short stories by Shirley Jackson, among others.