Chapter 1 - Introduction

Summary

The history of New York’s literature encompasses centuries where war, commerce, revolution, democracy, industry and immigration have shaped the city into a global metropolis. Therefore, it is a literature which not only addresses the experiences of those living within the city but the city’s relationship with the rest of the world. The city’s literature possesses a universal quality, as it serves to remind readers of the forces that shaped our lives and our identities. Written within the city’s novels, memoirs, poetry, periodicals and magazines are the myriad experiences and perspectives that chart the traumatic and triumphant processes that have formed our contemporary society. This study draws the connections between the work of authors and writers in the city and the wider world through examining movement. The prose, poetry and fiction that has emerged from the city is infused with this character that defined the modern age. This is a city built on movement; as such, it is a metropolis that evokes the changes that have made the modern world. This ensures that the narratives of this city move beyond the confines of Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island and tell a global story.