Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2000. [Vol. 6.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 26)

Studies - Jason M. Dew: Cold War Reflections in Travels with Charley: Steinbeck's New Americanist Evaluation of Intra-Imperialist America

Steinbeck seeks: one that is void of anxiety and one that facilitates the fullest, most universal expression of each component. Inspiring volleys of "sentimentalism" from hordes of critics, this idea has arguably constituted the core of Steinbeck's work. As such, the documentation of the ill-defmed hopes of yet another restless American serves two purposes. First and foremost, the reader witnesses plainly, as does Steinbeck, the almost neurotic consequences of a binary teleology that simply did not provide answers or legitimacy and the peace of mind that comes with it. There is a direct relationship between the pervading restlessness in America and the analytical binary imposed on its denizens where the latter aggravates the former. Steinbeck even goes so far as to address this issue in a letter to his wife Elaine while he was on his admittedly "Quixotic" journey: "Wherever I stop people look hungrily at Rocinante. They want to move on. Is this a symptom? They lust to move on. West—north, south—anywhere. Maybe it's their comment on their uneasiness. People are real restless" (ALIL 679). For a man whose concern had always been for the "People," the pattern of ubiquitous restlessness that he encounters repeatedly could not go unnoticed. Indeed, the reader gets a strong sense that Steinbeck, very physician-like in his use of the word "symptom," was, to extend the analogy, deeply concerned for his "patients" and the perceived instability of place that they express. By extension, the "acceptance-understanding" that is intended to come out of Steinbeck's non-teleological presentation of this episode contributes to the formation of

—to borrow a term made in reference to the New Americanists by, at least, Frederick Crews

—a critical "dissensus" (19). Simply, a "dissensus" can be defined as a position that goes against the consensus where institutionalized norms are challenged and repressive hegemonies are toppled. I argue that the context in which Steinbeck is writing and the context against which the New Americanists are railing is essentially the same. For both as "investigators and critics of ideology," meaning that both Steinbeck and the New Americanists reject popular ideology even if they "subscribe to a definite [need I say less popular] politics of their own" (Crews 19), the desired outcome is one where the imposed ideology is utterly repudiated so that other realities, whether they be in terms of people or literature, can flourish. Steinbeck's own politics do not 31