Literaryjournalism asadiscipline: Tom Wolfe and beyond

Abstract

– The publication of Tom Wolfe’s The New Journalism in 1973 was the seminal moment for the formation of literary journalism as an academic discipline. Wolfe both celebrated the work of more than 20 contemporary journalists whom he dubbed “new journalists” and identified the main elements of their writings. But his concentration on their individual techniques (which has proved so influential in the development of literary journalism in higher education) crucially marginalized consideration of such elements as ideology and political economy, and promoted a problematic form of cultural elitism. In exploring the political economy of literary journalism, this paper will identify similarities between the formation of English as an academic discipline in the UK in the 18th and 19th centuries and the launch of literary journalism in the US in the 1970s and 1980s. And to help literary journalism expand its horizons and draw inspiration from a much wider range of academic disciplines, the paper will argue for its radical democratization.