| Barnes, Rebecca. “Steinbeck’s East of Eden.” Explicator 55.3 (1997): 159-60. States that Steinbeck’s use of Greek mythology in East of Eden has been overlooked and he appearance of boxes throughout the novel suggests the story of Pandora’s box. Argues that Cathy allows herself to be defined as the “evil” Pandora, while Abra breaks the Pandora myth by choosing to define herself. Ditsky, John. “ ‘I Kind of Like Caleb’: Naming in East of Eden.” Steinbeck Newsletter 10.1 (1997): 7-9. Explores the A (Abel)/C (Cain) naming pattern in East of Eden. Explains that the pattern is ironic as well as symbolic. Points out that if the initial C in Caleb is discarded (as Caleb finally discards the symbolic implication of C), the result is an anagram for Abel. Hess, Natalie. “Code Switching and Style-Shifting as Markers of Liminality in Literature.” Language and Literature: Journal of the Poetics of Linguistics Association 5.1 (1996): 5-18. Uses Harper Lee, John Steinbeck, and Charlotte Bronte to point out how code switching and style shifting underline themes of alienation, transition, and liminality. Begins by defining code switching and liminality. Focuses on servant figures as “literature’s natural code switchers.” Demonstrates how the issue of audience influences the language a code switcher uses by excerpting a lengthy passage from East of Eden in which the Chinese-American Lee explains his use of Pidgin to Samuel Hamilton. Smith, Joel A. Steinbeck on Stage and Film. Louisville, KY: Actors Theatre of Louisville, 1996. Reports the proceedings of the 12th Annual Brown-Forman Classics in Context Festival, October 23-November 23, 1996 by the Actors Theatre of Louisville. Discusses the staging of East of Eden, which was performed in two parts for the festival. Features Jay Parini’s lecture, “Toward East of Eden: Steinbeck’s Life of Writing” and Porter Anderson’s lecture “West of Sag Harbor: The Very American Theatricality of John Steinbeck.” Also includes excerpts from the panel discussion by Robert DeMott, John Seelye, and Susan Shillinglaw. Tagaya, Satoru. “Is East of Eden a ‘Postmodern Metafiction’?” Steinbeck Studies 19 (1996): 14-20. Not available for annotation. Wright, Terence R. “East of Eden as Western Midrash: Steinbeck’s Re-Marking of Cain.” Religion and the Arts 2 (1998): 488-518. Defines Western midrash as writers’ attempts “to make sense of the Bible in terms of their own understanding of the world.” Section I looks at the work of modern theorists who write within the midrashic tradition. Section II focuses on the Cain and Abel story in Genesis 4, in midrashic commentary, and in later literature. Section III explores Steinbeck’s understanding of the story. Section IV considers the ways East of Eden provides a supplement to the original biblical story. |
| John Steinbeck Bibliography East of Eden Works |