Repossessing the Past: Discontinuity and History in Alfred Kazin's A Walker in the City

John D. Hazlett, University of New Orleans

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Originally published in Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly (Fall 1984).  Copyright University of Hawaii.

DOI: 10.1353/bio.2010.0721

Abstract

The structure of Kazin's A Walker in the City is based upon two quests: the child self is seeking an American identity and access to history; the adult self is seeking to recapture the lost, earlier self and to "escape" from history. The article discusses narrative strategy and the relationship between concepts of history and the re-creation of the self in twentieth century autobiography.