JOHN DOS PASSOS: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE, WORKS - LITERATURE - 2025

John Roderigo Dos Passos (1896-1970) was an American writer and novelist who also excelled in the profession of journalism. He was one of the intellectuals who made up the "Lost Generation", that is, those who moved to Europe between 1918 and 1929 for political and social reasons.

The work of this writer belonged to the modernist current, also had as outstanding features the sobriety and the social theme. Some of the most representative works of Dos Passos were Three soldiers (1922), Manhattan transfer (1925), The first catastrophe (1919-1932), the USA trilogy (1930-1936) and Midcentury (1961).

John Dos Passos. Source: Public domain. Taken from Wikimedia Commons.

John Dos Passos served for a long time as a war journalist and translator. He also traveled to various countries in the world to come into contact with the socialist movement. For his literary performance he obtained several awards, including the Feltrinelli Prize.

Biography

Birth and family

John Roderigo Dos Passos was born on August 14, 1896 in the city of Chicago, Illinois, into a middle-class family of Portuguese descent. His parents were John R. Dos Passos, lawyer and politician, and Lucy Addison Sprigg Madison.

Academic training

John Dos Passos studied his years in important schools in his native Chicago, such as the Choate Rossemary Hall. From his teenage years inclined by letters and culture, he decided to study arts at Harvard University and graduated in 1916.

The many trips he made with his parents to various nations also contributed important experiences to his training and knowledge. It was related to the culture, art, traditions and literature of countries such as: Belgium, Spain, Portugal and England.

Youth experiences

Two years before completing his university studies, he joined Richard Norton's group of collaborators, coinciding with the outbreak of the First World War. Some time later, he went to Italy as a volunteer member of the international Red Cross movement.

First publications

Attracted by literature and writing, Dos Passos undertook a project together with some friends to develop a novel, but they did not achieve the goal. He did not give up and in 1919, when he was only twenty-three years old, he published: The Initiation of a Man, a novel related to personal experiences.

After two years, the writer continued to write and released a second work entitled Three soldiers, a novel with warlike features. In 1923 he had a stay in Spain, being the country where he conceived Rocinante returns to the road. It was with these first three novels that he made his way into the world of letters.

Two steps between trips

John Dos Passos had a special taste for travel, which is why he spent much of his life discovering new territories. In 1924 he went to Paris in order to soak up all the artistic, cultural and literary movements that were on the rise.

After a while he returned to his country and settled in New York. Although he wanted to dedicate himself to the theater, the writer had to quickly return to the Old Continent.

In 1921 he went to Persia, then to Damascus and then to Baghdad, places where he had enriching and unique experiences since he was a man who was always in search of knowledge.

A great success

The growing writer was slowly making his way to success, which came with his fourth publication. In 1925 Manhattan transfer was released and turned out to be the novel with which Dos Passos achieved the most recognition. In that work he dealt with the fruitful economy of the United States called "Roaring Twenties."

Ideology and thought

On an ideological level, the writer was close to socialism, although he knew how to remain firm in his independent political thought. It did not take long to show his rejection when Italian activists and immigrants Bartolomeo Banzatti and Nicola Sacco were assassinated for their anarchist political philosophy.

In 1928 he traveled to the now extinct Soviet Union with the intention of getting to know the government system more closely, with Helsinki and Leningrad being part of his route. At the time she arrived in Moscow and joined the theatrical activities, where she was related to the renowned filmmakers Sergei Eisenstein and Vsévolod Pudovkin.

A daring journey

Dos Passos spent time in Russia and that is how he joined an expeditionary trip through the city of Daghestan, a mission of then Minister Anatoli Lunacharski. After experiencing various situations that put his life at risk, he finally managed to return to North America.

Two Passos and love

The writer Ernest Hemingway, a friend of Dos Passos. Source: Lloyd Arnold, via Wikimedia Commons Back in America, love knocked on his door when he met Katherine Smith, who belonged to the circle of acquaintances of the writer Ernest Hemingway. They married in 1929 and settled for a time in Europe, the cradle of the most intense literary and artistic movements of the time.

The Dos Passos and Spain trilogy

Dos Passos and Smith constantly traveled to North American soil without the difficult economic situation worldwide - the well-known "Great Depression" - affecting them. At the beginning of the 1930s the writer began to develop his famous trilogy: USA.

Spain became a frequent destination for the intellectual and his wife. They visited the country in 1932, in the time of the Second Republic, that is, the democratic system that supplanted the reign of Alfonso XIII. Dos Passos was an observer of the situation, and in that year he wrote: 1919.

Last years and death

John Dos Passos spent the last years of his life, like many of his colleagues, between writings, publications, travel and recognition. His last works included Midcentury (1961) and Unforgettable Years (1966). The writer passed away on September 28, 1970 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Style

The literary style of Jonh Dos Passos was characterized by being framed within the modernist movement. His works stood out for the use of a simple, clear and precise language, with the presence of criticism, questions and reflections on political and social circumstances that he had to live and that he could appreciate.

The main theme of the works of this American writer were around issues about the society of that time, war conflicts and cultural and artistic aspects. He also developed autobiographical and life texts for well-known figures such as Ernest Hemingway and EE Cummings.

Plays

Novel

In chronological order:

- The initiation of a man

In chronological order:

USES

It was a trilogy of the writer composed of: The 42nd parallel (1930), 1919 (1932) and The big money (1936). The three novels came out together in a 1938 edition with the name by which they are known worldwide: USA. The writer told the stories through four different narrative forms.

Dos Passos was in charge of counting people's daily lives before, during and after the First World War. The advantages and disadvantages to achieve quality of life were exposed. This work has been included in the 100 best novels in English of the 20th century for various literary magazines or press portals.

Fragment of

Fragment of

Fragment of The Big Money

References

1. John Dos Passos. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
2. Tamaro, E. (2019). John Dos Passos. (N / a): Biographies and Lives. Recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com.
3. Manhattan transfer. (2014). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
4. Piñero, E. (2018). John Dos Passos: a Cervantes traveler through Spain. Spain: The Conversation. Recovered from: com.
5. Moreno, V., Ramírez, M. and others. (2019). John Dos Passos. (N / a): Search Biographies. Recovered from: Buscabiografias.com.