Jack London, The Call of the Wild

Susan Gatti (Indiana University of Pennsylvania)

Ed. by Christopher Hugh Gair, University of Glasgow
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.3: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Early Twentieth-century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1903

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Naturalist
Novel

Resources

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Jack London’s 1903 novel,

The Call of the Wild,

occupies a unique position in literary culture. Widely translated, this best-selling work resists easy classification. Best known as a robust adventure story featuring a once-pampered dog impressed into hard labor as a Klondike sled-dog,

The Call of the Wild

can be variously categorized as naturalism, social protest, historic saga, captivity tale, animal story and action-packed realism. The novel, strongly influenced by London’s reading of Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer as well as his alignment with socialist thought, showcases three significant facets of literary production: awareness of social, political and economic realities; artistic representation of a discrete landscape during a particular historic moment; and grasp of the…

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2557 words

Citation: Gatti, Susan. "The Call of the Wild". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 January 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1335, accessed 23 November 2024.]

Jack London, The Call of the Wild

Dates

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