SOURCE: "Caldwell: Maker of Grotesques," in The New Republic, Vol. LXXXII, No. 1062, April 10, 1935, pp. 232-35.

Burke is one of the foremost American scholars—and perhaps the most controversial literary figure—of the twentieth century. His approach to literature combines pragmatism with aesthetics and ethical concerns. Burke regards language as symbolic action and perceives the critic's function to be the analysis and interpretation of the symbolic structures embedded in works of art. His eclecticism is demonstrated by his use of the multiple perspectives offered in the works of Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx, and in such fields of study as linguistics, sociology, psychology, and theology. In the essay below, Burke examines the interrelation of themes, symbols, and characterization in Caldwell's work.

Erskine Caldwell's most revealing work is a "sport." I refer to the last story in American Earth, The Sacrilege of Alan Kent. It is divided into three sections...