The Jungle at 100: a century of the journalism of reform

It has been just over 100 years since the publication of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, which certainly was a keystone in the arch of American's literature of reform. By means of a reconsideration at the work's centennial, these four essays explore a variety of historical issues: the origins and progress of the reformist impulse in U.S. journalism; the varied literary roots of American journalistic practices; the unresolved tensions between fictive and nonfictive writing; and the historiographic is, sues raised by the recent discovery of an unpublished, significantly longer version of the work. As an inspiration to all muckraking journalists over the years, the seminal position of The Jungle in American letters is matched by few other works. It is hoped these essays will encourage a diverse conversation about the book, its causes, and its effects.