The Chicago Renaissance has long been considered a less important literary movement for American modernism than the Harlem Renaissance. The Chicago Renaissance had its origin around the turn of the nineteenth century, from 1890 to 1910, gathered momentum in the 30s, and paved the way for the postmodern and postcolonial development in American literature even since. Yoshinobu Hakutani aims to shed light on this seldom studied, yet pivotal period, by studying some of it’s most influential works and authors, from Theodore Dreiser in the late 1800’s to Richard Wright through the mid 1900’s.