Michael Martone- The History of Corn (January 1991)

Martone draws upon post office murals of the 1930s and 40s to discuss methods of enriching the periphery of action in stories through details of setting and time. Citing the polarities of these narrative artworks–their aims to be both democratic and artistic, idealistic but realistically relevant, traditional yet contemporary–Martone describes similar convergences in short fiction, which must both establish its “ground situation” and convey the layered effects of changed relationships.