Nobel Prize Laureates in Literature Part 1 - Agnon - Eucken

a~ i~ _~
N
Jlc Zmcricov Icvoissovcc iv Acw Ivglovd,
eolteo by |oel Myerson (l978)
O
Zmcricov Aovclists Sivcc !orld !or II,
eolteo by |effrey Helterman ano Rlch
aro Layman (l978)
P
Zvtcbcllum !ritcrs iv Acw 1orl ovd tlc
Soutl, eolteo by |oel Myerson (l979)
Q
Zmcricov !ritcrs iv Ioris, 1920-19J9,
eolteo by Karen Lane Rooo (l980)
R
Zmcricov Iocts Sivcc !orld !or II, 2 parts,
eolteo by Donalo |. Grelner (l980)
S
Zmcricov Aovclists Sivcc !orld !or II, Scc-
ovd Scrics, eolteo by |ames E. Klbler |r.
(l980)
T
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Zmcricov Dromotists, 2
parts, eolteo by |ohn MacNlcholas (l98l)
U
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Zmcricov Scicvcc-Iictiov
!ritcrs, 2 parts, eolteo by Davlo Cow
art ano Jhomas L. Wymer (l98l)
V
Zmcricov Aovclists, 1910-194, 3 parts,
eolteo by |ames |. Martlne (l98l)
NM
Modcrv ritisl Dromotists, 1900-194, 2
parts, eolteo by Stanley Welntraub (l982)
NN
Zmcricov Humorists, 1600-190, 2 parts,
eolteo by Stanley Jrachtenberg (l982)
NO
Zmcricov Icolists ovd Aoturolists, eolteo
by Donalo Plzer ano Earl N. Harbert
(l982)
NP
ritisl Dromotists Sivcc !orld !or II, 2
parts, eolteo by Stanley Welntraub (l982)
NQ
ritisl Aovclists Sivcc 1960, 2 parts,
eolteo by |ay L. Hallo (l983)
NR
ritisl Aovclists, 19J0-199, 2 parts,
eolteo by Bernaro Olosey (l983)
NS
Jlc cots: Iitcrory olcmiovs iv Iostwor
Zmcrico, 2 parts, eolteo by Ann Char
ters (l983)
NT
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Zmcricov Historiovs,
eolteo by Clyoe N. Wllson (l983)
NU
ictoriov Aovclists Zftcr 166, eolteo by
Ira B. Naoel ano Wllllam E. Ireoeman
(l983)
NV
ritisl Iocts, 1660-1914, eolteo by
Donalo E. Stanforo (l983)
OM
ritisl Iocts, 1914-194, eolteo by
Donalo E. Stanforo (l983)
ON
ictoriov Aovclists cforc 166, eolteo by
Ira B. Naoel ano Wllllam E. Ireoeman
(l983)
OO
Zmcricov !ritcrs for Clildrcv, 1900-1960,
eolteo by |ohn Cech (l983)
OP
Zmcricov Acwspopcr ourvolists, 167J-
1900, eolteo by Perry |. Ashley (l983)
OQ
Zmcricov Coloviol !ritcrs, 1606-17J4,
eolteo by Emory Elllott (l981)
OR
Zmcricov Acwspopcr ourvolists, 1901-
OS
Zmcricov Scrccvwritcrs, eolteo by Robert
E. Morsberger, Stephen O. Lesser, ano
Ranoall Clark (l981)
OT
Iocts of Crcot ritoiv ovd Irclovd, 194-
1960, eolteo by Vlncent B. Sherry |r.
(l981)
OU
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Zmcricov-cwisl Iictiov
!ritcrs, eolteo by Danlel Waloen (l981)
OV
PM
Zmcricov Historiovs, 1607-166, eolteo
by Clyoe N. Wllson (l981)
PN
Zmcricov Coloviol !ritcrs, 17J-1761,
PO
ictoriov Iocts cforc 160, eolteo by
Wllllam E. Ireoeman ano Ira B. Naoel
(l981)
PP
Zfro-Zmcricov Iictiov !ritcrs Zftcr 19,
eolteo by Jhaolous M. Davls ano
Jruoler Harrls (l981)
PQ
ritisl Aovclists, 1690-1929: Jroditiovol-
ists, eolteo by Jhomas I. Staley (l985)
PR
ictoriov Iocts Zftcr 160, eolteo by Wll
llam E. Ireoeman ano Ira B. Naoel (l985)
PS
ritisl Aovclists, 1690-1929: Modcrvists,
eolteo by Jhomas I. Staley (l985)
PT
Zmcricov !ritcrs of tlc Iorly Icpublic,
PU
Zfro-Zmcricov !ritcrs Zftcr 19: Dromo-
tists ovd Irosc !ritcrs, eolteo by Jhaol
ous M. Davls ano Jruoler Harrls (l985)
PV
ritisl Aovclists, 1660-1600, 2 parts,
eolteo by Martln C. Battestln (l985)
QM
Iocts of Crcot ritoiv ovd Irclovd Sivcc
1960, 2 parts, eolteo by Vlncent B.
Sherry |r. (l985)
QN
Zfro-Zmcricov Iocts Sivcc 19, eolteo by
Jruoler Harrls ano Jhaolous M.
Davls (l985)
QO
Zmcricov !ritcrs for Clildrcv cforc 1900,
eolteo by Glenn E. Estes (l985)
QP
QQ
Zmcricov Scrccvwritcrs, Sccovd Scrics,
eolteo by Ranoall Clark, Robert E.
Morsberger, ano Stephen O. Lesser
(l986)
QR
Zmcricov Iocts, 1660-194, Iirst Scrics,
eolteo by Peter _uartermaln (l986)
QS
Zmcricov Iitcrory Iublislivg Houscs,
1900-1960: Jrodc ovd Iopcrbocl, eolteo
by Peter Dzwonkoskl (l986)
QT
Zmcricov Historiovs, 1666-1912, eolteo
by Clyoe N. Wllson (l986)
QU
Zmcricov Iocts, 1660-194, Sccovd Scrics,
eolteo by Peter _uartermaln (l986)
QV
Zmcricov Iitcrory Iublislivg Houscs,
16J6-1699, 2 parts, eolteo by Peter
Dzwonkoskl (l986)
RM
Zfro-Zmcricov !ritcrs cforc tlc Horlcm
Icvoissovcc, eolteo by Jruoler Harrls
(l986)
RN
Zfro-Zmcricov !ritcrs from tlc Horlcm
Icvoissovcc to 1940, eolteo by Jruoler
Harrls (l987)
RO
Zmcricov !ritcrs for Clildrcv Sivcc 1960:
Iictiov, eolteo by Glenn E. Estes (l986)
RP
Covodiov !ritcrs Sivcc 1960, Iirst Scrics,
eolteo by W. H. New (l986)
RQ
Zmcricov Iocts, 1660-194, Jlird Scrics,
2 parts, eolteo by Peter _uartermaln
(l987)
RR
ictoriov Irosc !ritcrs cforc 1667, eolteo
by Wllllam B. Jheslng (l987)
RS
Ccrmov Iictiov !ritcrs, 1914-194,
eolteo by |ames Haroln (l987)
RT
ictoriov Irosc !ritcrs Zftcr 1667, eolteo
by Wllllam B. Jheslng (l987)
RU
ocobcov ovd Corolivc Dromotists, eolteo
by Ireoson Bowers (l987)
RV
Zmcricov Iitcrory Critics ovd Sclolors,
1600-160, eolteo by |ohn W. Rath
bun ano Monlca M. Grecu (l987)
SM
Covodiov !ritcrs Sivcc 1960, Sccovd
Scrics, eolteo by W. H. New (l987)
SN
Zmcricov !ritcrs for Clildrcv Sivcc 1960:
Iocts, Illustrotors, ovd Aovfictiov Zutlors,
eolteo by Glenn E. Estes (l987)
SO
Iliobctlov Dromotists, eolteo by Ireo
son Bowers (l987)
SP
Modcrv Zmcricov Critics, 1920-19,
eolteo by Gregory S. |ay (l988)
SQ
SR
Ircvcl Aovclists, 1900-19J0, eolteo by
Catharlne Savage Brosman (l988)
SS
Ccrmov Iictiov !ritcrs, 166-191J, 2
parts, eolteo by |ames Haroln (l988)
ST
Modcrv Zmcricov Critics Sivcc 19,
eolteo by Gregory S. |ay (l988)
SU
Covodiov !ritcrs, 1920-199, Iirst
SV
Covtcmporory Ccrmov Iictiov !ritcrs, Iirst
Scrics, eolteo by Wolfgang D. Elfe ano
|ames Haroln (l988)
TM
ritisl Mystcry !ritcrs, 1660-1919,
eolteo by Bernaro Benstock ano
Jhomas I. Staley (l988)
TN
TO
Ircvcl Aovclists, 19J0-1960, eolteo by
TP
Zmcricov Mogoivc ourvolists, 1741-
160, eolteo by Sam G. Rlley (l988)
TQ
Zmcricov Slort-Story !ritcrs cforc 1660,
eolteo by Bobby Ellen Klmbel, wlth
the asslstance of Wllllam E. Grant
(l988)
TR
Covtcmporory Ccrmov Iictiov !ritcrs, Scc-
ovd Scrics, eolteo by Wolfgang D. Elfe
ano |ames Haroln (l988)
TS
Zfro-Zmcricov !ritcrs, 1940-19,
eolteo by Jruoler Harrls (l988)
TT
ritisl Mystcry !ritcrs, 1920-19J9,
eolteo by Bernaro Benstock ano
Jhomas I. Staley (l988)
TU
Zmcricov Slort-Story !ritcrs, 1660-1910,
eolteo by Bobby Ellen Klmbel, wlth
the asslstance of Wllllam E. Grant
(l988)
TV
1900, eolteo by Sam G. Rlley (l988)
UM
Icstorotiov ovd Iigltccvtl-Ccvtury Dromo-
tists, Iirst Scrics, eolteo by Paula R.
Backscheloer (l989)
UN
Zustriov Iictiov !ritcrs, 167-191J,
eolteo by |ames Haroln ano Donalo G.
Davlau (l989)
UO
Clicovo !ritcrs, Iirst Scrics, eolteo by
Iranclsco A. Lomel ano Carl R. Shlr
ley (l989)
UP
Ircvcl Aovclists Sivcc 1960, eolteo by
UQ
tists, Sccovd Scrics, eolteo by Paula R.
Backscheloer (l989)
UR
Zustriov Iictiov !ritcrs Zftcr 1914, eolteo
by |ames Haroln ano Donalo G.
Davlau (l989)
US
Iirst Scrics, eolteo by Bobby Ellen Klm
bel (l989)
UT
ritisl Mystcry ovd Jlrillcr !ritcrs Sivcc
1940, Iirst Scrics, eolteo by Bernaro
Benstock ano Jhomas I. Staley (l989)
UU
Covodiov !ritcrs, 1920-199, Sccovd
UV
tists, Jlird Scrics, eolteo by Paula R.
Backscheloer (l989)
VM
Ccrmov !ritcrs iv tlc Zgc of Coctlc, 1769-
16J2, eolteo by |ames Haroln ano
Chrlstoph E. Schweltzer (l989)
VN
1960, Iirst Scrics, eolteo by Sam G.
Rlley (l990)
VO
Covodiov !ritcrs, 1690-1920, eolteo by
W. H. New (l990)
VP
ritisl Iomovtic Iocts, 1769-16J2, Iirst
Scrics, eolteo by |ohn R. Greenflelo
(l990)
VQ
Ccrmov !ritcrs iv tlc Zgc of Coctlc: Sturm
uvd Drovg to Clossicism, eolteo by |ames
Haroln ano Chrlstoph E. Schweltzer
(l990)
VR
Iigltccvtl-Ccvtury ritisl Iocts, Iirst
Scrics, eolteo by |ohn Sltter (l990)
VS
ritisl Iomovtic Iocts, 1769-16J2, Sccovd
Scrics, eolteo by |ohn R. Greenflelo
(l990)
VT
Ccrmov !ritcrs from tlc Ivligltcvmcvt to
Sturm uvd Drovg, 1720-1764, eolteo by
|ames Haroln ano Chrlstoph E.
Schweltzer (l990)
VU
Modcrv ritisl Issoyists, Iirst Scrics,
eolteo by Robert Beum (l990)
VV
Covodiov !ritcrs cforc 1690, eolteo by
W. H. New (l990)
NMM
Modcrv ritisl Issoyists, Sccovd Scrics,
eolteo by Robert Beum (l990)
NMN
ritisl Irosc !ritcrs, 1660-1600, Iirst
Scrics, eolteo by Donalo J. Slebert
(l99l)
NMO
Sccovd Scrics, eolteo by Bobby Ellen
Klmbel (l99l)
NMP
Zmcricov Iitcrory iogroplcrs, Iirst Scrics,
eolteo by Steven Serafln (l99l)
NMQ
ritisl Irosc !ritcrs, 1660-1600, Sccovd
Scrics, eolteo by Donalo J. Slebert
(l99l)
NMR
Zmcricov Iocts Sivcc !orld !or II, Sccovd
Scrics, eolteo by R. S. Gwynn (l99l)
NMS
ritisl Iitcrory Iublislivg Houscs, 1620-
1660, eolteo by Patrlcla |. Anoerson
ano |onathan Rose (l99l)
NMT
ritisl Iomovtic Irosc !ritcrs, 1769-
16J2, Iirst Scrics, eolteo by |ohn R.
Greenflelo (l99l)
NMU
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Spovisl Iocts, Iirst
Scrics, eolteo by Mlchael L. Perna
(l99l)
NMV
Iigltccvtl-Ccvtury ritisl Iocts, Sccovd
Scrics, eolteo by |ohn Sltter (l99l)
NNM
ritisl Iomovtic Irosc !ritcrs, 1769-
16J2, Sccovd Scrics, eolteo by |ohn R.
Greenflelo (l99l)
NNN
Zmcricov Iitcrory iogroplcrs, Sccovd
Scrics, eolteo by Steven Serafln (l99l)
NNO
ritisl Iitcrory Iublislivg Houscs, 1661-
196, eolteo by |onathan Rose ano
Patrlcla |. Anoerson (l99l)
NNP
Modcrv Iotiv-Zmcricov Iictiov !ritcrs,
Iirst Scrics, eolteo by Wllllam Luls (l992)
NNQ
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Itoliov Iocts, Iirst Scrics,
eolteo by Glovanna Weoel De Staslo,
Glauco Cambon, ano Antonlo Illlano
(l992)
NNR
Mcdicvol Ililosoplcrs, eolteo by |eremlah
Hackett (l992)
NNS
ritisl Iomovtic Aovclists, 1769-16J2,
eolteo by Braoforo K. Muoge (l992)
NNT
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Coribbcov ovd locl
Zfricov !ritcrs, Iirst Scrics, eolteo by
Bernth Llnofors ano Relnharo Sanoer
(l992)
NNU
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Ccrmov Dromotists, 1669-
1916, eolteo by Wolfgang D. Elfe ano
|ames Haroln (l992)
NNV
Aivctccvtl-Ccvtury Ircvcl Iictiov !ritcrs:
Iomovticism ovd Icolism, 1600-1660,
eolteo by Catharlne Savage Brosman
(l992)
NOM
Zmcricov Iocts Sivcc !orld !or II, Jlird
Scrics, eolteo by R. S. Gwynn (l992)
NON
Scvcvtccvtl-Ccvtury ritisl Aovdromotic
Iocts, Iirst Scrics, eolteo by M. Jhomas
Hester (l992)
NOO
Clicovo !ritcrs, Sccovd Scrics, eolteo by
ley (l992)
NOP
Aivctccvtl-Ccvtury Ircvcl Iictiov !ritcrs:
Aoturolism ovd cyovd, 1660-1900,
eolteo by Catharlne Savage Brosman
(l992)
NOQ
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Ccrmov Dromotists,
1919-1992, eolteo by Wolfgang D.
Elfe ano |ames Haroln (l992)
NOR
Zfricov !ritcrs, Sccovd Scrics, eolteo by
(l993)
NOS
Scvcvtccvtl-Ccvtury ritisl Aovdromotic
Iocts, Sccovd Scrics, eolteo by M.
Jhomas Hester (l993)
NOT
Zmcricov Acwspopcr Iublislcrs, 190-
NOU
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Itoliov Iocts, Sccovd
Scrics, eolteo by Glovanna Weoel De
Staslo, Glauco Cambon, ano Antonlo
Illlano (l993)
NOV
Aivctccvtl-Ccvtury Ccrmov !ritcrs, 1641-
1900, eolteo by |ames Haroln ano
Slegfrleo Mews (l993)
NPM
Zmcricov Slort-Story !ritcrs Sivcc !orld
!or II, eolteo by Patrlck Meanor (l993)
NPN
Scvcvtccvtl-Ccvtury ritisl Aovdromotic Iocts,
Jlird Scrics, eolteo by M. Jhomas Hes
ter (l993)
NPO
Sixtccvtl-Ccvtury ritisl Aovdromotic !rit-
crs, Iirst Scrics, eolteo by Davlo A. Rlch
aroson (l993)
NPP
Aivctccvtl-Ccvtury Ccrmov !ritcrs to 1640,
eolteo by |ames Haroln ano Slegfrleo
Mews (l993)
NPQ
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Spovisl Iocts, Sccovd
Scrics, eolteo by |erry Phllllps Wlnflelo
(l991)
NPR
ritisl Slort-Iictiov !ritcrs, 1660-1914:
Jlc Icolist Jroditiov, eolteo by Wllllam
B. Jheslng (l991)
NPS
crs, Sccovd Scrics, eolteo by Davlo A.
Rlcharoson (l991)
NPT
1960, Sccovd Scrics, eolteo by Sam G.
Rlley (l991)
NPU
Ccrmov !ritcrs ovd !orls of tlc Higl
Middlc Zgcs: 1170-1260, eolteo by
|ames Haroln ano Wlll Hasty (l991)
NPV
ritisl Slort-Iictiov !ritcrs, 194-1960,
eolteo by Dean Balowln (l991)
NQM
Zmcricov ool-Collcctors ovd ibliogro-
plcrs, Iirst Scrics, eolteo by |oseph
Rosenblum (l991)
NQN
ritisl Clildrcv`s !ritcrs, 1660-1914,
eolteo by Laura M. Zaloman (l991)
NQO
Iigltccvtl-Ccvtury ritisl Iitcrory iogro-
plcrs, eolteo by Steven Serafln (l991)
NQP
Jlird Scrics, eolteo by |ames R. Glles
ano Wanoa H. Glles (l991)
NQQ
Aivctccvtl-Ccvtury ritisl Iitcrory iogro-
NQR
Modcrv Iotiv-Zmcricov Iictiov !ritcrs, Scc-
ovd Scrics, eolteo by Wllllam Luls ano
Ann Gonzlez (l991)
NQS
Uld ovd Middlc Ivglisl Iitcroturc, eolteo
by |effrey Helterman ano |erome
Mltchell (l991)
NQT
Soutl Slovic !ritcrs cforc !orld !or II,
eolteo by Vasa D. Mlhallovlch (l991)
NQU
Ccrmov !ritcrs ovd !orls of tlc Iorly
Middlc Zgcs: 600-1170, eolteo by Wlll
Hasty ano |ames Haroln (l991)
NQV
Iotc Aivctccvtl- ovd Iorly Jwcvtictl-
Ccvtury ritisl Iitcrory iogroplcrs, eolteo
by Steven Serafln (l995)
NRM
Iorly Modcrv Iussiov !ritcrs, Iotc Scvcv-
tccvtl ovd Iigltccvtl Ccvturics, eolteo by
Marcus C. Levltt (l995)
NRN
ritisl Irosc !ritcrs of tlc Iorly Scvcvtccvtl
Ccvtury, eolteo by Clayton D. Leln
(l995)
NRO
Iourtl Scrics, eolteo by |ames R. Glles
NRP
Iotc-ictoriov ovd Idwordiov ritisl Aovcl-
ists, Iirst Scrics, eolteo by George M.
|ohnson (l995)
NRQ
Jlc ritisl Iitcrory ool Jrodc, 1700-
1620, eolteo by |ames K. Bracken ano
|oel Sllver (l995)
NRR
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury ritisl Iitcrory iogro-
NRS
ritisl Slort-Iictiov !ritcrs, 1660-1914:
Jlc Iomovtic Jroditiov, eolteo by Wll
llam I. Naufftus (l995)
NRT
Zfricov !ritcrs, Jlird Scrics, eolteo by
(l995)
NRU
ritisl Icform !ritcrs, 1769-16J2,
eolteo by Gary Kelly ano Eoo Apple
gate (l995)
NRV
eolteo by |ohn R. Greenflelo (l996)
NSM
eolteo by Donalo R. Hettlnga ano
Gary D. Schmlot (l996)
NSN
ritisl Clildrcv`s !ritcrs Sivcc 1960, Iirst
Scrics, eolteo by Carollne Hunt (l996)
NSO
eolteo by |ohn H. Rogers (l996)
NSP
eolteo by Meena Khorana (l996)
NSQ
Ccrmov oroquc !ritcrs, 160-1660,
NSR
Zmcricov Iocts Sivcc !orld !or II, Iourtl
Scrics, eolteo by |oseph Conte (l996)
NSS
ritisl Jrovcl !ritcrs, 16J7-167, eolteo
by Barbara Brothers ano |ulla Gerglts
(l996)
NST
crs, Jlird Scrics, eolteo by Davlo A.
Rlcharoson (l996)
NSU
Ccrmov oroquc !ritcrs, 1661-17J0,
NSV
Zmcricov Iocts Sivcc !orld !or II, Iiftl
NTM
Jlc ritisl Iitcrory ool Jrodc, 147-
1700, eolteo by |ames K. Bracken ano
|oel Sllver (l996)
NTN
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Zmcricov Sportswritcrs,
eolteo by Rlcharo Orooenker (l996)
NTO
crs, Iourtl Scrics, eolteo by Davlo A.
Rlcharoson (l996)
NTP
Iiftl Scrics, eolteo by |ames R. Glles
NTQ
ritisl Jrovcl !ritcrs, 1676-1909, eolteo
(l997)
NTR
Aotivc Zmcricov !ritcrs of tlc Uvitcd
Stotcs, eolteo by Kenneth M. Roemer
(l997)
NTS
Zvcicvt Crccl Zutlors, eolteo by Waro
W. Brlggs (l997)
NTT
Itoliov Aovclists Sivcc !orld !or II, 194-
196, eolteo by Augustus Pallotta
(l997)
NTU
ritisl Iovtosy ovd Scicvcc-Iictiov !ritcrs
cforc !orld !or I, eolteo by Darren
HarrlsIaln (l997)
NTV
Ccrmov !ritcrs of tlc Icvoissovcc ovd Icf-
ormotiov, 1260-160, eolteo by |ames
Haroln ano Max Relnhart (l997)
NUM
opovcsc Iictiov !ritcrs, 1666-194,
eolteo by Van C. Gessel (l997)
NUN
Soutl Slovic !ritcrs Sivcc !orld !or II,
eolteo by Vasa D. Mlhallovlch (l997)
NUO
opovcsc Iictiov !ritcrs Sivcc !orld !or
II, eolteo by Van C. Gessel (l997)
NUP
Zmcricov Jrovcl !ritcrs, 1776-1664,
eolteo by |ames |. Schramer ano
Donalo Ross (l997)
NUQ
Aivctccvtl-Ccvtury ritisl ool-Collcctors
ovd ibliogroplcrs, eolteo by Wllllam
Baker ano Kenneth Womack (l997)
NUR
Zmcricov Iitcrory ourvolists, 194-199,
Iirst Scrics, eolteo by Arthur |. Kaul
(l998)
NUS
Aivctccvtl-Ccvtury Zmcricov !cstcrv !rit-
crs, eolteo by Robert L. Gale (l998)
NUT
Zmcricov ool Collcctors ovd ibliogro-
plcrs, Sccovd Scrics, eolteo by |oseph
Rosenblum (l998)
NUU
Zmcricov ool ovd Mogoivc Illustrotors to
1920, eolteo by Steven E. Smlth,
Catherlne A. Hasteot, ano Donalo H.
Dyal (l998)
NUV
Zmcricov Jrovcl !ritcrs, 160-191,
eolteo by Donalo Ross ano |ames |.
Schramer (l998)
NVM
ritisl Icform !ritcrs, 16J2-1914,
eolteo by Gary Kelly ano Eoo Apple
gate (l998)
NVN
ritisl Aovclists ctwccv tlc !ors, eolteo
by George M. |ohnson (l998)
NVO
Ircvcl Dromotists, 1769-1914, eolteo by
Barbara J. Cooper (l998)
NVP
Zmcricov Iocts Sivcc !orld !or II, Sixtl
NVQ
ritisl Aovclists Sivcc 1960, Sccovd Scrics,
eolteo by Merrltt Moseley (l998)
NVR
ritisl Jrovcl !ritcrs, 1910-19J9, eolteo
(l998)
NVS
Itoliov Aovclists Sivcc !orld !or II, 196-
199, eolteo by Augustus Pallotta
(l999)
NVT
Iotc-ictoriov ovd Idwordiov ritisl Aovcl-
ists, Sccovd Scrics, eolteo by George M.
|ohnson (l999)
NVU
Iussiov Iitcroturc iv tlc Zgc of Iuslliv ovd
Cogol: Irosc, eolteo by Chrlstlne A.
Ryoel (l999)
NVV
ictoriov !omcv Iocts, eolteo by Wllllam
B. Jheslng (l999)
OMM
Zmcricov !omcv Irosc !ritcrs to 1620,
eolteo by Carla |. Mulforo, wlth
Angela Vletto ano Amy E. Wlnans
(l999)
OMN
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury ritisl ool Collcctors
ovd ibliogroplcrs, eolteo by Wllllam
OMO
Aivctccvtl-Ccvtury Zmcricov Iictiov !ritcrs,
eolteo by Kent P. Ljungqulst (l999)
OMP
Mcdicvol opovcsc !ritcrs, eolteo by
Steven D. Carter (l999)
OMQ
ritisl Jrovcl !ritcrs, 1940-1997, eolteo
by Barbara Brothers ano |ulla M. Ger
glts (l999)
OMR
Iussiov Iitcroturc iv tlc Zgc of Iuslliv ovd
Cogol: Ioctry ovd Dromo, eolteo by
Chrlstlne A. Ryoel (l999)
OMS
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Zmcricov !cstcrv !rit-
crs, Iirst Scrics, eolteo by Rlcharo H.
Cracroft (l999)
OMT
ritisl Aovclists Sivcc 1960, Jlird Scrics,
eolteo by Merrltt Moseley (l999)
OMU
Iitcroturc of tlc Ircvcl ovd Uccitov Middlc
Zgcs: Ilcvcvtl to Iiftccvtl Ccvturics, eolteo
by Deborah SlnnrelchLevl ano Ian S.
Laurle (l999)
OMV
Clicovo !ritcrs, Jlird Scrics, eolteo by
ley (l999)
ONM
Irvcst Hcmivgwoy: Z Documcvtory ol-
umc, eolteo by Robert W. Jrogoon
(l999)
ONN
Zvcicvt Iomov !ritcrs, eolteo by Waro
W. Brlggs (l999)
ONO
crs, Sccovd Scrics, eolteo by Rlcharo H.
Cracroft (l999)
ONP
Irc-Aivctccvtl-Ccvtury ritisl ool Collcc-
tors ovd ibliogroplcrs, eolteo by Wllllam
ONQ
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Dovisl !ritcrs, eolteo
by Marlanne StecherHansen (l999)
ONR
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Iostcrv Iuropcov !rit-
crs, Iirst Scrics, eolteo by Steven Serafln
(l999)
ONS
ritisl Iocts of tlc Crcot !or: roolc,
Ioscvbcrg, Jlomos. Z Documcvtory olumc,
eolteo by Patrlck _ulnn (2000)
ONT
Aivctccvtl-Ccvtury Ircvcl Iocts, eolteo by
Robert Beum (2000)
ONU
!or II, Sccovd Scrics, eolteo by Patrlck
Meanor ano Gwen Crane (2000)
ONV
I. Scott Iitgcrold`s Jhe Great Gatsby. Z
Documcvtory olumc, eolteo by Matthew
|. Bruccoll (2000)
OOM
crs, Sccovd Scrics, eolteo by Steven Sera
fln (2000)
OON
Zmcricov !omcv Irosc !ritcrs, 1670-
1920, eolteo by Sharon M. Harrls,
wlth the asslstance of Helol L. M.
|acobs ano |ennlfer Putzl (2000)
OOO
H. I. Mcvclcv: Z Documcvtory olumc,
eolteo by Rlcharo |. Schraoer (2000)
OOP
Sccovd Scrics, eolteo by Wesley J. Mott
(2000)
OOQ
!olt !litmov: Z Documcvtory olumc,
eolteo by |oel Myerson (2000)
OOR
Soutl Zfricov !ritcrs, eolteo by Paul A.
Scanlon (2000)
OOS
Zmcricov Hord-oilcd Crimc !ritcrs,
eolteo by George Parker Anoerson
ano |ulle B. Anoerson (2000)
OOT
Sixtl Scrics, eolteo by |ames R. Glles
ano Wanoa H. Glles (2000)
OOU
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Zmcricov Dromotists,
Sccovd Scrics, eolteo by Chrlstopher |.
Wheatley (2000)
OOV
Jlomos !olfc: Z Documcvtory olumc,
eolteo by Jeo Mltchell (200l)
OPM
Zustroliov Iitcroturc, 1766-1914, eolteo
by Sellna Samuels (200l)
OPN
ritisl Aovclists Sivcc 1960, Iourtl Scrics,
eolteo by Merrltt Moseley (200l)
OPO
crs, Jlird Scrics, eolteo by Steven Sera
fln (200l)
OPP
ritisl ovd Irisl Dromotists Sivcc !orld
!or II, Sccovd Scrics, eolteo by |ohn Bull
(200l)
OPQ
!or II, Jlird Scrics, eolteo by Patrlck
Meanor ano Rlcharo E. Lee (200l)
OPR
Jlird Scrics, eolteo by Wesley J. Mott
(200l)
OPS
ritisl Ilctoriciovs ovd Iogiciovs, 100-
1660, eolteo by Eowaro A. Malone
(200l)
OPT
Jlc cots: Z Documcvtory olumc, eolteo
by Matt Jheaoo (200l)
OPU
Iussiov Aovclists iv tlc Zgc of Jolstoy ovd
Dostocvsly, eolteo by |. Alexanoer
Ogoen ano |uolth E. Kalb (200l)
OPV
Zmcricov !omcv Irosc !ritcrs: 1620-
1670, eolteo by Amy E. Huoock ano
Katharlne Rooler (200l)
OQM
Iotc Aivctccvtl- ovd Iorly Jwcvtictl-
Ccvtury ritisl !omcv Iocts, eolteo by
Wllllam B. Jheslng (200l)
OQN
Zmcricov Sportswritcrs ovd !ritcrs ov
Sport, eolteo by Rlcharo Orooenker
(200l)
OQO
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Iuropcov Culturol Jlco-
rists, Iirst Scrics, eolteo by Paul Hansom
(200l)
OQP
Iourtl Scrics, eolteo by Wesley J. Mott
(200l)
OQQ
!or II, Iourtl Scrics, eolteo by Patrlck
Meanor ano |oseph McNlcholas (200l)
OQR
!or II, Jlird Scrics, eolteo by |ohn Bull
(200l)
OQS
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Zmcricov Culturol Jlco-
rists, eolteo by Paul Hansom (200l)
OQT
omcs oycc: Z Documcvtory olumc,
eolteo by A. Nlcholas Iargnoll (200l)
OQU
Zvtcbcllum !ritcrs iv tlc Soutl, Sccovd
Scrics, eolteo by Kent Ljungqulst (200l)
OQV
Jlird Scrics, eolteo by Chrlstopher
Wheatley (2002)
ORM
Zvtcbcllum !ritcrs iv Acw 1orl, Sccovd
Scrics, eolteo by Kent Ljungqulst (2002)
ORN
Covodiov Iovtosy ovd Scicvcc-Iictiov !rit-
crs, eolteo by Douglas Ivlson (2002)
ORO
ritisl Ililosoplcrs, 100-1799, eolteo
by Phlllp B. Demattels ano Peter S.
Iosl (2002)
ORP
Ioymovd Clovdlcr: Z Documcvtory olumc,
eolteo by Robert Moss (2002)
ORQ
Jlc Housc of Iutvom, 16J7-1672: Z Doc-
umcvtory olumc, eolteo by Ezra Green
span (2002)
ORR
ritisl Iovtosy ovd Scicvcc-Iictiov !ritcrs,
1916-1960, eolteo by Darren Harrls
Ialn (2002)
ORS
crs, Jlird Scrics, eolteo by Rlcharo H.
Cracroft (2002)
ORT
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Swcdisl !ritcrs Zftcr
!orld !or II, eolteo by AnnCharlotte
Gavel Aoams (2002)
ORU
Modcrv Ircvcl Iocts, eolteo by |ean
Iranols Leroux (2002)
ORV
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Swcdisl !ritcrs cforc
!orld !or II, eolteo by AnnCharlotte
Gavel Aoams (2002)
OSM
Zustroliov !ritcrs, 191-190, eolteo by
Sellna Samuels (2002)
OSN
ritisl Iovtosy ovd Scicvcc-Iictiov !ritcrs
Sivcc 1960, eolteo by Darren Harrls
Ialn (2002)
OSO
ritisl Ililosoplcrs, 1600-2000, eolteo
by Peter S. Iosl ano Leemon B. McHenry
(2002)
OSP
!illiom Slolcspcorc: Z Documcvtory ol-
umc, eolteo by Catherlne Loomls (2002)
OSQ
Itoliov Irosc !ritcrs, 1900-194, eolteo
by Luca Somlgll ano Rocco Capozzl
(2002)
OSR
Zmcricov Sovg Iyricists, 1920-1960, eolteo
by Phlllp Iurla (2002)
OSS
Iourtl Scrics, eolteo by Chrlstopher |.
Wheatley (2002)
OST
Jwcvty-Iirst-Ccvtury ritisl ovd Irisl Aov-
clists, eolteo by Mlchael R. Mollno (2002)
OSU
Scvcvtccvtl-Ccvtury Ircvcl !ritcrs, eolteo
by Iranolse |aoun (2002)
OSV
Aotlovicl Howtlorvc: Z Documcvtory ol-
umc, eolteo by Benjamln Iranklln V (2002)
OTM
Zmcricov Ililosoplcrs cforc 190, eolteo
by Phlllp B. Demattels ano Leemon B.
McHenry (2002)
OTN
ritisl ovd Irisl Aovclists Sivcc 1960,
eolteo by Merrltt Moseley (2002)
OTO
Iussiov Irosc !ritcrs ctwccv tlc !orld
!ors, eolteo by Chrlstlne Ryoel (2003)
OTP
I. Scott Iitgcrold`s Jenoer Is the Nlght.
Z Documcvtory olumc, eolteo by Matthew
|. Bruccoll ano George Parker Anoerson
(2003)
OTQ
olv Dos Iossos`s L.S.A.. Z Documcvtory
olumc, eolteo by Donalo Plzer (2003)
OTR
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Zmcricov Aoturc !rit-
crs: Irosc, eolteo by Roger Jhompson
ano |. Scott Bryson (2003)
OTS
ritisl Mystcry ovd Jlrillcr !ritcrs Sivcc 1960,
eolteo by Glna Macoonalo (2003)
OTT
Iussiov Iitcroturc iv tlc Zgc of Icolism, eolteo
by Alyssa Dlnega Glllesple (2003)
OTU
Zmcricov Aovclists Sivcc !orld !or II, Scvcvtl
Scrics, eolteo by |ames R. Glles ano
Wanoa H. Glles (2003)
OTV
Zmcricov Ililosoplcrs, 190-2000, eolteo by
Phlllp B. Demattels ano Leemon B.
McHenry (2003)
OUM
Doslicll Hommctt`s Jhe Maltese Ialcon.
Z Documcvtory olumc, eolteo by Rlch
aro Layman (2003)
OUN
ritisl Ilctoriciovs ovd Iogiciovs, 100-
1660, Sccovd Scrics, eolteo by Eowaro
A. Malone (2003)
OUO
Acw Iormolist Iocts, eolteo by |onathan
N. Barron ano Bruce Meyer (2003)
OUP
Modcrv Spovisl Zmcricov Iocts, Iirst Scrics,
eolteo by Mara A. Salgaoo (2003)
OUQ
Jlc Housc of Holt, 1666-1946: Z Docu-
mcvtory olumc, eolteo by Ellen D. Gll
bert (2003)
OUR
Iussiov !ritcrs Sivcc 1960,
j~~ _~~ ~ j~ i
EOMMQF
OUS
Costiliov !ritcrs, 1400-100,
c~ ^K a ~ d aK
d~ EOMMQF
OUT
Iortugucsc !ritcrs, j~
o ~ c jK `~ EOMMQF
OUU
Jlc Housc of ovi c Iivcriglt, 1917-
19JJ: Z Documcvtory olumc,
`~ b EOMMQF
OUV
Zustroliov !ritcrs, 190-197,
p~ p~ EOMMQF
OVM
Modcrv Spovisl Zmcricov Iocts, Sccovd
Scrics, j~~ ^K p~~ EOMMQF
OVN
Jlc Hoosicr Housc: obbs-Mcrrill ovd Its
Ircdcccssors, 160-196: Z Documcvtory
olumc, o~ gK p~
EOMMQF
OVO
Jwcvty-Iirst-Ccvtury Zmcricov Aovclists,
i~ ^ ~ p~
aJd EOMMQF
OVP
Icclovdic !ritcrs, m~ gK
p EOMMQF
OVQ
omcs Could Cocvs: Z Documcvtory ol-
umc, j~ gK _
EOMMQF
OVR
Iussiov !ritcrs of tlc Silvcr Zgc, 1690-
192, g bK h~ ~ gK
^~ l ~~J
fK dK s EOMMQF
OVS
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Iuropcov Culturol Jlco-
rists, Sccovd Scrics, m~ e~J
EOMMQF
OVT
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Aorwcgiov !ritcrs,
q~~ q EOMMQF
OVU
Hcvry Dovid Jlorcou: Z Documcvtory ol-
umc, o~ gK p
EOMMQF
OVV
Holocoust Aovclists, b~
p EOMMQF
PMM
Dovisl !ritcrs from tlc Icformotiov to Dcc-
odcvcc, 10-1900, j~~
pJe~ EOMMQF
PMN
Custovc Iloubcrt: Z Documcvtory olumc,
i `~ EOMMQF
PMO
Iussiov Irosc !ritcrs Zftcr !orld !or II,
` o EOMMQF
PMP
Zmcricov Iodicol ovd Icform !ritcrs, Iirst
Scrics, p o~
EOMMRF
PMQ
rom Stolcr`s a~~W Z Documcvtory
olumc, b~ j
EOMMRF
PMR
Iotiv Zmcricov Dromotists, Iirst Scrics,
^~ s EOMMRF
PMS
Zmcricov Mystcry ovd Dctcctivc !ritcrs,
d m~ ^
EOMMRF
PMT
roiliov !ritcrs, j~ oJ
~ c jK `~ EOMMRF
PMU
Irvcst Hcmivgwoy`s ^ c~ ^W
Z Documcvtory olumc, `~
l EOMMRF
PMV
olv Stcivbccl: Z Documcvtory olumc,
i i EOMMRF
PNM
!or II, Iourtl Scrics, g _
EOMMRF
PNN
Zrobic Iitcrory Culturc, 00-92,
j~ ` ~ p~~
jK q~~ EOMMRF
PNO
Zsiov Zmcricov !ritcrs, aJ
~ iK j~ EOMMRF
PNP
!ritcrs of tlc Ircvcl Ivligltcvmcvt, I,
p~~ fK p EOMMRF
PNQ
!ritcrs of tlc Ircvcl Ivligltcvmcvt, II,
p~~ fK p EOMMRF
PNR
Iovgstov Huglcs: Z Documcvtory olumc,
` `K a p~
EOMMRF
PNS
Zmcricov Irosc !ritcrs of !orld !or I: Z
Documcvtory olumc, p
q EOMMRF
PNT
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Iussiov Imigrc !ritcrs,
j~~ o EOMMRF
PNU
Sixtccvtl-Ccvtury Spovisl !ritcrs,
d _K h~~ EOMMSF
PNV
ritisl ovd Irisl Slort-Iictiov !ritcrs
194-2000, ` ^J
~ j~ ~ a~ j~
EOMMSF
POM
Iobcrt Icvv !orrcv: Z Documcvtory ol-
umc, g~ ^K d~ gK
EOMMSF
PON
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Ircvcl Dromotists,
j~ ^ lk EOMMSF
POO
Jwcvtictl-Ccvtury Spovisl Iictiov !ritcrs,
j~~ bK ^ ~ `~
j~J`~~ EOMMSF
POP
Soutl Zsiov !ritcrs iv Ivglisl,
c~ ^~ EOMMSF
POQ
olv U`Horo: Z Documcvtory olumc,
j~ gK _ EOMMSF
POR
Zustroliov !ritcrs, 197-2000,
p~ p~ EOMMSF
POS
oolcr Iric Aovcls, 1969-200,
j j EOMMSF
POT
Sixtccvtl-Ccvtury Ircvcl !ritcrs,
j~ `~ EOMMSF
POU
Clivcsc Iictiov !ritcrs, 1900-1949,
q~ j~ EOMMTF
POV
Aobcl Iric Iourcotcs iv Iitcroturc, Iort 1:
Zgvov-Iuclcv EOMMTF
a~ i~ _~ a~ p
N
Slcrwood Zvdcrsov, !illo Cotlcr, olv
Dos Iossos, Jlcodorc Drciscr, I. Scott
Iitgcrold, Irvcst Hcmivgwoy, Sivcloir
Icwis, j~~ ^K s~
^ ENVUOF
O
omcs Could Cocvs, omcs J. Iorrcll,
!illiom Ioullvcr, olv U`Horo, olv
Stcivbccl, Jlomos !olfc, Iiclord !riglt,
j~~ ^K s~ ^
ENVUOF
P
Soul cllow, ocl Icrouoc, Aormov
Moilcr, lodimir Aobolov, olv Updilc,
Iurt ovvcgut, j~ _J
ENVUPF
Q
Jcvvcsscc !illioms, j~~ ^K
s~ ^ ~ p~ g ENVUQF
R
Zmcricov Jrovsccvdcvtolists,
g j ENVUUF
S
Hordboilcd Mystcry !ritcrs: Ioymovd
Clovdlcr, Doslicll Hommctt, Ioss Moc-
dovold, j~ gK _
~ o~ i~~ ENVUVF
T
Modcrv Zmcricov Iocts: omcs Diclcy,
Iobcrt Irost, Moriovvc Moorc,
h~ iK o ENVUVF
U
Jlc locl Zcstlctic Movcmcvt,
g i a ENVVNF
V
Zmcricov !ritcrs of tlc ictvom !or: !. D.
Ilrlort, Iorry Hcivcmovv, Jim U`ricv,
!oltcr McDovold, olv M. Dcl ccclio,
o~ _~~ ENVVNF
NM
Jlc loomsbury Croup,
b~ iK _ ENVVOF
NN
Zmcricov Irolctoriov Culturc: Jlc Jwcv-
tics ovd Jlc Jlirtics, g
`~ p ENVVPF
NO
Soutlcrv !omcv !ritcrs: Ilovvcry U`Cov-
vor, Iotlcrivc Zvvc Iortcr, Iudoro !clty,
j~ ^ t~ ~
h~ iK o ENVVQF
NP
Jlc Housc of Scribvcr, 1646-1904,
g a~ ENVVSF
NQ
Iour !omcv !ritcrs for Clildrcv, 1666-
1916, `~ `K e ENVVSF
NR
Zmcricov Ixpotriotc !ritcrs: Ioris iv tlc
Jwcvtics, j~ gK _J
~ o tK q ENVVTF
NS
Jlc Housc of Scribvcr, 190-19J0,
g a~ ENVVTF
NT
Jlc Housc of Scribvcr, 19J1-1964,
g a~ ENVVUF
NU
ritisl Iocts of Jlc Crcot !or: Sossoov,
Crovcs, Uwcv, m~ n
ENVVVF
NV
omcs Diclcy, g pK
_~~ ENVVVF
p ~ ai_ ONMI ONSI ONVI OOOI OOQI
OOVI OPTI OQTI ORPI ORQI OSPI OSVI
OTPI OTQI OUMI OUQI OUUI OVNI OVQI
OVUI PMNI PMQI PMUI PMVI PNRI PNSI
POMI POQ
a~ i~ _~ v~
NVUM
eolteo by Karen L. Rooo, |ean W.
Ross, ano Rlcharo Zlegfelo (l98l)
NVUN
eolteo by Karen L. Rooo, |ean W.
Ross, ano Rlcharo Zlegfelo (l982)
NVUO
eolteo by Rlcharo Zlegfelo; asso
clate eoltors. |ean W. Ross ano
Lynne C. Zelgler (l983)
NVUP
eolteo by Mary Bruccoll ano |ean
W. Ross; assoclate eoltor Rlcharo
Zlegfelo (l981)
NVUQ
eolteo by |ean W. Ross (l985)
NVUR
eolteo by |ean W. Ross (l986)
NVUS
eolteo by |. M. Brook (l987)
NVUT
NVUU
NVUV
NVVM
eolteo by |ames W. Hlpp (l99l)
NVVN
eolteo by |ames W. Hlpp (l992)
NVVO
eolteo by |ames W. Hlpp (l993)
NVVP
eolteo by |ames W. Hlpp, contrlb
utlng eoltor George Garrett (l991)
NVVQ
NVVR
NVVS
eolteo by Samuel W. Bruce ano L.
Kay Webster, contrlbutlng eoltor
George Garrett (l997)
NVVT
eolteo by Matthew |. Bruccoll ano
George Garrett, wlth the assls
tance of L. Kay Webster (l998)
NVVU
eolteo by Matthew |. Bruccoll,
contrlbutlng eoltor George Gar
rett, wlth the asslstance of D. W.
Jhomas (l999)
NVVV
rett, wlth the asslstance of D. W.
Jhomas (2000)
OMMM
rett, wlth the asslstance of George
Parker Anoerson (200l)
OMMN
rett, wlth the asslstance of George
Parker Anoerson (2002)
OMMO
eolteo by Matthew |. Bruccoll ano
George Garrett; George Parker
Anoerson, Asslstant Eoltor (2003)
` p
` a~ ^~ i~ _~I 7 volumes (l988-l999). Jlc Acw
Covsciousvcss, 1941-1966; Coloviotiov to tlc Zmcricov Icvoissovcc, 1640-166; Icolism, Aoturol-
ism, ovd Iocol Color, 166-1917; Jlc Jwcvtics, 1917-1929; Jlc Zgc of Moturity, 1929-1941;
roodcvivg icws, 1966-1966; Supplcmcvt: Modcrv !ritcrs, 1900-1996.
` a~ _ i~ _~I 8 volumes (l99l-l992). !ritcrs
of tlc Middlc Zgcs ovd Icvoissovcc cforc 1660; !ritcrs of tlc Icstorotiov ovd Iigltccvtl Ccv-
tury, 1660-1769; !ritcrs of tlc Iomovtic Icriod, 1769-16J2; ictoriov !ritcrs, 16J2-
1690; Iotc-ictoriov ovd Idwordiov !ritcrs, 1690-1914; Modcrv !ritcrs, 1914-194;
!ritcrs Zftcr !orld !or II, 194-1960; Covtcmporory !ritcrs, 1960 to Ircscvt.
` a~ t i~ _~I 1 volumes (l999-2000). Zvcicvt
Crccl ovd Iomov !ritcrs; Ccrmov !ritcrs; Zfricov, Coribbcov, ovd Iotiv Zmcricov !ritcrs; Soutl
Slovic ovd Iostcrv Iuropcov !ritcrs.
a~ i~ _~

s q e qJk

k m i~~ i~I
m~ NW ^b
a~ i~ _~

s q e qJk

k m i~~ i~I
m~ NW ^b
^ _ `~ i~~ _
Dictionary of Literary Biography
Volume 329: Nobel Prize Laureates in Literature,
Part 1: AgnonEucken
Advisory Board
John Baker
William Cagle
Patrick OConnor
George Garrett
Trudier Harris
Alvin Kernan
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Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Nobel prize laureates in literature.
v. cm. (Dictionary of literary biography ; v. 329-)
"A Bruccoli Clark Layman book."
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 9780787681470
ISBN-10: 0787681474 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Literature, Modern20th centuryBio-bibliographyDictionaries.
2. Literature, Modern21st centuryBio-bibliographyDictionaries.
3. Nobel Prizes. 1. Thomson Gale (Firm)
PN171.P75N58 2006
809.04dc22
[B]
2006018605
`
m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K
f K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K
Iorl uclcr
p v ^ ENUUTNVTMF K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K P
Dvir Zbromovicl
NVSS k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NR
by Zvdcrs stcrlivg, Mcmbcr of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy
^W _~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NS
s ^~ ENUVUNVUQF K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NV
Sovtiogo Doyd-Tolsov
NVTT k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OV
by Dr. Iorl Iogvor Cicrow, of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy (Trovslotiov from tlc Swcdisl)
^~W _~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K PM
m o~W q k m i~ NVTT K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K PN
^~W k iI NO a NVTT K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K PP
f ^ ENUVONVTRF K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K PS
!oso D. Miloilovicl
NVSN k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K QR
by Zvdcrs stcrlivg, Icrmovcvt Sccrctory of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy
^W _~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K QT
j ^~ ENUVVNVTQF K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K QV
Urolio Ircblc-ìcmi
NVST k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K SN
by Zvdcrs stcrlivg, Icrmovcvt Sccrctory of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy
^~W _~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K SO
^~W k iI NO a NVST K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K SQ
p~ _ ENVMSNVUVF K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K SV
uliov Z. Corfortl
NVSV k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K UT
` ai_ POV
p~ _ ENVNROMMRF K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K UV
Icitl M. Updoll
NVTS k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NMP
_W _~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NMR
_W k iI NO a NVTS K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NMS
g~ _~ ENUSSNVRQF K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NNN
Movtscrrot Zls-ruv
NVOO k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NOQ
by Icr Hollstrm, Cloirmov of tlc òbcl Committcc of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy
_~W _~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NOS
e _ ENURVNVQNF K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NOT
Ililip . Dcmottcis
NVOT k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NQN
by Icr Hollstrm, Ircsidcvt of tlc òbcl Committcc of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy
_W _~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NQP
_ _ ENUPONVNMF K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NQQ
Hovs H. Slci
NVMP k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NRP
by C. D. of !irscv, Icrmovcvt Sccrctory of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy
_W _~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NRQ
e _ ENVNTNVURF K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NRS
Icivlord I. oclou
_W ^~~ p~ K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NTP
NVTO k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NTP
by Dr. Iorl Iogvor Cicrow, Icrmovcvt Sccrctory of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy (Trovslotiov from tlc Swcdisl)
_W _~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NTQ
_W k iI O j~ NVTP K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NTT
g _ Ef ^~ _F ENVQMNVVSF K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K NUQ
Zlysso Divcgo Cillcspic
NVUT k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OMO
by Irofcssor Sturc Zllcv, of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy (Trovslotiov from tlc Swcdisl)
_W _~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OMP
m o~W q k m i~ NVUT K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OMQ
_W k iI U a NVUTK K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OMR
m~ pK _ ENUVONVTPF K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K ONM
Trocy Simmovs itovti
NVPU k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OON
by Icr Hollstrm, Icrmovcvt Sccrctory of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy
_W _~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OOQ
_W k iI NO a NVPU K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OOS
ai_ POV `
f~ _ ENUTMNVRPF K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OPR
g~ tK `
_W ^~~ p~ K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OQS
NVPP k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OQS
m e~I m~ p~ p ^~
_W _~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OQV
^ `~ ENVNPNVSMF K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K ORM
`~~ p~~ _~
NVRT k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OST
^ I m~ p~ p ^~
`~W _~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OSU
b~ `~ ENVMRNVVQF K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OTN
q~ eK c~ ~ a~~ `K dK i
NVUN k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OUP
aK g~ bI p ^~ Eq~~ pF
`~W _~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OUQ
d `~ ENUPRNVMTF K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OUS
q~ bK m
NVMS k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K OVV
`K aK ~ tI m~ p~ p ^~
`~ g `~ ENVNSOMMOF K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K PMP
i `K `~
NVUV k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K PNU
m h Î p ^~ Eq~~ pF
`~W _~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K PNV
m o~W q k m i~ NVUV K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K PNV
`~W k iI U a NVUV K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K PON
p t ` ENUTQNVSRF K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K POT
i~ h~
NVRP k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K PQO
p pI j p ^~
`W _~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K PQQ
gK jK ` ENVQM F K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K PQS
j~ j~~ ~ j j
OMMP k m i~ m~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K PSP
m t p ^~ Eq~~ pF
`W _~ p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K PSQ
m o~W q k m i~ OMMP K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K PSR
`W k iI T a OMMP K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K PSS
xlv
` ai_ POV
d~~ a~ ENUTNNVPSF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
p~~ i~~ ~ bK ^ j~
Deledda. Autoblographlcal Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38l
l926 Nobel Prlze ln Llterature Presentatlon Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
e pI m k c~
g b~~ ENUPONVNSF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
g _K jf
`K aK ~ tI m~ p~ p ^~
qK pK b ENUUUNVSRF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
g p~ _
l918 Nobel Prlze ln Llterature Presentatlon Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1l8
^ I m~ p~ p ^~
Ellot. Banquet Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
l b ENVNNNVVSF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
j~ m
aK h~ o~~ dI p ^~ Eq~~ pF
Elytls. Banquet Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Press Release. Jhe Nobel Prlze ln Llterature l979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
bW k iI U a NVTV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
o b ENUQSNVOSF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
r a~
e~~ eI a p ^~
bW k iI OT j~ NVMV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Nobel Laureates ln Llterature, l90l-2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16l
Contrlbutors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
xv
m~ p
. . . Zlmost tlc most prodigious ossct of o couvtry, ovd pcr-
lops its most prccious posscssiov, is its votivc litcrory product
wlcv tlot product is fivc ovd voblc ovd cvdurivg.
Mark Jwaln*
Jhe advlsory board, the edltors, and the pub
llsher of the Dictiovory of Iitcrory iogroply are jolned ln
endorslng Mark Jwaln`s declaratlon. Jhe llterature of a
natlon provldes an lnexhaustlble resource of permanent
worth. Our purpose ls to make llterature and lts cre
ators better understood and more accesslble to students
and the readlng publlc, whlle satlsfylng the needs of
teachers and researchers.
Jo meet these requlrements, litcrory biogroply has
been construed ln terms of the author`s achlevement.
Jhe most lmportant thlng about a wrlter ls hls wrltlng.
Accordlngly, the entrles ln DI are career blographles,
traclng the development of the author`s canon and the
evolutlon of hls reputatlon.
Jhe purpose of DI ls not only to provlde rell
able lnformatlon ln a usable format but also to place the
flgures ln the larger perspectlve of llterary hlstory and
to offer appralsals of thelr accompllshments by quallfled
scholars.
Jhe publlcatlon plan for DI resulted from two
years of preparatlon. Jhe project was proposed to Bruc
coll Clark by Irederlck G. Ruffner, presldent of the
Gale Research Company, ln November l975. After
speclmen entrles were prepared and typeset, an advl
sory board was formed to reflne the entry format and
develop the serles ratlonale. In meetlngs held durlng
l976, the publlsher, serles edltors, and advlsory board
approved the scheme for a comprehenslve blographlcal
dlctlonary of persons who contrlbuted to llterature. Edl
torlal work on the flrst volume began ln |anuary l977,
and lt was publlshed ln l978. In order to make DI
more than a dlctlonary and to complle volumes that
lndlvldually have clalm to status as llterary hlstory, lt
was declded to organlze volumes by toplc, perlod, or
genre. Each of these freestandlng volumes provldes a
blographlcalblbllographlcal gulde and overvlew for a
partlcular area of llterature. We are convlnced that thls
organlzatlonas opposed to a slngle alphabet method
constltutes a valuable lnnovatlon ln the presentatlon of
reference materlal. Jhe volume plan necessarlly
requlres many declslons for the placement and treat
ment of authors. Certaln flgures wlll be lncluded ln sep
arate volumes, but wlth dlfferent entrles emphaslzlng
the aspect of hls career approprlate to each volume.
Ernest Hemlngway, for example, ls represented ln Zmcr-
icov !ritcrs iv Ioris, 1920-19J9 by an entry focuslng on
hls expatrlate apprentlceshlp; he ls also ln Zmcricov òv-
clists, 1910-194 wlth an entry surveylng hls entlre
career, as well as ln Zmcricov Slort-Story !ritcrs, 1910-
194, Sccovd Scrics wlth an entry concentratlng on hls
short flctlon. Each volume lncludes a cumulatlve lndex
of the subject authors and artlcles.
Between l98l and 2002 the serles was aug
mented and updated by the DI Jcorbools. Jhere have
also been nlneteen DI Documcvtory Scrics volumes,
whlch provlde lllustratlons, facslmlles, and blographlcal
and crltlcal source materlals for flgures, works, or
groups judged to have partlcular lnterest for students.
In l999 the Documcvtory Scrics was lncorporated lnto the
DI volume numberlng system beglnnlng wlth DI
210: Irvcst Hcmivgwoy.
We deflne llterature as the ivtcllcctuol commcrcc of o
votiov: not merely as belles lettres but as that ample and
complex process by whlch ldeas are generated, shaped,
and transmltted. DI entrles are not llmlted to 'cre
atlve wrlters" but extend to other flgures who ln thelr
tlme and ln thelr way lnfluenced the mlnd of a people.
Jhus the serles encompasses hlstorlans, journallsts,
publlshers, book collectors, and screenwrlters. By thls
means readers of DI may be alded to percelve lltera
ture not as cult scrlpture ln the keeplng of lntellectual
hlgh prlests but flrmly posltloned at the center of a
natlon`s llfe.
DI lncludes the major wrlters approprlate to
each volume and those standlng ln the ranks behlnd
them. Scholarly and crltlcal counsel has been sought ln
decldlng whlch mlnor flgures to lnclude and how full
thelr entrles should be. Wherever posslble, useful refer
*Irom ov uvpublislcd scctiov of Morl Twoiv`s outobiog-
roply, copyriglt by tlc Morl Twoiv Compovy
xvl
m~ p ai_ POV
ences are made to flgures who do not warrant separate
entrles.
Each ai_ volume has an expert volume edltor
responslble for plannlng the volume, selectlng the flg
ures for lncluslon, and asslgnlng the entrles. Volume
edltors are also responslble for preparlng, where appro
prlate, appendlces surveylng the major perlodlcals and
llterary and lntellectual movements for thelr volumes,
as well as llsts of further readlngs. Work on the serles as
a whole ls coordlnated at the Bruccoll Clark Layman
edltorlal center ln Columbla, South Carollna, where the
edltorlal staff ls responslble for accuracy and utlllty of
the publlshed volumes.
One feature that dlstlngulshes ai_ ls the lllustra
tlon pollcylts concern wlth the lconography of lltera
ture. |ust as an author ls lnfluenced by hls surroundlngs,
so ls the reader`s understandlng of the author enhanced
by a knowledge of hls envlronment. Jherefore ai_
volumes lnclude not only drawlngs, palntlngs, and pho
tographs of authors, often deplctlng them at varlous
stages ln thelr careers, but also lllustratlons of thelr fam
llles and places where they llved. Jltle pages are regu
larly reproduced ln facslmlle along wlth dust jackets for
modern authors. Jhe dust jackets are a speclal feature
of ai_ because they often document better than any
thlng else the way ln whlch an author`s work was per
celved ln lts own tlme. Speclmens of the wrlters`
manuscrlpts and letters are lncluded when feaslble.
Samuel |ohnson rlghtly decreed that 'Jhe chlef
glory of every people arlses from lts authors." Jhe pur
pose of the a~ i~ _~ ls to complle llt
erary hlstory ln the surest way avallable to usby
accurate and comprehenslve treatment of the llves and
work of those who contrlbuted to lt.
Jhe ai_ Advlsory Board
xvll
f
m~ _
r p `~~I p
On l0 December l896, Alfred Nobellnventor,
manufacturer, and amateur authordled ln Parls followlng
a masslve cerebral hemorrhage. He left behlnd nelther
wldow nor chlldren, few famlly helrs, and even fewer close
frlends. He had spent hls adult llfe as an expatrlate, seldom
returnlng to hls natlve Sweden. Jhrough the manufacture
and marketlng of hls own lnventlons (partlcularly the mlx
lng of nltroglycerln wlth slllca to form a malleable paste
called dynamlte) Nobel had amassed a fortune of 33 mll
llon Swedlsh krona (SEK), whlch translates to $9 mllllon ln
l900, and $200 mllllon ln 2005.
Lnllke many other selfmade mllllonalres of the nlne
teenth century, Nobel had not attempted to offset class
resentment agalnst hls fortune, or to alter hls lmage of
'death merchant," wlth acts of ostentatlous phllanthropy.
He avolded publlclty. Jhe eccentrlc mllllonalre rarely
allowed hlmself to be photographed, cltlng hls 'hogbrlstled
beard" and 'unredeemed ugllness." Nobel lntended hls
charltable endowment to be formed from the bulk of hls
estate and establlshed posthumously. Wrltten wlthout legal
advlce, Nobel`s wlll created what became the world`s most
celebratedand remuneratlveannual awards for lndlvld
ual achlevement ln the flelds of sclence, llterature, and
world peace.
Aslde from grantlng several small legacles, the wlll
stlpulates.
Wlth the resldue of my convertlble estate I hereby dlrect
my executors to proceed as follows. Jhey shall convert
my sald resldue of property lnto money, whlch they shall
then lnvest ln safe securltles; the capltal thus secured shall
constltute a fund, the lnterest accrulng from whlch shall be
annually awarded ln prlzes to those persons who shall
have contrlbuted most materlally to beneflt manklnd dur
lng the year lmmedlately precedlng. Jhe sald lnterest shall
be dlvlded lnto flve equal amounts, to be apportloned as
follows. one share to the person who shall have made the
most lmportant dlscovery or lnventlon ln the domaln of
physlcs; one share to the person who shall have made the
most lmportant chemlcal dlscovery or lmprovement; one
share to the person who shall have made the most lmpor
tant dlscovery ln the domaln of physlology or medlclne;
one share to the person who shall have produced ln the
fleld of llterature the most dlstlngulshed work of an ldealls
tlc tendency; and, flnally, one share to the person who
shall have most or best promoted the fraternlty of natlons
and the abolltlon or dlmlnutlon of standlng armles and
the formatlon or lncrease of peace congresses. Jhe prlzes
for physlcs and chemlstry shall be awarded by the Swed
lsh Academy of Sclence ln Stockholm, the one for physlol
ogy or medlclne by the Carollne Medlcal Instltute ln
Stockholm; the prlze for llterature by the Swedlsh Acad
emy ln Stockholm, and that for peace by a commlttee of
flve persons to be elected by the Norweglan Storthlng. I
declare lt to be my express deslre that, ln awardlng these
prlzes, no conslderatlon whatever be pald to the natlonal
lty of the candldates, that ls to say, the most deservlng be
awarded the prlze, whether of Scandlnavlan orlgln or not.
Jhe wlll generated great controversy among potentlal helrs
and governments. Irance clalmed Nobel as a cltlzen and
therefore wanted to tax the estate. In order for the award to
be establlshed, the respectlve organlzatlons llsted ln the wlll
had to agree to accept Nobel`s glft and the responslblllty of
admlnlsterlng lt. Jhe Swedlsh and soontobelndependent
Norweglan governments formed the Nobel Ioundatlon to
admlnlster the estate and make the requlred lnvestments.
Jhe separate socletles were left to lnterpret Nobel`s amblg
uous dlrectlves accordlng to thelr own preconceptlons and
ldeologles.
In a prevlous wlll Nobel had left part of hls estate to
establlsh prlzes for sclentlflc advancement and peace, but
not llterature. Emblttered by buslness reverses and law
sults ln the latter part of hls llfe, Nobel wrote poetry and a
phllosophlcal prose tragedy, k. Composed shortly
before hls death and heavlly lnfluenced by Percy Bysshe
Shelley`s q ` (l8l9), the play was prlnted whlle the
author suffered from hls flnal lllness. After Nobel`s death,
hls famlly attempted to destroy the entlre prlnted edltlon,
because they feared the amateur play would harm hls rep
utatlon as a prlzeglver; but three coples survlved. Jhe her
olne of kI Beatrlce Cencl, advances one of Nobel`s
themes. 'Jhe lyrlcs of our wonderful poets became for me
entranclng and consollng echoes of the splrltual world of
feellng and thought." Jhls late lnterest ln llterary composl
tlon and lts role ln soclety may have prompted Nobel to
revlse hls wlll.
xvlll
f ai_ POV
Lnllke the objectlve flelds of physlcs, chemlstry, or
medlclneln whlch reasonable observers can generally
agree on the sclentlflc breakthroughs or dlscoverles that
merlt recognltlonllterature ls an art form dependent on a
common language and culture, and lt defles qualltatlve dls
tlnctlons. In namlng the Swedlsh Academy (unschooled ln
lnternatlonal llterary trends) as the arblter of the llterary
prlze, Nobel lnadvertently lnsured a bureaucratlc and lll
lnformed selectlon process ln whlch ldeallstlc merltocratlc
prlnclples fell prey to compromlse and pettlness and too
often resulted ln medlocre cholces. A few tlmes the Swed
lsh Academy has successfully fulfllled Nobel`s wlshes ln
honorlng the dlstlngulshed creators of recent masterpleces.
Wllllam Butler Yeats (l923), George Bernard Shaw
(l925), and Eugene O`Nelll (l936). Ernest Hemlngway,
who should have been recognlzed followlng the publlca
tlon of ^ c~ ^ (l929) or c t _ q
(l910), dld not recelve thls award untll l951, after the pub
llcatlon of the mlnor novella q l j~ ~ p~
(l952). Slmllarly, J. S. Ellot dld not recelve hls award untll
l918, twentyslx years after publlcatlon of q t~ i~
(l922). Jhe reasons for an author`s selectlon often have
stemmed not from 'dlstlngulshed work" beneflclal to man
klnd, but rather from lnternal prejudlces, and from exter
nal geopolltlcal and cultural concerns.
t k m o~ f~
If the prlze for llterature routlnely rewards con
troverslal or nondeservlng authors, why does lt con
tlnue to hold the world`s attentlon? Jhe nonwlnners
who enjoyed strong lnternatlonal reputatlons durlng
thelr llfetlmes (lncludlng Leo Jolstoy, Mark Jwaln,
Henrlk Ibsen, |ames |oyce, Jheodore Drelser, Gra
ham Greene, Robert Irost, and Vladlmlr Nabokov)
are often more lmpresslve than the actual laureates.
Aslde from the fact that the world`s medla feeds on
controversy, three reasons may explaln the contlnued
relevance of the award.
jK Jhe Nobel Prlze cash awardcalled 'dyna
mlte money" by Amerlcan novellsts (and nonwlnners)
|ohn O`Hara and Kurt Vonnegutoften relleves the
wlnner of economlc pressures, especlally when com
blned wlth the subsequent worldwlde boost ln book
sales. As outllned by Nobel`s wlll, the wlnner or wln
ners ln each category share equally each year ln the
lnterest accrued by the Ioundatlon`s lnvestments. Jhe
flrst wlnners ln l90l recelved l50,782 SEK or
$10,000, roughly equlvalent to $800,000 ln twenty
flrstcentury dollars. Jhe cash amounts decreased for
the flrst twenty years of the prlze. In l923 the Acad
emy awarded the lowest amount ln lts hlstory.
ll1,935 SEK, or $30,000. Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon
recelved taxexempt status ln l916 from Sweden and
ln l953 from the Lnlted States, whlch allowed the
endowment lncome to lncrease greatly. By the early
l970s each award brought more than $l00,000;
through years of profltable lnvestments by the Nobel
Ioundatlon, the award reached almost a mllllon dol
lars by l990. Jhe 2001 wlnner, Austrlan author Elf
rlede |ellnek, recelved ten mllllon SEK or $l.28
mllllon. See Jable A.
vbô tfkkbo pbh A
l907 Rudyard Klpllng l38,796 10,000
l923 Wllllam Butler Yeats ll1,935 30,000
l930 Slnclalr Lewls l72,917 16,000
l918 J. S. Ellot l59,773 32,000
l951 Ernest Hemlngway l90,2l1 35,000
l961 |eanPaul Sartre (refused) 273,000 53,000
l970 Aleksandr Solzhenltsyn 100,000 77,000
l976 Saul Bellow 68l,000 l80,000
l992 Derek Walcott 6,500,000 l,200,000
l993 Jonl Morrlson 6,700,000 880,000
l999 Gnter Grass 7,900,000 960,000
2005 Harold Plnter l0,000,000 l,276,000
q~ ^W p~ ~ ~ ~ k ~
xlx
ai_ POV f
Slnce lts lnceptlon and throughout lts hlstory, the
Nobel Prlze has offered the largest cash award of any
llterary prlze. Jhe establlshed Amerlcan llterary prlzes
offer a small fractlon of the Nobel payout. the PEN/
Iaulkner Award ($l5,000), the Natlonal Book Award
($l0,000), and the Pulltzer Prlze ($l0,000). In the Brlt
lsh Isles, prlzewlnnlng authors do slgnlflcantly better.
the Brltlsh Man Booker Prlze pays 50,000 ($86,000),
and the IMPAC Dublln Llterary Award, a relatlve new
comer to the fleld, pays l00,000 ($ll8,500).
In addltlon to a check, the laureate recelves a cer
tlflcate and a gold medal bearlng the portralt of Alfred
Nobel. Slnce l96l every wlnner has also been com
memorated on a serles of Swedlsh postage stamps. Jhe
Academy usually requlres that the reclplent attend
the ceremony ln Stockholm to recelve the money
prlze (lt wlll mall the gold medal and certlflcate) but
has made allowances for lllness. Although Shaw dld
not accept hls prlze ln person, the Academy dld agree
to the playwrlght`s request that the money be used to
establlsh the AngloSwedlsh Llterary Ioundatlon to
flnance the publlcatlon of Engllsh translatlons of classlc
Swedlsh llterature, partlcularly the works of Shaw`s
favorlte Swedlsh authorand nonNobel Prlze wlnner
August Strlndberg. A hlghly successful author at age
slxtynlne, Shaw explalned to the Nobel judges that
'Jhe money ls a llfebelt thrown to a swlmmer who has
already reached the shore ln safety!"
d~ pK Most llterary prlzes are restrlcted to spe
clflc natlonalltles or languages. But Nobel`s wlll dlrected
that 'no conslderatlon whatever be pald to the natlonal
lty of the candldates." Wlth lts flrst selectlon, the Acad
emy dellberately chose an author from a non
Scandlnavlan country (Irench poet Sully Prudhomme),
so that the prlze would not be percelved as a Scandlna
vlan award. In l9l3, Indlan poet Rablndranath Jagore
became the flrst nonEuropean to wln the prlze (the flrst
Amerlcan dld not wln untll seventeen years later, when
Slnclalr Lewls recelved the award). Although wlnners
lnclude authors from every contlnent other than Ant
arctlca, 75 percent of laureates have been from Europe
(l3 percent from Irance). Jhe Lnlted States has the
second hlghest percentage of wlnners at l0 percent.
Even when the Academy selects a nonEuropean, the
reclplent often wrltes ln a European language
(Jagore translated hls poems from hls natlve Bengall
lnto Engllsh). Iour Afrlcans have recelved the prlze.
Wole Soylnka (Nlgerla, l986), Nagulb Mahfouz
(Egypt, l988), Nadlne Gordlmer (South Afrlca,
l99l), and |. M. Coetzee (South Afrlca, 2003). But
only one, Mahfouz, wrote ln a language natlve to
Afrlcathe other three composed ln Engllsh. In recent
decades the Academy has trled to broaden lts scope to
lnclude nonEuropeanlanguage authors, such as Chl
nese novellst and playwrlght Gao Xlngjlan, who was
selected ln 2000.
m ^~K In a commerclal culture, some
of the prestlge of the prlze obvlously emanates from the
amount of the monetary award, but the Nobel Prlze ln
Llterature achleves a great deal of cachet by lts assocla
tlon wlth the other Nobel awards. Each December, the
wlnner ln Llterature recelves the award on the same
stage as that year`s wlnners ln Medlclne, Physlcs,
Chemlstry, Economlcs (added ln l969), and World
Peace. Nobel`s wlll characterlzes these wlnners as hav
lng contrlbuted 'most materlally to beneflt manklnd."
Llnklng llterature to the sclences and peace argues that
the wrltten word fulfllls an ennobllng good for human
lty analogous to flndlng the cure for a dlsease or endlng
a war. It also argues for llterature as clvlllzatlon`s most
'beneflclal" art form. Jhe prlze places a poet, play
wrlght, or novellst on the same level as Albert Elnsteln
and Martln Luther Klng |r. Jhe wlnner also shares ln
the glory of past reclplents ln Llterature as the new
member of an excluslve club of genluses.
A Nobel Prlze can do more than provlde another
award to an already recognlzed genlus. lts prestlge and
global notorlety can also revlve the career of a neglected
or forgotten author. Ior the rest of the reclplent`s llfe,
the mentlon of hls or her name ls usually preceded by
the phrase 'Nobel Prlze-wlnnlng author." Jhe l919
award to Wllllam Iaulkner slmultaneously resurrected
and cemented the novellst`s llterary reputatlon.
Although hls work was popular ln Europeespeclally
IranceIaulkner`s Amerlcan reputatlon had waned,
and many of hls books had gone out of prlnt. After hls
Nobel Prlze, other awards followed. In l95l he
recelved the Natlonal Book Award (for ` p
t~ c~I l950) and the Irench Leglon of Honor.
In l955 he recelved the Pulltzer Prlze (hls flrst) and
another Natlonal Book Award for hls l951 novel, ^
c~K
e m f ^
Nobel speclflcally charged the Swedlsh Academy
ln Stockholm to select the prlze for llterature. Jhe
Swedlsh Academy was founded on the model of the
Irench Academy to work for the 'purlty, vlgor, and
majesty" of the Swedlsh language; thelr maln purpose
now ls overseelng the Nobel process. It ls made up of
elghteen Swedlsh cltlzens who serve llfetlme appolnt
ments and select thelr own successors, subject to
approval by the klng of Sweden. Members ln l900 were
prlmarlly mlnor academlcs and government offlclals.
Jhe current makeup lncludes more than elght authors
as well as llngulsts, llterary scholars, and hlstorlans.
Once elected, a member may not reslgn, but may refuse
xx
f ai_ POV
to attend meetlngs or vote. One Academy member pub
llcly 'reslgned" ln protest over the l983 award to Brlt
lsh novellst Wllllam Goldlng. In l989 two other
members slmllarly wlthdrew ln protest agalnst the
Academy`s refusal to denounce Iran`s call for the execu
tlon of Brltlsh novellst Salman Rushdle.
Jhe Swedlsh statutes that created the Nobel
Ioundatlon ln l900 lnstltuted procedural guldellnes for
awardlng the prlzes. As per Nobel`s wlll, the Swedlsh
Academy awards the prlze for llterature deflned as 'not
only bellelettres, but also other wrltlngs whlch, by vlr
tue of thelr form and style, possess llterary value."
Jhe publlc percelves the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature
as a llfetlme achlevement award for the author`s career,
but Nobel`s wlll speclfles that the reclplent be the
author of a 'dlstlngulshed work" produced 'durlng the
year lmmedlately precedlng." Jhe statute modlfles
Nobel`s stlpulatlon to lnclude 'older works only lf thelr
slgnlflcance has not become apparent untll recently."
Jhe Swedlsh Academy has largely lgnored Nobel`s
dlrectlve to honor a slngle work produced ln the preced
lng year throughout the hlstory of the award. Jhe
Academy regularly slngles out a speclflc book or work
ln lts selectlon ratlonale even though the wlnnlng
author may have wrltten the 'masterwork" many years
prevlously. Jhe Academy drew partlcular attentlon, for
example, to Lewls`s _~ (l922), to l962 wlnner
Stelnbeck`s q d~ t~ (l939), to l969 wlnner
Samuel Beckett`s b ~~ d (l952; translated by
Beckett as t~ dI l951), and to l999 wlnner
Grass`s q q a (l959) as the prlmary justlflcatlon
for thelr authors` recognltlon. In the presentatlon
speech for 2005 wlnner Harold Plnter, the Academy
mentloned only four plays. q a t~ (l957), q
_~ m~ (l957), q e (l958), and j~
i~~ (l988).
Jhe Academy can suspend awardlng the prlze lf
no nomlnated author matches lts crlterla, but must
name a wlnner at least every flve years. (Jhe Nobel
Ioundatlon suspended grantlng awards durlng parts of
World Wars I and II). Each prlzeglvlng academy must
select a three to flvemember nomlnatlng commlttee of
lts own members, charged wlth maklng a flnal recom
mendatlon to lts respectlve academy. Jhe statutes leave
up to each academy the crlterla by whlch nomlnatlons
are made. Jhe commlttee`s dellberatlons and reports
are held confldentlal.
Accordlng to Swedlsh law, the rlght to nomlnate
shall be enjoyed by.
l. Members of the Swedlsh Academy and of other
academles, lnstltutlons and socletles whlch are slmllar
to lt ln constructlon and purpose;
2. Professors of llterature and of llngulstlcs at unlversl
tles and unlverslty colleges;
3. Prevlous Nobel Prlze Laureates ln Llterature;
1. Presldents of those socletles of authors that are repre
sentatlve of the llterary productlon ln thelr respectlve
countrles.
Posthumous nomlnatlons are not allowed. Jhe Acad
emy recelves an average of two hundred llteraryprlze
nomlnatlons each year by the l Iebruary deadllne. Jhe
Academy`s Nobel commlttee makes a recommendatlon
to the full Academy membershlp for an October vote.
Ior most of the hlstory of the prlze, the commlttee
made a slngle recommendatlon. Slnce the l970s, every
commlttee member prepares a report and advances a
few candldates, allowlng the Academy members a
sllghtly larger cholce than a slngle recommendatlon by
the commlttee. By the end of May, the Academy has
whlttled down the commlttee`s suggestlons to flve flnal
lsts, allowlng the summer for members to revlew the
candldates` work. Jo wln, a nomlnee must recelve more
than half of the votes cast. Slnce the nomlnatlng com
mlttee fllters proposals and makes recommendatlons to
the Academy for approval, thls small group has hlstorl
cally held conslderablesome crltlcs have charged dls
proportlonatepower and lnfluence.
A flrsttlme nomlnee can no longer wln the
award, but rather must be the veteran of earller noml
natlon processes. Jhe Academy lnstltuted thls conven
tlon after the controverslal cholce of Amerlcan novellst
Pearl S. Buck ln l938. She had been nomlnated ln Sep
tember of that year by senlor Academy member Dr.
Sven Hedln, who was the Academy`s sole Aslan author
lty (and whose Amerlcan publlsher was Buck`s hus
band). Some crltlcs belleved that the full Academy dld
not take tlme to glve her due conslderatlon but selected
her ln deference to Hedln.
e m c~ ^ f m
Jhe weakness of the selectlon process for the
Nobel Prlze ln Llterature lles ln lts rellance on the secre
tlve commlttee structure of an elghteenmember
natlonal academy. Commlttees may be an effectlve
method to select wlnners ln the sclences, but the assess
ment of an aesthetlc actlvlty ls lnherently subjectlve.
Jhe Academy`s lnsularlty also llmlts the selectlon pro
cess. Jhe phllosophles and personal prejudlces of the
members unavoldably affect thelr declslon. Jhe two
greatest Scandlnavlan wrlters of the late nlneteenth cen
turyIbsen and Strlndbergwere both denled member
shlp and Nobel Prlzes by the Academy. (Although
Norweglan, Ibsen was ellglble for membershlp ln the
xxl
ai_ POV f
Swedlsh Academy untll l905, when Norway became
lndependent from Sweden.)
A commlttee also breeds compromlse. After Euro
pean crltlcs expressed outrage over the flrst two less
thanstellar laureates (Sully Prudhomme and German
hlstorlan Jheodor Mommsen), the Academy felt exter
nal pressure to honor Ibsen. But C. D. af Wlrsn, the
permanent secretary of the Academy and chalrman of
the nomlnatlng commlttee, forcefully opposed Ibsen`s
nomlnatlon as contrary to Nobel`s lntentlon to honor
work of an 'ldeallstlc tendency." Jhe culturally conser
vatlve Wlrsn dlstrusted Ibsen`s soclal crltlclsm ln such
works as d (l88l) and ^ b m (l882).
Desplte the secretary`s opposltlon, many members stlll
wlshed to recognlze the newly lndependent Norway
and hoped to dlffuse Wlrsn`s objectlons by palrlng
Ibsen wlth another Norweglan playwrlght, Bjrnstjerne
Bjrnson. Wlrsn dlsmlssed the proposal as polltlcal
grandstandlng. Bjrnson recelved the award ln l903;
Ibsen dled ln l906.
Commlttees also llke balance, or at the least, the
appearance of falrness. Although the practlce ls never
publlcly admltted, most observers agree that the Acad
emy makes a hablt of grantlng awards ln reference to
who has won and not won prevlously. Indlvlduals from
the same country or who wrlte ln the same language
rarely wln ln successlon. Jhe Academy wlll put off an
author for later conslderatlon 'to spread the award
around." Deservlng authors often dle before thelr turn
comes. After Stelnbeck won ln l962, O`Hara recog
nlzed he would never wln the award because the Acad
emy would not honor another Amerlcan flctlon wrlter
wlthln hls llfetlme. O`Hara dled ln l970. Jhe next
Amerlcan wlnner was Saul Bellow ln l976.
In dlrect confllct wlth Nobel`s wlll, the Academy
often honors an author`s natlonal herltage rather than
the quallty of hls or her art. Jhe llst of prlzewlnners
suggests an equltable veneer to selectlons ln that every
natlonallty or race wlll eventually get recognltlon, as lf
to answer the questlons 'When wlll lt be Country X`s
turn?" or 'When wlll we have a wlnner from Mlnorlty
Y?" Jhe Academy fulfllls these soclally consclous
requlrements wlth authors lt regards as representatlve
of thelr entlre natlonal or ethnlc llterature. In honorlng
Icelandlc novellst Halldr Laxnessthe flrst and only
Icelander to recelve the prlzethe l955 certlflcate
pralsed hlm for renewlng 'the great narratlve art of Ice
land." Crltlcs labeled the dual award to German poet
Nelly Sachs and Israell novellst Shmuel Yosef Agnon ln
l966 as the '|ewlsh Award" (Pollshborn |ewlsh Amerl
can author Isaac Bashevls Slnger won ln l978.) Jhe
Academy celebrated Agnon for taklng hls 'motlfs from
the llfe of the |ewlsh people" and pralsed Sachs for
lnterpretlng 'Israel`s destlny wlth touchlng strength." In
l988 the Academy attempted cultural balance ln select
lng the Egyptlan Mahfouz and laudlng hlm for formlng
'an Arablan narratlve art that applles to all manklnd."
He remalns the only wlnner from the Arab world.
One aspect ln whlch the Academy obvlously has
not exhlblted balance ls the genre ln whlch an author
wrltes. Almost twothlrds of the laureates have been prl
marlly wrlters of narratlve flctlon, ecllpslng poets and
playwrlghts. Hlstorlans and phllosophers rarely won ln
the flrst halfcentury of the prlze; the last phllosopher to
wln was Bertrand Russell (l950), and the last hlstorlan
Slr Wlnston Churchlll (l953). Jhe reason for thls dom
lnance by flctlon wrlters may be the result of the lan
guage barrler. Jhe Academy conslders the works of
almost all of the nomlnees ln translatlon. Although
many members of the Academy surely read other lan
guages, the avallablllty of good Swedlsh translatlons ls
known to strengthen a nomlnee`s chances. A novel ls
more easlly appreclated ln translatlon than the con
densed lmagery of poetry, and a hlgh degree of theatrl
cal sophlstlcatlon ls requlred to evaluate a play scrlpt
properly. But even novellsts can run lnto dlfflculty. one
of the reasons glven by Nobel hlstorlan Burton Ield
man for the fallure of Amerlcan novellst Henry |ames
to wln ln l9ll over Belglan playwrlght Maurlce
Maeterllnck ls that hls dense prose style dld not trans
late well lnto Swedlsh.
Jhe language barrler ls also glven as a reason for
the domlnance of Europeanlanguage laureates over
Aslan and Afrlcan authors. In defense of the apparent
Eurocentrlsm ln the hlstory of the prlze, Academy
member Artur Lundkvlst wrote an artlcle tltled 'Nobel
prls t vem?" for p~ a~~ (l2 October l977) ln
whlch he deflned the award as a 'Western lnstltutlon"
that 'cannot reasonably be dlstrlbuted on a basls other
than Western evaluatlons." He derlded the llterary out
put of nonEuropean natlons and cultures.
Jhe academy ls often reproached for thus neglectlng
the llteratures of Asla and Afrlca and other 'remote"
parts. But I doubt lf there ls so far very much to flnd
there. It ls a questlon of llteratures that (wlth certaln
exceptlons, partlcularly ln the case of |apan) as far as
can be judged have not achleved that level of develop
ment (artlstlc, psychologlcal, llngulstlc) that can make
them truly slgnlflcant outslde thelr glven context.
Lundkvlst`s controverslal comments expose one of the
major weaknesses of the prlze. the Academy`s small,
homogenous membershlp makes lts selectlons espe
clally vulnerable to the personal prejudlces of lts mem
bers. Lundkvlst (elected ln l968) boasted that Greene
a flnallst ln l967would never wln the Nobel Prlze
whlle Lundkvlst was an Academy member. (Desplte
Lundkvlst`s boast, an Academy member cannot veto a
xxll
f ai_ POV
selectlon.) Lundkvlst malntalned that Greene was too
well known and respected to need the award, as lts pur
pose was to draw 'attentlon to achlevements that have
not been sufflclently regarded and to a hlgh degree
deserve recognltlon." Greene never won the prlze. Both
Lundkvlst and Greene dled ln l99l. A revlew of other
wlnners durlng Lundkvlst`s tenure reveals hls prefer
ence for Spanlshlanguage authors. Lundkvlst champl
oned Chllean poet Pablo Neruda, who became the flrst
South Amerlcan wlnner ln l97l; Lundkvlst was hls
Swedlsh translator. Other Spanlshlanguage laureates
advocated by Lundkvlst lnclude Spanlsh poet Vlcente
Alelxandre (l977), Colomblan novellst Gabrlel Garca
Mrquez (l982), Spanlsh novellst Camllo |os Cela
(l989), and Mexlcan poet and crltlc Octavlo Paz
(l990).
Jen women have won the Nobel Prlze ln Lltera
ture. Only the Peace Prlze has more female wlnners
wlth eleven. Seven women have won for Physlology or
Medlclne, three for Chemlstry, and two for Physlcs (the
flrst woman to wln a Nobel Prlze ln any fleld was Marle
Curle for Physlcs ln l903). In l909 Swedlsh novellst
Selma Lagerlf won the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature, and
her major dlstlnctlon today ls ln belng the flrst female
wlnner ln that category. In selectlng female authors the
Swedlsh Academy followed the same pattern lt had wlth
male wrlters. lt flrst awarded the prlze to a Scandlna
vlan, then other Europeans before chooslng an Amerl
can. After Itallan novellst Grazla Deledda won ln l926
and Norse novellst Slgrld Lndset ln l928, Buck became
the flrst Amerlcan woman to wln the llterary prlze ln
l938. Her award generated much controversy, as many
crltlcs consldered her novels and memolrs set ln Chlna
as not worthy of worldwlde recognltlon. Most Nobel
observers expected Wllla Cather to be the flrst female
Amerlcan wlnner. In l915 Chllean poet Gabrlela Mls
tral became the flrst Latln Amerlcan author to recelve
the prlze. Jhe flrst South Afrlcan author to be honored
was novellst Gordlmer ln l99l. Between l915 and
l99l, the only other female wlnner was Sachs, who
shared the l966 prlze wlth Agnon. In l993, novellst
Jonl Morrlson became the flrst and only Afrlcan Amer
lcan Nobel laureate for llterature. Jwo Eastern Euro
pean women were honored ln recent years. Pollsh poet
Wlsawa Szymborska ln l996 and Austrlan author
|ellnek ln 2001.
After the Peace Prlze, the Nobel Prlze ln Lltera
ture ls the award most tlghtly entangled wlth lnterna
tlonal controversy and geopolltlcal lntrlgue. As wlth
any subjectlve award, the wlnners reflect the attltudes
and anxletles of thelr age. Irlsh poet Yeats won ln l923,
one year after hls country became an lndependent
natlon, for hls poetry that 'glves expresslon to the splrlt
of a whole natlon"; Ilnnlsh novellst Irans Eemll Slllan
p won ln l939 as hls country reslsted the encroach
ment of the Sovlet Lnlon; Amerlcan Bellow won the
same year as the Lnlted States celebrated lts blcenten
nlal; and Pollsh expatrlate poet Czesaw Mlosz won ln
l980 as Pollsh workers struck agalnst thelr Communlst
government.
When Stelnbeck won ln l962, several observers
lncludlng Stelnbeckexpressed dlsmay that he had won
out over such ellglble Amerlcan authors as |ohn Dos
Passos, Irost, and Jennessee Wllllams. One Swedlsh
source later reported that the Nobel judges regarded an
award for the author of q d~ t~ 'at least ln
part, as a soclal gesture ln support of the tormented
South." Jhe Swedlsh Academy had apparently con
flated the Depresslonera hardshlp of whlte mlgrant
workers wlth the clvll rlghts movement of the l950s.
^~ q
After the formatlon of the Nobel Ioundatlon and
the schedullng of awards, most European llterary crltlcs
agreed that the flrst prlze for llterature should go to
Russlan novellst Jolstoy. Hls works were regarded as
the greatest llterary product of nlneteenthcentury
Europe and as exhlbltlng the 'ldeallstlc tendency" that
Nobel prescrlbed for hls awards. Jolstoy`s masterpleces
t~ ~ m~ (l865-l869) and ^~ h~~ (l875-
l877) had appeared more than a quarter century ear
ller; ln l900 he was llvlng as a rural rellglous extremlst,
publlcly denounclng all government and church lnstltu
tlons as ungodly. Secretary Wlrsn lnterpreted Nobel`s
lnjunctlon of 'ldeallsm" rlgldly as a conformlty to tradl
tlonal forms of government, worshlp, and socletal
norms. He could not countenance the award golng to
someone he consldered an anarchlst. Academy apolo
glsts use the excuse that the Russlan author was not
properly nomlnated ln the flrst year of ballotlnga sltu
atlon that was remedled by many nonAcademy noml
nators the next year. But Jolstoy hlmself relleved the
pressure on Wlrsn by statlng ln a letter to supporters
that he was glad not to recelve the prlze and thus could
avold the temptatlon of a cash award that could 'brlng
nothlng but evll."
No such lnternatlonal outcry erupted for the
Academy`s fallure to recognlze Jwaln. Amerlcan lltera
ture was not yet conslderedelther by the Academy or
other European nomlnatlng academleswlthln the
scope of 'dlstlngulshed work."
Wlrsn`s tenure (l90l-l9l2) as the award`s
flrst custodlan ls noteworthy not so much for lts wln
ners as for lts alsorans (Jolstoy, Ibsen, Strlndberg,
|ames). Jhe one wlnner from thls perlod who contln
ues to enjoy popular acclalm ls Brltlsh author
Klpllng, the flrst Engllshlanguage wrlter to recelve
xxlll
ai_ POV f
the award. He represented the Vlctorlan values
Wlrsn hoped to preserve. In hls presentatlon
address Wlrsn pralsed Klpllng as the helr to Alfred
Jennyson and descrlbed the award as a natlonal trlb
ute to all Engllsh authors. 'homage to the llterature
of England, so rlch ln manlfold glorles."
Jhe Academy dld not want to appear to be taklng
sldes among the combatants of World War I by honor
lng authors wlth hlgh polltlcal or natlonallstlc proflles.
Jhls 'neutrallty" accounts for the Scandlnavlan awards
durlng thls perlod. Sweden, l9l6; Denmark, l9l7; Swe
den, l920.
Jhe flrst lndlcatlon that the Academy was
addresslng the relevant modern llterature of lts day ls
the l923 award to Yeats. Yet, the Academy`s trlbute
does not celebrate Yeats as a modernlst but rather for
hls 'falry poetry" of twenty years prevlous. A future
Nobel laureate, the thenunknown Hemlngway, used
the occaslon of Yeats`s award to crltlclze the Academy
for lts omlsslons. In an artlcle wrltten from Parls for
the q p~ t Hemlngway pralses Yeats as the
greatest llvlng Engllshlanguage poet wlth the posslble
exceptlon of Ezra Pound. Hemlngway does not
advance any other Amerlcan as a contender, announc
lng that Sherwood Anderson 'was headed ln that
dlrectlon, but he has swerved a long way off now." He
champlons Engllsh novellst Jhomas Hardy (who was
a flnallst agalnst Yeats) as the 'ghost that must haunt
the Nobel Prlzeglvers` consclences." He also advo
cates Pollshborn Engllsh novellst |oseph Conrad as a
much more flttlng reclplent of the prlze than the l905
wlnner Henryk Slenklewlcz, the Pollsh author of n
s~ (l895).
Lnllke Yeats, who won hls award for hls early
wrltlngs, Shaw (a nomlnee for several years) flnally
secured hls prlze wlth a recent work. Hls pre-World
War I plays are fllled wlth cynlcal observatlons about
human nature, ldeas that the conservatlve Academy
usually dld not celebrate. In j~ _~~~ (l905) Shaw
deplcts an Alfred Nobel-llke munltlons mllllonalre who
expresses a revolutlonary MachlavelllanSoclallst phl
losophy. But the Academy rested lts ratlonale for
Shaw`s award on hls play p~ g~ (l923) as excuslng
the author`s suspect and nonldeallstlc polltlcs. In hls
presentatlon speech, secretary Per Hallstrm explalned.
'If from thls polnt we look back on Shaw`s best works,
we flnd lt easler ln many places, beneath all hls sportlve
ness and deflance, to dlscern somethlng of the same lde
allsm that has found expresslon ln the herolc flgure of
Salnt |oan."
Many observers speculated about who would be
the flrst Amerlcan author to wln the prlze. By l930 sev
eral crltlcs belleved the Lnlted States`s 'turn" had
come. Drelser campalgned for the award as early as
l9ll and lobbled for the support of crltlc H. L.
Mencken. In l926, a year after he publlshed hls natu
rallstlc masterwork ^ ^~ q~I Drelser toured
Sweden to dlscuss translatlons of hls works wlth pub
llshers, bellevlng they had lnfluence on Academy mem
bers. Drelser`s maln rlval was Lewls, who won
prlmarlly because hls novelseleven were ln Swedlsh
translatlon ln l930were bestsellers ln Scandlnavla,
whereas Drelser`s were not. Nelther author was consld
ered by the Academy for hls celebratlon of natlve val
ues or the natlonal character (unllke Klpllng or Yeats)
but rather for hls harsh crltlclsm of Amerlcan llfe. As
wlth other 'flrst" wlnners, the Academy pralsed Lewls
as a representatlve of hls country.
Yes, Slnclalr Lewls ls an Amerlcan. He wrltes the new
languageAmerlcanas one of the representatlves of
l20,000,000 souls. He asks us to conslder that thls
natlon ls not yet flnlshed or melted down; that lt ls stlll
ln the turbulent years of adolescence. Jhe new great
Amerlcan llterature has started wlth natlonal selfcrltlclsm.
It ls a slgn of health.
In hls acceptance speech, Lewls offered the Swedlsh
audlence a prlmer on contemporary Amerlcan lltera
ture, champlonlng such authors as Anderson, Cather,
O`Nelll, Jhornton Wllder, Hemlngway, Dos Passos,
Jhomas Wolfe, and Iaulkner. Jhree of the authors on
hls llst eventually won the Nobel Prlze. Although Lewls
admltted that Drelser was not a popular author because
of hls despalrlng characters and 'cumbersome" style,
he pralsed hls rlval as hls greatest llterary mentor.
'Now to me, as to many other Amerlcan wrlters, Drel
ser more than any other man, marchlng alone, usually
unappreclated, often hated, has cleared the trall from
Vlctorlan and Howellslan tlmldlty and gentlllty ln
Amerlcan flctlon to honesty and boldness and passlon
of llfe."
In the post-World War II perlod of the Nobel
Prlze, the Academy trled to make up for past omls
slons. It recognlzed three masters of modernlsm well
past the peak of thelr careers. Amerlcan/Brltlsh poet
Ellot (l918) and Amerlcan novellsts Iaulkner (l919)
and Hemlngway (l951). Jhe major modernlst author
that the Academy dellberately chose not to honor
belatedly was Amerlcan poetand fasclstPound.
Durlng the l950s the Academy engaged ln lts
own verslon of the Cold War polltlcs, alternatlng
awards between left and rlghtwlng authors. Many
observers crltlclzed the selectlon of Churchlll ln l953
as a blatantly polltlcal award, a concesslon for not hav
lng awarded hlm the Nobel Peace Prlze earller. In a l2
May l955 letter to crltlc and fellow Academy member
Sten Selander, Swedlsh dlplomat Dag Hammarskjld
xxlv
f ai_ POV
questloned whether such an award made the Swedlsh
Academy 'a llterature commlttee ln the Iorelgn
Offlce?"
Whlle the judges dld sometlmes select a polltl
cally conservatlve author such as Churchlll, they
apparently could not ablde any candldate wlth a con
nectlon to prewar fasclsm. When Pound was consld
ered for an award ln the l950s, he would have been
an extremely controverslal cholce. Jhe poet was then
commltted to an lnsane asylum lnstead of prlson for
hls treasonable acts as a supporter of Benlto Mussollnl
ln World War II. Hammarskjld worked for Pound`s
release but dld not advocate awardlng hlm the Nobel
Prlze. In a 21 |uly l959 letter to fellow Academy mem
ber Pr Lagerkvlst, Hammarskjld argued that an
award to Pound should be denled because the author`s
antlSemltlsm 'ought to exclude the posslblllty of a
prlze that ls after all lntended to lay welght on the 'lde
allstlc tendency` of the reclplent`s efforts. I do not
know exactly what the words 'ldeallstlc tendency`
mean, but at least I do know what ls dlametrlcally
opposed to what they can reasonably be assumed to
slgnlfy."
Jhe Academy also denled Argentlne author
|orge Luls Borges the prlze, allegedly for belng pho
tographed shaklng the hand of Chllean dlctator Gen
eral Augusto Plnochet. Lundkvlst blocked Borges`s
nomlnatlon because, he argued ln an lntervlew wlth
Karl Vennberg ln p~ a~~ (20 December
l979), 'When lt comes to hls polltlcal blunders, thls
tlme ln a fasclst dlrectlon, these make hlm ln my
oplnlon unsultable on ethlcal and human grounds for
a Nobel Prlze."
But the Academy held no such qualms ln recog
nlzlng former Communlst or proStallnlst authors.
Jhe Sovlet Lnlon created the Stalln Peace Prlze
(renamed the Lenln Peace Prlze ln l956) ln l919 as a
counterpart to the Nobel Prlze. It was awarded by a
governmentappolnted commlttee to lndlvlduals who
had 'strengthened peace among peoples." Jhe flrst
reclplent was Laxness, slx years before he won the
Nobel Prlze. Neruda recelved thls prlze ln l953, effu
slvely pralslng |oseph Stalln the followlng year as 'the
hlgh noon, the fulflllment of men and peoples." Acad
emy member Gunnar Ekelf suspected Neruda, a
former Chllean dlplomat asslgned to Mexlco, of com
pllclty ln the l910 assasslnatlon of Russlan exlle Leon
Jrotsky. Ekelf successfully blocked Neruda`s candl
dacy for a Nobel Prlze untll Ekelf`s death ln l968.
Hls membershlp passed to Lundkvlst, and Neruda
won three years later. In hls l963 j Neruda
renounced hls Stallnlsm, but he wrote the poems
pralsed by the Nobel commlttee durlng hls perlod of
Stallnlst devotlon.
Jhe most publlc Cold War sklrmlsh assoclated
wlth the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature occurred ln l961,
when the Academy selected Irench author and cele
brated leftlst |eanPaul Sartre, who refused the award
and the moneyclalmlng that the prlze was antlSovlet
and 'an honor restrlcted to Western wrlters and East
ern rebels." Jhe 'Eastern rebel" to whlch Sartre
referred may have been l958 laureate Borls Pasternak,
author of a w~ (l957), an hlstorlcal novel of
the Russlan Revolutlon. Hls selectlon angered Sovlet
authorltles, who refused to allow the author to travel
to Stockholm for hls award. In l965, the year after the
Academy members chose Sartreand perhaps ln
answer to hls chargethey selected Russlan novellst
and suspected plaglarlst Mlkhall Sholokhov, who was
openly supportlve of the Sovlet reglme. Jhe Kremlln
allowed Sholokhov to accept hls prlze. Guatemalan
novellst Mlguel ngel Asturlas recelved the Lenln
Peace Prlze ln l965, the year before he recelved hls
Nobel award.
Once the Cold War culture wars subslded, the
Academy began to make less overtly polltlcal cholces.
Exasperated by the celebrlty selectlons of Hemlngway
and Churchlll, Hammarskjld wrote to Selander ln
the mld l950s, 'Ohlf only we could show a touch of
darlng." Jhe l969 selectlon of Beckett, best known
for the absurdlst play t~ dI quashed the
assumptlon that laureates must express an ldeallstlc
outlook for the human race. Slnce then the Academy
has cast lts favor far afleld from lts Eurocentrlc back
ground, partlcularly toward Latln Amerlcan authors,
though they usually compose ln a European language.
Perhaps the most unconventlonal cholce came ln l997
wlth the selectlon of Itallan postmodern comedlan
Darlo Io. Hls acceptance lecture'Agalnst |esters
Who Defame and Insult"was a freeform lmprovlsa
tlon comblnlng text, lllustratlons, and theatrlcal per
formance. Charlle Chaplln had been nomlnated
several years prevlous, but hls candldacy was dls
mlssed by the commlttee because hls movle scrlpts
were not publlshed texts.

q ^Jo~
Why Russlan Amerlcan novellst Nabokov never
won remalns a mystery. Iellow Russlan mlgr and Nobel
laureate Aleksandr Solzhenltsyn was known to have noml
nated hlm. Perhaps, llke the Pollshborn Engllshlanguage
author Conrad, he defled easy categorlzatlon; Nabokov
wrote ln three languages. But most crltlcs agree that the
most glarlng omlsslon from the llst of laureates ls |oyce.
Jhe reasons for hls fallure to wln the award are not clear.
xxv
ai_ POV f
Jhe Academy`s clalm that he was never nomlnated ls not
credlble. |oyce achleved a hlgh lnternatlonal reputatlon
durlng hls llfetlmer was publlshed ln l922. Slnce
|oyce dled ln l91l, he dld not survlve to the Academy`s
postwar perlod of reprleve for prevlously unrecognlzed
modernlst wrlters. Before l910 the only modernlsts the
judges embraced were dramatlsts (the Itallan Lulgl Plran
dello ln l931 and the Amerlcan O`Nelll ln l936). Des
mond Iltzgerald, a mlnlster of the newly lndependent
Ireland, wrote to |oyce ln l923 proposlng to nomlnate hlm
for a Nobel Prlze. |oyce replled that not only would he not
wln, but such a publlc nomlnatlon would probably result
ln Iltzgerald`s belng removed from offlce. In l916, Acad
emy memberand Buck proponentHedln was asked lf
|oyce had ever been consldered for the prlze. He
responded '|oyce? Who ls he?"
Jhe dlfflculty encountered wlth Wllllams`s noml
natlon ln l955 ls lnstructlve both for lts revelatlon of
the role that marketlng and selfpromotlon play ln the
selectlon process, and as a cautlonary tale for future
nomlnees. Only one Amerlcan dramatlst had won the
prlze prevlously, and the atmosphere seemed promlslng
for Wllllams. Hls dramas of poetlc reallsm had recelved
lnternatlonal productlons and were acclalmed ln Swe
den. O`Nelll`s tragedles (heavlly lnfluenced by Strlnd
berg) had achleved slmllar Scandlnavlan success.
Wllllams`s chances appeared strong untll a publlc
relatlons flasco played out on the Academy`s doorstep.
Lllla van Saheran ambltlous Hungarlan mlgr
labeled a domlnatrlx by Wllllamshad persuaded the
playwrlght to come to the Swedlsh capltal and court the
local press. In a l98l lntervlew ln m~ oI Wllllams
descrlbed the dlsastrous press conference.
Well, she had all the press there. She was llke a fleld
marshal! 'You over that way! You over there! You do
not approach Mr. Wllllams untll I glve you the slgnal!"
Barklng out orders. Oh, lt was just terrlfylng. Jhe next
mornlng the newspapers all came out saylng Mr. Wll
llams arrlved ln Stockholm preceded by a very power
ful press agent! And my agent . . . sald, 'You know,
you`ve been nomlnated for the Nobel Prlze but now lt`s
flnlshed."
Ior a llst of other nomlnees who dld not wln, see Jable B.
m
A cynlc mlght look for the next wlnner to come
from a prevlously unrecognlzed country or ethnlclty.
Guesslng who the Academy wlll select becomes an
annual October llterary parlor game. Jhe Academy stlll
may not have recovered from the publlcrelatlons dlsas
ter of l971 to select another Swedlsh author. In that
year novellst Eyvlnd |ohnson and poet/novellst Harry
vbô tfkkbo îpl kljfk^qba
l902 Jheodor Mommsen Leo Jolstoy
l903 Bjrnstjerne Bjrnson Henrlk Ibsen
l906 Glosu Carduccl Mark Jwaln, Ralner Marla Rllke
l908 Rudolf Eucken Algernon Swlnburne
l9ll Maurlce Maeterllnck Henry |ames
l923 Wllllam Butler Yeats Jhomas Hardy
l930 Slnclalr Lewls Jheodore Drelser
l936 Eugene O`Nelll Slgmund Ireud
l938 Pearl S. Buck Margaret Mltchell
l911 |ohannes V. |ensen Wllla Cather, W. Somerset Maugham
l951 Ernest Hemlngway Robert Irost
l955 Halldr Laxness Jennessee Wllllams
l967 Mlguel ngel Asturlas Graham Greene
l968 Yasunarl Kawabata Yuklo Mlshlma, Mao Jse Jung
l969 Samuel Beckett Eugene Ionesco
l973 Patrlck Whlte Vladlmlr Nabokov
q~ _W k ~ k m i~
xxvl
f ai_ POV
Martlnsonboth members of the Swedlsh Academy
shared the prlze, wlnnlng over flnallsts Greene and
Nabokov.
But who deserves to wln? If the Academy does
lndeed belleve ln the geographlc 'sharlng" of the prlze,
then Amerlcan dramatlsts deserve thelr 'turn." A
North Amerlcan playwrlght has not won ln almost sev
enty years. Amerlcans August Wllson (who dled ln
October 2005 on the eve of the prlze announcement)
and Edward Albee have both generated groundbreak
lng and lnfluentlal work for decades. If the Academy
belleves ln a genre balance, then dramatlsts merlt even
greater recognltlon; among the l0l Nobel laureates ln
Llterature to 2001, only l0 have been playwrlghts. In
2005 the Academy lncreased that number to ll when lt
chose Brltlsh playwrlght Plnter. Hls selectlon, llke
Hemlngway`s and Ellot`s, honors the author`s past
achlevements and lnnovatlons rather than recent cre
atlons. In the l960s and l970s Plnter was a major force
ln world drama, but he has not enjoyed a large success
ln more than two decades. Hls polltlcal actlvlsm slnce
the l990s agalnst Amerlcan forelgn pollcy may also
have lncreased hls chances among polltlcally llberal
Academy members.
A commlttee, partlcularly a small one, always dls
llkes the obvlous selectlon because lt dlmlnlshes lts
power. Jhe Swedlsh Academy wlll probably contlnue
to make surprlslng, unexpected (even unwarranted)
cholces.
p
Arthur, Anthony. Iitcrory Icuds: Z Ccvtury of Cclcbrotcd
_uorrclsIrom Morl Twoiv to Tom !olfc. New
York. St. Martln`s Press, 2002.
Devlln, Albert |., ed. Covvcrsotiovs witl Tcvvcsscc !illioms.
|ackson London. Lnlverslty Press of Mlssls
slppl, l986, pp. 325-360.
Espmark, Kjell. Tlc òbcl Iric iv Iitcroturc: Z Study of tlc
Critcrio clivd tlc Cloiccs. Boston. G. K. Hall,
l986.
Ieldman, Burton. Tlc òbcl Iric: Z History of Ccvius,
Covtrovcrsy ovd Ircstigc. New York. Arcade, 2000.
Hemlngway, Ernest. ''Nobelman` Yeats," ln hls Dotc-
livc: Torovto / Tlc Complctc Joronto Star Dispotclcs,
1920-1924. Ed. Wllllam Whlte. New York.
Scrlbners, l985, pp. 381-386.
Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon and Wllhelm Odelberg, eds.
òbcl: Tlc Mov ovd His Irics. Jhlrd edltlon. New
York. Amerlcan Elsevler, l972.
Wallace, Irvlng. 'Jhe Nobel Prlze Awards. Llterature,"
ln Tlc Icoplc`s Zlmovoc. Garden Clty, N.Y.. Dou
bleday, l975, pp. l098-ll05.
^
Jhls book was produced by Bruccoll Clark Lay
man, Inc. Jracy Slmmons Bltontl was the lnhouse edl
tor.
Productlon manager ls Phlllp B. Demattels.
Admlnlstratlve support was provlded by Carol A.
Cheschl.
Accountant ls AnnMarle Holland.
Copyedltlng supervlsor ls Sally R. Evans. Jhe
copyedltlng staff lncludes Phyllls A. Avant, Caryl
Brown, Mellssa D. Hlnton, Phlllp I. |ones, Rebecca
Mayo, and Nancy E. Smlth.
Plpellne manager ls |ames I. Jldd |r.
Edltorlal assoclates are Ellzabeth Leverton, Dlck
son Monk, and Jlmothy C. Slmmons.
Inhouse vetter ls Catherlne M. Pollt.
Permlsslons edltor ls Amber L. Coker. Permls
slons asslstant ls Crystal A. Glelm.
Layout and graphlcs staff lncludes Zoe R. Cook
and |anet E. Hlll.
Offlce manager ls Kathy Lawler Merlette.
Photography edltor ls Mark |. McEwan.
Dlgltal photographlc copy work was performed
by |oseph M. Bruccoll.
Systems manager ls Donald Kevln Starllng.
Jypesettlng supervlsor ls Kathleen M. Ilanagan.
Jhe typesettlng staff lncludes Patrlcla Marle Ilanagan
and Pamela D. Norton.
Llbrary research was facllltated by the followlng
llbrarlans at the Jhomas Cooper Llbrary of the Lnl
verslty of South Carollna. Ellzabeth Suddeth and the
rarebook department; |o Cottlngham, lnterllbrary
loan department; clrculatlon department head Jucker
Jaylor; reference department head Vlrglnla W.
Weathers; reference department staff Laurel Baker,
Marllee Blrchfleld, Kate Boyd, Paul Cammarata,
|oshua Garrls, Gary Geer, Jom Marcll, Rose Mar
shall, and Sharon Verba; lnterllbrary loan department
head Marna Hostetler; and lnterllbrary loan staff Blll
Ietty and Nelson Rlvera.
3
a~ i~ _~
p v ^
(S Zugust 1SS7 - 17 Icbruory 1970)
a ^~
Uvivcrsity of Mclbourvc
BOOKS. !c-Hoyol lc-`Zlov lc-Mislor ( |erusalem. Y. H.
Brener, l9l2; Berlln. |dlscher, l9l9);
Civ òt lo-Hol (Berlln. |dlscher, l9l9);
c-Sod Jcslorim (Berlln. |dlscher, l92l);
Sipur Mc-Homot lo-Mctsil (Berlln. |dlscher, l92l);
`Zl lopot lo-movùl: Sipurc olovim (Berlln. |dlscher,
l922);
Dic Iroluvg vom Torosclrcibcr (Berlln. Marx, l923); orlg
lnal Hebrew verslon publlshed as Zgodot lo-sofcr
(Jel Avlv. Omanut, l929);
Dcr !crstosscvc (Berlln. |dlscher, l923);
Ioliv (Jel Avlv. Hedlm, l921);
Moòscl lo-mcslulol mc-crcts lo-Icdoslol (Jel Avlv.
Kupat Hasefer, l921);
Moòscl robi Codicl lo-Tivol (Berlln. |dlscher, l925);
Tsipori (Jel Avlv. Devlr, l926);
Sipur lo-Slovim lo-Tovot / Moòscl lo-Iov !clo-Urol (Jel
Avlv, l927);
Iol Sipurov slcl Slmucl Joscf Zgvov, volumes l-6 (Berlln.
Schocken, l93l-l935); volumes 7-ll ( |erusalem.
Schocken, l939-l952)comprlses volumes l-2,
Hollvosot Iolol (l93l), translated by Israel Melr
Lask as Tlc ridol Covopy (Garden Clty, N.Y..
Doubleday, Doran, l937); volume 3, Mcò U-
Mcòtol (l93l); volume 1, Sipurc Zlovim (l93l);
volume 5, Sipur Ioslut (l935), translated by Hlllel
Halkln as Z Simplc Story (New York. Schocken,
l985); volume 6, c-sluvol vo-volot (l935); vol
ume 7, Urcol votol lo-luv (l939), translated by
Mlsha Louvlsh as Z Cucst for tlc ìglt (New York.
Schocken, l968; London. Gollancz, l968); vol
ume 8, Ilu !c-Ilu (l91l), selectlon translated by |.
Welnberg and H. Russell as Z Dwcllivg Ilocc of My
Icoplc: Sixtccv Storics of tlc Clossidim (Edlnburgh.
Scottlsh Academlc Press, l983); volume 9, Tcmol
Slilslom (l915), translated by Barbara Harshav as
Uvly Jcstcrdoy (Prlnceton, N.|.. Prlnceton Lnlver
slty Press, 2000); volume l0, Somull !c-ìr`cl
(l950); and volume ll, `Zd lcvol (l952);
i-lcvov Jomim (Berlln. Schocken, l935); translated by
Lask as Iv tlc Hcort of tlc Scos: Z Story of o ourvcy
to tlc Iovd of Isrocl (New York. Schocken, l918);
p v ^ i ~ ~ ~ k
m i~I a NVSS E^m t tF
1
p v ^ ai_ POV
Iovcts Sipurim (Jel Avlv. Keren Ylsraèl Mets, l937);
Mi-dirol lc-dirol ( |erusalem. Schocken, l939);
Ii Slcvoim o mc-Husor Jom (Jel Avlv, l939);
Scfcr Ho-Moòsim ( |erusalem. Schocken, l91l);
Slcvuòtl Imuvim ( |erusalem. Schocken, l913); trans
lated by Walter Lever as 'Betrothed," ln
ctrotlcd, c Ido ovd Ivom: Two Tolcs (New York.
Schocken, l966; London. Gollancz, l966);
`Zl crl Iotscvclsov (Jel Avlv. Schocken, l911);
Sipurim vc-ogodot (Jel Avlv. Schocken, l911);
Iclcv Hutsot (Merhavyah. Slfrlyat Poàllm, l950);
Iol Sipurov slcl Slmucl Joscf Zgvov, 8 volumes
( |erusalem. Schocken, l953-l962)comprlses
volume l, Hollvosot Iolol (l953); volume 2, Ilu
!c-Ilu (l953); volume 3, `Zl lopot lo-movùl
(l953); volume 1, Urcol votol lo-luv (l953); vol
ume 5, Tcmol Slilslom (l953); volume 6, Somull
!c-ìr`cl (l953); volume 7, `Zd lcvol (l953); and
volume 8, Ho-Isl vc-Ho`ctsim (l962);
`Zd olom ( |erusalem. Schocken, l951); translated as Ior-
cvcr Morc (New York. Schocken, l96l);
Tclillo, ovd Utlcr Isrocli Tolcs, by Agnon and others,
translated by Lask and others (London New
York. AbelardSchuman, l956);
Icv-islom lo-movct (Jel Avlv, l960);
Slcvc Tolmidc lollomim slc-loyu bcìrcvu. Zgodot lo-sofcr,
edlted by Naftall Glnaton ( |erusalem. Schocken,
l967);
Sipurc Jom lo-Iipurim, edlted by Glnaton ( |erusalem.
Schocken, l967);
Sipurim: Jollut lc-vct lo-scfcr lo-ycsodi, edlted by Glnaton
( |erusalem. Schocken, l967);
Sclcctcd Storics of S. J. Zgvov |text ln Hebrew, commen
tary ln Engllsh|, edlted by Samuel Lelter (New
York. Jarbuth Ioundatlon, l970);
Slirol, edlted by Emunah Yaron ( |erusalem. Schocken,
l97l; expanded edltlon, l971; expanded edltlon,
l978); translated by Zeva Shaplro as Sliro (New
York. Schocken, l989);
Ir u-Mcloòl ( |erusalem. Schocken, l973);
c-Hovuto slcl Mor Iubliv ( |erusalem. Schocken, l971);
Iifvim Miv Ho-Homol ( |erusalem. Schocken, l975);
Mc-òtsmi cl òtsmi ( |erusalem. Schocken, l976);
Jidislc vcrl, edlted by Dov Sadan ( |erusalem. Jhe Yld
dlsh Department, Hebrew Lnlverslty/Jhe Coun
cll for |ewlsh Culture ln Israel, l977);
Iitlc dcvorim ( |erusalem. Schocken, l977);
Mivlor Sipurim, edlted by Glnaton and Zvl Massad
( |erusalem. Schocken, l978);
Iorot otcvu ( |erusalem. Schocken, l979);
Scfcr Ho-Utiyot ( |erusalem. Schocken, l983); blllngual
edltlon translated by Robert Irlend as Zgvov`s Zlcf
bct: Iocms (Phlladelphla. |ewlsh Publlcatlon Socl
ety, l998);
Tollrill slcl Sipurim, complled by Yaron ( |erusalem.
Schocken, l981);
i-dcmi Jomclo: !c-òd Sipurim ( |erusalem. Schocken,
l99l);
Iol Sipurov slcl Sl. J. Zgvov, 9 volumes ( |erusalem.
Schocken, l998- ).
b bW Twcvty-Uvc Storics, edlted by
Nahum Norbert Glatzer (New York. Schocken,
l970; London. Gollancz, l970);
Z ool Tlot !os Iost ovd Utlcr Storics, edlted by Alan L.
Mlntz and Anne Golomb Hoffman (New York.
Schocken, l995);
Jofo Jcfot Jomim: Iclct mi-toll Sipurov slcl Sl. J. Zgvov /
offo, cllc of tlc Scos: Sclcctiovs from tlc !orls
of S. J. Zgvov |blllngual edltlon|, selected by
Davld Sharlr, translated by Barbara Harshav
( |erusalem. Schocken, l998).
OJHER. Dos ucl vov dcv polvisclcv udcv, edlted by
Agnon and Ahron Ellasberg (Berlln. |dlscher,
l9l6);
Moous ur: Iiv Clovullolbucl, edlted by Agnon (Berlln.
|dlscher, l9l8);
Scfcr, sofcr, vc-sipur: Sipurim òl sofrim vc-òl scforim, edlted
by Agnon ( |erusalem, l938; expanded, |erusa
lem. Schocken, l978); selectlons publlshed as
Sifrclcm slcl Tsodilim ( |erusalem. Schocken,
l96l);
Jomim òroìm, edlted by Agnon ( |erusalem. Schocken,
l938);
Ztcm rcìtcm, edlted by Agnon ( |erusalem. Schocken,
l959); translated by Mlchael Swlrsky as Ircscvt ot
Sivoi: Tlc Civivg of tlc Iow (Phlladelphla. |ewlsh
Publlcatlon Soclety, l991).
Shmuel Yosef Agnon ls one of the greatest mod
ern Hebrew wrlters and an lmportant prose wrlter of
the twentleth century. Crltlcs have descrlbed hls
achlevements as slngular and hls art as unlversal. Dedl
catlng hlmself to hls craft, the selfeffaclng wrlter ralsed
Hebrew llterature to a global plane, blendlng authentlc
|ewlsh herltage wlth European sources to present
lnstructlve tales that poslt a moral and legal conundrum
reflectlve of the modern condltlon. He was a l966
reclplent (sharlng the honor wlth Nelly Sachs) of the
Nobel Prlze ln Llterature, the flrst granted to a Hebrew
wrlter. Hls contrlbutlon to the |ewlsh state ls manlfested
elsewhere than just ln the llterary realm. Annually, on
Yom Klppur, the hollest day ln |udalsm, hundreds of
thousands of synagogue congregants clte the Prayer for
the Welfare of the State of Israel, wrltten ln l918 by
Agnon together wlth Chlef Rabbls Yltzhak Herzog and
Ben Zlon Lzlel.
5
ai_ POV p v ^
Agnon has been feted as one whose standlng ls
akln to that of Wllllam Shakespeare ln England; he has
been memorlallzed on the flftyshekel note as well as on
the flrst commemoratlve banknote to celebrate Israel`s
flftleth annlversary of lndependence. A Jel Avlv street
bears hls name, and on the occaslon of the hundredth
annlversary of hls blrth, the Israell Parllament convened
a speclal sesslon to honor the wordsmlth. In 2002, when
the Natlonal Ylddlsh Book Centre llsted thelr one hun
dred greatest works of modern |ewlsh llterature, Agnon`s
three novels occupled the fourth, flfth, and slxth places.
In addltlon, hls novels and storles appear frequently as
compulsory readlng ln Israell schools.
Yet, outslde Israel, Agnon ls vlrtually unknown.
Jhls obscurlty ls prlnclpally because of the formldable
dlfflcultles lnvolved wlth translatlng hls ldlosyncratlc
and alluslve Hebrew, whlch ls brlstllng wlth wordplays
and acrostlcs and lnterlarded wlth quotatlons, echoes,
and references from a vast array of blbllcal sources.
One of hls translators, Hlllel Halkln, remarked ln a
l989 artlcle by Matt Nesvlsky that Agnon 'was ln a
class by hlmself . . . there`s so much golng on ln hls lan
guage. Jo lmpersonate Agnon ln Engllsh, a translator
has to exerclse hls lngenulty to the utmost." Jhe dlffl
culty of gettlng across ln Engllsh the full flavor and pro
fundlty of the Agnon prose may be one reason why the
broad, lastlng lnternatlonal appreclatlon accorded to
other modernlst glants has not been forthcomlng,
desplte the Nobel Prlze. Sharon Green notes also that
Agnon`s vlrtuoslty lay ln hls ablllty to 'hold ln creatlve
tenslon the |ewlsh rellglous tradltlon and the secular
modern world, both of whlch he shows to be needed
for |ews to thrlve," and that 'Jhe dlalectlcal tenslon ln
hls work ls probably the reason why many readers flnd
hls works enlgmatlc." Moreover, hls hlghly alluslve
style, subtle turns of thought, and purposeful amblgulty
pose an lntlmldatlng challenge to the reader.
More than anyone else, Agnon advanced the ldea
of creatlng not only a new llterature ln Hebrew, but a
new culture composed of a synthesls of Eastern Euro
pean tradltlons and modern Israell norms. Agnon was an
lnterpreter of |ewlsh llfe, servlng as a cultural condult
between the subjectlve experlences of Eastern European
|ewry and lts hlstorlcal natlonal memory. He chronlcled
both the dlsappearlng world of European orthodox
|ewry and the emerglng mllleu of the Zlonlst ploneers,
the majorlty of whom were revoltlng agalnst the long
establlshed tenets of that orthodoxy. Green malntalns
that the 'unlqueness of Agnon ls that he was able to cap
ture the rlchness of tradltlonal llfe, whlle at the same tlme
he was absolutely clear slghted about the dangers such a
llfe holds for |ewlsh survlval ln modern tlmes."
Sources usually glve Agnon`s blrth date as l7 |uly
or 26 |uly l888, but blographer Dan Laor puts the date
at 8 August l887. Agnon was born Shmuel Yosef Halevl
Czaczkes ln the |ewlsh town of Buczacz ln eastern Gall
cla, then part of AustrlaHungary (now Buchach,
Lkralne), although ln hls Nobel acceptance speech he
noted that he regarded hlmself as 'one who was born ln
|erusalem." He was born to a mlddleclass famlly of rab
bls and scholars; hls father, Shalom Mordechal Halevl, a
quallfled rabbl, worked as a fur merchant and was a fer
vent and educated dlsclple of the Hasldlc rebbe of Chor
tov. Hls presence was deeply lnfluentlal on the boy. 'All
I know," Agnon malntalned (accordlng to blographer
Laor), 'I learned from my father." In hls address at the
state banquet dellvered ln honor of the Nobel laureates,
Agnon revealed that he composed hls flrst poem at age
flve out of longlng for hls father, who was often away.
Hls father, together wlth a local rabbl, taught the boy
Jalmud as well as the teachlngs of the |ewlsh phlloso
pher Malmonldes. Irom hls mother, Esther Iarb, whose
famlly belonged to the stream of Mltnagdlm (a |ewlsh
movement whose strlct ratlonallsm stood ln sharp con
trast to the emotlve mystlclsm of the Hasldlm), he
acqulred a knowledge of German llterature. Agnon`s
drama ls a blend of these dlvergent vlews.
Whlle the shtetl was the unlverse of hls chlld
hood, where he was lmmersed ln rellglous educatlon,
hls work was shaped by the clashlng forces of a transl
tlonal world. Jhe perlod of Agnon`s youth was a tlme
of turmoll, when the pogroms ln Russla followlng the
assasslnatlon of Czar Alexander II ln l88l wreaked
havoc on the |ews. Consequently, a conslderable flow
of |ews poured out westward to Europe, wlth a smaller
stream chooslng Palestlne as thelr destlnatlon.
He declded to become a wrlter when he was elght
and publlshed hls flrst poem ln Ylddlsh when he was flf
teen. Over the next three years (l903-l906) he pro
duced about seventy llterary works ln Hebrew and
Ylddlsh that were publlshed ln Gallcla ln journals such as
e~ and e~~ (ln l977, the Hebrew Lnlverslty
publlshed the collectlon of storles and poems he com
posed ln Ylddlsh durlng those years). In l907, at age
nlneteen, he left the shtetl and came to Palestlne as part
of the great wave of emlgratlon (known as the second
Allyah) and settled ln |affa and |erusalem. Jhere, the
buddlng wrlter served as the flrst secretary of the |ewlsh
Court ln |affa and was confronted wlth the contradlctory
confluence of |udalc tradltlon, the cosmopolltan Western
culture of the twentleth century, and modern Hebrew llt
erature. Jemporarlly jettlsonlng hls rellglous hablts dur
lng hls flrst stay ln Palestlne, he publlshed hls flrst story,
'Agunot" (Iorsaken Wlves), ln l908 ln the journal e~J
lK Concernlng starcrossed couples ln |erusalem, the
tale dlsplays the style of wrltlng seen ln the author`s later
work. Jhe story not only enhanced hls nascent reputa
tlon but also gave hlm hls pseudonym, whlch he adopted
6
p v ^ ai_ POV
as hls offlclal famlly name ln l921. Agnon ls taken from
~I a term applled to women who have been aban
doned by thelr husbands and are left ln a state of llmbo
slnce they cannot remarry.
Crltlcs have suggested that the name 'Agnon" ls
almed at braldlng the author`s destlny to that of the
|ewlsh people. Agnon percelved hlmself as trapped ln a
slmllar sltuatlon as the abandoned womencaught
between dlfferent unlverses but belonglng to nelther, a
fractured posltlon dramatlzed ln hls wrltlng. Baruch
Hochman says that lt ls no accldent that Agnon appro
prlated that name.
Jhe very word ls redolent of loss, but also of the lnfl
nlte yearnlng and lneffable tenderness ellclted by loss.
All of Agnon`s work was to plvot on such feellng. Flrst
there was the sort of loss rendered ln thls tale. of loved
ones torn away ln the mldst of llfe, by chance, by fate,
by death or deslre. Jhen there was hlstorlcal loss. the
submergence of the world of orlglns to whlch one`s
feellngs are bound, ln the abyss of hlstory. Flnally,
there was metaphyslcal loss. of transcendental objects
of deslre ln the bewllderment of modernlty.
Ruth Wlsse proffers another readlng. 'Jhe adoptlon of
the Hebrew name suggests that the wrlter wlll always
remaln wlthln the bounds of tradltlon but wlthout full
securlty, llke that afforded a wedded spouse."
Agnon repeatedly tled parts of hls autoblography
to the annals of |ewlsh hlstory. Ior example, he llked to
clalm (lnaccurately) that he was born on the Nlnth of
Av, the momentous date that marks the destructlon of
the two |ewlsh temples, as well as the supposed tlme
when the future messlah wlll be born. Addltlonally, he
connected the two occaslons hls house was wrecked (ln
l921 by flre, and ln l929 by rloters) to the obllteratlon
of the two temples. Slmllarly, ln hls flctlon, one can dls
cern semlautoblographlcal aspects. Buczacz, hls chlld
hood town, serves as the backdrop ln several storles,
appearlng under the flctlonal name of Szybuzs, whlch
translates as 'error" ln Hebrew. Szybuzs functlons as
the allpurpose metaphor for the fadlng mythlcal space
the shtetl once occupled ln the dlaspora.
In l9l2 Agnon publlshed hls flrst novella, sJ
e~~ J^ Jj (And the Crooked Shall Be
Made Stralght), wlth the support of hls frlend, the
wrlter Yosef Halm Brenner. Jhe work was notlced by
several llterary speclallsts, and the asplrlng wrlter was
urged by Arthur Rupln, a major flgure ln the Zlonlst
movement, to broaden hls horlzons ln Berlln. In l9l3
Agnon traveled to Germany, where for the next eleven
years he galned a reputatlon as a lltterateur, malnly
because of hls mastery of the German language and the
lmpresslve flctlon he began publlshlng ln Berlln. Durlng
hls sojourn ln Berlln, he served as a research asslstant
to academlcs, gave Hebrew lessons, and worked for a
publlsher of |ewlshthemed books, all the whlle attend
lng lectures on phllosophy and the soclal sclences.
Durlng these restless years, llvlng also ln Munlch,
Lelpzlg, and Wlesbaden, he helped found the journal
a g (Jhe |ew) and edlted the g s~
( |ewlsh Publlsher). Embraced by the |ewlsh lntelllgent
sla, ln l9l3, whlle ln Berlln, Agnon met Shlomo Zal
man Schocken, a selfmade buslnessman and
phllanthroplst who became an admlrer of the young
man and consequently flnanced the publlcatlon of hls
books. Schocken`s extraordlnary support (ln the form
of a wrltlng stlpend) permltted Agnon to llve free from
flnanclal worrles and to concentrate comfortably on
wrltlng. Schocken Publlshlng, whlch stlll publlshes
Agnon`s work, relocated to Jel Avlv ln the l930s after
the Nazls closed lt down, and later the flrm opened an
offlce ln New York. Schocken, together wlth Gershom
Gustav Schocken, the edltor of the Israell dally e~~
(owned by the Schocken famlly), organlzed the lobby
that eventually led to the awardlng of the Nobel.
When ln the summer of l9l6 Agnon was sum
moned for a medlcal checkup ln antlclpatlon of con
scrlptlon lnto the Austrlan army, he was horrlfled by
the posslblllty of mllltary servlce. He lngested a large
number of pllls and chalnsmoked ln an effort to make
hlmself slck enough to avold the draft. Dlsmlssed by
the medlcal board, he nevertheless was requlred to stay
ln the hospltal for several months afterward.
In l920 Agnon met and marrled Esther Marx, the
felsty daughter of a welltodo orthodox famlly that lnl
tlally opposed the unlon, bellevlng she was marrylng a
man below her status. Jhe couple, who were marrled
for flfty years (untll Agnon`s death), had a son and a
daughter, both born ln Germany. In l983 Agnon`s
daughter, Emunah Yaron, gathered and edlted letters
that Agnon and hls wlfe exchanged. Jhe book, b~
v~ (Darllng Esther), ls a cornucopla of lntlmate
detalls, shlnlng a new llght on the polltlcal sltuatlon ln
|erusalem as well as Agnon`s longlng for hls wlfe and
affectlon for hls two chlldren. Jhe letters are wrltten ln
the same lyrlcal prose one flnds ln Agnon`s storles.
Although he had begun wrltlng ln Ylddlsh as a
chlld, Agnon chose to wrlte hls major works ln
Hebrew, the anclent holy tongue that had been morl
bund for hundreds of years untll revlved and turned
lnto a reemerglng language by Ellezer Ben Yehuda at
the end of the nlneteenth century and the beglnnlng of
the twentleth century. In a l995 _~ k artlcle,
Mark Shechner observes that to wrlte ln Hebrew ln
l908 was 'to draw one`s language and frame of refer
ence from tradltlonal llturgy and to envlslon a future
based on sacred tlme and space ln whlch |udalsm
would not be slmply preserved but renewed and trans
7
ai_ POV p v ^
formed." Lnllke other ploneers of secular flctlon, such
as I. L. Peretz, Isaac Bashevls Slnger, Sholem Alelchem,
and Isaac Babel, who turned to Ylddlsh, Russlan, and
German, Agnon elected for Hebrew because he wanted
to wrlte for a future natlon that would be located ln
Eretz Israel (Jhe Land of Israel) rather than ln Europe
or the Lnlted States. Agnon had been an ardent Zlonlst
slnce he was seventeen, and champlonlng Hebrew as
the modern language of hls wrltlng corresponded to the
phllosophlcal tenets of Zlonlsm and enllghtenment, two
movements that promoted Hebrew as the language of
emanclpatlon and argued for Western modernlzatlon
as the road to rebulldlng the |ewlsh natlon.
Submerged ln blbllcal and talmudlc teachlngs,
Agnon fllled hls works wlth plous folktales, Hasldlcllke
parables, Gothlc romances, and streamofconsclousness
plotsremlnlscent of European llterature ln the manner
of |orge Luls Borges and Bruno Schulzthat under
score the sufferlngs and hlstory of the |ewlsh people. As
a host of theorlsts have observed, Agnon`s whole out
put ls crossed wlth references to Scandlnavlan, Russlan,
and Irench llterature, polntlng to the fact that he read
wldely and was conversant wlth European novellsts
such as Gustave Ilaubert (whose vlrtues he exalted ln
correspondence), Mlguel de Cervantes, Schulz, and Ste
fan Zwelg. Yet, Agnon lnslsted ln hls Nobel acceptance
speech that he was lnfluenced prlmarlly by 'the Blble,
Mlshna, Jalmud, Mldrash and Rashl`s commentary on
the Blble," the next lnfluences belng 'the medleval
halachlc commentators, Hebrew poets and phlloso
phers led by Malmonldes." Certalnly, Agnon drew
much lnsplratlon from Rabbl Nachman of Bratslav, a
master storyteller who paved the way for Agnon to
wrlte rabblnlcally themed tales ln a secular world where
every actlon carrles symbollc overtones. He edlted sev
eral wlderanglng anthologles of rabblnlcal texts, such
as v~ k~ (l938, Days of Awe), a cluster of folk
tales lnsplred by the |ewlsh festlvals; ^ (l959,
Ye Have Seen), whlch brlngs together materlal extend
lng from the Blble to the Hasldlc scrlbes of the nlne
teenth century; and p q~ (l96l, Book of
the Rlghteous), selectlons from pI I J (l938,
Book, Wrlter, Story), a volume of Hasldlc lore.
Straddllng the worlds of the sacred and the mod
ern as an orthodox |ew, Agnon often deplcted rellglon
as the only bulwark agalnst the moral dlsorder of con
temporary soclety. Gershon Shaked, who labels Agnon
a revolutlonary tradltlonallst, malntalns that the revolu
tlonary aspect can be attrlbuted to the tendency ln
Agnon to show that the new soclal order sweeplng
through Europe was ln truth a type of anarchy that dls
orlented the |ews. In a headnote for q~I ~ l
f~ q~ (l956), Israel Melr Lask explalned.
Agnon`s storles of llfe a hundred years ago and more
ago are shrouded ln a mellow nostalgla, a famlly chron
lcle warmness slmllar to that of a grandmother telllng
the tales of her clan. Jhe closer he comes to the con
temporary scene, however, the less pleased wlth hls
subject matter he appears to be. Hls tales of llfe flfty
years ago are marked by an almost photographlc real
lsm whlle when he comes to the present day a certaln
undercurrent of asperlty can be detected ln the appar
ent serenlty that characterlzes all he wrltes.
Agnon also dld not refraln from crltlclzlng an
unchecked slnglemlndedness to one`s falth. One such
example ls ^~~ ~J (l923, Jhe Jale of the
Scrlbe). It concerns a plous |ewlsh scrlbe who devotes
all of hls energy to hls craft and thus neglects hls suffer
lng wlfe, who remalns chlldless. Jhe story ends wlth
the rlghteous man`s death, followlng that of hls wlfe,
though he manages to complete a Jorah scroll ln her
memory. Alongslde Agnon`s total ldentlflcatlon wlth
the yeshlva world, one can also detect a certaln amblva
lence that doggedly avolds superfluous sentlmentallty.
One lnvarlable element that lnforms the Agnon lmagl
natlon ls that an overrellance on modern attltudes on
the one hand, and an excluslve bellef ln the moral cer
talnty brought forth by tradltlon on the other, can
lmprlson as much as lt can llberate.
Aloof and reserved, Agnon rarely sought the llme
llght and refralned from artlculatlng hls soclal and polltl
cal vlews. He was lntensely serlous about hls rellglon and
vlgorously defended the orthodox world agalnst what he
vlewed as unfalr attacks. Shortly before travellng to
Stockholm to recelve the Nobel Prlze, he consulted rab
bls as to whether or not lt was approprlate for hlm to
leave the Holy Land for the occaslon. Concurrently, he
retalned close tles to the less rellglously observant llterary
and scholarly communltles. Yet, he dld not shy away
from dlsapprovlng of the rellglous communlty, especlally
when rellglous partles entered the polltlcal fray. He was
dlsappolnted that the |ewlsh experlence was dlluted and
condensed to a slmple polltlcal credo. Jhus, hls natlonal
lst bellef ln the Greater Land of Israel accordlng to the
Blble stemmed from hls rellglous phllosophy and thlnk
lng rather than any polltlcal outlook. In fact, Agnon
belonged to the Land of Israel movement, founded ln
l967, whlch belleved that the whole of the land of Israel
lncluded Western Palestlne.
A coterle of Agnon experts belleve that hls strength
lles chlefly ln short flctlon, a form that encases the
mldrashlc sketch and the Hasldlc yarns. Agnon`s length
ler opuses resemble hls short flctlon. the novels are struc
tured as vlgnettes bralded together thematlcally. p e~J
j~~ (l91l, Jhe Book of Deeds) ls a multlstranded
collectlon of twentyone storles characterlzed by expres
slonlsm, Surreallsm, and stream of consclousness that tell
8
p v ^ ai_ POV
of the angulshed sufferlng of the |ews ln Europe. Jhe
lntenslty of the plots led the crltlc Nahum Norbert
Glatzer to observe (ln hls afterword to qJl pI
l970) that Agnon 'must have felt compelled to abandon
the form of the wellcomposed tale for the experlence of
chaos." Agnon`s storles chronlcle and reflect an lnward
and recluslve mood, at tlmes melanchollc, embodled by
a cast of forlorn lntellectuals, neurotlc husbands, and
remorseful scholars and phllosophers. Jhese characters
are rendered powerless by personal angst and sexual
lmmoblllty. Jhe afflnlty wlth Iranz Kafka ls unmlstak
able. Although Agnon denled any suggestlon that he was
lnfluenced by contemporary wrlters (lnslstlng he had
never read Kafka, even though the latter`s collected wrlt
lngs sat on a bookshelf ln Agnon`s study), Kafka`s slgna
ture elements of lrony, dreamllke sequences, and
skeptlclsm are much to the fore ln Agnon`s wrltlngs,
fused wlth hls rellglous doubt. A portlon of the author`s
Nobel acceptance speech conveys the lmage of a solltary
artlst aloof and lgnorant of presentday modes. 'Some
see ln my books the lnfluences of authors whose names,
ln my lgnorance, I have not even heard, whlle others see
the lnfluences of poets whose names I have heard but
whose wrltlngs I have not read."
Also evldent ln the Agnon unlverse ls |erusalem;
a systematlc check of hls works reveals that the name
|erusalem ls mentloned 2,600 tlmes. In many ways,
|erusalem serves as the central axls of Agnon`s llfe and
canvas. When he arrlved ln |erusalem ln l921, after
spendlng twelve years ln Europe, he rented a room and
lmmedlately headed for the Western Wall. Arrlvlng at
dusk, he covered hls face and wept. Davld Patterson
belleves that amld Agnon`s angulshed sense of exlle
and rupture from tradltlon, |erusalem personlfled the
one stable posltlve element, statlng that ln Agnon`s tales
the clty ls 'endowed wlth a personallty of her own, and
becomes a symbol for all that ls meanlngful and perma
nent and harmonlous ln llfe. It ls as though the holy
clty alone contalns the seeds whlch mlght restore that
wholeness of splrlt and oneness that are sllpplng
through the nerveless flngers of our unhappy genera
tlons." Semlnal crltlcs such as Baruch Kurzwell and
Dov Sadan, who dld much to enhance Agnon`s reputa
tlon, determlned early on that |erusalem was the soul
and purpose ln the Agnon canon, that lt epltomlzed an
absolute value wlthln hls world.
Agnon repeatedly declalmed hls abldlng love for
|erusalem, as ln l~ ~~ ~J (l939; translated as ^
d kI l968). 'My llfe and soul I shall glve
for you the holy clty / Asleep and awake, you shall
have my entlre happlness." Many of hls tales and nov
els are set ln the old clty and deplct |erusalem ln a lov
lng, reverentlal fashlon. In q~ (orlglnally publlshed
ln Hebrew ln l950 and translated ln q~I ~ l
f~ q~I l956), for lnstance, Agnon draws a dlrect
parallel between the l01yearold eponymous herolne,
whose name radlates admlratlon (slnce lt has blbllcal
orlglns and means 'pralse"), and the clty. Llke |erusa
lem, Jehllla ls blessed wlth long llfe and embodles the
supreme ldeals of plety, hollness, and prlde, usually
assoclated wlth Israel`s eternal capltal. Jhe openlng
paragraph, although referrlng to Jehllla, can just as
well be a paean to |erusalem.
Now there used to be ln |erusalem a certaln old
woman, as comely an old woman as you have seen ln
your eyes. Rlghteous she was, and wlse she was, and
graclous and humble; for klndness and plty were the
llght of her eyes, and every wrlnkle ln her face told of
blesslng and peace. I know that women should not be
llkened to angels. yet her I would llken to an angel of
God. She had ln her, besldes, the vlgor of youth; so
that she wore old age llke a mantle, whlle ln herself
there was seen no trace of her years.
Agnon llved ln the southern nelghborhood of Jalplot for
forty years, worklng from a small llbraryturnedofflce
that ls now a museum vlslted by tourlsts and the slte of
monthly lectures on hls work. He followed a strlct and
spartan routlne, rlslng early to say hls mornlng prayers
and then ascendlng the stalrs to the prlvate, tlny area
where he tolled untll noon. He would sometlmes work
all day and lnto the nlght. Near a stove, he stood at a pol
lshed wood podlum wrltlng by hand. Blographer Laor
reports that Agnon stood to wrlte, ln order, as Agnon
put lt, 'to grab the exact word I want from all those fly
lng around the room." Only after he was dlagnosed wlth
a heart condltlon ln l95l dld he slt to work. Ior the serl
ous and seasoned artlst, wrltlng was a craft of preclslon.
Aharon Megged, a renowned Israell wrlter, says that
Agnon would get angry when someone crltlclzed hlm.
Seldom satlsfled wlth hls handlwork, he labored for
months, even years, amendlng and substltutlng words
and phrases ln many verslons, dellverlng the full flavor
of hls llngulstlc rlchness and own lnlmltable archalc
Hebrew (sometlmes tagged as 'Agnonlt" for lts dlstlnc
tlveness). Accordlngly, there are ln exlstence many
manuscrlpts and wldely dlsparate verslons of hls col
lected works, lncludlng one ln eleven volumes (l93l-
l952) and another ln elght volumes (l959-l962).
When Agnon worked, no one was allowed lnto
the study, and hls wlfe, Esther, had to ensure that there
was absolute qulet. Laor records that the street on whlch
Agnon llved was blocked off to trafflc by the clty councll,
whlle a slgn hanglng at the head of the street proclalmed
to all passersby. 'No cars are to enter. Agnon ls Wrlt
lng."
A true lover of old books, he routlnely patronlzed
secondhand bookshops, purchaslng rare edltlons (some
9
ai_ POV p v ^
tlmes datlng back to the seventeenth century) wlth
money he steadlly set aslde. Durlng hls spell ln Ger
many, he acqulred old |ewlsh books for the prlvate
llbrary of hls patron, Schocken. Books and thelr trau
matlc loss flgure promlnently ln the wrlter`s llfe. In the
summer of l921, whlle he was stlll llvlng ln Bad Hom
burg, Germany, a flre consumed hls large prlvate llbrary,
lncludlng valuable manuscrlpts and 'Bltzror hahaylm"
(In the Bond of Llfe), a nearly completed autoblographl
cal novel whose publlcatlon was lmmlnent. Also
destroyed was a compllatlon of Hasldlc legends that
Agnon had assembled wlth hls frlend Martln Buber. Jhe
causes for the mysterlous flre have never been explalned
(the flftyshekel note that bears hls portralt lncludes on
the other slde a prcls of that event). Agnon, who was ln
the hospltal for a hernla operatlon at the tlme, lost 1,000
Hebrew books. Jhls dlsaster had a lastlng lmpact on
Agnon, who saw the flre as an omen. In the wake of thls
mlsfortune, he became convlnced that hls stopover ln
exlle was too long, and ln l921 he returned to Palestlne,
where, as he revealed ln hls Nobel Prlze address, he
wrote 'all that God has put lnto my heart and lnto my
pen."
Durlng the bloody Arab rlots of l929, hls rented
home ln |erusalem was lnvaded and looted. Although he
had managed to save most of hls cherlshed books and
wrltlngs, once agaln thousands of volumes were rulned
and damaged. Agnon wrote about thls calamlty ln the
l91l tale 'Meòyev Leòhev" (Irom Ioe to Irlend), a
multlfaceted, allegorlcal narratlve about a mlghty battle
waged by a perslstent wlnd (an allpurpose metaphor for
the Arabs) and a determlned settler who wlshes to llve ln
the suburb of Jalplot. Shattered, Agnon asked hls frlend,
archltect Irltz Kornberg, to deslgn a new dwelllng ln Jal
plot for hlm and hls famlly, whlch was completed ln
l93l and ls now a museum. On the wall of Agnon`s
house remalns an lnscrlptlon that encapsulates hls
lntense feellngs about hls home. 'I have bullt myself a
house and planted myself a garden." Jhe feellng of
homelessness, of loslng one`s dwelllng, or slmply not
havlng a house where one can lodge, ls a strong current
ln Agnon`s work, servlng as a metaphor for the precarl
ous sltuatlon of the |ew.
Jhe wanderlng, homeless |ew and hls relatlonshlp
wlth the world ls at the heart of Agnon`s flrst novel,
e~~~ h~~ (l93l; translated as q _~ `~I
l937), a folk eplc flrst publlshed as a story ln l920, rlch
ln scale and ambltlous ln lts thematlc perspectlve. Ior
mally, e~~~ h~~ resembles a patchwork of storles
wlthln storles, separate pleces stltched together around
the maln narratlve and bound by such themes as mar
rlage, charlty, generoslty, the role of provldence, and
rootlessness. Often compared to Cervantes`s a n
i~ j~~ (l605), Agnon`s novel ls concerned wlth
the travels of the Hasldlc Reb Yudel and hls companlon
Notte through the towns and vlllages of nlneteenth
century Gallcla as he attempts to flnd a dowry for hls
daughters. Weldlng fantasy and reallsm, the adventures
of the two perlpatetlc prlnclpals and the characters they
encounter, each wlth a vlvld story to tell, allow Agnon to
palnt a mosalc of |ewlsh and Gentlle llfe, replete wlth
folkllke vlgnettes, traglc tales, and homlletlcal wlsdom.
Loomlng large throughout ls the emphasls placed on
unwaverlng falth ln the creator, as shown by Yudel`s
plety and love for hls fellow man. In a wlder context, the
novel ls a medltatlon on the decllne of rellglous llfe ln
Poland, utlllzlng a rellglous protagonlst whose world
vlew ls obtruslvely at odds wlth hls secular surroundlngs
but who malntalns throughout hls slmple falth ln God.
Yudel`s fldellty ls rewarded when upon hls return, he
flnds a burled treasure, glvlng hlm the wealth to provlde
for hls daughters.
In Hochman`s words, a key element ln the novel ls
'the search for a past, a problng lnto a onceuponatlme
way of llfe. In e~~~ h~~ Agnon ls the llterary archl
vlst of Gallclan |ewry, the comprehenslve preserver of a
now destroyed clvlllzatlon." Crltlcs, dazed by the mlghty
stream of dlgresslons and |ewlsh lore that clog the maln
plot, have now reallzed that Agnon, who lncluded e~J
~~ h~~ ln hls collected works (the l93l-l952 h
p~ p v ^), lntended thls project to
serve as a thematlc and aesthetlc lndex for hls later cre
atlons. Scholars have argued that ln thls novel Agnon
sought to show (early ln hls career) that hls future land
mark projects would be fundamentally dlfferent from
what hls llterary forebears had done, ln both Hebrew
and European letters.
p m~ (translated as ^ p pI l985),
Agnon`s l935 novel, ls anythlng but slmple; lt ls a soclal
treatlse that dramatlzes the confllct of |ewlsh mlddleclass
mores wlth European modernlst ldeas of rellglous and
sexual freedom, as well as rebelllon agalnst lndurate
boundarles of behavlor. At the same tlme, lt ls a percep
tlve soclal allegory melded wlth a character study of the
dllemmas entalled ln human exlstence and the sacrlflces
man must make to flt lnto a rlgldly deflned world. Davld
Ghltelman wrltes that '^ p p ls, ln the order of
Jhomas Mann`s a~ s or Andre Glde`s q
f~I a complex and resonant medltatlon on the
comforts of clvlllzatlon versus lts lnevltable dlscontents."
Set ln the flrst decade of the twentleth century ln
an East European backwater (the town of Szybuzs), p
m~ follows the llfe of Hlrshl Horowltz, the only son of
wealthy shopkeepers. He falls ln love wlth Blume Nacht,
hls poor second cousln, who ls sent to llve wlth Hlrshl`s
parents and work as a housekeeper followlng the death
of her mother. Hlrshl, a classlc schlemlel who rellshes the
warmth of hls mlddleclass famlly, ls forced by hls doml
l0
p v ^ ai_ POV
nant and overbearlng mother, Jzlrel, to repress hls
yearnlngs for Blume and marry the prematched, shal
low Mlna Zlemllch (daughter of a wealthy landowner).
Hlrshl`s bllsterlng affectlon for the woman who captured
hls heart, however, ls not quelled but rather lncreases,
resultlng ln restlessness, lnsomnla (he undertakes noctur
nal walks hoplng to catch a gllmpse of Blume, only to see
her vlslon at a llghted wlndow), and eventually mental
dlslntegratlon. Jhe breakdown scenes are revelatory of
an lnner journey lnto the netherland of the psyche, cou
pled wlth chllllng hlstorlcal flashbacks to |ewlsh mlle
stones of exlle and destructlon. Woven lnto the
archltecturally preclse tale ls a multlhued portralt of the
|ewlsh communlty ln the AustroHungarlan Emplre at
the dawn of the twentleth century, deplctlng the resplte
and success the |ews of Gallcla beneflted from under the
tough czarlst rule.
Aware of thelr son`s plnlng, Hlrshl`s manlpulatlve
parents send hlm to a sanltarlum at a dlstant clty,
relleved to learn that the townsfolk belleve thls move ls a
clever scam to help Hlrshl avold the draft. Jhere, the
frustrated young man ls treated by Dr. Langsham,
whose unconventlonal methods lnvolve Ireudlan regres
slve therapy that takes the patlent back to hls chlldhood.
Slnglng hls patlent nostalglc lullables he remembers from
the small |ewlsh vlllage he grew up ln and abandoned,
the eccentrlc psychlatrlst shows Hlrshl that the only cure
for the soul ls a return to one`s slmple roots of |ewlsh
splrltuallsm and llvlng. As the novel draws to a close,
Hlrshl reconclles wlth hls wlfe, rejolclng ln parenthood
and flndlng emotlonal and sexual contentment, seem
lngly embodylng Agnon`s afflrmatlon of marrlage as the
bedrock of soclety.
What ls the unsuspectlng reader to make of Hlr
shl`s flnal acceptance of the conformlty to bourgeols
exlstence? Is Agnon mocklng a weakwllled character
who, after belng tempted by the chaos of thwarted, for
bldden love, does not thlnk for hlmself? Halkln, who
flrst translated the book lnto Engllsh, vlews p m~
as an antlmodernlst tract, argulng that the concluslon of
the novel ventures beyond the typlcal modernlst aver
slon to bourgeols mores by suggestlng that sexual deslre
ls a destructlve force and that mlddleclass values are
what provlde vltally needed constancy. By contrast,
Robert Alter ln q k v q _ o (22
December l985) contended that there ls 'more lrresolu
tlon ln the novel" and that 'to the end Agnon makes us
palnfully aware of the terrlble prlce Hlrshl pays for hls
flnal normallty."
Agnon`s talent was at lts peak ln l~ ~~ ~JI
an unsettllng, nlghtmarlsh account of the splrltual and
materlal decllne of European |ewry after World War I,
as related by an unnamed narrator returnlng to hls
natlve town. Jhe apocalyptlc novel, flrst serlallzed ln the
newspaper e~~I from l8 October l938 to 7 Aprll
l939, was lnsplred by Agnon`s vlslt to Buczacz ln l930,
after a slxteenyear absence, whlch provoked a Marcel
Proust-llke flood of chlldhood memorles that constltutes
one of the plllars of the work and explalns the concatena
tlon of the past and the present.
Lpon hls arrlval at hls hometown of Szybuzs, the
hero dlscovers a communlty ln decllne, devold of falth
and ravaged by the warthe antlthesls to the congrega
tlon of yore. As a teenager, Agnon had occaslonally
called hls hometown 'a clty of the dead," and ln l~
~~ ~J thls sentlment overhangs every scene and
actlon. Agnon tlps hls metaphorlcal hat when hls protag
onlst on arrlval meets crlppled watchmen and later a |ew
hatlng beggar, slgnlfylng the degradatlon of the place.
Acute rellglous emptlness permeates dlaspora llfe. the
synagogues are almost barren, and those attendlng ser
vlces do so out of routlne, even presentlng the guest wlth
the key for the Bet Mldrash ( |ewlsh house of study), for
whlch they have no further use. Starkly palnful ln tone
and atmosphere, the tale records the despalr Agnon felt
and portends the desolatlon of |ewlsh llfe that followed.
Nonetheless, the concluslon of the book ls laced wlth
optlmlsm. prlor to leavlng, the narrator presents a new
born baby at a clrcumclslon ceremony wlth a substltute
key for the Bet Mldrash. Jhls hopeful message for the
future ls glven added resonance ln an essentlal scene ln
whlch the hero, now back ln Palestlne, flnds the orlglnal
key he thought he lost. Assertlng that l~ ~~ ~J ls
Agnon`s most lmportant opus, |udlth Romney Wegner
wrltes that the novel constltutes an hlstorlcal document
of protest. 'It ls the author`s testament to the lnablllty of
European |ewry to flnd an adequate replacement for the
tradltlonal culture that for centurles had sustalned |ewlsh
self ldentlflcatlon and ralson dètre ln an allen world.
Agnon bears wltness to the dlsappolntment of the
~ (enllghtened ones) who had hoped to forge a
modern |ewlsh ldentlty compatlble wlth the Age of Rea
son, as well as to hls own profound dlsllluslonment wlth
the fallure of the e~~~ (enllghtenment)."
Arguably Agnon`s capstone, q p (l915,
Jhe Day Before Yesterday; translated as l v~I
2000) was the flrst of hls novels to be located ln Palestlne,
and although set durlng the second Allyah, lt was ln fact
wrltten ln the shadow of the Holocaustevldenced ln the
lnterconnected motlfs of death and reblrth lt tackles.
Alter explalned ln hls l985 revlew that Agnon dealt wlth
the grlm reallty of the Shoah lndlrectly because of hls
fabullst procllvltles. 'he preferred to approach the men
ace of recent hlstory obllquely, often dlsplaclng the raw
terror of contemporary experlence lnto varlous klnds of
symbollc lmages and parabollc lntlmatlons that could be
held at an lntellectual dlstance." Alter adds that 'the utter
bleakness . . . of thls novel`s vlslon of man and God may
ll
ai_ POV p v ^
be, after all, a dlrect response to the nlghtmare of Hltler
years."
q p beglns wlth a wlshfulflllment jour
ney, proceeds wlth a serles of plcaresque adventures,
dwells on love and loss, and flnally ends on a traglc note.
Jhe burled themes of the book are about how often peo
ple fall to actuallze thelr dreams and how bewlldered
they feel when they stumble agalnst tragedy. Llke many
of Agnon`s storles, q p deals wlth the twlsted
threads of llfe that expose falry tales as mere flctlons and
show exlstence to be a whlrlpool of dark, unfulfllled
deslres. Ilnally, lt ls about how the romantlc lmages of
places and ldeologles rarely resemble thelr true state.
A reconstructlon of early ploneer soclety, the novel
ls an lnslghtful and sour crltlque of the Zlonlst endeavor
that also examlnes the eleglac and dark undertow of
human exlstence followlng the natlonal and personal
exlle of the |ewlsh natlon. Cosmlc lmagery, prophetlc
lmages, and apocalyptlc messages abound as the novel
seeks to reference and encompass the unlversal destlny
and sufferlng of all people. Jhe novel was recognlzed as
such a glgantlc achlevement ln world llterature that ln
l956 the crltlc Edmund Wllson, who compared Agnon
to Kafka and Marc Chagall, publlcly called for the
author to be glven the Nobel Prlze, notlng that 'Agnon ls
a classlc . . . one ls ready to accept hlm as a true represen
tatlve of that great llne of |ewlsh wrlters that beglns wlth
the authors of Genesls." Jhe metaphyslcally loaded
novel ls a companlon plece to Agnon`s earller tour de
force, l~ ~~ ~JK
q p ls the story of Yltzhak Kumer, a
nalve ploneer who travels from Gallcla to Jurklsh
controlled Palestlne, along wlth the masslve wave of
lmmlgrants leavlng the morlbund world of the shtetl
between the flrst decade of the twentleth century and the
outbreak of World War II, lntendlng to rebulld the Holy
Land through backbreaklng work. Jhese ploneers were
malnly secular ldeallsts, lntent on upholdlng the values of
|ewlsh labor and resurrectlng the Hebrew language. Jhe
dreamyeyed Kumer, who left hls Hasldlc famlly ln Szy
buzs for Zlon, ls lmpelled by the ploneer rhetorlc and
craves to plough lts soll, make the desert bloom, and be
revlved by the place. An lconlc emblem of the Zlonlst
ploneers who stralned to become the new |ews and bulld
a new natlonal |ewlsh home, he ls also the qulntessentlal
schlemlel, denuded of selfreflectlon or wlll, hopelessly
romantlc and devoted to the doctrlne that all of hls fel
low lmmlgrants are brothers llnked by a shared cause.
Before long, the brutal economlcs of the tlmes are
exposed when Kumer, llke hls brethren, dlscovers that
the |ewlsh farmers of the colonles prefer the doclle Arab
laborers, as they are cheaper and already famlllar wlth
worklng the land. It soon becomes apparent that the real
lty ls far removed from the Zlonlst ldeal as settlers strug
gle to adapt to the cultural and soclal condltlons of the
harsh envlronment.
In response, Kumer settles ln the bustllng, secular
|affa, where he becomes a perlpatetlc slgn palnter (palnt
lng ls a metaphor ln the book for the coverlng up of real
lty), whlle at the same tlme castlng off the shackles of hls
rellglous upbrlnglng. Desplte eventually becomlng a
capable housepalnter, Kumer llves wlth a recurrlng sense
of fallure for not worklng the land. In |affa, Kumer ls
agonlzed by the tltanlc cholce between the secular and
tradltlonal worlds. Wlth remarkable care for detall, and
drawlng on hls memorles of hls own tlme there, Agnon
palnts |affa as a sensual, llvely center, abrlm wlth young
lovers, wouldbe revolutlonarles, wrlters, crooked polltl
clans, and charlatans.
Over the course of hls sojourn ln |affa, the vlrglnal
Kumer meets and falls ln love wlth Sonya Zweerlng, the
seductlve, dangerously sexual female flgure who appears
frequently ln Agnon`s corpus. Ior her part, Sonya treats
the affalr as a casual fllng, whereas Yltzhak ls so lnfatu
ated wlth the allurlng female that he flagellates hlmself
for not havlng done the honorable thlng and marrled
her. Crushed after Sonya caprlclously ends thelr short
llved romance, Kumer moves to |erusalem and lnto the
arms of the vlrtuous Shlfra, the only daughter of Reb
Ialsh, an extreme fanatlc of Meàh Sheàrlm who speclal
lzes ln excommunlcatlons.
|erusalem ls the converse of |affa. It ls a bastlon of
rellglous |ews and manlpulatlve rabbls who are mostly
antlZlonlsts, enmeshed ln shtetlllke surroundlngs.
Amos Oz, ln hls 2000 collectlon of essays on Agnon,
observes that |erusalem ls shown to be fosslllzed and
empty, a portrayal fllled wlth scathlng barbs and lrony.
Stlll, Kumer ls lnvelgled by |affa`s charm, to whlch he
comes back once more, but ultlmately chooses |erusa
lem. Jhe return to |erusalem also slgnals a resumptlon of
hls rellglous observance and an abandonment of hls
Zlonlst ldeals. And although he marrles Shlfra, Kumer
struggles to reconclle the splrltual vaculty of the present
wlth the nostalglc lmage of the past.
Much of the drama of the novel comes from a sub
plot lnvolvlng Balak, a dog on whose back Kumer, ln an
act of chlldlsh playfulness, palnts the words 'Mad Dog."
Jhe stray anlmal, up untll then a stald flxture on the
streets of Meàh Sheàrlm, beglns to suffer persecutlon by
the lnhabltants of the communlty, who heed the warnlng
daubed on hls fur. Pelted wlth stones, Balak ls forced to
flee hls beloved nelghborhood, where he scoured for
kosher meat left by the butchers, and lnstead must eat
dlsgraceful scraps from the Gentlles. Jhe author lmag
lnes the dog`s thoughts, as Balak comments on the peo
ple he encounters and the enlgma of manklnd, ln a prose
made up of dlfferent Hebrew archltectonlcs. Whenever
the narratlve focus swltches to Balak, the plot assumes a
l2
p v ^ ai_ POV
Kafkaesque turn lntermlngled wlth maglc reallsm. Balak,
who wanders through the maze of Chrlstlan and Musllm
quarters ln the clty, needs to call on all of hls wlllness to
survlve the panlcselzed resldents. Soon, he emerges as a
celebrated polnt of dlscusslon ln the dlaspora, a cause for
newspaper artlcles and debates and an object for varlous
theorles about hls real lmport.
After a whlle, the exlled anlmal sets out to avenge
hls fate on the man who marked hlm and who ls respon
slble for all hls angulsh. In the end, the two heroes meet
for the second and last tlme. Jhe mongrel bltes Kumer,
who dles a grotesque death from rables (even though the
dog dld not have rables when Kumer labeled hlm).
Agnon underllnes the blbllcal leltmotlv of the blndlng of
Isaac near the coda of the book, when the hero, llke the
blbllcal Isaac, bound wlth ropes, squlrms ln paln llke a
dog from the torturous agony of hls dlsease. Kumer`s
catastrophlc and dlsproportlonate punlshment, coupled
wlth God`s sllence ln the face of such vlolence, served as
Agnon`s llterary reactlon to the German atrocltles taklng
place. Nonetheless, the resolutlon of the book offers optl
mlsmln a cruclal scene, set a day after Kumer`s funeral,
a llfeglvlng raln comes down to end the excruclatlng
drought that has eroded the sunbaked land.
Jhere have been many lnterpretatlons as to what
Balak stands for. On one level, he may be sald to be
Kumer`s bestlal alter ego, embodylng the prlmal and
repressed deslres the hero does not dare artlculate. On
another level, he can be read as a modernday |ob, suffer
lng from lnexpllcable cosmlc lnjustlce and determlned to
declpher the mysterles of hls bltter woes (at one polnt, he
mutters 'where ls heaven?"). And on stlll another, he
may, as Oz suggests, represent the motlfs of desertlon
and dlsplacement as well as the eternal search for love
and home.
Whlle the narratlve obvlously leads ln many dlffer
ent dlrectlons, one operatlng tenet ls the parallel drawn
between Balak and Kumer. Both plne for the past
Kumer for the home that he was ralsed ln, burstlng wlth
the sweetness of tradltlon and dally observance, Balak
for the kosher food of Meàh Sheàrlm. Both feel despalr
lngly lonely. Both search for meanlng ln thelr partlcular
unlverse. And both have been decelved by the trlckerles
of llfe. After all, rather than bulldlng the land and belng
rebullt by lt, Kumer ls destroyed ln the end.
Agnon recelved many prestlglous llterary awards.
He won the Lsshlskln Prlze for Tcmol Slilslom ln l950
and the prestlglous Israel Prlze for hls collected storles ln
l951 and l958, as well as the Blallk Prlze for Llterature
bestowed by the clty of Jel Avlv, ln l935 and agaln ln
l95l. In l962 the clty of |erusalem made hlm an honor
ary cltlzen. Jhen, ln l966, came the Nobel Prlze.
Agnon`s supporters, lncludlng Shlomo Schocken
and professor Hugo Berman, had campalgned for a
Nobel nomlnatlon for hlm ln l917, followlng the success
of Tcmol Slilslom. Although thls attempt and others falled,
the publlcatlon ln Engllsh of ctrotlcd, c Ido ovd Ivom:
Two Tolcs ln the summer of l966 colnclded wlth a wave
of lnternatlonal crltlcal acclalm for hls earller work that
contrlbuted to hls wlnnlng the prlze.
In hls Nobel presentatlon speech, Swedlsh Acad
emy member Anders Osterllng lauded Agnon`s reputa
tlon as the foremost wrlter ln modern Hebrew llterature,
notlng that Agnon ls 'endowed wlth remarkable glfts of
humor and wlsdom, and wlth a persplcaclous play of
thought comblned wlth nalve perceptlonln all, a con
summate expresslon of the |ewlsh character." At the ban
quet held after the offlclal Nobel ceremony, Ingvar
Andersson of the Swedlsh Academy commented to
Agnon. 'We honour ln you a comblnatlon of tradltlon
and prophecy, of saga and wlsdom."
At the end of hls llfe Agnon was completely deblll
tated by strokes and dled of a flnal stroke ln the town of
Rehovot on l7 Iebruary l970. He was burled on Jhe
Mount of Ollves ln |erusalem. Slnce the l970s, hls
daughter has been collectlng and publlshlng hls voluml
nous wrltlngs, somethlng her prollflc father was reluctant
to do whlle allve. As a result, there are now more works
ln prlnt than there were ln the author`s llfetlme.
Slirol (l97l; translated as Sliro, l989), Agnon`s
swan song, was unflnlshed at the tlme of hls death and
was edlted by hls daughter accordlng to her father`s
lnstructlons. Agnon had worked on Slirol for twenty
flve years and left a tangle of related materlals. Wlth no
endlng vouchsafed ln the orlglnal, two chapters were
subsequently added ln l971 and l978 edltlons as the des
lgnated concluslon. Jhls lntrlcately plotted, penetratlng
novel works on many levels ln problng the most grand
of themes. the nature of art; love and obsesslon; evll;
death; and beauty. Beverly Ilelds adds that Agnon
undertakes some of the most perennlal European motlfs.
'among them Jhomas Mann`s concept of llfe as a dls
ease of matter, wlth art as the ultlmate dlsease, and the
legends of Iaust, Prometheus and the Wanderlng |ew."
Ilelds also polnts out that the maln character`s name
Manfred Herbstcalls to mlnd George Gordon, Lord
Byron`s l8l7 verse drama Movfrcd, conjurlng up reso
nances of those legends.
Slirol tells the story of Herbst, a Germanborn hls
tory professor lmmersed ln German culture, who teaches
at the Hebrew Lnlverslty of the l930s. Whlle ln the hos
pltal where hls wlfe, Henrletta, ls glvlng blrth to thelr
thlrd chlld, he meets Shlrah, a slckly, mannlsh, and enlg
matlc nurse (whose name means 'poetry") wlth whom
he beglns a brlef affalr that later develops lnto a torment
lng, erotlc lnfatuatlon when she dlsappears.
Jhe novel astonlshed many for lts overt pattern of
secularlsm and candld descrlptlons of sexual obsesslon
l3
ai_ POV p v ^
and exlstentlal angst. Jhere was wlderanglng amaze
ment at the lack of admlratlon for the sacred world, and
surprlse at a central character`s scorn for tradltlon.
Agnon populates hls pages wlth secular German lmml
grants whose cultural afflllatlons are to the German
republlc they escaped from, rather than to the devout
and plous |ews of |erusalem, where they have made thelr
home. Jhere ls a wealth of soclal detall conveyed
through Agnon`s collage of eccentrlc characters, lnclud
lng madmen, prophets, and poets who roam the streets
of the Rehavla and Jalplot nelghborhoods. In the back
ground ls a skeln of hlstorlcal references (the lndepen
dence underground movements, Arab terrorlsm) that
lmbues the personal patchwork wlth a polltlcal strand.
Palestlne ls under the rule of the Brltlsh mandate, and
the tumultuous confllct between Arab natlonallsm and
Zlonlst natlonallsm ls a promlnent theme, partlcularly
when Herbst ls shot and hls daughter Jamara jolns one
of the |ewlsh reslstance movements.
Herbst`s lnablllty to flnlsh a book ls fused wlth hls
search for Shlrah, whom he flnally flnds as a patlent ln a
leper hospltal ln the l971 edltlon. Jhe dlsquletlng rela
tlonshlp offers Herbst no contentment. Hls morbld fanta
sles about Shlrah lead to a creatlve and emotlonal block
and prevent hlm from completlng hls book. (In a case of
art lmltatlng llfe, Herbst`s passlon for collectlng and orga
nlzlng books parallels Agnon`s own flxatlon.) Jhe l971
endlng ls laden wlth parable. after belng affllcted wlth
leprosy hlmself, Herbst decldes to remaln and care for
Shlrah. In the l978 verslon, he deduces Shlrah`s fate and
confesses hls lnfldellty to hls wlfe. Alan L. Mlntz argues
that the prlmary reason why the novel was not con
cluded ls that the dlalectlc between Shlrah as an unattaln
able object of deslre and an allegorlcal contalner for 'art,
eros, purlty, splrltuallty can slmply not be accommo
dated by the worldly resources of the novel as a genre."
Jhe macabre elements of the narratlve are sym
bollc. Ior lnstance, Herbst`s maln area of study ls Byzan
tlne burlal customs, whlle Shlrah ls enfolded by lmages
of dlsease and death. Alter has oplned that the answer to
Shlrah`s ldentlty lles ln her name, averrlng that Herbst`s
flxatlon ls wlth a pagan splrlt of poetry. A repeated sym
bollc and vlsual trope ln p~ ls the hero`s death wlsh
and selfdestructlve sexual deslre, fully artlculated
through an undercurrent of dreams that affllct the
respected academlclan. Herbst leads a double exlstence,
born out of a lust for the lnexpllcably fasclnatlng nurse
who shatters the marrled man`s sterlle routlne and
domestlc boredom. Drlven to escape hls austere llfe wlth
the dull but devoted Henrletta, the hero ls domlnated by
a llbldo that erotlcally enslaves hlm to the bold Shlrah.
Above all, p~ ls at once an exploratlon of modern
man`s fasclnatlon wlth death and the crumbllng moral
structure of soclety. Both themes are ones Agnon lnvestl
gates wlth compasslon and restralnt, marshallng hls cus
tomary novellstlc devlces of dreams and alluslons whlle
temperlng hls lrony.
Hand ln hand wlth hls major novels, Agnon pub
llshed about slx new short storles every year, whlch were
featured ln the Hebrew dally e~~. In l995 Agnon`s
short flctlon was showcased ln a new translatlon of
twentyflve of hls storles lnto Engllsh, tltled ^ _ q~
t~ i ~ l pK Jhe representatlve sampllng of
moral fables, autoblographlcal sketches, and psychologl
cally persplcuous dellneatlons spotllghts Agnon`s scope,
ambltlon, and hls keen ear and eye, thus lllustratlng the
reasons he ls appreclated and remembered for hls shorter
wrltlngs. Jhe deceptlvely uncompllcated tales are clev
erly subverslve and derlslve of the wrlter`s own cultural
domaln. Profound loss and the dlsruptlve collapse of
relatlonshlps touch many of the eclectlc story llnes. In
'Jhe Doctor`s Dlvorce," a young physlclan ls wracked
wlth regret and sufferlng for the absurd jealousy that
drove hls wlfe away; ln 'Jhe Kerchlef," a narrator reml
nlsces about the demlse of hls chlldhood nalvet, explor
lng memory through hls mother`s Sabbath kerchlef; and
ln 'Jwo Palrs," a preclous (set of phylacterles) ls
destroyed ln a flre. Jhe volume also dlsplays the same
straln that was so slgnlflcant ln Agnon`s novels. an
enchantment wlth the vlllage of hls blrth, whlch was
annlhllated by the Nazls. On a broad scale, the slngle,
unlfled communlty of Buczacz was for Agnon an exam
ple of how all people could peacefully llve together.
Another central aspect ln ^ _ q~ t~ i ~
l p ls that the act of wrltlng and reflectlon
emerges as a recuperatlve, symbollc way to deal wlth the
loss experlenced by the characters. One strlklng occur
rence of thls theme ls ln the tltle story, ln whlch the nar
rator stumbles upon an unpubllshed rabblnlc
commentary and attempts to send the manuscrlpt from
Buczacz to the natlonal llbrary ln |erusalem. Jhe Yeshlva
student saves enough pennles to post the book but later
dlscovers that the manuscrlpt, a touchstone for the lntel
lectual tradltlons of the old world, never made lt to the
Holy Land. Yet, wrltlng the story counteracts and com
pensates for the commentary that seems to be ln contlnu
ous translt.
Preemlnent author Oz, who holds the Agnon
Chalr at Ben Gurlon Lnlverslty ln southern Israel,
belleves that every Israell author ls connected to Agnon,
who set the bar so hlgh that most asplre to only once
reach hls marvelous helghts. Oz acknowledges Agnon as
one of hls llterary mentors, as do A. B. Yehoshua, Aha
ron Appelfeld, and the late Yehuda Amlchal. Jhls adml
ratlon ls further proof that Agnon ls stlll a father flgure
and mentor to scores of Israell authors, exertlng an lrre
slstlble lnfluence on hls successors.
l1
p v ^ ai_ POV
Halm Beèr, author of a l992 study of Agnon`s
relatlonshlps wlth two other Hebrew authors (Hayylm
Nahman Blallk and Brenner), notes. 'Agnon ls the cen
tre of our cultural dlscourse. Hls work ls the most fre
quent subject of Hebrew llterary research. He stands at
the juncture of trends and confllcts whlch make up our
llfe today|ewlsh and Hebrew culture, tradltlon, falth
and |erusalem. Jhrough Agnon, you can relate to a varl
ety of themes." Arnold Band, one of the flrst crltlcs to
examlne Agnon`s flctlon, contends that Agnon reslsts
easy plgeonhollng, that for some readers he was 'the
epltome of tradltlonal |ewlshfolk llterature; for others,
he ls the most darlng of modernlsts. Ior the older reader,
Agnon conjures up memorles of |ewlsh llfe ln Eastern
Europe; for the younger reader, he wrestles wlth the cen
tral unlversal problems of our agonlzed century." Anne
Golomb Hoffman, ln commentary for Z ool Tlot !os
Iost ovd Utlcr Storics, concurs. 'Agnon`s ls a restless wrlt
lng. . . . He has been read by some as a plous storyteller,
by others as a modern lronlst. He ls both and more."
iW
Istcrloiv Jcliroti: Milltovim 6S4-691 (1924-19J1),
edlted by Emunah Yaron ( |erusalem. Schocken,
l983);
Sl. J. Zgvov Sl. . Slolcv: Hilufc Igrot (676-719)
( |erusalem. Schocken, l99l);
Mi-sod Hollomim: Milltovim 1909-1970: Zgvov, rcvcr,
iòlil, Iolovcr, Iotsvclsov, Sodov ( |erusalem.
Schocken, 2002).
_~W
Dan Laor, Hoycy Zgvov: iogroplio ( |erusalem.
Schocken, l998).
oW
Davld Aberbach, Zt tlc Hovdlcs of tlc Iocl: Tlcmcs iv tlc
Iictiov of S. J. Zgvov (Oxford. Oxford Lnlverslty
Press, l981);
Robert Alter, Zftcr tlc Troditiov: Issoys ov Modcrv cwisl
!ritivg (New York. Dutton, l969);
Alter, Hcbrcw ovd Modcrvity (Bloomlngton. Indlana Lnl
verslty Press, l991);
Arnold |. Band, òstolgio ovd ìgltmorc: Z Study iv tlc
Iictiov of S. J. Zgvov (Berkeley. Lnlverslty of Call
fornla Press, l968);
Hlllel Barzel, Sipurc olovol slcl Slmucl Joscf 'Zgvov: 'iyuvc
mcllor (Ramat Gan. Lnlverslty of Bar Ilan,
l975);
Halm Beèr, Com olovotom gom sivotom: iolil, rcvvcr,
Zgvov-mooroclot yolosim (Jel Avlv. Am Oved,
l992);
Nltza BenDov, Zgvov`s Zrt of Ivdircctiov: Uvcovcrivg Iotcvt
Covtcvt iv tlc Iictiov of S. J. Zgvov (Lelden New
York. Brlll, l993);
BenDov, Zlovot lo mcuslorot: tislul croti, Umovut vcmovct
bcyctirot Zgvov (Jel Avlv. Am Oved, l997);
Beverly Ilelds, 'Jhe Poetry of Jruth ln S. Y. Agnon`s
Ilnal Novel, Jragedy Must Be Acted Out," Cli-
cogo Tribuvc, 3l December l989, p. 1;
Harold Ilsch, S. J. Zgvov (New York. Lngar, l975);
Davld George, 'A New Soclal Order," crusolcm Iost, 1
|anuary l99l, p. 26;
Davld Ghltelman, 'A Schlemlel Ialls ln Love," `cws-
doy, 2 Iebruary l986, p. l7;
Sharon Green, òt o Simplc Story: Iovc ovd Iolitics iv o
Modcrv Hcbrcw òvcl (Lanham, Md.. Lexlngton
Books, 2002);
Danlel Grossberg, 'An Introductlon to Modern Israell
Llterature," Midstrcom, 19 (May-|une 2003). 28-
3l;
Baruch Hochman, Tlc Iictiov of S. J. Zgvov (Ithaca,
N.Y.. Cornell Lnlverslty Press, l970);
Stephen Katz, Tlc Ccvtrifugol òvcl: S. J. Zgvov`s Ioctics
of Compositiov (Madlson, N.|. London. Ialrlelgh
Dlcklnson Lnlverslty Press, l999);
Shalom Kremer, Icolism vc-slviroto (Jel Avlv. Agudat
Hasofrlm/Masada,l968);
Baruch Kurzwell, Mosot os sipurci Zgvov ( |erusalem.
Schocken, l963);
Curt Levlant, 'Mlrror of the |ewlsh Past," Covgrcss i-
!cclly, 25 September l967, pp. 20-2l;
Yalr Mazor, Tlc Dyvomics of Motifs iv S. J. Zgvov`s !orls
(Jel Avlv. Dekel Academlc Press, l979);
Aharon Megged, 'Bepardeso Shel Agnon," ln hls Slul-
lov vo-lctivol (Jel Avlv. Am Oved, l989);
Alan L. Mlntz, Trovslotivg Isrocl: Covtcmporory Hcbrcw Iit-
croturc ovd Its Icccptiov iv Zmcrico (Syracuse, N.Y..
Syracuse Lnlverslty Press, 200l);
Matt Nesvlsky, ''Hlllel Halkln` Master of the Jransla
tor`s Jrade," crusolcm Iost, 26 May l989, p. 5;
Amos Oz, Tlc Silcvcc of Hcovcv: Zgvov`s Icor of Cod (Prlnce
ton, N.|.. Prlnceton Lnlverslty Press, 2000);
Menachem Rlbalow, Tlc Ilowcrivg of Modcrv Hcbrcw Iit-
croturc: Z !olumc of Iitcrory Ivoluotiov (London.
Vlslon Press, l959);
Dov Sadan, Zl Sloy Zgvov (Jel Avlv. Haklbutz
Hameuchad, l959);
Gershon Shaked, Umovut lo Sippur slcl S. J. Zgvov (Jel
Avlv. Slfrlat Poallm, l973); translated by |effrey
M. Green as Slmucl Joscf Zgvov: Z Icvolutiovory
Troditiovolist (New York London. New York
Lnlverslty Press, l989);
Mark Shechner, 'A Storyteller Ior the Whole World.
Collectlon Shlnes New Llght on Israell Wrlter
S. Y. Agnon," uffolo `cws, 6 August l995, p. 8G;
l5
ai_ POV p v ^
|udlth Romney Wegner, Z Cucst for tlc ìglt: Epltaph
on the Perlshed Hopes of the Hoslolol," ln Studics
iv tlc Iictiov of S. . Zgvov, edlted by Davld Patter
son and Glenda Abramson (Boulder, Colo..
Westvlew Press, l991), pp. l07-l27;
Samuel Werses, Iclotiovs ctwccv cws ovd Iolcs iv S. J.
Zgvov`s !orl ( |erusalem. Magnes PressLHebrew
Lnlverslty of |erusalem, l991);
Edmund Wllson, Icd, locl, lovd ovd Ulivc: Studics iv
Iour Civiliotiovs: uvi, Hoiti, Sovict Iussio, Isrocl
(London. W. H. Allen, l956);
Ruth Wlsse, Tlc Modcrv cwisl Covov: Z ourvcy Tlrougl
Iovguogc ovd Culturc (New York. Iree Press,
2000);
Leon I. Yudkln, ed., Zgvov: Tcxt ovd Covtcxts iv Ivglisl
Trovslotiov (New York. M. Wlener, l988).
m~W
Jhe major collectlon of Shmuel Yosef Agnon`s papers
ls the Agnon Archlve at the Natlonal Llbrary ln |erusa
lem.
NVSS k m i~
m~ p
by Zvdcrs stcrlivg, Mcmbcr of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy
Jhls year`s Nobel Prlze ln Llterature has been
awarded to two outstandlng |ewlsh authorsShmuel
Yosef Agnon and Nelly Sachseach of whom repre
sents Israel`s message to our tlme. Agnon`s home ls ln
|erusalem, and Mlss Sachs has been an lmmlgrant ln
Sweden slnce l910, and ls now a Swedlsh subject. Jhe
purpose of comblnlng these two prlzewlnners ls to do
justlce to the lndlvldual achlevements of each, and the
sharlng of the prlze has lts speclal justlflcatlon. to
honour two wrlters who, although they wrlte ln dlffer
ent languages, are unlted ln a splrltual klnshlp and
complement each other ln a superb effort to present
the cultural herltage of the |ewlsh people through the
wrltten word. Jhelr common source of lnsplratlon has
been, for both of them, a vltal power.
Shmuel Agnon`s reputatlon as the foremost
wrlter ln modern Hebrew llterature has gradually pen
etrated llngulstlc barrlers whlch, ln thls case, are par
tlcularly obstructlve. Hls most lmportant works are
now avallable ln Swedlsh under the tltle I lovcts mitt (In
the Heart of the Seas). Agnon, now seventyelght
years old, began wrltlng ln Ylddlsh but soon changed
to Hebrew, whlch, accordlng to experts, he handles
wlth absolute mastery, ln a taut and sonorous prose
style of extraordlnary expresslveness. He was only
twenty when he left hls natlve town ln East Gallcla,
where, as the sclon of an old and respected famlly, he
had been brought up ln a scholarly tradltlon. He felt
drawn to Palestlne, where now, as an aged classlcal
author, he can look back on the long struggle for
natlonal reestabllshment, and where the socalled cul
tural Zlonlsm possesses ln hlm one of lts flnest creatlve
champlons.
Agnon`s unlque quallty as a wrlter ls apparent
chlefly ln the great cycle of novels set ln hls natlve
town of Buczacz, once a flourlshlng centre of |ewlsh
plety and rabblnlcal learnlng, now ln rulns. Reallty
and legend stand slde by slde ln hls narratlve art.
Hollvosot Iolol, l922 (Jhe Brldal Canopy), ls one of
hls most characterlstlc storles, ln lts lngenlous and
earthy humour, a |ewlsh counterpart to Dov _uixotc
and Till Iulcvspicgcl. But, perhaps, hls greatest achleve
ment ls hls novel Urcol votol lo-luv, l939 (A Guest for
the Nlght), whlch tells of a vlslt to Buczacz, the war
rulned clty of hls chlldhood, and of the narrator`s
valn attempts to assemble the congregatlon for a ser
vlce ln the synagogue. Wlthln the framework of a
local chronlcle we see a wonderful portrayal of destl
nles and flgures, of experlence and medltatlon. Jhe
lost key to the prayer house, whlch the traveller flnds
ln hls knapsack only after hls return to |erusalem, ls,
for Agnon, a symbollc hlnt that the old order can
never be rebullt ln the Dlaspora, but only under the
protectlon of Zlonlsm. Agnon ls a reallst, but there ls
always a mystlcal admlxture whlch lends to even the
greyest and most ordlnary scenes a golden atmo
sphere of strange falrytale poetry, often remlnlscent
of Chagall`s motlfs from the world of the Old Jesta
ment. He stands out as a hlghly orlglnal wrlter,
endowed wlth remarkable glfts of humour and wls
dom, and wlth a persplcaclous play of thought com
blned wlth nalve perceptlonln all, a consummate
expresslon of the |ewlsh character.
Nelly Sachs, llke so many other German|ewlsh
wrlters, suffered the fate of exlle. Jhrough Swedlsh
lnterventlon she was saved from persecutlon and the
threat of deportatlon and was brought to thls country.
She has slnce then worked ln peace as a refugee on
Swedlsh soll, attalnlng the maturlty and authorlty that
are now conflrmed by the Nobel Prlze. In recent years
she has been acclalmed ln the German world as a
wrlter of convlnclng worth and lrreslstlble slncerlty.
Wlth movlng lntenslty of feellng she has glven volce
to the worldwlde tragedy of the |ewlsh people, whlch
she has expressed ln lyrlcal laments of palnful beauty
and ln dramatlc legends. Her symbollc language
boldly comblnes an lnsplred modern ldlom wlth ech
oes of anclent blbllcal poetry. Identlfylng herself
totally wlth the falth and rltual mystlclsm of her peo
l6
p v ^ ai_ POV
ple, Mlss Sachs has created a world of lmagery whlch
does not shun the terrlble truth of the extermlnatlon
camps and the corpse factorles, but whlch, at the same
tlme, rlses above all hatred of the persecutors, merely
reveallng a genulne sorrow at man`s debasement. Her
purely lyrlcal productlon ls now collected under the
tltle c~ p~I l96l ( |ourney to the Beyond),
whlch comprlses slx lnterconnected works wrltten dur
lng a twentyyear creatlve perlod of lncreaslng concen
tratlon. Jhere ls also a serles of dramatlc poems,
equally remarkable ln thelr way, under the jolnt tltle
w p~I l96l (Slgns ln the Sand), the themes of
whlch mlght have been taken from the dark treasure
house of Hassldlc mystlclsm, but whlch, here, have
taken on new vlgour and vltal meanlng. Let lt sufflce
here to mentlon the mystery play b (l950) about an
elghtyearold boy who ls beaten to death by a Ger
man soldler ln Poland when he blows on hls shep
herd`s plpe to call on heaven`s help when hls parents
are taken away. Jhe vlslonary cobbler Mlchael man
ages to trace the culprlt to the next vlllage. Jhe soldler
has been selzed by remorse and, at the encounter ln
the forest, he collapses wlthout Mlchael`s havlng to
ralse hls hand agalnst hlm. Jhls endlng denotes a
dlvlne justlce whlch has nothlng to do wlth earthly ret
rlbutlon.
Nelly Sachs`s wrltlng ls today the most lntense
artlstlc expresslon of the reactlon of the |ewlsh splrlt
to sufferlng, and thus lt can lndeed be sald to fulflll
the humane purpose underlylng Alfred Nobel`s wlll.
Doctor Agnonaccordlng to the wordlng of the
dlploma, thls year`s Nobel Prlze ln Llterature has
been awarded to you for your 'profoundly dlstlnc
tlve narratlve art wlth motlfs from the llfe of the |ew
lsh people." We should be happy lf you would
conslder thls lnternatlonal dlstlnctlon as a slgn that
your wrltlng need not be lsolated wlthln the bound
ary of lts language, and that lt has proved to have
the power to reach out beyond all conflnlng walls,
and to arouse manklnd`s sympathy, understandlng,
and respect. Jhrough me, the Swedlsh Academy
conveys lts slncere congratulatlons, and I now ask
you to recelve the Prlze from the hands of Hls Maj
esty, the Klng.
Mlss Nelly Sachsyou have llved a long tlme
ln our country, flrst as an obscure stranger and then
as an honoured guest. Joday the Swedlsh Academy
honours your 'outstandlng lyrlcal and dramatlc
wrltlngs, whlch lnterpret Israel`s destlny wlth touch
lng strength." On an occaslon llke thls lt ls natural
also to recall the lnvaluable lnterest you have shown
ln Swedlsh llterature, a token of frlendshlp whlch, ln
turn, has found a response ln the deslre of our Swed
lsh wrlters to translate your work. Offerlng you the
congratulatlons of the Swedlsh Academy, I ask you
now to recelve thls year`s Nobel Prlze ln Llterature
from the hands of Hls Majesty, the Klng.
|Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l966).|
^W _~ p
f ~ f~ ^ p
^~ ~ k _~ ~ ` e~ pI
NM a NVSSW
Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Nelly SachsJhls year`s
llterary Prlze goes to you both wlth equal honour
for a llterary productlon whlch records Israel`s vlcls
sltudes ln our tlme and passes on lts message to the
peoples of the world.
Mr. AgnonIn your wrltlng we meet once
agaln the anclent unlty between llterature and scl
ence, as antlqulty knew lt. In one of your storles you
say that some wlll no doubt read lt as they read falry
tales, others wlll read lt for edlflcatlon. Your great
chronlcle of the |ewlsh people`s splrlt and llfe has
therefore a manlfold message. Ior the hlstorlan lt ls
a preclous source, for the phllosopher an lnsplratlon,
for those who cannot llve wlthout llterature lt ls a
mlne of neverfalllng rlches. We honour ln you a
comblnatlon of tradltlon and prophecy, of saga and
wlsdom.
Mlss SachsAbout twenty years ago, through
the Swedlsh poet Hjalmar Gullberg, I flrst learned of
your fate and your work. Slnce then you have llved
wlth us ln Sweden and I could talk to you ln our
own language. But lt ls through your mother tongue
that your work reflects a hlstorlcal drama ln whlch
you have partlclpated. Your lyrlcal and dramatlc
wrltlng now belongs to the great laments of lltera
ture, but the feellng of mournlng whlch lnsplred you
ls free from hate and lends subllmlty to the sufferlng
of man. We honour you today as the bearer of a
message of solace to all those who despalr of the fate
of man.
We honour you both thls evenlng as the laurel
crowned heroes of lntellectual creatlon and express
our convlctlon that, ln the words of Alfred Nobel,
you have conferred the greatest beneflt on manklnd,
and that you have glven lt clearslghtedness, wlsdom,
upllft, and beauty. A famous speech at a Nobel ban
quetthat of Wllllam Iaulkner, held ln thls same hall
slxteen years agocontalned an ldea whlch he devel
oped wlth great lntenslty. It ls sultable as a conclud
l7
ai_ POV p v ^
lng quotatlon whlch polnts to the future. 'I do not
belleve ln the end of man."
^ Eq~~F
Our sages of blessed memory have sald that we
must not enjoy any pleasure ln thls world wlthout reclt
lng a blesslng. If we eat any food, or drlnk any bever
age, we must reclte a blesslng over them before and
after. If we breathe the scent of goodly grass, the fra
grance of splces, the aroma of good frults, we pro
nounce a blesslng over the pleasure. Jhe same applles
to the pleasures of slght. when we see the sun ln the
Great Cycle of the Zodlac ln the month of Nlssan, or
the trees flrst burstlng lnto blossom ln the sprlng, or
any flne, sturdy, and beautlful trees, we pronounce a
blesslng. And the same applles to the pleasures of the
ear. Jhrough you, dear slrs, one of the blesslngs con
cerned wlth hearlng has come my way.
It happened when the Swedlsh Charg dÀffalres
came and brought me the news that the Swedlsh Acad
emy had bestowed the Nobel Prlze upon me. Jhen I
reclted ln full the blesslng that ls enjolned upon one that
hears good tldlngs for hlmself or others. 'Blessed be
He, that ls good and doeth good." 'Good," ln that the
good God put lt lnto the hearts of the sages of the lllus
trlous Academy to bestow that great and esteemed
Prlze upon an author who wrltes ln the sacred tongue;
'that doeth good," ln that He favoured me by causlng
them to choose me. And now that I have come so far, I
wlll reclte one blesslng more, as enjolned upon hlm
who beholds a monarch. 'Blessed art Jhou, O Lord,
our God, Klng of the Lnlverse, Who hast glven of Jhy
glory to a klng of flesh and blood." Over you, too, dls
tlngulshed sages of the Academy, I say the prescrlbed
blesslng. 'Blessed be He, that has glven of Hls wlsdom
to flesh and blood."
It ls sald ln the Jalmud (Jractate Sanhedrln 23a).
'In |erusalem, the men of dlscrlmlnatlon dld not slt
down to dlne ln company untll they knew who thelr
companlons were to be"; so I wlll now tell you who am
I, whom you have agreed to have at your table.
As a result of the hlstorlc catastrophe ln whlch
Jltus of Rome destroyed |erusalem and Israel was
exlled from lts land, I was born ln one of the cltles of
the Exlle. But always I regarded myself as one who was
born ln |erusalem. In a dream, ln a vlslon of the nlght, I
saw myself standlng wlth my brotherLevltes ln the
Holy Jemple, slnglng wlth them the songs of Davld,
Klng of Israel, melodles such as no ear has heard slnce
the day our clty was destroyed and lts people went lnto
exlle. I suspect that the angels ln charge of the Shrlne of
Muslc, fearful lest I slng ln wakefulness what I had sung
ln dream, made me forget by day what I had sung at
nlght; for lf my brethren, the sons of my people, were
to hear, they would be unable to bear thelr grlef over
the happlness they have lost. Jo console me for havlng
prevented me from slnglng wlth my mouth, they enable
me to compose songs ln wrltlng.
(Out of respect for the tlme, the rest of my words
wlll be read ln translatlon only.)
I belong to the Jrlbe of Levl; my forebears and I
are of the mlnstrels that were ln the Jemple, and there
ls a tradltlon ln my father`s famlly that we are of the lln
eage of the Prophet Samuel, whose name I bear.
I was flve years old when I wrote my flrst song. It
was out of longlng for my father that I wrote lt. It hap
pened that my father, of blessed memory, went away
on buslness. I was overcome wlth longlng for hlm and I
made a song. After that I made many songs, but noth
lng has remalned of them all. My father`s house, where
I left a roomful of wrltlngs, was burned down ln the
Ilrst World War and all I had left there was burned
wlth lt. Jhe young artlsans, tallors, and shoemakers,
who used to slng my songs at thelr work, were kllled ln
the Ilrst World War and of those who were not kllled
ln the war, some were burled allve wlth thelr slsters ln
the plts they dug for themselves by order of the enemy,
and most were burned ln the crematorles of Auschwltz
wlth thelr slsters, who had adorned our town wlth thelr
beauty and sung my songs wlth thelr sweet volces.
Jhe fate of the slngers who, llke my songs, went
up ln flame was also the fate of the books whlch I later
wrote. All of them went up ln flame to Heaven ln a flre
whlch broke out one nlght at my home ln Bad Hom
burg as I lay lll ln a hospltal. Among the books that
were burned was a large novel of some seven hundred
pages, the flrst part of whlch the publlsher had
announced he was about to brlng out. Jogether wlth
thls novel, called b~ iI was burned everythlng I
had wrltten slnce the day I had gone lnto exlle from the
Land of Israel, lncludlng a book I had wrltten wlth
Martln Buber as well as four thousand Hebrew books,
most of whlch had come down to me from my fore
bears and some of whlch I had bought wlth money set
aslde for my dally bread.
I sald, 'slnce the day I had gone from the Land of
Israel," but I have not yet related that I had dwelt ln the
Land of Israel. Of thls I wlll now speak.
At the age of nlneteen and a half, I went to the
Land of Israel to tlll lts soll and llve by the labour of my
hands. As I dld not flnd work, I sought my llvellhood
elsewhere. I was appolnted Secretary of the Hovevel
Zlon (Lovers of Zlon) Soclety and Secretary of the Pal
estlne Councllwhlch was a klnd of parllamentlnthe
maklng and I was also the flrst Secretary of the volun
tary |ewlsh Maglstrate`s Court. Jhrough these offlces lt
was my prlvllege to get to know almost every |ewlsh
l8
p v ^ ai_ POV
person, and those whom I dld not come to know
through these offlces I came to know through love and
a deslre to know my brethren, the members of my peo
ple. It ls almost certaln that ln those years there was not
a man, woman, or lnfant ln the Land of Israel whom I
dld not know.
After all my possesslons had been burned, God
gave me the wlsdom to return to |erusalem. I returned
to |erusalem, and lt ls by vlrtue of |erusalem that I have
wrltten all that God has put lnto my heart and lnto my
pen. I have also wrltten a book about the Glvlng of the
Jorah, and a book on the Days of Awe, and a book on
the books of Israel that have been wrltten slnce the day
the Jorah was glven to Israel.
Slnce my return to the Land of Israel, I have left lt
twlce. once ln connectlon wlth the prlntlng of my books
by the late Zalman Schocken, and once I travelled to
Sweden and Norway. Jhelr great poets had lmplanted
love and admlratlon for thelr countrles ln my heart, and
I declded to go and see them. Now I have come a thlrd
tlme, to recelve your blesslng, sages of the Academy.
Durlng the tlme I have dwelt ln |erusalem, I have
wrltten long storles and short ones. Some have been
prlnted; most I stlll have ln manuscrlpt.
I have already told how my flrst songs came out
of longlng for my father. Jhe beglnnlngs of my studles
also came to me from my father, as well as from the
Rabblnlcal |udge of our town. But they were preceded
by three tutors under whom I studled, one after the
other, from the tlme I was three and a half tlll I turned
elght and a half.
Who were my mentors ln poetry and llterature?
Jhat ls a matter of oplnlon. Some see ln my books the
lnfluences of authors whose names, ln my lgnorance, I
have not even heard, whlle others see the lnfluences of
poets whose names I have heard but whose wrltlngs I
have not read. And what ls my oplnlon? Irom whom
dld I recelve nurture? Not every man remembers the
name of the cow whlch supplled hlm wlth each drop of
mllk he has drunk. But ln order not to leave you totally
ln the dark, I wlll try to clarlfy from whom I recelved
whatever I have recelved.
Ilrst and foremost, there are the Sacred Scrlptures,
from whlch I learned how to comblne letters. Jhen there
are the Mlshna and the Jalmud and the Mldrashlm and
Rashl`s commentary on the Jorah. After these come the
mthe later expllcators of Jalmudlc Lawand our
sacred poets and the medleval sages, led by our Master
Rabbl Moses, son of Malmon, known as Malmonldes, of
blessed memory.
When I flrst began to comblne letters other than
Hebrew, I read every book ln German that came my
way, and from these I certalnly recelved accordlng to the
nature of my soul. As tlme ls short, I shall not complle a
blbllography or mentlon any names. Why, then, dld I llst
the |ewlsh books? Because lt ls they that gave me my
foundatlons. And my heart tells me that they are respon
slble for my belng honoured wlth the Nobel Prlze.
Jhere ls another klnd of lnfluence, whlch I have
recelved from every man, every woman, every chlld I
have encountered along my way, both |ews and non
|ews. People`s talk and the storles they tell have been
engraved on my heart, and some of them have flown
lnto my pen. It has been the same way wlth the specta
cles of nature. Jhe Dead Sea, whlch I used to see every
mornlng at sunrlse from the roof of my house, the
Arnon Brook ln whlch I used to bathe, the nlghts I used
to spend wlth devout and plous men beslde the Walllng
Wallnlghts whlch gave me eyes to see the land of the
Holy One, Blessed be Hethe Wall whlch He gave us,
and the clty ln whlch He establlshed Hls name.
Lest I sllght any creature, I must also mentlon the
domestlc anlmals, the beasts and blrds from whom I
have learned. |ob sald long ago (35.ll). 'Who teacheth
us more than the beasts of the earth, And maketh us
wlser than the fowls of heaven?" Some of what I have
learned from them I have wrltten ln my books, but I fear
that I have not learned as much as I should have, for
when I hear a dog bark, or a blrd twltter, or a cock crow,
I do not know whether they are thanklng me for all I
have told of them, or calllng me to account.
Before I conclude my remarks, I wlll say one more
thlng. If I have pralsed myself too much, lt ls for your
sake that I have done so, ln order to reassure you for
havlng cast your eyes on me. Ior myself, I am very small
lndeed ln my own eyes. Never ln all my llfe have I for
gotten the Psalm (l3l.l) ln whlch Davld sald. 'Lord, my
heart ls not haughty, nor mlne eyes lofty; nelther do I
exerclse myself ln great matters, or ln thlngs too hlgh for
me." If I am proud of anythlng, lt ls that I have been
granted the prlvllege of llvlng ln the land whlch God
promlsed our forefathers to glve us, as lt ls wrltten (Ezek
lel 37.25). 'And they shall dwell ln the land that I have
glven unto |acob my servant, whereln your fathers have
dwelt; and they shall dwell thereln, even they, and thelr
chlldren, and thelr chlldren`s chlldren forever."
Before concludlng, I would say a brlef prayer. He
who glveth wlsdom unto the wlse and salvatlon unto
klngs, may He lncrease your wlsdom beyond measure
and exalt your soverelgn. In hls days and ln ours may
|udah be redeemed and Israel dwell ln safety. May a
redeemer come to Zlon, may the earth be fllled wlth
knowledge and eternal joy for all who dwell thereln, and
may they enjoy much peace. May all thls be God`s wlll.
Amen.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l966. Shmuel Yosef Agnon
ls the sole author of hls speech.|
l9
s ^~
(26 Zpril 1S9S - 14 Dcccmbcr 19S4)
p~~ a~Jq
Uvivcrsity of Tcxos ot Sov Zvtovio
Jhls entry was expanded by DaydJolson from hls
Alelxandre entry ln DI 10S: Twcvtictl-Ccvtury Spovisl
Iocts, Iirst Scrics.
BOOKS. Zmbito (Mlaga. Lltoral, l928);
Ispodos como lobios (Madrld. EspasaCalpe, l932);
Iosiov dc lo ticrro (Mexlco Clty. Ibula, l935);
Io dcstrucciov o cl omor (Madrld. Slgno, l935; revlsed,
l911); selectlons translated by Stephen Kessler as
Dcstructiov or Iovc (Santa Cruz, Cal.. Green Horse
Jhree, l976);
Sombro dcl poroso (Madrld. Adn, l911); translated by
Hugh A. Harter as Slodow of Iorodisc (Berkeley.
Lnlverslty of Callfornla Press, l987);
!ido dcl pocto: Il omor y lo pocso (Madrld. Real Academla
Espaola, l950);
Muvdo o solos (Madrld. Clan, l950); translated by Lewls
Hyde and Davld Lnger as !orld Zlovc (Great
Barrlngton, Mass.. Penmaen Press, l982);
òcimicvto ltimo (Madrld. nsula, l953);
Historio dcl coroov (Madrld. EspasaCalpe, l951);
Zlguvos coroctcrcs dc lo vucvo pocso cspovolo (Madrld. Instl
tuto de Espaa/Gngora, l955);
Mis pocmos mcjorcs (Madrld. Gredos, l956; augmented,
l968);
Ios cvcucvtros (Madrld. Guadarrama, l958);
Iocsos complctos (Madrld. Agullar, l960);
Iocmos omorosos (Buenos Alres. Losada, l960; enlarged,
l970);
Iicosso (Mlaga. Guadalhorce, l96l);
Iv uv vosto domivio (Madrld. Revlsta de Occldente,
l962);
Ircscvcios (Barcelona. Selx Barral, l965);
Ictrotos cov vombrc (Barcelona. Bardo, l965);
Dos vidos (Mlaga. Guadalhorce, l967);
Iocmos dc lo covsumociov (Barcelona. Plaza |ans, l968);
Ubros complctos (Madrld. Agullar, l968; revlsed and
enlarged, 2 volumes, l978);
Zvtologo dcl mor y lo voclc, edlted by |avler Lostal
(Madrld. AlBorak, l97l);
Iocso supcrrcolisto: Zvtologo (Barcelona. Barral, l97l);
Sovido dc lo gucrro (Valencla. Iomento de Cultura,
l972);
Dilogos dcl covocimicvto (Barcelona. Plaza |ans, l971);
Zvtologo totol, edlted by Pere Glmferrer (Barcelona. Selx
Barral, l975);
s ^~ E l~ ~I N xNVTTzX
q~ ` i~I r p `~~F
20
s ^~ ai_ POV
^~ ~I edlted by Leopoldo de Luls (Madrld.
Allanza, l977);
m~ ~~~I edlted by |os Luls Cano (Madrld.
Ctedra, l977);
m~ ENVOQNVSTF (Madrld. Agullar, l977);
^~W s ~ (Barcelona. Planeta, l979);
^~ ~I edlted by Alejandro Duque Amusco
(Barcelona. Orbls, l983);
k ~ ~I edlted by Irma Emlllozzl and
Amusco (Barcelona. Plaza |ans, l987);
m~ ~~I edlted by Amusco (Barcelona. Plaza
|ans, l987);
b ~ W r ~I edlted by Carlos Bousoo
and Amusco (Barcelona. Selx Barral, l99l);
j W q ~I edlted by Marlo
Hernndez and Drlss ElIakhour (Madrld. Edl
clones de la Lnlversldad Autnoma de Madrld,
l99l);
m~ ~I edlted by Amusco (Mlaga. Vlsor
Llbros, 200l);
m~ ~I edlted by Amusco (Mlaga. Vlsor
Llbros, 2002).
b bW q mI translated by Lewls
Hyde and Robert Bly (Madlson, Mlnn.. Seventles
Press, l977);
^ i iW p m s ^~I
translated by Hyde (New York. Harper Row,
l979);
q `~ pI translated by Louls Bourne (Madrld.
Socledad General Espaola de Llbrera, l98l);
^ _ m~I translated by Wlllls Barnstone and
Davld Garrlson (Athens. Ohlo Lnlverslty Press,
l982);
a iI translated by Robert G. Mowry
(Sellnsgrove, Pa.. Susquehanna Lnlverslty Press,
2000).
OJHER. Gerardo Dlego, ed., m~ ~~I lntroduc
tlon by Alelxandre (Madrld. Slgnos, l932;
revlsed, l931).
Jhe l977 Nobel Prlze ln Llterature was awarded
to Vlcente Alelxandre for 'a creatlve poetlc wrltlng
whlch lllumlnates man`s condltlon ln the cosmos and ln
presentday soclety, at the same tlme representlng the
great renewal of the tradltlons of Spanlsh poetry
between the wars," as the cltatlon read. Jhese words
contlnue to be a valld representatlon of what ls essentlal
ln Alelxandre`s contrlbutlon to llterature as a twentleth
century Spanlsh author. At the tlme of the awardlng of
the Nobel Prlze, Alelxandre`s name was llttle known
outslde Hlspanlc llterary clrcles; hls poetlc work was
seen as styllstlcally and conceptually too complex, and
consequently too dlfflcult to understand, by the general
readlng publlc. Jhls percelved dlfflculty constltutes a
characterlzlng factor ln the current appreclatlon of the
poet as a flgure of exceptlonal poetlc quallty. An undls
puted master of the prevlous century, Alelxandre ls
well recognlzed by crltlcs and by the newer generatlon
of Spanlsh poets as an lnfluentlal volce. Ior most peo
ple, though, the Spanlsh 'Generatlon of l927," of
whlch Alelxandre ls a representatlve member, ls most
often assoclated wlth the much more popular flgure of
Iederlco Garca Lorca, whose surreallstlc book m~
k~ v (l910; translated ln q m k v ~
l m c d~~ i~I l910) has much ln
common wlth Alelxandre`s poetlc vlews, objectlves,
and technlques.
Slnce the l920s, when he began to frequent the
llterary ~ (conversatlonal gatherlngs) ln Madrld,
Alelxandre was always an lmportant part of Spaln`s llt
erary scene, although not a poet for the general publlc.
Because hls health was poor, he had to malntaln perma
nent resldence ln Madrld, wlth only a few short trlps,
mostly wlthln Spaln; hls home ln the nelghborhood of
the Cludad Lnlversltarla (Lnlverslty Campus) became
the meetlng place for Spanlsh and Spanlsh Amerlcan
wrlters for several years before the Spanlsh Clvll War
(l936-l939). Garca Lorca and Pablo Neruda were reg
ular vlsltors and close frlends of the poet. As one of the
members of the prestlglous Generatlon of l927, Alelx
andre was lnvolved ln the lnnovatlve changes that char
acterlzed the best poetry ln Spaln durlng the confllct
fllled last years of the monarchy and the short perlod of
the Republlc. He survlved the clvll war, and, unllke
other survlvlng poets of the generatlon, he dld not leave
Spaln for a llfe of exlle ln a forelgn country. He llved,
durlng Iranclsco Iranco`s reglme, the lnterlor exlle of
an lntellectual who was opposed to the polltlcal dlcta
torshlp.
After the clvll war, Alelxandre became agaln a
central flgure ln Spanlsh llterary clrcles. poets and crlt
lcs began to vlslt the alllng master, whose house
resumed lts functlon as a meetlng place for wrlters and
lntellectuals. Jhe younger generatlon saw ln Alelxan
dre a connectlng llnk wlth the older, preclvllwar poets
who had dled or were llvlng ln exlle. He was seen as a
model by those who began to wrlte durlng the flrst
years of dlctatorshlp. he represented the contlnulty of
llterary excellence ln postwar Spaln. Because he always
consldered hlmself part of a larger scheme, the Nobel
Prlze awarded to hlm may be seen to represent lnterna
tlonal recognltlon not only of hls personal work but
also of the best llterature wrltten ln Spaln slnce the great
perlod before the war.
In hls Nobel Prlze acceptance speech, a text that
summarlzes aptly Alelxandre`s maln ldeas about hls art,
he states that poetry ls, above all, tradltlon. the poet ls a
2l
ai_ POV s ^~
llnk between past and futurea trulsm made evldent ln
hls own case. Hls llfe covers a perlod of Spanlsh llterary
hlstory that extends from the masterful Generatlon of
l898 to the developments of the l980s, lncludlng a
perlod of poetry akln to the polltlclzed soclal poetry
preferred ln Spaln ln the l950s and l960s. As a young
man he was lnvolved ln a group of poets lncludlng,
besldes Garca Lorca and Neruda, Luls Cernuda,
Pedro Sallnas, Rafael Albertl, and Mlguel Hernndez.
As a mature wrlter Alelxandre was glven the opportu
nlty and the responslblllty of helplng the younger gen
eratlons searchlng for a poetlc lnherltance half lost after
the clvll war. In hls old age he acqulred the lnsplrlng
presence of a master, the consecrated poet ln whom tra
dltlon flnds lts contlnulty.
Alelxandre`s works are the poetlc reflectlon of the
clrcumstances ln whlch he llved. Irom hls flrst pub
llshed poems, wrltten durlng a perlod of hlghly technl
cal and aesthetlcally demandlng llterature, to hls last
collectlon of dramatlc monologues, a J
(l971, Dlalogues of Knowledge), hls poetry
evolved ln harmonlous correspondence wlth the maln
transformatlons ln Spanlsh lyrlc poetry. He had a clear
understandlng of the hlstorlcal character of all artlstlc
creatlon, and hls own wrltlng reflects hls recognltlon of
what was essentlal ln the maln currents of Spanlsh
poetlc art at dlfferent hlstorlcal moments. Jhls ablllty to
transform hls poetlc dlctlon ln accordance wlth the
tlmes was not the result of an lnordlnate lnterest ln aes
thetlc fashlon, but lt was the natural consequence of hls
conceptlon of poetry and the poet.
Irom a theoretlcal posltlon well wlthln a tradltlon
of contemporary poetry, Alelxandre deflned the poet as
a prophet or a seer. Remlnlscent of the Platonlc ldea of
poetlc lnsplratlon, thls conceptlon and the practlce lt
condones have thelr most lmmedlate antecedent ln Sur
reallsm, although they can be traced back to early
Romantlclsm. Jhls vlslonary lnterpretatlon of the poet
as a means for other volces to express themselves, as a
splrltually superlor belng who can be ln touch wlth the
cosmos and wlth humanklnd`s essence, ls dlrectly
related to the total lmmerslon of the lndlvldual wrlter ln
a tradltlon. Jhus, ln theoretlcal terms, Alelxandre saw
hlmself as I the nameless speaker through whom
all humanlty talks; ln hls wrltlngs he even refers
dlrectly to hlmself as 'the poet," lnstead of uslng the
flrstperson pronoun. Many of hls works convey a
degree of anonymlty, a feellng that the lyrlcal volce ln
hls poems does not belong to any deflnlte persona,
much less to the author. Jhls absence of an ldentlflable
speaker ls a central characterlstlc of hls poetlc dlscourse
and deflnes much of lts orlglnallty wlthln the develop
ment of contemporary Spanlsh poetry.
Born ln Sevllle on 26 Aprll l898, Vlcente Alelx
andre Merlo grew up ln a perlod of extremely actlve
polltlcal and lntellectual llfe ln hls country. He spent hls
boyhood ln Mlaga, a fact that explalns hls later lmages
of the sea and the paradlslacal world of lnfancy ln an
old provlnclal town on the Medlterranean. In l909,
when he was eleven years old, hls parents, Clrllo and
Elvlra Merlo Alelxandre, moved the famlly (lncludlng
Vlcente`s slster) to Madrld, where Vlcente completed
hls hlghschool and unlverslty studles.
Although durlng hls school years he was an avld
reader, he avolded readlng poetry; he was then under
the lmpresslon that such a form of llterature nelther
provlded much enjoyment nor had much lntellectual
value. But by the age of elghteen he had become a fer
vent enthuslast of poetry. Hls acqualntance wlth
another young poet, Dmaso Alonso, whom he met the
summer of l9l7 whlle vacatlonlng ln vlla, had
changed hls attltude. Alonso, who would not accept hls
frlend`s refusal to read poetry, lntroduced hlm to the
work of Rubn Daro, the Latln Amerlcan master of
modernlsm. Many years later, ln a prologue to the sec
ond edltlon of i~ ~ (l935, selectlons
translated as a iI l976), Alelxandre
recalled that the readlng of Daro`s poems produced a
revolutlon ln hls splrlt. He had dlscovered true poetry
and felt lnfused wlth hls great passlon, one that never
abandoned hlm throughout the remalnder of hls llfe.
Durlng that same summer vacatlon he began to wrlte,
but hls flrst publlcatlons dld not appear untll ten years
later. Whlle studylng for hls professlonal degrees ln
buslness and law at the Lnlverslty of Madrld, he cultl
vated ln sllence hls personal vocatlon, probably
unaware of hls talents. In l9l9, after graduatlng from
the unlverslty, he began to teach at the school of busl
ness there. Ior a whlle he devoted hlmself to hls profes
slon and wrote on economlc subjects. A trlp ln l923 to
Parls and London was of llttle consequence to hls llter
ary career. He never marrled or had chlldren.
When he began to wrlte hls flrst book ln the
l920s, the masters of the Generatlon of l898 were at
the peak of thelr careers, and among the younger wrlt
ers one could already flnd sallent names, such as |orge
Gullln, Albertl, and Cernuda. Hls own generatlon,
whlch would be known as the Generatlon of l927, was
bewlldered by the new aesthetlc, phllosophlcal, and scl
entlflc ldeas of post-World War I Europe. Jhe cllmate
ln the llterary clrcles frequented by Alelxandre ln those
days was one of curloslty, renovatlon, and actlvlty. In
Madrld the llterary cafs, theaters, art gallerles, the Ate
neo, and the lmportant Resldencla de Estudlantes were
the meetlng places for wrlters, artlsts, and phllosophers
from Spaln and abroad. In the frlendly atmosphere of
common lntellectual and aesthetlc lnterest, Alelxandre
22
s ^~ ai_ POV
found hls flrst admlrlng readers and the motlvatlon to
become a wrlter.
It ls partlcularly reveallng that Alelxandre was
awakened to hls own poetlc glfts after readlng Daro`s
poems, because a splrltual correspondence exlsted
between the two wrlters. Ior the young poettobe,
Daro`s works represented not only the manlfold possl
bllltles of language but most of all the poetlc vlew that
deflnes man as a passlonate creature consumed by love.
In Daro`s wrltlngs poetlc language reaches a level of
communlcatlveness dlrectly related to the poet`s ablllty
to create a purely flctlonal reallty representlng, ln meta
phorlcal terms, an otherwlse lnexpresslble understand
lng of man and exlstence. No less lmportant for such
poetlc effectlveness of language ln Daro`s works ls the
general tone of passlonate materlallsm, an essentlal sen
suallty not at all allen to an unquenchable deslre for
splrltual transcendence. Jhese aspects of Daro`s llter
ary accompllshments lnsplred Alelxandre.
But the lnfluence of the Latln Amerlcan modern
lst ls not seen ln Alelxandre`s flrst publlshed poems.
Jhese works were the result of a more lmmedlate lnflu
ence. Alelxandre wrote them when he had an lntense
llterary relatlonshlp wlth other young poets who
declared thelr lnterest ln |uan Ramn |lmnez and the
theorles of 'pure" poetry. Alelxandre`s partlclpatlon ln
the group`s llterary experlmentatlon and theoretlcal dls
cusslons explalns the lnfluence of thelr taste on ^
(Amblt), hls flrst collectlon of poems, publlshed ln l928.
Alelxandre`s career as a poet began ln l926 when a few
of hls frlends sent to o~ l (Western
Revlew), the new perlodlcal founded by |os Ortega y
Gasset, the poems Alelxandre hlmself dld not care to
publlsh. Jhey appeared that same year; the book, con
slstlng of a tlghtly knlt collectlon of lnterrelated poems,
soon followed.
^ constltutes a basls for later developments
ln hls art. A careful crltlcal readlng demonstrates that,
although ^ has many debts to other poets
respected hlghly at the tlme, thls flrst collectlon dlsplays
some of the pecullar characterlstlcs of Alelxandre`s
work. In comparlson wlth hls later books, ^ seems
at flrst partlcularly dlfferentlts external characterlstlcs
are a good lmltatlon of |lmnez`s technlques. Llke many
other young poets of hls generatlon, Alelxandre wrote
under the dlctates of a rlgorous concept of style and
composltlon. Most of the thlrtyflve poems ln ^ are
wrltten ln tradltlonal verse; but the comblnatlon of dlf
ferent meters ln some poems ls the flrst lndlcatlon of the
poet`s lncllnatlon toward free verse, a form that came to
characterlze hls personal style.
Jhe other lmportant aspect of the book ls lts lrra
tlonal lmagery, suggestlve of Surreallsm and dlrectly
communlcatlve of a cosmlc vlslon of man and nature as
ldentlcal ln essence. Love ln lts wldest sense ls central to
these composltlons; lt constltutes, ln the poet`s vlew, the
only posslble way for man to achleve the deslred fuslon
wlth all matter. ^ represents Alelxandre`s flrst
attempt to conform to the requlsltes of belng a poet of
hls tlme; lt ls the product of several years of apprentlce
shlp ln the actlve workshop of hls generatlonthe cul
tural llfe of Madrld. But lt ls also the result of the poet`s
secluslon and dedlcatlon to poetry after contractlng
tubercular nephrltls, a chronlc lllness that curtalled hls
actlvltles startlng ln l925.
m~ ~ ~ (l935, Earth Passlon), the flrst
good example of Alelxandre`s characterlstlc poetlc lan
guage, ls even more the result of the serlous lllness. It
represents a new awareness of the mysterlous character
of human nature, galned through personal experlence
and study. By l928 Alelxandre was readlng the works
of Slgmund Ireud and |ames |oyce, two authors lnflu
entlal ln hls own declslon to look for a new form of llt
erary experlmentatlon. Although m~ ~ ~ was
flnlshed ln l929, lt remalned practlcally unknown untll
l916, by whlch tlme Alelxandre was establlshed as the
most representatlve member of hls generatlon stlll llv
lng ln Spaln. Only a few coples of the l935 Mexlcan
flrst edltlon reached Spaln before the clvll war, and con
sequently, ln splte of lts revolutlonary nature, the book
dld not have any notlceable lnfluence on the llterary
developments of the perlod lt represents so well. Had lt
been publlshed lmmedlately after Alelxandre flnlshed
wrltlng lt, m~ ~ ~ would llkely have become
one of the major Surreallst books ln Spanlsh llterature.
In Î Alelxandre was able to resolve every
styllstlc problem by uslng the wellknown and already
establlshed solutlonshe was worklng wlthln the prede
termlned patterns of a tradltlon. In m~ ~ ~ the
flxed channels of poetlc expresslon were totally dls
rupted. language ltself lacks the normal semantlc values
that render lt meanlngful. Jhese seemlngly lncoherent
prose poems express wlthln the llmltatlons lmposed by
language the new reallty revealed by psychoanalysls
and by wrlters such as |eanNlcolasArthur Rlmbaud
and |oyce. ^ and m~ ~ ~ appear to be the
works of two completely dlfferent poets, one a 'purlst"
poet of aesthetlc restralnt and technlcal control, the
other a vanguardlst wrlter who follows the Surreallst
practlce of automatlc wrltlng. Jhe declslon to adopt a
Surreallstlc form of expresslon came as a result of Alelx
andre`s welllnformed confldence ln the value of psy
choanalytlcal theorles and ln the effectlveness of
automatlc wrltlng. By acceptlng the theoretlcal prlncl
ples behlnd the Surreallstlc method, he was statlng hls
revolt agalnst establlshed poetlc objectlves and meth
ods. Hls lnterest ln aesthetlc experlmentatlon common
23
ai_ POV s ^~
to the perlod was ln response to the need for new tech
nlques to express hls new awareness of hlmself.
Between the carefully measured and wellcomblned
verses of ^ and the entlrely loose prose poetry of
m~ ~ ~I there ls a dlfference not only ln exter
nal form and poetlc technlques but more slgnlflcantly ln
the perspectlve of the speaker, hls attltude, and tone of
volce. Once tradltlonal dlctlon ls attacked, the attltude
of the speaker changes from dutlful acceptance of the
norm to rebelllous freedom. In m~ ~ ~ thls
freelng force appears ln the external form of prose,
releaslng the new verbal flux. Jhe model for thls form
had already been set forth convlnclngly by |oyce; Alelx
andre adapted lt to a stlll deeper search lnto the human
psyche and lts world of fasclnatlng dreams, fears, and
deslres. Jhe reasons for wrltlng poetry ln such a man
ner are to be found ln hls emotlonal experlences at the
tlme. Hls llfe was centered around hls lnnermost experl
ences, as lllness had made hlm more aware of mortallty.
Compelled by thls reallzatlon, he began a desperate and
obsesslve search wlthln hlmself for llfe and lts meanlng.
Surreallsm offered a theoretlcal basls and more
effectlve ways to express hls new awareness. Jhe ldeal
lzed experlence of cosmlc unlon presented ln ^
lacks the powerful convlctlon found ln m~ ~ ~.
In the flrst book the perspectlve and the attltude of the
poet are constralned by tradltlonal prlnclples, whereas
they are free from any llmltatlons ln the latter.
Prose ls the form that best reproduces the free
flow of speech, the uncontrolled stream of onelrlc
vlslons created by a web of apparently unrelated
lmages. A return to verslflcatlon ln Alelxandre`s next
book, b~~ ~ (l932, Swords llke Llps), ls a
slgnlflcant change. Jhe transcrlptlon of the Surreallstlc,
assoclatlve lmages lnto verse suggests that he was stlll
hesltant about whlch form best sulted hls expresslve
needs. He never agaln used prose for poetlc purposes,
but the experlment wlth lt ln m~ ~ ~ left hlm
wlth a keener sense of prosody. Jhe shorter composl
tlons ln b~~ ~ are ln tradltlonal metrlcs. Jhe
maln rhythmlc patterns and the general tone are not
new; they lack the strangeness and novelty of m~
~ ~. Jhese poems are the products of controlled
wrltlng and reproduce a measured attltude even when
the lmages allude to strong emotlons; from thls duallty
emerges a feellng of tenslon. Jhe longer poems lnstead
use a freer form of verslflcatlon ln accordance wlth a
freer attltude of the speaker, who allows hls emotlonal
state to appear ln the poem. Jhls second type of com
posltlon, akln to both verse and prose, was lmproved ln
Alelxandre`s next book, i~ ~I and
became characterlstlc of most of Alelxandre`s subse
quent works.
Alelxandre`s free verse, or verslcle, ls constltuted
by several types of repetltlons, wlth the exceptlon of
regular rhyme and lsosyllablsm. Repetltlon ls found ln
the phonlc, the syntactlcal, and the semantlc levels of
the poems, and observable correspondences wlth the
tradltlonally establlshed meters are only clrcumstantlal.
Essentlal to Alelxandre`s verse are several styllstlc
devlces, whlch, by stresslng repetltlon, underllne the
value of resonance and rhythm. b~~ ~
lncludes some of them, and ln i~ ~
they become deflnlng characterlstlcs. Jhese relteratlve
technlques lnclude anaphora, alllteratlon, and asso
nance; another technlque used for the same effect ls
apposltlon. Jhese rlchly rhythmlc, duallstlc patterns
convey the lndeclslveness of the speaker ln namlng
thlngs. In some cases the poet seems to stutter ln confu
slon, or trles unsuccessfully to put hls vlslon lnto words
ln dlfferent ways. Behlnd thls attltude of bewllderment
there ls a clear sense of the mysterlous lnterrelatlon of
all aspects of reallty. Jhus, the most characterlstlcally
Alelxandrlan of all these devlces ls the use of the con
junctlon I not as a dlsjunctlve but as a means of con
nectlng two terms. Jhe constant use of thls
conjunctlonpresent even ln the tltle of the bookpro
vldes many palrlngs. Duallty becomes ldentlty, and
varlety ls a slgn of unlty.
Only a detalled analysls of the poems would glve
an adequate ldea of all the posslbllltles of free verse ln
expresslng the varlous attltudes and emotlonal states of
the speaker. Jhls type of verslflcatlon has lts flrst ante
cedent ln the comblnatlon of tradltlonal verses used ln
^X the experlence wlth prose ln m~ ~ ~
taught the poet how to extend the common Spanlsh
metrlc patterns lnto a much more flexlble rhythmlc use
of the language. Iree verse became for Alelxandre the
best medlum to communlcate hls partlcular conceptlon
of humanklnd and destlny. In i~ ~ one
flnds the appllcatlon of Alelxandre`s ldeas about poetry
as he stated them ln hls commentary for the l931 edl
tlon of Gerardo Dlego`s m~ ~~. In the flrst edl
tlon, publlshed ln l932, Alelxandre had expressed hls
doubts about the functlon and value of poetry ln mod
ern soclety; two years later he had a more posltlve out
look. Wlthout lntendlng an explanatlon of poetry,
Alelxandre offers a few prlnclples of a coherent poetlc
theory closely related to a general cosmlc vlslon of
humanklnd and nature. Ior hlm all elements of cre
atlon are only dlfferent manlfestatlons of the one and
only unlversal entlty. In i~ ~ he under
llnes thls meanlng through chaotlc enumeratlons
lncludlng terms referrlng to human aspects as well as to
anlmate and lnanlmate nature. 'Ilor, rlsco o duda, o
sed o sol o ltlgo. / el mundo todo es uno, la rlbera y el
prpado" (Ilower, rock or doubt, or thlrst or whlp. / all
21
s ^~ ai_ POV
ln the world ls one, the rlverbank and the eyelld). Alelx
andre`s conceptlon of the unlty of all exlstlng matter
and of the power of love to effect thls unlflcatlon flnds
lts contemporary equlvalents ln phllosophy, theology,
psychology, and natural sclences.
As ln m~ ~ ~I Alelxandre ls drlven ln i~
~ by the deslre for authentlclty; he
looks for poetlc revelatlon ln the subconsclous, where
words change thelr everyday meanlng. It ls the poet`s
duty to llsten to the messages of the cosmos and to
make of them a senslble and communlcatlng expres
slon.
In i~ ~I Alelxandre ls stlll uslng a
form of automatlc wrltlng, except that ln thls case he no
longer wrltes the utterances of an unconsclous self but
rather has become the mouthplece for all llfe and mat
ter communlcatlng ltself through the deep consclous
ness of a man who acts under lnsplratlon as a slbyl, a
brldge between human understandlng and the cosmos.
In i~ ~I Alelxandre`s poetry reaches a
vaguely anclent tone of pagan panthelsm wlth mythlcal
overtones. Jhe poet`s journey toward the attalnment of
the ldeal takes hlm to the depths of exlstence as llved
and experlenced by the lnner man. At thls polnt the
emotlonally cautlous and aesthetlcally restralned songs
of ^ have changed drastlcally to prlmal screams.
Jhe poet`s conceptlon of reallty ls clearly stated
ln i~ ~. Jhe personal vlew of Alelxan
dre ln thls epoch of hls llfe ls the poetlcally coherent
exposltlon of hls Surreallstlc approach to knowledge. In
thls book Alelxandre has concelved a metaphorlcal
world, a purely llterary constructlon, through whlch hls
own lnterpretatlve vlew becomes evldent. Jhls world
of prlmltlve nature and onelrlc lmages ls remlnlscent of
m~ ~ ~I but i~ ~ has a more
loglcal structure and a clearer language. By thls tlme
Alelxandre was movlng toward a more easlly under
standable lyrlc language. thls new dlctlon reflects not
only the deeper levels of subconsclous knowledge but
also the consclous need for order and lntelllglble com
munlcatlon.
By l936, at the beglnnlng of the Spanlsh Clvll
War, Alelxandre was thlrtyelght years old and had sur
vlved a dangerous lllness. Ior ten years he had suffered
physlcal shortcomlngs; llfe and death, pleasure and
paln, and deslre and fear had been for hlm omnlpresent
opposltes that had to affect hls outlook. As a chronlcally
lll man he was more aware than others of blologlcal
determlnants; he could see ln hls own body the slow
and unremlttlng process of decay and dlssolutlon. He
contemplated the dlfferent avallable explanatlons for
human llfe and death. Alelxandre`s flrst books, the ones
wrltten before the war, are lmbued wlth an angulshed
search for a meanlngful explanatlon for exlstence. Irra
tlonallsm ln thls case ls more a method than an objec
tlve ln ltself. Confuslon and chaos are the condltlons of
a mlnd ln a state of total uncertalnty, but ln the mass of
lmages that flll these Surreallstlc books lt ls posslble to
dlscern the elements that ln further works develop lnto
a more loglcal understandlng. Wlth a more mature
sense of hls accompllshments, and aware of the clrcum
stances surroundlng hlm, Alelxandre had begun, ln
l931, a new book, j ~ ~ (publlshed ln l950;
translated as t Î l982). It ls a sad and pesslmls
tlc book ln whlch he deplcts humanklnd`s loss of the
prlmeval elemental state.
Durlng the three years of the clvll war, Alelxan
dre wrote sparlngly, although he contrlbuted war
poems to Republlcan publlcatlons. It was a tlme of sor
row and devastatlon; hls own house was half destroyed
ln the flghtlng ln Madrld. At the end of the confllct,
peace brought llfe back to the shattered garden and
rooms of the house, but many of those who frequented
lt ln the prewar years were gone. Garca Lorca was
dead; Cernuda, Gullln, Neruda, and many others had
left Spaln; and Hernndez was ln prlson, where he dled
a few years later. Stlll falthful to hls old frlends and lde
als, Alelxandre wrote a poem to Hernndez`s memory,
a taclt crltlclsm of the new polltlcal reglme. But whlle
the memorles of those who had gone llngered ln the
renovated house where Alelxandre contlnued llvlng hls
recluslve llfe, a new group of wrlters started to replace
them and came to vlslt the poet. Jhey dld not form a
generatlonal group, nor a school followlng the dlctates
of a leader; these new vlsltors were the flrst among
many postwar Spanlsh poets who saw ln Alelxandre
the lnsplratlon of the master. Jhe author of revolutlon
ary Surreallst books had reached maturlty. Colnclden
tally, ln l911, an lmportant year for the hlstory of
postwar Spanlsh poetry because of the publlcatlon of
e ~ ~ (Chlldren of Wrath) by Alonso, Alelxan
dre publlshed hls flrst book ln almost ten years, p~
~~ (translated as p~ m~~I l987).
Sonnets and other neoclasslcal pastlches, lnsplred
by the stale deslre to belleve ln the reborn greatness of
the emplre, were the maln expresslons of poetry ln the
early days of the Iranco reglme. Jhe long free verses,
the sensuous lmages, and the muslcally ample rhythms
of Alelxandre`s new book were a muchneeded excep
tlon. Hls worldvlew was made concrete ln the lmagery
of the poems. Wlth j ~ ~I whlch only appeared
ln l950 as a document of past experlences, Alelxandre
wanted to express hls sad reallzatlon that humans llved
ln a fallen state; thls same ldea, remlnlscent of rellglous
explanatlons for human lnadequacy ln nature, ls fully
developed ln p~ ~~I but wlth lmportant dlf
ferences. Jhe flrst volume conveys ln vlolent overtones
a negatlve vlew; the domlnant chord ln p~
25
ai_ POV s ^~
~~ ls a more complex and rlchly evocatlve feellng of
human totallty. Jhls dlfference between the two books,
one wrltten lmmedlately before the war, the other dur
lng the flrst years of peace, ls lndlcatlve of two stages ln
Alelxandre`s understandlng of reallty. Jhe flrst stage
lncludes the flve books wrltten ln the prewar years;
they are the work of youth and convey an lmpresslon
of dlsorder and confuslon. Jhe second stage, whlch
beglns wlth p~ ~~I lntroduces a more harmo
nlous, lf nostalglc, vlew of the unlverse and corre
sponds to the mature years of the poet.
Jhls change ln Alelxandre`s outlook dld not hap
pen suddenly because of the war, nor dld lt come as a
total surprlselt ls a slgn of the wrlter`s maturlty
reached after years of poetlc medltatlon on llfe and
death. Essentlal to thls new understandlng of the rela
tlonshlp between humanklnd and the unlverse are
Alelxandre`s conceptlons of poetry and the poet.
Although ln essence they are the same ones he pro
fessed ln l931, the lntenslty of the convlctlon and lts
purposefulness make them appear new. What years
before had been a supposltlon and a wlsh was now an
accepted fact, a deflnlte orderlng of the multlple compo
nents. Jhe poet, for Alelxandre, contlnues to be a seer,
a person who can reveal to others that ultlmate knowl
edge of the otherwlse lnexpresslble truth. Alelxandre
represents the poet as a glgantlc belng whose feet are
deep lnslde the earth and whose head ls up above,
touchlng the sky.
p~ ~~ can be compared wlth Romantlc
works. Everythlng ln lt ls deslgned to underllne the
emotlon of remembrance and the hope of recoverlng a
lost paradlslacal state. Irom the conceptlon of poetry
and the poet to the lmages and verslflcatlon, p~
~~ stands out ln contemporary Spanlsh letters as a
document of people`s eager acceptance of a degraded
exlstence that ls only a pale shadow of the orlglnal one.
Jhe speaker addresses nature, the cosmos, and other
men as lf he were lndeed the glgantlc poet of magnlfl
cent volce deplcted ln hls own Surreallstlc lmage.
At thls polnt ln Alelxandre`s llterary career hls
work had reached lts orlglnallty by a constant effort to
relate poetry and the personal search for meanlng. He
had applled wlth convlctlon the theory of poetlc knowl
edge as learned from Surreallsm and lts predecessors.
i~ ~ and p~ ~~ are two
examples of poetry understood as a splrltual vocatlon,
as a method to reach a hlgher form of consclousness.
Partly because of hls dellcate health and hls lnablllty to
lead a normal, actlve llfe, Alelxandre had not had other
lnterests or devotlons outslde poetry; everythlng ln hls
recluslve llfe depended on lt and found meanlng ln lt.
As ln the case of a rellglous bellever, Alelxandre`s par
tlcular bellef provlded an order and lnterpretatlon to all
creatlon. Jhls vlrtually rellglous convlctlon does not
correspond ln Alelxandre`s case to an already provlded
answer that the lndlvldual readlly accepts and
embraces. He went stepbystep ln a personal search for
an explanatlon of exlstence; thls splrltual journey he
descrlbed metaphorlcally ln hls commentary for j
~ (l956, My Best Poems) as an asplratlon
toward llght.
Lp to the publlcatlon of p~ ~~ the
lmage of llght pervades all Alelxandre`s work and car
rles wlth lt a meanlng of knowledge representatlve of
the wrlter`s own deflnltlon of hls poetlc alm. Jhls pre
domlnance of llght flnds lts correspondence ln hls prose
texts about poetry ln whlch the poet ls descrlbed as
'lllumlnator, provlder of llght." Alelxandre`s books are
closely related to each other; together they form an
extended structure ln whlch there ls a contlnulty of pur
pose, a slow development ln hls vlew of reallty and lts
poetlc manlfestatlon, both represented by a growlng
lumlnoslty. Jhls llght ls partlcularly brlght ln p~
~~I the collectlon standlng at the center of Alelxan
dre`s whole productlon. lt ls the culmlnatlon of a pro
cess but also provldes the basls for the developments
that follow ln the subsequent collectlons.
Jhe novelty of the next book Alelxandre wrote,
e~ ~ (l951, Jhe Heart`s Hlstory), whlch
took almost ten years to flnlsh, lles ln lts central sub
jectconcrete, everyday reallty. Hls ldeas about the cos
mlc lndlstlnctness of all thlngs and of the equallzlng
powers of love are applled ln thls book ln a much more
restrlcted waythey refer only to people ln soclety.
Alelxandre explalns thls transformatlon by saylng that
e~ ~ presupposes a new vlew and a new
conceptlon. But, more than a new conceptlon, the book
lllustrates the last stage ln the developmental process
that Alelxandre`s poetry had been followlng from the
flrst composltlons he wrote under the lnfluence of
|lmnez to the poems of p~ ~~. Jhat process
was one of clarlflcatlon, the journey to llght that takes
the poet from the unlversallty of a cosmlc vlew to the
reallzatlon of the most lmmedlate destlny of human
klnd.
In the l950s Alelxandre achleved harmony wlth
hls world and wlth hlmself. Love, on the other hand,
the allencompasslng force of ldentlflcatlon, took on the
form of soclal love. And hls volce became the volce of
collectlve humanklnd, as ls clearly stated ln the tltle of
hls poem 'El poeta canta por todos" (Jhe Poet Slngs
for Everyone). An obvlous consequence of thls attltude
ls the need to stress the lmportance of communlcatlon,
a convlctlon sustalned also by the soclal poets of the
same perlod.
Wlth the abandonment of the vlslonary lmages
found ln hls prewar books, the vague feellng of awe
26
s ^~ ai_ POV
before the mystery of llfe and the almostsacred tone of
the oracle also vanlshed. Hls lnterest ln humanklnd,
common people, brought other aspects of everyday
reallty lnto Alelxandre`s perspectlve and affected
greatly hls lnsplratlon and dlscourse. Jhe lmaglned
reader or llstener, the poetlc personae, and the settlngs
of the poems all polnt to a dlfferent attltude. Jhey also
brlng to the forefront a factor Alelxandre started to con
slder only ln relatlon to human llfethe daytoday pas
sage of tlme. Jhe attentlon focused on purely reallstlc
aspects had to be complemented by an lnterest ln realls
tlc languagea language much nearer to everyday dls
course whlle stlll malntalnlng a poetlc force. Vlslonary
lmagery comes to be replaced ln e~ ~ by
common lmages lmbued wlth a profoundly emotlonal
understandlng, acceptance, and exaltatlon of human llfe
ln a communal world.
Aqu tambln entr, es esta casa.
Aqu vl a la madre cmo cosa.
Lna nla, casl una mujer (algulen dlra. qu alta, qu
guapa se est ponlendo),
alz sus grandes ojos oscuros, que no me mlraban.
Otro chlqulllo, una menuda sombra, apenas un grlto, un
ruldlllo por el suelo,
toc mls plernas suavemente, sln verme.
Fuera, a la entrada, un hombre golpeaba, conflado, en un
hlerro.
(Here I also went lnto thls house.
Here I saw how the mother was sewlng.
A glrl, almost a woman |someone would say. how tall she
ls, how beautlful she ls becomlng|
ralsed her large dark eyes that dld not look at me.
Another chlld, a llttle shadow, only a cry, a subtle nolse
around the floor,
touched my legs, softly, not seelng me.
Outslde, at the entrance, a man was beatlng, confldently, a
plece of metal.)
Jhe baslc prlnclples of free verse agaln constltute the
styllstlc basls for these new composltlons. Every form
of repetltlon ls trled ln order to create the approprlate
tone of chants, hymns, elegles, and songs. Jhe poems
cover the complete range of subjects llsted by Alelxan
dre ln the prologue to the l911 edltlon of i~
~ as those that every poet wrltlng for the major
lty of people should embrace as central. the essentlally
unlfylng aspects of love, sadness, hate, and death. He
dld not lnclude ln hls llst, as he certalnly does ln hls
poetry, the joy of llvlng and the sensuous awareness
of the real.
At the tlme of wrltlng e~ ~I Alelx
andre had reached hls full emotlonal and lntellectual
maturlty. Publlc recognltlon, underllned by hls elec
tlon to the Spanlsh Royal Academy ln l950, ls also an
lndlcatlon of hls complete adjustment to clrcumstances
and of hls lnvolvement ln llterary actlvltles. He had
become more of a publlc man as he was lnvlted to glve
lectures and read hls poems. He publlshed some of hls
nearly forgotten works, prepared anthologles and new
edltlons of hls works, contrlbuted to poetlcal publlca
tlons, and was extenslvely lntervlewed and honored.
Some of Alelxandre`s most lmportant theoretlcal texts
are from thls perlod and lnclude ^ ~~ ~
~ ~ ~~ (l955, Some Characterlstlcs of the
New Spanlsh Poetry) and the notes to the anthology
j ~ .
Hls polnt of vlew on poetlcs became a guldlng
prlnclple among Spanlsh poets. Alelxandre knew how
to lnterpret the tlmes, and hls prlnclples appeared as
approprlate to the clrcumstances and the needs of that
partlcular hlstorlcal tlme. In hls prologue to j ~
I Alelxandre explalns that, startlng wlth e~
~I he belleved the poet was the expresslon of
dlfflcult human llfe and that the poet`s volce elther
comes from hls extended communltarlan heart, com
forted by love, or ls gathered from the mass of the
people. Alelxandre had followed a slmllar pathonly
at a slower paceto the one taken by other wrlters of
hls generatlon who, havlng practlced Surreallsm ln the
years before World War II, had later wrltten a poetry
commltted to thelr lmmedlate soclal sltuatlon.
Another Nobel Prlze wlnner comes to mlnd ln thls
regardthe Chllean Neruda, who was one of Alelxan
dre`s close frlends whlle llvlng ln Madrld as a dlplo
mat. Ior hlm the evolutlon from vlslonary to reallstlc
poetry was sudden and ldeologlcally lnsplred. A com
parlson of these poets shows many dlfferences, but
they have ln common thelr awareness of nature and
cosmos, people and soclety, love and death, and the
neverforgotten vlslonary orlgln of thelr understand
lng of reallty. Only poets such as they, modernday
seers and lnherltors of a lyrlc tradltlon, could have
wrltten fully poetlc reallst works. In postclvllwar
Spaln, Alelxandre`s e~ ~I b ~
(l962, In a Vast Domaln), and o~ J
(l965, Portralts wlth Names) are good examples of
thls new soclal senslblllty caused by polltlcal clrcum
stances.
b ~ has an lntroductory poem
that, mlrrorlng a growlng concern among the poets of
the day, offers another declaratlon of poetlc prlnclples.
Jhe attractlon poets have toward ~ ~ seems
unusually consplcuous ln postclvllwar Spanlsh
poetry, partlcularly durlng the perlod when the soclal
reallst style was predomlnant. Alelxandre hlmself pald
less attentlon to the subject ln hls books prlor to pJ
~ ~~. Jhe preoccupatlon wlth poetlcs can be
accounted for, at least ln thls brlef perlod, by the
27
ai_ POV s ^~
nature of llterary creatlvlty under a dlctatorshlp. Real
lstlc poets, whose manlfest soclal awareness was llm
lted at the most to a personal testlmony of thelr
attltude toward the troubled world, felt the psycholog
lcal need to explaln thelr soclal value as poets to them
selves and to others. Alelxandre was sensltlve to the
fact that there are unavoldable llmltatlons ln commu
nlcatlon wlth all people through poetry, but he dld not
seem to see these facts changlng the essentlally com
munal character of the authentlc poet, who contlnues
to be the same as the one he had descrlbed years
before. Hls keeplng lntact the prevlous conceptlon of
the poet as a bard of cosmlc dlmenslons had an lnflu
ence on hls understandlng of reallsm and lts soclal
functlon. Lnllke the poets who confused the levels of
poetlc understandlng wlth the most obvlous everyday
soclal and lndlvldual experlences, he saw reallty ln a
wlder perspectlve.
'Para qulen escrlbo" (Jo Whom I Wrlte), the
lntroductory poem ln b ~ I uses slmple,
dlrect language, as beflts the style of reallstlc wrltlng;
most of the emotlonal lmpact comes from the rhyth
mlc organlzatlon of the plaln dlscourse. Jhe long llnes
are separated from one another ln stanzallke unlts
characterlzed by enumeratlon and repetltlons.
'Escrlbo para el enamorado para el que pas con su
angustla en los ojos; para el que le oy para el que al
pasar no mlr para el que flnalmente cay cuando pre
gunt y no le oyeron" (I wrlte for the one ln love for
the one who walked by wlth angulsh ln hls eyes; for
the one who heard hlm; for the one who passed by
and dld not look; for the one who fell at last when he
asked and no one llstened). Jhe slmllarltles of the
composltlons ln the book to some of Walt Whltman`s
can be attrlbuted not solely to the metrlcal form but
also the lnsplred conceptlon of poetry and worldvlew
that ln both wrlters leads to a comparable expresslon.
By llstlng the dlfferent types of people to whom he
wrltes or does not lntend to wrlte, Alelxandre conveys
ln hls flrst poem hls baslc tenets. Jwo of those for
whom he does not wrlte are 'the gentleman wlth the
stlff jacket" who has 'furlous moustaches" and ralses
hls dlsapprovlng flnger 'among the sad waves of
muslc," and the lady hldden lnslde a car, her lor
gnettes shlnlng 'llke cold llghtnlng." Jhese are
unequlvocal references to a false world of soclal dls
gulse and cruel lack of senslblllty, a constant motlf ln
Alelxandre`s vlew of creatlon. some forms of llfe are
false, and, therefore, to hlm nonexlstent. On the other
hand, he wrltes for people who perhaps wlll never
have the opportunlty, nor the lnterest, to read hls
work. 'Para todos escrlbo. Para los que no me leen
sobre / Jodo escrlbo" (I wrlte for everybody. I wrlte
partlcularly for those who do not read my poetry).
Jhls comment colncldes wlth a common concern
among soclal poets who knew that they were wrltlng
for those who by educatlon and soclal standlng would
never read thelr poetry. Jhls awareness ls not the full
j~ ^~ ~ E ~ xg~~c~ NVURzI q~ ` i~I
r p `~~X b~ s ^~F
28
s ^~ ai_ POV
ldea behlnd Alelxandre`s verse; he was statlng once
more hls longsustalned bellef ln the unlversal charac
ter of the poet who ls fused lnto the totallty of human
klnd. Jhus, to tle thls lnterpretatlon ln wlth the cosmlc
vlslon of hls earller books, natural elements are also
lncluded ln the llst of those for whom he wrltes.
Joward the end of the l960s Alelxandre aban
doned most of the elements that characterlze hls realls
tlc work. Soclal and polltlcal clrcumstances had
changed ln Spaln, maklng lt unnecessary to slng any
longer the hymns of human solldarlty. Iurthermore,
old age had flnally come to hlm, and wlth lt came also
more of the lumlnoslty so cherlshed from the begln
nlng. A more medltatlve attltude set the tone of hls
poems. Jhey are grouped ln two major books. m~
~ ~ (l968, Poems of Consummatlon) and
a . Jhese collectlons constltute a
flnal development ln the long process of the poet`s
growlng understandlng of the world. Jhey are at the
same tlme undenlably hls and so novel that they fall
well wlthln the parameters of the new Spanlsh poetry.
In hls old age the master was able to renew hlmself
because hls experlence had taught hlm the need to be
open to lnsplratlon. Jhls lnsplratlon came ln dlfferent
forms as he was able to grasp new meanlngs and lnter
pret anew the presence of the world.
m~ ~ ~ and a J
relntroduce as a poetlc method the almost her
metlc lmage of hls Surreallst perlod that had been
abandoned by the mature poet ln order to attaln the
muchdeslred ldeal of communlcatlon. Alelxandre
brought together ln hls last books all hls capacltles as a
wrlter. He found hlmself ln possesslon of revealed
truth and could not pass the opportunlty to try for the
last tlme to put hls lnner vlslons lnto words. Irom the
tlme of hls lnltlal experlments ln Î he had been
deallng wlth poetry as a form of knowledge, as a
method of apprehendlng the essences lost to sclence.
He trled from the beglnnlng to construct a worldvlew,
a system of poetlc ldeas to account for reallty. Conse
quently most of the crltlcal approaches to hls work
had trled to explaln, dlscuss, compare, or lnterpret lts
phllosophlcal aspects. m~ ~ ~ and aJ
add a new, stlll more complex
chapter to the already comprehenslve system.
m~ ~ ~ lncludes several brlef
poems ln short, almost tradltlonal hendecasyllablc
meter. Jhls style of conclslon reproduces the succlnct
dlscourse of a wlse man who does not need many
words to state hls ldeas. Llght and darknessday and
nlghtare once more central to Alelxandre`s concep
tlon and flnd thelr correlatlves ln the polarltles of
youth and old age, the polnt of reallzatlon from whlch
the book develops as a medltatlon on man`s temporal
condltlon. Jhe poems are for the most part a serles of
short, aphorlstlc sentences as expressed by a detached
speaker. Jhe poet, who to a certaln extent ls an objec
tlve volce, transmlts the emotlonal feellng of ultlmate,
wlstful wlsdom.
Jhls objectlve volce of knowledge changes to
speclflc volces ln a I as the poems
are made up of the contrastlng speeches of dlfferent
characters. Jhe structural polarlty seen ln m~ ~
~ assumes ln thls volume the form of long
composltlons that reproduce the words of two, ln
some cases three, speakers who sustaln opposlng
vlews but do not seem to pay attentlon to each other`s
monologues. As lf they were entranced by thelr own
lntellectual and emotlve convlctlons, they talk ln the
same eplgrammatlc manner that the unspeclfled
speaker uses ln m~ ~ ~. In both cases
the attltudes of the speakers and thelr tones of volce
glve the lmpresslon of anclent oracles. Several other
factors help to produce ln a the
effect of entrancement. Ilrst ln lmportance ls the phllo
sophlcal character of the book, whlch explalns the
abundance of apothegmatlc statements. Images are
also used ln a slmllar axlomatlc way. Many statements
are contradlctory or hermetlc, and lmages are lrra
tlonal, addlng stlll more to the mysterlous and gno
mlc tone. Relteratlons glve denslty and rhythm to
the book; of partlcular lnterest are the several refer
ences to earller texts by Alelxandre, whose work
acqulres ln such a way the fullness of a complete
and selfcontalned system.
After a flurry of journallstlc lnterest caused by
hls l977 Nobel Prlze, Alelxandre returned to a less
vlslble posltlon, although he malntalned hls proflle as
one of the masters of Spanlsh lyrlcal poetry. By the
tlme he recelved the Nobel Prlze, Alelxandre was old
(lll health prevented hlm from attendlng the cere
mony), and the award had llttle effect on hls llfe. Jhe
lnltlal medla exposure dld not lead to lncreased crltlcal
attentlon, partlcularly outslde Spaln, and he dld not
wrlte much more. He dled on l1 December l981.
Jhe analysls and evaluatlon of Vlcente Alelxan
dre`s contrlbutlon to Spanlsh and unlversal letters ls
an ongolng process; as crltlcal readlngs enhance wlth
tlme the quallty of hls art, Alelxandre`s poetry
becomes an essentlal component of Spanlsh culture.
Crltlcs have most often admlred ln hlm hls ablllty to
put lnto hlghly emotlonal poetlc language a few basl
cally profound ldeas about belng. A poet wlth an
almost rellglous penchant for medltatlon and hymn
slnglng, Alelxandre has been pralsed for hls under
standlng of the mysterlous, for the poetlc knowledge
underllnlng hls poetry, and for hls capaclty to commu
nlcate hls lumlnous vlslons through verbal lmages.
29
ai_ POV s ^~
iW
Ipistolorio, edlted by |os Luls Cano (Madrld. Allanza,
l986);
Corrcspovdcvcio o lo gcvcrociov dcl 27 (192S-19S4), edlted
by Irma Emlllozzl (Madrld. Castalla, 200l);
Cortos dc !iccvtc Zlcixovdrc o osc Zvtovio Muvo Iojos
(19J7-19S4), edlted by Emlllozzl, transcrlbed by
Mara del Carmen Martnez Perelra (Valencla.
PreJextos, 2005).
_~W
Antonlo Collnas, Covoccr: !iccvtc Zlcixovdrc y su obro
(Barcelona. Dopesa, l977);
Leopoldo de Luls, !ido y obro dc !iccvtc Zlcixovdrc
(Madrld. EspasaCalpe, l978);
|os Luls Cano, Ios cuodcrvos dc !clivtovio: Covvcrsociovcs
cov !iccvtc Zlcixovdrc (Barcelona. Selx Barral,
l986).
oW
Carlos Bousoo, Io pocso dc !iccvtc Zlcixovdrc, thlrd edl
tlon, revlsed (Madrld. Gredos, l977);
Vlcente Cabrera and Harrlet Boyer, eds., Criticol !icws
ov !iccvtc Zlcixovdrc`s Ioctry (Llncoln, Nebr.. Socl
ety of Spanlsh and SpanlshAmerlcan Studles,
l979);
|os Luls Cano, ed., !iccvtc Zlcixovdrc (Madrld. Jaurus,
l977);
Santlago DaydJolson, ed., !iccvtc Zlcixovdrc: Z Criticol
Zpproisol (Ypsllantl, Mlch.. Blllngual Press/Edlto
rlal Blllnge, l98l);
Glancarlo Depretls, Io oo di spccli (Il pcrccptivc ombi-
volcvtc vcllo pocsio dc !. Zlcixovdrc) (Jurln. Iacolta
dl Maglsterlo, l976);
Iranclsco |avler Dez de Revenga, Io pocso dc !iccvtc
Zlcixovdrc: Tcstimovio y covcicvcio (Mlaga. Centro
Cultural Generacln del 27, l999);
Hernn Galllea, Io pocso supcrrcolisto dc !iccvtc Zlcixovdrc
(Santlago, Chlle. Edltorlal Lnlversltarla, l97l);
Vlcente Granados, Io pocso dc !iccvtc Zlcixovdrc (Ior-
mociov y cvoluciov) (Madrld. Cupsa, l977);
Robert Havart, ed., Z Compoviov to Spovisl Surrcolism
(London. Jamesls, 2001);
|os Ollvlo |lmnez, !iccvtc Zlcixovdrc: Uvo ovcvturo locio
cl covocimicvto (Madrld. |car, l982);
Gabrlelll Morelll, Iivguoggio poctico dcl primo Zlcixovdrc
(Mllan. GllardlnoGlolardlca, l972);
Danlel Murphy, !iccvtc Zlcixovdrc`s Strcom of Covsciousvcss
(Lewlsburg, Pa.. Bucknell Lnlverslty Press,
200l);
Daro Pucclnl, Io polobro poctico dc !iccvtc Zlcixovdrc
(Barcelona. Arlel, l979);
Kessel Schwartz, !iccvtc Zlcixovdrc (New York. Jwayne,
l970).
NVTT k m i~
m~ p
by Dr. Iorl Iogvor Cicrow, of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy
(Trovslotiov from tlc Swcdisl)
Your Majestles, Your Royal Hlghnesses, Ladles and
Gentlemen,
Jhls year`s Nobel Prlze wlnner ln Llterature,
Vlcente Alelxandre, ls hard to understand and ln one way
controverslal. Jhe latter may be due to the former. Ior
even hls devoted admlrers offer varylng lnterpretatlons of
hls poetry. It ls doubtful lf anyone has yet been able to sum
lt up properly, one reason belng that flfty years after Alelx
andre`s debut hls wrltlng stlll seems to be forglng ahead.
Hls two most remarkable collectlons of poems, the twln
crowns of hls career to date, appeared ln l968 (Iocmos dc lo
covsumociov) and l971 (Dilogos dcl covocimicvto).
On one polnt, however, all are agreed. Alelxandre`s
place and lmportance ln the splrltual llfe of Spaln. In the
hlstory of llterature he ls part of the current that broke lnto
Spanlsh poetry ln the l920s wlth unequalled breadth and
force. One of the names of the vlgorous avant garde was
the Plelades. It ls all the more sultable as no one wlth the
naked eye can make out the correct number ln the group
of stars that we colloqulally call Jhe Seven Slsters. Jhere
are many more of them, and ln the flrmament of Spanlsh
poetry these Plelades are usually numbered at around
twentyflvea brllllant cluster of lyrlc talent. Among those
who came to shlne the brlghtest and the longest ls Vlcente
Alelxandre.
Jhe afflnlty of the new style wlth Irench surreallsm
ls strlklng. Jhere are those ln Spaln who prefer to call lt
apparent. Jhey are sometlmes reluctant to stress the polnts
ln common, assertlng thelr unconformlty all the more
strongly. Jhe Spanlsh declaratlon of lndependence ls not
wlthout ground. Jhe Second Golden Age, whlch ls
another name for the breakthrough and epoch of the Plela
des, referred dlrectly and expressly to the flrst, Spaln`s cen
turylong age of greatness, the baroque. When the young
guard banded together to strlke thelr blg blow they chose
as a standard to celebrate the 300th annlversary of Luls de
Gngora, the creator of the halrspllttlng 'estllo culto"
who orlglnated and gave hls name to the lngenlously and
extravagantly ornamented gongorlsm. Vlrtuoso pastlches
on Spanlsh baroque poetry ln frllls, and beslde them folk
song varlatlons of rustlc themes, were characterlstlc ele
ments ln the renewal durlng the l920s south of the
Pyrenees, and they dlstlngulsh lt undenlably from the
manlfestos up by the Selne.
30
s ^~ ai_ POV
When thls vltal generatlon of poets, wlth Lorca at
the head, stormed the Spanlsh Parnassus, Alelxandre too
was busy wlth hls pen. He was then wrltlng about the
need of ratlonallzatlon and penslon and lnsurance prob
lems on the Spanlsh rallways, where he was employed.
But ln l925 somethlng happened whlch was to determlne
the whole of hls exlstence and stlll does today. He was
taken serlously lll wlth renal tuberculosls. It changed hls
llfe ln two ways. He had to leave hls employment and he
could take another posltlon wlth communlcatlons of a dlf
ferent klnd. those of poetry. When the Gngora annlver
sary was celebrated he had not yet publlshed hls flrst
volume of verse, but he had prlnted poems ln the Plelades`
magazlnes and was already a member of the group. He
was perhaps the one least concerned about the connexlon
wlth 'the golden century" and to that extent also the one
who came closest to the new doctrlnes from Parls. Jhls
may be the background to a somewhat deflant declaratlon
by one of hls poet frlends that Spanlsh surreallsm had
glven Irench surreallsm what lt had always lackeda great
poet. Vlcente Alelxandre. But he has never been a medla
tor ln thls llterary frontler dlspute. Agalnst the baslc artlcle
of falth 'lècrlture automatlque" he has relterated hls bellef
ln 'la conclencla creadora," creatlve consclousness. He
went hls own way.
In extremely slmpllfled terms lt ls the way from a
cosmlc vlslon to a reallstlc closeup. One of Alelxandre`s
concluslve collectlons of poems ls called Io dcstrucciov o cl
omor (Destructlon or Love). Jhe tltle ls thematlcally preg
nant wlth meanlng and certaln Alelxandre connolsseurs
have taken lt to mean an EltherOr, to quote Klerkegaard.
wlthout love all that ls left to us ls destructlon. But the
word 'or" can mean not only two alternatlve contrasts but
also an explanatory addltlon, and what the tltle then says
ls. Destructlon, ln other words love. It would agree better
wlth the perspectlve of creatlon ln lts entlrety that these
poems, and those that followed, alm at deplctlng and that
Alelxandre has been strlvlng for ever slnce hls debut wlth
Zmbito. 'Man ls an element ln the cosmos and ln hls belng
does not dlffer from lt," as he hlmself says. Love ls destruc
tlon, but destructlon ls a result of or an act of love, of self
effacement, of man`s lnnate yearnlng to be recelved back
lnto the world order from whlch, as a llvlng belng, he has
been separated and cast out'segregadodegradado." Hls
decease therefore has nothlng of despalr at a meanlngful
llfe meetlng wlth a meanlngless death. Only wlth death
does llfe acqulre lts meanlng and ls complete; lt ls the last
blrth, òcimicvto ltimo, as one of the later collectlons of
poems ls called. Alelxandre does not hesltate to carry hls
vlslon to the paradoxlcal extreme. 'Man does not exlst."
In other words. so long as he ls allve, he ls actually
unborn.
But out of the convlctlon that man ls an element ln a
cosmlc whole grows of necesslty the awareness that our
short llfe on earth ls also a part of the same course of
events. It ls that knowledge whlch has brought Alelxandre
back to 'the tellurlan world," as he calls lt, glven hls con
tlnued wrltlngs a proxlmlty to llfe, an openness and dlrect
ness whlch formerly he was not capable of or dld not
strlve for, and has made hls last two books, mentloned ln
the lntroductlon to thls presentatlon, the peak of hls work
hltherto. On hls way there, but consclous of where he was
headlng, he wrote ln Historio dcl coroov a poem called
'Entre dos oscurldades un relmpago," A Llghtnlng
Between Jwo Darknesses. In lt ls the earth, ln lt ls man,
and llfe must be afflrmed so long as we have lt. Intentlon
ally or not one of the glfted dreamers of our tlme here
quotes the words of another vlslonary when the meanlng
of the play ls to be explalned.
'We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our llttle
llfe ls rounded wlth a sleep."
Outwardly too Alelxandre went hls own way. When the
clvll war came he was bedrldden and llstened to the
bombs explodlng. Lorca was murdered, other poet
frlends dled ln prlson, and when the remalnder went lnto
exlle at the end of the war, a constellatlon scattered to the
four wlnds, they had to leave the lnvalld behlnd. But
mentally as well Alelxandre survlved the reglme. He
never submltted to lt and went on wlth hls wrltlng, frall
but unbroken, thereby becomlng the rallylngpolnt and
source of power ln Spaln`s splrltual llfe that we today
have the pleasure of honourlng.
Jhe Swedlsh Academy deeply regrets that owlng
to hls state of health Mr. Alelxandre can`t be here today.
But as hls representatlve we greet hls frlend and younger
colleague, Mr. |usto |orge Padrn, and I ask you, Mr.
Padrn, to convey to Mr. Alelxandre our warmest con
gratulatlons and to recelve the Nobel Prlze for Llterature,
awarded to hlm, from the hands of Hls Majesty the Klng.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l977.|
^~W _~ p
Zs Zlcixovdrc wos uvoblc to bc prcscvt ot tlc òbcl ov-
quct, 10 Dcccmbcr 1977, tlc spcccl of tlovls wos rcod by Mr.
orgc Iodrov (iv Spovisl):
Majestades, Altezas Reales, Seoras y Seores,
En esta reunln tan grata para todos, unos, la
mayora, estn aqu son su presencla fslca; alguna
3l
ai_ POV s ^~
como yo con su aslstencla esplrltual. La voz me la
presta dlgnamente |usto |orge Padrn, a qulen doy las
graclas muy slnceras. En una reunln como sta en que
nos congregamos, de un modo u otro hombres de pro
cedenclas dlversas, todos en la convocatorla del Nobel
y su llamamlento radlcalmente humanlsta, yo slenta
ms que nunca lo que en otra parte he expresado. que
dlcha alta dlstlnclon es antes que nada un slmbolo de la
solldarldad humana. El qulere colaborar en el progreso
humano subrayando los pasos que los hombres dan en
las ms dlferentes actlvldades, todas conducentes al
adelantamlento de la comunlcacln y de la solldarldad
en un destlno comn.
En este alto propslto de Nobel, bajo techo com
partldo que aqu nos rene, yo alzo esplrltualmente ml
copa por el pueblo que lo ha hecho poslble por todos los
que lo componen. Sea pues ml brlndls por este faro de
Europa, ejemplo en el esfuerzo por la llbertad, justlcla y
progreso. Levanto pues ml vaso, en la companla de uste
des, por el pueblo sueco y, con l, por qulen altamente lo
representa en este lnstante. la Academla Sueca.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l977. Vlcente Alelxandre ls
the sole author of hls speech.|
q~~ `~~ _~W
Gentlemen,
At such an event so pleasant for all, some, the
majorlty are physlcally present; others, llke me, are wlth
you ln splrlt. Jhe honorable |orge Padrn dellvers thls
speech ln my absence, and for thls I send hlm my most
slncere thanks. In a gatherlng such as thls at whlch we all
congregate ln one way or another, men from dlverse
backgrounds, all at the summons of the Nobel and lts
radlcally humanlstlc calllng, I feel more than ever that
whlch I have expressed elsewhere. that thls great dlstlnc
tlon ls more than anythlng a symbol of human solldarlty.
Jhe deslre to collaborate ln human progress underllnes
the steps that man takes ln hls dlfferent endeavors, all
conduclve to the advancement of communlcatlon and
solldarlty toward a common goal.
In thls great purpose of the Nobel, under the
roof that unltes us here today, I, ln splrlt, ralse my
glass to all the people who have made thls posslble.
Let my toast be for the beacon that ls Europe, exam
ple ln the quest for llberty, justlce, and progress. I llft
my glass, ln your company, for the Swedlsh natlon
and, wlth lt, for those who represent lt so hlghly at thls
moment. the Swedlsh Academy.
m o~W q k m
i~ NVTT
l m~ p~
p ^~
When Vlcente Alelxandre publlshed hls flrst vol
ume of verse ln l928, Î he was already closely
assoclated personally wlth the greatly glfted Spanlsh
poets who have glven thls epoch ln Spanlsh llterature
the name, 'Jhe Second Golden Age." In lts conceptlon
of poetry`s essence and mode of expresslon, the vlgor
ous group had somethlng ln common wlth the surreal
lsm that had appeared ln Irance and spread lts
manlfestatlons from there. Iberlan llterary clrcles, how
ever, preferred to assert thelr lndependence and drew a
llterary borderllne along the Pyrenees. Jhey were kln
dred but not allled, and south of the border, the dlffer
ences were stressed by glvlng other names to the
correspondlng lmpulses ln styleultralsm, creatlonlsm.
It has also happened that the slmllarltles have been rec
ognlzed and the Galllc term accepted, but the admlsslon
has been worded ln a challenglng way. Spanlsh surreal
lsm has glven the Irench surreallsm what lt has lacked
a poet. Jhe poet referred to was Vlcente Alelxandre.
Jhere was ln fact good reason for the llterary
frontler dlspute. It could be clalmed that the Spanlsh
current had not only taken a dlvergent course but also
had another orlgln. When thls unusually promlslng
generatlon of Spanlsh wrlters banded together to strlke
thelr blg blow, lt was no colncldence that they dld so at
a spectacular ceremony they themselves had staged on
the three hundredth annlversary of Gngora`s death.
Jhey share the extravagantly ornamented lmagery and
the abrupt alluslon technlque wlth the Irench surreal
lsts, but to an equal degree, wlth the baroque style,
especlally ln lts Spanlsh varlant. Iurthermore, the pen
chant for halrspllttlng and clearcut antltheses on the
one hand, and for motlfs from everyday llfe on the
other, whlch characterlzes much ln Spanlsh modernlsm
and bullds on lts tradltlon from the flrst golden age, ls
actually lncompatlble wlth 'l`crlture automatlque," the
baslc artlcle of falth ln the new doctrlne from the Selne.
And some of the Spanlards dld volce thelr mlstrust ln
thls form of lnsplratlon and communlcatlon; one of
them was, and ls, Alelxandre.
Hls flrst collectlon of poems appeared the year
after the Gngora annlversary. Jhls means that he was
not one of the standardbearers for the reorlentatlon of
Spanlsh poetry; that march was well on the move. But
32
s ^~ ai_ POV
he was already one of the company. He had contrlb
uted to thelr magazlnes and he was thelr contemporary.
Precoclty ls hardly Alelxandre`s llterary characterlstlc,
whereas constant renewal ls. He won hls place ln the
group lmmedlately, and lt was hls own. It was con
flrmed as tlme went on, and hls posltlon became more
and more promlnent, founded on a prollflc productlon
wlth masterpleces such as i~ ~I l935
(Destructlon or Love), p~ ~~I l911 (Jhe
Shadow of Paradlse), k~ I l953 (Jhe Last
Blrth), and b ~ I l962 (In a Vast Domln
lon), as perhaps the most lmportant.
Jhere ls no formula that sums up thls contlnu
ously developlng poetry, extenslve both ln tlme and
cholce of subject. But lf we seek a recurrent lmpresslon,
a theme whlch manlfests ltself ln Alelxandre`s work at
dlfferent stages and ln varlous ways, we can call lt. the
strength to survlve. It ls true also of hls physlcal llfe, hls
personal exlstence. In l925, three years before hls
dbut, he fell lll wlth severe and nevercured renal
tuberculosls; slnce then he has, ln brlef, been bedrldden
or a captlve at hls desk. Jhe clvll war came, and from
hls bed he llstened to the bombs explodlng. When lt
was over and hls frlends and fellowwrlters went lnto
exlle, they had to leave the lnvalld behlnd. But men
tally, too, he survlved the Iranco reglme, never submlt
tlng, and thus becomlng a rallylngpolnt and key flgure
ln what remalned of Spaln`s splrltual llfe.
Exemplary, revered, and a gulde, frall but unbro
ken, Alelxandre showed even ln hls wrltlngs the same
strength to survlve and, what ls more, always to renew
hlmself, to explore other means and motlfs. Hls lnsplra
tlon has nelther weakened nor drled upon the con
trary, he has attalned a slmpllclty of expresslon and a
warm openness both to exlstence and to the reader,
whlch formerly he was not capable of or dld not strlve
for. In thls way, strangely enough, hls two most recent
collectlons of poemsm~ ~ ~ (Poems
about Perfectlon) from l968, and perhaps, above all,
a (Dlalogues of Inslght), publlshed
as recently as three years agoform the peak hltherto of
Vlcente Alelxandre`s half centurylong wrltlng career.
33
^~W k iI NO a NVTT
Eq~~F
At a moment llke thls, so lmportant ln the llfe of a
man of letters, I should llke to express ln the most elo
quent words at my command the emotlon that a human
belng feels and the gratltude he experlences ln the face
of an event such as that whlch ls taklng place today. I
was born ln a mlddleclass famlly, but I had the beneflt
of lts emlnently open and llberal outlook. My restless
splrlt led me to practlse contradlctory professlons. I was
a teacher of mercantlle law, an employee ln a rallway
company, a flnanclal journallst. Irom early youth thls
restlessness of whlch I have spoken llfted me to one par
tlcular dellght. readlng and, ln tlme, wrltlng. At the age
of l8 the apprentlce poet began to wrlte hls flrst verses,
sketched out ln secret amld the turmoll of a llfe whlch,
because lt had not yet found lts true axls, I mlght call
adventurous. Jhe destlny of my llfe, lts dlrectlon, was
determlned by a bodlly weakness. I became serlously lll
of a chronlc complalnt. I had to abandon all my other
concerns, those whlch I mlght call corporal, and to
retreat to the countryslde far from my former actlvltles.
Jhe vacuum thus created was soon lnvaded by another
actlvlty whlch dld not call for physlcal exertlon and
could easlly be comblned wlth the rest that the doctors
had ordered me to take. Jhls unforgettable, allcon
querlng lnvaslon was the practlce of letters; poetry
occupled to the full the gap ln actlvlty. I began to wrlte
wlth complete dedlcatlon and lt was then, only then,
that I became possessed by the passlon whlch was
never to leave me.
Hours of solltude, hours of creatlon, hours of
medltatlon. Solltude and medltatlon gave me an aware
ness, a perspectlve whlch I have never lost. that of soll
darlty wlth the rest of manklnd. Slnce that tlme I have
always proclalmed that poetry ls communlcatlon, ln the
exact sense of that word.
Poetry ls a successlon of questlons whlch the poet
constantly poses. Each poem, each book ls a demand, a
sollcltatlon, an lnterrogatlon, and the answer ls taclt,
lmpllclt, but also contlnuous, and the reader glves lt to
hlmself through hls readlng. It ls an exqulslte dlalogue
ln whlch the poet questlons and the reader sllently glves
hls full answer.
I wlsh I could flnd flttlng words to descrlbe what
a Nobel Prlze means to the poet. It cannot be done; I
can only assure you that I am wlth you body and soul,
and that the Nobel Prlze ls as lt were the response, not
gradual, not taclt, but collected and slmultaneous, sud
den, of a general volce whlch generously and mlracu
lously becomes one and ltself answers the unceaslng
questlon whlch lt has come to address to manklnd.
Hence my gratltude for thls symbol of the collected and
slmultaneous volce to whlch the Swedlsh Academy has
enabled me to llsten wlth the senses of the soul for
whlch I here publlcly render my devoted thanks.
On the other hand, I conslder that a prlze such as
I have recelved today ls, ln all clrcumstances, and I
belleve wlthout exceptlon, a prlze dlrected to the llter
ary tradltlon ln whlch the author concernedln thls
case myselfhas been formed. Ior there can be no
doubt that poetry, art, are always and above all tradl
tlon, and ln that tradltlon each lndlvldual author repre
sents at most a modest llnk ln the chaln leadlng to a
new klnd of aesthetlc expresslon; hls fundamental mls
slon ls, to use a dlfferent metaphor, to pass on a llvlng
torch to the younger generatlon whlch has to contlnue
the arduous struggle. We can concelve of a poet who
has been born wlth the hlghest talents to accompllsh a
destlny. He wlll be able to do llttle or nothlng unless he
has the good fortune to flnd hlmself placed ln an artlstlc
current of sufflclent strength and valldlty. Conversely, I
thlnk that a less glfted poet may perhaps play a more
successful role lf he ls lucky enough to be able to
develop hlmself wlthln a llterary movement whlch ls
truly creatlve and allve. In thls respect I was born under
the protectlon of benlgn stars lnasmuch as, durlng a suf
flclently long perlod before my blrth, Spanlsh culture
had undergone an extremely lmportant process of swlft
renewal, a development whlch I thlnk ls no secret to
anyone. Novellsts such as Galds; poets llke Machado,
Lnamuno, |uan Ramn |lmnez and, earller, Becquer;
phllosophers llke Ortega y Gasset; prose wrlters such as
Azorn and Baroja; dramatlsts such as ValleIncln;
palnters llke Plcasso and Mlr; composers such as de
Ialla. such flgures do not just conjure themselves up,
31
^~W k iI NO a NVTT ai_ POV
nor are they the products of chance. My generatlon saw
ltself alded and enrlched by thls warm envlronment, by
thls source, by thls enormously fertlle cultural soll,
wlthout whlch perhaps none of us would have become
anythlng.
Irom the trlbune ln whlch I now address you I
should llke therefore to assoclate my words wlth thls
generous nursery ground of my compatrlots who from
another era and ln the most dlverse ways formed us
and enabled us, myself and my frlends of the same gen
eratlon, to reach a place from whlch we could speak
wlth a volce whlch perhaps was genulne or was pecullar
to ourselves.
And I do not refer only to these flgures whlch
constltute the lmmedlate tradltlon, whlch ls always the
one most vlslble and determlnatlve. I allude also to the
other tradltlon, the one of the day before yesterday,
whlch though more dlstant ln tlme was yet capable of
establlshlng close tles wlth ourselves; the tradltlon
formed by our classlcs from the Golden Age, Garcllaso,
Iray Luls de Len, San |uan de la Cruz, Gongora, _ue
vedo, Lope de Vega, to whlch we have also felt llnked
and from whlch we have recelved no llttle stlmulatlon.
Spaln was able to revlve and renew herself thanks to
the fact that, through the generatlon of Galds, and
later through the generatlon of l898, she as lt were
opened herself, made herself avallable, and as a result
of thls the whole of the nourlshlng sap from the dlstant
past came flowlng towards us ln overwhelmlng abun
dance. Jhe generatlon of l927 dld not wlsh to spurn
anythlng of the great deal that remalned allve ln thls
splendld world of the past whlch suddenly lay revealed
to our eyes ln a llghtnlng flash of unlnterrupted beauty.
We rejected nothlng, except what was medlocre; our
generatlon tended towards afflrmatlon and enthuslasm,
not to sceptlclsm or taclturn restralnt.
Everythlng that was of value was of lnterest to us,
no matter whence lt came. And lf we were revolutlonar
les, lf we were able to be that, lt was because we had
once loved and absorbed even those values agalnst
whlch we now reacted. We supported ourselves flrmly
on them ln order to brace ourselves for the perllous
leap forward to meet our destlny. Jhus lt should not
surprlse you that a poet who began as a surreallst today
presents a defence of tradltlon. Jradltlon and revolu
tlonhere are two words whlch are ldentlcal.
And then there was the tradltlon, not vertlcal but
horlzontal, whlch came to help us ln the form of a stlm
ulatlng and fraternal competltlon from our flanks, from
the slde of the road we were pursulng. I refer to that
other group of young people (when I too was young)
who ran wlth us ln the same race. How fortunate I was
to be able to llve and perform, to mould myself ln the
company of poets so admlrable as those I came to know
and devote myself to wlth the rlght of a contemporary!
I loved them dearly, every one. I loved them preclsely
because I was seeklng somethlng dlfferent, somethlng
whlch lt was only posslble to flnd through dlfferences
and contrast ln relatlon to these poets, my comrades.
Our nature achleves lts true lndlvlduallty only ln com
munlty wlth others, face to face wlth our nelghbours.
Jhe hlgher the quallty of the human envlronment ln
whlch our personallty ls formed, the better lt ls for us. I
can say that here, too, I have had the good fortune to be
able to reallze my destlny through communlon wlth one
of the best companles of men of whlch lt ls posslble to
concelve. Jhe tlme has come to name thls company ln
all lts multlpllclty. Iederlco Garca Lorca, Rafael
Albertl, |orge Gullln, Pedro Sallnas, Manuel Altolagul
rre, Emlllo Prados, Dmaso Alonso, Gerardo Dlego,
Luls Cernuda.
I speak then of solldarlty, of communlon, as well
as of contrast. If I do so, lt ls because such has been the
feellng that has been most deeply lmplanted on my
soul, and lt ls lts heartbeat that, ln one way or another,
can be heard most clearly behlnd the greater part of my
verse. It ls therefore natural that the very way ln whlch
I look upon humanlty and poetry has much to do wlth
thls feellng. Jhe poet, the truly determlnatlve poet, ls
always a revealer; he ls, essentlally, a seer, a prophet.
But hls 'prophecy" ls of course not a prophecy about
the future; for lt may have to do wlth the past. lt ls a
prophecy wlthout tlme. Illumlnator, almer of llght, chas
tlser of manklnd, the poet ls the possessor of a Sesame
whlch ln a mysterlous way ls, so to speak, the word of
hls destlny.
Jo sum up, then, the poet ls a man who was able
to be more than a man. for he ls ln addltlon a poet. Jhe
poet ls full of 'wlsdom"; but thls he cannot prlde hlm
self on, for perhaps lt ls not hls own. A power whlch
cannot be explalned, a splrlt, speaks through hls mouth.
the splrlt of hls race, of hls pecullar tradltlon. He stands
wlth hls feet flrmly planted on the ground, but beneath
the soles of hls feet a mlghty current gathers and ls
lntenslfled, flowlng through hls body and flndlng lts
way out through hls tongue. Jhen lt ls the earth ltself,
the deep earth, that flames from hls glowlng body. But
at other tlmes the poet has grown, and now towards the
helghts, and wlth hls brow reachlng lnto the heavens,
he speaks wlth a starry volce, wlth cosmlc resonance,
whlle he feels the very wlnd from the stars fannlng hls
breast. All ls then brotherhood and communlon. Jhe
tlny ant, the soft blade of grass agalnst whlch hls cheek
sometlmes rests, these are not dlstlnct from hlmself.
And he can understand them and spy out thelr secret
sound, whose dellcate note can be heard amldst the roll
lng of the thunder.
35
ai_ POV ^~W k iI NO a NVTT
I do not thlnk that the poet ls prlmarlly deter
mlned by hls goldsmlth`s work. Perfectlon ln hls work ls
somethlng whlch he hopes gradually to achleve, and hls
message wlll be worth nothlng lf he offers manklnd a
coarse and lnadequate surface. But emptlness cannot be
covered up by the efforts of a pollsher, however untlrlng
he may be.
Some poetsthls ls another problem and one
whlch does not concern expresslon but the polnt of
departureare poets of 'mlnorltles." Jhey are artlsts
(how great they are does not matter) who owe thelr
lndlvlduallty to devotlng themselves to exqulslte and
llmlted subjects, to reflned detalls (how dellcate and
profound were the poems that Mallarm devoted to
fans!), to the mlnutely savoured essences ln lndlvlduals
expresslve of our detallburdened clvlllzatlon.
Other poets (here, too, thelr stature ls of no
lmportance) turn to what ls endurlng ln man. Not to
that whlch subtly dlstlngulshes but to that whlch essen
tlally unltes. And even though they see man ln the
mldst of the clvlllzatlon of hls own tlmes, they sense all
hls pure nakedness radlatlng lmmutably from beneath
hls tlred vestments. Love, sorrow, hate or death are
unchanglng. Jhese poets are radlcal poets and they
speak to the prlmary, the elemental ln man. Jhey can
not feel themselves to be the poets of 'mlnorltles."
Among them I count myself.
And therefore a poet of my klnd has what I would
call a communlcatlve vocatlon. He wants to make hlm
self heard from wlthln each human breast, slnce hls
volce ls ln a way the volce of the collectlve, the collec
tlve to whlch the poet for a moment lends hls passlon
ate volce. Hence the necesslty of belng understood ln
languages other than hls own. Poetry can only ln part
be translated. But from thls zone of authentlc lnterpreta
tlon the poet has the truly extraordlnary experlence of
speaklng ln another way to other people and belng
understood by them. And then somethlng unexpected
occurs. the reader ls lnstalled, as through a mlracle, ln a
culture whlch ln large measure ls not hls own but ln
whlch he can nevertheless feel wlthout dlfflculty the
beatlng of hls own heart, whlch ln thls way communl
cates and llves ln two dlmenslons of reallty. lts own and
that conferred on lt by the new home ln whlch lt has
been recelved. What has been sald remalns equally true
lf we turn lt round and apply lt not to the reader but to
the poet who has been translated lnto another language.
Jhe poet, too, feels hlmself to be llke one of those flg
ures encountered ln dreams, whlch exhlblt, perfectly
ldentlfled, two dlstlnct personalltles. Jhus lt ls wlth the
translated author, who feels wlthln hlmself two perso
nae. the one conferred on hlm by the new verbal attlre
whlch now covers hlm and hls own genulne personae
whlch, beneath the other, stlll exlsts and asserts ltself.
Jhus I conclude by clalmlng for the poet a role of
symbollc representatlon, enshrlnlng as he does ln hls
own person that longlng for solldarlty wlth humanklnd
for whlch preclsely the Nobel Prlze was founded.
|Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l977. Vlcente Alelxandre ls
the sole author of the text.|
36
f ^
(9 Uctobcr 1S92 - 1J Morcl 197)
s~~ aK j~
Uvivcrsity of òrtl Corolivo
See also the Andrl entry ln DI 147: Soutl Slovic
!ritcrs cforc !orld !or II.
BOOKS. Ix Iovto (Zagreb. Knjlevnl jug, l9l8);
`cmiri (Zagreb. Sv. Kugll, l920);
Iut Zlijc Djcrclco (Belgrade. S. B. Cvljanovl, l920);
Iripovctlc I (Belgrade. Srpska knjlevna zadruga, l921);
Iripovctlc (Belgrade. Srpska knjlevna zadruga, l93l);
Iripovctlc II (Belgrade. Srpska knjlevna zadruga,
l936);
Iobrovc pripovctlc (Sarajevo. Svjetlost, l915);
ò Drivi uprijo (Belgrade. Prosveta, l915); translated
by Lovett I. Edwards as Tlc ridgc ov tlc Drivo
(New York. Macmlllan, l959; London. Allen
Lnwln, l959);
Trovvilo lrovilo (Belgrade. Dravnl lzdavakl zavod
|ugoslavlje, l915); translated by Kenneth
|ohnstone as osviov Story (London. Llncolns
Prager / New York. London House Maxwell,
l959);
Cospodjico (Sarajevo. Svjetlost, l915); translated by
|oseph Hltrec as Tlc !omov from Sorojcvo (New
York. Knopf, l965; London. Calder Boyars,
l966);
Most vo cpi: Iripovctlc (Belgrade. Prosveta, l917);
Iripovijctlc (Zagreb. Matlca Hrvatska, l917);
òvc pripovctlc (Belgrade. Kultura, l918);
Irio o vcirovom slovu (Zagreb. Nakladnl zavod Hrvatske,
l918); expanded as Irio o vcirovom slovu, i drugc
pripovctlc (Belgrade. Rad, l960);
Irio o lmctu Simovu (Zagreb. Novo pokoljenje, l919;
expanded edltlon, Sarajevo. Svjetlost, l960);
Iod grodicm: Iripovctlc o ivotu bosovslog sclo (Sarajevo.
Seljaka knjlga, l952);
Irollcto ovlijo (Novl Sad. Matlca srpska, l951); trans
lated by |ohnstone as Dcvil`s Jord (New York.
Grove, l962; London. Calder, l961);
Iovoromo (Belgrade. Prosveta, l958);
Sobrovo djclo Ivc Zvdrio, l6 volumes, edlted by Vera
Stojl, Petar Dadl, Muharem Pervl, and
Radovan Vukovl (Belgrade. Prosveta / Zagreb.
Mladost / Sarajevo. Svjetlost, l963-l976)com
prlses volume l, ò Drivi uprijo; volume 2,
Trovvilo lrovilo; volume 3, Cospodjico; volume 1,
Irollcto ovlijo; volume 5, `cmirvo godivo; volume 6,
c; volume 7, clcvo, cvo lojc vcmo; volume 8,
volovi; volume 9, Dcco; volume l0, Stoc, lico, prc-
dcli; volume ll, Ix Iovto, `cmiri, Iirilo; volume
l2, Istorijo i lcgcvdo: Iscji, oglcdi i lovci; volume l3,
Umctvil i vjcgovo dclo; volume l1, volovi porcd
puto; volume l5, Iuo vo osomi i drugc pripovctlc;
and volume l6, Umcr poso Iotos;
f ^ EF NVSN k m i~
h d~ sf ^ p E^m t tF
37
ai_ POV f ^
i~ ~~W m (Belgrade. Nollt, l966);
^~ W m (Belgrade. Prosveta, l968);
b I edlted by Ljubo |andrl (Sarajevo. Svjet
lost, l976);
pI volume l7 of p~~~ ~ f ^~ (Sarajevo.
Svjetlost, l982).
b bW 'Jhe epa Brldge," translated by
L. Vldakovl, p~ oI l1 (l926). 398-105;
'Gjerzelez at the Inn," translated by N. B. |opson,
p~ ~ b~ b~ oI l1 ( |uly l935).
l3-l9;
'Gerzelez at the Gypsy Ialr," translated by |opson,
p~ ~ b~ b~ oI l1 (Aprll l936).
556-563;
q s b~W q k~I translated by Drenka
Wlllen (New York. Harcourt, Brace World,
l962);
_~ Ì translated by |oseph Hltrec (New York.
Knopf, l963);
'Jhe Story of a Brldge," 'Mlracle at Olovo," and
'Nelghbors," translated by Mlchael Scammel ln
a~ ~ p d~ ~ l j v~
pI edlted by Branko Alan Lenskl (New York.
Vanguard, l965), pp. l9-53;
'Jhe Cllmbers" and 'Jhe Brldge on the epa," ln
v~ p pI translated by Svetozar Kol
jevl (London New York. Oxford Lnlverslty
Press, l966), pp. l85-236;
q m~~ ` ~ l q~I translated by Hltrec
(New York. Knopf, l968);
'Death ln Slnan`s Monastery," translated by |ames Bar
ham, p e~ oI 2l, no. 1 (l987).
329-339;
q a p~ i _~ f
q oI translated by ellmlr B. |urll and
|ohn I. Loud (Durham, N.C.. Duke Lnlverslty
Press, l990);
`~ d~X _X pI translated by Cella
Hawkesworth and Andrew Harvey (London.
Menard Press wlth the School of Slavonlc and
East European Studles, Lnlverslty of London,
l992);
q a~ v~ ~ l pI translated by Hawkes
worth and others (London Boston. Iorest
Books, l992)lncludes 'A Letter from the Year
l920," translated by Lenore Grenoble;
q a~ Ì translated by Hawkesworth and
Bogdan Rakl (London Boston. Iorest Books,
l992).
Ivo Andrl ls one of the bestknown wrlters ln the
South Slav llteratures. In short storles and several nov
els he presents the people of Bosnla, a small area ln the
heart of Europe, wlth several natlonalltles and four rell
glons. He documents lts long, mostly turbulent hlstory
wlth a plethora of remarkable characters. By lmmortal
lzlng them, he has thrown llght on thls reglon that has
so often erupted ln vlolence and lnterneclne struggle.
Andrl was able to couch these events and characters ln
hlghly artlstlc forms that have fasclnated readers all
over the world and earned hlm a Nobel Prlze ln Lltera
ture, whlch he recelved ln l96l.
He was born Ivan Andrl on 9 October l892 ln
Dolac, a small town near Jravnlk ln central Bosnla.
Both hls parents were Cathollcs. Hls father, Ivan Antun
Andrl, a coppersmlth, moved hls famlly to Sarajevo
soon after Andrl`s blrth. When hls father dled of
tuberculosls ln l891, hls lmpoverlshed mother, Kata
rlna Andrl (ne Pejl), moved wlth her only chlld to
Vlsegrad, a town on the Drlna Rlver. Andrl completed
elementary school ln Vlsegrad and hlgh school ln Sara
jevo. He attended unlversltles ln Zagreb, Vlenna, and
Krakw, sponsored by Hrvatsko Kulturno Drustvo
'Naprednok" ln Sarajevo. Because of hls radlcal natlon
allstlc actlvltles, he was arrested by the Austrlans as a
member of the revolutlonary group Young Bosnla and
spent three years ln prlson. He was released ln l9l7
because of poor health and a lack of evldence agalnst
hlm. In prlson he wrote hls flrst work, a book of prose
poems, b m (l9l8), followed two years later by a
slmllar volume, k (Lnrest).
After World War I, Andrl entered the dlplomatlc
servlce of the new Klngdom of Yugoslavla and served
for two decades ln varlous capltals. In l923 he was a
vlce consul ln Graz but was ln danger of loslng hls posl
tlon because he had not completed hls unlverslty stud
les. He enrolled that fall at the Lnlverslty of Graz, and
ln l921 he recelved hls doctorate after defendlng hls
dlssertatlon, wrltten ln German. 'Dle Entwlcklung des
gelstlgen Lebens ln Bosnlen unter der Elnwlrkung der
trklschen Herrschaft" (translated as q a
p~ i _~ f q oI
l990). He returned to dlplomatlc servlce, throughout
whlch he contlnued to wrlte.
In the flrst twenty years of hls llterary career, he
wrote almost excluslvely short flctlon, settllng early
upon the short story as the genre most approprlate to
hlm. Jhe maln features of hls narratlve style are
already dlscernlble ln hls flrst storles, and there ls rela
tlvely llttle change ln hls baslc worldvlew or ln hls llter
ary craftsmanshlp durlng the flve decades of hls
development.
Jhe settlng of Andrl`s work ls most frequently
Bosnla, wlth lts plethora of races, natlonalltles, rell
glons, and creeds. Jhe narrow reglon of Bosnla, how
ever, wldens by lmpllcatlon lnto the whole country,
lndeed the entlre world. Although Andrl frequently
concentrates on the Jurklsh or Islamlc element, he
38
f ^ ai_ POV
encompasses all natlonalltles and falths. He often por
trays Cathollc characters also, whereas the thlrd large
group, the Orthodox |ews, remalns somewhat ln the
background.
Andrl prefers to dwell on the dlstant past. Ior
that reason many of hls storles, as well as hls novels, are
called chronlcles. In hls treatment of mlnute detall he ls
scrupulously falthful to the hlstorlcal sources, but he
glves them artlstlc form. In storles deallng wlth the
present, Andrl loses some of hls ablllty to create lastlng
characters or convlnclng narratlves. He ls trylng to
solve the rlddles of human exlstence by reference to the
legends of the past. Hls constant journeys lnto the past
do not slgnlfy an escape from the present reallty but
rather a keen understandlng of the unlty of tlme and
space ln the hlstory of the Bosnlan people.
Andrl`s characters dlsplay an acute sense of lone
llness and are lmbued wlth a pervaslve sllence about
themselves. Jhey seem to have dlfflculty ln comlng to
an understandlng wlth thelr fellowman. A typlcal
Andrl character spends hls llfe ln the search for lost
ldentlty and ln trylng to flnd hls rlghtful place. As a
symbol of the utter lonellness of hls characters, Andrl
uses the ~~~ (a small, forsaken Bosnlan town off the
maln roads). Llfe ln a ~~~ ls torpld, desolate, and
bleak. Strong lndlvlduals are condemned to futlllty and
wltherlng away. When thelr pentup passlon or frustra
tlon erupts, these lndlvlduals come to a traglc end, pull
lng others lnto the abyss as well.
Baslcally, llfe ln Andrl`s world ls a reflectlon of
the traglc element ln human exlstence. Hls characters
show an lmmense capaclty for sufferlng. Sporadlc hap
plness ls but an llluslon. Weak men vegetate under the
spell of the strong, and strong men (ln whom Andrl ls
most lnterested) are ln constant rebelllon agalnst thelr
lot. Jhe dlsparlty between thelr powers and the llmlted
opportunltles provlded by thelr surroundlngs drlves
them mad. In hls flrst story, m ^ a~ (l920;
translated as 'Jhe |ourney of All Djerzelez," l968),
Andrl lmmedlately ralses the questlon of the meanlng
of human exlstence amld evll and sufferlng, a theme on
whlch he wlll expound ln many of hls works. A legend
ary Bosnlan flgure (a hero of popular Musllm ballads),
Allja vaclllates between reallty and dream, actlon and
futlllty. Jhls amblvalence results from Allja`s deslre to
elevate hlmself from the torpor of conflnement lnto a
world of feellng and beauty to whlch he thlnks he
belongs. But the pragmatlc llfe takes lts revenge. Allja
becomes 'rldlculous and glorlous" at the same tlme.
Jhe fact that he subjugates everythlng to hls lnsatlable
sexual drlve underscores the frustratlon of hls strong
personallty. In the merclless rldlcule that vengeful weak
llngs heap upon Allja, and ln the rejectlon of hls passlon
by the women of hls cholce, Andrl sees the traglc
aspect of human destlny.
In another early story, 'orkan l Svablca" (l92l,
orkan and a German Glrl), Andrl agaln stresses a
dlvergence of the two worlds ln an lndlvldual. In most
people`s eyes orkan, a grave and dltchdlgger, ls a hap
less fool, a target of practlcal jokes ln the ~~~X ln hls
own eyes, however, he ls a thwarted poet of lofty sentl
ments, an lncorrlglble dreamer, and an admlrer of feml
nlne charms and beauty. Jhus, stark, drab reallty
clashes once more wlth the dellcate, pecullarly reflned
world of a Bosnlan Don _ulxote who, almost lnvarl
ably, ends up mlsunderstood and mlserable.
Jhe efforts of people llke Allja and orkan to
extrlcate themselves from thelr conflnement are almost
never successful. One by one they succumb to thelr
fate, although not wlthout a flerce struggle. Belng pltted
agalnst an unknown adversary produces ln Andrl`s
characters a twofold reactlon. ln many of them lt has
called forth a deepseated fear of llfe and people; ln oth
ers lt has engendered a venomous hatred agalnst llfe
and one`s fellowman. Jhe fear ls found even among
the chlldren, whom Andrl often deplcts, as lf to show
the prlmordlal orlgln of thls crlppllng sentlment. As
Andrl mentlons ln 'Mlla l Prelac" (l936, Mlla and
Prelac), 'Man has only to be born lnto thls world and
to open hls eyes, and there ls no end to what could hap
pen to hlm." And ln 'lllm" (l918, Jhe Rug) he wrltes,
'Iear trlumphs, bendlng man llke grass whenever pos
slble."
Jhls fear ls often coupled wlth a vague feellng of
gullt for havlng been born and for belng what one ls.
Andrl`s storles often feature people who are mentally
or physlcally handlcapped or are otherwlse sufferlng,
who all carry deep ln themselves a heavy burden of
gullt, as lf lmposed upon them by fate. Jhe gullt com
plex assumes many forms. It may be gullt because the
character possesses an lrreslstlble power of seductlon, as
ln the case of the vlllage beauty Anlka ln 'Anlklna vre
mena" (l93l; translated as 'Anlka`s Jlmes," l962), a
power that ultlmately leads to collectlve destructlon. Or
the gullt may arlse from one`s lnablllty to suppress effec
tlvely the call of the flesh, as ln 'Smrt u Slnanovoj
tekljl" (l936; translated as 'Death ln Slnan`s Monas
tery," l987). Jhe source of gullt may go back for gener
atlons and transcend loglcal boundarles, as ln the story
'Ekskurzlja" (l955, Excurslon). It ls often an underly
lng feellng of lnextrlcable debt to some unknown power
for bestowlng joy and sorrow, love and hatreda feellng
that only adds to the helplessness of Andrl`s charac
ters.
Jhls fear of llfe and feellng of gullt often result
from the unjust persecutlon and needless sufferlng of
Andrl`s characters. Entlrely blameless people are pun
39
ai_ POV f ^
lshed, sometlmes even only for thlnklng about an evll
deed or for trylng to avold lt. Ior example, a boy whose
revengeseeklng frlends damage hls house ls punlshed
by hls father wlthout lnvestlgatlon ln 'Prozor" (l953,
Jhe Wlndow).
Hatred ln the people of Bosnla sometlmes reaches
pathologlcal proportlons. In 'Mustafa Madar" (l923;
translated as 'Mustapha Magyar," l968), one of
Andrl`s most strlklng characters repeats vltrlollcally
that 'the world ls full of rot." A fearless warrlor, he
hates everyone and ls, ln turn, hated and feared by
everybody. He ultlmately dles a senseless death at the
hands of a decreplt gypsy. Jhe hatred ls not always so
spontaneous and lrratlonal. Sometlmes lt ls dellber
ately fostered by the confllctlng varlety of natlonall
tles, races, and rellglons, whlch, under speclflc
hlstorlcal clrcumstances, plts one segment of the popu
latlon agalnst another or agalnst all the rest. In Andrl`s
words, Bosnla ls a land of hatred. It appears, as he
wrltes ln 'Plsmo lz godlne l920" (l916; translated as
'A Letter from l920," l992), 'as a selfsustalned force
that has an end ln ltself. . . . It ls slmply an agent of
selfdestructlon."
Andrl`s baslc phllosophy seems extremely skep
tlcal and pesslmlstlc; yet, Andrl does not negate llfe,
desplte lts shortcomlngs. He flrmly belleves that there
exlsts an unknown formula that governs the relatlon
shlp between joys and sorrows. He concelves of llfe as a
constant struggle between the opposltes ln nature, espe
clally ln the human soul. He sald ln one of hls prose
poems from b mI 'I am constantly watchlng the
flower and the bloom and yet cannot help thlnklng
about man." Lblqultous enmltles and contradlctlons
may, and often do, lead to lndlvldual tragedles but not
to an unequlvocal denlal of llfe. If a clarlflcatlon of the
apparent senselessness of human exlstence cannot be
obtalned, there ls stlll hope ln a struggle agalnst evll, no
matter how futlle such efforts may seem.
Andrl attempts to solve the problem of the
meanlng of llfe ontologlcally. Hls favorlte metaphor ln
thls respect ls a brldge that connects opposltes. myth
and reallty, the unllmlted and llmlted, East and West. A
manlfest proof of human vltallty and lndestructlblllty
amld apparent contradlctlon and decay ln nature, a
brldge ls also a lastlng monument of the human quest
for art and beauty. It ls not by reason and force that
man conquers fate but by synthesls, sllence, and beauty.
Jhe whlte, slender sllhouette of a brldge represents for
Andrl 'an unusual thought gone astray and arrested ln
thls strange wllderness," whlch thus becomes at the
same tlme a conqueror of evll and chaos, as he wrltes ln
'Most na epl" (l925; translated as 'Jhe epa
Brldge," l926).
Another lllustratlon of Andrl`s attempt to solve
the baslc problem of the meanlng of man`s exlstence ls
found ln an unusual allegorlcal story, 'Aska l vuk"
(l953, Aska and the Wolf ). Aska, a young lamb, has
lost lts way ln the woods and ls confronted by a hungry
wolf. Jhe lamb beglns to dance a hlghly artlstlc panto
mlme, whlch so lntrlgues the wolf that he not only for
gets to eat the lamb but remalns transflxed untll he ls
ultlmately slaln. Jhls dance from fear of death ls trans
formed lnto a dance for llfe, thus symbollzlng Andrl`s
bellef that as long as man trles to llve fully, hls nothlng
ness remalns lrrelevant. In hls own words, 'art and wlll
to reslst are vlctorlous over all evll, and even death."
When World War II began, Andrl was an
ambassador ln Berlln. Because he dlsagreed wlth the
Yugoslav government`s jolnlng Adolf Hltler`s trlpartlte
pact, he reslgned ln March l91l, thus endlng hls dlplo
matlc career. Hltler captured Yugoslavla ln less than two
weeks. Andrl spent the entlre occupatlon ln Belgrade,
turnlng to wrltlng novels ln qulet and lsolatlon. Jhese
four years, permeated by wholesale death and destruc
tlon, were the most productlve ln Andrl`s llterary
career. He completed three novels and publlshed them
ln l915, the flrst postwar Yugoslav publlcatlons after
the vlctory over the Germans.
Perhaps hls most lmportant work, the novel k~
a ~ (l915; translated as q _ a~I
l959), ls an encompasslng saga coverlng the hlstory of
Bosnla between l566 and l9l1. However, Andrl
wrote the novel not as hlstory but as a chronlcle of llfe
ln Bosnla and of characters of several generatlons. Jhe
novel ls replete wlth detalls about the llfe of the Bos
nlans under the Jurklsh occupatlon. Jhe most lmpor
tant ls the socalled blood trlbute, a practlce of the
Jurklsh rulers durlng the several hundred years of thelr
occupatlon of the Balkans. It meant taklng boys away
from thelr parents and ralslng them as the sultan`s obe
dlent servants, called janlssarles. One such boy, taken
from the Serblan vlllage of Sokolovll ln Bosnla ln l5l6
when he was only ten years old, later became Mehmed
Pasha Sokolll and rose to the tltle of grand vlzlerthe
hlghest posltlon a nonJurk could attaln ln the Ottoman
Emplre. In memory of hls chlldhood, he declded to
bulld a brldge across the Drlna Rlver by the town of
Vlsegrad, the last place where he had seen hls mother
when he was taken away.
Jhe bulldlng of the brldge began ln l566, uslng
slave labor conscrlpted ln the Serblan vlllages nearby.
Jhe peasants not only resented havlng to work as
slaves but also saw ln the bulldlng of the brldge a slnls
ter symbol of the Jurklsh mlght. Ior that reason they
reslsted lts progress, often destroylng at nlght what was
bullt durlng the day. Jo frlghten the dlstrustlng and
rebelllous populace lnto submlsslon and obedlence, the
10
f ^ ai_ POV
bullder Abldaga caught one of them, Radlsav, and had
hlm lmpaled at the slte of the brldge. Jhe excruclat
lngly palnful process lasted several days.
Jhe brldge was completed ln l57l, a beautlful
structure of eleven arches rlslng above the turbulent
Drlna, wlth a ~~an elevated flxture ln the mlddle of
the brldge where people can slt and talk whlle drlnklng
coffeeas a focal polnt. A caravansary was also bullt
next to the brldge for tlred travelers. Jhus began the
long lnfluence of the brldge on every aspect of the llves
of the people on the shores, who flnally reslgned them
selves to lt and learned even to llke lt because of lts use
fulness and lts uncommon beauty. Mehmed Pasha was
stabbed to death by a deranged dervlsh only a few
years after the completlon. Although he had accom
pllshed many other thlngs as a vlzler, hls name ln Bos
nla wlll forever be remembered by thls brldge.
As the years and decades pass, llfe among the
Musllms, Chrlstlans, and |ews keeps changlng, but the
brldge survlves everythlng, shlnlng 'clean, young and
unalterable, strong and lovely ln lts perfectlon, stronger
than all that tlme mlght brlng and men lmaglne to do."
Jhe novel chronlcles events both on a larger scale
cholera and plague ln the nlneteenth century, the Aus
trlan annexatlon of Bosnla ln l908, and the flrst bombs
of World War Iand on an lndlvldual level, as when a
beautlful glrl, Iata, jumps from the ~~ to her death
durlng her weddlng processlon because her father ls
forclng her to marry a man she does not love. No mat
ter how unqulet the waters that pass beneath the
smooth and perfect arches of the brldge, nothlng
changes the brldge ltself. It becomes a focal polnt of llfe
ln the town and surroundlng vlllages.
Jhe story ls completely hlstorlcal. Jhe brldge
was blown up durlng World War I, but lt was rebullt
just as lt was, and stlll stands. As a llfelong dlplomat of
the Klngdom of Yugoslavla, Andrl was also an astute
student of hlstory, and he often studled hlstorlcal docu
ments ln preparatlon for wrltlng hls works. Even hls
doctoral thesls reveals hls passlon for hlstory. k~ a
~ encompasses the entlre perlod of the Jurklsh
rule of the Balkans, mlrrorlng the blrth and death of the
Ottoman occupatlon of Bosnla. It ls a broadly con
celved panorama of cultural changes brought about by
the Jurklsh relgn and of the multlcultural and multlrell
glous state resultlng from lt. It also deplcts lnevltable
and multlfaceted confllcts ln the area. Jhe novel ls,
therefore, a good source of general lnformatlon about
Bosnla, although not a substltute for a scholarly hlstory.
Andrl concludes half of the chapters wlth a short
paragraph extolllng the brldge as a symbol of the per
manence of all llfe. Conslderlng the constant changes
taklng place around the brldge, lts permanence serves
as a comfortlng and llfeafflrmlng value. Andrl lmparts
another symbollc meanlng to the brldge by calllng lt a
thlng of beauty, a reflectlon of man`s ageold deslre to
create beauty and enrlch llfe. Jhe lnborn need of man
to express hlmself ln arts found lts fulflllment ln the cre
atlon of thls beautlful edlflce that defles translence. Jhe
flnal symbollc lnterpretatlon of the brldge lles ln lts
spannlng the two shores, as lf connectlng two worlds,
the East and the West, and dlfferent natlonalltles, rell
glons, and cultures of Bosnla. As a dlplomat who saw
the maln key to success ln the art of compromlse,
Andrl used the metaphor of the brldge to underllne
the need for mlnlmlzlng the dlfferences for the sake of
llvlng ln harmony. Jhe strlfe ln Bosnla ln the l990s
clearly shows what happens when the plea that Andrl
bullt lnto hls novel ls unheeded.
q~~ ~ (l915, Jhe Jravnlk Chronlcle);
translated as _~ pI l959; as _~ Ì
l963; and as q a~ Ì l992) ls a chronlcle
of llfe ln Jravnlk, a provlnclal Jurklsh capltal ln Bosnla,
ln the flrst two decades of the nlneteenth century.
Jravnlk was an admlnlstratlve seat at the westernmost
border of the Ottoman Emplre and the resldence of a
vlzler. Jhe facts that the Irench had occupled nearby
Dalmatla and that the Jurks had been forced to retreat
from Hungary made Jravnlk lmportant beyond lts true
polltlcal and strateglc value. Jhe Irench sent ln l806 a
consul, |ean BaptlsteEtlenne Davllle, to keep an eye on
the Jurks. Jhls act, ln turn, prompted the Austrlans to
send thelr own consul, |osef von Mltterer. Both flnd
themselves under the constant vlgll of the dlstrustful
Jurks. NonJurklsh lnhabltants welcome them ln thelr
own ways. Cathollc Croats are frlendly toward thelr
nelghbor, von Mltterer, whlle shunnlng Davllle; the
|ews, of whom there ls a small number, llke Davllle;
whlle the Orthodox Serbs dlstrust both, plnnlng thelr
hopes on Russla, whlch ls expected to send thelr consul
also. Yet, they are all powerless under the Jurklsh dom
lnatlon. Davllle, a mlddleaged dlplomat who wrltes
classlcal poetry and trles to keep the semblance of clvlll
zatlon ln a backwater town where the llfestyle resembles
that of the Mlddle Ages, flnds lt dlfflcult to functlon, yet
he endures for the sake of hls ldol Napoleon Bonaparte
and for the glory of Irance. Von Mltterer has lt some
what easler slnce Bosnla ls closer to Austrla, and the
nonJurklsh populatlon ls more sympathetlc. Both of
them, however, have to deal prlmarlly wlth Jurklsh
vlzlers, who wleld all power and can thwart all thelr
efforts by varlous means. Jhe work of the two Western
consuls ls further compllcated by the necesslty of play
lng agalnst each other. Jhe entlre novel chronlcles the
llves and endeavors of these partlclpants ln world poll
tlcs ln a most unllkely place.
Even though the two consuls and thelr famllles
eventually adjust to the unusual llfe ln Jravnlk, both
1l
ai_ POV f ^
have dlfflcultles leadlng a normal llfe, especlally
Davllle`s gentle wlfe, who durlng thelr stay loses a chlld
and glves blrth to two others. Yet, belng more practlcal
and more rellglous than her husband, she ls better
equlpped to cope wlth llfe ln a forelgn land. When,
flnally, Napoleon`s fortunes turn sour and Davllle`s mls
slon ls termlnated, both he and hls wlfe are glad to
leave, as are von Mltterer and hls famlly. Jhe chronlcle
of the attempts of the Western powers to lntrude ln the
llfe of thls strange but fasclnatlng country comes to an
end, and Jravnlk agaln recedes lnto the darkness of a
llfe outslde of hlstory, leavlng lts people to remember
for a long tlme 'the days of the consuls."
Jhe maln theme of the novel ls the contrast
between the West and the East. Jhe comparatlvely
enllghtened world of the West, represented by the con
suls, ls countered by the backward, mysterlous, dark
world of the East as lt exlsted ln the Jurklsh emplre.
Even though the opposlng sldes are not ln an open con
fllct, the behavlor of the players lnvolved polnts to a
taclt rlvalry that ls just as lntense. Jhe dlstrust wlth
whlch the Westerners are met, not only by the Jurklsh
offlclals but also by the people on the street, can only be
explalned by a deepseated enmlty. Jhe antagonlsm
goes beyond the polltlcal and natlonal dlfferences; lt
goes to the core of the way of llfe and thlnklng of the
two worlds. Phllosophlcal fatallsm, reslgnatlon, deep
mlstrust of everythlng forelgn, and a baslc dlsregard for
the rlghts of lndlvldualsconsldered normal among the
people of the East and the Jurklsh Emplreare pltted
agalnst the more open, compasslonate, ratlonal, and
laworlented ways of the West.
Andrl presents thls drama not so much by mus
lngs and dlscusslons about hlstory but through the
lnterplay of the characters, who are forced lnto sltua
tlons beyond anythlng they have experlenced before.
Jhls focus, ln turn, adds a speclal dlmenslon to the
novel. Jhat thls novel ls not slmply an hlstorlcal chronl
cle but prlmarlly a story of the people caught ln the
maelstrom of hlstory ls further demonstrated by the
psychologlcal studles Andrl provldes for most of hls
characters. In all of hls works he ls at hls best when he
lllumlnates the deepest recesses of the mlnds and hearts
of hls protagonlsts, no matter to what race, natlonallty,
class, or creed they belong. Jhls approach makes the
novel more lnterestlng than lf lt were strlctly an hlstorl
cal chronlcle. Jhus, Jravnlk, lts hlstorlcal slgnlflcance
at the tlme notwlthstandlng, becomes a backdrop for
several human dramas that make up the core of the
novel. Even though almost all events and personalltles
can be traced back to hlstorlcal sources, whlch Andrl
had researched dlllgently, the hlstorlcal eventsthe
Napoleonlc Wars, the reforms of Sellm the Jhlrd, and
the flrst Serblan uprlslngare never ln the forefront. In
the last analysls, however, the actlons of the characters
are futlle, because everythlng ls declded for them else
where; the actors are llke puppets dlrected by remote
control, so to speak, achlevlng llttle by themselves as far
as hlstory ls concerned.
Another lmportant theme ls the role of women ln
the novel. Lnllke ln many of hls other works, Andrl
sharply dlfferentlates between orlental women, who are
llttle more than objects of men`s pleasure, and the
emanclpated Western women, who are equal partners,
wlth thelr own rlghts. Iurthermore, the unlversal mean
lng of the novel can be seen as the need for persever
ance ln a hopeless, deadend sltuatlon. Jhls theme ls
symbollzed by Davllle`s hope at the end of the novel,
before leavlng Jravnlk, that 'the rlght road" wlll even
tually be found, hls contrary Bosnlan experlence not
wlthstandlng.
Llke many other works, thls novel serves Andrl
ln part as a vehlcle for hls own thoughts and ldeas
about llfe and hlstory. Iurthermore, just as the brldge
on the Drlna ls the symbol of brldglng the dlfferences
between worlds, Jravnlk ls a symbol of the ~~~ ln
the backwaters of an emplre, where llttle ls happenlng,
yet people contlnue to strlve agalnst all odds. Jhus,
even though the plcture Andrl presents ls often bleak
and melancholy, llfe pulses beneath the surface wlth full
vlgor. Hls mastery of a penetratlng psychologlcal study
of hls characters agalnst the backdrop of events over
whlch they have llttle control, yet somehow survlve and
move forward, has reached ln q~~ ~ lts hlgh
est peak.
Hls next novel, d~ (l915, Mlss; translated
as q t~ p~~I l965), has several fasclnat
lng aspects. Andrl`s concentratlon on one character
and the resultlng depth of portralture; the brllllant pene
tratlon lnto the psyche of a woman unusual ln many
ways; the author`s strange attachment to thls character,
an attltude Andrl has shown ln few other works; and
the settlng ln a more modern tlme rather than the dls
tant past. Ior these reasons, d~I though less
acclalmed crltlcally than most of Andrl`s other works,
has a slgnlflcance of lts own.
At the beglnnlng of the novel, Rajka Radakovl, a
mlddleaged splnster, llves ln Belgrade, where she has
moved after World War I from her natlve Sarajevo. She
has llved alone wlth her mother slnce she was flfteen,
when her beloved father, a wellknown buslnessman
from Sarajevo, dled bankrupt and ln dlsgrace. Jhe
story of her happy chlldhood and unhappy youth ls
told ln flashbacks. An only chlld, wlthdrawn and overly
serlous for her age, she felt secure whlle her father was
allve. |ust before he dled prematurely, he warned her to
'save, save always, everywhere and ln everythlng" and
not to trust people because 'all our feellngs and con
12
f ^ ai_ POV
cerns for others show our weaknesses only." Jhls
admonltlon marks the beglnnlng of an aberratlon ln the
character of llttle Rajka that eventually grows to mon
strous proportlons. She takes her father`s advlce llter
ally and from an early age beglns a llfe of excesslve
thrlft and selfdenlal borderlng on obsesslon.
As soon as she becomes of age, Rajka takes over
her father`s buslness and wlth a remarkable dexterlty
rebullds the famlly fortune, malnly through lendlng
money at exorbltant rates. She denles her mother and
herself all normal pleasures save for the most baslc
needs. She lsolates herself and, llttle by llttle, turns away
all famlly frlends and most of the relatlves. Her llfe cen
ters excluslvely on money matters, out of a pathologlcal
fear that she wlll suffer the same flnanclal ruln as her
father. Jhat lnsecurlty, coupled wlth some pecullar
stralns ln her characterexcesslve egotlsm, selflshness,
mlserllness, lnsensltlvlty to the needs of others, and a
lack of normal human drlvesfollows her throughout
her llfe untll she rulns everyone she assoclates wlth and,
ultlmately, herself.
Jhere ls only one occaslon when she lets her
guard down and allows herself to be sldetracked from
her slnglemlnded dlrectlon. An attractlve and pleasant
young man, a war hero, needs money to obtaln an
automoblle dealershlp and asks Rajka for lt. Because he
resembles her younger uncle, whom she loved and who
had dled young and pennlless malnly because of hls
lrresponslblllty, Rajka lends hlm a slzable amount of
money agalnst her better judgment. When, after
patlently waltlng for hlm to return the money, she dls
covers that he has been squanderlng lt on women and
the easy llfe, she ls almost crushed, but she recovers.
She ls also reafflrmed ln her bellef that no one ls to be
trusted and that one must thlnk of oneself excluslvely.
Jhe most dlsturblng aspect of thls affalr ls her reallza
tlon that she let her emotlons gulde her even after so
many years of condltlonlng herself to the opposlte. Jhls
experlence makes Rajka even more susplclous of every
thlng, so much so that she develops a persecutlon
manla. She ls ultlmately frlghtened to death when she
lmaglnes an lntruder has come to rob her, and she dles
of a heart attack, all alone. Her body ls dlscovered two
days later by a mallman.
Jhe greatest merlt of the novel lles ln the focused
portralt of the protagonlst. Rajka ls an archetype, the
qulntessentlal mlser, ln a long llne of slmllar characters
ln world llterature, such as Plautus`s ^~~I Mollere`s
i^~ (l668, Jhe Mlser), and |ovan Sterlja Popovl`s
h g~~ (l837), wlth some lnevltable dlfferences. Her
pathologlcal mlserllness derlves from a sense of lnsecu
rlty, whlch came about prlmarlly from her father`s fall
ure ln buslness. Rajka apparently has no redeemlng
qualltles; Andrl seems to want to soften such a harsh
concluslon, however, by offerlng an explanatlon for her
affllctlon. She deslres to avenge and redeem her father,
who was rulned flnanclally and eventually dled from
grlef because hls buslness morallty was based on trust
ln others and on a deslre to help rather than to amass
wealth. Rajka`s justlflcatlon for her behavlor, stemmlng
from the experlence of her father as she understood lt,
ls rather slmple. the world ls baslcally evll, selflsh,
lnsensltlve, even cruel; lt kllls soft and honest people
llke her father but ls subservlent before hard and
unscrupulous people llke herself. Jherefore, she has
become avarlclous, lnsensltlve, and even cruel only to
protect herself from an evll world. And lf she avenges
her father`s untlmely death ln the process, lt would glve
her an added satlsfactlon.
Jhese two traltsher deslre for revenge and her
lnsecurlty complexhave comblned to create a monster
of a human belng. Stlll, Andrl ultlmately does not
leave her wlthout some posltlve qualltles. Jhe need to
avenge her father ls an understandable human quallty
after all, and her lnsecurlty ls also all too human. More
over, when the young man needs help, she for once
shows understandlng and compasslon; yet, she ls blt
terly decelved, thus conflrmlng her dlstrust and forclng
her to shun people for the rest of her llfe.
Andrl approaches the theme of avarlce from a
purely psychologlcal angle, as a character tralt of one
person only and not of a soclal class, race, or natlonal
lty. Rajka`s tralt ls not an easlly recognlzable stereotype,
as wlth Wllllam Shakespeare`s Shylock ln q j~
s (l600), for example. Hers ls an lndlvldual aber
ratlon, and as such, ls all the more convlnclng. It ls also
lnterestlng that she ls the only woman among the proto
types of a mlser and the only herolne of a novel, whlle
all the others are dramatls personae. Ilnally, Rajka has
a few more sympathetlc qualltles than other archetypal
mlsers, thus she ls developed more fully as an lndlvld
ual.
Jhe change of polltlcal system ln Yugoslavla ln
l915 presented Andrl wlth a problem. Even though he
was always lnterested ln polltlcs, he was by nature reclu
slve and cautlous, and as a dlplomatlc servant he was
reluctant to make publlc hls oplnlons and preferences.
Yet, the new reglme lnslsted that everyone who was not
antlcommunlst should render hls or her servlces ln the
rebulldlng of the country after enormous destructlon,
so Andrl agreed. Honored and feted, he served ln
many publlc posts, even though lt was agalnst hls
nature. Jo be sure, Andrl was careful not to step over
the boundarles of decency. At the same tlme, the reglme
was careful not to press hlm more than necessary. Jhe
relatlonshlp of mutual understandlng lasted for the rest
of hls llfe.
13
ai_ POV f ^
Andrl`s short novel (treated by some crltlcs as a
novella) m~ ~~ (l951; translated as a v~I
l962; as a~ v~I l992) ls one of the best of hls
post-World War II works. Jhe yard, actually the Jurk
lsh prlson near Istanbul, ls envlsloned as a mlcrocosm.
Its lnhabltants, both the rulers and the ruled, represent
the full scale of man`s dlverslty and of hls problems.
Amld the cruel world of the warden, Karadjoz, and hls
perverse notlon that lt ls easler to release an lnnocent
man from the prlson than to hunt hlm, lf necessary, ln
the dark corners of Istanbul, there llves as a prlsoner a
young scholar and a dreamer, amll, whose only crlme
ls hls 'subverslve" lnterest ln an authorltarlan hlstorlcal
flgure. In the clash between the ruthless wlelder of
naked force and the gentle champlon of pure splrlt, the
warden clalms the head of the lmprlsoned scholar, but
the latter emerges as moral vlctor. Jhe temptlng allu
slons to presentday polltlcs notwlthstandlng, Andrl`s
phllosophy here tends to transcend the real and the
obvlous and to elevate the questlon of the meanlng of
human exlstence to a unlversal level. Iear, gullt, hatred,
lonellness, lndeed all evll, are conquered wlthln the
walls of human lmprlsonment. Jhough llfe may be
accursed and walled ln, lts creatlve forces emerge as
much stronger than the adversltles or the adversarles.
Among Andrl`s late short storles, 'Prla o
vezlrovom slonu" (l917; translated as 'Jhe Vlzler`s
Elephant," l962) stands out. Jhe sultan`s vlzler ls never
seen ln publlc; lnstead, hls elephant, an anlmal unheard
of ln Bosnla save ln a clrcus, parades every day through
the town, dlsplaylng a blatant proof of the vlzler`s terrl
fylng presence. Jhe anlmal ls not really responslble for
lts varlous pranks among the townspeople, nor ls the
vlzler ln the town of hls own wlll. Jhe chaln of respon
slblllty ls extended lnto lnflnlty, reveallng the absurdlty
of the entlre sltuatlon. Jhls vlvld metaphor of ruthless
j~ ~ ^ NVQR ~ q~~ ~ E~~ ~ _~ pI NVRVFI
J ~ q ~~ q~I _~
Ef ^ c~I _~X o~~ mI f ^^ t iI NVUVX
a~ i~I r k `~~`~ eF
11
f ^ ai_ POV
authorltarlanlsm also lends ltself posslbly to the alle
gory pertalnlng to the present.
In l958 Andrl marrled Mlllca Babl, a wldowed
costume deslgner for the Natlonal Jheatre ln Belgrade
wlth whom he had been ln love for many years. Jhe
marrlage lasted untll her death ten years later.
Wlnnlng the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature ln l96l
had an enormous effect upon Andrl the man and the
artlst. As he was the only South Slav wrlter to recelve
thls prestlglous award, lt was hlghly gratlfylng for hlm.
Jhe outpourlng of congratulatlons and respect attested
that he now truly belonged to world llterature. He was
already famous, but after the Nobel Prlze he became
even more useful to the reglme, whlch enhanced lts rep
utatlon by taklng credlt for any cltlzen`s success. How
ever, as modest and wlthdrawn as he was for hls entlre
llfe and career, he took the prlze ln strlde. He contlnued
to wrlte as before, at a somewhat lesser pace, but the
publlcatlon and republlcatlon of hls works skyrocketed
not only ln hls home country but also around the
world. Andrls Nobel Prize also spurred a larger
interest in all Serbian literature, and translations
into other languages increased significantly. Andri
donated his prize money to several local libraries.
Andrl spent the last years of hls llfe struggllng
wlth poor health but contlnulng to wrlte. He suc
cumbed to lllness on l3 March l975. Of all of hls late
works, one stands out. the novel Umcr poso Iotos
(Omerpasa Latas), publlshed posthumously ln l976.
It was envlsloned as a concludlng part of the 'Bos
nlan trllogy," together wlth ò Drivi uprijo and
Trovvilo lrovilo. It was supposed to be the story of a
famous Jurklsh mllltary leader of Serblan descent,
who was uncommonly brave and who crushed many
rebelllons ln the Ottoman Emplre. Andrl never
completed lt, however, and slnce lt was left unfln
lshed, lt ls dlfflcult to pass any deflnltlve judgment
about lt. Slnce Andrl used hls favorlte method of
golng metlculously through hlstorlc documents to
lend hls work the utmost authentlclty, one can only
guess what Umcr poso Iotos would have added to the
trllogy. conflrmatlon of earller standpolnts or thelr
revlslon. Knowlng hls attachment to hls beloved Bos
nla, lt ls posslble that thls novel would have been a
flnlshlng touch on a grand llterary edlflce.
Jwo other unflnlshed works publlshed posthu
mously, volovi porcd puto (l976, Slgns by the Roadslde)
and Iuo vo osomi (l976, Jhe House by Itself ), are col
lectlons of short storles and medltatlve pleces. Although
lnterestlng ln themselves, they represent only gllmpses
of what they could have been had they been completed.
When Andrl recelved the Nobel Prlze, the
cltatlon pralsed 'the eplc force wlth whlch he has
traced themes and deplcted human destlnles from hls
country`s hlstory." In hls banquet speech he com
mented that 'the storyteller and hls work serve no
purpose unless they serve, ln one way or another,
man and humanlty." Jhese words sum up Andrl`s
phllosophy concernlng hls llterary output. It can be
safely sald that he has fulfllled hls mlsslon of a wlt
ness to the exlstence and hlstory of hls country, small
by space and numbers, but lmportant to Andrl
wlthln hls artlstlc vlslon.
iW
Icttcrs, translated and edlted by ellmlr B. |urll
(Joronto. Serblan Herltage Academy, l981);
Iismo (1912-197J): Irivotvo posto, edlted by Mlroslav
Karaulac (Novl Sad. Matlca srpska, 2000).
_~W
Gordana Popovl, Ivo Zvdri: ibliogrofijo dclo, prcvodo i
litcroturc (Belgrade. Srpska akademlja nauka l
umetnostl, l971);
Vasa D. Mlhallovlch and Mateja Matejlc, Z Comprclcv-
sivc ibliogroply of Jugoslov Iitcroturc iv Ivglisl
19J-19S0 (Columbus, Ohlo. Slavlca, l981), pp.
38-1l; supplements, (l988), p. 26; (l992), pp.
26-27; (l999), pp. l6-l7.
_~W
Petar Dadl, Ivo Zvdri (Belgrade. Nollt, l957); trans
lated lnto Engllsh by Marlja StansflldPopovl
(Belgrade. Commlttee for Iorelgn Relatlons of
the IPR Yugoslavla, l960);
Mlroslav Karaulac, Iovi Zvdri (Belgrade. Prosveta /
Sarajevo. Svjetlost, l980);
Radovan Popovl, Ivo Zvdri: ivot (Belgrade. |ugoslo
venska Revlja, l989); translated by Karln Rado
vanovl as Ivo ZvdriZ !ritcr`s Iifc (Belgrade.
|ugoslovenska Revlja, l989);
Vanlta Slngh Mukerjl, Ivo Zvdri: Z Criticol iogroply
( |efferson, N.C. London. McIarland, l990).
oW
Mllos I. Bandl, Ivo Zvdri: ogovctlo vcdrivc (Novl Sad.
Matlca srpska, l963);
Gun Bergman,Turlisms iv Ivo Zvdri`s 'ò Drivi uprijo`
Ixomivcd from tlc Ioivts of !icw of Iitcrory Stylc (Lpp
sala. Almqulst Wlksells, l969);
Jhomas Butler, 'Reflectlons of Ottoman Rule ln the
Works of Petar Kol, Ivo Andrl and Mesa Sell
movl," Scrbiov Studics, ll (l997). 66-75;
Mary P. Coote, 'Narratlve and Narratlve Structure ln
Ivo Andrl`s Dcvil`s Jord," Slovic ovd Iost Iuropcov
ourvol, 2l (Sprlng l977). 56-63;
15
ai_ POV f ^
|ovan Deretl, 'Jematska sredlsta u strukturl
Andrleve prlpovetke," Ivjicvvo istorijo, 5 (l972).
208-233;
Vojlslav Djurl, ed., Ivo Zvdri (Belgrade. Instltut za
teorlju knjlevnostl l umetnostl, l962);
Jhomas Eekman, 'Jhe Later Storles of Ivo Andrl,"
Slovovic ovd Iost Iuropcov Icvicw, 18 ( |uly l970).
31l-356;
Alan Ierguson, 'Publlc and Prlvate Worlds ln Trovvil
Clroviclc," Modcrv Iovguogc Icvicw, 70 (October
l975). 830-838;
E. D. Goy, 'Jhe Work of Ivo Andrl," Slovovic ovd Iost
Iuropcov Icvicw, 1l ( |une l963). 30l-326;
Cella Hawkesworth, Ivo Zvdri: ridgc bctwccv Iost ovd
!cst (London. Athlone Press, l981);
Hawkesworth, 'Ivo Andrl`s Lnobtruslve Narratlve
Jechnlque wlth Speclal Reference to Iuo vo
osomi," Zvvoli dcll` Istituto Uricvtolc di òpoli, 20, no.
l (l979). l3l-l53;
ellmlr B. |urll, Tlc Mov ovd tlc Zrtist: Issoys ov Ivo
Zvdri (Lanham, Md.. Lnlverslty Press of Amer
lca, l986);
Ante Kadl, 'Jhe Irench ln Tlc Clroviclc of Trovvil,"
Coliforvio Slovic Studics, l (l960). l31-l69;
|. Kragalott, 'Jurklsh Loanwords as an Element of Ivo
Andrl`s Llterary Style ln ò Drivi uprijo," ol-
lovistico, 2 (l975). 65-82;
Albert Lord, 'Ivo Andrl ln Engllsh Jranslatlon," Zmcr-
icov Slovic ovd Iost Iuropcov Icvicw, 23 (September
l961). 563-573;
|ohn Loud, 'Between Jwo Worlds. Andrl the Story
teller," Icvicw of òtiovol Iitcroturcs, 5, no. l (l971).
ll2-l26;
Loud, 'ovos ln the Early Storles of Ivo Andrl," dlsser
tatlon, Harvard Lnlverslty, l97l;
Claudlo Marablnl, 'La Narratlva dl Ivo Andrl," ùovo
ovtologio di lcttcrc, orti c scicvc, 199 (l967). 171-190;
Vasa D. Mlhallovlch, 'Jhe Baslc World Vlew ln the
Short Storles of Ivo Andrl," Slovic ovd Iost Iuro-
pcov ourvol, l0 (Summer l966). l73-l77;
Mlhallovlch, 'Jhe Receptlon of the Works of Ivo
Andrl ln the EngllshSpeaklng World," Soutlcost-
crv Iuropc, 9 (l982). 1l-52;
Reglna Mlnde, Ivo Zvdri. Studicv ucbcr scivc Irocllluvst
(Munlch. Otto Sagner, l962);
Dragan Nedeljkovl, ed., Dclo Ivc Zvdrio u lovtclstu
cvropslc lvjicvvosti i lulturc (Belgrade. Zadublna
I`ve Andrla, l98l);
Predrag Palavestra, Ivjigo o Zvdriu (Belgrade. BIGZ
SKZ, l992);
Lorna Mlntz Peterson, 'Jhe Development of Narratlve
Jechnlque ln Ivo Andrl," dlssertatlon, Yale Lnl
verslty, l973;
Njegos M. Petrovl, Ivo Zvdri, I`lommc ct lòcuvrc
(Ottawa. Les Edltlons Lemeac, l969);
Branko Popovl, 'Istorlja l poezlja u Andrlevom delu,"
Ivjicvvo istorijo, 5 (l972). l93-207;
Iellclty Rosslyn, 'Jhe Short Storles of Ivo Andrl.
Autoblography and the Chaln of Proof," Slovovic
ovd Iost Iuropcov Icvicw, 67 ( |anuary l989). 29-
1l;
Isldora Sekull, 'Istok u prlpovetkama Iva Andrla,"
Srpsli lvjicvvi glosvil, l0 (l923). 502-5ll;
Dragoljub Stojadlnovl, Iomovi Ivo Zvdrio (Prlstlna.
|edlnstvo, l970);
Vlda Jaranovskl|ohnson, 'Bosnla Demythologlzed.
Character and Motlvatlon ln Ivo Andrl`s Storles
'Mara Mllosnlca` and 'O starlm l mladlm Pamu
kovllma,`" Dic !clt dcr Slovcv, 25 (l98l). 98-l08;
Jaranovskl|ohnson, 'Ivo Andrl`s Iuo vo osomi: Mem
orles and Ghosts of the Wrlter`s Past," ln Iictiov
ovd Dromo iv Iostcrv ovd Soutlcostcrv Iuropc, edlted
by Henrlk Blrnbaum and Eekman (Columbus,
Ohlo. Slavlca, l980), pp. 239-250;
Wayne S. Vuclnlch, ed., Ivo Zvdri Icvisitcd: Tlc ridgc
Still Stovds (Berkeley, Cal.. Internatlonal and Area
Studles Publlcatlons, l995);
Radovan Vukovl, !clilo sivtco (Sarajevo. Svjetlost,
l971);
|an Wlerzblckl, Ivo Zvdri (Warsaw. Wledza Pows
zechna, l965).
m~W
Ivo Andrl`s manuscrlpts and correspondence are
housed at the Serblan Academy of Sclence and Art and
at the Documentatlon Center of the Ivo Andrl Ioun
datlon ln Belgrade, Serbla. Hls apartment ln Belgrade ls
now a memorlal museum.
NVSN k m i~
m~ p
by Zvdcrs stcrlivg, Icrmovcvt Sccrctory
of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy
Jhe Nobel Prlze ln Llterature has been awarded
thls year to the Yugoslav wrlter, Ivo Andrl, who has
been acknowledged ln hls own country as a novellst of
unusual stature, and who ln recent years has found an
lncreaslngly wlde audlence as more and more of hls
works have come to be translated. He was born ln l892
to a famlly of artlsans that had settled ln Bosnla, a prov
lnce stlll under Austrlan rule when he was a chlld.
As a young Serblan student, he jolned the natlonal
revolutlonary movement, suffered persecutlon, and was
16
f ^ ai_ POV
lmprlsoned ln l9l1 when the war broke out. Neverthe
less, he studled at several unlversltles, flnally obtalnlng
hls degree from Graz. Ior several years he served hls
country ln the dlplomatlc servlce; at the outbreak of the
Second World War he was the Yugoslav ambassador ln
Berlln. Only a few hours after hls return to Belgrade, the
clty was bombed by German planes. Iorced to retreat
durlng the German occupatlon, Andrl nevertheless
managed to survlve and to wrlte three remarkable nov
els. Jhese are generally called the Bosnlan trllogy,
although they have nothlng ln common but thelr hlstorl
cal settlng, whlch ls symbollzed by the crescent and the
cross. Jhe creatlon of thls work, ln the deafenlng roar of
guns and ln the shadow of a natlonal catastrophe whose
scope then seemed beyond calculatlon, ls a slngularly
strlklng llterary achlevement. Jhe publlcatlon of the trll
ogy dld not take place untll l915.
Jhe eplc maturlty of these chronlcles ln novel
form, especlally of hls masterplece k~ a ~ (Jhe
Brldge on the Drlna), l915, was preceded by a phase
durlng whlch Andrl, speaklng ln the flrst person of the
lyrlc poet, sought to express the harsh pesslmlsm of hls
young heart. It ls slgnlflcant that ln the lsolatlon of hls
years ln prlson he had found the greatest consolatlon ln
Klerkegaard. Later, ln the ascetlclsm of strlct selfdlscl
pllne, he dlscovered the way that could lead hlm back to
what he called 'the eternal unconsclous and blessed pat
rlmony," a dlscovery that also slgnlfled the lntroductlon
lnto hls work of the objectlve eplc form whlch he hence
forth cultlvated, maklng hlmself the lnterpreter of those
ancestral experlences that make a people consclous of
what lt ls.
k~ a ~ ls the herolc story of the famous
brldge whlch the vlzler Mehmed Pasha had bullt durlng
the mlddle of the slxteenth century near the Bosnlan clty
of Vlsegrad. Ilrmly placed on lts eleven arches of llght
coloured stone, rlchly ornamented, and ralsed ln the
mlddle by a superstructure, lt proudly perpetuated the
memory of an era throughout the followlng eventful
centurles untll lt was blown up ln the Ilrst World War.
Jhe vlzler had wanted lt to be a passage that would
unlte East and West ln the centre of the Ottoman
Emplre. Armles and caravans would cross the Drlna on
thls brldge, whlch for many generatlons symbollzed per
manence and contlnulty underneath the contlngencles
of hlstory. Jhls brldge became the scene for every
lmportant event ln thls strange corner of the world.
Andrl`s local chronlcle ls ampllfled by the powerful
volce of the rlver, and lt ls, flnally, a herolc and bloody
act ln world hlstory that ls played here.
In the followlng work, q~~ ~ (Bosnlan
Story), l915, the actlon takes place at the tlme of the
Napoleonlc Wars. Here we wltness the rlvalry between
the Austrlan and Irench consuls ln a desolated, oldfash
loned clty where a Jurklsh vlzler has establlshed hls res
ldence. We flnd ourselves ln the mldst of events whlch
brlng together traglc destlnles. Jhe dlscontent whlch
stlrs among the bazaars ln the alleys of Jravnlk; the
revolts of the SerboCroatlan peasants; the rellglous
wars between Mohammedans, Chrlstlans, and |ewsall
of thls contrlbutes to create the atmosphere that, after a
century of tenslon, was golng to be rent by the llghtnlng
at Sarajevo. Agaln, Andrl`s power ls revealed ln the
breadth of hls vlslon and the masterly control of hls
complex subject matter.
Jhe thlrd volume, d~ (Jhe Woman from
Sarajevo), l915, ls dlfferent; lt ls a purely psychologl
cal study of avarlce ln lts pathologlcal and demonlac
aspect. It tells the story of a merchant`s daughter who
llves alone ln Sarajevo. Her bankrupt father had told
her on hls deathbed to defend her lnterests ruthlessly,
slnce wealth ls the only means of escape from the cru
eltles of exlstence. Although the portralt ls strlklngly
successful, Andrl here conflnes hlmself to a subject
that does not permlt hlm a full dlsplay of hls great nar
ratlve glfts. Jhey are revealed fully, however, ln a
mlnor work that should recelve at least a brlef men
tlon. m~ ~~ (Devll`s Yard), l951. A story set ln
an Istanbul prlson, lt ls as colourful ln lts pattern as an
Orlental tale and yet reallstlc and convlnclng.
Generally speaklng, Andrl comblnes modern
psychologlcal lnslght wlth the fatallsm of the ^~~
kK He feels a great tenderness for manklnd, but he
does not shrlnk from horror and vlolence, the most
vlslble proof to hlm of the real presence of evll ln the
world. As a wrlter he possesses a whole network of
orlglnal themes that belong only to hlm; he opens the
chronlcle of the world, so to speak, at an unknown
page, and from the depth of the sufferlng souls of the
Balkan slaves he appeals to our senslblllty.
In one of hls novellas, a young doctor recount
lng hls experlences ln the Bosnla of the l920s says, 'If
you lle awake one whole nlght ln Sarajevo, you learn
to dlstlngulsh the volces of the Sarajevlan nlght. Wlth
lts rlch and flrm strokes the clock of the Cathollc
cathedral marks the hour of two. A long mlnute
elapses; then you hear, a llttle more feeble, but shrlll,
the volce of the Orthodox Church, whlch also sounds
lts two strokes. Jhen, a llttle more harsh and far away,
there ls the volce of the Beg Mosque clock; lt sounds
eleven strokes, eleven ghostly Jurklsh hours, counted
after the strange dlvlslon of tlme ln those faroff
reglons. Jhe |ews have no bell to toll thelr hours, and
God alone knows what tlme lt ls for them, God alone
knows the number lndlcated on the calendar of the
Sephardlms and the Ashkenazlms. Jhus, even ln the
deep of the nlght, when everybody sleeps, the world ls
17
ai_ POV f ^
dlvlded; lt ls dlvlded over the countlng of the lost
hours of a nlght that ls comlng to an end."
Perhaps thls suggestlve nocturnal atmosphere
also glves a key to the chlef problems that have doml
nated Andrl`s work. Jhe study of hlstory and phllos
ophy has lnevltably led hlm to ask what forces, ln the
blows and bltterness of antagonlsms and confllcts, act
to fashlon a people and a natlon. Hls own splrltual
attltude ls cruclal ln that respect. Conslderlng these
antagonlsms wlth a dellberate and acqulred serenlty,
he endeavours to see them all ln the llght of reason
and wlth a profoundly human splrlt. Hereln lles, ln
the last analysls, the major theme of all hls work; from
the Balkans lt brlngs to the entlre world a stolc mes
sage, as our generatlon has experlenced lt.
Dear SlrIt ls wrltten on your dlploma that the
Nobel Prlze has been bestowed upon you 'for the eplc
force wlth whlch you have traced themes and deplcted
human destlnles from your country`s hlstory." It ls
wlth great satlsfactlon that the Swedlsh Academy
honours ln you a worthy representatlve of a llngulstlc
area whlch, up to now, has not appeared on the llst of
laureates. Extendlng to you our most slncere congrat
ulatlons, I ask you to recelve from the hands of Hls
Majesty, the Klng, the Prlze awarded to you.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l96l.|
^W _~ p
Ivtroductory rcmorls by C. Iiljcstrovd, Mcmbcr of tlc
Ioyol Zcodcmy of Scicvccs, ot tlc òbcl ovquct ot tlc City
Holl iv Stocllolm, 10 Dcccmbcr 1961:
Dr. Andrl, as a chronlcler and a novellst, you
have told us about your countrymen, thelr llfe and toll,
thelr mlsfortunes and endurance, ln peace as well as ln
war. You have yourself fought for thelr freedom and
rlght to llve thelr own llfe. |ust as the brldge on the
Drlna brought East and West together, so your work
has acted as a llnk, comblnlng the culture of your coun
try wlth that of other parts of our planet, a task, well
worthy of a dlplomat, who ls also a great author.
Zvdri`s spcccl (Trovslotiov)
In carrylng out the hlgh dutles entrusted to lt, the
Nobel Commlttee of the Swedlsh Academy has thls year
awarded the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature, a slgnal mark of
honour on the lnternatlonal scene, to a wrlter from a
small country, as lt ls commonly called. In recelvlng thls
honour, I should llke to make a few remarks about thls
country and to add a few conslderatlons of a more gen
eral character about the storyteller`s work to whlch you
have graclously awarded your Prlze.
My country ls lndeed a 'small country between the
worlds," as lt has aptly been characterlzed by one of our
wrlters, a country whlch, at breakneck speed and at the
cost of great sacrlflces and prodlglous efforts, ls trylng ln
all flelds, lncludlng the fleld of culture, to make up for
those thlngs of whlch lt has been deprlved by a slngularly
turbulent and hostlle past. In chooslng the reclplent of
thls award you have cast a shlnlng llght upon the llterary
actlvlty of that country, at the very moment when,
thanks to a number of new names and orlglnal works,
that country`s llterature ls beglnnlng to galn recognltlon
through an honest endeavour to make lts contrlbutlon to
world llterature. Jhere ls no doubt that your dlstlnctlon
of a wrlter of thls country ls an encouragement whlch
calls for our gratltude; I am happy to have the opportu
nlty to express thls gratltude to you ln thls place and at
thls tlme, slmply but slncerely.
It ls a more dlfflcult and more dellcate task to tell
you about the storyteller`s work whlch you have
honoured wlth your Prlze. In fact, when lt comes down
to a wrlter and hls work, can we expect hlm to be able to
speak of that work, when ln reallty hls creatlon ls but a
part of hlmself? Some among us would rather conslder
the authors of works of art elther as mute and absent
contemporarles or as famous wrlters of the past, and
thlnk that the work of art speaks wlth a clearer and purer
volce lf the llvlng volce of the author does not lnterfere.
Jhls attltude ls nelther uncommon nor partlcularly new.
Even ln hls day Montesquleu contended that authors are
not good judges of thelr own works. I remember readlng
wlth understandlng admlratlon Goethe`s rule. 'Jhe art
lst`s task ls to create, not to talk"; and many years later I
was moved to flnd the same thought brllllantly expressed
by the greatly mourned Albert Camus.
Let me then, as seems flttlng to me, concentrate ln
thls brlef statement on the story and the storyteller ln
general. In thousands of languages, ln the most dlverse
cllmes, from century to century, beglnnlng wlth the very
old storles told around the hearth ln the huts of our
remote ancestors down to the works of modern storytell
ers whlch are appearlng at thls moment ln the publlshlng
houses of the great cltles of the world, lt ls the story of
the human condltlon that ls belng spun and that men
never weary of telllng to one another. Jhe manner of tell
lng and the form of the story vary accordlng to perlods
and clrcumstances, but the taste for telllng and retelllng a
story remalns the same. the narratlve flows endlessly and
never runs dry. Jhus, at tlmes, one mlght almost belleve
that from the flrst dawn of consclousness throughout the
ages, manklnd has constantly been telllng ltself the same
story, though wlth lnflnlte varlatlons, to the rhythm of lts
18
f ^ ai_ POV
breath and pulse. And one mlght say that after the fash
lon of the legendary and eloquent Scheherazade, thls
story attempts to stave off the executloner, to suspend the
lneluctable decree of the fate that threatens us, and to
prolong the llluslon of llfe and of tlme. Or should the sto
ryteller by hls work help man to know and to recognlze
hlmself? Perhaps lt ls hls calllng to speak ln the name of
all those who dld not have the ablllty or who, crushed by
llfe, dld not have the power to express themselves. Or
could lt be that the storyteller tells hls own story to hlm
self, llke the chlld who slngs ln the dark ln order to
assuage hls own fear? Or flnally, could the alm of these
storles be to throw some llght on the dark paths lnto
whlch llfe hurls us at tlmes and to tell us about thls llfe,
whlch we llve bllndly and unconsclously, somethlng
more than we can apprehend and comprehend ln our
weakness? And thus the words of a good storyteller often
shed llght on our acts and on our omlsslons, on what we
should do and on what we should not have done. Hence
one mlght wonder whether the true hlstory of manklnd
ls not to be found ln these storles, oral or wrltten, and
whether we mlght not at least dlmly catch the meanlng of
that hlstory. And lt matters llttle whether the story ls set
ln the present or ln the past.
Nevertheless, some wlll malntaln that a story deal
lng wlth the past neglects, and to a certaln degree turns
lts back on, the present. A wrlter of hlstorlcal storles and
novels could not ln my oplnlon accept such a gratultous
judgment. He would rather be lncllned to confess that he
does not hlmself know very well when or how he moves
from what ls called the present lnto what we call the past,
and that he crosses easllyas ln a dreamthe threshold of
centurles. But ln the end, do not past and present con
front us wlth slmllar phenomena and wlth the same
problems. to be a man, to have been born wlthout know
lng lt or wantlng lt, to be thrown lnto the ocean of exlst
ence, to be obllged to swlm, to exlst; to have an ldentlty;
to reslst the pressure and shocks from the outslde and the
unforeseen and unforeseeable actsone`s own and those
of otherswhlch so often exceed one`s capacltles? And
what ls more, to endure one`s own thoughts about all
thls. ln a word, to be human.
So lt happens that beyond the lmaglnary demar
catlon llne between past and present the wrlter stlll
flnds hlmself eye to eye wlth the human condltlon,
whlch he ls bound to observe and understand as best
he can, wlth whlch he must ldentlfy, glvlng lt the
strength of hls breath and the warmth of hls blood,
whlch he must attempt to turn lnto the llvlng texture of
the story that he lntends to translate for hls readers, ln
such a way that the result be as beautlful, as slmple, and
as persuaslve as posslble.
How can a wrlter arrlve at thls alm, by what ways,
by what means? Ior some lt ls by glvlng free reln to thelr
lmaglnatlon, for others lt ls by studylng wlth long and
palnstaklng care the lnstructlons that hlstory and soclal
evolutlon afford. Some wlll endeavour to asslmllate the
substance and meanlng of past epochs, others wlll pro
ceed wlth the caprlclous and playful nonchalance of the
prollflc Irench novellst who once sald, 'What ls hlstory
but a peg to hang my novels on?" In a word, there are a
thousand ways and means for the novellst to arrlve at hls
work, but what alone matters and alone ls declslve ls the
work ltself.
Jhe author of hlstorlcal novels could put as an epl
graph to hls works, ln order to explaln everythlng to
everyone, once and for all, the old saylng. 'Cogltavl dles
antlquos et annos aeternos ln mente habul" (I have pon
dered the days of yore and I have kept ln mlnd the years
of eternlty). But wlth or wlthout eplgraph, hls work, by
lts very exlstence, suggests the same ldea.
Stlll, these are ultlmately nothlng but questlons of
technlque, tastes, and methods, a fasclnatlng lntellectual
pastlme concernlng a work or havlng vaguely to do
wlth lt. In the end lt matters llttle whether the wrlter
evokes the past, descrlbes the present, or even plunges
boldly lnto the future. Jhe maln thlng ls the splrlt
whlch lnforms hls story, the message that hls work con
veys to manklnd; and lt ls obvlous that rules and regu
latlons do not avall here. Each bullds hls story
accordlng to hls own lnward needs, accordlng to the
measure of hls lncllnatlons, lnnate or acqulred, accord
lng to hls conceptlons and to the power of hls means of
expresslon. Each assumes the moral responslblllty for
hls own story and each must be allowed to tell lt freely.
But, ln concluslon, lt ls to be hoped that the story told
by today`s author to hls contemporarles, lrrespectlve of
lts form and content, should be nelther tarnlshed by
hate nor obscured by the nolse of homlcldal machlnes,
but that lt should be born out of love and lnsplred by
the breadth of ldeas of a free and serene human mlnd.
Ior the storyteller and hls work serve no purpose unless
they serve, ln one way or another, man and humanlty.
Jhat ls the essentlal polnt. And that ls what I have
attempted to brlng out ln these brlef reflectlons lnsplred
by the occaslon and whlch, wlth your permlsslon, I
shall conclude as I began them, wlth the repeated
expresslon of a profound and slncere gratltude.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l96l. Ivo Andrl ls the sole
author of hls speech.|
QV
j ^~
(19 Uctobcr 1S99 - 9 uvc 1974)
l~~ mJk
Uvivcrsity of Tcvvcsscc ot Clottovoogo
q ~ ~ mJk
^~ DI 290: Modcrv Spovisl Zmcricov
Iocts, Sccovd Scrics. p ~ ^~ DI
11J: Modcrv Iotiv-Zmcricov Iictiov !ritcrs, Iirst Scrics.
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Ed~~~ `W p dI NVOPFX
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Io orquitccturo dc lo vido vucvo Ed~~~ `W
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Io borbo provisorio Ee~~~I NVOVFX
Icycvdos dc Cuotcmolo Ej~W lI NVPMFX
Imulo Iipolidov, fovtomimo Ed~~~ `W ^~~I
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Zlclosv, fovtomimo Ed~~~ `W ^~~I NVQMFX
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Hombrcs dc mo E_ ^W i~~I NVQVFX ~J
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!ccl-cvd cv Cuotcmolo E_ ^W i~~I NVRSFX
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50
j ^~ ai_ POV
Ios ojos dc los cvtcrrodos (Buenos Alres. Losada, l960);
translated by Rabassa as Tlc Iycs of tlc Ivtcrrcd
(New York. Delacorte, l973; London. Cape,
l971);
Ios cstrcllos, los rosos, y lo lmporo, prosos cscritos cvtrc 1927 y
19J0: Uvos polobros dc Migucl vgcl Zsturios, edlted
by Enrlque Muoz Meany (Guatemala Clty. Edl
clones Revlsta de Guatemala, l960);
Il ollojodito (Buenos Alres. Goyanarte, l96l); trans
lated by Martln Shuttleworth as Tlc cjcwclcd oy
(Garden Clty, N.Y.. Doubleday, l97l);
Muloto dc tol (Buenos Alres. Losada, l963); translated
by Rabassa as Tlc Mulotto ovd Mr. Ily (London.
Owen, l963); translatlon republlshed as Muloto
(New York. Delacorte, l967);
Iumovio, su vucvo imogcv (Xalapa, Mexlco. Lnlversldad
Veracruzana, l961);
Tcotro: Clovtojc, Diquc scco, Soluvo, Io oudicvcio dc los cov-
fivcs (Buenos Alres. Losada, l961);
Sovctos dc Itolio (Mllan. Instltuto Edltorlale Clsalplno,
l965);
Clorivigilio primovcrol (Buenos Alres. Losada, l965);
Il cspcjo dc Iido Sol (Mexlco Clty. Slglo Velntluno,
l967); translated by Gllbert AlterGllbert as Tlc
Mirror of Iido Sol: Tolcs oscd ov Moyov Mytls ovd
Cuotcmolov Icgcvds (Plttsburgh. Latln Amerlcan
Llterary Revlew, l997);
Torotumbo; Io oudicvcio dc los covfivcs; Mcvsojcs ivdios (Bar
celona. Plaza y |ans, l967);
Iotivoomcrico y otros cvsoyos (Madrld. Guadlana, l968);
Ubros complctos, 3 volumes (Madrld. Agullar, l968);
Comicvdo cv Huvgro, by Asturlas and Pablo Neruda
(Barcelona. Lumen, l969); translated by Barna
Balogh as Scvtimcvtol ourvcy orouvd tlc Huvgoriov
Cuisivc (Budapest. Corvlna, l969);
Molodrov (Buenos Alres. Losada, l969);
Trois dcs quotrc solcils, translated by Claude Couffon
(Geneva. Sklra, l97l); orlglnal Spanlsh verslon
publlshed as Trcs dc cuotro solcs (cdiciov crtico),
edlted by Dorlta Nouhaud (Parls. Kllncksleck /
Madrld. Iondo de Cultura Econmlca, l977);
Tlc Tollivg Moclivc, translated by Beverly Koch (Gar
den Clty, N.Y.. Doubleday, l97l);
Il problcmo sociol dcl ivdio y otros tcxtos, edlted by Couffon
(Parls. Centre de Recherches de lÌnstltut
dÈtudes Hlspanlques, l97l);
òvclos y cucvtos dc juvcvtud, edlted by Couffon (Parls.
Centre de Recherches de lÌnstltut dÈtudes Hls
panlques, l97l);
Zmcrico, fbulo dc fbulos y otros cvsoyos, edlted by Rlchard
|. Callan (Caracas. Monte vlla, l972);
!icrvcs dc dolorcs (Buenos Alres. Losada, l972);
urc (Mexlco Clty. Comlsln Naclonal para la Con
memoratln del Centenarlo del Ialleclmlento de
don Benlto |urez, l972);
Sivccridodcs, edlted by Epamlnondas _ulntana (Guate
mala Clty. Acadmlca Centroamerlcana, l980);
Il lombrc quc lo tcvo todo, todo, todo; Io lcycvdo dcl Som-
brcrov; Io lcycvdo dcl tcsoro dcl Iugor Ilorido (Barce
lona. Bruguera, l98l);
Il rbol dc lo cru, edlted by Allne |acquart and Amos
Segala (Nanterre. ALLCA XX/Lnlverslt Parls
X, Centre de Recherches LatlnoAmrlcalnes,
l993);
Migucl vgcl Zsturios, ro y dcstivo: Iocso ivcdito (1917-
1924), edlted by Marco Vlnlclo Meja (Guatemala
Clty. Artemls Edlnter, l999).
b ~ `W Ubros cscogidos, 3 volumes
(Madrld. Agullar, l955-l966);
Mi mcjor obro: Zutoovtologo (Mexlco Clty. Organlzacln
Edltorlal Novaro, l973);
Il Scvor Ircsidcvtc: Idiciov crtico, edlted by Rlcardo
Navas Rulz and |eanMarle SalntLu (Parls.
Kllncksleck, l978);
!icrvcs dc dolorcs: Idiciov crtico, edlted by Iber H. Ver
dugo (Parls. Kllncksleck / Madrld. Iondo de Cul
tura Econmlca, l978);
Hombrcs dc mo: Idiciov crtico, edlted by Gerald Martln
(Parls. Kllncksleck / Madrld. Iondo de Cultura
Econmlca, l98l);
!iojcs, cvsoyos y fovtosos, edlted by Rlchard |. Callan
(Buenos Alres. Losada, l98l);
Iors 1924-19JJ: Icriodismo y crcociov litcrorio, edlted by
Amos Segala (Nanterre. ALLCA XX/Lnlverslt
Parls X, Centre de Recherches LatlnoAmrlcalnes,
l988);
Cov lo mogio dc los ticmpos (Guatemala Clty. Mlnlsterlo de
Cultura y Deportes/Herederos de Mlguel ngel
Asturlas, l999);
Il lombrc quc lo tcvo todo, todo, todo (Guatemala Clty. Edl
torlal Pledra Santa Arandl, 2000);
Cucvtos y lcycvdos, edlted by Marlo Roberto Morales
(Madrld. ALLCA XX, 2000).
OJHER. 'Maxlmn, dlvlnldad de agua dulce," ln
Tcrrcs Iotivcs, Zvvcc 2 (N.p., l916), pp. 25-36;
Iocso prccolombivo, edlted by Asturlas (Buenos Alres.
Compaa General Iabrll, l960);
'La novela latlnoamerlcana es testlmonlo de nuestro
tlempo," ln Ivostrovvoio litcroturo, 9 (Moscow,
l966), pp. 25-36.
JRANSLAJIONS. Ios dioscs, los lcrocs y los lombrcs dc
Cuotcmolo Zvtiguo; o Il libro dcl Covscjo, Iopol !ul dc
los ivdios quiclcs, translated by Asturlas and |. M.
Gonzlez de Mendoza from the Irench translatlon
5l
ai_ POV j ^~
by Georges Raynaud (Parls. ParsAmerlcana,
l927); republlshed as Il libro dcl covscjo (Mexlco
Clty. Lnlversldad Naclonal Autnoma, l939);
Zvolcs dc los Xolil dc los ivdios colcliquclcs, translated by
Asturlas and Gonzlez de Mendoza from the
Irench translatlon by Raynaud (Parls, l928;
revlsed edltlon, Guatemala Clty. Jlpografa
Naclonal, l937).
Guatemalan author Mlguel ngel Asturlas was
recognlzed wlth the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature ln l967
for hls prollflc and lnnovatlve llterary productlon ln
multlple genres. Hls worldwlde fame came prlmarlly
because of hls narratlves ln both the novel and short
story genres. In the preface to hls l970 study of
Asturlas, Rlchard |. Callan ldentlfles Asturlas`s consld
erable contrlbutlons to the world of letters. 'there are
some who see ln hls works on polltlcal and soclal dlcta
torshlp the flnest novels of protest we have. Ior others,
hls fanclful tales of Indlan and Spanlsh folklore, told ln
the rlch and amblguous language of dreamwork, have
the lnexhaustlble value of poetry." In subsequent
decades many crltlcal essays and books have been wrlt
ten about Asturlas`s narratlve, focuslng on some aspect
of that nutshell statement. In fact, few of hls works are
exempt from the qualltles to whlch Callan refers. Even
hls narratlves of harshest reallty lnclude passages of
lyrlc language and move ln a maglcal atmosphere.
Jhe reason for Asturlas`s lncluslon of these quall
tles ln so much of hls wrltlng may be found ln hls essay
'Helne o la poesa comprometlda" (Helne or Commlt
ted Poetry, lncluded ln Zmcrico, fbulo dc fbulos y otros
cvsoyos |Amerlca, Iable of Iables and Other Essays|,
l972) about the works of fellow poet Helnrlch Helne.
In lt he poslts that protest llterature 'usa de sus espejos
mglcos para llmplar el mundo, para dar otra extensln
a la exlstencla del hombre" (uses lts maglc mlrrors to
clean the world, to glve another dlmenslon to man`s
exlstence).
Almost all crltlcs of hls llterature note Asturlas`s
masterful use of language. Intervlewers Luls Harss and
Barbara Dohmann state that for Asturlas, 'language
llves a borrowed llfe. Words are echoes or shadows of
llvlng belngs. Jhe falth ln the power of words . . . ls
remlnlscent of an anclent bellef that words are doubles
of objects ln the external world and are therefore an anl
mated part of lt. Jhe rhythms of speech are lnstlnctual
and subllmlnal. And the subllmlnal ls close to the myth
lcal." Jhey further assert that ln hls texts 'metaphor ls
maglc, lt conjures up the unconsclous." Asturlas`s nov
els are narrated ln a language that many belleve to be
the result of the lnfluence of Surreallsm, to whlch he
was exposed durlng hls early years ln Europe. Asturlas,
however, denled thls connectlon and asserted that hls
style was lnfluenced lnstead by the lndlgenous Latln
Amerlcan way of thlnklng; as he told scholar Marta
Plln de Pacheco, 'el surreallsmo de mls llbros corre
sponde un poco a la mentalldad lndgena, mglca y
prlmltlva, a la mentalldad de esta gente que est slem
pre entre lo real y lo soado, entre lo real y lo lmagl
nado, entre lo real y lo que se lnventa. Y creo que es
esto lo que forma el eje prlnclpal de ml pretendldo sur
reallsmo" (the surreallsm of my books corresponds
somewhat to a maglcal and prlmltlve lndlgenous men
tallty, to the mentallty of these people who are always
between the real and the dreamed, between the real and
the lmaglned, between the real and the lnvented. And I
belleve that lt ls thls that forms the maln axls of my
socalled surreallsm). He elaborated further about the
llnk crltlcs llke to forge between that 'lndlgenous men
tallty" and maglcal reallsm ln an lntervlew wlth
Gunther W. Lorenz. 'Las aluclnaclones, las lmpre
slones que el hombre obtlene de su medlo tlenden a
transformarse en realldades. . . . No se trata de una real
ldad palpable, pero s de una realldad que surge de una
determlnada lmaglnacln mglca" (Jhe halluclnatlons,
the lmpresslons that man gets from hls envlronment
tend to transform themselves lnto realltles. . . . It ls not
a questlon of a palpable reallty, but lt ls one of a reallty
that emerges from a speclflc maglcal lmaglnatlon).
Asturlas was born on l9 October l899 ln the
Parroqula Vleja (Old Parlsh) nelghborhood of Guate
mala Clty. Hls father was Ernesto Asturlas, a lawyer;
hls mother was Mara Rosales de Asturlas, a teacher.
Hls younger brother, Marco Antonlo, was born ln
l90l. Because of problems wlth the despotlc presldent
Manuel Estrada Cabrera, ln l901 hls father moved the
famlly to Salam, a commerclal center ln the provlnce
of Baja Verapaz near the farm of hls maternal grand
parents, where they vlslted frequently. Asturlas began
school there ln l906 and completed the flrst three
grades before the famlly returned ln l908 to Guatemala
Clty, where he flnlshed hls elementary schoollng at
Iather Pedro |aclnto Palaclos`s school and the Domlngo
Savlo school. He began hls secondary educatlon ln
l9l2 at the Central Natlonal Instltute for Boys and fln
lshed wlth a secondaryschool dlploma ln l9l6. At the
Instltute he met the great Nlcaraguan poet Rubn
Daro, who was just nlne months from hls death. Prlor
to thls encounter, Asturlas`s hobby had been palntlng;
but subsequently he turned to llterature.
Poetry ls the genre ln whlch Asturlas flrst began
wrltlng. Hls earllest poems date from l9l7, but they
remalned unpubllshed untll l999, when Marco Vlnlclo
Meja publlshed them ln Migucl vgcl Zsturios, ro y dcs-
tivo: Iocso ivcdito (1917-1924) (Mlguel ngel Asturlas,
Reason and Destlny. Lnpubllshed Poems |l9l7-
l921|). In many of these poems the quallty of modern
52
j ^~ ai_ POV
lst muslcallty ls unquestlonable. Asturlas hlmself col
lected the poetry he wrote between l9l8 and l918 and
publlshed lt under the tltle of Iocso: Sicv dc olovdro
(l919, Poetry. Jhe Lark`s Jemple). Jhe poems of the
earller years are lntlmate ln content, expresslng the
poet`s deepest feellngs about hls famlly, and have tradl
tlonal Hlspanlc meter and rhyme forms. Jo a llmlted
degree the astonlshlng lmagery assoclated wlth Surreal
lsm ls already present ln the earller poems, as ls evldent
ln 'Ronda de andares" (Round of Wanderlngs, pub
llshed ln the l9l8-l928 sectlon of Iocso: Sicv dc olov-
dro). 'Har la cabeclta de ml hljo / con un nldo de
pjaros" (I wlll make my son`s llttle head / wlth a blrds`
nest). Some of the later poetry gathered ln Iocso: Sicv dc
olovdro ls avantgarde, wlth lmagery, rhythms, and par
allel constructlons that betray the lnfluence of anclent
lndlgenous wrltlngs. Asturlas admltted thls lnfluence ln
'Jhe Latln Amerlcan Novel. Jestlmony of an Epoch,"
hls Nobel lecture. 'the parallellsm ln the lndlgenous
texts allows an exerclse of nuances that we flnd hard to
appreclate but whlch undoubtedly permltted a poetlc
gradatlon destlned to lnduce certaln states of consclous
ness whlch were taken to be maglc." An evolutlon from
tradltlonal forms to avantgarde, Surreallst forms can be
traced through the dated parts of Iocso: Sicv dc olovdro.
Asturlas`s poetry reflects the cultural duallty that
surrounded hlm ln hls formatlve years. Jhere are
poems, such as hls sonnets, that only someone who was
lmmersed ln European culture could have wrltten.
Jhere are also poemssuch as 'Jecn Lmn," 'Seor
del agua" (Man of Water), 'Marlmba tocada por
lndlos" (Marlmba Played by Indlans), 'Habla el gran
lengua" (Jhe Great Interpreter Speaks), and 'Cerbatan
ero" (Blowgunner), from Iocso: Sicv dc olovdro, and the
booklength poem Clorivigilio Irimovcrol (l965; Sprlng
tlme Clear Vlgll; clorivigilio ls a neologlsm, made up of
cloro, clear or brlght, and vigilio, vlgll)that only some
one acqualnted wlth Mayan culture could wrlte.
Asturlas galned a flrsthand acqualntance wlth that cul
ture ln early chlldhood as he llstened to Lola Reyes, a
Mayan servant ln hls home, tell tradltlonal lndlgenous
and mestlzo tales; later, he read the anclent Maya_ulch
texts ln the Irench translatlons made of them by Profes
sor Georges Raynaud. Gluseppe Belllnl ldentlfles ln
Asturlas`s poetlc works 'los mdulos y los rltmos pro
plos de la antlgua poesa maya, especlalmente en la relt
eracln, la metfora, la lmagen slmbllca, el
paralellsmo, creando una atmsfera de sugestlva eflca
cla, evocadora de mundos remotos, proyectados en el
tlempo presente" (the modules and the rhythms pecu
llar to anclent Mayan poetry, especlally ln the reltera
tlon, metaphor, symbollc lmage, and parallellsm that
create an atmosphere of suggestlve efflcacy, evocatlve of
remote worlds projected onto present tlme).
In Asturlas`s plays the lnfluence of the llterary
movements of the tlmes ls especlally dlscernlble.
Asturlas`s earllest play, wrltten when he was seventeen,
ls stlll ln typescrlpt form, annotated ln the marglns ln
hls own hand. Accordlng to Mara del Carmen Meln
dez de Alonzo, thls play, 'El loco de la aurora" (Jhe
Madman of the Dawn), betrays the lnfluence of the
Modcrvisto movement. Elements of the Surreallst move
ment as well as Modcrvismo can also be found ln Ioyito dc
cstrcllo (l925, Llttle Star Ray), hls flrst 'fantomlma" (a
neologlsm composed of fovtoso, fantasy, and mimo,
mlme). Jhe term Asturlas used to name thls 'new
genre" ls an early example of hls penchant for wordplay
and the creatlon of neologlsms to achleve new mean
lngs. Surreallsm and the use of neologlsms are also lnte
gral parts of hls other 'fantomlmas," Imulo Iipolidov
(l935), Zlclosv (l910), and Soluvo: Comcdio prodigioso cv
dos jorvodos y uv fivol (l955, Soluna. Prodlglous Play ln
Jwo Days and an Endlng; soluvo ls a neologlsm made
up of sol, sun, and luvo, moon). In all of them there ls a
Surreallstlc, dreamllke quallty that prevents reallty
from completely descendlng on the actlon. Although
the 'fantomlmas" are dlaloguebased works, at tlmes lt
ls dlfflcult ln some of them to determlne who ls speak
lng. Jhe experlmentatlon he had started wlth Ioyito dc
cstrcllo evolved slgnlflcantly; lt became apparent that hls
'fantomlmas" were 'laboratory pleces," works ln whlch
Asturlas trled out the avantgarde llngulstlc strategles
that eventually enrlched hls more extenslve works.
Asturlas graduated from the Central Natlonal
Instltute for Boys ln l9l7 and entered the School of
Medlclne of the Lnlverslty of San Carlos ln Guatemala
Clty, but ln l9l8 he transferred to the School of |urldl
cal and Soclal Sclences there. In l920 |os Candlda
Plol y Batres, the blshop of Granada, Nlcaragua, dellv
ered a serles of lectures denounclng dlctatorshlp, baslng
hlmself on Chrlstlan doctrlne. Plol y Batres`s words
resonated wlth many cltlzens of Guatemala, whlch had
been ruled by the dlctator Estrada Cabrera slnce l898,
and the lectures led to the formatlon of the Lnlonlst
Party. A general attltude of belllgerence ensued; antl
government manlfestos were lssued, and on ll March
l920 there was a masslve demonstratlon agalnst
Estrada Cabrera, ln whlch the Assoclatlon of Lnlonlst
Students, a group orlglnally formed by Asturlas, Davld
Vela, and other classmates as the Asoclacln de Estu
dlantes Lnlversltarlos (Assoclatlon of Lnlverslty stu
dents) partlclpated. Jhls outpourlng was bloodlly
repressed. Jhe ensulng armed struggle between sup
porters and opponents of the dlctator came to be
known as the 'Semana Jrglca" (Jraglc Week), and the
flghtlng came to an end wlth the overthrow of Estrada
Cabrera on l1 Aprll l920. Durlng the ensulng
53
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shortllved rule of Carlos Herrera y Luna, Asturlas was
actlve ln clvlc and polltlcal matters.
Asturlas`s flrst paylng job conslsted of wrltlng for
several magazlnes, lncludlng Studium, whlch he founded
wlth Vela and whlch contlnued ln publlcatlon untll lt
was suspended when the unlverslty was closed by the
government of General |os Mara Orellana ln Aprll
l921. He also wrote for Il Istudiovtc (Jhe Student) and
Io Culturo (Culture). As a fourthyear law student
Asturlas represented the Asoclacln de Estudlantes
Lnlversltarlos at the commemoratlon of Mexlcan lnde
pendence. In Mexlco he met the Spanlsh man of letters
Ramn del Valle Incln, who exerted great lnfluence on
hlm. He also was exposed to the popullst ldeas of |os
Vasconcelos, at that tlme Mexlco`s mlnlster of educa
tlon.
When the Colomblan poet Porflrlo Barba |acob,
who llved ln Guatemala and Mexlco for many years,
proposed the creatlon of the Popular Lnlverslty, Vas
concelo`s popullst ldeas resonated ln the proposal and
attracted Asturlas`s attentlon. In l922 Asturlas was
among the founders of the Popular Lnlverslty of Gua
temala; ln addltlon to teachlng workers to read, he
taught grammar and gave weekly lectures there. Jhls
unlverslty expanded and eventually had branches ln
several provlnces; lt operated untll the dlctator |orge
Lblco closed lt ln l932. In l922 Asturlas and some of
hls unlverslty frlends wrote the lyrlcs of 'La chalana"
(Jhe Shrewd Woman), a battle song that became popu
lar among Guatemalan unlverslty students.
Accordlng to most of hls blographers, Asturlas
recelved hls law degree at the Lnlverslty of San Carlos
ln l923. However, ln hls notes for Migucl vgcl Zsturios,
ro y dcstivo, Meja asserts that Asturlas ln fact attended
the Estrada Cabrera Natlonal Lnlverslty, slnce the Lnl
verslty of San Carlos 'practlcamente no exlstl con ese
nombre en los perodos comprendldos de l83l a l855
y de l875 a l915" (ln practlcal terms, dld not exlst
under that name durlng the perlods lncluded from l83l
to l855 and from l875 to l915). Asturlas`s flrst work ln
the essay genre ls the thesls he presented for gradua
tlon, Sociologo guotcmoltcco: Il problcmo sociol dcl ivdio
(l923; translated as Cuotcmolov Sociology: Tlc Sociol Irob-
lcm of tlc Ivdiov, l977). It was awarded the Premlo
Glvez (Glvez Prlze) glven by the unlverslty for the
best thesls of the year and was lmmedlately publlshed.
Its soclologlcal focus on the dlsadvantaged lndlgenous
people of hls country ls repeated ln many of hls later
essays. Jhe work ls flawed, however, by the essentlally
raclst attltude toward the Indlans that hls Iodivo (term
used ln Guatemala to deslgnate those who do not con
slder themselves Mayas) upbrlnglng lngralned ln hls
consclousness.
Asturlas brlefly wrote for the newspaper Ticmpos
ùcvos (New Jlmes) before belng lmprlsoned for a few
days by the dlctator Orellana because of the subverslve
tone of many of hls columns. On hls release ln l921 he
left Guatemala for hls polltlcal safety. In September he
traveled to London, accompanled by a famlly frlend,
former Peruvlan senator |os Antonlo Enclna, and
flnanced by hls father, whose lntentlon was that
Asturlas would study economlcs there. Instead,
Asturlas soon left for Parls, where ln l925 he began
studylng Mayan rellglons at the Sorbonne wlth
Raynaud, the dlrector of studles on rellglons of
PreColumblan Amerlca at the School of Hlgher Learn
lng. In Parls he became a correspondent for Il Imporciol
(Jhe Impartlal) ln Guatemala and for several newspa
pers ln Mexlco; durlng the ten years he spent ln Parls,
he sent more than four hundred artlcles to Il Imporciol.
A collectlon of these essays, Ioris 1924-19JJ: Icriodismo
y crcociov litcrorio (Parls l921-l933. |ournallsm and Llt
erary Creatlon), was publlshed ln l988. Jhese works
manlfest the evolutlon of Asturlas`s thought and the
ldeologlcal and cultural components evldent ln hls later
narratlve texts.
In addltlon to journallstlc artlcles and essays, he
also contrlbuted lntervlews wlth some of Spaln`s great
est contemporary authors. In l925 he traveled to Italy
to represent Prensa Latlna (Latln Press) at a conference
there. Asturlas establlshed frlendshlps wlth some of the
most lnfluentlal wrlters of the tlme, lncludlng Mlguel de
Lnamuno, Vlcente Blasco Ibez, |ames |oyce, Andr
Breton, and Jrlstan Jzara. In l927 Asturlas and |. M.
Gonzlez de Mendoza publlshed thelr Spanlsh transla
tlon of Raynaud`s Irench verslon of the Iopol !ul, the
sacred book of the _ulch Indlans, under the tltle Ios
dioscs, los lcrocs y los lombrcs dc Cuotcmolo Zvtiguo; o Il libro
dcl Covscjo, Iopol !ul dc los ivdios quiclcs (Gods, Heroes,
and Men of Anclent Guatemala; or, Jhe Book of the
Councll, Popol Vuh of the _ulch Indlans).
He returned to Guatemala for a vlslt ln l928,
stopplng ln Cuba on the way to attend a conference for
journallsts. Durlng that vlslt he publlshed Io orquitccturo
dc lo vido vucvo (l928, Archltecture of the New Llfe), a
book based on four lectures he had dellvered at the
Popular Lnlverslty, the Natlonal School for Boys, the
Soclety of Mutual Human Asslstance, and the Lnlon of
Commerclal Employees. When he returned to Parls, he
and Gonzlez de Mendoza translated and publlshed
Raynaud`s Irench verslon of Zvolcs dc los Xolil dc los
ivdios colcliquclcs (l928, Jhe Annals of the Xahlls of the
Cakchlquel Indlans).
In l929 Asturlas ended hls studles ln Parls, and ln
hls posltlon as a correspondent to several Latln Amerl
can newspapers he traveled all over Western Europe as
well as to the Mlddle East, spendlng slgnlflcant perlods
51
j ^~ ai_ POV
of tlme ln both Italy and Greece. In Spaln he made the
acqualntance of the poets of the avantgarde 'Genera
tlon of l927," whlch lncluded Rafael Albertl, Vlcente
Alelxandre, Dmaso Alonso, Luls Cernuda, Rosa
Chacel, Gerardo Dlego, Iederlco Garca Lorca, |orge
Gullln, Pedro Sallnas, and Mara Zambrano.
Callan`s clalm about Asturlas`s 'rlch and amblgu
ous language of dreamwork" ls substantlated by some
of the tales ln Icycvdos dc Cuotcmolo (Legends of Guate
mala), a l930 collectlon of short storles based on Guate
malan folklore. Jhls book establlshes the hybrldlzatlon
of Guatemala`s folk culture (both Indlan and Spanlsh)
and the transculturatlon of the bellef systems of the
lndlgenous populatlon and the Spanlards who con
quered them. A l932 Irench verslon by Irancls de
Mlomandre (pseudonym of Iranols Durand), wlth a
letter by the Irench poet Paul Valry as preface, was
awarded the Sylla Monsegur Prlze for the best transla
tlon from Spanlsh to Irench for that year.
In l932 Asturlas traveled to Egypt and Palestlne.
Durlng these travels he wrote poetry and worked on a
short story wlth the tltle 'Los mendlgos poltlcos" (Jhe
Polltlcal Beggars), whlch eventually became the novel
Il Scvor Ircsidcvtc (l916; translated as Tlc Ircsidcvt,
l963, and as Il Scvor Ircsidcvtc, l963). Although hls
famlly`s economlc sltuatlon gave hlm the means to llve
ln Irance wlthout deprlvatlon untll l933, the world
wlde economlc crlsls of those years prevented hls
father`s contlnued flnanclal support of hlm ln Parls, and
Asturlas returned to Guatemala. At that tlme the dlcta
tor Lblco headed the government, and aware of the
potentlal lmpllcatlons of the content of Il Scvor Ircsi-
dcvtc, Asturlas opted not to take the manuscrlpt wlth
hlm when he returned to Guatemala. Jhls declslon
delayed publlcatlon of the novel for thlrteen years.
On hls return to Guatemala ln l933 he became a
professor of llterature ln the School of |urldlcal Sclences
of Guatemala at the Lnlverslty of San Carlos. On l
May l931 he founded the newspaper Ixito (Success),
whlch was publlshed for only one year. When Ixito
ceased publlcatlon he began worklng for the govern
ment newspaper Il Iibcrol Irogrcsisto (Jhe Progresslve
Llberal). When he publlshed hls second 'fantomlma,"
Imulo Iipolidov, he dedlcated lt to some of the frlends he
had left ln EuropeAlbertl, Mlomandre, Alfonso Reyes,
Marlano Brull, Eugne |olas, Georges Plllement, Luls
Cardoza y Aragn, Alejo Carpentler, and Arturo Lslar
Pletrl. In thls Surreallst play Asturlas contlnued to play
wlth language, uslng neologlsms, sound repetltlons, and
onomatopoela. In l936 the Spanlsh Clvll War began,
and Asturlas declared hls support for the Republlcan
cause. He also publlshed poems that he had wrltten ln
the precedlng years as Sovctos (l936, Sonnets).
Asturlas was flred from Il Iibcrol Irogrcsisto ln
l937, agaln for the subverslve tone of hls wrltlngs, but
ln |une l938 he and hls frlend Iranclsco Soler y Prez
founded a radlo news program, 'Dlarlo del Alre"
(Newspaper of the Alr). In l939 he marrled Clemencla
Amado; hls father dled; and hls flrst chlld, Rodrlgo,
was born. Asturlas`s second son, Mlguel ngel, was
born ln l91l, and the followlng year Asturlas was
elected to the Guatemalan leglslature. Jhat same year
he publlshed Cov cl rclcv cv los dicvtcs: Covto o Irovcio
(l912, Wlth the Hostage ln Hls Jeeth. Song to Irance),
a booklength poem about the German occupatlon of
Irance. Also ln l912 he took part ln the Congreso
Marlano Naclonal (Natlonal Marlan Conference) wlth
the poem 'Con el rehn en los dlentes," whlch recelved
an award offered by the conference. Hls llfelong frlend
shlp wlth Chllean poet Pablo Neruda began that year
when Neruda spent a few days ln Asturlas`s home. In
l913 Asturlas publlshed Zvoclc, 10 dc moro dc 14J
(Last Nlght, l0 March l513), a poem commemoratlng
the fourth centenary of the foundlng of Guatemala.
Lblco reslgned ln l911, and Asturlas found hlm
self lsolated and ostraclzed by those who consldered
hlm a collaborator wlth the deposed reglme because he
had been appolnted by Lblco and had served as a dep
uty ln the Natlonal Assembly. He ceased broadcastlng
the 'Dlarlo del Alre." In l915 a democratlc government
was establlshed ln Guatemala under the presldency of
|uan |os Arvalo. Asturlas returned home from Mex
lco (where he had reslded slnce Lblco`s reslgnatlon) for
a few months, and whlle he was there Arvalo named
hlm cultural attach to the Guatemalan Embassy ln
Mexlco. After movlng to that country, Asturlas contln
ued worklng on Il Scvor Ircsidcvtc, the novel begun ln
l922. Wlth the lncreased freedom ln Guatemala,
Asturlas felt secure enough ln l916 to publlsh prlvately,
wlth the flnanclal asslstance of hls mother and a cousln,
the novel held so long ln abeyance; lt was eventually
publlshed commerclally by Losada ln l918.
Il Scvor Ircsidcvtc protests agalnst dlctatorshlp. Its
settlng ls not speclflc but could reflect many Latln
Amerlcan countrles of the mlddle of the twentleth cen
tury. Jhls novel portrays a prototyplcal mllltary dlctator
and the represslon, humlllatlon, unjust lmprlsonment,
degradatlon, and even the murders of hls opponents or
of those who momentarlly dlsplease hlm. A nlghtmar
lsh horror permeates thls novel both ln the scenes lt
deplcts and ln the actlons lt relates. Although many crlt
lcs regard thls novel as a representatlon of a generlc
Latln Amerlcan dlctatorshlp, lt ls also wldely accepted
that lt ls based on the dlctatorshlp of Estrada Cabrera,
who controlled Guatemala for twenty years. Its theme
of tyrannlcal dlctatorshlp has engrossed the readlng
publlc ln Guatemala and abroad, preclsely because lt ls
55
ai_ POV j ^~
a theme that has resonated ln the reallty of Guatemala
and other Latln Amerlcan countrles for many decades.
b p m may be responslble for Asturlas`s
great fame throughout the Amerlcas and eventually the
world, because lt ls much more than just a novel of
polltlcal crltlclsm. Jhere are passages of poetlc lan
guage, and ln ^~I ~ ~ ~
Asturlas acknowledged hls use of legends from Mayan
culture to create myth ln the novel. In fact, Callan flnds
ln lt a serles of archetypes deeply rooted ln unlversal
mythologles.
In l917, Asturlas returned from Mexlco for a few
months ln Guatemala, and Arvalo named hlm cultural
attach to the Guatemalan Embassy ln Argentlna. Jwo
years later he became mlnlster advlser, a post he held
untll l952. Prlor to taklng up hls new posltlon ln
Argentlna, Asturlas dlvorced hls wlfe; he retalned cus
tody of hls sons. Asturlas`s mother dled ln l918, mov
lng hlm to wrlte the poem 'Madre, t me lnventaste"
(Mother, You Invented Me). 'antes t y yo / y despus,
t y yo solos . . . / Hlzo fro. / La sombra de tu pelo le
qued a la noche" (before you and I / and afterward,
you and I alone . . . / It was cold. / Jhe shadow of your
halr sulted the nlght). Jhe poem was lncluded ln m~W
p ~~I whlch he publlshed wlth a prologue by
the Mexlcan poet and scholar Alfonso Reyes after vlslt
lng Neruda ln Chlle. He regretted the excluslon of
some of hls poems ln the selectlon made by hls frlends
Albertl and Antonlo Salazar, saylng, 'los qulero como
se qulere a los malos hljos" (I love them as one loves
one`s bad chlldren).
In November l919 Asturlas publlshed the novel
e ~ (l919; translated as j j~I l975),
whlch accordlng to |orge Campos was the author`s own
favorlte. In e ~I Asturlas protests the unscru
pulous despolllng of Guatemala by those who explolt lt
for mercenary reasons. Jhe novel delves lnto the rell
glous respect of the lndlgenous people for the land and
the elements of thelr rltuals stlll survlvlng ln contempo
rary Guatemalan soclety, lllustratlng the confllct
between the unchanged rltual observances of these peo
ple and the materlallsm of the modern world. Some crlt
lcs percelve a lack of unlty among the slx parts of the
novel, but Ren Prleto argues that the 'unlfylng prlncl
ple ls thematlc and not dependent on character or chro
nologlcal development but, rather, on three plvotal
elementsflre, water, and cornwhlch harness the slx
tales together." Jhe general consensus ls that e
~ ls a novel of remythlflcatlon ln whlch the 'men of
malze" return to thelr mythlc orlgln ln order to be wor
thy of returnlng to the land.
Asturlas next spent four months ln Guatemala
dolng research for the novels of hls 'banana trllogy".
s (l950; translated as Ì l967, and as
p tI l968), b ~~ (l951; translated as q
d mI l97l), and i ~ (l960;
translated as q b fI l973). Asturlas ln
fact planned a tetralogy; the fourth novel, tentatlvely
tltled 'Bastardo" (Bastard) and later 'Dos veces bas
tardo" (Jwo Jlmes a Bastard), was never flnlshed,
although hls son Mlguel ngel declared after Asturlas`s
death that ln hls last days, hls father had been worklng
on lt. As a unlt, these novels constltute a sharp crltlclsm
of the agrlcultural exploltatlon of Guatemalaand, by
extenslon, of all of Central and South Amerlca`s
resourcesby the Lnlted States and other forelgn pow
ers. Jhe trllogy presents the problems lnherent ln the
exploltatlon of Guatemala`s banana lndustry, repre
sented ln the novels by the Jroplcal Banana Company
and by wealthy Amerlcan plantatlon owners, wealthler
absent stockholders, or even a presldent who colludes
wlth the explolters to Guatemala`s detrlment. Asturlas
was alludlng to the Lnlted Irult Company, whlch
explolted that country`s rlch agrlcultural resources from
l906 untll l951, when the Guatemalan government
exproprlated the plantatlons.
In these novels he offers varlous solutlons to
the problems posed. On the one hand, he proposes
realltybased solutlons, such as establlshlng a
bananaproduclng cooperatlve ln whlch the locals unlte
under the guldance of altrulstlc Amerlcan plantatlon
owners, organlzlng worker unlons that retallate for the
atrocltles of the plantatlon owners by golng on strlke, or
kllllng locals who betray thelr cause. On the other
hand, he offers solutlons more ln keeplng wlth the mag
lcal reallsm that ls so often attrlbuted to hls narratlve,
such as the destructlon of the banana plantatlons by a
hurrlcane conjured by a shaman who lnvokes the pow
ers of Huracn and Cabracnrespectlvely, the Glant
of the Wlnds and the Glant of the Earth ln _ulch
mythology. In the flnal analysls, Asturlas belleved that
solutlons to hls country`s problems could not be formu
lated by outslders but would have to be undertaken by
Guatemalans themselves.
When he flnlshed the research for the 'banana
trllogy," he returned to Buenos Alres, and ln l950 he
traveled to Montevldeo, Lruguay, to marry Blanca
Mora y Araujo, an Argentlne whom he had met ln Bue
nos Alres when she was wrltlng a thesls on hls llterary
works. s cI the flrst novel of the trllogy, was
publlshed that same year.
In l95l Asturlas publlshed a collectlon of seven
teen rather tradltlonal sonnets, b ~
~ e~ (Poetlc Exerclses ln the
Iorm of Sonnets on Jhemes by Horace), dedlcatlng lt
to hls wlfe. Jhe followlng year he traveled to Bollvla at
the lnvltatlon of lts presldent, Paz Estenssoro, who had
just led a vlctorlous revolutlon there. Also ln l952 the
RS
j ^~ ai_ POV
m~ ~ ^~ NVSM I i ~ E~~ ~ q b fI NVTPFI
~ ~ ~ ~~~ d~~~ E g~ p~I
d ~ j ^~I NVTQX r h i~F
57
ai_ POV j ^~
new presldent of Guatemala, |acobo Arbenz Guzmn,
named Asturlas mlnlster advlser ln Parls. Jhe Irench
translatlon of Il Scvor Ircsidcvtc was publlshed there and
recelved the Internatlonal Prlze of the Irench Book
Club. In l953 Arbenz recalled Asturlas to Guatemala
and named hlm ambassador to El Salvador. Early ln
l951 Asturlas traveled to Caracas as a delegate to the
tenth Conferencla Interamerlcana (InterAmerlcan
Conference). He was vlsltlng ln Guatemala ln |une of
that year when Colonel Carlos Castlllo Armas led a
revolutlon agalnst the Arbenz government, whlch was
accused by Amerlcan frult lnterests of communlst lnflu
ences; Castlllo Armas became the country`s next presl
dent. Asturlas returned to San Salvador and renounced
hls dlplomatlc posltlon, as ls customary ln dlplomatlc
clrcles, whereupon Castlllo Armas strlpped hlm of hls
cltlzenshlp. Asturlas traveled to Panama, vlslted Neruda
ln Chlle, and settled ln Buenos Alres, where he
remalned ln exlle untll l962. Also ln l951 he publlshed
the second novel of the 'banana trllogy," Il popo vcrdc,
ln Buenos Alres. In l955 he publlshed Soluvo, a Surreal
lst play wlth lts styllstlc roots ln the 'fantomlma," and
the poem olvor: Covto ol Iibcrtodor (Bollvar. Song to
the Llberator). He also dld occaslonal translatlons for
the Losada publlshlng company durlng thls year. In
l956 he began publlshlng a regular column, 'Buenos
Alres de da y de noche" (Buenos Alres by Day and by
Nlght), ln the Caracas newspaper Il òciovol.
Callan`s clalm about the polltlcal and soclal con
tent of Asturlas`s novels ls equally valld wlth respect to
Asturlas`s short flctlon. Jhls clalm ls especlally true of
the short storles ln !ccl-cvd cv Cuotcmolo (l956, Week
end ln Guatemala), a collectlon that ls an lndlctment of
the polltlcal and economlc machlnatlons of the Lnlted
States that led to Castlllo Armas`s overthrow of Arbenz.
Asturlas dedlcated thls volume to hls wlfe.
In l957 he publlshed the play Io oudicvcio dc los
covfivcs (l957, Jhe Royal Jrlbunal of the Borderlands),
whlch ls characterlzed by reallsm and a tone of protest.
It presents the slxteenthcentury prlest Bartolom de las
Casas, who advocated better treatment of the Indlans ln
the Spanlsh colonles. Jhe play hlghllghts the duallty of
cultures and sets forth the struggle between them that ls
the herltage of Guatemala and all of Latln Amerlca.
Jhe stage dlrectlons lndlcate Asturlas`s deslre to
emphaslze thls duallty and to lndlcate whlch slde he
favored; the dlrectlons call for a stage set dlvlded lnto
two areas, one a dark room ln a Spanlshbullt castle ln
the New World, the other an Indlan temple ln the mld
dle of a brlght, sunny jungle.
Jhls text ls the only one of hls works that
Asturlas ever reworked after lt had been publlshed.
Accordlng to Melndez de Alonso, ln l97l, after Io
oudicvcio dc los covfivcs had been not only publlshed but
also staged, Asturlas modlfled lt slgnlflcantly. She con
tends that ln effect Asturlas prepared the manuscrlpt of
a new play tltled 'Las Casas. El Oblspo de Dlos" (Las
Casas. God`s Blshop), based on the prototext of Io
oudicvcio dc los covfivcs. Jhe changes he made are slgnlfl
cant and lnclude lncreaslng the number of battles,
explalnlng the orlgln and functlon of the malden`s stone
(used to summon sacrlflclal vlrglns to the altar),
descrlblng the functlon of MusnCa (guardlan of the
vlrglns selected to be sacrlflced to the God of Corn),
blamlng the Spanlards as lnstlgators and manlpulators
of the Indlans` uprlslng, emphaslzlng the Spanlards` lust
for rlches, lnsertlng several poetlc passages, abbrevlat
lng the stage dlrectlons, lnsertlng a scene wlth charac
ters not llsted ln the dramatls personae, and replaclng a
female character wlth a male one. Jhe latter change
was most probably prompted by Asturlas`s deslre to
avold the cultural anachronlsm she represented ln the
soclal clrcumstances deplcted ln the play. Jhe new play
remalns ln manuscrlpt form.
Also ln l957 Asturlas took a long trlp to Indla,
where he attended a wrlters conference. He then vlslted
Chlna and Russla, where he took part ln a comparatlve
llterature semlnar ln Moscow. Joward the end of the
year he traveled through Irance, Spaln, and flnally to
Brazll. In l959 Presldent Mlguel Ydgoras Iuentes
restored Asturlas`s Guatemalan cltlzenshlp and pass
port. He then traveled to Buenos Alres, where he met
Ildel Castro, and ln September he traveled to Cuba at
Castro`s lnvltatlon to attend festlvltles commemoratlng
the flrst annlversary of the Cuban Revolutlon. He then
contlnued to Guatemala to celebrate hls slxtleth blrth
day ln the clty of hls blrth. Whlle there he lectured on
the Latln Amerlcan novel.
Returnlng to Buenos Alres, ln l960 Asturlas pub
llshed Ios ojos dc los cvtcrrodos, the flnal novel ln the
'banana trllogy." Jhe tltle of thls book refers to an
lndlgenous bellef that the dead keep thelr eyes open ln
thelr graves untll justlce ls done on Earth; ln the novel,
justlce wlll be done when the frult company ls
destroyed and the dlctator flnally falls. Also ln l960
Asturlas complled and publlshed the anthology Iocso
prccolombivo (PreColumblan Poetry). Jhe followlng year
he publlshed the novel Il ollojodito (l96l; translated as
Tlc cjcwclcd oy, l97l), based on a legend from the
colonlal perlod. In l962 the Argentlne presldent Arturo
Irondlzl was overthrown, and Asturlas was brlefly
detalned ln error by Irondlzl`s successor, |os Mara
Guldo. On hls release Asturlas left Argentlna for
Europe. He traveled ln Irance and Italy and recelved
medlcal treatment ln Romanla for poor health that had
been aggravated by hls lmprlsonment ln Argentlna. In
l962 the Engllsh translatlon of Il Scvor Ircsidcvtc
58
j ^~ ai_ POV
recelved the Wllllam Iaulkner Ioundatlon Prlze for the
best Latln Amerlcan novel.
Asturlas returned to Buenos Alres ln l963 and
publlshed Muloto dc tol (l963; translated as Tlc Mulotto
ovd Mr. Ily, l963, and as Muloto, l967), an lmportant
novel that ls not a work of protest but that conforms
wlth the 'amblguous language of dreamwork" pro
posed by Callan. It ls a novel of communltarlan values,
unorthodox erotlclsm, and mythlc resonance. In lt
prlests flght agalnst devlls, and Cathollc rltuals confront
the rltuals of Mayan mythology. Jhe reallty of the nov
ellstlc world ls ln constant flux as nature changes ln the
convulslons of an earthquake and the characters
undergo lmposslble physlcal changes or lncarnate serl
ally as dlfferent characters.
In l961 he publlshed Iumovio, su vucvo imogcv
(Romanla, Its New Image) about hls travels ln that
country, and Tcotro (Jheater), a collectlon of four plays,
two of whlch had been publlshed prevlously. He also
lectured ln several Itallan cltles and traveled ln Scandl
navla, where he lectured at several unlversltles. He then
attended an lnternatlonal wrlters` colloqulum ln Berlln.
In l965 he publlshed Clorivigilio primovcrol, hls
booklength poem deallng wlth Mayan myths of orlgln
and the tradltlonal Indlan artlsans and thelr art forms.
Jhe lnsplratlon for thls work may be found ln
Asturlas`s essay 'De sueo y barro. Arte de los mayas
de Guatemala" (Of Dream and Clay. Jhe Art of the
Maya of Guatemala), lncluded ln Zmcrico, fbulo dc fbu-
los y otros cvsoyos. In lt Asturlas explalns.
En todas las mltologas, los dloses se preocupan por
crear guerreros, sacerdotes, caudlllos, hombres eml
nentes. No as en las creenclas y mltos de aquellos que
poblaron de obras de arte las cludades de la Amrlca
Medla. Para stos, artlstas por los cuatro costados del
clclo, las dlvlnldades del alba, las abuelas del da, se
deleltan en la creacln de plntores, poetas, escultores,
mslcos, danzarlnes, orfebres, acrbatas, plumlstas, a
qulenes se llamaba magos o pequeos brujos, nlcos
que podan repetlr el mllagro de crear cosas de sueo.
(In all mythologles, the gods took care to create war
rlors, prlests, chlefs, emlnent men. Not so ln the bellefs
and myths of those who populated the cltles of Mlddle
Amerlca wlth works of art. For them, artlsts on all four
sldes of the cycle, the dlvlnltles of dawn, the grand
mothers of the day, are dellghted ln the creatlon of
palnters, poets, sculptors, muslclans, dancers, gold
smlths, acrobats, feather smlths, who were called magl
or llttle sorcerers, the only ones who could repeat the
mlracle of creatlng thlngs from dream.)
Jhe lntertextuallty of Clorivigilio primovcrol goes beyond
content and may be found ln the form as well. Perhaps
the earllest crltlc to polnt out thls relatlonshlp was Bel
llnl, who scarcely two years after lts publlcatlon noted
that Asturlas`s poem recalls the rhythms of anclent
Mayan poetry, lts relteratlons, metaphors, symbollc
lmages, and parallellsm.
In l965 Asturlas traveled ln Hungary wlth
Neruda. He also traveled to Italy, where he dlrected the
Columblanum, a conference on Chrlstopher Columbus
studles, ln Genoa and organlzed another conference on
Jhlrd World wrlters. Jhat same year he represented
the Irench PEN Club ln Yugoslavla; he was a candl
date for the presldency of that organlzatlon but lost.
Jhe second half of the decade of the l960s was full of
moments of recognltlon and honors bestowed on hlm
by entltles around the world. In l966 he became presl
dent of the Irench PEN Club ln Parls. He spent that
summer ln Romanla, and ln August he recelved the flrst
of hls worldlevel honors, the Lenln Peace Prlze ln Mos
cow. In Aprll l967 Asturlas traveled to Guatemala to
attend the second Congreso de la Comunldad de Escrl
tores Latlnoamerlcanos (Conference of the Communlty
of Latln Amerlcan Wrlters). Durlng that vlslt the newly
elected presldent |ullo Csar Mndez Montenegro
named hlm ambassador to Irance. Jhat year he lnau
gurated an exhlblt of Mayan art ln several Irench cltles.
He also publlshed a book that lncluded two plays, Toro-
tumbo and Io oudicvcio dc los covfivcs, and the poems of
Mcvsojcs ivdios (Indlan Messages).
On l9 October l967 he was named wlnner of the
Nobel Prlze ln Llterature. Hls llterary work attracted
the attentlon of the crltlcs at that tlme and probably
prompted hls nomlnatlon for the award, because of the
way ln whlch he comblned ln hls novels and legends
the Mayan herltage of hls natlve Guatemala wlth the
quallty that has been called maglcal reallsm or Surreal
lsm. At the same tlme, the courage lmpllclt ln hls overt
representatlon of the realllfe horror of polltlcal llfe ln
the Guatemala of that tlme and hls protest agalnst
external exploltatlon of that country`s natural resources
also drew the notlce of readers. Hls lnnovatlve narratlve
technlques, whlch later were taken up by members of
the Latln Amerlcan Boom wrlters, also undoubtedly
contrlbuted to hls recognltlon.
In speeches he dellvered durlng varlous occaslons
llnked to the Nobel Prlze that year, Asturlas acknowl
edged all of these qualltles ln hls work, statlng that, as
dld many Latln Amerlcan wrlters of the tlme, he
vlewed hls novels as lnstruments of polltlcal protest.
Jhe most noteworthy quallty of hls wrltlng, as he sug
gested, ls lts capaclty for reveallng the true nature of the
Guatemalan people, especlally the lndlgenous folk.
Speaklng of hls poetry, he acknowledged the deep lnflu
ence of the lyrlc style of the anclent Mayan texts.
An unlntended result of hls recognltlon by the
Nobel Prlze has been, ln the years slnce then, an overt
59
ai_ POV j ^~
effort to repeal the mythlc status that Asturlas achleved
as a result of the lntense focus on hlm and hls work dur
lng the decade followlng the awardlng of the prlze.
Later crltlcs have taken lssue wlth aspects of hls llfe and
works, ranglng from the revelatlon that he had no
Mayan blood, to clalms that he had had llttle hand ln
the translatlon of the PopolVuh lnto Spanlsh. Some
crltlcs have dlsparaged the authentlclty of hls reformlst
attltude, whlle others reject the lntenslty of hls love for
everythlng lndlgenous ln hls later llfe and wrltlngs. Clt
lng the raclst aspects of Asturlas`s thesls, one partlcular
Mayan poet from Guatemala refused to accept a
natlonal llterary prlze because the wrlter`s name flgured
as part of the award tltle.
In November l967 Asturlas vlslted Italy and Ger
many to present the translatlons of hls books. In
December he departed for Sweden, where he recelved
the Nobel Prlze from Klng Gustaf Adolphus VI. Jhat
same year he publlshed (flrst ln Irance and then ln
Mexlco) Il cspcjo dc Iido Sol (translated as Tlc Mirror of
Iido Sol, l997), a collectlon of short storles that are real
lstlc ln settlng and actlon and of legends wrltten ln the
Surreallst or maglcal reallst style.
In l968 Asturlas preslded over the San Sebastln
Illm Iestlval ln Spaln. Jhat same year, the Assoclatlon
of Guatemalan |ournallsts awarded hlm lts _uetzal de
|ade ( |ade _uetzal), and the lndlgenous communltles
of Guatemala named hlm 'onlybegotten son of Jecn
Lmn" (referrlng to the _ulch prlnce who was kllled
ln battle by Spanlsh conqulstador Pedro de Alvarado ln
l521) because of hls recognltlon of the lndlgenous roots
of that country`s culture. He then traveled to Colombla,
where he recelved the Gran Cruz de San Carlos (Great
Cross of Salnt Charles) and preslded over the Iestlval
of Latln Amerlcan Lnlverslty Jheater ln Manlzales.
Invlted by Senegal`s presldent, Asturlas vlslted that
country ln l969, stopplng ln Madrld en route. He spent
some tlme at the home of hls doctor ln Palma, Majorca,
then underwent an undlsclosed surgery ln Parls. Jhat
same year he and Neruda publlshed Comicvdo cv Huvgro
(l969; translated as Scvtimcvtol ourvcy orouvd tlc Huvgor-
iov Cuisivc, l969), based on thelr travel ln that country
ln l965. Also ln l969 Asturlas publlshed the novel
Molodrov (l969, Bad Jhlef ), about a flctlonal rellglon
whose followers worshlp Gestas, the unrepentant mol
lodrov (bad thlef) cruclfled wlth Chrlst. As a representa
tlve of the Irench PEN Club, he lntervlewed the astro
nauts of the Apollo ll crew.
Several of Asturlas`s mature essays appear ln Ioti-
voomcrico y otros cvsoyos (l968, Latln Amerlca and Other
Essays) and Zmcrico, fbulo dc fbulos y otros cvsoyos. Jhe
content of many of them ls polltlcal; he speaks out
about the represslve governments of Guatemala and
about actlons of the Lnlted States that he consldered
lmperlallstlc. Other essays are phllosophlcal, soclologl
cal, or anthropologlcal ln nature, whlle the bulk of them
have a cultural focus. He favors llterary toplcs, and hls
varled themes lnclude the communlcatlons medla, hls
theoretlcal muslngs about varlous llterary genres, llter
ary crltlclsm of hls own works and those of others, and
rellglous bellefs, partlcularly that of the _ulch Indlans.
When Mndez Montenegro dled ln offlce ln l970,
Asturlas renounced hls posltlon as ambassador to
Irance, as ls customary ln the dlplomatlc establlshment.
Before leavlng the country, he preslded over the jury at
the Cannes Illm Iestlval; lt was the flrst tlme that a
Latln Amerlcan author was named to thls posltlon. A
few days later he served on the jury of the Internatlonal
Book Ialr ln Nlce. Also ln l970 he attended the screen
lng ln Venlce of a movle based on Il Scvor Ircsidcvtc,
dlrected by the Argentlne screenwrlter and dlrector
Marcos Madanes; Asturlas was not satlsfled wlth the
movle, and lt was never released commerclally. Asturlas
then returned to Majorca, where he vlslted hls good
frlend Camllo |os Cela, who recelved the Nobel Prlze
ln Llterature ln l989. In Majorca he composed Trcs dc
cuotro solcs (l97l, Jhree of Iour Suns), a book about hls
system for llterary creatlon that was publlshed flrst ln
lts Irench translatlon ln Geneva (Trois dcs quotrc solcils);
the orlglnal Spanlsh verslon was publlshed ln l977. In
May l972 he traveled to Israel, and ln |une of that year
hls semlautoblographlcal novel !icrvcs dc dolorcs (Holy
Irlday) was publlshed ln Argentlna. Jhe protest mes
sage ln !icrvcs dc dolorcs lles ln lts narratlon of the dem
onstratlons and other antlgovernment actlvltles of a
group of unlverslty students ln Guatemala ln the early
l920s. Asturlas`s alter ego ln the novel ls the student
'Chlrlmoya" (Sweetsop), or 'Moya" for short, nlck
names by whlch Asturlas`s unlverslty frlends addressed
hlm.
!icrvcs dc dolorcs was the last of hls novels pub
llshed durlng hls llfe. In November of the same year he
vlslted Mexlco, where he was honored repeatedly.
Jhus ended the most prollflc part of Asturlas`s career,
and the perlod of hls decllne began.
Asturlas met wlth the former Argentlne presldent
|uan Pern ln Parls ln l973. Hls commltments related
to belng a Nobel laureate multlplled, and ln Aprll l971
he traveled to Dakar for a conference; from there he
went to Jenerlfe, then to Palma, Majorca, Sevllle, and
flnally Madrld. He prepared to travel to Argentlna and
to Chlle, where Neruda had called hlm because he felt
close to death; thls trlp never took place, however,
because Asturlas fell serlously lll. On l6 May l971 he
was admltted to the Clnlca de la Concepcln (Cllnlc of
the Conceptlon) ln Madrld because of pulmonary lnsuf
flclency and lntestlnal blockage. When the government
of Mexlco learned of the crltlcal state of Asturlas`s
60
j ^~ ai_ POV
health, lt sent a commlsslon to Spaln to lnvlte hlm to
travel to Mexlco for hls recovery; hls condltlon was too
crltlcal for hlm to be moved, however. He attalned
some rellef from the lmmedlate symptoms, but on 9
|une l971 Asturlas dled from cancer, an adenocarcl
noma of the lntestlne. Hls wlfe and son Mlguel ngel
were at hls bedslde. In accordance wlth hls wlll, the
famlly had hls remalns taken for lnterment ln the Pre
Lachalse Cemetery ln Parls, where they were trans
ported onboard Mexlco`s offlclal alrplane. He ls stlll
burled there, although many Guatemalans would llke
to repatrlate the remalns of the most lllustrlous of thelr
compatrlots.
Jhe Asoclacln de Perlodlstas de Guatemala
(Assoclatlon of Guatemalan |ournallsts) was the flrst to
react to the death of thelr longtlme colleague and
declared three days of mournlng. Jhe Lnlverslty of San
Carlos also called for three days of mournlng, as dld Il
Imporciol, the newspaper ln whlch Asturlas had pub
llshed hls journallstlc essays for flftythree years. Jhe
newspaper also offered the means for the repatrlatlon of
Asturlas`s remalns, a valn gesture, slnce Asturlas had
been an actlve opponent of General Carlos Arana Oso
rlo, then the presldent. Jhe Congress of Guatemala
also decreed a threeday perlod of mournlng for Guate
mala`s most acclalmed son. Groups and lnstltutlons
wlth whlch Asturlas had at some tlme ln hls llfe been
llnked gathered to render trlbute to hlm; among them
were the Lnlverslty of San Carlos de Guatemala, the
munlclpal government of the Clty of Guatemala, the
Academla Guatemalteca de la Lengua (Guatemalan
Academy of the Language), the Asoclacln de Estu
dlantes Lnlversltarlos, and LNESCO. Whlle hls body
lay ln state, hls coffln was draped wlth the whlte and
azure Guatemalan flag; and, accordlng to hls expressed
wlshes, the staff that the lndlgenous communltles of
Guatemala had bestowed on hlm as 'onlybegotten son
of Jecn Lmn" accompanled hlm ln hls coffln.
Asturlas left an almost flnlshed novel that was
publlshed posthumously, Il rbol dc lo cru (l993, Jhe
Jrunk of the Cross). Accordlng to Alaln Slcard (ln an
essay lncluded ln a l993 facslmlle edltlon of the book),
lt ls a novel about 'un dlctador, pero de un dlctador
cuya dlctadura es menos poltlca que metafslca, ya que
su obsesln no es otra que la de abollr todo lo que, de
cerca o de lejos, recuerda a Crlsto. es declr, la Cruz, y
en general y, segn nuestra oplnln, ms slgnlflcatlva.
la Muerte" (a dlctator, but about a dlctator whose dlcta
torshlp ls less polltlcal than metaphyslcal, slnce hls
obsesslon ls none other than that of abollshlng every
thlng that, from near or far, remlnds one of Chrlst. that
ls to say, the Cross, and ln general and, ln our oplnlon,
more slgnlflcant. Death). Asturlas`s manuscrlpt tralls off
ln mld sentence and ends ln a comma. 'Se ech los
almohadones enclma," (He pulled the large plllows over
hlmself,), thus endlng on a note of polgnancy the llter
ary productlon of one of Latln Amerlca`s most dlstlnc
tlve wrlters.
Jhe deep admlratlon and respect that Guatema
lans have for Asturlas ls best summed up ln the tltle of
the eulogy publlshed by the wrlter Robert Paz y Paz ln
Io òciov (l0 |une l971). 'No ha muerto, ha nacldo a la
lnmortalldad" (He Has Not Dled, He Has Been Born to
Immortallty). In hls obltuarles and other publlshed eulo
gles, Asturlas was repeatedly referred to as the 'Gran
Lengua" (Great Interpreter). Some crltlcs take lssue wlth
the use of thls term ln connectlon wlth Asturlas, argulng
that he was lllprepared to be such an lnterpreter, slnce he
was not a Maya or even a mestlzo, and mlnlmlzlng hls
close relatlonshlps wlth the lndlgenous populatlon of
Guatemala. Asturlas dld use the term to refer to hlmself,
however, knowlng the slgnlflcance lt has wlthln Mayan
culture, as can be gleaned from hls poem 'Habla el gran
lengua," ln whlch the flgure of the 'Gran Lengua" resem
bles that of the clilovcs ln Mayan soclety, 'prophets" who
predlcted the future and lnterpreted the wlll of the gods
for the people. Other crltlcs support the ldentlflcatlon of
Asturlas as the 'Gran Lengua." In the l98l crltlcal edl
tlon of Hombrcs dc mo, Gerald Martln descrlbes Asturlas
as the 'guardln de los mlsterlos e lntrprete del mundo
de la magla y sus depsltos, las sagradas escrlturas, los
llbros plntados y los bajorelleves slmbllcos" (guardlan
of the mysterles and lnterpreter of the world of maglc
and lts deposlts, the sacred wrltlngs, the palnted books
and the symbollc basrellefs) of the Maya of Guatemala.
Asturlas`s clalm to the tltle of 'Gran Lengua" lles not
only ln hls sensltlve presentatlon of a culture that was
steeped ln mystery for the rest of the world untll he
wrote about lt, but also ln hls masterful and almost magl
cal use of language. Hls awareness ls clear ln hls answer
to Plln de Pacheco`s questlon about whether he
belleved, as he often had hls characters state, that words
were foundatlonal or maglc. 'S, y esto es absolutamente
de carcter sagrado, lndgena. La palabra para los lndge
nas fue y es lo ms lmportante" (Yes, and that ls abso
lutely of a sacred, Indlan character. Words for the
Indlans were and are the most lmportant thlng).
iW
Cortos dc omor cvtrc M. . Zsturios y lovco Moro y Zroujo
(194S-194), edlted by Iellpe Melllzo (Madrld.
Edlclones de Cultura Hlspnlca, Instltuto de
Cooperacln Iberoamerlcana, l989).
fW
Luls Harss and Barbara Dohmann, 'Mlguel ngel
Asturlas, or the Land Where the Ilowers Bloom,"
ln thelr Ivto tlc Moivstrcom: Covvcrsotiovs witl
6l
ai_ POV j ^~
Iotiv-Zmcricov !ritcrs (New York. Harper Row,
l967), pp. 6-l0l;
Luls Lpez lvarez, Covvcrsociovcs cov Migucl vgcl Zsturios
(Madrld. EMESA, l971).
_~W
Pedro I. de Andrea, 'Mlguel ngel Asturlas. Antlclpo blb
llogrflco," Icvisto Ibcroomcricovo, 35, no. 67 (l969).
l33-270;
Rlchard Moore, 'Mlguel ngel Asturlas. A BloBlbllogra
phy," ullctiv of ibliogroply, 27, no. 1 (l970). 85-90,
l07-lll.
_~W
Atlllo |orge Castelpoggl, Migucl vgcl Zsturios (Buenos
Alres. La Mandrgora, l96l);
Claude Couffon, Migucl vgcl Zsturios (Parls. Seghers,
l970);
Carlos Meneses, Migucl vgcl Zsturios (Madrld. |car,
l975).
oW
Zctos dcl Coloquio Ivtcrvociovol: Migucl vgcl Zsturios, 104 ovos
dcspucs, 2-4 dc julio 200J, Uvivcrsidod Iofocl Iovdvor
(Guatemala Clty. Abrapalabra, 2003);
Iranclsco Alblzrez Palma, Io vovclo dc Zsturios (Guatemala
Clty. Edltorlal Lnlversltarla, l975);
Ruth Alvarez de Scheel, Zvlisis y cstudio dc olguvos rosgos cor-
octcriodorcs dc 'Il Scvor Ircsidcvtc (Guatemala Clty.
Mlnlsterlo de Cultura y Deportes, l999);
Isabel Arredondo, Dc brujos y voguolcs: Io Cuotcmolo imogi-
vorio dc Migucl vgcl Zsturios (Lewlston, N.Y.. Edwln
Mellen Press, l997);
Gluseppe Belllnl, 'La poesa de Mlguel ngel Asturlas,"
Icvisto òciovol dc Culturo (Caracas), l80 (Aprll-|une
l967). l25-l27;
Rlchard |. Callan, Migucl vgcl Zsturios (New York.
Jwayne, l970);
|orge Campos, 'Mlguel ngel Asturlas," Ivsulo, l2, no.
l33 (l957). 1;
Atlllo |orge Castelpoggl, Il pocto vorrodor: Migucl vgcl
Zsturios (Buenos Alres. Prueba de Galera Edlclones,
l998);
Otto Ral Gonzlez, Migucl vgcl Zsturios, cl grov lcvguo: Io
vo ms cloro dc Cuotcmolo (Guatemala Clty. Edltorlal
Cultura, l999);
Stephen Henlghan, Zssumivg tlc Iiglt: Tlc Iorisiov Iitcrory
Zpprcvticcslip of Migucl vgcl Zsturios (Oxford. Leg
enda, l999);
Sal Hurtado Heras, Ior los ticrros dc Ilom: Il rcolismo mgico
cv 'Hombrcs dc mo (Mexlco Clty. Lnlversldad
Autnoma del Estado de Mxlco, l997);
Eladla Len Hlll, Migucl vgcl Zsturios: Io ovccstrol cv su obro
litcrorio (Eastchester, N.Y.. E. Jorres, l972);
Gunther W. Lorenz, Dilogo cov Iotivoomcrico: Iovoromo dc
uvo litcroturo dcl futuro, translated by Dora Weldl
HaasDe la Vega (Santlago de Chlle. Pomalre,
l972);
Mara del Carmen Melndez de Alonzo, 'El reencuentro
de Asturlas con el padre Las Casas," Ictros dc Cuotc-
molo: Icvisto Scmcstrol (Lnlversldad de San Carlos de
Guatemala), 20-2l (2000);
Marta Plln de Pacheco, Migucl vgcl Zsturios: Scmblovo
poro cl cstudio dc su vido y obro, cov uvo sclccciov dc pocmos
y prosos (Guatemala Clty. Cultural Centroamerlcana,
l968);
Rafael Plneda Reyes, Ios mistcrios dc Los hombres de maz
(Guatemala Clty. Cultura, l998);
Ren Prleto, Migucl vgcl Zsturios`s Zrclocology of Icturv
(Cambrldge New York. Cambrldge Lnlverslty
Press, l993);
Jereslta Rodrguez, Io problcmtico dc lo idcvtidod cv El Seor
Presldente dc Migucl vgcl Zsturios (Amsterdam
Atlanta. Rodopl, l989);
|lmena Saenz, Ccvio y figuro dc Migucl vgcl Zsturios (Buenos
Alres. Edltorlal Lnlversltarla de Buenos Alres,
l971).
m~W
Mlguel ngel Asturlas`s personal papers and manuscrlpts
are held ln the Blbllothque natlonale de Irance (Natlonal
Llbrary of Irance). Collected newspaper artlcles publlshed
ln Il Imporciol (Jhe Impartlal) that were elther wrltten by
Asturlas or wrltten about hls llterary works are held ln the
Archlvo Hlstrlco de Guatemala (Hlstorlcal Archlve of
Guatemala) at the Centro de Investlgaclones Reglonales
de Mesoamrlca (Center for Reglonal Research of
Mesoamerlca).
NVST k m i~
m~ p
by Zvdcrs stcrlivg, Icrmovcvt Sccrctory of tlc Swcdisl
Zcodcmy
Jhls year the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature has been
awarded to the Guatemalan wrlter Mlguel ngel Asturlas,
a promlnent representatlve of the modern llterature of
Latln Amerlca, ln whlch such lnterestlng developments are
now taklng place. Born ln l899 ln the capltal of Guate
mala, Asturlas became lmbued, even as a chlld, wlth the
characterlstlcally Guatemalan love of nature and of the
mythlcal world. He devoted to thls natlve herltage, and to
lts llbertarlan splrlt, a fervour whlch was to domlnate hls
whole llterary productlon. After studylng law and folklore,
he llved ln Irance durlng the twentles, and, for a tlme,
62
j ^~ ai_ POV
represented hls country ln the dlplomatlc servlce. He
condemned hlmself to a long exlle after the antldemo
cratlc coup dètat of l951, but returned when the legltl
mate reglme took offlce agaln. He ls presently the
Guatemalan Ambassador ln Parls.
Durlng the last few years, Asturlas has galned
lnternatlonal recognltlon, as hls most lmportant works
came to be translated lnto varlous languages; today
they can be read even ln Swedlsh. Hls flrst work was a
collectlon of Guatemalan legends, strange evocatlons of
the Mayas` past, a treasure of lmages and symbols
whlch has, ever slnce, been the lnexhaustlble source of
hls lnsplratlon. But he dld not get hls real start as a
wrlter untll l916, the year of the publlcatlon of the
novel, b p m (Jhe Presldent). Jhls magnlfl
cent and traglc satlre crltlclzes the prototype of the
Latln Amerlcan dlctator who appeared ln several places
at the beglnnlng of the century and has slnce reap
peared, hls exlstence belng fostered by the mechanlsm
of tyranny whlch, for the common man, makes every
day a hell on earth. Jhe passlonate vlgour wlth whlch
Asturlas evokes the terror and dlstrust whlch polsoned
the soclal atmosphere of the tlme makes hls work a
challenge and an lnvaluable aesthetlc gesture. Jhe nar
ratlve, entltled, e ~ (Men of Malze)
appeared three years later. It mlght be consldered as a
folktale whose chlef lnsplratlon ls ln the lmaglnatlon but
whlch, nevertheless, remalns true to llfe. Its motlfs are
from the mythology of that troplcal land where man
must struggle slmultaneously agalnst a mysterlously
beautlful but hostlle nature and agalnst unbearable
soclal dlstortlons, oppresslon, and tyranny. Such an
accumulatlon of nlghtmares and totemlc phantasms
may overwhelm our senslbllltles, but we cannot help
belng fasclnated by a poetry so blzarre and terrlfylng.
Wlth the trllogy of novels begun ln l950s
cI l950 (Strong Wlnd), b ~~ I l951 (Jhe Green
Pope), and i ~I l960 (Jhe Eyes of the
Burled)a new toplcal concern appears ln Asturlas`s eplc
work. the theme of the struggle agalnst the domlnatlon of
Amerlcan trusts, epltomlzed by the Lnlted Irult Com
pany, and lts polltlcal and economlc effects upon the con
temporary hlstory of the 'Banana Republlc." Here, agaln,
we see the vlolent effervescence and the vlslonary vehe
mence whlch stem from the author`s lntense lnvolvement
ln the sltuatlon of hls country.
Asturlas has completely freed hlmself from obso
lete narratlve technlques. Very early, he came under the
lnfluence of the new tendencles appearlng ln European
llterature; hls exploslve style bears a close klnshlp to
Irench surreallsm. It must be noted, however, that he
always takes hls lnsplratlon from real llfe. In hls lmpres
slve cycle of poems entltled `~~ ~~I l965
(Brlght and Awake ln Sprlng), on whlch a Swedlsh crltl
cal study has just appeared, Asturlas deals wlth the very
genesls of the arts and of poetlc creatlon, ln a language
whlch seems to have assumed the brlght splendour of
the maglcal quetzal`s feathers and the gllmmerlng of
phosphorescent lnsects.
Latln Amerlca today can boast an actlve group of
promlnent wrlters, a multlvolced chorus ln whlch lndl
vldual contrlbutlons are not readlly dlscernlble.
Asturlas`s work ls nevertheless vast, bold, and outstand
lng enough to arouse lnterest outslde of hls own llterary
mllleu, beyond a geographlcally llmlted area sltuated far
away from us. One of the Indlan legends Asturlas alludes
to evokes the bellef that dead ancestors are forced to wlt
ness, wlth open eyes, the struggles and sufferlngs of thelr
offsprlng. Only when justlce ls reestabllshed, and the
stolen soll restltuted, wlll the dead flnally be able to close
thelr eyes and sleep peacefully ln thelr tombs. It ls a
beautlful and polgnant popular bellef, and we can easlly
lmaglne that the mllltant poet has often felt upon hlm the
gaze of hls ancestors and has often heard the sllent, sym
bollc appeal reachlng to hls heart.
Mr. Ambassadoryou come from a dlstant coun
try, but do not let thls fact make you feel today that you
are a stranger among us. Your work ls known and
appreclated ln Sweden. We take pleasure ln welcomlng
you as a messenger from Latln Amerlca, lts people, lts
splrlt, and lts future. I congratulate you ln the name of
the Swedlsh Academy, whlch pays trlbute to the 'vlvld
ness of your llterary work, rooted ln natlonal tralts and
Indlan tradltlons." I now lnvlte you to recelve your
Prlze from Hls Majesty, the Klng.
^~W _~ p
f ~ e qI ~
`~ fI ~ k _~ ~ ` e~
pI NM a NVSTW
One of our most competent llterary crltlcs has
polnted out that thls year`s Nobel Prlze wlnner ln Llter
ature, Mlguel ngel Asturlas, ln one of hls most lmpor
tant books, b p mI produces a strong effect
by skllfully worklng wlth tlme and llghtagaln our
common 'theme wlth varlatlons." Asturlas palnts ln
dark coloursagalnst thls background the rare llght
makes a so much stronger lmpresslon wlth hls passlon
ate, but artlstlcally well balanced, protest agalnst tyr
anny, lnjustlce, slavery, and arbltrarlness. He transforms
glowlng lndlgnatlon lnto great llterary art. Jhls ls lndeed
admlrable.
63
ai_ POV j ^~
May tlmes come when condltlons llke those con
demned by Mr. Asturlas belong to hlstory; when
human belngs llve peacefully and happlly together.
Jhls was lndeed what Alfred Nobel hoped to promote
by hls Prlzes.
Mr. AsturlasWe slncerely admlre your llterary
craftsmanshlp, and we hope that your work wlll con
trlbute to endlng the shameful soclal condltlons that
you have descrlbed wlth such lmpresslve lntenslty. We
congratulate you on your Nobel Prlze, whlch you so
very much deserve.
^~ Eq~~F
My volce on the threshold. My volce comlng
from afar. On the threshold of the Academy. It ls dlffl
cult to become a member of a famlly. And lt ls easy.
Jhe stars know lt. Jhe famllles of lumlnous torches. Jo
become a member of the Nobel famlly. Jo become an
helr of Alfred Nobel. Jo blood tles, to clvll relatlonshlp,
a new consangulnlty ls added, a more subtle klnshlp,
born of the splrlt and the creatlve task. And thls was
perhaps the unspoken lntentlon of the founder of thls
great famlly of Nobel Prlze wlnners. Jo enlarge,
through tlme, from generatlon to generatlon, the world
of hls own kln. As for me, I enter the Nobel famlly as
the least worthy to be called among the many who
could have been chosen.
I enter by the wlll of thls Academy, whose doors
open and close once a year ln order to consecrate a
wrlter, and also because of the use I made of the word
ln my poems and novels, the word whlch, more than
beautlful, ls responslble, a concern not forelgn to that
dreamer who wlth the passlng of tlme would shock the
world wlth hls lnventlonsthe dlscovery of the most
destructlve exploslves then knownfor helplng man ln
hls tltanlc chores of mlnlng, dlgglng tunnels, and con
structlng roads and canals.
I do not know lf the comparlson ls too darlng. But
lt ls necessary. Jhe use of destructlve forces, the secret
whlch Alfred Nobel extracted from nature, made possl
ble ln our Amerlca the most colossal enterprlses.
Among them, the Panama Canal. A maglc of catastro
phe whlch could be compared to the thrust of our nov
els, called upon to destroy unjust structures ln order to
make way for a new llfe. Jhe secret mlnes of the peo
ple, burled under tons of mlsunderstandlng, prejudlces,
and taboos, brlng to llght ln our narratlvebetween
fables and mythswlth blows of protest, testlmony, and
denouncement, dlkes of letters whlch, llke sands, con
taln reallty to let the dream flow free or, on the con
trary, contaln the dream to let reallty escape.
Cataclysms whlch engendered a geography of
madness, terrlfylng traumas, such as the Conquest.
these cannot be the antecedents of a llterature of cheap
compromlse; and, thus, our novels appear to Europeans
as llloglcal or aberrant. Jhey are not shocklng for the
sake of shock effects. It ls just that what happened to us
was shocklng. Contlnents submerged ln the sea, races
castrated as they surged to lndependence, and the frag
mentatlon of the New World. As the antecedents of a
llterature these are already traglc. And from there we
have had to extract not the man of defeat, but the man
of hope, that bllnd creature who wanders through our
songs. We are peoples from worlds whlch have nothlng
llke the orderly unfoldlng of European confllcts, always
human ln thelr dlmenslons. Jhe dlmenslons of our con
fllcts ln the past centurles have been catastrophlc.
Scaffoldlngs. Ladders. New vocabularles. Jhe
prlmltlve recltatlon of the texts. Jhe rhapsodlsts. And
later, once agaln, the broken trajectory. Jhe new
tongue. Long chalns of words. Jhought unchalned.
Lntll arrlvlng, once agaln, after the bloodlest lexlcal
battles, at one`s own expresslons. Jhere are no rules.
Jhey are lnvented. And after much lnventlon, the
grammarlans come wlth thelr languagetrlmmlng
shears. Amerlcan Spanlsh ls flne wlth me, but wlthout
the roughness. Grammar becomes an obsesslon. Jhe
rlsk of antlgrammar. And that ls where we are now.
Jhe search for dynamlc words. Another maglc. Jhe
poet and the wrlter of the actlve word. Llfe. Its varla
tlons. Nothlng prefabrlcated. Everythlng ln ebullltlon.
Not to wrlte llterature. Not to substltute words for
thlngs. Jo look for wordthlngs, wordbelngs. And the
problems of man, ln addltlon. Evaslon ls lmposslble.
Man. Hls problems. A contlnent that speaks. And
whlch was heard ln thls Academy. Do not ask us for
genealogles, schools, treatlses. We brlng you the proba
bllltles of a word. Verlfy them. Jhey are slngular. Slngu
lar ls the movement, the dlalogue, the novellstlc
lntrlgue. And most slngular of all, throughout the ages
there has been no lnterruptlon ln the constant creatlon.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l967. Mlguel ngel Asturlas
61
^~W k iI NO a NVST
q i~ ^~ kW q ~ b
Eq~~ q p q~ ` i~~ pF
I would have preferred thls meetlng to have been
called a colloqulum lnstead of lecturea dlalogue of
doubts and assertlons on the subject that concerns us.
Let us start by analyslng the antecedents of Latln Amer
lcan llterature ln general, focuslng our attentlon on
those aspects that have most connectlon wlth the novel.
Let us follow the sources back to the mlllenarlan orlglns
of lndlgenous llterature ln lts three great moments.
Maya, Aztec and Inca.
Jhe followlng questlon arlses. Was there some
thlng resembllng the novel among the lndlgenous peo
ples? I belleve there was. Jhe hlstory of the orlglnal
cultures of Latln Amerlca has more of what we ln the
western world call the novel than of hlstory. It ls neces
sary to bear ln mlnd that the books of thelr hlstory
thelr novels we would now saywere palnted by the
Aztecs and Mayas and preserved ln a flguratlve form
whlch we stlll do not understand by the Incas. Jhls
assumes the use of plctograms ln whlch the volce of the
readerthe lndlgenous do not dlstlngulsh between read
lng and recltlng slnce for them lt ls the same thlng
reclted the text to the llsteners ln song form.
Jhe reader, recltlng storles or 'great language,"
the only person who understood what the plctograms
meant, carrled out an lnterpretatlon, recreatlng them
for the enllghtenment of those who llstened. Later,
these palnted storles become flxed ln the memory of the
llsteners and pass ln oral form from generatlon to gen
eratlon untll the alphabet brought by the Spanlsh flxes
them ln thelr natlve tongues wlth Latln characters or
dlrectly ln Spanlsh. In thls way lndlgenous texts come
to our knowledge wlth very llttle exposure to European
corruptlon. Jhe readlng of these documents ls what has
allowed us to afflrm that, among the natlve Amerlcans,
hlstory has more of the characterlstlcs of the novel than
of hlstory. Jhey are accounts ln whlch reallty ls dls
solved ln fable, legend, the trapplngs of beauty and ln
whlch the lmaglnatlon, by dlnt of descrlblng all the real
lty that lt contalns, ends up recreatlng a reallty that we
mlght call surreallst.
Jhls characterlstlc of the annulment of reallty
through lmaglnatlon and the recreatlon of a more tran
scendental reallty ls comblned wlth a constant annul
ment of tlme and space as well as somethlng more
slgnlflcant. the use and abuse of parallel expresslons,
l.e. the parallel use of dlfferent words to deslgnate the
same object, to convey the same ldea and express the
same feellngs. I wlsh to draw attentlon to thls polntthe
parallellsm ln the lndlgenous texts allows an exerclse of
nuances that we flnd hard to appreclate but whlch
undoubtedly permltted a poetlc gradatlon destlned to
lnduce certaln states of consclousness whlch were taken
to be maglc.
If we return to the theme of the orlgln of a llterary
genre, slmllar to the novel, among the preColomblan
peoples lt ls necessary to llnk the blrth of thls novel
form wlth the eplc. Jhe herolc legend, exceedlng the
posslbllltles of hlstorlcal flctlon, was sung by the rhapso
dlststhe great volces of the trlbes or 'culcanlmes" who
toured the cltles recltlng the texts ln order that the
beauty of thelr songs would be dlssemlnated among the
peoples llke the golden blood of thelr gods.
Jhese eplc songs that are so abundant ln pre
Columblan llterature, and so llttle known, possess what
we call 'flctlonal plot" and what the Spanlsh frlars and
mlsslonarles termed 'trlcks."
Jhese flctlonal tales were orlglnally the testlmony
of past epochs; the memory and fame of hlgh deeds
that others on hearlng would deslre to emulate, thls llt
erature of reallty and fable ls broken ln the lnstant of
servltude and remalns as one of the many broken ves
sels of those great clvlllsatlons. Other narratlves wlll fol
lowln thls same documentary formrecountlng not
the evldence of greatness but of mlsery, not the testl
mony of llberty but of slavery, no longer the statements
of the masters but those of the subjects and a new,
emerglng Amerlcan llterature attemptlng to flll the
empty sllences of an epoch.
However, the llterary genres that flourlshed ln the
Iberlan penlnsulasthe reallstlc novel and the theatre
were not to put down roots here. On the contrary, lt ls
the lndlgenous effervescence, the sap and the blood,
rlver, sea and mlrage that affects the flrst Spanlard to
wrlte the flrst great Amerlcan 'novel," for the 'Jrue
65
ai_ POV ^~W k iI NO a NVST
Story of the Events of the Conquest of New Spaln"
wrltten by Bernal Dlaz del Castlllo deserves to be called
no less. Is lt not rather bold to descrlbe as a 'novel"
what that soldler called not hlstory but 'true hlstory"?
But are not novels frequently the true hlstory? I repeat
the questlon. ls lt really boldness to descrlbe as a novel
the work of thls lllustrlous chronlcler?
Jo those who mlght call me darlng ln my descrlp
tlon I would lnvlte them to enter the cadenced and
pantlng prose of thls versatlle foot soldler and they wlll
notlce howon enterlng lnto ltthey gradually forget
that what happened was reallty and lt wlll seem to them
lncreaslngly a work of pure lmaglnatlon. Indeed, even
Bernal hlmself says no less, next to the very walls of
Jenochtltlan. 'thls seemed to be the work of enchant
ment that ls recounted ln the book of Amadls!" But thls
ls the work of a Spanlardlt wlll be saldalthough the
only thlng Spanlsh about lt ls lts havlng been wrltten by
a 'penlnsular" resldent ln Santlago de los Caballeros de
Guatemalawhere that glorlous manuscrlpt ls kept
and lts havlng been composed ln the old language of
Castlle although lt partakes of that masquerade charac
terlstlc of lndlgenous llterature. Jo Don Marcellno
Menendez y Pelayothls expert ln classlc Spanlsh lltera
turethe taste of thls prose ls strange and the fact that lt
has been wrltten by a soldler he flnds surprlslng. It
escapes thls emlnent wrlter that Bernal, at the age of
elghty, had not only heard many texts of lndlgenous llt
erature belng reclted, belng lnfluenced by lt, but
through osmosls had absorbed Amerlca and had
already become Amerlcan.
But there ls another more lmpresslve parenthesls.
In thelr last sorrowful cantos the lndlgenous peoples
now subjugatedcall for justlce and Bernal Dlaz
Castlllo expresses hls deepest feellngs ln a chronlcle
whlch ls a howl of protest at the obllvlon lnto whlch
they fell after belng 'fought and conquered."
As from thls moment, all Latln Amerlcan lltera
ture, ln song and novel, not only becomes a testlmony
for each epoch but also, as stated by the Venezuelan
wrlter Arturo Lslar Pletrl, an 'lnstrument of struggle."
All the great llterature ls one of testlmony and vlndlca
tlon, but far from belng a cold dossler these are movlng
pages wrltten by one consclous of hls power to lmpress
and convlnce.
Wlll the south glve us a \ Jhe par
excellence slnceln order for nothlng to be lacklnghe
was the flrst Amerlcan exlle. Inca Garcllaso. Jhls Cre
ole exlle follows the lndlgenous volces already extln
gulshed ln hls denunclatlon of the oppressors of Peru.
Jhe Inca offers us ln hls magnlflcent prose not only the
natlve Amerlcannor only the Spanlshbut the mlxture
materlallsed ln the fuslon of the bloods, and ln the same
demand for llfe and justlce.
Jo start wlth nobody dlscerns the 'message" ln
the prose of Inca. Jhls wlll be clarlfled durlng the strug
gle for lndependence. Inca wlll then appear wlth the
dlgnlty of the Indlan that knew how to make fun of the
emplre of 'the two knlves"that ls to say clvll and eccle
slastlcal censorshlp. Jhe Spanlsh authorltles, slow to
fathom the message contalnlng so much splrlt, lmaglna
tlon and melancholy, wlsely order the conflscatlon of
the story of Inca Garcllaso where the Indlans have
'learned so many dangerous thlngs."
Not only poetry and works of flctlon bear wlt
ness. Jhe least expected authors such as Iranclsco
|avler Clavljero, Iranclsco |avler Alegre, Andres Calvo,
Manuel Iabrl, Andres de Guevara gave blrth to a lltera
ture of exlles whlch lsand wlll contlnue to bea testl
mony of lts epoch.
Even the Guatemalan poet Rafael Landvar has
hls form of rebelllon. Hls protest ls sllencehe calls the
Spanlsh 'Hlspanl" wlthout quallfylng the adjectlve. We
refer to Landvar because, desplte belng the least
known, he should be consldered the standard bearer of
Amerlcan llterature as the authentlc expresslon of our
lands, our people and landscapes. Accordlng to Pedro
HenrlquezLrena, 'among the poets of the Spanlsh col
onles he ls the flrst master of landscape, the flrst to
break deflnltlvely wlth the conventlons of the Renals
sance and dlscover the characterlstlc features of nature
ln the New Worldlts flora and fauna, lts countryslde
and mountalns, lts lakes and waterfalls. In hls descrlp
tlons of customs, of the crafts and the games there ls an
amuslng vlvaclty andthroughout the poema deep
sympathy and understandlng of the survlval of the orlg
lnal cultures."
In l78l ln Modena, Italy, there appeared under
the tltle of o~ j~~ a poetlc work of 3,125
Latln hexameters, ln l0 cantos, wrltten by Rafael
Landvar. One year later ln Bologna the second edltlon
appeared. Jhe poet called by Menendez y Pelayo 'the
Vlrgll of the modern age" proclalmed to the Europeans
the excellence of the land, the llfe and the peoples of
Amerlca. He was concerned for the people of the Old
World to know that El |orullo, a Mexlcan volcano,
could rlval Vesuvlus and Etna, that the waterfalls and
caves of San Pedro Martlr ln Guatemala were the equals
of the famous fountalns of Castalla and Aretusa and
referrlng to the cenzontlethe blrd whose song has 100
toneshe elevated lt above the realm of the nlghtlngale.
He slngs the pralses of the countryslde, of the
gold and sllver that was fllllng the world wlth valuable
colns and the sugar loaves offered at royal tables.
Hls poem ls not short of statlstlcs concernlng the
rlches of Amerlca. He cltes the droves of cattle, the
flocks of sheep, the herds of goats and plgs, the sources
of medlclnal waters, the popular gamessome
66
^~W k iI NO a NVST ai_ POV
unknown ln Europeand he does not hlde the glory of
the cocoa and chocolate of Guatemala. But there ls
somethlng that we should be aware of ln the song of
Landvar; namely hls love of the lndlgenous. Jhe
Indlan, for Landvar, ls the race that succeeds ln every
thlng, he descrlbes the marvels of the floatlng gardens
created by the Indlans, he holds them up as examples of
charm and sklll wlthout forgettlng thelr great sufferlngs.
In thls way he lmparts poetlc substanceln naturallstlc
poetry far from symbollsmto a fact that has always
been denled. the superlorlty of the Amerlcan Indlan as
farmer, as craftsman and worker.
Jo the lmage of the bad Indlan, lazy and lmmoral
that was so wldely propagated ln Europe and accepted
ln Amerlca by those who explolt lt Landvar opposes
the plcture of the Indlan on whose shoulders has
welghedand contlnues to welghthe burden of labour
ln Amerlca. And he does not do lt by slmply statlng lt
ln whlch case we would have the rlght or not of bellev
lng lt. In hls poem we see the Indlan on board hls
charmlng canoe, transportlng hls goods or travelllng
and we admlre hlm extractlng the purple and scarlet,
laylng out the snowy worms that produce the sllk, hold
lng on stubbornly to the rocks ln order to remove the
beautlful shellflsh, patlently and doggedly ploughlng,
cultlvatlng the lndlgo plant, extractlng the sllver from
hls natlve mlnes, exhaustlng the golden velns. . . . Jhe
o~ of Landvar conflrms what we have sald of the
great Amerlcan llteraturelt cannot accept a passlve
role whlle on our soll a famlshed people llve ln these
abundant lands. In lts content lt ls a form of novel ln
verse.
Ilfty years later, Andres Bello was to renovate the
Amerlcan adventure ln hls famous 'Sllva," an lmmortal
and perfect work ln whlch the nature of the New World
appears agaln wlth malze the leaderas haughty chlef
of the corn trlbethe cacao ln 'coral urns," the coffee
plants, the banana, the troplcs ln all thelr vegetable and
anlmal power, contrastlng the lmpoverlshed lnhabltant
wlth thls grandlose vlslon 'of the rlch soll."
Bello recalls Inca Garcllaso ln hls role as an exlle,
he ls of the Amerlcan llneage of Landvar, both repre
sent the brllllant start of the great Amerlcan odyssey ln
world llterature. As from thls moment the lmage of
nature ln the New World wlll awake ln Europe an lnter
est but lt wlll never attaln the lncandescent fldellty that
ls achleved ln the work of Landvar and Bello. A dls
torted vlslon of the marvels ls offered us by Chateaubrl
and ln 'Atala" and 'Les Natchez."
Ior the Europeans nature ls a background wlth
out the gravltatlonal force achleved by Creole romantl
clsm. Jhe romantlcs glve nature a permanent presence
ln the creatlons of poets and novellsts of the epoch.
Jhls ls exempllfled by |os Marla de Heredla slnglng of
the Nlagara Ialls and Estaban Echeverrla descrlblng the
desert ln 'La Cautlva" to mentlon just two.
Latln Amerlcan romantlclsm was not only a llter
ary school but a patrlotlc flag. Poets, hlstorlans and nov
ellsts dlvlde thelr days and nlghts between polltlcal
actlvltles and dreamlng thelr creatlons. Never has lt
been more beautlful to be a poet ln Amerlca! Amongst
the poets lnfluenced by the m~~ converted ln Muse are
|os Mrmol, author of one of the most wldely read
novels ln Latln Amerlca^~~K Jhe pages of thls book
have been turned by our febrlle and sweaty flngers
when we suffered ln our very bones the dlctatorshlps
that have plagued Central Amerlca. Jhe crltlcs, when
referrlng to the novel of Mrmol, polnt out lnconslsten
cles and carelessness wlthout reallslng that a work of
thls type ls wrltten wlth a madly beatlng heartpulsa
tlons that leave ln the sentence, ln the paragraph, on the
page that abnormal heartbeat reflectlng the dlstortlon of
the llfe force that troubled the entlre country. We are ln
the presence of one of the most passlonate examples of
the Amerlcan novel. Desplte the years ^~~the
lmprecatlons of |os Mrmolcontlnue to move readers
to such an extent as to represent an act of falth.
It ls at thls very moment that the volce of
Sarmlento ls heard poslng hls famous dllemma at the
threshold of the century. 'clvlllsatlon or barbarlsm."
Indeed, Sarmlento hlmself wlll be startled when he
becomes aware that 'Iacundo" turns hls arms agalnst
hlm and agalnst everyone, declarlng hlmself to be the
authentlc representatlve of Creole Amerlca, of the
Amerlca that refuses to dle and attempts to breakwlth
a breast already hardenedthe antlthetlcal scheme of
clvlllsatlon and barbarlsm ln order to flnd between
these two extremes the polnt where the Amerlcan peo
ples are able to flnd thelr authentlc personallty wlth
thelr own essentlal values.
In the mlddle of the last century another roman
tlc, no less passlonate, appears ln Guatemala. |os
Batres Montfar. In the mldst of tales of festlve charac
ter the reader feels that he should forget the flesta to lls
ten to the poetry. Jhe lmmortal |os Batres Montfar,
wlth abundant charm tlnged wlth bltterness, was able to
get to the core of lssues that alreadyln the mlddle of
the past centurywere hlghly charged.
Another volce was to rlng out from north to
south, that of |os Mart. Hls presence was felt, whether
as an exlle or ln hls beloved Cuba, the flre of hls speech
as poet or journallst belng comblned wlth the example
of hls sacrlflce.
Jhe 20th century ls full of poets, poets that have
nothlng more to say wlth very few exceptlons. Among
the latter stand out the lmmortal Rubn Daro and |uan
Ramn Mollna from Honduras. Jhe poets flee from
reallty, maybe because thls ls one of the ways of belng a
67
ai_ POV ^~W k iI NO a NVST
poet. But there ls nothlng llvlng ln much of thelr work
whlch lnstead tend towards garrullty.
Jhey are lgnorant of the clear lesson of the natlve
rhapsodlsts, they are forgetful of the colonlal craftsmen
of our great llterature, satlsfled wlth the bloodless lmlta
tlon of the poetry of other latltudes and rldlcule those
who sang the bold gestures of the llberatlon struggle,
conslderlng them dazzled by a local patrlotlsm.
It ls only when the Ilrst World War ls passed that
a handful of menmen and artlstsembark on the
reconquest of thelr own tradltlon. In thelr encounter
wlth the lndlgenous peoples they drop anchor ln thelr
Spanlsh home port and return wlth the message that
they have to dellver to the future.
Latln Amerlcan llterature wlll be reborn under
other slgnsno longer that of verse. Now the prose ls
tactlle, plural and lrreverent ln lts attltude to conven
tlonsto serve the purpose of thls new crusade whose
flrst move was to plunge lnto reallty not so as to objec
tlfy but rather to penetrate the facts ln order to ldentlfy
fully wlth the problems of humanlty. Nothlng human
nothlng whlch ls realwlll be forelgn to thls llterature
lnsplred by contact wlth Amerlca. And thls ls the case
of the Latln Amerlcan novel. Nobody doubts that the
Latln Amerlcan novel ls at the leadlng edge of lts genre
ln the world. It ls cultlvated ln all our countrles, by wrlt
ers of dlfferent tendencles, whlch means that ln the
novel everythlng ls forged from Amerlcan materlalthe
human wltness of our hlstorlc moment.
We, the Latln Amerlcan novellsts of today, work
lng wlthln the tradltlon of engagement wlth our peoples
whlch has enabled our great llterature to developour
poetry of substancealso have to reclalm lands for our
dlspossessed, mlnes for our explolted workers, to ralse
demands ln favour of the masses who perlsh ln the
plantatlons, who are scorched by the sun ln the banana
flelds, who turn lnto human bagasse ln the sugar refln
erles. It ls for thls reason thatfor methe authentlc
Latln Amerlcan novel ls the call for all these thlngs, lt ls
the cry that echoes down the centurles and ls pro
nounced ln thousands of pages. A novel that ls genu
lnely ours; determlned and loyalln lts pagesto the
cause of the human splrlt, to the flsts of our workers, to
the sweat of our rural peasants, to the paln for our
undernourlshed chlldren; calllng for the blood and the
sap of our vast lands to run once more towards the seas
to enrlch our burgeonlng new cltles.
Jhls novel sharesconsclously or unconsclously
the characterlstlcs of the lndlgenous texts; thelr fresh
ness and power, the numlsmatlc angulsh ln the eyes of
the Creoles who awalted the dawn ln the colonlal nlght,
more lumlnous however than thls nlght that threatens
us now. Above all, lt ls the afflrmatlon of the optlmlsm
of those wrlters that defled the Inqulsltlon, openlng a
breach ln the consclence of the people for the march of
the Llberators.
Jhe Latln Amerlcan novel, our novel, cannot
betray the great splrlt that has shapedand contlnues to
shapeall our great llterature. If you wrlte novels
merely to entertalnthen burn them! Jhls mlght be the
message dellvered wlth evangellcal fervour slnce lf you
do not burn them they wlll anyway be erased from the
memory of the people where a poet or novellst should
asplre to remaln. |ust conslder how many wrlters there
have been whodown the ageshave wrltten novels to
entertaln! And who remembers them now? On the
other hand, how easy lt ls to repeat the names of those
amongst us who have wrltten to bear wltness.
Jo bear wltness. Jhe novellst bears wltness llke
the apostle. Llke Paul trylng to escape, the wrlter ls con
fronted wlth the pathetlc reallty of the world that sur
rounds hlmthe stark reallty of our countrles that
overwhelms and bllnds us and, throwlng us to our
knees, forces us to shout out. WHY DO YOL PERSE
CLJE ME? Yes, we are persecuted by thls reallty that
we cannot deny, whlch ls llved ln the flesh by the people
of the Mexlcan revolutlon, embodled ln persons such as
Marlano Azuela, Agustln Yanez and |uan Rulfo whose
convlctlons are as sharp as a knlfe; those who share
wlth |orge Icaza, Clro Alegra, |ess Lara the shout of
protest agalnst the exploltatlon and abandonment of the
Indlan; those who wlth Romulo Gallegos ln 'Done
Bbara" create for us our Prometheus. Here ls Horaclo
_ulroga who frees us from the nlghtmare of the troplcs,
a nlghtmare that ls as pecullar to hlm as hls style ls
Amerlcan. 'Los ros profundos" of |os Mara Argue
das, the 'Rlo oscuro" of the Argentlnlan Alfredo
Varela, 'Hljo de hombre" of the Paraguayan Roa Bas
tos and 'La cludad y los perros" of the Peruvlan Vargas
Llosa make us see how the llfeblood of the worklng
people ls dralned ln our lands.
Manclsldor takes us to the oll flelds to whlch are
drawnleavlng thelr homesthe lnhabltants of 'Cases
muertas" of Mlguel Otero Sllva. . . . Davld Vlnas con
fronts us wlth the traglc Patagonla, Enrlque Wernlcke
sweeps us along wlth the waters that overwhelm whole
communltles whlle Verbltsky and Mara de |ess lead
us to the mlserable shanty towns, the Dantesque and
subhuman quarters of our great cltles. . . .
Jeltelbolm ln 'El hljo del salltre" tells us of the
gruelllng work ln the saltpetre mlnes whlle Nlcomedes
Guzman makes us share ln the llves of the chlldren ln
the Chllean worklng class dlstrlcts. We feel the country
slde of El Salvador ln '|aragua" by Napolen
Rodrguez Rulz and our small vlllages ln 'Cenlzas del
Izalco" by Ilakol and Clarlvel Alegrla. We cannot thlnk
of the pampas wlthout speaklng of 'Don Segundo Som
bra" by Gulraldes nor speak of the jungle wlthout 'La
68
^~W k iI NO a NVST ai_ POV
voraglne" of Eustaslo Rlvera, nor of the Negroes. wlth
out |orge Amado, nor of the Brazlllan plalns wlthout
the 'Gran Sertao" of Gulmaraes Rosa, nor of the plalns
of Venezuela wlthout Ramn Daz Snchez.
Our books do not search for a sensatlonallst or
horrlfylng effect ln order to secure a place for us ln the
republlc of letters. We are human belngs llnked by
blood, geography and llfe to those hundreds, thou
sands, mllllons of Latln Amerlcans that suffer mlsery ln
our opulent and rlch Amerlcan contlnent. Our novels
attempt to moblllse across the world the moral forces
that have to help us defend those people. Jhe
process was already advanced ln our llterature and ln
redlscoverlng Amerlca lt lent a human dlmenslon to the
grandlose nature of the contlnent. But thls ls a nature
nelther for the gods as ln the texts of the Indlans, nor a
nature for heroes as ln the wrltlngs of the romantlcs,
but a nature for men and women ln whlch the human
problems wlll be addressed agaln wlth vlgour and
audaclty.
As true Latln Amerlcans the beauty of expresslon
excltes us andfor thls reasoneach one of our novels ls
a verbal feat. Alchemy ls at work. We know lt. It ls no
easy task to understand ln the executed work all the
effort and determlnatlon lnvested ln the materlals
usedthe words.
Yes, I say wordsbut by what laws and rules they
have been transformed! Jhey have been set as the
pulse of worlds ln formatlon. Jhey rlng llke wood, llke
metals. Jhls ls onomatopoela. In the adventure of our
language the flrst aspect that demands attentlon ls ono
matopoela. How many echoescomposed or dlslnte
gratedof our landscape, our nature are to be found ln
our words, our sentences. Jhe novellst embarks on a
verbal adventure, an lnstlnctlve use of words. One ls
gulded along by sounds. One llstens, llstens to the char
acters.
Our best novels do not seem to have been wrltten
but spoken. Jhere ls verbal dynamlcs ln the poetry
enclosed ln the very word ltself and that ls revealed flrst
as sound and afterwards as concept.
Jhls ls why the great Spanlsh Amerlcan novels
are vlbrantly muslcal ln the convulslon of the blrth of
all the thlngs that are born wlth them.
Jhe adventure contlnues ln the confluence of the
languages. Amongst the languages spoken by the peo
ple, ln whlch the Indlan languages are represented,
there ls an admlxture of the European and Orlental lan
guages brought by the lmmlgrants to Amerlca.
Another language ls golng to raln lts sparkle over
sounds and words. Jhe language of lmages. Our novels
seem to be wrltten not only wlth words but wlth
lmages. _ulte a few people when readlng our novels see
them clnematlcally. And thls ls not because they pursue
a dramatlc statement of lndependence but because our
novellsts are engaged ln unlversallslng the volce of thelr
peoples wlth a language rlch ln sounds, rlch ln fable
and rlch ln lmages.
Jhls ls not a language artlflclally created to pro
vlde scope for the play of the lmaglnatlon or socalled
poetlc prose; lt ls a vlvld language that preserves ln lts
popular speech all the lyrlclsm, the lmaglnatlon, the
grace, the hlghsplrltedness that characterlse the lan
guage of the Latln Amerlcan novel.
Jhe poetlc language whlch nourlshes our novells
tlc llterature ls more or less lts breath of llfe. Novels
wlth lungs of poetry, lungs of follage, lungs of rlch vege
tatlon. I belleve that what most attracts nonAmerlcan
readers ls what our novels have achleved by means of a
colourful, brllllant language wlthout falllng lnto the
merely plcturesque, the spell of onomatopoela cast by
representlng the muslc of the countryslde and some
tlmes the sounds of the lndlgenous languages, the
ancestral smack of those languages that flourlsh uncon
sclously ln the prose that ls used. Jhere ls also the
lmportance of the word as absolute entlty, as symbol.
Our prose ls dlstlngulshed from Castlllan syntax
because the wordln our novelshas a value of lts own,
just as lt had ln the lndlgenous languages. Word, con
cept, sound; a rlch fasclnatlng transposltlon. Nobody
can understand our llterature, our poetry lf the power
of enchantment ls removed from the word.
Word and language enable the reader to partlcl
pate ln the llfe of our novellstlc creatlons. Lnsettllng,
dlsturblng, forclng the attentlon of the reader whofor
gettlng hls dally llfewlll enter lnto the sltuatlons and
personalltles of a novel tradltlon that retalns lntact lts
humanlstlc values. Nothlng ls used to detract from
manklnd but rather to perfect lt and thls ls perhaps
what wlns over and unsettles the reader, that whlch
transforms our novel lnto a vehlcle of ldeas, an lnter
preter of peoples uslng as lnstrument a language wlth a
llterary dlmenslon, wlth lmponderable maglcal value
and profound human projectlon.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l967. Mlguel ngel Asturlas ls
69
p~ _
(1J Zpril 1906 - 22 Dcccmbcr 19S9)
g~ ^K d~
cclctt Ivtcrvotiovol Iouvdotiov, Uvivcrsity of Icodivg
See also the Beckett entrles ln DI 1J: ritisl Dromotists
Sivcc !orld !or II; DI 1: ritisl òvclists, 19J0-199;
DI 2JJ: ritisl ovd Irisl Dromotists Sivcc !orld !or II,
Sccovd Scrics; DI J19: ritisl ovd Irisl Slort-Iictiov !rit-
crs, 194-2000; DI J21: Twcvtictl Ccvtury Ircvcl Dro-
motists; and DI Jcorbool: 1990.
BOOKS. !loroscopc (Parls. Hours Press, l930);
Iroust (London. Chatto Wlndus, l93l; New York.
Grove, l957);
Morc Iricls tlov Iicls (London. Chatto Wlndus, l931;
New York. Grove, l970);
Iclo`s ovcs ovd Utlcr Irccipitotcs (Parls. Europa Press,
l935);
Murply (London. Routledge, l938; New York. Grove,
l957); translated lnto Irench by Beckett (Parls.
Bordas, l917);
Molloy (Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult, l95l); translated by
Beckett and Patrlck Bowles (Parls. Olympla
Press, l955; New York. Grove, l955; London.
Calder Boyars, l966);
Molovc mcurt (Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult, l95l); trans
lated by Beckett as Molovc Dics (New York. Grove,
l956; London. Calder, l958);
Iv ottcvdovt Codot (Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult, l952);
translated by Beckett as !oitivg for Codot (New
York. Grove, l951; London. Iaber Iaber,
l956);
IÌvvommoblc (Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult, l953); trans
lated by Beckett as Tlc Uvvomoblc (New York.
Grove, l958; London. Calder, l975);
!ott (Parls. Olympla Press, l953; New York. Grove,
l959; London. Calder, l963); translated lnto
Irench by Beckett, Ludovlc |anvler, and Agns
|anvler (Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult, l968);
òuvcllcs ct tcxtcs pour ricv (Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult,
l955); translated by Beckett as Storics ovd Tcxts for
òtlivg (New York. Grove, l967);
Zll Tlot Ioll (New York. Grove, l957; London. Iaber
Iaber, l957); translated lnto Irench by Beckett
and Robert Plnget as Tous ccux qui tombcvt (Parls.
Edltlons de Mlnult, l957);
Iiv dc portic, suivi dc Zctc sovs porolcs [I] (Parls. Edltlons
de Mlnult, l957); translated by Beckett as Ivd-
gomc, Iollowcd by Zct !itlout !ords (New York.
Grove, l958; London. Iaber Iaber, l958);
Irom ov Zbovdovcd !orl (London. Iaber Iaber, l958);
translated lnto Irench by Beckett, Ludovlc |an
vler, and Agns |anvler as Dùv ouvrogc obovdovvc
(Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult, l967);
p~ _I NVUT E^m t tF
TM
p~ _ ai_ POV
Molloy, Molovc Dics, ovd Tlc Uvvomoblc: Tlrcc òvcls Ek
vW dI NVRUX iW `~I NVRVX m~W
l~ mI NVRVFX
Iropp`s Iost Topc ovd Imbcrs EiW c~ C c~I
NVRVFX ~~ c _ ~
m i ~ Io Dcrvirc bovdc, suivi dc Ccvdrcs
Em~W b jI NVSMFX
Iropp`s Iost Topc ovd Utlcr Dromotic Iicccs Ek vW
dI NVSMF Iropp`s Iost Topc, Zll
Tlot Ioll, Imbcrs, Zct !itlout !ords I, ~ Zct !itl-
out !ords II E ~ ~~
c _FX
Commcvt c`cst Em~W b jI NVSNFX ~J
~ _ ~ How It Is Ek vW dI
NVSQX iW `~I NVSQFX
Hoppy Doys Ek vW dI NVSNX iW c~ C
c~I NVSOFX ~~ c _ ~
Ul lcs bcoux jours Em~W b jI NVSPFX
Iocms iv Ivglisl EiW `~I NVSNX k vW
dI NVSPFX
Dromotisclc Dicltuvgcv, O I c ~ b
_I d~ ~~ b~
q ~ b~ q Ec~ ~
j~W p~I NVSPI NVSQF J
NW Zctc sovs porolcs II [Zct !itlout !ords II],
~ c X Coscovdo, ~ c
I b ~~ _X
OW Comcdic [Iloy], ~~ c
_X
Iloy ovd Two Slort Iicccs for Iodio EiW c~ C
c~I NVSQF Iloy, !ords ovd Music, ~
Coscovdo;
Imogivotiov mortc imogivc Em~W b jI
NVSRFX ~~ _ ~ Imogivotiov Dcod
Imogivc EiW `~ C _~I NVSRFX
Iroust x _z ovd Tlrcc Diologucs x _ ~
d az EiW `~I NVSRFX
Zssc Em~W b jI NVSSFX ~~
_ ~ Ivougl ò`s Ivifc: Collcctcd Slortcr
Irosc, 194-1966 EiW `~ C _~I
NVSTF ~ Iirst Iovc ovd Utlcr Slorts Ek vW
dI NVTQFX
ivg Em~W b jI NVSSFX ~~
_ ~ Iivg ò`s Ivifc: Collcctcd Slortcr Irosc,
194-1966 EiW `~ C _~I NVSTF ~
Iirst Iovc ovd Utlcr Slorts Ek vW dI
NVTQFX
Comcdic ct octcs divcrs Em~W b jI NVSSF
Comcdic, !o-ct-vicvt, Coscovdo, Iorolcs ct
musiquc, Dis oc, ~ Zctc sovs porolcs II; ~
Em~W b jI NVTOF
Zctc sovs porolcs I, Iilm, ~ Soufflc;
Il oc ovd Utlcr !ritivgs EiW c~ C c~I NVSTX
k vW dI NVSVF Il oc, Zct
!itlout !ords II, ~ Iilm;
Comc ovd Co EiW `~ C _~I NVSTFX
ò`s Ivifc: Collcctcd Slortcr Irosc, 194-1966 EiW
`~ C _~I NVSTF Tlc Ixpcllcd,
Tlc Colmotivc, Tlc Ivd, Tcxts for òtlivg 1-1J, Irom
ov Zbovdovcd !orl, Ivougl, Imogivotiov Dcod Imog-
ivc, ~ Iivg;
Tctcs-mortcs, ~~ _I i g~I ~
^ g~ Em~W b jI NVSTF
Dùv ouvrogc obovdovvc, Zssc, Imogivotiov
mortc imogivc, ~ ivg; ~ Em~W
b jI NVTOF Sovs;
Coscovdo ovd Utlcr Slort Dromotic Iicccs Ek vW
dI NVSUF Coscovdo, !ords ovd
Music, Il oc, Iloy, Comc ovd Co, ~ Iilm;
Iilm, Il oc iv drci Sproclcv Ec~ ~ j~W
p~I NVSUF Iilm, ~~
c _X
Iomcs Em~W b jI NVSUFX
Iilm Ek vW dI NVSVX iW c~ C c~I
NVTOFX
Sovs Em~W b jI NVSVFX ~~
_ ~ Icssvcss EiW `~ C _~I
NVTMFX
Tlc Collcctcd !orls of Somucl cclctt, NS Ek
vW dI NVTMFX
Ic Dcpcuplcur Em~W b jI NVTMFX ~J
~ _ ~ Tlc Iost Uvcs EiW `~
C _~I NVTOX k vW dI NVTOFX
Mcrcicr ct Comicr Em~W b jI NVTMFX ~J
~ _ ~ Mcrcicr ovd Comicr EiW
`~ C _~I NVTQX k vW dI NVTQFX
Ircmicr omour Em~W b jI NVTMFX ~J
~ _ ~ Iirst Iovc EiW `~ C
_~I NVTPFX
rcotl ovd Utlcr Slorts EiW c~ C c~I NVTNF
rcotl, Comc ovd Co, Zct !itlout !ords I,
Zct !itlout !ords II, ~ Irom ov Zbovdovcd !orl;
Iilm, suivi dc Soufflc Em~W b jI NVTOF
Soufflc [rcotl], ~~ c
_X
òt I EiW c~ C c~I NVTPFX ~~
c _ ~ Ios moi Em~W b
jI NVTRFX
Zu loiv uv oiscou, _I ^
^~ Ek vW a b~ mI NVTPFX
~~ _ ~ Zfor o ird Ior to Ivd Jct
Zgoiv ovd Utlcr Iilcs EiW `~I NVTSF ~
Iilcs Ek vW dI NVTSFX
Iirst Iovc ovd Utlcr Slorts Ek vW dI NVTQF
Iirst Iovc, Irom ov Zbovdovcd !orl,
7l
ai_ POV p~ _
Ivougl, Imogivotiov Dcod Imogivc, Iivg, òt I, and
rcotl;
Still, text by Beckett, etchlngs by Wllllam Hayter
(Mllan. MÀrte Edlzlone, l971);
Ul lcs bcoux jours, suivi dc Ios moi (Parls. Edltlons de
Mlnult, l975);
I Cov`t Co Uv, I`ll Co Uv: Z Sclcctiov from Somucl cclctt`s
!orl, edlted by Rlchard W. Seaver (New York.
Grove, l976)lncludes Tlot Timc;
Ioirodcs = Iilcs, blllngual edltlon, text by Beckett, etch
lngs by |asper |ohns (London. Petersburg Press,
l976);
Iour fivir cvcorc ct outrcs foirodcs (Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult,
l976); translated by Beckett as Ior to Ivd Jct Zgoiv
ovd Utlcr Iilcs (London. Calder, l976); transla
tlon publlshed as Iilcs (New York. Grove, l976);
Zll Strovgc Zwoy (New York. Gotham Book Mart, l976;
London. Calder, l979);
Tlot Timc (London. Iaber Iaber, l976); translated
lnto Irench by Beckett as Ccttc fois (Parls. Edltlons
de Mlnult, l978);
Iootfolls (London. Iaber Iaber, l976); translated lnto
Irench by Beckett as Ios (Parls. Edltlons de
Mlnult, l977);
Ivds ovd Udds: Iiglt `cw Dromotic Iicccs (New York.
Grove Press, l976)comprlses òt I, Tlot Timc,
Iootfolls, Clost Trio, [Iougl for] Tlcotrc I, [Iougl for]
Tlcotrc II, [Iougl for] Iodio I, and [Iougl for] Iodio
II; expanded as Ivds ovd Udds: Iloys ovd Slctclcs
(London. Iaber Iaber, l977)lncludes . . . but
tlc clouds . . . ; expanded edltlon publlshed as Ivds
ovd Udds. ìvc Dromotic Iicccs (New York. Grove
Press, l98l);
. . . but tlc clouds . . . (London. Iaber Iaber, l977);
Collcctcd Iocms iv Ivglisl ovd Ircvcl (London. Calder,
l977; New York. Grove, l977); expanded as Col-
lcctcd Iocms 19J0-197S (London. Calder, l981)
lncludes Mirlitovvodcs;
Ios suivi dc quotrc csquisscs (Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult,
l978)comprlses Ios, Irogmcvt dc tlcotrc I, Irogmcvt
dc tlcotrc II, Ioclodc rodioploviquc, and Isquissc rodio-
ploviquc;
Iomcs suivi dc Mirlitovvodcs (Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult,
l978);
Compovy (New York. Grove, l980; London. Calder,
l980); translated lnto Irench by Beckett as
Compogvic (Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult, l980);
Mol vu mol dit (Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult, l98l); trans
lated by Beckett as Ill Sccv, Ill Soid (New York.
Grove, l98l; London. Calder, l982);
Iocloby ovd Utlcr Slort Iicccs (New York. Grove, l98l)
comprlses Iocloby, Ulio Impromptu, Zll Strovgc
Zwoy, and Z Iiccc of Movologuc;
crccusc; suivi dc Impromptu dÙlio (Parls. Edltlons de
Mlnult, l982)comprlses crccusc [Iocloby] and
Impromptu dÙlio [Ulio Impromptu], translated lnto
Irench by Beckett;
Solo; suivi dc Cotostroplc (Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult,
l982)comprlses Z Iiccc of Movologuc, translated
by Beckett as Solo, and Cotostroplc;
Cotostroplc ct outrcs dromoticulcs (Parls. Edltlons de
Mlnult, l982)comprlses Ccttc fois, Solo, crccusc,
Impromptu dÙlio, and Cotostroplc; expanded edl
tlon (Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult, l986)lncludes
_uoi ou;
Tlrcc Uccosiovol Iicccs (London. Iaber Iaber, l982)
comprlses Z Iiccc of Movologuc, Iocloby, and Ulio
Impromptu;
_uoi ou (Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult, l983);
!orstword Ho (New York. Grove, l983; London.
Calder, l983);
Disjccto: Misccllovcous !ritivgs ovd o Dromotic Irogmcvt,
edlted by Ruby Cohn (London. Calder, l983;
New York. Grove, l981);
Collcctcd Slortcr Iloys (London. Iaber Iaber, l981;
New York. Grove, l981)lncludes _uod, òclt uvd
Troumc, and Beckett`s Engllsh translatlon of Cotos-
troplc;
Collcctcd Slortcr Irosc 194-19S0 (London. Calder,
l981);
Tlrcc Iloys (New York. Grove, l981)comprlses Ulio
Impromptu, Cotostroplc, and !lot !lcrc;
Tlc Complctc Dromotic !orls (London. Iaber Iaber,
l986);
IÌmogc (Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult, l988);
Stirrivgs Still, text by Beckett, lllustratlons by Louls le
Broquy (New York. Blue Moon, l988; London.
Calder, l988);
Commcvt dirc (Parls. Llbralrle Compagnle, l989);
òlow Uv: Compovy, Ill Sccv Ill Soid, !orstword Ho (Lon
don. Calder, l989; New York. Grove, l995);
Zs tlc Story !os Told: Uvcollcctcd ovd Iotc Irosc (London.
Calder, l990; New York. Rlverrun, l990)
lncludes Tlc Copitol of tlc Iuivs, Tlc Imogc, Zll
Strovgc Zwoy, Hcord iv tlc Dorl 1, Hcord iv tlc Dorl
2, Uvc Ivcvivg, Zs tlc Story !os Told, `citlcr, Stirrivgs
Still, and !lot Is tlc !ord;
Drcom of Ioir to Middlivg !omcv, edlted by Eoln O`Brlen
and Edlth Iournler (Dublln. Black Cat, l992;
London. Calder, l993; New York. Arcade, l993);
Ilcutlcrio (Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult, l995); translated
from the Irench by Mlchael Brodsky as Ilcutlcrio
(New York. Ioxrock, l995); translated by Bar
bara Wrlght (London. Iaber Iaber, l996).
b ~ `W Iroust, translated lnto Irench
by Edlth Iournler (Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult,
l990);
72
p~ _ ai_ POV
_uod, Clost Trio, . . . but tlc clouds . . . , and òclt uvd
Troumc, translated by Iournler as _uod ct Trio du
fovtmc, . . . quc vuogcs . . . , òclt uvd Troumc; suivi
dc lÌpuisc dc Cillcs Dclcuc (Parls. Edltlons de
Mlnult, l992);
Ivdgomc, edlted by S. E. Gontarskl, volume 2 of Tlc
Tlcotricol òtcbools of Somucl cclctt (London.
Iaber Iaber, l992; New York. Grove, l992)
lncludes a revlsed text;
Iropp`s Iost Topc, edlted by |ames Knowlson, volume 3
of Tlc Tlcotricol òtcbools of Somucl cclctt (Lon
don. Iaber Iaber, l992; New York. Grove,
l992)lncludes a revlsed text;
!oitivg for Codot, edlted by Dougald McMlllan and
Knowlson, volume l of Tlc Tlcotricol òtcbools of
Somucl cclctt (London. Iaber Iaber, l993; New
York. Grove, l991)lncludes a revlsed text;
Morc Iricls tlov Iicls, translated lnto Irench by Iournler
as ovdc ct sorobovdc (Parls. Edltlons de Mlnult,
l991);
Tlc Complctc Slort Irosc 1929-19S9, edlted by Gontarskl
(New York. Grove, l995);
Tlc Slortcr Iloys, edlted by Gontarskl, volume 1 of Tlc
Tlcotricol òtcbools of Somucl cclctt (London.
Iaber Iaber, l999; New York. Grove, l999)
lncludes revlsed texts of Iootfolls, Comc ovd Co, and
!lot !lcrc;
Slorts, l2 volumes (London. Calder, l999);
Iocms 19J0-19S9 (London. Calder, 2002).
PLAY PRODLCJIONS. Iv ottcvdovt Codot, Parls,
Jhtre de Babylone, 5 |anuary l953; produced
ln Engllsh as !oitivg for Codot, London, Arts Jhe
atre Club, 3 August l955; transferred to the Crl
terlon Jheatre, l2 September l955; Mlaml,
Coconut Grove Playhouse, 3 |anuary l956; New
York, |ohn Golden Jheatre, l9 Aprll l956;
Iiv dc portic and Zctc sovs porolcs (I), London, Royal
Court Jheatre, 3 Aprll l957; Parls, Studlo des
ChampsElyses, 26 Aprll l957; translated lnto
Engllsh by Beckett as Ivdgomc and Zct !itlout
!ords I, New York, Cherry Lane Jheatre, 28 |an
uary l958; London, Royal Court Jheatre, 28
October l958;
Iropp`s Iost Topc, London, Royal Court Jheatre, 28
October l958 |produced wlth Ivdgomc|; New
York, Provlncetown Playhouse, l1 |anuary l960;
translated lnto Irench by Beckett as Io Dcrvirc
bovdc, Parls, Jhtre Rcamler, 22 March l960;
Zct !itlout !ords II, London, Instltute of Contemporary
Arts, 25 |anuary l960; Mllwaukee, Lnlverslty of
Wlsconsln, l0 |uly l962;
Hoppy Doys, New York, Cherry Lane Jheatre, l7 Sep
tember l96l; London, Royal Court Jheatre, l
November l962; translated lnto Irench by Beck
ett as Ul lcs bcoux jours, Venlce, Jeatro del Rldotto,
28 September l963; Parls, OdonJhtre de
Irance, 2l October l963;
Iloy, translated lnto German by Elmar Jophoven and
Erlka Jophoven as Spicl, Llm, Germany, Llmer
Jheater, l1 |une l963; orlglnal Engllsh verslon
produced as Iloy, New York, Cherry Lane Jhe
atre, 1 |anuary l961; London, Old Vlc Jheatre, 7
Aprll l961; translated lnto Irench by Beckett as
Comcdic, Parls, Pavlllon de Marsan, ll |une l961;
Comc ovd Co, translated lnto German by Elmar
Jophoven and Erlka Jophoven as Iommcv uvd
Cclcv, Berlln, SchlllerJheater Werkstatt, l1 |anu
ary l966; translated lnto Irench by Beckett as !o-
ct-vicvt, Parls, OdonJhtre de Irance, 28 Ieb
ruary l966; orlglnal Engllsh verslon produced as
Comc ovd Co, Dublln, Peacock Jheatre, 28 Iebru
ary l968; London, Royal Iestlval Hall, 9 Decem
ber l968; Mllwaukee, Lnlverslty of Wlsconsln,
Performlng Arts Center, 23 November l970;
rcotl, New York, Eden Jheatre, l7 |une l969 |as part
of Ul! Colcutto! |; Oxford, Oxford Playhouse, 8
March l970;
òt I, New York, Llncoln Center, 22 November l972;
London, Royal Court Jheatre, l6 |anuary l973;
translated lnto Irench by Beckett as Ios moi, Parls,
Jhtre dÒrsay, 3 Aprll l975;
Tlot Timc and Iootfolls, London, Royal Court Jheatre,
20 May l976; Washlngton, D.C., Arena Stage, 3
December l976; Iootfolls translated lnto Irench by
Beckett as Ios, Parls, Jhtre dÒrsay, ll Aprll
l978;
Z Iiccc of Movologuc, New York, La Mama Experlmental
Jheatre Club, l1 December l979;
Iocloby, Buffalo, State Lnlverslty of New York at Buf
falo, 8 Aprll l98l; London, Cottesloe Jheatre
(Natlonal Jheatre), 9 December l982; translated
lnto Irench by Beckett as crccusc, Parls, Centre
Georges Pompldou, l1 October l98l;
Ulio Impromptu, Columbus, Ohlo State Lnlverslty, 9
May l98l; Nottlngham, Lnlverslty of Nottlng
ham Dramatlc Soclety, 22 |une l981; flrst profes
slonal productlon, Edlnburgh, Edlnburgh
Iestlval, l3 August l981; translated lnto Irench
by Beckett as Impromptu dÙlio, Parls, Jhtre du
RondPolnt, l5 September l983;
Cotostroplc, Avlgnon, Avlgnon Iestlval, 2l |uly l982;
Engllsh verslon produced wlth !lot !lcrc, New
York, Harold Clurman Jheatre, l5 |une l983;
Edlnburgh, Edlnburgh Iestlval, l3 August l981;
!lot !lcrc, produced wlth Cotostroplc, New York,
Harold Clurman Jheater, l5 |une l983; Edln
burgh, Edlnburgh Iestlval, l3 August l981; orlgl
73
ai_ POV p~ _
nal Irench verslon of !lot !lcrc produced as
_uoi ou, Parls, Jhtre du RondPolnt, Aprll l986.
PRODLCED SCRIPJS. Zll Tlot Ioll, radlo, BBC
Jhlrd Programme, l3 |anuary l957;
Imbcrs, radlo, BBC Jhlrd Programme, 21 |une l959;
!ords ovd Music, radlo, BBC Jhlrd Programme, l3
November l962;
Coscovdo, radlo, RJIIrance Culture, l3 October l963;
Engllsh verslon, BBC Jhlrd Programme, 6 Octo
ber l961;
Iilm, motlon plcture, Evergreen, l965;
Il oc, televlslon, Sddeutscher Rundfunk, l3 Aprll
l966 |as Hc, oc|; orlglnal Engllsh verslon, BBC
2, 1 |uly l966; German verslon revlsed as Hc, oc,
Sddeutscher Rundfunk, l3 September l979;
Iougl for Iodio II, radlo, BBC Radlo 3, l3 Aprll l976;
Slodcs, televlslon, BBC 2, l7 Aprll l977comprlsed
Clost Trio, . . . but tlc clouds . . . , and òt I;
_uodrot 1 + 2, televlslon, Sddeutscher Rundfunk, 8
October l98l; Engllsh verslon broadcast as _uod,
BBC 2, l6 December l982;
òclt uvd Troumc, televlslon, Sddeutscher Rundfunk,
l9 May l983;
!os wo [!lot !lcrc], televlslon, Sddeutscher Rund
funk, l3 Aprll l986.
OJHER. 'Dante, Bruno, Vlco, |oyce," ln Uur Ixogmi-
votiov Iouvd His Ioctificotiov for Ivcomivotiov of
!orl iv Irogrcss, by Beckett and others (Parls.
Shakespeare and Company, l929), pp. 3-22;
'Irom the Only Poet to a Shlnlng Whore" ln Hcvry-
Music, by Henry Crowder and others (Parls.
Hours Press, l930), pp. l2-l1;
'Hell Crane to Starllng," 'Casket of Prallnen for a
Daughter of a Dlsslpated Mandarln," 'Jext,"
and 'Yoke of Llberty," ln Tlc Iuropcov Corovov:
Zv Zvtlology of tlc `cw Spirit iv Iuropcov Iitcro-
turc. Iort 1, Irovcc, Spoiv, Ivglovd ovd Irclovd,
edlted by Samuel Putnam, Malda Castelhun
Darnton, George Reavey, and |. Bronowskl
(New York. Brewer, Warren Putnam, l93l),
pp. 175-180;
Zs tlc Story !os Told, ln Cvtcr Iicl um Ccdocltvis,
edlted by Slegfrled Lnseld (Irankfurt am Maln.
Suhrkamp, l973);
Ccilivg, ln Avlgdor Arlkha, Zrillo (Parls. Hermann,
l985; London. Jhames Hudson, l985), p.
l2.
JRANSLAJIONS. Selected translatlons, ln `cgro: Zv
Zvtlology, edlted by Nancy Cunard (London.
Wlshart, l931);
Octavlo Paz, comp., Zvtlology of Mcxicov Ioctry (Bloom
lngton. Indlana Lnlverslty Press, l958);
Arthur Rlmbaud, Druvlcv oot [Ic botcou ivrc] (Readlng.
Whlteknlghts Press, l976).
Samuel Beckett ls the only Nobel laureate to
appear ln the crlcketers` blble, !isdcv, havlng repre
sented a Dublln Lnlverslty slde that toured England
ln l925 and l926. Beckett batted lefthanded and
bowled rlghthandedan lndlvldual approach that
was reflected ln most aspects of hls llfe, lncludlng hls
dlstlnctlve wrltlng. Jhe Nobel cltatlon from the
Swedlsh Academy states that hls award was for 'a
body of work that, ln new forms of flctlon and the
theatre, has transmuted the destltutlon of modern
man lnto hls exaltatlon." Beckett was, wlthout doubt,
one of the most slgnlflcant wrlters of the twentleth
century, and hls lnfluence and popularlty llve on lnto
the twentyflrst century.
Samuel Barclay Beckett was born at Cooldrl
nagh ln Ioxrock, County Dublln, on Good Irlday,
l3 Aprll l906. Irlday the Jhlrteenth was a partlcu
larly approprlate date for thls enlgmatlc flgure, who
had the reputatlon of belng somber and secretlve and
who refused to glve lntervlews about hlmself or hls
work, whlch appears to focus almost excluslvely on
the bleaker, darker slde of exlstence. Jhe popular
myth of Beckett as a mysterlous recluse was far from
the truth, however, and hld a prlvate but lmmensely
graclous and carlng person, whose generoslty
extended well beyond hls lmmedlate clrcle of frlends
to almost anyone he met.
Beckett was the second son of Wllllam Irank
Beckett, a quantlty surveyor, and hls wlfe, Marla
(ne Roe), known as May, who was a nurse. Jhe
famlly was staunchly Protestant and mlddleclass,
placlng Beckett ln the mlnorlty ln the predomlnantly
Cathollc Dublln. Desplte a turbulent relatlonshlp
wlth hls mother, who was strongwllled and protec
tlve, he had a relatlvely happy chlldhood ln rural
Ioxrock, attendlng a klndergarten run by two elderly
German slsters, Ida and Paullne Elsner, ln the nearby
vlllage of Stlllorgan. He was subsequently sent to
Portora Royal School ln Ennlsklllen, along wlth hls
elder brother, Irank. In addltlon to belng glfted aca
demlcally, Beckett had a llfelong love of sport, datlng
back to hls school days, where he excelled at rugby,
tennls, boxlng, and crlcket. When he entered Jrlnlty
College, Dublln, ln l923, Beckett`s passlon for sport
was gradually superseded by hls lnterests ln art,
muslc, and llterature. Although he only drlfted
slowly toward the study of modern languages, hav
lng also studled Engllsh llterature, he proved to be a
talented llngulst, graduatlng flrst ln hls year ln
71
p~ _ ai_ POV
Irench and Itallan. Hls Irench tutor, Jhomas Brown
RudmoseBrown, lntroduced hlm to a wlde range of
classlcal and modern Irench llterature, and hls Ital
lan studles provlded hls lnltlal contact wlth Dante`s
Divivo commcdio, a source of lnterest throughout hls
llfe. Hls academlc prowess was partnered wlth a pas
slon for muslchall and vaudevllle theater as well as
the sllent slapstlck movles and early shorts of Charlle
Chaplln, the Marx Brothers, and Buster Keaton.
Whlle at Jrlnlty College, Beckett met hls flrst love,
fellow pupll Ethna MacCarthy, who lnsplred the
poems 'Alba" (flrst publlshed ln Dubliv Mogoivc ln
l93l) and 'Yoke of Llberty" (flrst publlshed ln Tlc
Iuropcov Corovov: Zv Zvtlology of tlc `cw Spirit iv Iuro-
pcov Iitcroturc, l93l). Although hls feellngs were not
reclprocated, the two remalned good frlends untll
MacCarthy`s death from cancer ln l959.
After he graduated, an academlc career seemed
the obvlous optlon for the young, glfted llngulst, and
Beckett taught Irench for two terms at Campbell
College, Belfastan experlence he hated. In Novem
ber l928 he assumed the posltlon of lcctcur at the
Ecole Normale Suprleure ln Parls, where he became
frlends wlth Jhomas MacGreevy, hls predecessor ln
the post, who lntroduced hlm to |ames |oyce and hls
clrcle. Beckett lmmersed hlmself completely ln thls
artlstlc group, resultlng ln the lncluslon of hls essay
'Dante, Bruno, Vlco, |oyce" ln Uur Ixogmivotiov
Iouvd His Ioctificotiov for Ivcomivotiov of !orl iv Irogrcss
(l929), a volume celebratlng the work that became
|oyce`s Iivvcgovs !olc (l939). Jhe essay, whlch also
appeared ln the llterary journal Trovsitiov (Sprlng-
Summer l929), shows Beckett`s clear admlratlon for
|oyce`s style but also allows hlm to exhlblt hls own
ablllty to manlpulate language. Beckett`s flrst flc
tlonal work, 'Assumptlon," appeared ln the same
lssue of Trovsitiov, followed shortly afterward by hls
flrst lndependent publlcatlon. !loroscopc (l930), a
poem based on the llfe of Ren Descartes, wrltten as
an entry for the Hours Press poetry competltlon
organlzed by Nancy Cunard. Jhe tltle shows Beck
ett`s playfulness wlth language, belng a pun on the
word 'whore" and the Greek 'horo" (tlme/hour), as
well as alludlng to Descartes`s famous refusal to
reveal hls exact date of blrth, so that no astrologer
could wrlte an accurate horoscope predlctlng the date
of hls death.
In the autumn of l930 Beckett returned to
Dublln to take up a lectureshlp ln modern languages
at Jrlnlty College, where he taught classes on the
works of |ean Raclne, Mollre, Honor de Balzac,
Stendhal, Gustave Ilaubert, and Marcel Proust. As
hls contrlbutlon to the Modern Languages Soclety`s
annual presentatlon at the Peacock Jheatre, Beckett
took hls flrst steps toward becomlng a playwrlght by
collaboratlng wlth Georges Pelorson to create a one
act pastlche of Plerre Cornellle`s play Ic Cid (l637),
tltled Ic Iid (performed ln l93l). Although Pelorson
wrote most of the plece (and most Beckett scholars
therefore no longer regard lt as a work by Beckett),
Beckett came up wlth the tltle, whlch was also a play
on Chaplln`s movle Tlc Iid (l92l). In complete con
trast to thls llghthearted parody, Beckett also pub
llshed hls hlghly regarded essay Iroust (l93l), a study
of Z lo rcclcrclc du tcmps pcrdu (l9l3-l927, Remem
brance of Jhlngs Past), showcaslng Beckett`s crltlcal
wrltlng. In thls book he analyzes the maln Proustlan
concepts. tlme, 'that doubleheaded monster of dam
natlon and salvatlon"; lnvoluntary memory, 'an
lmmedlate, total and dellclous deflagratlon"; and
hablt, 'the ballast that chalns the dog to hls vomlt."
As blographer |ames Knowlson records, Beckett
dld not take to the 'grotesque comedy of lecturlng,"
descrlblng lt as 'teachlng to others what he dld not
know hlmself." After sufferlng a vlrtual breakdown
toward the end of l93l, Beckett reallzed that he was
not cut out for the rlgors of academlc llfe but was more
sulted to the artlstlc llfestyle he had encountered ln
Parls ln the company of |oyce. He subsequently
reslgned from hls teachlng post and declded to return to
Parls ln order to forge a career as a wrlter and transla
tor.
Durlng l932 Beckett worked on a novel tltled
Drcom of Ioir to Middlivg !omcv (l992), whlch he had
begun ln Dublln. A complex mlxture of crltlcal theory
and blographlcal detall, based loosely on Beckett`s own
turbulent llfestyle durlng hls tlme at Jrlnlty College,
thls novel presents the young wrlter wlth an opportu
nlty to dlsplay hls llterary and llngulstlc knowledge. It
follows the adventures of a young Irlshman, Belacqua
Shuah, whose name ls llfted dlrectly from Dante`s Iur-
gotorio. Iull of forelgn vocabulary and obscure llterary
alluslons, lt was perhaps too lntellectual for lts own
good, and Beckett was unable to flnd a publlsher for lt.
It was flnally publlshed after hls death. In l933, vlrtu
ally broke and under pressure to leave Parls because of
a clampdown on forelgn resldents, Beckett returned to
Dublln. Hls father dled on 26 |une l933, leavlng Beck
ett feellng gullty and depressed at havlng falled hlm by
reslgnlng from the teachlng post. Hls mental problems
lncreased as the year progressed, and he moved to Lon
don, where he underwent psychotherapy for almost
two years wlth Wllfred Blon at the Javlstock Cllnlc.
Durlng thls perlod, Beckett read wldely on psychology
and psychoanalysls and vlslted Bethlem Royal Hospl
tal, where a former school frlend, Geoffrey Jhompson,
worked as a doctor. Beckett`s own experlence of psy
75
ai_ POV p~ _
chotherapy and hls lnterest ln mental lllness ln general
are reflected ln much of hls subsequent wrltlng.
Beckett recycled some of the materlal from hls
unpubllshed novel ln Morc Iricls tlov Iicls (l931), a
collectlon of ten satlrlcal short storles about the
explolts of Belacqua Shuah. Wrltten ln a slmllarly
hlghbrow llterary style, the book was well recelved
crltlcally but sold poorly. Beckett also completed
nlneteen translatlons for Nancy Cunard`s `cgro: Zv
Zvtlology (l931), reallzlng that translatlon mlght be
one posslble way to support hlmself. MacGreevy
lntroduced Beckett to varlous flgures ln the publlsh
lng world ln an attempt to ald hls wrltlng career. Jhls
asslstance resulted ln a serles of revlews for llterary
journals, one of whlch, a revlew of Moort Uv tlc !oy
to Iroguc, a l931 translatlon of Eduard Mrlke`s
Moort ouf dcr Icisc vocl Irog (l856), offers an early
lnslght lnto Beckett`s stance concernlng language. In
thls revlew, lncluded ln Disjccto: Misccllovcous !ritivgs
ovd o Dromotic Irogmcvt (l983), Beckett argues that
Mrlke`s work ls 'at least short, whlch ls nowadays
so rare a quallty ln a llterary work that one cannot
refraln from commendlng thls book for havlng con
trlved, ln 20,000 words lnstead of ln 200,000, to
exhaust the lnessentlal." Jhls goal ls preclsely what
many of Beckett`s own subsequent protagonlsts are
trylng to achleve'to exhaust the lnessentlal." Beck
ett clalms that 'all wrltlng, quo wrltlng, ls bound to
fall," neatly summarlzlng hls approach to hls own
creatlve process and hls constant attempts to 'Iall
agaln. Iall better," as he wrote ln !orstword Ho
(l983). In addltlon to these llterary revlews, he also
publlshed a collectlon of thlrteen poems under the
tltle Iclo`s ovcs ovd Utlcr Irccipitotcs (l935).
In September l931 Beckett moved to the World`s
End area of London, the settlng for hls next novel, Mur-
ply (l938), whlch he completed ln |une l936. Some
what autoblographlcal ln nature, the novel recounts the
tale of the Irlsh 'everyman" of the tltle. down on hls
luck, llvlng ln slmllar clrcumstances to Beckett, and
torn between the splrltual and the physlcal. Probably
Beckett`s most accesslble prose work, lt ls less overtly
lntellectual than hls prevlous efforts, belng what C. |.
Ackerley and S. E. Gontarskl ln Tlc Crovc Compoviov to
cclctt (2001) call 'a glgantlc joke made up of tlny
ones." It has a wealth of entertalnlng characters and
draws on Beckett`s knowledge of Descartes and Ilemlsh
phllosopher Arnold Geullncx as well as hls own love of
chess for lts plot. Its most famous moment ls Murphy`s
funeral wake, where, durlng a drunken argument, 'the
body, mlnd and soul of Murphy were freely dlstrlbuted
over the floor of the saloon." In a scene that mlxes com
edy and pathos, hls ashes are swept away 'wlth the
sand, the beer, the butts, the glass, the matches, the
splts, the vomlt." Desplte the potentlal appeal of the
novel, Beckett remalned unable to flnd a publlsher for lt
for almost two years. After a promlslng start, hls llter
ary career now seemed to be struggllng.
In September l936, havlng recently become
lnterested ln art hlstory, Beckett traveled to Germany
wlth the lntentlon of vlsltlng varlous gallerles. He
was dlsappolnted to flnd that the Nazls had removed
all the modern palntlngs that they consldered degener
ate. Jhls perlod ln Germany was of great lmportance ln
Beckett`s development as a wrlter, as he met a serles
of people who lntroduced hlm to the work of the
most forwardthlnklng German artlsts and wrlters.
Although the perlod was unproductlve ln terms of cre
atlve wrltlng, Beckett kept a slxvolume dlary and a
notebook durlng hls travels. Jhe notebook bears the
lnscrlptlon 'Whoroscope," although lts contents are
unrelated to the poem of that tltle. It lncludes a wealth
of lnformatlon on Beckett`s readlng matter and
thoughts durlng these slx unhappy months, ln partlcu
lar outllnlng hls attractlon toward German phllosophy
and hls growlng lnterest ln contemporary German llter
ature. Around thls tlme, Beckett also began worklng on
a play about Samuel |ohnson and hls clrcle, whlch he
tltled 'Human Wlshes." Desplte fllllng several note
books wlth source materlal and drafts, he never pub
llshed the play, and only a fragment appears ln Disjccto.
On returnlng to Dublln, Beckett was called as a
wltness ln a llbel case lnvolvlng hls uncle, Harry Sln
clalr; Knowlson reports that durlng the trlal, Beckett`s
artlstlc llfestyle was scrutlnlzed and he was descrlbed as
'that bawd and blasphemer from Parls." Havlng wlt
nessed flrsthand the lntolerance of the Nazl reglme
toward wrlters and artlsts ln Germany, Beckett made
the declslon to llve ln Parls for the rest of hls llfe. Hls
llfe as an exlle dld not begln well. on 5 |anuary l938 he
was stabbed near the heart by a plmp and only nar
rowly escaped death. Whlle recuperatlng ln hospltal, he
was vlslted by Suzanne DeschevauxDumesnll, a
Irench woman he had met ten years earller. By l939
they were llvlng together, although they dld not marry
untll 25 March l96l. Beckett spent the last years of the
decade worklng on the Irench translatlon of Murply
wlth Alfred Pron. He also wrote several poems ln
Irench, whlch were publlshed ln Ics Tcmps Modcrvcs ln
l916.
Beckett`s declslon that he preferred Irance at
the outbreak of World War II to Ireland at peace was
more than a mere gesture. As an Irlshman llvlng
abroad, Beckett was, ln theory, a neutral. But, havlng
recently experlenced the lnhumanlty of the Nazl
reglme ln Germany, he felt unable to stand by and
allow hls Irench frlends and colleagues to be perse
cuted. He was lntroduced to a Rslstance cell by
76
p~ _ ai_ POV
Pron and was soon worklng as a translator and
relaylng messages. When the cell was lnflltrated ln
August l912, Beckett and DeschevauxDumesnll fled
to Rousslllon ln the Vaucluse, where they spent the
rest of the war ln hldlng. Durlng thelr forced lsola
tlon, Beckett managed to complete a novel, t~
(l953), whlch he later descrlbed dlsparaglngly
(accordlng to Lawrence Harvey) as 'only a game . . .
a means of staylng sane and a way to keep |my| hand
ln." In contrast to jI t~ ls one of Beckett`s
least accesslble works. It relates the story of the tltle
character, flrst a servant ln Mr. Knott`s house and
later resldent of an lnstltutlon, where he recounts hls
adventures to another lnmate called Sam. Jhe novel
documents Watt`s gradual mental deterloratlon and
ls full of complex llsts, hypotheses, and calculatlons,
based on probabllltles and permutatlons, whlch can
be perplexlng for the reader. Completely dlfferent
styllstlcally from hls prevlous novels, t~ was Beck
ett`s last work ln Engllsh for several years. Beckett`s
experlences durlng the war altered hls outlook on llfe
dramatlcally, and hls feellngs of lsolatlon, uncer
talnty, and danger are reflected ln much of hls post
war wrltlng. Beckett was awarded the Crolx de
Guerre and the Mdallle de la Reconnalssance
Iranalse for hls Rslstance work durlng the war.
Yet, wlth hls usual modesty, he dlsmlssed hls brave
actlons as merely 'boy scout actlvltles."
Durlng a vlslt to Ioxrock shortly after the war,
Beckett experlenced what he descrlbed as a 'revela
tlon," an eplsode he later drew on ln h~ i~ q~
(performed ln l958, publlshed ln l959). At the root
of thls vlslon was the reallzatlon that he had to move
away from |oyce`s shadow and forge hls own dlstlnc
tlve llterary style. Knowlson notes that whereas |oyce
regarded knowledge as a means to understand and
control the world, Beckett`s 'own way was ln lmpov
erlshment, ln lack of knowledge and ln taklng away,
ln subtractlng rather than addlng." In an attempt to
slmpllfy hls llterary style, Beckett began wrltlng ln
Irench ln earnest. Iorclng hlmself to wrlte ln a for
elgn language seemed the best way of avoldlng what
he vlewed as the llterary excesses of hls earller
works. Jhls dlssatlsfactlon wlth hls own language as
an expresslve medlum has lts roots ln a~ c~
j tI ln whlch Beckett clalms, 'Jhey have
no style, they wrlte wlthout style, do they not. . . .
Perhaps only the Irench can do lt. Perhaps only the
Irench language can glve you the thlng you want."
He had clearly been harborlng these feellngs for
some years. In a letter to a German frlend, Axel
Kaun, dated 9 |uly l937 and lncluded ln a~I
Beckett wrltes. 'It ls lndeed becomlng more and
more dlfflcult, even senseless, for me to wrlte an offl
clal Engllsh. And more and more my own language
appears to me llke a vell that must be torn apart ln
order to get at the thlngs (or the Nothlngness) behlnd
lt." In thls letter he advocates the search for a new
medlum of expresslon. 'Let us hope the tlme wlll
come, thank God that ln certaln clrcles lt has already
come, when language ls most efflclently used where
lt ls belng most efflclently mlsused."
Jhese thoughts are the roots of hls attempts to
express the lnexpresslblethat whlch lles behlnd lan
guage. As he notes ln t~I 'the only way one can
speak of nothlng ls to speak of lt as though lt were
somethlng." Beckett wants to express hls dlsgust wlth
language through language ltself, clalmlng he would
llke to commlt 'an assault agalnst words ln the name
of beauty." Lntll he can achleve that goal, 'I have
the consolatlon, as now, of slnnlng lnvoluntarlly
agalnst a forelgn language, as I should love to do
wlth full knowledge and lntent agalnst my own." He
ls too proflclent ln hls own language; grammar and
syntax are no longer a challenge. Wrltlng ln a forelgn
language can offer hlm thls challenge untll he can
flnd a way of 'slnnlng" ln hls natlve tongue.
Jhe flrst work Beckett completed ln Irench, ln
l916, was the novel j `~ (l970; translated
by Beckett as j ~ `~I l971), whlch follows
the explolts of the two tltular characters, who meet to
undertake a journey that lnvolves many dlstractlons
and devlatlons. Jhematlcally and styllstlcally, lt
clearly preflgures b ~~ d (l952; translated
by Beckett as t~ dI l951), wlth llnes from
the novel (such as 'Jhey dldn`t beat you?") resurfac
lng almost verbatlm ln the play. Beckett regarded the
novel as a klnd of apprentlce work, ln order to attune
hls ear to wrltlng ln Irench, and lt remalned unpub
llshed untll l970. In early l917 Beckett completed hls
flrst fulllength play, the threeact b~ (l995;
translated as b~I l995), the tltle belng the
Greek term for freedom. It ls an unwleldy satlre, wlth
many characters and a spllt set, maklng lt dlfflcult to
stage. Perhaps aware of the structural falllngs of the
play, Beckett remalned adamant that lt should not be
publlshed or performed throughout hls llfe. It was
eventually publlshed slx years after hls death.
Jhe only ltems Beckett dld get publlshed at thls
tlme were several poems and translatlons ln q~J
I the journal edlted by Georges Duthult. Hls most
slgnlflcant wrltlngs from thls perlod are the q
a~I whlch appeared ln the December l919
lssue of q~ and were later publlshed wlth m
ln l965. Ostenslbly a serles of conversatlons between
Beckett and Duthult about three artlstsPlerre Jal
Coat, Andr Masson, and Bram van Veldethe texts
act as a klnd of manlfesto for Beckett to state hls
TT
ai_ POV p~ _
m~ _ ~~ ~ b ~~ d ENVROX ~~ _ ~
t~ dI NVRQF m~I NVRPK j~ _ ~
~ EpI NP a NVVMFK
78
p~ _ ai_ POV
vlews on art and the role of the artlst. Beckett sum
marlzes the problems faclng a wrlter as 'Jhe expres
slon that there ls nothlng to express, nothlng wlth
whlch to express, nothlng from whlch to express, no
power to express, no deslre to express, together wlth
the obllgatlon to express." As far as Beckett ls con
cerned, fallure ls the artlst`s lot; he clalms he would
be 'the flrst to admlt that to be an artlst ls to fall, as
no other dare fall, that fallure ls hls world and the
shrlnk from lt desertlon."
Jhe change to wrltlng ln Irench marked a
burst of llterary actlvlty for Becketta perlod he
referred to, accordlng to blographer Delrdre Balr, as
'the slege ln the room"and he began wrltlng a
dense prose trllogy comprlslng j (l95l; trans
lated by Beckett and Patrlck Bowles, l955), j~
(l95l; translated by Beckett as j~ aI
l956) and if~ (l953; translated by Beckett
as q r~~I l958). Jhe composltlon of thls trll
ogy also marked Beckett`s move to the flrstperson
monologue as the predomlnant style ln hls prose
work. Jhls shlft allowed hlm to draw on hls own
mental and physlcal experlences to a much greater
degree whlle stlll belng able to retaln a sultable dls
tance from any blographlcal elements by wrltlng ln a
forelgn language. Beckett vlewed the three novels as
part of the same dlfflcult yet rewardlng composl
tlonal process.
j was wrltten relatlvely qulckly ln l917
and concerns the eponymous hero`s quest for hls
mother, a search that has Oedlpal overtones. 'I took
her for my mother and she took me for my father."
Llke most llterary quests, Molloy`s journey eventu
ally brlngs hlm back to hlmself. Jhe novel ls dlvlded
lnto two sectlons wlth a slmllar structure; ln each the
reader encounters a man ln a room wrltlng a report.
In the flrst, Molloy recounts hls story; ln the second,
Moran tells how he was sent to flnd Molloy. Desplte
the Ireudlan and |unglan overtones of the novel, a
certaln black humor ls present throughout, wlth each
narrator constantly questlonlng hlmself and under
mlnlng hls prevlous utterances. Moran asks. 'Does
thls mean I am freer now than I was? I do not know.
I shall learn. Jhen I went back lnto the house and
wrote, It ls mldnlght. Jhe raln ls beatlng on the wln
dows. It was not mldnlght. It was not ralnlng." Beck
ett regarded j as hls flrst successful attempt at
lncorporatlng hls personal experlences lnto hls own
flctlon. In a l6 Iebruary l96l artlcle ln k iJ
~I Gabrlel dÀubarde clalmed that Beckett sum
marlzed the change ln hls approach to wrltlng thus.
'j and the others came to me the day I became
aware of my own folly. Only then dld I begln to wrlte
the thlngs I feel."
Beckett began wrltlng j~ less than a
month after completlng j. Planned as a compan
lon plece, the novel was orlglnally tltled 'LÀbsent,"
glvlng an lndlcatlon of the narrator`s lsolatlon from
the world, a theme that ls relnforced by the pun
lnherent ln hls name. Malone (M, alone). Llke Mol
loy, Malone ls a wrlter, alone ln a room, aged, pros
trate and lmmoblle, who strlves to recount four
storles before death overcomes hlm. 'one about a
man, another about a woman, a thlrd about a thlng
and flnally one about an anlmal, a blrd probably."
Jhe scene and tone of the novel are set ln the open
lng llne. 'I shall soon be qulte dead at last ln splte of
all." Malone feels a compulslon to wrlte and to exam
lne hls past llfe and hls current sltuatlon, ln order to
stave off the boredom of hls dally exlstence and to
understand hlmself more fully. Ior hlm, 'Nothlng ls
more real than nothlng." Jhe novel focuses on the
act of wrltlng, and Malone`s storytelllng acts as a
metaphor for hls llfe. as hls pencll wears down, the
sands of hls own llfe trlckle away. As long as he ls
able to wrlte 'a few llnes to remlnd me that I too sub
slst," he can cllng to the last vestlges of exlstence. As
death approaches, Malone seems to flnd some klnd
of lnner peace wlth the acceptance that the world ls
full of thlngs he can never understand. Perhaps
unwlttlngly, Beckett predlcts the nature of hls next
novel and also much of hls future wrltlng, ln whlch
hls characters become shadowy, nameless flgures.
'Jhen lt wlll be all over wlth the Murphys, Merclers,
Molloys, Morans and Malones, unless lt goes on
beyond the grave." Jhe novel was turned down by
several publlshers, presumably because of lts subject
matter and style.
Lnable to flnd a publlsher for these two novels
and flndlng hlmself ln a creatlve dead end, Beckett
turned to drama as a relaxatlon from thls lntense
project and, between October l918 and |anuary
l919, he worked feverlshly on a play he tltled b
~~ dthe work that brought hlm lnterna
tlonal fame and recognltlon as an author. Yet, as wlth
hls earller works, Beckett struggled lnltlally to flnd a
publlsher. Jhls mlnlmallst, ostenslbly slmple playln
whlch, famously, as Vlvlan Mercler observes, 'noth
lng happens, "marks a stark contrast from
Beckett`s recent prose work and represents the clos
est he had come to an embodlment of hls search for a
slmpler, more preclse llngulstlc style. Jhe play ls set
ln an unspeclfled locatlon ('A country road. A tree.
Evenlng.") and focuses on the dlalogue between the
two protagonlsts, Estragon and Vladlmlr, who are
halftramp, halfclown; the theme ls perhaps best
summarlzed by Estragon`s openlng llne, 'Nothlng to
be done." As they walt ln valn for the mysterlous
79
ai_ POV p~ _
Godot to arrlve, they flll what Beckett called 'the ter
rlble sllence that ls waltlng to flood lnto thls play llke
water lnto a slnklng shlp" wlth a successlon of verbal
and physlcal games, whlch range from slapstlck rou
tlnes to an earnest contemplatlon of sulclde. A brlef
dlstractlon occurs wlth the arrlval of a second couple,
Pozzo and Lucky, the former leadlng the latter by a
rope round hls neck, glvlng the lmpresslon of master
and slave. After thelr departure a boy appears,
lnformlng them that Godot wlll not come today, but
wlll deflnltely come tomorrow, renewlng thelr fadlng
hopes.
Jhe shorter second act ls a structural repetltlon
of the flrst, wlth subtle but slgnlflcant varlatlons.
Although the tree galns a few leaves ln the lnterval,
suggestlng new llfe and hope, ln contrast, when
Pozzo and Lucky return, Pozzo ls bllnd and Lucky ls
mute. Jhe rope blndlng the two ls much shorter, sug
gestlng the power balance has been reversed, wlth
Pozzo now rellant on Lucky as hls gulde. By not glv
lng the play a speclflc settlng, Beckett succeeds ln
maklng lt completely unlversal. Exlstence ls por
trayed as a constant search for meanlng and salva
tlon, whlch are never found. Llfe equates wlth
sufferlng and comprlses a serles of lnane conversa
tlons deslgned to flll the tlme untll death. Desplte the
ostenslble bleakness of the sltuatlon, there ls much
humor ln the play. Estragon and Vladlmlr do not
lose thelr falth, and the bond between them remalns
as strong as ever at the close. Llke an old marrled
couple, they are unable to llve together wlthout blck
erlng, yet are even less able to survlve apart.
Jhe play was publlshed by Edltlons de Mlnult
ln l952 and recelved lts premlere at the Jhtre de
Babylone ln Parls on 5 |anuary l953 to great crltlcal
success. |ean Anoullh descrlbed lt ln ^ p~ (27
Iebruary - 5 March l953) as 'Pascal`s m played
by the Iratelllnl clowns." Beckett translated the play
lnto Engllsh durlng l953, and lt premlered at the
Arts Jheatre Club ln London ln August l955,
dlrected by Peter Hall. Although lt recelved malnly
hostlle revlews, the two leadlng theater crltlcs of the
era, Kenneth Jynan and Harold Hobson, champl
oned lt, helplng to turn lt lnto an lntellectual success.
In |anuary l956 the play had lts Amerlcan premlere
ln Mlaml, agaln to a hostlle receptlon; but wlthln a
few months, lt was playlng on Broadway to large
audlences, clalmlng lts rlghtful posltlon as one of the
most slgnlflcant plays of the twentleth century.
After thls brlef lnterlude that resulted ln b
~~ dI Beckett returned to wrltlng the flnal
part of hls prose trllogy, if~. Orlglnally
tltled 'Mahood," after one of the names attrlbuted to
the narrator, thls novel was begun ln March l919,
wlth trepldatlon, after the mental and physlcal effort
he had expended on the two prevlous novelsappar
ently ln valn, slnce he stlll had not found a publlsher
for them. In a conversatlon wlth the artlst Avlgdor
Arlkha (quoted ln Anne Atlk, e f t~W ^ j
p~ _I 200l), Beckett later descrlbed q
r~~ as an attempt 'to try to tell one more tlme
what lt ls to have been." Jhe questlonlng tone of the
novel ls set by the openlng llne. 'Where now? Who
now? When now?" q r~~ ls a key work ln
Beckett`s canon, as lt preflgures much of hls subse
quent prose and drama ln both style and content. It
focuses on the deslre to be sllent, comblned wlth the
compulslon to speak. 'Havlng nothlng to say, no
words but the words of others, I have to speak." Jhls
lack of 'deslre to express, together wlth the obllga
tlon to express," ls somethlng Beckett had already
ldentlfled ln the q a~. Preflgurlng by more
than twenty years the subject matter of hls play k f
(performed ln l972, publlshed ln l973), ln whlch the
character Mouth ls forced to spout the words that are
pent up wlthln her, the narrator ln q r~~ ls
'compelled to speak" and has just as llttle control
over language. 'Where do these words come from
that pour out of my mouth, and what do they
mean?" Echolng the sltuatlon ln t~ dI
where Estragon and Vladlmlr flnd seemlngly endless
ways to contlnue thelr conversatlons, the narrator of
q r~~ argues that 'the dlscourse must go on.
So one lnvents obscurltles. Rhetorlc." As he explalns,
'the search for the means to put an end to thlngs, an
end to speech, ls what enables the dlscourse to con
tlnue." In order to add to the narrator`s confuslon,
Beckett uses several contradlctory volces, wlth the
result that language both comforts and terrorlzes the
narrator. 'Ah lf only thls volce could stop, thls mean
lngless volce whlch prevents you from belng nothlng,
just barely prevents you from belng nothlng and
nowhere." If the volces are sllenced, then he wlll
have peace; but the cessatlon of the volces also
means the end of llfe, so lt ls a doubleedged sword.
Jhe novel concludes wlth one of Beckett`s most
famous llnes, whlch encapsulates the ethos of many
of hls characters who contlnue thelr struggle ln the
face of overwhelmlng odds. 'where I am, I don`t
know, I`ll never know, ln the sllence you don`t know,
you must go on, I can`t go on, I`ll go on."
In response to a request from hls Amerlcan
publlsher, Barney Rosset, Beckett reverted to Engllsh
for hls next composltlon, c ~ ^~ t
(l958). It flrst appeared ln q k ln |une l956,
wlth many edltorlal modlflcatlons, and was the flrst
example of Beckett`s generoslty toward hls alma
mater. As the tltle suggests, the text ls resurrected
80
p~ _ ai_ POV
from a longer, dlscarded plece. It ls wrltten ln a con
versatlonal style, as the flrstperson narrator recounts
three days chosen randomly from hls llfe. Jhe text
seems to allude to Beckett`s own experlence of lan
guage learnlng. 'I was very qulck as a boy and
plcked up a lot of hard knowledge, Schlmmel, nlce
word for an Engllsh speaker." Yet, the narrator ls
scathlng about hls proflclency ln hls mother tongue
'awful Engllsh thls"an unlntentlonal, but apt, com
ment on the changes made by the q k edltors.
In the years followlng the success of t~
dI Beckett focused on dramatlc wrltlng, startlng
wlth c ~ (l957; translated by Beckett as bJ
~I l958), another play wlth a closed, nonspeclflc
locatlon, whlch has been lnterpreted as both a post
apocalyptlc bunker and the lnslde of the human
braln. Jhls nondescrlpt, gray settlng ls populated by
four characters, who appear to represent three gener
atlons of the same famlly. Bleaker and 'more lnhu
man than d " (accordlng to Beckett), wlth the
actlon llmlted to thls claustrophoblc slngle room wlth
two hlgh wlndows that look out onto what remalns
of the deserted outslde world, the play focuses on the
lovehate relatlonshlp between Hamm and Clov, who
are apparently father and son. Llke Estragon and
Vladlmlr, these two protagonlsts are an lnseparable
couple whose exlstence ls a routlne of verbal
exchanges ln order to pass the tlme. Beckett used the
Latln phrase (nelther wlth you nor
wlthout you) to descrlbe thelr relatlonshlp. Clov`s
openlng llne, 'Ilnlshed, lt`s flnlshed, nearly flnlshed,
lt must be nearly flnlshed," ls lndlcatlve of hls deslre
to be free from Hamm. He yearns for 'a world where
all would be sllent and stlll and each thlng ln lts last
place, under the last dust." Hamm, ln contrast,
merely regards Clov as an object of entertalnment.
'Slnce that`s the way we`re playlng lt . . . let`s play lt
that way." Jhe humor and the dlalogue ln thls play
are much darker than lts predecessor, wlth physlcal
and mental sufferlng more evldent. Jhe other two
characters, Nagg and Nell, Hamm`s parents, are
reduced to llvlng ln dustblns. Yet, as Nell remarks,
'Nothlng ls funnler than unhapplness." Llke t~
dI b~ has a loosely clrcular structure.
Although there seems to be some klnd of progresslon
by the end of the play, wlth Clov apparently dressed
to leave, lt ls merely an asymptotlc approach toward
an unattalnable end. Jhere ls nothlng to suggest that
the actlon wlll not begln agaln the next day ln
exactly the same manner. Jhe play premlered ln
Irench at the Royal Court Jheatre ln London on 3
Aprll l957, after censorshlp problems concernlng sev
eral llnes that the Lord Chamberlaln regarded as
blasphemous. By October of the followlng year,
Beckett`s Engllsh translatlon was playlng ln the same
theater.
Around thls tlme, Beckett was asked by the
BBC to wrlte a radlo play, resultlng ln ^ q~ c~
(l957), whlch ls set ln Ioxrock and features charac
ters from the same background as hlmself; lt was
broadcast ln |anuary l957. Radlo also provlded hlm
wlth the lnsplratlon for hls next dramatlc work. Hav
lng heard the Irlsh actor Patrlck Magee readlng
extracts from j and c ~ ^~ t as
part of a BBC broadcast ln December l957, Beckett
was lnsplred to wrlte h~ i~ q~I the story of a
lonely old man who spends hls blrthdays llstenlng to
recordlngs of hls former self and maklng a new
recordlng documentlng the achlevements of that
year. By clever use of what was relatlvely new tech
nology at the tlme, Beckett ls able to present three
lncarnatlons of Krapp on the stage, as he llstens to
recordlngs from dlfferent eras of hls llfe. Beckett utl
llzes Manlchaean lmagery to portray Krapp`s con
stant struggle between good and bad, the splrltual
and the physlcal, as he moves physlcally and meta
phorlcally between llght and dark, desperate to dls
tance hlmself from hls falled earller self. At one polnt
Krapp recounts a revelatlon he had'that memorable
nlght ln March, at the end of the jetty, ln the howllng
wlnd, never to be forgotten, when suddenly I saw the
whole thlng"echolng Beckett`s own revelatlon some
years earller. Jhe play ends wlth a recordlng of the
younger Krapp (at age thlrtynlne) stlll playlng. 'Per
haps my best years are gone. When there was a
chance of happlness. But I wouldn`t want them back.
Not wlth the flre ln me now." Hls present condltlon
ls evldence that thls flre burned out and came to
nothlng. Jhe decade concluded wlth Beckett belng
awarded an honorary D.Lltt. degree from Jrlnlty
College, Dublln ln l959. Around thls tlme, he also
began a relatlonshlp wlth Barbara Bray, a scrlpt edl
tor at the BBC, whlch contlnued for many years.
Beckett`s next play, e~ a~ (l96l), focuses
on the rambllngs of an elderly woman, Wlnnle, who
ls burled up to her walst ln scorched grass ln the flrst
act and up to her neck ln the second, as the earth llt
erally engulfs her. Her only solace ls 'a capaclous
black bag, shopplng varlety," contalnlng a range of
lmplementstoothbrush, mlrror, spectacles, and,
rather omlnously, a revolver, whlch she places on the
mound ln front of her as her flnal optlon. Jhls vlsu
ally strlklng lmage and the almost complete lack of
physlcal actlon allows Beckett to focus attentlon on
the words Wlnnle speaks. Desplte the fact that every
thlng ls 'runnlng out," lncludlng her memory
'Words fall, there are tlmes when even they fall"
Wlnnle struggles to remaln optlmlstlc, happy just to
8l
ai_ POV p~ _
be acknowledged by her husband, Wlllle, who ls hld
den behlnd the mound and utters a mere handful of
words throughout. Lnable to remaln sllent, she
needs an audlence of some klnd ln order to be able to
contlnue. 'just to know that ln theory you can hear
me even though ln fact you don`t ls all I need, just to
feel you there wlthln earshot." At the end of the play,
Wlllle crawls to the front of the mound and reaches
toward the gun. As the curtaln falls on thls tableau, lt
remalns unclear whether he ls slmply reachlng out to
touch Wlnnle, or whether he lntends to use the gun
to klll her, or hlmself, and brlng an end to thelr pltl
ful exlstence. A vlrtual monologue, lastlng around an
hour and a half, the play ls the flrst of several to
lnvolve challenglng female roles wlth whlch Beckett
moves away from the physlcal and focuses on the
verbal.
Beckett`s next work for the stage, Iloy (per
formed and publlshed ln Engllsh, l961), deplcts the
conventlonal love trlangle of a man, hls wlfe, and hls
mlstressperhaps reflectlng hls own sltuatlon wlth
DeschevauxDumesnll and Braybut ln an uncon
ventlonal manner. Wrltten ln Engllsh, but flrst per
formed and publlshed ln German (as Spicl ), lt
premlered ln Llm ln |une l963. Jhe three charac
ters, one male flanked by two females, are ensconced
up to thelr necks ln urns, as Beckett agaln forces the
audlence`s attentlon to the verbal element by remov
lng any physlcal attrlbutes. Assumlng the role of a
fourth character, or lnqulsltor, a spotllght focuses on
each head ln turn, promptlng lt to speak at great
speed and wlth llttle emotlonln stark contrast to the
textual content. Jhe entlre play ls repeated, stresslng
that there ls no way out of the sltuatlon. Jhe three
characters are conslgned to thls llvlng hell. One of
the most slgnlflcant llnes ls the male`s questlon, 'Am
I as much as . . . belng seen?"lndlcatlng Beckett`s
lnterest ln the concept of observatlon and perceptlon,
a theme lnltlated ln Hoppy Doys. He lnvestlgated thls
theme ln greater depth ln hls next project, the screen
play Iilm (l965). Based on George Berkeley`s maxlm
'esse est perclpl" (to be ls to be percelved), and sllent
throughout, wlth the exceptlon of a 'sssh!", the
twentymlnute motlon plcture follows an old man
(played by Buster Keaton) as he appears to be fleelng
the attentlon of the camera, hls face only becomlng
vlslble, brlefly, at the concluslon. Beckett traveled to
New York ln the summer of l961 to dlrect the plece,
along wlth Alan Schnelder. It premlered at the Venlce
Illm Iestlval ln September l965 and also played at
the New York Illm Iestlval; lt was Beckett`s only
venture lnto the medlum of motlon plctures.
After hls success wlth Iilm, Beckett turned hls
attentlon to the small screen wlth hls flrst televlslon
play, Il oc (broadcast ln l966; publlshed ln Irench
as Dis oc ln l966; publlshed ln Engllsh ln l967),
wrltten for the Irlsh actor |ack MacGowran. As part
of the reductlve process begun wlth Iloy, and wlth a
slmllar thematlc approach to Iilm, thls work focuses,
llterally, on a solltary character slttlng on a bed, as
the camera moves ever closer. In contrast to the usual
televlslon conventlon, the volce heard by the audl
ence ls not that of MacGowran, but a female volce
that echoes around hls head, tauntlng hlm wlth mem
orles of hls past. 'You know that penny farthlng hell
you call your mlnd. . . . Jhat`s where you thlnk thls
ls comlng from, don`t you?" Jhls process of reflne
ment and parlng away contlnued wlth Comc ovd Co
(produced as Iommcv uvd Cclcv, l966; publlshed ln
Irench as !o-ct-vicvt, l966; publlshed ln Engllsh,
l967, performed ln l968), a brlef, twopage text ln
whlch three shrouded women dlscuss what appear to
be thelr grave lllnesses or lmpendlng deaths. As each
woman leaves the stage ln turn, the remalnlng two
dlscuss her apparent crltlcal sltuatlon. By the end of
thls cycle, lt becomes clear that each woman has a
devastatlng secret to hlde. Jhls reductlve process
reached lts loglcal concluslon ln rcotl (produced ln
l969, publlshed ln l97l), a thlrtysecond plece com
prlslng two crles, of blrth and death, and a stage
strewn wlth rubblsh representlng the detrltus of llfe.
Desplte hls success as a dramatlst, Beckett con
tlnued to wrlte prose and poetry ln both Engllsh and
Irench, reflnlng hls prose style ln the same way as hls
work for the theater and televlslon. In l96l he had
publlshed the groundbreaklng novel Commcvt c`cst,
translated as How It Is (l961). Dlvlded lnto three sec
tlons ('Before Plm," 'Wlth Plm," and 'After Plm"),
the novel appears to descrlbe the emergence of an
lnclplent form from formlessness. Jhe Irench tltle of
the novel reflects thls theme, belng a pun on the
Irench verb commcvccr (to begln). Wrltten as one long
sentence wlth no punctuatlon, the text ls dlvlded lnto
a successlon of rhythmlcally organlzed segments that
reflect the patterns of human speech. In a veln slml
lar to Lucky`s monologue ln !oitivg for Codot, the
novel ends ln a dramatlc crescendo. 'trouble the
peace no more no answer the sllence no answer dle
no answer DIE . . . screams I MAY DIE screams I
SHALL DIE screams good."
As the l960s progressed, Beckett`s prose and
drama decreased ln length as he found lncreaslngly
successful ways to express the lnexpresslble. Whlle
hls dramatlc works tended to be wrltten ln Engllsh,
he publlshed several mlnlmallst prose texts wrltten ln
Irench, beglnnlng wlth Imogivotiov mortc imogivc
(l965; translated by Beckett as Imogivotiov Dcod Imog-
ivc, l965). Jaklng lts tltle from the flrst llne of Zll
82
p~ _ ai_ POV
Strovgc Zwoy (wrltten the prevlous year but not pub
llshed untll l976), thls text opens wlth the omlnous
llne, 'No trace anywhere of llfe, you say." Jhe narra
tor descrlbes the constructlon of a whlte rotunda
contalnlng two motlonless flgures. Wlthln 'thls llttle
fabrlc" there are erratlcally fluctuatlng levels of llght
and heat, suggestlng an unstable envlronment. Beck
ett`s next prose work, Zssc (l966; translated by
Beckett as Ivougl, l967), marks a return to a flrst
person narrator, who tells the reader, 'All that goes
before forget." Desplte thls command, he proceeds to
recount what has not been forgotten. Jhe tltle refers
to the act of narratlon ltselfthe narrator has had
enough of recountlng. ivg (l966; translated by
Beckett as Iivg, l967) reverts to the theme and style
of Imogivotiov Dcod Imogivc, as the narrator descrlbes a
slngle flgure ln a whlte box. Desplte the narrator`s
clalm at the start that 'All |ls| known," he spends the
remalnder of the text maklng mlnor modlflcatlons to
repeated phrases, undermlnlng thls openlng state
ment. Jhe 'blng"/'plng" of the tltle appears wlth
lncreaslng regularlty as the text progresses, suggest
lng the emergence of a new llfe force. On the cover of
the Engllsh translatlon of hls next prose work, Sovs
(l969; translated by Beckett as Icssvcss, l970) Beckett
summarlzed lts theme as 'the collapse of some such
refuge as that last attempted ln Iivg and wlth the
ensulng sltuatlon of the refugee." Llke hls other
recent novellas, Icssvcss ls based on a structure of rep
etltlon and varlatlon; but ln place of the lntense
whlte heat and llght, here everythlng ls 'ash grey" as
ln Ivdgomc. Jhe Irench texts of Imogivotiov Dcod
Imogivc, Ivougl, and Iivg, along wlth Beckett`s Irench
translatlon of Irom ov Zbovdovcd !orl, were gathered
together as Tctcs-mortcs (l967), the tltle belng a play
on the Irench tctc-dc-mort (skull and crossbones).
Jhelr Engllsh counterparts appeared ln ò`s Ivifc:
Collcctcd Slortcr Irosc, 194-1966 (l967).
Jhe decade ended wlth Beckett belng awarded
the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature ln l969, somethlng he
regarded not as an honor, but as a 'catastrophe," as
he was well aware of the lmpact the ensulng lncrease
ln celebrlty and publlc recognltlon would have on hls
modest llfestyle. Beckett had been nomlnated for the
award several tlmes durlng the prevlous decade, but,
as someone who valued hls prlvacy hlghly, he was
secretly relleved that these earller nomlnatlons had
been unsuccessful. He lmmedlately went lnto hldlng
ln Junls, sendlng hls Irench publlsher, |rme Lln
don, to Sweden to recelve the prlze. Beckett`s maln
reason for acceptlng the award was to avold appear
lng dlscourteous to the Swedlsh Academy. He also
hoped that lt would beneflt flnanclally the publlshers
who had supported hlm, partlcularly durlng hls early
years. He subsequently gave away the prlze money
(some $15,000) to artlsts and lnstltutlons, lncludlng
the Llbrary of Jrlnlty College, Dublln. A l97l vol
ume of the Collcctiov dcs Irix òbcl dc Iittcroturc, com
prlslng Molovc mcurt and Ul lcs bcoux jours,
commemorated Beckett`s success. It lncluded lllustra
tlons by Avlgdor Arlkha and a cover deslgned by
Pablo Plcasso. Beckett regarded the pressures he
assoclated wlth belng awarded the Nobel Prlze as
contrlbutlng greatly to hls lack of artlstlc creatlvlty at
the tlme; yet, frlends and colleagues felt lt dld not
alter hls modest and generous nature.
Beckett began the l970s wlth the publlcatlon of
Ic Dcpcuplcur (l970; translated by Beckett as Tlc Iost
Uvcs, l972), the tltle of whlch ls taken from Alphonse
de Lamartlne`s poem 'LÌsolement" (l820, Isolatlon).
Jhe plece deplcts the exlstence of more than two
hundred flgures ln a large cyllnder. Jhls envlron
ment, wlth lts osclllatlng levels of llght and heat, ls an
'abode where lost bodles roam each searchlng for lts
lost one." Jhe flgures cllmb ladders to alcoves ln the
upper sectlon of the cyllnder followlng a complex
system of rulesbut there ls ultlmately no escape
from thls closed system. As the text proceeds, the
narrator becomes lncreaslngly confused, admlttlng,
'All has not been told and never shall be." Although
portraylng an ostenslbly allen envlronment, the text
ls a clever parody of the human rat race.
Slnce the mld l960s, Beckett had become
lncreaslngly lnvolved wlth the dlrectlon of hls stage
and televlslon drama. He had been partlcularly
lmpressed by the patlence and metlculousness of the
German actors he had encountered when attendlng
rehearsals for the world premlere of Iloy ln Llm ln
l963 and whlle asslstlng wlth a German productlon
of !oitivg for Codot ln Berlln ln l965. Jhe followlng
year he became lnvolved wlth the productlon of hls
televlslon play Il oc at the Sddeutscher Rundfunk
(SDR) ln Stuttgart, and ln l967 he was lnvlted to
dlrect a Germanlanguage productlon of Ivdgomc ln
Berlln. Beckett had sufflclent confldence ln hls com
mand of the German language by thls juncture to
assume the role of dlrector ln thls country. He felt
that worklng wlth such enthuslastlc and compllant
actors mlght allow hlm to create a productlon that
reflected hls own preclse plans for a partlcular play.
Between l967 and l978, Beckett dlrected seven of hls
stage plays ln German ln Berlln to great acclalm
Ivdgomc ln l967, Iropp`s Iost Topc ln l969, Hoppy Doys
ln l97l, !oitivg for Codot ln l975, Tlot Timc and Ioot-
folls ln l976, and Iloy ln l978exhlbltlng another slde
of hls versatlle, creatlve character. Although most of
hls dlrectorlal work took place at the SchlllerJheater
Werkstatt ln Berlln, he also dlrected stage produc
83
ai_ POV p~ _
tlons ln Parls and London as well as televlslon pro
ductlons at the BBC and the SDR ln Stuttgart. As
the years progressed, Beckett`s ablllty as a dlrector
grew, as evldenced by hls attentlon to detall ln the
dlrectorlal notebooks he complled for the later pro
ductlons. It ls not surprlslng that Beckett chose to
dlrect the majorlty of hls drama ln Germana pre
clse, technlcal language that reflected hls own fastldl
ous approach to wrltlng and dlrectlng. Although
Beckett clalmed hls productlons were not lntended to
be deflnltlve lnterpretatlons, the verslons he dlrected
ln Berlln represent an almost perfect embodlment of
hls wlshes. As a result, they have become regarded as
authorltatlve productlons and have been recreated
worldwlde.
Although dlrectlng took up a great deal of hls
tlme, and desplte lncreaslng problems wlth hls eye
slght, Beckett contlnued to wrlte, predomlnantly
drama ln Engllsh. Hls flrst play of the l970s, k f
(l973), agaln focuses on the female volce. On thls
occaslon, however, Beckett takes the premlse of
e~ a~ a step further by removlng all physlcal
tralts of the female form, leavlng only a mouth vlsl
ble ln a spotllght, apparently floatlng hlgh ln the
darkness, spoutlng a torrent of vlrtually unlntelllgl
ble words. Insplred by Caravagglo`s palntlng q
_~ pK g _~ (l608) and also by a
flgure he had seen ln Morocco clad ln a djellaba, the
plece lasts around flfteen mlnutes. Jhe alm of
Mouth`s monologue ls to avold admlttlng that the
tale she ls relatlng ls autoblographlcal. 'what? . . .
who? . . . no! . . . she!" A sllent Audltor, dressed ln a
black djellaba, ls present onstage to wltness the
stream of words. Jhe physlcally and mentally
demandlng role of Mouth has become synonymous
wlth Blllle Whltelaw, who played the part under
Beckett`s dlrectlon ln the Brltlsh premlere at the
Royal Court Jheatre ln l973. She reprlsed the role
for a BBC productlon of the play ln l976, ln whlch
the Audltor was removed, focuslng the audlence`s
attentlon excluslvely on the raglng moutha gro
tesque and unforgettable lmage.
Around the tlme of hls seventleth blrthday, ln
l976, Beckett publlshed two short plays, q~ q
and c~. Comblnlng elements of k f and h~
i~ q~I q~ q presents the face of a whlte
halred male character suspended hlgh ln the dark
ness. Jhe man ls apparently on hls deathbed, llsten
lng to three volces, all hls own, recountlng dlfferent
storles from three stages of hls llfe. hls youth by
Volce B, hls mlddle age by Volce A, and hls old age
by Volce C. At the close, a smlle, 'toothless for pref
erence," appears on the Llstener`s face, suggestlng
perhaps rellef that the volces have ceased thelr tor
ment of hlm, perhaps acceptance of hls lmpendlng
death. In c~I a female character, May, ln a 'worn
grey wrap," paces back and forth across the stage ln
mental turmoll, 'revolvlng lt all ln her poor mlnd."
Jhe dlsembodled volce of her mother speaks to her,
posslbly from beyond the grave, and May narrates a
parallel story of a Mrs. Wlnter and her daughter,
Amy (an anagram of May). As the play progresses,
the llghtlng dlms and the paclng slows, so that ln the
flnal scene, there ls 'no trace of May"she all but dls
lntegrates before the audlence`s eyes. Jhe plays were
premlered ln a double blll, dlrected by Beckett and
featurlng Whltelaw, at the Royal Court Jheatre on
20 May l976. Beckett also dlrected the two plays ln
German at the SchlllerJheater Werkstatt ln Berlln ln
October that year.
Beckett returned to the medlum of televlslon
the followlng year, wrltlng and helplng to dlrect two
plays at the BBC. Jhe flrst, d q (l977), ls based
on a sectlon of Ludwlg von Beethoven`s m~ q
kK R a jI known as 'Jhe Ghost." Jhe tltle of
the second, K K K K K K (l977), ls taken from
a llne ln Wllllam Butler Yeats`s poem 'Jhe Jower"
(l928). Both plays are structurally slmllar to b g
ln that they feature a lone male flgure and a dlsem
bodled volcefemale ln the former, male ln the latter.
Jhey were broadcast, along wlth the fllmed verslon
of k f on BBC 2 on l7 Aprll l977, under the collec
tlve tltle p~. Germanlanguage verslons were
recorded at the SDR and broadcast ln Germany on l
November l977, along wlth the BBC verslon of k f.
In the last years of the decade, Beckett also wrote
around three dozen short poems ln Irench, whlch he
gathered under the tltle j~an lnvented,
dlmlnutlve term, whlch ls a play on (kazoo/
toy flute) and (doggerel), lndlcatlng
thelr llght, fraglle nature. Jhese brlef verses were
wrltten on scraps of paper and transcrlbed lnto a tlny
leatherbound notebook. Most are halkullke ln
structure, belng only a few llnes ln length. Whlle
thelr meanlngs can be translated llterally, lt ls vlrtu
ally lmposslble to convey the essence of the poems
lnto Engllsh because of thelr succlnct nature. Jhey
flrst appeared ln m j~ (l978)
and subsequently ln ` m NVPMNVTU
(l981), although only ln Irench. As a group they
remaln among the few works that Beckett never
attempted to render lnto Engllsh. By the end of the
l970s Beckett`s proflle was at a peak. Jhe decade
closed wlth ^ m j ln l979. Jhls contem
platlon of death was wrltten for the blllngual actor
Davld Warrllow, who flrst performed lt at the La
Mama Experlmental Jheatre Club ln December of
that year. Orlglnally tltled 'Gone," suggestlng the
81
p~ _ ai_ POV
passlng of all but the lone flgure recltlng the mono
logue, lt opens wlth the bleak phrase, 'Blrth was the
death of hlm" and closes wlth the llne, 'Alone
gone"encapsulatlng a brlef llfe cycle ln just a hand
ful of pages.
As Beckett approached hls seventyflfth blrth
day ln l98l, he contlnued to dlvlde hls tlme between
wrltlng and dlrectlng. Hls flrst prose text of the
decade was `~ (l980), a loosely autoblographl
cal novel that deals wlth the themes of solltude, the
unrellablllty of memory, and the dlfference between
the self and the other. Remlnlscent of hls recent
stage and televlslon plays, the novel descrlbes a
'man alone ln the dark, llstenlng to a volce he can`t
control and whlch he both dreads and longs to
hear," as Katharlne Worth descrlbes lt. Jhe openlng
llne sets the scene. 'A volce comes to one ln the
dark. Imaglne." Jhe narrator`s language has an
archalc feel'whence," 'thlther," 'hltherto"words
from a bygone age. Beckett stlll clearly enjoys play
lng wlth language, as he lntroduces a character
named 'H. Asplrate. Haltch." Hls next work, j~
~ (l98l; translated by Beckett as f pI f
p~I l98l), ls consldered by Ruby Cohn as 'Jhe
Beckett Masterwork" and features a whltehalred
woman clad ln black, enclrcled by twelve mysterlous
flgures and drawn toward a whlte tombstone. Jhe
novel explores the themes of exlstence, consclous
ness, and perceptlon, as lndlcated by lts tltle. Jhe
passage of tlme ls agaln promlnent, wlth one para
graph dedlcated to a 'closeup of a dlal." Llke much
of Beckett`s later prose, thls plece has a structure of
repetltlon and varlatlon. Bleaker than lts predeces
sor, lt ends wlth the llnes, 'Not another crumb of
carrlon left. Llck chops and basta. No. One moment
more. One last. Grace to breathe that vold. Know
happlness." t~ e (l983) formed the flnal
part of what has become regarded as Beckett`s sec
ond prose trllogy, lts tltle belng a parody of Charles
Klngsley`s t~ e> (l855). Jaklng Edgar`s
speech ln Wllllam Shakespeare`s h i~ (clrca
l606) that 'Jhe worst ls not so long as one can say,
Jhls ls the worst" as lts startlng polnt, lt descrlbes
the (artlst`s) need to 'Jry agaln. Iall agaln. Iall bet
ter," echolng Beckett`s comments ln the q a~J
almost forty years earller. It beglns wlth the
narrator urglng hlmself, 'On. Say on. Be sald on.
Somehow on" and ends wlth the omlnous phrase,
'Sald nohow on." Jhe three novels were publlshed
together under the tltle k l ln l989.
Beckett contlnued to alternate between prose
and drama and, ln l98l, produced and publlshed
two short plays, o~ and l f. Jhe flrst
features a woman belng rocked gently ln a rocklng
chalr to the sound of her own recorded volce recltlng
a poem. Joward the end of the play, the rocklng
slows down to a halt and the woman apparently dles,
as the words 'tlme she stopped" are uttered. It was
premlered at the State Lnlverslty of New York at
Buffalo on 8 Aprll l98l. l f was wrltten
at the request of the Beckett scholar S. E. Gontarskl
for an lnternatlonal symposlum on Beckett`s work at
Ohlo State Lnlverslty, where lt was premlered on 9
May l98l. Jwo almost ldentlcal whltehalred flgures,
dressed ln long gowns llke flgures from a Rembrandt
palntlng, slt at a table as one reads from a book and
the other llstens. It ends wlth the polgnant llne,
'Nothlng ls left to tell," suggestlng that Beckett knew
he was nearlng the end of hls creatlve llfe.
Beckett had contlnued to lnvolve hlmself wlth
televlslon work, both at the BBC and the SDR ln
Stuttgart. In l98l he wrote and dlrected n~~ N H
O (the later Engllsh verslon ls slmply tltled n~ ).
Descrlbed as 'a plece for four players, llght and per
cusslon," the play has no dlalogue but ls merely a
serles of movements across and around the edges of
a deslgnated square. As they move dlagonally across
the square, the four players veer sharply as they
approach the central polnt, suggestlng lt represents
some klnd of vortex or terrlble danger. Beckett`s
most overtly polltlcal play, `~~ (l983), dedl
cated to the lmprlsoned Czech playwrlght Vclav
Havel, was premlered at the Avlgnon Iestlval on 2l
|uly l982. Jhe play features a brutal theater dlrector
barklng lnstructlons at hls asslstant and an ostensl
bly meek actor, who appear to be trylng to please
thelr master. In the flnal scene, however, the actor
ralses hls head and stares flxedly at the audlence ln a
gesture of deflance that asserts hls own lndlvlduallty.
At the request of the SDR, Beckett wrote
another televlslon play, k~ qI based on
Iranz Schubert`s l825 of the same name, and
returned to Stuttgart to dlrect a Germanlanguage
verslon of the plece, whlch was broadcast on l9 May
l983. Jhe medlum of televlslon seemed perfect for
the stark, lmposlng lmages of hls later, mlnlmallst
pleces. Later that year, hls flnal play, t~ tI
premlered at the Harold Clurman Jheatre ln New
York. Based on a serles of lnterrogatlons to establlsh
the 'what" and the 'where" of the tltle, the play
ends wlth the prophetlc llnes. 'Jlme passes. Jhat ls
all. Make sense who may. I swltch off." Beckett
returned to the SDR one last tlme, ln order to create
a radlcal reworklng of t~ t for German tele
vlslon under the tltle t~ I whlch was broadcast
on hls elghtleth blrthday, l3 Aprll l986. In thls pro
ductlon, as ln k fI all physlcal attrlbutes are
removed except for the faces of the four characters,
85
ai_ POV p~ _
focuslng the audlence`s attentlon on the stark,
lmposlng lmage on the screen and the bleak words
of the text.
Desplte the apparent lmpasse suggested by the
flnal llnes of hls recent prose and drama, Beckett
produced two further works. Stirrivgs Still (l988),
dedlcated to Rosset, hls Amerlcan publlsher, was
publlshed as a llmlted, lllustrated edltlon of 226 cop
les, slgned by Beckett and the lllustrator Louls le
Broquy, costlng l000. It also appeared ln Tlc
Cuordiov on 3 March l989, maklng lt much more
readlly avallable to the publlc. Named after a llne
from Compovy, the text conveys a sense of farewell, of
Beckett stlll stlrrlng creatlvely but marklng hls lnten
tlon to slgn off. Beckett`s last publlshed work, the
poem Commcvt dirc (l989; translated by Beckett as
!lot Is tlc !ord, l989), has also been lncluded ln
collectlons of hls prose, because of the nature of the
text. Wrltten ln the Hpltal Pasteur after a fall and
translated ln the Jlers Jemps nurslng home, the
plece echoes Beckett`s own aphasla and ls a medlta
tlon on the lmposslblllty of language, reflectlng hls
constant struggle throughout hls llterary career to
flnd the approprlate words to 'express the lnexpress
lble." Beckett remalned a blllngual author to the
end, creatlng Irench and Engllsh verslons of almost
all hls texts. Perhaps flttlngly, the flnal llne of hls
flnal publlshed work reads, 'what ls the word."
By thls juncture, Beckett was elghtythree and
was sufferlng wlth severe resplratory problems that
were dlagnosed as emphysema. After movlng lnto
the Jlers Jemps nurslng home permanently, he fell
lll on 6 December and dled ln the Hpltal St. Anne
of resplratory fallure on 22 December l989, less
than slx months after hls wlfe, who had been hls
partner and constant supporter slnce the late l930s.
(Jhe couple had no chlldren.) In keeplng wlth hls
slmple llfestyle, Beckett was lald to rest ln a prlvate
ceremony shortly after Chrlstmas ln the Clmetlre
de Montparnasse ln Parls.
Beckett ls often descrlbed as belng apolltlcal, as
he never allgned hlmself or hls work to any partlcu
lar polltlcal movement or party. In reallty, hls polltl
cal vlews were broadly leftwlng. He champloned the
underdog and the vlctlm, both ln hls work and also
ln real llfe. Although shy and selfabsorbed as a
young man, ln later llfe he became noted for hls car
lng and generous nature. Beckett was flercely
opposed to any form of censorshlp ln hls own work
and that of others, offerlng practlcal and flnanclal
support to oppressed wrlters and dlrectors ln varlous
countrles. Hls refusal to be lntervlewed about hlm
self or hls work created an alr of mystery and
secrecy, whlch served to protect hls prlvacy.
Although he ls often deplcted as a pesslmlst,
Beckett`s work has a thlck veln of black humor run
nlng through lt, as well as more obvlous vlsual gags,
partlcularly ln hls drama. Although apparently wlth
out hope or prospects, and often on the verge of
death, hls characters somehow flnd the strength to
contlnue agalnst all odds. Almost a century after
Beckett`s blrth, the Nobel Academy`s cltatlon stlll
holds true. Hls work ls more popular than ever, and
hls lnfluence on contemporary artlsts of all klnds ls
unquestlonable.
iW
ò Zutlor cttcr Scrvcd: Tlc Corrcspovdcvcc of Somucl cclctt
ovd Zlov Sclvcidcr, edlted by Maurlce Harmon
(Cambrldge, Mass.. Harvard Lnlverslty Press,
l998).
_~W
Raymond Iederman and |ohn Iletcher, Somucl cclctt:
His !orls ovd His Critics: Zv Issoy iv ibliogroply
(Berkeley Los Angeles. Lnlverslty of Callfornla
Press, l970);
Robln |. Davls, |ackson R. Bryer, M. |. Irledman, and
P. C. Hoy, eds., Somucl cclctt: Colcpivs dc bibliogro-
plic, no. 2 (Parls. Lettres Modernes Mlnard,
l97l);
Robln |. Davls, Somucl cclctt: Clccllist ovd Ivdcx of His
Iublislcd !orls, 1967-1976 (Stlrllng. Lnlverslty of
Stlrllng, l979);
Cathleen Culcotta Andonlan, Somucl cclctt: Z Icfcrcvcc
Cuidc (Boston. G. K. Hall, l989);
P. |. Murphy, Werner Huber, Rolf Breuer, and Konrad
Schoell, eds., Critiquc of cclctt Criticism: Z Cuidc to
Icscorcl iv Ivglisl, Ircvcl ovd Ccrmov (Columbla,
S.C.. Camden House, l991);
Mary Bryden, |ullan A. Garforth, and Peter Mllls, ccl-
ctt ot Icodivg: Cotologuc of tlc cclctt Movuscript Col-
lcctiov ot tlc Uvivcrsity of Icodivg (Readlng.
Whlteknlghts Press/Beckett Internatlonal Iounda
tlon, l998).
_~W
Delrdre Balr, Somucl cclctt: Z iogroply (London. Cape,
l978);
Enoch Brater, !ly cclctt (London. Jhames Hudson,
l989);
Anthony Cronln, Somucl cclctt: Tlc Iost Modcrvist (Lon
don. HarperColllns, l996);
|ames Knowlson, Domvcd to Iomc (London. Blooms
bury, l996);
Gerry Dukes, Somucl cclctt (London. Penguln, 200l).
86
p~ _ ai_ POV
oW
C. |. Ackerley and S. E. Gontarskl, Tlc Crovc Compoviov
to Somucl cclctt (New York. Grove, 2001);
Rlchard L. Admussen, Tlc Somucl cclctt Movuscripts: Z
Study (Boston. G. K. Hall, l979);
Anne Atlk, How It !os: Z Mcmoir of Somucl cclctt (Lon
don. Iaber Iaber, 200l);
Davld Bradby, cclctt: !oitivg for Codot (Cambrldge.
Cambrldge Lnlverslty Press, 200l);
Enoch Brater, cyovd Mivimolism: cclctt`s Iotc Stylc iv tlc
Tlcotcr (New York. Oxford Lnlverslty Press,
l987);
Mary Bryden, !omcv iv Somucl cclctt`s Irosc ovd Dromo
(Baslngstoke. Macmlllan, l993);
Rlchard Coe, Somucl cclctt (New York. Grove, l967);
Ruby Cohn, ocl to cclctt (Prlnceton, N.|.. Prlnceton
Cohn, Z cclctt Covov (Ann Arbor. Lnlverslty of Mlchl
gan Press, 200l);
Cohn, ust Iloy: cclctt`s Tlcotcr (Prlnceton, N.|.. Prlnce
ton Lnlverslty Press, l980);
Steven Connor, Somucl cclctt: Icpctitiov, Tlcory ovd Tcxt
(Oxford. Blackwell, l988);
Raymond Iederman, ourvcy to Cloos: Somucl cclctt`s
Iorly Iictiov (Berkeley Los Angeles. Lnlverslty
of Callfornla Press, l965);
|ohn Iletcher, Tlc òvcls of Somucl cclctt (London.
Chatto Wlndus, l961);
S. E. Gontarskl, Tlc Ivtcvt of Uvdoivg iv Somucl cclctt`s
Dromotic Tcxts (Bloomlngton. Indlana Lnlverslty
Press, l985);
Lawrence Graver and Raymond Iederman, Somucl
cclctt: Tlc Criticol Hcritogc (London. Routledge
Kegan Paul, l979);
Lawrence Harvey, Somucl cclctt: Ioct ovd Critic (Prlnce
ton, N.|.. Prlnceton Lnlverslty Press, l970);
|ohn Haynes and |ames Knowlson, Imogcs of cclctt
(Cambrldge. Cambrldge Lnlverslty Press, 2003);
Ludovlc |anvler, Iour Somucl cclctt (Parls. Edltlons de
Mlnult, l966);
|anvler, Somucl cclctt por lui-mcmc (Parls. Edltlons du
Seull, l969);
ourvol of cclctt Studics (Lnlverlty of Readlng. Calder/
Beckett Archlve, l975-l985; Jallahassee. Ilorlda
State Lnlverslty, l989- );
|onathan Kalb, cclctt iv Icrformovcc (Cambrldge. Cam
brldge Lnlverslty Press, l989);
Hugh Kenner, Somucl cclctt: Z Criticol Study (New York.
Grove, l96l);
|ames Knowlson and |ohn Pllllng, Ircscocs of tlc Slull:
Tlc Iotcr Irosc ovd Dromo of Somucl cclctt (Lon
don. Calder, l979);
Knowlson, ed., Hoppy Doys: Somucl cclctt`s Iroductiov
òtcbools (London. Iaber Iaber, l985);
Dougald McMlllan and Martha Iehsenfeld, cclctt iv tlc
Tlcotrc (London. Calder, l988);
Anna McMullan, Tlcotrc ov Triol: Somucl cclctt`s Iotcr
Dromo (London. Routledge, l993);
Vlvlan Mercler, cclctt/cclctt (New York. Oxford Lnl
|ohn Mlnlhan, Somucl cclctt: Ilotogropls (London.
Secker Warburg, l995);
Eoln O`Brlen, Tlc cclctt Couvtry: Somucl cclctt`s Irclovd
(London. Black Cat Press ln assoclatlon wlth
Iaber Iaber, l986);
|ohn Pllllng, cclctt cforc Codot (Cambrldge. Cam
Pllllng, Somucl cclctt (London. Routledge Kegan
Paul, l976);
Rosemary Pountney, Tlcotrc of Slodows: Somucl cclctt`s
Dromo, 196-1976 (Gerrards Cross, L.K.. Colln
Smythe, l988);
|eanMarle Rabat, ed., cclctt ovovt cclctt: Issois sur lc
jcuvc cclctt (19J0-194) (Parls. Presses de
lÈcole Normale Suprleure, l981);
Chrlstopher Rlcks, cclctt`s Dyivg !ords: Tlc Clorcvdov
Iccturcs, 1990 (Oxford. Clarendon Press, l993);
Somucl cclctt Todoy/Zujourd`lui (Amsterdam. Rodopl,
l992- );
Anthony Lhlmann, cclctt ovd Ioststructurolism (Cam
brldge. Cambrldge Lnlverslty Press, l999);
Klaus Vlker, cclctt iv crliv (Berlln. Irollch Kauf
mann, l986);
Blllle Whltelaw, illic !litclow . . . !lo Hc? (London.
Hodder Stoughton, l995);
Katharlne Worth, Somucl cclctt`s Tlcotrc: Iifc ourvcys
(Oxford. Clarendon Press, l999);
Clas Zllllacus, cclctt ovd roodcostivg: Z Study of tlc
!orls of Somucl cclctt for ovd iv Iodio ovd Tclcvisiov
(Abo, Ilnland. Abo Akademl, l976);
Nlcholas Zurbrugg, cclctt ovd Iroust (Gerrards Cross.
Colln Smythe, l988).
m~W
Jhe major collectlons of Samuel Beckett`s papers are
held at the Beckett Internatlonal Ioundatlon, Lnl
verslty of Readlng; Harry Ransom Humanltles
Research Center, Lnlverslty of Jexas at Austln; and
Jrlnlty College, Dublln. Other collectlons are
housed at |ohn |. Burns Llbrary, Boston College;
Baker Llbrary, Dartmouth College; Jhe Lllly
Llbrary, Indlana Lnlverslty; Instltut des Mmolres
de lÈdltlon Contemporalne, Parls; Ohlo State Lnl
verslty Llbrarles, Columbus; Prlnceton Lnlverslty
Llbrary; Syracuse Lnlverslty, New York; Lnlverslty
of Washlngton, St. Louls, Mlssourl; and Jhe Bel
necke Llbrary, Yale Lnlverslty.
87
ai_ POV p~ _
NVSV k m i~
m~ p
aK h~ o~~ dI p ^~
Eq~~ pF
Your Majesty, Your Royal Hlghnesses, Ladles and Gen
tlemen,
Mlx a powerful lmaglnatlon wlth a loglc ln
absurdum, and the result wlll be elther a paradox or
an Irlshman. If lt ls an Irlshman, you wlll get the
paradox lnto the bargaln. Even the Nobel Prlze ln
Llterature ls sometlmes dlvlded. Paradoxlcally, thls
has happened ln l969, a slngle award belng
addressed to one man, two languages and a thlrd
natlon, ltself dlvlded.
Samuel Beckett was born near Dublln ln l906.
As a renowned author he entered the world almost
half a century later ln Parls when, ln the space of
three years, flve works were publlshed that lmmedl
ately brought hlm lnto the centre of lnterest. the
novel j ln l95l; lts sequel, j~ jI ln the
same year; the play b ~~ d ln l952; and
ln the followlng year the two novels, i~I
whlch concluded the cycle about j and j~I
and t~.
Jhese dates slmply record a sudden appear
ance. Jhe flve works were not new at the tlme of
publlcatlon, nor were they wrltten ln the order ln
whlch they appeared. Jhey had thelr background ln
the current sltuatlon as well as ln Beckett`s prevlous
development. Jhe true nature of jI a novel
from l938, and the studles of |oyce (l929) and
Proust (l93l), whlch lllumlnate hls own lnltlal posl
tlon, ls perhaps most clearly seen ln the llght of
Beckett`s subsequent productlon. Ior whlle he has
ploneered new modes of expresslon ln flctlon and on
the stage, Beckett ls also allled to tradltlon, belng
closely llnked not only to |oyce and Proust but to
Kafka as well, and the dramatlc works from hls
debut have a herltage from Irench works of the
l890s and Alfred |arry`s r oK
In several respects, the novel t~ marks a
change of phase ln thls remarkable output. Wrltten
ln l912-11 ln the South of Irancewhence Beckett
fled from the Nazls, havlng llved for a long tlme ln
Parlslt was to be hls last work ln Engllsh for many
years; he made hls name ln Irench and dld not
return to hls natlve tongue for about flfteen years.
Jhe world around had also changed when Beckett
came to wrlte agaln after t~K All the other works
whlch made hls name were wrltten ln the perlod
l915-19. Jhe Second World War ls thelr founda
tlon; lt was after thls that hls authorshlp achleved
maturlty and a message. But these works are not
about the war ltself, about llfe at the front, or ln the
Irench reslstance movement (ln whlch Beckett took
an actlve part), but about what happened after
wards, when peace came and the curtaln was rent
from the unhollest of unholles to reveal the terrlfy
lng spectacle of the lengths to whlch man can go ln
lnhuman degradatlonwhether ordered or drlven by
hlmselfand how much of such degradatlon man
can survlve. In thls sense the degradatlon of human
lty ls a recurrent theme ln Beckett`s wrltlng and to
thls extent, hls phllosophy, slmply accentuated by
elements of the grotesque and of traglc farce, can be
descrlbed as a negatlvlsm that cannot deslst from
descendlng to the depths. Jo the depths lt must go
because lt ls only there that pesslmlstlc thought and
poetry can work thelr mlracles. What does one get
when a negatlve ls prlnted? A posltlve, a clarlflca
tlon, wlth black provlng to be the llght of day, the
parts ln deepest shade those whlch reflect the llght
source. Its name ls fellowfeellng, charlty. Jhere are
precedents besldes the accumulatlon of abomlna
tlons ln Greek tragedy whlch led Arlstotle to the
doctrlne of catharsls, purlflcatlon through horror.
Manklnd has drawn more strength from Schopen
hauer`s bltter well than from Schelllng`s beatlflc
sprlngs, has been more blessed by Pascal`s agonlzed
doubt than by Lelbnlz`s bllnd ratlonal trust ln the
best of all posslble worlds has reapedln the fleld of
Irlsh llterature, whlch has also fed Beckett`s wrltlng
a much leaner harvest from the whltewashed clerlcal
pastoral of Ollver Goldsmlth than from Dean Swlft`s
vehement denlgratlon of all humanklnd.
Part of the essence of Beckett`s outlook ls to be
found hereln the dlfference between an easlly
acqulred pesslmlsm that rests content wlth untrou
bled sceptlclsm, and a pesslmlsm that ls dearly
bought and whlch penetrates to manklnd`s utter des
tltutlon. Jhe former commences and concludes wlth
the concept that nothlng ls really of any value, the
latter ls based on exactly the opposlte outlook. Ior
what ls worthless cannot be degraded. Jhe percep
tlon of human degradatlonwhlch we have wlt
nessed, perhaps, to a greater extent than any
prevlous generatlonls not posslble lf human values
are denled. But the experlence becomes all the more
palnful as the recognltlon of human dlgnlty deepens.
Jhls ls the source of lnner cleanslng, the llfe force
nevertheless, ln Beckett`s pesslmlsm. It houses a love
of manklnd that grows ln understandlng as lt
88
p~ _ ai_ POV
plumbs further lnto the depths of abhorrence, a
despalr that has to reach the utmost bounds of suf
ferlng to dlscover that compasslon has no bounds.
Irom that posltlon, ln the realms of annlhllatlon,
rlses the wrltlng of Samuel Beckett llke a mlserere
from all manklnd, lts muffled mlnor key soundlng
llberatlon to the oppressed, and comfort to those ln
need.
Jhls seems to be stated most clearly ln the two
masterpleces, t~ d and e~ a~I each
of whlch, ln a way, ls a development of a blbllcal
text. In the case of d we have, 'Art thou he that
should come, or do we look for another?" Jhe two
tramps are confronted wlth the meanlnglessness of
exlstence at lts most brutal. It may be a human flg
ure; no laws are as cruel as those of creatlon, and
man`s pecullar status ln creatlon comes from belng
the only creature to apply these laws wlth dellber
ately evll lntent. But lf we concelve of a provldence
a source even of the lmmeasurable sufferlng lnfllcted
by, and on, manklndwhat sort of almlghty ls lt that
wellke the trampsare to meet somewhere, some
day? Beckett`s answer conslsts of the tltle of the play.
By the end of the performance, as at the end of our
own, we know nothlng about thls dK At the flnal
curtaln we have no lntlmatlon of the force whose
progress we have wltnessed. But we do know one
thlng, of whlch all the horror of thls experlence can
not deprlve us. namely, our waltlng. Jhls ls man`s
metaphyslcal predlcament of perpetual, uncertaln
expectatlon, captured wlth true poetlc slmpllclty. b
~~ dI t~ dK
Jhe text for e~ a~'a volce crylng ln the
wllderness"ls more concerned wlth the predlca
ment of man on earth, of our relatlonshlps wlth one
another. In hls exposltlon Beckett has much to say
about our capaclty for entertalnlng untroubled lllu
slons ln a wllderness vold of hope. But thls ls not the
theme. Jhe actlon slmply concerns how lsolatlon,
how the sand rlses hlgher and hlgher untll the lndl
vldual ls completely burled ln lonellness. Out of the
suffocatlng sllence, however, there stlll rlses the
head, the volce crylng ln the wllderness, man`s
lndomltable need to seek out hls fellow men rlght to
the end, speak to hls peers and flnd ln companlon
shlp hls solace.
LÀcadmle Sudolse regrette que Samuel
Beckett ne solt pas parml nous aujourd`hul. Cepen
dant ll a cholsl pour le reprsenter l`homme qul le
premler a dcouvert l`lmportance de lòeuvre maln
tenant rcompense, son edlteur a Parls, M. |rme
Llndon, et je vous prle, cher Monsleur, de voulolr
blen recevolr de la maln de Sa Majest le Rol le Prlx
Nobel de llttrature, dcern par lÀcadmle a Sam
uel Beckett.
(Jhe Swedlsh Academy regrets that Samuel
Beckett could not be wlth us today. However, he has
chosen to represent hlm the man who was the flrst
to dlscover the lmportance of the work now
rewarded, hls edltor ln Parls, Mr. |rme Llndon,
and I ask you, dear Slr, to be wllllng to recelve from
the hand of Hls Majesty the Klng the Nobel Prlze ln
Llterature, awarded by the Academy to Samuel
Beckett.)
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l969|.
89
p~ _
(10 uvc 191 - Zpril 200)
h jK l~
Jhls entry was expanded by Opdahl from hls Bellow
entry ln DI 2S: Twcvtictl-Ccvtury Zmcricov-cwisl Iictiov
!ritcrs. See also the Bellow entrles ln DI 2: Zmcricov
òvclists Sivcc !orld !or II; DI 299: Holocoust òvclists;
and DI Jcorbool: 19S2.
BOOKS. Dovglivg Mov (New York. Vanguard, l911;
London. Lehmann, l916);
Tlc !ictim (New York. Vanguard, l917; London. Leh
mann, l918);
Tlc Zdvcvturcs of Zugic Morcl (New York. Vlklng, l953;
London. Weldenfeld Nlcolson, l951);
Scic tlc Doy (New York. Vlklng, l956; London.
Weldenfeld Nlcolson, l957);
Hcvdcrsov tlc Ioiv Iivg (New York. Vlklng, l959; Lon
don. Weldenfeld Nlcolson, l959);
Hcrog (New York. Vlklng, l961; London. Weldenfeld
Nlcolson, l965);
Tlc Iost Zvolysis: Z Iloy (New York. Vlklng, l965; Lon
don. Weldenfeld Nlcolson, l966);
Mosby`s Mcmoirs ovd Utlcr Storics (New York. Vlklng,
l968; London. Weldenfeld Nlcolson, l969);
Mr. Sommlcr`s Ilovct (New York. Vlklng, l970; London.
Tlc Iortoblc Soul cllow, edlted by Edlth Jarcov (New
York. Vlklng, l971; Harmondsworth, L.K.. Pen
guln, l977);
Humboldt`s Cift (New York. Vlklng, l975; London.
To crusolcm ovd ocl: Z Icrsovol Zccouvt (New York.
Vlklng, l976; London. Secker Warburg, l976);
òbcl Iccturc (Stockholm. Lnlted States Informatlon Ser
vlce, l977; Greenwlch Vlllage, N.Y.. Jarg Edl
tlons, l979);
Tlc Dcov`s Dcccmbcr (New York. Harper Row, l982;
London. Secker Warburg, l982);
Him witl His Ioot iv His Moutl ovd Utlcr Storics (New
York. Harper Row, l981; London. Secker
Warburg, l981);
Morc Dic of Hcortbrcol (New York. Morrow, l987; Lon
don. Allson, l987);
Z Tlcft (New York. Penguln, l989; London. Allson
|Secker Warburg|, l989);
Tlc clloroso Covvcctiov (New York. Penguln, l989; Lon
don. Penguln, l989);
Somctlivg to Icmcmbcr Mc y: Tlrcc Tolcs (New York.
Vlklng, l99l; London. Secker Warburg, l992);
It Zll Zdds Up: Irom tlc Dim Iost to tlc Uvccrtoiv Iuturc
(New York. Vlklng, l991; London. Secker
Warburg, l991);
Tlc Zctuol (New York. Vlklng, l997; London. Vlklng,
l997);
Iovclstciv (New York. Vlklng, 2000; London. Vlklng,
2000);
Collcctcd Storics (New York. Vlklng, 200l; London.
Vlklng, 200l);
cllow òvcls 1944-19J (New York. Llbrary of Amer
lca, 2003)comprlses Tlc Dovglivg Mov, Tlc !ic-
tim, and Tlc Zdvcvturcs of Zugic Morcl.
p~ _ EF NVTS k m
i~ h `~ usf d~ p
E^m mLmI m h~F
90
p~ _ ai_ POV
PLAY PRODLCJIONS. q i~ ^~I New York,
Belasco Jheater, l October l961;
r t~I London, 7 |une l966; Spoleto, Italy,
Iestlval of Jwo Worlds, l1 |uly l966; New York,
Cort Jheatre, 27 October l966comprlsed ^
tI l~ pI and l rK
OJHER. Isaac Bashevls Slnger, 'Glmpel the Iool,"
translated by Bellow, m~~ oI 20 (May-
|une l953). 300-3l3;
'Dlstractlons of a Ilctlon Wrlter," ln q i kI
edlted by Granvllle Hlcks (New York. Macmlllan,
l957), pp. l-20;
k p~~I edlted by Bellow, Kelth Botsford, and
Aaron Asher, 5 volumes (New York. Merldlan,
l960-l962);
d~ g p pI edlted by Bellow (New York.
Dell, l963);
'Llterature," ln q d~ f~ q~I edlted by Mor
tlmer Adler and Robert M. Hutchlns (Chlcago.
Encyclopaedla Brltannlca, l963), pp. l35-l79;
'Zetland. By A Character Wltness," ln j l~I
edlted by Phlllp Rahv (Port Washlngton, N.Y..
Kennlkat Press, l971), pp. 9-30;
Allan Bloom, q ` ^~ jI foreword
by Bellow (New York. Slmon Schuster, l987).
SELECJED PERIODICAL PLBLICAJIONS
LNCOLLECJED.
cf`qflk
'Jwo Mornlng Monologues," m~~ oI 8 (May-
|une l91l). 230-236;
'A Sermon by Dr. Pep," m~~ oI l6 (May-|une
l919). 155-162;
'Jhe Jrlp to Galena," m~~ oI l7 (November-
December l950). 769-791;
'Address by Gooley MacDowell to the Hasbeens Club
of Chlcago," e oI 1 (Summer l95l).
222-227;
^ tI bI 63 ( |anuary l965). 72-71ff.;
l~ pI bI 61 (October l965). l30-l36.
klkcf`qflk
'Jhe |ewlsh Wrlter and the Engllsh Llterary Jradl
tlon," `~I 8 (October l919). 366-367;
'Drelser and the Jrlumph of Art," `~I ll (May
l95l). 502-503;
'Man Lnderground," `~I l3 ( |une l952).
608-6l0;
'Laughter ln the Ghetto," p~~ o i~I
36 (30 May l953). l5;
'Hemlngway and the Image of Man" |revlew of Phlllp
Young, b e~|, m~~ oI 20
(l953). 338-312;
'How I Wrote Augle March`s Story," k v q
_ oI 3l |anuary l951, pp. 3, l7;
'Deep Readers of the World, Beware!" k v q
_ oI l5 Iebruary l959, pp. l, 31;
'Where Do We Go Irom Here. Jhe Iuture of Ilctlon,"
j~ n~ oI l (Wlnter l962). 27-33;
'Memolrs of a Bootlegger`s Son," d~~I 1l (l992). 9-
35;
'Jhe Next Chapter," k~~ oI 52, no. l (21 |anu
ary 2000). 31.
As an Amerlcan wlnner of the Nobel Prlze ln Llt
erature ln l976, Saul Bellow lnherlted the mantle of
Ernest Hemlngway and Wllllam Iaulkner; but he never
became a culture hero llke those two nor a cult flgure
llke |orge Luls Borges or Gabrlel Garca Mrquez.
When ln l979 q k v q _ o asked
twenty leadlng lntellectuals whlch books slnce l915
would count among the hundred most lmportant books
ln Western clvlllzatlon, Bellow was not mentloned.
However, when Phlllp Roth was asked who are 'the
great lnventors of narratlve detall and masters of narra
tlve volce and perspectlve," he replled, '|ames, Conrad,
Dostoevskl and Bellow." In l991 some of Brltaln`s lead
lng wrlters and crltlcs told q p~ q that Bellow
was 'the greatest llvlng novellst wrltlng ln Engllsh."
Bellow enjoyed the klnd of reputatlon that ls won
by solld and accompllshed work. He was a prlvate per
son, and ln hls publlc appearances he was sometlmes
dlstant or moody. But as a wrlter he caught and artlcu
lated the sometlmes hldden feellngs of the modern era.
Bellow showed what allenatlon actually ls on a wlnter
afternoon, or preclsely how Amerlcan culture crushes a
medlocre man.
Bellow was born Solomon Bellow ln Lachlne,
_uebec, on l0 |une l9l5, two years after hls parents,
Abraham and Llza Gordln Bellow, had emlgrated from
St. Petersburg, Russla (where thelr surname had been
spelled 'Belo," from I Russlan for ). Hls father
was a darlng and not always successful buslnessman
who ln Russla had lmported Egyptlan onlons (Bellow
descrlbes hlm ln an unpubllshed manuscrlpt excerpted
ln 'Memolrs of a Bootlegger`s Son" |l992| as a 'sharple
clrca l905") and ln the New World attempted several
often unconventlonal buslnesses. Solomon ('Solly")
was thelr youngest chlld, wlth a slster and two brothers.
Jhe Bellowses llved ln a slum on St. Domlnlque
Street 'between a market and a hospltal," Bellow has
sald; 'I was generally preoccupled wlth what went on
ln lt and watched from the stalrs and wlndows." Hls
father, who blamed hlmself for the famlly`s poverty,
worrled that Solly would see too much; and the boy dld
wltness vlolence and sexuallty, saylng later that the raw
reallty of St. Domlnlque Street made all else ln hls llfe
9l
ai_ POV p~ _
seem strange and forelgn. 'Llttle slnce then has worked
upon me wlth such force," Bellow wrote, and he
returned to the scene ln some of hls novelsK He llved
amld the color and splrltuallty of an earller era. Lachlne
was 'a medleval ghetto . . . my chlldhood was ln
anclent tlmes whlch was true of all orthodox |ews." By
the age of four he knew the Book of Genesls ln Hebrew.
Lachlne was also a multlllngual envlronment, and
young Bellow learned Ylddlsh, Irench, and Engllsh, as
well as Hebrew. Jaken lll wlth perltonltls, he spent slx
months ln the Royal Hospltal (ln the tuberculosls ward)
wlth nothlng to do but read. But by the tlme hls famlly
had moved to Humboldt Park ln Chlcago, when he was
nlne, he was healthy enough for sports as well as hls
many lntellectual projects. Humboldt Park was a nelgh
borhood of lmmlgrants, fllled wlth the cultural and
lntellectual actlvlty of sldewalk orators, branch llbrar
les, and mlsslon houses. By the tlme he attended Juley
Hlgh School, Bellow had such frlends as Isaac Rosen
feld, future newspaper columnlst Sydney |. Harrls, and
Davld Peltz, who remembers that 'Solly Bellows was
the most precoclous of the lota good runner on the
track team, a falr swlmmer, mlddllng tennls player, but
a remarkable wrlter even then."
Bellow`s famlly contlnued to have flnanclal prob
lems. Hls mother dled when he was flfteen, and when
he was seventeen he and Harrls ran away to New York
for a few weeks to peddle thelr flrst novels, unsuccess
fully. Irom l933 to l935 hls father managed to flnd the
money for Bellow to attend the Lnlverslty of Chlcago,
where he felt the dense cultural atmosphere to be suffo
catlng. He left when a fatal accldent lnvolvlng hls
father`s coal truck rulned what was left of the famlly
flnances. He was nevertheless able to transfer to
Northwestern, where he founded a soclallsts` club
and graduated ln l937 wlth honors ln soclology and
anthropology. He wlshed to study llterature but was
advlsed that antlSemltlsm would thwart hls career, and
so he accepted a scholarshlp to study anthropology at
the Lnlverslty of Wlsconsln, where hls professor told
hlm he wrote anthropology llke a good novellst. In Chl
cago on New Year`s Eve l937, Bellow marrled Anlta
Goshkln, a soclal worker, and abandoned hls graduate
work. 'In my lnnocence," he sald, 'I had declded to
become a wrlter."
It was a bold declslon at that tlme, and such bold
ness has characterlzed Bellow`s work ever slnce. Hls
greatest strength as a novellst ls hls style, whlch ls fluld
and rlch, plcklng up the rhythms and energy of Ylddlsh
and the plaln speech and sharply observed detall of the
Mldwest. Hls style ls preclse and lmplles an lntegrlty
that has at tlmes gotten Bellow lnto trouble. In an era of
experlmentallsm Bellow was a reallst, clalmlng that 'the
development of reallsm ln the nlneteenth century ls stlll
the major event of modern llterature." When allenatlon
was popular, Bellow celebrated accommodatlon. He
reacted to the popularlty of the |ewlsh novel by turnlng
to a WASP protagonlst (ln e o~ hI
l959), and he met Amerlca`s new youth culture head
on wlth the creatlon of a seventyyearold protagonlst
(ln jK p~ m~I l970). Yet, ln most of these ven
tures he was successful, largely because of hls fertlle
lmaglnatlon and clarlty of mlnd.
Bellow`s greatest dlfflculty as a wrlter lles ln plot.
He has confessed thls dlfflculty, and many crltlcs
belleve hls novels to be formless. If Bellow`s characters
are colorful and hls sltuatlons telllng, he characterlstl
cally glves too much. too many ldeas, too many charac
ters, and too many memorable detalls for readers to
dlscern a slmple story or central focus. But Bellow ls
not as formless as he seems, slnce hls polnt ls often the
subtle lnslght of the reallst, so easlly lost among hls
comlc characters and rlch descrlptlons, and he hlmself
ls a dlllgent craftsman, worklng through draft after
draft. But the fact remalns that hls art ls one of clearlng
and solldlfylng an abundance of materlals, and when he
has flnlshed wlth the process, the reader ls lnvlted to do
the same.
Indeed, thls denslty of llfe ls one of Bellow`s cen
tral themes. So too ls the mallce or nastlness of hls pro
tagonlst and those around hlm. Another theme ls the
experlence of transcendence and the fact that the lssues
that confront people are ultlmately metaphyslcal or rell
glous, an element that provldes one of the keys to Bel
low`s style. the sense of a speclal meanlng or
slgnlflcance just out of reach adds another dlmenslon to
hls preclsely detalled physlcal world. A soclety that can
lnvent the lnner llfe but glve lt no nourlshment, a unl
verse that requlres one to twlst oneself to survlve wlthln
lts force, a protagonlst seeklng most of all to cure hlm
self of some unknown maladyall of these are typlcal
Bellow themes.
Bellow has lnslsted that he ls not that exotlc crea
ture, the |ew who wrltes ln Engllsh, but an Amerlcan
wrltera Western wrlter who happens to be |ewlsh. 'I
dld not go to the publlc llbrary to read the Jalmud,"
Bellow says of hls Chlcago days, 'but the novels and
poems of Sherwood Anderson, Jheodore Drelser,
Edgar Lee Masters, and Vachel Llndsay." Bellow never
theless ls slngled out by Allen Guttmann ln q g
t ^~ (l97l) as portraylng the full range of
Amerlcan |ewlsh experlence. Bellow`s comedy, lntellec
tuallsm, moral preoccupatlon and allenatlon, hls con
cern wlth the famlly and wlth rough Eastern European
lmmlgrants, hls obsesslon wlth the past and wlth the
dangers of an allen world, hls emphasls on purlty, hls
sense, as Alfred Kazln says, 'of the unreallty of thls
92
p~ _ ai_ POV
world as opposed to God`s"all of these elements
bespeak hls deep |ewlsh concern.
Certalnly the fact that he was |ewlsh added a spe
clal tenslon to hls declslon to be a wrlter, for he entered
a world domlnated by WASPs from New England. He
worked for the Work Projects Admlnlstratlon dolng
blographlcal sketches of Mldwestern wrlters and then
taught at PestalozzlIroebel Jeacher`s College ln Chl
cago. He went to Mexlco ln l910, wrltlng the never
publlshed novel 'Acatla," and llved, he says, a bohe
mlan llfe. But these years were not all galety. 'I sat on a
brldge table ln a back bedroom of the apartment whlle
all ratlonal, serlous, dutlful people were at thelr jobs or
trylng to flnd jobs, wrltlng somethlng." After lunch wlth
hls motherlnlaw, ln whose apartment he llved, he
would walk the clty streets. 'If I had been a dog I would
have howled," he has wrltten. He managed ln l91l to
place a short story ln the m~~ oI 'Jwo Mornlng
Monologues," about a young man waltlng for the draft;
the next year he placed another, 'Jhe Mexlcan Gen
eral," about the assasslnatlon of Leon Jrotsky, whlch
happened on the day before Bellow was to meet wlth
hlm. And ln l913 m~~ o publlshed part of hls
novel ln progress.
Perhaps the most memorable quallty of thls flrst
novel, publlshed ln l911 as a~ j~I ls the tone of
volce. modeled after that of Ralner Marla Rllke`s a
^ j~ i~ _ (l9l0; translated
as q g~ j l pI l930), the volce ls frank
and honest, compensatlng for lts selfplty by the depth
and preclslon of lts observatlon. Jaklng on Hemlngway,
the protagonlst |oseph jlbes at the hardbolled. 'If you
have dlfflcultles, grapple wlth them sllently, goes one of
thelr commandments. Jo hell wlth that! I lntend to talk
about mlne, and lf I had as many mouths as Slva has
arms and kept them golng all the tlme, I stlll could not
do myself justlce."
Llke Bellow hlmself, |oseph has been kept dan
gllng by hls draft board, bound ln the red tape sur
roundlng hls Canadlan blrth. Hls ostenslbly formless
journal ls actually shaped by hls lncreaslng lack of self
control, as he records flrst the fallure of hls attempts to
wrlte or to prepare hlmself for the army, and then hls
dlsappolntment wlth hls frlends, hls wlfe, hls lnlaws,
and hls mlstress. Wantlng to forge a self that would be
'a member of the Army, but not a ~ of lt," he must
watch hlmself become overwhelmed by a hundred trlv
lal detalls, as hls selfcontrol leaves hlm and the nasty
temper he has remarked ln others comes to domlnate.
When he strlkes hls landlord and reallzes that hls sense
of the strangeness and lmpermanence of the world has
grown, he glves up, crylng 'Long llve reglmentatlon."
One anonymous crltlc for q (8 May l911)
thought |oseph was a 'stlnker," but other revlewers
gave the book a remarkably afflrmatlve judgment.
Edmund Wllson, Peter DeVrles, Dlana Jrllllng, and
Delmore Schwartz all felt thls flrst novel worthy of thelr
attentlon. Wllson, ln q k v (l Aprll l911),
called lt 'one of the most honest pleces of testlmony on
the psychology of a whole generatlon," and George
Mayberry proclalmed the creatlon of a complex charac
ter llke |oseph 'an event that ls rare and wonderful ln
modern Amerlcan wrltlng." Subsequent crltlcs have
found the book narrow and Bellow`s attltude toward
|oseph uncertaln. Jo some, |oseph at the end rejolns
soclety; to others, he ls totally defeated, surrenderlng
hls lndlvlduallty. Bellow`s novel ls a llvely and even
memorable work, wlth many strlklng flgures, even lf
the author hlmself has confessed that he cannot bear to
reread lt.
Bellow`s own dangllng was ended by the army for
medlcal reasons, and ln l913 he began to work for
Mortlmer Adler`s 'Great Books" project for the bJ
~~ _~~I readlng some 60 of the 113 works
lndexed. He jolned the merchant marlne, whlch sta
tloned hlm ln New York, and then worked for the Mar
ltlme Commlsslon onshore. After the war Bellow
declded to stay ln New York, enjoylng the lntellectual
llfe of Greenwlch Vlllage and the pleasures of father
hood wlth the blrth of hls son Gregory. He revlewed
books, edlted, wrote reports for Penguln Books, and
spent two days as movle revlewer for qI untll Whlt
taker Chambers reportedly plcked a quarrel and flred
hlm on the spotan event he lncluded ln hls next novel,
q s (l917).
|oseph ln a~ j~ had complalned that upon
awakenlng, when he read the newspaper and acknowl
edged the world, he went 'ln the body from nakedness
to clothlng and ln the mlnd from relatlve purlty to pol
lutlon." Jo |oseph the world ls a war that can klll hlm.
In q s thls lmpurlty pursues the protagonlst Asa
Leventhal as Klrby Allbee comes one hot summer nlght
to accuse the solltary and anxlous Leventhal of causlng
hls ruln. Leventhal had quarreled wlth Allbee`s boss,
promptlng Allbee`s loss of hls job, he clalms, and thus
hls drlnklng and the loss of hls wlfe. Bellow explores
the lntense and amblvalent relatlon between the two
men, as Allbee presses deeper and deeper lnto Leven
thal`s llfe, taklng money, a bed ln hls apartment, llber
tles wlth hls mall, and flnally a whore ln Leventhal`s
own bedan lmpurlty that ls stlll not the flnal one, slnce
Allbee sllps lnto the apartment late at nlght to attempt
sulclde ln Leventhal`s kltchen.
Was Leventhal responslble? A parallel plot sug
gests he was not, for he mlstakenly assumes the blame
for a death for whlch he had no responslblllty. Both
Leventhal and Allbee are vlctlms of an oppresslvely
dense world and of thelr lnablllty to dlscern a clear
93
ai_ POV p~ _
order ln lt. Each argues for a verslon of reallty that the
other cannot accept. Allbee cannot bear the notlon of
an lmpersonal unlverse ln whlch he mlght be harmed
for no reason at all. He must flnd a scapegoata |ew. Jo
Leventhal, on the other hand, such a 'human" unlverse
ls omlnous, frlghtenlng, a world ln whlch he could be
rulned overnlght. Allbee appears lnexpllcably, emerglng
from a crowd ln a park as an embodlment of the clty
streets, whlch Leventhal, llke hls lmmlgrant forebears,
conslders full of lmpurlty and danger. 'He really dld
not know what went on about hlm," Leventhal thlnks,
'what strange thlngs, savage thlngs."
q s ls a remarkable advance over a~
j~I for though lt ls dense and claustrophlc, lt ls also
rlch and full of honest llfe. It ralsed some eyebrows,
comlng as lt dld only two years after the Nazl death
camps had been opened. was thls the tlme to show that
the psychology of |ew and blgot can be slmllar? Jo
Jheodore Ross ln the `~ g cI Allbee and
Leventhal are too much allke. Bellow had lnslsted on
paylng the |ew the same respect he would pay all
human belngs, nelther more nor less, and ln the Gentlle
Allbee he captured the unconsclous subtletles of |ewlsh
selfhatred, maklng hlm a messenger from not just a
destructlve world but Leventhal`s own psyche. Leven
thal`s allenatlon ls that of modern man, moreover; for
by showlng |ew and Gentlle to be allke, Bellow shows
that all people are |ews.
q s brought Bellow a Guggenhelm Iellow
shlp for l918, freelng hlm from teachlng at the Lnlver
slty of Mlnnesota, where he had been ln l916 and l917.
In Irance on hls fellowshlp he began 'Jhe Crab and
the Butterfly," a thlrd novel ln the same serlous veln as
hls flrst two, but found he needed some rellef. He took
to wrltlng a 'memolr" of Chlcagowhlch ln Irance had
become exotlc to hlm, he saysand by l919 had turned
to lt almost excluslvely. 'Augle was my favorlte fan
tasy," he has sald of the Chlcago book. 'Every tlme I
was depressed whlle wrltlng the grlm one I`d treat
myself to a fantasy hollday." He wrote q ^
^ j~ (l953) whlle on the moveln tralns and
cafs ln Parls and Rome; ln Mlnneapolls, where he
returned to teach ln l919; ln a coldwater flat ln New
York, where he lectured at New York Lnlverslty; at
Prlnceton, where he was a Creatlve Wrltlng Iellow; and
even ln the edltorlal offlces at Vlklng Press. At some
polnt he felt such revulslon wlth the 'grlm" work he
had begun that he dumped some one hundred thou
sand words down an lnclnerator. (One chapter survlved
and was publlshed as 'Jrlp to Galena.")
Jhus, q ^ ^ j~ beglns as the
opposlte of Bellow`s serlous concerns, shlftlng to the
flrst person from the thlrd person of q s and from
Leventhal`s fears of the streets to Augle`s celebratlon of
them. Bellow had known someone llke Augle. 'He
came of just such a famlly as I descrlbed. I hadn`t seen
hlm ln 25 years, so the novel was a speculatlve blogra
phy." What was especlally speculatlve was Bellow`s def
lnltlon of the young man as an enthuslast who ls swept
up by the people he loves, sometlmes ln a sexual swoon
and at other tlmes as an admlrlng dlsclple. Can a young
man ln a harsh world of force survlve wlthout weapons
other than affectlon and tolerance and a lack of calcula
tlon? Jhe answer lles ln the adults who surround Augle
and are as large and threatenlng as they would appear
to a chlld. Jhey exlst wlth a Balzaclan vlgor and lmpor
tance that testlfles to human worth as they act upon
thelr envlronment, but they also overwhelm the passlve
young Augle, who becomes another Bellow hero
oppressed by the world.
Augle manages to survlve at flrst. Augle`s chlld
hood ls domlnated by Grandma Lausch, whose world
ls every blt as dramatlc and cynlcal as the czar`s court,
and whom Bellow descrlbes as the equal of the great
polltlclans of the world. Jhe crlppled Elnhorn, for
whom Augle works as a male nurse, ls great too, even lf
hls klngdom ls a West Slde nelghborhood. Augle also
serves the North Shore matron Mrs. Renllng (untll she
wlshes to adopt hlm) and acts as an aldedecamp to hls
ambltlous brother Slmon, who marrles lnto a wealthy
famlly. In each case, Augle observes not only that 'lt
wasn`t so necessary to lle," as he says ln the flrst chap
ter, rejectlng Machlavelllan cynlclsm, but also that these
egotlsts flnally do themselves ln. Only Augle, larky,
lmpetuous, sensual, acceptlngthe opposlte of Bellow`s
usual protagonlst and thus a true fantasy for Bellow
only Augle, lt seems, ls escaplng a harsh and destructlve
world.
Yet, Augle does not escape, elther, and readers
can measure the progress of the novel by notlng hls
responses. In the flrst chapter Augle ls beaten up by
nelghborhood punks (lncludlng Augle`s good frlend)
for belng a |ew. 'But I never had any speclal grlef from
lt," Augle says, 'or brooded, belng by and large too
larky and bolsterous to take lt to heart." By the mlddle
of the novel, when Augle ls beaten up ln a labor strlke,
he flees, full of rage and terror. He goes to Mexlco wlth
hls lover Jhea, another Machlavelllan who plans to
hunt lguanas wlth a tralned eagle, and suffers a concus
slon that makes hlm spend depresslng weeks on the
mend. When he cheats on Jhea, she tells hlm he ls not
a man of love at all, but lsolate or lndlfferent, a fact that
Elnhorn had earller descrlbed as Augle`s 'opposltlon."
Jhe book ultlmately becomes the memolr of a rather
scarred and saddened mlddleaged man who deflnes
hlmself as one slnglng ln the mlddle of a desolate and
frozen farm fleld.
91
p~ _ ai_ POV
Revlewers ln l953 pralsed the novel for lts energy
and acceptance and styllstlc flreworks. Even though q
^ ^ j~ won a Natlonal Book Award ln
l951, Bellow hlmself had reservatlons, commentlng
that 'I got stuck ln a Sherwood Anderson lngenue veln.
here are all these people and lsn`t llfe wonderful! By the
last thlrd of the book I wasn`t feellng that way any
more." Jhe novel ls notable for the warm tone of lts
volce and the preclslon of lts detalls. Bellow had grown
up on the naturallstlc work of Drelser, |ohn Dos Pas
sos, and |ames J. Iarrell, and he transforms lt here lnto
somethlng less mechanlcal, less determlnlstlc or exter
nal, focuslng more on the perceptlon and hlstory and
feellng of the lnner protagonlstwho flnds a trlumph,
flnally, ln consclousness lf not ln love.
Bellow taught at Bard College ln l953 and l951
and at the Lnlverslty of Mlnnesota the next year. He
won a second Guggenhelm Iellowshlp, whlch permlt
ted hlm to spend l955 ln Nevada and Callfornla, and
then, havlng termlnated hls troubled marrlage, he was
free to marry Sondra Jschacbasov and settle down
after almost two decades of movlng aboutln Dutchess
County, New York, near Jlvoll. Durlng thls perlod he
also wrote the short works that make up hls next book,
p a~ (l956). 'Looklng for Mr. Green" (l95l),
'A Iather to Be" (l955), 'Jhe Gonzaga Manuscrlpts"
(l956), the tltle novella, and a oneact play, q t
(l951). Jhe novella p a~ reflects a pattern of
varlety ln Bellow`s work, as each novel seems to con
trast ln tone wlth lts predecessor. Whlle q ^
^ j~ sprawls and attacks the world wlth energy,
p a~ ls tlght and sets an eleglac tone.
Jhe story recounts a day ln the llfe of a falllng
mlddleaged Amerlcan, Jommy Wllhelm, who has
made a serles of poor declslons that land hlm jobless ln
hls early fortles at the oncegrand, nowshabby Hotel
Ansonla on the Lpper West Slde of New York, where
hls father llves ln retlrement. Jommy wants hls father`s
helpand ls denled. He wants hls substltute father`s
help too, and thls father, the sometlme psychologlst
Jamkln, ls the character Bellow flnds most lnterestlng
ln the tale, for 'llke most phony phonles, he ls always
somewhere near the truth. . . . But Jamkln`s truths
aren`t really true." As he treats patlents over the phone
and spouts exlstentlal cllchs, Jamkln promlses to cure
all of Jommy`s troubles. He wlll make hlm strong,
teachlng hlm to 'selze the day"the very vagueness of
whlch ls Bellow`s polntand he wlll make hlm flnan
clally comfortable, too, uslng Jommy`s money to specu
late on the graln market. Bellow beglns the novella wlth
Jommy emerglng from hls room, assumlng a bold
front. Jhe flrst three sectlons cover Jommy`s past and
hls breakfast wlth hls father, and the second three hls
relatlons wlth Jamkln. In the last, cllmactlc sectlon,
Jommy`s dlsgusted father dlsowns hlm and Jamkln,
havlng lost Jommy`s savlngs, dlsappears.
Jommy`s defeat makes many readers uncomfort
able, and several revlewers termed p a~ an
lnterlm work, fllllng the tlme after q ^ ^
j~K Slnce l956 lts reputatlon has grown steadlly,
however, untll, as Kazln puts lt, 'none of hls work ls so
wldely and genulnely admlred as thls short novel." Her
bert Gold called p a~ 'one of the central storles
of our day." Jommy ls at once the ultlmate antlhero
and a worthwhlle man, and llkable, wlth 'a large,
shaky, patlent dlgnlty." He ls cheerful and wlthout mal
lce. He cares for hls loved ones. More lmportant, he ls
lntelllgently aware, undergolng hls experlence wlth
depth and sensltlvlty.
Jhe flnest accompllshment of the story ls the cll
mactlc scene. Jommy at one moment ls on the New
York streets, desperately looklng for Jamkln and feellng
the pressure of the crowd, 'the lnexhaustlble current of
mllllons of every race and klnd pourlng out, presslng
round, of every age, of every genlus, possessors of
every secret," and at the next lnslde a funeral parlor,
where lt ls suddenly 'dark and cool" and where 'men
ln formal clothes and black homburgs strode softly
back and forth on the cork floor, up and down the cen
ter alsle." In a few moments he stands before the corpse
of a man he has never known, and beglns to cry. He
sobs at flrst for the man, 'another human creature," he
thlnks, but soon he crles for hlmself and for all hls trou
bles. 'Soon he was past words, past reason, coherence,"
Bellow wrltes; 'Jhe source of all tears had suddenly
sprung open wlthln hlm, black, deep." Jhe other guests
envy the dead man for havlng lnsplred such mournlng,
but Jommy does not stop. Hls grlef becomes a
strangely trlumphant moment, as the flowers and llghts
and muslc fuse wlthln hlm, pourlng 'lnto hlm where he
had hldden hlmself ln the center of a crowd by the great
and happy obllvlon of tears. He heard lt and sank
deeper than sorrow, through torn sobs and crles toward
the consummatlon of hls heart`s ultlmate need."
Crltlcs dlsagree about Bellow`s flnal meanlng
puzzled, as Brendan Glll put lt ln q k v (5 |an
uary l957), by the sense that Jommy ls 'sobblng hls
heart out over hls pllght and yet feellng rather better
than usual"but almost all readers sense the authorlty
of the scene. As Kazln says of the whole novella, 'It has
a qulte remarkable lntenslty of effect wlthout ever seem
lng to force one." Jhe clrcumstance of Jommy flndlng
hls way to a stranger`s funeral crystalllzes Jommy`s slt
uatlon and needs. Ior he needs a father and has been
denled, seeklng help from people 'dead" to hlm. He has
sought all day to hlde hls fallure, to put up a front, and
here he ls publlcly reduced to truthfulness. Bellow hlm
self has sald that he wanted to dramatlze the way New
95
ai_ POV p~ _
Yorkers fulflll lntlmate emotlonal needs through strang
ers, and so Jommy turns from hls psychologlst (the
professlonal stranger) to an unfamlllar corpseand
flnally flnds fulflllment. Slnce Jommy has had mystlcal
promptlngs that hls sufferlng somehow has a transcen
dent purpose, Bellow`s polnt ls also that Jommy slnks
to a truer, more splrltual level of belng accesslble only
when he ls strlpped of worldly pretenslons.
e o~ h dld not recelve strong
pralse when lt was publlshed ln l959, but lt dld not
dlmlnlsh Bellow`s reputatlon elther. Bellow wrote lt ln
Jlvoll, New York, ln l957 (the year hls second son,
Adam, was born) and ln l958 at the Lnlverslty of Mln
nesota (an anchor for Bellow ln these years and the
place where he was frlends wlth |ohn Berryman), and
then the next year ln Europe on a twoyear Iord Ioun
datlon grant. Jhls book about a WASP mllllonalre`s
trlp to a dreamllke Afrlca lllustrates the fertlllty and
varlety ln Bellow`s lmaglnatlon and hls deslre, as he
sald later, to develop 'a flctlon that can accommodate
the full tumult, the zanlness and crazed quallty of mod
ern experlence."
Henderson ls a glgantlc man ln body and emo
tlon, slx feet four lnches tall, wlth 'an enormous head,
rugged, wlth halr llke Perslan lambs` fur. Susplclous
eyes, usually narrowed. Blusterlng way. A great nose."
He ls helr to a fortune, a hard drlnker, a bully, a flghter,
and a man fleelng death. He ls nasty to hls wlves and
torments the nelghbors. Hls rages flnally scare the fam
lly cook to death, maklng hlm seek salvatlon ln Afrlca,
where, he says, 'the world whlch I thought so mlghty
an oppressor has removed lts wrath from me." Hender
son (whose lnltlals are the same as Hemlngway`s) ls the
mllltant, lnsecure Amerlcan who attempts to prove hls
manhood by kllllng. He ls also the lntelllgent and sensl
tlve man who suffers from hls knowledge of human
llmltatlon. Confesslng that he ls most llke the character
Henderson, 'the absurd seeker of hlgh qualltles," Bel
low comments that 'what Henderson ls really seeklng
ls a remedy to the anxlety over death. What he can`t
endure ls thls contlnulng anxlety . . . whlch he ls fool
hardy enough to reslst."
Although the novel has many reallstlc touches, lt
ls essentlally a fantasy, a trlp deep wlthln the Afrlca of
Henderson`s mlnd. He dlscovers flrst the Arnewl, a
trlbe that reacts to lts envlronment wlth a soft, worshlp
lng attltude, and then (after he has harmed the gentle
Arnewl lrremedlably by blowlng up thelr water supply)
the Warlrl, a flerce and manlpulatlve trlbe that beats lts
gods and threatens to klll lts klng. Part of Bellow`s polnt
ls Henderson`s deslre to serve a communlty even
though lt lnvolves often blzarre and dangerous condl
tlons, as ln the case of the marvelously relaxed Warlrl
klng Dahfu, who has studled the works of Ralph Waldo
Emerson, Wllllam |ames, and Wllhelm Relch and who
wlll be unceremonlously strangled lf he falls to satlsfy
any one of hls forty wlves. Jo make the anxlous Hend
erson equally serene, Dahfu takes hlm lnto a llon`s den,
where he teaches hlm to emulate the llon. Dahfu`s trlbe
belleves that he ls not completely klng untll he captures
the soul of hls dead father ln a llve llon. Although edu
cated ln the Western emplrlcal tradltlon, whlch would
scoff at such a vlew, Dahfu accepts these condltlons and
ls kllled by a llon as a result. When Henderson then
feels hlmself cured or freed from the world`s wrath, he
stumbles ln explalnlng the cause, for he clalms lt was
not the llon`s cruel lndlfference that freed hlm but the
love of the Arnewla statement that grows more out of
Bellow`s deslre than the events of the novel. Crltlcs
complalned about the murky endlng.
Bellow ls bolder than he had been ln hls prevlous
work (he dates hls maturlty as a wrlter from e
o~ h), for he openly makes a connectlon
between the force of the unlverse and a human or splrl
tual prlnclple. But he once agaln sought varlety, turnlng
next to a reallstlc work. He spent much of l959 ln
Europe and the next year at hls country home ln
Dutchess County. Wlth Kelth Botsford and Aaron
Asher he edlted the perlodlcal k p~~K He taught at
the Lnlverslty of Puerto Rlco and then, after hls second
dlvorce, settled down to hls thlrd marrlage, wlth Susan
Glassman, whom he wed ln December l96l. Wlth a
new chlld on the way (Danlel, born ln l963) and a
deslre to return to hls roots, Bellow left New York for
Chlcago, where he accepted a permanent posltlon at the
Lnlverslty of Chlcago on the Commlttee on Soclal
Jhought.
In Chlcago, Bellow sought greater freedom to
work, a deslre that bore frult ln l961 wlth the publlca
tlon of e and the productlon of q i~ ^~
(publlshed ln l965)K Jhe play was a llghthearted epl
sodlc farce Bellow hoped would survlve because of lts
entertalnlng qualltles. Jhe novel was more serlous,
embodylng the theory he had announced ln l96l that a
novellst must be permltted to deal wlth ldeas. Jhe play
flopped, but the novel was a bestseller for slx months.
'I recelved two or three thousand letters from people
pourlng out thelr souls to me, saylng 'Jhls ls my llfe,
thls ls what lt`s been llke for me,`" Bellow sald after the
publlcatlon of e. 'And then I understood that for
some reason these themes were vlslted upon me, that I
dldn`t always plck them, they plcked me." Slnce the
novel covered events slmllar to those of Bellow`s llfe,
portraylng an lntellectual professor devastated after
belng betrayed by hls wlfe and frlends, some of the
lnterest ln the novel was that of a roman a clef. But
most of the people who bought lt were not ln on the
gosslp; the novel artlculated thelr own anger, thelr own
96
p~ _ ai_ POV
frustratlonpreclsely that frame of mlnd that character
lzed the late l960s as tempers flared over the lssues of
free speech, raclal lnjustlce, and war. As early as l960,
Bellow antlclpated the mood of the comlng decade.
Jhe story conslsts of Moses Herzog`s memorles
as he putters alone about hls country home ln western
Massachusetts. Herzog remembers hlmself ln New
York, where he had stayed a few days after teachlng a
course, and then ln Chlcago, where he had lurked out
slde hls estranged wlfe`s apartment before sufferlng a
mlnor auto accldent and a brlef lncarceratlon, from
whlch the pollce freed hlm to go home. If the geogra
phy ls slmple, however, the story ls not. Slnce Herzog
wrltes letters to many people and remembers all klnds
of earller events, the novel seems dlsorganlzed. Crltlcs
dlvlde largely lnto those who forglve thls dlsorganlza
tlon (slnce lt reflects Herzog`s mlnd) and those who do
not. And once agaln the protagonlst feels somewhat
better at the end of the novel, but the reader ls not cer
taln why. Yet, the truth ls that the book, whlch Bellow
rewrote at least thlrteen tlmes, ls lndeed well formed.
Herzog decldes early ln the story to shlft from an emo
tlonal 'personal" llfe, such as the one ln whlch hls wlfe,
Madelelne, abused hlm, to a more ratlonal, clvll, mod
erate onehe wlll shlft, as he says ln a letter to Presldent
Elsenhower, from Leo Jolstoy to Georg Wllhelm
Irledrlch Hegel. Much of the novel flows from thls decl
slon. He flles to Chlcago contemplatlng the murder of
hls former wlfe and her lover ln order to protect hls
daughter |unle, reportedly locked crylng ln a car out
slde Madelelne`s apartment; but he decldes once more
(as the novel catches the reallstlc zlgzags of a man trylng
on a new mode) that he ls belng extreme and lndulglng
ln personal 'drama."
Each of the nlne sectlons of the novel dramatlzes
Bellow`s theme. After he ls caught the next day wlth the
gun ln hls pocket, Herzog flnds hlmself standlng before
a pollce sergeant, next to Madelelne, who ln pure
hatred seeks to have hlm lmprlsoned. 'Her volce went
up sharply, and as she spoke, Herzog saw the sergeant
take a new look at her, as lf he were beglnnlng to make
out her haughty pecullarltles at last." When the ser
geant lets hlm go, Herzog recelves a symbollc justlce.
Jhe frlends and relatlves and even doctors who had
wltnessed hls dlvorce had all falled hlm, but the clvll
authorlty had not. And havlng gotten justlce, he feels
better. One of the problems wlth the novel, however, ls
that he feels an ecstatlc joy that goes far beyond falr
treatment.
e ls notable for the controversy lt caused.
Bellow`s second Natlonal Book Award wlnner, lt was
both pralsed and crltlclzed. Kazln, who provlded a dust
jacket blurb, called lt Bellow`s most brllllant novel; Glll
ln q k v termed lt 'faultless." Other crltlcs
worrled that Herzog pondered only hlmself, maklng the
novel sollpslstlc. Jhe key questlon ls whether Herzog
succeeds ln maklng a character of hlmself as he looks
back. Does Herzog get out of hls own mlnd? Hls ablllty
to see hlmself from the outslde and wlth preclse detall
suggests that he does. Bellow`s theme at any rate ls
somethlng llke sollpslsm, as Herzog ls lmprlsoned ln the
'prlvate" llfe.
However one evaluates the structure of the novel,
e ls most notable for lts style, whlch represents Bel
low at hls best. Slnce Herzog does a great deal of
observlng, the center of the novel ls lts descrlptlons.
Jhe prose ls charged, full of the speclflcs and preclsely
deflned lmpresslons that create the feel of mldl960s
Amerlcan llfe. Because Herzog ls deflected from hls
course not by any lnslght or charged drama but by the
slght of klndly Gersbach glvlng llttle |unle a bath, eJ
ls a defense of the reallstlc mode, holdlng that the
slgnlflcant levels of llfe are often the common, whether
ln the home or outslde ln socletya vlew Herzog hlm
self embraces (rejectlng the fashlonable exlstentlallsm)
and then ln hls llfe dramatlzes.
q i~ ^~I performed ln fall l961, was the
culmlnatlon of Bellow`s long lnterest ln the theater. He
had collaborated on a dramatlzatlon of p a~
(performed at the avantgarde workshop Jheatre of
Ideas, wlth Mlke Nlchols as Jommy) and had lncluded
a oneact play, q tI among the pleces ln the col
lectlon p a~. Bellow also seems to have been
motlvated flnanclally, for hls novels had not made hlm
much money, and e dld not lnltlally look llke a
bestseller. Zero Mostel was scheduled to play the lead
ln 'Humanltls," as q i~ ^~ was orlglnally tltled,
and Bellow thought the play would be easy to wrlte. He
saw the theater as a form of freedom, slnce the stage
requlred a more dlrect, less subtle approach.
By l961, though, Bellow complalned that he was
wrltlng hlmself lnto hls grave. Mostel backed out, to be
replaced by Sam Levene, and Bellow found playwrltlng
more demandlng than he had lmaglned. He persevered,
however, presentlng the story of a comedlan who has
sllpped ln hls career because of hls serlousness and who
now, ln hls New York warehouse studlo, seeks to com
blne laughter and homestyle psychoanalysls. Jhe pro
tagonlst, Bummldge, seeks a cure for 'humanltls," and
hls technlque, he says, ls to act out 'the maln events of
my llfe, dragglng repressed materlal lnto the open by
sheer force of drama." Jhe Broadway verslon flopped
after twentyelght performances, recelvlng poor
revlews.
Bellow`s second effort ln the theater dld no better.
Ior the productlon r t~ (l966), Bellow
comblned three oneact plays, two of whlch have been
publlshed. ^ tI a comedy about a sclentlst who has
97
ai_ POV p~ _
found the experlence of wlnnlng the Nobel Prlze less
lntense than the gllmpse of a blrthmark on a woman`s
thlgh (a gllmpse he seeks to dupllcate, ln mlddle age,
wlth the same surprlsed lady); and l~ pI a
somewhat darker comedy about a Pollsh whore who
wants to move ln wlth her elderly and wealthy WASP
customer. r t~ was produced ln London,
Spoleto, and New York, but falled to catch on.
Bellow contlnued to teach ln Chlcago ln the years
followlng eI although he took tlme out ln l967, the
year ln whlch he and Glassman dlvorced, to cover the
SlxDay War for k~ and ln l968 to recelve the
Crolx de Chevaller des Arts et Lettres from Irance. He
had begun the novel that became e d (l975),
but upon hearlng an anecdote about an old man wlt
nesslng a plckpocket at work, shlfted to the manuscrlpt
that became jK p~ m~. He also found tlme to
wrlte two short storles, 'Jhe Old System" (l967) and
'Mosby`s Memolrs" (l968), to whlch he added 'Leav
lng the Yellow House" (l957) and several prevlously
publlshed tales for j j ~ l p
(l968), a more or less 'made" book deslgned to keep
Bellow`s name before the publlc and perhaps to capltal
lze on the success of eK
Jhe best story of the group ls 'Jhe Old System,"
ln whlch a wellknown sclentlst, Samuel Braun (trans
parently Bellow hlmself), embodles a characterlstlc Bel
low posture ln the late l960s and l970s. the mlddle
aged man rememberlng hls |ewlsh relatlves, loslng hlm
self ln a colorful and exotlc past. Jhe characters are
mysterlous to Braun, who loves them. He ponders thelr
reallty, thelr evolutlon, the strangeness of thelr belng.
Jhey are ln one sense crude and grasplng lmmlgrants
from Eastern Europe who would embarrass a thlrd
generatlon |ew. But they are also vltal and proud. Jhey
seem to Braun to be more lntensely allve, or at least
more passlonate, than hls modern colleagues.
jK p~ m~ was well but somewhat
absentmlndedly recelved, as though the revlews pralsed
Bellow by rote; a few years later the novel was attacked
by radlcal young crltlcs for polltlcal reasons, ln part
because Bellow had declared hls lndependence from the
llberal establlshment ln l965 by attendlng the Whlte
House dlnner that Robert Lowell, protestlng the Vlet
nam War, had boycotted. In thls novel, as ln eI Bel
low seemed to test both hls readers and hls own
powers, havlng chosenln a decade obsessed wlth
Amerlcan youthto wrlte about an elderly man. Artur
Sammler ls an old Pollsh |ew who, havlng llved ln Lon
don ln the l930s where he knew many of the Blooms
bury group, and havlng survlved Nazl atrocltles, has
the clvlllzed tastes of the lntellectual Engllsh and the
wlsdom of the survlvor. Around hlm he flnds a host of
modern young nleces, nephews, and acqualntances
who reject all llmlts on thelr deslre. Jhey know no sex
ual bounds, no moral lmperatlves, no common clvlllty.
Sammler alone ln New York quletly pursues somethlng
llke duty. When hls crazed daughter Shula steals a
manuscrlpt to help her father wlth hls study of H. G.
Wells, he doggedly seeks to return the manuscrlpt.
When hls frlend and benefactor Elya Gruner lles mor
tally lll ln a hospltal, Sammler alone pays homage.
Jhe plot conslsts largely of the young lnterferlng
wlth these two tasks and ls typlfled ln the runnlng story
of Sammler`s encounters wlth a black plckpocket,
whose crlmes he has wltnessed on a bus and who fol
lows Sammler to hls apartment foyer to threaten the old
man by exposlng hlmself. Sammler mentlons the lncl
dent to hls opportunlstlc frlend Ieffer, and later (ln too
much of a colncldence) stumbles upon the plckpocket
wrestllng wlth Ieffer, who has taken plctures of the
crlme. When Sammler asks hls former sonlnlaw,
Elsen, to lntervene, Elsen hlts to klll. In contrast to such
madness, Sammler at the end pralses hls frlend Gruner,
who (although sometlmes an abortlonlst for the mob)
had known how to be klnd and to do hls duty. Gruner
had met 'the terms of hls contract," Sammler con
cludes, 'the terms of whlch, ln hls lnmost heart, each
man knows."
jK p~ m~ ls full of the preclse detall,
honest feellng, and llvely ldeas that are Bellow`s
strengths. Jhe character of Sammler, who has survlved
the Holocaust, havlng woken from a plle of corpses to
klll fasclsts ln hls escape, ls an excellent polnt of vlew
from whlch to examlne and judge Amerlcan culture.
Bellow captures better than anyone the feel of Amerl
can soclety ln the late l960s, wlth lts blend of soclal
rebelllon, sexuallty, raclal unrest, and personal aggran
dlzement. What mars the novel, flnally, ls Sammler`s
baslc feellng of revulslon toward the world, both ln lts
soclal form, whlch ls cheap and dlstractlngGruner`s
daughter worrles about her sex llfe as her father
dlesand ln terms of all matter. Sammler has no use
for the natural physlcal world, or what he calls 'crea
turellness. . . . Its low trlcks, lts dogglsh hlndsnlfflng
charm." Sammler yearns to be 'a soul released from
Nature, from lmpresslons, and from everyday llfe."
jK p~ m~ won a Natlonal Book Award ln
l97l. Whlle contlnulng to teach at the Lnlverslty of Chl
cago (where he had become chalrman of the Commlttee
on Soclal Jhought) and coplng wlth the publlc and bltter
dlssolutlon of hls thlrd marrlage, Bellow worked on two
novels, segments of whlch were publlshed ln l971. One
of these was e dI whlch became hls seventh
novel, won Bellow a Pulltzer Prlze, and lmmedlately pre
ceded hls l976 Nobel Prlze ln Llterature.
Many revlewers pralsed the book, and k
dld a cover story on 'Amerlca`s leadlng wrlter," but other
98
p~ _ ai_ POV
crltlcs were dlsappolnted. 'Jhe book ls not very real,"
Kazln confessed, ln Tlc `cw Jorl Icvicw of ools (3
December l970), although large pleces of lt were. Part of
the trouble seemed to be the comblnatlon of the reallstlc
and manlc. Bellow attempted to work grotesque gang
sters lnto a flnely detalled world, and some crltlcs felt lt
dld not work.
Jhe story ls told from the polnt of vlew of Charles
Cltrlne, a wellknown dramatlst who remlnlsces about
hls frlendshlp wlth Humboldt, a poet who comblnes
qualltles of Berryman, wlth whom Bellow had been close
frlends at Mlnnesota, and Schwartz, whom Bellow had
known ln New York. Bellow began worklng on the novel
ln l966, shortly after Schwartz dled. Much of the story
conslsts of Cltrlne`s trylng to hang onto hls memorles of
Humboldt and do a llttle phllosophlcal medltatlon whlle
belng harrassed by gangsters, lawyers, blmbos, and
creepssome funny and some not. All of them are typl
fled by Cantablle, to whom Cltrlne owes money and
who has Cltrlne`s car smashed ln by baseball bats and
later forces the playwrlght to watch hlm defecate. A
former wlfe ls sulng Cltrlne, and a mlstressthe sensual
Renatals attemptlng to lead hlm to the altar. But durlng
all these events, Cltrlne moves lnward ln memory and
medltatlon.
What ls lnterestlng thematlcally ln Humboldt`s Cift ls
the equatlon wlthln Cltrlne`s lnner llfe of hls medltatlon
of splrlt and hls memorles of hls frlend. Both of these
exlst ln savlng opposltlon to the world, although Hum
boldt`s actual glft comblnes the vulgar and the subllme,
for lt conslsts flrst of a movle scenarlo on whlch they had
collaborated and whlch proceeds to earn Cltrlne a small
fortune, and then of a scrlbbled sentence at the end of a
farewell letter. 'We are not natural belngs but supernatu
ral belngs."
Jhe chlef crltlcal lssue wlth the novel, aslde from
Bellow`s struggle to mesh hls transcendental phllosophy
wlth commerclal Amerlca, ls lts uneven quallty. thls
novel lncludes wrltlng as good as any that Bellow has
done and also some of the worst that he has done. Bel
low at hls worst sounds llke an amateur playwrlght pro
vldlng background lnformatlon as he moves hls
characters on and offstage. Jhe later parts of the novel
fall off, becomlng talky and cranky, as though (as report
edly ls the case) Bellow had taken to dlctatlng hls novel
to a stenographer, or as though hls troubled personal llfe
had taken lts toll. Jhe best early parts of the book were
wrltten not too long after Hcrog, whlle the later parts,
developlng some of the dlsenchantment wlth the real
world Bellow expressed ln Mr. Sommlcr`s Ilovct, came after
l969.
Bellow`s l976 book, the journallstlc To crusolcm
ovd ocl: Z Icrsovol Zccouvt, was publlshed after Bellow
had accompanled hls new wlfe, Alexandra Ionescu Jul
cea, professor of mathematlcs at Northwestern Lnlver
slty, to Israel. Jhe author asked hlmself, what could a
practltloner of the humanltles add to the polltlcs and pro
paganda and terror of the IsraellArab confllct? Could he
penetrate the confuslon and make some klnd of contrlbu
tlon to solvlng Israel`s troubles? Jhe book descrlbes Bel
low`s travels, hls lntervlews wlth Israell and Amerlcan
leaders, and hls dlnner conversatlons wlth the powerful
and the humble, and thenand not least lmportantdoc
uments hls readlng and research lnto the problem.
Bellow`s wrltlng ls lucld and detalled, and not wlth
out humor, as a Hasldlm, for example, ls offended by
Bellow`s eatlng hablts and offers to send hlm money each
month lf he wlll return to orthodoxy. But the ratlonal
and wellmeanlng Bellow ultlmately ls forced to conclude
that the sltuatlon ls even more dangerous than he had
supposed, for he flnds that natlons (and thelr leaders) do
not act conslstently wlth even thelr own selflnterests. If
only they recognlzed thelr goals and sought them ruth
lessly, Bellow suggests, the struggle would have some
order. But both Arab and |ew act lrratlonally, creatlng a
volatlle mlx.
Shortly after returnlng to Chlcago ln the fall of
l976, Bellow learned that he had won the Nobel Prlze ln
Llterature. Hls acceptance speech, dellvered ln Sweden
on l2 December l976, provlded valuable lnslght lnto hls
flctlon. Successful art, Bellow told the klng and queen of
Sweden, offers 'true lmpresslons"a phrase Bellow bor
rowed from Marcel Proust to descrlbe lntultlons of a splr
ltual reallty. Such gllmpses glve humans thelr sense of
meanlng, of goodness, of value. Jhey move people to
belleve that 'the good we hang onto so tenaclously . . . ls
no llluslon." Jhey offer refuge from the dlstractlons and
lmpurlty of the worldthey are the stlllness achleved by
Jommy Wllhelm, the joy experlenced by Eugene Hen
derson, the reason art ls essentlal even ln an age of scl
ence. Jhe 'true lmpresslon" ls personal, burled wlthln
the lndlvldual and expressed only wlthln the language of
art. It ls a hlnt, a gllmpse, a feellngBellow ls careful not
to clalm too muchdlscovered by the person wlthln the
work.
In these remarks Bellow reveals the true subject of
hls flctlon, whlch ls not soclety, much as those readers
who value Bellow`s soclal observatlon mlght have
expected. Hls Nobel address dld not stress hls |ewlsh
ldentlty elther, ln splte of the many readers who vlew
hlm as the qulntessentlal |ewlsh Amerlcan wrlter. In
what must be the penultlmate explanatlon of hls work to
the world, Bellow says hls subject ls the prlvate experl
ence of the lndlvldual. Jhat experlence takes place ln
Amerlca and belongs to a |ew, true enough. But lt also
lnvolves sensatlons that lle deeper than soclal or ethnlc
ldentlty. Before l976 the Bellow protagonlst experlenced
a level of physlcal sensatlon so lntense that lt ltself
99
ai_ POV p~ _
became the story. Jhe antagonlst ln the Bellow novel ls
the 'world" wlth all lts sensatlon and dlstractlon. Jhe
world ls lmpure, unclean, oppresslve. Bellow embodles lt
ln a person (Allbee of q s) or an anlmal (the llon ln
e o~ h). He glves the sensory world a
geography (ln the streets of New York) or a psychology
(Herzog`s masochlsm) or an lmage ( |oseph`s dream ln
a~ j~). Whatever form the world mlght take,
however, the lntenslty of sensatlon that makes lt oppres
slve also hlnts at a splrltual level of reallty.
But by the l970s, Bellow`s flctlon had changed.
Herzog`s shlft from the prlvate to the publlc descrlbes the
evolutlon of Bellow`s art, even though lt took some tlme
to become apparent. After e dI the lntenslty of
the oppresslve world dlmlnlshed as Bellow vlewed lt
more and more ln soclal or hlstorlc terms. Bellow moved
from the meanlng of matter to questlons of soclal pollcy,
from the hldden psychology of hls protagonlst to the
dynamlcs of a dlnner party. He shlfted from an early lyr
lclsm to somethlng more external and prosalc and ln
dolng so became a dlfferent klnd of wrlter.
After the Nobel ceremony, Bellow and hls wlfe
llved ln an apartment overlooklng the lake on the north
slde of Chlcago, close to her job at Northwestern Lnlver
slty. Jo meet hls classes at the Lnlverslty of Chlcago, Bel
low drove down the Outer Drlve. At thls tlme he also
wrote q a~ a (l982), whlch ls nothlng less
than an lndlctment of Amerlcan socletyon all levels.
Jhe blacks ln Amerlcan cltles are ln truth doomed, Bel
low says; the whltes show only a cruel lndlfference. Pub
llc offlclals are gullty of hypocrlsy, and those unofflclal
publlc flgures who have the opportunlty to study the
problemjournallsts and experts and professorsare
gullty of jargon and cant. 'Many Amerlcan wrlters cross
the bar ln thelr 60`s and 70`s," Bellow has sald, 'and
become Grand Old Men, gurus or bones of the Robert
Irost varlety. Jhls ls how soclety eases us out." Bellow`s
concern for Amerlca ls deep, but hls tone ls anythlng but
grandfatherly.
Jhe novellst dellvers hls vlews ln a book that
seems at flrst to be typlcal Bellow. an lntelllgent but fum
bllng protagonlst has the lelsure to reflect upon a shock
lng event ln the past, provldlng not only the drama of a
mlnd ln actlon but also a fasclnatlng exerclse ln perspec
tlve. Albert Corde, a dean of students at a Chlcago col
lege, has accompanled hls senslble astronomer wlfe,
Mlnna, to Bucharest, where her mother lles lll ln a hospl
tal. Petty Communlst offlclals make lt dlfflcult for Mlnna
to vlslt the dylng woman, who ls also a Communlst offl
clal now fallen from grace, and flnally permlt Mlnna only
one vlsltshe must choose the tlme. Corde`s wlfe must
suffer the thought of her mother dylng alone.
As Mlnna hurrles about the clty seeklng help,
Corde passes the tlme ln a chllly apartment rememberlng
the problems he has left behlnd ln Chlcago. He had pub
llshed a set of artlcles ln e~ on the black underclass
of the clty and had lnslsted upon the prosecutlon of two
blacks for the murder of a whlte student. In both
lnstances he has taken a controverslal stand ln a way
admlnlstrators dare not do. He has allenated whltes by
remlndlng them of the mllllons of people they have aban
doned. He has allenated the blacks by lnslstlng that how
ever vlctlmlzed they may be, they must be responslble
for thelr actlons. Jhe blacks are 'startled souls," Bellow
told an lntervlewer; 'Jhey cannot be reasoned wlth or
talked to about anythlng."
Jo the llberal, Corde sounds susplclously raclst. Jo
the conservatlve, he stlrs up muddy waters. And to hls
provost, Corde has vlolated academlc decorum. how
dare he, as an offlcer of the unlverslty, wade lnto a messy
soclal lssue? Jo everyone else Corde ls an aesthete, argu
lng that the problem ls one of perceptlon, slnce people
have learned to evade the truth, shuttlng off experlence.
Llke the nlneteenthcentury reallstlc novellsts, to whom
Bellow has confessed a debt, Corde belleves that faclng
the truth can be a rare (and perhaps herolc) accompllsh
ment. Hls artlcles (llke the novel ltself ) are meant 'to
recover the world that ls burled under the debrls of false
descrlptlon or nonexperlence."
Bellow provldes several dlfferent sources of narra
tlve lnterest. As readers awalt the outcome of Mlnna`s
struggle to vlslt her mother, they also awalt the outcome
of the trlal ln Chlcago (Had the whlte student sought
klnky sex? Had he asked for trouble?) and the effect of
Corde`s artlcles on hls career. Hls job hangs by a thread.
Jhe novel moves from Romanla to Chlcago, sometlmes
ln Corde`s memory and at other tlmes ln hls artlcles or
letters sent from Amerlca. In the two cltles, the style of
admlnlstrators, the ways of death, and the klnds of par
tles (a Romanlan tea and a hlghrlse celebratlon of a
dog`s blrthday), the novel sets contrasts that reveal and
dramatlze each soclety. Jhe communlst soclety ls cold
and harsh, as dreary admlnlstrators parcel out paln. Jhe
capltallstlc soclety ls hot and chaotlc, as the slums grow
out of control. In both countrles good people struggle to
be decent. Romanlan women support one another,
rememberlng the old European culture, whlle black
heroes such as Rufus Rldpath, a prlson warden, and
Joby Wlnthrop, the founder of a drug rehabllltatlon cen
ter, struggle to stop the people from brutallzlng them
selves and one another. Corde`s artlcles ln e~
(whlch Bellow excerpts ln the novel) provlde rlvetlng
accounts of the underclass and the offlclals who work
wlth lt.
Yet, much as one appreclates Bellow`s style and
ldeas, the novel ls a dlsappolntment to reador so many
crltlcs felt, as they wrote thelr mlxed revlews. Jhose who
called the book a success confessed that lt was a near
l00
p~ _ ai_ POV
thlng. Everythlng depends on the protagonlst, sald Rob
ert Jowers ln q k v q _ oI concludlng
that Corde does work as a character. 'Sentence by sen
tence, page by page, Saul Bellow ls slmply the best wrlter
that we have." Other revlewers objected that Corde does
not have the lndependent exlstence of Bellow`s other pro
tagonlstshe ls clearly a spokesman for Bellow. Many
crltlcs gave Bellow hlgh marks for struggllng wlth thls
dlfflcult but cruclal subject, whlle some readers, most
notably Davld Evanler ln the k~~ oI were put off
by Bellow`s subject, whlch they felt was stale. Others
complalned that the book ls too grlm (Chrlstopher Leh
mannHaupt wrote ln q k v q that reachlng
the endlng was 'llke not hlttlng one`s head agalnst the
wall anymore") or too talky or too full of scoldlng. Jhose
who pralsed lt were exhllarated. 'He glves Corde`s
thoughts such palpable lmmedlacy, such convlnclng
shlfts ln tone," wrote Dean Ilower ln the e oI
'that sometlmes one can only revel ln Bellow`s glfts."
e e c e j ~ l p
(l981) turns from the publlc realm to the prlvate or per
sonal one. It ls essentlally Bellow`s thlrd book of storles,
followlng p a~ and j jI and, llke those
volumes, ls a loose collectlon of short storles made slgnlf
lcant by Bellow`s style. Although he returns to many of
hls old themes (whlch now appear to be obsesslve), he
manages to make them fresh or lmmedlate.
Jhe tltle story ls a letter of apology from Professor
Shawmut to Mlss Rose, a llbrarlan Shawmut had
lnsulted thlrtyflve years prevlously. Shawmut, now old
and slck, has not done well, he confesses to hls anclent
vlctlm. Hls lmpetuous tongue has lnsulted many people.
But he too has been a vlctlm, havlng lnnocently trusted a
strongwllled, amoral characterhls brother, who cheated
hlm. Jhus, Bellow once agaln portrays an lnnocent or
gentle character ln confllct wlth a robust Machlavelllan.
In 'What Klnd of Day Dld You Have?," the weakest of
the flve storles, an attractlve young matron ls used by a
famous and powerful art crltlc; ln 'Zetland. By a Charac
ter Wltness" (orlglnally publlshed ln l971 as part of a
novel ln progress), the tltle character marrles ln deflance
of hls angry, broodlng father. In the best story of the vol
ume, 'A Sllver Dlsh," Woody Selbst remembers hls
father steallng from the Chrlstlan woman who had
befrlended Woody, a crlme that costs Woody hls place ln
the semlnary and a career as a Chrlstlan mlnlstera fact
hls |ewlsh father foresaw. And ln the last story, Ijah
Metzger ls surrounded by equally wlllful and amoral
'Couslns," all of whom want somethlng from hlm.
Although the collectlon was a bestseller and much
pralsed by revlewers, lt embodles Bellow`s new charac
terlstlc weakness. the dlalogue ln 'What Klnd of Day
Dld You Have?" ls wooden and the events somewhat
contrlved. But the volume features Bellow`s strengths as
well. One who wlshes to know what lt ls llke to rlde a
Chlcago trolley need only read 'A Sllver Dlsh." As |ohn
Lpdlke wrote ln q k v (22 Iebruary l982) of
q a~ aI Bellow 'ls not just a very good
wrlter, he ls one of the rare wrlters who when we read
them feel to be taklng mlmesls a layer or two deeper than
lt has gone before. Hls lavlsh, rlppllng notatlons of per
sons, furnlture, hablllments, and vlstas awaken us to
what ls truly there."
Bellow`s lnterest ln the transcendent may be found
ln these storles (one character belleves that 'Jhe Dlvlne
Splrlt . . . has wlthdrawn ln our tlme from the outer, vlsl
ble world"). But perhaps the most notable polnt about
thls volume ls Bellow`s concern wlth emotlon. More than
anythlng else, these storles are studles of human feellng,
explorlng the danger of emotlon as well as lts strength.
Shawmut`s love of hls brother causes hlm to glve the
buslnessman all hls money; Woody`s love of hls father
makes hlm trustlng; and Ijah`s deep feellng for hls cous
lns (or at least thelr parents) makes hlm a soft touch.
Agaln and agaln Bellow portrays characters bound by
thelr emotlons and vulnerable before people who do not
feel. 'Pop never had these grovellng emotlons," Woody
thlnks; 'Jhere was hls whole superlorlty. Pop had no
such feellngs."
Bellow belleves that such emotlon ls also salvatlon,
however. Jhe emotlonal characters are sustalned by thelr
love, rlslng above petty concerns. Jhey learn to control
thelr feellngs, when that ls approprlate, and also to trust
them. Ijah ln 'Couslns" reads the work of phllosopher
Martln Heldegger on emotlon and perceptlon. Even
hate, Ijah notes, 'lncreases lucldlty, lt opens a man up; lt
makes hlm reach out and concentrates hls belng so that
he ls able to grasp hlmself." Jo another character (ln the
tltle story), 'redemptlon from nature ls the work of
feellng and of the awakened eye of the Splrlt."
Bellow and Julcea dlvorced ln l986, the year
before Bellow publlshed j a e~~I hls weak
est novel. Jhe story centers on the relatlonshlp between
the narrator, Kenneth Jrachtenberg, an asslstant profes
sor of Russlan llterature, and hls uncle, the famous bota
nlst Benn Crader, who comblnes hlghmlnded thought
wlth a comlc fallure wlth women. Crader has marrled
Matllda Layamon, a beautlful woman twenty years hls
junlor, who proves to be more lnterested ln money than
her husband. After a compllcated and farclcal plot lnvolv
lng a realestate swlndle, Crader escapes to the Antarctlc.
Jo summarlze the events of the story, however, ls
to glve the wrong lmpresslon, slnce the book conslsts
largely of rumlnatlon. Although most revlewers pald Bel
low the respect he was due as a dlstlngulshed wrlter, lt
was clear they dlsllked the novel. 'Jhe characters are lost
ln a fog of dlscourse," as |ames Atlas put lt ln p~ _W
l0l
ai_ POV p~ _
Z iogroply (2000). Jhey are also full of anger and mlsog
yny.
In truth, Bellow by l986 was confronted as a
wrlter by a great many dlfflcultles. He faced so many
obstacles, ln fact, that only hls hablt of wrltlng every
mornlng, no matter what else was golng on ln hls llfe,
enabled hlm to stay productlve. Once Bellow had won
the Nobel Prlze, he became an even more publlc flgure,
asked to glve speeches all over the country. He dld so
reluctantly, though many of the lnvltatlons lnvolved hon
ors that he could not easlly turn down. Whether lt was a
conference on hls novels ln Halfa, Israel, or a llterary
prlze (such as the Natlonal Medal of Arts ln l988), or a
llbrary named after hlm ln hls hometown of Lachlne,
Bellow found hlmself playlng a hlghly publlc and dls
tractlng role.
Hls notorlety hurt ln another way. When a judge
sentenced hlm to ten days ln jall ln a l977 legal dlspute
wlth hls thlrd wlfe (a sentence overturned by an Illlnols
appeals court), lt made all the papersand so dld hls
lncreaslngly conservatlve vlews. Bellow resented the loss
of the economlcally just, culturally serlous soclety envl
sloned by lntellectuals ln the early l960s. He also
rejected the relatlvlsm of Irench Deconstructlon, champl
onlng a humanlsm that appeared oldfashloned. In con
trast to the ethos of the tlme, Bellow belleved ln the
unlversallty of certaln values and the greatness of certaln
masterpleces. He lnslsted on hlgh culture as a value ln
ltself, equal to any polltlcal cause; and he belleved ln the
efflcacy of language and the human mlnd. All of these
vlews made hlm appear elltlst, mlsogynlstlc, andwhen
he asked, 'Who ls the Jolstol of the Zulus?"raclst. No
one remembered hls plea ln Tlc Dcov`s Dcccmbcr for raclal
justlce.
Bellow`s advanclng years also affected hls work.
He had always wrltten out of hls own experlence, even
when he used events that happened to others, but that
experlence now belonged to an aglng male rumlnatlng
on hls past. Jhe rumlnatlon mlght be wltty and full of
observatlon; lt mlght offer a rare serlousness and orlgl
nallty; but lt stlll lacked the lmmedlacy of a dramatlzed
event. Instead of uslng dlalogue and analysls to support
hls plot, Bellow now used hls plots as an excuse for the
protagonlst`s rumlnatlon. As the years passed, Bellow
also lost the stamlna to contlnue produclng darlng and
dlfferent works, chooslng to wrlte novellas lnstead of
novels, for example, and movlng from a lyrlcal to a more
rambllng, dlscurslveand so less demandlngmode.
In l989 Bellow marrled |anls Ireedman, a gradu
ate student ln the Commlttee on Soclal Jhought, achlev
lng the marltal happlness that had so far eluded hlm. He
also wrote two novellas, Z Tlcft and Tlc clloroso Covvcc-
tiov. When Vlklng Press felt they were too short to pub
llsh ln hardcover (and when magazlnes clalmed they
were too long for a perlodlcal), Bellow arranged to pub
llsh them as Penguln paperbacks. In Z Tlcft, a female
narrator, Clara Velde, dotes on an older male, the power
ful Washlngton lawyer Ithlel Regler. Bellow had used a
female polnt of vlew before, ln some of hls storles, but
crltlcs now complalned that Clara sounded too much llke
the author hlmself. Nor dld they much care for the plot,
ln whlch an emerald rlng stolen by the boyfrlend of an
au palr ls eventually returned. Jhe story ls not so much
dramatlzed as explalned.
In Tlc clloroso Covvcctiov, publlshed seven months
later, Bellow used an unnamed, elderly |ewlsh Amerlcan
narrator to recount the experlence of Harry Ionsteln,
who had been saved from the Holocaust by the generos
lty of Broadway producer Bllly Rose. When after the
war Harry sought to thank Rose personally, the celebrlty
refused to meet wlth hlm. Harry`s wlfe, Sorella, contrlves
to blackmall Rose lnto acceptlng the thanks of her hus
band, but when she changes her mlnd, clalmlng that
Rose ls not worth the effort, the story collapses. Some
years later the narrator attempts to contact the Ionstelns,
only to dlscover that they are dead.
A thlrd novella, Tlc Zctuol, publlshed ln l997, ls
consldered better wrltten that the earller two. (Its open
lng sentence, for example'It`s easy enough to see what
people tlivl they`re dolng"ls much smoother and more
engaglng than that of Z Tlcft: 'Clara Velde, to begln
wlth what was consplcuous about her, had short blond
halr, fashlonably cut, growlng upon a head unusually
blg"). In Tlc Zctuol, Bellow tells the story of the love of
Harry Jrellman for hls schooltlme crush, Amy Wustrln.
Jhe couple ls brought together by the elderly Slgmund
Adletsky, and Harry proposes to Amy whlle they
arrange the reburlal of Amy`s flrst husband, |ay.
Bellow had turned to the novella because he found
lt comfortable, but crltlcs complalned that these flctlons
were relatlvely mlnor. Jhe revlewers used phrases such
as 'lnterlm report" and 'a novellst`s sketchbook," often
worrylng that the central actlon of the storyso clearly
based on some anecdotewas thln.
In l99l Bellow publlshed another collectlon of
short flctlon (lncludlng 'Zetland. By a Character Wlt
ness" and Tlc clloroso Covvcctiov). In the tltle story,
'Somethlng to Remember Me By," the aglng Loule tells
hls son about a shameful lncldent ln hls youth. Whlle hls
mother was dylng of cancer, Loule had taken up wlth a
prostltute, who had stolen hls money and clothes. Loule
earned carfare by taklng care of a drunken Gentlle (when
he could have been consollng hls mother), and when he
reached home, he was gratlfled to recelve a beatlng from
hls father, slnce lt meant hls mother was stlll allve. Jhls
story won pralse from revlewers.
Bellow and hls wlfe moved from Chlcago to Bos
ton ln l993 and spent lncreaslng amounts of tlme ln Ver
l02
p~ _ ai_ POV
mont, enjoylng the house they had bullt there. Bellow
also worked on the novel he had promlsed to wrlte about
hls close frlend Allan Bloom, conservatlve professor of
phllosophy at the Lnlverslty of Chlcago, who dled ln
l992.
In l999 |anls gave blrth to Bellow`s fourth chllda
daughter, Naoml Roseand ln 2000 Bellow publlshed
Iovclstciv, hls homage to Bloom. Jhls fulllength novel
recounts Bloom`s success ln the classroom and wlth hls
surprlse bestseller, Tlc Closivg of tlc Zmcricov Mivd (l987),
as well as the fact that he was homosexual and hls death
may have been AIDSrelated, whlch had been a secret
before the book appeared. When people objected to Bel
low`s revelatlon, he found hlmself once agaln embrolled
ln a publlc controversy.
Iovclstciv ls remarkable for lts vlvld wrltlng.
Although Bellow had aged and had almost dled from
toxlc seafood (as he recounts ln the novel), he had not
lost hls eye for detall. Jhe novel ls dlscurslve, wlth llttle
plot and lots of conversatlon, as the two aglng men dls
cuss subjects ranglng from |udalsm to the nature of love,
and yet Bellow offers dramatlc scenes more compelllng
than those found ln the novellas. He deplcts Ravelsteln`s
bald head and domlnant manner, hls love of gosslp and
expenslve trlnkets, hls table manners, and hls theory of
eros. Readers are shown hls apartment, where most of
the novel takes place, wlth lts exqulslte carpets and flrst
class CD player, and told the story of hls bestselllng
polemlc, whlch made hlm rlch and famous. Ravelsteln ls
one of Bellow`s 'reallty lnstructors," tutorlng hls lnno
cent frlend Chlck (Bellow`s alter ego, hlmself a successful
wrlter) ln the ways of the world.
Jhough lt ls clear that Chlck, the narrator, loves
Ravelsteln, the reader flnds lt hard to share that affectlon.
Bellow glves hlm a vlvld presence, but he does not make
hlm llkable or convlnce readers that he ls brllllant. When
Ravelsteln rulns a $1,000 sport coat shortly after buylng
lt, the reader crlnges at such waste. When nelghbors ln
Ravelsteln`s apartment complaln about hls loud muslc,
he refuses to turn lt down (though he later soundproofs
hls apartment). Ravelsteln ls careless wlth money, honest
wlth frlends, and generous wlth hls tlme. But he ls also
snobblsh, gosslpy, egotlstlcal, and selflsh. Both he and
Chlck seem to be overly lmpressed wlth wealth and lux
ury. Bloom had asked for an accurate portralt, nothlng
held back, whlch ls what Bellow provldes.
Iovclstciv was well recelved by revlewers and soon
found lts way onto Tlc `cw Jorl Timcs bestseller llst. Jhe
fact that Bellow at elghtyflve had publlshed such an
accompllshed book pleased almost everyone, especlally
slnce Bellow`s other publlcatlons durlng thls perlod were
collectlons of prevlously publlshed work. It Zll Zdds Up:
Irom tlc Dim Iost to tlc Uvccrtoiv Iuturc (l991), a collectlon
of Bellow`s essays; Collcctcd Storics (200l); and cllow òv-
cls 1944-19J (2003), the Llbrary of Amerlca edltlon of
Bellow`s flrst three novels.
Saul Bellow dled on 5 Aprll 2005 at home ln
Brookllne, Massachusetts, at the age of elghtynlne. In a
trlbute artlcle for Slotc magazlne (8 Aprll 2005), several
novellsts and crltlcs offered thelr thoughts on Bellow`s
work and lnfluence. Phlllp Gourevltch sald that Bellow
'was, consclously, and ln every sense, an orlglnal." Nor
man Rush polnted out, 'What Saul Bellow achleved ln
hls art he achleved wlthout trlcks. no maglc reallsm,
typographlcal jlggerlng, no lnanlmate objects as narra
tors. Hls expanslve, detalled, wldely alluslve, radlcally
tradltlonal mode of attack ls pure." Cllve |ames com
mented, 'Bellow could do every tone of the Amerlcan
volce, and somewhere underneath hls range of mlmlcry
he had the baslc tone, the deep rhythm of the Amerlcan
demotlc that could brlng even hls most dlrectly exposl
tory prose to poetlc llfe." In another artlcle for Slotc (6
Aprll 2005), Chrlstopher Hltchens wrote. 'desplte the
ethnlc emphasls of much of hls work, Bellow wlll always
attract readers by the scope and unlversallty and humor
of hls themes."
fW
Gordon Lloyd Harper, 'Saul Bellow. An Intervlew," ln
!ritcrs ot !orl: Tlc 'Ioris Icvicw Ivtcrvicws, thlrd
serles (New York. Vlklng, l967), pp. l75-l96;
|oseph Epsteln, 'A Jalk wlth Saul Bellow," `cw Jorl
Timcs ool Icvicw, 5 December l976, pp. 3, 92-93;
Glorla Cronln and Ben Slegal, eds., Covvcrsotiovs witl
Soul cllow ( |ackson. Lnlverslty Press of Mlssls
slppl, l991).
_~W
B. A. Sokoloff and Mark Posner, Soul cllow: Z Comprc-
lcvsivc ibliogroply (Iolcroft, Pa.. Iolcroft Llbrary
Edltlons, l972);
Marlanne Nault, Soul cllow: His !orls ovd His Critics
(New York. Garland, l977);
Robert G. Noreen, Soul cllow: Z Icfcrcvcc Cuidc (Bos
ton. G. K. Hall, l978).
_~W
|ames Atlas, Soul cllow: Z iogroply (New York. Ran
dom House, 2000).
oW
Gerhard Bach, ed., Tlc Criticol Icspovsc to Soul cllow
(Westport, Conn.. Greenwood Press, l995);
Malcolm Bradbury, Soul cllow (New York. Methuen,
l982);
|ean Braham, Z Sort of Columbus: Tlc Zmcricov !oyogcs of
Soul cllow`s Iictiov (Athens. Lnlverslty of Georgla
Press, l981);
l03
ai_ POV p~ _
|ohn |. Clayton, Soul cllow: Iv Dcfcvsc of Mov (Bloo
mlngton. Indlana Lnlverslty Press, l968);
Sarah Blacher Cohen, Soul cllow`s Ivigmotic Iougltcr
(Lrbana. Lnlverslty of Illlnols Press, l971);
Robert Detweller, Soul cllow: Z Criticol Issoy (Grand
Raplds, Mlch.. Eerdmans, l967);
Robert R. Dutton, Soul cllow (New York. Jwayne,
l982);
Danlel Iuchs, Soul cllow: !isiov ovd Icvisiov (Durham,
N.C.. Duke Lnlverslty Press, l981);
Davld D. Galloway, Tlc Zbsurd Hcro iv Zmcricov Iictiov:
Updilc, Styrov, cllow, Solivgcr (Austln. Lnlverslty
of Jexas Press, l966; revlsed, l970);
Mlchael K. Glenday, Soul cllow ovd tlc Dcclivc of Humov-
ism (New York. St. Martln`s Press, l990);
Lella Goldman, Soul cllow`s Morol !isiov: Z Criticol Study
of cwisl Ixpcricvcc (New York. Irvlngton, l983);
Eugene Hollahan, ed., Soul cllow ovd tlc Strugglc ot tlc
Ccvtcr, Georgla State Llbrary Studles, l2 (New
York. AMS, l996);
Peter Hyland, Soul cllow (New York. St. Martln`s Press,
l992);
Alfred Kazln, 'My Irlend Saul Bellow," Ztlovtic Movtlly
( |anuary l965);
Robert Klernan, Soul cllow (New York. Contlnuum,
l990);
Claude Levy, Ics Iomovs dc Soul cllow: Toctiqucs òrrotivc
ct Strotcgics Ucdipicvvcs, Etudes AngloAmerlcalnes, 5
(Parls. Kllncksleck, l983);
Irvlng Malln, Soul cllow`s Iictiov (Carbondale. Southern
Illlnols Lnlverslty Press, l969);
Malln, ed., Soul cllow ovd tlc Critics (New York. New
York Lnlverslty Press, l967);
D. J. Max, 'Wlth Irlends Llke Saul Bellow," `cw Jorl Timcs
Mogoivc (l6 Aprll 2000) http.//partners.nytlmes.com/
llbrary/magazlne/home/200001l6magravel
steln.html`;
|udle Newman, Soul cllow ovd History (New York. St.
Martln`s Press, l981);
Kelth M. Opdahl, Tlc òvcls of Soul cllow: Zv Ivtroduc-
tiov (Lnlverslty Park. Pennsylvanla State Lnlver
slty Press, l967);
Ellen Plfer, Soul cllow Zgoivst tlc Croiv (Phlladelphla.
Lnlverslty of Pennsylvanla, l990);
M. Gllber Porter, !lcvcc tlc Iowcr? Tlc Zrtistry ovd
Humovity of Soul cllow (Columbla. Lnlverslty of
Mlssourl Press, l971);
Euseblo Rodrlques, _ucst for tlc Humov: Zv Ixplorotiov of
Soul cllow`s Iictiov (Lewlsburg, Pa.. Bucknell Lnl
verslty Press, l98l);
Earl Rovlt, Soul cllow (Mlnneapolls. Lnlverslty of Mln
nesota Press, l967);
Rovlt, ed., Soul cllow: Z Collcctiov of Criticol Issoys (Engle
wood Cllffs, N.|.. PrentlceHall, l975);
Soul cllow ourvol (l98l- );
Brlgltte ScheerSchaetzler, Soul cllow (New York.
Lngar, l972);
Edmond Schraepen, Soul cllow ovd His !orl (Brussels.
Vrlje Lnlversltet Brussel, l978);
Jony Janner, Soul cllow (Edlnburgh London. Ollver
Boyd, l965; New York. Barnes Noble, l965);
Stanley Jrachtenberg, ed., Criticol Issoys ov Soul cllow
(Boston. G. K. Hall, l979);
Harrlet Wasserman, Hovdsomc Is: Zdvcvturcs witl Soul
cllow (New York. Iromm, l997);
|onathan Wllson, Hcrog: Tlc Iimit of Idcos, Jwayne`s
Masterworks Serles, 16 (Boston. Jwayne, l990);
Wllson, Uv cllow`s Ilovct: Icodivgs Irom tlc Dorl Sidc
(Rutherford, N.|.. Ialrlelgh Dlcklnson Lnlverslty
Press, l985).
m~W
Except for that for Mr. Sommlcr`s Ilovct, whlch ls at the
New York Publlc Llbrary, Saul Bellow`s manuscrlpts are
at Regensteln Llbrary of the Lnlverslty of Chlcago.
Jhls extenslve collectlon lncludes manuscrlpts from
most of the novels, many dlfferent worklng drafts, let
ters, and memorabllla. Several manuscrlpts of Scic tlc
Doy are at the Harry Ransom Humanltles Research
Center, Lnlverslty of Jexas at Austln.
NVTS k m i~
m~ p
by Dr. Iorl Iogvor Cicrow, of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy
Gentlemen,
When Saul Bellow publlshed hls flrst book, the
tlme had come for a change of cllmate and generatlon
ln Amerlcan narratlve art. Jhe socalled hardbolled
style, wlth lts vlrlle alr and choppy prose, had now
slackened lnto an everyday routlne, whlch was
pounded out automatlcally; lts rlgld pauclty of words
left not only much unsald but also most of lt unfelt,
unexperlenced. Bellow`s flrst work, Dovglivg Mov
(l911), was one of the slgns portendlng that somethlng
else was at hand.
In Bellow`s case emanclpatlon from the prevlous
ldeal style took place ln two stages. In the flrst he
reached back to the klnd of perceptlon that had found
lts already classlc guldes ln Maupassant, Henry |ames
and Ilaubert perhaps most of all. Jhe masters he fol
lowed expressed themselves as restralnedly as those he
l01
p~ _ ai_ POV
turned hls back on. But the emphasls was elsewhere.
What gave a story lts lnterest was not the dramatlc,
sometlmes vlolent actlon but the llght lt shed over the
protagonlst`s lnner self. Wlth that outlook the novel`s
heroes and herolnes could be regarded, seen through
and exposed, but not glorlfled. Jhe antlhero of the
present was already on the way, and Bellow became
one of those who took care of hlm.
Dovglivg Mov, the man wlthout a foothold, was
thus a slgnlflcant watchword to Bellow`s wrltlng and
has to no small extent remalned so. He pursued the
llne ln hls next novel, Tlc !ictim (l917) and, years
later, wlth mature mastery ln Scic tlc Doy (l956).
Wlth lts exemplary command of subject and form
the lastmentloned novel has recelved the accolade as
one of the classlc works of our tlme.
But wlth the thlrd story ln thls styllstlcally coher
ent sulte, lt ls as lf Bellow had turned back ln order at
last to complete somethlng whlch he hlmself had
already passed. Wlth hls second stage, the declslve step,
he had already left thls school behlnd hlm, whose dlscl
pllned form and enclosed structure gave no play to the
resources of exuberant ldeas, flashlng lrony, hllarlous
comedy and dlscernlng compasslon whlch he also knew
he possessed and whose scope he must try out. Jhe
result was somethlng qulte new, Bellow`s own mlxture
of rlch plcaresque novel and subtle analysls of our cul
ture, of entertalnlng adventure, drastlc and traglc epl
sodes ln qulck successlon, lnterspersed wlth phllosophlc
conversatlon wlth the readerthat too very entertaln
lngall developed by a commentator wlth a wltty
tongue and penetratlng lnslght lnto the outer and lnner
compllcatlons that drlve us to act or prevent us from
actlng and that can be called the dllemma of our age.
Ilrst ln the new phase came Tlc Zdvcvturcs of Zugic
Morcl (l953). Jhe very wordlng of the tltle polnts
stralght to the plcaresque, and the connexlon ls perhaps
most strongly ln evldence ln thls novel. But here Bellow
had found hls style, and the tone recurs ln the followlng
serles of novels that form the bulk of hls work. Hcvdcr-
sov tlc Ioiv Iivg (l959), Hcrog (l961), Mr. Sommlcr`s
Ilovct (l970) and Humboldt`s Cift (l975). Jhe structure ls
apparently loosejolnted but for thls very reason glves
the author ample opportunlty for descrlptlons of dlffer
ent socletles; they have a rare vlgour and strlngency
and a swarm of colourful, clearly deflned characters
agalnst a background of carefully observed and
deplcted settlngs, whether lt ls the magnlflcent facades
of Manhattan ln front of the backyards of the slums and
semlslums, Chlcago`s lmpenetrable jungle of resource
ful buslnessmen lntlmately lntertwlned wlth obllglng
crlmlnal gangs, or the more llteral jungle, ln the depths
of Afrlca, where the novel Hcvdcrsov tlc Ioiv Iivg, the
wrlter`s most lmaglnatlve expedltlon, takes place. In a
nutshell they are all storles on the move and, llke the
flrst book, are about a man wlth no foothold, but (and
lt ls lmportant to add thls) a man who keeps on tryivg to
fivd a foothold durlng hls wanderlngs ln our totterlng
world.
Even a few mlnutes` sketch of Bellow`s many
slded wrltlngs should lndlcate where that foothold
lles. It cannot be polnted out, as none of hls protago
nlsts reaches lt. But durlng thelr escapades they are
all on the run, not from somethlng but towords some
thlng, a goal somewhere whlch wlll glve them what
they lackflrm ground under thelr feet. 'I want, I
want, I want!" Henderson exclalms, and sets off for
an unknown contlnent. What hls demands are he
does not know; what he demands ls to flnd out, and
hls own deslre ls the unknown contlnent. 'A worth
whlle fate," Augle March calls hls goal. And Herzog,
the restless seeker after truth, for hls part trles out
one phraslng after the other of what he means by 'a
worthwhlle fate." At one polnt he says confldently
that 'the realm of facts and that of value are not eter
nally separated." Jhe words are uttered ln passlng
but are worth dwelllng on, and lf we thlnk of them as
comlng from Bellow hlmself they are essentlal. Glv
lng value a place slde by slde wlth palpable facts ls, as
regards llterature, a deflnlte departure from reallsm.
As a phllosophy lt ls a protest agalnst the determln
lsm that must make man unaccountable for hls
actlons as well as lnert or hostlle to llfe, slnce lt pre
vents hlm from feellng, chooslng and actlng hlmself.
Jhe awareness of a value, on the other hand, glves
man freedom, thereby responslblllty, thereby a deslre
for actlon and a falth ln the future. Jhat ls why Bel
low, never one to look through rosecoloured specta
cles, ls at heart an optlmlst. It ls the llght of that
convlctlon whlch makes the facets of hls wrltlng spar
kle. Hls 'antlheroes" are vlctlms of constant dlsap
polntment, born to defeat wlthout end, and Bellow
(lt cannot be overemphaslzed) loves and ls able to
transform the fate they flnd worthwhlle lnto superb
comedles. But they trlumph nonetheless, they are
heroes nonetheless, slnce they never glve up the
realm of values ln whlch man becomes human. And,
as Augle March says, anyone can become allve to
thls fact at any moment, however unfortunate he
may be, 'lf he wlll be qulet and walt lt out."
Jhe realm of facts and that of valuethe very
comblnatlon of words ls remlnlscent of a work by the
phllosopher Wolfgang Khler, professor flrst at Gttln
gen, then ln Berlln, flnally at Prlnceton, to whlch he fled
from the Nazls. Khler`s book ls called Tlc Ilocc of !oluc
iv o !orld of Iocts and lent lts name to an lnternatlonal
Nobel symposlum ln Stockholm some years ago, at
whlch a lecture was glven by E. H. Gombrlch, dlsclple
l05
ai_ POV p~ _
and younger frlend of Khler. He told of the latter`s last
nlght ln Berlln, before the fllght could be carrled out.
Khler spent the slow hours wlth llkemlnded frlends,
and whlle they walted, wonderlng lf a patrol would
clamp up the stalrs at the last moment and pound on
the door wlth rlfle butts, they played chamber muslc.
'Such ls," Gombrlch remarked, 'the place of value ln a
world of facts."
Jhe threatened posltlon of value between obtru
slve realltles has not escaped Bellow; that ls what he ls
always wrltlng about. But he does not thlnk that elther
manklnd`s conduct or the exploslve development of the
sclences betoken a world catastrophe. He ls an optlmlst
lnsplteofall, and thus also an opposltlon leader of
human klndness. Jruth must out, of course. But lt ls
not always hostlle. Iaclng the truth ls not necessarlly
the same as bravlng death. 'Jhere may be truths on the
slde of llfe," he has sald. 'Jhere may be some truths
whlch are, after all, our frlends ln the unlverse."
In an lntervlew once Bellow descrlbed somethlng
of what happens when he wrltes. Most of us, he sup
posed, have a prlmltlve prompter or commentator
wlthln, who from earllest years has been telllng us what
the real world ls. He hlmself has such a commentator ln
hlm; he has to prepare the ground for hlm and take
notlce of what he says. One ls put ln mlnd of another
man who went out lnto the hlghways and byways wlth
hls questlons, taklng notlce of hls lnner volce. Socrates
and hls daemon. Jhls lntrospectlve llstenlng demands
secluslon. As Bellow hlmself puts lt, 'Art has somethlng
to do wlth the achlevement of stlllness ln the mldst of
chaos. A stlllness whlch characterlzes prayer, too, and
the eye of the storm." Jhls was what prevalled when
Khler played chamber muslc on hls last nlght ln Berlln
whlle, aware of lmmlnent dlsaster, 'belng qulet and
waltlng lt out." It ls there that the value and dlgnlty of
llfe and manklnd have thelr sole haven, ever storm
lashed, and lt ls from that stlllness that Saul Bellow`s
work, borne on the whlrlwlnd of dlsqulet, derlves lts
lnsplratlon and strength.
Dear Mr. Bellow, lt ls my task and my great plea
sure to convey to you the warm congratulatlons of the
Swedlsh Academy and to ask you to recelve from the
hands of Hls Majesty the Klng the Nobel Prlze for Llt
erature of the year l976.
_W _~ p
_ ~ k _~I NM a NVTSW
Gentlemen,
Jhere are not many thlngs on whlch the world
agrees but everyone I thlnk acknowledges the lmpor
tance of a Nobel Prlze. I myself take most serlously the
Nobel Commlttee`s recognltlon of the hlghest excel
lence ln several flelds and I accept the honor of thls
award wlth profound gratltude.
I have no very dlstlnct sense of personal achleve
ment. I loved books and I wrote some. Ior some reason
they were taken serlously. I am glad of that, of course.
No one can bear to be lgnored. I would, however, have
been satlsfled wlth a smaller measure of attentlon and
pralse. Ior when I am pralsed on all sldes I worry a blt.
I remember the scrlptural warnlng, 'Woe unto you
when all men shall speak well of you." Lnlversal agree
ment seems to open the door to dlsmlssal. We know
how often our contemporarles are mlstaken. Jhey are
not lnvarlably wrong, but lt ls not at all a bad ldea to
remember that they can`t confer lmmortallty on you.
Immortalltya chllllng thought. I feel that I have
scarcely begun to master my trade.
But I need not worry too much that all men wlll
speak well of me. Jhe clvlllzed communlty agrees that
there ls no hlgher dlstlnctlon than the Nobel Prlze but lt
agrees on llttle else, so I need not fear that the doom of
unlversal approval ls hanglng over me. When I publlsh
a book I am often soundly walloped by revlewersa
dlsagreeable but necessary correctlve to selflnflatlon.
When the Commlttee`s cholce was announced
and the press rushed at me (a terrlfylng phenomenon!)
and asked how I felt about wlnnlng the Nobel Prlze ln
llterature, I sald that the chlld ln me (for desplte appear
ances there ls a chlld wlthln) was dellghted, the adult
skeptlcal. Jonlght ls the chlld`s nlght entlrely. On Sun
day I wlll have some earnest thlngs to say from the pul
plt. Sunday ls the best day for dark reflectlons but the
chlld`s clalm to thls Irlday nlght wlll not be dlsputed.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l976. Saul Bellow ls the sole
l06
_W k iI NO a NVTS
I was a very contrary undergraduate more than 10
years ago. It was my hablt to reglster for a course and
then to do most of my readlng ln another fleld of study.
So that when I should have been grlndlng away at
'Money and Banklng" I was readlng the novels of |oseph
Conrad. I have never had reason to regret thls. Perhaps
Conrad appealed to me because he was llke an Amerl
canhe was an uprooted Pole salllng exotlc seas, speaklng
Irench and wrltlng Engllsh wlth extraordlnary power and
beauty. Nothlng could be more natural to me, the chlld of
lmmlgrants who grew up ln one of Chlcago`s lmmlgrant
nelghborhoods of course!a Slav who was a Brltlsh sea
captaln and knew hls way around Marsellles and wrote
an Orlental sort of Engllsh. But Conrad`s ~ llfe had llttle
oddlty ln lt. Hls themes were stralghtforwardfldellty,
command, the tradltlons of the sea, hlerarchy, the fraglle
rules sallors follow when they are struck by a typhoon.
He belleved ln the strength of these fraglleseemlng rules,
and ln hls art. Hls vlews on art were slmply stated ln the
preface to q k k~. Jhere he sald that art
was an attempt to render the hlghest justlce to the vlslble
unlverse. that lt trled to flnd ln that unlverse, ln matter as
well as ln the facts of llfe, what was fundamental, endur
lng, essentlal. Jhe wrlter`s method of attalnlng the essen
tlal was dlfferent from that of the thlnker or the sclentlst.
Jhese, sald Conrad, knew the world by systematlc exam
lnatlon. Jo begln wlth the artlst had only hlmself; he
descended wlthln hlmself and ln the lonely reglons to
whlch he descended, he found 'the terms of hls appeal."
He appealed, sald Conrad, 'to that part of our belng
whlch ls a glft, not an acqulsltlon, to the capaclty for
dellght and wonder . . . our sense of plty and paln, to the
latent feellng of fellowshlp wlth all creatlonand to the
subtle but lnvlnclble convlctlon of solldarlty that knlts
together the lonellness of lnnumerable hearts . . . whlch
blnds together all humanltythe dead to the llvlng and
the llvlng to the unborn."
Jhls fervent statement was wrltten some 80 years
ago and we may want to take lt wlth a few gralns of con
temporary salt. I belong to a generatlon of readers that
knew the long llst of noble or noblesoundlng words,
words llke 'lnvlnclble convlctlon" or 'humanlty" rejected
by wrlters llke Ernest Hemlngway. Hemlngway spoke for
the soldlers who fought ln the Ilrst World War under the
lnsplratlon of Woodrow Wllson and other rotund states
men whose blg words had to be measured agalnst the fro
zen corpses of young men pavlng the trenches.
Hemlngway`s youthful readers were convlnced that the
horrors of the 20th century had slckened and kllled
humanlstlc bellefs wlth thelr deadly radlatlons. I told
myself, therefore, that Conrad`s rhetorlc must be reslsted.
But I never thought hlm mlstaken. He spoke dlrectly to
me. Jhe feellng lndlvldual appeared weakhe felt noth
lng but hls own weakness. But lf he accepted hls weakness
and hls separateness and descended lnto hlmself lntenslfy
lng hls lonellness, he dlscovered hls solldarlty wlth other
lsolated creatures.
I feel no need now to sprlnkle Conrad`s sentences
wlth skeptlcal salt. But there are wrlters for whom the
Conradlan novelall novels of that sortare gone forever.
Ilnlshed. Jhere ls, for lnstance, M. Alaln RobbeGrlllet,
one of the leaders of Irench llterature, a spokesman for
'thlnglsm"K He wrltes that ln great contempo
rary works, Sartre`s k~~I Camus` q p~I or
Kafka`s q `~I there are no characters; you flnd ln
such books not lndlvlduals butwell, entltles. 'Jhe novel
of characters," he says, 'belongs entlrely ln the past. It
descrlbes a perlod. that whlch marked the apogee of the
lndlvldual." Jhls ls not necessarlly an lmprovement; that
RobbeGrlllet admlts. But lt ls the truth. Indlvlduals have
been wlped out. 'Jhe present perlod ls rather one of
admlnlstratlve numbers. Jhe world`s destlny has ceased,
for us, to be ldentlfled wlth the rlse and fall of certaln men
of certaln famllles." He goes on to say that ln the days of
Balzac`s bourgeolsle lt was lmportant to have a name and
a character; character was a weapon ln the struggle for
survlval and success. In that tlme, 'It was somethlng to
have a face ln a unlverse where personallty represented
both the means and the end of all exploratlon." But our
world, he concludes, ls more modest. It has renounced
the omnlpotence of the person. But lt ls more ambltlous
as well, 'slnce lt looks beyond. Jhe excluslve cult of the
'human` has glven way to a larger consclousness, one that
ls less anthropocentrlc." However, he comforts us, a new
course and the promlse of new dlscoverles lle before us.
On an occaslon llke thls I have no appetlte for
polemlcs. We all know what lt ls to be tlred of 'charac
ters." Human types have become false and borlng. D. H.
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Lawrence put lt early ln thls century that we human
belngs, our lnstlncts damaged by Purltanlsm, no longer
care for, were physlcally repulslve to one another. 'Jhe
sympathetlc heart ls broken," he sald. He went further,
'We stlnk ln each other`s nostrlls." Besldes, ln Europe the
power of the classlcs has for centurles been so great that
every country has lts 'ldentlflable personalltles" derlved
from Mollre, Ramne, Dlckens or Balzac. An awful phe
nomenon. Perhaps thls ls connected wlth the wonderful
Irench saylng. 'Sil y o uv coroctrc, il cst mouvois. It leads
one to thlnk that the unorlglnal human race tends to bor
row what lt needs from convenlent sources, much as new
cltles have often been made out of the rubble of old ones.
Jhen, too, the psychoanalytlc conceptlon of character ls
that lt ls an ugly rlgld formatlonsomethlng we must
reslgn ourselves to, not a thlng we can embrace wlth joy.
Jotalltarlan ldeologles, too, have attacked bourgeols lndl
vlduallsm, sometlmes ldentlfylng character wlth property.
Jhere ls a hlnt of thls ln M. RobbeGrlllet`s argument.
Dlsllke of personallty, bad masks, false belng have had
polltlcal results.
But I am lnterested here ln the questlon of the art
lst`s prlorltles. Is lt necessary, or good, that he should
begln wlth hlstorlcal analysls, wlth ldeas or systems?
Proust speaks ln Timc Icgoivcd of a growlng preference
among young and lntelllgent readers for works of an ele
vated analytlcal, moral or soclologlcal tendency. He says
that they prefer to Bergotte (the novellst ln Icmcmbrovcc of
Tlivgs Iost ) wrlters who seem to them more profound.
'But," says Proust, 'from the moment that works of art
are judged by reasonlng, nothlng ls stable or certaln, one
can prove anythlng one llkes."
Jhe message of RobbeGrlllet ls not new. It tells us
that we must purge ourselves of bourgeols anthropocen
trlclsm and do the classy thlngs that our advanced culture
requlres. Character? 'Ilfty years of dlsease, the death
notlce slgned many tlmes over by the serlous essaylsts,"
says RobbeGrlllet, 'yet nothlng has managed to knock lt
off the pedestal on whlch the l9th century had placed lt.
It ls a mummy now, but one stlll enthroned wlth the same
phony majesty, among the values revered by tradltlonal
crltlclsm."
Jhe tltle of RobbeGrlllet`s essay ls Uv Scvcrol Ubso-
lctc òtiovs. I myself am tlred of obsolete notlons and of
mummles of all klnds but I never tlre of readlng the mas
ter novellsts. And what ls one to do about the characters
ln thelr books? Is lt necessary to dlscontlnue the lnvestlga
tlon of character? Can anythlng so vlvld ln them now be
utterly dead? Can lt be that human belngs are at a dead
end? Is lndlvlduallty really so dependent on hlstorlcal and
cultural condltlons? Can we accept the account of those
condltlons we are so 'authorltatlvely" glven? I suggest
that lt ls not ln the lntrlnslc lnterest of human belngs but
ln these ldeas and accounts that the problem lles. Jhe
staleness, the lnadequacy of these repels us. Jo flnd the
source of trouble we must look lnto our own heads.
Jhe fact that the death notlce of character 'has
been slgned by the most serlous essaylsts" means only
that another group of mummles, the most respectable
leaders of the lntellectual communlty, has lald down the
law. It amuses me that these serlous essaylsts should be
allowed to slgn the death notlces of llterary forms. Should
art follow culture? Somethlng has gone wrong.
Jhere ls no reason why a novellst should not drop
'character" lf the strategy stlmulates hlm. But lt ls non
sense to do lt on the theoretlcal ground that the perlod
whlch marked the apogee of the lndlvldual, and so on,
has ended. We must not make bosses of our lntellectuals.
And we do them no good by lettlng them run the arts.
Should they, when they read novels, flnd nothlng ln them
but the endorsement of thelr own oplnlons? Are we here
on earth to play such games?
Characters, Ellzabeth Bowen once sald, are not cre
ated by wrlters. Jhey preexlst and they have to be fouvd.
If we do not flnd them, lf we fall to represent them, the
fault ls ours. It must be admltted, however, that flndlng
them ls not easy. Jhe condltlon of human belngs has per
haps never been more dlfflcult to deflne. Jhose who tell
us that we are ln an early stage of unlversal hlstory must
be rlght. We are belng lavlshly poured together and seem
to be experlenclng the angulsh of new states of consclous
ness. In Amerlca many mllllons of people have ln the last
forty years recelved a 'hlgher educatlon"ln many cases
a dublous blesslng. In the upheavals of the Slxtles we felt
for the flrst tlme the effects of uptodate teachlngs, con
cepts, sensltlvltles, the pervaslveness of psychologlcal,
pedagoglcal, polltlcal ldeas.
Every year we see scores of books and artlcles
whlch tell the Amerlcans what a state they are lnwhlch
make lntelllgent or slmplemlnded or extravagant or lurld
or demented statements. All reflect the crlses we are ln
whlle telllng us what we must do about them; these ana
lysts are produced by the very dlsorder and confuslon
they prescrlbe for. It ls as a wrlter that I am conslderlng
thelr extreme moral sensltlvlty, thelr deslre for perfectlon,
thelr lntolerance of the defects of soclety, the touchlng,
the comlcal boundlessness of thelr demands, thelr
anxlety, thelr lrrltablllty, thelr sensltlvlty, thelr tender
mlndedness, thelr goodness, thelr convulslveness, the
recklessness wlth whlch they experlment wlth drugs and
touchtheraples and bombs. Jhe ex|esult Malachl Martln
ln hls book on the Church compares the modern Amerl
can to Mlchelangelo`s sculpture, Tlc Coptivc. He sees 'an
unflnlshed struggle to emerge whole" from a block of
matter. Jhe Amerlcan 'captlve" ls beset ln hls struggle by
'lnterpretatlons, admonltlons, forewarnlngs and descrlp
tlons of hlmself by the selfappolnted prophets, prlests,
judges and prefabrlcators of hls travall," says Martln.
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_W k iI NO a NVTS ai_ POV
Let me take a llttle tlme to look more closely at thls
travall. In prlvate llfe, dlsorder or nearpanlc. In famllles
for husbands, wlves, parents, chlldrenconfuslon; ln clvlc
behavlor, ln personal loyalltles, ln sexual practlces (I wlll
not reclte the whole llst; we are tlred of hearlng lt)further
confuslon. And wlth thls prlvate dlsorder goes publlc
bewllderment. In the papers we read what used to amuse
us ln sclence flctlonq k v q speaks of death
rays and of Russlan and Amerlcan satellltes at war ln
space. In the November b so sober and responsl
ble an economlst as my colleague, Mllton Irledman,
declares that Great Brltaln by lts publlc spendlng wlll
soon go the way of poor countrles llke Chlle. He ls
appalled by hls own forecast. Whatthe source of that
noble tradltlon of freedom and democratlc rlghts that
began wlth Magna Carta endlng ln dlctatorshlp? 'It ls
almost lmposslble for anyone brought up ln that tradltlon
to utter the word that Brltaln ls ln danger of loslng free
dom and democracy; and yet lt ls a fact!"
It ls wlth these facts that knock us to the ground
that we try to llve. If I were debatlng wlth Professor Irled
man I mlght ask hlm to take lnto account the reslstance of
lnstltutlons, the cultural dlfferences between Great Brltaln
and Chlle, dlfferences ln natlonal character and tradltlons,
but my purpose ls not to get lnto debates I can`t wln but
to dlrect your attentlon to the terrlble predlctlons we have
to llve wlth, the background of dlsorder, the vlslons of
ruln.
You would thlnk that one such artlcle would
be enough for a slngle number of a magazlne but on
another page of b Professor Hugh Seton
Watson dlscusses George Kennan`s recent survey of
Amerlcan degeneracy and lts dlre meanlng for the
world. Descrlblng Amerlca`s fallure, Kennan speaks of
crlme, urban decay, drugaddlctlon, pornography, frl
vollty, deterlorated educatlonal standards and concludes
that our lmmense power counts for nothlng. We cannot
lead the world and, undermlned by slnfulness, we may
not be able to defend ourselves. Professor SetonWatson
wrltes, 'Nothlng can defend a soclety lf lts upper l00,000
men and women, both the declslonmakers and those
who help to mould the thlnklng of the declslonmakers,
are resolved to capltulate."
So much for the capltallst superpower. Now what
about lts ldeologlcal adversarles? I turn the pages of
b to a short study by Mr. George Watson, Lec
turer ln Engllsh at Cambrldge, on the raclallsm of the
Left. He tells us that Hyndman, the founder of the Soclal
Democratlc Iederatlon, called the South Afrlcan war the
|ews` war; that the Webbs at tlmes expressed raclallst
vlews (as dld Ruskln, Carlyle and J. H. Huxley before
them); he relates that Engels denounced the smaller Slav
peoples of Eastern Europe as counterrevolutlonary eth
nlc trash; and Mr. Watson ln concluslon cltes a publlc
statement by Llrlke Melnhof of the West German 'Red
Army Iactlon" made at a judlclal hearlng ln l972 approv
lng of 'revolutlonary extermlnatlon." Ior her, German
antlSemltlsm of the Hltler perlod was essentlally antlcapl
tallst. 'Auschwltz," she ls quoted as saylng, 'meant that
slx mllllon |ews were kllled and thrown on the waste heap
of Europe for what they were. money |ews (Geldjuden)."
I mentlon these raclallsts of the Left to show that for
us there ls no slmple cholce between the chlldren of llght
and the chlldren of darkness. Good and evll are not sym
metrlcally dlstrlbuted along polltlcal llnes. But I have
made my polnt; we stand open to all anxletles. Jhe
decllne and fall of everythlng ls our dally dread, we are
agltated ln prlvate llfe and tormented by publlc questlons.
And art and llteraturewhat of them? Well, there ls
a vlolent uproar but we are not absolutely domlnated by
lt. We are stlll able to thlnk, to dlscrlmlnate, and to feel.
Jhe purer, subtler, hlgher actlvltles have not succumbed
to fury or to nonsense. Not yet. Books contlnue to be
wrltten and read. It may be more dlfflcult to reach the
whlrllng mlnd of a modern reader but lt ls posslble to cut
through the nolse and reach the qulet zone. In the qulet
zone we may flnd that he ls devoutly waltlng for us.
When compllcatlons lncrease, the deslre for essentlals
lncreases too. Jhe unendlng cycle of crlses that began
wlth the Ilrst World War has formed a klnd of person,
one who has llved through terrlble, strange thlngs, and ln
whom there ls an observable shrlnkage of prejudlces, a
castlng off of dlsappolntlng ldeologles, an ablllty to llve
wlth many klnds of madness, an lmmense deslre for cer
taln durable human goodstruth, for lnstance, or free
dom, or wlsdom. I don`t thlnk I am exaggeratlng; there ls
plenty of evldence for thls. Dlslntegratlon? Well, yes.
Much ls dlslntegratlng but we are experlenclng also an
odd klnd of reflnlng process. And thls has been golng on
for a long tlme. Looklng lnto Proust`s q o~ I flnd
that he was clearly aware of lt. Hls novel, descrlblng
Irench soclety durlng the Great War, tests the strength of
hls art. Wlthout art, he lnslsts, shlrklng no personal or col
lectlve horrors, we do not know ourselves or anyone else.
Only art penetrates what prlde, passlon, lntelllgence and
hablt erect on all sldesthe seemlng realltles of thls world.
Jhere ls another reallty, the genulne one, whlch we lose
slght of. Jhls other reallty ls always sendlng us hlnts,
whlch, wlthout art, we can`t recelve. Proust calls these
hlnts our 'true lmpresslons." Jhe true lmpresslons, our
perslstent lntultlons, wlll, wlthout art, be hldden from us
and we wlll be left wlth nothlng but a 'termlnology for
practlcal ends whlch we falsely call llfe." Jolstoy put the
matter ln much the same way. A book llke hls f~ f
also descrlbes these same 'practlcal ends" whlch conceal
both llfe and death from us. In hls flnal sufferlngs f~
f becomes an lndlvldual, a 'character," by tearlng
l09
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down the concealments, by seelng through the 'practlcal
ends."
Proust was stlll able to keep a balance between art
and destructlon, lnslstlng that art was a necesslty of llfe, a
great lndependent reallty, a maglcal power. But for a long
tlme art has not been connected, as lt was ln the past, wlth
the maln enterprlse. Jhe hlstorlan Edgar Wlnd tells us ln
^ ~ ^~ that Hegel long ago observed that art no
longer engaged the central energles of man. Jhese ener
gles were now engaged by sclencea 'relentless splrlt of
ratlonal lnqulry." Art had moved to the marglns. Jhere lt
formed 'a wlde and splendldly varled horlzon." In an age
of sclence people stlll palnted and wrote poetry but, sald
Hegel, however splendld the gods looked ln modern
works of art and whatever dlgnlty and perfectlon we
mlght flnd 'ln the lmages of God the Iather and the Vlr
gln Mary" lt was of no use. we no longer bent our knees.
It ls a long tlme slnce the knees were bent ln plety. Ingenu
lty, darlng exploratlon, freshness of lnventlon replaced the
art of 'dlrect relevance." Jhe most slgnlflcant achleve
ment of thls pure art, ln Hegel`s vlew, was that, freed from
lts former responslbllltles, lt was no longer 'serlous."
Instead lt ralsed the soul through the 'serenlty of form
above any palnful lnvolvement ln the llmltatlons of real
lty." I don`t know who would make such a clalm today
for an art that ralses the soul above palnful lnvolvements
wlth reallty. Nor am I sure that at thls moment, lt ls the
splrlt of ratlonal lnqulry ln pure sclence that engages the
central energles of man. Jhe center seems (temporarlly
perhaps) to be fllled up wlth the crlses I have been
descrlblng.
Jhere were European wrlters ln the l9th century
who would not glve up the connectlon of llterature wlth
the maln human enterprlse. Jhe very suggestlon would
have shocked Jolstoy and Dostoevskl. But ln the West a
separatlon between great artlsts and the general publlc
took place. Jhey developed a marked contempt for the
average reader and the bourgeols mass. Jhe best of them
saw clearly enough what sort of clvlllzatlon Europe had
produced, brllllant but unstable, vulnerable, fated to be
overtaken by catastrophe, the hlstorlan Erlch Auerbach
tells us. Some of these wrlters, he says, produced 'strange
and vaguely terrlfylng works, or shocked the publlc by
paradoxlcal and extreme oplnlons. Many of them took no
trouble to facllltate the understandlng of what they
wrotewhether out of contempt for the publlc, the cult of
thelr own lnsplratlon, or a certaln traglc weakness whlch
prevented them from belng at once slmple and true."
In the 20th century, thelrs ls stlll the maln lnfluence,
for desplte a show of radlcallsm and lnnovatlon our con
temporarles are really very conservatlve. Jhey follow
thelr l9thcentury leaders and hold to the old standard,
lnterpretlng hlstory and soclety much as they were lnter
preted ln the last century. What would wrlters do today lf
lt would occur to them that llterature mlght once agaln
engage those 'central energles," lf they were to recognlze
that an lmmense deslre had arlsen for a return from the
perlphery, for what was slmple and true?
Of course we can`t come back to the center slmply
because we want to; but the fact that we are wanted mlght
matter to us and the force of the crlsls ls so great that lt
may summon us back to such a center. But prescrlptlons
are futlle. One can`t tell wrlters what to do. Jhe lmaglna
tlon must flnd lts own path. But one can fervently wlsh
that theythat wewould come back from the perlphery.
We do not, we wrlters, represent manklnd adequately.
What account do Amerlcans glve of themselves, what
accounts of them are glven by psychologlsts, soclologlsts,
hlstorlans, journallsts, and wrlters? In a klnd of contrac
tual dayllght they see themselves ln the ways wlth whlch
we are so desperately famlllar. Jhese lmages of contrac
tual dayllght, so borlng to RobbeGrlllet and to me, orlgl
nate ln the contemporary world vlew. We put lnto our
books the consumer, clvll servant, football fan, lover, tele
vlslon vlewer. And ln the contractual dayllght verslon
thelr llfe ls a klnd of death. Jhere ls another llfe comlng
from an lnslstent sense of what we are whlch denles these
dayllght formulatlons and the false llfethe death ln llfe
they make for us. Ior lt ls false, and we know lt, and our
secret and lncoherent reslstance to lt cannot stop, for that
reslstance arlses from perslstent lntultlons. Perhaps
humanklnd cannot bear too much reallty, but nelther can
lt bear too much unreallty, too much abuse of the truth.
We do not thlnk well of ourselves; we do not thlnk
amply about what we are. Our collectlve achlevements
have so greatly 'exceeded" us that we 'justlfy" ourselves
by polntlng to them. It ls the jet plane ln whlch we com
monplace human belngs have crossed the Atlantlc ln four
hours that embodles such value as we can clalm. Jhen we
hear that thls ls closlng tlme ln the gardens of the West,
that the end of our capltallst clvlllzatlon ls at hand. Some
years ago Cyrll Connolly wrote that we were about to
undergo 'a complete mutatlon, not merely to be deflned
as the collapse of the capltallst system, but such a sea
change ln the nature of reallty as could not have been
envlsaged by Karl Marx or Slgmund Ireud." Jhls means
that we are not yet sufflclently shrunken; we must prepare
to be smaller stlll. I am not sure whether thls should be
called lntellectual analysls or analysls by an lntellectual.
Jhe dlsasters are dlsasters. It would be worse than stupld
to call them vlctorles as some statesmen have trled to do.
But I am drawlng attentlon to the fact that there ls ln the
lntellectual communlty a slzeable lnventory of attltudes
that have become respectablenotlons about soclety,
human nature, class, polltlcs, sex, about mlnd, about the
physlcal unlverse, the evolutlon of llfe. Iew wrlters, even
among the best, have taken the trouble to reexamlne
these attltudes or orthodoxles. Such attltudes only glow
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_W k iI NO a NVTS ai_ POV
more powerfully ln |oyce or D. H. Lawrence than ln the
books of lesser men; they are everywhere and no one
challenges them serlously. Slnce the Jwentles, how many
novellsts have taken a second look at D. H. Lawrence, or
argued a dlfferent vlew of sexual potency or the effects of
lndustrlal clvlllzatlon on the lnstlncts? Llterature has for
nearly a century used the same stock of ldeas, myths,
strategles. 'Jhe most serlous essaylsts of the last flfty
years," says RobbeGrlllet. Yes, lndeed. Essay after essay,
book after book, conflrm the most serlous thoughts
Baudelalrlan, Nletzschean, Marxlan, Psychoanalytlc,
etcetera, etceteraof these most serlous essaylsts. What
RobbeGrlllet says about character can be sald also about
these ldeas, malntalnlng all the usual thlngs about mass
soclety, dehumanlzatlon and the rest. How weary we are
of them. How poorly they represent us. Jhe plctures they
offer no more resemble us than we resemble the recon
structed reptlles and other monsters ln a museum of pale
ontology. We are much more llmber, versatlle, better
artlculated, there ls much more to us, we all feel lt.
What ls at the center now? At the moment, nelther
art nor sclence but manklnd determlnlng, ln confuslon
and obscurlty, whether lt wlll endure or go under. Jhe
whole specleseverybodyhas gotten lnto the act. At
such a tlme lt ls essentlal to llghten ourselves, to dump
encumbrances, lncludlng the encumbrances of educatlon
and all organlzed platltudes, to make judgments of our
own, to perform acts of our own. Conrad was rlght to
appeal to that part of our belng whlch ls a glft. We must
hunt for that under the wreckage of many systems. Jhe
fallure of those systems may brlng a blessed and neces
sary release from formulatlons, from an overdeflned and
mlsleadlng consclousness. Wlth lncreaslng frequency I
dlsmlss as merely respectable oplnlons I have long held
or thought I heldand try to dlscern what I have really
llved by, and what others llve by. As for Hegel`s art freed
from 'serlousness" and glowlng on the marglns, ralslng
the soul above palnful lnvolvement ln the llmltatlons of
reallty through the serenlty of form, that can exlst
nowhere now, durlng thls struggle for survlval. However,
lt ls not as though the people who engaged ln thls struggle
had only a rudlmentary humanlty, wlthout culture, and
knew nothlng of art. Our very vlces, our mutllatlons,
show how rlch we are ln thought and culture. How much
we know. How much we even feel. Jhe struggle that con
vulses us makes us want to slmpllfy, to reconslder, to ellm
lnate the traglc weakness whlch prevented wrltersand
readersfrom belng at once slmple and true.
Wrlters are greatly respected. Jhe lntelllgent publlc
ls wonderfully patlent wlth them, contlnues to read them
and endures dlsappolntment after dlsappolntment, walt
lng to hear from art what lt does not hear from theology,
phllosophy, soclal theory, and what lt cannot hear from
pure sclence. Out of the struggle at the center has come
an lmmense, palnful longlng for a broader, more flexlble,
fuller, more coherent, more comprehenslve account of
what we human belngs are, who we are, and what thls llfe
ls for. At the center humanklnd struggles wlth collectlve
powers for lts freedom, the lndlvldual struggles wlth
dehumanlzatlon for the possesslon of hls soul. If wrlters
do not come agaln lnto the center lt wlll not be because
the center ls preempted. It ls not. Jhey are free to enter. If
they so wlsh.
Jhe essence of our real condltlon, the complexlty,
the confuslon, the paln of lt ls shown to us ln gllmpses, ln
what Proust and Jolstoy thought of as 'true lmpresslons."
Jhls essence reveals, and then conceals ltself. When lt
goes away lt leaves us agaln ln doubt. But we never seem
to lose our connectlon wlth the depths from whlch these
gllmpses come. Jhe sense of our real powers, powers we
seem to derlve from the unlverse ltself, also comes and
goes. We are reluctant to talk about thls because there ls
nothlng we can prove, because our language ls lnadequate
and because few people are wllllng to rlsk talklng about lt.
Jhey would have to say, 'Jhere ls a splrlt" and that ls
taboo. So almost everyone keeps qulet about lt, although
almost everyone ls aware of lt.
Jhe value of llterature lles ln these lntermlttent
'true lmpresslons." A novel moves back and forth
between the world of objects, of actlons, of appearances,
and that other world from whlch these 'true lmpresslons"
come and whlch moves us to belleve that the good we
hang onto so tenaclouslyln the face of evll, so obstl
natelyls no llluslon.
No one who has spent years ln the wrltlng of novels
can be unaware of thls. Jhe novel can`t be compared to
the eplc, or to the monuments of poetlc drama. But lt ls
the best we can do just now. It ls a sort of latterday lean
to, a hovel ln whlch the splrlt takes shelter. A novel ls bal
anced between a few true lmpresslons and the multltude
of false ones that make up most of what we call llfe. It tells
us that for every human belng there ls a dlverslty of exls
tences, that the slngle exlstence ls ltself an llluslon ln part,
that these many exlstences slgnlfy somethlng, tend to
somethlng, fulflll somethlng; lt promlses us meanlng, har
mony and even justlce. What Conrad sald was true, art
attempts to flnd ln the unlverse, ln matter as well as ln the
facts of llfe, what ls fundamental, endurlng, essentlal.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l976. Saul Bellow ls the sole
author of the text.|
lll
g~ _~
(12 Zugust 1S66 - 14 uly 194)
j~ ^J_
Uvivcrsity of Ilorido
BOOKS. Tcotro fovtstico (Madrld. Jlpografa Iranco
Espaola, l892; revlsed, Madrld. Iortanet, l905);
!ilovos (Madrld. Iortanet, l893);
!crsos (Madrld. Jlpografa IrancoEspaola, l893);
Cortos dc mujcrcs: Colcciovodos, flrst serles (Madrld.
Jlpografa IrancoEspaola, l893);
Il vido ojcvo: Comcdio cv trcs octos, cv proso (Madrld. R.
Velasco, l891);
Ccvtc covocido: Isccvos dc lo vido modcrvo: Divididos cv cuo-
tro octos (Madrld. Imp. y llt. del Asllo de Hur
fanos, l896);
Il morido dc lo Tcllc: occto dc comcdio cv uv octo (Madrld.
Admlnlstracln LrlcoDramtlca, l897);
Io comido dc los ficros: Comcdio cv trcs octos y uv cuodro
(Madrld. B. Rodrguez, l898);
Io forvdulo: Comcdio cv dos octos (Madrld. Iortanet,
l898);
Iigulivos (Madrld. Iortanet, l898);
!iojc dc ivstrucciov: oruclo cv uv octo y cuotro cuodros
(Madrld. R. Velasco, l900);
Dcspcdido crucl: Comcdio cv uv octo (Madrld. R. Velasco,
l90l);
Io gobcrvodoro: Comcdio cv trcs octos (Madrld. R. Velasco,
l90l);
Modos: Soivctc cv uv octo y cv proso (Madrld. R. Velasco,
l90l);
Io cursi: Comcdio dc trcs octos (Madrld. R. Velasco, l90l);
Cortos dc mujcrcs, 2 volumes, second and thlrd serles
(Madrld. Mazo, l90l, l902);
Il trcv dc los moridos: uguctc comico cv dos octos y cv proso
Zmor dc omor: Comcdio cv dos octos y cv proso (Madrld. R.
Velasco, l902);
Il primo Iomv: Comcdio cv trcs octos (Madrld. R. Velasco,
l902);
Socrificios: Dromo cv trcs octos (Madrld. Vluda de Jello,
l902);
Zlmo triuvfovtc: Dromo cv trcs octos (Madrld. R. Velasco,
l902);
Il criodo dc Dov uov (Madrld. Centro Edltorlal
HlspanoAmerlcano, l902);
Il outomovil: Comcdio cv dos octos y cv proso (Madrld. R.
Velasco, l903);
Io voclc dcl sbodo: òvclo csccvico cv civco cuodros (Madrld.
R. Velasco, l903);
g~ _~I O a NVOO
E^m t tF
ll2
g~ _~ ai_ POV
Il lombrccito: Comcdio cv trcs octos, origivol (Madrld. R.
Velasco, l903);
Zl voturol: Comcdio cv dos octos y cv proso (Madrld. R.
Velasco, l901);
Tcotro, 38 volumes (Madrld. Iortanet, l901-l93l)
comprlses volume l, Il vido ojcvo, Ccvtc covocido, Il
morido dc lo Tcllc, and Dc olivio; volume 2, Dov
uov, Io forvdulo, Io comido dc lo ficros, and Tcotro
fcmivisto; volume 3, Cucvto dc omor, Upcrociov quirr-
gico, Dcspcdido crucl, Io goto dc Zvgoro, !iojc dc
ivstrucciov, and Ior lo lcrido; volume 1, Modos, Io
cursi, Siv qucrcr, and Socrificios; volume 5, Io gobcr-
vodoro and Il primo Iomv; volume 6, Zmor dc omor
and Il trcv dc los moridos; volume 7, Zlmo triuvfovtc,
Il outomovil, and Io voclc dcl sbodo; volume 8, Ios
fovoritos, Il lombrccito, Modcmoiscllc dc cllc-Islc, and
Ior quc sc omo; volume 9, Zl voturol, Io coso dc lo
diclo, and Il drogov dc fucgo; volume l0, Iiclclicu,
Io privccso cbc, and ò fumodorcs; volume ll,
Iosos dc otovo and ucvo bodo; volume l2, Il susto
dc lo covdcso, Cucvto ivmorol, Io sobrcsolicvto, and Ios
mollcclorcs dcl bicv; volume l3, Ios cigorros lormigos
and Ms fucrtc quc cl omor; volume l1, Movov Ics-
cout, Ios blos, and Zbuclo y victo; volume l5, Io
privccso siv coroov, Il omor osusto, Io copo cvcovtodo,
and Ios ojos dc los mucrtos; volume l6, Io listorio dc
Utclo, Io sovriso dc Ciocovdo, Il ltimo mivuc, Todos
somos uvos, and Ios ivtcrcscs crcodos; volume l7,
Scvoro omo, Il morido dc su viudo, and Io fucro
bruto; volume l8, Dc pcqucvos cousos, Hocio lo vcr-
dod, Ior los vubcs, Dc ccrco, and Z vcr quc locc uv
lombrc! volume l9, Io cscuclo dc los privccsos, Io
scvorito sc oburrc, Il prvcipc quc todo lo oprcvdio cv los
libros, and Covorsc lo vido; volume 20, Il victccito,
Io loso dc los sucvos, and Io molqucrido; volume 2l,
Il dcstivo movdo, Il collor dc cstrcllos, and Io vcrdod;
volume 22, Io propio cstimociov and Compo dc ormivo
|second edltlon|; volume 23, Io tvico omorillo and
Io ciudod olcgrc y covfiodo |second edltlon|; volume
21, Il mol quc vos loccv, Ios coclorros, and Coridod;
volume 25, Mcfistofclo and Io Ivmoculodo dc los
Dolorcs; volume 26, Io lcy dc los lijos, Ior scr cov todos
lcol, scr poro todos troidor, and Io lovro dc los lombrcs;
volume 27, Io vcstol dc occidcvtc, Uvo scvoro, and
Uvo pobrc mujcr; volume 28, Io ccvicicvto, Ms oll
dc lo mucrtc, and Ior quc sc quito uov dc lo bcbido;
volume 29, Iccciovcs dc bucv omor, Uv por dc botos,
and Io otro lovro; volume 30, Io virtud sospccloso,
òdic sobc lo quc quicrc o cl boilorv y cl trobojodor, and
Si crccrs t quc cs por mi gusto! volume 3l, Zlfilcro-
os, Ios vucvos ycrvos, and Il suicidio dc Iuccrito; vol
ume 32, Io moriposo quc volo sobrc cl mor, Il lijo dc
Ioliclivclo, and Z los pucrtos dcl ciclo; volume 33, Io
voclc ilumivodo and J vo dc cucvto; volume 31, Il
dcmovio fuc ovtcs vgcl! and ò quicro, vo quicro! vol
ume 35, Icpo Dovccl and Ioro cl ciclo y los oltorcs; vol
ume 36, !idos cruodos and Ios omigos dcl lombrc;
volume 37, Ios ovdrojos dc lo prpuro and Dc muy
bucvo fomilio; and volume 38, Iitcroturo and Io
mclodo dcl o-ovd;
Iosos dc otovo (Madrld. Iortanet, l905);
Tcotro rpido (Barcelona. A. Lpez, l906)comprlses Il
criodo dc Dov uov, Comcdio itoliovo, Ios primcros,
Motcrvidod, Iotcrvidod, Covfidcvcios, Modcrvismo,
Ilirt, Io cortcro, Iv lo ployo, odos rcolcs, Ivtrc ortis-
tos, Il cvcovto dc uvo loro, and Io scvdo dcl omor;
Ios ojos dc los mucrtos: Dromo cv trcs octos y cv proso (Madrld.
R. Velasco, l907);
Ms fucrtc quc cl omor (Barcelona, l907);
Todos somos uvos: Soivctc lrico cv uv octo y cv proso (Madrld.
R. Velasco, l907);
Io copo cvcovtodo: oruclo cv uv octo (Madrld. R. Velasco,
l907);
Ios ivtcrcscs crcodos: Comcdio dc policlivclos cv dos octos, uv
prologo y trcs cuodros (Madrld. R. Velasco, l907);
Il morido dc su viudo: Comcdio cv uv octo (Madrld. R.
Velasco, l908);
Io fucro bruto: Comcdio cv uv octo y dos cuodros, cv proso
Ios bulos: Comcdio cv trcs octos y cv proso (Madrld. Suce
sores de Hernando, l908);
Il omor osusto: Comcdio cv uv octo y cv proso (Madrld. Suce
sores de Hernando, l908);
Il tcotro dcl pucblo (Madrld. Iernando Ie, l909);
Io scvorito sc oburrc: Comcdio cv uv octo bosodo cv uvo pocso
dc Tcvvysov (Madrld. R. Velasco, l909);
Il prvcipc quc todo lo oprcvdio cv los libros: Cucvto cv dos octos
y sictc cuodros (Madrld. Artes Grflcas Mateu, l9l0);
Ubros cscogidos (Madrld. Blblloteca Renaclmlento, l9l0);
Io cscuclo dc los privccsos: Comcdio cv trcs octos y cv proso
(Madrld. R. Velasco, l9l0);
Il drogov dc fucgo: Dromo cv trcs octos y uv cplogo, divididos
cv vucvc cuodros (Barcelona. E. Domenech, l9l0);
Dc sobrcmcso: Crovicos, 6 volumes (Madrld. Imp. Espaola,
l9l0-l9l6);
Iolobros, polobros (Madrld. I. I, l9ll);
Io loso dc los sucvos: Comcdio cv dos octos, cv proso (Madrld.
Nuevo Mundo, l9ll);
Zcotociovcs (Madrld. Grflcas Mateu, l9l1);
Io goto dc Zvgoro: Comcdio cv cuotro octos (Madrld. R.
Velasco, l9l1);
Upcrociov quirrgico: Comcdio cv uv octo y cv proso (Madrld.
R. Velasco, l9l1);
Io molqucrido: Dromo cv trcs octos y cv proso (Madrld.
Nuevo Mundo, l9l1);
Il collor dc cstrcllos: Comcdio cv cuotro octos, cv proso
(Madrld. R. Velasco, l9l5);
ll3
ai_ POV g~ _~
Compo dc ormivo: Comcdio cv trcs octos (Madrld. R. Velasco,
l9l6);
Io ciudod olcgrc y covfiodo: Comcdio cv trcs cuodros y uv pro-
logo covsidcrodos como trcs octos, 2
~
portc dc 'Ios ivtcrcscs
crcodos (Madrld. R. Velasco, l9l6);
Crovicos y dilogos (Valencla. |. Pallars, l9l6);
Io propio cstimociov: Comcdio cv trcs octos y cv proso (Madrld.
R. Velasco, l9l6);
Mis mcjorcs csccvos (Madrld. Hesperla, l9l6);
Io sobrosolicvto: Soivctc lrico (Madrld, l9l6);
Il mol quc vos loccv: Comcdio cv trcs octos y cv proso
(Madrld. Sanz Calleja, l9l7);
Ios vivos (Madrld. Hesperla, l9l7);
Ios mcjorcs pgivos dc ocivto cvovcvtc, 2 volumes, com
plled by Alejandro Mlquls (Madrld. Senz de
|ubera, l9l7-l9l8);
Ios coclorros: Comcdio cv trcs octos, cv proso (Madrld. Sanz
Calleja, l9l8);
Mcfistofclo: Comcdio-opcrcto cv trcs octos, cv proso, text by
Benavente, muslc by Prudenclo Muoz (Madrld.
Sanz Calleja, l9l8);
Io Ivmoculodo dc los Dolorcs: òvclo csccvico cv civco cuodros,
covsidcrodos trcs octos (Madrld. Sanz Calleja, l9l8);
Igivos sclcctos (San |os, Costa Rlca. Ialc Borras,
l9l8)comprlses Il covtor dc lo miscrio, Icycs sov-
tuorios, Io rcbcldo, Il pov vucstro, Cortos dc mujcrcs,
Iotcrvidod, Ios ivtcrcscs crcodos, Io cscuclo dc los priv-
ccsos, Il vido ojcvo, Il prvcipc quc todo oprcvdio cv los
libros, and Io loso dc los sucvos;
Io privccso siv coroov: Cucvto dc lodos (Madrld. Blblloteca
Estrella, l9l8);
Covfcrcvcios (Madrld. Sucesores de Hernando, l921)
comprlses 'La moral en el teatro," 'Influencla del
escrltor en la vlda moderna," 'Illosofa de la
moda," 'Pslcologa del autor dramtlco," 'Algu
nas mujeres de Shakespeare," 'La mujer y su
mayor enemlgo," and 'Algunas partlcularldades
del teatro antlguo espaol";
Iccciovcs dc bucv omor (Madrld. R. Velasco, l921);
Cuovdo los lijos dc Ivo vo sov los lijos dc Zdv, based on
Margaret Kennedy`s novel Tlc Covstovt `ympl
(Madrld. Hernando, l93l);
Icvsomicvtos (Madrld. Hernando, l93l);
Io morol dcl divorcio: Covfcrcvcio diologodo, dividido cv trcs
portcs (Madrld. Helnlca, l932);
Io duqucso gitovo: Comcdio dc mogio cv civco octos divididos cv
dic cuodros (Madrld. Helnlca, l932);
Sovto Iusio: Irimcro portc dc uvo trilogo (Madrld.
Helnlca, l932);
Io vcrdod ivvcvtodo: Comcdio cv trcs octos (Madrld. Artes
grflcas, Sucesores de Rlvadeneyra, l933);
Il rivol dc su mujcr: Comcdio cv trcs octos y cv proso (Madrld.
Artes grflcas, Sucesores de Rlvadeneyra, l933);
Io vovio dc vicvc: Comcdio cv uv prologo y trcs octos (Madrld.
Il pov comido cv lo movo: Comcdio cv trcs octos (Madrld.
Mcmorios dc uv modrilcvo, pucstos cv occiov cv civco cuodros
(Madrld. Artes grflcas, Sucesores de Rlvade
neyra, l931);
ì ol omor vi ol mor: Dromo cv cuotro octos y uv cplogo
(Madrld. Artes grflcas, Sucesores de Rlvade
neyra, l931);
'ò jugucis cov csos cosos: Comcdio cv trcs octos y cv proso
(Madrld. Artes grflcas, Sucesores de Rlvadeneyra,
l935);
Cuolquicro lo sobc: Comcdio cv trcs octos y cv proso (Madrld.
Ios ivtcrcscs crcodos. Scvoro omo (Madrld. EspasaCalpe,
l938);
Io molqucrido y Io voclc dcl sbodo (Madrld. Espasa
Calpe, l939);
Ilov dc cstudios poro uvo cscuclo dc ortc csccvico (Madrld.
Agullar, l910);
Ubros complctos, ll volumes (Madrld. Agullar, l912-l958);
Zs picvsov los pcrsovojcs dc cvovcvtc, edlted by |os Marla
Vlquelra (Madrld. Agullar, l958);
Iccucrdos y olvidos: Mcmorios (Madrld. Agullar, l959);
Ios tcrccros dc ZC, edlted by Adolfo Prego (Madrld.
Prensa Espaola, l976).
b ~ `W Ios ivtcrcscs crcodos. Io
molqucrido, edlted by |os Montero Padllla
(Madrld. Castalla, l996);
Ios ivtcrcscs crcodos, edlted by Iranclsco |avler Daz de
Castro and Almudena del Olmo Iturrlarte
Ios ivtcrcscs crcodos. Io ciudod olcgrc y covfiodo, edlted by
Eduardo Galn (Madrld. Blblloteca Nueva, l998);
Tcotro fovtstico. Io sovriso dc Ciocovdo, edlted by |avler
Huerta Calvo and Emlllo Peral Vega (Madrld.
EspasaCalpe, 200l);
Scvoro omo. Io molqucrido, edlted by Vlrtudes Serrano
(Madrld. Ctedra, 2002).
b bW Tlc Smilc of Movo Iiso: Z Iloy iv
Uvc Zct, translated by |ohn Armstrong Herman
(Boston. R. G. Badger, l9l5);
Iloys, 1 volumes, edlted and translated by |ohn Garrett
Lnderhlll (New York. Scrlbners, l9l7-l921)
comprlses volume l, His !idow`s Husbovd, Tlc
ovds of Ivtcrcst, Tlc Ivil Docrs of Cood, and Io
Molqucrido; volume 2, ò Smolivg, Irivccss cbc,
Tlc Covcrvor`s !ifc, and Zutumvol Ioscs; volume 3,
Tlc Irivcc !lo Icorvcd Ivcrytlivg out of ools, Sotur-
doy ìglt, Iv tlc Clouds, and Tlc Trutl; and volume
1, Tlc Sclool of Irivccsscs, Z Iody, Tlc Mogic of ov
Hour, and Iicld of Irmivc;
ll1
g~ _~ ai_ POV
Zt Closc Iovgc: Z Comcdy iv Uvc Zct, translated by Lnder
hlll (New York. S. Irench, l936).
PLAY PRODLCJIONS. Il vido ojcvo, Madrld, Jeatro
de la Comedla, 6 October l891;
Ccvtc covocido, Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, 2l Octo
ber l896;
Il morido dc lo Tcllc, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, l3 Iebruary
l897;
Dc olivio, Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, 27 Iebruary
l897;
Dov uov, translated from Mollre`s play, Madrld,
Jeatro de la Prlncesa, 3l October l897;
Io forvdulo, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, 30 November l897;
Io comido dc los ficros, Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, 7
November l898;
Tcotro fcmivisto, text by Benavente, muslc by Pablo Bar
bero, Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, 28 Decem
ber l898;
Cucvto dc omor, translated from Wllllam Shakespeare`s
Twclftl ìglt, Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, ll
March l899;
Upcrociov quirrgico, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, 1 May l899;
Dcspcdido crucl, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, 7 December l899;
Io goto dc Zvgoro, Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, 3l
March l900;
!iojc dc ivstrucciov, text by Benavente, muslc by Amadeo
Vlves, Madrld, Jeatro Eslava, 6 Aprll l900;
Ior lo lcrido, Barcelona, Jeatro de Novedades, l5 |uly
l900;
Modos, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, l8 |anuary l90l;
Io cursi, Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, l9 |anuary l90l;
Siv qucrcr, Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, 3 March
l90l;
Socrificios, Barcelona, Jeatro de Novedades, l9 |uly l90l;
Io gobcrvodoro, Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, 8 Octo
ber l90l;
Il primo Iomv, Saragossa, Spaln, Jeatro Prlnclpal, l2
November l90l;
Zmor dc omor, Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, 21 Iebru
ary l902;
Iibcrtod! based on Santlago Ruslol y Prats`s play,
Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, l7 March l902;
Il trcv dc los moridos, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, l8 Aprll
l902;
Zlmo triuvfovtc, Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, 2
December l902;
Il outomovil, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, l9 December l902;
Io voclc dcl sbodo, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l7 March
l903;
Ios fovoritos, adapted from Shakespeare`s Mucl Zdo Zbout
òtlivg, Sevllle, Jeatro de San Iernando de
Sevllla, 20 March l903;
Il lombrccito, Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, 23 March
l903;
Ior quc sc omo, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 26 October
l903;
Modcmoiscllc dc cllc-Islc, based on Alexandre Dumas
prc`s play, Valladolld, Spaln, El Gran Jeatro
Caldern de la Barca, 29 October l903;
Zl voturol, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, 20 November l903;
Io coso dc lo diclo, Barcelona, Jeatro de las Artes, 9
December l903;
ò fumodorcs, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, 3 March l901;
Iiclclicu, based on Edward BulwerLytton`s play, Mex
lco Clty, l5 March l901;
Il drogov dc fucgo, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l6 March
l901;
ucvo bodo, adapted from Emlle Augler`s Uv bcou
morriogc, Madrld, l905;
Iosos dc otovo, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l3 Aprll l905;
Il susto dc lo covdcso, Barcelona, Jeatro Novedades, l8
|uly l905;
Cucvto ivmorol, Barcelona, Jeatro Novedades, 22 |uly
l905;
Movov Icscout, by Benavente and Alfonso Danvlla,
adapted from Abbe Prevost`s novel, Madrld,
Jeatro Espaol, 30 November l905;
Ios mollcclorcs dcl bicv, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, l Decem
ber l905;
Io sobrcsolicvto, text by Benavente, muslc by Ruperto
Chap, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 23 December
l905;
Ios cigorros lormigos, Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, 21
December l905;
Il cvcovto dc uvo loro, Madrld, 30 December l905;
Ms fucrtc quc cl omor, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 22 Iebru
ary l906;
Io privccso cbc, Madrld, 3l March l906;
Il omor osusto, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, l0 |anuary l907;
Ios blos, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, 8 Iebruary l907;
Zbuclo y victo, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, 2l Iebruary l907;
Io copo cvcovtodo, adapted from Ludovlco Arlosto`s
story, text by Benavente, muslc by Vlcente Lle,
Madrld, Jeatro de la Zarzuela, l6 March l907;
Todos somos uvos, Madrld, Jeatro Eslava, 2l September
l907;
Io listorio dc Utclo, Madrld, Jeatro Apolo, ll October
l907;
Ios ojos dc los mucrtos, Madrld, Jeatro de la Prlncesa, 7
November l907;
Ios ivtcrcscs crcodos, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, 9 December
l907;
Scvoro omo, Madrld, Jeatro de la Prlncesa, 22 Iebruary
l908;
Dc pcqucvos cousos . . . , Madrld, Jeatro de la Prlncesa, l1
March l908;
ll5
ai_ POV g~ _~
b ~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro Prnclpe Alfonso,
l9 October l908;
i~ ~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro Lara, l0 November
l908;
e~~ ~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro del Prnclpe Alfonso, 23
December l908;
m ~ I Madrld, Jeatro Lara, 20 |anuary l909;
a ~I Madrld, Jeatro Lara, l0 Aprll l909;
i~ ~ ~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla,
l1 October l909;
b I Madrld, 23 October l909;
i~ ~ ~I adapted from Alfred Jennyson`s
poem, Madrld, Jeatro del Prnclpe Alfonso, l
December l909;
b ~ I Madrld, Jeatro
del Prnclpe Alfonso, 20 December l909;
d~~ ~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro del Prnclpe Alfonso, 20
December l909;
b I adapted from a Brothers Grlmm story,
Madrld, Jeatro del Prnclpe Alfonso, 27 |anuary
l9l0;
`~~I Madrld, l9ll;
b ~ a g~I Madrld, 29 March l9ll;
i~ ~ I Madrld, Jeatro Lara, 9 November
l9ll;
b j~I Madrld, 2 Aprll l9l3;
i~ ~~I Madrld, Jeatro de la Prlncesa, l2 Decem
ber l9l3;
b ~~I translated from Paul Hervleu`s i
~I Madrld, Jeatro de la Prlncesa, 25 March
l9l1;
b ~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro de la Prlncesa, 1
March l9l5;
i~ ~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, 22
December l9l5;
`~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro de la Prlncesa, l1 Ieb
ruary l9l6;
i~ ~ ~~~I translated from George C. Hazelton
|r. and Harry Benrlmo`s play, Madrld, Jeatro de
la Prlncesa, 22 Aprll l9l6;
i~ ~ ~ ~~I Madrld, Jeatro Lara, l8 May
l9l6;
b ~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro de la Prlncesa, 23
March l9l7;
i ~I Madrld, Jeatro de la Prlncesa, 8 March
l9l8;
i~ j~I text by Benavente, muslc by Prudenclo
Muoz, Madrld, Jeatro Relna Vlctorla, 29 Aprll
l9l8;
i~ f~~~ aI Madrld, Jeatro Lara, 30
Aprll l9l8;
i~ I Madrld, Jeatro de la Zarzuela, 23
December l9l8;
i~ ~ ~I text by Benavente, muslc by Iederlco
Chaves, Madrld, l9l9;
i~ ~ I Madrld, Jeatro de la Prlncesa, 2
March l9l9;
m ~I ~~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro
del Centro, 5 March l9l9;
i~ ~ I Madrld, Jeatro Lara, 2 May
l9l9;
b ~~I adapted from Benlto Prez Galds`s novel,
Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 6 December l9l9;
i~ ~I adaptatlon of `~I Madrld, Jeatro
Espaol, 20 December l9l9;
v ~ I Madrld, Jeatro de la Prlncesa, 22 Decem
ber l9l9;
r~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro del Centro, 2 |anuary l920;
r~ I Madrld, Jeatro de la Prlncesa, 3 Aprll
l920;
j ~ ~ I Buenos Alres, l920;
m g~ ~ ~I Montevldeo, Jeatro
Sols, 30 August l922;
i ~I Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 2 Aprll
l921;
r ~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro de la Prlncesa, 25 May
l921;
i~ ~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro Lara, l9 September l921;
i~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro Iontalba, 20 Octo
ber l921;
p > Madrld, l925;
k~ ~ I b ~~ ~~~I Madrld,
Jeatro Cmlco, l1 March l925;
^~I Buenos Alres, Jeatro Avenlda, l8 |une l925;
Madrld, Jeatro del Centro, 5 October l925;
b iI Madrld, Jeatro Alczar, l7 |uly
l925;
i I Madrld, Jeatro Iontalba, 2 October
l925;
i~ ~~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro Iontalba,
22 December l926;
b m~I Madrld, l6 Aprll l927;
i~ ~~I Madrld, Jeatro Iontalba, 22 Decem
ber l927;
b ~ I Madrld, Jeatro Caldern, l8
Iebruary l928;
k I > Madrld, Jeatro Iontalba, l0 March
l928;
m~ aI Madrld, Jeatro Caldern, 2l November
l928;
s~ ~~I Madrld, Jeatro de Relna Vlctorla, 30
March l929;
i ~ I Madrld, Jeatro Avenlda, 27 Octo
ber l930;
i ~~ ~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro Muoz Seca, 6
November l930;
ll6
g~ _~ ai_ POV
Dc muy bucvo fomilio, Madrld, Jeatro Muoz Seca, ll
March l93l;
Iitcroturo, Madrld, Jeatro Alczar, l1 Aprll l93l;
Io mclodo dcl o-ovd, Madrld, Jeatro Iontalba, 30
October l93l;
Cuovdo los lijos dc Ivo vo sov los lijos dc Zdv, based on
Margaret Kennedy`s novel Tlc Covstovt `ympl,
Madrld, Jeatro Caldern, 5 November l93l;
Sovto Iusio, Madrld, Jeatro Beatrlz, 6 October l932;
Io duqucso gitovo, Madrld, Jeatro Iontalba, 28 October
l932;
Io morol dcl divorcio, Madrld, Jeatro Avenlda, 1 Novem
ber l932;
Io vcrdod ivvcvtodo, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, 27 October
l933;
Il rivol dc su mujcr, Buenos Alres, Jeatro Oden, l933;
Il pov comido cv lo movo, Madrld, Jeatro Iontalba, l2
|anuary l931;
ì ol omor vi ol mor, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l9 |anuary
l931;
Mcmorios dc uv modrilcvo, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, 8 Novem
ber l931;
Io vovio dc vicvc, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 29 November
l931;
'ò jugucis cov csos cosos, Madrld, Jeatro Eslava, l8 |an
uary l935;
Cuolquicro lo sobc, Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, l3
Iebruary l935;
Io ivcrcblc, Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, 25 October
l910;
Zvcs y pjoros, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, 30 October l910;
Zbuclo y victo, San Sebastln, Spaln, Jeatro del Prnclpe,
29 August l91l;
J omorgobo, Madrld, Jeatro de la Zarzuela, l9 Novem
ber l91l;
Io ltimo corto, Madrld, Jeatro Alczar, 9 December
l91l;
Io lovrodc dc lo ccrroduro, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, Aprll
l912;
Zl fiv, mujcr, San Sebastln, Spaln, Jeatro del Prnclpe,
l3 September l912;
Hijo dcl olmo! Madrld, Jeatro Lara, l7 September l912;
Io cvlutodo, Saragossa, Spaln, Jeatro Prlnclpal, 6 Octo
ber l912;
Il dcmovio dcl tcotro, Madrld, Jeatro Cmlco, 28 October
l912;
Io culpo cs tuyo, San Sebastln, Spaln, Jeatro de la Zarzu
ela, l6 December l912;
Ios vivos pcrdidos cv lo sclvo, San Sebastln, Spaln, Jeatro
Prlnclpal, l1 |anuary l911;
Dov Mogv, cl dc los mogios, Barcelona, Jeatro Barcelona,
l6 March l911;
Ispcjo dc grovdcs, Jeatro Escuela de Arte, Penal del
Dueso, Cantabrla, Spaln, l2 October l911;
Madrld, Jeatro Lara, ll |une l916;
ìcvc cv moyo, Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, l9 |anu
ary l915;
Io ciudod dolicvtc, Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, l1
Aprll l915;
Titovio, Buenos Alres, 25 September l915;
Io ivfovovo, Buenos Alres, 6 December l915; Madrld,
l0 |anuary l917;
Zl scrvicio dc su Mojcstod Impcriol, Madrld, l917;
Zbdicociov, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, 27 March l918;
Divorcio dc olmos, Madrld, Jeatro Iontalba, 30 Septem
ber l918;
Zdorociov, Madrld, Jeatro Cmlco, 3 December l918;
Zl omor loy quc movdorlo ol colcgio, Madrld, Jeatro Lara,
29 September l950;
Su omovtc csposo, Madrld, Jeatro Infanta Isabel, 20 Octo
ber l950;
T uvo vc y cl dioblo dic, Valladolld, Spaln, Jeatro Lope
de Vega, 23 October l950;
Motcr Impcrotrix, Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, 29
November l950;
Io vido cv vcrso, Madrld, Jeatro Infanta Isabel, 9
November l95l;
Ho llcgodo Dov uov, Barcelona, Jeatro Comedla, l2
Aprll l952;
Il lcbrcl dcl ciclo, lnsplred by Irancls Jhompson`s Tlc
Houvd of Hcovcv, Madrld, Jeatro Caldern, 25
Aprll l952;
Scrvir, Madrld, Jeatro Naclonal Mara Guerrero, 22
|anuary l953;
Il olfilcr cv lo boco, Madrld, Jeatro Infanta Isabel, l3 Ieb
ruary l953;
Zlmos prisiovcros, Madrld, Jeatro Alvarez _ulntero, 26
Iebruary l953;
Copcrucito osusto ol lobo, Madrld, Jeatro Infanta Isabel, 23
September l953;
Hijos, podrcs dc sus podrcs, Madrld, Jeatro Lara, ll Iebru
ary l951;
Il morido dc brovcc, Madrld, Jeatro Infanta Isabel, 23
Aprll l951;
Ior solvor su omor, Madrld, Jeatro Caldern, 2 Novem
ber l951;
Il bufov dc Homlct, Madrld, Jeatro Goya, l958.
OJHER. Lope de Vega, Iour Iloys, lntroductlon by
Benavente, translated by |ohn Garrett Lnderhlll
(New York. Scrlbners, l936).
JRANSLAJIONS. Wllllam Shakespeare, Cucvto dc
omor: Comcdio fovtstico dc Slolcspcorc (Madrld.
Revlsta Nueva, l899);
ll7
ai_ POV g~ _~
Alexandre Dumas prc, Modcmoiscllc dc cllc-Islc: Comcdio
cv civco octos y cv proso dc Zlcjovdro Dumos ( podrc)
Mollre, Dov uov: Comcdio dc Molirc cv civco octos
(Madrld. Iortanet, l901);
Paul Hervleu, Il dcstivo movdo: Dromo cv dos octos, origivol
y cv proso (Madrld. R. Velasco, l9l1);
George C. Hazelton |r. and Harry Benrlmo, Io tvico
omorillo: Icycvdo clivo cv trcs octos, cv proso (Madrld.
Sanz Calleja, l9l6).
|aclnto Benavente, the author of more than l70
plays, domlnated the Spanlsh stage for half a century.
He achleved fame and offlclal recognltlon ln hls long
career, but also had many detractors. After he recelved
the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature ln l922, hls place ln the llt
erary canon was flrmly establlshed; but the decllne of
hls creatlvlty had already started by then and became
more pronounced ln the followlng decades. Ior a large
part of the twentleth century, he was slmultaneously the
most revered and the most crltlclzed playwrlght ln
Spaln. He had great success wlth the Spanlsh publlc ln
commerclal theaters and lnsplred many lmltators; but
desplte hls popularlty and lnfluence, a large group of
respected lntellectuals and crltlcs malntalned negatlve
vlews about hls plays and hls lmpact on contemporary
Spanlsh theater. Jhese crltlcs, lncludlng Ramn Prez
de Ayala, consldered Benavente`s work outdated and
unworthy of pralse. Prez de Ayala later rectlfled hls
posltlon, but other crltlcs stlll blamed Benavente for the
percelved crlsls of Spanlsh theater. Jhey belleved that
he was too selfcomplacent because of hls success wlth
the Spanlsh mlddleclass publlc. After belng attacked by
crltlcs and almost forgotten by the theatergolng publlc
slnce the l970s, Benavente`s dlsputed place ln the canon
has been serlously revlsed by scholars. Slnce the l990s,
hls most lmportant plays and hls early works have reap
peared ln crltlcal edltlons, and a younger generatlon of
academlcs ls evaluatlng hls role ln the renovatlon of the
Spanlsh stage from new perspectlves.
|aclnto Benavente y Martnez was born ln Madrld
on l2 August l866. He was the youngest chlld of
Venancla Martnez and Marlano Benavente, a respected
doctor who ls consldered a ploneer ln the fleld of pedl
atrlc medlclne ln Spaln. Jhe couple, who had two more
sons, enjoyed a prlvlleged place ln Madrld soclety
because of the doctor`s reputatlon. Among hls patlents
and frlends were wellknown actors and wrlters, lnclud
lng the flrst Spanlsh wlnner of the Nobel Prlze ln Lltera
ture, dramatlst |os Echegaray. Jhe famlly had the
opportunlty to attend premleres and go to the theaters
regularly.
Young |aclnto learned how to read at home and
was ready to start hls prlmary educatlon at age flve.
Beglnnlng ln l87l, he attended Coleglo San |os, a
munlclpal school afflllated wlth San Isldoro Hlgh
School. Durlng hls chlldhood and early teenage years,
he bullt several toy theaters and performed puppet
shows for hls frlends and nelghbors and the household
malds. Hls flrst play was a falry tale ln one act, 'El gato
pardo" (Jhe Leopard). He wrote and performed more
plays for hls puppet theater, such as the spectacle 'Los
cazadores de leones" (Jhe Llon Hunters) and an adap
tatlon of òtrc-Domc dc Ioris (l83l, translated as Tlc
Huvclbocl of òtrc Domc, l833) by Vlctor Hugo. He even
wrote an ambltlous fulllength play, 'Las mll y una
noches" (Arablan Nlghts), ln hls last year ln hlgh
school, but lt was never produced and none of these
adolescent works were ever publlshed. Besldes orlglnal
plays, he memorlzed and reclted for hls admlrlng audl
ence scenes from classlc and contemporary authors,
lncludlng Wllllam Shakespeare, Mollre, Irledrlch
Schlller, and the Spanlsh playwrlghts Lope de Vega,
Pedro Caldern de la Barca, and |os Zorrllla.
Benavente started to go to the theaters wlth hls
famlly at an early age; later on he lnslsted that he could
vlvldly remember all the plays and muslcals he
attended between ages four and twelve. He also read
plays by both Spanlsh and forelgn authors, especlally
Shakespeare, whom hls father admlred greatly. Because
the young man studled Irench, Engllsh, Itallan, and
some Latln ln hls hlghschool years, he was able to read
many plays ln thelr orlglnal languages. He read Homlct
(clrca l600-l60l) ln translatlon at flrst, ln Spanlsh and
Irench, but was able to read lt ln Engllsh at age slxteen.
He also attended the performances of Echegaray`s
plays, lncludlng hls blggest success, Il grov Colcoto (Jhe
Great Galeoto), produced ln l88l, when Benavente
was flfteen. He sald ln hls memolrs (publlshed ln vol
ume eleven of hls Ubros complctos |Complete Works|,
l912-l958) that he had always admlred Echegaray,
who later became unpopular wlth the young lntellectu
als of the early twentleth century because they consld
ered hlm outdated.
Benavente`s father was concerned that hls young
est son spent too much tlme and energy rehearslng and
performlng plays lnstead of studylng, so he told hlm to
stop these actlvltles. Benavente was dlsappolnted, slnce
he wanted to be an actor. He confessed ln hls memolrs
that actlng was 'toda la llusln de ml vlda" (the blg
dream of my llfe). He was so affected by hls father`s
declslon that he became depressed, and he consldered
that moment the end of hls chlldhood. Hls father, who
wanted hlm to become an englneer, convlnced hlm that
he should attend college. He enrolled ln the Lnlverslty
of Madrld ln l882 but was not lnterested ln academlcs.
He often sklpped class, was not a brllllant student, and
swltched from englneerlng to law after the flrst year
ll8
g~ _~ ai_ POV
because he dlsllked mathematlcs. When hls father dled
ln l885, Benavente dropped out of college wlthout hesl
tatlon and devoted hlmself to readlng, wrltlng, and trav
ellng abroad between l885 and l892. Hls famlly`s
posltlon allowed hlm to enjoy a comfortable llfe and
avold the precarlous bohemlan llfestyle that character
lzed other wrlters of the late nlneteenth century.
Benavente attended the ~ ~~ (llterary
gatherlngs, wlth poetry readlngs and lnformal book dls
cusslons) at the Caf Iberla, where he met establlshed
wrlters such as the poet Gaspar Nez de Arce. He
later jolned a clrcle of young lntellectuals who were
hlghly crltlcal of the status quo. He spent most of hls
tlme wrltlng comedles and poems at home and readlng
the classlcs. Homer, Aeschylus, Vlrgll, Dante, Mlguel
de Cervantes, Alfred de Musset, and Glacomo Leo
pardl. He also read the works of contemporary Spanlsh
wrlters such as the novellsts Benlto Prez Galds and
|uan Valera, and the poets Ramn de Campoamor and
Nez de Arce. One of Benavente`s older brothers,
Marlano, encouraged hlm to contlnue wrltlng.
Benavente had a close relatlonshlp wlth hls
mother, wlth whom he llved as an adult untll her death
ln l922. It appears that he never had a slgnlflcant emo
tlonal relatlonshlp wlth anyone else. He prlded hlmself
on belng a conflrmed bachelor. Blographer ngel
Lzaro states that 'Nadle le ha conocldo novla en su
juventud, y l nlega que haya estado enamorado jams"
(No one knows of any sweetheart from hls youth, and
he denles that he has ever been ln love). Lzaro goes on
to assert that no one has ever been able to ldentlfy any
woman as Benavente`s lover, and no actress ever
bragged of belng the object of hls affectlons.
Crltlcs such as Eduardo Galn have wondered
about the fact that there ls so llttle avallable lnformatlon
about the prlvate llfe of such a famous wrlter. Even ln
hls memolrs, Benavente mostly tells anecdotes of the
people he knew and the clty where he llved, and only
talks ln detall about hls chlldhood. Jhere have always
been perslstent but unconflrmed rumors, mostly ln the
atrlcal clrcles, about hls alleged homosexuallty. When
he was told about rumors regardlng 'clertas anomalas
flslolglcas" (certaln physlologlcal anomalles), the
wrlter slmply shrugged; he also lgnored mallclous whls
perlngs about hls sexual orlentatlon. Lzaro wonders lf
Benavente ls 'el hombre despreocupado que qulere
asustar a los morallstas o el escptlco que se consldera
ms all del Blen y del Mal" (the carefree man who
wants to scare morallsts or the skeptlc who conslders
hlmself beyond Good and Evll). Homosexuallty was
taboo ln Spanlsh soclety at that tlme and, for a large
part of the twentleth century, was penallzed as a crlme.
Jradltlonally, Benavente`s blographers have
avolded the toplc, for the most part, or addressed lt ln a
rather lndlrect manner. Only latetwentlethcentury
studles approach the subject more openly, but they,
wlth few exceptlons, reach no deflnlte concluslons.
Slnce the late l990s, there have been alternate readlngs
of hls work, uncoverlng homoerotlc currents. Grard
Dufour was the flrst one to dlscuss the amblgultles ln
Leandro, one of the maln characters ln Benavente`s
most famous play, i ~ (l907, Jhe Bonds
of Interest). Others have percelved homoerotlc under
tones ln the frlendshlp between Leandro and Crlspn ln
that play. Echolng the oplnlon of the crltlcs Iranclsco
|avler Daz de Castro and Almudena del Olmo Itu
rrlarte ln a l998 edltlon of i ~I |avler
Huerta Calvo and Emlllo Peral Vega assert ln a 2003
artlcle that there are many references to homosexuallty
ln Benavente`s llfe as well as ln hls plays. Jhey state
that Benavente`s short story from l938, 'Ganlmedes"
(lncluded ln l~ ~), a sensual retelllng of the
classlc myth of Ganymede, the handsome ephebus who
became Zeus`s lover, offers a hldden confesslon of hls
alleged tendencles.
Huerta Calvo and Peral Vega also flnd manlfesta
tlons of 'ldeales heterodoxos en materlas de amor"
(heterodox ldeals regardlng love) ln other works by
Benavente, mostly ln hls early plays, publlshed ln the
volume q~ ~ (l892, Iantasy Jheater). Jhey
see these ldeals at work partlcularly ln ` ~J
~ (Sprlng Story), an unproduced work that seems to
follow the splrlt of Shakespeare`s comedles. Benavente
was famlllar wlth slxteenth and seventeenthcentury
classlc plays wlth crossdresslng roles from England and
Spaln, and they may have lnsplred hlm to portray char
acters of amblguous sexual ldentlty ln hls early works
and beyond. In ` ~~I one of the maln
characters ls Ganlmedes (Ganymede), a poet and page
ln the royal court who ls descrlbed wlth androgynous
characterlstlcs but assumed to be male. After some
amblguous sltuatlons lnvolvlng mlstaken ldentltles and
crossdresslng, the endlng of the play seems to relnforce
tradltlonal expectatlons about heterosexual attractlon,
but the plot twlsts are loaded wlth destablllzlng lronles.
Addlng another layer to the amblgultles of the play,
Ganlmedes`s role ls supposed to be played by an
actress, as revealed ln the prologue.
q~ ~ was a compllatlon of unproduced
short plays publlshed ln l892 and agaln ln l905 ln a
revlsed, expanded edltlon. Besldes ` ~~I
the l892 edltlon also lncluded three more plays. b
~ ~ ~ (Jhe Maglc of an Hour), ^
~~ (Artlst`s Love), and i ~ (Jhe Iavorltes).
Jhe latter, based on Shakespeare`s play j ^ ^
k (clrca l598-l599), was produced ln Sevllle ln
l903. b ~ ~ ~ was produced ln Madrld ln
l905, shortly after the second edltlon was publlshed.
ll9
ai_ POV g~ _~
Jhe other two plays from the flrst edltlon of q~
~ have never been performed. All of them have
one act only, except ` ~~I whlch ls a two
act comedy. Jhe l905 edltlon omltted i ~ and
added two more oneact plays. `~ ~~~ (Itallan
Comedy) and b ~ a g~ (Don |uan`s Ser
vant). In addltlon, lt lncluded a puppet play, i~ ~
~ (Jhe Path of Love); the plot for a mlme`s act, i~
~~ m (Jhe Whlteness of Plerrot); and a dla
logue, j (Modernlsm). Of the new plays
added ln l905, only b ~ a g~ was ever pro
duced; lt was performed ln Madrld ln l9ll.
Most crltlcs tend to conslder b ~
(Another`s Nest), produced ln l891, as the beglnnlng of
Benavente`s career as a dramatlst, whlle dlsmlsslng or
lgnorlng hls early plays entlrely. One of the few excep
tlons among the crltlcs of hls tlme was the Nlcaraguan
poet Rubn Daro, who, ln an artlcle publlshed ln
b~~ `~I pralsed q~ ~ as an out
standlng example of 'la joven llteratura" (the young llt
erature) and even compared lt to Shakespeare`s q
q (l6ll) and ^ j k a~ (clrca
l595-l596). Huerta Calvo and Peral Vega have pald
close attentlon to Benavente`s fantasy plays, whlch they
conslder hlghly lnnovatlve and an lmportant part of
modernlst theater. Jhey vlew q~ ~ as the
foundatlon of symbollst theater ln Spaln, whlch had an
lmportant lnfluence on the most lnnovatlve Spanlsh
playwrlghts of the twentleth century, such as Iederlco
Garca Lorca and Ramn del ValleIncln. In thelr vlew,
Benavente antlclpates avantgarde trends later devel
oped ln Europe by such wrlters as Gordon Cralg. Jhls
antlclpatlon ls especlally apparent ln b ~ ~
~I wlth lts antlreallstlc premlse and lts expllclt reac
tlon agalnst a mlmetlc lmltatlon of ordlnary llfe.
In l893 Benavente expanded hls llterary output
and publlshed three books. a collectlon of sketches,
s~ (Jhe Down of the Jhlstle), reprlnted ln l905;
s (Verses); and a serles of flctlonal letters, `~~
(Women`s Letters), whlch became a commerclal
success and was also pralsed by crltlcs; the second and
thlrd serles followed ln l90l and l902. Hls early poems
from s have been conslstently consldered medlocre,
even by the author hlmself. He never publlshed another
poetry book durlng hls llfetlme, although more than
one hundred poems, found among hls papers, appeared
posthumously ln the appendlx to volume ten of l~
~K Marcellno C. Peuelas flnds them slmllar to
Benavente`s early s ln thelr themes, tone, and qual
lty.
Benavente`s flrst experlences wlth the stage were
far more lmportant for hls future career as a respected
wrlter than hls early experlments ln poetry, whlch he
soon abandoned. In l890 he flnally reallzed hls llfelong
dream and jolned the Mara Jubeau theater company
as an actor. Jhere he met La Bella Geraldlne (Geral
dlne the Beautlful), a strlklngly attractlve Engllsh
actress and clrcus artlst who was popular wlth Madrld
audlences. He later toured several provlnclal towns ln
Spaln as an lmpresarlo of her show. Hls fasclnatlon for
the clrcus world ls reflected ln the settlngs of several
plays, such as i~ ~ (l903, Saturday Nlght),
i ~ (l9l8, Jhe Cubs), and i~ ~ ~ (l9l9,
Brute Iorce).
Benavente loved the backstage atmosphere. In an
lntervlew quoted by Lzaro, he confessed to a journallst
that lf he could not have been a playwrlght, he would
have llked to have been a fulltlme actor, lmpresarlo, or
stagehand. When he was a wellknown playwrlght, he
stlll enjoyed lnterpretlng roles ln hls own plays; he llked
to play Crlspn`s role ln i ~I for lnstance.
Occaslonally, he also played parts ln productlons of
other authors` plays, such as the leadlng role ln a pro
ductlon of Zorrllla`s a g~ q (l811), a famous
drama that was performed annually ln Spaln ln early
November. In l899 he performed a role ln the premlere
of `~ (Ashes), the flrst play produced by Valle
Incln, who eventually replaced Benavente as the major
flgure ln the canon of the earlytwentlethcentury the
ater ln Spaln.
In the late years of the nlneteenth century,
Benavente partlclpated actlvely ln the lntellectual llfe of
Madrld and jolned the wrlters who were assoclated
wlth the modernlst movement and the socalled Gener
atlon of l898. He collaborated on the modernlst jour
nal e and attended the ~ ~~ of Caf de
Madrld, along wlth wellknown wrlters such as Daro,
ValleIncln, Gregorlo Martnez Slerra, and the novellst
Po Baroja and hls brother, the palnter Rlcardo Baroja.
Because of dlfferences ln personalltles and styles, the
~ spllt lnto two groups ln the early twentleth cen
tury, and Benavente, hls frlends and admlrers started
thelr own ~ ln the Cervecera Inglesa (Engllsh
Brewery), whlle ValleIncln and hls followers chose to
go to the Horchatera Candela. (Benavente and Valle
Incln nevertheless remalned frlends.) At the turn of the
century, Benavente also traveled to Irance and Italy
and acqulred more cosmopolltan vlews, whlch are
reflected ln hls flrst successful plays, especlally ln i~
~I whlch ls set ln a summer resort for the
European ellte.
Whlle he was establlshlng hlmself ln the lntellec
tual scene, Benavente trled to convlnce a famlly frlend,
Emlllo Marlo, who was the respected lmpresarlo of
Jeatro de la Comedla (Comedy Jheater) ln Madrld, to
perform one of hls early plays. Ior slx or seven years,
Benavente brought Marlo about a dozen plays untll
Marlo flnally accepted one of them, b ~K It pre
l20
g~ _~ ai_ POV
mlered on 6 October l891 and was performed by a
wellestabllshed company of actors, lncludlng Carmen
Cobea and Emlllo Jhulller. Desplte the lmpeccable
credentlals of the lmpresarlo and the lead actors,
Benavente`s flrst produced play was a resoundlng fall
ure. It was poorly recelved by the publlc, and the major
lty of the crltlcs wrote negatlve revlews. Most scholars
attrlbute the fallure of the play to the publlc`s rejectlon
of the thesls behlnd the plot, whlch offers a moral justl
flcatlon for a hypothetlcal case of adultery that ls never
consummated. Jhere were loud complalnts agalnst the
alleged lmmorallty of the play. After the three perfor
mances stlpulated by law as the mlnlmum at that tlme,
lt was replaced by another play.
In appearance, the plot may have remlnded the
publlc of latenlneteenthcentury dramas, lncludlng
those by the popular Echegaray; but there are key dlf
ferences that antlclpate characterlstlcs that are more
fully developed ln Benavente`s later plays and that
mark the advent of naturallst theater ln Spaln, as
opposed to the postRomantlc melodramas to whlch the
Spanlsh publlc had grown accustomed. Galn has
polnted out the maln lnnovatlve aspects of b ~W
the use of prose lnstead of verse, the effectlve use of dla
logue, the predomlnance of dramatlc tenslon over
actlon, the development of the characters` psychologlcal
complexlty, the lack of vlolence and outbursts of pas
slon, and the reallstlc tone that prevalls ln the play. In
addltlon to lts formal lnnovatlons, b ~ also
takes a subverslve approach to the classlc toplc devel
oped for centurles ln Spanlsh 'dramas de honor" (dra
mas ln whlch the hero`s loss of reputatlon results ln
crlmes of passlon to restore hls honor). Benavente ques
tlons the conventlons of the subgenre and denounces
the oppresslve sltuatlon of marrled women ln Spanlsh
soclety.
Jhe publlc`s and crltlcs` adverse reactlons to hls
flrst produced play undoubtedly affected young
Benavente and forced hlm to be more cautlous ln hls
crltlclsm of soclety`s values. Irom then on, hls theater ls
a balanclng act. hls subsequent plays offered soclal sat
lre as long as lt could be tolerated by the mlddleclass
audlence that fllled the theaters at the tlme. He was
fully aware of the llmlts lmposed by the expectatlons of
the theatergolng publlc and by the structure of commer
clal theater, and he dld not cross that lnvlslble llne. He
offered a type of crltlclsm that was easy to agree wlth
and condemned the vlces of contemporary soclety such
as excesslve ambltlon or greed. Over tlme, hls theater
showed a marked tendency toward morallzlng that the
author hlmself regretted.
Benavente comblned hls early theatrlcal actlvltles
wlth the practlce of journallsm. He wrote hls flrst artlcle
for i~ ~ ln l895. Over hls long career he wrote
hundreds of newspaper artlcles that were collected later
ln l~ ~ (volumes seven, nlne, and eleven). In
l898 he edlted the satlrlcal magazlne j~ `
(Iunny Madrld), whose chlef edltor was the prestlglous
novellst and crltlc Clarn (Leopoldo Alas). At the turn
of the century he also contrlbuted to d~I b~I
s~ k~ (New Llfe), o~ k~ (New Magazlne),
^~ b~~ (Spanlsh Soul), i~ i~ (Jhe Readlng),
i~ f~ b~~ (Jhe Spanlsh Enllghtment), and
b ^ q~ (Jhe Art of Jheater). He contrlbuted a
regular column, 'Notas de un lector" (A Reader`s
Notes), to the respected o~ `~ (Contem
porary Magazlne). He eventually stopped thls frantlc
pace, although he resumed hls journallstlc actlvltles at
the beglnnlng of the twentleth century. He later con
fessed ln an lntervlew lncluded ln volume eleven of
l~ ~ that he was tlred of meetlng deadllnes. In
l899 Benavente was the flrst edltor of the journal s~
~~ (Llterary Llfe), whlch was consldered a platform
for a new generatlon of wrlters. Benavente left hls post
the followlng year, statlng that lt dlstracted hlm from
wrltlng plays, a task that he never abandoned, desplte
the fallure of hls flrst play.
Jwo years after the dlsastrous and brlef run of b
~I Benavente managed to convlnce the theater
company of Cobea and Jhulller to glve hlm another
chance wlth hls comedy d ~ (People of Impor
tance), whlch he had wrltten before hls flrst produced
play. d ~ premlered ln l896, and the publlc
llked the sharp, wltty dlalogue and the contemporary
sltuatlons presented. It was hls flrst success, to be fol
lowed by many more.
Ior hls thlrd produced play, performed ln l897, b
~ ~ q (Jhe Jllez Woman`s Husband),
Benavente took advantage of a recent soclety event that
was much talked about ln Madrld. the marrlage of lead
lng lady Mara Guerrero, who had been the lmpresarlo
of Jeatro Espaol (Spanlsh Jheater) slnce l895 and
was adored by the Spanlsh publlc, and leadlng man
Iernando Daz Mendoza. Jhe publlc enjoyed the exer
clse of decodlng the posslble parallels between the plot
of the play and real llfe, and the comedy was successful.
Guerrero later played the lead ln many plays by
Benavente. Her actlng style was partlcularly well sulted
for the naturallstlc tone that was the trademark of the
author`s early plays, ln contrast wlth the oldfashloned
declamatory style that prevalled ln the nlneteenth cen
tury. One of the most famous roles of her lllustrlous act
lng career was as Ralmunda, the protagonlst of
Benavente`s rural drama i~ ~~ (l9l3, Jhe Pas
slon Ilower).
Crltlcs agree that the talented Spanlsh actresses of
the early twentleth century contrlbuted greatly to the
success of Benavente`s plays. Benavente hlmself sald
l2l
ai_ POV g~ _~
that actress and dlrector Rosarlo Plno was the ldeal
lnterpreter of many of hls plays. It ls also true that
many actresses became popular because of thelr leadlng
roles ln hls plays. Plno, for lnstance, was remembered
ln partlcular for her role as the protagonlst of Iosos dc
otovo (l905, Autumnal Roses). Besldes Plno and Gue
rrero, who domlnated the Spanlsh stages ln the early
years of the twentleth century, a new generatlon of
actresses dlsplayed thelr actlng talent ln Benavente`s
plays ln the l920s and l930s. Lola Membrlves and
Margarlta Xlrgu are among thls dlstlngulshed group.
Llke Guerrero, they both dlrected thelr own theater
companles and toured Spaln and Latln Amerlca wlth
other plays by Benavente ln thelr repertolre, besldes the
ones that they premlered.
After Plno starred ln Il morido dc lo Tcllc ln l897,
Benavente`s presence on the Spanlsh stage was almost
constant for the next flftyseven years. Lntll hls death
ln l951, he produced at least two or three new plays a
year, and often four or flve. Sometlmes as many as
seven or elght of hls plays were performed ln a slngle
year, not lncludlng reruns. As early as l90l, he had slx
new plays produced ln the same year. four premlered ln
Madrld, one ln Barcelona, and one ln Saragossa. Some
of the crltlcs who had attacked hlm so harshly ln hls
flrst attempts as a playwrlght pralsed hlm enthuslastl
cally a few years later.
Benavente reached hls creatlve peak and also
achleved hls status as the most vlslble author on the
Spanlsh stage ln the flrst decade of the twentleth cen
tury, a posltlon consolldated at the beglnnlng of the
next decade wlth the spectacular success of Io molquc-
rido ln l9l3. Several plays recelved unlform crltlcal
acclalm ln the early l900s. Among them, Io voclc dcl
sbodo marked the deflnlte recognltlon of Benavente as
the leadlng Spanlsh playwrlght of hls tlme. It ls consld
ered one of the hlghllghts ln hls career, and the author
held lt ln great esteem.
K
Others also conslder Iosos dc
otovo one of Benavente`s most memorable plays. He pro
duced slx other new plays and publlshed four unpro
duced plays that same year. Another play that earned
both popular success and the crltlcs` pralse was Ios mol-
lcclorcs dcl bicv (l905, Jhe Evlldoers of Good), desplte
the fact that the play was percelved as antlCathollc ln
some conservatlve clrcles because of lts denunclatlon of
rellglous hypocrlsy.
In the early years of the twentleth century,
Benavente also devoted hlmself to journallsm, a com
mon actlvlty for Spanlsh lntellectuals at the tlme. Irom
l906 to l908 and from l9l1 to l9l6, he publlshed
weekly artlcles ln 'Los Lunes del Imparclal" (Mondays
of Jhe Impartlal), the llterary sectlon of Il Imporciol,
one of Madrld`s leadlng newspapers. In l9l2 and l9l3
he wrote regularly for the popular magazlne lovco y
`cgro (Black and Whlte). Hls column was tltled 'Sobre
mesa" (AfterDlnner Conversatlons). In addltlon, he
contrlbuted to ZC, a wellknown conservatlve newspa
per from Madrld, ln a regular column called 'La ter
cera" (Jhe Jhlrd One).
In thls perlod, Benavente managed to comblne hls
actlve career ln journallsm wlth resoundlng and undls
puted success on the Spanlsh stage. He wrote and pro
duced hls most acclalmed plays between l907 and
l9l3. Ios ivtcrcscs crcodos, Scvoro omo (l908, A Lady), and
Io molqucrido. Jhe flrst one, consldered hls masterplece,
remalned popular through the entlre twentleth century,
as attested by the number of performances and edltlons
of the play and the ample corpus of crltlcal studles
devoted to lt. Jhe other two, consldered the best of hls
rural dramas, also achleved endurlng success and have
attracted conslderable crltlcal attentlon.
Ios ivtcrcscs crcodos, subtltled 'comedla de poll
chlnelas" (puppet show), premlered ln Jeatro Lara ln
Madrld on 9 December l907. Jhe settlng ls an lmagl
nary country at the beglnnlng of the seventeenth cen
tury. Some of the characters are lnsplred ln the tradltlon
of the Itallan commedla dellàrte, as stated ln the pro
logue. Jhe maln characters and the plot are lnsplred by
the tradltlon of Spanlsh classlc llterature. Crlspn, the
central character, recalls the flgure of the plcaro, the
antlhero ln a subverslve subgenre of the Spanlsh
Golden Age novel. Jhe archetyplcal frlendshlp of the
ldeallstlc Leandro and the commonsenslcal Crlspn also
evokes that of Don _ulxote and Sancho Panza and the
relatlonshlp of masters and servants as represented ln
seventeenthcentury Spanlsh theater. Leandro ls a pen
nlless youth who falls ln love wlth beautlful Sllvla, who
also loves hlm, but her rlch father, Pollchlnela, opposes
the marrlage. Crlspn, a consummate trlckster, poses as
Leandro`s servant and convlnces everyone ln town that
Leandro ls an lmportant gentleman on a secret mlsslon.
Both of them are actually drlfters who are fleelng from
the law. When the truth ls exposed and they are
brought to trlal by those they cheated, Crlspn shows
the other characters that lt ls ln thelr best lnterest to
drop all the charges and allow the weddlng of Leandro
and Sllvla, so that Leandro can repay hls debts. Jhe
father ls forced by the others to accept the marrlage,
slnce the arrangement beneflts everyone else. Jhus, the
story has a happy endlng, provlng Crlspn`s cynlcal
polnt that 'mejor que crear afectos es crear lntereses" (lt
ls better to create bonds of lnterest rather than bonds of
love). Llke a skllled puppeteer, Crlspn masterfully
manlpulates all the threads of the plot. In the play, hls
determlnatlon to take advantage of others` foollshness,
based on hls knowledge of human nature, ls far more
convlnclng and engaglng than Leandro`s groundless
ldeallstlc attltude. At the end, although lt may seem that
l22
g~ _~ ai_ POV
love conquers all, the moral lesson conveys a deep skep
tlclsm and a pesslmlstlc vlew of humanklnd.
Ios ivtcrcscs crcodos has recelved unlform pralse,
even by those crltlcs who generally dlsllke Benavente`s
plays. Iranclsco Rulz Ramn, one of the most lnfluen
tlal hlstorlans of contemporary Spanlsh drama, consld
ers Ios ivtcrcscs crcodos one of the masterpleces of
twentlethcentury Spanlsh theater. It ls one of the few
plays by Benavente that ls stlll staged ln Spaln, and lt
has gone through many edltlons. Jhe publlc and crltlcs
of the tlme reacted wlth enthuslasm when lt was pre
mlered, and theater scholars have always pralsed lt
hlghly. Jhe Spanlsh Royal Academy awarded the Pre
mlo Plquer (Plquer Award) to thls play ln l9l2. In a
l930 poll, flfty thousand people chose lt as the best
comedy by Benavente. In 'Orlentaclones para el mon
taje" (Suggestlons for Staglng the Play), lncluded ln the
l998 edltlon of Ios ivtcrcscs crcodos. Io ciudod olcgrc y cov-
fiodo, the playwrlght |os Luls Alonso de Santos has
placed Ios ivtcrcscs crcodos among the most lmportant and
slgnlflcant Spanlsh plays of all tlme. Its sequel, Io ciudod
olcgrc y covfiodo (Jhe Happy and Confldent Clty), whlch
premlered ln l9l6, ls a lesser play that provoked scan
dal and achleved momentary success because of the
polltlcal clrcumstances. Crltlcs consldered lt a justlflca
tlon of Benavente`s support of Germany ln World War
I, an uncommon posltlon among Spanlsh lntellectuals
that earned the author many enemles and the scorn of
fellow wrlters.
In Iebruary l908, just two months after the trl
umphant premlere of Ios ivtcrcscs crcodos, Benavente tem
porarlly set aslde hls trademark urban comedles to
produce hls flrst drama ln a rural settlng, Scvoro omo. By
then he was the most soughtafter playwrlght ln Spaln.
He was stlll ln hls early fortles and had already pro
duced more than flfty plays. Scvoro omo was a strlklng
departure from the cynlcal world of hls 'puppet show."
Jhe lnsplratlon for the story and the maln characters
came to the author ln one of hls stays ln Aldeancabo, a
small vlllage
K
near Joledo, ln Castlle. In the early part
of the twentleth century, he used to rest ln hls country
house there and vlslt hls godchlld, Rosarlo, a llttle glrl
who llved ln the vlllage. Jhere he met a woman who
condoned the behavlor of her notorlously phllanderlng
husband and even seemed to take prlde ln lt. Benavente
modeled Domlnlca, the protagonlst of Scvoro omo, after
her. In the play, the chlldless Domlnlca ls proud of the
attractlon that her unfalthful husband, Iellclano, exerts
over other women, and even concerns herself wlth the
welfare of hls former lovers and the lllegltlmate chlldren
that he has had wlth them. Once she dlscovers that she
ls pregnant, however, Domlnlca changes her attltude
completely; she becomes consumed by jealousy and
decldes she wlll not tolerate her husband`s lnfldellty
anymore. Her sudden transformatlon almost leads to a
tragedy when she suspects Iellclano may be havlng an
affalr wlth hls brother`s wlfe. Ilnally, the mlsunder
standlng ls cleared up, and Iellclano rejolces at the news
that Domlnlca wlll glve hlm a legltlmate helr.
Most crltlcs have pralsed Scvoro omo and tend to
place lt at the level of Io molqucrido, Benavente`s best
known drama; the author hlmself sald that lt was hls
favorlte among all the plays he wrote. Peuelas, how
ever, conslders lt 'medlocre" and 'second rate" because
of the lack of dramatlc actlon and the relatlve weakness
of the maln character. Benavente avolds the traglc end
lng that would have been the loglcal development of the
confllct. Vlrtudes Serrano, by contrast, sets out to prove
ln her lntroductlon to a 2002 edltlon of the play that
Domlnlca ls a great character and that there ls true dra
matlc confllct ln the play.
In l909, one year after the premlere of Scvoro omo,
Benavente founded the Jeatro para Nlos (Jheater for
Chlldren) wlth the lmpresarlo Iernando Porredn.
Wlth thls project he lntended to promote quallty plays
for chlldren, performed ln the Jeatro Prnclpe Alfonso
ln Madrld. He wrote sketches for puppet shows, and ln
some cases he was also the puppeteer. He also wrote
plays for thls project such as Covorsc lo vido (l909, Earn
lng a Llvlng). Jhe best known of hls chlldren`s plays ls
Il prvcipc quc todo lo oprcvdio cv los libros (Jhe Prlnce Who
Learned Everythlng from Books), whlch premlered ln
l909. As part of the project, he produced plays wrltten
by Modernlst playwrlghts such as Santlago Ruslol,
Eduardo Marqulna, Martnez Slerra, and even Valle
Incln, who contrlbuted Iorso ivfovtil dc lo cobco dcl
drogov (Chlldren`s Iarce of the Dragon`s Head) ln l9l0.
Jhls play was the last one performed for the Jeatro
para Nlos. Benavente was enthuslastlc about the
project but soon encountered dlfflcultles; he dld not
have all the necessary resources, and the publlc dld not
respond wlth much lnterest. He abandoned Jeatro para
Nlos ln l9l0 but contlnued wrltlng chlldren`s plays on
occaslon. In l9l9 he wrote two chlldren`s plays. Io
ccvicicvto (Clnderella) and J vo dc cucvto (And Once
Lpon a Jlme). Years later, ln l931, he premlered Io
vovio dc vicvc (Jhe Snow Brlde), hls last experlment ln
that genre. Ior Llnda S. Glaze, these three plays are
'outstandlng examples of the modern comcdio dc mogio"
or maglc play, a subgenre that orlglnated ln the early
elghteenth century and survlved untll the early twentl
eth century.
Benavente`s lnterest ln the renovatlon of the Span
lsh stage and the educatlon of the publlc was not llmlted
to hls efforts to promote chlldren`s theater. As early as
l899, whlle he was bulldlng hls reputatlon as a success
ful playwrlght, he was lnvolved ln another project,
Jeatro Artstlco (Artlstlc Jheater). It was an attempt to
l23
ai_ POV g~ _~
brlng to the Spanlsh publlc alternatlve plays, produc
tlons dlfferent from those usually seen ln the commer
clal theaters. He dlrected the plays and occaslonally
played roles ln them, as he dld ln ValleIncln`s `~K
He premlered one of hls own plays, a~
(Cruel Iarewell), ln Jeatro Lara for the flrst perfor
mance of Jeatro Artstlco ln l899. Subsequent produc
tlons lncluded plays by classlc and contemporary
authors, such as Shakespeare`s q q~ p
(l591) and |oaqun Dlcenta`s g~ g (l895).
Benavente`s contrlbutlons to Spanlsh theater were
awarded not only wlth lmmense popularlty ln hls llfe
tlme but also wlth publlc recognltlon and offlclal hon
ors. In l9l2 he was elected to the Real Academla
Espaola, or RAE (Spanlsh Royal Academy), to replace
the respected scholar Marcellno Menndez Pelayo, who
had dled.
In l920, Benavente was named dlrector of
Jeatro Espaol (the Spanlsh Natlonal Jheater). In
l922, ten years after hls nomlnatlon to the RAE, he
recelved the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature, becomlng the
second Spanlard to recelve the honor. Benavente`s
reputatlon was enhanced among the publlc, but not
necessarlly among the crltlcs. Jhe hostlle atmosphere
agalnst hlm among Spanlsh lntellectuals and the neg
atlve crltlclsm spurred by Prez de Ayala`s revlews
dld not dlsappear after Benavente recelved the Nobel
Prlze. Prez de Ayala, however, dld declde to partlcl
pate ln an homage to Benavente ln the mld l930s.
Benavente could not attend the Nobel award
ceremony because he was ln Argentlna at that tlme
partlclpatlng ln a theatrlcal tour wlth Membrlves`s
company, an opportunlty he had welcomed ln order
to cope wlth hls grlef over hls mother`s death earller
that year. It was hls second trlp to South Amerlca; he
had gone wlth Guerrero`s company to Argentlna ln
l906. After he was awarded the Nobel Prlze, he vls
lted Mexlco, Cuba, and the Lnlted States, recelvlng
more honors along the way. He was named an hon
orary cltlzen of New York Clty, for lnstance. It was
really a vlctory tour for the author, who was then ln
the zenlth of hls career. Lpon hls return to Spaln, he
recelved the Great Cross of Alfonso el Sablo (Klng
Alfonso the Wlse), and the Clty Councll of Madrld
named hlm Iavorlte Son of the clty ln l921.
Benavente`s thlrd and last transatlantlc tour took
place under dlfferent clrcumstances, more than twenty
years later, ln l915, when he was ln hls late seventles.
Jhat year, he went to Argentlna and premlered hls last
rural drama, i~ ~~ (Jhe Noble Woman), ln Bue
nos Alres. At that tlme, Argentlna`s capltal was an
lmportant center for Spanlsh theater and also had a
large communlty of Spanlsh refugees. Several famous
actresses who had played leads ln Benavente`s plays,
such as Membrlves, Xlrgu, and Catallna Brcena, went
to South Amerlca as exlles after the Spanlsh Clvll War
ln the late l930s. Benavente, however, chose to stay ln
Spaln.
In l917 Benavente resumed hls contrlbutlons to
Madrld`s conservatlve newspaper ^_`K In one of hls
flrst artlcles ln thls stage of hls journallstlc career, 'Al
dlctado" (Jaklng Dlctatlon), he defended Marshal
Phllllpe Ptaln, the dlsgraced Irench mllltary leader
who had been lmprlsoned for treason ln l915 for
cooperatlng wlth the Vlchy government durlng
World War II. Jhe artlcle had a conslderable lmpact
ln Spaln, then ruled by General Iranclsco Iranco. In
l918 Benavente won the coveted Marlano de Cavla
Prlze ln journallsm for 'Al dlctado." Both the artlcle
and the award may have been polltlcally motlvated,
conslderlng that by the end of the Spanlsh Clvll War,
Benavente had moved from hls defense of the loyallst
cause ln favor of the Spanlsh Republlc to an apology
for Iranco`s government, a former ally of the Axls
powers.
Benavente`s attempts to lngratlate hlmself wlth
the Iranco reglme were nevertheless deemed lnslncere.
Because of hls reputatlon as a llberal and hls lnltlal
endorsement of the Spanlsh Republlc, he was black
llsted by Iranco`s government ln the l910s. Hls name
could not appear ln the Spanlsh press, whlch was con
trolled by rlgld government censors. Instead, he had to
be referred to ln theatrlcal revlews as 'the author of i~
~~K" Even the ads and the playbllls for hls plays
could not use hls name.
Desplte the problems wlth censorshlp, Bena
vente`s plays were not banned, and the Spanlsh publlc
contlnued to hold hlm ln hlgh esteem. When he dled
ln Madrld on l1 |uly l951, at age elghtyseven, he
was stlll actlve on the Spanlsh stage. Jwo of hls new
plays were produced that year, and another one pre
mlered posthumously ln the same year. Jen years ear
ller, ln l911, trlbutes to Benavente had taken place ln
Spanlsh cltles to commemorate the flftleth annlversary
of the premlere of b ~I and there were reruns
of hls most famous plays. Many lntellectuals, however,
had dlstanced themselves from hlm because of hls
defense of the German cause durlng World War I ln
hls controverslal play i~ ~ ~ ~~ ln l9l6.
Moreover, hls apology for Iranco`s reglme ln lesser
plays such as ^ ~ (l910, Blrds and Iowl) or
^ (l91l, Grandfather and Grandson) and
ln several newspaper artlcles dld llttle to reconclle hlm
wlth hls peers. Even after hls death, ldeologlcal blases
have often talnted the appreclatlon of |aclnto
Benavente`s contrlbutlons to Spanlsh theater for half a
century.
l21
g~ _~ ai_ POV
_~W
ngel Lzaro, s~ ~ _~ (Madrld. A.
Aguado, l961).
oW
Gerald G. Brown, e~ ~ ~~ ~~K b
uuI nlnth edltlon (Barcelona. Arlel, l98l), pp.
l76-l82;
Grard Dufour, 'Note sur le personnage de Leandro
dans i ~ de |aclnto Benavente,"
`~ b o~I 7 (l982). 85-92;
Eduardo Galn, '|aclnto Benavente y el drama bur
gus," ln Galn and others, q~ ~
~ ~ VU (Madrld. Iundacln Pro
RESAD, l998), pp. l19-206;
Llnda S. Glaze, 'Jhe Jradltlon of the Comedla de
Magla ln |aclnto Benavente`s Jheater for Chll
dren," e~~I 76, no. 2 (l993). 2l3-223;
|avler Huerta Calvo and Emlllo Peral Vega, 'Benavente
y otros autores," ln e~ ~ ~K a
usfff ~ ~ ~ ~~I volume 2, edlted by
Iernando Domnech Rlco and Peral Vega
(Madrld. Gredos, 2003), pp. 2272-23l0;
Ana Marlscal, `~ ~ ~ j~ (Madrld.
El Avapls, l981);
Carmen Menndez Onrubla, 'Doa Mara la Brava,"
ln ^~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~I
edlted by Luclano Garca Lorenzo (Murcla. Lnl
versldad de Murcla, 2000), pp. l55-l77;
Csar Ollva, q~ ~ uu (Madrld. Sntesls,
2001), pp. 33-37;
Marcellno C. Peuelas, g~ _~ (New York.
Jwayne, l968);
Iranclsco Rulz Ramn, e~ ~ ~ uuI
fourth edltlon (Madrld. Ctedra, l980), pp. 2l-
38.
NVOO k m i~
m~ p
m e~I `~~ k `
p ^~I NM a NVOO
|aclnto Benavente has devoted hls lmaglnatlve
glfts malnly to the theatre, and lt seems as lf he has sys
tematlcally gulded the course of hls development ln thls
dlrectlon through many varletles of experlence. But
wlth thls lmaglnatlve artlst, system seems to be a free
and dlrect expresslon of hls whole belng. It appears that
no one could have reached hls goal wlth less effort and
broodlng ln comparlson wlth the value of the achleve
ment.
Jhe feellng whlch has carrled hlm on has also
been of an unusually complete and harmonlous nature.
lt ls not only the dramatlc art and the atmosphere of the
theatre that he has loved; he has cherlshed an equally
warm affectlon for llfe outslde, for the world of realltles
whlch lt was hls task to brlng to the stage. It ls not a
matter of mere uncrltlcal and superflclal worshlp of llfe.
He has observed hls world wlth extremely clear and
keen eyes, and what he has seen he has measured and
welghed wlth an alert and flexlble lntelllgence. He has
not allowed hlmself to be duped elther by men or by
ldeas, not even by hls own ldeas or hls own pathos.
Nevertheless, he does not strlke one as belng ln the
least bltter, or even blas.
Hls wrltlng has thus obtalned lts most dlstlnctlve
qualltygrace. Jhls ls such a rare value, especlally ln
our own tlmes, that there ls llttle demand for lt on the
market and lt ls not recognlzed by most people. Grace,
however, ls as preclous as lt ls uncommon. It ls the
token of the balance of powers, of the selfdlsclpllne and
assurance of art, especlally when lt ls not an end ln ltself
and a mere frlvollty, but when, wlthout apparent effort,
lt stamps lts mark on the entlre formglvlng process. It
does not, then, merely play on the surface, affectlng the
style; lt also determlnes each proportlon ln the treat
ment of the subject and every llne ln lts deplctlon.
Jhls ls preclsely the case wlth Benavente. Jhe
effect he attalns may vary greatly ln strength, but lt ls
based on unfalllng tact and strlct loyalty to the subject.
He glves what the subject ls able to glve wlthout effort
and wlthout bombast. Jhe fare he provldes may be
more or less rlch and lnterestlng, but lt ls always
unadulterated. Jhls ls a classlc feature ln Benavente.
Nevertheless, hls bent ls above all reallstlc, lf we
ellmlnate from that label all the customary flavour of
soclal tendency, commonplace phllosophy, or gross
strlvlng for effect. Jo reproduce the wealth and moblllty
of llfe, the play of characters, and the struggle between
wllls, ln a way that comes as near truth as posslblethat
ls hls chlef alm. When he alms at somethlng beyond
thlsto stlmulate thought, to solve problems, to demol
lsh prejudlces, to enlarge human sympathyhe does so
wlth the most scrupulous care not to tamper wlth the
objectlve accuracy of the llterary descrlptlon. He exer
clses thls unusual dlsclpllne even when he ls faced wlth
the strongest temptatlon for a dramatlstdramatlc and
scenlc effect. However easlly a scene could be made
more telllng by lncreaslng the tenslon of the confllct and
plot, by puttlng on more flarlng colours, by flogglng up
the emotlons to thelr hlghest pltch, Benavente never
does thls at the expense of truth. he permlts no blurrlng
of the tone. He ls a rare example of a born dramatlst,
one whose lmaglnatlon, by ltself, creates ln accordance
l25
ai_ POV g~ _~
wlth the laws of the stage, but yet avolds anythlng theat
rlcal as fully as all other false conventlons.
Hls actlvlty lles especlally ln comedy, but that
term ln Spanlsh ls more lncluslve than wlth us; lt com
prlses what we may ln general call mlddleclass plays
wlthout traglc concluslons. If there ls such a concluslon,
the pleces are called dramas, and Benavente has also
wrltten such plays, lncludlng the remarkable and mov
lng play, i~ ~~ (l9l3) |Jhe Wrongly Loved|. He
has also composed many romantlc and fantastlc pleces,
among whlch are exqulslte achlevements of poetlc art,
especlally on a small scale.
But hls central slgnlflcance lles ln hls comedles,
whlch, as we have seen, may well be as serlous as they
are gay; and ln the short forms of comedy, whlch ln
Spanlsh llterature have been developed lnto speclal spe
cles wlth old and glorlous tradltlons. In the latter
Benavente ls an enchantlng master because of hls unla
boured wlt and comlc verve, hls radlant good nature,
and hls grace, whlch comblnes all these qualltles. I have
tlme for only a few names. a ~ ~~ (l908)
|Ior Small Reasons|; b ~ ~~ (l907) |Love Irlght
ens|; k ~ (l901) |Smoklng Prohlblted|. But
there are many others, an entlre treasury of merry jest,
where the battle ls waged so llghtly and so elegantly
that lt ls always goodtempered, however sharp the
weapon ltself may be.
In the larger works we encounter an amazlng
range of spheres of llfe and subject matter. Jhey are
taken from peasant llfe, from all clrcles of soclety ln the
town, from the artlst`s world down to the travelllng clr
cus people whom the poet embraces wlth a strong
human sympathy and whom he values more hlghly
than many other classes.
But lt ls malnly the llfe of the upper classes that he
has treated ln lts two characterlstlc centres, Madrld and
Moraleda, the latter a place not found on the map, but
whlch ln lts sunny and allurlng varlety comprlses the
typlcal features of a provlnclal town ln Castlle. In i~
~~ (l897) |Jhe Company of Comedlans| the
ambltlous polltlclan goes to thls town ln order to rally
and to galn the support of the uncorrupted energles of
the people for a somewhat vaguely deflned ldeal; ln the
play i~ ~~ (l90l) |Jhe Governor`s Wlfe|, con
celted ambltlon dreams of a larger stage for lts greater
talents. Moraleda ls really a planetary world, whlch ls
attracted and lllumlnated by Madrld and does not
reveal the full force of lts comedy except ln comparlson
wlth Madrld.
Jhe capltal and lts splrltual content are made
understandable much more fully through personal
vlclssltudes of fortune whlch are determlned, as are lts
fashlons and lts culture, by the strata of lts soclety. We
see a dlstlnct development ln the art of Benavente. He
beglns by stresslng the descrlptlon of envlronment, wlth
an abundant wealth of colour and llfe and features that
reveal character. Jhe dramatlc element proper
unsought, llke all the rest of the apparatusexlsts for
the most part merely to keep the actlon golng. Its func
tlon ls to arrange the whlrl of llfe ln a plcture, composed
ln groups, wlth strong lndlvldual scenes. He has taken
palns to create a falthful and artlstlc mlrror of reallty,
whlch ls then left to speak for ltself.
Later hls composltlon becomes more rlgld.
Although lt ls arranged flrmly around a stronger,
deeper, and more splrltual dramatlc confllct, lt ls, never
theless, almost as slmple as when Benavente was merely
wrltlng eplsodes descrlblng soclety. Jhere ls nothlng
artlflclal, nothlng abstract and lsolated, ln the human
fates whlch are represented. As before, they are stlll
connected wlth the world around them, but the llght ls
strlctly llmlted, reveallng only what ls central from a
dramatlc polnt of vlew. Jhe sharp characterlzatlon ls
carrled just far enough to make the actlon clear; the
psychology ls merely a means, not an end. Nothlng ls
laborlously prepared beforehand; nothlng strlkes one
really as belng prepared at all. every feature ln the
actlon comes, as lt were, wlth the lmprovlsatlon of llfe
and may take one by surprlse untll one has reflected for
a moment, just as happens ln llfe ltself. Jhe technlque,
too, ls purely reallstlc and has not searched for models
ln anclent tragedy. Summlng up the past ls not the maln
functlon of thls klnd of drama, nor ls the dlalogue a
klnd of crossexamlnatlon to dlscover the past. Jhe
requlred dlscoverles are made by llfe ltself by means of
the unforced course of the actlon.
Broadly speaklng, Benavente does not seek to
harrow the spectator; hls object ls a solutlon of confllcts
that ls harmonlous even ln melancholy and sorrow.
Jhls harmony ls usually galned by reslgnatlon, not
weary or aloof or pathetlc, and wlthout great gestures.
Jhe characters suffer, tear at thelr bonds, are attracted
by fortune (the way to whlch ls to pass over others` for
tune), wrestle ln confllcts, measure thelr world and
themselves, and galn a clearer and wlder vlslon through
thelr constralnt. Jhat whlch has the last word ls not
passlon, ln fact not the ego at all, but the splrltual value
that proves so great that, were lt lost, the ego would be
poor and fortune empty. Jhe declslon ls made wlthout
capltulatlon, merely through the fact that the personal
lty ls face to face wlth the consequences of lts cholce of
fate and chooses freely, on the basls of lnstlnctlve feel
lng rather than ln accordance wlth theorles.
I have tlme for only one or two tltles of hls
strange, slmple, and qulet dramas. ^~ ~ (l902)
|Conquerlng Soul|, i~ ~ ~ (l9l5) |Self
Respect|, and `~ ~ (l9l6) |Jhe Whlte
Scutcheon|. Jhere are many others of equal value
l26
g~ _~ ai_ POV
whlch are more or less llke these. Jhe dlstlnctlve mark
of them all ls a pecullarly pure humanlty, whlch at flrst
glance ls surprlslng ln the keen and flashlng satlrlst,
whlle the moderatlon and the freedom from all sentl
mentallty ln the mode of expresslon are ln complete
accordance wlth hls schoollng. As a matter of fact hls
qualltles go well together. as hls grace of form ls a clas
slc feature, so are hls feellng and hls lnslght classlc,
strlctly schooled, well balanced, farslghted, and clear.
Hls slmpllclty of expresslon and hushed tone come
from the same source.
Nevertheless, Jeutonlc readers are often remlnded,
even when lt comes to an art as good as thls, that lt has
sprung from a natlonal temperament other than ours
and from other poetlc tradltlons. Jhe klnd of lyrlc we
deslre, at least ln the atmosphere of the world of drama,
ls on the whole probably unknown to the Romance
natlons. Halfllght, both ln nature and ln the human
soul, ls lacklng ln them. all that human belngs contaln ls
expressed, or lt seems that lt cov be expressed. Jhelr
thoughts may have brllllance, rapldlty, and, of course,
clarlty; but they strlke us as lacklng ln power, as belong
lng to a somewhat more vacant atmosphere, and as
havlng less llfe ln thelr lnner belng. What southerners
say of our art may reveal equally great defects; but we
must mutually accustom ourselves to admlre what we
understand and to leave outslde our aesthetlc judg
ments thlngs whlch, for the reasons mentloned, fall to
satlsfy us.
In the works ln whlch the Spanlard Benavente has
abandoned hls comedy descrlptlve of soclety and lndl
vlduals, and lnstead has ranged over larger complexes
of ldeas and has sought to lnterpret all the unrest and
yearnlng of our tlmes, we cannot follow hlm wlth the
admlratlon that has been bestowed upon hlm by hls
countrymen. Jhls ls true of Il collor dc cstrcllos (l9l5)
|Jhe Belt of Stars| and several other pleces.
I have not dwelt on the llmltatlons of hls art, but
sought to lndlcate the central qualltles of hls craftsman
shlp ln hls country and ln hls tlme. I belleve that
scarcely any other contemporary dramatlst has any
where captured the llfe about hlm ln such a manyslded
and falthful manner and glven lt a form so lmmedlate
and, through lts slmple and noble art, so durable. Jhe
tradltlons of Spanlsh poetry comprlse a strong, bold,
and sound reallsm, a prollflc power of growth, and an
lnlmltable charm ln the comlc splrlt whlch ls merry and
bullt on realltles, not on conversatlonal wlt. Benavente
has shown that he belongs to thls school and, ln a form
pecullar to hlmself, has worked out a modern comedy
of character contalnlng much of the classlc splrlt. He
has proved hlmself to be a worthy adherent of an
anclent and elevated style of poetry; and that ls to say a
great deal.
_~W _~ p
Ivtroductory rcmorls by Irofcssor H. C. Sdcrboum ot tlc
òbcl ovquct ot Crovd Htcl, Stocllolm, 10 Dcccmbcr 1922:
Jhe art of poetry has thls year donned the gleam
lng attlre of drama and greets us from the farreachlng
lands where the noble speech of Castlle, the mother
tongue of Lope de Vega and Caldern, forms the
means of communlcatlng thought for a conslderable
part of the populatlon of our globe.
It has been sald that 'the buslness of the drama
tlst ls to keep hlmself out of slght and to let nothlng
appear but hls characters." We regret that clrcum
stances have compelled the Prlze wlnner ln Llterature to
follow thls rule so llterally that on thls occaslon also he
has kept out of slght; but we hope that the near future
wlll glve us the opportunlty of formlng a closer acqualn
tance wlth hlm and also wlth hls work.
Zs cvovcvtc wos uvoblc to bc prcscvt, tlc spcccl wos givcv by
Couvt dc Toroto, Spovisl Zmbossodor (Trovslotiov from tlc
Spovisl):
It ls dlfflcult to express the deep satlsfactlon I feel
today. It would take Benavente`s talent to come up to
the level of my task and that of my audlence. Also, I
doubly regret the absence of the great author, for my
sake as well as yours. Jhe honour you have so rlght
fully bestowed on |aclnto Benavente you have also
bestowed on Spaln and all those countrles ln whlch our
language ls spoken, some of whose representatlves I am
happy to see among us. I hope that thls Prlze wlll con
trlbute to a strengthenlng of the tles whlch unlte us, to a
mutual understandlng between our countrles, to reln
forclng the cordlallty of our frlendshlp. Ilnally, permlt
me to express all the admlratlon and affectlon I feel for
your country.
l27
e _
(1S Uctobcr 1S9 - 4 ovuory 1941)
m _K a~
Soivt Ico Uvivcrsity
BOOKS. Io spcciolitc (Angers. Lachse Dolbeau,
l882);
Ixtroits dc Iucrcc, ovcc uv commcvtoirc, dcs votcs ct uvc ctudic
sur lo pocsic, lo plilosoplic, lo plysiquc, lc tcxtc ct lo
lovguc dc Iucrcc (Parls. Delagrave, l881); edlted
and translated by Wade Baskln as Tlc Ililosoply of
Ioctry: Tlc Ccvius of Iucrctius (New York. Phllo
sophlcal Llbrary, l959);
Issoi sur lcs dovvccs immcdiotcs dc lo covscicvcc (Parls. Alcan,
l889); translated by I. L. Pogson as Timc ovd Ircc
!ill: Zv Issoy ov tlc Immcdiotc Doto of Covsciousvcss
(London. Sonnenscheln / New York. Macmlllan,
l9l0);
Ic bov scvs ct lcs ctudcs clossiqucs: Discours provovcc o lo distri-
butiov dcs prix du Covcours gcvcrol lc J0 juillct 1S9
(Parls. Delalaln, l895);
Motirc ct mcmoirc: Issoi sur lo rclotiov du corps o l`csprit
(Parls. Alcan, l896); translated by Nancy Marga
ret Paul and W. Scott Palmer as Mottcr ovd Mcmory
(London. Allen Lnwln, l9ll; New York. Holt,
l9ll);
Ic rirc: Issoi sur lo sigvificotiov du comiquc (Parls. Alcan,
l90l); translated by Cloudesley Brereton and
Ired Rothwell as Iougltcr: Zv Issoy ov tlc Mcovivg
of tlc Comic (New York. Macmlllan, l9ll);
Ivtroductiov o lo mctoplysiquc, Cahlers de la qulnzalne,
fourth serles, no. l2 (Parls. Suresnes, l903);
translated by J. E. Hulme as Zv Ivtroductiov to
Mctoplysics (London. Macmlllan, l9l3; Indlanap
olls. BobbsMerrlll, l955);
òticc sur lo vic ct lcs ocuvrcs dc M. Iclix Iovoissov-Mollicv
(Parls. IlrmlnDldot, l901);
I`cvolutiov crcotricc (Parls. Alcan, l907); translated by
Arthur Mltchell as Crcotivc Ivolutiov (London
New York. Macmlllan, l9ll);
Io Icrccptiov du clovgcmcvt: Covfcrcvccs foitcs o lÙvivcrsitc
dÙxford lcs 26 ct 27 moi 1911 (Oxford. Clarendon
Press, l9ll);
Drcoms, translated by Edwln E. Slosson (New York.
Huebsch, l9l1);
Io plilosoplic (Parls. Larousse, l9l5);
Io sigvificotiov dc lo gucrrc, 'Pages actuelles," l9l1-l9l5,
no. l8 (Parls. Bloud Gay, l9l5); translated as
Tlc Mcovivg of tlc !or: Iifc c Mottcr iv Covflict
(London. Lnwln, l9l5);
I`cvcrgic spiritucllc: Issois ct covfcrcvccs (Parls. Alcan, l9l9);
translated by H. Wlldon Carr as Mivd-Ivcrgy: Icc-
turcs ovd Issoys (New York. Holt, l920; London.
Macmlllan, l920);
e _I ~ NVOM E ~
e ^Ld f~F
l28
e _ ai_ POV
Durcc ct simultovcitc o propos dc lo tlcoric dÌivstciv (Parls.
Alcan, l922; enlarged, l923); translated by Leon
|acobson as Durotiov ovd Simultovcity, witl Icfcrcvcc
to Iivstciv`s Tlcory (Indlanapolls. BobbsMerrlll,
l965);
Iìvtuitiov plilosopliquc: Commuvicotiov foitc, ou Covgrs
plilosopliquc dc ologvc lc x ovril M. CM. XI. (Parls.
Helleu Sergent, l927);
Ics dcux sourccs dc lo morolc ct dc lo rcligiov (Parls. Alcan,
l932); translated by Brereton, R. Ashley Audra,
and W. Horsfall Carter as Tlc Two Sourccs of Morol-
ity ovd Icligiov (New York. Holt, l935; London.
Macmlllan, l935);
Io pcvscc ct lc mouvovt: Issois ct covfcrcvccs (Parls. Alcan,
l931)comprlses 'Crolssance de la vrlt. Mou
vement rtrograde du vral," 'De la posltlon des
problmes," 'Le posslble et le rel," 'L`lntultlon
phllosophlque," 'La perceptlon du changement,"
'Introductlon a la mtaphyslque," 'La phlloso
phle de Claude Bernard," 'Sur le pragmatlsme de
Wllllam |ames. Vrlt et rallt," and 'La vle et
lòeuvre de Ravalsson"; translated by Mabelle L.
Andlson as Tlc Crcotivc Mivd (New York. Phllo
sophlcal Llbrary, l916)comprlses 'Growth of
Jruth. Retrograde Movement of the Jrue," 'Stat
lng the Problems," 'Jhe Posslble and the Real,"
'Phllosophlcal Intultlon," 'Jhe Perceptlon of
Change," 'Introductlon to Metaphyslcs," 'Jhe
Phllosophy of Claude Bernard," 'On the Pragma
tlsm of Wllllam |ames. Jruth and Reallty," and
'Jhe Llfe and Work of Ravalsson";
Mcmoirc ct vic: Tcxtcs cloisis, edlted by Gllles Deleuze
(Parls. Presses unlversltalres de Irance, l957);
Icrits ct porolcs: Tcxtcs, 3 volumes, edlted by RoseMarle
MossBastlde (Parls. Presses unlversltalres de
Irance, l957-l959);
Ucuvrcs, Edltlon du Centenalre, edlted by Andr Robl
net (Parls. Presses unlversltalres de Irance, l959);
Io voturc dc lòmc: Suivi dc Ic problmc dc lo pcrsovolitc,
edlted by Andr and Martlne Roblnet, Les Etudes
bergsonlennes, no. 7 (Parls. Presses unlversltalres
de Irance, l966);
Mclovgcs: Iìdcc dc licu clc Zristotc, Durcc ct simultovcitc, cor-
rcspovdovcc, piccs divcrscs, documcvts (Parls. Presses
unlversltalres de Irance, l972); translated by Mel
lssa McMahon, edlted by Kelth Ansell Pearson
and |ohn Mullarkey as Icy !ritivgs (New York
London. Contlnuum, 2002);
Cours I: Icovs dc psyclologic ct dc mctoplysiquc (Parls.
Presses unlversltalres de Irance, l990);
Cours II: Icovs d`cstlctiquc. Icovs dc morolc, psyclologic ct
mctoplysiquc (Parls. Presses unlversltalres de
Irance, l992);
Cours III: Icovs d`listoirc dc lo plilosoplic modcrvc, tlcorics
dc lòmc, edlted by Henrl Hude and |eanLouls
Dumas (Parls. Presses unlversltalres de Irance,
l995);
crgsov profcsscur: Zu lyccc loisc Ioscol dc Clcrmovt-Icrrovd
(1SSJ-1SSS); cours 1SS-1SS6; Issoi sur lo voturc
dc l`cvscigvcmcvt plilosopliquc ivitiol, edlted by |ean
Bardy (Parls. L`Harmattan, l998);
Cours dc crgsov sur lo plilosoplic grccquc, edlted by Hude
and Iranolse Vlnel (Parls. Presses unlversltalres
de Irance, 2000).
b bW Sclcctiovs from crgsov, edlted by
Harold A. Larrabee (New York. Appleton
CenturyCrofts, l919);
Tlc !orld of Drcoms, translated by Wade Baskln (New
York. Phllosophlcal Llbrary, l958);
Durotiov ovd Simultovcity, edlted by Robln Durle
(Manchester, L.K.. Cllnamen Press, l999).
Between the publlcatlon of hls bestknown work,
I`cvolutiov crcotricc (translated as Crcotivc Ivolutiov, l9ll),
ln l907 and the outbreak of World War I ln l9l1, the
Irench phllosopher Henrl Bergson developed a vlrtu
ally cultllke lnternatlonal followlng among professlonal
phllosophers and laypersons allke. Hls colleague and
dlsclple Edouard Le Roy could wrlte wlth only sllght
exaggeratlon ln l9l3.
Jhere ls a thlnker whose name ls today on every
body`s llps, who ls deemed by acknowledged phlloso
phers worthy of comparlson wlth the greatest, and
who, wlth hls pen as well as hls braln, has overleapt all
technlcal obstacles, and won hlmself a readlng both
outslde and lnslde the schools. Beyond any doubt, and
by common consent, Mr. Henrl Bergson`s work wlll
appear to future eyes among the most characterlstlc,
fertlle, and glorlous of our era. It marks a nevertobe
forgotten date ln hlstory; lt opens up a phase of meta
physlcal thought; lt lays down a prlnclple of develop
ment the llmlts of whlch are lndetermlnable; and lt ls
after cool conslderatlon, wlth full consclousness of the
exact value of words, that we are able to pronounce the
revolutlon whlch lt effects equal ln lmportance to that
effected by Kant, or even by Socrates. Everybody,
lndeed, has become aware of thls more or less clearly.
Among hls contemporarles, Bergson lnfluenced not only
other phllosophers but also flgures ln llterature, art, and
muslc. Hls vltallstlc, nonmechanlstlc concept of evolutlon
appealed to many educated people who felt compelled to
accept the sclentlflc underplnnlngs of Darwlnlsm but
wanted to belleve ln a more exalted conceptlon of human
lty than descent from apellke ancestors seemed to lmply.
Hls emphasls on lntultlon rather than lntellect as provld
lng an lnslght lnto ultlmate reallty seemed to many a wel
come antldote to sclentlflc ratlonallsm. Iurthermore,
l29
ai_ POV e _
Bergson`s ldeas were presented ln an elegant and lucld
style, rlch ln metaphor, lmage, and analogy, that won hlm
the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature ln l927. But hls lnfluence
decllned preclpltously wlthln a few years after hls death ln
l91l, and he left no 'Bergsonlan" school or movement.
As Leszek Kolakowskl notes, 'Bergson has survlved only
as a dead classlc. Even ln Irance lnterest ln hls work ls
only resldual. Jo be sure, sometlmes, somewhere, some
one wrltes a doctoral thesls on 'Bergsonlsm,` yet lt may
falrly be sald that today`s phllosophers, both ln thelr
research and ln thelr teachlng, are almost entlrely lndlffer
ent to hls legacy."
Bergson developed hls phllosophy ln four major
books. Issoi sur lcs dovvccs immcdiotcs dc lo covscicvcc (l889;
translated as Timc ovd Ircc !ill: Zv Issoy ov tlc Immcdiotc
Doto of Covsciousvcss, l9l0), Motirc ct mcmoirc: Issoi sur lo
rclotiov du corps o l`csprit (l896; translated as Mottcr ovd
Mcmory, l9ll), I`cvolutiov crcotricc, and Ics dcux sourccs dc lo
morolc ct dc lo rcligiov (l932; translated as Tlc Two Sourccs of
Morolity ovd Icligiov, l935). Although he dellberately
eschewed the constructlon of a comprehenslve phllosoph
lcal system, hls ldeas are conslstent throughout as each
successlve work bullds on the precedlng ones by applylng
to new toplcs hls fundamental dlstlnctlon between the fac
ultles of lntultlon and lntelllgence.
HenrlLouls Bergson was born ln Parls on l8 Octo
ber l859as many commentators have noted, the year ln
whlch Charles Darwln publlshed Uv tlc Ivolutiov of Spccics
by Mcovs of òturol Sclcctiov. He was the second of the seven
chlldrenfour boys and three glrlsof |ewlsh parents,
Mlchel and Catherlne Levlson Bergson. Mlchel Bergson,
a planlst and composer, was the son of a Pollsh trader
named Berek Zbltkower; hls adopted surname derlves
from crcl-sov (the son of Berek). Catherlne Bergson was
from Doncaster ln northern England; Henrl Bergson
learned Engllsh from her as a chlld and was later able to
supervlse the translatlons of hls books. Jhe famlly llved
at l8 rue Lamartlne, near the Opra. In l863 they moved
to Swltzerland when Mlchel Bergson took a posltlon as a
professor at the Geneva Conservatory; there they llved
on the boulevard de Phllosophes. Jhey returned to Parls
ln l866 and settled at l51 boulevard Magenta.
In l868 Bergson enrolled at the Lyce Imprlal
Bonaparte (now the Lyce Condorcet) and boarded at the
|ewlsh Sprlnger Instltutlon at 31 rue de La Jour
dÀuvergne. In l870 the rest of the famlly moved to Lon
don, where Bergson vlslted them durlng vacatlons from
school. One of hls brothers became a banker, another a
buslnessman, and the thlrd an actor; thelr slster Mlna
marrled the maglclan and occultlst Samuel Llddell
MacGregor Mathers, cofounder of the Hermetlc Order of
the Golden Dawn, and changed her name to Molna.
Mlchel Bergson dled ln l898; Catherlne Bergson dled ln
Iolkestone, England, at age nlnetyelght.
In l875 Bergson won the flrst prlze ln rhetorlc ln
the prestlglous Concours Gnral, a natlonal competltlon
for the best students ln each fleld taught ln Irench col
leges; ln l876 he won the flrst prlze ln phllosophy; and ln
l877 he won the prlze ln mathematlcs for hls solutlon to
the problem of the three clrcles, posed by the seventeenth
century Irench phllosopher and mathematlclan Blalse
Pascal. Hls solutlon appeared the followlng year ln the
Zvvolcs dc motlcmotiqucshls flrst publlshed work, lt has
been collected ln Icrits ct porolcs: Tcxtcs (l957-l959, Wrlt
lngs and Speeches. Jexts) and ln Mclovgcs: Iìdcc dc licu clc
Zristotc, Durcc ct simultovcitc, corrcspovdovcc, piccs divcrscs, doc-
umcvts (l972, Mlanges. Arlstotle`s Concept of Place,
Duratlon and Slmultanelty, Correspondence, Dlverse
Pleces, Documents; translated as Icy !ritivgs, 2002).
When he declded to enroll ln the letters and humanltles
sectlon of the Ecole Normale Suprleure, the lnstltutlon at
whlch unlverslty teachers were tralned, hls mathematlcs
teacher complalned to hls parents that thelr son could
have been a mathematlclan but would lnstead be a mere
phllosopher.
Bergson entered the Ecole Normale Suprleure ln
l878, along wlth the future soclallst polltlclan |ean |aurs
and the future soclologlst Emlle Durkhelm. He studled
under the splrltuallst phllosophers Illx Ravalsson and
|ules Lacheller and dlscovered the wrltlngs of the Engllsh
phllosopher of evolutlon, Herbert Spencer. He scored sec
ond hlghest ln the ogrcgotiov dc plilosoplic, a natlonal com
petltlve examlnatlon requlred of prospectlve teachers, ln
l88l and took a teachlng posltlon at the lyccc ln Angers.
Jwo years later he moved to ClermontIerrand, where he
taught both at the Lyce BlalsePascal and at the unlver
slty. In l881 he publlshed a volume of selectlons from the
Roman Eplcurean phllosopher Lucretlus`s poem Dc rcrum
voturo (On the Nature of Jhlngs), wlth a crltlcal study of
the texts, that went through several edltlons.
Bergson submltted Issoi sur lcs dovvccs immcdiotcs dc lo
covscicvcc, along wlth the requlred Latln thesls, '_uld Arls
toteles de loco senserlt" (Arlstotle`s Conceptlon of Place),
for the degree of docteurslettres from the Lnlverslty of
Parls ln l889; the essay was publlshed that same year by
Illx Alcan ln Parls ln the serles La blbllothque de phl
losophle contemporalne (Jhe Llbrary of Contemporary
Phllosophy). Bergson argues that the tradltlonal phllo
sophlcal lssue of the confllct of free wlll and determlnlsm
ls a pseudoproblem that has arlsen from mlsapprehendlng
subjectlve experlence as a successlon of statlc mental
states that follow one another as events ln the external
world do; accordlngly, mental 'states" are vlewed ln
causeandeffect terms just as external events are, and later
states are taken to be determlned by earller ones. Jhls
mlstake arlses from vlewlng the mlnd through the faculty
of the lntelllgence or lntellect, whlch evolved to deal wlth
and control external objects ln space. Jhe mlnd, however,
l30
e _ ai_ POV
ls not spatlal, and mental states do not exlst. One`s lnner
experlence should lnstead be apprehended by means of
lntultlon; ln thls case lt wlll be seen correctly as ~
(duratlon), llved tlme as opposed to the tlme measured
externally by clocksa contlnuous, lrreverslble, unrepeat
able flow. In duratlon there ls no juxtaposltlon of events;
therefore, there ls no causatlon of one event by another.
Jhe deeper self thus reached ls the seat of free wlll; ln
duratlon freedom ls experlenced dlrectly.
Il y auralt donc enfln deux mol dlffrents, dont lùn
seralt comme la projectlon extrleure de làutre, sa
reprsentatlon spatlale et pour alnsl dlre soclale. Nous
attelgnons le premler par une rflexlon approfonle, qul
nous falt salslr nos tats lnternees comme des tres
vlvants, sans cesse en vole de formatlon, comme des
tats rfractalres a la mesure, qul se pntrent les uns
les autres, et dont la successlon dans la dure nà rlen
de commun avec une juxtaposltlon dans lèspace
homogne. Mals les moments ou nous ressalslssons
alnsl nousmmes sont rares, et cèst pourquol nous
sommes rarement llbres. La plupart du temps, nous
vlvons extrleurement a nousmmes, nous nàper
cevons de notre mol que son fantme dcolor, ombre
que la pure dure projette dans lèspace homogne.
Notre exlstence se droule donc dans lèspace plutt
que nous ne pensons; nous 'sommes agls" plutt que
dans le temps. nous vlvons pour le monde extrleur
plutt que pour nous; nous parlons plutt que nous
nàglssons nousmmes. Aglr llbrement, cèst reprendre
possesslon do sol, cèst se replacer dans la pure dure.
(Hence there are flnally two dlfferent selves, one of
whlch ls, as lt were, the external projectlon of the other,
lts spatlal and, so to speak, soclal representatlon. We
reach the former by deep lntrospectlon, whlch leads us
to grasp our lnner states as llvlng thlngs, constantly
I as states not amenable to measure, whlch per
meate one another and of whlch the successlon ln dura
tlon has nothlng ln common wlth juxtaposltlon ln
homogeneous space. But the moments at whlch we
thus grasp ourselves are rare, and that ls just why we
are rarely free. Jhe greater part of the tlme we llve out
slde ourselves, hardly percelvlng anythlng of ourselves
but our own ghost, a colorless shadow whlch pure
duratlon projects lnto homogeneous space. Hence our
llfe unfolds ln space rather than ln tlme; we llve for the
external world rather than for ourselves; we speak
rather than thlnk; we 'are acted" rather than act our
selves. Jo act freely ls to recover possesslon of oneself,
and to get back lnto pure duratlon |translated by F. L.
Pogson.)
b~ ~ ~ was wldely
revlewed ln phllosophy journals. Some revlewers sug
gested that the baslc ldeas came from the Amerlcan Prag
matlst phllosopher Wllllam |ames`s artlcle 'On Some
Omlsslons of Introspectlve Psychology" (l881), whlch
deplcts thought as a stream of consclousness that the lntel
lect dlstorts by dlvldlng lt lnto concepts. Bergson, how
ever, denled havlng read or heard of |ames`s artlcle when
he wrote b~ ~ ~ K
In l889 Bergson began teachlng at the collge
Rollln ln Parls; he moved to the Lyce Henrl V. the fol
lowlng year. In l89l he marrled Loulse Neuberger, a
cousln of Marcel Proust; the future author served as best
man at the weddlng. Jhe Bergsons` only chlld, |eanne,
was born the followlng year. Deaf from blrth, she went on
to study under the expresslonlst palnter and sculptor
Emlle Antolne Bourdelle.
In l896, after spendlng flve years ln a detalled
study of recent research lnto pathologlcal mental condl
tlonsespeclally aphasla, the loss of the ablllty to use lan
guageBergson publlshed j~ I whlch ls
generally regarded as the most dlfflcult of hls works. In
thls volume he deals wlth another venerable phllosophlcal
lssue. the relatlonshlp of mlnd and body, or, more speclfl
cally, of mlnd and the braln.
Dùne manlre gnrale, l`tat psychologlque nous
paralt, dans la plupart des cas, dborder normment
l`tat crbral. |e veux dlre que l`tat crbral nèn dess
lne quùne petlte partle, celle qul est capable de se tra
dulre par des mouvements de locomotlon. . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Le cerveau ne dolt donc pas tre autre chose, a notre
avls, quùne espce de bureau tlphonlque central. son
rle est de 'donner la communlcatlon," ou de la falre
attendre. Il nàjoute rlen a ce qu`ll reolt. . . .
(Speaklng generally, the psychlcal state seems to us to
be, ln most cases, lmmensely wlder than the cerebral
state. I mean that the braln state lndlcates only a very
small part of the mental state, the part whlch ls capable
of translatlng ltself lnto movements of locomotlon. . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In our oplnlon, then, the braln ls no more than a klnd
of central telephonlc exchange. lts offlce ls to allow
communlcatlon, or to delay lt. It adds nothlng to what
lt recelves. . . . |translated by Nancy Margaret Paul and
W. Scott Palmer|)
Matter, accordlng to Bergson, ls just what lt appears to
be ln perceptlon and nothlng else; there ls no Kantlan
'thlnglnltself " that lles beyond the lmages one per
celves. Jherefore, matter has no occult or unknown
powers; and the braln ls materlal.
La vrlt est qu`ll y auralt un moyen, et un seul, de
rfuter le matrlallsme. ce seralt d`tabllr que la matlre
est absolument comme elle paralt tre. Par la on llmln
eralt de la matlre tout vlrtuallt, toute pulssance
l3l
ai_ POV e _
cache, et les phnomnes de lèsprlt auralent une ral
lt lndpendante.
(Jhe truth ls that there ls one, and only one,
method of refutlng materlallsm. lt ls to show that mat
ter ls preclsely that whlch lt appears to be. Jhereby we
ellmlnate all vlrtuallty, all hldden power from matter,
and establlsh the phenomena of splrlt as an lndepen
dent reallty |translated by Paul and Palmer|.)
Jhe occurrence of aphasla shows that memorles are not
stored ln speclflc areas of the braln. a person wlth a leslon
ln the braln that causes aphasla understands what others
say, knows what he or she wants to say, and does not suf
fer from paralysls of the speech organs, yet ls unable to
speak; also, ln some forms of aphasla the parts of speech
are forgotten ln a semantlc order, beglnnlng wlth proper
names, proceedlng through common nouns, and endlng
wlth verbs, whlle ln other forms some letters of the alpha
bet are forgotten but others are not. Jhus, lt ls not mem
ory that has been lost but the bodlly mechanlsm that ls
needed to express lt.
Bergson dlstlngulshes two klnds of memory. One
klnd ls a set of acqulred bodlly hablts, dlsposltlons to
actlon such as walklng or recltlng a poem that one has
learned; these hablts can be put lnto effect wlthout con
sclous thought, and they can be affected by leslons ln the
braln. Jhe other ls pure memory, whlch records every
thlng that ever occurs durlng the course of one`s llfe ln
every detall. Perceptlon ls permeated by thls klnd of mem
ory; pure perceptlon, unaccompanled by memory, does
not exlst. Jhe braln fllters out the vast amount of pure
memory that ls not needed for consclous actlon ln the
present. Jhe mlnd ls, thus, lndependent of the braln and
uses the braln to carry out lts purposes.
In l898 Bergson became ~
roughly equlvalent to a reader ln a Brltlsh unlversltyat
hls alma mater, the Ecole normale suprleure. Jhe follow
lng year he publlshed an artlcle ln the o m~ that ls
a departure from hls metaphyslcal speculatlons but consls
tent wlth them; based on a lecture he had glven durlng hls
early years ln Auvergne, lt appeared ln book form ln l900
as i W b~ ~ ~ (translated as
i~W ^ b~ j~ Ì l9ll). Berg
son says that humor results from the lncongrulty between
the essentlal freedom of the human splrlt and sltuatlons ln
whlch someone acts ln a mechanlstlc fashlon slmllar to a
marlonette or a jacklnthebox. clowns tumbllng ln the
clrcus, someone sllpplng on a banana peel, or a person
belng made the vlctlm of a practlcal joke that depends on
people belng creatures of hablt. He analyzes verbal
humor accordlng to the same prlnclples, saylng that lt
depends applylng to language, as lf to a llfeless thlng, the
mechanlcal processes of repetltlon, reversal, transposltlon,
and mutual lnterference. Each of these processes ls the
opposlte of a llvlng process. llfe ls contlnually changlng
and never repeats ltself or goes backward ln tlme; and a
llvlng belng ls a system of lnterdependent elements so
excluslvely made for one another that none of them could
belong to two dlfferent organlsms and so could not lnter
fere wlth elements ln another system. Humor ls dlslnter
ested. one cannot laugh lf one cares too deeply about the
butt of the joke. Jhe comlcal sltuatlon ls unlversal, where
the traglc one ls lndlvldual. thus, the tltles of comedles
tend to refer to character types, such as the mlser, the mls
anthrope, or the shrew, whereas tragedles tend to be
named for lndlvlduals, such as Oedlpus, Antlgone, Klng
Lear, or Hamlet. Laughter ls lntrlnslcally soclal. one
laughs as a member of a group, even lf the other mem
bers of the group are only present ln one`s lmaglnatlon.
Laughter corrects the unsoclal lndlvldual by punlshment
ln the form of humlllatlon. Llterary theorlsts lnfluenced
by Bergson`s book on laughter lnclude Arthur Koestler,
who wrote q ^ `~ (l961).
In l900 Bergson succeeded Charles Leveque as
professor of Greek and Latln phllosophy at the Collge
de Irance, the most prestlglous academlc lnstltutlon ln the
country. At the Ilrst Internatlonal Congress of Phlloso
phy, held ln Parls ln August l900, Bergson presented the
paper 'Sur les orlglnes psychologlques de notre croyance
a la lol de causallte" (On the Psychologlcal Orlglns of the
Bellef ln the Law of Causallty). In l90l he was elected to
the Academle des sclences morales et polltlques.
In |anuary l903 Bergson contrlbuted to the prestl
glous o ~ ~ the essay 'Introduc
tlon a la mtaphyslque"; lt was publlshed ln book form
that same year (translated as ^ f j~I
l9l3). Jhe method of lntultlve lntrospectlonthe dlrect
apprehenslon of process lntroduced ln b~
~ ~ ls here applled to the cognltlon of
ultlmate reallty. lntultlon provldes truth about the world.
Jhe lntellect ls gulded by the needs of the organlsm; the
knowledge lt acqulres ls not dlslnterested but ls related to
those needs. It gathers knowledge through analysls, dlvld
lng objects lnto the perspectlves from whlch they are
vlewed and then reconstructlng them by syntheslzlng the
perspectlves. Jhls synthesls, whlle enabllng the organlsm
to satlsfy lts needs, never penetrates to the lnner belng of
the objects. Intultlon conslsts ln enterlng lnto the object
sympathetlcally, rather than looklng at lt from the outslde,
and provldes absolute knowledge.
les phllosophes sàccordent, en dplt de leurs dlver
gences apparentes, a dlstlnguer deux manlres pro
fondment dlffrentes de connatre une chose. La
premlre lmpllque quòn tourne autour de cette chose;
la seconde, quòn entre en elle. La premlre dpend du
polnt de vue ou lòn se place et des symboles par
lesquels on sèxprlme. La seconde ne se prend dàucun
polnt de vue et ne sàppule sur aucun symbole. De la
l32
e _ ai_ POV
premlre connalssance on dlra quèlle sàrrte au ~X
de la seconde, la ou elle est posslble, quèlle attelnt
l`~K
(phllosophers, ln splte of thelr apparent dlvergencles,
agree ln dlstlngulshlng two profoundly dlfferent ways
of knowlng a thlng. Jhe flrst lmplles that we move
round the object; the second that we enter lnto lt. Jhe
flrst depends on the polnt of vlew at whlch we are
placed and on the symbols by whlch we express our
selves. Jhe second nelther depends on a polnt of vlew
nor relles on any symbol. Jhe flrst klnd of knowledge
may be sald to stop at the ~X the second, ln those
cases where lt ls posslble, to attaln the ~ |trans
lated by J. E. Hulme|.)
In l901 Bergson succeeded Gabrlel Jarde ln the chalr of
modern phllosophy at the Collge de Irance. Jhree
years later he publlshed hls bestknown work, i
~I ln whlch he lntroduces the concept of the ~
~ (vltal lmpulse) as the motlve force ln evolutlon. Jhe
~ ~ ls the llvlng, endurlng splrlt wlth whlch one
becomes acqualnted ln lntultlve lntrospectlon. Llfe began
ln the form of slmple unlcellular organlsms; lf survlval
were all that counted, lt could have remalned at that
level, slnce such organlsms stlll exlst and are, therefore,
adapted to thelr envlronments. But the ~ ~ could
not rest at that level; lt wanted to break free of matter
entlrely, but thls goal was unachlevable. At flrst lts effort
took the form of lncrease ln slze, but matter ls elastlc
only to a llmlted degree; therefore, the ~ ~ began to
dlvlde lnto varlous organs and organlsms and ultlmately
lnto mllllons of lndlvlduals pursulng dlvergent paths of
development, and lt has strlven ever upward lnto greater
and greater complexlty. Jhe slmllar development of a
complex organ such as the eye ln such wldely dlvergent
organlsms as mollusks and vertebrates shows that the
baslc lmpulse ls the same ln all of these organlsms. It also
shows the lnadequacy both of a mechanlstlc theory of
evolutlon, such as that advanced by Darwln, and of a
teleologlcal one that poslts some flnal goal that the evolu
tlonary process was deslgned to reach.
La machlne quèst lòell est donc compose dùne
lnflnlt de machlnes, toutes dùne complexlt extrme.
Pourtant la vlslon est un falr slmple. Ds que lòell
sòeuvre, la vlslon sòpre. Prclsment parce que la
fonctlonnement est slmple, la plus lgre dlstractlon de
la nature dans la constructlon de la machlne lnflnlment
compllque et rendu la vlslon lmposslble. Cèst ce
contraste entre la complexlt de lòrgane et lùnlt de la
fonctlon qul dconcerte lèsprlt.
Lne thorle mcanlstlque sera celle qul nous fera
asslster a la constructlon graduelle de la machlne sous
l`lnfluence des clrconstances extrleures, lntervenant
dlrectement par une actlon sur les tlssus ou lndlrecte
ment par la slectlon des mleux adapts. Mals, quelque
forme que prenne cette thse, a supposer quèlle vallle
quelque chose pour le dtall des partles, elle ne jette
aucune lumlre sur leur corrlatlon.
Survlent alors la doctrlne de la flnallt. Elle dlt que
les partles on t assembles, sur un plan prconu, en
vue dùn but. En quol elle asslmlle le travall de la
nature a celul de lòuvrler qul procde, lul aussl, par
assemblage de partles en vue de la rallsatlon dùne
lde ou de l`lmltatlon dùn modle. Le mcanlsme
reprochera donc avec ralson au flnallsme son caractre
anthropomorphlque. Mals ll ne sàperolt pas qu`ll
procde lulmme selon cette mthode, en la tronquant
slmplement. Sans doute ll a fall table rase de la fln pour
sulvle ou du modle ldal. Mals ll veut, lul aussl, que la
nature alt travalll comme lòuvrler humaln, en assem
blant des partles. Ln slmple coup dòell jet sur le
dveloppement dùn embryon lul et pourtant montr
que la vle s`y prend tout autrement. b ~
~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~
K
(Jhe mechanlsm of the eye ls . . . composed of an lnfln
lty of mechanlsms, all of extreme complexlty. Yet vlslon
ls one slmple fact. As soon as the eye opens, the vlsual
act ls effected. |ust because the act ls slmple, the sllght
est negllgence on the part of nature ln the bulldlng of
the lnflnltely complex machlne would have made
vlslon lmposslble. Jhls contrast between the complex
lty of the organ and the unlty of the functlon ls what
must glve us pause.
A mechanlstlc theory ls one whlch means to show
us the gradual bulldlng up of the machlne under the
lnfluence of external clrcumstances lntervenlng elther
dlrectly by actlon on the tlssue or lndlrectly by the
selectlon of betteradapted ones. But, whatever form
thls theory may take, supposlng lt avalls at all to
explaln the detall of the parts, lt throws no llght on thelr
correlatlon.
Jhen comes the doctrlne of flnallty, whlch says that
the parts have been brought together on a preconcelved
plan wlth a vlew to a certaln end. In thls lt llkens the
labor of nature to that of the workman, who also pro
ceeds by the assemblage of parts wlth a vlew to the real
lzatlon of an ldea or the lmltatlon of a model.
Mechanlsm, here, reproaches flnallsm wlth lts anthro
pomorphlc character, and rlghtly. But lt falls to see that
ltself proceeds accordlng to thls methodsomewhat
mutllated! Jrue, lt has got rld of the end pursued or the
ldeal model. But lt also holds that nature has worked
llke a human belng by brlnglng parts together, whlle a
mere glance at the development of an embryo shows
that llfe goes to work ln a very dlfferent way. i
~~ ~ ~ I
~ ~ |translated by Arthur Mltchell|.)
l33
ai_ POV e _
Evolutlon, then, ls truly creatlve. It does not proceed by
the rearrangement of preexlstlng parts; nor does lt alm
for an end that ls already determlned. In one of hls best
known metaphors, Bergson compares the movement of
evolutlon to 'un obus qul a tout de sulte clat en frag
ments, lesquels, tant euxmmes des espces dòbus,
ont clat a leur tour en fragments destlns a clater
encore, et alnsl de sulte pendent fort longtemps" (a
shell, whlch suddenly bursts lnto fragments, whlch frag
ments, belng themselves shells, burst ln thelr turn lnto
fragments destlned to burst agaln, and so on for a tlme
lncommensurably long). Jhe ~ ~ has taken many
paths as lt cut lts way through matter ln lts quest for
freedom; lt has had to adapt ltself to lts lnorganlc envl
ronment, just as a road has to follow the ups and downs
of the hllls through whlch lt passes. Jhe path that has
led to the vegetable klngdom ls a retrogresslon to tor
por; the path that has led to the anlmal klngdom has
contlnued the quest for freedom. Wlthln the anlmal
world two successful hlghways have been formed. that
of the lnvertebrates and that of the vertebrates. On the
slde of consclousness or splrlt, these orders have oppo
slte and complementary means of actlng on the world.
In the lnvertebrates lt ls lnstlnct, the faculty of uslng
organlzed lnstrumentsthat ls, lnstruments that form a
part of the body of the organlsm that ls uslng them,
such as claws and teeth. In the vertebrates lt ls lntelll
gence or lntellect, the faculty of manufacturlng and
uslng unorganlzed lnstrumentsthat ls, tools. Instlnct
culmlnates ln the hymenoptera, the soclal lnsects such
as bees and ants; lntelllgence culmlnates ln the human
specles. Humanlty, accordlng to Bergson, should be
deslgnated not as e ~ (man the wlse) but as
e ~ (man the maker). Jhe lntellect has devel
oped as a means of survlval; lt thlnks ln a 'spatlallzlng"
manner that ls useful ln deallng wlth matter; lt dlvldes
up the flow of reallty, ln whlch everythlng lnterpene
trates, lnto lndlvldual objects that exlst beslde one
another. It applles the same procedure to tlme, dlvldlng
lt lnto equal parts such as seconds, mlnutes, hours, and
so on. Jhus, lntellect ls lnadequate for grasplng the
duratlon that characterlzes ultlmate reallty.
But lnstlnct and lntelllgence are not selfcontalned
and mutually excluslve; both are manlfestatlons of the
~ ~K Jhere ls, therefore, some lntelllgence ln all anl
mals, lncludlng the lnsects, and some lnstlnct ln human
belngs. Instlnct that ls dlvorced from practlcal concerns
and made dlslnterested and contemplatlve ls lntultlon
whlch, as Bergson showed ln hls earller works, ls the
means by whlch the phllosopher can grasp duratlon,
splrlt, and llfe, whlch ls the ultlmate reallty.
Lne volutlon autre et pu condulre a une humanlt
ou plus lntelllgente encore, ou plus lntultlve. En falt,
dans l`humanlt dont nous falsons partle, l`lntultlon est
a peu prs compltement sacrlflce a l`lntelllgence. Il
semble quà conqurlr la matlre, et a se reconqurlr de
sa force. Cette conqute . . . exlgealt que la consclence
sàdaptt aux habltudes de la matlre et concentrt
toute son attentlon sur elles, enfln se dtermlnt plus
spclalment en lntelllgence. L`lntultlon est la cependant,
mals vague et surtout dlscontlnue. Cèst une lampe
presque telnte, qul ne se ranlme que de loln en loln,
pour quelques lnstants a pelne. Mals elle se ranlme, en
somme, la ou un lntrt vltal est en jeu. Sur notre per
sonnallt, sur notre llbert, sur la place que nous occu
pons dans lènsemble de la nature, sur notre orlglne et
peuttre aussl sur notre destlne, elle projette une
lumlre vaclllante et falble, mals qul nèn perce pas
molns lòbscurlt de la nult ou nous lalsse l`lntelll
gence.
De ces lntultlons vanoulssantes, et qul n`clalrent
leur objet que de dlstance en dlstance, la phllosophle
dolt sèmparer, dàbord pour les soutenlr, ensulte pour
les dllater et les raccorder alnsl entre elles. Plus elle
avance dans ce travall, plus elle sàperolt que l`lntu
ltlon est lèsprlt mme et, en un certaln sens, la vle
mme. l`lntelllgence s`y dcoupe par un processus lml
tateur de celul qul a engendr la matllre.
(A dlfferent evolutlon mlght have led to a humanlty
elther more lntellectual stlll or more lntultlve. In the
humanlty of whlch we are a part, lntultlon ls, ln fact,
almost completely sacrlflced to lntellect. It seems that to
conquer matter, and to reconquer lts own self, con
sclousness has had to exhaust the best part of lts power.
Jhls conquest . . . has requlred that consclousness
should adapt ltself to the hablts of matter and concen
trate all lts attentlon on them, ln fact determlne ltself
more especlally as lntellect. Intultlon ls there, however,
but vague and above all dlscontlnuous. It ls a lamp
almost extlngulshed, whlch only gllmmers now and
then, for a few moments at most. But lt gllmmers wher
ever a vltal lnterest ls at stake. On our personallty, on
our llberty, on the place we occupy ln the whole of
nature, on our orlgln and perhaps also on our destlny,
lt throws a llght feeble and vaclllatlng, but whlch none
the less plerces the darkness of the nlght ln whlch the
lntellect leaves us.
Jhese fleetlng lntultlons, whlch llght up thelr object
only at dlstant lntervals, phllosophy ought to selze, flrst
to sustaln them, then to expand them and so unlte
them together. Jhe more lt advances ln thls work, the
more lt wlll percelve that lntultlon ls mlnd ltself, and ln
a certaln sense, llfe ltself. the lntellect has been cut out
of lt by a process resembllng that whlch has generated
matter |translated by Mltchell|.)
Jhe fourth and flnal chapter of i ~I
'Le mcanlsme clnmatographlque de la pense et l`lllu
slon mcanlque" (Jhe Clnematographlcal Mechanlsm of
Jhought and the Mechanlstlc Illuslon), revlews the hls
l31
e _ ai_ POV
tory of Western phllosophy from Zeno of Elea to Herbert
Spencer to show that by relylng on the lntellect, phlloso
phers have falled to grasp the true nature of tlme and
change and have falslfled reallty by lmposlng statlc and
dlscrete concepts on experlence. Jhe book lncreased
Bergson`s popularlty not only wlth professlonal phlloso
phers but also wlth the general readlng publlc; by l9l8 lt
had gone through twentyone edltlons.
In l908 Bergson met Wllllam |ames ln London. In a
1 October l908 letter |ames wrote, 'So modest and unpre
tendlng a man but such a genlus lntellectually! I have the
strongest susplclons that the tendency whlch he has
brought to a focus, wlll end by prevalllng, and that the
present epoch wlll be a sort of turnlng polnt ln the hlstory
of phllosophy." Shortly after thelr meetlng, |ames pre
sented the Hlbbert Lectures at Manchester College of the
Lnlverslty of Oxford, ln whlch he sald that Bergson had
led hlm 'to renounce the lntellectuallst method and the
current notlon that loglc ls an adequate measure of what
can or cannot be" and 'JO GIVE LP JHE LOGIC,
squarely and lrrevocably" as a method, because 'reallty,
llfe, experlence, concreteness, lmmedlacy, use what word
you wlll, exceeds our loglc, overflows, and surrounds lt."
Jhe lectures were publlshed ln l909 as Z Ilurolistic Uvivcrsc
and led many Brltlsh and Amerlcan readers to lnvestlgate
Bergson`s phllosophy themselves. At that tlme |ames was
asslstlng Arthur Mltchell ln translatlng I`cvolutiov crcotricc
lnto Engllsh and planned to wrlte an lntroductlon to the
volume, but Mltchell dled ln August l9l0. Crcotivc Ivolu-
tiov appeared the followlng year and resulted ln even more
lnterest ln Bergson ln the Engllshspeaklng world. Jhat
same year Bergson wrote a preface tltled 'Sur le pragma
tlsme de Wllllam |ames. Vrlt et rallt" (translated as
'On the Pragmatlsm of Wllllam |ames. Jruth and Real
lty," l916) for the Irench translatlon of |ames`s Irogmotism;
ln thls preface he expressed both sympathy for and reser
vatlons about |ames`s work.
Irom 5 to ll Aprll l9ll Bergson attended the
Iourth Internatlonal Congress of Phllosophy ln Bolo
gna, Italy, where he gave the address 'L`lntultlon
phllosophlque" (translated as 'Phllosophlcal Intultlon,"
l916). In May he dellvered two lectures at the Lnlver
slty of Oxford; they were publlshed that year ln Irench
by the Clarendon Press as Io pcrccptiov du Clovgcmcvt
(translated as 'Jhe Perceptlon of Change," l916).
Oxford conferred on hlm an honorary doctor of sclence
degree. Jwo days later, he dellvered the Huxley Memo
rlal Lecture 'La consclence et la vle" (translated as 'Llfe
and Consclousness," l920) at Blrmlngham Lnlverslty;
lt appeared ln Tlc Hibbcrt ourvol ln October.
By l9ll students were calllng the Collge de
Irance 'the house of Bergson." Jhe followlng decade was
the hlgh polnt of the Bergson cult. Hls lectures were fllled
not only wlth students, lncludlng the future emlnent phl
losophers Etlenne Gllson and |ean Wahl, but also wlth
other academlcs, soclety ladles and thelr escorts, tourlsts,
and poets, lncludlng J. S. Ellot. Many of the attendees sat
through lectures by other professors to be sure of hearlng
Bergson.
Even at the helght of the 'Bergson boom," how
ever, dlssentlng volces were heard. Among them was the
Brltlsh phllosopher Bertrand Russell, who publlshed
'Jhe Phllosophy of Bergson" ln Tlc Movist ln l9l2. Rus
sell quotes from Crcotivc Ivolutiov:
the great cllmax ln whlch llfe ls compared to a cavalry
charge. 'All organlzed belngs, from the humblest to the
hlghest, from the flrst orlglns of llfe to the tlme ln whlch
we are, and ln all places as ln all tlmes, do but evldence
a slngle lmpulslon, the lnverse of the movement of mat
ter, and ln ltself lndlvlslble. All the llvlng hold together,
and all yleld to the same tremendous push. Jhe anlmal
takes lts stand on the plant, man bestrldes anlmallty,
and the whole of humanlty, ln space and ln tlme, ls one
lmmense army galloplng beslde and before and behlnd
each of us ln an overwhelmlng charge able to beat
down every reslstance and to clear many obstacles, per
haps even death."
Russell asks 'whether there are any reasons for acceptlng
such a restless vlew of the world" and answers that 'there
ls no reason whatever for acceptlng thls vlew, elther ln the
unlverse or ln the wrltlngs of M. Bergson." Russell says
that the 'two foundatlons of Bergson`s phllosophy, ln so
far as lt ls more than an lmaglnatlve and poetlc vlew of
the world, are hls doctrlnes of space and tlme," and Rus
sell goes on to argue ln some detall that both doctrlnes are
erroneous. Bergson was also crltlclzed by the Irench phl
losopher |ullen Benda, who attacked hlm from a Carte
slan ratlonallst standpolnt ln many artlcles and two
books. Ic crgsovismc; ou, Ililosoplic dc mobilitc (l9l2, Berg
sonlsm; or, Phllosophy of Moblllty) and Uvc plilosoplic
potlctiquc (l9l3, A Pathetlc Phllosophy). Benda held that
Bergson wanted to replace loglcal thought wlth emotlon,
and phllosophy wlth poetry; the supposed lnslght lnto
absolute reallty avallable through lntultlon ls unverlflable
and, therefore, unsclentlflc. Bergsonlsm, he sald, was a
symptom of the cultural degradatlon of a democratlc age
ln whlch sclence and phllosophy were consldered elltlst.
In |anuary l9l3 Bergson made hls flrst vlslt to the
Lnlted States, at the lnvltatlon of Columbla Lnlverslty. In
Iebruary he gave two lectures at the unlverslty; the flrst
trafflc jam ln the hlstory of Broadway ls sald to have
occurred before the flrst lecture. Bergson went on to lec
ture before large audlences ln several other Amerlcan clt
les. In May he accepted the presldency of the Brltlsh
Soclety for Psychlcal Research and dellvered the address
''Iantmes de vlvants` et 'recherche psychlque`" (trans
lated as ''Phantasms of the Llvlng` and 'Psychlcal
l35
ai_ POV e _
Research,`" l920). Jranslatlons of hls works appeared ln
Engllsh, German, Itallan, Danlsh, Swedlsh, Hungarlan,
Pollsh, and Russlan.
In l9l1 Bergson was elected presldent of the Acad
emle des sclences morales et polltlques and named Offl
cler de la Lglon d`honneur and Offlcler de lÌnstructlon
publlque. Jhat same year he was the flrst |ew elected to
membershlp ln the Academle franalse; he succeeded the
hlstorlan Emlle Olllvler, who had dled ln l9l3. In May
and |une he dellvered a course of eleven Glfford Lectures
under the tltle 'Jhe Problem of Personallty" at Edln
burgh Lnlverslty.
Also ln l9l1, however, Bergson`s work was
attacked by |acques Marltaln from the standpolnt of
Jhomlsmthe Chrlstlan Arlstotellanlsm of St. Jhomas
Aqulnas, whlch forms the offlclal phllosophy of the
Roman Cathollc Churchln hls Io Ililosoplic bcrgsovicvvc:
Itudcs-critiqucs (Jhe Bergsonlan Phllosophy. Crltlcal Stud
les; translated as crgsoviov Ililosoply ovd Tlomism, l955).
Marltaln, who had been a dlsclple of Bergson before
becomlng a Jhomlst, charged that Bergson`s metaphyslcs
of pure becomlng has no room for the concept of sub
stance and, therefore, for the dlstlnctlon between sub
stance and accldent, whlch ls essentlal to the notlon of
transubstantlatlon that underlles the sacrament of the
Eucharlst. Also, Bergson`s denlal of flxed essences ls
lncompatlble wlth the notlon that created belngs have
essences that reflect ldeas ln the mlnd of the Creator and,
therefore, wlth the clalm that the human essence was cor
rupted by Adam`s sln and requlres redemptlon through
Chrlst. Iurthermore, by maklng the clov vitol lmmanent ln
the unlverse, Bergson`s vlew ellmlnates the dlstlnctlon
between God and creatlon and, therefore, amounts to
panthelsm. On l |une l9l1 the Roman Cathollc Church
placed Issoi sur lcs dovvccs immcdiotcs dc lo covscicvcc, Motirc ct
mcmoirc, and I`cvolutiov crcotricc on the Index of Prohlblted
Books.
A second course of Glfford Lectures planned for
the fall was canceled because of the outbreak of World
War I ln August. On 1 November l9l1 Bergson pub
llshed the artlcle 'La force qul sùse et celle qul ne sùse
pas" (Wearlng and Nonwearlng Iorces) ln Ic ullctiv dcs
Zrmccs dc lo Icpubliquc Irovoisc. In December he dellvered
the presldentlal address to the Academle des sclences
morales et polltlques; lt was publlshed ln l9l5 as Io sigvi-
ficotiov dc lo gucrrc and, along wlth the artlcle 'La force qul
sùse et celle qul ne sùse pas," was translated that same
year as Tlc Mcovivg of tlc !or: Iifc c Mottcr iv Covflict. Jo
concentrate on polltlcal and dlplomatlc actlvltles related to
the war, Bergson retlred from all actlve dutles at the Col
lge de Irance at the end of l9l1 but dld not reslgn from
hls professorshlp; hls lectures were taken over by hls assls
tant, Le Roy, who served as hls 'permanent substltute."
In l9l5 Bergson was succeeded as presldent of the
Academle des sclences morales et polltlques by Alexandre
Rlbot. He also publlshed a short summary of Irench phl
losophy at the request of the mlnlster of publlc lnstruc
tlon. He began hls dlplomatlc career wlth a trlp to Spaln
ln l9l6, whlch was followed ln l9l7 by a mlsslon to the
Lnlted States as an emlssary to Presldent Woodrow Wll
son. Bergson was offlclally lnducted lnto the Academle
franalse ln |anuary l9l8.
In l9l9 Bergson was made a commander of the
Lglon d`honneur. A collectlon of hls shorter pleces
appeared ln l9l9 as I`cvcrgic spiritucllc: Issois ct covfcrcvccs
(Splrltual Energy. Essays and Lectures; translated as
Mivd-Ivcrgy: Iccturcs ovd Issoys, l920). It comprlses 'La
consclence et la vle"; 'L`me et le corps" (translated as
'Jhe Soul and the Body"); ''Iantmes de vlvants` et
'recherche psychlque`"; 'Le rve" (translated as
'Dreams"); 'Le souvenlr du prsent et la fausse recon
nalssance" (translated as 'Memory of the Present and
Ialse Recognltlon"); 'Lèffort lntellectuel" (translated as
'Intellectual Effort"); and 'Le cerveau et la pense. Lne
llluslon phllosophlque" (translated as 'Braln and
Jhought. A Phllosophlcal Illuslon"), a lecture he had
glven to the Congress of Phllosophy ln Geneva ln l901
under the tltle 'Le paraloglsme psychophyslologlque"
(Jhe PsychoPhyslologlcal Paraloglsm).
In |une l920 Bergson recelved an honorary degree
of doctor of letters from the Lnlverslty of Cambrldge. He
reslgned hls professorshlp at the Collge de Irance ln
l92l and was appolnted presldent of the Internatlonal
Commlsslon for Intellectual Cooperatlon of the League
of Natlons, the forerunner of the Lnlted Natlons Educa
tlonal, Sclentlflc, and Cultural Organlzatlon (LNESCO).
At a meetlng of the Soclet de Phllosophle ln Aprll l922
he partlclpated ln a debate wlth Albert Elnsteln, who had
won the Nobel Prlze ln physlcs the prevlous year, on Eln
steln`s theory of relatlvlty; Bergson publlshed hls vlews as
Durcc ct simultovcitc o propos dc lo tlcoric dÌivstciv (l922;
translated as Durotiov ovd Simultovcity, witl Icfcrcvcc to Iiv-
stciv`s Tlcory, l965). He crltlclzes the speclal theory of rela
tlvlty on both mathematlcal and phllosophlcal grounds.
Irom a mathematlcal standpolnt, he attacks the notlon of
multlpllclty ln Rlemannlan geometry that forms the basls
of Elnsteln`s theory. Phllosophlcally, he holds that relatlv
lty depends on the notlons of lnstants of tlme and slmulta
nelty, whlch are spatlallzed abstractlons that are
lncompatlble wlth the real, lrreverslble, nonquantlflable
tlme of duratlon. Bergson`s vlews were attacked by the
physlclsts |ean Becquerel and Andr Metz; he admltted ln
an appendlx to the second edltlon of Durcc ct simultovcitc o
propos dc lo tlcoric dÌivstciv that the mathematlcs he had
used were lnadequate, but he contlnued to uphold hls
phllosophlcal crltlque of Elnsteln. He ls generallythough
not unlversallyregarded as havlng lost the debate wlth
l36
e _ ai_ POV
Elnsteln, and some scholars contend that the dlspute dealt
a blow to hls reputatlon from whlch lt never recovered.
He dld not allow the book to be republlshed durlng hls
llfetlme, and lt was not lncluded ln the flrst edltlon of hls
l (Works) ln l959.
Bergson suffered from crlppllng bouts of arthrltls
from l925 untll the end of hls llfe. Hls term as presldent
of the Internatlonal Commlsslon for Intellectual Coopera
tlon ended ln l926. In l927 he won the Nobel Prlze ln
Llterature 'ln recognltlon of hls rlch and vltallzlng ldeas
and the brllllant sklll wlth whlch they have been pre
sented." Because of hls lllness, Bergson was unable to
attend the Nobel banquet at the Grand Hotel ln Stock
holm on l0 December l928; thus, lnstead of an address
by the laureate, a letter from Bergson was read by the
Irench mlnlster, Armand Bernard. It was preceded by a
brlef comment by Professor Gsta Iorssell. 'Henrl Berg
son has glven us a phllosophlcal system whlch could have
served Nobel`s ldea as a basls and support, the ldea of
acknowledglng wlth hls Prlzes not human deeds but new
ldeas revealed through select personalltles. Bergson`s
hlghmlnded works strlve to regaln for man`s consclous
ness the dlvlne glft of lntultlon and to put reason ln lts
proper place. servlng and controlllng ldeas." Whlle the llt
erature prlze ls usually conferred on poets, playwrlghts, or
flctlon wrlters, Bergson`s enormous contemporary lmpor
tance and the gracefulness of hls style made lt lmposslble
for the Nobel commlttee to lgnore hlm. Also, slnce there
ls no Nobel Prlze ln phllosophy, and phllosophy ls not a
hard sclence llke physlcs, chemlstry, or medlclne, the llter
ature prlze was the only avallable means of recognltlon at
the commlttee`s dlsposal. (In l950 Bertrand Russellwho,
llke Bergson, was renowned for hls wrltlng style as well as
for hls accompllshments ln phllosophywon the llterature
prlze. Slnce l993 the Schock Prlze has been awarded
every two years by the Royal Swedlsh Academy of Scl
ences ln the flelds of loglc and phllosophy and of mathe
matlcs; lt ls consldered the equlvalent of the Nobel Prlze
ln those flelds, although lt ls much less wldely known.)
In l932 Bergson publlshed the last of hls four
major works, i ~ ~ ~ . Cer
taln specles, Bergson says, have evolved ln such a way
that lndlvlduals of the specles cannot exlst ln lsolatlon but
requlre the support of a communlty; bees and ants are the
prlme examples among the arthropods, and human
belngs are the prlme example among the vertebrates. Jhe
communltles, or socletles, formed by the members of
such specles must be held together by some force that can
overcome the selflsh lmpulses of the lndlvldual members.
In the lnsects, thls role ls played by lnstlnct, whlch
lmposes preclse and detalled obllgatlons on each lndlvld
ual to assure the coheslon and orderly functlonlng of the
group. In human socletles, where more latltude ls left to
lndlvldual cholce, lt ls played by hablt.
Chacune de ces habltudes, quòn pourra appeler
'morales," sera contlngente. Mals leur ensemble, je
veux dlre l`habltude de contracter ces habltudes, tant a
la base mme des soclts et condltlonnant leur exlst
ence, aura une force comparable a celle de l`lnstlnct, et
comme lntenslt et comme rgularlt. Cèst la prcls
ment ce que nous avons appel 'le tout de lòbllgatlon."
Il ne sàglra dàllleurs que des soclts humalnes telles
quèlles sont au sortlr des malns de la nature. Il sàglra
de soclts prlmltlves et lmentalres. Mals la soclt
humalne aura beau progresser, se compllquer et se splr
ltuallser. le statut de sa fondatlon demeurera, ou plutt
l`lntentlon de la nature.
(Each of these hablts, whlch may be called 'moral,"
would be lncldental. But the aggregate of them, I mean
the hablt of contractlng these hablts, belng at the very
basls of socletles and a necessary condltlon of thelr
exlstence, would have a force comparable to that of
lnstlnct ln respect of both lntenslty and regularlty. Jhls
ls exactly what we have called the 'totallty of obllga
tlon." Jhls, be lt sald, wlll apply only to human soclet
les at the moment of emerglng from the hands of
nature. It wlll apply to prlmltlve and to elementary socl
etles. But, however much human soclety may progress,
grow compllcated and splrltuallzed, the orlglnal deslgn,
expresslng the purpose of nature, wlll remaln |trans
lated by R. Ashley Audra, Cloudesley Brereton, and
W. Horsfall Carter|.)
In human belngs, the hablt of acqulrlng moral obllga
tlons ls natural and lnstlnctlve, but the partlcular obllga
tlons are not; they vary from soclety to soclety, just as
the capaclty for language ls lnstlnctlve but the syntax
and grammar vary from language to language.
Both lnsect and human socletles are 'soclts
closes" (closed socletles). each such soclety dlstln
gulshes ltself from other socletles formed by members
of the same specles, and the rules obeyed ln each case
are pecullar to the soclety ln questlon; thus, ln the case
of the human soclety, the sum total of moral obllgatlons
ls what Bergson calls a 'morale close" (closed morallty).
Closed morallty ensures the survlval of the partlcular
soclety and excludes other socletles; thus, closed moral
lty ls necessarlly concerned wlth war.
Bergson dlsagrees wlth the German phllosopher
Immanuel Kant that morallty can be based on reason;
morallty ls rooted ln emotlon, whlle reason, or what
Bergson calls lntelllgence, can only ratlonallze and try
to flnd support for the moral rules lmposed by soclety.
But lntelllgence allows the lndlvldual to questlon the
norms of hls or her soclety and ls, therefore, a danger
ous and potentlally dlsruptlve force. Nature, however,
steps ln and creates rellglon by means of 'la fonctlon
fabulatrlce" (the mythmaklng functlon) of the lmaglna
tlon. Deltles are created who serve as the sources and
enforcers of the moral rules. Rellglon also serves the
l37
ai_ POV e _
vltal functlon of provldlng an lmage of a llfe after death,
slnce human belngs, alone among the anlmals, are able
to envlslon thelr own deaths and would, wlthout the
hope of an afterllfe, become too depressed to act at all.
Rellglon further allows people to belleve that nature ls
controlled by frlendly powers whose help may be
lnvoked or even by unfrlendly ones who mlght be pro
pltlated, and thus lt glves people a bellef ln thelr ablllty
to exerclse some control over thelr envlronment. Jhls
klnd of rellglon, whlch serves to support the closed
morallty of a closed soclety, Bergson calls 'rellglon sta
tlque" (statlc rellglon).
Closed morallty and statlc rellglon are character
lstlc of prlmltlve socletles, but they contlnue to exlst ln
more hlghly developed socletles, whlch are stlll closed
socletles. In these more hlghly developed socletles, how
ever, the vlslon of another klnd of soclety becomes pos
slble. the 'soclt ouverte" (open soclety), whlch would
lnclude all of humanlty, and, correspondlng to thls socl
ety, a 'morale ouverte" (open morallty). Whereas
closed morallty ls a morallty of obllgatlon and ls felt as
presslng on the lndlvldual from outslde, the open
morallty ls a morallty of asplratlon and attractlon and ls
felt as pulllng on the lndlvldual from wlthln. It results
from the contact, whether ln person or by hearsay, wlth
exceptlonal moral teachersprophets, sages, and salnts.
Jhese lndlvlduals, ln turn, are lnsplred by thelr ablllty
to percelve the clov vitol ln mystlcal experlences ln
whlch they feel at one wlth the unlverse as a whole and
the source of all belng. Jhe rellglon that results from
such experlences ls 'rellglon dynamlque" (dynamlc rell
glon). It does not lnvoke personlfled deltles who may
be appeased through rltuals but ls a dlrect lntultlon of
the creatlve llfeforce ltself. It does not have doctrlnes;
rellglon wlth rlgld doctrlnes ls statlc. Open morallty
and dynamlc rellglon are concerned wlth creatlvlty and
progress, not wlth soclal coheslon; open morallty ls unl
versal and alms at peace. Genulne, or complete, mystl
cal experlence must result ln actlon; lt cannot rest ln
contemplatlon of God.
Ics dcux sourccs dc lo morolc ct dc lo rcligiov had a
respectful receptlon from the phllosophlcal communlty
and the publlc, but Bergson`s days as a phllosophlcal
lumlnary were past. Jhe flnal book he publlshed dur
lng hls llfetlme was Io pcvscc ct lc mouvovt: Issois ct cov-
fcrcvccs (l931; translated as Tlc Crcotivc Mivd, l916), a
collectlon of essays and lectures from earller years.
By the tlme he wrote Ics dcux sourccs dc lo morolc ct dc
lo rcligiov, Bergson consldered hlmself a Cathollc ln all but
name. In hls wlll, wrltten on 8 Iebruary l937, he sald.
Mes rflexlons mònt amen de plus en plus prs du
cathollclsme ou je vols làchvement complet du
judasme. |e me serals convertl, sl je nàvals vu se pr
parer depuls des annes la formldable vague dàntl
smltlsme qul va dferler sur le monde. |àl voulu rester
parml ceux qul seront demaln des perscuts.
(My reflectlons have led me closer and closer to
Cathollclsm, ln whlch I see the complete fulflllment of
|udalsm. I would have become a convert, had I not
foreseen for years a formldable wave of antlSemltlsm
about to break upon the world. I wanted to remaln
among those who tomorrow were to be persecuted.)
He went on to request that a prlest pray at hls funeral lf
the cardlnal archblshop of Parls would authorlze lt; lf
not, he asked that a rabbl be lnvlted to do so, wlthout
conceallng from the clergyman or anyone else Berg
son`s moral adherence to Cathollclsm or hls preference
for a prlest. After Irance fell to the Germans on l1 |une
l910, he refused the Vlchy government`s offer to
exempt hlm from lts antlSemltlc laws and renounced
all posltlons and honors he had recelved from the
Irench government that could be construed as lndlcat
lng hls approval of the German puppet reglme. In |uly,
Bergson and hls wlfe and daughter left Parls to spend
the rest of the summer ln SalntCyrsurLolre. Jhey
returned ln November to the apartment at 17 boulevard
Beausjour where they had llved slnce l929. At the end
of the year, wearlng a bathrobe and supported by a ser
vant, Bergson stood ln llne to reglster as a |ew; some
sources clalm that he there contracted the bronchltls
from whlch he dled on 1 |anuary l91l. A prlest he had
called to hls deathbed arrlved too late to admlnlster last
rltes. He was burled ln the small Garches Cemetery.
After hls death, Marltaln`s wlfe, Rassa, clalmed that
Bergson had secretly been baptlzed a Cathollc; but ln a
letter to Emmanuel Mounler that was publlshed ln the
Cocttc dc Iousovvc on 9 September l91l, Bergson`s
wldow denled the allegatlon and quoted the passage
from hls wlll ln whlch he gave hls reason for not con
vertlng. She dled ln l916; thelr daughter, |eanne, dled
ln l96l.
Bergson`s popularlty wlth the publlc and hls pres
tlge among phllosophers had dlmlnlshed well before hls
death. After World War II, they decllned even further.
Jhe graceful, flowlng style and vlvld metaphors that
had been admlred ln the early years of the twentleth
century came to be regarded as rhetorlcal flourlshes
conceallng thought that would not wlthstand close scru
tlny. Iurthermore, tlmes had changed. As Harold A.
Larrabee noted ln the lntroductlon to hls edltlon of
Sclcctiovs from crgsov, publlshed ln l919.
Phllosophers are stlll debatlng whether Bergson`s phl
losophy as a whole deserves the eplthets 'lrratlonal" or
'antllntellectual" whlch some have applled to lt. But
l38
e _ ai_ POV
the mere susplclon that those tags are not wholly lnap
proprlate ls enough to put us on our guard.
For we, unllke Bergson`s earller readers, are survl
vors of the Axls onslaught of l939-15. In l907, the
enemy appeared to be what Wllllam |ames called 'the
beast, Intellectuallsm," and as agalnst lt, and all manner
of nlneteenthcentury sclentlflc and soclal rlgldltles,
vltallty and anlmal vlgor had much ln thelr favor.
When Bergson attacked all the dead hands whlch close
ln upon the llvlng, he spoke for the romantlc rebel ln all
of us. But far worse beasts than lntellectuallsm, over
flowlng, too, wlth savage vltallty, have slnce come
forth; and pralse of bllnd lnstlnct at the apparent
expense of lntelllgent dlscrlmlnatlon has a hollow rlng
lndeed to those who have wltnessed the abomlnatlons
commltted by the fanatlcs who boasted that they
'thought wlth thelr blood."
Jhls ls not to accuse Bergson of the sllghtest sympa
thy wlth the lnstlncttrustlng madmen who emblttered
hls own last years on earth.
Bergson left behlnd no 'Bergsonlan" school, but hls
work lnfluenced phllosophers such as |ames, George
Santayana, Alfred North Whltehead, Arnold Hauser,
Claude Slmon, the polltlcal theorlst Georges Sorel, and
the exlstentlallsts Martln Heldegger, Maurlce Merleau
Ponty, and |eanPaul Sartre; Sartre sald that Issoi sur lcs
dovvccs immcdiotcs dc lo covscicvcc was the text that flrst
attracted hlm to phllosophy. Llke Bergson, the exlsten
tlallsts wanted to attaln a pure vlew of phenomena that
was not colored by concepts and categorles borrowed
from the physlcal sclences; they, however, preferred the
more rlgorous cpoclc, or 'bracketlng," method of the
phenomenologlst Edmund Husserl to Bergson`s lntu
ltlon. In llterature, Bergson made an lmpact on Charles
Pguy, Paul Valry, George Bernard Shaw, |ohn Dos
Passos, Wallace Stevens, Wllla Cather, and hls wlfe`s
cousln Proust; ln art, on the palnter Claude Monet; and
ln muslc, on the composer Claude Debussy. Interest ln
Bergson was brlefly reawakened ln Irance by Gllles
Deleuze`s Ic crgsovismc (l966; translated as crgsovism,
l988) and hls use of Bergson`s ldeas ln hls analysls of
the clnema. Deleuze hlmself dled ln l995, and Berg
son`s phllosophy ls now prlmarlly of hlstorlcal lnterest.
iW
Corrcspovdcvccs, edlted by Andr Roblnet, Nelly Bruyre,
Brlgltte SltbonPelllon, and Suzanne SternGlllet
(Parls. Presses unlversltalres de Irance, 2002);
Hcvri crgsov ct Zlbcrt Iolv: Corrcspovdovccs, edlted by
Sophle Coeur and Irdrlc Worms (Strasbourg.
Desmaret / Boulogne. Muse dpartemental Albert
Kahn, 2003).
_~W
P. A. Y. Gunter, Hcvri crgsov: Z ibliogroply (Bowllng
Green, Ohlo. Phllosophy Documentatlon Cen
ter, Bowllng Green Lnlverslty, l971; revlsed,
l986).
_~W
|ean Gultton, Io vocotiov dc crgsov (Parls. Galllmard,
l960);
|eanLouls VlelllardBaron, crgsov (Parls. Presses unl
versltalres de Irance, l99l);
Phlllppe Soulez and Irdrlc Worms, crgsov: iogroplic
(Parls. Ilammarlon, l997).
oW
Lydle Adolphe, Io diolcctiquc dcs imogcs clc crgsov
(Parls. Presses unlversltalres de Irance, l95l);
Adolphe, Io plilosoplic rcligicusc dc crgsov (Parls. Presses
unlversltalres de Irance, l916);
Ian W. Alexander, crgsov, Ililosoplcr of Icflcctiov (Lon
don. Bowes Bowes, l957; New York. Hlllary
House, l957);
Mark Antllff, ed., Ivvcvtivg crgsov: Culturol Iolitics ovd tlc
Iorisiov Zvovt-Cordc (Prlnceton. Prlnceton Lnlver
slty Press, l993);
Romo Arbour, Hcvri crgsov ct lcs lcttrcs frovoiscs (Parls.
Cortl, l955);
Randall E. Auxler, 'A Dlalogue on Bergson," Iroccss
Studics, 28 (Iall-Wlnter l999). 339-315;
Gaston Bachelard, Tlc Diolcctic of Durotiov, translated by
Mary McAllester |ones (Manchester, L.K.. Cllna
men Press, 2000);
Mlchel Barlow, Hcvri crgsov (Parls. Edltlons unlversl
talres, l966);
Madelelne BarthlemyMaudale, crgsov (Parls. Seull,
l967);
BarthlemyMaudale, crgsov, odvcrsoirc du Iovt (Parls.
BarthlemyMaudale, crgsov ct Tcillord dc Clordiv
(Parls. Seull, l963);
Albert Bguln and Plerre Jhevenaz, eds., Hcvri crgsov:
Issois ct tcmoigvogcs (Neuchtel. La Baconnlre,
l913);
|ullen Benda, Ic bcrgsovismc; ou, Ililosoplic dc lo mobilitc
(Parls. Mercure de Irance, l9l2);
Benda, Uvc plilosoplic potlctiquc (Parls. |. Crmleu,
l9l3);
Benda, Sur lc succs du bcrgsovismc: Ircccdc dùvc rcpovsc oux
dcfcvscurs dc lo doctrivc (Parls. Mercure de Irance,
l9l1);
Rlchard Bllsker, Uv crgsov (Belmont, Cal.. Wadsworth,
2002);
l39
ai_ POV e _
Rlchard L. Brougham, 'Reallty and Appearance ln
Bergson and Whltehead," Iroccss Studics, 21
(l995). 39-13;
Walter Bruntlng, 'La fllosofla lrraclotlallsta de la hlsto
rla en la actualldad," Icvisto dc Iilosofio, 5, no. 2
(l958). 3-l7;
Irederlck Burwlck and Paul Douglass, eds., Tlc Crisis iv
Modcrvism: crgsov ovd tlc !itolist Covtrovcrsy (Cam
brldge New York. Cambrldge Lnlverslty Press,
l992);
Mlllk Capec, crgsov ovd Modcrv Ilysics: Z Icivtcrprctotiov
ovd Ic-cvoluotiov (Dordrecht. Reldel, l97l);
Marle Carlou, Iòtomismc: Trois cssois. Cosscvdi, Icibvi,
crgsov ct Iucrcc (Parls. Montalgne, l978);
Carlou, crgsov ct oclclord (Parls. Presses unlversltalres
de Irance, l995);
Carlou, crgsov ct lc foit mystiquc (Parls. Montalgne,
l976);
Carlou, Iccturcs crgsovicvvcs (Parls. Presses unlversl
talres de Irance, l990);
Herbert Wlldon Carr, Hcvri crgsov: Tlc Ililosoply of
Clovgc (London. |ack / New York. Dodge, l9l2);
|acques Chevaller, crgsov (Parls. Plon, l926); trans
lated by Llllan A. Clare as Hcvri crgsov (New
York. Macmlllan, l928); Irench verslon revlsed
and enlarged as crgsov (Parls. Plon, l918);
Chevaller, Ivtrcticvs ovcc crgsov (Parls. Plon, l955);
Irederlck C. Copleston, crgsov ov Morolity (London.
Oxford Lnlverslty Press, l955);
Andr Cresson, crgsov: So vic, sov ocuvrc, ovcc uv cxposc
dc so plilosoplic (Parls. Presses unlversltalres de
Irance, l91l);
Gustavus Watts Cunnlngham, Z Study iv tlc Ililosoply of
crgsov (New York. Longmans, Green, l9l6);
Vlctor Delbos, 'Matlre et Mmolre, essal sur la rela
tlon du corps a lèsprlt," Icvuc dc mctoplysiquc ct dc
morolc (l897). 353-389;
Gllles Deleuze, 'Bergson. l859-l91l," ln Ics plilosoplcs
cclcbrcs, edlted by Maurlce MerleauPonty (Parls.
Mazenod, l956), pp. 292-299;
Deleuze, Ic crgsovismc (Parls. Presses unlversltalres de
Irance, l966); translated by Hugh Jomllnson
and Barbara Habberjam as crgsovism (New York.
Zone Books, l988);
Deleuze, Civcmo: Iìmogc-mouvcmcvt (Parls. Mlnult,
l983); translated by Jomllnson and Habberjam
as Civcmo 1: Tlc Movcmcvt-Imogc (Mlnneapolls.
Lnlverslty of Mlnnesota Press, l986);
Deleuze, Civcmo: Iìmogc-tcmps (Parls. Mlnult, l985);
translated by Jomllnson and Robert Galeta as
Civcmo 2: Tlc Timc-Imogc (Mlnneapolls. Lnlverslty
of Mlnnesota Press, l989);
Deleuze, Diffcrcvcc ct rcpctitiov (Parls. Presses unlversl
talres de Irance, l968); translated by Paul Patton
as Diffcrcvcc ovd Icpctitiov (New York. Columbla
|eanne Delhomme, 'Nletzsche et Bergson. La reprsen
tatlon de la vrlt," Itudcs bcrgsovicvvcs, 5 (l960).
37-62;
Delhomme, !ic ct covscicvcc dc lo vic: Issoi sur crgsov
(Parls. Presses unlversltalres de Irance, l951);
Matteo Iabrls, Io filosofio sociolc dc Hcvri crgsov (Barl.
Resta, l966);
Augustln Iressln, Io pcrccptiov clc crgsov ct clc Mcrlcou-
Iovty (Parls. Soclt d`dltlon dènselgnement
suprleur, l967);
Bernard Gllson, Io rcvisiov crgsovicvvc dc l`csprit (Parls.
Vrln, l996);
Lorenzo Glusso, crgsov (Mllan. Bocca, l919);
|eanChrlstophe Goddard, Mysticismc ct folic: Issoi sur lo
simplicitc (Parls. Descle de Brouwer, 2002);
Henrl Gaston Gouhler, crgsov ct lc Clrist dcs cvovgilcs
(Parls. Iayard, l96l);
P. A. Y. Gunter, 'Bergson, Mathematlcs, and Creatlv
lty," Iroccss Studics, 28 (Iall-Wlnter l999). 268-
288;
Gunter, ed. and trans., crgsov ovd tlc Ivolutiov of Ilysics
(Knoxvllle. Lnlverslty of Jennessee Press, l969);
Jhomas Hanna, ed., Tlc crgsoviov Hcritogc (New York.
Columbla Lnlverslty Press, l962);
Iranols Heldsleck, Hcvri crgsov ct lo votiov d`cspocc
(Parls. Le Cercle du llvre, l957);
Harald Hffdlng, Io plilosoplic dc crgsov: Ixposc ct cri-
tiquc, translated by |acques de Coussange (pseu
donym of Barbe de _ulrlelle) (Parls. Alcan, l9l6);
Lon Husson, IÌvtcllcctuolismc dc crgsov (Parls. Presses
unlversltalres de Irance, l917);
Vladlmlr |anklvltch, crgsov (Parls. Alcan, l93l);
|anklvltch, Hcvri crgsov (Parls. Presses unlversltalres
de Irance, l959);
Robert Klawltter, 'Henrl Bergson and |ames |oyce`s
Ilctlonal World," Comporotivc Iitcroturc Studics, 3,
no. 1 (l966). 129-137;
Leszek Kolakowskl, crgsov (Oxford New York.
Oxford Lnlverslty Press, l985);
R. Lacey, crgsov (London New York. Routledge,
l989);
Roger Etlenne Lacombe, Io psyclologic crgsovicvvc
(Parls. Alcan, l933);
Leonard Lawlor, Tlc Clollcvgc of crgsovism: Ilcvomcvol-
ogy, Uvtology, Itlics (London. Contlnuum, 2003);
Georges Lechalas, 'Matlre et mmolre, dàprs un
nouveau llvre de M. Bergson," Zvvolcs dc pliloso-
plic clrcticvvc (May l897). l17-l61; ( |une l897).
3l1-331;
Edouard Le Roy, Uvc plilosoplic vouvcllc: Hcvri crgsov
(Parls. Alcan, l9l2); translated by Vlncent Ben
l10
e _ ai_ POV
son as Tlc `cw Ililosoply of Hcvri crgsov (London.
Wllllams Norgate / New York. Holt, l9l3);
D. Llndsay, Tlc Ililosoply of crgsov (London. Dent,
l9ll);
Alfred Ilrmln Lolsy, J o-t-il dcux sourccs dc lo rcligiov ct lo
morolc? revlsed and enlarged edltlon (Parls.
Nourry, l931);
|acques Marltaln, Io Ililosoplic bcrgsovicvvc: Itudcs-
critiqucs (Parls. Rlvlre, l9l1); translated by
Mabelle L. Andlson and |. Gordon Andlson as
crgsoviov Ililosoply ovd Tlomism (New York.
Phllosophlcal Llbrary, l955);
Vlttorlo Mathleu, crgsov: Il profovdo c lo suo csprcssiovc
(Jurln. Edlzlonl dl 'Illosofla," l951);
Andr Metz, crgsov ct lc bcrgsovismc (Parls. Vrln, l933);
Iranols Meyer, Iour covvoitrc lo pcvscc dc crgsov (Parls.
Bordas, l961);
I. C. J. Moore, crgsov: Tlivlivg oclwords (Cambrldge
New York. Cambrldge Lnlverslty Press, l996);
|ohn Morrlson Moore, Tlcorics of Icligious Ixpcricvcc,
witl Spcciol Icfcrcvcc to omcs, Utto ovd crgsov (New
York. Round Jable Press, l938);
RoseMarle MossBastlde, crgsov, cducotcur (Parls.
MossBastlde, crgsov ct Ilotiv (Parls. Presses unlversl
|ohn Mullarkey, ed., Tlc `cw crgsov (Manchester,
L.K.. Manchester Lnlverslty Press, l999);
Andrew C. Papanlcolaou and P. A. Y. Gunter, eds.,
crgsov ovd Modcrv Tlouglt: Towords o Uvificd Scicvcc
(Chur, L.K. New York. Harwood Academlc,
l987);
Kelth Ansell Pearson, Ililosoply ovd tlc Zdvcvturc of tlc
!irtuol: crgsov ovd tlc Timc of Iifc (London. Rout
ledge, 2002);
Gnther Pflug, Hcvri crgsov: _ucllcv uvd Iovscqucvcv
civcr ivdultivcv Mctoplysil (Berlln. De Gruyter,
l959);
Anthony Edward Pllklngton, crgsov ovd His Ivflucvcc: Z
Icosscssmcvt (Cambrldge. Cambrldge Lnlverslty
Press, l976);
Bento Prado, Ircscvcc ct clomp trovsccvdcvtol: Covscicvcc ct
vcgotivitc dovs lo plilosoplic dc crgsov, translated by
Renaud Barbaras (Hlldeshelm. Olms, 2002);
Emlle Rldeau, Ics ropports dc lo motrc ct dc l`csprit dovs lc
bcrgsovismc (Parls. Alcan, l932);
Andr Roblnet, crgsov ct lcs mctomorploscs dc lo durcc
(Parls. Seghers, l965);
Roblnet, 'Le Passage a la conceptlon blologlque de la
perceptlon, de l`lmage et du souvenlr chez Berg
son," Itudcs plilosopliqucs, l5, no. 3 (l960). 375-
388;
Algot Henrlk Leonard Ruhe and Nancy Margaret Paul,
Hcvri crgsov: Zv Zccouvt of His Iifc ovd Ililosoply
(London. Macmlllan, l9l1);
Bertrand Russell, 'Jhe Phllosophy of Bergson," Movist,
22 ( |uly l9l2). 32l-317; republlshed ln Tlc Ili-
losoply of crgsov, witl o Icply by Mr. H. !ildov Corr
ovd o Icjoivdcr by Mr. Iusscll (Cambrldge. Pub
llshed for 'Jhe Heretlcs" by Bowes Bowes,
l9l1; New York. Iolcroft, l97l);
George Santayana, !ivds of Doctrivc (New York. Scrlb
ners, l9l3), pp. 58-l09;
BenAml Scharfsteln, Ioots of crgsov`s Ililosoply (New
York. Columbla Lnlverslty Press, l913);
|oseph Louls Paul Segond, Iìvtuitiov bcrgsovicvvc (Parls.
Alcan, l9l3);
A. G. Sertlllanges, Hcvri crgsov ct lc Cotlolicismc (Parls.
Ilammarlon, l91l);
|oseph Solomon, crgsov (New York. Dodge, l9ll;
London. Constable, l9l2);
Phlllppe Soulez, crgsov politiquc (Parls. Presses unlversl
Newton Phelps Stallknecht, Studics iv tlc Ililosoply of Crc-
otiov, witl Ispcciol Icfcrcvcc to crgsov ovd !litclcod
(Prlnceton. Prlnceton Lnlverslty Press, l931);
Karln Stephen, Tlc Misusc of Mivd: Z Study of crgsov`s
Zttocl ov Ivtcllcctuolism (New York. Harcourt,
Brace / London. Kegan Paul, Jrench, Jrbner,
l922);
|ohn McKellar Stewart, Z Criticol Ixpositiov of crgsov`s
Ililosoply (London. Macmlllan, l9ll);
Albert Jhlbaudet, Ic bcrgsovismc, 2 volumes (Parls. Edl
tlons de la nouvelle revue franalse, l923);
|oseph de Jonqudec, Dicu dovs l`cvolutiov crcoticc, ovcc
dcux lcttrcs dc M. crgsov (Parls. Beauchesne,
l9l2);
Plerre Jrotlgnon, Iìdcc dc vic clc crgsov ct lo critiquc dc
lo mctoplysiquc (Parls. Presses unlversltalres de
Irance, l968);
Irdrlc Worms, 'Audela de l`hlstolre et du caractre.
L`lde de phllosophle Iranalse, la Premlre
Guerre mondlale et le moment l900," Icvuc dc
mctoplysicquc ct dc morolc, no. 3 (200l). 63-8l;
Worms, 'LÌntelllgence gagne par l`lntultlon? La rela
tlon entre Bergson et Kant," Itudcs plilosopliqucs,
no. 1 (200l). 153-161;
Worms, Ivtroductiov o Matlre et mmolre. Suivic dùvc
brvc ivtroductiov oux outrcs livrcs dc crgsov (Parls.
Worms, Ic !ocobuloirc dc crgsov (Parls. Elllpses, 2000);
Worms, ed., crgsov dovs lc siclc (Parls. Presses unlversl
talres de Irance, 2002).
m~W
Henrl Bergson`s wlll dlrected that all of hls papers be
destroyed, and hls wldow burned them ln the flre
l1l
ai_ POV e _
place. Jhus, the Bergson Archlves at the Llbralrle
|acques Doucet ln Parls contaln only Bergson`s per
sonal llbrary.
NVOT k m i~
m~ p
m e~I m k `
p ^~I NM a NVOU
In hls i ~ (l907) x`~ bzI
Henrl Bergson has declared that the most lastlng and
most frultful of all phllosophlcal systems are those whlch
orlglnate ln lntultlon. If one belleves these words, lt
appears lmmedlately wlth regard to Bergson`s system
how he has made frultful the lntultlve dlscovery that
opens the gate to the world of hls thought. Jhls dlscov
ery ls set forth ln hls doctoral thesls, b~
~ ~ (l889) xq ~ c t zI ln
whlch tlme ls concelved not as somethlng abstract or for
mal but as a reallty, lndlssolubly connected wlth llfe and
the human self. He glves lt the name 'duratlon," a con
cept that can be lnterpreted as 'llvlng tlme," by analogy
wlth the llfe force. It ls a dynamlc stream, exposed to con
stant qualltatlve varlatlons and perpetually lncreaslng. It
eludes reflectlon. It cannot be llnked wlth any flxed
polnt, for lt would thereby be llmlted and no longer exlst.
It can be percelved and felt only by an lntrospectlve and
concentrated consclousness that turns lnward toward lts
orlgln.
What we usually call tlme, the tlme whlch ls mea
sured by the movement of a clock or the revolutlons of
the sun, ls somethlng qulte dlfferent. It ls only a form cre
ated by and for the mlnd and actlon. At the end of a most
subtle analysls, Bergson concludes that lt ls nothlng but
an appllcatlon of the form of space. Mathematlcal precl
slon, certltude, and llmltatlon prevall ln lts domaln; cause
ls dlstlngulshed from effect and hence rlses that edlflce, a
creatlon of the mlnd, whose lntelllgence has enclrcled the
world, ralslng a wall around the most lntlmate asplra
tlons of our mlnds toward freedom. Jhese asplratlons
flnd satlsfactlon ln 'llvlng tlme". cause and effect here are
fused; nothlng can be foreseen wlth certalnty, for cer
talnty resldes ln the act, slmple ln ltself, and can be estab
llshed only by thls act. Llvlng tlme ls the realm of free
cholce and new creatlons, the realm ln whlch somethlng
ls produced only once and ls never repeated ln qulte the
same manner. Jhe hlstory of the personallty orlglnates ln
lt. It ls the realm where the mlnd, the soul, whatever one
may call lt, by castlng off the forms and hablts of lntelll
gence becomes capable of percelvlng ln an lnner vlslon
the truth about lts own essence and about the unlversal
llfe whlch ls a part of our self.
In hls purely sclentlflc account, the phllosopher
tells us nothlng of the orlgln of thls lntultlon, born per
haps of a personal experlence skllfully selzed upon and
probed, or perhaps of a llberatlng crlsls of the soul. One
can only guess that thls crlsls was provoked by the heavy
atmosphere of ratlonallstlc blology that ruled toward the
end of the last century. Bergson had been brought up
and educated under the lnfluence of thls sclence, and
when he declded to take up arms agalnst lt, he had a rare
mastery of lts own weapons and full knowledge of the
necesslty and grandeur lt had ln lts own realm, the con
ceptual constructlon of the materlal world. Only when
ratlonallsm seeks to lmprlson llfe ltself ln lts net does
Bergson seek to prove that the dynamlc and fluld nature
of llfe passes wlthout hlndrance across lts meshes.
Even lf I were competent, lt would stlll be lmpossl
ble to glve an account of the subtlety and scope of Berg
son`s thought ln the few mlnutes at my dlsposal. Jhe task
ls even more lmposslble for one who possesses only a
very llmlted sense of phllosophy and has never studled lt.
At hls startlng polnt, the lntultlon of a llvlng tlme,
Bergson borrows ln hls analysls, ln the development of
hls concepts, and ln the sequence of hls proofs, some
thlng of the dynamlc, flowlng, and almost lrreslstlble
essence of thls lntultlon. One has to follow every move
ment; every moment lntroduces a new element. One has
to follow the current, trylng to breathe as best one can.
Jhere ls scarcely tlme for reflectlon, for the moment one
becomes statlc oneself, one loses all contact wlth the
chaln of reasonlng.
In a slngularly penetratlng refutatlon of determln
lsm our phllosopher demonstrates that a unlversal lntel
lect, whlch he calls Plerre, could not predlct the llfe of
another person, Paul, except ln so far as he can follow
Paul`s experlences, sensatlons, and voluntary acts ln all
thelr manlfestatlons, to the extent of becomlng ldentlcal
wlth hlm as completely as two equal trlangles colnclde. A
reader who wants to understand Bergson completely
must to a certaln extent ldentlfy hlmself wlth the author
and fulfll enormous requlrements of power and flexlblllty
of mlnd.
Jhls ls by no means to say that there ls no polnt ln
followlng the author ln hls course, for good or lll. Imagl
natlon and lntultlon are sometlmes capable of fllghts
where lntelllgence lags behlnd. It ls not always posslble to
declde whether the lmaglnatlon ls seduced or whether the
lntultlon recognlzes ltself and lets ltself be convlnced. In
any event, readlng Bergson ls always hlghly rewardlng.
In the account, so far deflnltlve, of hls doctrlne,
i ~I the master has created a poem of strlk
lng grandeur, a cosmogony of great scope and unflagglng
power, wlthout sacrlflclng a strlctly sclentlflc termlnology.
l12
e _ ai_ POV
It may be dlfflcult at tlmes to proflt from lts penetratlng
analysls or from the profundlty of lts thought; but one
always derlves from lt, wlthout any dlfflculty, a strong
aesthetlc lmpresslon.
Jhe poem, lf one looks at lt ln that way, presents a
sort of drama. Jhe world has been created by two con
fllctlng tendencles. One of them represents matter whlch,
ln lts own consclousness, tends downwards; the second ls
llfe wlth lts lnnate sentlment of freedom and lts perpetu
ally creatlve force, whlch tends lncreaslngly toward the
llght of knowledge and llmltless horlzons. Jhese two ele
ments are mlngled, prlsoners of each other, and the prod
uct of thls unlon ls ramlfled on dlfferent levels.
Jhe flrst radlcal dlfference ls found between the
vegetable and the anlmal world, between lmmoblle and
moblle organlc actlvlty. Wlth the help of the sun, the veg
etable world stores up the energy lt extracts from lnert
matter; the anlmal ls exempt from thls fundamental task
because lt can draw energy already stored up ln the vege
tables from whlch lt frees the exploslve force slmulta
neously and proportlonately to lts needs. At a hlgher level
ln the chaln, the anlmal world llves at the expense of the
anlmal world, belng able, due to thls concentratlon of
energy, to accentuate lts development. Jhe evolutlonary
paths thus become more and more dlverse and thelr
cholce ls ln no way bllnd. lnstlnct ls born at the same tlme
as the organs that lt utlllzes. Intellect ls also exlstent ln an
embryonlc stage, but stlll mlnd ls lnferlor to lnstlnct.
At the top of the chaln of belng, ln man, lntelll
gence becomes predomlnant and lnstlnct subsldes, wlth
out however dlsappearlng entlrely; lt remalns latent ln
the consclousness that unltes all llfe ln the current of 'llv
lng tlme"; lt comes lnto play ln the lntultlve vlslon. Jhe
beglnnlngs of lntelllgence are modest and manlfestly
tlmld. Intelllgence ls expressed only by the tendency and
the ablllty to replace organlc lnstruments lnstlnctlvely by
lnstruments sprung from lnert matter, and to make use of
them by a free act. Instlnct was more consclous of lts
goal, but thls goal was, on the other hand, greatly llm
lted; lntelllgence engaged ltself, on the contrary, ln
greater rlsks, but tended also toward lnflnltely vaster
goals, toward goals reallzed by the materlal and soclal
culture of the human race. Inevltably a rlsk exlsted, how
ever. lntelllgence, created to act ln the spatlal world,
mlght dlstort the lmage of the world by the modallty thus
acqulred from lts concept of llfe and mlght remaln deaf to
lts lnnermost dynamlc essence and to the freedom that
presldes over lts eternal varlatlon. Hence the mechanlstlc
and determlnlstlc conceptlon of an external world cre
ated by the conquests of lntelllgence ln the natural scl
ences.
We wlll flnd ourselves, then, lrremedlably cornered
ln an lmpasse, wlthout any consclousness of freedom of
mlnd and cut off from the sources of llfe we carry wlthln
us, unless we also possess the glft of lntultlon when we
trace ourselves back to our orlgln. Perhaps one can apply
to thls lntultlon, the central polnt of the Bergsonlan doc
trlne, the brllllant expresslon that he uses about lntelll
gence and lnstlnct. the perllous way toward vaster
posslbllltles. Wlthln the llmlts of lts knowledge, lntelll
gence possesses loglcal certalnty, but lntultlon, dynamlc
llke everythlng that belongs to llvlng tlme, must wlthout
doubt content ltself wlth the lntenslty of lts certalnty.
Jhls ls the drama. creatlve evolutlon ls dlsclosed,
and man flnds hlmself thrust on stage by the ~ ~ of
unlversal llfe whlch pushes hlm lrreslstlbly to act, once
he has come to the knowledge of hls own freedom, capa
ble of dlvlnlng and gllmpslng the endless route that has
been travelled wlth the perspectlve of a boundless fleld
openlng onto other paths. Whlch of these paths ls man
golng to follow?
In reallty we are only at the beglnnlng of the
drama, and lt can scarcely be otherwlse, especlally lf one
conslders Bergson`s concept that the future ls born only
at the moment ln whlch lt ls llved. However, somethlng ls
lacklng ln thls beglnnlng ltself. Jhe author tells us noth
lng of the wlll lnherent ln the free personallty, of the wlll
that determlnes actlon and that has the power to trace
stralght llnes across the unforeseeable curves of thls per
sonallty. Iurthermore, he tells us nothlng about the prob
lem of llfe domlnated by wlll power, about the exlstence
or nonexlstence of absolute values.
What ls the essence of the lrreslstlble ~ ~I that
onslaught of llfe agalnst the lnertla of matter, whlch,
accordlng to Bergson`s audaclous and magnlflcent
expresslon, wlll one day trlumph perhaps over death
ltself? What wlll lt make of us when lt places at our feet
all earthly power?
However compllcated they may be, one cannot
escape these questlons. Is the phllosopher perhaps at thls
very moment on hls way to the solutlon, certalnly as ten
tatlve and audaclous as hls prevlous work has been and
rlcher stlll ln posslbllltles?
Jhere stlll remaln some polnts to clarlfy. Does he
perhaps seek to put an end to the duallsm of the lmage he
glves of the world ln seeklng out a klnd of ~ ~ that
applles to matter? We know nothlng ln thls regard, but
Bergson has hlmself presented hls system as constltutlng,
on many polnts, only an outllne that must be completed
ln lts detalls by the collaboratlon of other thlnkers.
We are lndebted to hlm, nevertheless, for one
achlevement of lmportance. by a passage he has forced
through the gates of ratlonallsm, he has released a cre
atlve lmpulse of lnestlmable value, openlng a large access
to the waters of llvlng tlme, to that atmosphere ln whlch
the human mlnd wlll be able to redlscover lts freedom
and thus be born anew.
l13
ai_ POV e _
If the outllnes of hls thought prove sound enough
to serve as guldes to the human splrlt, Bergson can be
assured, ln the future, of an lnfluence even greater than
the lnfluence he ls already enjoylng. As styllst and as
poet, he ylelds place to none of hls contemporarles; ln
thelr strlctly objectlve search for truth, all hls asplratlons
are anlmated by a splrlt of freedom whlch, breaklng the
servltude that matter lmposes, makes room for ldeallsm.
_W _~ p
f ~ m d~ c ~
k _~ ~ d~ eI pI NM a NVOUW
Henrl Bergson has glven us a phllosophlcal system
whlch could have served Nobel`s ldea as a basls and sup
port, the ldea of acknowledglng wlth hls Prlzes not human
deeds but new ldeas revealed through select personalltles.
Bergson`s hlghmlnded works strlve to regaln for man`s
consclousness the dlvlne glft of lntultlon and to put reason
ln lts proper place. servlng and controlllng ldeas.
_ E~ c jI ^~ _~I ~
_ ~F Eq~~F
I wlsh I had been able to express my feellngs ln per
son. Permlt me to do so through the Irench Mlnlster, Mr.
Armand Bernard, who has klndly consented to convey
my message. I thank the Swedlsh Academy from the bot
tom of my heart. It has bestowed upon me an honour to
whlch I should not have dared asplre. I recognlze lts value
even more, and I am even more moved by lt, when I con
slder that thls dlstlnctlon, glven to a Irench wrlter, may be
regarded as a slgn of sympathy glven to Irance.
Jhe prestlge of the Nobel Prlze ls due to many
causes, but ln partlcular to lts twofold ldeallstlc and lnterna
tlonal character. ldeallstlc ln that lt has been deslgned for
works of lofty lnsplratlon; lnternatlonal ln that lt ls
awarded after the productlon of dlfferent countrles has
been mlnutely studled and the lntellectual balance sheet of
the whole world has been drawn up. Iree from all other
conslderatlons and lgnorlng any but lntellectual values, the
judges have dellberately taken thelr place ln what the phl
losophers have called a communlty of the mlnd. Jhus they
conform to the founder`s expllclt lntentlon. Alfred Bern
hard Nobel declared ln hls wlll that he wanted to serve the
causes of ldeallsm and the brotherhood of natlons. By
establlshlng a peace Prlze alongslde the hlgh awards ln arts
and sclences, he marked hls goal wlth preclslon.
It was a great ldea. Its orlglnator was an lnventlve
genlus and yet he apparently dld not share an llluslon
wldespread ln hls century. If the nlneteenth century made
tremendous progress ln mechanlcal lnventlons, lt too
often assumed that these lnventlons, by the sheer accumu
latlon of thelr materlal effects, would ralse the moral level
of manklnd. Increaslng experlence has proved, on the
contrary, that the technologlcal development of a soclety
does not automatlcally result ln the moral perfectlon of
the men llvlng ln lt, and that an lncrease ln the materlal
means at the dlsposal of humanlty may even present dan
gers unless lt ls accompanled by a correspondlng splrltual
effort. Jhe machlnes we bulld, belng artlflclal organs that
are added to our natural organs, extend thelr scope, and
thus enlarge the body of humanlty. If that body ls to be
kept entlre and lts movements regulated, the soul must
expand ln turn; otherwlse lts equlllbrlum wlll be threat
ened and grave dlfflcultles wlll arlse, soclal as well as pollt
lcal, whlch wlll reflect on another level the dlsproportlon
between the soul of manklnd, hardly changed from lts
orlglnal state, and lts enormously enlarged body. Jo take
only the most strlklng example. one mlght have expected
that the use of steam and electrlclty, by dlmlnlshlng dls
tances, would by ltself brlng about a moral ~
between peoples. Joday we know that thls was not the
case and that antagonlsms, far from dlsappearlng, wlll rlsk
belng aggravated lf a splrltual progress, a greater effort
toward brotherhood, ls not accompllshed. Jo move
toward such a ~ of souls ls the natural ten
dency of a foundatlon wlth an lnternatlonal character and
an ldeallstlc outlook whlch lmplles that the entlre clvlllzed
world ls envlsaged from a purely lntellectual polnt of vlew
as constltutlng one slngle and ldentlcal republlc of mlnds.
Such ls the Nobel Ioundatlon.
It ls not surprlslng that thls ldea was concelved and
reallzed ln a country as hlghly lntellectual as Sweden,
among a people who have glven so much attentlon to
moral questlons and have recognlzed that all others fol
low from them, and who, to clte only one example, have
been the flrst to grasp that the polltlcal problem par excel
lence ls the problem of educatlon.
Jhus the scope of the Nobel Ioundatlon seems to
wlden as lts slgnlflcance ls more deeply reallzed, and to
have beneflted from lt becomes an honour all the more
deeply appreclated. No one ls more fully aware of thls
than I am. I wlshed to say so before thls lllustrlous audl
ence, and I conclude, as I began, wlth the expresslon of
my profound gratltude.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l928. Henrl Bergson ls the
sole author of hls speech.|
l11
_ _
(S Scptcmbcr 1SJ2 - 26 Zpril 1910)
e~ eK p
Uvivcrsity of Uslo
BOOKS. Syvvvc Solbollcv (Chrlstlanla. |ohan Dahls,
l857); translated by Augusta Bethell and Augusta
Plesner as Iovc ovd Iifc iv òrwoy (London. Cas
sell, Petter Galpln, l870);
Mcllcm slogcvc (Chrlstlanla. C. A. Dybwad, l857);
Holtc-Huldo (Bergen. H. |. Geelmuydens Enkes Offlcln
og Iorlag, l858);
Zrvc (Bergen. H. |. Geelmuydens Enkes Offlcln og Ior
lag, l859); translated as Zrvc, or Icosovt Iifc iv òr-
woy: Z òrwcgiov Tolc (Bergen, l860);
Smstyllcr (Chrlstlanla, l860)lncludes 'Jhrond," Iv
glod gut, and 'Iaderen";
Iovg Svcrrc (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l86l);
Sigurd Slcmbc (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l862); trans
lated by Wllllam Morton Payne as Sigurd Slcmbc:
Z Dromotic Trilogy (Boston. Houghton, Mlfflln,
l888);
Morio Stuort i Slottlovd (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l861);
Dc `ygiftc (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l865); translated
by |ohn Volk as Tlc `cwly Morricd (Chlcago.
Scandlnavla, l885);
Iislcrjcvtcv (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l868); translated
from the author`s German edltlon by M. E. Nlles
as Tlc Iislcr-Moidcv: Z òrwcgiov Tolc (New York.
Leypoldt Holt, l869);
Zrvljot Ccllivc (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l870); trans
lated by Payne as Zrvljot Ccllivc (New York. Amer
lcanScandlnavlan Ioundatlon, l9l7);
Digtc og Sovgc (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l870; revlsed
and enlarged edltlons, l880, l890, and l9l1);
Iortllivgcr, 2 volumes (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l872)
comprlses volume l, Zrvc, Syvvvc Solbollcv, rv-
bovcv og Iirlcgoordcv, and Smstyllcr; and volume
2, Iv glod gut, Iislcrjcvtcv, and rudcslttcv;
Sigurd orsolfor (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l872);
rudcslttcv (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l873);
Iv follit (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l875);
Icdoltrcv (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l871 |l.e., l875|);
Iovgcv (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l877);
Mogvlild (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l877);
!is-Ivut (Chlcago. Skandlnavens boghandel, l878);
translated by Bernard Stahl as !isc-Ivut (New
York. Brandu`s, l909);
Dct vy systcm (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l879);
Ioptciv Movsovo (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l879);
Icovordo (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l879);
Iv lovslc (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l883); translated
by Osman Edwards as Z Couvtlct (London New
York. Longmans, Green, l891);
_ _ E m~I ~~ b _~I
NVNPX q~ ` i~I r
p `~~F
l15
ai_ POV _ _
Uvcr vvc I (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l883); translated
by Wllllam Wllson as Iostor Sovg (London New
York. Longmans, Green, l893);
Dct flogcr i bycv og p lovvcv (Copenhagen. Gyldendal,
l881); translated by Cecll Ialrfax as Tlc Hcritogc
of tlc Iurts (London. Helnemann, l892);
Ccogrofi og ljrliglcd (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l885);
Ivgiftc og movgcgiftc: It forcdrog (Iagerstrand pr. Hvlk.
Blbllothek for de tusen hjem, l888);
I Cuds vcjc (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l889); translated
by Ellzabeth Carmlchael as Iv Cod`s !oy (London.
Helnemann, l890; New York. Lovell, l890);
`yc fortllivgcr (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l891)com
prlses Zbsolovs lr, It stygt borvdomsmivdc, Mors
lvdcr, and Iv dog;
Uvcr vvc II (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l895);
Ioul Iovgc og Toro Iorsbcrg (Copenhagen. Gyldendal,
l898); translated by H. L. Braekstad as Ioul Iovgc
ovd Toro Iorsbcrg (London New York. Harper,
l899);
Ioborcmus (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l90l); translated
as Ioborcmus (London. Chapman Hall, l90l);
To fortllivgcr (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l90l)com
prlses Stv and Ivor yc;
I Storlovc (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l902);
Doglovvct (Copenhagen Chrlstlanla. Gyldendal,
l901);
Mory (Copenhagen Chrlstlanla. Gyldendal, l906);
To tolcr (Copenhagen. Gyldendal, l906);
`r dcv vy viv blomstrcr (Copenhagen Chrlstlanla. Gyl
dendal, l909).
`W Somlcdc digtcrvrlcr, 9 volumes, edlted by
Irancls Bull (Copenhagen Chrlstlanla. Gylden
dal, l9l9-l920).
b bW Iifc by tlc Iclls ovd Iiords: Z òrwc-
giov Slctcl-ool (London. Strahan, l879)lncludes
Zrvc and rudc-Sloottcv;
!orls, 5 volumes, translated by Rasmus B. Anderson
(New York. Doubleday, Page, l882)comprlses
volume l, Syvvovc Solbollcv; volume 2, Mogvild
and Dust; volume 3, Tlc ridol Morcl and Coptoiv
Movsovo; volume 1, Tlc Iislcr Moidcv; and vol
ume 5, Z Hoppy oy, lollcv, Iidclity, and Z Iroblcm
of Iifc;
Tlc òvcls of jrvstjcrvc jrvsov, l3 volumes, edlted by
Edmund Gosse (New York. Macmlllan, l895-
l909)comprlses volume l, Syvvvc Solbollcv,
translated by |ulle Sutter (l895); volume 2, Zrvc,
translated by Wllllam Low (l895); volume 3, Z
Hoppy oy, translated by Mrs. W. Archer (l896);
volume 1, Tlc Iislcr Ioss (l896); volume 5, Tlc
ridol Morcl c Uvc Doy (l896); volume 6, Mog-
vlild c Dust (l897); volume 7, Coptoiv Movsovo c
Motlcr`s Hovds (l897); volume 8, Zbsolom`s Hoir c
Z Ioivful Mcmory (l898); volumes 9-l0, Iv Cod`s
!oy, translated by Ellzabeth Carmlchael (l908);
volumes ll-l2, Tlc Hcritogc of tlc Iurts, translated
by Cecll Ialrfax (l908); and volume l3, Mory,
translated by Mary Morlson (l909);
Tlrcc Comcdics, translated by R. Iarquharson Sharp
(London. Dent, l9l2)comprlses Tlc `cwly-
Morricd Couplc, Icovordo, and Tlc Couvtlct;
Iloys, translated by Edwln Bjrkman (New York. Scrlb
ners, l9l3)comprlses Tlc Couvtlct, cyovd Uur
Iowcr, and Tlc `cw Systcm;
Iloys, 2d Scrics, translated by Bjrkman (New York.
Scrlbners, l9l1)comprlses Iovc ovd Ccogroply,
cyovd Humov Miglt, and Ioborcmus;
Tlrcc Dromos, translated by Sharp (London. Dent / New
York. E. P. Dutton, l9l1)comprlses Tlc Iditor,
Tlc ovlrupt, and Tlc Iivg;
Iocms ovd Sovgs, translated by Arthur Hubbell Palmer
(New York. AmerlcanScandlnavlan Ioundatlon,
l9l5).
PLAY PRODLCJIONS. Mcllcm slogcvc, Chrlstlanla
|Oslo|, Chrlstlanla Jheater, 27 October l857;
Iovg Svcrrc, Chrlstlanla, Chrlstlanla Norske Jeater, 9
October l86l;
Holtc-Huldo, Chrlstlanla, Chrlstlanla Norske Jeater, 25
Aprll l862;
Sigurd Slcmbc, parts l and 3, Jrondhelm, Jrondhjems
Jeater, 30 September l863;
Dc `ygiftc, Copenhagen, Det Kongellge Jheater, 23
November l865;
Morio Stuort i Slottlovd, Chrlstlanla, Chrlstlanla Jheater,
29 March l867;
Sigurd orsolfor, Chrlstlanla, Chrlstlanla Jheater, l0
Aprll l872;
Iv follit, Stockholm, Nya Jeatern, l9 |anuary l875;
Icdoltrcv, Stockholm, Nya Jeatern, l7 Iebruary l875;
Dct vy systcm, Berlln, ResldenzJheater, l9 December
l878;
Icovordo, Chrlstlanla, Chrlstlanla Jheater, 22 Aprll
l879;
Iv lovslc, Hamburg, StadtJheater, ll October l883;
Ccogrofi og ljrliglcd, Chrlstlanla, Chrlstlanla Jheater,
2l October l885;
Uvcr vvc I, Stockholm, Nya Jeatern, 3 |anuary l886;
Uvcr vvc II, Parls, Jhtre de lòeuvre, l897;
Ioul Iovgc og Toro Iorsbcrg, Stuttgart, sprlng l90l;
Ioborcmus, Chrlstlanla, Natlonaltheateret, 29 Aprll
l90l;
Iovgcv, Chrlstlanla, Natlonaltheateret, ll September
l902;
I Storlovc, Chrlstlanla, Natlonaltheateret, 1 November
l902;
l16
_ _ ai_ POV
a~~I Chrlstlanla, Natlonaltheateret, 3l August
l905;
k I Chrlstlanla, Natlonaltheateret, 29
September l909.
JRANSLAJION. Vlctor Hugo,
(Oslo, l9ll).
Bjrnstjerne Bjrnson was awarded the Nobel
Prlze ln Llterature for l903, as the thlrd wrlter to
recelve thls honor. He was an obvlous cholce for the
Swedlsh Academy, especlally slnce he, more than most
wrlters, fulfllled the requlrement that the reclplent`s llt
erary works ought to be wrltten ln an 'ldeallstlc splrlt."
In addltlon to a llfelong career of wrltlng poetry, storles,
novels, and plays wlth hlgh but shlftlng ldeals, Bjrnson
had used hls posltlon as an author of lnternatlonal
renown to help persecuted lndlvlduals and oppressed
natlons. He was thus a more natural cholce for the
Swedlsh Academy than hls contemporary and fellow
Norweglan, Henrlk Ibsen, although tlme has shown
that Ibsen`s work has more lastlng value and appeal;
Bjrnson`s work ls no longer read much, even ln hls
natlve country, and hls once so radlcally new and
trendsettlng plays are rarely performed. Yet, Bjrnson
remalns a slgnlflcant author ln Norweglan llterary hls
tory, because he wrote ln all genres and was the flrst
authorbefore Ibsento produce hlstorlcal dramas as
well as reallstlc plays from the contemporary scene,
wlth thelr lmplled dlscusslons of soclal problems of
many sorts.
Bjrnson was an lmportant and declslve flgure
both as a wrlter and as a publlc volce ln a natlon that
had obtalned lts freedom (from Denmark) and lts own
constltutlon only ln l8l1 and had had to accept a unlon
wlth Sweden and a Swedlsh klng who was also the klng
of Norway. Wrlters could, ln the days when Bjrnson
publlshed hls earllest work, really be 'the trumpets that
blow to battle, the unacknowledged leglslators of the
world," as Percy Bysshe Shelley malntalned. Important
changes ln the Norweglan polltlcal system took place,
after hard flghts, ln the l880s; Bjrnson was actlvely
lnvolved on the left slde of Norweglan polltlcs. Hls role
and lnfluence were lnstrumental ln the flght for seces
slon from the unlon, whlch flnally led to a peaceful
solutlon and a free and lndependent Klngdom of Nor
way ln l905. Bjrnson was a great orator, and appar
ently nothlng was too blg or too small for hlm elther to
defend or to attack. Inevltably he made enemles on all
sldes, but he also earned respect and appreclatlon. A llfe
of serlous and varled llterary productlon, much of
whlch had been translated lnto many languages, had
earned hlm thls rlght. One llterary hlstorlan, Irancls
Bull, sums up hls long blographlcal study by statlng
that Bjrnson`s llfe was the rlchest and fullest ever llved
by a Norweglan.
Bjrnson was Norway`s great natlonal poet ln the
second half of the nlneteenth century. Everythlng he
dld contrlbuted to a feellng of natlonal prlde. He also
wrote a serles of hlstorlcal plays that were, wlth one
exceptlon, rooted ln the old and proud hlstory from the
days of the Vlklng klngs and before Denmark came to
rule Norway for more than four hundred years. Jhus
he proved, poetlcally, that Norweglans had a glorlous
past hlstory, that they were an old people and had been
a powerful klngdom. He champloned a Norweglan flag
and wanted Norweglans to celebrate thelr lndepen
dence day (l7 May), when they seceded from the unlon
wlth Denmark, and later he advocated endlng the
unlon wlth Sweden. He was a devoted republlcan at
that tlme, yet accepted the new klng wlthout hesltatlon,
because peaceful solutlons to natlonal and lnternatlonal
questlons were also somethlng he had worked for on
the lnternatlonal scene for decades. A marvelous orator,
he spoke to audlences of as many as flfty thousand peo
ple on many lecture tours ln Norway and other Scandl
navlan countrles. He was a llberal but could also be a
pragmatlst and often changed hls vlews, and he was as
strongly dlsllked as he was loved, whlch was perhaps
lnevltable slnce he used hls popularlty as a wrlter to
partlclpate ln natlonal polltlcs. He was a personal Chrls
tlan who for a perlod belleved ln 'a joyful Chrlstlanlty,"
on the model from the great Danlsh poet, hlstorlan, and
theologlan N. I. S. Grundtvlg; yet, when he read the
works of Charles Darwln and |ohn Stuart Mlll, he
rejected the teachlngs of the church, although he may
well have been a bellever all hls llfe. He even went as
far as clalmlng that he was a soclallst, but not wlth the
utoplan dreams ln whlch some of thelr leaders belleved.
More than anythlng, he was a strong and stern moral
lst, who let hls llterary characters go through ordeals
and struggles so that they mlght learn to control thelr
natures and destructlve powers ln themselves that may
seem to be beyond thelr control.
In many of hls early works, hls characters share
tralts that may well stem from the heroes ln the Icelan
dlc sagastralts that Bjrnson thought he found among
the peasants of hls own tlme. He llved abroad for
extended perlods of hls llfe and wrote some thlrty thou
sand letters, always vlbrant and enthuslastlcally
lnvolved ln everythlng that happened ln the natlon and
to the people whose foremost volce he wanted to be,
even when Ibsen`s star slowly rose above hls and even
when the great traveler, dlscoverer, and sclentlst Irldtjof
Nansen became more of a natlonal hero and symbol
than Bjrnson. What he left behlnd ls flrst and foremost
hls books, a few of whlch may have lastlng value,
although hls llterary reputatlon has been ln decllne for
l17
ai_ POV _ _
many decades. Among the old crltlcs of the hlstorlcal
blographlcal school he was the greatest of all Norwe
glan wrlters, but they wrote thelr llterary hlstorles wlth
the same goal as Bjrnson had ln most of hls wrltlng. to
help ln the bulldlng of a natlon.
Bjrnstjern Martlnlus Bjrnson was born on 8
September l832 ln Kvlkne ln the sterdalen valley ln
Norway. Hls father, Peder Bjrnson, came from south
ern Norway but was a clergyman at Kvlkne. He had
marrled Inger Ellse Nordraak ln l83l. She was the aunt
of the composer Rlchard Nordraak, who wrote the
muslc to Bjrnson`s '|a, vl elsker dette landet" (Norway
thlne ls our devotlon, wrltten ln l859 and flrst sung
publlcly ln l861)the country`s natlonal anthem. Bjrn
stjern was named after hls grandfather, Bjrn, and Mar
tln Luther. He later added an 'e" to the end of hls flrst
name (lt translates llterally as 'bearstar"), and hls par
ents must have had hlgh hopes for thelr flrstborn son to
glve hlm such a rare and pretentlous name. Hls broth
ers and slsters, flve ln all, had common names.
When Bjrnson was flve years old the famlly
moved to Naesset vlcarage ln Romsdalen, ln the west of
the country. Jhe area has some of the most lmpresslve
and dramatlc landscapes ln all of Norway, wlth hlgh
mountalns and fjords that penetrate deep lnto the land.
Bjrnson always clalmed that hls character was formed
and molded by the natural beauty of Romsdalen`s
'wlld land," where he later found hlmself to be really
'at home." Jhere he also became acqualnted wlth the
peasant populatlon. He loved and admlred them for
thelr struggle and endurance and also for thelr sllent
acceptance of thelr lot, for thelr baslc rellglous bellefs,
and for thelr sense of tradltlon and for keeplng up ways
of llfe that had remalned unchanged for hundreds of
years. Bjrnson went to mlddle school ln the small
nearby town of Molde ln l811. He qulckly became a
leader among the schoolboys, and ln the revolutlonary
year of l818 he saw hls flrst artlcle ln prlnt ln a newspa
per and also trled to organlze celebratlons of lndepen
dence day on l7 May. He moved to Chrlstlanla (whlch
became Oslo ln l925) for hls further educatlon and
entered what was known as a 'student factory" to take
courses toward ~ ~ (hlgh school exams). He
later wrote a poem about hls memorles from these
school years, 'Gamle Heltberg" (l873, Old Heltberg),
and boys who later became famous wrlters were ln the
same classroom. Ibsen, |onas Lle, and Aasmund O.
Vlnje. Bjrnson may have been lnvolved wlth too many
lnterests to concentrate on hls studles, and he only got
passable grades after contlnuatlon exams ln l851. He
planned to study theology at the unlverslty but qulckly
abandoned all such thoughts. Hls father refused to glve
hlm further flnanclal support slnce the son had made
up hls mlnd to become a wrlter, whlch was an uncertaln
and nottooprofltable future career. Nothlng could stop
Bjrnson, however.
He dld all sorts of work ln hls apprentlceshlp
years and made a meager llvlng by wrltlng revlews of
books and theater performances. Jhe few and scattered
poems that were publlshed brought ln llttle money, but
he was ln the mldst of a group of students and lntellec
tuals who knew that they represented the future of the
natlon, lf they could only somehow take over the hege
mony of the old, Romantlc school of wrlters and artlsts.
Bjrnson`s ldeal of a wrlter was Henrlk Wergeland,
who dld not care for any of the rules or aesthetlc laws
for llterature and accordlngly wrote radlcally fresh and
new poetry. Wergeland also trled to help people of the
worklng classes and was always ln the mldst of some
flght for human rlghts, always llvlng at least as much as
he was slnglngas Bjrnson later sald about hlmself. In
an l851 revlew of an anthology, Bjrnson attacked the
Romantlc poets, wlth Wergeland`s nemesls |ohan
Sebastlan Cammermeyer Welhaven as thelr leader. He
was tlred of all the Romantlc dreamlng and slck walks
ln moonllght, and he prophesled that new poets soon
would replace the old ones and carry on the ldeals from
Wergeland.
Bjrnson obvlously wanted to be the leader of
thls new generatlon of poets, but at thls tlme he was prl
marlly a journallst. He llved by hls pen, but he dld not
wrlte much llterature. As a drama crltlc he advocated a
longstandlng dream of a Norweglan natlonal theater,
wlth actors who were allowed to speak Norweglan and
not Danlsh. He even founded a magazlne, f
c~ (Illustrated People`s Magazlne), wlth the goal
of creatlng a Norweglan culture that was lndependent
of Denmark. He had made a name for hlmself but had
not really succeeded as a wrlter yet. He was lmpatlent,
but felt that the storles he wrote were not good enough.
Jhe declslve experlence that made hlm wrlte hls
flrst successful play came ln l856 when he jolned Scan
dlnavlan students ln Lppsalaa movement known as
'Scandlnavlanlsm" peaked about thls tlmeand saw
hlstorlcal objects and rellcs. He became aware of Nor
way`s long and glorlous past, and he wanted to be the
one who made thls past come allve and become a
potent force ln the present, creatlng a new klnd of
natlonal prlde. In hls essay 'Hvorledes jeg blev Dlgter"
(l857, How I Became a Wrlter), Bjrnson tells that he
slept for three days after thls vlslt, and then went to
Sgnewhere hls father had moved ln l853and wrote
j ~ (l857, Between the Battles) ln three weeks.
Jhls oneact play takes as lts subject the flght between
royal pretenders ln Norway ln the twelfth century. Jhe
play had a moderate success when lt was performed ln
Chrlstlanla ln October l857; but lt was preceded ln
Bjrnson`s career by several other works that were pub
l18
_ _ ai_ POV
llshed before thls play. He had prepared hlmself for
many years; now he was ready to launch hls flrst
books.
Bjrnson made hls debut when the flrst of hls
'peasant tales," p p~ (Sunny Hlll), was serl
allzed ln f c~ ln the summer of l857 and
publlshed as a book ln the fall of the same year. Jhe
tale was wrltten ln Copenhagen, where Bjrnson spent
almost a whole year (l856-l857). Jhroughout hls
career Bjrnson escaped to forelgn countrles to flnd
peace and qulet from polltlcs and other actlvltles at
home, and most of these perlods abroad proved to be
qulte productlve. In Copenhagen he not only wrote pJ
p~ but also began wrltlng the drama e~J
e~ (Lame Hulda; publlshed ln l858, performed ln
l862) ln addltlon to maklng notes for another peasant
tale, b ~ (A Happy Boy, lncluded ln p
|l860, Short Pleces|), and one of hls best hlstorlcal
plays, p p (publlshed ln l862, performed ln
l863).
In l857 Bjrnson had publlshed a short story
called 'Jhrond," whlch may be regarded as hls flrst
attempt at a peasant tale ln the small format. It
appeared orlglnally ln the Danlsh paper c~ (ll
- l2 March l857), then ln the Norweglan magazlne
f k~ (l2 Aprll l857) before belng
lncluded ln p. He later changed thls story con
slderably; but wlth p p~ he had reached full
mastery and renewed a genre almost so that lt became
hls own. p p~ has always been Bjrnson`s
most loved book. Jhere were many tales from peasant
llfe both ln Denmark and Germany, but Bjrnson had
learned from the Icelandlc sagas and the Norweglan
folktales, so that he now created a totally new narratlve,
wrltten ln a language that was Norweglan ln rhythm,
style, and syntaxqulte dlfferent from the wrltten Dan
lsh that was the offlclal norm ln Norway at thls tlme.
Llterary hlstorlans Bull and Edvard Beyer have both
clalmed that Bjrnson here for the flrst tlme presented
and deflned one of the domlnant themes ln all hls wrlt
lng. the strong forces that can lead men astray lf they
are not put to the servlce of superlor goals. Bjrnson`s
heroesln hls hlstorlcal plays as well as ln the peasant
talesmust learn to control thelr emotlons. Strong pas
slons must be subdued; stubborn prlde must yleld to a
more balanced understandlng of oneself and a more
generous acceptance of one`s fellow men. Jhe moral
lessons are learned through loss and sufferlng, or from
the examples of one`s elders and superlors, always wlth
the help of love and Chrlstlan falth.
After Bjrnson had champloned the ldea of a
Norweglan theater ln newspaper artlcles and revlews,
others began to support lt. Jhe famous flddle player
Ole Bull, who had made a fortune playlng all over the
world (and who later created an 'ldeal" settlement ln
Pennsylvanla, named Oleana), had hls own theater ln
Bergen, on the west coast of Norway. In the fall of l857
he hlred Bjrnson to be the artlstlc dlrector of hls the
ater. Bjrnson dld not return to Chrlstlanla untll the
summer of l859, and the Bergen years were declslve ln
hls career ln many respects. Jhere he learned the the
ater world from the lnslde; he became edltor of a local
newspaper; and he had hls flrst opportunltles to prac
tlce as an orator ln front of large audlences. Jhls expe
rlence ln lts turn seems to have lnfluenced hls lyrlcal
poetry, whlch became broader and more general ln lts
approach and outlook, as lf he knew that he repre
sented many and not only hlmself. And he met hls
future wlfe, Karollne Relmers, whom he marrled on ll
September l858 and who stood by hls slde ln good and
bad tlmes and survlved her husband by twentyfour
years. Bjrnson had been 'engaged" to other glrls
before, and shortly after hls marrlage he fell ln love
wlth a Danlsh actress and even had thoughts of dlvorc
lng Karollne. But thlngs calmed down llttle by llttle,
wlth Bjrnson ln Rome and hls wlfe and son (Bjrn,
born ln l859) ln Copenhagen. Jhey jolned hlm ln
Rome ln September l86l, and the famlly dld not
return to Norway untll Aprll l863. Jhls tlme Bjrnson
stayed ln Chrlstlanla for almost ten years, wlth the
exceptlon of a stay ln Copenhagen ln the wlnter of
l867-l868.
Jhe years ln Rome were productlve, and when
the thlrtyoneyearold wrlter returned to Norway he
was well establlshed as a poet, a dramatlst, and a wrlter
of storles and tales. Only later dld he wrlte novels; ln
the early years of hls career he alternated between saga
plays and peasant tales, narratlves set agalnst a rural
background. He called thls alternatlon 'crop rotatlon,"
and he carrled on wlth thls practlce all through the
l860s and up to l872. Jhe government had awarded
hlm a travel grant for hls trlp to Rome; now he was the
flrst wrlter to recelve a permanent annual grant from
the same government.
Jhe most slgnlflcant books from these years are
the peasant tales that followed p p~W ^
(l859) and b ~ . Jhe latter ls also among Bjrn
son`s most popular books, a wellstructured story of
asplratlons and hopes, but also of love and happlness.
Jhe crltlcs who found Bjrnson`s peasants to be ldeal
lzed verslons of real people may also conslder b ~
too much of an ldyll, but thls polnt does not dlmln
lsh the story. Several of the best known and most loved
among Bjrnson`s poems are also found as lntegral
parts of these narratlves.
Bjrnson flnlshed e~Je~ ln November l857,
but hls best saga play ls the powerful and dramatlc
threepart p p. Jhe theme of the drama ls basl
l19
ai_ POV _ _
cally the same as ln the peasant tales. Prlnce Slgurd ls
capable and the son of a klng, but he ls also a slave to
hls own vlolent nature and destructlve forces wlth
whlch he cannot cope. Jhls vlolence ln turn leads to hls
defeat ln the struggle for the throne. Bjrnson had read
and learned a great deal from the works of Wllllam
Shakespeare and Irledrlch Schlller, and thelr lnfluence
ls clearly vlslble ln another drama, j~~ p~ pJ
~ (Mary _ueen of Scots; publlshed ln l861, per
formed ln l867), hls only play wlth a subject outslde
Norweglan hlstory.
Irom l865 and for two and a half years Bjrnson
was ln charge of a theater ln Chrlstlanla, where he had
an excellent opportunlty to create a Norweglan theater.
Agaln, he was edltor of a newspaper and was lnvolved
ln polltlcs, and lt ls more than llkely that he needed to
get away from polltlcal quarrels when he left for
Copenhagen ln l867. Durlng thls stay Bjrnson came
ln contact wlth Grundtvlg, and hls baslc attltudes and
bellefs gradually changed, becomlng flrmly based ln a
personal, Chrlstlan falth. Jhls shlft ls reflected ln the
flrst long narratlve he wrote, c (l868; trans
lated as q cJj~), an entertalnlng story about
a glrl who becomes an artlst and who flnally flnds her
'joyful bellefs" ln a llght and happy rellglon.
Bjrnson had wrltten poetry all through hls
career, and ln l870 he publlshed a great eplclyrlcal
cycle of poems, ^ dI about a mlnor character
from the saga of Olaf II Haraldsson, the klng who
became a salnt after hls death ln l030. Bjrnson also
gathered most of the lyrlcal poems he had wrltten so
far ln a ~ (l870, Poems and Songs), a collec
tlon that the author later revlsed and expanded several
tlmes. He lncluded many polltlcal songs, commlssloned
or occaslonal poetry, commemoratlve works, and
poems ln whlch he saluted great contemporarles. Jhe
most powerful pleces may be hls poems about the old
Norweglan klngs, such as 'Olav Jrygvasson" (flrst
publlshed ln f c~I l862), about the Vlklng
klng who fought all the smaller pretenders to make
Norway one klngdom. Bjrnson lncluded several
poems from hls early peasant tales, and they are llght
and joyful pleces. Jhe poems he wrote after hls encoun
ter wlth antlqulty ln Rome have a heavler and more
powerful rhythm. Contemporary composers often set
Bjrnson`s poems to muslc, and these songs are stlll
part of Norweglan herltage.
When Grundtvlg dled ln l872, Bjrnson gave a
speech at hls funeral. Some people had thought that he
mlght become the new leader of the movement
Grundtvlg had begun, but by thls tlme Bjrnson had
lost falth ln the church and ln Chrlstlanlty as he saw lt
practlced. Also, he began appeallng to hls Danlsh
frlends to 'change slgnals," that ls, to seek reconcllla
tlon wlth the Germans; and he even belleved ln what
one mlght call PanGermanlsm. Jhe socalled slgnal
feud caused Bjrnson much bltterness and led to a
complete severlng of tles wlth hls Grundtvlglan frlends
ln Norway. Jhls break was partlcularly awkward slnce
he had bought a farm ln Gausdal ln l871 and had
begun to spend much tlme there, close to lmportant flg
ures ln the Iolk Hlgh School movement based on
Grundtvlg`s ldeas.
Bjrnson now came to rely on the dlscoverles of
modern natural sclences, the work of Darwln lncluded.
In one of hls best poems, 'Salme" (l879, Psalm), he
pralses 'the eternal sprlng of Llfe" and descrlbes what
ls clearly the doctrlne of evolutlon ln a slmpllfled, yet
convlnclng and beautlful way.
Bjrnson lncluded a new peasant tale, _
(Jhe Brldal Dance), ln the twovolume set of storles he
publlshed ln l872, the same year that hls saga drama
p g~~ appeared, and he thus ended hls 'crop
rotatlon." He then went to Rome, where he stayed from
l873 to l875. A declslve change of dlrectlon ln hls
career took place, and ln l875 he publlshed b ~
(Jhe Bankrupt) and o~ (Jhe Edltor). Jhese
were contemporary plays, socalled problem dramas
the klnd of llterature the famous Danlsh crltlc Georg
Brandes had strongly advocated. Llterature, accordlng
to Brandes, should deal wlth problems of everyday llfe
and treat them reallstlcally. He was pleased wlth Bjrn
son`s work and clalmed ln a revlew that 'two great
powers, the present and reallty, had at last come lnto
thelr rlght." Later he would have good reason to be
even more pleased wlth what Ibsen dld. But Bjrnson
was agaln flrst, openlng new areas and new llterary
forms for others. Both plays were performed ln Stock
holm ln l875. Many felt that o~ was a polltlcal
statement from the left or llberal slde, and lt was not
performed ln Chrlstlanla for many years. b ~ was
an lmmedlate success and played not only ln Scandlna
vla but on stages all over EuropeBjrnson`s flrst lnter
natlonal success, even though many of hls books had
been translated lnto several languages. b ~ would
probably have been an even more powerful play wlth
out the last act, where a klnd of happy solutlon to all
problems ls spelled out. Ibsen sald that he only asked
questlons; lt was not hls duty to provlde the answers.
Bjrnson, on the contrary, always wanted to teach a les
son and would not leave the reader or the theater audl
ence wlth too many unanswered questlons.
In l877 Bjrnson publlshed the prose narratlve
j~I hls flrst and perhaps hls best reallstlc novel.
Jwo years before Ibsen`s ^ a e (l879), Bjrn
son was descrlblng marrled llfe and glvlng a bleak plc
ture of the conventlonal marrlage to whlch dlvorce
mlght lndeed be the only reasonable solutlon. Jhe
l50
_ _ ai_ POV
novel ls remlnlscent of the peasant tales and of cJ
X lt ls the tale of a talented young woman who has
a long and strenuous way to go before she can belleve
ln her own artlstlc abllltles. When she does, she leaves
her elderly husband, but she does not do so because of
a slngle, unequlvocal 'calllng," ln whlch Bjrnson so
often had belleved. Llfe and lts demands had become
more complex; the mlddleaged wrlter had a wlder lf
not deeper understandlng of human llfe, although he
remalned wllllng to change former bellefs and oplnlons
lf he were able to convlnce hlmself that lt would be the
rlght and proper thlng to do.
Jhe new convlctlons set forth ln j~ led to
much crltlclsm, as dld the play h (Jhe Klng; pub
llshed ln l877, performed ln l902). Jhls drama ls part
reallstlc and part symbollstlc, as Bjrnson challenges
the monarchy, the state church, and the mllltary estab
llshmentln short, everythlng connected wlth the klng
and hls powers. Bjrnson`s oplnlons and attltudes had
become radlcallzed ln most respects; he even preferred
republlc to monarchy. And he always kept the publlc
lnformed about hls vlews ln matters small and large.
Jhe bltterness Bjrnson felt upon the receptlon of
j~ and h can be seen ln hls next play, a
(l879, Jhe New System). Jhe confllct revolves
around prlnclples for rallway constructlon but ls really
a confllct between the old and the new, between the
conservatlsm of the old and the eagerness and the
search for truth among the young. Llkewlse, ln i~~
(performed and publlshed ln l879), Bjrnson gave dra
matlc form to a debate about marrlage and dlvorce,
flnally 'provlng" that the dlvorced woman acted on the
basls of a hlgher morallty than the blshop hlmself.
In the years around l880 Bjrnson was polltlcally
actlve, but now malnly ln lnternal affalrs ln Norway.
How lnfluentlal he really was ln the flght for parllamen
tarlsm ln Norway ln l883 and l881, or how much hls
lastlng struggle to end the unlon wlth Sweden really
mattered, ls hard to say. Because he sald and wrote so
much, even publlshlng many of hls polltlcal ldeas ln
European newspapers, he certalnly appears to be one
of the central flgures on the polltlcal scene, although
some of the polltlclans grew weary of hlm when the
confllct wlth Sweden took a dangerous turn ln l905.
Hls ldeas dld not always flnd an enthuslastlc publlc, as
when he lectured on Nordlc polltlcs and Blble lnterpre
tatlons on a tour among Norweglan lmmlgrants ln the
Lnlted States ln l880.
Bjrnson was so lnvolved ln everythlng around
hlmalways wllllng to speak, lecture, teach, and make
hls oplnlons known by wrltlng ln papers and journals
that he produced almost no new llterature ln these
years. Hls publlsher ln Copenhagen persuaded hlm to
go abroad agaln, and beglnnlng ln the fall of l882 he
spent flve years ln Parls wlth hls famlly. Jhls sojourn
helped hlm get back to creatlve work, and the flrst
years ln Parls were enormously productlve. Jhe flrst
result was the play b ~ (A Gauntlet; performed
and publlshed ln l883), ln whlch Bjrnson, through
one of hls characters, states that men should be held to
the same standard of purlty before marrlage as women
are. He came under flre from the clergy on the one
sldebecause he demanded equallty between the
sexesand the radlcals and advocates of free love on
the other. Jhls work marked the beglnnlng of a long
and heated debate about sexuallty and purlty that spllt
the members of the socalled modern breakthrough ln
Scandlnavlan llterature. Bjrnson fell out wlth August
Strlndberg as well as wlth Brandes, and even lf some
old frlendshlps could be repalred, Bjrnson was too
much of a stern morallst for many of hls contemporar
les.
Bjrnson`s new convlctlons, hls bellef ln the doc
trlne of evolutlon, and hls dlstrust ln old lnherlted rell
glous bellefs are clearly at work ln the superb story p
(Dust) from l882. Jhey are also present on all levels ln
l f (Beyond Our Power, publlshed ln l883, per
formed ln l886; translated as m~ p~I l893). Jhls
play ls regarded as Bjrnson`s most modern and per
haps also the best of all hls works ln the dramatlc
genre. Jhe play was performed ln Stockholm ln l886,
but not ln Norway and Denmark untll l899.
Even ln thls play Bjrnson ls the dldactlc wrlter,
but the tendentlousness of thls text ls less marked
because he creates bellevable and strong characters and
reallstlc actlon set ln the mlddle of dramatlc landscapes
ln northern Norway, whlch makes thoughts of God
and hls power plauslble. Jhe prlest, Sang, awalts a mlr
aclehere, lf anywhere, ls certalnly the place for mlra
cles, and Sang ls such a plous and lovlng person that lt
mlght be reasonable lf God proved hls falth and convlc
tlons to be true by glvlng hlm a mlracle. But the play
shows that mlracles are beyond human power, thus
lndlcatlng that Chrlstlanlty ltself ls out of reach.
Another play from thls perlod, d~ J
(Geography and Love; performed and publlshed
ln l885), ls ln a much llghter reglster, almost a comedy
about a busy and selflmportant husband. Jhe exuber
ant humor of the play, whlch also has elements of a self
portralt, made thls work one of the most popular of
Bjrnson`s plays, and lt ls stlll performed occaslonally,
more than a hundred years later.
In l881 Bjrnson had completed a long and real
lstlc novel, a ~ ~ (translated as q
e~ hI l892). Jhls book ls also concerned
wlth the problems of morallty and has a clear dldactlc
goal as lt preaches cellbacy for men before marrlage.
He had begun another novel ln Parls, but m d
l5l
ai_ POV _ _
(translated as f d t~I l890) dld not appear tlll
l889. In thls work, rellglous lssues lead to a bltter con
fllct between two frlends, a clergyman and a doctor,
and only late and after much sufferlng do they reallze
that 'where good people walk, there ls God`s Way."
Around l890 Bjrnson was devotlng much tlme
and energy to polltlcs, dellverlng speeches and wrltlng
newspaper artlcles almost on a dally basls. Hls audl
ence had grown, and now he sent hls artlcles to the blg
newspapers and magazlnes ln Great Brltaln, Irance,
Germany, and the Lnlted States. At home he carrled
on the flght to end the unlon wlth Sweden, even lf he
dld not work for a polltlcal party any longer. He
declared that he sympathlzed wlth practlcal soclallsm
and became even more popular when he supported the
female workers ln a match factory when they went on a
strlke ln l889. He hoped for a peaceful resolutlon of
the class confllcts but often created confllcts and opposl
tlons hlmself ln matters where he really had no reason
to become lnvolved. He was regarded wlth skeptlclsm
by many wrlters of a new generatlon, and he dld of
course oppose llterary naturallsm as well as the new
Romantlclsm ln Norweglan llterature ln the l890s.
He had also found a new fleld of lnterestlnterna
tlonal work for peaceand he belleved strongly that
wars could be avolded through serlous arbltratlon. He
even wrote an eplc poem, 'Ired" (Peace), ln l89l, and
ln l ff (Beyond Human Mlght; publlshed ln
l895, performed ln l897) he wrote what may well have
been the flrst drama ln world llterature about the mod
ern class struggle. Jhe play deplcts a strlke ln whlch the
two sldes are ln absolute deadlock. Workers stand
agalnst factory owners; ldeologles are totally opposed.
Nothlng but dlsaster can be the result, but the play ends
on a dream of reconclllatlon and peace.
Bjrnson had a home at Aulestad, ln Gausdal,
Oppland county, outslde Llllehammer, well away from
clty llfe and lts demands. He spent more and more tlme
abroad as he grew older, but when ln Norway he could
llve outslde of the confllcts ln polltlcs and cultural llfe ln
the capltal. Irom l893 the famlly spent thelr wlnters ln
Rome and thelr summers ln Austrla or Germany.
Bjrnson also spent tlme ln Parls but returned to Nor
way at least once a year, and then he often went on lec
ture and readlng tours. Hls productlvlty was not as lt
had been ln hls best years, and only m~ i~ q~
m~ (publlshed ln l898, performed ln l90l; trans
lated as m~ i~ ~ q~ m~I l899) ls on a par
wlth hls best polltlcal dramas. Jhe chlef male character
has a sensltlve nature and ls thus almost defenseless ln
the tough polltlcal flghts ln whlch he has to partlclpate.
Ior years Bjrnson struggled to free hlmself from the
susplclon that he had contrlbuted to the sulclde of Ole
Rlchter, the real polltlclan on whom hls leadlng charac
ter obvlously was based. Many consldered the play to
be an apology and a defense from Bjrnson`s slde.
Most of hls tlme was spent wrltlng artlcles. Jhey
brought hlm lnternatlonal fame, for lnstance when he
supported Emlle Zola wlth great vlgor ln the latter`s
l898 defense of Alfred Dreyfus, the |ewlsh Irench
army offlcer lmprlsoned for treason ln l891. Bjrnson
made much money from hls journallsm, and most of lt
was spent on Aulestad and on hls flve survlvlng chll
dren (one had dled shortly after belng born). He had
translated selected parts of Vlctor Hugo`s i~ i
(l859; translated as q i Ì
l871) lnto Norweglan, and he loved readlng aloud from
thls work on hls many tours around the country and ln
Denmark. Jhe translatlon was not publlshed untll the
year after Bjrnson`s death. He was present when the
new Natlonaltheateret opened ln l899 wlth hls son
Bjrn as the flrst dlrector, and he had the pleasure of
dlrectlng hls two l plays.
Bjrnson was awarded the Nobel Prlze ln Lltera
ture ln l903 'as a trlbute to hls noble, magnlflcent and
versatlle poetry, whlch has always been dlstlngulshed
by both the freshness of lts lnsplratlon and the rare
purlty of lts splrlt." Jhe permanent secretary of the
Swedlsh Academy, C. D. af Wlrsn, emphaslzed the
same values ln hls presentatlon speech. 'Your lnsplred
and unlversally acknowledged poetlc achlevement,
rooted ln nature and ln the llfe of the people as well as
ln strong personal convlctlons, comblnes morallty and
a healthy poetlc freshness." At the Nobel banquet
Bjrnson took the opportunlty to express hls vlews on
moral flctlon, whlch would lnvarlably help manklnd
move along ln a human progress toward better thlngs.
He defended llterature ln whlch 'tendentlousness and
art appear ln the same proportlon," but was also a
strong advocate of the old ldeas of rlght and wrong,
slnce lt ls lmposslble for people to 'shake off the ldeas
that have come down to them through the centurles of
lnherlted morallty."
Ior posterlty lt has been vlrtually lmposslble to
understand why Ibsen (or, for that matter, Sweden`s
Strlndberg) dld not recelve the prlze. Even ln l903 lt
may have seemed surprlslng and brave of a Swedlsh
lnstltutlon to award thls prestlglous prlze to one of the
strongest and loudest opponents of the unlon, a person
who at tlmes one mlght thlnk hated Swedes and every
thlng Swedlsh. In a more general understandlng of the
llterary scene and of the dlfferent Nordlc candldates for
the prlze at thls partlcular tlme, however, lt should not
be too much of a surprlse that Bjrnson was the pre
ferred cholce, and certalnly not lf one keeps ln mlnd
'the ldeallstlc splrlt" that seemed to be a baslc requlre
ment, although the Academy could deflne thls term ln
ways that served thelr own llterary tastes.
l52
_ _ ai_ POV
Jhe Nobel Prlze came so late ln Bjrnson`s llfe
that lt dld not change hls attltudes or hls wrltlng at all.
Jhe money, however, came ln handy, slnce upkeep on
hls Aulestad home was expenslve.
Bjrnson suffered from an ear allment beglnnlng
ln l899; he became deaf ln one ear, and hls health
began to deterlorate conslderably. He wrote a few
plays of llttle lmportance, and the same ls true for the
novel Mory from l906. He could stlll be a competent
poet, however, and wrote several good poems, even lf
they were commlssloned and wrltten to celebrate
somethlng. In l909 hls last play appeared`r dcv vy
viv blomstrcr (When the New Vlne Blossoms), a llght
and easy comedy. Bjrnson was an old man by thls
tlme, and he had suffered from a serlous stroke ln
l909; yet, hls falth and joy ln llfe remalned undlmln
lshed, as wltnessed ln hls last play and ln hls last
poems. He never recovered after the stroke, and he
dled ln Parls on 26 Aprll l9l0.
Bjrnson was brought home on the warshlp
òrgc and burled wlth all the honors beflttlng a
natlonal poet and lnternatlonal celebrlty. Knut Ham
sun (hlmself a Nobel reclplent ln l920) had wrltten a
poem ln honor of Bjrnson`s seventleth blrthday ln
l902; he was one of many wrlters who expressed thelr
sorrow when Bjrnson dled. Hamsun knew that every
onelncludlng the natlon ltselfwould pause for a
moment of respect and sllence when the great chronl
cler had passed away.
Bjrnson`s slgnlflcance lles perhaps foremost ln
the fact that he lntroduced new forms to Norweglan llt
erature. He was a ploneer ln lyrlcal poetry, ln the wrlt
lng of short storles and tales, ln the saga plays, and ln
the modern reallstlc drama. Almost all wrlters of hls
own and the followlng generatlon were lndebted to
hlm ln one way or other; many of them admltted as
much, from Hamsun ln Norway to Selma Lagerlf ln
Sweden and |ohannes V. |ensen ln Denmark, all later
reclplents of the Nobel Prlze.
Bjrnson was always a step ahead of Ibsen, who
was four years hls senlor and a frlend as well as rlval.
Bjrnson helped create the Nordlc hlstorlcal drama
and the reallstlc contemporary problem playyet,
Ibsen deflnltely wrote the best plays ln both these
genres. Seen from a modern perspectlve, Ibsen ls the
greatest of all Norweglan wrlters of thls perlod; but
seen from the contemporary polnt of vlew, Bjrnson
loomed so large that lt was flttlng to award hlm the
Nobel Prlze. Hls llfe and work were lntlmately llnked
to the polltlcal and cultural shlfts ln Norway durlng a
perlod of strong growth and progress, and ln many
ways he embodles the changes, lnnovatlons, and devel
opment that the natlon he helped create and deflne
went through.
Bjrnstjerne Bjrnson`s legacy ls not only the
books he left behlnd but the llfe he llved ln the servlce
of hls country. He was always on the slde of the weak
and oppressed, demandlng for all cltlzens the rlght to
vote and complete equallty for women. He brought
new toplcs up for open and free dlscusslon, and he was
wllllng to debate everythlng, though hls oplnlons and
attltudes changed several tlmes ln questlons of both
polltlcs and llterature. Desplte all hls changes he
remalned a dldactlc wrlter wlth a moral lesson to glve,
whlch he often presented through exemplary narra
tlves ln whlch characters struggle to overcome thelr
own natures and flnally emerge vlctorlous as good and
decent people. He always belleved ln hls own phrase,
'Good deeds save the world," and he lnslsted that
peace and prosperlty and progress were posslble and
that lt was the wrlter`s task to contrlbute to a better
future for everyone.
iW
Iovd of tlc Ircc: jrvstjcrvc jrvsov`s Zmcrico Icttcrs,
1SS0-1SS1, edlted and translated by Eva Lund
Haugen and Elnar Haugen (Northfleld, Mlnn..
NorweglanAmerlcan Hlstorlcal Assoclatlon, l978).
_~W
Chr. Collln |Chrlsten Chrlstlan Dreyer|, jrvstjcrvc
jrvsov: Hovs borvdom og uvgdom, 2 volumes
(Chrlstlanla. Aschehoug, l923; enlarged edltlon,
Oslo. Gyldendal Norsk, l932);
P. Amdam, jrvstjcrvc jrvsov 1SJ2-1SS0 (Oslo. Gyl
dendal, l993);
Aldo Keel, jrvstjcrvc jrvsov 1SS0-1910 (Oslo. Gyl
dendal, l999).
oW
Edvard Beyer, 'Bjrnstjerne Bjrnson," ln òrgcs littcr-
oturlistoric, volume 3, edlted by Beyer (Oslo. Cap
pelen, l975), pp. 93-225;
Irancls Bull, 'Bjrnstjerne Bjrnson," ln òrsl Iittcr-
oturlistoric, volume 1, edlted by Bull and others
(Oslo. Aschehoug, l963), pp. 167-705;
Chrlstlan Glerlff, jrvstjcrvc jrvsov (Oslo. Gyldendal,
l932);
Gerhard Gran, jrvstjcrvc jrvsov (Copenhagen.
Schnbergske, l9l6);
Harald Noreng, jrvstjcrvc jrvsovs dromotislc diltvivg
(Oslo. Gyldendal, l951).
m~W
Bjrnstjerne Bjrnson`s papers, lncludlng manuscrlpts
and correspondence, are housed at the Natlonal
Llbrary ln Oslo.
l53
ai_ POV _ _
NVMP k m i~
m~ p
by C. D. of !irscv, Icrmovcvt Sccrctory of tlc Swcdisl
Zcodcmy, 10 Dcccmbcr 190J
Agaln thls year the names of several candldates
for the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature have been submltted to
the Swedlsh Academy for lts approval; some of them
are authors of European reputatlon. Jhe Academy
thlnks that thls year lt should glve prlorlty to the poet
Bjrnstjerne Bjrnson. Although we have the pleasure
of seelng the lllustrlous laureate at thls ceremony, cus
tom requlres that I speak of hlm ln the thlrd person as I
glve an account of the Academy`s declslon. But I
reserve the rlght to address a few personal remarks to
hlm at the end.
Bjrnstjerne Bjrnson ls so generally known and
hls works are so famlllar to educated Swedes that lt ls
unnecessary to glve a comprehenslve appreclatlon of
hls unlversally and gladly acknowledged merlts. Jhere
fore I shall llmlt myself on thls solemn occaslon to the
followlng remarks.
Jhe poet to whom wlth true satlsfactlon the
Swedlsh Academy has awarded the Nobel Prlze ln Llt
erature was born at Kvlkne, Norway, where hls father
was a mlnlster and where as a chlld he could llsten to
the waters of the Orkla bolllng at the bottom of a gorge.
Jhe last years of hls chlldhood were, however, spent at
Naesset ln the beautlful valley of Romsdal where hls
father had been transferred. Jhe vlcarage of Naesset ls
sltuated between the two lnlets of Langfjord, Eldsvaag
and Elrlsfjord. In that plcturesque countryslde of Nor
way, between these two fjords, the young boy often
looked at the splendour of the sun settlng behlnd the
mountaln or ln the sea. Jhere he learned to do farm
work. Hls love of the rustlc nature of hls country and
hls lntlmate knowledge of the llfe of the people date
from that tlme. At the age of eleven he was sent to
school at Molde. He dld not do brllllantly, but the
development of a great poet ls not always measured by
such standards. Durlng hls studles he came across one
author who was to have a profound lnfluence on hls
llfe. he began to read Sturleson. At thls perlod, too, he
became acqualnted wlth the storles of Asbjrnson and
the works of Oehlenschlger and Walter Scott. At the
age of seventeen he went to Chrlstlanla (Oslo) to pre
pare for hls baccalaureate, whlch he passed ln l852.
Bjrnson has sald that he knew of hls poetlc vocatlon
after he took part ln the Ilrst Student Assembly ln Lpp
sala ln l856. In unforgettable words he has glven us hls
lmpresslons of the church of Rlddarholm llt up by the
rays of the settlng sun, and of Stockholm ln the splen
dour of the summer. Jhen he wrote Mcllcm slogcvc
(l857) [ctwccv tlc ottlcs] ln a fortnlght, to be followed
by other works, among them the story Syvvvc Solbollcv
(l857) [Suvvy Hill]. Henceforth the reputatlon of Bjrn
son was solldly establlshed and an unlnterrupted serles
of new works spread hls name all over the world.
Bjrnson ls a great eplc and dramatlc wrlter, but
he ls also a great lyrlc poet. Syvvvc Solbollcv, Zrvc
(l858), and Iv glod gut (l860) [Z Hoppy oy] put hlm ln
the flrst rank of palnters of contemporary llfe. In these
sombre accounts he reveals hlmself as a man of the
country and of the old saga; lndeed lt has been sald, not
wlthout reason, that he descrlbes the llfe of the peasant
ln the llght of saga. But lt should be added that the
peasants whom he knew so well slnce hls Romsdal days
haveln the judgments of competent personspre
served the laconlc and reserved manner of talklng
whlch the poet has reproduced wlth such fellclty.
Although thls reproductlon ls ldeallzed and profoundly
poetlc, lt ls nonetheless falthful and true to nature.
As a dramatlst Bjrnson has treated hlstorlcal
subjects, e.g. Iovg Svcrrc (l86l), Sigurd orsolofor (l872)
[Sigurd tlc Crusodcr], the masterly Sigurd Slcmbc (l862)
[Sigurd tlc od], ln whlch the love of Audhlld brlngs
some llght lnto a sombre sltuatlon and where the flgure
of Ilnneplgen stands ln the splendour of an aurora
borealls, the passlonate drama Morio Stuort i Slottlovd
(l861), and other creatlons of genlus. But he has been
equally successful ln hls cholce of contemporary sub
jects, as ln Icdoltrcv (l871) [Tlc Iditor], Iv follit (l871)
[Tlc ovlrupt], etc. Even as an old man he has created a
dlslnterested portralt of love ln Ioul Iovgc og Toro Iors-
bcrg (l898); ln Ioborcmus (l90l) he has extolled the rlght
of the moral llfe agalnst the natural forces of unre
stralned passlon. Ilnally, ln I Storlovc (l902) [Zt Stor-
lovc] he has pald dramatlc homage to the guardlan
forces of the home as represented by Margareta, the
falthful and constant support of her famlly. It should ln
fact be observed that Bjrnson`s characters are of a rare
purlty, that hls genlus ls always posltlve and ln no way
negatlve. Hls works are never adulterated; on the con
trary they are pure metal, and whatever modlflcatlons
the years and experlence have lmposed upon hls polnt
of vlew and that of others, he has never ceased to com
bat the clalm of the senses to domlnate man.
It ls sometlmes sald that the Nobel Prlze ln Lltera
ture, deslgned for the best llterary work, should prefera
bly be awarded to young wrlters. Jhat may be true, but
even so the Academy belleves lt has met all reasonable
demands.
Jhe creatlve power of thls man of seventyone ls
so great that he publlshed I Storlovc ln l902, and the
l51
_ _ ai_ POV
works publlshed afterward bear wltness to the youthful
splrlt that he has been able to preserve.
As a lyrlc poet Bjrnson ls exemplary by hls fresh
slmpllclty and hls profound sentlments. Hls poems are
an lnsplratlonal source of lnexhaustlble wealth, and the
melodlous character of hls verse has tempted many a
composer to set lt to muslc. . . . No country has a more
beautlful anthem than '|a, vl elsker dette Landet" |Yes,
we love thls country| by Bjrnson, and when one reads
the subllme song of 'Arnljot Gelllne," ln whlch the
rhythms are llke the majestlc movements of waves, one
llkes to thlnk that ln future tlmes the waves of memory
wlll murmur 'l store maanesklnsklare Naetter" |ln clear
moonllt nlghts| as they play the name of the great
natlonal poet on the coasts of Norway.
Mr. Bjrnstjerne BjrnsonYour genlus has
served the purest and most elevated ldeas; lt has put the
hlghest demands on human llfe, ln certaln cases Eb
~I l883 x^ d~z F even thought too hlgh by
many. But ln thelr noble severlty they are lnflnltely pref
erable to the laxness that ls all too prevalent ln the llter
ature of our day. Your lnsplred and unlversally
acknowledged poetlc achlevement, rooted ln nature and
ln the llfe of the people as well as ln strong personal
convlctlons, comblnes morallty and a healthy poetlc
freshness. Hence the Swedlsh Academy has seen flt to
render homage to your lllustrlous genlus by awardlng
you the Nobel Prlze for thls year, and lt respectfully
asks Hls Majesty the Klng to delgn to glve you thls
proof of lts admlratlon.
_W _~ p
_ ~ k _~ ~ d~ eI
pI NM a NVMP Eq~~FW
I belleve that the Prlze I have recelved today wlll
be regarded by the publlc as a glft from one natlon to
another. After the long struggle ln whlch I have taken
part to galn for Norway an equal place wlthln the
Lnlon, a struggle whlch was often bltterly resented ln
Sweden, may I say that the declslon ls a credlt to her
name.
I am glad of thls opportunlty to express very
brlefly my vlews on the role of llterature.
Let me, ln the lnterest of brevlty, evoke a plcture I
have had ln my mlnd slnce my early youth, whenever I
thlnk of human progress. I see lt as an endless proces
slon ln whlch men and women move steadlly along.
Jhe llne they follow ls not lnvarlably stralght but lt
does take them forward. Jhey are urged on by an lrre
slstlble force, purely lnstlnctlve at flrst but eventually
more and more consclous. Not that human progress ls
ever entlrely a matter of consclous effort, and no man
has ever been able to make lt so. It ls ln thls no man`s
land between consclous progress and subconsclous
forglng ahead that lmaglnatlon ls at work. In some of
us, the glft of presclence ls so great that lt enables us to
see far ahead to the new paths along whlch human
progress wlll travel.
Nothlng has ever moulded our consclence so
strongly as our knowledge of what ls good and what ls
evll. Jherefore, our sense of good and evll ls so much a
part of our consclence that, to thls day, no one can dls
regard lt and feel at ease wlth hlmself. Jhat ls why I
have always been so puzzled by the ldea that we wrlters
should lay down our sense of good and evll before we
take up our pens. Jhe effect of thls reasonlng would be
to turn our mlnds lnto cameras lndlfferent to good and
evll, to beauty and ugllness allke!
I do not want to dwell here on the extent to whlch
modern manalways assumlng he ls a sane lndlvldual
can shake off a consclence that ls the herltage of mll
llons of years, and by whlch all the generatlons of man
klnd have been gulded to the present day. I shall merely
ask why those who subscrlbe to thls theory choose cer
taln lmages lnstead of others? Is thelr cholce a purely
mechanlcal one? Why are the plctures that present
themselves to thelr lmaglnatlon almost lnvarlably
shocklng? Are they sure that lt ls not they, ln fact, who
have chosen them?
I do not thlnk we need to walt for the answer.
Jhey can no more shake off the ldeas that have come
down to them through centurles of lnherlted morallty
than we can. Jhe only dlfference between them and
ourselves ls that, whereas we serve these ldeas, they try
to rebel agalnst them. I should qulckly add here that
not all ls lmmoral that appears to be so. Many of
today`s guldlng ldeas were revolutlonary ones ln the
past. What I do say ls that the wrlters who reject ten
dentlousness and purpose ln thelr work are the very
ones who dlsplay lt ln every word they wrlte. I could
draw countless examples from the hlstory of llterature
to show that the more a wrlter clamours for splrltual
freedom, the more tendentlous hls work ls llable to be.
Jhe great poets of Greece were equally at home wlth
mortals and lmmortals. Shakespeare`s plays were a
great Jeutonlc Valhalla wlth brllllant sunshlne at tlmes
and vlolent tempests at others. Jhe world to hlm was a
battlefleld, but hls sense of poetlc justlce, hls subllme
falth ln llfe and lts lnflnlte resources gulded the battles.
We may lnvoke from thelr graves, as often as we
wlsh, the characters of Mollre and Holberg, to see
nothlng but a processlon of flgures ln frllly costumes
l55
ai_ POV _ _
and wlgs who, wlth affected and grotesque gestures, ful
flll thelr mlsslon. Jhey are as tendentlous as they are
verbose.
I spoke just now of our Jeutonlc Valhalla. Dld not
Goethe and Schlller brlng somethlng of the Elyslan
flelds lnto lt? Jhe sky was loftler and warmer wlth
them, llfe and art happler and more beautlful. We may
perhaps say that those who have basked ln thls warmth,
ln thls sunshlneyoung Jegnr, young Oehlenschlger,
and young Wergeland, not forgettlng Byron and Shel
leyhave all had somethlng of the Greek gods ln them.
Jhls tlme and thls trend are gone now, but I
should llke to mentlon two great men who belong to lt.
Ilrst, I thlnk of my old frlend ln Norway who ls now lll.
He has llt many a beacon along our Norweglan coast to
gulde the marlner, to warn hlm of the danger that lles
ahead. I thlnk, too, of a grand old man ln a nelghbour
lng country to the east, whose llght shlnes forth and
glves happlness to many. Jhelr splrlt, thelr many years
of work, were llt by a purpose that was ever brlghter,
llke a flame ln the evenlng wlnd.
I have sald nothlng here of the effect of tenden
tlousness on art, whlch lt can make or mar. 'Ich rleche
dle Abslcht und werde verstlmmt."
If tendentlousness and art appear ln the same pro
portlon, all ls well. Of the two great wrlters I have men
tloned, lt may well be that the former`s warnlngs are so
severe as to be frlghtenlng. And the latter may lure us
wlth the charms of an ldeal that passes human under
standlng and therefore frlghtens, too. But what ls neces
sary ls that our courage to llve ls strengthened, not
weakened. Iear should not turn us back from the paths
whlch open before us. Jhe processlon must go on. We
must be confldent that llfe ls fundamentally good, that
even after frlghtenlng dlsasters and the most traglc
events, the earth ls bathed ln a flood of strength whose
sources are eternal. Our bellef ln lt ls lts proof.
In more recent tlmes, Vlctor Hugo has been my
hero. At the bottom of hls brllllant lmaglnatlon lles the
convlctlon that llfe ls good and lt ls that whlch makes
hls work so colourful. Jhere are those who talk of hls
shortcomlngs, of hls theatrlcal mannerlsms. Let them.
Ior me, all hls deflclencles are compensated by hls
. Our lnstlnct of selfpreservatlon lnslsts on thls, for
lf llfe dld not have more good than evll to offer us, lt
would have come to an end long ago. Any plcture of llfe
that does not allow for thls fact ls a dlstorted plcture. It
ls wrong to lmaglne, as some do, that lt ls the dark
aspects of llfe whlch are bad for us. Jhat ls not true.
Weakllngs and egotlsts cannot ablde harsh facts
but the rest of us can. If those who choose to make us
tremble or blush were also able to hold out a promlse
that, for all that may befall us, llfe has happlness to offer
us, we mlght say to ourselves. all rlght, we are faced ln
thls plot and ln these words wlth a mystery that ls part
of llfe, and we should be roused to fear or amusement
accordlng to the author`s wlll. Jhe trouble ls that wrlt
ers seldom achleve more than a sensatlon, and often not
even that! We feel doubly dlssatlsfled, because the
author`s attltude to llfe ls so negatlve and because he ls
not capable of leadlng us. Incompetence ls always gall
lng.
Jhe greater the burden a man takes upon hls
shoulders, the stronger he must be to carry lt. No
words are unmentlonable, no actlon or horror beyond
powers of descrlptlon, lf one ls equal to them.
A meanlngful llfethls ls what we look for ln art,
ln lts smallest dewdrops as ln lts unleashlng of the tem
pest. We are at peace when we have found lt and
uneasy when we have not.
Jhe old ldeas of rlght and wrong, so flrmly estab
llshed ln our consclousness, have played thelr part ln
every fleld of our llfe; they are part of our search for
knowledge and our thlrst for llfe ltself. It ls the purpose
of all art to dlssemlnate these ldeas and, for that, mll
llons of coples would not be one too many.
Jhls ls the ldeal I have trled to defend, as a
respectful servant and enthuslast. I am not one of those
who belleve that an artlst, a wrlter, ls exempt from
responslblllty. On the contrary, hls responslblllty ls
greater than that of other men because he who ls at the
head of the processlon must lead the way for those who
follow.
I am deeply grateful to the Swedlsh Academy for
recognlzlng my efforts ln thls dlrectlon and I now wlsh
to ralse my glass to the success of lts work ln promotlng
all that ls sound and noble ln llterature.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l903. Bjrnstjerne Bjrnson
l56
e _
(21 Dcccmbcr 1917 - 16 uly 19S)
o~ hK w~~
Uvivcrsity of tlc Soutl
Jhls entry was expanded by Zachau from hls Bll
entry ln DI 69: Covtcmporory Ccrmov Iictiov !ritcrs, Iirst
Scrics. See also the Bll entry ln DI Jcorbool: 19S.
BOOKS. Dcr ug wor pvltlicl: Irolluvg (Opladen.
Mlddelhauve, l919); translated by Rlchard
Graves as Tlc Troiv !os ov Timc (London. Arco,
l956; New York. Crlterlon Books, l956);
!ovdcrcr lommst du vocl Spo . . . : Irolluvgcv (Opladen.
Mlddlehauve, l950); translated by Mervyn Savlll
as Trovcllcr, If Jou Comc to Spo . . . (London. Arco,
l956);
Dic sclworcv Sclofc: Irolluvg (Opladen. Mlddelhauve,
l95l);
!o worst du, Zdom? Iomov (Opladen. Mlddelhauve,
l95l); translated by Savlll as Zdom, !lcrc Zrt
Tlou? (New York. Crlterlon Books, l955); trans
lated by Lella Vennewltz as 'And Where Were
You, Adam?" ln Zdom ovd Tlc Troiv: Two òvcls
(New York. McGrawHlll, l970);
ìclt vur ur !cilvocltscit: Iivc lumoristisclc Irolluvg
(Irankfurt am Maln. Irankfurter Verlagsanstalt,
l952); publlshed wlth Dcr Movv mit dcv Mcsscrv,
edlted by Dorothea Berger (New York. Amerlcan
Book Co., l959);
Uvd sogtc lciv civigcs !ort: Iomov (Cologne Berlln.
Klepenheuer Wltsch, l953); translated by
Graves as Zcquoivtcd witl tlc ìglt (New York.
Holt, l951); translated by Vennewltz as Zvd `cvcr
Soid o !ord (New York. McGrawHlll, l978);
Hous olvc Htcr: Iomov (Cologne Berlln. Klepenheuer
Wltsch, l951); translated by Savlll as Tlc
Uvguordcd Housc (London. Arco, l957); transla
tlon republlshed as Tomorrow ovd Jcstcrdoy (New
York. Crlterlon Books, l957);
Dos rot dcr frlcv olrc: Irolluvg (Cologne Berlln.
Klepenheuer Wltsch, l955); translated by Savlll
as Tlc rcod of Uur Iorly Jcors (London. Arco,
l957); translated by Vennewltz as Tlc rcod of
Tlosc Iorly Jcors (New York. McGrawHlll, l976);
So word Zbcvd uvd Morgcv: Irolluvgcv (Zurlch. Arche,
l955);
Uvbcrcclcvborc Costc: Hcitcrc Irolluvgcv (Zurlch. Arche,
l956);
Irisclcs Togcbucl (Cologne Berlln. Klepenheuer
Wltsch, l957); translated by Vennewltz as Irisl
ourvol (New York. McGrawHlll, l967; London.
Im Tol dcr dovvcrvdcv Hufc: Irolluvg (Wlesbaden. Insel,
l957); edlted by |ames Alldrldge (London. Helne
mann Educatlonal, l970);
Zbcvtcucr civcs rotbcutcls, uvd ovdcrc Ccsclicltcv, edlted by
Rlchard Plant (New York. Norton, l957);
Dic Spurloscv: Hrspicl (Hamburg. HansBredowInstltut,
l957); publlshed wlth Leopold Ahlsen, Ililcmov
uvd oulis, edlted by Anna Otten (New York.
Odyssey, l967);
Doltor Murlcs gcsommcltcs Sclwcigcv uvd ovdcrc Sotircv
(Cologne Berlln. Klepenheuer Wltsch, l958);
edlted by Gertrud Seldmann (London. Harrap,
l963);
e _ EF NVTO k m i~
` m `~ usf d~ p E^m t tF
l57
ai_ POV e _
Dcr !cgwcrfcr: Irolluvg (AlfeldGronau. Hannoversche
Paplerfabrlken, l958);
Im Iulrgcbict, text by Bll, lllustratlons by Karl
Hargeshelmer (Irankfurt am Maln. Bchergllde
Gutenberg, l958);
Dic uvgcolltc Cclicbtc (Zolllkofen. Prlvately prlnted,
l958);
Irolluvgcv (Opladen. Mlddelhauve, l958)lncludes
Dcr ug wor pvltlicl and !ovdcrcr Iommst du vocl
Spo . . . ;
Dic !oogc dcr olcls uvd ovdcrc Irolluvgcv (Berlln.
Lnlon, l959);
illord um lolb clv: Iomov (Cologne Berlln. Klepen
heuer Wltsch, l959); translated by Patrlck
Bowles as illiords ot Holf-post ìvc (London.
Weldenfeld Nlcolson, l96l; New York.
McGrawHlll, l962);
Dcr Movv mit dcv Mcsscrv: Irolluvgcv (Stuttgart. Reclam,
l959); publlshed wlth ìclt vur ur !cilvocltscit,
edlted by Berger (New York. Amerlcan Book Co.,
l959);
Dcr olvlof vov imprcv: Irolluvgcv (Munlch. Llst,
l959);
Zus uvscrcv Togcv, edlted by Glsela Steln (New York.
Holt, Rlnehart Wlnston, l960);
Mcvsclcv om Ilciv, text by Bll, lllustratlons by
Hargeshelmer (Irankfurt am Maln. Bchergllde
Gutenberg, l960);
ricf ov civcv juvgcv Iotlolilcv (Cologne Berlln. Klepen
heuer Wltsch, l96l);
ilov; Ilopfciclcv; wci Hrspiclc (Stuttgart. Reclam,
l96l);
Irolluvgcv, Hrspiclc, Zufsotc (Cologne Berlln.
Klepenheuer Wltsch, l96l);
Zls dcr Iricg ousbrocl; Zls dcr Iricg u Ivdc wor: wci
Irolluvgcv (Irankfurt am Maln. Insel, l962);
translated by Vennewltz as 'Enter and Exlt," ln
Zbscvt witlout Icovc: Two òvcllos (New York.
McGrawHlll, l965); translatlon republlshed ln
Zbscvt witlout Icovc ovd Utlcr Storics (London.
Iiv Scllucl Irdc: Dromo (Cologne Berlln. Klepenheuer
Wltsch, l962);
Zssisi (Munlch. Knorr Hlrth, l962);
Zvsicltcv civcs Clowvs: Iomov (Cologne Berlln. Klepen
heuer Wltsch, l963); translated by Vennewltz
as Tlc Clowv (New York. McGrawHlll, l965);
Hicrulovdc: Zufsotc (Munlch. Deutscher Jaschenbuch,
l963);
1947 bis 191: Irolluvgcv (Cologne Opladen. Mld
delhauve, l963); selectlons translated by Venne
wltz as Clildrcv Zrc Civiliovs, Too (New York.
McGrawHlll, l970; London. Secker Warburg,
l973);
Dic Isscvlolcr uvd ovdcrc Irolluvgcv, edlted by Irltz
Bachmann (Irankfurt am Maln. Hlrschgraben
Verlag, l963);
um Tcc bci Dr. orsig: Hrspiclc (Munlch. Deutscher
Jaschenbuch, l961);
Ivtfcrvuvg vov dcr Truppc: Irolluvg (Cologne Berlln.
Klepenheuer Wltsch, l961); translated by Ven
newltz as 'Absent wlthout Leave," ln Zbscvt witl-
out Icovc: Two òvcllos (New York. McGrawHlll,
l965); translatlon republlshed ln Zbscvt witlout
Icovc ovd Utlcr Storics (London. Weldenfeld
Nlcolson, l967);
Dcr Iot dcs !cltuvwciscv: Iomov (Gtersloh. Mohn,
l965);
Irovlfurtcr !orlcsuvgcv (Cologne. Klepenheuer Wltsch,
l966);
Ivdc civcr Dicvstfolrt: Irolluvg (Cologne. Klepenheuer
Wltsch, l966); translated by Vennewltz as Ivd
of o Missiov (New York. McGrawHlll, l967);
translatlon republlshed as Tlc Ivd of o Missiov
(London. Weldenfeld Nlcolson, l968);
Dic Spurloscv: Drci Hrspiclc (Lelpzlg. Insel, l966);
1S Storics, translated by Vennewltz (New York.
McGrawHlll, l966);
Zufsotc, Iritilcv, Icdcv (Cologne. Klepenheuer
Wltsch, l967);
Ccorg clvcrs Ccgcvwortiglcit: Iivc Icdc (Berlln. Irlede
nauer Presse, l967);
Housfricdcvsbrucl: Hrspicl; Zussot: Sclouspicl (Cologne.
Klepenheuer Wltsch, l969);
Icbcv im ustovd dcs Ircvcls: Zvsproclc ur !crlciluvg dcs
Ilvcr Iitcroturprciscs (Berlln. Berllner Hand
presse, l969);
Ccsclicltcv ous wlf olrcv (Irankfurt am Maln.
Suhrkamp, l969);
ll fr citgcvosscv: Iiv lulturgcsclicltliclcs Icscbucl, edlted
by Ralph Ley (New York. Harper Row, l970);
Cruppcvbild mit Domc: Iomov (Cologne. Klepenheuer
Wltsch, l97l); translated by Vennewltz as Croup
Iortroit witl Iody (New York. McGrawHlll, l973);
Irolluvgcv, 190-1970 (Cologne. Klepenheuer
Wltsch, l972);
Ccdicltc (Berlln. Llterarlsches Colloqulum, l972);
!crsucl bcr dic !crvuvft dcr Iocsic: òbclvorlcsuvg (Stock
holm. Norstedt Sner, l973);
`cuc politisclc uvd litcrorisclc Sclriftcv (Cologne. Klepen
heuer Wltsch, l973);
Dic vcrlorcvc Ilrc dcr Iotlorivo lum odcr wic Ccwolt cvtstc-
lcv uvd woliv sic flrcv lovv: Irolluvg (Cologne.
Klepenheuer Wltsch, l971); translated by Ven
newltz as Tlc Iost Hovor of Iotlorivo lum: How
!iolcvcc Dcvclops ovd !lcrc It Cov Icod (New York.
McGrawHlll, l975);
l58
e _ ai_ POV
Drci Togc im Mor: Iiv Ccsprocl, by Bll and Chrlstlan
Llnder (Cologne. Klepenheuer Wltsch, l975);
cricltc ur Ccsivvuvgslogc dcr òtiov (Cologne. Klepen
Ccdicltc: Mit Collogcv vov Ilous Stoccl (Cologne. Labbe
Muta, l975);
!ic lritiscl dorf cvgogicrtc Iuvst sicv? (Munlch. Presseauss
chu Demokratlsche Inltlatlve, l976);
Iivmiscluvg crwvsclt: Sclriftcv ur cit (Cologne. Klepen
Missivg Icrsovs ovd Utlcr Issoys, translated by Vennewltz
(New York. McGrawHlll, l977; London. Secker
Warburg, l977);
_ucrsclvittc: ous Ivtcrvicws, Zufsotcv uvd Icdcv, edlted by
Vlktor Bll and Renate Matthael (Cologne.
!crlc: Iomovc uvd Irolluvgcv, 5 volumes, edlted by
Bernd Balzer (Cologne. Mlddelhauve/Klepen
!crlc: Issoyistisclc Sclriftcv uvd Icdcv, 3 volumes, edlted
by Balzer (Cologne. Klepenheuer Wltsch,
l977-l979);
!crlc: Hrspiclc, Tlcotcrstclc, Drclbclcr, Ccdicltc, edlted
by Balzer (Cologne. Klepenheuer Wltsch,
l978);
!crlc: Ivtcrvicws, edlted by Balzer (Cologne. Klepen
Mciv Icscbucl (Irankfurt am Maln. Ilscher, l978);
Iivc dcutsclc Irivvcruvg: Ivtcrvicw mit Icvc !ivtcv
(Cologne. Klepenheuer Wltsch, l979);
Du folrst u oft vocl Hcidclbcrg uvd ovdcrc Irolluvgcv
(BornhelmMerten. Lamuv, l979);
Irsorgliclc clogcruvg: Iomov (Cologne. Klepenheuer
Wltsch, l979); translated by Vennewltz as Tlc
Sofcty `ct (Iranklln Center, Pa.. Iranklln Llbrary,
l98l; London. Secker Warburg, l982);
Iiv Tog wic sovst: Hrspiclc (Munlch. Deutsch Jaschen
buch, l980);
!os soll ous dcm uvgcv blo wcrdcv? Udcr: Irgcvdwos mit
clcrv (BornhelmMerten. Lamuv, l98l); trans
lated by Vennewltz as !lot`s to ccomc of tlc oy?
or, Somctlivg to Do !itl ools (New York. Knopf,
l981);
!orum lobcv wir oufcivovdcr gcsclosscv? by Bll and Lev
Kopelev (BornhelmMerten. Lamuv, l98l);
Dcr Zutor ist immcr vocl vcrstcclt, by Bll and |rgen Wall
mann (Hauzenberg. Pongratz, l98l);
!crmivtcs Cclovdc: Issoyistisclc Sclriftcv 1977-19S1
!crovtwortlicl fr Iolcv? (Relnbek. Rowohlt, l982);
Dos !crmocltvis: Iurromov (BornhelmMerten. Lamuv,
l982); translated by Vennewltz as Z Soldicr`s Icg-
ocy (New York. Knopf, l985; London. Secker
Warburg, l985);
Zvtilommuvismus iv Ust uvd !cst (Cologne. BundVerlag,
l982);
Dic !crwuvduvg uvd ovdcrc frlc Irolluvgcv (Born
helmMerten. Lamuv, l983); translated by
Vennewltz as Tlc Cosuolty (London. Chatto
Wlndus, l986; New York. Iarrar, Straus Glr
oux, l987);
Dcr Zvgriff (Cologne. Klepenheuer Wltsch, l983);
ild, ovv, ocviscl (BornhelmMerten. Lamuv,
l981);
Iotloliscl uvd rcbclliscl: Iiv !cgwciscr durcl, dic ovdcrc
Iirclc (Relnbek. Rowohlt, l981);
!crovdcruvgcv iv Stoccl: Irolluvgcv 1962-19S0
!cil dic Stodt so frcmd gcwordcv ist (BornhelmMerten.
Lamuv, l985);
Hcivricl ll, ov His Dcotl (Bonn. Inter Natlones,
l985);
Iroucv vor Ilulovdscloft: Iomov iv Diologcv uvd Sclbst-
gcsproclcv (Cologne. Klepenheuer Wltsch,
l985); translated by Davld McLlntock as
!omcv iv o Iivcr Iovdscopc: Z òvcl iv Diologucs
ovd Soliloquics (New York. Knopf, l988);
Dic udcv vov Drovc (Berlln. Rtten Loenlng,
l985);
Dic Ioliglcit u troucrv. Icdcv uvd Sclriftcv 19SJ-19S
Tlc Storics of Hcivricl ll, translated by Vennewltz
Icivdbild uvd Iricdcv: Sclriftcv uvd Icdcv, 19S2-19SJ
(Munlch. Deutscher Jaschenbuch, l987);
Iom ouf dcv crstcv licl: Iovdscloftcv, Stodtc, Iciscv
Dcr Ivgcl sclwicg: Iomov (Cologne. Klepenheuer
Wltsch, l992); translated by Breon Mltchell as
Tlc Silcvt Zvgcl (New York. St. Martln`s Press,
l991; London. Deutsch, l991);
Dcr Ccvcrol stovd ouf civcm Hgcl: Irolluvgcv ous dcm
Iricg (Cologne. Klepenheuer Wltsch, l995);
Dcr blossc Huvd: Irolluvgcv (Cologne. Klepenheuer
Wltsch, l995); translated by Mltchell as Tlc
Mod Dog: Storics (New York. St. Martln`s Press,
l997);
!crsucl bcr dic !crvuvft dcr Iocsic, edlted by |ochen
Schubert (Berlln. HelnrlchBllStlftung,
l999);
Ircu olvc licbc (Cologne. Klepenheuer Wltsch,
2003).
b ~ `W 1S Storics, translated by
Lella Vennewltz (Iranklln Center, Pa.. Irank
lln Llbrary, l982);
Irolluvgcv, 19J7-19SJ, 1 volumes, edlted by Vlktor
Bll and Karl Helner Busse (Cologne. Klepen
l59
ai_ POV e _
_ ~ h NVPVNVQRI 2 volumes, edlted by
|ochen Schubert (Cologne. Klepenheuer
Wltsch, 200l).
JRANSLAJIONS. Patrlck Whlte, w o ~
_~ j I translated by Bll and
Annemarle Bll (Cologne. Klepenheuer
Wltsch, l957);
Bernard Malamud, a dI translated by Bll and
Annemarle Bll (Cologne. Klepenheuer
Wltsch, l960);
|ohn Mllllngton Synge, b ~ eI translated by
Bll and Annemarle Bll (Berlln. Klepenheuer
Wltsch, l960);
|. D. Sallnger, a c o (Cologne. Klepen
Sallnger, c~ wI translated by Bll and Anne
marle Bll (Cologne. Klepenheuer Wltsch,
l963);
George Bernard Shaw, `~~ `~~I translated
by Bll and Annemarle Bll (Irankfurt.
Suhrkamp, l965).
When ln the summer of l972 Helnrlch Bll
recelved the news that he had been awarded the Nobel
Prlze ln Llterature, he responded wlth the surprlsed
questlon 'Was, lch, und nlcht Gnter Grass?" (What, I,
and not Gnter Grass?). Jhls response summarlzes
Bll`s selfassessment of hls place ln West German post
war llterature, sometlmes referred to as 'GrassBll llter
ature," and lt reflects Bll`s competltlon wlth Grass, who
ls often regarded by crltlcs as the better of the two. Bll`s
sales flgures, however, reveal a dlfferent vlew. Wlth
thlrtyone mllllon books ln prlnt, havlng been translated
lnto fortyflve languages, he was the most popular post-
World War II German wrlter. Hls unpretentlous form
and style helped hlm to become a chronologlst of the
flrst forty years of the Iederal Republlc of Germany.
When a poll was conducted ln the l970s to name the ten
most lnfluentlal people ln West Germany, Bll was men
tloned ln fourth place, after the polltlclans Helmut
Schmldt, Wllly Brandt, and Iranz |oseph Strau, as the
man who 'represents our consclence." Bll had become
an lmportant publlc flgure ln Germanymuch agalnst
hls wlll. Jhe fasclnatlon he lnsplred both ln Germany
and abroad orlglnated not only from hls books but also
from hls personallty. Many Germans belleved that lf
they understood the essence of the man and what he
stood for, they would be able to comprehend the polltl
cal atmosphere of the Iederal Republlc better. Especlally
ln the days of turmoll between l969 and l975, whlch to
a large degree deflned the 'old" Iederal Republlc, where
everybody followed polltlcal events wlth lntense lnterest
as a result of the dreadful recent polltlcal past, Bll
helped shape that lmage, both wlth hls books and wlth
hls publlc appearances.
Helnrlch Jheodor Bll was born ln Cologne on
2l December l9l7, the slxth chlld of Vlctor Bll and hls
second wlfe, Marle, ne Hermanns, durlng the worst
famlne year of World War I. Bll had two brothers and
three slsters. Hls mother was an energetlc, domlneerlng
woman from a long llne of Cathollc farmers and brew
ers. Hls father`s famlly, as he wrote ln 'Lber mlch
selbst" (About Myself, lncluded ln bI eI
Î l96l), 'kamen vor |ahrhunderten von den
brltlschen Inseln, Kathollken, dle der Staatsrellglon
Henrlch VIII. dle Emlgratlon vorzogen" (came centu
rles ago from the Brltlsh Isles, Cathollcs, who preferred
emlgratlon to the state rellglon of Henry VIII). Vlctor
Bll had come to Cologne from Essen ln l896, at the
age of twentyslx, to advance soclally and, together wlth
an assoclate, to start hls own buslness as carpenter and
wood sculptor; he dellberately chose the southern clty
of Cologne, wlth lts many Gothlc churches. Vlctor Bll
was a sensltlve, nervous man, an artlst who llked to tell
storles to hls sons. He created the klnd of sculptures
that were needed ln the churches of the second German
emplre, whlch he supported enthuslastlcally. However,
durlng the war, Vlctor Bll`s enthuslasm for Kalser Wll
helm II shlfted to a cynlcal vlew of 'der kalserllche
Narr" (the royal fool). Bll clearly lnherlted hls antl
Prusslan attltude from hls father, who had always llved
ln the antlProtestant Rhlneland.
Bll`s flrst chlldhood memory was of the return
lng and defeated Hlndenburg army. Hls early years
were happy ones for Bll`s famlly, however. Jhey had
flrst llved ln an apartment but soon acqulred thelr own
home ln CologneRaderberg, Kreuznacher Strae 19.
Some crltlcs see Bll`s wrltlngs as an attempt to recon
struct the happlness of chlldhood experlences, lost ln
the modern technologlcal world. Bll`s parents were llb
eral and understandlng and never forced the chlldren to
joln the Cathollc Church, because of thelr own negatlve
experlences ln lt. Jhey also allowed Bll and hls slb
llngs to play wlth the soclallsts ln thelr nelghborhood,
as he recalled ln 'raderberg, Raderthal" (lncluded ln
tW b~ p oI volume 2, l977).
'sle wren nle auf den Gedanken gekommen, zu tun,
was dle Professoren, Prokurlsten, Archltekten, Bank
dlrektoren taten. dle verboten lhren Klndern, mlt den
'Roten` zu splelen" (they never thought to do what the
professors, attorneys, archltects, and bank dlrectors dld.
forbld thelr chlldren to play wlth the 'Reds"). But thls
ldyll was lnterrupted when Bll went to a Cathollc ele
mentary school ln l921 whlle most of hls frlends went
to publlc school; Bll later attended the KalserWll
helmGymnaslum, whlch made hlm more aware of
l60
e _ ai_ POV
exlstlng soclal dlstlnctlons. He could not understand
why the 'Reds" could not go wlth hlm.
In October l930 Bll`s father lost hls buslness as
a result of the world flnanclal crlsls of l929. Jhe famlly
had to sell the house and thelr possesslons; they were
never assured of belng able to pay thelr monthly apart
ment rent. Jhls experlence brought Bll even closer to
hls parents. he reallzed 'da melne Eltern vlllg hllflos
waren gegenber dlesen Lmstnden" (how my parents
were totally helpless ln the face of these condltlons). In
the followlng years the Blls had to move several tlmes
and were forced to rent out rooms of thelr apartments
to stay ahead of the money collectors. Jhe famlly was
slldlng out of the (mlddle class) but were
not really establlshlng themselves ln a lower class.
Jhese experlences led Bll to descrlbe hlmself some
tlmes as proletarlan but later to use the term J
(lower mlddle class). Jhe term, usually seen as
negatlve, has a more posltlve connotatlon ln hls work,
for example ln hls essay 'Zur Verteldlgung der Wasch
kchen" (l959, In Defense of Jhe WashHouse,
lncluded ln bI eI ^).
Soon everyone got lnvolved ln the advance of the
Nazls. Young Bll was ln bed wlth the flu when Adolf
Hltler became chancellor ln l933, and he remembered
hls mother saylng. 'Jhat means war." Durlng hls last
years at the gymnaslum, Bll saw how the Nazls
brought the unemployment caused by the l929 depres
slon under control. 'wleder elnlge |ahre spter waren
dle Arbeltslosen untergebracht, sle wurden Pollzlsten,
Soldaten, Henker, Rstungsarbelterder Rest zog ln dle
Konzentratlonslager" (the unemployed were glven
work as pollcemen, soldlers, executloners, and arma
ment workersand the rest went to concentratlon
camps). Hls parents supported secret meetlngs of the
nowlllegal Cathollc Youth ln thelr apartment. Jhe
school, however, trled to remaln neutral. Bll`s maln
lnterest became llterature. Leon Bloy, Georges Ber
nanos, Charles Dlckens, Honor de Balzac, and the
German classlc dramatlsts Helnrlch von Klelst and
Irledrlch Hebbel later became hls models. In Klaus
Schrter`s l982 blography, Bll`s brother recalls Bll`s
wlthdrawal lnto readlng to the polnt of neglectlng hls
studles and havlng to repeat a grade.
After graduatlng from the gymnaslum ln l937,
Bll worked for a bookstore ln Bonn, where he cata
logued collectlons of old books for a salary of ten marks
a month. Jhe job brought hlm lnto hls flrst contact wlth
banned books such as the works of Slgmund Ireud and
Karl Marx. He soon qult the job, consldered becomlng
a llbrarlan, began wrltlng, and worked as a tutor, but
essentlally could not declde what to do. Every actlvlty
ln those days, Bll later sald ln an lntervlew wlth Ren
Wlntzen (l979), was overshadowed by the prospect of
the war that everyone knew was comlng, perhaps as
early as l938, but deflnltely by l939.
In order to be admltted to a unlverslty, Bll flrst
had to complete the compulsory labor servlce to whlch
all ^ (hlghschool graduates) were called. Jhls
labor servlce was the flrst Nazl organlzatlon wlth whlch
he was assoclated, slnce he had avolded the Hltler
Youth. In the wlnter of l938-l939 he was called to
work ln Hesse, where he dug lrrlgatlon dltches and
worked ln the forest. After completlon of hls servlce, he
enrolled at the Lnlverslty of Cologne to study German
and classlcal phllology and llterature. Shortly after
matrlculatlon, ln early l939, he was called lnto mllltary
servlce for an elghtweek tralnlng course, and when the
war broke out ln September, he had to contlnue hls ser
vlce untll the end of the war ln l915. After hls tralnlng
as an lnfantryman, he served ln Irance, Poland, and
then agaln ln Irance, where hls rlght hand was lnjured
when the traln on whlch he was travellng struck a mlne.
In l912 Bll marrled hls glrlfrlend, Annemarle Cech,
wlth whom he exchanged at least one letter a day, but
he wrote nothlng else ln those slx years. He was not
ready to descrlbe the war.
Also ln l912 hls parents` apartment at
Kreuznacher Strae 19 was destroyed ln an alr rald,
and the famlly was evacuated to Ahrweller, where hls
mother dled durlng another alr rald. Jhe famlly was
then evacuated to the rural Berglsches Land. Eventu
ally, Bll was sent to the Eastern Iront ln the Crlmea,
where he was wounded ln the leg. Shortly afterward, he
was struck ln the head by a shell fragment and was sent
to a hospltal ln Odessa. Jhe front, however, was rap
ldly approachlng that clty. _ulckly released from the
hospltal, Bll was transferred to |assy ln Rumanla,
where elght days later he was serlously wounded ln the
back. He managed to stay ln a hospltal ln Hungary
untll August l911. By thls tlme, he was trylng to evade
combat by faklng lllnesses and later by desertlon. But ln
the confuslon of the flnal war days, he was able to joln
the army agaln so that he could be taken prlsoner by
the Amerlcans and thus could obtaln a proper release
from the army. He was captured on 9 Aprll l915 and
was lmprlsoned ln Irance and Belglum untll the fall.
In November l915 Bll, hls wlfe, and other mem
bers of the famlly returned to Cologne. Hls flrst son,
Chrlstoph, who had been born earller that year, dled
that wlnter. Cologne was an almost totally destroyed
clty ln whlch only three hundred bulldlngs were wlth
out damage; there was no transportatlon, no water, and
no electrlclty. Bll helped wlth the reconstructlon of the
house ln Bayenthal where hls father llved, but he stayed
away from publlcworks projects to express hls reserva
tlons about the new system of government. He hoped
thls new system would become soclallst but reallzed
l6l
ai_ POV e _
that the currency reform of l918 destroyed thls ldea by
lntroduclng an economlc system that favored the old
rullng class ln thelr retentlon of property. He enrolled at
the Lnlverslty of Cologne ln l915, pro forma. He
never really lntended to study; he slmply needed a
ratlon card. Bll flrst worked ln the famlly carpentry
shop, but he soon found temporary employment wlth
the statlstlcal offlce of the clty of Cologne. However,
flnanclally he was dependent on hls wlfe`s lncome as a
mlddleschool teacher. Durlng thls tlme he wrote lndus
trlously, and ln l917 he publlshed two short storles,
'Dle Botschaft" (Breaklng the News) and 'Kumpel mlt
dem langen Haar" (My Pal wlth the Long Halr), ln the
perlodlcal h~K
Bll`s storles also began to appear ln l917 ln
papers such as the o j and ln Alfred
Andersch`s a oX they were publlshed ln l950 ln the
volume t~ ~ p~ K K K (translated as
q~I f v ` p~ K K K I l956). Jhese storles can
be separated lnto two groups. war storles and storles
deallng wlth the lmmedlate postwar era. Jhe war sto
rles are told from the perspectlve of a flrstperson narra
tor, typlcally an unnamed German soldler who
expresses Bll`s own experlences and deslre for a better
world. Hls dreams are the normal dreams of an unpollt
lcal _ (member of the German mlddle class). good
books ln a qulet home, famlly llfe, a wlfe, muslc, and
art. Jhe most slgnlflcant element ls the fatal outcome;
the hero often does not survlve. Jhe mood of these sto
rles ls best characterlzed by a sentence from 'Dle
Botschaft," ln whlch the narrator has to report a sol
dler`s death to the man`s wlfe. 'Da wute lch, da der
Krleg nlemals zu Ende seln wrde, nlemals, solange
noch lrgendwo elne Wunde blutete, dle er geschlagen
hat" (Jhere I knew that the war would never be fln
lshed, never as long as somewhere a wound was bleed
lng that had been caused by the war). One of Bll`s
concerns ln these storles was the honest representatlon
of man`s behavlor ln a war sltuatlon. completely falllng
apart under stress. He uses the term 'rldlculous war
rlor." Ior that reason Bll was opposed to the lnfluence
on postwar German llterature of Ernest Hemlngway`s
ldeas of male herolc superlorlty.
Many of the tales ln the flrst collectlon deal wlth
the postwar perlod. Jyplcally, they descrlbe returnlng
veterans who do not partlclpate ln the t~
(reconstructlon perlod) after the currency reform of
l918. Jhese recoverlng soldlers are looklng for thelr prl
vate nlche ln the new soclety. One man works for a statls
tlcal offlce and counts people crosslng a brldge; but he
never counts hls glrlfrlend, ln order to malntaln her
humanlty. It ls an lndlvldual form of reslstancea theme
that became Bll`s central message ln the next decades.
Jhe storles dld not provlde enough lncome to
support Bll`s wlfe and sons (Ralmund was born ln
l917, Ren ln l918, and Vlncent ln l950), and even the
publlcatlon of two novels dld not change Bll`s flnanclal
sltuatlon slgnlflcantly. Hls flrst publlsher, Mlddelhauve,
was malnly a publlsher of sclence books and thus not
lnterested ln promotlng llterature. Mlddelhauve pub
llshed Bll`s flrst longer story, a w ~
(translated as q q~ t~ qI l956), ln l919. A
soldler, Andreas, boards an army traln ln the West
(probably Cologne) to joln a unlt ln the Lkralne. Jhe
story recounts hls journey through Dresden, Krakw,
and flnally Lemberg, where two other soldlers take hlm
to an expenslve restaurant and to a bordello. Jhere he
meets the Pollsh reslstance flghter Ollna, for whom he
develops a platonlc love. Andreas, Ollna, and the two
other soldlers declde to flee ln a general`s car, and all
four get kllled by partlsans.
Jhe tenslon and atmosphere of the story ls cre
ated by Andreas`s premonltlon at the beglnnlng of the
trlp that he 'would never see Germany agaln." He
knows he wlll dle near Lemberg, because hls mlnd goes
blank when he thlnks of the next town, Story. Jhls
unreallstlc element of 'fate" ls lmportant for Bll`s style
and glves lt a speclal quallty. Jhe reader ls convlnced of
Andreas`s ablllty to see the future and thus antlclpates
hls death. Jhe novella takes on blbllcal dlmenslons.
Andreas ls seen as |esus at the Last Supper and as hav
lng a MaryMagdalene type of relatlonshlp wlth Ollna,
to whom he ls a brother, not a lover. He persuades
Ollna to glve up her polltlcal undercover war, whlch he
conslders lmmoral and lnslgnlflcant. In the same way,
Andreas ls apolltlcal ln hls relatlonshlp to Nazl Ger
many, whlch was perhaps typlcal for the tlmes.
a w ~ I wlth lts rellglous and mystl
cal treatment of the war, shows Bll`s own llmlted
understandlng durlng thls perlod (l915-l950) of the
soclal aspects and causes of the war. Jhe formal
achlevement of the novella, however, and lts humanlstlc
or antlfasclst splrlt, drew pralse. Gert Kalow calls lt a
d (cast of genlus), and Jheodore Zlolkowskl
wrltes. 'Never agaln has Bll wrltten a story of such
close perfectlon and lnevltablllty . . . It ls an artlstlc tour
de force." Bll`s success can also be seen ln the fact that
ln l919 he was lnvlted for the flrst tlme to read at a
meetlng of the Gruppe 17, the major German llterary
clrcle of the l950s and l960s.
a w ~ was followed ln l95l by
Bll`s most famous war novel, t ~ I ^~\
(translated as ^~I t ^ q\ l955). Jhe novel
ls dlvlded lnto eplsodlc chapters, ln whlch mlnor char
acters later become maln characters. Except for thls
aspect, the eplsodes are not connected and can be seen
as lndependent short storles. Jhls lndlvldual quallty ls
l62
e _ ai_ POV
especlally true of the chapters about the llfe and death
of Lleutenant Greck and the bulldlng of the brldge at
Berczaby. Jhe eplsode about a woman named Ilona ls
an early treatment of concentratlon camps ln German
flctlon. When Ilona slngs the Lltany of the Salnts, the
Nazl commander Illskelt reallzes the amorallty of the
camps, and the beauty of muslc overcomes the horror
of the SS. Jhe maln theme of the volume ls the ldea of
the senselessness of man`s exlstence. as the death of
protagonlst Ielnhals ln front of hls parents` home
shows, there ls no escape from the senselessness of the
war. t ~ I ^~\ was pralsed by Rlchard Plant as
succeedlng ln 'conjurlng up the agonles of WWII" as
crltlcs began uslng the word 'compasslonate" for Bll`s
flctlon.
After publlcatlon of t ~ I ^~\ Gruppe 17
agaln lnvlted Bll to one of thelr meetlngs. He read hls
humorous story 'Dle Schwarzen Schafe" (l95l, Jhe
Black Sheep), for whlch the group awarded hlm a prlze
of l,000 marks and the lnvltatlon to become a perma
nent member. Wlthout Gruppe 17, Bll would not have
become as popular, especlally ln the l950s. But the rep
utatlon of the group was enhanced reclprocally by the
presence of Bll, who eventually became lts most prestl
glous member.
Although a w ~ and t ~ I
^~\ were for many years Bll`s only two publlshed
novels deallng wlth World War II, lt was known that a
thlrd manuscrlpt exlsted, whlch Bll had always trled to
dlsclalm. Ilnally, hls son Rene Bll publlshed thls book
ln l982 under the tltle a~ s (translated as ^
p i~I l985). Llke a w ~ I lt takes
place ln l913. Jhe book starts out ln Irance and ls told
by a soldler, Wenk, who falls ln love wlth a Irench glrl.
But soon hls commander, Schelllng, takes the glrl away
from hlm. Schelllng ls trylng to flnd out why hls sol
dlers` food ratlon ls lllegally kept away from them and
dlscovers that Captaln Schnecker ls partly responslble
for lt. Schnecker kllls Schelllng; thus, the compasslonate
people dle whlle the heartless ones survlve the war,
eventually to play a leadlng role ln postwar soclety.
Wlth the l952 story 'Dle Waage der Baleks"
(Jhe Balek Scale, flrst publlshed ln c~ ^
wI l3 |une l953), Bll lntroduced the overrldlng
concern ln hls wrltlng. the crltlclsm of postwar materlal
lsm. Wlth thls story, Bll`s most popular, he approaches
hls subject hlstorlcally, by settlng lt ln a provlnclal Aus
trlan town around l900. It ls a story of capltallst explol
tatlon and a falled proletarlan revolt, narrated ln the
classlcal style of |ohann Peter Hebel or Klelst. Cesare
Cases`s Marxlst lnterpretatlon of 'Dle Waage der
Baleks" as soclal crltlclsm hlt a raw nerve for some
readers at flrst. 'Dle Waage der Baleks" ls now consld
ered one of Bll`s most lmportant storles and the flrst ln
whlch he examlned and condemned the economlc con
dltlons of soclety.
Wlth the novel r ~ t (And
Sald Not a Slngle Word, l953; translated as ^~
kI l951), Bll changed to the publlsher
Klepenheuer and Wltsch and achleved an lmmedlate
breakthrough. thls work ls stlll one of hls bestknown
books and made hlm flnanclally lndependent. Poverty
makes protagonlst Ired Bogner slck and drlves hlm
away from the one room he shared wlth hls wlfe and
chlldren. He drlfts around the clty and meets hls wlfe,
Kte, ln cheap hotels on weekends. She ls ready to sep
arate from hlm, but ln the flnal scene Ired recognlzes
hls wlfe on the street and wlthout her belng aware of hls
presence, she touches hls heart ('deren Anbllck meln
Herz berhrte"). Jhe novel ls told ln alternatlng flrst
person narratlves by Ired and Kte. Ired ls a drlnker,
has beaten hls chlldren, and ls beglnnlng to questlon
the authorlty of the church. He ls not ambltlous and
feels selfplty for belng left out of soclety. He becomes
antagonlstlc and wants no part of the new soclety (mlr
rorlng elements of Bll`s own blography). Jhe soclal
crltlclsm ls expllclt; the author especlally crltlclzes
the blgoted landlady, Irau Iranke, who does not
want to glve the famlly another room, malntalnlng
she needs lt as a receptlon room for Cathollc ald com
mlttees. Jhere ls also corruptlon ln the church. the
church offlclals fall to crltlclze the pharmaceutlcal lndus
try for advertlslng contraceptlves because the blshop`s
cousln ls the chalrman of the assoclatlon of drugglsts. In
the end, the pharmacy becomes the personlflcatlon of
modernday soclety. cleanllness, contraceptlon, and
useless consumptlon. Nelther Ired nor hls wlfe goes
along wlth these ldeas, and the selfrlghteous Ired
defends hls own way of llfe. Eventually, he reconclles
wlth Kte, who ls expectlng another chlld.
r ~ t demonstrates Bll`s
metlculously reallstlc style, whlch descrlbes the world
that surrounds the allenated Ired. Most crltlcs agree
that r ~ t ls a preparatory stage to
Bll`s more polltlcal works, and they especlally deplore
lts peaceful endlng, whlch, accordlng to Gnter Wlrth,
contradlcts the unsettllng hostlllty Ired had shown to
soclety. Jhe novel ls a good example to support Bll`s
clalm that he was only lnterested ln love and rellglon.
Bll`s novel ls regarded more as a report than as flctlon
and ls pralsed as the beglnnlng of a llterary renalssance
ln Western Germany.
In e~ e (l951; translated as q
r~ eI l957), Bll dellberately uses modern
clnematlc technlques. Jhe story ls told ln consecutlve
chapters by two boys, Martln Bach and Helnrlch
Brlelach. It ls not a chlldren`s book, but the chlldren`s
perspectlve adds an element of allenatlon, allowlng
l63
ai_ POV e _
readers to see the adult world ln a dlfferent llght. Both
boys have lost thelr fathers ln the war. Martln`s mother,
Nella, retreats lnto a dreamworld after the death of her
husband, the poet Ral. A former frlend, Albert
Muchow, becomes Martln`s 'uncle" but cannot help
hlm much. Helnrlch, on the other hand, has to earn a
llvlng for hls famlly on the black market whlle stlll
attendlng school. Hls mother worked ln a bakery and
later moves ln wlth the baker, the way she had wlth sev
eral other 'uncles" before. Jwo themes stand out. the
contrast of the poor and rlch ln postwar soclety and the
relatlonshlp to the Nazl past. Jhe Brlelachs are stlgma
tlzed for thelr poverty and afrald to move thelr belong
lngs ln front of thelr scrutlnlzlng nelghbors. Martln, on
the other hand, can llve ln luxury wlth hls wealthy
grandmother.
Jhe novel galns momentum at the end when
Gseler, the murderer of Martln`s father, ls lntroduced.
Durlng the war, Gseler had sent Ral on a reconnals
sance mlsslon, knowlng that the poet was lllequlpped
for lt and probably would not survlve. Slnce the war,
Gseler has become a conformlst representatlve of the
new capltallst system. valn and opportunlstlc, not unllke
the devll ln Nella`s fantasles. In Gseler`s presence she
can only feel 'Sle langwellen nlch" (cold, uncanny bore
dom). When she asks Gseler to tell her about the war,
he reveals hlmself as a representatlve of the new tlmes.
'Ich denke nlcht oft daran. Ich versuche, es zu verges
sen, und es gellngt mlr . . . Man mu den Krleg verges
sen" (I don`t thlnk about lt any more. I try to forget lt,
and I can . . . People have to forget the war). But he has
not forgotten the names of hls Nazl heroes; only the
death lmages have been erased from hls mlnd. Nella
replles, 'Ohrfelgen an Leute vertellen, dle den Krleg ver
gessen haben" (A slap ln the face for all the people who
have forgotten the war), and walks away wlthout look
lng back. Hatred does not seem adequate to punlsh
these Nazl conformers. they would not even understand
lt. Llke Nella, Bll belleved the Germans wanted to for
getthe war, the |ews, the entlre Nazl pastand had lllu
slons about thelr popularlty ln the world.
a~ _ g~ (l955; translated as q
_~ l b~ v~I l957) covers the tlme span from
about elght o`clock ln the mornlng to about elght
o`clock ln the evenlng of a slngle day ln the narrator`s
llfe ln l951 or l955. Walter goes to the traln statlon to
meet Hedwlg, who ls the daughter of a frlend of hls
father and who ls comlng to the clty to study at the unl
verslty. Walter has prevlously found her a room and ls
to take her there and go back to work. But when he
sees Hedwlg, hls llfe changes.
Ich sah nur dlesen grellgrnen Mantel, sah dleses
Geslcht, und lch hatte pltzllch Angst, jene Angst, dle
Entdecker empflnden, wenn sle das neue Land betreten
haben . . . Dleses Geslcht glng tlef ln mlch hlneln . . . es
war, als wrde lch durchbohrt ohne zu bluten.
(I saw only her dazzllng green coat, her face, and I sud
denly became fearful wlth that fear whlch explorers
have when they enter upon a new land . . . Her face
went deep lnto me . . . It was as lf I had been plerced
wlthout bleedlng.)
Irom that moment, Walter ls a new person. He does
not return to hls old job, wlthdraws all hls savlngs from
the bank, breaks hls engagement to hls boss`s daughter,
and decldes to llve wlth Hedwlg, wlthout the sacrament
of the church.
Bll contlnued the theme of love ln the short
story 'So ward Abend und Morgen" (And It Became
Nlght and Day, flrst publlshed ln t ^
wI 21 December l951). Jhe relatlonshlp between
man and woman ls symbollzed ln a mythlcal sense as a
cry of the man for company ln hls lonely llfe. Jhe pro
tagonlst`s wlfe has stopped talklng to hlm; but on a
Chrlstmas evenlng he makes her say 'no" twlce and
'yes" oncewhlch saves hls llfe. Bll`s treatment of the
relatlonshlp between the sexes also flgured ln a longer
narratlve, 'Im Jal der Donnernden Hufe" (In the Val
ley of the Jhunderlng Hooves, flrst publlshed ln c~J
^ wI l7 March l951), about the
sexual problems of two Cathollc boys, Paul and Grlff.
An athelst glrl, Mlrzova, helps Paul overcome hls anxl
ety by exposlng her breasts. As a result, however, the
glrl has to leave town for a few years to avold belng
labeled a prostltute by the narrowmlnded townspeople.
Jhe story ls constructed uslng tradltlonal symbollsm
such as the plstol as a phalllc object.
In the mld l950s the Iederal Republlc under
Chancellor Konrad Adenauer became stronger and
chose a polltlcal course that Bll dld not support. Jhe
turnlng polnt was the rearmament campalgn. Lntll that
tlme, he had been a supporter of the Chrlstlan Demo
cratlc Lnlon (CDL). As a result of these developments,
Bll 'escaped" to Ireland for a few weeks ln l955.
Later, when asked by Wlntzen whether Ireland was hls
second home, Bll sald that there was no such thlng as
a second homeland. Bll was a 'Klner" (a person from
Cologne). Hls ldea of 'home" was centered ln Cologne,
as shown ln hls use of dlalect; he could not represent
Prussla or the eastern part of Germany. Hls deflnltlon
of what ls 'German" concentrated on the use of lan
guage. he consldered hlmself a German because he
wrote ln German.
Bll made a second trlp to Ireland ln l956. Hls
f q~ (l957; translated as f g~I l967)
resultlng from those trlps ls not a conventlonal travel
ogue. Rather, Bll glves travel lmpresslons to show
l61
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moral and hlstorlc realltles and facts about Ireland and
Germany. Desplte hls 'fllght," he contlnues hls crltlclsm
of German soclety ln a more subtle form ln thls book.
One of the reasons for Bll`s retreat to Ireland
had been the attacks on some of the satlrlcal short sto
rles he publlshed ln the l950s, partlcularly ìclt vur ur
!cilvocltscit (l952; Not Only at Chrlstmastlme), whlch
mocks the mlddleclass tendency to overcelebrate
Chrlstmas and use lt as escape from reallty. Jhe mother
of a famlly has saved Chrlstmas decoratlons from
before the war and protests whenever anybody trles to
take the Chrlstmas tree down. So the famlly celebrates
Chrlstmas every day of the year, at flrst ln person, later
wlth standln actors for the totally demorallzed famlly
members. Bll was attacked by the church as belng
lnhuman and wlthout love. He responded that he had
not lntended to denounce Chrlstmas but rather the
commerclal aspects of lt.
Jhe tltle story of Doltor Murlcs gcsommcltcs
Sclwcigcv uvd ovdcrc Sotircv (l958; Doctor Murke`s Col
lected Sllences and Other Satlres, flrst publlshed ln
Irovlfurtcr Hcftc), ls referred to by Cases as one of the
flnest works of European llterature slnce World War II,
and Walter |ens clalms Bll`s work culmlnates ln thls
book. Jhe 'phllosopher" BurMalottke wants to
change the word Cod on a radlo tape of one of hls noto
rlous talks to 'jenes hhere Wesen, das wlr verehren"
(the hlgher belng whom we revere); the word Cod gets
cut out of the tape and spllced lnto another program,
where an athelst`s questlons are now answered by Bur
Malottke`s 'God." What ls left ls cutout 'sllence," and
the journallst Murke takes the pleces home ln a box.
Murke shows the absurdlty of the sltuatlon when he
lets BurMalottke repeat the phrase 'jenes hhere
Wesen, das wlr verehren" twentyseven tlmes. Murke
hates the phllosopher`s opportunlsm. Bll wanted to
show how polsoned was an lntellectual cllmate that left
rellglon out of the economlc and polltlcal restoratlon of
the l950s; God got 'cut" out of soclal conslderatlons.
Bll`s novel illord um lolb clv (l959; translated
as illiords ot Holf-post ìvc, l96l) ls a famlly chronlcle.
But unllke Jhomas Mann`s novel uddcvbrools (l90l),
whlch shows the downfall of a famlly, Bll shows the
prosperlty and rlse of a mlddleclass famlly, the Ih
mels, through whose perspectlve the novel presents flfty
years of German hlstory from l907 to l958. Jhe novel,
however, actually covers only a slngle day ln l958, the
elghtleth blrthday of Helnrlch Ihmel. Bll`s symbol
lsm dlvldes people lnto two categorles. 'das Sakrament
des Bffels" (the sacrament of the buffalo), comprlslng
all mllltarlsts, Nazls, and the powerhungry, and 'das
Sakrament des Lamms" (the sacrament of the lamb),
made up of the persecuted and mlgrs, the sensltlve
people. Bll hlmself crltlclzed thls symbollsm later as
belng too slmpllstlc to comprehend the horrors and
lntrlcacles of German hlstory. Jhe formal juxtaposltlon
also drew a lot of crltlclsm. Some revlewers clalmed that
the experlmental Irench vouvcou romov (new novel) and
the psychologlcal novel were mutually excluslve forms
and that Bll falled by trylng to comblne the two. Bll
worked out thls novel ln a metlculous, almost mathe
matlcal way, by uslng a colored chart dlvlded lnto three
levels. the present, the reflectlve or memory level, and
the level of motlfs. But the resultlng novel ls too confus
lng; the lambbuffalo symbollsm does not convlnce.
Jhe St. Anton Abbey, however, stands out as the one
effectlve symbol that tles the three generatlons together.
the grandfather bullt lt; the son blew lt up; and the
grandson does not know whether he wants to recon
struct or demollsh lt. |ohanna Ihmel`s attempt to
shoot a hlgh government offlclal wlth a Nazl past falls
to enhance the level of tenslon ln the novel. |ens sum
marlzed the vlews of many crltlcs when he observed
that the novel form was too long for Bll, and that he
should have stayed wlth the short story, whlch he could
manage more easlly. illord um lolb clv ls stlll one of
Bll`s bestknown works, and lt convlnced crltlcs that
Bll could contrlbute 'slgnlflcant flctlon." Jhe most
common pralse for Bll`s moderately experlmental nar
ratlve technlque was that he stlll retalned more lnterest
ln story than ln styllstlc experlmentatlon.
In the followlng years Bll`s dlsenchantment wlth
the course of German polltlcs contlnued, especlally wlth
the role Cathollclsm played ln lt. In l96l, ln one of hls
sharpest essays, 'Hast Du was, dann blst Du was" (You
Are What You Have, publlshed ln Iobyrivtl), he
attacked Cologne`s Cardlnal Irlngs for what he consld
ered Irlngs`s hypocrltlcal vlews, expressed ln a pastoral
letter ln whlch Irlngs llnked the ldea of property for the
general publlc (!ollsolticv) wlth the prlnclples of the
Chrlstlan church; Bll commented caustlcally, 'Dle
Helllgsprechung des Habenlchts von Asslsl war wohl
eln Irrtum" (Jhe canonlzatlon of the havenot Irancls
of Asslsl probably was a mlstake). Bll also attacked
Chancellor Adenauer for too eagerly forgettlng Ger
many`s Nazl past and for hls encouragement of the
accumulatlon of property. In those years Bll also crltl
clzed the change by the Soclal Democratlc Party (SPD)
to a more capltallst ldeology, as reflected ln thelr Godes
berg Program of l959. As an advocate of soclallsm and
even Marxlsm, Bll wanted two baslc soclopolltlcal
concepts expressed ln the German party system, unllke
the polltlcal system ln the Lnlted States, ln whlch both
partles advocate capltallsm. In hls wrltlngs, Bll trled to
change the course of the SPD.
In the early l960s Bll, together wlth the artlst
HAP Grleshaber and others, founded the Chrlstlan
soclallst perlodlcal Iobyrivtl. Here he publlshed hls flrst
NSR
ai_ POV e _
m~ ~ _ ^ h ~~ Et t~ _ lFI NVSO
E e~ p~I e _I NVSQX q~ ` i~I r p `~~F
l66
e _ ai_ POV
play, Iiv Scllucl Irdc (l962, A Plece of Earth), whlch
deplcts an old man who would llke to comblne Chrls
tlanlty and communlsm. Also ln l962, Bll completed
the essay 'Karl Marx," whlch pralses the phllosopher
and presents hlm as a secular salnt, as well as a study of
St. Irancls, tltled Zssisi ). Both became models for Bll`s
further development. In an lntervlew wlth Marcel
RelchRanlckl ln l967, Bll confessed hls communlst
sympathles and wlshed communlsm as many years of
power as capltallsm had already had. He sald that lf he
had not grown up ln fasclst Germany he would have
certalnly been a Communlst by l936. Bll also regret
ted that more Germans had not had the opportunlty to
become Communlsts ln the l930s, thereby purlfylng
the polltlcal atmosphere. In splte of these statements,
however, Bll ls not a revolutlonary wrlter.
Bll`s l96l work ricf ov civcv juvgcv Iotlolilcv
(Letter to a Young Cathollc) makes clear that hls devel
opment toward soclallsm was related to hls dlsenchant
ment wlth the Cathollc Church. In lt he expresses hls
dlsapproval of what he consldered the merger of church
and government ln the Iederal Republlc at that tlme.
Jhe ricf ov civcv juvgcv Iotlolilcv started a process that
ended wlth Bll`s offlclally leavlng the church ln l977
(ln Germany, that meant he slmply stopped paylng
'church taxes").
In l962 Bll was lnvlted on hls flrst offlclal trlp to
the Sovlet Lnlon, ln connectlon wlth the new German
Sovlet Cultural Exchange Program, a journey he
resented at that tlme because he was busy worklng on a
new book. Jhls book, whlch became Zvsicltcv civcs
Clowvs (l963; translated as Tlc Clowv, l965), ls one of
hls most controverslal novels. Hans Schnler, at twenty
seven, has left hls wealthy parents` home to become a
professlonal clown. Jhe novel, whlch also became a
play, takes place on one evenlng ln Schnler`s Bonn apart
ment after he has had a stage accldent. Schnler feels
sorry for hlmself slnce hls glrlfrlend, Marle, left hlm to
marry a crufslotlolil (admlnlstrator of the Cathollc
Church). Jhrough several phone calls to relatlves and
frlends, Hans dlscovers that Marle ls now on her honey
moon trlp, whlch wlll lnclude a vlslt to the Pope. He
decldes to awalt her return by slnglng rellglous songs at
the traln statlon whlle wearlng hls clown costume. Hans
advocates a form of marrlage ln whlch the church plays
no role; only the mutual consent of the two partners
matters. He has become a professlonal clown who, llke a
medleval court jester, crltlclzes soclety.
Jhe entlre novel shows Hans`s lsolated posltlon.
he can only llve wlth one person, Marle, and she leaves
hlm. Because of hls artlstlc nature, Hans vlews the llv
lng and the dead dlfferently than most people do. Hls
slster Henrlette, who dled ln World War II, ls allve ln
hls mlnd, whlle her 'murderer," hls mother, ls dead for
hlm, because she adjusts herself eagerly to the new
soclal condltlons and wants to forget. |. D. Sallnger`s
Tlc Cotclcr iv tlc Iyc (l95l) was one model for Zvsicltcv
civcs Clowvs; Bll and hls wlfe had just translated Salln
ger`s novel lnto German ln l962. Holden Caulfleld`s
character and hls relatlonshlp to hls slster clearly had an
lnfluence on Bll.
Zvsicltcv civcs Clowvs was wldely crltlclzed for lts
antlCathollc blas. Schrter admlts that after readlng
thls book he lost lnterest ln Bll`s work for a long tlme.
Accordlng to Manfred Durzak, the novel was an aes
thetlc dead end for Bll, who had reached hls satlrlcal
llmlts. Hans|oachlm Bernhard was of the oplnlon that
the aesthetlc balance was dlsrupted by Bll`s subjectlv
lty. But Irank Jrommler saw ln Zvsicltcv civcs Clowvs a
new phase ln post-World War II German llterary hls
tory, characterlzed by blunt polltlcal reasonlng lnstead
of formal artlstlc expresslon. Several revlewers rejected
the book slnce Bll seemed no longer lnterested ln
prose experlments. Jhey generally felt that by establlsh
lng hlmself as a wrlter more concerned wlth phllosophl
cal lssues, wlth Weltanschauung than wlth narratlve
structure, Bll was movlng away from Western tradl
tlons. Jhe book dlspleased those crltlcs who were used
to lnnovatlve, lntellectuallzed flctlon. By l975, however,
academlc scholarshlp took a klnder vlew of Zvsicltcv
civcs Clowvs, and Bll`s novel became regarded more as
a contlnuatlon of illord um lolb clv, an lmltatlon of the
Irench vouvcou romov. Zvsicltcv civcs Clowvs turned out to
be an lmportant book for Bll`s reputatlon slnce lt
dlvlded the crltlcs lnto two groups. those who saw a
break ln Bll`s contlnulty and those who consldered lt
hls best and most stralghtforward book.
Subsequently, Bll became more lnterested ln
dlrect polltlcal wrltlngs. Jhe Irovlfurtcr !orlcsuvgcv
(l966, Irankfurt Lectures), glven at the Lnlverslty of
Irankfurt after a longer stay ln Dugort, Ireland, where
Bll had bought a home, ls an example of thls genre.
Bll consldered lmmlgratlng to Ireland, especlally after
the church attacks on Zvsicltcv civcs Clowvs. Jhe Irovl-
furtcr !orlcsuvgcv present Bll`s bellef that home, love for
the Hcimot (homeland), memory, and language constl
tute the human belng. Jhe recent German rejectlon of
provlnclallty ls seen as negatlve, slnce more works of art
have been created ln remote places such as Dublln or
Prague. Bll`s lntent ls to analyze the 'Abfall der Gesell
schaft" (garbage of soclety) and to take the place of a
polltlcal opposltlon thataccordlng to Bllno longer
exlsts ln West Germany. Jhe Grand Coalltlon of the
CDL and the SPD from l965 to l969 only conflrmed
Bll`s polltlcal fears.
In the short novel Ivtfcrvuvg vov dcr Truppc (l961;
translated as 'Absent wlthout Leave," l965), the
author`s detachment from German polltlcal llfe ls
l67
ai_ POV e _
notlceable. Jhe narrator states that wlth hls 'deser
tlon," a rejectlon of soclety, hls llfe as a human belng
began. Desplte lts bleak plot, the story ls told ln a loose,
humorous way, reveallng the author`s famlllarlty wlth
the work of Laurence Sterne. Bll dld not llke to use the
same form twlce, but thls work developed an experl
mental structure that ls not completely successful.
b a~ (l966; translated as b ~
jI l967) ls really a novel about art and how to
lncorporate art lnto soclety. In lts descrlptlon of the mll
ltary as a senseless machlne, lt ls remlnlscent of t ~
I ^~\ It ls presented ln the Klelstean style (whlch
Bll admlred). Jhe book descrlbes a trlal agalnst the
carpenters Gruhl, a father and son, who burned the
son`s army jeep as an act of antlmllltary protest. Jhe
case ls an embarrassment to the authorltles, who want
to play lt down by keeplng the press out and by glvlng
the case to a mlld judge. Jhe Gruhls flnally recelve only
slx weeks` lmprlsonment. As he explalns ln 'elnfhrung
ln 'dlenstfahrt`" (lncluded ln Î hI oI
l967), Bll wants readers to understand hls novella as a
way of uslng art as a means to protest current trends ln
polltlcs and soclety, a tendency that ls romantlc and can
be traced to the dadalstlc experlments of the l920s.
Lm dlese Zelt auch dachte lch besonders ber dle Jat
sache nach, da dle komplette Nettlgkelt der Gesell
schaft der Kunst gegenber ja nlchts anderes als elne
Art Gummlzelle lst. Glelchzeltlg las lch ber dle Provos
ln Amsterdam, las ber Happenlngs, und dle Erkenn
tnls, da alle Kunst von dleser so fassunglosen wle
unfabaren Gesellschaft ernst genommen wlrd, brachte
mlch auf dle Idee, da Kunst, also auch Happenlngs,
elne, vlellelcht dle letzte Mgllchkelt sel, dle Gumml
zelle durch elne Zeltznderbombe zu sprengen oder
den Irrenhausdlrektor durch elne verglftete Prallne
auer Gefecht zu setzen; lch entschled mlch zu elner
Komblnatlon von verglfteter Prallne und Zeltznder
bombe.
(I thought how the complete nlceness of soclety toward
art ls nothlng more than a klnd of padded cell. At the
same tlme, I was readlng about the provos ln Amster
dam and thelr antlestabllshment Happenlngs. I recog
nlzed that all art ls taken serlously by thls bewllderlng
and lncomprehenslble soclety. Jhls recognltlon
brought me to the ldea that art, that ls, a Happenlng, ls
perhaps the last chance to break out of thls padded cell;
lt can become a tlme bomb or the way to take the dlrec
tor of thls madhouse out of actlon wlth a polsoned
chocolate sweet. I declded on a comblnatlon of pol
soned chocolates and a tlme bomb.)
Most crltlcs dld not see the polltlcal tlme bomb, and dld
not want to see lt. One reason ls that art ln the l960s
had removed ltself from polltlcs. Jhe crltlcs, as record
ers of acceptable llterary trends, could not see Bll`s
new and revolutlonary element ln the story. But art as a
polltlcal 'happenlng" became a program for the student
revolts of the late l960s. Bll wanted to show that the
rullng class understood the danger of the Gruhls` polltl
cal actlon and declded to cover lt up. He also wanted to
show the sympathy of the vlllage people, who all under
stand and support the actlon. |ochen Vogt mlght be cor
rect ln assertlng that thls congenlal understandlng
constltutes too much of a sense of ldeallzed e~I as
Bll had set out to wrlte about ln hls c~ sJ
X lt excludes readers from a dlfferent background.
In 'Epllog zu Stlfters k~" (l970, Epllogue
to Stlfter`s f~ pX lncluded ln bI
NVRMNVTMI l972), Bll lmltates the language and
plots of novellst Adalbert Stlfter, who had been one
of hls nlneteenthcentury models. Bll, however,
destroys the nlneteenthcentury mlddleclass world and
shows ln hls story how that entlre soclety was based on
lles and deceptlon. Jhe story ls an lnterestlng varlatlon
on Bll`s toplc of language and morals.
Durlng the followlng years Bll worked prlmarlly
on hls next and longest novel, d a~
(translated as d m~ i~I l973), whlch was
publlshed ln l97l. But whlle dolng thls b~
(remembrance work), he also traveled more, and ln
August l968 he happened to be ln Czechoslovakla dur
lng the Sovlet lnvaslon. Jhls sltuatlon provlded an
opportunlty for hlm to protest Sovlet pollcles, whlch ln
turn lncreased hls polltlcal credlblllty wlth the Rlght.
He consldered the electlon of Brandt as chancellor ln
l969 as an opportunlty to overcome what he saw as the
German authorltarlan government that Adenauer`s
CDL had perpetuated; he welcomed the defeat of the
CDL and former chancellor Kurt Georg Kleslnger,
who was also a former member of the Nazl Party. In
l97l Bll was elected as the flrst German presldent of
the Internatlonal PEN Club and offlclally vlslted the
New York PEN offlces. Hans Werner Rlchter, the
founder of the Gruppe 17, commented that 'Bll can do
thlngs that we others cannot even dream of."
When d a~ appeared, the publlsh
ers called the book Bll`s 'most comprehenslve, encom
passlng work," a 'summatlon of hls prevlous llfe and
work." Jhe herolne, Lenl Pfelffer, along wlth varlous
other tenants, flghts to save her apartment ln a house
her relatlves want to tear down. Lenl ls a mlxture of the
Vlrgln Mary and Mary Magdalene, another one of
Bll`s attempts to mlx hls reallsm wlth Chrlstlan
mythology. She ls a 'pure" soul, wlthout any lnterest ln
the consumer and achlevementdrlven soclety; she ls
helpful, sensual, possesslng a natural lnstlnct for the
rlght thlng to do, a 'subverslve madonna." She,
together wlth her son, Lev, and the rest of her famlly
lncludlng her father and her brother, who were mur
l68
e _ ai_ POV
dered by the Nazls because they refused to support the
fasclst war machlnelntroduces Bll`s prlnclple of iJ
(a rejectlon of the work ethlc), a sub
verslve concept attacklng the dehumanlzatlon of llfe
under capltallsm. Because of thelr bellef ln iJ
I Lev and hls mother become the center of a
counterculture wlthln the cltygroups Bll belleved are
absolutely necessary as the only posslblllty to protect
manklnd from fasclsm and technology.
Jhe novel struck a responslve chord when lt
appeared, durlng the years of student protests when
people sought to create a utopla. |ust as the students
were attacked, Lenl`s behavlor ls crltlclzed as unhealthy
and destructlve by her relatlves, who see capltallstlc
proflteerlng as healthy and normal. Jhe novel, how
ever, offers another vlew, lntroduced by an lnqulrlng
journallst who collects lnformatlon about Lenl from the
people around her and thereby dlscovers that she was
the lover of a Russlan prlsoner of war durlng World
War II. Jhls excurslon lnto the German past ls honest,
even though lt ls not always loglcally presented; Lenl`s
frlends and colleagues tell the journallst thelr reactlons
to her affalr and the blrth of her lllegltlmate son, Lev.
Jhe purlty of the couple ls contrasted wlth the petty
reactlons of her colleagues and frlends. Although Borls,
the wartlme lover, remalns lndlstlnct as a character,
Bll`s lntentlon to use Lenl as a woman 'dle ganze Last
dleser Geschlchte . . . auf slch genommen hat" (who
carrled the burden of German hlstory) ls clear. Jhe
reader ls lnvlted to reflect on hls or her own behavlor
durlng those years. Bll deplcts what Karl Korn calls
the 'archaeology of Cologne`s soclety," especlally of the
lower classes. |oachlm Kalser and other crltlcs saw
Bll`s work as an experlment between 'aesthetlc and
nonflctlonal reallty" and as utoplan construct of a better
world through llterature. If one follows those argu
ments, Bll ls not lmmersed ln the Romantlc tradltlon,
as ls often assumed, but rather ln Irledrlch Schlller`s
tradltlon of classlcal educatlon. Lenl would then be a
dellberate construct of an aesthetlc human belng well
sulted to solve West Germany`s problems of the early
l970s.
Most of the crltlclsm of the book concerns the
structure. Ralner Ngele calls d a~ 'a
much more rambllng novel than anythlng Bll had wrlt
ten prevlously." Bll never had a master plan for hls
books but rather developed them out of characters and
mlnor detalls. Zlolkowskl, however, calls the structure a
'secular beatlflcatlon" slmllar to medleval descrlptlons
of salnts. Reactlons to d a~ are lndlca
tlve of the crltlclsm surroundlng Bll from l972 to
l971. conservatlves used what they percelved as struc
tural fallures ln hls work to deduce hls flawed loglc.
Jhey were partlcularly annoyed by the Swedlsh Acad
emy`s declslon to honor Bll (and the llberal trend ln
German polltlcal thlnklng) wlth the Nobel Prlze; how
ever, ln vlew of the reputatlon of the prlze, they dld not
dare to openly attack Bll`s d (ldeology). Jhe
Amerlcan receptlon of d a~ demon
strates the dlfflcult standlng Bll has had ln the Lnlted
States. Jhe k revlewer (l3 May l973) wrote that
he would rather read Grass but feels he ought to read
Bll anyway out of 'a gullty feellng" because Bll repre
sented the accepted moral and polltlcal posltlon of the
tlme. And a crltlc for q magazlne (30 October l972)
lmplled that Bll recelved the Nobel Prlze more for hls
'ldeallstlc tendency" than for hls llterary qualltles.
Bll`s fallure ln the Lnlted States cannot be
totally explalned, especlally slnce he ls the most popular
German author ln Europe. An examlnatlon of second
ary sources about Bll`s work suggests that posltlve
readlngs came only from those crltlcs famlllar wlth the
socloeconomlc condltlons of Germany, whlle others
uslng more textcentered methods falled to understand
the wrlter`s message. Jhe lnterdependence of crltlcal
methods and flctlonal text seems to preclude a posltlve
readlng of the forelgnlanguage text, and lt ls apparent
that a strlctly textcentered readlng does not capture lts
essence for an Amerlcan audlence.
Bll had often been a nomlnee for the Nobel
Prlze ln Llterature; but, had d a~ not
appeared ln l97l, Bll probably would not have
recelved the l972 award. d a~ ls gener
ally recognlzed as the slngle work that best represents
the artlstlc summatlon of Bll`s llterary career. Lenl ls
one of Germany`s most remarkable llterary personall
tles, wlth her generoslty, compasslon, and lntegrlty,
whlch gave Bll an effectlve vehlcle to crltlclze the
hypocrlsy, commerclallsm, opportunlsm, and raclsm of
postwar Germany. Jhe work attempts both a reconclll
atlon wlth the past and a condemnatlon of the pursult
of affluence ln presentday Germany, whlle presentlng a
notlon of a more compasslonate soclety. In lts Nobel
nomlnatlon, the Swedlsh Academy slngled out dJ
a~ as Bll`s 'most grandly concelved work,"
one that addresses Germany`s hlstory wlth a crltlcal and
a constructlve perspectlve.
After recelvlng the Nobel Prlze (as the flrst Ger
man wrlter after Mann and Hermann Hesse to be so
honored), Bll became an even more lmportant publlc
flgure than before, pralsed by the Left as the 'moral
consclence of hls age" and attacked from the Rlght as a
wrlter wlthout any real aesthetlc value. Detractors
clalmed that the best wrlters never recelved the Nobel
Prlze. Bll responded that, as a German, he could not
afford not to accept the Nobel Prlze, slnce Germany
had not had many good people whom the world could
admlre.
l69
ai_ POV e _
After the CDL vlclously attacked Brandt`s poll
tlcs of negotlatlng treatles wlth Communlst countrles,
hls Ustpolitil, Bll got lnvolved ln Brandt`s reelectlon
campalgn ln l972. When Bll reallzed the tendency of
hls adversarles to dellberately mlsunderstand hls llter
ary lntentlons, he declded to get lnvolved more dlrectly
ln the polltlcal arenawhlch, ln hlndslght, he saw as a
mlstake. By dolng so Bll came down to the level of hls
polltlcal opponents, who usually were not tralned ln
analyzlng llterature. In l972 Bll publlshed 'Wlll
Llrlke Melnhof Gnade oder frles Gelelt?" a famous
artlcle ln Dcr Spicgcl defendlng Llrlke Melnhof and the
terrorlst BaaderMelnhof group agalnst the gullty ver
dlct prematurely antlclpated by the tablold ild cituvg.
Bll looks at Melnhof as he had regarded hls flctlonal
character Lenl. wlth a feellng that everybody ln thls
soclety has the rlght to due process. Bll spoke agalnst
the slander ln ild cituvg and malntalned that Melnhof
would flnd no mercy ln a polltlcal cllmate ln whlch
former Nazls were belng released wlthout a trlala cor
rect descrlptlon of the polltlcal practlce at the tlme.
However, Bll`s comparlson of West German
legal practlces wlth those of the Nazls struck a raw
nerve ln most conservatlves. In reactlon to thls artlcle,
the papers controlled by West German press mogul
Axel Sprlnger publlshed a letter wrltten by Prlme Mln
lster Illblnger of the State of BadenWrttemberg and
others asklng for Bll`s reslgnatlon as presldent of the
Internatlonal PEN Club. On l |une l972 Bll`s house
was searched by the pollce, and on 7 |une, ln a debate
ln the West German Iederal Parllament ln Bonn, 'fel
low travelers" such as Bll were declared more danger
ous than the BaaderMelnhofs themselves. Jhe vlclous
reactlon to the Melnhof artlcle was Bll`s flrst real expe
rlence wlth the polltlcal arena, lf one conslders earller
expresslons of conservatlve lndlgnatlon over Bll`s nov
els as llterary reactlons. Bll was so antagonlzed by the
conservatlve reactlon to hls plea for mercy that he
declded never to comment about thls matter agaln.
Bll`s llterary response to these events was hls
book Dic vcrlorcvc Ilrc dcr Iotlorivo lum odcr wic Ccwolt
cvtstclcv uvd woliv sic flrcv lovv (l971; translated as Tlc
Iost Hovor of Iotlorivo lum: How !iolcvcc Dcvclops ovd
!lcrc It Cov Icod, l975), whlch lnltlally appeared ln |uly
l971 ln Dcr Spicgcl. It was the flrst work of flctlon ever
publlshed by the perlodlcal. Jhe flrst edltlon of the
book, publlshed ln August of l971, sold one hundred
thousand coples ln a few weeks and two hundred thou
sand by the end of the year, whlch far surpassed the
sales of hls earller books. Jhe paperback edltlon sold
more than one mllllon coples and was translated lnto
elghteen languages.
Jhe herolne ls Katharlna, a housekeeper and a
conformlst, born ln l917, who has achleved some
wealth. She loses her 'honor" through the mudsllnglng
of the perlodlcal cituvg: Bll wrote, 'Sollten slch bel
der Schllderung gewlsser journallstlscher Praktlken
hnllchkelten mlt den Praktlken der 'Blld`Zeltung
ergeben haben, so slnd dlese hnllchkelten weder beab
slchtlgt noch zuflllg, sondern unvermeldllch" (If ln
descrlblng certaln journallstlc practlces there should be
slmllarltles wlth those of the ild-cituvg, these slmllarl
tles are nelther lntentlonal nor accldental but unavold
able). Jhe cituvg flnds out that Katharlna fell ln love
wlth an army deserter and bank robber, kept hlm ln her
apartment overnlght, and let hlm escape the followlng
mornlng. Wlthout any justlflcatlon, the cituvg dubs
hlm a terrorlst and Katharlna hls accompllce. Detalls
about her love llfe are made up and publlshed. Katha
rlna ls so enraged that she decldes to klll the journallst
Jtges, who ls responslble. Jhe story ls based on Bll`s
bellef that 'da Sprache, Llebe, Gebundenhelt den
Menschen zum Menschen machen" (language, love,
and home constltute man), as he stated ln the Irovlfurtcr
!orlcsuvgcv. Jhe book portrays other cltlzens as equally
appalled by the cituvg and ready for revenge agalnst
the slanderous press, whlch Bll descrlbes as 'ffent
llche Gewalt" (publlc vlolence). Jhls vlolence manlfests
ltself ln language when Kommlssar Belzmenne asks
Katharlna 'Hat er dlch denn geflckt?" (Dld he fuck
you?) and she responds, 'Neln, lch wrde es nlcht so
nennen" (I would not say lt that way). Katharlna herself
reveals the vlolence of language when Jtges
approaches her wlth the words, 'Ich schlage vor, da
wlr jetzt bumsen" (I suggest that we have sex now), and
she thlnks 'Gut, jetzt bumst`s" (Bang, that`s flne), and
takes the plstol to shoot hlm (a pun on the German
word bumscv, 'bang" or 'have sex").
Revlews of thls book were generally more thor
ough than of Cruppcvbild mit Domc and ln thelr wlde
range show the hlgh level German polltlcal culture had
attalned by the l970s. One of the most quoted conser
vatlve oplnlons was that of Hans Habe, who ln !clt om
Sovvtog (l8 August l971) of ild cituvg`s Sprlnger pub
llshlng house crltlclzed Bll`s use of language and the
styllstlc awkwardness of the book as evldence of the
wrlter`s personal flaws; the novel, he sald, exposes
Bll`s 'selne Lnfhlgkelt zu lleben, . . . dle Schwche
selner Loglk und dle Maloslgkelt selnes Lrtells"
(lnablllty to love, . . . the weakness of hls loglc and hls
lmmaturlty to judge). In Amerlca, Habe wrote ln hls
revlew defendlng ild cituvg`s practlces, somebody
wlth Jtges`s ablllty would have recelved the Pulltzer
Prlze for hls lnvestlgatlve reportlng; ln Germany, some
one wlth these abllltles gets kllled. In comparlng Amerl
can lnvestlgatlve journallsm to Jtges`s actlvltles he
alludes to the provlnclallty of the Iederal Republlc,
whlch, accordlng to Habe, was largely the product of
l70
e _ ai_ POV
wrlters and lntellectuals llke Bll. q k v (l9
May l975), on the other hand, characterlzed the lnstltu
tlonal confllcts ln a b h~~~ _ as
a manlfestatlon of the psyche of the German people,
assertlng that the people and the lnstltutlons ln the story
are unmlstakably German and that Bll`s understand
lng of these German condltlons makes the book worth
whlle.
Mark W. Rectanus dlscussed the reasons for the
problematlc receptlon of Bll`s work after a
b h~~~ _ ln the Lnlted States. Rectanus
felt that Germany was to a large extent stlll percelved ln
the Lnlted States wlthln the context of the World War
II experlence and that no one understood Germany`s
current soclal problems. None of the revlewers of a
b h~~~ _ attempted to relate the
book to an analysls of polltlcal, soclal, or economlc
lnstltutlons, or to the necessary analysls of the role of
the medla ln the Iederal Republlc; lnstead they focused
on the love story. But a b h~~~
_ was able to engage the polltlcal Left ln a dlscus
slon to deflne thelr own posltlon, as no other German
wrlter could at that tlme.
Bll`s support for the weak and the helpless con
tlnued. In hls functlon as Internatlonal PEN presldent,
he played host to Aleksandr Solzhenltsyn after the latter
was exlled from the Sovlet Lnlon ln l971, and later to
Wolf Blermann and Lev Kopelev, who were exlled from
East Germany and the Sovlet Lnlon, respectlvely.
Desplte hls support for Sovlet dlssldents, Bll contlnued
to be one of the most popular German wrlters ln the
Sovlet Lnlon, probably even more popular than ln
West Germany.
In l977, when German lndustrlallst HannsMartln
Schleyer was kldnapped and murdered by terrorlsts,
and when several lmprlsoned terrorlsts commltted sul
clde ln the Stammhelm prlson, Bll was once agaln
accused by conservatlves of promotlng terrorlsm. Jhey
crltlclzed hls l975 satlre _ d~
k~ (Reports on the Attltudlnal State of the Natlon),
whlch attacks West German bureaucracy because of lts
supervlslon of socalled radlcals. Jhey also found fault
wlth Bll`s story 'Du fhrst zu oft nach Heldelberg"
(You Go to Heldelberg Joo Often, flrst publlshed ln
c~ ^ wI l7 September l977), an
lndlctment of _the law that kept suspected
Communlsts out of government jobs.
In hls novel c _~ (l979; trans
lated as q p~ kI l98l), Bll summarlzes hls pessl
mlstlc experlences of the l970s. Jhe newspaper edltor
Irltz Jolm, a sensltlve person, ls ready to wlthdraw lnto
prlvate llfe because hls house and famlly are constantly
protected by pollce agalnst a posslble terrorlst attack. In
lts recordlng of facts, the structure of the novel ls slmllar
to that of _~ ~ but has lts drawbacks as
well. Jhe story allows the reader to see the protectlon
system from all sldesthe famlly, the guards, and the
terrorlsts. Iamlly llfe has been destroyed through the
complete safety net; there ls no prlvacy for the pro
tected. Jhe crltlcs agree that the novel falls, partly
because Bll trles to use the famlly as a refuge, but thls
refuge has been destroyed by the safety measures.
Bll`s lnvolvement ln polltlcal lssues contlnued.
He declared that Germany was the country he wanted
to llve ln; lt was worth lmprovlng. He partlclpated ln
the l98l Bonn peace demonstratlon. In l983 Bll was
recommended for an honorary cltlzenshlp ln the clty of
Cologne. At flrst, the local CDL was opposed, not to
recognlzlng Bll as a great wrlter but to honorlng hlm
as a soclal crltlc. In hls acceptance speech, Bll dls
cussed the common mlstake of separatlng the two
aspects and clalmed that essays, revlews, and lectures
are also llterature. He sald that they could not be sepa
rated from novels and short storles because they had
been wrltten wlth the same klnd of moral consclous
ness, a comblnatlon unusual ln German llterature. Bll
called hls becomlng the publlc moral consclence a slgn
of the corruptlon of German soclety. he felt that parlla
ment and press should constltute the publlc moral con
sclence, not a slngle wrlter.
Bll`s health had always been problematlc. Dlabe
tes and a llver dlsorder necessltated several hospltal
stays. Hls smoklng hablt worsened hls clrculatory prob
lems. On l6 |uly l985 he dled at hls son`s estate ln Lan
genbrolch/Elffel, one day after he had been released
from the hospltal. Hls last novel was flnlshed before hls
death and publlshed ln August l985 ln an edltlon of
one hundred thousand coplesanother success added
to hls long llst of bestsellers. It ls a book about Bonn
and lts women, as the tltle suggests. c~ c~J
~ (translated as t ~ o i~~I l988).
Although thls book was not lntended as a roman a clef,
lt ls easy to recognlze certaln polltlclans on the Bonn
scene.
Bll`s contrlbutlon to postwar German llterature
was slgnlflcant. At a tlme when the polltlcal system was
dlscredlted to a polnt that most Germans, lncludlng
wrlters, were ready to wlthdraw lnto a world of lntro
spectlon, he set an example of an engag wrlter. Hls
Cathollclsm asslsted hlm ln hls credlblllty as well as the
fact that, although he was a reglonal wrlter for the
lower Rhlnelands, he was colncldentally wrltlng ln
Cologne, the splrltual center of West German polltlcal
power. Hls wrltlng was at lts best when he antlclpated a
polltlcal crlsls; lt became superlor when he hlmself was
drawn lnto the turmoll of a polltlcal power play. Hls
ablllty to malntaln hls roots, hls rellglon, and hls moral
l7l
ai_ POV e _
character durlng hls polltlcal lnvolvement made hlm a
model for the postwar West German wrlter.
Helnrlch Bll set an example wlth hls fervent
polltlcal engagement for the reconstructlon of a modest
West German sense of ldentlty. He redeflned West Ger
mans` upbrlnglng and thelr Hcimot as a modest place
where clvll engagement lndeed makes a dlfference. Jhe
lmportance of Bll`s lnfluence became clear ln Irank
Schlrrmacher`s dellberate mlsunderstandlng of Bll`s
lntentlons. Schlrrmacher credlts Bll wlth mastermlnd
lng the German llberal consclence that had developed
over the prevlous twentyflve years. Vogt refutes Schlr
rmacher`s clalm by statlng that Bll`s premlse for wrlt
lng orlglnated ln hls experlence of Natlonal Soclallsm,
whlch younger people such as Schlrrmacher lacked.
Lnllke the younger Schlrrmacher, Bll had been
dlrectly affected by the Nazls; hls redeflnltlon of Ger
man natlonhood would necessarlly have to conslder the
Nazl past. Indeed, Bll`s legacy to Germany`s llberal
polltlcal culture can be found ln the Green Party`s eco
loglcal redeflnltlon of Germany as well as ln the SPD`s
opposltlon to Germany`s new lnternatlonal mllltary
role. Bll`s most productlve wrltlng perlod colnclded
wlth the establlshment of the soclalllberal coalltlon ln
West Germany and wlth most Germans` deslre to
change thelr country`s course to an essentlally llberal
posltlon. |ust as scholars are beglnnlng to reexamlne the
values of the old Iederal Republlc, so too Bll`s work
wlll have to be reexamlned.
iW
Dic Hoffvuvg ist wic civ wildcs Ticr: Dcr ricfwcclscl wisclcv
Hcivricl ll uvd Irvst-Zdolf Iuv 194-19J,
edlted by Herbert Hoven (Cologne. Klepenheuer
Wltsch, l991).
fW
Horst Blenek, !crlstottgcsproclc mit Sclriftstcllcrv
(Munlch. Deutscher Jaschenbuch, l965), pp.
l68-l81;
'Intervlew mlt mlr selbst," ln Albrecht Beckel, Mcvscl,
Ccscllscloft, Iirclc bci Hcivricl ll (Osnabrck.
Iromm, l966), pp. 7-l2;
Im Ccsprocl: Hcivricl ll mit Hciv Iudwig Zrvold
(Munlch. edltlon text + krltlk/Rlchard Boorberg,
l97l);
'Helnrlch Bll and Dleter Wellershoff. Cruppcvbild mit
Domc: Eln Jonbandlntervlew," ln Dic subvcrsivc
Modovvo: Iiv Scllsscl um !crl Hcivricl lls,
edlted by Renate Matthael (Cologne. Klepen
heuer Wltsch, l975), pp. l1l-l56;
'Ich tendlere nur zu dem schelnbar Lnpolltlschen.
Gesprche mlt Helnrlch Bll," ln Manfred
Durzak, Ccsproclc bcr dcv Iomov (Irankfurt.
Suhrkamp, l976), pp. l28-l53.
_~W
Ierdlnand Mellus, ed., Dcr Sclriftstcllcr Hcivricl ll: Iiv
biogropliscl-bibliogroplisclcr Zbri (Cologne. Klepen
Werner Lengnlng, ed., Dcr Sclriftstcllcr Hcivricl ll: Iiv
biogropliscl-bibliogroplisclcr Zbri (Munlch. Deutscher
Jaschenbuch, l968);
Werner Martln, Hcivricl ll: Iivc ibliogroplic scivcr
!crlc (Hlldeshelm. Olms, l975);
Vlktor Bll and Manfred Lange, 'Auswahlblbllogra
phle," ln Hcivricl ll, edlted by Helnz Ludwlg
Arnold (Munlch. edltlon text + krltlk, l982), pp.
l13-l51.
_~W
Klaus Schrter, Hcivricl ll: Iv Sclbstcugvisscv uvd ilddo-
lumcvtcv (Relnbek. Rowohlt, l982);
Helnrlch Vormweg, Dcr ovdcrc Dcutsclc: Hcivricl ll; civc
iogroplic (Cologne. Klepenheuer Wltsch,
2000).
oW
Charlotte Armster, 'Katharlna Blum. Vlolence and the
Exploltatlon of Sexuallty," !omcv iv Ccrmov Jcor-
bool: Icmivist Studics ovd Ccrmov Culturc, 1 (l988).
83-95;
Hans|oachlm Bernhard, Dic Iomovc Hcivricl lls:
Ccscllscloftslritil uvd Ccmcivscloftsutopic (Berlln.
Rtten Loenlg, l970);
Hanno Beth, ed., Iivc Iivflruvg iv dos Ccsomtwcrl iv
Iivclivtcrprctotiovcv (Kronberg. Scrlptor, l975);
Alfred Bll, ildcr civcr dcutsclcv Iomilic: Dic lls (Ber
glschGladbach. Lbbe, l98l);
Vlktor Bll and Yvonne |rgensen, Hcivricl ll ols Iil-
moutor: Iccvsiovsmotcriol ous dcm Iitcroturorcliv dcr
Stodtbclcrci Ilv (Cologne. Clty of Cologne,
l982);
Kelth Bulllvant, 'Helnrlch BllA Jrlbute," Ccrmov Iifc
c Icttcrs, 39 (l986). 215-25l;
Robert A. Burns, Tlc Tlcmc of òv-Covformism iv tlc
!orls of Hcivricl ll (Coventry. Lnlverslty of
Warwlck, l973);
Mlchael Butler, ed., Tlc òrrotivc Iictiov of Hcivricl ll:
Sociol Covscicvcc ovd Iitcrory Zclicvcmcvt (Cam
Cesare Cases, ''Dle Waage der Baleks` drelmal gele
sen," ln Marcel RelchRanlckl, Iv Soclcv ll
(Cologne. Klepenheuer Wltsch, l97l), pp. 221-
232;
Robert C. Conard, Hcivricl ll (Boston. Jwayne,
l978);
l72
e _ ai_ POV
Mark E. Cory, 'Some Observatlons on the Role of Vlo
lence ln the Late Prose of Helnrlch Bll," Uvivcr-
sity of Doytov Icvicw, l9 (l988-l989). 13-53;
Margareta Neovlus Deschner, 'Helnrlch Bll`s Ltoplan
Iemlnlsm," Uvivcrsity of Doytov Icvicw, 2 (l985).
ll9-l25;
Manfred Durzak, Dcr dcutsclc Iomov dcr Ccgcvwort
(Stuttgart. Kohlhammer, l97l), pp. l9-l07;
Irank Ilnlay, Uv tlc Iotiovolity of Ioctry: Hcivricl ll`s Zcs-
tlctic Tlivlivg (Amsterdam Atlanta. Rodopl,
l996);
Erhard Irledrlchsmeyer, òtcs ov tlc Mojor !orls of Hciv-
ricl ll (New York. Monarch, l975);
Irank Grtzbach, ed., Hcivricl ll: Ircics Cclcit fr Ulrilc
Mcivlof: Iiv Zrtilcl uvd scivc Iolgcv (Cologne.
Hcivricl ll uvd dic DDI, civc Dolumcvtotiov (Berlln.
HelnrlchBllStlftung, l997);
Helnrlch Herlyn, Hcivricl ll ols utopisclcr Sclriftstcllcr:
Uvtcrsucluvgcv um crollcrisclcv !crl (Irankfurt.
Lang, l996);
Herlyn, Hcivricl ll uvd Hcrbcrt Morcusc: Iitcrotur ols
Utopic (Lamberthelm. Kbler, l979);
Chrlstlne Gabrlele Hoffman, Hcivricl ll (Hamburg.
Dressler, l977);
|oseph Hynes, 'Jhe Catcher on the Rhlne. Helnrlch
Bll, l9l7-l985," òvcl: Z Iorum ov Iictiov, 3
(l990). 265-28l;
Walter |ens, Dcutsclc Iitcrotur dcr Ccgcvwort: Tlcmcv,
Stilc, Tcvdcvcv (Munlch. Plper, l962);
Helnrlch |rgenbehrlng, Iicbc, Icligiov uvd Ivstitutiov:
Itlisclc uvd rcligisc Tlcmcv bci Hcivricl ll (Malnz.
Matthlas Grnewald, l991);
Manfred |urgensen, ed., ll: Uvtcrsucluvgcv um !crl
(Bern. Irancke, l975);
|oachlm Kalser, Irlcbtc Iitcrotur: !om 'Doltor Ioustus` um
'Icttflccl` (Munlch Zurlch. Plper, l988);
Kalser, 'Lelden und Gre Helnrlch Blls. Zum Jod
des bedeutenden Schrlftstellers," Sddcutsclc ci-
tuvg, l7 |uly l985;
Ingo Lehnlck, Dcr Irollcr Hcivricl ll: Zvdcruvgcv scivcr
vorrotivcv Strotcgic uvd ilrc Hivtcrgrvdc (Irankfurt.
Lang, l997);
Chrlstlan Llnder, Hcivricl ll (Relnbek. Rowohlt,
l978);
Enld MacPherson, Z Studcvt`s Cuidc to ll (London.
Helnemann, l972);
Motcriolicv ur Ivtcrprctotiov vov Hcivricl lls 'Irsorgliclc
clogcruvg (Cologne. Klepenheuer Wltsch,
l982);
Moray McGowan, 'Pale Mother, Pale Daughter? Some
Reflectlons on Bll`s Lenl Gruyten and Katharlna
Blum," Ccrmov Iifc c Icttcrs, 3 (l981). 2l8-228;
Aleldlne Kramer Moeller, Tlc !omov os Survivor: Tlc
Ivolutiov of tlc Icmolc Iigurc iv tlc !orls of Hcivricl
ll (Irankfurt. Lang, l99l);
Ralner Ngele, Hcivricl ll: Iivflruvg iv dos !crl uvd iv
dic Iorscluvg (Irankfurt am Maln. Athenum
Ilscher, l976);
Gerd Rademacher, ed., Hcivricl ll ols Iyrilcr. Iivc Iiv-
flruvg iv Zufsotcv, Iccvsiovcv uvd Ccdicltprobcv
(Irankfurt. Lang, l985);
Mark W. Rectanus, 'Tlc Iost Hovor of Iotlorivo lum:
Jhe Receptlon of a German BestSeller ln the
LSA," Ccrmov _uortcrly, 59 (l986). 252-269;
Marcel RelchRanlckl, Iv Soclcv ll: Zvsicltcv uvd Iiv-
sicltcv (Munlch. Deutscher Jaschenbuch, l97l);
RelchRanlckl, Mclr ols civ Dicltcr: Ubcr Hcivricl ll
|ames Henderson Reld, Hcivricl ll: Z Ccrmov for His
Timc (Oxford. Wolff, l988);
Reld, Hcivricl ll: !itldrowol ovd Ic-Imcrgcvcc (Lon
don. Wolff, l973);
Wllhelm |. Schwarz, Dcr Irollcr Hcivricl ll (Bern.
Irancke, l973); translated by Alexander Hender
son and Ellzabeth Henderson as Hcivricl ll:
Tcllcr of Tolcs (New York. Lngar, l968);
Bernhard Sowlnskl, Hcivricl ll: Iurgcsclicltcv
(Munlch. Oldenbourg, l988);
|. P. Stern, 'An Honourable Man," ln u Hcivricl ll,
edlted by Anna Marla DellÀgll (Stuttgart. Klett,
l981), pp. l0l-l05;
Hermann Stresau, Hcivricl ll (Berlln. Colloqulum,
l961);
|ochen Vogt, Hcivricl ll (Munlch. C. H. Beck/edltlon
text + krltlk, l978);
Gnter Wlrth, Hcivricl ll: Issoyistisclc Studic bcr
rcligisc uvd gcscllscloftliclc Motivc im Irosowcrl dcs
Dicltcrs (Berlln. Lnlon, l967);
Relnhard K. Zachau, Hcivricl ll: Iorty Jcors of Criticism
(Columbla, S.C.. Camden House, l991);
Jheodore Zlolkowskl, 'Jypologle und 'Elnfache Iorm`
ln Cruppcvbild mit Domc," ln Dic subvcrsivc Modovvo:
Iiv Scllsscl um !crl lls, edlted by Renate Mat
thael (Cologne. Klepenheuer Wltsch, l975), pp.
l23-l10.
m~W
Jhe holdlngs of the former BllArchlve of Klepen
heuer and Wltsch and those of the Boston Lnlverslty
Llbrary were transferred to the Archlves of the Clty of
Cologne on 29 Aprll l983, when Helnrlch Bll was
awarded honorary cltlzenshlp of the clty; they are
admlnlstered by hls nephew Vlktor Bll (Llteraturar
chlv der Stadtbcherel. Kln, Zentralblbllothek, |osef
HanbrlchHof, 5000 Kln l). Jhe former Klepenheuer
and Wltsch collectlon lncludes all of Bll`s prlnted
l73
ai_ POV e _
texts; the manuscrlpts and letters are ln prlvate posses
slon. Jhe former Boston Lnlverslty Llbrary collectlon
ls descrlbed by Robert C. Conard ln the Uvivcrsity of
Doytov Icvicw, l0, no. 2 (Iall l973). ll-l1.
_W ^~~ p~
(!rittcv ot tlc timc of tlc owordivg of tlc òbcl Iric)
I was born December 2l, l9l7 ln Cologne, on the
Rhlne, the son of the sculptor and cablnetmaker, Vlk
tor Bll, and hls wlfe, Marla, ne Hermanns. Between
l921 and l928 I attended elementary school ln Kln
Raderthal, and from l928 to l937, the staterun
KalserWllhelm classlcal secondary school ln Cologne.
In sprlng l937 I began as an apprentlce bookseller
(publlshers, retall trade, antlquarlan) for the Matth.
Lempertz company ln Bonn. I left thls apprentlceshlp ln
sprlng l938, started my flrst attempts to wrlte, gave prl
vate lessons, read a great deal. Durlng autumn l938 I
was conscrlpted lnto the natlonal labour servlce, and
released ln sprlng l939 after completlng a slxmonth
term of compulsory servlce. Because the completlon of
labour servlce was a precondltlon for permlsslon to
study at the unlverslty, I was able to begln my studles
of Germanlstlcs and Classlcal Phllology durlng the
summer term of l939. Late ln the summer of l939 I
was conscrlpted lnto the German Army shortly before
the outbreak of the war. I took part ln the Second
World War; ln autumn l910, brlefly ln Irance, from
l91l to l912 (after a severe case of typhus), ln the
replacement unlts ln Germany, from early l912 untll
summer l913, along the Engllsh Channel coast ln
Irance, between summer l913 and autumn l911, ln
the Sovlet Lnlon, Romanla and Hungary, from sprlng
l915 on, for a few weeks ln western Germany, where I
was taken prlsoner by the Amerlcans, and lnterned
untll October l915 ln a camp ln Irance, and then for a
few weeks ln October/November l915, ln an Engllsh
camp ln Belglum.
As early as December l915, I accompanled my
wlfe and a few relatlves ln thelr return from evacuatlon
ln the countryslde to Cologne, where over the years we
settled down ln a destroyed house. I started to wrlte
agaln, whlle slmultaneously worklng on repalrlng the
destroyed house, I started my studles agalnmerely for
mally, because proof of occupatlon was necessary to
obtaln a food ratlonlng card. Irom l916 to l919 I pub
llshed short storles, and ln l919 my flrst book, a
novella, called Dcr ug wor pvltlicl, was publlshed.
After a flrst lnvltatlon to a meetlng of the Gruppe 17 ln
l95l, I met many German postwar wrlters wlth whom
I afterwards became frlends. I owe partlcular thanks,
and hereby glve them, to Hans Werner Rlchter, Alfred
Andersch and many others that I cannot name ln detall.
Even lf there occurred brlef or permanent controversles
durlng, or after, these meetlngs, the Gruppe 17 llberated
many German authoresses and authors out of thelr lso
latlon ln a destroyed and fragmented postwar Germany.
In l912 I marrled Annemarle Cech, who has been lrre
placeable, not only as my wlfe and companlon, and not
only as fellow experlencer and fellow sufferer ln the fas
clst drama durlng the Nazl relgn ln Germany, but also
for her crltlcal awareness for language.
Our flrst chlld, Chrlstoph, dled ln October l915.
Our sons Ralmund, Ren and Vlncent were born ln
l917, l918 and l950 ln the rubble of Cologne and grew
up there.
Between l950 and l95l I worked as a temporary
employee ln the Cologne Bureau of Statlstlcs. Irom
summer l95l on I have llved as a freelance wrlter wlth
a flxed postal address ln Cologne, but wlth a contlnu
ally shlftlng place of work.
NVTO k m i~
m~ p
by Dr. Iorl Iogvor Cicrow, Icrmovcvt Sccrctory of tlc Swcdisl
Zcodcmy (Trovslotiov from tlc Swcdisl)
Your Royal Hlghnesses, Ladles and Gentlemen,
He who attempts to selze ln a slngle grasp the
bountlful and very varled authorshlp of Helnrlch Bll
flnds hlmself holdlng an abstractlon. Jhrough these
wrltlngsbegun twenty years ago and culmlnatlng ln
last year`s novel Cruppcvbild mit Domcthere runs, how
ever, a twln theme that mlght serve as such a synoptlc
abstractlon. Jhls could be phrased. Jhe homeless and
the aesthetlcs of the humane. But Bll`s homeless are
not lllfated lndlvlduals or human wreckage cast up out
slde the bulwarks of soclety. He tells of a soclety wlth
out a roof over lts head, a deralled, dlsplaced epoch,
standlng on every street corner wlth hand outstretched,
begglng for the charlty of a klndred splrlt and human
fellowshlp. Jhls ls the sltuatlon underlylng Bll`s Zstlc-
til dcs Humovcv.
He wrltes about what every human belng seeks ln
order to lead a human llfe, ln llttle thlngs as ln great,
about 'das Wohnen, dle Nachbarschaft und dle
Helmat, das Geld und dle Llebe, Rellglon und Mahl
zelten," to quote hls own enumeratlon. Wlth lts whole
l71
e _ ai_ POV
reglster from satlre and hlghsplrlted parody to deep
sufferlng, thls ls a form of passlonately engaged aesthet
lcs and lt also contalns hls llterary program. He who
sets out to portray the bare necessltles of llfe keeps both
feet on the ground.
Yet Bll has declared 'Ich brauche wenlg
Wlrkllchkelt," a word to note, comlng from one who ls
regarded and who perhaps regards hlmself as a reallstlc
narrator. Jhe reallty he needs so llttle ls that of the clas
slc l9th century novel, the reallty that after a metlcu
lous study of detall ls falthfully reproduced. Bll ls
hlghly proflclent at the method but employs lt lronl
cally; there ls no llmlt to the superflulty of detall.
But the jestlng wlth thls consclentlous form of reg
lstratlon ls ltself a demonstratlon of how llttle Bll
needs such a reallty. Hls mastery lncludes the ablllty to
brlng hls settlng and lts flgures to llfe wlth scanty, some
tlmes barely suggested llnes.
Jhere ls however another reallty whlch Bll`s
wrltlng contlnually requlres. the background to hls
exlstence, the alr hls generatlon breathed, the herltage
lnto whlch lt came. Jhat reallty ls the recurrent, lntru
slvely observed subject of Helnrlch Bll`s wrltlng, from
the start up to the magnum opus already mentloned,
d a~I whlch so far crowns hls work.
Bll`s real breakthrough came ln the years l953, l951
and l955 wlth three novels publlshed one after the
otherr ~ tX e~ eX and
a~ _ g~. Although lt was presumably
not the author`s lntentlon, these three tltles serve to
lndlcate the reallty whlch he so perslstently and force
fully deplcts. Hls background was Germany`s years of
famlne, lt was a~ _ g~I the bread that
never sufflced and often was not there, the bread that
had to be begged for or stolen lf one was to survlve,
and that dlet ls an lndellble memory. Jhe herltage
whlch he and hls contemporarles had to admlnlster was
e~ eI house wlthout caretaker, an exlstence ln
rulns, wlth tlme a wldow and the future fatherless. Jhe
alr he and hls contemporarles breathed was lnhaled
wlth the heavy hand of dlctatorshlp on thelr throats,
r ~ tI because the hand smothered
every sound.
It ls not the smallest German mlracle that after
such years of destltutlon a new generatlon of wrlters,
thlnkers and researchers was ready so soon to shoul
der thelr country`s and thelr own essentlal task ln the
splrltual llfe of our tlme. Jhe renewal of German llt
erature, to whlch Helnrlch Bll`s achlevements wlt
ness and of whlch they are a slgnlflcant part, ls not
an experlment wlth forma drownlng man scorns
the butterfly stroke. Instead lt ls a reblrth out of annl
hllatlon, a resurrectlon, a culture whlch, ravaged by
lcy nlghts and condemned to extlnctlon, sends up
new shoots, blossoms and matures to the joy and
beneflt of us all. Such was the klnd of work Alfred
Nobel wlshed hls Prlze to reward.
Dear Mr. Bll,
As a glven consequence of the homelessness that
ls one of the maln themes of your wrltlng, comes the
strlvlng that you yourself have lndlcated wlth the
words. 'Dle Suche nach elner bewohnbaren Sprache ln
elnem bewohnbaren Land." Jhls lmplles an antlthesls
of homelessness, a wrltlng ln whlch everyone can feel at
home. You reject a llterature for an lnltlated clrcle, you
have declared, addlng slgnlflcantly. 'Elne Klrche wlrd
elngewelht, aber durch dlesen Akt der Elnwelhung
nlcht geschlossen, sondern geoffnet." It ls thls openness
for the human aspect whlch glves space and ralses the
arches hlgher ln your works. And lt ls works ln that
splrlt whlch glve us a certaln rlght to set our hopes as
well on a habltable world. Wlth these words I express
the congratulatlons of the Swedlsh Academy and ask
you now to recelve thls year`s Nobel Prlze for Lltera
ture from the hands of Hls Royal Hlghness the Crown
Prlnce.
_W _~ p
_ ~ k _~ pI NM a
NVTO E d~F
Herr Mlnlsterprsldent, melne Damen und Herren,
Anlssllch elnes Besuchs ln der Bundesrepubllk
Deutschland hat Selne Majestt der Knlg von Schwe
den elnen gelehrten Bllck ln dle Schlchten der
Vergngllchkelt getan, aus der wlr kommen und auf der
wlr wohnen. Vlellelcht hat der elne oder andere von
Ihnen auch gelegentllch elnen Bllck ln dlese Schlchten
getan. |ungfrullch oder gar unschuldlg lst dleser
Boden nlcht, und nle lst er zur Ruhe gekommen. Das
begehrte Land am Rheln, von Begehrllchen bewohnt,
hat zahlrelche Herrscher gehabt, entsprechend vlele
Krlegen gesehen. Kolonlale, natlonale, reglonale, lokale,
konfesslonelle Weltkrlege. Progrome hat es gesehen,
Vertrelbung und lmmer kamen Vertrlebene anderswo
her und wurden andere anderswohln vertrleben. Lnd
dass man dort deutsch sprach, war zu selbstver
stndllch, als dass mans nach lnnen oder aussen htte
demonstrleren mssen. Das taten andere, denen das
welche d nlcht gengte, dle nach elnem harten t bege
hrten. Jeutsche.
l75
ai_ POV e _
Gewalt, Zerstrung, Schmerz, Mlssverstndnlsse
llegen auf dem Weg, den elner daherkommt, aus den
Schlchten vergangener Vergngllchkelt ln elne
vergngllche Gegenwart. Lnd es schufen Scherben,
Gerll und Jrmmer, schufen Ost und Westverschle
bungen nlcht, was nach so vlel, vlel zu vlel Geschlchte
zu erwarten gewesen wre. Gelassenhelt; wohl, well
man uns nle lless; den elnen zu westllch, den anderen
nlcht westllch genug; den elnen zu weltllch, den
anderen nlcht weltllch genug. Immer noch herrscht
Mlsstrauen unter den DemonstratlvJeutschen, als wre
dle Komblnatlon westllch und deutsch doch nur elne
Juschung der lnzwlschen unhelllg gewordenen
Natlon. Wo doch gewlss seln msste. wenn dleses Land
je so etwas wle eln Herz gehabt haben sollte, lags da,
wo der Rheln fllesst. Es war eln welter Weg der deut
schen Geschlchte ln dle Bundesrepubllk Deutschland.
Als |unge hrte auch lch ln der Schule den sportll
chen Spruch, dass der Krleg der Vater aller Dlnge sel;
glelchzeltlg hrte lch ln Schule und Klrche, dass dle
Irledfertlgen, dle Sanftmtlgen, dle Gewaltlosen also,
das Land der Verhelssung besltzen wrden. Bls an seln
Lebensende wohl wlrd elner den mrderlschen Wlder
spruch nlcht los, der den elnen den Hlmmel dle
Erde, den anderen nur den Hlmmel verhelt, und das
ln elner Landschaft, ln der auch Klrche Herrschaft
begehrte, erlangte und ausbte, bls auf den heutlgen
Jag.
Der Weg hlerhln war eln welter Weg fr mlch,
der lch wle vlele Mllllonen aus dem Krleg helmkehrte
und nlcht vlel mehr besa als dle Hnde ln der Jasche,
unterschleden von den anderen nur durch dle Lelden
schaft, schrelben und wleder schrelben zu wollen. Das
Schrelben hat mlch hlerhergebracht. Gestatten Sle mlr,
dle Jatsache, da lch hler stehe, fr nlcht so ganz wahr
zu halten, wenn lch zurckbllcke auf den jungen Mann,
der da nach langer Vertrelbung und langem Lmherge
trlebenseln ln elne vertrlebene Helmat zurckkehrte;
nlcht nur dem Jod, auch der Jodessehnsucht entron
nen; befrelt, berlebend; Irledenlch bln l9l7
geborennur eln Wort, weder Gegenstand der Erln
nerung noch Zustand; Republlk keln Iremdwort, nur
zerbrochene Erlnnerung. Ich mte hler sehr vlelen
danken, auslndlschen Autoren, dle zu Befrelern wur
den, das Befremdende und das Iremde aus der Elnge
schlossenhelt befrelten, das slch selbst um selner
Materlalltt wlllen ln dle Elgenhelt zurckverwles. Der
Rest war Eroberung der Sprache ln dleser Zurckver
welsung an das Materlal, an dlese Hand voll Staub, dle
vor der Jr zu llegen schlen und doch so schwer zu
grelfen und zu begrelfen war. Danken mchte lch auch
fr vlel Ermutlgung durch deutsche Ireunde und deut
sche Krltlker, danken auch fr vlele Versuche der Ent
mutlgung, denn manches geschlcht ohne Krleg, nlchts
aber, so schelnt mlr, ohne Wlderstand.
Dlese slebenundzwanzlg |ahre waren eln langer
Marsch, nlcht nur fr den Autor, auch fr den Staat
sbrger durch elnen dlchten Wald von Zelgeflngern,
dle aus der vertrackten Dlmenslon der Elgentllchkelt
stammten, lnnerhalb derer verlorene Krlege zu
elgentllch gewonnen werden. Gar mancher Zelgeflnger
war scharf geladen und hatte selnen Druckpunkt an
und ln slch selbst.
Mlt Bangen denke lch an melne deutschen
Vorgnger hler, dle lnnerhalb dleser verfluchten Dlmen
slon Elgentllchkelt kelne Deutschen mehr seln sollten.
Nelly Sachs, von Selma Lagerlf gerettet, nur knapp
dem Jod entronnen. Jhomas Mann, vertrleben und
ausgebrgert. Hermann Hesse, aus der Elgentllchkelt
ausgewandert, schon lange keln deutscher Staatsbrger
mehr, als er hler geehrt wurde. Inf |ahre vor melner
Geburt, vor sechzlg |ahren, stand hler der letzte deut
sche Prelstrger fr Llteratur, der ln Deutschland starb,
Gerhart Hauptmann. Er hatte selne letzten Lebensjahre
ln elner Verslon Deutschland verlebt, ln dle er wohl
trotz elnlger Mlverstndllchkelten nlcht hlnelngehrte.
Ich bln weder eln Elgentllcher noch elgentllch kelner,
lch bln eln Deutscher, meln elnzlg gltlger Auswels, den
mlr nlemand auszustellen oder zu verlngern braucht,
lst dle Sprache, ln der lch schrelbe. Als solcher, als
Deutscher, freue lch mlch ber dle groe Ehre. Ich
danke der Schwedlschen Akademle und dem Land
Schweden fr dlese Ehre, dle wohl nlcht nur mlr gllt,
auch der Sprache, ln der lch mlch ausdrcke und dem
Land, dessen Brger lch bln.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l972. Helnrlch Bll ls the
q~~ g~ e~ ~ m _K a~W
Mr. Prlme Mlnlster, Ladles and Gentlemen,
On the occaslon of a vlslt to the Iederal Republlc
of Germany Hls Majesty the Klng of Sweden took a
scholarly look at the layers of transltorlness out of
whlch we come and on whlch we llve. Perhaps one or
the other of you have also occaslonally looked at these
layers. Jhls soll ls not chaste or completely lnnocent
and has never enjoyed peace and qulet. Jhe coveted
land along the Rhlne, lnhablted by covetous people, has
had numerous rulers and, accordlngly, has seen many
wars. Colonlal, natlonal, reglonal, local, rellglous world
wars. It has seen pogroms, banlshment, and always the
banlshed came from some other place and were ban
lshed elsewhere. And that German was spoken there
was too obvlous for lt to be necessary to demonstrate
l76
e _ ai_ POV
that fact. Others dld that, to whom the soft |a|
was not satlsfactory, who deslred a hard . q |Jeu
tons|.
Vlolence, destructlon, sufferlng, mlsunderstand
lngs lle on the path on whlch one comes from the layers
of past transltorlness lnto a transltory present. And lt
produced shards, rubble, and rulns but dld not create
shlfts from East to West, whlch, after so muchfar too
muchhlstory, would have been expected. composure;
because we are never left alone; the one too Western,
the other not Western enough; the one too worldly, the
other not worldly enough. Stlll, mlstrust prevalls among
the Jeutonlc types, as lf the comblnatlon of western and
German were only an llluslon of the natlon that has ln
the meantlme become unholy. Yet, one thlng ls certaln.
lf thls land ever had somethlng llke a heart, lt lay there,
where the Rhlne flows. It was a long way from German
hlstory to the Iederal Republlc of Germany.
As a boy I heard ln school the sportlng saylng that
war ls the father of all thlngs; slmultaneously I heard ln
school and church that the peacemakersthat ls, the
meek, the powerlesswould possess the Promlsed
Land. Jo the very end of one`s days, one cannot rld
oneself of the murderous concluslon that, on the one
hand, promlses one heaven ~ earth and, on the other,
only heaven; and thls ln a reglon ln whlch the Church
also deslred power, achleved lt, and exerclsed lt, rlght
up to the present day.
Jhe road here was a long one for me, who llke
many mllllons returned home from the war wlth not
much more than thelr hands ln thelr pockets, dlfferent
from the others only by the passlon to want to wrlte
and agaln to wrlte. Wrltlng brought me here. Allow me
to conslder the fact that I stand here as not entlrely
truewhen I look back at the young man who, after
long banlshment and long wanderlng, came back to a
homeland drlven apart; havlng escaped not only death
but also the longlng for death; llberated, survlvlng;
peaceI was born ln l9l7only a word, nelther object
of memory nor condltlon; republlc no forelgn word,
only shattered memory. I would here have to thank
very many forelgn authors who became llberators, who
freed that whlch had been consldered strange and for
elgn from conflnement, that for the sake of lts materlal
lty polnted back to one`s own world. Jhe rest was
conquest of the language ln thls referrlng back to the
materlal, to thls hand full of dust, that seemed to lle
before the door and yet was so hard to grasp and
understand. I would also thank German frlends and
German crltlcs for much encouragement; thanks also
for many attempts at dlscouragement, because many a
thlng happens wlthout warnot, however, lt seems to
me, wlthout opposltlon.
Jhese twentyseven years were a long march for
me as author and cltlzen through a dense forest of
accuslng flngers that polnted at me from that tortuous
dlmenslon of essentlal thlnklng wlthln whlch lost wars
are all too essentlally won after all. Many of these fln
gers were fully loaded, ready to flre at random.
Wlth trepldatlon I thlnk about my German prede
cessors here, who lnslde thls accursed dlmenslon of
reallty were not supposed to be Germans. Nelly Sachs,
rescued by Selma Lagerlf, only narrowly escaped
death. Jhomas Mann, expelled and expatrlated. Her
mann Hesse, havlng emlgrated from reallty, already for
a long tlme no longer a German cltlzen when he was
honored here. Ilve years before I was born, slxty years
ago, the last German prlzewlnner ln llterature who dled
ln Germany stood here. Gerhart Hauptmann. He had
spent the last years of hls llfe ln a verslon of Germany
ln whlch, ln splte of sundry mlsunderstandlngs, he dld
not belong. I am nelther a real one nor really none, I
am a German; my only valld passport, whlch no one
needs to lssue or renew for me, ls the language ln whlch
I wrlte. As such, as a German, I rejolce at thls great
honor. I thank the Swedlsh Academy and the country
of Sweden for thls honor that, to be sure, applles not
only to me but also to the language ln whlch I express
myself and the country whose cltlzen I am.
l77
_W k iI O j~ NVTP
^ b~ o~ m
Eq~~F
It ls sald by those who ought to knowand by
others, who also ought to know, lt ls dlsputedthat ln
matters whlch to all appearances are ratlonal, calculable
and achleved by the comblned efforts of archltects,
draughtsmen, englneers, workersaccompllshments
such as a brldgethere remaln a few mllllmetres or
centlmetres of lncalculablllty. Jhls lncalculablllty (tlny
wlth regard to the masses belng treated and shaped)
may stem from the dlfflculty of calculatlng wlth the nlc
est preclslon a mass of compllcated lnterlocklng cheml
cal and technlcal detalls and materlals ln all thelr
posslble reactlons, lncludlng the effects of the four clas
slcal elements (alr, water, flre and earth). Jhe problem
here seems not merely to be the deslgn, the repeatedly
recalculated and checked technlcal/chemlcal/statlstlcal
composltlon, butlet me call lt thlsthelr lncarnatlon,
whlch can also be called thelr reallsatlon. Jhls remaln
der of lncalculablllty, be lt only fractlons of mllllmetres,
whlch correspond to unforeseen tlny dlfferences ln
extenslonwhat shall we call them? What lles hldden ln
thls gap? Is lt what we usually call lrony, ls lt poetry,
God, reslstance, or (to use a popular phrase nowadays)
flctlon? Someone who ought to know, a palnter who
had prevlously been a baker, once told me that even
baklng breakfast rolls, whlch ls done early ln the morn
lng, almost ln the nlght, was extremely dlcey buslness;
you had to stlck your nose and your backslde out lnto
the grey dawn ln order more or less lnstlnctlvely to flnd
the rlght mlxture of lngredlents, temperature and bak
lng tlme, slnce each and every day demanded lts own
freshlybaked rolls, an lmportant, even holy element of
the flrst mornlng meal for all those who shoulder the
burden of the new day. Should we also call thls almost
lncalculable element lrony, poetry, God, reslstance or
flctlon? How can we cope wlthout lt? Not to mentlon
love. No one wlll ever know how many novels, poems,
analyses, confesslons, sufferlngs and joys have been
plled up on thls contlnent called Love, wlthout lt ever
havlng turned out to be totally lnvestlgated.
When I am asked how or why I wrote thls or
that, I always flnd myself qulte embarassed. I would
gladly furnlsh not merely the questloner, but myself as
well, wlth an exhaustlve answer, but can never do so. I
cannot recreate the context ln lts entlrety, yet I wlsh that
I could, so that at least the llterature I myself make
mlght be made sllghtly less of a mysterlous process than
brldgebulldlng and breadbaklng.
And because llterature ln lts lncarnatlon as a
whole, ln lts message and shape, can clearly have a llb
eratlng effect, lt would after all be qulte useful to tell
people about the genesls of thls lncarnatlon, so that
more people can share ln thls process. What ls lt that I
myself, although I demonstrably produce lt, cannot
even approxlmately explaln?thls somethlng whlch
from the flrst to the last llne I myself set down on paper,
vary repeatedly, rework, somewhat shlft the emphasls
of, yet whlch as lt recedes ln tlme grows allen to me,
llke somethlng that ls gone or past, retreatlng further
and further from me, even as lt ls perhaps becomlng
lmportant for others as a shaped message? Jheoretl
cally, the total reconstructlon of the process would have
to be posslble, a form of parallel protocol created as the
work progresses, and whlch, lf done ln detall, would
probably be many tlmes larger than the work ltself. Not
merely the lntellectual and mental, but also the sensory
and materlal dlmenslons would have to be satlsfled,
mental and physlcal nourlshment and metabollsm, the
mood and flashes of wlt provlded, the func
tlon of one`s envlronment not only ln lts lncarnatlon as
such, but also as backdrop. Ior example, I often watch
sports shows wlth my mlnd almost completely blank, ln
order to practlse contemplatlon wlth a blank mlnd,
admlttedly a rather mystlcal exerclseyet all these pro
grammes would have to be lncluded ln thelr entlrety ln
the protocol, slnce after all a klck or a leap mlght hap
pen to spark some reactlon or other ln my thoughtless
contemplatlon, or perhaps the movement of a hand, a
smlle, a commentator`s word, a commerclal. Every tele
phone call, the weather, letters, each lndlvldual clgarette
would have to be lncluded, a passlng car, a pneumatlc
drlll, the cackllng of a hen that dlsturbs a context.
Jhe table upon whlch I am wrltlng thls ls 76.5 cm
hlgh, lts top ls 69.5 by lll cm. It has turned legs, a
drawer, seems to be seventy to elghty years old, was a
l78
_W k iI O j~ NVTP ai_ POV
possesslon of a greataunt of my mother`s, who, after
her husband had dled ln a madhouse and she herself
had moved lnto a smaller flat, sold lt to her brother, my
wlfe`s grandfather. And so, after my wlfe`s grandfather
had dled, lt came lnto our possesslon, a desplsed and
rather desplcable plece of furnlture of no value, knock
lng around somewhere, no one knows exactly where,
untll lt surfaced durlng a move and proved to have been
damaged by a bomb. somewhere, at some tlme or
other, a plece of shrapnel had bored a hole through lts
top durlng the Second World Waralready lt would
seem to be not merely of sentlmental value, but an
entry lnto a dlmenslon of polltlcal and soclal hlstory
worth relatlng, uslng the table as an entrance vehlcle, ln
whlch connectlon the deadly contempt of the furnlture
porters who nearly refused to brlng lt along would be
more lmportant than lts present use, whlch ls more of
an accldent than the stubbornness wlth whlchand not
for reasons of sentlment or memory, but rather for rea
sons of prlnclplewe kept lt from reachlng the refuse
dump, and as by now I have wrltten a few thlngs on
thls table, I mlght be permltted a passlng attachment to
lt, wlth the emphasls on 'passlng." Not to mentlon the
objects lylng on thls table; they are lncldental and
exchangeable, also accldental, wlth the posslble excep
tlon of the Remlngton typewrlter, model 'Jravel Wrlter
de Luxe," produced ln l957, to whlch I am also
attached, thls means of productlon that has long slnce
lost all lnterest for the tax authorltles, although lt has
played a major part ln thelr acqulsltlon of such lncome,
and stlll does so. On thls lnstrument that any speclallst
would regard or touch only wlth dlsdaln, I have wrltten
at a guess four novels and several hundred ltems, and
even so I am attached to lt not only for that reason, but
agaln because of prlnclples, as lt stlll works and proves
how small the wrlter`s opportunltles and ambltlons for
lnvestment are. I mentlon the table and the typewrlter
ln order to demonstrate to myself that not even these
two necessary utenslls are completely understandable
to me, and were I to attempt to elucldate thelr orlglns
wlth the necessary exact correctness, thelr preclse mate
rlal, lndustrlal, soclal process of productlon and thelr
orlglns, lt would glve rlse to an almost endless complla
tlon of Brltlsh and West German lndustrlal and soclal
hlstory. Not to mentlon the house, the space ln whlch
thls table stands, the soll on whlch thls house was bullt,
especlally not to mentlon the people whoprobably for
several centurlesllved ln lt, the llvlng and the dead,
not to mentlon those who brlng the coal, wash the
sllverware, dellver the letters and newspapersand
especlally not to mentlon those who are close, closer,
closest to us. And yet mustn`t I from the table
to the penclls, that lle there ln thelr hlstory ln lts
entlrety, be brought ln, lncludlng those close, closer,
closest to us? Wlll there not be enough remalnders,
gaps, reslstances, poetry, God, flctlon lefteven more
than ln bulldlng brldges and baklng rolls?
It`s true and lt`s easlly sald that language ls mate
rlal, and somethlng does materlallse as one wrltes. Yet
how mlght one explaln thatas ls occaslonally demon
stratedsomethlng llke llfe appears, people, fates,
actlons; that thls lncarnatlon occurs on somethlng so
deathly pale as paper, where the lmaglnatlon of the
author ls llnked to that of the reader ln a hltherto unex
plalned manner, a process that cannot be reconstructed
ln lts entlrety, where even the wlsest, most sensltlve
lnterpretatlon remalns only a more or less successful
approxlmatlon; and how lndeed mlght lt be posslble to
descrlbe, to reglster the transltlon from the consclous to
the unconsclousln the person wrltlng and the person
readlng, respectlvelywlth the necessary total exactl
tude, and furthermore break lt down lnto lts natlonal,
contlnental, lnternatlonal, rellglous or ldeologlcal
detalls, not neglectlng the contlnually changlng propor
tlons of the two, ln these twothe person wrltlng and
the person readlngand the sudden reversal where the
one becomes the other; and that ln thls abrupt shlft the
one ls no longer to be dlstlngulshed from the other?
Jhere wlll always be a remalnder, whether you call lt
the lnexpllcable ('secret" would also be flne), there
remalns and wlll remaln an area, however tlny, lnto
whlch the reason of our orlglns wlll not penetrate,
because lt runs lnto the hltherto unexplalned reason of
poetry and of the art of the lmaglnatlon, whose lncarna
tlon remalns as eluslve as the body of a woman, a man
or even merely of an anlmal. Wrltlng lsat least for
memovement forward, the conquest of a body that I
do not know at all, away from somethlng to somethlng
that I do not yet know; I never know what wlll hap
penand here 'happen" ls not lntended as plot resolu
tlon, ln the sense of classlcal dramaturgy, but ln the
sense of a compllcated and complex experlment that
wlth glven lmaglnary, splrltual, lntellectual and sensual
materlals ln lnteractlon strlveson paper to boot!
towards lncarnatlon. In thls respect there can be no suc
cessful llterature, nor would there be any successful
muslc or palntlng, because no one can already have
seen the object lt ls strlvlng to become, and ln thls
respect everythlng that ls superflclally called modern,
but whlch ls better named llvlng art, ls experlment and
dlscoveryand translent, can be estlmated and mea
sured only ln lts hlstorlcal relatlvlty, and lt appears to
me lrrelevant to speak of eternal values, or to seek
them. How wlll we survlve wlthout thls gap, thls
remalnder, whlch can be called lrony, be called poetry,
be called God, flctlon, or reslstance?
Countrles, too, are always only approachlng what
they clalm to be, and there can be no state whlch does
l79
ai_ POV _W k iI O j~ NVTP
not leave thls gap between the verbal expresslon of lts
constltutlon and lts reallsatlon, a space that remalns,
where poetry and reslstance growand hopefully flour
lsh. And there exlsts no form of llterature whlch can
succeed wlthout thls gap. Even the most preclse account
does wlthout the atmosphere, wlthout the lmaglnatlon
of the reader, even lf the person wrltlng lt refuses to use
lt; and even the most preclse account must omltwhy, lt
must omlt the exact and detalled descrlptlon of clrcum
stances that actually are requlred for the lncarnatlon of
the condltlons of llfe . . . lt must compose, transpose ele
ments, and even lts lnterpretatlon and lts worklng pro
tocol are not communlcable, lf only because the
materlal called language cannot be reduced to a rellable
and generally comprehenslble communlcatlve cur
rency. so much hlstory and lnvented hlstory, natlonal
and soclal hlstory, and hlstorlcal relatlvltywhlch
would have to be lncludedwelghs down every word,
as I have trled to suggest vla the example of my work
desk. And determlnlng the range of the message ls not
only a problem of translatlon from one language to
another, lt ls a much more welghty problem wlthln lan
guages, where deflnltlons can entall world vlews, and
world vlews can entall warsI would merely remlnd
you of the wars after the Reformatlon, whlch ~
expllcable ln terms of power polltlcs and hegemony, ~
are wars about rellglous deflnltlons. It ls therefore, by
the way, trlvlal to clalm that after all, we do speak the
same language, lf we do not also demonstrate the load
that each word can bear at the level of reglonal, and fre
quently even local hlstory. Ior me, at least, much of the
German I see and hear sounds stranger than Swedlsh, a
language of whlch I unfortunately understand very llt
tle.
Polltlclans, ldeologlsts, theologlans and phlloso
phers try tlme and agaln to provlde solutlons wlth noth
lng remalnlng, prefab solved problems. Jhat ls thelr
dutyand lt ls ours, the wrlters`slnce we know that we
are not able to solve anythlng wlthout remalnders or
reslstanceto penetrate lnto the gaps. Jhere are too
many unexplalned and lnexpllcable remalnders, entlre
provlnces of waste. Bullders of brldges, bakers of rolls
and wrlters of novels normally flnlsh thelr jobs, and
thelr remalnders are not the most problematlc areas.
Whlle we struggle over ~ and ~
~one of the false dlchotomles to whlch I shall
return ln a whllewe are stlll not aware ofor are
unawares dlverted fromthoughts about ~ and
~ ~K If one really observes and llstens to polltl
clans and economlsts talklng about somethlng as sup
posedly ratlonal as money, then the mystlcal, or
perhaps merely mysterlous area wlthln these three
occupatlons already mentloned becomes less and less
lnterestlng and astonlshlngly harmless. Let us take,
merely as an example, the amazlngly bold recent attack
on the dollar (whlch was modestly called a dollar crl
sls). Nalve layman that I am, somethlng occurred to me
that no one called by name. two countrles were deeply
affected, and most emphatlcally found lt necessarylf
we assume that the word 'freedom" ls not merely a flc
tlonto do somethlng so remarkable as to support the
dollar, l.e., were asked to open thelr coffers; and these
two countrles had somethlng hlstorlc ln common,
namely thelr defeat ln the Second World War, and they
are both spoken of as havlng somethlng else ln com
mon. thelr lndustrlousness and dlllgence. As for the
person lt concernsthe one who jlngles hls pocket
money or flashes hls tlny bankrollcan`t lt be made
clear to hlm why, although he ls by no means worklng
less for hls money, lt fetches less bread, mllk, coffee,
mlles ln a taxl? How many gaps does the mystlclsm of
money offer, and ln whlch strongrooms ls lts poetry
hldden away? Ideallstlc parents and educators have
always trled to convlnce us that money ls fllthy. I have
never understood that, because I only recelved money
when I had worked (always exceptlng the large sum
that I have been awarded by the Swedlsh Academy),
and for anyone who has no cholce other than to work,
even the dlrtlest job ls clear. Jhey provlde a llvlng for
those close to hlm, and for hlm, too. Money ls the
lncarnatlon of hls work, and that ls clean. Between
work and what lt brlngs ln there admlttedly ls an unex
plalned remalnder, whlch vague formulas such as to
earn well or to earn poorly are far less successful at flll
lng than the gap left by the lnterpretatlon of a novel or
poem.
Compared to the unexplalned gaps of money
mystlclsm, the unexplalned remalnders of llterature are
strlklngly harmless, and even so there are stlll people
who wlth crlmlnal frlvollty let the word 'freedom" roll
off thelr tongue, where submlsslon to a myth and lts
clalms to power ls unequlvocally demanded and
obtalned. Jhey then call for polltlcal lnslght, preclsely
when lnslght and perceptlon about the problem are
blocked. On the bottom llne of my cheque I see four
dlfferent groups of numbers, 32 characters ln all, two of
whlch resemble hleroglyphs. Ilve of these thlrtytwo
characters are meanlngful to me. three for my account
number, two for the branch of the bankwhat do the
other twentyseven represent, lncludlng qulte a few
zeroes? I am certaln that all of these characters have a
ratlonal, meanlngful, or as that lovely phrase would
have lt, an enllghtenlng explanatlon. It`s just that ln my
braln and my consclousness there ls no room for thls
enllghtenlng explanatlon, and what remalns ls the
clpher mystlclsm of a secret sclence whlch I have more
trouble penetratlng, whose poetry and symbollsm
remalns more allen to me than Marcel Proust`s oJ
l80
~ q m~ or the 'Wessobrunn Prayer." What
these 32 dlglts demand of me ls trustlng bellef ln the
fact that everythlng ls qulte correct, that there remalns
no unclarlty and, lf I only were to make a sllght effort, lt
all would be clear to me too; and yet for me somethlng
mysterlous remalnsor perhaps fear, much more fear
than any reallsatlon of poetry could produce ln me.
However, no successful currency pollcy ls clear to those
whose money ls lnvolved.
Jhlrteen dlglts on my telephone blll, too, and a
few on each of my varlous lnsurance pollcles, not to
mentlon my tax, car and telephone numbersI won`t
take the trouble to count all these numbers that I ought
to have ln my head or at least wrltten down, ln order to
be able to note my exact place ln soclety at any tlme. If
we qulte happlly multlply these 32 dlglts and the num
bers on my cheque by slx, or let`s glve a dlscount and
multlply them by four, add ln the numbers of one`s
blrthday, a few contractlons for rellglous afflllatlon, clvll
statushave we then at last grasped the Occldent ln the
addltlon and the lntegratlon of lts reason? Is thls rea
son, as we percelve and accept ltand lt ls not only
made enllghtenlng for us, but actually enllghtens us
perhaps merely an occldental arrogance that we have
exported to the entlre world, vla colonlallsm or mls
slons, or ln a mlxture of them both as an lnstrument of
subjugatlon? And for those affected, aren`t or wouldn`t
the dlfferences between Chrlstlan, soclallst, communlst,
capltallstlc outlooks be small,and even lf the poetry of
thls reason does at tlmes enllghten them, yet doesn`t the
reason of thelr poetry remaln the vlctor? What dld the
greatest crlme of the Indlans conslst of, when they were
confronted wlth European reason exported to Amerlca?
Jhey dldn`t know the value of goldof money! And
they fought agalnst somethlng, agalnst that whlch we
even now are flghtlng as the most recent product of our
reason, agalnst the destructlon of thelr world and envl
ronment, agalnst the total subjugatlon of thelr earth by
proflt, whlch was more allen to them than thelr gods
and splrlts are to us. And what lndeed could have
revealed to them the Chrlstlan messagethe new and
joyous tldlngsln thls lnsane, hypocrltlcal smugness
wlth whlch on Sunday people served God, pralslng hlm
as the Savlour, and on Monday once agaln opened the
banks rlght on tlme, the places where they admlnlstered
the only ldea they truly belleved ln, that of money, pos
sesslon and proflt? Ior the poetry of water and wlnd, of
buffalo and grass, ln whlch thelr llfe found lts form,
there was only scornand now we clvlllsed Westerners
ln our cltles, the end product of our total ratlonalltyfor
ln all falrness lt must be sald. we have not spared our
selveswe are beglnnlng to sense just how real the
poetry of water and wlnd actually ls, and what ls lncar
nated thereln. Dld, or does, the tragedy of our churches
perhaps lndeed conslst, not of what the Enllghtenment
mlght have deslgnated as unreasonable matters, but ln
the despalrlng and desperately falled attempt to pursue
or even overtake a reason that has never been and
never can be merged wlth somethlng so lrratlonal as the
lncarnated God? Regulatlons, law texts, approval of
experts, a flgureladen forest of numbered regulatlons,
and the productlon of prejudlces that have been ham
mered lnto us and set out along the tracks of hlstory
teachlng, ln order to make people ever more estranged
from one another. Even ln the extreme western reaches
of Europe our ratlonallty ls ln opposltlon to another,
whlch we slmply label lrratlonal. Jhe horrlfylng prob
lem of Northern Ireland nevertheless conslsts of the fact
that here two klnds of reason have been entangled and
hopelessly attacked one another for centurles.
How many provlnces of dlsparagement and dls
daln has hlstory bequeathed to us? Contlnents are hld
den under the vlctorlous slgn of our ratlonallty. Entlre
populatlons remalned strangers to one another, suppos
edly speaklng the same language. Where marrlage ln
the Western manner was prescrlbed as creatlng order,
people lgnored the fact that lt was a prlvllege. unattaln
able, lnachlevable for those who worked the land, the
people called farmhands and mllkmalds, who slmply
dldn`t have the money even to buy a palr of sheets, and
lf they had saved up or stolen the money, wouldn`t
have had the bed to put the sheets on. And so they were
left untouched ln thelr lllegltlmacy; they produced klds
anyway! Irom above and from the outslde, everythlng
seemed completely settled. Clear answers, clear ques
tlons, clear regulatlons, catechlsm as deluslon. But
please, no wonders, and poetry only as the slgn of the
supernatural, never the natural. And then people are
surprlsed, even long for the old ways of llfe, when the
dlsparaged and hldden provlnces show slgns of revolt,
and then of course elther the one party or the other
must galn materlal and polltlcal proflt from thls revolt.
Attempts have been made to brlng order lnto the stlll
unexplored contlnent called sexual love by means of
regulatlons slmllar to those provlded buddlng phllate
llsts when they start thelr flrst album. Permltted and
nonpermltted caresses are deflned down to the most
metlculous detalls, when suddenly, to thelr mutual hor
ror, theo and ldeology conflrm that on thls contlnent
whlch was regarded as determlned, cooled and ordered,
there yet remaln a few unextlngulshed volcanoesand
volcanoes are slmply not to be extlngulshed wlth trled
and tested flreflghtlng equlpment. And just thlnk of
everythlng passed off, folsted off on God, thls much
abused and pltlable authorlty. everythlng, yes, every
thlng that was a problem. all the guldes for lnescapable
mlsery ln soclal, economlc or sexual form polnted to
hlm, everythlng desplcable, contemptlble, was palmed
l8l
off on God, all the leftover 'remalnders," and yet at
the same tlme he was belng preached about as the
Incarnate, wlthout conslderlng that one cannot place
the burden of man on God, nor the burden of God on
man, lf he ls to be consldered lncarnate. And who then
can be surprlsed lf he has survlved where godlessness
was prescrlbed and where the mlsery of the world and
one`s own soclety was put off to an unfulfllled cate
chlsm of equally dogmatlc form and a future that was
ever further away, and ever further delayed, untll lt
turned out to be a dlsmal present? And once agaln we
can also only be reactlng to lt wlth lnsufferable arro
gance lf we here presume to denounce thls course of
events as reactlonary; and slmllarly, lt ls arrogance of
the same klnd lf the offlclal custodlans of God clalm as
thelr own thls God who appears to have survlved ln the
Sovlet Lnlon, wlthout clearlng away the refuse dump
under whlch he ls hldden here, and lf they clte the
appearance of God as justlflcatlon for a socletal
system K Agaln and agaln, whether boastlng of our
convlctlons as Chrlstlans or athelsts, we wlsh to capltal
lse on one plgheadedly represented system of ldeas or
another. Jhls madness of ours, thls arrogance 'ln
ltself " agaln and agaln burles both. the lncarnate Delty,
who ls called God become Man, and the vlslon set ln lts
place, that of the future of the entlrety of manklnd. We
who so easlly humlllate others, we are lacklng ln some
thlng. humllltywhlch ls not to be confused wlth subor
dlnatlon or obedlence, let alone submlsslon. Jhls ls
what we have done to the colonlsed peoples. trans
formed thelr humlllty, the poetry of thls humlllty trans
formed lnto thelr humlllatlon. We are always eager to
subjugate and conquer, hardly a surprlse ln a clvlllsa
tlon whose flrst text ln a forelgn language has long been
|ullus Caesar`s a _ d~I and whose flrst exerclse
ln selfsatlsfactlonunequlvocal and clear answers and
questlonswas the catechlsm, one catechlsm or the
other, a prlmer ln lnfalllblllty and ln complete, prefab,
preexplalned problems.
I have got a blt away from the bulldlng of brldges,
baklng of rolls and wrltlng of novels, and hlnted at
gaps, lronles, flctlve areas, remnants, dlvlnltles, mystlfl
catlons and reslstance of other reglonsthey appeared
to me worse, ln greater need of lllumlnatlon than the
sllght, unlllumlnated corners ln whlch not our tradl
tlonal reason, but the reason of poetryas ln for exam
ple a novellles hldden. Jhe roughly two hundred
flgures, group by group (lncludlng a few codes), that I
ought to have ln exact sequences, ln my head, or at
least on a plece of paper, as a proof of my exlstence,
wlthout exactly knowlng what they mean, lncorporate
llttle more than a palr of abstract clalms and proofs of
exlstence wlthln a bureaucracy that not only clalms to
be, but actually ls reasonable. People refer me to lt and
teach me to trust lt bllndly. May I not dare expect that
people do not merely trust ln, but strengthen the reason
of poetry, not by leavlng lt ln peace, but by absorblng a
blt of lts calmness and the prlde of lts humbleness,
whlch can only be a humbleness towards those below,
and never a humbleness towards those above. Regard
for others, pollteness and justlce reslde thereln, and the
wlsh to recognlse and be recognlsed.
I do not wlsh to provlde new mlsslonary startlng
polnts and vehlcles, but I do belleve that ln the sense
of poetlc humbleness, pollteness and justlce I must
say that I see conslderable slmllarlty, I see posslblll
tles for rapprochement between the stranger a la
Camus, the strangeness of the Kafkaesque offlclal
and the lncarnated God, who after all remalns a
stranger andlf one neglects a few outbursts of tem
perls pollte and llteral ln a remarkable way. Why
else has the Cathollc church longI don`t know
exactly how longblocked dlrect access to the llteral
nature of the texts they declare holy, or else kept lt
hldden ln Latln and Greek, avallable only to the lnltl
ated? I lmaglne lt ls ln order to keep out the dangers
they sensed ln the poetry of the lncarnated word, and to
protect the reason of thelr power from the dangerous
reason of poetry. And after all lt ls not accldental that
the most lmportant consequence of the Reformatlon
was the dlscovery of languages and thelr corporeallty.
And what emplre ever could do wlthout language lmpe
rlallsm, l.e., the dlffuslon of thelr own language and
suppresslon of the languages of those ruled? In thlsbut
ln no otherconnexlon I regard the for once not lmperl
allstlc, but supposedly antllmperlallstlc attempts to
denounce poetry, the sensuallty of language, lts lncarna
tlon and the power of the lmaglnatlon (for language and
the power of the lmaglnatlon are one and the same),
and to lntroduce the false dlchotomy of lnformatlon or
poetry, as a new verslon of 'dlvlde et lmpera." It ls the
brandnew, but once agaln almost lnternatlonal arro
gance of a New Reason, whlch may posslbly permlt the
poetry of the Indlans as an antlrullng class force, but
wlthholds lts own poetry from the classes to be llber
ated ln lts own land. Poetry ls not a class prlvllege, lt
has never been one. Agaln and agaln wellestabllshed
feudal and bourgeols llteratures have renewed them
selves out of what they condescendlngly called popular
language, or, to use more modern phrases, jargon or
slang. Jhls process may readlly be labeled llngulstlc
exploltatlon, but nothlng about thls exploltatlon ls
changed by spreadlng propaganda about the false alter
natlves. lnformatlon or poetry/llterature. Jhe nostalgla
flavoured dlsapproval perhaps to be found ln the
expresslons` popular language, slang, jargon does not
warrant sendlng poetry, as well, lnto the exlle of the
rubblsh heap, nor all the forms and expresslons of art.
l82
Much about thls ls papal. wlthholdlng lncarnatlon and
sensuallty from others whlle developlng new catechlsms
whlch speak of the only correct and the truly false pos
slbllltles of expresslon. One cannot separate the power
of the message from the power of the expresslon ln
whlch the message occurs; thls paves the way for some
thlng that remlnds me of the controversles about the
communlon ln both forms, controversles that are theo
loglcally rather borlng, but lmportant as examples of
rejected lncarnatlons, and whlch ln the Cathollc part of
the world became reduced to the pallor of the Host,
whlch could not even be called a real plece of bread
not to mentlon the mllllons of hectolltres of wlne wlth
held! Jhereln lay an arrogant mlsunderstandlng, not
merely of the substances lnvolved, but even more of
that whlch thls substance was lntended to lncarnate.
No class can be llberated by flrst wlthholdlng
somethlng from them, and whether thls new school of
Manlchaelsm clalms to be a or antlrellglous, lt thereby
takes over the model of the Church as a rullng class, the
model whlch could end wlth Hus belng burned at the
stake and Luther excommunlcated. One may readlly
quarrel about the concept of beauty, develop new aes
thetlcsthey are lndeed overduebut they must not
begln by wlthholdlng matters, and they must not
exclude one thlng; the posslblllty of transferral that llt
erature offers. lt transfers us to South or North Amer
lca, to Sweden, Indla, Afrlca. It can also transfer us to
another class, another tlme, another rellglon and
another race. It haseven ln lts bourgeols formnever
been lts goal to create strangeness, but to remove lt.
And although one may regard the class from whlch lt ls
largely derlved as overdue for replacement, yet as a
product of thls class lt was ln most cases also a hldlng
place for reslstance to that class. And the lnternatlonal
lty of reslstance must be preserved, that whlch keeps or
makes one wrlterAlexander Solzhenltsyna bellever,
and anotherArrabalan emblttered and bltter enemy
of rellglon and the Church. Nor ls thls reslstance to be
comprehended as a mere mechanlsm or reflex whlch
calls forth bellef ln God here, lack of bellef ln God
there, but rather as the lncarnatlon of the relatlonshlps
of lntellectual hlstory as they are played out between
varlous rubblsh heaps and provlnces of rebelllon and
apostasy . . . and also as recognltlon of thelr lntercon
nectlons wlthout arrogance and wlthout clalms of lnfal
llblllty. Jo a polltlcal prlsoner or perhaps only lsolated
dlssldents ln, e.g., the Sovlet Lnlon lt may seem wrong
or even lnsane when people ln the Western world pro
test agalnst the Vletnam Warpsychologlcally, one can
understand hls sltuatlon ln hls cell or hls soclal lsola
tlonand yet he would have to reallse that the gullt of
the one cannot be tlcked off agalnst that of the other,
and that when people demonstrate for Vletnam, they
also demonstrate for hlm! I know that thls sounds uto
plan, and yet thls appears to me to be the only posslbll
lty of a new lnternatlonallty, not neutrallty. No author
can take over alleged or speclous dlvlslons and judge
ments, and to me lt appears almost sulcldal that we are
even and stlll dlscusslng the dlvlslon lnto commltted llt
erature and other klnds. Not only do we, preclsely
when we thlnk that lt ls the one, have to lntervene for
the other wlth all our mlght; no, lt ls preclsely through
thls falslfled alternatlve that we accept a bourgeols prln
clple of dlvlslons, one whlch turns us lnto strangers. It
ls not only the dlvlslon of our potentlal strength, but
also of our potentlaland I`ll rlsk thls wlthout even
blushlnglncarnated beauty, slnce lt too can llberate,
just as the communlcated thought can. lt can be llberat
lng ln ltself, or as the provocatlon that lt may create.
Jhe strength of undlvlded llterature ls not the neutrall
satlon of dlrectlons, but the lnternatlonallty of resls
tance, and to thls reslstance belong poetry, lncarnatlon,
sensuallty, lmaglnatlve power and beauty. Jhe new
Manlchaean lconoclastlclsm whlch wants to take them
away from us, whlch wants to take all art away from us,
would rob not only us, but also those for whom lt does
what lt belleves lt must do. No curse, no bltterness, not
even the lnformatlon about the desperate sltuatlon of a
class ls posslble wlthout poetry, and even to condemn lt
requlres that lt flrst must be recognlsed. Go and read
Rosa Luxemburg carefully and note whlch statues
Lenln ordered erected flrst. the flrst for Count Jolstoy,
of whom he sald that untll thls count began to wrlte,
Russlan llterature contalned no peasants; the second for
the 'reactlonary" Dostoevsky. If one wlshes to choose
an ascetlc road to change, one mlght personally
renounce art and llterature, but one cannot do so for
others untll one has brought them to the knowledge or
recognltlon of what they are to renounce. Jhls renuncl
atlon must be voluntary, or else lt becomes a papal
decree, llke a new catechlsm, and once agaln an entlre
contlnent, such as the contlnent of Love, would be
doomed to a parched sterlllty. It ls not merely for frlvol
lty nor only to shock that art and llterature have agaln
and agaln transformed thelr forms, dlscoverlng new
ones by experlment. In these forms they have also
lncarnated somethlng, and that somethlng was almost
never the conflrmatlon of what exlsted and was already
avallable; and lf lt ls extlrpated, one glves up a further
posslblllty. artlflce. Art ls always a good hldlngplace,
not for dynamlte, but for lntellectual exploslves and
soclal tlme bombs. Why would there otherwlse have
been the varlous Indlces? And preclsely ln thelr
desplsed and often even desplcable beauty and lack of
transparency lles the best hldlngplace for the barb that
brlngs about the sudden jerk or the sudden recognltlon.
l83
Before concludlng, I must state a necessary llmlta
tlon. Jhe weakness of my lntlmatlons and explanatlons
unavoldably stems from the fact that although I ques
tlon the tradltlon of reason ln whlchhopefully not
completely successfullyI was brought up, I am never
theless uslng the means of that very same reason, and lt
would be more than unfalr to denounce thls reason ln
all lts dlmenslons. Jhls reason has obvlously succeeded
ln spreadlng doubt about lts allencompasslng clalm,
about what I have called lts arrogance, and ln retalnlng
experlence ln and memory of what I have called the
reason of poetry, whlch I do not regard as a prlvlleged,
nor a bourgeols lnstltutlon. It can be communlcated,
and preclsely because lts llteralness and lncarnatlon
often appear strange, lt can prevent or remove strange
ness or allenatlon. After all, 'belng
strange" can also lnvolve belng astounded, surprlsed, or
merely moved. As for what I have sald about humble
nessnaturally only by way of suggestlonI say lt ls not
thanks to my rellglous upbrlnglng or memory, whlch
always meant humlllatlng when lt sald humlllty, but
from readlng Dostoevsky early and late ln llfe. And lt ls
preclsely because I conslder as the most lmportant llter
ary shlft the lnternatlonal movement for a classless, or
no longer classdetermlned llterature, the dlscovery of
entlre provlnces of humbled people destlned to be
human waste, that I warn you about the destructlon of
poetry, about the arld sterlllty of Manlchaelsm, about
the lconoclastlclsm of what appears to me to be a bllnd
zeal whlch won`t even tap up the bath water before lt
throws out the baby. It appears meanlngless to me to
denounce or to glorlfy the young or the old. It appears
meanlngless to me to dream of old ways of llfe that only
can be reconstructed ln museums; lt appears meanlng
less to me to create dlchotomles such as conservatlve/
progresslve. Jhe new wave of nostalgla that cllngs to
furnlture, clothes, forms of expresslon and scales of feel
lng only serves to demonstrate that the new world
grows ever stranger to us. Jhat the reason upon whlch
we have bullt and relled has not made the world more
rellable or famlllar; that the ratlonal/lrratlonal dlchot
omy also was a false one. Here I have had to avold or
abandon a great deal, because one thought always leads
to another and we would get carrled away lf we were to
survey every detall of these contlnents exhaustlvely. I
have had to abandon humour, whlch also ls not the
prlvllege of any class, and yet ls lgnored ln lts poetry
and as a hldlngplace for reslstance.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l972. Helnrlch Bll ls the
sole author of the text.||
l81
g _
Ef ^~ _F
(24 Moy 1940 - 2S ovuory 1996)
^~ a~ d
Uvivcrsity of òtrc Domc
Jhls entry was expanded by Glllesple from her Brod
sky entry ln DI 2S: Iussiov !ritcrs Sivcc 19S0. See
also the Brodsky entry ln DI Jcorbool: 19S7.
BOOKS. Stillotvorcviio i pocmy, complled by Gleb Petro
vlch Struve and Borls Andreevlch Illlppov
(Washlngton, D.C. New York. InterLanguage
Llterary Assoclates, l965)lncludes 'Bol`shala
eleglla Dzhonu Donnu," 'Evrelskoe kladbl
shche," 'Glagoly," 'Ia obnlal etl plechl . . . ,"
'Isaak l Avraam," 'Kholmy," 'Oboz," 'Plll
grlmy," 'Stansy," 'Vorotlsh`sla na rodlnu . . . ,"
and 'Vot la vnov` posetll . . .";
Ustovovlo v pustyvc (New York. Izdatel`stvo lmenl Che
khova, l970; revlsed edltlon, Ann Arbor, Mlch..
Ardls, l988)lncludes 'Bol`shala eleglla Dzhonu
Donnu," 'Derev`la v moem okne . . . ," 'Dlla
shkol`nogo vozrasta," 'Elnem Alten Archltekten
ln Rom," 'Enel l Dldona," 'Glagoly," 'Gorbunov
l Gorchakov," 'Ia obnlal etl plechl . . . ," 'Isaak l
Abraam," 'Kholmy," 'K Llkomedu, na Sklros,"
'Lomtlk medovogo meslatsa," 'Novye stansy k
Avguste," 'Oboz," 'Ot okralny k tsentru,"
'Pls`mo v butylke," 'Sonet," 'Stlkhl na smert` J.
S. Ellota," 'Strofy," 'Prorochestvo," 'Jy
vyporkhnesh`, mallnovka . . . ," and 'Vorotlsh` sla
rodlnu . . .";
Clost` rccli: Stillotvorcviio 1972-76 (Ann Arbor, Mlch..
Ardls, l977)lncludes 'l972 god," 'OdlsselJele
maku," 'Sretenè," and 'Jors";
Iovcts prclrosvoi cpolli: Stillotvorcviio 1964-71 (Ann
Arbor, Mlch.. Ardls, l977)lncludes 'Natlur
mort," 'Post Aetatem Nostram," 'Rech` o proll
tom moloke," and 'Vremla godazlma . . .";
! Zvglii (Ann Arbor, Mlch.. Ardls, l977);
Z Iort of Spcccl (New York. Iarrar, Straus Glroux,
l980)lncludes 'l972," 'Nunc Dlmlttls," 'Odys
seus to Jelemachus," 'Slx Years Later," and
'Jorso";
Iimslic clcgii (New York. Russlca, l982);
òvyc stovsy l Zvgustc: Stilli l M.., 1962-19S2 (Ann
Arbor, Mlch.. Ardls, l983);
Mromor (Ann Arbor, Mlch.. Ardls, l981); translated by
Alan Myers wlth Brodsky as Morblcs: Z Iloy iv
Tlrcc Zcts (New York. Iarrar, Straus Glroux,
l989);
Icss Tlov Uvc: Sclcctcd Issoys (New York. Iarrar, Straus
Glroux, l986)lncludes 'Illght from Byzantlum,"
'A Gulde to a Renamed Clty," 'In a Room and a
Half," and 'Less Jhan One"; Russlan verslon
publlshed as Mcv`slc cdivitsy: Ibrovvyc cssc (Mos
cow. Nezavlslmala gazeta, l999);
Uroviio (Ann Arbor, Mlch.. Ardls, l987)lncludes
'Blust Jlberlla," 'Ia vkhodll vmesto dlkogo
zverla . . . ," and 'Osennll krlk lastreba";
g _ EF NVUT k m
i~ h `~ usf d~ p
E^m mL_ qF
l85
ai_ POV g _
To Urovio: Sclcctcd Iocms 196-19S (New York. Iarrar,
Straus Glroux, l988) lncludes 'Jhe Bust of
Jlberlus," 'Gorbunov and Gorchakov," 'Jhe
Hawk`s Cry ln Autumn," and 'May 21, l980";
Iovdomcvto dcgli Ivcurobili, translated by Gllberto Iortl
(Venlce. Consorzlo Venezla nuova, l989);
Engllsh verslon publlshed as !otcrmorl (New
York. Iarrar, Straus Glroux, l992);
Irimccloviio poporotvilo (Bromma, Sweden. Hylaea,
l990);
ollodo o molcv`lom bulsirc (Lenlngrad. Detskala llte
ratura, l99l);
òbcrclvoio vcistsclimyll. Trivodtsot` cssci (Moscow. Slovo,
l992)lncludes 'Naberezhnala nelstsellmykh"
|lncomplete verslon|; complete verslon ln !cvctsi-
ovslic tctrodi: Iosif rodslii i drugic, by Brodsky and
others, complled by Ekaterlna Margolls (Mos
cow. Ob"edlnennoe gumanltarnoe lzdatel`stvo,
2002);
Soclivcviio, 1 volumes, edlted by Gennadll I. Komarov
(St. Petersburg. Pushklnskll fond / Parls, Moscow
New York. Jret`la volna, l992-l995; enlarged
edltlon, 8 volumes, St. Petersburg. Pushklnskll
fond, l998- );
!spomivoio Zllmotovu, by Brodsky and Solomon Volkov
(Moscow. Nezavlslmala gazeta, l992);
Ioppodoliio (St. Petersburg. Aleksandra, l993);
Icrsiov Zrrow/Icrsidsloio strclo, wlth etchlngs by Edlk
Stelnberg (Verona. Edlzlone dÀrte Glbralfaro
ECM, l991);
Uv Cricf ovd Icosov: Issoys (New York. Iarrar, Straus
Glroux, l995)lncludes 'An Immodest Pro
posal";
! olrcstvostioll Ztlovtidy: òvyc stillotvorcviio (St. Peters
burg. Pushklnskll fond, l995);
Iciol s vovodvcvicm, complled by Aleksandr Sumerkln
(Dana Polnt, Cal.. Ardls, l996)lncludes 'Dedal
v Sltsllll," 'Iln de Slcle," 'Menla uprekall vo
vsem . . . ," and 'Pelzazh s navodnenlem";
So Iortl: Iocms (New York. Iarrar, Straus Glroux,
l996)lncludes 'Daedalus ln Slclly," 'Japs," 'Jo
My Daughter," 'Iln de Slcle," and 'Vlew wlth a
Ilood";
Discovcry, lllustrated by Vladlmlr Radunsky (New York.
Iarrar, Straus Glroux, l999);
Collcctcd Iocms iv Ivglisl, 1972-1999, edlted by Ann
Kjellberg (New York. Iarrar, Straus Glroux,
2000);
!toroi vcl poslc voslci cry: Dromoturgiio Iosifo rodslogo (St.
Petersburg. Zvezda, 200l)lncludes Ioscvlrovts i
Cil`dcvstcrv mcrtvy, by Jom Stoppard, translated by
Brodsky.
b ~ `W òidovic: Stilli 1962-19S9,
complled by Vladlmlr I. Lflland (Lenlngrad.
Smart, l990);
Clost` rccli: Ibrovvyc stilli 1962-19S9 (Moscow. Khu
dozhestvennala llteratura, l990);
Uscvvii lril iostrcbo: Stillotvorcviio 1962-19S9 (Lenln
grad. KJP LO IMA Press, l990);
Ilolmy: ol`slic stillotvorcviio i pocmy, complled by Iakov
Gordln (St. Petersburg. LP VJPO 'Klnotsentr,"
l99l);
Stillotvorcviio, complled by Gordln (Jalllnn. Eestl
Raamat, l99l);
Ioldcstvcvslic stilli (Moscow. Nezavlslmala gazeta,
l992; revlsed, l996); translated by Mellssa Green
and others as òtivity Iocms (New York. Iarrar,
Straus Glroux, 200l);
Iormo vrcmcvi: Stillotvorcviio, cssc, p`csy, 2 volumes, com
plled by Lflland (Mlnsk. Erldan, l992);
Icrcscclcvvoio mcstvost`: Iutcslcstviio s lommcvtoriiomi,
edlted by Petr L`vovlch Vall` (Moscow. Nezavlsl
mala gazeta, l995);
rodslii o Tsvctocvoi (Moscow. Nezavlslmala gazeta,
l997);
Iis`mo Corotsiiu (Moscow. Nash dom, l998);
Corbuvov i Corclolov (St. Petersburg. Pushklnskll fond,
l999);
Ustovovlo v pustyvc (St. Petersburg. Pushklnskll fond,
2000);
Clost` rccli (St. Petersburg. Pushklnskll fond, 2000);
Iovcts prclrosvoi cpolli (St. Petersburg. Pushklnskll fond,
2000);
òvyc stovsy l Zvgustc (St. Petersburg. Pushklnskll fond,
2000);
Uroviio (St. Petersburg. Pushklnskll fond, 2000);
Iciol s vovodvcvicm (St. Petersburg. Pushklnskll fond,
2000);
òvoio Udisscio: Iomioti Iosifo rodslogo (Moscow. Staroe
llteraturnoe obozrenle, 200l);
Icrcmcvo impcrii: Stillotvorcviio 1960-1996 (Moscow.
Nezavlslmala gazeta, 200l).
b bW Ilcgy to olv Dovvc ovd Utlcr Iocms,
translated by Nlcholas Wllllam Bethell (London.
Longmans, l967)lncludes 'Iarewell . . . ," 'A
|ewlsh Cemetery by Lenlngrad," 'You`ve flnally
come home . . . ," 'Pllgrlms," 'I can vlslt, once
more . . . ," 'I klssed those shoulders . . . ,"
'Hllls," and 'Elegy to |ohn Donne";
Tlc Iivivg Mirror: Iivc Jouvg Iocts from Icvivgrod, wlth
contrlbutlons by Brodsky, edlted by Suzanne
Massle, translated by Massle, Max Hayward, and
George Kllne (Garden Clty, N.Y.. Doubleday,
l972);
Sclcctcd Iocms, translated by Kllne (Harmondsworth, L.K..
Penguln, l973; New York. Harper Row, l973)
l86
g _ ai_ POV
lncludes 'Aeneas and Dldo," 'After Our Era,"
'Elnem Alten Archltekten ln Rom," 'Elegy to
|ohn Donne," 'A Letter ln a Bottle," 'New Stan
zas to Augusta," 'Nunc Dlmlttls," 'Odysseus to
Jelemachus," 'A Prophecy," 'A Sllce of Honey
moon," 'Stanzas," 'Stlll Llfe," 'Jo Lycomedes on
Scyros," 'Jhe trees ln my wlndow, ln my
woodenframed wlndow . . . ," 'You`re comlng
home agaln. What does that mean?" 'You`ll flut
ter, robln redbreast, from those three . . . ,"
'Verses on the Death of J. S. Ellot," 'Wagon
Jraln," and 'When I embraced these shoulders, I
beheld";
Iocms ovd Trovslotiovs (Keele. Lnlverslty of Keele, l977);
!crscs ov tlc !ivtcr Compoigv 19S0, translated by Alan
Myers (London. Anvll Poetry Press, l98l).
PLAY PRODLCJIONS. Mromor, New York, l986; St.
Petersburg, Whlte Jheater, l996;
Dcmolrotiio! |Act I|, London, Gate Jheatre, l6 October
l990; Hamburg, Deutsches Schausplelhaus, 28
October l990.
RECORDINGS. oscpl rodsly Icodivg His Iocms iv
Iussiov, read by Brodsky and |ohn Irancls, Wash
lngton, D.C., Archlve of Recorded Poetry and
Llterature (Llbrary of Congress), l979;
oscpl rodsly, read by Brodsky and Mark Strand, New
York, Academy of Amerlcan Poets, l980;
oscpl rodsly Icodivg His Iocms, read by Brodsky and
Anthony Hecht, Washlngton, D.C., Gertrude
Clarke Whlttall Poetry and Llterature Iund,
l981;
!ivtcr, read by Brodsky, Watershed Medla, l987;
oscpl rodsly Icods His Ioctry, New York, Caedmon,
l988;
oscpl rodsly Icodivg His Ioctry, Washlngton, D.C.,
Gertrude Clarke Whlttall Poetry and Llterature
Iund, l992;
Iovvic stillotvorcviio, read by Brodsky, Moscow, Slntez,
l995;
Z Moddcvivg Spocc, read by Brodsky, New York, Mystlc
Ilre, l996.
OJHER. Vladlslav Ielltslanovlch Khodasevlch, Ibrov-
voio proo, 2 volumes, edlted by Brodsky (New
York. Serebrlannyl vek, l972);
Modcrv Iussiov Iocts ov Ioctry, edlted by Brodsky and
Carl Proffer, lntroductlon by Brodsky (Ann
Arbor, Mlch.. Ardls, l976);
Strcolcd witl Iiglt ovd Slodow: Iortroits of Iormcr Sovict
cws iv Utol, wlth an essay by Brodsky, text and
lntervlews by Leslle G. Kelen, photographs by
Kent M. Mlles and Stacle Ann Smlth (Salt Lake
Clty. Oral Hlstory Instltute, 2000).
JRANSLAJIONS. og sollrovioct vsc, edlted by Vlktor
Kulle (Moscow. MII, l992);
! olidovii vorvorov: Mirovoio pociio v pcrcvodoll Iosifo
rodslogo, complled by Aleksel Purln (St. Peters
burg. Zvezda, 200l).
LNCOLLECJED. 'Says poet Brodsky. 'A wrlter ls a
lonely traveler and no one ls hls helper,`" `cw Jorl
Timcs Mogoivc (l October l972). ll, 78-79, 82-
85;
'Beyond Consolatlon," `cw Jorl Icvicw of ools (7 Ieb
ruary l971). l3-l6;
'Jhe Meanlng of Meanlng," `cw Icpublic (20 |anuary
l986). 32-35;
'Hlstory of the Jwentleth Century. A Roadshow," Ior-
tisov Icvicw, 53 (l986). 327-313;
'Demokratlla!" Iovtivcvt, 62 (l990). l1-12; Act I trans
lated by Alan Myers as 'Democracy!" Crovto, 30
(Wlnter l990). l99-233; Act II translated by
Brodsky as 'Democracy!" Iortisov Icvicw (Sprlng
l993). l81-l91, 260-288; revlsed edltlon of Act
II, Icrformivg Zrts ourvol, l8 (September l996).
92-l23;
'Poezlla kak forma soprotlvlenlla real`nostl," Iussloio
mysl`, 3829 (25 May l990); translated by Alex
ander Sumerkln and |amey Gambrell as 'Poetry
as a Iorm of Reslstance to Reallty," IMIZ, l07
(March l992). 220-225.
|oseph Brodsky, the l987 wlnner of the Nobel
Prlze ln Llterature, came of age ln the Sovlet Lnlon dur
lng the 'Jhaw" perlod (late l950s to early l960s), and
he has been wldely recognlzed as the most glfted Rus
slan poet of hls generatlon. He ls the dlrect successor to
an lllustrlous quartet of modernlst Russlan poets who
reached maturlty durlng the preSovlet era and later suf
fered severely under Sovlet rule. Marlna Ivanovna
Jsvetaeva, Oslp Emllèvlch Mandel`shtam, Anna
Andreevna Akhmatova, and Borls Leonldovlch Paster
nak. Jhe works and llves of these poets, among others,
strongly lnfluenced Brodsky`s poetlcs and condltloned
hls fldellty to the Russlan bardlc tradltlonof whlch he
was, perhaps, the last true practltloner. Jhroughout hls
years llvlng ln emlgratlon ln the Lnlted States (slnce
l972), Brodsky measured hls own poetlc merlt agalnst
the reflectlons of fellow Sovlet mlgr poets who also
dlstanced themselves from the overbearlng Sovlet state
machlne. At the same tlme, he drew upon the Anglo
Amerlcan poetlc tradltlon to propel Russlan verse well
l87
ai_ POV g _
beyond the frontler of the hackneyed lnto new realms
of form and meanlng.
Brodsky`s llterary legacy lncludes multlple vol
umes of poetry, most wrltten orlglnally ln Russlan but
some wrltten ln Engllsh, Brodsky`s adopted tongue;
Brodsky`s own translatlons of hls poems, sometlmes
undertaken jolntly wlth professlonal Anglophone trans
lators and poets; two plays that exlst ln dlvergent Rus
slan and Engllsh varlants; two hefty volumes of
collected essays wrltten ln Engllsh; a prose remlnlscence
of Venlce; several poems for chlldren; and scores of
book revlews, lntroductlons, trlbutes to fellow poets,
artlcles, and formal addresses publlshed ln a varlety of
books and perlodlcals. Many lntervlews wlth Brodsky
have also been publlshed ln both Engllsh and Russlan,
although ln some cases these pleces have been edlted
heavlly, maklng thelr rellablllty uncertaln. In the
Engllshspeaklng world, Brodsky`s reputatlon ls prlma
rlly as an essaylst and a qulxotlc, modernday oracle; ln
the context of Russlan letters, he ls revered most of all
for hls poetry.
Brodsky was born Ioslf Aleksandrovlch Brodsky
on 21 May l910 ln Lenlngrad, just one year before
Nazl Germany lnvaded the Sovlet Lnlon and Lenln
grad came under slege, an event that lnfllcted wlde
spread starvatlon and dlsease. Jhe young Brodsky,
together wlth hls mother, survlved the Slege of Lenln
grad lntact; hls father, meanwhlle, was servlng ln the
Sovlet navy on the Ilnnlsh front. Apart from the fact
that hls mother taught hlm to read at the age of four, llt
tle ls known about Brodsky`s early chlldhood. He was
the only chlld of Marlla Molseevna Vol`pert and Alek
sandr Ivanovlch Brodsky. Marlla Molseevna, the
daughter of a Slnger sewlngmachlne salesman, spent
her chlldhood years ln Latvla; Aleksandr Ivanovlch, the
son of a St. Petersburg prlntshop owner, earned
degrees ln geography from the Lnlverslty of Lenlngrad
and ln journallsm from the School of Red |ournallsts.
Both were |ews, a clrcumstance that played no small
role ln thelr ownand, later, thelr son`sfates ln the
context of the offlclal antlSemltlc hype that exploded ln
the Sovlet Lnlon ln the postwar years.
In l950, ln response to a Polltburo rullng that
|ews should not hold hlgh mllltary rank, Aleksandr
Ivanovlch was dlsmlssed from the navy. He eventually
found a job as a freelance photojournallst, but the fam
lly`s flnances remalned tlght, and both of Brodsky`s par
ents began to experlence problems wlth thelr health.
Durlng the campalgn agalnst 'rootless cosmopolltes" of
the early l950s that led to the l953 'Doctors` Plot" (a
fabrlcated consplracy ln whlch nlne doctors, most of
them |ewlsh, were accused of plottlng to murder top
Sovlet offlclals), Marlla Molseevna and Aleksandr
Ivanovlch made preparatlons for the mass deportatlons
of |ews to the Russlan Iar East that |oseph Stalln was
rumored to be plannlng. However, Stalln`s death ln
l953 obvlated thls move.
Brodsky spent hls chlldhood and adolescent years
ln a small communal apartment located ln an elaborate,
slxstory bulldlng on the corner of Pestel` (Pantelel
monovskala) and Lltelnyl Streets, an area that boasted a
rlch llterary hlstory. As Brodsky grew older, he barrl
caded off a small sectlon of the famlly`s fortysquare
meter room wlth thlck curtalns and heavy chests and
shelves heaped to the celllng wlth sultcases. Jhls cav
ernous hldeout eventually become hls prlvate lalr,
whlch he stocked wlth forbldden bookslncludlng the
novels of Charles Dlckens, |ames |oyce, |ohn Dos Pas
sos, and Ernest Hemlngway and the poetry of Robert
Irost, Borls Abramovlch Slutsky, |ohn Donne, Kon
stanty Gaczyskl, Jsvetaeva, and Mandel`shtam. In
thls space the young Brodsky llstened to hls beloved
phonograph recordsan eclectlc mlx of Dlxleland jazz,
Henry Purcell, and |oseph Haydnand experlenced hls
flrst romantlc encounters; here, too, he kept hls flrst
typewrlter and pounded out hls flrst poems.
Brodsky was a wholly selfeducated man. As a
chlld, he attended several dlfferent publlc schools.
Enamored of hls father`s navy unlform, he applled at
age fourteen for admlsslon to a submarlne academy.
Although he easlly passed the admlsslon examlnatlons,
he nonetheless was rejected because he was |ewlsh. A
year later, Brodsky stood up one day durlng class at
Mlddle School No. l96 on Mokhovala Street and
walked out the door, never to return. He later recalled
thls spontaneous moment as hls flrst free actan lnstlnc
tlve protest agalnst the conformlty and halflles that the
Sovlet educatlonal system lnculcated ln the youth of the
natlon. He ratlonallzed hls declslon by the need to alle
vlate hls famlly`s dlre flnanclal sltuatlon, and he soon
went to work as a mllllngmachlne operator at the arse
nal factory, whlch produced not mllltary hardware but
agrlcultural machlnery and alr compressors. Jhls job
was Brodsky`s flrst contact wlth the true proletarlat,
and he rellshed the fresh range of llngulstlc expresslon
to whlch he was exposed. A year later, however, nurtur
lng a fleetlng dream of becomlng a neurosurgeon, he
qult hls factory job and went to work at the hospltal
morgue located next door to the arsenal. He dld not
stay long at thls gruesome post. Irom l957 onward he
enllsted as a physlcal laborer ln a serles of geologlcal
expedltlons that allowed hlm to travel all over the terrl
tory of the Sovlet Lnlon, from the Whlte Sea ln the
north to the Jlen Shan Mountalns of Central Asla, and
from Iakutsk ln northeastern Slberla to Kazakhstan ln
the south. Between l956 and l962 he changed jobs no
fewer than thlrteen tlmes.
l88
g _ ai_ POV
Whlle he was ln Iakutsk ln l957, Brodsky stum
bled upon a volume of verse by the earlynlneteenth
century phllosophlcal poet Evgenll Abramovlch
Baratynsky. Jhe lntellectual aculty of Baratynsky`s
poetry greatly attracted Brodsky, and he later clalmed
that he reallzed at thls moment that poetry was hls call
lngthe only thlng he understood ln llfe. Brodsky`s
own earllest poems date from l957 and l958. Jhese
years were a tumultuous perlod ln Sovlet hlstory. Jhe
Hungarlan uprlslng of l956, crushed by the Sovlet
Army, had shocked the youth of Brodsky`s generatlon
lnto adulthood. Meanwhlle, the Congress of Sovlet
Wrlters had been reconvened after a hlatus of twenty
years, and Akhmatova was relnstated as a member;
the unmasklng of |oseph Stalln`s cult of personallty
was ln full swlng; llterary socletles sprang up through
out Lenlngrad; and poetry, dlssemlnated ln samlzdat
(selfpubllshed) coples, dlsplaced other forms of splrl
tual expresslon such as rellglon or phllosophy. Jhe
unofflclal llterature of the late l950s was devoted to
bearlng wltness to evlls of the past.
By the end of the decade, however, some of the
younger authors took a turn away from soclal responsl
blllty and toward aesthetlclsm. Ior Brodsky, the work
of the older poet Slutsky served as a klnd of brldge
between the two tendencles, movlng as lt dld from
bureaucratese and concrete hlstorlclsm toward pure
exlstentlallsm. Evgenll Borlsovlch Reln, a poet of Brod
sky`s own generatlon, was also lnfluentlal; Brodsky and
Reln, together wlth the young poets Anatolll Gen
rlkhovlch Nalman and Dmltrll Vasllèvlch Bobyshev,
flrst met at Lenlngrad poetry readlngs ln l959 and soon
became close frlends and assoclates. Brodsky`s own
publlc appearances at such evenlngs began ln l958, and
ln March l959 hls declamatlon of hls poem 'Evrelskoe
kladblshche" (l965; translated as 'A |ewlsh Cemetery
by Lenlngrad," l967) at a poetry competltlon held at
the Gor`ky House of Books ln Lenlngrad was a scan
dalous success, thanks to lts taboo subject matter and
darlng new poetlc ldlom.
Brodsky`s earllest works are characterlzed by met
rlcal experlmentatlon, muslcallty, and the presence of
hlstorlcal, mythologlcal, and rellglous lmagery. Jhe
poems are prone to overstatement, and at tlmes thelr
meanlngs do not qulte match the force of the formal
contortlons to whlch the poet subjects hls verse. Jhls
poetry, for the most part, ls apolltlcal. In fact, the combl
natlon of the poet`s studled soclal nonconformlsm wlth
the locatlon of hls poems 'on the border between song
and . . . sacral hymns" has prompted the crltlc Vlktor
Sergeevlch Kulle, ln 'Ioslf Brodskll. Novala Odlssela"
( |oseph Brodsky. A New Odyssey, publlshed ln the
l998 edltlon of Brodsky`s p~ |Works|), to dub
Brodsky`s juvenllla hls 'Romantlc" perlod. Common
themes ln the earllest poems lnclude the cltyscapes of Len
lngrad, the poet`s allenatlon from surroundlng Sovlet socl
ety and the bombastlc ldlom lt fosters, and an lronlc
recognltlon of the lnslstent materlallsm of the world ln
whlch the poet flnds hlmselfa theme that ls promlnent ln
'Evrelskoe kladblshche." In another poem of l958, 'Plll
grlmy" (l965; translated as 'Pllgrlms," l967), Brodsky
charts a path out of thls world and away from the false
comforts lt offers, lncludlng rellglous falth. 'And thls
means, there ls no polnt / In havlng falth ln oneself or ln
God. / And thls means that all that remalns / Are Illuslon
and the Road."
Jhe authorltles at the tlme found Brodsky`s apolltl
cal poetry to be much more pernlclous than works of
overtly polltlcal dlssent by other young wrlters such as the
poet Evgenll Aleksandrovlch Evtushenko. As Davld Mac
Iadyen shows ln hls study g _ ~ p j
(2000), Brodsky subverts Sovlet sloganeerlng from wlthln,
thereby transcendlng the narrow polltlcal jargon that
encapsulates Sovlet reallty, to speak lnstead ln the expan
slve language of exlstentlal quest. At the same tlme, Brod
sky slgnals, through bltlng lrony and llngulstlc play, that he
does not lose slght of the conflnlng facts of hls llfe. He goes
outslde the rules of the polltlcal game belng played ln the
unofflclal llterature of the tlme as well as ln the sanctloned,
offlclal llterature; he dlspenses wlth the rules entlrely and
slmply talks about llfe, the soul, and longlng. Jhls psycho
loglcal llberatlon from the mental grlp of the system could
not fall for long to attract the attentlon of the Komltet gos
udarstvennol bezopasnostl (KGB, State Securlty Commlt
tee).
Brodsky`s flrst arrest came soon after the appear
ance of Aleksandr Glnzburg`s samlzdat publlcatlon pJ
~ (Syntax), a typewrltten poetry journal put out ln
Moscow ln the sprlng of l960, whlch lncluded both
'Evrelskoe kladblshche" and 'Plllgrlmy." Other poems
by Brodsky had also been clrculatlng ln handwrltten
coples, and some were even belng set to muslc. Brodsky
was plcked up by the KGB and taken for lnterrogatlon
to the famous Kresty (Crosses) prlson ln Lenlngrad. He
was kept ln solltary conflnement under the most austere
condltlons and was lnterrogated for twelvehour
stretches. No formal charges were flled, however, and
he was soon released. A year or two later, a second
arrest followed when Brodsky was lmpllcated ln the so
called Lmansky affalr, ln whlch he was accused of plan
nlng to hljack a plane to Kabul, Afghanlstan, and
thereby escape the Sovlet Lnlon. Once agaln, he was
released when no clear evldence was found agalnst hlm.
Jhe next several years were full of momentous
events ln Brodsky`s llfe. In August l96l Reln took
Brodsky to meet Akhmatova at her dacha (summer cot
tage) ln Komarovo. Jogether wlth Nalman and Boby
shev, the young poets began frequentlng Akhmatova`s
l89
ai_ POV g _
home; thelr relatlonshlp to her was one of splrltual,
more than llterary, dlsclpleshlp, whlle she herself
dubbed the four the 'maglc chorus" and welcomed
thelr company. Brodsky`s poetlc senslbllltles were qulte
dlstant from Akhmatova`s; lndeed, he felt a dlrect poetlc
debt not to Akhmatova but to Jsvetaeva, whose flerce
lndlvlduallsm and unfllnchlng quest to go beyond all
frontlers were much closer to Brodsky`s own metaphys
lcal drlve than was Akhmatova`s dlgnlfled restralnt. Yet,
Akhmatova was a powerful moral lnfluence on the
young Brodsky. Jhelr frlendshlp and mutual admlra
tlonln l963, Akhmatova autographed a copy of her
latest book 'Jo Ioslf Brodsky, whose verses seem magl
cal to me"was lmmensely meanlngful to Brodsky, as lt
seemed to sanctlon hls posltlon as the helr to the great
poetlc tradltlon of the Sllver Age. At the same tlme
Brodsky absorbed from Akhmatova a reverence for the
poet as an lnterpreter of Chrlstlan culture (hls flrst read
lng of an underground copy of the Old and New Jesta
ments ln l963 affected hlm profoundly); he also
learned the power of concrete detall and preclse psy
chologlcal motlvatlons from her poetry.
A dlfferent klnd of meetlng occurred ln Iebru
ary l962, when the poet`s frlends lntroduced hlm to
Marlna Pavlovna Basmanova, a Lenlngrad artlst and
lllustrator of chlldren`s books who was two years hls
senlor. In accord wlth the bohemlan mores of the
perlod, the romance between Brodsky and Bas
manova developed almost overnlght. Jhere was a
strong physlcal attractlon between the couple; yet,
Basmanova was unwllllng to commlt to marrlage
(Brodsky`s precarlous polltlcal status, along wlth the
fact that all he had to hls name was hls llttle corner of
hls parents` communal apartment, may have had
somethlng to do wlth her reluctance), whlle Brodsky
lnslstently demanded her full and undylng dedlca
tlon to hlm. Jhe result of thls emotlonal mlsmatch
was a longllved, palnful lovehate relatlonshlp punc
tuated by alternatlng flghts, separatlons, and passlon
ate reunlons.
Jhe poems that Brodsky wrote beglnnlng ln the
early l960s show hlm movlng away from the some
tlmes clumsy experlmentatlon and concrete settlngs of
hls juvenllla lnto a mature poetlcs, ln whlch a metaphys
lcal bent ls already apparent. In the l960 poem
'Glagoly" (l965, Verbs), for lnstance, verbs become
thlngs wlth thelr own lndependent exlstence that seem
to take the place of humans and, ln so dolng, satlrlze the
automatlzatlon of Sovlet llfe.
Verbs, whlch llve ln cellars,
speakln cellars, are bornln cellars
beneath several storles
of general optlmlsm.
Every mornlng they go to work,
mlx chemlcals and haul stones,
but, ln erectlng a clty, they erect not a clty,
but a monument to thelr own lonellness.
Jhese verbs, as a standln for the poet, eventually are
sacrlflced to socletal reglmentatlon and 'ascend
Golgotha." Jhe rhythmlc drlvlngln of nalls becomes
the sufferlng, llberatlng rhythm of poetry, whlch wlll
never deslst ln any of the three tenses of the verbpast,
present, or futureand whlch ushers ln the freedom of
poetlc lmaglnatlon at the end of the poem. 'Jhe land of
hyperboles lles beneath them, / as the heaven of meta
phors soars above us!" No matter how brutally the state
persecutes verbs (that ls, poets and poetry), Brodsky
seems to be saylng, thelr subverslve power wlll only
lncrease wlth tlme.
In other poems of thls perlod Brodsky abandons
hls earller Romantlc stance of protest agalnst the lnsuffl
clencles of llfe and moves toward a cool allenatlon from
human soclety and companlonshlp. Not only meta
physlcal lmaglnlngs but also, strangely, hls relatlonshlps
to lnanlmate thlngs and places begln to play a central
role ln hls developlng poetlcs. An example of thls ten
dency can be found ln the poem 'Ia obnlal etl plechl . . ."
(l965; translated as 'I klssed those shoulders . . . ,"
l967), ln whlch the poet, ln blddlng farewell to hls
lover, does not see or thlnk of her at all (beyond the
fragmented shoulders he embraces) but medltates
lnstead on 'what turned out to be behlnd her back". a
table, a wall, a brlght lamp, assorted shabby furnlture,
and a clrcllng mothall of whlch convey, tacltly, the
poet`s emotlonal detachment from the scene ln whlch
he hlmself partlclpates. In 'Vorotlsh`sla na rodlnu . . ."
(l965; translated as 'You`ve flnally come home . . . ,"
l967) the poet, arrlvlng home after a long absence,
assesses the extent of hls own alonenesswhlch ls abso
lute. 'How good lt ls that there ls no one to blame, /
how good lt ls that you are not tled to anyone, / how
good lt ls that no one ln the world / ls obllged to love
you untll death." Jhls proud declaratlon that 'there ls
no one to blame" for the vlclssltudes of hls fate matured
lnto an lnslstent eschewal of vlctlmhood, a key lngredl
ent of Brodsky`s poetlc selfdeflnltlon.
In hls poem 'Ot okralny k tsentru" (Irom the
Suburbs toward the Center; publlshed as 'Vot la vnov`
posetll . . ." ln l965 ln p~ X translated
as 'I can vlslt, once more . . . ," l967), Brodsky renders
hls allenatlon from the homeland ln the form of a fare
well jaunt through the suburbs of Lenlngrad ln the
company of hls own 'bednala lunost`" (poor youth),
whlch replaces any real human company to functlon as
a klnd of substltute muse. As ln 'Ia obnlal etl plechl . . . ,"
the poet`s attentlon ls captured by the dllapldated
l90
g _ ai_ POV
objects that compose hls physlcal surroundlngsthe
brldges, lndustrlal complexes, tramcars, cranes, sllent
storefronts, and black smoke that characterlze the out
sklrts of contemporary Lenlngrad. Jhese objects,
rather than an emotlonal relatlonshlp to any other
human belng, propel hlm lnto a contemplatlon of soul,
death, hell, heaven, and the uncertalnty of llfe eternal.
Jhe statement of allenatlon from llfe that ends thls
poem ls one of Brodsky`s most potent. 'Jhank God,
I`m an allen. / I don`t blame anyone here. / Jhere`s
nothlng to learn. / I walk, hurry, overtake. / How easy lt
ls for me now / slnce I have not parted wlth anyone. /
Jhank God that I am left on the earth wlthout a father
land." Irom then on, all the poet`s efforts were dlrected
toward chaslng and 'overtaklng" hls own potentlal,
wlthout regard for the proscrlptlons of the Sovlet llter
ary establlshment.
In l962 Brodsky dlscovered the work of the
Engllsh metaphyslcal poets, prlmarlly Donne, whose
poetryfull of wlt, coolly passlonate, phllosophlcally
detached, hlghly lntellectual, exqulsltely crafted wlth
lntrlcate concelts and geometrlc flguresgalvanlzed the
young man. Both ln lts themes and ln lts forelgnness to
the domlnant Russlan poetlc tradltlon, Donne`s work
corresponded perfectly to the feellngs of allenatlon that
Brodsky had already dlscovered ln hlmself. At the same
tlme Brodsky saw an equlvalence between the Engllsh
cultural vantagean lslander`s perspectlve on the Euro
pean contlnentand hls own Lenlngrad perch on the
edge of the Sovlet Emplre. He located hls feellngs of
cultural estrangement ln the urban geography of Lenln
grad that had formed hlm as a chlld. the cruel wlnters,
fantastlc archltectural styles, and endless, gray expanses
of waterthe element he always assoclated wlth the ldea
of freedom. Jhese surroundlngs prompted hlm to
belleve more ln the truth of the poetlc word than ln the
lnescapablllty of the dally grlnd, the necesslty of polltl
cal servltude, or the rectltude of conventlonal morallty.
Years later, he ended hls essay 'A Gulde to a Renamed
Clty" (wrltten ln l979, publlshed ln l986) wlth a trlbute
to the clty of hls blrth. 'Any dream wlll be lnferlor to
thls reallty. Where a man doesn`t cast a shadow, llke
water."
In l962 and l963, under the lnfluence of Donne as
well as of Jsvetaeva, whose powerful (long narra
tlve poems) he had recently dlscovered, Brodsky com
posed hls own flrst K Jhls genre, dlstanced from the
lntlmacy of the short lyrlc form, held the potentlal for the
creatlon of a klnd of 'lyrlcophllosophlcal" eplc that
remalned attractlve to Brodsky throughout the remaln
der of hls creatlve llfe, becomlng the hallmark of hls
poetlc legacy. Jhe characterlstlcs of Brodsky`s works ln
thls genre are rhythmlc and stanzalc lnventlveness,
extended complex metaphors, the mlngllng of wlldly
dlfferent llngulstlc reglsters, paradoxlcal thought pat
terns, a tlght weavlng together of lntrlcate composl
tlonal and metaphyslcal strands, and an acldlc sense of
humor. Brodsky`s earllest all partlclpated ln the
preservatlve or 'neoclasslcal" mlsslon of hls verse wlth
respect to the Russlan poetlc culture and language of
prevlous ages; lncluded among these works are
'Kholmy" (l965; translated as 'Hllls," l967),
'Bol`shala eleglla Dzhonu Donnu" (l965; translated as
'Elegy to |ohn Donne," l967), and 'Isaak l Avraam"
(l965, Isaac and Abraham)lnsplred, respectlvely, by
Jsvetaeva, Donne, and the Old Jestament.
On 1 May l96l a decree announclng a struggle
agalnst socalled ~ (soclal parasltlsm) was
passed ln the Sovlet Lnlon. |ust two and a half years
later, on 29 November l963, a lengthy lampoon
agalnst Brodsky appeared ln the newspaper s
i~ (Evenlng Lenlngrad) under the headlng
'Okolollteraturnyl truten`" (A SemlLlterary Drone),
slgned by A. Ionln, M. Medvedev, and Iakov Lerner, a
retlred KGB agent. Lerner also convlnced Aleksandr
Andreevlch Prokof èv, the secretary of the Lenlngrad
Wrlters` Lnlon, to have a unanlmous resolutlon drafted
that stated that Brodsky was 'lncapable of contrlbutlng
anythlng to llterature" and that hls works were 'antl
Sovlet and pornographlc" and to recommend that Brod
sky be expelled from Lenlngrad. Lerner`s lampoon
accused the poet of harborlng plans to 'betray the home
land" and dubbed Brodsky a 'plgmy, selfassuredly
clamberlng onto Parnassus." Jhe artlcle concluded
wlth a call to the authorltles to protect Lenlngrad and
Lenlngraders from Brodsky`s threat. 'It`s clear that we
must cease coddllng such semlllterary parasltes . . . Not
only Brodsky, but also all those who surround hlm, are
walklng along the same dangerous path . . . May seml
llterary ldlers llke |oseph Brodsky recelve the sternest
rebuff. Let us teach them not to muddy the water!"
Durlng l963 Brodsky had composed more than two
thousand llnes of poetry; he had also been translatlng
the works of Cuban, Yugoslav, and Pollsh poets.
Lerner`s lampoon portended trouble for Brodsky.
In December l963, at the urglng of hls frlends, the poet
fled Lenlngrad for Moscow. He voluntarlly checked
hlmself lnto the Kashchenko psychlatrlc hospltal ln
Moscow, hoplng to escape the authorltles` notlce there.
Accounts of what followed are somewhat confused.
Brodsky apparently soon learned that Basmanova had
greeted the New Year ln the company of Bobyshev at a
dacha belonglng to mutual frlends ln Zelenogorsk (out
slde Lenlngrad); Basmanova supposedly betrayed
Brodsky wlth Bobyshev and then set the curtalns of the
house on flre, coolly commentlng how beautlful the
flames were. Brodsky, tormented by jealousy and anger,
checked out of the psychlatrlc hospltal on 5 |anuary
l9l
ai_ POV g _
and returned to Lenlngrad ln haste to sort matters out
wlth Basmanova. Durlng |anuary and the flrst part of
Iebruary he stayed constantly on the move, sleeplng at
varlous frlends` dachas on the outsklrts of the clty. He
seems to have spent some tlme wlth frlends ln the town
of Jarusa, a wrlters` colony near Moscow, as well. In
hls l967 poem 'K Llkomedu, na Sklros" (l970, Jo
Lycomedes on Scyros), he remlnlsces obllquely about
thls chaln of events when he ldentlfles hlmself wlth
Jheseus, who escapes from the Mlnotaur (a standln
for the KGB) and hls hostlle labyrlnth (Lenlngrad) only
to dlscover that Arladne has taken up wlth Bacchus.
On the evenlng of l3 Iebruary l961 Brodsky was
unexpectedly arrested for the thlrd tlme as he walked
down a Lenlngrad street. Ilve days later he was
brought to a closed trlal on a charge of ~. Jhe
presldlng judge ruled that Brodsky be sent for manda
tory forenslc psychlatrlc testlng to determlne whether
he was sufferlng from any dlsorder that precluded a
sentence of hard physlcal labor. On l9 Iebruary, Brod
sky was sent for three weeks to the Prlazhka psychlatrlc
hospltal. Hls ~ 'Gorbunov l Gorchakov" (Gor
bunov and Gorchakov, wrltten between l965 and l968,
publlshed ln l970), wrltten ln the form of an extended
phllosophlcal dlalogue between two hospltal lnmates
who dlscuss thelr dreams, thelr meals, the vlew outslde
thelr wlndow, and thelr muslngs about the soul and
lmmortalltychronlcles hls experlences there. Brodsky
was the only lnmate ln the hospltal not allowed to have
vlslts from hls famlly. He clalmed to flnd the ward envl
ronment maddenlng and to prefer solltary conflnement
ln prlsonhls favorlte formula for whlch was, as he
wrote ln hls essay 'Less Jhan One" (l986), 'a lack of
space counterbalanced by a surplus of tlme"to thls
psychlatrlc torture. Durlng hls lncarceratlon ln the Prl
azhka hospltal he was routlnely lnjected wlth varlous
substances and subjected to other 'treatments" such as
the 'wrap," whlch conslsted of belng wrapped tlghtly ln
sheets and submerged ln a tub of cold water and then
left to dry, stlll conflned ln the wet llnens. Lltlmately,
Brodsky was declared psychologlcally healthy and flt
for work and was released.
Brodsky`s second, open trlal was held on l3
March l961. He was defended by respected members
of the Lenlngrad Wrlters` Lnlon, lncludlng journallst
and llterary crltlc Irlda Abramovna Vlgdorova, edltor
Natal`la Grudlnlna, and Herzen Instltute professors
Eflm Grlgorèvlch Etklnd and Vladlmlr Grlgorevlch
Admonl, all of whom testlfled to Brodsky`s lmmense
talent as both a poet and a translator of poetry. Akhma
tova also sollclted the support of three Lenln Prlze lau
reates ln Brodsky`s defense. composer Dmltrll
Dmltrlevlch Shostakovlch and wrlters Samull Iakov
levlch Marshak and Kornel Ivanovlch Chukovsky
addressed appeals for Brodsky`s release to the Wrlters`
Lnlon, the Lenlngrad Party Commlttee, and Nlklta
Sergeevlch Khrushchev hlmself. All these attempts
proved lneffectual ln the face of testlmony by other wlt
nesses, such as one worker who clalmed that Brodsky`s
poetry was havlng a bad lnfluence on hls son by lnclt
lng hlm not to work. Jhroughout the trlal Brodsky
lmpressed hls frlends by hls calm, unruffled mlen; he
clalmed later that thls ordeal was less lmportant to hlm
at the tlme than the recent catastrophe ln hls relatlon
shlp wlth Basmanova, whlch had already sapped all hls
emotlonal energy.
Vlgdorova made a stenographlc record of a por
tlon of the trlal proceedlngs untll she was forbldden by
the judge to contlnue. She clrculated these notes ln
samlzdat, and they soon found thelr way abroad, where
they were publlshed ln Engllsh translatlon ln q k
i~ and b ln August and September l961,
and ln Russlan ln the mlgr almanac s
(Alry Paths) ln l965. Jhls publlcatlon was the flrst tlme
the lnternal worklngs of the Sovlet legal system had
been revealed to the outslde world, and the transcrlpt
created an lnternatlonal sensatlon. Radlo Iree Europe
made much of the story, and the Brltlsh Broadcastlng
Corporatlon even produced a dramatlzatlon of the trlal
on radlo. In the West, Brodsky`s confused responses to
|udge Savelèva`s relentless questlons about hls lack of
professlonal quallflcatlons to be a wrlter ('I dldn`t
thlnkI dldn`t thlnk thls was a matter of educatlon . . . I
thlnk that lt ls . . . from God") came to symbollze the
clash between the evll Sovlet bureaucracy and human
truth and goodness, between unbrldled state power and
lndlvldual rlghts.
As a result of the publlcatlon of the court proceed
lngs, Brodsky, who prevlously had been known only to
a narrow clrcle of Lenlngrad wrlters and poets, became
an lnternatlonal cause clbre. Brodsky hlmself lnter
preted hls trlal as hls necessary lnltlatlon lnto the grand
tradltlon of Russlan poets at odds wlth the state.
Although ln later years he usually refralned from dls
cusslng these palnful events, he dld malntaln a sense of
humor about them and once commented on the rea
sons for hls persecutlon. 'I comblned ln myself the
most attractlve features, ln that I wrote poems and was
a |ew" (quoted ln Eflm Grgorèvlch Etklnd`s l988 blo
graphlcal notes on Brodsky). He also noted wlth maca
bre lrony that, ln contrast to the punlshments meted out
to other dlssentlng llterary flgures ln the decade that fol
lowed, by Sovlet standards hls own treatment was
'somethlng absolutely homeopathlc" (quoted ln Valen
tlna Polukhlna, g _W ^ m l q |l989|,
from a 2 October l986 lntervlew by Ian Hamllton for
BBC 2).
l92
g _ ai_ POV
Brodsky was sentenced to flve years of hard
labor; the court explalned that 'Brodsky systematlcally
falls to fulflll the obllgatlon of a Sovlet man wlth respect
to materlal values and personal wellbelng as ls evldent
from hls frequent changes of jobs." He was agaln con
flned ln the Kresty prlson, and on 22 March he was
shlpped out on a prlson traln wlth other convlcts (who,
unllke Brodsky, had commltted actual crlmlnal acts) to
the Konosha dlstrlct ln the reglon of Arkhangel`sk, ln
the far north of Russla; he settled ln the vlllage of
Norlnskala, whlch conslsted of just fourteen peasant
famllles. Jhe vlllage was twenty mlles from the nearest
rallroad statlon, surrounded by swampy northern for
ests. At flrst he was put up by a dalry farmer, Anlslla
Pestereva; later he rented a tlny room ln the hut of an
old peasant couple, Konstantln and Afanaslla Pesterev.
He pald for the room, furnlshed only wlth a table and
sofa, wlth the small salary he earned for hls work,
whlch was seasonal and conslsted varlously of chop
plng wood, cartlng manure, shovellng graln stores, and
laborlng ln the flelds of the local state farm. Hls land
lady later remembered hlm fondly and clalmed that the
vlllagers often took plty on hlm and asslgned hlm com
paratlvely easler tasks, such as pasturlng the cows. On
l1 August l965 the vlllage newspaper m (Jhe Sum
mons) publlshed Brodsky`s poem 'Jraktory na rass
vete" (Jractors at Dawn, whlch appears ln full ln
MacIadyen`s g _ ~ p j), and on
1 September l965 lt publlshed hls poem 'Oboz"
(Wagon Jraln), for whlch he was pald two rubles and
some change.
Hls grlm surroundlngs and the hardshlps of dally
llfe ln Norlnskala notwlthstandlng, Brodsky remem
bered thls perlod happlly. 'Jhat was one of the best
perlods ln my llfe. Jhere have been no worse, but I
don`t thlnk there have been better" (quoted ln Solomon
Volkov`s `~ g _ |l998|). Vlg
dorova sent hlm her typewrlter, and other frlends sent
hlm books, letters, and tlns of lnstant coffee. Because
the farmwork ln the vlllage was seasonal, Brodsky had
long stretches of free tlme; because for the most part he
spent hls tlme ln lsolatlon, there were few dlstractlons
from hls lntellectual pursults. Durlng thls perlod he per
fected hls knowledge of Engllsh, contlnued hls translat
lng work, and dlscovered to hls great excltement the
wrltlngs of J. S. Ellot and W. H. Auden. Hls own
poetry was nourlshed by thls readlng and for the flrst
tlme departed entlrely from the Romantlc ldlom of hls
juvenllla and the pathetlc ldlom of offlclal Sovlet dls
course. He achleved new splrltual and metaphyslcal
helghts ln hls wrltlng that were, however, condltloned
by a wry Romantlc lrony that remalned characterlstlc of
Brodsky`s poetlcs and even of hls conversatlonal style
for the remalnder of hls llfe. In hls Norlnskala poems
Brodsky makes use of the composltlonal posslbllltles of
the baroquethe juxtaposltlon of the grotesque and the
serlous, the ephemeral and the eternal, the coarse and
the eloquentwhlle at the same tlme dlstanclng hlmself
from pure lyrlclsm and adoptlng, lnstead, a profoundly
lntellectual worldvlew. Hls language becomes saturated
wlth subtextual references, sometlmes preservatlve and
sometlmes parodlc ln functlon.
Exemplary of all these developments ln Brodsky`s
poetlcs ls hls polgnant elegy 'Stlkhl na smert` J. S. Ellota"
(l970, translated as 'Verses on the Death of J. S. Ellot,"
l973), wrltten upon Ellot`s death on 1 |anuary l965. In
thls poem Ellot`s magl (from hls poem 'Jhe |ourney of
the Magl," l927) are replaced by the androgynous flg
ures of two mythlc maldens, England and Amerlca, the
two natlons where Ellot made hls home. Jlme ls an
overwhelmlng presence, and ln fact tlme ltselfnot
death or Godclalms the poet`s llfe. As Ellot departs
the temporal world, 'latchlng hls door wlth a chaln of
years," Poetry, though orphaned by hls death, stlll
'breeds wlthln the glass / of lonely days, each echolng
each." Poetry, as Brodsky often wrote, ls tlme reconflg
ured. 'ln the rhyme / of years the volce of poetry stands
plaln." Jhrough the strength of hls poetry Ellot has
lnscrlbed hls belng on the physlcal world. Brodsky`s
own poetlc slgnature ls now developed to the polnt at
whlch he, too, etches hlmself lnto the consclousness of
hls physlcal surroundlngshe knows now hls own
poetlc strength. As Brodsky wrote ln a letter to I. N.
Jomashevskala on l9 |anuary l965 (quoted by A. N.
Krlvomazov ln hls onllne blography of Brodsky). 'I
have accelerated too far now, and I wlll never stop untll
death ltself. Everythlng somehow shlmmers ln the back
ground, but that`s not the maln thlng. Inslde me ls some
sort of unheardof lnflnlty and lndlfference, and I wlll
gather more and more speed all the tlme."
Many of Brodsky`s best works were wrltten dur
lng hls exlle ln Norlnskala, lncludlng more than seventy
lyrlc poems and several (flrst publlshed ln book
form ln l~~ |l970, A Halt ln the Desert,|),
lncludlng 'Pls`mo v butylke" (l965, Letter ln a Bottle),
'Elnem Alten Archltekten ln Rom" (l961, Jo an Old
Archltect ln Rome), and 'Novye stansy k Avguste"
(l961, New Stanzas to Augusta). Jhls last work ls dedl
cated to Basmanova ('M.B."), who later vlslted hlm for
a perlod of several months durlng hls exlle. He gladly
welcomed other vlsltors as wellReln and Nalman
came, brlnglng an encouraglng letter from Akhmatova
on the occaslon of Brodsky`s twentyflfth blrthdaybut
the perlod he spent wlth Basmanova was the hlghllght
of hls exlle, the happlest tlme ln hls long relatlonshlp
wlth her. In 'Novye stansy k Avguste" the absent Bas
manova, llke Augusta, the slster of George Gordon,
Lord Byron, plays muse to Brodsky`s exlled poet. Brod
l93
ai_ POV g _
sky dedlcated many other poems to Basmanova durlng
hls tlme ln Norlnskala, lncludlng 'Jy vyporkhnesh`,
mallnovka . . ." (l961; translated as 'You`ll flutter, robln
redbreast, from these three . . . ," l973), 'Dlla
shkol`nogo vozrasta" (l961, Ior School Age, translated
ln Davld M. Bethea`s oscpl rodsly ovd tlc Crcotiov of
Ixilc |l991|), 'Lomtlk medovogo meslatsa" (A Sllce of
Honeymoon, l963), 'Derev`la v moem okne . . ." (Jhe
trees ln my wlndow, ln my woodenframed wlndow . . . ,
l961), and 'Prorochestvo" (A Prophecy, l965), all of
whlch were flrst publlshed ln book form ln Ustovovlo v
pustyvc. Brodsky later collected hls love poems to Bas
manova ln the volume òvyc stovsy l Zvgustc (New Stan
zas to Augusta, l983).
Jhe furor that Brodsky`s trlal had ralsed abroad
dld not dlsslpate but rather escalated after hls exlle to
Norlnskala. A collectlon of hls works, tltled Stillotvorc-
viio i pocmy (Lyrlc and Narratlve Poems), complled by
Gleb Petrovlch Struve and Borls Andreevlch Illlppov
and flnanced by the Central Intelllgence Agency, was
publlshed ln New York ln l965. Durlng the next few
years, translatlons lnto Engllsh, German, Irench,
Hebrew, Pollsh, and Czech followed. By contrast, only
a handful of Brodsky`s poems had been publlshed by
thls tlme ln Sovlet perlodlcalsthe flrst of these, 'Pro
shchal . . ." (translated as 'Iarewell . . . ," l967), ln
l957. Jhe authorltles eventually bowed to lnternatlonal
pressure and commuted Brodsky`s sentence to one year
and flve months, and he was released ln September
l965. Now world renowned, he was allowed to return
to hls natlve Lenlngrad and to earn a llvlng as a transla
tor; he translated Donne and Andrew Marvell lnto Rus
slan and focused especlally on the works of the Pollsh
poets Cyprlan Norwld, Zblgnlew Herbert, Czesaw
Mlosz, and Gaczyskl, from whom he learned to
approach a serlous subject lndlrectly, wlth a degree of
jest, wlthout loslng slght of lts deeper lmpllcatlons. He
traveled freely, often vlsltlng Llthuanla and wlnterlng ln
wrlters` colonles ln the Crlmea. He spent tlme ln Mos
cow as well, where hls frlends Nalman and Reln had
moved after the breakdown of thelr frlendshlp wlth
Bobyshev and Brodsky`s subsequent exlle. When Akh
matova dled on 5 March l966, Brodsky was a pall
bearer at her funeral.
Ior two or three years after Brodsky`s return to
Lenlngrad, hls relatlonshlp wlth Basmanova contlnued
fltfully, and ln l968 she gave blrth to hls son, Andrel,
whom, desplte Brodsky`s reslstance, she reglstered
under the maternal surname Basmanov. As before, she
had no lntentlon of marrylng Brodsky, who was barely
managlng to make ends meet wlth the small lncome
that hls translatlons brought ln, and who stlll llved ln an
alcove ln hls parents` share of the communal apartment
on Lltelnyl Street. By the tlme of Andrel`s blrth, Brod
sky`s relatlonshlp wlth Basmanova was decldedly over,
although he contlnued wlstfully addresslng love poems
to her durlng the next two decades of hls llfe. Several
passages ln hls l967 pocmo 'Rech` o prolltom moloke"
(l977, A Speech about Spllled Mllk) refer to the dlslnte
gratlon of hls romantlc hopes, as when he complalns.
'Knowlng my status, my flance / for the flfth year
hasn`t budged to get marrled; / and where she ls now, I
have no ldea. / the devll hlmself couldn`t pry the truth
out of her." Jhls work ls a selfdeprecatory rant agalnst
Brodsky`s dlsappolntments ln llfeand, ln partlcular,
agalnst the depraved polltlcal ldeology that contaml
nates the soclety ln whlch he llves. He volces hls deter
mlnatlon to contlnue hls rebelllon agalnst the system
and to flght for 'democracy ln the full sense of the
word," clalmlng that 'evll exlsts to be fought wlth, / and
not to be hung llke a yoke on one`s shoulders."
In several poems wrltten ln the late l960s and
flrst publlshed ln book form ln Ustovovlo v pustyvc, Brod
sky sadly, or bltterly, blds goodbye to hls affalr wlth
Basmanova. In 'Sonet" (A Sonnet; translated as 'Post
scrlptum" ln Sclcctcd Iocms, l973), he beglns, 'What a
plty that what your exlstence has come to mean for me,
my exlstence dld not come to mean for you." In
'Strofy" (l968; translated as 'Stanzas," l973) he muses,
'But my world wlll not end lf / ln future we share / only
those jagged edges / where we`ve broken apart." In the
wake of hls breakup wlth Basmanova, Brodsky had sev
eral shortllved relatlonshlps wlth varlous women,
among them Sovlets and forelgn Slavlclsts who came to
meet hlm whlle travellng ln the Sovlet Lnlon, but none
of these connectlons ultlmately endured.
After hls release from northern exlle ln l965,
Brodsky`s polltlcal troubles were far from over. Khru
shchev had been forced from power ln late l961, and
Leonld Il`lch Brezhnev took over, becomlng the new
general secretary of the Communlst Party ln l966. Jhe
decade of the Jhaw was comlng to a close, and there
began a wave of arrests and deportatlons of lmportant
wrlters and scholarslncludlng, ln l971, Etklnd, who
had defended Brodsky at hls l961 trlal, and the wrlter
Vladlmlr Rafallovlch Maramzln, who was ln the pro
cess of complllng a samlzdat collectlon of Brodsky`s
poetry. Jhe avallablllty today of much of Brodsky`s
early work results from Maramzln`s efforts at collectlng
and organlzlng the poet`s wrltlngs, glven Brodsky`s
own carelessness wlth hls archlve, partlcularly ln hls
youth. Jhe llterary crltlc Mlkhall Khelfets, who had
wrltten an lntroductlon to Maramzln`s volume tltled
'Ioslf Brodskll l nashe pokolenle" ( |oseph Brodsky and
Our Generatlon), was sentenced to four years ln a labor
camp and two years ln exlle.
Brodsky hlmself was one of the flrst casualtles of
the new cultural represslon. Although lmmedlately after
l91
g _ ai_ POV
hls return to Lenlngrad he was offered the opportunlty of
publlshlng a selectlon of hls poems ln the journal f
(Youth), the publlcatlon was canceled when Brodsky
refused to acqulesce to Evtushenko`s cholce of hls
works, saylng the selectlon made hlm emerge 'looklng
llke a shorn sheep" (clted ln Volkov`s `~
g _). Several of Brodsky`s poems were, how
ever, publlshed ln Sovlet perlodlcals and almanacs ln
l966 and l967. In addltlon, ln l966 he prepared a col
lectlon tltled 'Zlmnlala pochta" (Wlnter Mall) for prlnt
lng by the Lenlngrad branch of the publlshlng house
Sovetskll plsatel` (Sovlet Wrlter), but these plans appar
ently fell through when Brodsky was advlsed that the
book would be publlshed only lf he agreed to become
an lnformant for the KGB. In l969 Robert Lowell
lnvlted Brodsky to take part ln an lnternatlonal poetry
festlval ln London; the same year, Brodsky was also
asked to appear at the Iestlval of Jwo Worlds ln Spo
leto. He was refused a vlsa to attend elther occaslon;
the blzarre response of the Sovlet authorltles to the lat
ter lnvltatlon was that 'Jhere ls no such poet. Jrue,
there was a Brodsky sent to prlson a few years ago."
Permlsslon for Brodsky to attend a poetry festlval ln
Czechoslovakla was also denled.
Events came to a head on the mornlng of l0 May
l972. Brodsky was urgently summoned to the Offlce of
Vlsas and Reglstratlons (OVIR), where he was asked
whether he had recelved an lnvltatlon to lmmlgrate to
Israel. Brodsky replled that he had recelved two such
lnvltatlons, although he had no ldea who had sent
them, and that he had not used them because, ln the
flrst place, he had not expected to be allowed to go and,
ln the second place, he had no lnterest ln leavlng home
permanently. Jhe offlclal responded by settlng before
Brodsky a vlsa appllcatlon accompanled by an lnvlta
tlon from a certaln 'Evrel Iakov" ( |acob the |ew),
whom Brodsky was told to ldentlfy as hls grand
nephew; he was also assured that lf he dld not flll out
the forms on the spot, he would be ln for a 'very hot
tlme." Weary of hls struggles and recognlzlng the lnes
capablllty of the sltuatlon, Brodsky complled. Jhe fol
lowlng Monday he was ordered to turn ln hls passport,
and he was glven two weeks to leave the country. Brod
sky told Volkov that he suspected that Evtushenko had
been lnstrumental ln urglng thls turn of events. What
ever the case, a bold open letter that Brodsky wrote to
Brezhnev hlmself, assertlng that 'even lf my natlon
does not need my body, my soul wlll come ln handy,"
expresslng hls certalnty that he would return some day
to hls natlve land 'ln the flesh or on paper," and urglng
Brezhnev to allow hlm at least to publlsh ln the Sovlet
Lnlon, had no effect. Brodsky at last was beyond the
reach of the strong grasp of the state.
Jhe theme of Emplreexempllfled by Romels a
common one ln Brodsky`s wrltlngs, beglnnlng ln the
late l960s. Earller, the ldea of Emplre had nalvely slgnl
fled for Brodsky the confllct between poet and soclety;
ln hls mature poems, however, the dlslntegratlon of the
Roman Emplre became hls way of descrlblng the partlc
ular atmosphere of stagnatlon that was lnaugurated under
Brezhnev. Ior example, ln Brodsky`s poem 'Vremla
godazlma . . ." (l977, Jhe tlme of year ls wlnter . . . ;
translated ln Bethea`s g _ ~ `~
b), wrltten between l967 and l970, the poet dwells
on the edge of the emplre, at the end of an era, and
speaks through a state of stlfllng halfslumber about hls
feellng of entrapment. Caught llke a flsh on a hook, the
poet attempts ln valn to escape by exerclslng the powers
of hls maglcal language, whlch ls a prlorl older than any
state, and contents hlmself by observlng stolcally that
'If we can`t get the better of the evll power, then at least
we can get the better of ourselves."
On 1 |une l972 Brodsky arrlved ln Vlenna
ostenslbly en route to Israelwhere he was met by hls
frlend Carl Proffer, founder of the Amerlcan publlshlng
house Ardls. Proffer soon led Brodsky to a meetlng
wlth Auden at that poet`s summer resldence, a farm
house ln the Austrlan countryslde, where Brodsky
spent the next three weeks. In |une and |uly, Brodsky
and Auden appeared together at poetry readlngs ln Lon
don and Oxford. Soon afterward, Brodsky accepted
Proffer`s lnvltatlon to the post of poetlnresldence wlth
professorlal status at the Lnlverslty of Mlchlgan ln Ann
Arbor. Brodsky`s way ln the West had been paved by
the appearance ln New York ln l970 of hls flrst autho
rlzed collectlon, l~~ K Jhls book encom
passed a selectlon of hls best lyrlcs wrltten up to that
polnt, along wlth several lmportant I lncludlng
'Gorbunov l Gorchakov," and translatlons lnto Russlan
of four of Donne`s poems. Anglophone readers were
also able to become acqualnted wlth hls poetry through
hls flrst Engllshlanguage collectlons b g a
~ l m (l967) and p m (l973). Jhe lat
ter volume conslsted of translatlons by George Kllne
that were overseen by Brodsky hlmself, and the book
lncluded a glowlng preface wrltten by Auden.
Jhe hlstory of Brodsky`s llfe ln emlgratlon ls far
less eventful than that of hls early years ln the Sovlet
Lnlon. Always a prlvate man, he became more so as he
grew older and settled lnto hls hybrld ldentlty as an
Amerlcan professor and man of letters and a Russlan
mlgr poet. Brodsky remalned at the Lnlverslty of
Mlchlgan for the next nlne years. In l98l he accepted a
permanent posltlon as Andrew Mellon Professor of Llt
erature at Mount Holyoke College ln South Hadley,
Massachusetts. Over the years he also appeared as a
guest lecturer and vlsltlng professor at many other unl
l95
ai_ POV g _
versltles ln both the Lnlted States and Brltaln, lnclud
lng Amherst College, Columbla Lnlverslty, New York
Lnlverslty, _ueens College, Smlth College, and Cam
brldge Lnlverslty. Durlng hls early years ln the Lnlted
States, Brodsky conflded ln frlends hls fear of loslng the
pulse of Russlan poetry and becomlng allenated from
the expresslve posslbllltles of hls natlve language. Jhese
fears proved, however, to be ln valn; wlth tlme, the Rus
slan language became the vessel for Brodsky`s ldentlty,
the only deflnlng reallty ln hls llfe, and lndeed the exact
substance of sanctlty and human meanlng. 'Jhe hollest
thlng we have," Brodsky sald ln a l983 lntervlew wlth
Natal`la Gorbanevskala (quoted ln Valentlna
Polukhlna`s 2000 compllatlon), 'ls, perhaps, not our
lcons, not even our hlstorylt ls our language."
In Brodsky`s cycle 'Chast` rechl" (A Part of
Speech), publlshed ln `~ W p~ NVTOTS
(l977, A Part of Speech. Poems l972-76), hls language
ls jumbled and fragmented but does not lose lts
potency. Jhe neologlsms, grammatlcal lmposslbllltles,
and pure nonsense of the openlng poem, for example,
result ln a surprlslngly eloquent statement of lonellness
and allenatlon.
From nowhere wlth love, the umpteenth of Martober,
dear respected mlster sweetle, but lt doesn`t even matter
who, slnce the features of the face, speaklng
frankly, I can no longer remember, nelther yours, nor
anyone`s elther true frlend I greet you from one
of the flve contlnents, whlch ls propped up by cowboys;
I loved you more than the angels or god hlmself,
and therefore I`m farther from you now, than from them
both.
As the tltle of thls cycle lndlcates, the poet hlmself ls
pared down, along wlth hls utterances, to the elemen
tary unlt of meanlngthe part of speechand just as the
spllttlng of the atom releases enormous stores of hldden
energy, so too thls fragmentatlon of llngulstlc matter
glves rlse to a correspondlng lntenslflcatlon of meanlng.
'Of the entlre person left to you ls only a part / of
speech. A part of speech ln general. A part of speech."
Brodsky came to feel that (as he told Glovannl
Buttafava ln a l987 lntervlew, collected ln Polukhlna`s
2000 compllatlon) 'perhaps exlle ls the natural condl
tlon of a poet`s exlstence, ln contrast to the novellst,
who must exlst wlthln the structures of the soclety he
descrlbes." Exlle became the source of Brodsky`s
mature metaphyslcs ln poems such as the l975 'Osen
nll krlk lastreba" (l987, Jhe Hawk`s Cry ln Autumn),
promptlng hlm to formulate ln hls works a law of sub
tractlon by whlch the process of llvlng conslsts of the
gradual sheddlng of every extraneous emotlon, connec
tlon, and possesslon untll the essentlal core of belng ls
revealed through poetlc truths, the prlmary lnstrument
of whlch ls rhyme. Bethea has traced thls development
ln hls g _ ~ `~ b. Perhaps the
best lllustratlon of the process ls found ln 'l972 god"
(l972), publlshed ln l977, a wry selfportralt ln verse
wrltten shortly after Brodsky`s emlgratlon, where unor
thodox rhymes such as 'trusostl / trudnostl / trupnostl"
(cowardlce / dlfflculty / corpseness) and 'doverll /
materll / poterl l" (trust / materlal / loss and) convey the
lnevltable, gradual decay of physlcal exlstence and of
the poet`s own body ln partlcular. Brodsky`s sense of
humor, ln thls poem and throughout hls poetry, was a
savlng power. Hls llfelong averslon to the stance of vlc
tlmhood resulted, ln hls later years, ln a trenchant com
mand of language and lts expresslve posslbllltles. Hls
stolclsm ls volced most eloquently ln hls l980 poem 'Ia
vkhodll vmesto dlkogo zverla . . ." (l987, I entered ln
place of a wlld beast . . . ; translated as 'May 21, l980,"
l988), whlch ends wlth these wellknown llnes. 'What
should I say about llfe? / Jhat lt turned out to be long. /
I feel solldarlty wlth grlef alone. / But as long as they
haven`t stuffed my mouth wlth clay, / only gratefulness
wlll gush from lt."
Jhe strength of Brodsky`s poetlc volce and vlslon
ls demonstrated ln the hundreds of poems publlshed ln
hls major collectlons of the Amerlcan years. `~ X
h ~ (l977, End of the Belle Epoque);
k ~ ^X r~~ (l987, Lranla); m~~
~~ (l990, Notes of a Iern); and m~ ~J
(l996, Vlew wlth a Ilood). Brodsky`s refusal to
rellnqulsh elther hls command of the Russlan language
or hls rlghtful posltlon ln the Russlan poetlc pantheon
was not, however, the only factor that guaranteed hls
poetlc survlval ln emlgratlon. Hls adoptlon of the
Engllsh language as hls second mother tongue and of
the Lnlted States as hls second homeland undoubtedly
played an lmportant role ln ensurlng that he dld not
fade lnto nonexlstence as the Sovlet authorltles had
hoped. Instead, Brodsky remalned an lmposlng llterary
presence. He gratefully recelved hls Lnlted States cltl
zenshlp ln Detrolt on ll October l977 (some sources
lncorrectly glve the date as l980); hls posthumous chll
dren`s book a (l999) pays trlbute to hls love for
hls adoptlve country. Brodsky`s knowledge of the
Engllsh language and love of Engllsh and Amerlcan
poetry prlor to hls emlgratlon facllltated thls turn of
events. Hls love affalr wlth Engllsh only deepened after
he took up resldency ln the Lnlted States, and he often
stressed hls feellng of obllgatlon toward the Engllsh lan
guage, as he observed ln an essay for q k v q
j~~ (l October l972). 'Jhe measure of a wrlter`s
patrlotlsm ls how he wrltes ln the language of the peo
ple among whom he llves." Desplte the prlvacy of
Brodsky`s hablts, hls outslder`s gaze upon hls host cul
ture, and hls often crltlcal vlew of Amerlcan soclety, he
l96
g _ ai_ POV
remalned always passlonately engaged ln dlalogue wlth
hls adoptlve country, and lsolatlonlsm of the type prac
tlced by another lnvoluntary Russlan exlle, Aleksandr
Isaevlch Solzhenltsyn, was unlmaglnable for hlm.
Brodsky`s flrst poem ln Engllsh was 'Elegy," ded
lcated to hls mentor Auden. In l972 Brodsky flnally
met the Amerlcan poet Lowell, wlth whom he felt more
comfortable than wlth Auden; ln l977 he wrote 'Elegy.
Ior Robert Lowell" ln Engllsh and lncluded lt wlth the
translatlons of hls Russlan lyrlcs ln hls l980 collectlon
Z Iort of Spcccl. Jhls Engllsh collectlon was followed ln
l988 by To Urovio and, ln l996, by the posthumous col
lectlon So Iortl. Wlth each progresslve collectlon ln
Engllsh, there ls a vlslble acceleratlon of Brodsky`s
authorlal control over the Engllsh verslons of hls
poetry, demonstratlng hls lncreaslng feellng of ease ln
the Engllsh language and hls deslre to exlst as a full
poetlc presence ln the Anglophone llterary space. In So
Iortl, translatlons are not even marked as such, so that dls
tlngulshlng between poems that exlst ln Russlanlanguage
verslons and poems that do not ls lmposslble at flrst
glance. On many occaslons Brodsky`s authorlzed ver
slons of works prevlously publlshed ln Russlan depart
slgnlflcantly from the orlglnal verslons, as he alters the
semantlc content of hls llnes to preserve a rhyme or
metrlcal pattern or attempts to harness the dlfferent ldl
omatlc potentlal of the Engllsh language, wlth varylng
degrees of success. Indeed, crltlcal oplnlon on Brod
sky`s Engllshlanguage poetry ls strongly dlvlded. Some
commentators dlscern the same llngulstlc and phllo
sophlcal brllllance ln hls Engllsh poems that marks hls
Russlan works and flnd the oddltles of hls Engllsh
appeallng, reveallng, even poetlc. Other scholars con
tend that Brodsky never managed to develop a true
understandlng of the unlque qualltles of Engllsh verse
or even a good grasp of Engllsh grammar, and that hls
Engllsh poems and translatlons suffer badly from hls
attempts to graft hls extremely Russlan senslbllltles
regardlng rhyme, meter, and dlctlon onto an unaccom
modatlng medlum; the unfortunate result, they clalm, ls
often humor or vulgarlty where, clearly, only a keen
lrony ls lntended.
Crltlcal oplnlon on Brodsky`s Engllshlanguage
prose, however, ls essentlally unanlmous; ln thls genre,
freed of the structural requlrements of verse, Brodsky`s
expresslve genlus shlnes. Hls flrst collectlon of essays ln
Engllsh, Icss Tlov Uvc, was publlshed ln l986, followed
by Uv Cricf ovd Icosov ln l995; some of these essays flrst
appeared as lntroductlons to poetry collectlons. In addl
tlon, he publlshed several artlcles and edltorlals ln
Anglophone perlodlcals over the years, lncludlng Tlc
`cw Jorl Timcs Mogoivc, TIS: Tlc Timcs Iitcrory Supplc-
mcvt, Tlc `cw Jorlcr, Tlc `cw Jorl Icvicw of ools, `cws-
wccl, !oguc, and Modcmoiscllc. Jhrough these
appearances ln the malnstream press, he attalned a
powerful volce ln the presslng lntellectual debates of hls
tlme. Jhe essays lncluded ln Icss Tlov Uvc and Uv Cricf
ovd Icosov serve as a contlnuatlon of Brodsky`s poetry
and a klnd of supplemental poetlc autoblography, char
acterlzed by the same trenchant lntellect and the same
llngulstlc and metaphorlc denslty that mark hls poems.
Icss Tlov Uvc mostly looks backwardto Brod
sky`s parents and chlldhood, as well as to hls cultural
lnherltance ln hls natlve clty of Lenlngrad and ln the
Russlan poetlc tradltlon champloned by hls predeces
sors Akhmatova, Jsvetaeva, and Mandel`shtam. Brod
sky dedlcates the two essays that frame the collectlon,
'Less Jhan One" and 'In a Room and a Half," to rem
lnlscences of hls mother and father and of hls early
chlldhood ln Sovlet Lenlngrad. Jhe young Brodsky as
he deplcts hlmself ln hls openlng plece ls dlsaffected and
lnsecure, wlth an lmpalred sense of selfllke the adult
poet he later became, he feels he ls 'less than one." Jhe
tltle of the closlng essay slmllarly expresses dlmlnlsh
ment, lnadequacy, and constralnt, thls tlme of the tlny
physlcal space ln whlch Brodsky and hls parents once
llved. Jhese two essays are much more than stralghtfor
ward memolrs of tlmes past. Rather, they juxtapose
Brodsky`s memorles of the Sovlet past wlth hls mlgr
present, sometlmes evoklng a jarrlng sense of lncongru
ence and unreallty ('Jhe reallty I face bears no relatlon
and no correspondence to the room and a half and lts
two lnhabltants, across the ocean and now nonexlstent.
. . . Jhe only polnts ln common are my own frame and
a typewrlter. Of a dlfferent make and wlth a dlfferent
typeface"), whlle at other tlmes creatlng a hauntlng lllu
slon of echoes and uncanny correspondences, as when
two crows perched on the poet`s porch ln Massachu
setts remlnd hlm of hls parents ('One ls shorter than
the other, the way my mother was up to my father`s
shoulder").
Jhese essays are not so much about partlcular
memorles as about the nature of memory ln general,
the role that language plays ln encodlng and expresslng
memorles, the relatlonshlp or lack thereof between
materlal and lntellectual exlstence, and the develop
ment of Brodsky`s poetlc consclousness through tlme.
Brodsky challenges the Marxlan dlctum that 'exlstence
condltlons consclousness," toutlng lnstead hls dlscovery
at a precoclously young age of the 'art of estrange
ment." Jhls technlque proved to be hls salvatlon from
the pervaslve slavlsh mentalltyadopted even by hls
parentsthat was mandated by the totalltarlan soclety
ln whlch he llved. Hls freedom from thls mentallty
came ln varlous forms. hls commlsslon of rebelllous
acts such as dropplng out of school; hls ablllty to fllter
hls perceptlons of the materlal world, for example, by
lgnorlng the ublqultous statues of Vladlmlr Lenln; and
l97
ai_ POV g _
hls development of an ethlcal sense that ls based not on
Sovlet dogma, but on an lnstlnctlve perceptlon of aes
thetlc beauty. Jhus, the beautlful clty of Lenlngrad,
whose 'left bank looked llke the lmprlnt of a glant mol
lusk called clvlllzatlon. Whlch ceased to exlst," serves
as a receptacle of truth and, moreover, as the physlcal
embodlment of Brodsky`s concept of memory as lt ls
dellneated ln these essaysa fosslllzed trace of tlme past.
As he wrltes. 'Memory, I thlnk, ls a substltute for the
tall that we lost for good ln the happy process of evolu
tlon. . . . Jhere ls somethlng clearly atavlstlc ln the very
process of recollectlon, lf only because such a process
never ls llnear."
Jhe autoblographlcal essays 'Less Jhan One"
and 'In a Room and a Half" are anythlng but llnear;
they sklp rapldly from toplc to toplc, sketchlng surprls
lng correspondences wlth metaphyslcal accuracy, dead
pan humor, and maxlmally condensed llngulstlc means.
As a result, many llnes of Brodsky`s prose ln these
essays read llke aphorlsms (for example, 'Prlson ls a
lack of alternatlves"; 'Jhe army ls a peasant`s ldea of
order"; 'But then lnhumanlty ls always easler to struc
ture than anythlng else"). In Brodsky`s other essays ln
i q~ lI he malntalns thls style as he rumlnates on
varlous toplcs, lncludlng the state of contemporary Rus
slan prose, the nature of polltlcal tyranny, the legacy of
poets such as Eugenlo Montale and Constantlne
Cavafy, and the pernlclous encroachment, ln hls vlew,
of Eastern despotlsm on Russlan cultural forms (lnclud
lng Chrlstlan Orthodoxy). Brodsky broaches the last
toplc ln hls essay 'Illght from Byzantlum." In the essays
that make up l d ~ o~I Brodsky mostly turns
aslde from hls Russlan background to address the
works of Amerlcan and European poets such as Irost,
Jhomas Hardy, and Ralner Marla Rllke, as well as hls
perceptlons of the contemporary Amerlcan soclety ln
whlch he llves.
Brodsky`s prollflc wrltlngs brought hlm many
honors, and ln the years followlng hls emlgratlon hls llt
erary success was conslderable. In l977 he recelved the
|ohn Slmon Guggenhelm Memorlal Ioundatlon Iellow
shlp ln poetry; ln l978 he was awarded an honorary
degree of doctor of letters by Yale Lnlverslty; ln l979
an Itallan translatlon of hls works recelved both the Iel
trlnelll Prlze for Poetry and the Mondello Llterary
Prlze; on 23 May l979 he was elected to the Amerlcan
Academy and Instltute of Arts and Letters (ln l987 he
reslgned hls membershlp ln protest agalnst the lnduc
tlon of Evtushenko as a forelgn member of the Instl
tute); ln l98l he was granted a 'genlus" award by the
|ohn D. and Catherlne J. MacArthur Ioundatlon; ln
l986 he recelved the Natlonal Book Crltlcs Clrcle
Award for crltlclsm for i q~ lX ln l987 he was
awarded the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature; ln l99l he was
granted an honorary degree by Oxford Lnlverslty and
recelved Irance`s Order of the Leglon of Honor; and
also ln l99l he was chosen by the Llbrary of Congress
to serve as the poet laureate of the Lnlted States, whlch
he dld untll l992. Brodsky was frequently lnvlted to
glve readlngs of hls poetry, and he became famous for
hls powerful, slngsong declamatory style and hls sar
donlc, wltty, penetratlng monologues ln response to hls
audlence`s questlons. He also cultlvated frlendshlps
wlth other leadlng contemporary poets, lncludlng Low
ell, Mlosz, Rlchard Wllbur, Mark Strand, Derek Wal
cott, Seamus Heaney, and Jomas Venclova, as well as
wlth Western and Russlan lntellectuals such as Susan
Sontag, Lev Vladlmlrovlch Losev, and Aleksandr
Sumerkln. Brodsky often traveled to England, and he
made a hablt of vlsltlng Venlcethe watery clty that
remlnded hlm of hls natlve Lenlngradalmost every
year durlng hls wlnter break from teachlng. Jhese
Venetlan odysseys are memorlallzed ln hls booklength
medltatlve essay t~~ (l992), publlshed flrst ln
Itallan translatlon as c~~ f~ (Iunda
mentals of the Incurable) ln l989, and translated lnto
Russlan as 'Naberezhnala nelstsellmykh" (Shores of the
Incurable).
Brodsky was grateful for hls relatlve good for
tune; he once sald, 'I`m the happlest comblnatlon you
can thlnk of. I`m a Russlan poet, an Engllsh essaylst,
and an Amerlcan cltlzen!" (quoted ln Clssle Dore Hlll`s
'Rememberlng |oseph Brodsky," 2000). However,
desplte hls professlonal successes ln emlgratlon, hls llfe
durlng these years was largely a solltary one, and hls
vocatlon as a unlverslty professor never became a true
avocatlon. In addltlon to the keen feellng of cultural
and llngulstlc allenatlon that was the norm of hls new
exlstence and shaped hls wrltlng so dlstlnctlvely, he had
another, more partlcular sorrow to bear. hls parents,
whom he had not seen slnce l972, were repeatedly
denled permlsslon by the Sovlet authorltles to vlslt thelr
son even for a short tlme, desplte thelr ceaseless
attempts over the years. Brodsky pald trlbute to them ln
hls essay 'In a Room and a Half," hoplng that by wrlt
lng about them ln the Engllsh language he would some
how manage to free them from thelr unwlttlng mental
servltude to the Sovlet reglme, whlch had swallowed
them allve. 'I want Engllsh verbs of motlon to descrlbe
thelr movements. Jhls won`t resurrect them, but
Engllsh grammar may at least prove to be a better
escape route from the chlmneys of the state cremato
rlum than the Russlan." Brodsky`s mother, lll wlth can
cer, dled ln l983, whlle hls father passed away from a
heart attack the followlng year.
Brodsky`s own health suffered over the years. He
had lnherlted hls father`s heart condltlon, and the emo
tlonal straln of hls polltlcal persecutlon ln the Sovlet
l98
g _ ai_ POV
Lnlon and the physlcal straln of hls elghteen months of
hard labor ln the far north had worsened matters.
Moreover, heedless of doctors` orders, Brodsky all hls
llfe was an lnveterate hard drlnker and chalnsmoker.
He suffered hls flrst heart attack on l3 December l976,
and durlng the last two decades of hls llfe he underwent
three separate heartbypass operatlons.
Stlll, Brodsky`s last years were eventful, busy, and
largely peaceful. In South Hadley, Massachusetts,
where he llved each sprlng, he owned a house bullt ln
the elghteenth century, the rustlc decor and rough
maple floors of whlch remlnded hlm of hls parents`
room ln the communal apartment of hls youth. Brod
sky was famous for hls poetry courses at Mount Hol
yoke College, ln whlch he requlred hls students to
memorlze hundreds of llnes of poetry durlng the course
of the semester. He spent hls autumns and wlnters ln
the bohemlan envlronment of Greenwlch Vlllage ln
New York Clty, where he llved ln an apartment on
Morton Street wlth hls cat. In New York, Brodsky had a
wlde clrcle of acqualntances wlthln the Sovlet mlgr
communlty, ln partlcular the dancer Mlkhall Nlkolae
vlch Baryshnlkov and the wrlter, translator, and dance
aflclonado Gennadll Smakov, a close frlend of Brod
sky`s youth from Lenlngrad.
Whlle he contlnued to wrlte poetry and essays ln
both Engllsh and Russlan, ln l981 Brodsky completed
a drama, whlch he had begun ln the Sovlet Lnlon ln
the l960s, tltled j~ (Marbles). Jhls play premlered
on the New York stage ln l986, starrlng Wallace Shawn
and Andre Gregory, and was subsequently performed
ln varlous locatlons ln Europe and North Amerlca. Jhe
play, llke 'Gorbunov l Gorchakov," was lnsplred by
Brodsky`s nlghtmarlsh experlences ln Sovlet psychlatrlc
hospltals, and lt contlnues the dlalogue that shapes the
earller ~X at the same tlme the play develops the plc
ture of a postChrlstlan emplre that Brodsky flrst put
forth ln hls l970 ~ 'Post Aetatem Nostram" (l977,
After Our Era). In j~I Brodsky helghtens both the
terror and the humor of hls poetlc treatment of the sub
ject, golng beyond absurdlsm to portray a hllarlous,
horrlble dystopla two hundred years ln the future. A
resurrected Roman Emplre has establlshed statlstlcal
norms for lmprlsonment, accordlng to whlch three per
cent of the populatlon, lrrespectlve of any crlmes com
mltted, ls shut up for llfe ln a mllehlgh steel tower ln
the heart of the new Rome. Jhe two characters of the
play, Publlus and Julllus, are unllkely cell mates ln the
prlson tower, doomed to each other`s company. Escape
ls unthlnkable; when Julllus succeeds ln an lngenlous
plan to exlt brlefly lnto the outslde world, he neverthe
less returns voluntarlly to conflnement, optlng for the
obllvlon of sleeplng pllls over the llberatlon of real exlst
ence.
Brodsky`s l987 Nobel Prlze address was an elo
quent testament to hls own refusal to submlt to such
obllvlon; he declared the complete lndependence of the
poet from any soclal or polltlcal norm, clalmed that the
only dlctator to whom the poet must submlt ls language
ltself, and celebrated the contlnulty of culture accordlng
to aesthetlc lntultlonthe source, accordlng to Brodsky,
of morallty, rather than the other way around. 'Ior a
man wlth taste, partlcularly wlth llterary taste, ls less
susceptlble to the refralns and the rhythmlcal lncanta
tlons pecullar to any verslon of polltlcal demagogy. Jhe
polnt ls not so much that vlrtue does not constltute a
guarantee for produclng a masterplece as that evll, espe
clally polltlcal evll, ls always a bad styllst." Desplte the
themes of Brodsky`s address, the selectlon commlttee of
the Swedlsh Academy denled that there was any polltl
cal message for the Sovlet government ln thelr cholce of
the Russlan mlgr poet (who was, at age fortyseven,
the secondyoungest wrlter ever to be awarded the
Nobel Prlze). Instead, thelr press release clted Brodsky
for the 'lumlnous lntenslty of hls wrltlng," lts 'great
breadth ln tlme and space . . . and . . . the lntellectual
and sensltlve slde of thls rlch and lntensely vltal work."
Inltlal reactlon to Brodsky`s Nobel Prlze ln hls natlve
Russla, nevertheless, was one of consternatlon and
coverup; Gennadll Geraslmov, a Sovlet Iorelgn Mlnls
try spokesman, remarked at a press conference on the
strange tastes of the Nobel Prlze commlttee, and the
prlze was not announced publlcly ln the Sovlet Lnlon
untll news of lt had leaked through from forelgn short
wave radlo broadcasts several weeks later. Stlll, even
Geraslmov acknowledged that the prlze would draw
welcome attentlon to Russlan poetry of the twentleth
century; and reactlon to Brodsky`s prlze among West
ern crltlcs and lntellectuals was unlformly ecstatlc. Hls
own lnltlal response to the announcement of the honor
was characterlstlcally one of mlxed prlde and humor at
hls own expense. 'A blg step for me, a small one for
manklnd," he joked, addlng, 'It`s Russlan llterature that
got lt."
After Brodsky became a Nobel laureate, hls fame
soared, and he was often dlstracted from hls wrltlng by
the lnevltable parade of journallsts, letters from asplrlng
young poets, and other publlc obllgatlons. Hls commlt
ment to hls compatrlots dld not wane, elther; ln l979 he
had been lnstrumental ln the defectlon to the Lnlted
States of the Bol`shol Jheater ballet star Aleksandr
Godunov, and ln later years he was actlve ln asslstlng
many Russlan mlgrs to the Lnlted States wlth letters
of recommendatlon and wellplaced telephone calls. He
generously used portlons of hls Nobel Prlze money to
asslst frlends and promlnent Russlan mlgrs ln thelr
tlmes of need. In addltlon, he spent a good part of the
moneyagalnst frlends` advlceon expenslve renova
l99
ai_ POV g _
tlons on the apartment he rented ln Greenwlch Vlllage;
he also contrlbuted a portlon of the money toward
propplng up the Russlan Samovar restaurant ln Man
hattan, whlch had struggled slnce lts establlshment ln
l986 through a flre, flood, and other malntenance
dlsasters.
Brodsky concerned hlmself wlth the state of
Amerlcan llterary culture as well. In hls October l99l
address to the Llbrary of Congress as poet laureate he
made what he termed, parodylng |onathan Swlft, 'An
Immodest Proposal" (l995) that called for the dlsseml
natlon of poetry ln publlc places such as hotels and
supermarkets ln order to counteract what he saw as the
degeneratlve effects of Amerlcan popular culture. Ludl
crous as the proposal mlght have sounded, lt plqued the
lnterest of Andrew Carroll, a young Columbla Lnlver
slty graduate, and ln l993 he and Brodsky founded the
Amerlcan Poetry and Llteracy Project, a nonproflt orga
nlzatlon that, ln the words of Brodsky`s address, was
devoted to maklng poetry a part of Amerlcan culture
'as ublqultous as gas statlons, lf not as cars them
selves," slnce poetry 'ls the only lnsurance avallable
agalnst the vulgarlty of the human heart. Jherefore, lt
should be avallable to everyone ln thls country and at a
low cost." Carroll contlnued thls project after Brodsky`s
death, and hundreds of thousands of free books of
poetry were glven away ln hotel rooms and grocery
stores, at truck stops and post offlces.
Beglnnlng ln the early l990s, Brodsky at last
ceased addresslng poems to the eluslve 'M.B." He was
an lntensely prlvate person, and the few publlshed
accounts of events ln hls personal llfe are often of
doubtful accuracy. What ls clear, though, ls that ln hls
last years the poet`s llfe changed dramatlcally. After an
eplstolary romance wlth a translator named Marla Soz
zanl and several jolnt sojourns wlth her ln Venlce, the
couple were marrled ln Stockholm on l September
l990. Marla Sozzanl Brodsky was thlrty years Brod
sky`s junlor, the daughter of an Itallan father and Rus
slan mother. Some of Brodsky`s frlends observed that
he was changed, softened, and seemed happy as never
before. Jhe couple`s declslon to leave hls hlghproflle
resldence ln Greenwlch Vlllage for the comparatlve
tranqulllty of Brooklyn Helghts also contrlbuted slgnlfl
cantly to hls feellng of contentment. In |une l993 Soz
zanl Brodsky gave blrth to the couple`s only chlld, thelr
daughter, Anna Alexandra Marla.
Brodsky`s poems of the l990s occaslonally hlnt at
the poet`s emotlonal transformatlon when, at rare lnter
vals, hls tone of stolc forbearance and the landscape of
psychlc desolatlon glve way to lntonatlons of wonder,
meekness, and tenderness. An example of thls develop
ment ls the l991 poem 'Jo My Daughter" (l996), wrlt
ten ln Engllsh, ln whlch Brodsky wlstfully and a trlfle
lronlcally attempts to foresee hlmself relncarnated after
hls deathwhlch, he rlghtly senses, ls lmpendlngas an
ltem of 'furnlture ln the corner." He thus trles to lmag
lne away the lmposslblllty of malntalnlng contact wlth
the daughter whom he wlll never see grown. Lltl
mately, the metaphor of the stolc poet transformed lnto
a chalr ls reallzed at the end of the poem ln Brodsky`s
resortlng to 'somewhat wooden llnes ln our common
language"; he lntults, sadly, that hls feeble attempt to
leave a poetlc 'message ln a bottle" for hls chlld ls sure
to fall. Jhls lntultlon may have been prompted by Brod
sky`s dlsappolntment after a longawalted reunlon wlth
hls son.
In l972 Brodsky had addressed hls tender poem
'OdlsselJelemaku" (l977; translated as 'Odysseus to
Jelemachus," l973) to hls then fouryearold son,
Andrel Basmanov, as the poet faced expulslon from the
Sovlet Lnlon. In thls poem, a battleweary Brodsky
Odysseus expresses hls qulet grlef at the lnsurmount
able dlstances ln space, tlme, and mlnd that are carrylng
hlm ever further away from hls son. 'I don`t know
where I am, / what lles ahead. . . . Grow blg, my
Jelemachus, grow. Only the gods know whether we
wlll see each other agaln." Yet, the reunlon between
father and son ln the mld l990s was a fallure, as they
dlscovered how llttle they had ln common beyond thelr
extreme physlcal slmllarlty to each other.
Wlth the advent of perestrolka, Brodsky`s reputa
tlon ln hls homeland began to change, perhaps also
asslsted by hls wlnnlng of the Nobel Prlze. Ior the flrst
tlme slnce hls exlle, ln l987 and l988 Brodsky`s poems
were publlshed ln the journals k (New World)
and k~X the flrst Sovlet edltlons of hls collected works
appeared ln l990, followed by many more such publlca
tlons ln Russla over the next several years. In March
l995 Anatolll Aleksandrovlch Sobchak, the mayor of
St. Petersburg, lnvlted Brodsky to vlslt hls natlve clty
the followlng summer. Brodsky polltely decllned, say
lng he had nelther the emotlonal nor the physlcal
resources avallable to weather such a publlc journey,
although he planned a prlvate one at some future date.
Ior the most part, the poems of Brodsky`s flnal
decade are dark, emotlonally blank, lntellectually acute,
acrldly humorous, and frankly selfdeprecatory. He
foresaw hls own death clearly and llnked lt wlth the
demlse of hls century, whlle taklng stock of the achleve
ments and fallures of both. Such ls the case, for exam
ple, ln hls l989 poem 'Iln de Slcle" (l996, Jurn of the
Century), whlch beglns wlth the predlctlon that 'Jhe
century soon wlll end, but I`ll end sooner. / Jhls ls, I
fear, not a matter of lntultlon. / Ratherthe lnfluence of
nonbelng // on belng. of the hunter, so to speak, on hls
prey, / whether lt be the heart`s muscle or a brlck." In hls
l993 poem 'Dedal v Sltsllll" (l996; translated as 'Dae
200
g _ ai_ POV
dalus ln Slclly," l996), Brodsky`s portralt of the anclent
lnventor ln old age ls also a trenchant selfportralt. 'All
hls llfe he was bulldlng somethlng, lnventlng some
thlng. / All hls llfe from these structures, from these
lnventlons / he had to flee." Brodsky looks forward to
hls death ln poem after poem ln a matteroffact way,
wlthout a trace of sentlmentallty and often wlth a qulet,
wry humor. So reslgned to death ls Brodsky ln these
poems that there ls a sense that he has come to the end
of hls road and ls readyalmost lmpatlentto dle. He ls
tlred of llfe and secure ln the knowledge that he has
lmprlnted hlmself as lndellbly as posslble on human let
ters. As ln hls l993 poem 'Pelzazh s navodnenlem," the
flood of tlme rlses to obllterate hlm, and he 'wants to
say somethlng, sputterlng wlth excltement, / but out of
the multltude of words only one remalns. wos."
Brodsky dled of masslve heart fallure on the nlght
of 28 |anuary l996 at the age of flftyflve. Shortly after
ward, hls longtlme frlend Reln flew ln from Moscow to
speak at a memorlal servlce ln the Morse Audltorlum of
Boston Lnlverslty, where Brodsky had glven hls last
publlc readlng on 9 Aprll l995; frlends and famlly
remembered Brodsky at a servlce held at the Cathedral
of St. |ohn the Dlvlne ln New York Clty on 8 March
l996. Iollowlng a temporary lnterment at the cathedral,
Brodsky`s body was moved to lts flnal restlng place ln
the Clmltero dl San Mlchele ln Venlce, where he had
spent many of hls happlest days.
Slnce hls death, Brodsky`s llfe and career have
been commemorated many tlmes, and two lnstances ln
partlcular stand out. Jhe flrst occurred on what would
have been hls flftyslxth blrthday, 21 May l996. A mas
slve granlte slab, lnscrlbed 'In thls house from l955
untll l972 llved the poet Ioslf Aleksandrovlch Brodsky,"
was unvelled outslde the poet`s chlldhood resldence at
21 Lltelnyl Street ln St. Petersburg. Plans are under way
for the establlshment of a Brodsky llterary museum to
be housed ln the same bulldlng. Jhe other commemo
ratlve act was the creatlon, by the poet`s wldow, Sozzanl
Brodsky, of the |oseph Brodsky Memorlal Iellowshlp
Iund, whlch enables Russlan wrlters, artlsts, and schol
ars to llve and work ln Italy. Jhe ldea for the fellowshlp
had come from Brodsky hlmself. Shortly before he
dled, he had appealed to the mayor of Rome for the
establlshment of a Russlan academy ln that clty. As
Brodsky wrote to the mayor, 'Italy was a revelatlon to
the Russlans; now lt can become the source of thelr
renalssance." Jhe fund selected lts flrst reclplents, three
Russlan poets and scholars, ln the sprlng of 2000 and
awarded each a threemonth fellowshlp at the Amerlcan
Academy or the Irench Academy ln Rome.
Although the slgnlflcance and worth of |oseph
Brodsky`s creatlve opus contlnues to be debated to thls
day, the fact that he challenged many preconcelved
polltlcal, aesthetlc, and phllosophlcal senslbllltles of hls
tlmeln both hls poetry and hls prose works, ln both
Engllsh and Russlanls lndlsputable; lndeed, preclsely
for thls reason hls wrltlngs stlll ralse some hackles.
Aware of hls poetlc calllng at an early age, he flrmly
upheld the ldeal of free poetlc expresslon throughout
hls llfe, seemlngly lmpervlous to the potentlal damage
of soclal pressure, polltlcal persecutlon, and cultural lso
latlon. In hls dlstlnctlve posltlon as a cltlzen of two
worlds, a master of two llterary languages, and an
lnherltor of two poetlc tradltlons, Brodsky devoted hls
talent to the creatlon of a hybrld poetry ln whlch multl
ple llterary tendencles were grafted together. baroque
and avantgarde, anclent and metaphyslcal, Engllsh free
verse and Russlan metered and rhymed verse. Jhe
result was the llterary rehabllltatlon of both languages.
He freed Russlan from the trlte phrases of Sovlet propa
ganda and the sentlmentallty of Russlan mlgr culture,
lnjectlng the language wlth lntellectual heft, joltlng
rhythms, and dlsquletlngsometlmes even crudethe
matlc content that was prevlously unthlnkable. At the
same tlme, he attempted to release contemporary
Amerlcan belles lettres from the trend he percelved
toward amorphousness and lrrelevance, and, by relntro
duclng the Engllsh language to the forgotten dlsclpllne
of aesthetlc form, to reconnect Anglophone poetry wlth
lts roots ln Western hlgh culture. Whether Brodsky wlll
be judged by posterlty to have been entlrely successful
ln these endeavors stlll remalns to be seen. What can be
sald wlth certalnty, however, ls that, thanks to hls mas
tery of the art of detachment, Brodsky modeled an elo
quent llterary protest to both statesponsored tyranny
and the stlfllng banallty of conformlsm that wlll not soon
be forgotten.
fW
Sven Blrkerts, 'Jhe Art of Poetry XXVII. |oseph Brod
sky," Ioris Icvicw, 83 (Sprlng l982). 83-l26;
Marlanna Volkova and Solomon Volkov, Iosif rodslii v
`ìu-Iorlc: Iotoportrcty i bcscdy s poctom (New York.
Slovo, l990);
Volkov, Covvcrsotiovs witl oscpl rodsly: Z Ioct`s ourvcy
tlrougl tlc Twcvtictl Ccvtury, translated by Marlan
Schwartz (New York London. Iree Press,
l998); Russlan verslon publlshed as Diologi s Iosi-
fom rodslim (Moscow. Nezavlslmala gazeta,
l998);
Valentlna Polukhlna, ed., ol`sloio lvigo ivtcr`viu (Mos
cow. Zakharov, l998; revlsed and enlarged,
2000);
'Iorm ln Poetry. |oseph Brodsky and Derek Walcott ln
a Conversatlon wlth Bengt |angfeldt," Icvyov
Icvicw, 23 (Sprlng 200l). l85-202;
20l
ai_ POV g _
Peter Vall, 'A Conversatlon wlth |oseph Brodsky," ln
òtivity Iocms (New York. Iarrar, Straus Glroux,
200l), pp. l03-ll2;
Cynthla L. Haven, oscpl rodsly: Covvcrsotiovs
( |ackson. Lnlverslty Press of Mlsslsslppl, 2003).
_~W
A. Ia. Lapldus and K. M. Azadovsky, Iosif rodslii: Ulo-
otcl` litcrotury vo russlom ioylc o 1962-199 gg.
(St. Petersburg. Rossllskala natslonal`nala blbllo
teka, l997; enlarged, l999);
Valentlna Polukhlna and Jhomas Blgelow, 'Selected
Blbllography of Brodsky`s Essays, Introductlons,
Revlews and Letters (ln Engllsh and Russlan
Only)," Iussiov, Crootiov ovd Scrbiov, Cccl ovd Slo-
vol, Iolisl Iitcroturc, 17, nos. 3-1 (2000). 109-1l6;
Vlktor Sergeevlch Kulle, 'Blbllograflla Ioslfa Brodskogo"
http.//www.llter.net/=/Kulle/brodskyblllograf.htm`;
Inez Ramsey, '|oseph Brodsky. Blbllography" http.//
falcon.jmu.edu/-ramseyll/brodskyblb.htm`.
_~W
Eflm Grlgorèvlch Etklnd, Irotscss Iosifo rodslogo (Lon
don. Overseas Publlcatlons Interchange, l988);
Iakov Arkadèvlch Gordln, comp., Iosif rodslii:
Tvorclcstvo, liclvost`, sud`bo (Itogi trcll lovfcrcvtsii) (St.
Petersburg. Zvezda, l998);
A. N. Krlvomazov, 'Blograflla Ioslfa Brodskogo"
http.//br00.narod.ru`;
Lev Losev and Petr Vall`, comps., Iosif rodslii: Trudy i
dvi (Moscow. Nezavlslmala gazeta, l998);
Lludmlla Shtern, rodslii: Usio, Iosif, oscpl (Moscow.
Nezavlslmala gazeta, 200l); expanded and trans
lated by Shtern as rodsly: Z Icrsovol Mcmoir (Iort
Worth, Jex.. Baskervllle, 2001);
Vadlm Semenov, Iosif rodslii v scvcrvoi ssyllc: Ioctilo ovto-
biogrofimo (Jartu. Jartu Lnlverslty Press, 2001).
oW
Davld M. Bethea, oscpl rodsly ovd tlc Crcotiov of Ixilc
(Prlnceton. Prlnceton Lnlverslty Press, l991);
Clost` rccli: Zl`movoll litcrotury i islusstvo, speclal Brodsky
lssue, no. l (l980);
Plotr Iast, '(Pseudo)Autoblography ln Brodsky`s Lyrl
cal Poetry," Zuto-iogroply Studics, ll (Iall l996).
l25-l39;
Iakov Arkadèvlch Gordln, Icrcllicllo vo mrolc: Iosif
rodslii i cgo sobcscdvili (St. Petersburg. Pushklnskll
fond, 2000);
Gordln, comp., and Irlna Anatolèvna Muravèva, ed.,
Mir Iosifo rodslogo: Iutcvoditcl` (St. Petersburg.
Zvezda, 2003);
Clssle Dore Hlll, 'Rememberlng |oseph Brodsky,"
Hoovcr Digcst, 1 (2000);
Evgenll Kelebal, Ioct v domc rcbcvlo: Irolcgomcvy l filosofii
tvorclcstvo Iosifo rodslogo (Moscow. Lnlversltet,
2000);
Ellna Kolesnlkova, 'Ioliticlcslii tclst Iosifo rodslogo:
Motcrioly l isslcdovoviiu (Moscow. Maks, 2003);
Malja Knnen, 'Iour !oys of !ritivg tlc City: St. Ictcrsburg-
Icvivgrod os o Mctoplor iv tlc Ioctry of oscpl rodsly
(Helslnkl. Helslnkl Lnlverslty Press, 2003);
D. L. Lakerbal, Iovvii rodslii: Ioctilo i sud`bo (Ivanovo.
Ivanovskll gosudarstvennyl unlversltet, 2000);
R. C. Lamont, '|oseph Brodsky. A Poet`s Classroom,"
Mossoclusctts Icvicw, l5 (l971). 553-577;
Lev Losev, ed., Ioctilo rodslogo: Sborvil stotci (Jenafly,
N.|.. Ermltazh, l986);
Losev and Valentlna Polukhlna, eds., rodsly`s Ioctics ovd
Zcstlctics (New York. St. Martln`s Press, l990);
Losev and Polukhlna, eds., oscpl rodsly: Tlc Zrt of o
Iocm (New York. St. Martln`s Press, l998);
Losev and Polukhlna, eds., Iol robotoct stillotvorcvic
rodslogo: I isslcdovovii slovistov vo opodc (Mos
cow. Novoe llteraturnoe obozrenle, 2002);
Davld MacIadyen, oscpl rodsly ovd tlc oroquc (Mon
treal. McGlll_ueen`s Lnlverslty Press, l998);
MacIadyen, oscpl rodsly ovd tlc Sovict Musc (Montreal.
McGlll_ueen`s Lnlverslty Press, 2000);
Mlchael Murphy, Ioctry iv Ixilc: Z Study of tlc Ioctry of !.
H. Zudcv, oscpl rodsly ovd Ccorgc Sirtcs (Lon
don. Greenwlch Exchange, 2001);
Valentlna Polukhlna, rodsly tlrougl tlc Iycs of His Cov-
tcmpororics (New York. St. Martln`s Press, l992);
republlshed ln Russlan as rodslii gloomi sovrcmcv-
vilov (St. Petersburg. Zvezda, l997);
Polukhlna, 'Brodsky`s SelfPortralt," ln Iussiov Iitcroturc
Sivcc 1917: `cw Dircctiovs, edlted by S. Grahem
(London. Macmlllan, l992), pp. l22-l35;
Polukhlna, oscpl rodsly: Z Ioct for Uur Timc (Cam
brldge New York. Cambrldge Lnlverslty Press,
l989);
Polukhlna, 'Poetlcheskll avtoportret Brodskogo," Ius-
siov, Crootiov ovd Scrbiov, Cccl ovd Slovol, Iolisl Iit-
croturc, 3l (l992). 375-392;
Polukhlna, 'Jhe Prose of |oseph Brodsky. A Contlnua
tlon of Poetry by Other Means," Iussiov, Crootiov
ovd Scrbiov, Cccl ovd Slovol, Iolisl Iitcroturc, 1l
(l997). 223-210;
Polukhlna, Igor` Iomenko, and A. G. Stepanov, eds.,
Ioctilo Iosifo rodslogo: Sborvil vouclvyll trudov
(Jver. Jverskol gosudarstvennyl unlversltet,
2003);
Andrew Reynolds, 'Returnlng the Jlcket. |oseph Brod
sky`s 'August` and the End of the Petersburg
Jext?" Slovic Icvicw, 61, no. 2 (Summer 2005).
307-332;
202
g _ ai_ POV
Davld Rlgsbee, Stylcs of Iuiv: oscpl rodsly ovd tlc Iost-
modcrvist Ilcgy, Contrlbutlons to the Study of
World Llterature, no. 93 (Westport, Conn..
Greenwood Press, l999);
Iussiov, Crootiov ovd Scrbiov, Cccl ovd Slovol, Iolisl Iitcro-
turc, speclal Brodsky lssues, 37, nos. 2-3 (l995);
17, nos. 3-1 (2000);
Bozena Shallcross, Tlrougl tlc Ioct`s Iyc: Tlc Trovcls of
ogojcwsli, Hcrbcrt, ovd rodsly (Evanston, Ill..
Northwestern Lnlverslty Press, 2002);
Natal`la Strlzhevskala, Iis`mcvo, pcrspcltivy: U pocii Iosifo
rodslogo (Moscow. Graal`, l997);
Jomas Venclova, Stotì o rodslom (Moscow. Baltrus,
Novoe lzdatel`stvo, 2005).
m~W
|oseph Brodsky`s papers, representlng all of hls work
up to the tlme he went lnto exlle ( |une l972), are
located ln the Russlan Natlonal Llbrary (RNB) ln St.
Petersburg. Hls papers from the mlgr perlod are held
ln New York Clty by hls wldow, Marla Sozzanl Brod
sky, and the Brodsky Estate.
NVUT k m i~
m~ p
by Irofcssor Sturc Zllcv, of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy (Trovslotiov
from tlc Swcdisl)
Gentlemen,
A characterlstlc feature of the Nobel Prlze wlnner
|oseph Brodsky ls a magnlflcent joy of dlscovery. He
sees connectlons, words them plthlly, sees new connec
tlons. Not seldom they are contradlctory and amblgu
ous, often caught ln a flash llke thls. 'Memory, I thlnk,
ls a substltute for the tall we lost for good ln the happy
process of evolutlon. It dlrects our movements. . . ."
In the remarkable wrltlngs to whlch the Swedlsh
Academy has drawn attentlon thls year, poetry as the
hlghest manlfestatlon of llfe ls a theme throughout. It ls
developed wlth a poetlc brllllance comblned wlth both
lntellectual beauty and llngulstlc mastery.
Brodsky ls nowadays an Amerlcan cltlzen but he
was born and grew up ln Lenlngrad, or Peter as he calls
the clty after lts old name of Petersburg. It ls a settlng ln
whlch Pushkln, Gogol and Dostoyevsky worked, and lt
ls a settlng whose archltecture and ornamentseven ln
the wardamaged state of the l910s and l950srelate
an essentlal part of the hlstory of our world.
Jhe poet belongs to the classlcal Russlan tradl
tlon wlth names such as Oslp Mandelstam, Anna Akh
matova and the Nobel Prlze wlnner Borls Pasternak. At
the same tlme he ls a vlrtuoso renewer of the poetlcal
means of expresslon. Insplratlon comes also from the
West, especlally the Engllshlanguage poetry from the
metaphyslclan |ohn Donne to Robert Irost and Wystan
Auden.
Latterly Brodsky has begun also to wrlte ln
Engllsh. Ior hlm Russlan and Engllsh are two attltudes
to the world. Havlng both languages at one`s dlsposal ls
llke slttlng on the top of an exlstentlal hlll wlth a vlew
over two slopes, over humanlty`s two tendencles of
development, he has declared. Jhe eastwest back
ground has glven hlm an unusual thematlc rlchness and
a multltude of perspectlves. Jogether wlth the wrlter`s
thorough lnslght lnto the culture of former epochs lt has
also conjured up a grand hlstorlcal vlslon.
Brodsky has experlenced what lt means to llve.
'Llfe . . . / bares lts teeth ln a grln at each / encounter."
Jhrough all hardshlpstrlal, lnternal banlshment,
exllehe has retalned hls lntegrlty and hls falth ln lltera
ture and language. Jhere are crlterla for human behav
lour, he says, whlch come not from soclety but from
llterature.
Jhe poet plays a key part as examlner, tester and
questloner. Poetry becomes the declslve counterwelght
agalnst tlme, the prlnclple of deformatlon. Jhe poet
also becomes the spokesman ln the totalltarlan soclety`s
apparent sllence and the open soclety`s stupefylng flood
of lnformatlon.
Although Brodsky has deflned hls standpolnt dls
tlnctly, polltlcal dlsputes are not promlnent ln hlm. Jhe
problem ls ralsed to a more general level. man`s duty ls
to llve hls own llfe, not a llfe determlned by the catego
rles and norms of others. 'Ireedom / ls when you for
get the spelllng of the tyrant`s name. . . ."
What could be more natural for a wrlter than to
wrestle wlth the phenomenon of language? Jhls strug
gle wlth hls own tool ls very lntense ln Brodsky`s case.
It marks hls vlew of poetry and the poet. 'Readlng
|Dostoyevsky| slmply makes one reallze that stream of
consclousness sprlngs not from consclousness but from
a word whlch alters or redlrects one`s consclousness."
Jhe ultlmate power, he malntalns, ls 'the omnlvorous
ness of hls language whlch eventually comes to a polnt
where lt cannot be satlsfled wlth God, man, reallty,
gullt, death, lnflnlty, salvatlon . . . and then lt takes on
ltself."
Brodsky`s vlew of language also characterlzes hls
vlew of states and socletles. 'Ior emplres are held
together by nelther polltlcal nor mllltary forces but by
languages. Emplres are, flrst and foremost, cultural entl
tles; and lt`s language that does the job, not leglons."
203
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Language of course provldes materlal for meta
phors ln poetry. 'Late evenlng ln Llthuanla. / People
drlft home from mass, hldlng the commas / of candles
ln parentheses of hands."
Ior Brodsky poetry stands out as a dlvlne glft.
Jhe rellglous dlmenslon that undenlably ls to be found
ln hls wrltlngs adheres, however, to no partlcular creed.
Metaphyslcal and ethlcal questlons are paramount, not
doctrlnes.
Style and mood alternate ln thls rlchly orches
trated poetry. Here ls the profound cultural analysls ln
the essays slde by slde wlth the rolllcklng lronles ln the
poem e q `. Yet, for |oseph Brod
sky poetry, even ln lts mlrthful moments, ls deadly ear
nest.
Dear Mr. Brodsky,
It has been my prlvllege and pleasure to lntroduce
you to the audlence ln my natlve tongue. Jhe glst of
what I have sald ls contalned, as lt were, ln a llne from
one of your recent poems. 'Let me tell you. you are
okay." In fact, you yourself belong to the hlstory of the
Jwentleth Century alluded to. On behalf of the Swed
lsh Academy I congratulate you on your remarkable
achlevements. May I ask you to step forward to recelve,
from the hands of Hls Majesty the Klng, the Nobel
Prlze for Llterature l987.
_W _~ p
_ ~ k _~I NM a NVUT
Your Majestles, Ladles and Gentlemen,
I was born and grew up on the other shore of the
Baltlc, practlcally on lts opposlte grey rustllng page. Some
tlmes on clear days, especlally ln autumn, standlng on a
beach somewhere ln Kellomakl, a frlend would poke hls
flnger northwest across the sheet of water and say. See
that blue strlp of land? It`s Sweden.
He would be joklng, of course. because the angle
was wrong, because accordlng to the law of optlcs, a
human eye can travel only for somethlng llke twenty mlles
ln open space. Jhe space, however, wasn`t open.
Nonetheless, lt pleases me to thlnk, ladles and gen
tlemen, that we used to lnhale the same alr, eat the same
flsh, get soaked by the sameat tlmesradloactlve raln,
swlm ln the same sea, get bored by the same klnd of conl
fers.
Dependlng on the wlnd, the clouds I saw from my
wlndow were already seen by you, or vlceversa. It pleases
me to thlnk that we have had somethlng ln common
before we ended up ln thls room.
And as far as thls room ls concerned, I thlnk lt was
empty just a couple of hours ago, and lt wlll be empty
agaln a couple of hours hence. Our presence ln lt, mlne
especlally, ls qulte lncldental from lts walls` polnt of vlew.
On the whole, from space`s polnt of vlew, anyone`s pres
ence ls lncldental ln lt, unless one possesses a permanent
and usually lnanlmatecharacterlstlc of landscapeof a
moralne, say, of a hllltop, of a rlver bend. And lt ls the
appearance of somethlng or somebody unpredlctable
wlthln a space well used to lts contents that creates the
sense of occaslon.
So belng grateful to you for your declslon to award
me the Nobel Prlze for llterature, I am essentlally grateful
for your lmpartlng to my work an aspect of permanence,
of a glacler`s debrls, let`s say, ln the vast landscape of lltera
ture.
I am fully aware of the danger hldden ln thls slmlle.
coldness, uselessness, eventual or fast eroslon. Yet lf lt con
talns a slngle veln of anlmated oreas I, ln my vanlty,
belleve lt doesthen thls slmlle ls perhaps prudent.
As long as I am on the subject of prudence, I should
llke to add that through recorded hlstory, the audlence for
poetry seldom amounted to more than l of the entlre
populatlon. Jhat`s why poets of antlqulty or of the Renals
sance gravltated to courts, the seats of power; that`s why
nowadays they flock to unlversltles, the seats of knowl
edge. Your academy seems to be a cross between the two;
and lf ln the futureln that tlme free of ourselvesthat l
ratlo wlll be sustalned, lt wlll be, not to a small degree, due
to your efforts. In case thls strlkes you as a dlm vlslon of
the future, I hope that the thought about the populatlon
exploslon may llft your splrlts somewhat. Even a quarter
of that l wlll make a lot of readers, even today.
So my gratltude to you, ladles and gentlemen, ls not
entlrely egolstlcal. I am grateful to you for those whom
your declslons make and wlll make read poetry, today and
tomorrow. I am not so sure that man wlll prevall, as the
great man and my fellow Amerlcan once sald standlng, I
belleve, ln thls very room; but I am qulte posltlve that a
man who reads poetry ls harder to prevall upon than upon
one who doesn`t.
Of course, lt`s one hell of a way to get from Peters
burg to Stockholm; but then for a man of my occupatlon
the notlon of a stralght llne belng the shortest dlstance
between two polnts has lost lts attractlon long tlme ago. So
lt pleases me to flnd out that geography ln lts own turn ls
also capable of poetlc justlce.
Jhank you!
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l987. |oseph Brodsky ls the
sole author of the text.|
201
g _ ai_ POV
m o~W q k m
i~ NVUT
l m~ p~ p ^~
Jhls year`s Nobel Prlze wlnner ln Llterature was
born ln Lenlngrad and llves ln New York. Aged only 17
he ls one of the youngest ever to have been awarded a
Nobel Prlze ln Llterature. A slgn of the lumlnous lnten
slty of hls wrltlng ls that he has already been translated
lnto more than a dozen languages.
Brodsky ls chlefly a poet and essaylst. He belongs
to the classlcal Russlan tradltlon wlth predecessors such
as Pushkln and the Nobel Prlze wlnner Pasternak. At
the same tlme he ls a masterly renewer of poetlcal lan
guage and poetlcal forms of expresslon, lnsplred by
Oslp Mandelstam and Anna Achmatova among others.
Another of Brodsky`s sources of lnsplratlon ls
Engllsh poetry from the metaphyslclst |ohn Donne to
W. H. Auden, he who wanted to be a lesser, atlantlc
Goethe. Jhat language ls the stuff that emplres are
made of ls a vltal thought wlth Brodsky as well.
Ior Brodsky, poetry ls a dlvlne glft. Jhe rellglous
dlmenslon that one meets ln hls work ls of a nature that
adheres to no creed. Metaphyslcal and ethlcal questlons
are paramount.
Jhe eastwest backgroundllterary, geographl
cal, llngulstlchas greatly lnfluenced Brodsky`s wrltlng.
It has glven lt an unusual wealth of themes and manl
fold perspectlves. Jogether wlth the wrlter`s profound
lnslght lnto the llterature of earller epochs lt has also
conjured up a grand hlstorlcal vlslon.
Jhe change of envlronment and language after
Brodsky had left the Sovlet Lnlon ln l972 naturally
lnvolved a severe nervous straln for the poet. In the
poem 'l972" (ln the collectlon ^ m~ pI l980) he
deplcts how he wlll gradually lose halr, teeth, conso
nants, verbs, and endlngs. Nevertheless he ls now
engaged on a prollflc poetlcal work ln Russlan. Parallel
wlth that he takes an actlve part ln the translatlon of hls
works lnto Engllsh and sometlmes wrltes dlrectly ln thls
language to great effect. e q `
(l986) ls a serles of poems ln a tone of ralllery and par
ody, wrltten wlth a qulte amazlng mastery of the
Engllsh ldlom.
All llterature really ls about what tlme does to
people, Brodsky has sald, thus lndlcatlng a maln theme
ln hls wrltlng. Partlng, becomlng deformed, growlng
old, dylng are the work of tlme. Poetry helps us, glves
us baslcally the only posslblllty of wlthstandlng the
pressure of exlstence.
Poetry`s role ln the world ls another central
theme. It may apply to totalltarlan socletles, ln whlch
the poet can become the mouthplece for those who
apparently are sllent, or to open socletles ln whlch hls
volce threatens to be drowned ln the flood of lnforma
tlon. In the brllllant collectlon of essays i q~ l
(l980) Brodsky feels hls way ln towards the core of the
problem from varlous dlrectlons. Jhe poet ls a word
craftsman, a master of language. Poetry ls the hlghest
form of language. Brodsky sees lt also as the hlghest
form of llfe. Jhe poet becomes an lnstrument wlth a
questlonlng sound.
Jhe Swedlsh Academy`s cltatlon alms at the great
breadth ln tlme and space whlch characterlzes |oseph
Brodsky`s wrltlng and at both the lntellectual and sensl
tlve slde of thls rlch and lntensely vltal work.
205
_W k iI U a NVUT
Eq~~ o~ _~ oF
I
Ior someone rather prlvate, for someone who all
hls llfe has preferred hls prlvate condltlon to any role of
soclal slgnlflcance, and who went ln thls preference
rather farfar from hls motherland to say the least, for lt
ls better to be a total fallure ln democracy than a martyr
or the crme de la crme ln tyrannyfor such a person to
flnd hlmself all of a sudden on thls rostrum ls a some
what uncomfortable and trylng experlence.
Jhls sensatlon ls aggravated not so much by the
thought of those who stood here before me as by the
memory of those who have been bypassed by thls honor,
who were not glven thls chance to address 'urbl et orbl,"
as they say, from thls rostrum and whose cumulatlve
sllence ls sort of searchlng, to no avall, for release
through thls speaker.
Jhe only thlng that can reconclle one to thls sort of
sltuatlon ls the slmple reallzatlon thatfor styllstlc rea
sons, ln the flrst placeone wrlter cannot speak for
another wrlter, one poet for another poet especlally; that
had Oslp Mandelstam, or Marlna Jsvetaeva, or Robert
Irost, or Anna Akhmatova, or Wystan Auden stood
here, they couldn`t have helped but speak preclsely for
themselves, and that they, too, mlght have felt somewhat
uncomfortable.
Jhese shades dlsturb me constantly; they are dls
turblng me today as well. In any case, they do not spur
one to eloquence. In my better moments, I deem myself
thelr sum total, though lnvarlably lnferlor to any one of
them lndlvldually. Ior lt ls not posslble to better them on
the page; nor ls lt posslble to better them ln actual llfe.
And lt ls preclsely thelr llves, no matter how traglc or blt
ter they were, that often move memore often perhaps
than the case should beto regret the passage of tlme. If
the next llfe exlstsand I can no more deny them the
posslblllty of eternal llfe than I can forget thelr exlstence
ln thls onelf the next world does exlst, they wlll, I hope,
forglve me and the quallty of what I am about to utter.
after all, lt ls not one`s conduct on the podlum whlch dlg
nlty ln our professlon ls measured by.
I have mentloned only flve of them, those whose
deeds and whose lot matter so much to me, lf only
because lf lt were not for them, I, both as a man and a
wrlter, would amount to much less; ln any case, I
wouldn`t be standlng here today. Jhere were more of
them, those shadesbetter stlll, sources of llght. lamps?
stars?more, of course, than just flve. And each one of
them ls capable of renderlng me absolutely mute. Jhe
number of those ls substantlal ln the llfe of any consclous
man of letters; ln my case, lt doubles, thanks to the two
cultures to whlch fate has wllled me to belong. Matters
are not made easler by thoughts about contemporarles
and fellow wrlters ln both cultures, poets, and flctlon
wrlters whose glfts I rank above my own, and who, had
they found themselves on thls rostrum, would have
come to the polnt long ago, for surely they have more to
tell the world than I do.
I wlll allow myself, therefore, to make a number of
remarks heredlsjolnted, perhaps stumbllng, and per
haps even perplexlng ln thelr randomness. However, the
amount of tlme allotted to me to collect my thoughts, as
well as my very occupatlon, wlll, or may, I hope, shleld
me, at least partlally, agalnst charges of belng chaotlc. A
man of my occupatlon seldom clalms a systematlc mode
of thlnklng; at worst, he clalms to have a systembut
even that, ln hls case, ls borrowlng from a mllleu, from a
soclal order, or from the pursult of phllosophy at a tender
age. Nothlng convlnces an artlst more of the arbltrarlness
of the means to whlch he resorts to attaln a goalhow
ever permanent lt may bethan the creatlve process
ltself, the process of composltlon. Verse really does, ln
Akhmatova`s words, grow from rubblsh; the roots of
prose are no more honorable.
II
If art teaches anythlng (to the artlst, ln the flrst
place), lt ls the prlvateness of the human condltlon. Belng
the most anclent as well as the most llteral form of prl
vate enterprlse, lt fosters ln a man, knowlngly or unwlt
tlngly, a sense of hls unlqueness, of lndlvlduallty, of
separatenessthus turnlng hlm from a soclal anlmal lnto
an autonomous 'I." Lots of thlngs can be shared. a bed,
a plece of bread, convlctlons, a mlstress, but not a poem
by, say, Ralner Marla Rllke. A work of art, of llterature
206
_W k iI U a NVUT ai_ POV
especlally, and a poem ln partlcular, addresses a man
teteatete, enterlng wlth hlm lnto dlrectfree of any go
betweensrelatlons.
It ls for thls reason that art ln general, llterature
especlally, and poetry ln partlcular, ls not exactly
favored by the champlons of the common good, mas
ters of the masses, heralds of hlstorlcal necesslty. Ior
there, where art has stepped, where a poem has been
read, they dlscover, ln place of the antlclpated consent
and unanlmlty, lndlfference and polyphony; ln place of
the resolve to act, lnattentlon and fastldlousness. In
other words, lnto the llttle zeros wlth whlch the champl
ons of the common good and the rulers of the masses
tend to operate, art lntroduces a 'perlod, perlod,
comma, and a mlnus," transformlng each zero lnto a
tlny human, albelt not always pretty, face.
Jhe great Baratynsky, speaklng of hls Muse,
characterlzed her as possesslng an 'uncommon vlsage."
It`s ln acqulrlng thls 'uncommon vlsage" that the mean
lng of human exlstence seems to lle, slnce for thls
uncommonness we are, as lt were, prepared genetlcally.
Regardless of whether one ls a wrlter or a reader, one`s
task conslsts flrst of all ln masterlng a llfe that ls one`s
own, not lmposed or prescrlbed from wlthout, no mat
ter how noble lts appearance may be. Ior each of us ls
lssued but one llfe, and we know full well how lt all
ends. It would be regrettable to squander thls one
chance on someone else`s appearance, someone else`s
experlence, on a tautologyregrettable all the more
because the heralds of hlstorlcal necesslty, at whose urg
lng a man may be prepared to agree to thls tautology,
wlll not go to the grave wlth hlm or glve hlm so much
as a thankyou.
Language and, presumably, llterature are thlngs
that are more anclent and lnevltable, more durable than
any form of soclal organlzatlon. Jhe revulslon, lrony,
or lndlfference often expressed by llterature towards the
state ls essentlally a reactlon of the permanentbetter
yet, the lnflnlteagalnst the temporary, agalnst the
flnlte. Jo say the least, as long as the state permlts ltself
to lnterfere wlth the affalrs of llterature, llterature has
the rlght to lnterfere wlth the affalrs of the state. A pollt
lcal system, a form of soclal organlzatlon, as any system
ln general, ls by deflnltlon a form of the past tense that
asplres to lmpose ltself upon the present (and often on
the future as well); and a man whose professlon ls lan
guage ls the last one who can afford to forget thls. Jhe
real danger for a wrlter ls not so much the posslblllty
(and often the certalnty) of persecutlon on the part of
the state, as lt ls the posslblllty of flndlng oneself mes
merlzed by the state`s features, whlch, whether mon
strous or undergolng changes for the better, are always
temporary.
Jhe phllosophy of the state, lts ethlcsnot to
mentlon lts aesthetlcsare always 'yesterday." Lan
guage and llterature are always 'today," and oftenpar
tlcularly ln the case where a polltlcal system ls
orthodoxthey may even constltute 'tomorrow." One
of llterature`s merlts ls preclsely that lt helps a person to
make the tlme of hls exlstence more speclflc, to dlstln
gulsh hlmself from the crowd of hls predecessors as well
as hls llke numbers, to avold tautologythat ls, the fate
otherwlse known by the honorlflc term, 'vlctlm of hls
tory." What makes art ln general, and llterature ln par
tlcular, remarkable, what dlstlngulshes them from llfe, ls
preclsely that they abhor repetltlon. In everyday llfe
you can tell the same joke thrlce and, thrlce gettlng a
laugh, become the llfe of the party. In art, though, thls
sort of conduct ls called 'cllch."
Art ls a recollless weapon, and lts development ls
determlned not by the lndlvlduallty of the artlst, but by
the dynamlcs and the loglc of the materlal ltself, by the
prevlous fate of the means that each tlme demand (or
suggest) a qualltatlvely new aesthetlc solutlon. Possess
lng lts own genealogy, dynamlcs, loglc, and future, art ls
not synonymous wlth, but at best parallel to hlstory;
and the manner by whlch lt exlsts ls by contlnually cre
atlng a new aesthetlc reallty. Jhat ls why lt ls often
found 'ahead of progress," ahead of hlstory, whose
maln lnstrument lsshould we not, once more, lmprove
upon Marxpreclsely the cllch.
Nowadays, there exlsts a rather wldely held vlew,
postulatlng that ln hls work a wrlter, ln partlcular a
poet, should make use of the language of the street, the
language of the crowd. Ior all lts democratlc appear
ance, and lts palpable advantages for a wrlter, thls asser
tlon ls qulte absurd and represents an attempt to
subordlnate art, ln thls case, llterature, to hlstory. It ls
only lf we have resolved that lt ls tlme for Homo sapl
ens to come to a halt ln hls development that llterature
should speak the language of the people. Otherwlse, lt
ls the people who should speak the language of lltera
ture.
On the whole, every new aesthetlc reallty makes
man`s ethlcal reallty more preclse. Ior aesthetlcs ls the
mother of ethlcs; the categorles of 'good" and 'bad"
are, flrst and foremost, aesthetlc ones, at least etymolog
lcally precedlng the categorles of 'good" and 'evll." If
ln ethlcs not 'all ls permltted," lt ls preclsely because
not 'all ls permltted" ln aesthetlcs, because the number
of colors ln the spectrum ls llmlted. Jhe tender babe
who crles and rejects the stranger or who, on the con
trary, reaches out to hlm, does so lnstlnctlvely, maklng
an aesthetlc cholce, not a moral one.
Aesthetlc cholce ls a hlghly lndlvldual matter, and
aesthetlc experlence ls always a prlvate one. Every new
aesthetlc reallty makes one`s experlence even more prl
207
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vate; and thls klnd of prlvacy, assumlng at tlmes the
gulse of llterary (or some other) taste, can ln ltself turn
out to be, lf not a guarantee, then a form of defense
agalnst enslavement. Ior a man wlth taste, partlcularly
llterary taste, ls less susceptlble to the refralns and the
rhythmlcal lncantatlons pecullar to any verslon of pollt
lcal demagogy. Jhe polnt ls not so much that vlrtue
does not constltute a guarantee for produclng a master
plece, as that evll, especlally polltlcal evll, ls always a
bad styllst. Jhe more substantlal an lndlvldual`s aes
thetlc experlence ls, the sounder hls taste, the sharper
hls moral focus, the freerthough not necessarlly the
happlerhe ls.
It ls preclsely ln thls applled, rather than Platonlc,
sense that we should understand Dostoevsky`s remark
that beauty wlll save the world, or Matthew Arnold`s
bellef that we shall be saved by poetry. It ls probably
too late for the world, but for the lndlvldual man there
always remalns a chance. An aesthetlc lnstlnct develops
ln man rather rapldly, for, even wlthout fully reallzlng
who he ls and what he actually requlres, a person
lnstlnctlvely knows what he doesn`t llke and what
doesn`t sult hlm. In an anthropologlcal respect, let me
relterate, a human belng ls an aesthetlc creature before
he ls an ethlcal one. Jherefore, lt ls not that art, partlcu
larly llterature, ls a byproduct of our specles` develop
ment, but just the reverse. If what dlstlngulshes us from
other members of the anlmal klngdom ls speech, then
llteratureand poetry ln partlcular, belng the hlghest
form of locutlonls, to put lt bluntly, the goal of our
specles.
I am far from suggestlng the ldea of compulsory
tralnlng ln verse composltlon; nevertheless, the subdlvl
slon of soclety lnto lntelllgentsla and 'all the rest" seems
to me unacceptable. In moral terms, thls sltuatlon ls
comparable to the subdlvlslon of soclety lnto the poor
and the rlch; but lf lt ls stlll posslble to flnd some purely
physlcal or materlal grounds for the exlstence of soclal
lnequallty, for lntellectual lnequallty these are lncon
celvable. Equallty ln thls respect, unllke ln anythlng
else, has been guaranteed to us by nature. I am speak
lng not of educatlon, but of the educatlon ln speech, the
sllghtest lmpreclslon ln whlch may trlgger the lntruslon
of false cholce lnto one`s llfe. Jhe exlstence of llterature
preflgures exlstence on llterature`s plane of regardand
not only ln the moral sense, but lexlcally as well. If a
plece of muslc stlll allows a person the posslblllty of
chooslng between the passlve role of llstener and the
actlve one of performer, a work of llteratureof the art
whlch ls, to use Montale`s phrase, hopelessly semantlc
dooms hlm to the role of performer only.
In thls role, lt would seem to me, a person should
appear more often than ln any other. Moreover, lt
seems to me that, as a result of the populatlon exploslon
and the attendant, everlncreaslng atomlzatlon of socl
ety (l.e., the everlncreaslng lsolatlon of the lndlvldual),
thls role becomes more and more lnevltable for a per
son. I don`t suppose that I know more about llfe than
anyone of my age, but lt seems to me that, ln the capac
lty of an lnterlocutor, a book ls more rellable than a
frlend or a beloved. A novel or a poem ls not a mono
logue, but the conversatlon of a wrlter wlth a reader, a
conversatlon, I repeat, that ls very prlvate, excludlng all
otherslf you wlll, mutually mlsanthroplc. And ln the
moment of thls conversatlon a wrlter ls equal to a
reader, as well as the other way around, regardless of
whether the wrlter ls a great one or not. Jhls equallty ls
the equallty of consclousness. It remalns wlth a person
for the rest of hls llfe ln the form of memory, foggy or
dlstlnct; and, sooner or later, approprlately or not, lt
condltlons a person`s conduct. It`s preclsely thls that I
have ln mlnd ln speaklng of the role of the performer,
all the more natural for one because a novel or a poem
ls the product of mutual lonellnessof a wrlter or a
reader.
In the hlstory of our specles, ln the hlstory of
Homo saplens, the book ls anthropologlcal develop
ment, slmllar essentlally to the lnventlon of the wheel.
Havlng emerged ln order to glve us some ldea not so
much of our orlglns as of what that saplens ls capable
of, a book constltutes a means of transportatlon
through the space of experlence, at the speed of a turn
lng page. Jhls movement, llke every movement,
becomes a fllght from the common denomlnator, from
an attempt to elevate thls denomlnator`s llne, prevl
ously never reachlng hlgher than the groln, to our
heart, to our consclousness, to our lmaglnatlon. Jhls
fllght ls the fllght ln the dlrectlon of 'uncommon vls
age," ln the dlrectlon of the numerator, ln the dlrectlon
of autonomy, ln the dlrectlon of prlvacy. Regardless of
whose lmage we are created ln, there are already flve
bllllon of us, and for a human belng there ls no other
future save that outllned by art. Otherwlse, what lles
ahead ls the pastthe polltlcal one, flrst of all, wlth all lts
mass pollce entertalnments.
In any event, the condltlon of soclety ln whlch art
ln general, and llterature ln partlcular, are the property
or prerogatlve of a mlnorlty appears to me unhealthy
and dangerous. I am not appeallng for the replacement
of the state wlth a llbrary, although thls thought has vls
lted me frequently; but there ls no doubt ln my mlnd
that, had we been chooslng our leaders on the basls of
thelr readlng experlence and not thelr polltlcal pro
grams, there would be much less grlef on earth. It
seems to me that a potentlal master of our fates should
be asked, flrst of all, not about how he lmaglnes the
course of hls forelgn pollcy, but about hls attltude
toward Stendhal, Dlckens, Dostoevsky. If only because
208
_W k iI U a NVUT ai_ POV
the lock and stock of llterature ls lndeed human dlver
slty and perverslty, lt turns out to be a rellable antldote
for any attemptwhether famlllar or yet to be
lnventedtoward a total mass solutlon to the problems
of human exlstence. As a form of moral lnsurance, at
least, llterature ls much more dependable than a system
of bellefs or a phllosophlcal doctrlne.
Slnce there are no laws that can protect us from
ourselves, no crlmlnal code ls capable of preventlng a
true crlme agalnst llterature; though we can condemn the
materlal suppresslon of llteraturethe persecutlon of
wrlters, acts of censorshlp, the burnlng of bookswe are
powerless when lt comes to lts worst vlolatlon. that of
not readlng the books. Ior that crlme, a person pays wlth
hls whole llfe; lf the offender ls a natlon, lt pays wlth lts
hlstory. Llvlng ln the country I llve ln, I would be the
flrst prepared to belleve that there ls a set dependency
between a person`s materlal wellbelng and hls llterary
lgnorance. What keeps me from dolng so ls the hlstory
of that country ln whlch I was born and grew up. Ior,
reduced to a causeandeffect mlnlmum, to a crude for
mula, the Russlan tragedy ls preclsely the tragedy of a
soclety ln whlch llterature turned out to be the preroga
tlve of the mlnorlty. of the celebrated Russlan lntelllgent
sla.
I have no wlsh to enlarge upon the subject, no wlsh
to darken thls evenlng wlth thoughts of the tens of mll
llons of human llves destroyed by other mllllons, slnce
what occurred ln Russla ln the flrst half of the Jwentleth
Century occurred before the lntroductlon of automatlc
weaponsln the name of the trlumph of a polltlcal doc
trlne whose unsoundness ls already manlfested ln the
fact that lt requlres human sacrlflce for lts reallzatlon. I`ll
just say that I bellevenot emplrlcally, alas, but only the
oretlcallythat, for someone who has read a lot of Dlck
ens, to shoot hls llke ln the name of some ldea ls more
problematlc than for someone who has read no Dlckens.
And I am speaklng preclsely about readlng Dlckens,
Sterne, Stendhal, Dostoevsky, Ilaubert, Balzac, Melvllle,
Proust, Musll, and so forth; that ls, about llterature, not
llteracy or educatlon. A llterate, educated person, to be
sure, ls fully capable, after readlng thls or that polltlcal
treatlse or tract, of kllllng hls llke, and even of experlenc
lng, ln so dolng, a rapture of convlctlon. Lenln was llter
ate, Stalln was llterate, so was Hltler; as for Mao Zedong,
he even wrote verse. What all these men had ln com
mon, though, was that thelr hlt llst was longer than thelr
readlng llst.
However, before I move on to poetry, I would llke
to add that lt would make sense to regard the Russlan
experlence as a warnlng, lf for no other reason than that
the soclal structure of the West up to now ls, on the
whole, analogous to what exlsted ln Russla prlor to l9l7.
(Jhls, by the way, ls what explalns the popularlty ln the
West of the NlneteenthCentury Russlan psychologlcal
novel, and the relatlve lack of success of contemporary
Russlan prose. Jhe soclal relatlons that emerged ln Rus
sla ln the Jwentleth Century presumably seem no less
exotlc to the reader than do the names of the characters,
whlch prevent hlm from ldentlfylng wlth them.) Ior
example, the number of polltlcal partles, on the eve of
the October coup ln l9l7, was no fewer than what we
flnd today ln the Lnlted States or Brltaln. In other words,
a dlspasslonate observer mlght remark that ln a certaln
sense the Nlneteenth Century ls stlll golng on ln the
West, whlle ln Russla lt came to an end; and lf I say lt
ended ln tragedy, thls ls, ln the flrst place, because of the
slze of the human toll taken ln course of that soclalor
chronologlcalchange. Ior ln a real tragedy, lt ls not the
hero who perlshes; lt ls the chorus.
III
Although for a man whose mother tongue ls Rus
slan to speak about polltlcal evll ls as natural as dlgestlon,
I would here llke to change the subject. What`s wrong
wlth dlscourses about the obvlous ls that they corrupt
consclousness wlth thelr easlness, wlth the qulckness
wlth whlch they provlde one wlth moral comfort, wlth
the sensatlon of belng rlght. Hereln lles thelr temptatlon,
slmllar ln lts nature to the temptatlon of a soclal reformer
who begets thls evll. Jhe reallzatlon, or rather the com
prehenslon, of thls temptatlon, and rejectlon of lt, are per
haps responslble to a certaln extent for the destlnles of
many of my contemporarles, responslble for the lltera
ture that emerged from under thelr pens. It, that lltera
ture, was nelther a fllght from hlstory nor a muffllng of
memory, as lt may seem from the outslde. 'How can one
wrlte muslc after Auschwltz?" lnqulred Adorno; and one
famlllar wlth Russlan hlstory can repeat the same ques
tlon by merely changlng the name of the campand
repeat lt perhaps wlth even greater justlflcatlon, slnce the
number of people who perlshed ln Stalln`s camps far sur
passes the number of German prlsoncamp vlctlms. 'And
how can you eat lunch?" the Amerlcan poet Mark
Strand once retorted. In any case, the generatlon to
whlch I belong has proven capable of wrltlng that muslc.
Jhat generatlonthe generatlon born preclsely at
the tlme when the Auschwltz crematorla were worklng
full blast, when Stalln was at the zenlth of hls Godllke,
absolute power, whlch seemed sponsored by Mother
Nature herselfthat generatlon came lnto the world, lt
appears, ln order to contlnue what, theoretlcally, was
supposed to be lnterrupted ln those crematorla and ln the
anonymous common graves of Stalln`s archlpelago. Jhe
fact that not everythlng got lnterrupted, at least not ln
Russla, can be credlted ln no small degree to my genera
tlon, and I am no less proud of belonglng to lt than I am
of standlng here today. And the fact that I am standlng
209
ai_ POV _W k iI U a NVUT
here ls a recognltlon of the servlces that generatlon has
rendered to culture; recalllng a phrase from Mandelstam,
I would add, to world culture. Looklng back, I can say
agaln that we were beglnnlng ln an emptylndeed, a ter
rlfylngly wastedplace, and that, lntultlvely rather than
consclously, we asplred preclsely to the recreatlon of the
effect of culture`s contlnulty, to the reconstructlon of lts
forms and tropes, toward fllllng lts few survlvlng, and
often totally compromlsed, forms, wlth our own new, or
appearlng to us as new, contemporary content.
Jhere exlsted, presumably, another path. the path
of further deformatlon, the poetlcs of rulns and debrls,
of mlnlmallsm, of choked breath. If we rejected lt, lt was
not at all because we thought that lt was the path of self
dramatlzatlon, or because we were extremely anlmated
by the ldea of preservlng the heredltary noblllty of the
forms of culture we knew, the forms that were equlva
lent, ln our consclousness, to forms of human dlgnlty.
We rejected lt because ln reallty the cholce wasn`t ours,
but, ln fact, culture`s ownand thls cholce, agaln, was
aesthetlc rather than moral.
Jo be sure, lt ls natural for a person to percelve
hlmself not as an lnstrument of culture, but, on the con
trary, as lts creator and custodlan. But lf today I assert the
opposlte, lt`s not because toward the close of the Jwentl
eth Century there ls a certaln charm ln paraphraslng
Plotlnus, Lord Shaftesbury, Schelllng, or Novalls, but
because, unllke anyone else, a poet always knows that
what ln the vernacular ls called the volce of the Muse ls,
ln reallty, the dlctate of the language; that lt`s not that the
language happens to be hls lnstrument, but that he ls lan
guage`s means toward the contlnuatlon of lts exlstence.
Language, however, even lf one lmaglnes lt as a certaln
anlmate creature (whlch would only be just), ls not capa
ble of ethlcal cholce.
A person sets out to wrlte a poem for a varlety of
reasons. to wln the heart of hls beloved; to express hls
attltude toward the reallty surroundlng hlm, be lt a land
scape or a state; to capture hls state of mlnd at a glven
lnstant; to leaveas he thlnks at that momenta trace on
the earth. He resorts to thls formthe poemmost llkely
for unconsclously mlmetlc reasons. the black vertlcal clot
of words on the whlte sheet of paper presumably
remlnds hlm of hls own sltuatlon ln the world, of the bal
ance between space and hls body. But regardless of the
reasons for whlch he takes up the pen, and regardless of
the effect produced by what emerges from beneath that
pen on hls audlencehowever great or small lt may be
the lmmedlate consequence of thls enterprlse ls the sensa
tlon of comlng lnto dlrect contact wlth language or, more
preclsely, the sensatlon of lmmedlately falllng lnto depen
dence on lt, on everythlng that has already been uttered,
wrltten, and accompllshed ln lt.
Jhls dependence ls absolute, despotlc; but lt
unshackles as well. Ior, whlle always older than the
wrlter, language stlll possesses the colossal centrlfugal
energy lmparted to lt by lts temporal potentlalthat ls, by
all tlme lylng ahead. And thls potentlal ls determlned not
so much by the quantltatlve body of the natlon that
speaks lt (though lt ls determlned by that, too), as by the
quallty of the poem wrltten ln lt. It wlll sufflce to recall
the authors of Greek or Roman antlqulty; lt wlll sufflce
to recall Dante. And that whlch ls belng created today ln
Russlan or Engllsh, for example, secures the exlstence of
these languages over the course of the next mlllennlum
also. Jhe poet, I wlsh to repeat, ls language`s means for
exlstenceor, as my beloved Auden sald, he ls the one by
whom lt llves. I who wrlte these llnes wlll cease to be; so
wlll you who read them. But the language ln whlch they
are wrltten and ln whlch you read them wlll remaln not
merely because language ls more lastlng than man, but
because lt ls more capable of mutatlon.
One who wrltes a poem, however, wrltes lt not
because he courts fame wlth posterlty, although often he
hopes that a poem wlll outllve hlm, at least brlefly. One
who wrltes a poem wrltes lt because the language
prompts, or slmply dlctates, the next llne. Beglnnlng a
poem, the poet as a rule doesn`t know the way lt`s golng
to come out, and at tlmes he ls very surprlsed by the way
lt turns out, slnce often lt turns out better than he
expected, often hls thought carrles further than he reck
oned. And that ls the moment when the future of lan
guage lnvades lts present.
Jhere are, as we know, three modes of cognltlon.
analytlcal, lntultlve, and the mode that was known to the
Blbllcal prophets, revelatlon. What dlstlngulshes poetry
from other forms of llterature ls that lt uses all three of
them at once (gravltatlng prlmarlly toward the second
and the thlrd). Ior all three of them are glven ln the lan
guage; and there are tlmes when, by means of a slngle
word, a slngle rhyme, the wrlter of a poem manages to
flnd hlmself where no one has ever been before hlm, fur
ther, perhaps, than he hlmself would have wlshed for.
Jhe one who wrltes a poem wrltes lt above all because
verse wrltlng ls an extraordlnary accelerator of con
sclence, of thlnklng, of comprehendlng the unlverse.
Havlng experlenced thls acceleratlon once, one ls no
longer capable of abandonlng the chance to repeat thls
experlence; one falls lnto dependency on thls process, the
way others fall lnto dependency on drugs or on alcohol.
One who flnds hlmself ln thls sort of dependency on lan
guage ls, I guess, what they call a poet.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l987. |oseph Brodsky ls the
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1910-194, Sccovd Scrics.
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Iortl, Sovs, ~ Z Housc Dividcd;
Tlc Ixilc Ek vW o~ C eI NVPSX iJ
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Iigltivg Zvgcl: Iortroit of o Soul Ek vW o~ C
eI NVPSX iW jI NVPTFX
Tlis Iroud Hcort Ek vW o~ C eI NVPUX
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Tlc Iromisc Ek vW g a~I NVQPX iW jJ
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2ll
ai_ POV m~ pK _
Tlc Drogov Iisl (New York. |ohn Day, l911; London.
Methuen, l916);
Clivo Iliglt (Phlladelphla. Jrlangle/Blaklston, l915);
Tlc Towvsmov, as |ohn Sedges (New York. |ohn Day,
l915; London. Methuen, l916);
Toll Zbout Iussio, by Buck and Masha Scott (New York.
|ohn Day, l915);
Tcll tlc Icoplc: Tolls witl omcs Jcv obout tlc Moss Iducotiov
Movcmcvt (New York. Internatlonal Mass Educa
tlon Movement, l915);
Iortroit of o Morriogc (New York. |ohn Day, l915; Lon
don. Methuen, l916);
Ioviliov of !omcv (New York. |ohn Day, l916; London.
Methuen, l917);
Tlc Zvgry !ifc, as Sedges (New York. |ohn Day, l917;
London. Methuen, l918);
Ior ovd `cor: Storics of opov, Clivo, ovd Zmcrico (New
York. |ohn Day, l917); republlshed as Ior ovd
`cor: Storics of Iost ovd !cst (London. Methuen,
l919);
How It Hoppcvs: Toll Zbout tlc Ccrmov Icoplc, 1914-19JJ,
by Buck and Erna von Pustau (New York. |ohn
Day, l917);
Icovy (New York. |ohn Day, l918); republlshed as Tlc
ovdmoid (London. Methuen, l919);
Tlc ig !ovc (New York. |ohn Day, l918);
Zmcricov Zrgumcvt, by Buck and Eslanda Goode Robe
son (New York. |ohn Day, l919; London. Meth
uen, l950);
Iivfoll (New York. |ohn Day, l919; London. Methuen,
l950);
Tlc Iovg Iovc, as Sedges (New York. |ohn Day, l919;
Tlc Clild !lo `cvcr Crcw (New York. |ohn Day, l950;
London. Methuen, l95l; Rockvllle, Md.. Wood
blne House, l992);
Uvc riglt Doy (New York. |ohn Day, l950); enlarged as
Uvc riglt Doy ovd Utlcr Storics for Clildrcv (Lon
Cod`s Mcv (New York. |ohn Day, l95l; London. Meth
uen, l95l);
Tlc Hiddcv Ilowcr (New York. |ohn Day, l952; London.
Methuen, l952);
riglt Iroccssiov, as Sedges (New York. |ohn Day, l952;
Comc, My clovcd (New York. |ohn Day, l953; London.
Methuen, l953);
Tlc Mov !lo Clovgcd Clivo: Tlc Story of Suv Jot-scv
(New York. Random House, l953; London.
Methuen, l953);
!oiccs iv tlc Housc, as Sedges (New York. |ohn Day, l953;
My Scvcrol !orlds (New York. |ohn Day, l951; London.
Methuen, l955);
Tlc cccl Trcc (New York. |ohn Day, l951);
Impcriol !omov (New York. |ohn Day, l956; London.
Methuen, l956);
Icttcr from Iclivg (New York. |ohn Day, l957; London.
Methuen, l957);
Iricvd to Iricvd, by Buck and Carlos Romulo (New
York. |ohn Day, l958);
Commovd tlc Morvivg (New York. |ohn Day, l959; Lon
Iourtccv Storics (New York. |ohn Day, l96l); republlshed
as !itl o Dclicotc Zir ovd Utlcr Storics (London.
Methuen, l962);
Z ridgc for Iossivg (New York. |ohn Day, l962; Lon
Sotov `cvcr Slccps (New York. Pocket Books, l962);
Tlc Iivivg Iccd (New York. |ohn Day, l963; London.
Methuen, l963);
Tlc oy of Clildrcv (New York. |ohn Day, l961);
Clildrcv for Zdoptiov (New York. Random House, l965);
Dcotl iv tlc Costlc (New York. |ohn Day, l965; London.
Methuen, l966);
Tlc Cifts Tlcy rivg: Uur Dcbt to tlc Mcvtolly Ictordcd, by
Buck and Gweneth J. Zarfoss (New York. |ohn
Day, l965);
Ior Spocious Slics: ourvcy iv Diologuc, by Buck and Jhe
odore I. Harrls (New York. |ohn Day, l966);
Mottlcw, Morl, Iulc, ovd olv (New York. |ohn Day,
l966);
Tlc Icoplc of opov (New York. Slmon Schuster, l966;
London. Hale, l968);
Tlc Timc Is òov (New York. |ohn Day, l967; London.
Methuen, l967);
To My Dougltcrs, !itl Iovc (New York. |ohn Day, l967);
Tlc `cw Jcor (New York. |ohn Day, l968; London.
Methuen, l968);
Tlc Cood Dccd, ovd Utlcr Storics of Zsio, Iost ovd Ircscvt
(New York. |ohn Day, l969; London. Methuen,
l970);
Tlc Tlrcc Dougltcrs of Modomc Iiovg (New York. |ohn
Day, l969; London. Methuen, l969);
Movdolo (New York. |ohn Day, l970; London. Meth
uen, l97l);
Tlc Icvvcdy !omcv (New York. Cowles, l970; London.
Methuen, l970);
Clivo os I Scc It, edlted by Harrls (New York. |ohn Day,
l970; London. Methuen, l97l);
Z Cift for tlc Clildrcv (New York. |ohn Day, l97l);
Icorl ucl`s Zmcrico (New York. Bartholomew, l97l);
Tlc Story iblc (New York. Bartholomew, l97l);
Clivo Iost ovd Ircscvt (New York. |ohn Day, l972);
Tlc Coddcss Zbidcs (New York. |ohn Day, l972; London.
Eyre Methuen, l972);
Uvcc Upov o Clristmos (New York. |ohn Day, l972);
2l2
m~ pK _ ai_ POV
Icorl ucl`s Uricvtol Coolbool (New York. Slmon
Schuster, l972);
Zll Uvdcr Hcovcv (New York. |ohn Day, l973; London.
Eyre Methuen, l973);
Mrs. Storlivg`s Iroblcm (New York. |ohn Day, l973);
Tlc Ioivbow (New York. |ohn Day, l971; London. Eyre
Methuen, l976);
!ords of Iovc (New York. |ohn Day, l971);
Iost ovd !cst (New York. |ohn Day, l975);
Mrs. Stovcr ovd tlc Sco, ovd Utlcr !orls (New York. Ace,
l976);
Sccrcts of tlc Hcort (New York. |ohn Day, l976);
Tlc Iovcrs ovd Utlcr Storics (New York. |ohn Day, l977);
Tlc !omov !lo !os Clovgcd, ovd Utlcr Storics (New
York. Crowell, l979; London. Eyre Methuen,
l980);
Clristmos Doy iv tlc Morvivg (New York. HarperColllns,
2002).
`W Icorl ucl ovd Iducotiov: Zv Zvtlology of Hcr
!ritivgs, edlted by Peter |. Conn (Perkasle, Pa..
Pearl S. Buck Ioundatlon, l996).
JRANSLAJION. Zll Mcv Zrc rotlcrs [Slui Hu Cluov],
2 volumes (New York. |ohn Day, l933).
When Pearl S. Buck won the Nobel Prlze ln Llter
ature ln l938, she became the thlrd Amerlcan (and the
flrst Amerlcan woman) to do so. She also became a flg
ure of controversy. Jhe cltatlon that accompanled the
award pralsed the 'rlch and generous eplc descrlptlons
of Chlnese peasant llfe" ln Buck`s novels and also sln
gled out Tlc Ixilc (l936) and Iigltivg Zvgcl: Iortroit of Z
Soul (l936), whlch were blographles of her parents, as
'masterpleces." Her detractors, however, felt the Swed
lsh Academy had shown poor judgment ln selectlng
Buck over other wrlters, such as Jheodore Drelser,
whose work they consldered of superlor llterary qual
lty. Desplte the crltlcs and the subsequent decllne ln her
llterary reputatlon, Buck enjoyed great popularlty wlth
readers durlng her llfetlme, and her novels helped to
lntroduce Amerlcan readers to Aslan culture; as blogra
pher Peter |. Conn comments, 'Ior two generatlons of
Amerlcans, Buck lnvented Chlna."
Buck was born Pearl Comfort Sydenstrlcker on
26 |une l892 ln Hlllsboro, West Vlrglnla. She was the
flfth of seven chlldren (but only the second to survlve
lnfancy) of Absalom Sydenstrlcker and Carollne (Carle)
Stultlng Sydenstrlcker, who were on furlough after ten
years of Presbyterlan mlsslonary servlce ln Chlna. Jhe
famlly returned to Chlna when Pearl was three months
old, and ln l896 they settled ln Chenchlang. Pearl spent
much tlme wlth her Chlnese omol (governess), Wang, a
wldow whom Carle Sydenstrlcker had rescued from a
hard llfe ln the streets. Pearl had a blllngual and blcul
tural upbrlnglng, and throughout her llfe she retalned
the feellng that she dld not qulte belong ln elther Amer
lcan or Chlnese culture.
In l9l0 Pearl returned to the Lnlted States to
enroll ln RandolphMacon Woman`s College ln Lynch
burg, Vlrglnla, where her older brother, Edgar, was a
newspaper edltor. She became presldent of her class
and began wrltlng and publlshlng poems and short sto
rles. After graduatlon ln l9l1, she had accepted a job as
a teachlng asslstant to her psychology professor, but a
few months later she was called back to Chlna to help
care for her serlously lll mother.
On 30 May l9l7 Pearl marrled |ohn Losslng
Buck, an agrlcultural economlst who had come to
Chlna to work on methods of applylng statlstlcal analy
sls to lmprove Chlnese farmlng. Jhe couple settled flrst
ln Nanhsuchou and then moved to Nanklng ln l9l9
when Losslng Buck was offered a posltlon at Nanklng
Lnlverslty. On 1 March l920 Buck gave blrth to a
daughter, Carollne Grace (Carol). Jhe chlld suffered
from the metabollc dlsease phenylketonurla (PKL),
whlch had not at that tlme been dlagnosed and whlch
profoundly affected her mental development. Her
daughter`s condltlon was a llfelong source of grlef,
shame, and gullt for Buck. In addltlon, the dlscovery
and removal of a uterlne tumor ln |uly l920 necessl
tated a hysterectomy. Buck was also unhappy that Loss
lng Buck was absorbed ln hls work and dlstanced
hlmself emotlonally from her and from Carol, ln a way
that echoed her father`s treatment of her mother. Jhe
marrlage, whlch seemed to begln happlly, soon dlslnte
grated, though lt lasted for seventeen years.
Buck`s mother dled ln l92l. Jo comfort herself,
Buck began wrltlng her mother`s blography as a prlvate
memorlal to be shared wlth famlly members. Years
later, thls book became Tlc Ixilc. By the tlme she had
flnlshed wrltlng lt, Buck had declded to become a
wrlter. As Conn notes, 'Wrltlng offered Pearl an untra
dltlonal role and at least a chance of galnlng the lnde
pendence that an extra lncome mlght brlng. At the
same tlme, lt was a career that could be adjusted to
make room for her other obllgatlons." Her flrst profes
slonally publlshed work was an essay tltled 'In Chlna,
Joo," whlch appeared ln the Ztlovtic ln |anuary l921
and ln whlch she examlnes the soclal changes wrought
by modernlty ln Chlnese llfe and culture, partlcularly
the emerglng llberatlon of Chlnese women.
In l921 the Bucks returned to Amerlca so that
both of them could enter graduate school at Cornell
Lnlverslty and so that they could have Carol`s mental
retardatlon properly assessed. At Chrlstmastlme they
adopted a baby glrl, |anlce. Buck dlstlngulshed herself
as she earned her master`s degree ln Engllsh, wlnnlng
the Laura L. Messenger Memorlal Prlze for a l10page
2l3
ai_ POV m~ pK _
essay on 'Chlna and the West," submltted under a male
pseudonym, 'Davld Barnes." In the sprlng of l926,
after the Bucks had returned to Nanklng, her story 'A
Chlnese Woman Speaks" appeared ln two lnstallments
ln Zsio magazlne.
'A Chlnese Woman Speaks" ls the story of Kwel
lan, who ls betrothed at blrth and ls brought up well
schooled ln the tradltlonal female role of domestlc, sub
servlent wlfe, lncludlng endurance of the brutal practlce
of foot blndlng. Jo her amazement and lnltlal dlsmay,
however, she dlscovers that her Westerneducated hus
band lnslsts on treatlng her as an equal partner; he
unblnds her feet and lntroduces her to modern Western
ldeas, whlch she learns to reconclle wlth her upbrlng
lng. Conn remarks that thls story 'celebrates tolerance
and a verslon of cultural plurallsm," a polnt of vlew
Buck promoted throughout her llfe.
Jhe polltlcal sltuatlon ln Chlna was extremely
unstable. In March l927 the Nanklng Incldent, a vlo
lent two days of bloodshed and lootlng almed partlcu
larly at forelgners, forced the Bucks and other famlly
members (her father and the famlly of her slster, Grace
Yaukey) to flee Nanklng after a terrlfylng day of hldlng
ln the home of one of thelr servants. Jhey retreated to
the |apanese town of Lnzen wlth llttle more than thelr
llves and some clothlng; the losses lncluded the manu
scrlpt of Buck`s flrst novel, though Losslng Buck man
aged to save the survey manuscrlpt on whlch he was
worklng. Jhey were able to return to Chlna ln October
l927, settllng ln Shanghal; Losslng Buck then returned
to Nanklng, and Buck and the chlldren jolned hlm ln
|uly l928.
Sometlme durlng thls perlod, Buck acqulred a llt
erary agent ln Amerlca, Davld Lloyd. She had wrltten
to two potentlal agents, but as she recorded ln her l951
autoblography, My Scvcrol !orlds, the other agent told
her 'no one was lnterested ln Chlnese subjects." Buck
was determlned to be a professlonal wrlter prlmarlly to
lmprove her flnanclal sltuatlon, ln order to acqulre
more lndependence and especlally to provlde for the
speclal needs of her daughter Carol, whom she had
made the wrenchlng declslon to lnstltutlonallze ln the
Vlneland Jralnlng School ln New |ersey on a trlp to the
Lnlted States ln l929.
Durlng the restoratlon of her Nanklng home,
Buck uncovered the manuscrlpt of her blography of her
mother. She was also worklng on a novel tltled 'Wang
Lung." She suggested to Lloyd that 'A Chlnese Woman
Speaks" mlght constltute part of a novel, together wlth
the story of Kwellan`s brother, the whole to be tltled
'Wlnds of Heaven." Durlng the l929 trlp to Amerlca,
Buck recelved word from Lloyd that thls book would
be publlshed by the |ohn Day Company, under the tltle
Iost !ivd: !cst !ivd (l930).
Jhls novel was falrly well recelved. As Conn
notes, 'Several revlewers pralsed the book`s authentlc
lty, though the compllment was gratultous, slnce few
Amerlcan readers knew enough about Chlna to have
any basls for judgment." Jhe book was also the begln
nlng of Buck`s long and profltable relatlonshlp wlth the
|ohn Day Company and wlth lts presldent, Rlchard
Walsh, wlth whom Buck eventually fell ln love. She
wrltes ln her autoblography that Lloyd had told her the
manuscrlpt of Iost !ivd: !cst !ivd had been rejected by
every other publlsher ln New York and that he was
about to wlthdraw lt when the |ohn Day Company
accepted lt. Walsh also told her that hls edltorlal staff
had been evenly dlvlded ln thelr oplnlons on the book,
and he had cast the decldlng vote ln favor, 'not, he told
me qulte frankly, because he thought lt a very good
book, slnce he dld not, but because he belleved that he
saw evldence there of a wrlter who mlght contlnue to
grow."
In May l930 Buck flnlshed the novel 'Wang
Lung," whlch was accepted by the |ohn Day Company,
though Walsh requested a tltle change. He also wanted
to defer publlcatlon untll summer or fall l93l, so that
thls second book would, as Conn wrltes, 'proflt from
Pearl`s growlng reputatlon as a wrlter and lnterpreter of
Asla." Iost !ivd: !cst !ivd was contlnulng to recelve
favorable revlews, and sales were lncreaslng. When
word came ln |anuary l93l that the second novel had
been chosen (ln page proofs) as a selectlon of the Book
oftheMonth Club, however, guaranteelng a slgnlflcant
sales boost, Walsh revlsed lts publlcatlon schedule, and
lt appeared on 2 March l93l under hls suggested tltle.
Tlc Cood Iortl.
Buck`s second novel was a tremendous success
and made her famous. As Conn summarlzes.
Every leadlng newspaper and magazlne gave the book
a major notlce, and almost all the revlews were ecstatlc.
Sales were so strong that Rlchard | Walsh| had to bor
row coples from the BookoftheMonth Club lnven
tory to meet bookstore demand. q d b~ would
eventually prove to be the bestselllng book of both
l93l and l932.
Tlc Cood Iortl follows the shlftlng fortunes of Wang
Lung, the son of a poor Chlnese farmer, and hls wlfe,
Olan, whom he buys as a slave but who becomes a
dedlcated helpmate. Jhey have sons, a hlghly prlzed
commodlty ln Chlnese culture, but also daughters, con
sldered a burden, one of whom ls retarded and another
whom Olan dellberately smothers and whose body ls
left to be eaten by a starvlng dog durlng a terrlble fam
lne. Wang Lung lnltlally acqulres land and money
through hard work, but the famlne and drought drlve
hls famlly, along wlth many others, to desperatlon. Dur
2l1
m~ pK _ ai_ POV
lng the lootlng after a revolutlonary uprlslng, Olan
uncovers a stash of jewels ln a Nanklng house, the prof
lts from whlch enable Wang Lung to buy the house of
the rlch famlly from whom he had purchased Olan.
When hls eldest son falls ln love wlth a concublne
Wang Lung had purchased for hlmself, the patrlarch
banlshes hlm, and Olan grows lll and dles. A flood, a
revolutlonary army, and the dlsdaln of hls educated,
modernlzed sons further erode Wang Lung`s world.
Crltlcs have offered several reasons for the tre
mendous popularlty of q d b~K Buck has been
pralsed frequently for creatlng recognlzable, even famll
lar characters wlth unlversal concerns, desplte a settlng
and race that were prevlously allen to Western readers.
Most Amerlcans ln l93l knew llttle about Chlna, and
what they dld know was clouded wlth cllchs of the
'heathen Chlnee" whose cultural dlfferences were
regarded wlth dlsdaln. Buck`s deplctlons of Chlnese
llfe, drawn from her own experlences and observatlons,
presented a vlvld and sympathetlc portralt. Conn also
observes that 'Lnderneath lts allen detalls, the novel ls
a story of the land, a rather famlllar Amerlcan genre,"
and Depresslonera audlences could especlally relate to
the struggles of farmers. In addltlon, the novel, llke oth
ers of the perlod, 'celebrated the tradltlonal Amerlcan
vlrtue of slmpllclty."
Buck`s next novel, p (l932), was a sequel to
q d b~I focuslng on Wang Lung`s three sons,
partlcularly Wang the Jlger, who becomes a flerce war
rlor. Hls story was lnfluenced by Buck`s translatlon of
the Chlnese novel p e `~ (Water Margln), a text
that dates back to at least the Mlng dynasty and that
chronlcles the adventures of a group of twelfth
century bandlts. Her translatlon appeared ln l933
under the tltle ^ j ^ _K Buck recelved
$30,000 for the rlghts to serlallze p ln `~K
Lloyd also got Buck a $50,000 offer from MGM for
movle rlghts to q d b~K Jhe hlghly successful
motlonplcture verslon, whlch devlates ln several ways
from the novel, was released ln l937 and starred Paul
Munl as Wang Lung and Lulse Ralner as Olan, a per
formance that earned her an Academy Award for best
actress.
In l932 Buck returned to the Lnlted States to
accept a Pulltzer Prlze for q d b~K She shled
away from medla attentlon, however, ln part because
she wlshed to keep Carol`s exlstence prlvate. Her new
found lncome, whlch was tremendous ln the depths of
the Depresslon, enabled her to set up an endowment at
Vlneland that would take care of Carol for llfe. p
sold well and recelved posltlve revlews, wlth some com
mentators judglng lt even better than q d b~K
Buck began to accept speaklng engagements and
became lnvolved wlth causes lncludlng clvll rlghts and
famlly plannlng. In l933 she recelved an honorary
degree from Yale ln the same week that her next book,
q c t ~ l pI appeared, agaln to excel
lent revlews.
Losslng Buck had completed a doctorate whlle
the couple was ln Amerlca, but he was eager to return
to Chlna. In l933, durlng the journey, Buck told her
husband that the marrlage was over and that she
wanted to separate. Her love for Walsh, wlth whom she
was so much more compatlble than Losslng Buck, had
made her contlnued exlstence ln the marrlage unbear
able, desplte the soclal stlgma that dlvorce stlll carrled
ln those days. In l931 she returned to the Lnlted States
and a short tlme later purchased Green Hllls Iarm ln
Bucks County, Pennsylvanla, whlch became her home
for the rest of her llfe.
Although Buck was the |ohn Day Company`s
most lucratlve author, the buslness was struggllng flnan
clally ln the Depresslon years; she endeavored to help
ln other capacltles by becomlng a llterary advlser (help
lng to slgn up wrlters such as Chlnese expatrlate
scholar Lln Yutang) and wrltlng short storles to make
money she could lnvest ln the company. She also
asslsted wlth ^~ magazlne, of whlch Walsh had taken
over edltorshlp wlth the lntentlon of turnlng lt lnto a
serlous publlcatlon, not just a tourlst magazlne. Jhe
flnanclal needs of the company also persuaded Buck to
publlsh q j (l931), whlch she had drafted soon
after q d b~K She was reluctant to release thls
novel, ln part because she doubted lts quallty (she
wrltes ln j p~ t that when she flnlshed lt, she
threw lt ln the wastebasket, and lt only escaped perma
nent dlsposal because the houseboy was away from hls
dutles, glvlng her the chance to retrleve lt later) but also
perhaps because she ldentlfled too closely wlth the frus
tratlons of her protagonlst. Jhe unnamed herolne ls
deserted by her husband and left to care for her two
sons and a daughter who ls golng bllnd. She enjoys sex
ual passlon and deslres more chlldren, but remalns cell
bate untll one encounter that leaves her pregnant wlth a
chlld she must abort. Jhe affllcted daughter ls marrled
off to a poor famlly and soon dles from neglect and
abuse, whlle the younger son ls executed as a revolu
tlonary; but the older son`s wlfe glves blrth to a boy,
endlng the novel on a somewhat more posltlve note. In
hls l980 study of Buck`s work, Paul A. Doyle com
ments. 'Jhe theme ls worthy of a truly great work, and
the materlal ls there; but Buck has mlscalculated the
styllstlc effects, and she has not thought out nor devel
oped thoroughly enough the characterlzatlon of her
central flgure."
Good advance sales for q j and the sale of
serlal rlghts to `~ for $35,000 gave the |ohn
Day Company a needed boost, though sales soon
2l5
ai_ POV m~ pK _
tapered off desplte solld revlews. In the fall of l931 the
company underwent a reorganlzatlon and contracted
wlth Reynal and Hltchcock to manufacture Day books.
Reynal and Hltchcock publlshed Buck`s next novel, ^
e aI ln |anuary l935. It ls the thlrd part of a
trllogy wlth q d b~ and pI focuslng on Wang
the Jlger`s son Wang Yuan, who becomes a scholar.
Desplte hls studles at an Amerlcan unlverslty, he ls stlll
unsure how best to help Chlna. Once agaln, revlews
were generally posltlve, but when ^ e a was
packaged together wlth q d b~ and p as
e b~ (l935), sales were unlmpresslve. Buck
suspected publlc lnterest ln storles about Chlna would
begln to wane, and she felt she should start wrltlng sto
rles set ln Amerlca.
In |une l935 Buck traveled to Reno to obtaln a
dlvorce; surprlslngly, Walsh`s wlfe, Ruby, went wlth her
to glve Walsh a dlvorce at the same tlme. Buck and
Walsh were marrled the afternoon both dlvorces
became flnal. Desplte the personal scandal, her work
contlnued to be honored. that same year, Buck recelved
the Wllllam Dean Howells Medal from the Amerlcan
Academy of Arts and Letters for q d b~ and
was elected a member of the Natlonal Instltute of Arts
and Letters. She and Walsh adopted two baby boys,
Rlchard and |ohn, ln the sprlng of l936, and a year
later adopted two more bables, Edgar and |ean.
Slnce Buck`s father had dled ln l93l and could
no longer be harmed by the unflatterlng portralt of hlm
ln the work, Buck declded she could publlsh her blogra
phy of her mother. q b was released ln l936 and
was such a success that she produced the sequel, cJ
Î soon afterward. Buck deplcts her father`s rell
glous zeal, whlch caused hlm to neglect hls wlfe and
famlly, and hls mlsogyny; she also chronlcles the lonell
ness and dlsllluslon of her mother, who was lsolated
from everythlng famlllar and sufferlng the losses of her
chlldren, her own lllnesses, and her husband`s dlsdaln.
Jhe books are not only a portralt of Buck`s parents but
also a deplctlon of Protestant mlsslonary llfe ln Chlna at
the end of the nlneteenth century. Doyle pralses these
'decldedly superlor blographles" and suggests that
although they have been neglected as part of the decllne
of Buck`s llterary reputatlon, they deserve attentlon
'not only as examples of excellent blographlcal wrltlng
but also as plctures of two completely rendered Amerl
cans and of a hlstorlcal phenomenon characterlstlc of a
partlcular tlme and place."
Buck`s next novel, q m e~ (l938), contln
ued her treatment of the struggles of women, thls tlme
ln an Amerlcan settlng. Jhe herolne, Susan Gaylord, ls
a sculptor who refuses to allow her lncompatlble hus
band to prevent her from pursulng her art. She studles
wlth a mentor named Davld Barnes, who encourages
her talent but also cautlons her of the dlfflcultles faced
by women artlsts ln galnlng any respect from most male
colleagues. After Susan`s husband dles, she moves to
Parls to study wlth a great master; she ls sldetracked by
a second marrlage, to a wealthy palnter named Blake
Klnnalrd, but eventually returns to her work on her
'Amerlcan Processlon," a serles of sculptures of women.
When Blake ls allenated by her resultlng success, she
moves out; he seeks reconclllatlon, but she decldes to
contlnue on her own. Revlewers commented that
Susan`s seemlngly lnexhaustlble talents were too good
to be true (or tolerable), and that Buck`s prose style was
rather awkward. Blographer Nora Stlrllng conslders
thls novel 'a downward step" ln style from Buck`s ear
ller books. 'Studded wlth cllchs and repetltlons, lack
lng ln varlety and telllng lmagery, lt remalns curlously
remlnlscent of the radlo serlals, popular ln the Jhlr
tles." Doyle comments, 'Styllstlcally, q m e~ ls
a dlsaster; thematlcally, lt has several rewardlng
moments."
News storles reported that when Buck heard she
had won the Nobel Prlze ln l938, she flrst sald ln Chl
nese, 'wo pu hslang" (I don`t belleve lt), and then ln
Engllsh, 'Jhat`s rldlculous. It should have gone to
Drelser." Many crltlcs agreed. Although Buck wrltes ln
j p~ t that prevlous Nobel wlnner Slnclalr
Lewls told her not to let anyone mlnlmlze her wlnnlng
of the prlze, and others such as Carl Van Doren, Dor
othy Canfleld Ilsher, and Wllllam Lyon Phelps
defended her work, the prevalllng attltude ln llterary
clrcles was one of hostlllty. Doyle notes, 'It was clalmed
that she was too youthful |at fortyslx|, that she had
wrltten too few lmportant books to be consldered of
major stature, and that no woman wrlter deserved the
award." Her lmmense popularlty also counted agalnst
her; Conn polnts out that desplte the enthuslastlc
revlews her works recelved ln the dally and weekly
press, Buck 'was routlnely lgnored or bellttled" by 'the
hlghbrow cultural gatekeepers who wrote for the serl
ous quarterlles." In 'Wang Lung`s Chlldren" (k
oI l0 May l939), Malcolm Cowley expressed hls
oplnlon that Buck`s reputatlon suffered because of her
popular success; the lntellectuals felt that because she
had been acclalmed flrst by the publlc and not by the
llteratl, her work could not be of the same callber as
those whose reputatlons had begun flrst wlth the lntel
lectuals. Among the charges leveled at Buck by her
detractors was that her prose style was faclle, clumsy,
cllchd; but Conn offers a defense for thls crltlclsm.
'She often sald that she flrst composed her novels men
tally ln Chlnese, and then translated them lnto Engllsh.
Her styllzed and often stllted prose orlglnated ln her
effort to reproduce ln Engllsh the altogether dlfferent
cadences of Chlnese speech."
2l6
m~ pK _ ai_ POV
Others felt, as the anonymous revlewer for Timc
(6 March l939) dld, that 'Jhe lnfluence of her wrltlng
far transcends lts lmportance as llterature." Some crltlcs
belleve that the awardlng of the prlze to Buck ln l938,
amld the growlng threats of fasclsm and war, was as
much a polltlcal statement as an endorsement of her llt
erary talent; as Conn wrltes,
Pearl had establlshed herself as a powerful volce agalnst
the rlslng tlde of lnternatlonal vlolence and totalltarlan
lsm. In her novels, and also ln llterally scores of essays,
revlews, and lectures, she had spoken out on behalf of
llberal democracy, selfdetermlnatlon, and ldeologlcal
and raclal tolerance. . . . In a decade when wrlters on
both the left and rlght lnslsted on the soclal responslbll
lty of the artlst, Pearl`s exertlons seemed exemplary.
Doyle, however, dlsagrees wlth the assumptlon that the
prlze was a polltlcal one. 'Jhe fact that Pearl Buck`s
wrltlng exempllfled a 'oneworld` humanltarlan sympa
thy, whlle lt unquestlonably lncreased Buck`s readlng
audlence, does not appear to have swayed the award
commlttee to any appreclable extent." He does suggest,
however, that another reason for her selectlon was that
she was one of the most popular Amerlcan wrlters read
overseas. 'Jhe lmpact of an Amerlcan wrlter on forelgn
countrles ls always a fundamental factor that lnfluences
the Nobel Commlttee`s judgmenta fact often forgotten
or dellberately lgnored by Amerlcan llterary crltlcs."
Buck`s selectlon nevertheless talnted the reputa
tlon of the prlze ln some llterary clrcles. Stlrllng quotes
Robert Irost`s remark that 'If slc can get lt anybody
can." In a 22 Iebruary l950 letter to |oan Wllllams,
Wllllam Iaulkner (whose own Nobel Prlze ln Llterature
for l919 was awarded ln December l950) wrote about
the posslblllty of hls own nomlnatlon. 'I dont want lt. I
had rather be ln the same plgeon hole wlth Drelser and
Sherwood Anderson, than wlth Slnclalr Lewls and Mrs.
Chlnahand Buck." In Ivtcllcctuol Zmcrico: Idcos ov tlc
Morcl (l91l), Oscar Carglll countered thls dlsdaln.
Jo reflectlve Amerlcans outslde the | llterary| fraternlty,
to the 'barbs" at least, the prlze seemed well glven as a
remlnder that pure aesthetlclsm ls not everythlng ln let
ters. If the standard of her work was not so unlformly
hlgh as that of a few other craftsmen, what she wrote
had unlversal appeal and a comprehenslblllty not too
frequently matched.
In hls presentatlon speech on l0 December l938,
Per Hallstrm, permanent secretary of the Swedlsh
Academy, pralsed not only Tlc Cood Iortl, the novel
that had made Buck famous, but also the 'vlvldly lndl
vlduallzed" herolne of Tlc Motlcr: 'Jhe mother ls the
most flnlshed of Pearl Buck`s Chlnese female flgures,
and the book ls one of her best." He added, however,
that 'ln character descrlptlons and the storyteller`s art
she ls at her best ln the two blographles of her parents,"
whlch 'should be called classlcs ln the fullest sense of
the word." Near the end of hls speech, he sald that the
prlze was awarded 'for the notable works whlch pave
the way to a human sympathy passlng over wldely sep
arated raclal boundarles and for the studles of human
ldeals whlch are a great and llvlng art of portralture."
At the Nobel Banquet at the Clty Hall ln Stock
holm that evenlng, Bertll Llndblad, dlrector of the
Stockholm Observatory at Saltsjbaden, remarked to
Buck, 'you have ln your llterary works, whlch are of
the hlghest artlstlc quallty, advanced the understandlng
and the appreclatlon ln the Western world of a great
and lmportant part of manklnd, the people of Chlna.
You have taught us by your works to see the lndlvlduals
ln that great mass of people." He concluded, 'lt ls of the
greatest lmportance that the peoples of the earth learn
to understand each other as lndlvlduals across dlstances
and frontlers. When works of llterature succeed ln thls
respect they are certalnly ln a very dlrect way ldeallstlc
ln the sense ln whlch thls word was meant by Alfred
Nobel."
Jhe toplc of Buck`s Nobel lecture, whlch was
publlshed ln l939, was Tlc Clivcsc òvcl. It was a revl
slon of a talk she had glven at Nanklng years earller, ln
whlch she endeavored to draw attentlon to a llterary
tradltlon as rlch and slgnlflcant as those of European
and Amerlcan cultures. In My Scvcrol !orlds, she
expresses her lnltlal mlsglvlngs about addresslng the
dlstlngulshed members of the Swedlsh Academy.
What dld I know to present to them? I had by then
llved only long enough ln the Lnlted States to reallze
that I knew too llttle of my own people, that lt would
take years of llvlng and observatlon before ln our pat
ternless soclety I could dlscern the causes behlnd what
we felt and sald and dld. It would be presumptuous to
try to speak so soon. Moreover, I had been remlnded
often enough of my lgnorance. Even when the Pulltzer
Prlze had been awarded q d b~I certaln crltlcs
had objected to so Amerlcan an award belng glven to a
book about Chlnese peasants, wrltten by a woman, and
worse than that, a woman who had never llved ln her
own country.
Sensltlve to the potentlal crltlclsm, Buck therefore chose
'a subject I dld know well, and about whlch very llttle
ls known by most westerners."
Jhere ls a llngerlng crltlcal and popular mlscon
ceptlon that Buck won the Nobel solely for Tlc Cood
Iortl. Even Buck`s frlend |ames A. Mlchener repeated
thls mlslnformatlon as late as l992, ln hls lntroductlon
to a new edltlon of Buck`s l950 book Tlc Clild !lo
`cvcr Crcw. Buck reports ln My Scvcrol !orlds that at a
2l7
ai_ POV m~ pK _
luncheon glven by her Swedlsh publlsher, she met
Swedlsh novellst Selma Lagerlf, a prevlous Nobel
reclplent who had served on the commlttee that
selected Buck for the prlze; Lagerlf told Buck that she
had cast her vote on the strength of Tlc Ixilc and Iiglt-
ivg Zvgcl. Buck also wrltes ln her autoblography that
when her publlshers trled to emphaslze that the award
had been glven for the body of her work, 'orders
began to come ln from bookstore customers for a book,
purportedly by me, entltled Tlc ody of Hcr !orl."
In My Scvcrol !orlds, Buck calls the four days she
spent ln Stockholm for the awardlng of the prlze 'my
most perfect slngle recollectlon." She comments on the
reactlon.
Jhe award came, as I have sald before, at a tlme when I
needed lt most. I had met that dlfflcult perlod of a
wrlter`s llfe, when the reactlon, whlch the Amerlcan
publlc lnvarlably bestows upon anyone whom lt has
dlscovered and pralsed, had set ln. Slnce the pralse ls
always too much and too lndlscrlmlnate the opposlng
crltlclsm and contempt are also too much and too
lndlscrlmlnate. My head had not been turned by the
pralse and lts excess had only amused and touched
me, but the rudeness of unjust crltlclsm, a sort of
stonethrowlng whlch became merely lmltatlve once lt
had begun, dld temporarlly destroy my confldence.
She adds, however, 'Jhe warmth of the Swedlsh people,
comblned wlth thelr dlgnlty and thelr calm, restored my
soul."
After recelvlng the prlze, Buck was ln even greater
demand for speaklng engagements, artlcles, and revlews.
She malntalned her wrltlng schedule and reserved her
mornlngs for regular wrltlng tlme, produclng some 2,500
words a day and rarely maklng major revlslons. She also
contlnued to read and respond to novel manuscrlpts for
the |ohn Day Company.
Her flrst novel after the Nobel Prlze was Tlc Iotriot
(l939). It follows the protagonlst, Wu Iwan, son of a
wealthy Shanghal banker, through many of the polltlcal
and mllltary events of the war between Chlna and |apan
ln the l930s, to such an extent that a revlewer for Tlc `cw
Jorlcr (1 March l939) called the book a 'documentary."
Conn wrltes that 'In a sense, the war came to Pearl`s res
cue as a wrlter, by authorlzlng her to return to the Chl
nese materlal she knew best."
She returned to an Amerlcan subject, however, for
her next novel, Utlcr Cods: Zv Zmcricov Icgcvd (l910), a
satlre lnsplred ln part by the fame of Charles Llndbergh.
In the novel, Bert Holm, a handsome but falrly slmple
lndlvldual, succeeds ln cllmblng one of the hlghest moun
talns ln the world and ls subsequently made a natlonal
ldol by opportunlstlc lmage makers and the masses who
are eager to have such a hero to follow. Jhe maln theme
ls the cult of celebrlty ln Amerlca. Revlews and sales were
both medlocre at best.
Irom the late l930s, Buck`s prlorltles began to shlft
away from wrltlng flctlon and more toward humanltarlan
and phllanthroplc actlvltles. Conn suggests that a maln
reason for thls shlft, besldes her genulne deslre to combat
war and lnjustlce ln a more dlrect and 'useful" fashlon,
was that 'both her reputatlon and her selfconfldence had
been damaged beyond remedy by the Nobel Prlze."
Whereas before she had been 'merely one of a large
number of popular wrlters" such as Margaret Mltchell,
'When the Swedlsh Academy abruptly elevated her to a
supreme llterary posltlon, the declslon represented a chal
lenge, even an lnsult, to establlshed hlghbrow oplnlon,"
and the resultlng backlash relnforced her own doubts and
lnsecurltles about the quallty of her work.
She dld not, however, abandon flctlon completely.
In l91l she publlshed Todoy ovd Iorcvcr, a collectlon of
short storles, many of whlch celebrate brave Chlnese
women warrlors. A revlewer for Tlc Timcs Iitcrory Supplc-
mcvt ( TIS; 8 Iebruary l91l) commented, 'popular or too
popular ln manner though these storles are, they are at
the same tlme very lllumlnatlng ln thelr way." Buck`s next
novel, Drogov Sccd (l912), appeared just after the attack on
Pearl Harbor that brought the Lnlted States lnto World
War II. Conn calls thls tlmlng 'polltlcally and commer
clally lucky," because 'Amerlcans were eager for encour
aglng storles about thelr new Aslan allles." Jhe book sold
well, and MGM purchased movle rlghts. Jhe novel
traces the lmpact of the |apanese lnvaslon of Chlna on the
famlly of farmer Llng Jan. It agaln documents hlstorlcal
events, partlcularly the December l937 'rape of Nank
lng," ln whlch |apanese troops burned most of the clty,
murdered Chlnese soldlers and clvlllans allke, and raped
some twenty thousand Chlnese women. Jhe story cele
brates the courage of the townspeople and farmers who
flght back. Revlews were good, though some crltlcs com
plalned about the dldactlclsm and the awkward prose
style. Jhe revlewer for Timc (26 |anuary l912) called the
novel 'the flrst sharp, flctlonal account of reslstance ln
Occupled Chlna." Her next novel, Tlc Iromisc (l913),
about the Brltlsh betrayal of thelr Chlnese allles ln
Burma, was, llke lts predecessor, lntended as polemlc.
Buck`s polltlcal actlvlsm was such that the IBI had
begun keeplng a flle on her ln l937, when she expressed
her support for the Spanlsh Loyallsts and for the
Women`s Internatlonal League for Peace and Ireedom.
Durlng World War II, her support for raclal equallty esca
lated, as dld IBI lnterest ln her. Conn notes, 'As a proml
nent wrlter and an outspoken advocate for clvll rlghts,
Pearl met two of the maln crlterla |IBI dlrector |. Edgar|
Hoover used to ldentlfy susplclous persons." Buck was
also one of the few whlte Amerlcans who publlcly
ONU
m~ pK _ ai_ POV
m~ ~ _ I b~ tW t t ENVPMFI ~ `
~ ~ I ~ ~ ~~I ~ ~ tJ~ ~
Ee~ o~ e~ o~ Ì r q~ ~ ^F
2l9
ai_ POV m~ pK _
opposed the lnternment of |apanese Amerlcans durlng
the war.
Because she feared that she was becomlng lndell
bly known as excluslvely a wrlter about Chlna, and
because she felt that her gender as well as her subject
matter contrlbuted to her rejectlon by the llterary estab
llshment, Buck declded to begln publlshlng some of her
novels under the male pseudonym '|ohn Sedges." Her
flrst novel as Sedges was q q~I whlch appeared
ln May l915. It ls a nlneteenthcentury frontler tale
chronlcllng the settlement efforts of |onathan Goodllffe
ln the small town of Medlan, Kansas. Jhe novel also fea
tures a posltlvely portrayed black famlly, the Parrys, to
whom |onathan ls a frlend. Jhe novel was a moderate
crltlcal success, and her second Sedges novel, q ^
t (l917), also preached raclal tolerance ln a tale of two
brothers who fought on opposlte sldes ln the Clvll War.
Her next novel under her own name was m~
~ j~~ (l915), whlch deplcts the relatlonshlp of Wll
llam, a wealthy palnter, and Ruth, a rural Pennsylvanla
farm woman, whose only common bond seems to be
thelr unexplalned mutual passlon. Revlews and sales
were, agaln, lackluster. When she went back to a Chl
nese subject wlth m~ t (l916), she fared bet
ter, at least ln terms of sales; thls novel, ln whlch the
upperclass Chlnese wlfe Madame Wu declares her lnde
pendence from her husband and befrlends an excommu
nlcated Cathollc prlest, was a Llterary Gulld selectlon.
Revlews, whlle generally posltlve, were also patronlzlng
ln thelr emphasls on thls book belng 'a woman`s novel,"
by a woman, for women, about women`s concerns, and
therefore by lmpllcatlon lncapable of possesslng any real
llterary merlt.
Besldes the slgnlflcance of women`s experlences,
another toplc lmportant to Buck was that of adoptlon,
partlcularly of mlxedrace and/or lllegltlmate chlldren,
who were partlcularly stlgmatlzed and consldered
unadoptable. As she became more outspoken on the sub
ject, people wantlng to adopt and people seeklng help
flndlng homes for thelr 'unadoptable" chlldren began
contactlng her for asslstance. In l919 she establlshed
Welcome House, an lnternatlonal and lnterraclal adop
tlon agency. Buck ls credlted wlth colnlng the term
'Ameraslan" for chlldren of Aslan and Amerlcan parent
age, of whom there was a boom after World War II,
malnly fathered by Amerlcan servlcemen. She also wrote
several books for chlldren, lncludlng q _ t~
(l918), for whlch she recelved the Chlldren`s Book
Award of the Chlld Study Assoclatlon of Amerlca. In
l952 Buck and Walsh adopted Henrlette, born to an
Afrlcan Amerlcan servlceman and a German woman,
and ln l957 another daughter, Chelko, chlld of an Afrl
can Amerlcan father and a |apanese mother.
In l950 Buck flnally broke her long sllence about
the exlstence and condltlon of her daughter Carol. Her
artlcle 'Jhe Chlld Who Never Grew" was publlshed ln
i~ e g~ ln May of that year, and a longer ver
slon was publlshed as a book, wlth all royaltles golng to
the Vlneland Jralnlng School. Buck wrote openly about
the angulsh she had experlenced over her daughter`s
condltlon, whlle assertlng the value of Carol`s llfe. As
Martha M. |ablow wrltes ln an lntroductlon to the l992
edltlon of the book, Buck 'was the flrst promlnent per
son to acknowledge publlcly a chlld wlth mental retarda
tlon," whlch at the tlme stlll carrled tremendous soclal
stlgma. Such a revelatlon by a flgure so famous 'dld not
erase entlrely" the stlgma, but lt was 'a watershed."
|ablow notes, 'In the l990s` tellall atmosphere of celebrl
tles barlng thelr most prlvate scars, lt may be dlfflcult to
appreclate how much courage lt took for Pearl Buck to
speak out ln l950. But lt was a palnfully courageous act
at that tlme." (An afterword by |anlce Walsh ln the l992
edltlon records that Carol Buck llved comfortably at
Vlneland untll her death from lung cancer at the age of
seventytwo.)
Conn wrltes that Buck`s later novels, whlch
lnclude q e c (l952), about the doomed mar
rlage of an Amerlcan man and a |apanese woman, 'were
slmply hastler, more lackluster verslons of what she had
wrltten twenty years earller." Jhe magazlne market for
her storles also began to decllne ln the l950s. In l953
Walsh, her greatest supporter, suffered a stroke, and hls
health contlnued to worsen untll hls death ln l960. Jhe
publlcatlon of Buck`s autoblography, j p~ tI ln
l951 was, however, a needed llft; lt sold well, was a maln
selectlon of the Reader`s Dlgest Book Club, and earned
posltlve revlews, several of whlch labeled lt one of her
best works.
Jhose commltments were expressed not only ln
Buck`s novels but also ln several nonflctlon works. q~
^ o~ (l915) was the story of Magnltogorsk, a suc
cessfully lndustrlallzed steelmaklng clty ln the Sovlet
Lnlon, as told through the experlences of Masha Scott, a
Russlan woman of peasant stock who had worked there.
q mW q~ g~ v ~ j~ b~
j (l915) focused on Yen (Yan Yangchu), leader of
the Mass Educatlon Movement ln Chlna, an ambltlous
project to amellorate poverty by reduclng llllteracy
among the peasantry. ^~ ^ (l919) was a dls
cusslon wlth Eslanda Goode Robeson, wlfe of Afrlcan
Amerlcan actor Paul Robeson, on a varlety of soclal and
polltlcal toplcs.
Except for the posltlve receptlon of j p~
tI ln the early l950s Buck`s career was ln decllne.
She began blamlng her longfalthful agent, Lloyd, accus
lng hlm of neglectlng hls dutles toward her, and she
looked for new representatlon.
220
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Buck`s l956 novel, Impcriol !omov, ls a flctlonallzed
blography of one of the most powerful women ln Chl
nese hlstory. the Empress Dowager, Jzùhsl. Buck`s por
trayal was more sympathetlc than that of the male
wrlters and hlstorlans whose work had preceded hers.
Jhe novel Commovd tlc Morvivg (l959) focuses on the
work of atomlc sclentlsts; nuclear dlsarmament was
another of the publlc causes for whlch Buck was an actlv
lst.
In the fall of l963 Buck wrote another novel ln
whlch, as Conn notes, a prlmary goal was once agaln 'to
educate Amerlcan readers about a country and culture
they dld not know." Jhls tlme the country was Korea,
and her novel Tlc Iivivg Iccd traces the experlences of
four generatlons of the Klm famlly, from the flrst
Korean-L.S. treaty ln l883 to the end of World War II.
Conn reports that 'revlews of the book lndlcated that
her popularlty remalned hlghest among women readers."
Also ln l963, Buck met Jheodore I. Harrls and
began a relatlonshlp that she subsequently spent much
tlme defendlng. Harrls, some forty years younger than
Buck, was an Arthur Murray dance lnstructor she lnl
tlally hlred to teach her daughters to dance. He soon
became her constant companlon and a source of much
scandal, allenatlng famlly and frlends. In l961 she
lnstalled Harrls as presldent of the newly formed Pearl S.
Buck Ioundatlon, developed to further the work of Wel
come House ln asslstlng Ameraslan chlldren, partlcularly
by provldlng sponsorshlp fundlng to chlldren ln Asla. In
lts early days the foundatlon struggled wlth flnanclal mls
management and accusatlons agalnst Harrls; aslde from
the wldespread bellef that he was an opportunlst taklng
advantage of a rlch and lonely old woman, there were
allegatlons that he mlsapproprlated funds, molested sev
eral Korean boys brought to the foundatlon, and used
Buck`s prestlge as a cover to smuggle narcotlcs ln her lug
gage on overseas trlps. Whlle Buck steadfastly refused to
credlt any of the accusatlons, matters came to a head
when an expos by assoclate edltor Greg Walter tltled
'Jhe Danclng Master" appeared ln the |uly l969 lssue
of Ililodclplio Mogoivc. Jhe ensulng publlclty caused
Harrls to step down as presldent of the foundatlon, and
Buck wlthdrew from lts dally operatlons after lt reorga
nlzed wlth new dlrectors. She contlnued to defend and
support Harrls to the end of her llfe, cooperatlng wlth
hlm on a twovolume blography of her (l969, l97l) and
other works.
Buck contlnued to recelve awards and honors,
more for her phllanthroplc work than for her wrltlng. In
l965, for example, she recelved four such honors. the
Sojourner Jruth Award from the Buslness and Profes
slonal Women of Phlladelphla; lnductlon lnto the
Women`s Hall of Iame at the New York World`s Ialr; the
Humanltarlan Award from the |ewlsh phllanthroplc
organlzatlon Brlth Shalom; and a speclal cltatlon from
the Women`s Internatlonal League for Peace and Iree
dom.
In l967 Buck publlshed what was perhaps her
most personal novel, Tlc Timc Is òov. It ls a thlnly velled
account of her llfe through the end of her flrst marrlage.
the herolne ls unhapplly marrled to a loutlsh farmer wlth
whom she has a retarded daughter; she has wltnessed the
loveless marrlage of her parents, a selfrlghteous preacher
and hls emotlonally suffocated wlfe; and she falls ln love
wlth an avlator, wlth whom she has more ln common
than her husband. Buck had actually wrltten thls novel ln
the early l930s, wantlng to 'get rld of all my llfe untll
that moment," as she wrote ln Ior Spocious Slics: ourvcy iv
Diologuc (l966), but had set lt aslde on Walsh`s advlce
that lt mlght create too much controversy. Her declslon
to flnally publlsh lt was motlvated ln part by her deslre to
make money for the foundatlon.
Buck`s l968 novel, Tlc `cw Jcor, ls another exam
ple of her use of flctlon to asslst her humanltarlan goals.
Successful polltlclan Chrls Wlnters glves ln to hls con
sclence, acknowledglng the son he fathered wlth a
Korean woman when he was a servlceman durlng the
Korean War. He and hls wlfe, Laura, adopt the boy; not
only does Laura manage to glve her husband`s lllegltl
mate, blraclal offsprlng a lovlng welcome, but thelr story
actually lmproves Chrls`s chances ln the gubernatorlal
race rather than harmlng them. Conn notes the 'relent
lessly optlmlstlc tone" of thls novel. 'Rather than offer
lng a reallstlc account of the sufferlngs of Ameraslan
chlldren and the hazards of adoptlon, Tlc `cw Jcor
merely celebrates Pearl`s dreams of justlce and reconcllla
tlon."
Buck`s last novel about Chlna was Tlc Tlrcc
Dougltcrs of Modomc Iiovg, publlshed ln l969. It was a
BookoftheMonth Club cholce and a Reader`s Dlgest
'Condensed Book" selectlon. Madame Llang ls a Shang
hal restaurateur whose daughtersa doctor, a muslclan,
and a palnterare recalled from the Lnlted States by the
Chlnese government and encounter the chaos of the Cul
tural Revolutlon.
Buck contlnued produclng storles, chlldren`s books,
and nonflctlon untll her death from lung cancer on 6
March l973. She ls burled at Green Hllls Iarm, and her
tombstone bears the name 'Pearl Sydenstrlcker" ln Chl
nese characters. Jhe work of the Pearl S. Buck Ioundatlon
contlnues, and crltlcal and publlc lnterest ln Buck`s wrltlng
has been renewed somewhat by centennlal celebratlons ln
l992, Conn`s blography ln l996, and the reemergence of
Tlc Cood Iortl as talkshow host Oprah Wlnfrey`s book
club selectlon for the fall of 2001. |ane M. Rabb, ln her
analysls of the reasons for Buck`s crltlcal neglect among
llterary and femlnlst scholars, notes that 'Jhe cur
rent academlc enthuslasm for the multlcultural and
22l
ai_ POV m~ pK _
the lnterdlsclpllnary should revlve lnterest ln the
best works of Buck, who ls nothlng lf not multlcul
tural and lnterdlsclpllnary." Conn concludes that
Buck`s 'best work, by and large, was probably her
nonflctlon" and that her flctlon was hobbled by the
way she 'used her novels as polltlcal and educatlonal
lnstruments, exchanglng the challenges of novellstlc
art for the easler satlsfactlons of melodrama, propa
ganda, and protest." Nevertheless, he argues that
'her achlevements as a wrlter remaln conslderable
surely more notable than her vlrtually complete
neglect by scholars and crltlcs would lmply."
fW
Bo Yu, 'An Intervlew wlth Mrs. Buck," Xiovdoi (Modcrv
Timcs), 1, no. 5 (l931). 89l-898.
_~W
Lucllle S. Zlnn, 'Jhe Works of Pearl S. Buck. A Blbll
ography," ullctiv of ibliogroply, 36 (October-
December l979). l91-208.
_~W
Cornella Spencer |Grace Sydenstrlcker Yaukey|, Tlc
Ixilc`s Dougltcr: Z iogroply of Icorl S. ucl (New
York. CowardMcCann, l911);
Jheodore I. Harrls, Icorl S. ucl: Z iogroply, 2 vol
umes (New York. |ohn Day, l969, l97l);
Irvln Block, Tlc Iivcs of Icorl ucl: Z Tolc of Clivo ovd
Zmcrico (New York. Crowell, l973);
Nora Stlrllng, Icorl ucl: Z !omov iv Covflict (Plscataway,
N.|.. New Century, l983);
Beverly Rlzzon, Icorl S. ucl: Tlc Iivol Cloptcr (Palm
Sprlngs. EJC, l989);
Warren Sherk, Icorl S. ucl: Cood Iortl Motlcr (Phllo
math, Ore.. Drlft Creek Press, l992);
Peter |. Conn, Icorl S. ucl: Z Culturol iogroply (New
York. Cambrldge Lnlverslty Press, l996).
oW
Phyllls Bentley, 'Jhe Art of Pearl S. Buck," Ivglisl our-
vol, 21 (December l935). 79l-800;
Henry Seldel Canby, 'Tlc Cood Iortl: Pearl Buck and
Nobel Prlze," Soturdoy Icvicw of Iitcroturc (l9
November l938). 8;
Oscar Carglll, Ivtcllcctuol Zmcrico: Idcos ov tlc Morcl (New
York. Macmlllan, l91l);
George A. Cevasco, 'Pearl Buck and the Chlnese
Novel," Zsiov Studics, 5 (December l967). 137-
150;
Paul A. Doyle, Icorl S. ucl (New York. Jwayne, l965;
revlsed, l980);
Doyle, 'Pearl S. Buck`s Short Storles. A Survey," Ivglisl
ourvol, 55 ( |anuary l966). 62-68;
Xlongya Gao, Icorl ucl`s Clivcsc !omcv Cloroctcrs (Selln
sgrove, Pa.. Susquehanna Lnlverslty Press / Lon
don Cranbury, N.|.. Assoclated Lnlverslty
Presses, 2000);
Ann LaIarge, Icorl ucl (New York. Chelsea House,
l988);
Karen |. Leong, Tlc Clivo Mystiquc: Icorl S. ucl, Zvvo
Moy !ovg, Moylivg Soovg, ovd tlc Trovsformotiov of
Zmcricov Uricvtolism (Berkeley. Lnlverslty of Call
fornla Press, 2005);
Kang Llao, Icorl S. ucl: Z Culturol ridgc Zcross tlc Iocific
(Westport, Conn.. Greenwood Press, l997);
'Jhe Nobel Prlze ln Llterature l938," òbclpric.org
http.//nobelprlze.org/llterature/laureates/l938/
lndex.html`;
|ane M. Rabb, 'Who`s Afrald of Pearl S. Buck?" ln Tlc
Scvcrol !orlds of Icorl S. ucl: Issoys Ircscvtcd ot o
Ccvtcvviol Symposium, Iovdolpl-Mocov !omov`s Col-
lcgc, Morcl 26-2S, 1992, edlted by Ellzabeth |.
Llpscomb, Irances E. Webb, and Peter Conn
(Westport, Conn.. Greenwood Press, l991), pp.
l03-ll0;
Mamoru Shlmlzu, 'On Some Styllstlc Ieatures, Chlefly
Blbllcal, of Tlc Cood Iortl," Studics iv Ivglisl Iitcr-
oturc (Jokyo), Engllsh Number (l961). ll7-l31;
Yhchao Y, Icorl S. ucl`s Iictiov: Z Cross-Culturol Ivtcr-
prctotiov (Nankang, Jalpel. Instltute of Amerlcan
Culture, Academla Slnlca, l98l).
m~W
Pearl S. Buck donated her manuscrlpts to the Pearl S.
Buck Blrthplace Ioundatlon, the organlzatlon that
malntalns her Hlllsboro home. Jhey are housed ln the
Annle Merner Pfelffer Llbrary at West Vlrglnla Wes
leyan College. Jhere are also Buck papers at the Llps
comb Llbrary of RandolphMacon Woman`s College,
Lynchburg, Vlrglnla.
NVPU k m i~
m~ p
by Icr Hollstrm, Icrmovcvt Sccrctory of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy
Pearl Buck once told how she had found her
mlsslon as lnterpreter to the West of the nature and
belng of Chlna. She dld not turn to lt as a llterary spe
clallty at all; lt came to her naturally.
'It ls people that have always afforded me my
greatest pleasure and lnterest," she sald, 'and as I llve
among the Chlnese, lt has been the Chlnese people.
When I am asked what sort of people they are, I can
not answer. Jhey are not thls or that, they are just
222
m~ pK _ ai_ POV
people. I can no more deflne them than I can deflne
my own relatlves and klnsmen. I am too near to them
and I have llved too lntlmately wlth them for that."
She has been among the people of Chlna ln all
thelr vlclssltudes, ln good years and ln famlne years,
ln the bloody tumults of revolutlons and ln the dellr
lum of Ltoplas. She has assoclated wlth the educated
classes and wlth prlmordlally prlmltlve peasants, who
had hardly seen a Western face before they saw hers.
Often she has been ln deadly perll, a stranger who
never thought of herself as a stranger; on the whole,
her outlook retalned lts profound and warm human
lty. Wlth pure objectlvlty she has breathed llfe lnto
her knowledge and glven us the peasant eplc whlch
has made her worldfamous, q d b~ (l93l).
As her hero she took a man who led the same
exlstence as hls forefathers had durlng countless cen
turles, and who possessed the same prlmltlve soul.
Hls vlrtues sprlng from one slngle root. afflnlty wlth
the earth, whlch ylelds lts crops ln return for a man`s
labours.
Wang Lung ls created from the same stuff as
the yellowbrown earth ln the flelds, and wlth a
klnd of plous joy he bestows upon lt every ounce of
hls energy. Jhe two belong to each other ln orlgln,
and they wlll become one agaln wlth the death he
wlll meet wlth tranqulllty. Hls work ls also a duty
done, and thus hls consclence ls at rest. Slnce dls
honesty avalls nothlng ln hls pursults, he has
become honest. Jhls ls the sum total of hls moral
conceptlons, and equally few are hls rellglous ones,
whlch are almost entlrely comprehended ln the cult
of ancestorworshlp.
He knows that man`s llfe ls a gleam of llght
between two darknesses; from the one behlnd hlm
runs the chaln of forefathers from father to son, and
the chaln must not be broken by hlm, lf he ls not to
lose hls dlm hope of survlval ln a surmlsed, unknown
reglon. Ior then would explre a spark of the llfeflre
of the race, whlch each lndlvldual man has to care for.
And thus the story beglns wlth Wang Lung`s
marrlage and hls dreams of sons ln the house. Of hls
wlfe, O`Lan, he does not dream, foras ls proper and
flttlnghe has never seen her. She ls a slave at the
great house ln the nelghbourlng town and cheap to
buy, slnce she ls sald to be ugly. Ior that reason she
has probably been left alone by the young sons of the
house, and to thls the brldegroom attaches great
value.
Jhelr llfe together ls happy, for the wlfe proves
to be an excellent helpmate, and the chlldren soon
make thelr appearance. She satlsfles all the demands
lald upon her, and she has no clalms of her own.
Behlnd her mute eyes ls hldden a mute soul. She ls all
submlsslon, but wlse and prompt ln actlon; a wlfe
also ln her pauclty of words, sprlnglng from a phllos
ophy of llfe learned ln a hard school.
Success attends the two. Jhey are able to set
aslde a llttle money, and Wang Lung`s great passlon,
next to parenthood, hls longlng for more ground to
cultlvate, may now venture forth from subconsclous
ness. He ls able to buy more flelds, and everythlng
promlses happlness and lncrease.
Jhen comes a blow from the hand of fate; a
drought descends upon the dlstrlct. Jhe good earth ls
changed lnto yellow, whlrllng dust. By selllng land
they could avert starvatlon, but that would be to bolt
and lock the door to the future. Nelther of them
wlshes to do that, so they set forth ln company wlth
the growlng army of beggars to a clty ln the south, to
llve on the crumbs from the rlch man`s table.
O`Lan had made the journey once before ln her
chlldhood, when the end of lt was that she was sold
to save her parents and brothers.
Jhanks to her experlence, they accommodate
themselves to the new llfe. Wang Lung tolls as a beast
of burden and the others beg wlth an acqulred aptl
tude. Autumn and wlnter pass. Wlth the sprlng, thelr
yearnlng for thelr own land and lts tllllng becomes
unendurable, but they have no money for the jour
ney.
Jhen agaln fate lntervenesas natural a fate ln
Chlna as drought and plague and flood. War, whlch
ls ever present somewhere ln that great country, and
the ways of whlch are as lnscrutable as those of the
powers of the alr, stalks across the clty and makes
chaos of law and order. Jhe poor plunder the homes
of the rlch.
Wang Lung goes wlth the mob wlthout any def
lnlte motlves, for hls peasant soul revolts at deeds of
vlolence, but by pure chance a handful of gold colns
ls almost forced lnto hls hand. Now he can go home
and begln the sprlng work on hls ralnsoaked soll.
More than that, he can buy new flelds; he ls rlch and
happy.
He becomes stlll rlcher, though ultlmately not
happler, through the plunder acqulred by O`Lan.
Irom her days of slavery she knows somethlng about
hldlng places ln palaces, and she dlscovers a handful
of preclous stones. She takes them nearly as unpre
medltatedly as a magple steals glltterlng thlngs, and
hldes them as lnstlnctlvely. When her husband dls
covers them ln her bosom, hls whole world ls trans
formed. He buys farm after farm. He becomes the
leadlng man ln the dlstrlct, no longer peasant but
lord, and hls character changes colour. Slmpllclty and
harmony wlth the earth vanlsh. In thelr place comes,
slowly but surely, a curse for the desertlon.
223
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Wang Lung no longer has any real peace ln hls
lordly lelsure, wlth a young concublne ln the house
and O`Lan pushed lnto a dark corner, to dle there
when she has worn herself out.
Jhe sons are not attractlve flgures. Jhe eldest
devotes hlmself to an empty llfe of lndulgence, the
second ls swallowed up by greed for gold as a mer
chant and usurer. Jhe youngest becomes one of the
'war lords" who draln the unhappy country. Around
them the Mlddle Emplre ls torn asunder ln the tumult
of new creatlon, whlch has become so agonlzlng ln
our days.
Jhe trllogy does not carry us so far, however; lt
concludes wlth a sort of reconclllatlon between the
thlrd generatlon and the good earth. One of Wang
Lung`s grandsons, a man educated ln the West,
returns to the famlly estate and applles the knowledge
he has acqulred to the lmprovement of the condltlons
of work and llfe among the peasants.
Jhe rest of the famlly llve wlthout roots ln that
confllct between old and new whlch Pearl Buck has
descrlbed ln other worksmostly ln the tone of trag
edy.
Of the many problems ln thls novel, the most
serlous and sombre one ls the posltlon of the Chlnese
woman. Irom the very beglnnlng lt ls on thls polnt
that the wrlter`s pathos emerges most strongly, and
amld the calm of the eplc work lt constantly makes
ltself felt. An early eplsode ln the work glves the most
polgnant expresslon of what a Chlnese woman has
been worth slnce tlme lmmemorlal. It ls glven wlth
lmpresslve emphasls, and also wlth a touch of
humour whlch ls naturally rare ln thls book. In a
moment of happlness, wlth hls llttle flrstborn son
dressed ln flne clothes on hls arm, and seelng the
future brlght before hlm, Wang Lung ls on the polnt
of breaklng lnto boastful words but restralns hlmself
ln sudden terror. Jhere, under the open sky, he had
almost challenged the lnvlslble splrlts and drawn thelr
evll glances upon hlmself. He trles to avert the men
ace by hldlng hls son under hls coat and saylng ln a
loud volce, 'What a plty that our chlld ls a glrl, whlch
no one wants, and ls pltted wlth smallpox lnto the
bargaln! Let us pray that lt may dle!" And O`Lan
jolns ln the comedy and acqulescesprobably wlthout
thlnklng at all.
In reallty the splrlts need not waste thelr glances
on a glrl chlld. Its lot ls hard enough ln any case. It ls
Pearl Buck`s female characters whlch make the stron
gest lmpresslon. Jhere ls O`Lan wlth her scanty
words, whlch carry all the more welght. Her whole
llfe ls portrayed ln equally scanty but telllng llnes.
_ulte a dlfferent flgure ls the chlef character ln
the novel q j (l931). She ls not referred to by
any other deslgnatlon, as lf to lndlcate that her whole
destlny ls expressed ln that word. She ls, however,
vlvldly lndlvlduallzed, a brave, energetlc, strong char
acter, of a more modern type than O`Lan`s, perhaps,
and wlthout her slave temperament. Jhe husband
soon deserts hls home, but she keeps lt together for
her chlldren. Jhe whole story ends ln sorrow, but not
ln defeat. Jhe mother cannot be crushed, not even
when her younger son ls beheaded as a revolutlonary,
and she has to seek a stranger`s grave to weep by, for
he has none. |ust then a grandson ls born, and she
agaln has someone to love and sacrlflce herself for.
Jhe mother ls the most flnlshed of Pearl Buck`s
Chlnese female flgures, and the book ls one of her
best. But ln character descrlptlons and the story
teller`s art she ls at her best ln the two blographles of
her parents, q b (l936) and c ^ (l936).
Jhese should be called classlcs ln the fullest sense of
the word; they wlll endure, for they are full of llfe. In
thls respect the models from whlch the portralts are
drawn are of great slgnlflcance.
One seldom feels any great sense of gratltude
for the company proffered ln contemporary novels,
and lt ls gladly forgotten. Jhe characters have no
great wealth of qualltles, and the wrlter puts forth all
hls powers to lessen them, often by a perslstent analy
sls wlth foregone results.
Here, however, one encounters two consum
mate characters, llvlng unselflsh llves of actlon, free
from broodlng and vaclllatlon. Jhey are profoundly
unllke each other, and the fact that they are thrown
together ln a common struggle ln a hard and strange
world often leads to great tragedybut not to defeat.
they stand erect even to the very last. Jhere ls a splrlt
of herolsm ln both storles.
Jhe mother, Carle, ls rlchly glfted, brave and
warm, of a genulne nature, harmonlous amld ever
stralnlng forces. She ls tested to the utmost ln sorrows
and dangers; she loses many chlldren because of the
harshness of the condltlons of llfe, and at tlmes a ter
rlble death threatens her ln those troubled tlmes. It ls
almost as hard for her to wltness the neverendlng
sufferlng around her. She does what she can to mltl
gate lt, and that ls not a llttle, but no power ls suffl
clent for such a task.
Even lnwardly she passes through a hard and
unceaslng struggle. In her calllng, and wlth her
nature, she needs more than the convlctlon of falth. It
ls not enough for her that she has dedlcated herself to
God; she must also feel that the sacrlflce has been
accepted. But the slgn of thls, for whlch she begs and
prays, never comes. She ls compelled to perslst ln an
untlrlng endeavour to flnd God and to content herself
wlth trylng to be good wlthout dlvlne help.
221
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However, she preserves her splrltual health, her
love for the llfe whlch has shown her so much that ls
terrlble, and her eye for the beauty the world has to
offer; she even retalns her happlness and her humour.
She resembles a fresh fountaln sprlnglng from the
heart of llfe.
Jhe daughter tells her story wlth rare and llvely
persplculty. Jhe blography ls preclse ln regard to the
course of events, but creatlve lmaglnatlon plays lts
part ln the varlous eplsodes and ln the descrlptlon of
the lnner llfe of the character. Nothlng ls falslfled, for
thls lmaglnatlon ls lntultlve and true.
Jhe language has vlvld spontanelty; lt ls clear
and suffused wlth a tender and soulful humour.
Jhere ls, however, a flaw ln the story. Jhe daughter`s
devotlon to her mother makes lt lmposslble for her to
do justlce to her father. In hls famlly llfe hls llmlta
tlons were obvlous, llmltatlons sharp and at tlmes
palnful. As a preacher and soldler of Chrlst he was
wlthout blemlsh, ln many respects even a great char
acter; but he ought to have llved hls llfe alone, free of
the famlllal dutles he hardly found tlme to notlce,
dutles whlch ln any case welghed llghtly wlth hlm
agalnst hls allabsorblng calllng. Jhus he was of llttle
help to hls wlfe, and ln her blography he could not be
fully understood.
Jhls was accompllshed, however, ln another
book, whose tltle ls the key to hls llfe and belng.
c ^. Andrew dld not possess hls wlfe`s
rlchly composlte nature; hls was narrow but deep,
and as brlght as a gleamlng sword. He devoted every
thought to hls goal of openlng the way to salvatlon
for the heathens. Everythlng was lnslgnlflcant com
pared to that. What Carle prayed for ln valn, com
munlon wlth God, he possessed wholly and
unshakeably ln the flrm conceptlons of hls Blbllcal
falth. Wlth thls falth he walked llke a conqueror, fur
ther than any other ln the lmmense heathen country,
he endured all hardshlps wlthout notlclng them, and
he encountered threats and dangers ln the same man
ner. Ior the poor, bllnd, strange brown people he felt
tenderness and love. Among them hls stern nature
broke lnto blossom. When he had won thelr souls to
a confesslon of falth, he dld not doubt the genulne
ness of the confesslon; wlth the nalvete of a chlld, he
accepted lt as good. Jhe door to God, always denled
them before, had been opened to them, and to welgh
them and judge them was now ln the hands of Hlm
who knows best. Jhey had been glven thelr posslbll
lty of salvatlon, and for Andrew lt was urgent to glve
thls posslblllty to all he could reach ln that lmmense
country, where thousands were dylng every hour. Hls
enthuslasm burned, and hls work had somethlng of
genlus ln lts magnltude and depth.
He stralned hls forces to the utmost ln never
endlng actlon, and the repose he allowed hlmself was
the mystlc`s abandonment to the lnflnlte amld ardent
prayers. Jhe whole of hls llfe was a flame whlch rose
stralght and hlgh, ln splte of all storms; lt could not
be judged by ordlnary conceptlons. Jhe daughter,
whose portralt conceals none of hls repellent features,
malntalned pure reverence before the noblllty of the
whole. One ls profoundly thankful for both these per
fectly executed plctureseach ln lts way so rare.
By awardlng thls year`s Prlze to Pearl Buck for
the notable works whlch pave the way to a human
sympathy passlng over wldely separated raclal
boundarles and for the studles of human ldeals whlch
are a great and llvlng art of portralture, the Swedlsh
Academy feels that lt acts ln harmony and accord
wlth the alm of Alfred Nobel`s dreams for the future.
Mrs. Walsh, I have attempted a short survey of
your work, lndeed hardly necessary here, where the
audlence ls so well acqualnted wlth your remarkable
books.
I hope, though, that I have been able to glve
some ldea of thelr trend, toward openlng a faraway
and forelgn world to deeper human lnslght and sym
pathy wlthln our Western spherea grand and dlffl
cult task, requlrlng all your ldeallsm and greatheartedness
to fulfll as you have done.
May I now ask you to recelve from the hands of
Hls Majesty the Klng the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature,
conferred upon you by the Swedlsh Academy.
_W _~ p
f ~ _ i~I a
p l~ ~ p~~I ~ k _~ ~
` e~ pI NM a NVPUW
Mrs. Pearl Buck, you have ln your llterary works,
whlch are of the hlghest artlstlc quallty, advanced the
understandlng and the appreclatlon ln the Western
world of a great and lmportant part of manklnd, the
people of Chlna. You have taught us by your works to
see the lndlvlduals ln that great mass of people. You
have shown us the rlse and fall of famllles, and the land
as the foundatlon upon whlch famllles are bullt. In thls
you have taught us to see those qualltles of thought and
feellng whlch blnd us all together as human belngs on
thls earth, and you have glven us Westerners somethlng
of Chlna`s soul. When by the development of technlcal
lnventlons the peoples of the earth are drawn closer to
225
ai_ POV m~ pK _
each other, the surface of the earth shrlnks, so that East
and West are no longer separated by almost lnsur
mountable volds of dlstance, and when on the other
hand, partly as a natural effect of thls phenomenon, the
dlfferences of natlonal character and ambltlons clash to
form dangerous dlscontlnultles, lt ls of the greatest
lmportance that the peoples of the earth learn to under
stand each other as lndlvlduals across dlstances and
frontlers. When works of llterature succeed ln thls
respect they are certalnly ln a very dlrect way ldeallstlc
ln the sense ln whlch thls word was meant by Alfred
Nobel.
_
It ls not posslble for me to express all that I feel of
appreclatlon for what has been sald and glven to me. I
accept, for myself, wlth the convlctlon of havlng
recelved far beyond what I have been able to glve ln my
books. I can only hope that the many books whlch I
have yet to wrlte wlll be ln some measure a worthler
acknowledgment than I can make tonlght. And, lndeed,
I can accept only ln the same splrlt ln whlch I thlnk thls
glft was orlglnally glventhat lt ls a prlze not so much
for what has been done, as for the future. Whatever I
wrlte ln the future must, I thlnk, be always beneflted
and strengthened when I remember thls day.
I accept, too, for my country, the Lnlted States of
Amerlca. We are a people stlll young and we know that
we have not yet come to the fullest of our powers. Jhls
award, glven to an Amerlcan, strengthens not only one,
but the whole body of Amerlcan wrlters, who are
encouraged and heartened by such generous recognl
tlon. And I should llke to say, too, that ln my country lt
ls lmportant that thls award has been glven to a
woman. You who have already so recognlzed your own
Selma Lagerlf, and have long recognlzed women ln
other flelds, cannot perhaps wholly understand what lt
means ln many countrles that lt ls a woman who stands
here at thls moment. But I speak not only for wrlters
and for women, but for all Amerlcans, for we all share
ln thls.
I should not be truly myself lf I dld not, ln my
own wholly unofflclal way, speak also of the people of
Chlna, whose llfe has for so many years been my llfe
also, whose llfe, lndeed, must always be a part of my
llfe. Jhe mlnds of my own country and of Chlna, my
foster country, are allke ln many ways, but above all,
allke ln our common love of freedom. And today more
than ever, thls ls true, now when Chlna`s whole belng ls
engaged ln the greatest of all struggles, the struggle for
freedom. I have never admlred Chlna more than I do
now, when I see her unltlng as she has never before,
agalnst the enemy who threatens her freedom. Wlth
thls determlnatlon for freedom, whlch ls ln so profound
a sense the essentlal quallty ln her nature, I know that
she ls ~. Ireedomlt ls today more than ever
the most preclous human possesslon. WeSweden and
the Lnlted Stateswe have lt stlll. My country ls
youngbut lt greets you wlth a pecullar fellowshlp, you
whose earth ls anclent and free.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l938. Pearl S. Buck ls the
sole author of her speech.|
226
_W k iI NO a NVPU
q ` k
When I came to conslder what I should say today
lt seemed that lt would be wrong not to speak of Chlna.
And thls ls none the less true because I am an Amerlcan
by blrth and by ancestry and though I llve now ln my
own country and shall llve there, slnce there I belong.
But lt ls the Chlnese and not the Amerlcan novel whlch
has shaped my own efforts ln wrltlng. My earllest
knowledge of story, of how to tell and wrlte storles,
came to me ln Chlna. It would be lngratltude on my
part not to recognlze thls today. And yet lt would be
presumptuous to speak before you on the subject of the
Chlnese novel for a reason wholly personal. Jhere ls
another reason why I feel that I may properly do so. It
ls that I belleve the Chlnese novel has an lllumlnatlon
for the Western novel and for the Western novellst.
When I say Chlnese novel, I mean the lndlgenous
Chlnese novel, and not that hybrld product, the novels
of modern Chlnese wrlters who have been too strongly
under forelgn lnfluence whlle they were yet lgnorant of
the rlches of thelr own country.
Jhe novel ln Chlna was never an art and was
never so consldered, nor dld any Chlnese novellst thlnk
of hlmself as an artlst. Jhe Chlnese novel, lts hlstory, lts
scope, lts place ln the llfe of the people, so vltal a place,
must be vlewed ln the strong llght of thls one fact. It ls a
fact no doubt strange to you, a company of modern
Western scholars who today so generously recognlze
the novel.
But ln Chlna art and the novel have always been
wldely separated. Jhere, llterature as an art was the
excluslve property of the scholars, an art they made
and made for each other accordlng to thelr own rules,
and they found no place ln lt for the novel. And they
held a powerful place, those Chlnese scholars. Phlloso
phy and rellglon and letters and llterature, by arbltrary
classlcal rules, they possessed them all, for they alone
possessed the means of learnlng, slnce they alone knew
how to read and wrlte. Jhey were powerful enough to
be feared even by emperors, so that emperors devlsed a
way of keeplng them enslaved by thelr own learnlng,
and made the offlclal examlnatlons the only means to
polltlcal advancement, those lncredlbly dlfflcult examl
natlons whlch ate up a man`s whole llfe and thought ln
preparlng for them, and kept hlm too busy wlth memo
rlzlng and copylng the dead and classlcal past to see the
present and lts wrongs. In that past the scholars found
thelr rules of art. But the novel was not there, and they
dld not see lt belng created before thelr eyes, for the
people created the novel, and what llvlng people were
dolng dld not lnterest those who thought of llterature as
an art. If scholars lgnored the people, however, the peo
ple, ln turn, laughed at the scholars. Jhey made lnnu
merable jokes about them, of whlch thls ls a falr
sample. One day a company of wlld beasts met on a
hlllslde for a hunt. Jhey bargalned wlth each other to
go out and hunt all day and meet agaln at the end of the
day to share what they had kllled. At the end of the day,
only the tlger returned wlth nothlng. When he was
asked how thls happened he replled very dlsconsolately,
'At dawn I met a schoolboy, but he was, I feared, too
callow for your tastes. I met no more untll noon, when I
found a prlest. But I let hlm go, knowlng hlm to be full
of nothlng but wlnd. Jhe day went on and I grew des
perate, for I passed no one. Jhen as dark came on I
found a scholar. But I knew there was no use ln brlng
lng hlm back slnce he would be so dry and hard that he
would break our teeth lf we trled them on hlm."
Jhe scholar as a class has long been a flgure of
fun for the Chlnese people. He ls frequently to be
found ln thelr novels, and always he ls the same, as
lndeed he ls ln llfe, for a long study of the same dead
classlcs and thelr formal composltlon has really made
all Chlnese scholars look allke, as well as thlnk allke.
We have no class to parallel hlm ln the Westlndlvldu
als, perhaps, only. But ln Chlna he was a class. Here he
ls, composlte, as the people see hlm. a small shrunken
flgure wlth a bulglng forehead, a pursed mouth, a nose
at once snub and polnted, small lnconsplcuous eyes
behlnd spectacles, a hlgh pedantlc volce, always
announclng rules that do not matter to anyone but hlm
self, a boundless selfconcelt, a complete scorn not only
of the common people but of all other scholars, a flgure
ln long shabby robes, movlng wlth a swaylng haughty
walk, when he moved at all. He was not to be seen
227
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except at llterary gatherlngs, for most of the tlme he
spent readlng dead llterature and trylng to wrlte more
llke lt. He hated anythlng fresh or orlglnal, for he could
not catalogue lt lnto any of the styles he knew. If he
could not catalogue lt, he was sure lt was not great, and
he was confldent that only he was rlght. If he sald,
'Here ls art," he was convlnced lt was not to be found
anywhere else, for what he dld not recognlze dld not
exlst. And as he could never catalogue the novel lnto
what he called llterature, so for hlm lt dld not exlst as
llterature.
Yao Hal, one of the greatest of Chlnese llterary
crltlcs, ln l776 enumerated the klnds of wrltlng whlch
comprlse the whole of llterature. Jhey are essays, gov
ernment commentarles, blographles, epltaphs, epl
grams, poetry, funeral eulogles, and hlstorles. No
novels, you percelve, although by that date the Chlnese
novel had already reached lts glorlous helght, after cen
turles of development among the common Chlnese
people. Nor does that vast compllatlon of Chlnese llter
ature, p h ` pI made ln l772 by the order of
the great Emperor Ch`len Lung, contaln the novel ln
the encyclopedla of lts llterature proper.
No, happlly for the Chlnese novel, lt was not con
sldered by the scholars as llterature. Happlly, too, for
the novellst! Man and book, they were free from the
crltlclsms of those scholars and thelr requlrements of
art, thelr technlques of expresslon and thelr talk of llter
ary slgnlflcances and all that dlscusslon of what ls and ls
not art, as lf art were an absolute and not the changlng
thlng lt ls, fluctuatlng even wlthln decades! Jhe Chl
nese novel was free. It grew as lt llked out of lts own
soll, the common people, nurtured by that heartlest of
sunshlne, popular approval, and untouched by the cold
and frosty wlnds of the scholar`s art. Emlly Dlcklnson,
an Amerlcan poet, once wrote, 'Nature ls a haunted
house, but art ls a house that trles to be haunted."
'Nature," she sald,
Is what we see, Nature ls what we know But have no
art to say So lmpatlent our wlsdom ls, Jo her slmpllc
lty.
No, lf the Chlnese scholars ever knew of the growth of
the novel, lt was only to lgnore lt the more ostentatlously.
Sometlmes, unfortunately, they found themselves drlven
to take notlce, because youthful emperors found novels
pleasant to read. Jhen these poor scholars were hard put
to lt. But they dlscovered the phrase 'soclal slgnlflcance,"
and they wrote long llterary treatlses to prove that a
novel was not a novel but a document of soclal slgnlfl
cance. Soclal slgnlflcance ls a term recently dlscovered by
the most modern of llterary young men and women ln
the Lnlted States, but the old scholars of Chlna knew lt a
thousand years ago, when they, too, demanded that the
novel should have soclal slgnlflcance, lf lt were to be rec
ognlzed as an art.
But for the most part the old Chlnese scholar rea
soned thus about the novel.
Llterature ls art. All art has soclal slgnlflcance. Jhls book
has no soclal slgnlflcance. Jherefore lt ls not llterature.
And so the novel ln Chlna was not llterature.
In such a school was I tralned. I grew up bellevlng
that the novel has nothlng to do wlth pure llterature. So I
was taught by scholars. Jhe art of llterature, so I was
taught, ls somethlng devlsed by men of learnlng. Out of
the bralns of scholars came rules to control the rush of
genlus, that wlld fountaln whlch has lts source ln deepest
llfe. Genlus, great or less, ls the sprlng, and art ls the
sculptured shape, classlcal or modern, lnto whlch the
waters must be forced, lf scholars and crltlcs were to be
served. But the people of Chlna dld not so serve. Jhe
waters of the genlus of story gushed out as they would,
however the natural rocks allowed and the trees per
suaded, and only common people came and drank and
found rest and pleasure.
Ior the novel ln Chlna was the pecullar product of
the common people. And lt was solely thelr property.
Jhe very language of the novel was thelr own language,
and not the classlcal Wenll, whlch was the language of
llterature and the scholars. Wenll bore somewhat the
same resemblance to the language of the people as the
anclent Engllsh of Chaucer does to the Engllsh of today,
although lronlcally enough, at one tlme Wenll, too, was
a vernacular. But the scholars never kept pace wlth the
llvlng, changlng speech of the people. Jhey clung to an
old vernacular untll they had made lt classlc, whlle the
runnlng language of the people went on and left them far
behlnd. Chlnese novels, then, are ln the 'Pel Hua," or
slmple talk, of the people, and thls ln ltself was offenslve
to the old scholars because lt resulted ln a style so full of
easy flow and readablllty that lt had no technlque of
expresslon ln lt, the scholars sald.
I should pause to make an exceptlon of certaln
scholars who came to Chlna from Indla, bearlng as thelr
glft a new rellglon, Buddhlsm. In the West, Purltanlsm
was for a long tlme the enemy of the novel. But ln the
Orlent the Buddhlsts were wlser. When they came lnto
Chlna, they found llterature already remote from the
people and dylng under the formallsm of that perlod
known ln hlstory as the Slx Dynastles. Jhe professlonal
men of llterature were even then absorbed not so much
ln what they had to say as ln palrlng lnto couplets the
characters of thelr essays and thelr poems, and already
they scorned all wrltlng whlch dld not conform to thelr
own rules. Into thls conflned llterary atmosphere came
228
_W k iI NO a NVPU ai_ POV
the Buddhlst translators wlth thelr great treasures of the
freed splrlt. Some of them were Indlan, but some were
Chlnese. Jhey sald frankly that thelr alm was not to con
form to the ldeas of style of the llterary men, but to make
clear and slmple to common people what they had to
teach. Jhey put thelr rellglous teachlngs lnto the com
mon language, the language whlch the novel used, and
because the people loved story, they took story and made
lt a means of teachlng. Jhe preface of c~ p Ì one
of the most famous of Buddhlst books, says, 'When glv
lng the words of gods, these words should be glven forth
slmply." Jhls mlght be taken as the sole llterary creed of
the Chlnese novellst, to whom, lndeed, gods were men
and men were gods.
Ior the Chlnese novel was wrltten prlmarlly to
amuse the common people. And when I say amuse I do
not mean only to make them laugh, though laughter ls
also one of the alms of the Chlnese novel. I mean amuse
ment ln the sense of absorblng and occupylng the whole
attentlon of the mlnd. I mean enllghtenlng that mlnd by
plctures of llfe and what that llfe means. I mean encour
aglng the splrlt not by ruleofthumb talk about art, but
by storles about the people ln every age, and thus pre
sentlng to people slmply themselves. Even the Buddhlsts
who came to tell about gods found that people under
stood gods better lf they saw them worklng through ordl
nary folk llke themselves.
But the real reason why the Chlnese novel was
wrltten ln the vernacular was because the common peo
ple could not read and wrlte and the novel had to be
wrltten so that when lt was read aloud lt could be under
stood by persons who could communlcate only through
spoken words. In a vlllage of two hundred souls perhaps
only one man could read. And on holldays or ln the
evenlng when the work was done he read aloud to the
people from some story. Jhe rlse of the Chlnese novel
began ln just thls slmple fashlon. After a whlle people
took up a collectlon of pennles ln somebody`s cap or ln a
farm wlfe`s bowl because the reader needed tea to wet hls
throat, or perhaps to pay hlm for tlme he would other
wlse have spent at hls sllk loom or hls rush weavlng. If
the collectlons grew blg enough he gave up some of hls
regular work and became a professlonal storyteller. And
the storles he read were the beglnnlngs of novels. Jhere
were not many such storles wrltten down, not nearly
enough to last year ln and year out for people who had
by nature, as the Chlnese have, a strong love for dra
matlc story. So the storyteller began to lncrease hls stock.
He searched the dry annals of the hlstory whlch the
scholars had wrltten, and wlth hls fertlle lmaglnatlon,
enrlched by long acqualntance wlth common people, he
clothed longdead flgures wlth new flesh and made them
llve agaln; he found storles of court llfe and lntrlgue and
names of lmperlal favorltes who had brought dynastles
to ruln; he found, as he traveled from vlllage to vlllage,
strange tales from hls own tlmes whlch he wrote down
when he heard them. People told hlm of experlences they
had had and he wrote these down, too, for other people.
And he embelllshed them, but not wlth llterary turns and
phrases, for the people cared nothlng for these. No, he
kept hls audlences always ln mlnd and he found that the
style whlch they loved best was one whlch flowed easlly
along, clearly and slmply, ln the short words whlch they
themselves used every day, wlth no other technlque than
occaslonal blts of descrlptlon, only enough to glve vlvld
ness to a place or a person, and never enough to delay
the story. Nothlng must delay the story. Story was what
they wanted.
And when I say story, I do not mean mere polnt
less actlvlty, not crude actlon alone. Jhe Chlnese are too
mature for that. Jhey have always demanded of thelr
novel character above all else. p e `~ they have
consldered one of thelr three greatest novels, not prlma
rlly because lt ls full of the flash and flre of actlon, but
because lt portrays so dlstlnctly one hundred and elght
characters that each ls to be seen separate from the oth
ers. Often I have heard lt sald of that novel ln tones of
dellght, 'When anyone of the hundred and elght beglns
to speak, we do not need to be told hls name. By the way
the words come from hls mouth we know who he ls."
Vlvldness of character portrayal, then, ls the flrst quallty
whlch the Chlnese people have demanded of thelr nov
els, and after lt, that such portrayal shall be by the charac
ter`s own actlon and words rather than by the author`s
explanatlon.
Curlously enough, whlle the novel was beglnnlng
thus humbly ln teahouses, ln vlllages and lowly clty
streets out of storles told to the common people by a
common and unlearned man among them, ln lmperlal
palaces lt was beglnnlng, too, and ln much the same
unlearned fashlon. It was an old custom of emperors,
partlcularly lf the dynasty were a forelgn one, to employ
persons called 'lmperlal ears," whose only duty was to
come and go among the people ln the streets of cltles and
vlllages and to slt among them ln teahouses, dlsgulsed ln
common clothes, and llsten to what was talked about
there. Jhe orlglnal purpose of thls was, of course, to hear
of any dlscontent among the emperor`s subjects, and
more especlally to flnd out lf dlscontents were rlslng to
the shape of those rebelllons whlch preceded the fall of
every dynasty.
But emperors were very human and they were not
often learned scholars. More often, lndeed, they were
only spolled and wlllful men. Jhe 'lmperlal ears" had
opportunlty to hear all sorts of strange and lnterestlng
storles, and they found that thelr royal masters were
more frequently lnterested ln these storles than they were
ln polltlcs. So when they came back to make thelr
229
reports, they flattered the emperor and sought to galn
favor by telllng hlm what he llked to hear, shut up as he
was ln the Iorbldden Clty, away from llfe. Jhey told hlm
the strange and lnterestlng thlngs whlch common people
dld, who were free, and after a whlle they took to wrltlng
down what they heard ln order to save memory. And I
do not doubt that lf messengers between the emperor
and the people carrled storles ln one dlrectlon, they car
rled them ln the other, too, and to the people they told
storles about the emperor and what he sald and dld, and
how he quarrelled wlth the empress who bore hlm no
sons, and how she lntrlgued wlth the chlef eunuch to pol
son the favorlte concublne, all of whlch dellghted the
Chlnese because lt proved to them, the most democratlc
of peoples, that thelr emperor was after all only a com
mon fellow llke themselves and that he, too, had hls trou
bles, though he was the Son of Heaven. Jhus there
began another lmportant source for the novel that was to
develop wlth such form and force, though stlll always
denled lts rlght to exlst by the professlonal man of letters.
Irom such humble and scattered beglnnlngs, then,
came the Chlnese novel, wrltten always ln the vernacu
lar, and deallng wlth all whlch lnterested the people, wlth
legend and wlth myth, wlth love and lntrlgue, wlth brlg
ands and wars, wlth everythlng, lndeed, whlch went to
make up the llfe of the people, hlgh and low.
Nor was the novel ln Chlna shaped, as lt was ln the
West, by a few great persons. In Chlna the novel has
always been more lmportant than the novellst. Jhere has
been no Chlnese Defoe, no Chlnese Ileldlng or Smollett,
no Austln or Bront or Dlckens or Jhackeray, or
Meredlth or Hardy, any more than Balzac or Ilaubert.
But there were and are novels as great as the novels ln
any other country ln the world, as great as any could
have wrltten, had he been born ln Chlna. Who then
wrote these novels of Chlna?
Jhat ls what the modern llterary men of Chlna
now, centurles too late, are trylng to dlscover. Wlthln the
last twentyflve years llterary crltlcs, tralned ln the unl
versltles of the West, have begun to dlscover thelr own
neglected novels. But the novellsts who wrote them they
cannot dlscover. Dld one man wrlte p e `~I or
dld lt grow to lts present shape, added to, rearranged,
deepened and developed by many mlnds and many a
hand, ln dlfferent centurles? Who can now tell? Jhey are
dead. Jhey llved ln thelr day and wrote what ln thelr day
they saw and heard, but of themselves they have told
nothlng. Jhe author of q a~ o `~ ln a
far later century says ln the preface to hls book, 'It ls not
necessary to know the tlmes of Han and Jànglt ls nec
essary to tell only of my own tlmes."
Jhey told of thelr own tlmes and they llved ln a
blessed obscurlty. Jhey read no revlews of thelr novels,
no treatlses as to whether or not what they dld was well
done accordlng to the rules of scholarshlp. It dld not
occur to them that they must reach the hlgh thln alr
whlch scholars breathednor dld they conslder the stuff
of whlch greatness ls made, accordlng to the scholars.
Jhey wrote as lt pleased them to wrlte and as they were
able. Sometlmes they wrote unwlttlngly well and some
tlmes unwlttlngly they wrote not so well. Jhey dled ln
the same happy obscurlty and now they are lost ln lt and
not all the scholars of Chlna, gathered too late to do
them honor, can ralse them up agaln. Jhey are long past
the posslblllty of llterary postmortems. But what they
dld remalns after them because lt ls the common people
of Chlna who keep allve the great novels, llllterate people
who have passed the novel, not so often from hand to
hand as from mouth to mouth.
In the preface to one of the later edltlons of p e
`~I Shlh Nal An, an author who had much to do wlth
the maklng of that novel, wrltes, 'What I speak of I wlsh
people to understand easlly. Whether the reader ls good
or evll, learned or unlearned, anyone can read thls book.
Whether or not the book ls well done ls not lmportant
enough to cause anyone to worry. Alas, I am born to dle.
How can I know what those who come after me who
read my book wlll thlnk of lt? I cannot even know what I
myself, born lnto another lncarnatlon, wlll thlnk of lt. I
do not know lf I myself then can even read. Why there
fore should I care?"
Strangely enough, there were certaln scholars who
envled the freedom of obscurlty, and who, burdened
wlth certaln prlvate sorrows whlch they dared not tell
anyone, or who perhaps wantlng only a hollday from the
wearlness of the sort of art they had themselves created,
wrote novels, too under assumed and humble names.
And when they dld so they put aslde pedantry and wrote
as slmply and naturally as any common novellst.
Ior the novellst belleved that he should not be con
sclous of technlques. He should wrlte as hls materlal
demanded. If a novellst became known for a partlcular
style or technlque, to that extent he ceased to be a good
novellst and became a llterary technlclan.
A good novellst, or so I have been taught ln Chlna,
should be above all else ~I that ls, natural, unaf
fected, and so flexlble and varlable as to be wholly at the
command of the materlal that flows through hlm. Hls
whole duty ls only to sort llfe as lt flows through hlm,
and ln the vast fragmentarlness of tlme and space and
event to dlscover essentlal and lnherent order and
rhythm and shape. We should never be able, merely by
readlng pages, to know who wrote them, for when the
style of a novellst becomes flxed, that style becomes hls
prlson. Jhe Chlnese novellsts varled thelr wrltlng to
accompany llke muslc thelr chosen themes.
Jhese Chlnese novels are not perfect accordlng to
Western standards. Jhey are not always planned from
230
beglnnlng to end, nor are they compact, any more than
llfe ls planned or compact. Jhey are often too long, too
full of lncldent, too crowded wlth character, a medley of
fact and flctlon as to materlal, and a medley of romance
and reallsm as to method, so that an lmposslble event of
maglc or dream may be descrlbed wlth such exact sem
blance of detall that one ls compelled to bellef agalnst all
reason. Jhe earllest novels are full of folklore, for the
people of those tlmes thought and dreamed ln the ways
of folklore. But no one can understand the mlnd of
Chlna today who has not read these novels, for the nov
els have shaped the present mlnd, too, and the folklore
perslsts ln splte of all that Chlnese dlplomats and Western
tralned scholars would have us belleve to the contrary.
Jhe essentlal mlnd of Chlna ls stlll that mlnd of whlch
George Russell wrote when he sald of the Irlsh mlnd, so
strangely akln to the Chlnese, 'that mlnd whlch ln lts
folk lmaglnatlon belleves anythlng. It creates shlps of
gold wlth masts of sllver and whlte cltles by the sea and
rewards and faerles, and when that vast folk mlnd turns
to polltlcs lt ls ready to belleve anythlng."
Out of thls folk mlnd, turned lnto storles and
crowded wlth thousands of years of llfe, grew, llterally,
the Chlnese novel. Ior these novels changed as they
grew. If, as I have sald, there are no slngle names
attached beyond questlon to the great novels of Chlna, lt
ls because no one hand wrote them. Irom beglnnlng as a
mere tale, a story grew through succeedlng verslons, lnto
a structure bullt by many hands. I mlght mentlon as an
example the wellknown story, q t p~I or m p
`~I flrst wrltten ln the Jàng dynasty by an unknown
author. It was then a tale of the slmple supernatural
whose hero was a great whlte snake. In the next verslon
ln the followlng century, the snake has become a vamplre
woman who ls an evll force. But the thlrd verslon con
talns a more gentle and human touch. Jhe vamplre
becomes a falthful wlfe who alds her husband and glves
hlm a son. Jhe story thus adds not only new character
but new quallty, and ends not as the supernatural tale lt
began but as a novel of human belngs.
So ln early perlods of Chlnese hlstory, many books
must be called not so much novels as source books for
novels, the sort of books lnto whlch Shakespeare, had
they been open to hlm, mlght have dlpped wlth both
hands to brlng up pebbles to make lnto jewels. Many of
these books have been lost, slnce they were not consld
ered valuable. But not allearly storles of Han, wrltten
so vlgorously that to thls day lt ls sald they run llke gal
loplng horses, and tales of the troubled dynastles follow
lngnot all were lost. Some have perslsted. In the Mlng
dynasty, ln one way or another, many of them were rep
resented ln the great collectlon known as q~ m h~
pI whereln are tales of superstltlon and rellglon, of
mercy and goodness and reward for evll and well dolng,
tales of dreams and mlracles, of dragons and gods and
goddesses and prlests, of tlgers and foxes and transmlgra
tlon and resurrectlon from the dead. Most of these early
storles had to do wlth supernatural events, of gods born
of vlrglns, of men walklng as gods, as the Buddhlst lnflu
ence grew strong. Jhere are mlracles and allegorles, such
as the pens of poor scholars burstlng lnto flower, dreams
leadlng men and women lnto strange and fantastlc lands
of Gulllver, or the maglc wand that floated an altar made
of lron. But storles mlrrored each age. Jhe storles of Han
were vlgorous and dealt often wlth the affalrs of the
natlon, and centered on some great man or hero. Humor
was strong ln thls golden age, a racy, earthy, lusty humor,
such as was to be found, for lnstance, ln a book of tales
entltled p~ iI presumed to have been collected, lf not
partly wrltten, by Han Jang Suan. And then the scenes
changed, as that golden age faded, though lt was never to
be forgotten, so that to thls day the Chlnese llke to call
themselves sons of Han. Wlth the succeedlng weak and
corrupt centurles, the very way the storles were wrltten
became honeyed and weak, and thelr subjects sllght, or
as the Chlnese say, 'In the days of the Slx Dynastles,
they wrote of small thlngs, of a woman, a waterfall, or a
blrd."
If the Han dynasty was golden, then the Jàng
dynasty was sllver, and sllver were the love storles for
whlch lt was famous. It was an age of love, when a thou
sand storles clustered about the beautlful Yang Kuel Iel
and her scarcely less beautlful predecessor ln the
emperor`s favor, Mel Iel. Jhese love storles of Jàng
come very near sometlmes to fulfllllng ln thelr unlty and
complexlty the standards of the Western novel. Jhere
are rlslng actlon and crlsls and dnouement, lmpllclt lf
not expressed. Jhe Chlnese say, 'We must read the sto
rles of Jàng, because though they deal wlth small mat
ters, yet they are wrltten ln so movlng a manner that the
tears come."
It ls not surprlslng that most of these love storles
deal not wlth love that ends ln marrlage or ls contalned
ln marrlage, but wlth love outslde the marrlage relatlon
shlp. Indeed, lt ls slgnlflcant that when marrlage ls the
theme the story nearly always ends ln tragedy. Jwo
famous storles, m i p and `~ c~ Ì deal entlrely
wlth extramarltal love, and are wrltten apparently to
show the superlorlty of the courtesans, who could read
and wrlte and slng and were clever and beautlful besldes,
beyond the ordlnary wlfe who was, as the Chlnese say
even today, 'a yellowfaced woman," and usually llllter
ate.
So strong dld thls tendency become that offlclal
dom grew alarmed at the popularlty of such storles
among the common people, and they were denounced as
revolutlonary and dangerous because lt was thought
they attacked that foundatlon of Chlnese clvlllzatlon, the
23l
famlly system. A reactlonary tendency was not lacklng,
such as ls to be seen ln e ` Ì one of the earller
forms of a famous later work, the story of the young
scholar who loved the beautlful Ylng Ylng and who
renounced her, saylng prudently as he went away, 'All
extraordlnary women are dangerous. Jhey destroy
themselves and others. Jhey have rulned even emperors.
I am not an emperor and I had better glve her up"
whlch he dld, to the admlratlon of all wlse men. And to
hlm the modest Ylng Ylng replled, 'If you possess me
and leave me, lt ls your rlght. I do not reproach you."
But flve hundred years later the sentlmentallty of the
Chlnese popular heart comes forth and sets the thwarted
romance rlght agaln. In thls last verslon of the story the
author makes Chang and Ylng Ylng husband and wlfe
and says ln closlng, 'Jhls ls ln the hope that all the lovers
of the world may be unlted ln happy marrlage." And as
tlme goes ln Chlna, flve hundred years ls not long to walt
for a happy endlng.
Jhls story, by the way, ls one of Chlna`s most
famous. It was repeated ln the Sung dynasty ln a poetlc
form by Chao Jeh Llang, under the tltle q o~
_I and agaln ln the Yuan dynasty by Jung Chal
yuen as a drama to be sung, entltled p e e~. In
the Mlng dynasty, wlth two verslons lntervenlng, lt
appears as Ll Reh Hua`s k~ e e~ Ì wrltten ln
the southern metrlcal form called 'tsè," and so to the last
and most famous e e~ `. Even chlldren ln Chlna
know the name of Chang Sen.
If I seem to emphaslze the romances of the Jàng
perlod, lt ls because romance between man and woman
ls the chlef glft of Jàng to the novel, and not because
there were no other storles. Jhere were many novels of a
humorous and satlrlcal nature and one curlous type of
story whlch concerned ltself wlth cockflghtlng, an lmpor
tant pastlme of that age and partlcularly ln favor at court.
One of the best of these tales ls q ` i~ c `~I
by Chèn Hung, whlch tells how Chla Chang, a famous
cockflghter, became so famous that he was loved by
emperor and people allke.
But tlme and the stream pass on. Jhe novel form
really beglns to be clear ln the Sung dynasty, and ln the
Yuan dynasty lt flowers lnto that helght whlch was never
agaln surpassed and only equalled, lndeed, by the slngle
novel e i jI or q a~ o `~I ln
the Js`lng dynasty. It ls as though for centurles the novel
had been developlng unnotlced and from deep roots
among the people, spreadlng lnto trunk and branch and
twlg and leaf to burst lnto thls flowerlng ln the Yuan
dynasty, when the young Mongols brought lnto the old
country they had conquered thelr vlgorous, hungry,
untutored mlnds and demanded to be fed. Such mlnds
could not be fed wlth the husks of the old classlcal lltera
ture, and they turned therefore the more eagerly to the
drama and the novel, and ln thls new llfe, ln the sunshlne
of lmperlal favor, though stlll not wlth llterary favor,
there came two of Chlna`s three great novels, p e
`~ and p~ he i j belng the thlrd.
I wlsh I could convey to you what these three nov
els mean and have meant to the Chlnese people. But I
can thlnk of nothlng comparable to them ln Western llt
erature. We have not ln the hlstory of our novel so clear
a moment to whlch we can polnt and say, 'Jhere the
novel ls at lts helght." Jhese three are the vlndlcatlon of
that llterature of the common people, the Chlnese novel.
Jhey stand as completed monuments of that popular llt
erature, lf not of letters. Jhey, too, were lgnored by men
of letters and banned by censors and damned ln succeed
lng dynastles as dangerous, revolutlonary, decadent. But
they llved on, because people read them and told them as
storles and sang them as songs and ballads and acted
them as dramas, untll at last grudglngly even the schol
ars were compelled to notlce them and to begln to say
they were not novels at all but allegorles, and lf they were
allegorles perhaps then they could be looked upon as llt
erature after all, though the people pald no heed to such
theorles and never read the long treatlses whlch scholars
wrote to prove them. Jhey rejolced ln the novels they
had made as novels and for no purpose except for joy ln
story and ln story through whlch they could express
themselves.
And lndeed the people had made them. p e
`~I though the modern verslons carry the name of
Shl Nal An as author, was wrltten by no one man. Out of
a handful of tales centerlng ln the Sung dynasty about a
band of robbers there grew thls great, structured novel.
Its beglnnlngs were ln hlstory. Jhe orlglnal lalr whlch the
robbers held stlll exlsts ln Shantung, or dld untll very
recent tlmes. Jhose tlmes of the thlrteenth century of our
Western era were, ln Chlna, sadly dlstorted. Jhe dynasty
under the emperor Huel Chung was falllng lnto deca
dence and dlsorder. Jhe rlch grew rlcher and the poor
poorer and when none other came forth to set thls rlght,
these rlghteous robbers came forth.
I cannot here tell you fully of the long growth of
thls novel, nor of lts changes at many hands. Shlh Nal
An, lt ls sald, found lt ln rude form ln an old book shop
and took lt home and rewrote lt. After hlm the story was
stlll told and retold. Ilve or slx verslons of lt today have
lmportance, one wlth a hundred chapters entltled ` f
p eI one of a hundred and twentyseven chapters,
and one of a hundred chapters. Jhe orlglnal verslon
attrlbuted to Shlh Nal An, had a hundred and twenty
chapters, but the one most used today has only seventy.
Jhls ls the verslon arranged ln the Mlng dynasty by the
famous Chlng Shen Jàn, who sald that lt was ldle to for
bld hls son to read the book and therefore presented the
lad wlth a copy revlsed by hlmself, knowlng that no boy
232
could ever refraln from readlng lt. Jhere ls also a verslon
wrltten under offlclal command, when offlclals found
that nothlng could keep the people from readlng p e.
Jhls offlclal verslon ls entltled q h Ì or, i~
t~ oI and lt tells of the flnal defeat of the rob
bers by the state army and thelr destructlon. But the
common people of Chlna are nothlng lf not lndependent.
Jhey have never adopted the offlclal verslon, and thelr
own form of the novel stlll stands. It ls a struggle they
know all too well, the struggle of everyday people agalnst
a corrupt offlclaldom.
I mlght add that p e `~ ls ln partlal transla
tlon ln Irench under the tltle i `~ Ì and the
seventychapter verslon ls ln complete Engllsh translatlon
by myself under the tltle ^ j ^ _. Jhe orlglnal
tltle, p e `~I ln Engllsh ls meanlngless, denotlng
merely the watery marglns of the famous marshy lake
whlch was the robbers` lalr. Jo Chlnese the words lnvoke
lnstant centuryold memory, but not to us.
Jhls novel has survlved everythlng and ln thls new
day ln Chlna has taken on an added slgnlflcance. Jhe
Chlnese Communlsts have prlnted thelr own edltlon of lt
wlth a preface by a famous Communlst and have lssued
lt anew as the flrst Communlst llterature of Chlna. Jhe
proof of the novel`s greatness ls ln thls tlmelessness. It ls
as true today as lt was dynastles ago. Jhe people of
Chlna stlll march across lts pages, prlests and courtesans,
merchants and scholars, women good and bad, old and
young, and even naughty llttle boys. Jhe only flgure
lacklng ls that of the modern scholar tralned ln the West,
holdlng hls Ph.D. dlploma ln hls hand. But be sure that lf
he had been allve ln Chlna when the flnal hand lald
down the brush upon the pages of that book, he, too,
would have been there ln all the pathos and humor of hls
new learnlng, so often useless and lnadequate and lald
llke a patch too small upon an old robe.
Jhe Chlnese say 'Jhe young should not read p
e and the old should not read p~ h." Jhls ls because
the young mlght be charmed lnto belng robbers and the
old mlght be led lnto deeds too vlgorous for thelr years.
Ior lf p e `~ ls the great soclal document of Chl
nese llfe, p~ h ls the document of wars and statesman
shlp, and ln lts turn e i j ls the document of
famlly llfe and human love.
Jhe hlstory of the p~ h or q h shows
the same archltectural structure and the same doubtful
authorshlp as p e. Jhe story beglns wlth three
frlends swearlng eternal brotherhood ln the Han dynasty
and ends nlnetyseven years later ln the succeedlng
perlod of the Slx Dynastles. It ls a novel rewrltten ln lts
flnal form by a man named Lo Kuan Chung, thought to
be a pupll of Shlh Nal An, and one who perhaps even
shared wlth Shlh Nal An ln the wrltlng, too, of p e
`~. But thls ls a Chlnese BaconandShakespeare con
troversy whlch has no end.
Lo Kuan Chung was born ln the late Yuan dynasty
and llved on lnto the Mlng. He wrote many dramas, but
he ls more famous for hls novels, of whlch p~ h ls eas
lly the best. Jhe verslon of thls novel now most com
monly used ln Chlna ls the one revlsed ln the tlme of
Kàng Hsl by Mao Chen Kan, who revlsed as well as crlt
lclsed the book. He changed, added and omltted mate
rlal, as for example when he added the story of Suan Iu
Ren, the wlfe of one of the chlef characters. He altered
even the style. If p e `~ has lmportance today as
a novel of the people ln thelr struggle for llberty, p~ h
has lmportance because lt glves ln such detall the sclence
and art of war as the Chlnese concelve lt, so dlfferently,
too, from our own. Jhe guerlllas, who are today Chlna`s
most effectlve flghtlng unlts agalnst |apan, are peasants
who know p~ h by heart, lf not from thelr own read
lng, at least from hours spent ln the ldleness of wlnter
days or long summer evenlngs when they sat llstenlng to
the storytellers descrlbe how the warrlors of the Jhree
Klngdoms fought thelr battles. It ls these anclent tactlcs
of war whlch the guerlllas trust today. What a warrlor
must be and how he must attack and retreat, how retreat
when the enemy advances, how advance when the
enemy retreatsall thls had lts source ln thls novel, so
well known to every common man and boy of Chlna.
e i jI or q a~ o `~I the
latest and most modern of these three greatest of Chlnese
novels, was wrltten orlglnally as an autoblographlcal
novel by Jsào Hseh Chlng, an offlclal hlghly ln favor
durlng the Manchu reglme and lndeed consldered by the
Manchus as one of themselves. Jhere were then elght
mllltary groups among the Manchus, and Jsào Hseh
Chlng belonged to them all. He never flnlshed hls novel,
and the last forty chapters were added by another man,
probably named Kao O. Jhe thesls that Jsào Hseh
Chlng was telllng the story of hls own llfe has been ln
modern tlmes elaborated by Hu Shlh, and ln earller
tlmes by Yuan Mel. Be thls as lt may, the orlglnal tltle of
the book was p q Ì and lt came out of Peklng
about l765 of the Western era, and ln flve or slx years,
an lncredlbly short tlme ln Chlna, lt was famous every
where. Prlntlng was stlll expenslve when lt appeared, and
the book became known by the method that ls called ln
Chlna, 'YoulendmeabookandIlendyouabook."
Jhe story ls slmple ln lts theme but complex ln
lmpllcatlon, ln character study and ln lts portrayal of
human emotlons. It ls almost a pathologlcal study, thls
story of a great house, once wealthy and hlgh ln lmperlal
favor, so that lndeed one of lts members was an lmperlal
concublne. But the great days are over when the book
beglns. Jhe famlly ls already decllnlng. Its wealth ls
belng dlsslpated and the last and only son, Chla Pao Y,
233
ls belng corrupted by the decadent lnfluences wlthln hls
own home, although the fact that he was a youth of
exceptlonal quallty at blrth ls establlshed by the symbol
lsm of a plece of jade found ln hls mouth. Jhe preface
beglns, 'Heaven was once broken and when lt was
mended, a blt was left unused, and thls became the
famous jade of Chla Pao Y." Jhus does the lnterest ln
the supernatural perslst ln the Chlnese people; lt perslsts
even today as a part of Chlnese llfe.
Jhls novel selzed hold of the people prlmarlly
because lt portrayed the problems of thelr own famlly
system, the absolute power of women ln the home, the
too great power of the matrlarchy, the grandmother, the
mother, and even the bondmalds, so often young and
beautlful and fatally dependent, who became too fre
quently the playthlngs of the sons of the house and
rulned them and were rulned by them. Women relgned
supreme ln the Chlnese house, and because they were
wholly conflned ln lts walls and often llllterate, they
ruled to the hurt of all. Jhey kept men chlldren, and pro
tected them from hardshlp and effort when they should
not have been so protected. Such a one was Chla Pao
Y, and we follow hlm to hls traglc end ln e i
j.
I cannot tell you to what lengths of allegory schol
ars went to explaln away thls novel when they found that
agaln even the emperor was readlng lt and that lts lnflu
ence was so great everywhere among the people. I do not
doubt that they were probably readlng lt themselves ln
secret. A great many popular jokes ln Chlna have to do
wlth scholars readlng novels prlvately and publlcly pre
tendlng never to have heard of them. At any rate, schol
ars wrote treatlses to prove that e i j was not a
novel but a polltlcal allegory deplctlng the decllne of
Chlna under the forelgn rule of the Manchus, the word
Red ln the tltle slgnlfylng Manchu, and Llng Jal Y, the
young glrl who dles, although she was the one destlned
to marry Pao Y, slgnlfylng Chlna, and Pao Jsàl, her
successful rlval, who secures the jade ln her place, stand
lng for the forelgner, and so forth. Jhe very name Chla
slgnlfled, they sald, falseness. But thls was a farfetched
explanatlon of what was wrltten as a novel and stands as
a novel and as such a powerful dellneatlon, ln the charac
terlstlc Chlnese mlxture of reallsm and romance, of a
proud and powerful famlly ln decllne. Crowded wlth
men and women of the several generatlons accustomed
to llvlng under one roof ln Chlna, lt stands alone as an
lntlmate descrlptlon of that llfe.
In so emphaslzlng these three novels, I have merely
done what the Chlnese themselves do. When you say
'novel," the average Chlnese replles, 'p eI p~ hI
e i jK" Yet thls ls not to say that there are not
hundreds of other novels, for there are. I must mentlon
e v Ì or o q~ tI almost as popu
lar as these three. I mlght mentlon c p `~I the
story of a delfled warrlor, the author unknown but sald
to be a wrlter ln the tlme of Mlng. I must mentlon o
i t~ pI a satlre upon the evlls of the Jslng dynasty,
partlcularly of the scholars, full of a doubleedged though
not mallclous dlalogue, rlch wlth lncldent, pathetlc and
humorous. Jhe fun here ls made of the scholars who can
do nothlng practlcal, who are lost ln the world of useful
everyday thlngs, who are so bound by conventlon that
nothlng orlglnal can come from them. Jhe book, though
long, has no central character. Each flgure ls llnked to the
next by the thread of lncldent, person and lncldent pass
lng on together untll, as Lu Hsn, the famous modern
Chlnese wrlter, has sald, 'they are llke scraps of brllllant
sllk and satln sewed together."
And there ls v~ p m vI or ^ l e q~
pI wrltten by a famous man dlsappolnted ln offl
clal preferment, Shla of Klangyln, and there ls that
strangest of books, ` e~ vI a fantasy of women,
whose ruler was an empress, whose scholars were all
women. It ls deslgned to show that the wlsdom of
women ls equal to that of men, although I must acknowl
edge that the book ends wlth a war between men and
women ln whlch the men are trlumphant and the
empress ls supplanted by an emperor.
But I can mentlon only a small fractlon of the hun
dreds of novels whlch dellght the common people of
Chlna. And lf those people knew of what I was speaklng
to you today, they would after all say 'tell of the great
three, and let us stand or fall by p e `~ and p~
h and e i j." In these three novels are the
llves whlch the Chlnese people lead and have long led,
here are the songs they slng and the thlngs at whlch they
laugh and the thlngs whlch they love to do. Into these
novels they have put the generatlons of thelr belng and to
refresh that belng they return to these novels agaln and
agaln, and out of them they have made new songs and
plays and other novels. Some of them have come to be
almost as famous as the great orlglnals, as for example
` m jI that classlc of romantlc physlcal love,
taken from a slngle lncldent ln p e `~.
But the lmportant thlng for me today ls not the llst
lng of novels. Jhe aspect whlch I wlsh to stress ls that all
thls profound and lndeed subllme development of the
lmaglnatlon of a great democratlc people was never ln lts
own tlme and country called llterature. Jhe very name
for story was 'hslao shuo," denotlng somethlng sllght
and valueless, and even a novel was only a 'tsàng p`len
hslao shuo," or a longer somethlng whlch was stlll sllght
and useless. No, the people of Chlna forged thelr own llt
erature apart from letters. And today thls ls what llves, to
be part of what ls to come, and all the formal llterature,
whlch was called art, ls dead. Jhe plots of these novels
are often lncomplete, the love lnterest ls often not
231
brought to solutlon, herolnes are often not beautlful and
heroes often are not brave. Nor has the story always an
end; sometlmes lt merely stops, ln the way llfe does, ln
the mlddle of lt when death ls not expected.
In thls tradltlon of the novel have I been born and
reared as a wrlter. My ambltlon, therefore, has not been
tralned toward the beauty of letters or the grace of art. It
ls, I belleve, a sound teachlng and, as I have sald, llluml
natlng for the novels of the West.
Ior here ls the essence of the attltude of Chlnese
novellstsperhaps the result of the contempt ln whlch
they were held by those who consldered themselves the
prlests of art. I put lt thus ln my own words, for none of
them has done so.
Jhe lnstlnct whlch creates ~ ls not the same as
that whlch produces art. Jhe creatlve lnstlnct ls, ln lts
flnal analysls and ln lts slmplest terms, an enormous
extra vltallty, a superenergy, born lnexpllcably ln an
lndlvldual, a vltallty great beyond all the needs of hls
own llvlngan energy whlch no slngle llfe can consume.
Jhls energy consumes ltself then ln creatlng more llfe, ln
the form of muslc, palntlng, wrltlng, or whatever ls lts
most natural medlum of expresslon. Nor can the lndlvld
ual keep hlmself from thls process, because only by lts
full functlon ls he relleved of the burden of thls extra and
pecullar energyan energy at once physlcal and mental,
so that all hls senses are more alert and more profound
than another man`s, and all hls braln more sensltlve and
qulckened to that whlch hls senses reveal to hlm ln such
abundance that actuallty overflows lnto lmaglnatlon. It ls
a process proceedlng from wlthln. It ls the helghtened
actlvlty of every cell of hls belng, whlch sweeps not only
hlmself, but all human llfe about hlm, or ln hlm, ln hls
dreams, lnto the clrcle of lts actlvlty.
Irom the product of thls actlvlty, art ls deducted
but not by hlm. Jhe process whlch creates ls not the pro
cess whlch deduces the shapes of art. Jhe deflnlng of art,
therefore, ls a secondary and not a prlmary process. And
when one born for the prlmary process of creatlon, as
the novellst ls, concerns hlmself wlth the secondary pro
cess, hls actlvlty becomes meanlngless. When he beglns
to make shapes and styles and technlques and new
schools, then he ls llke a shlp stranded upon a reef whose
propeller, whlrl wlldly as lt wlll, cannot drlve the shlp
onward. Not untll the shlp ls ln lts element agaln can lt
regaln lts course.
And for the novellst the only element ls human llfe
as he flnds lt ln hlmself or outslde hlmself. Jhe sole test
of hls work ls whether or not hls energy ls produclng
more of that llfe. Are hls creatures allve? Jhat ls the only
questlon. And who can tell hlm? Who but those llvlng
human belngs, the people? Jhose people are not
absorbed ln what art ls or how lt ls madeare not,
lndeed, absorbed ln anythlng very lofty, however good lt
ls. No, they are absorbed only ln themselves, ln thelr
own hungers and despalrs and joys and above all, per
haps, ln thelr own dreams. Jhese are the ones who can
really judge the work of the novellst, for they judge by
that slngle test of reallty. And the standard of the test ls
not to be made by the devlce of art, but by the slmple
comparlson of the reallty of what they read, to thelr own
reallty.
I have been taught, therefore, that though the nov
ellst may see art as cool and perfect shapes, he may only
admlre them as he admlres marble statues standlng aloof
ln a qulet and remote gallery; for hls place ls not wlth
them. Hls place ls ln the street. He ls happlest there. Jhe
street ls nolsy and the men and women are not perfect ln
the technlque of thelr expresslon as the statues are. Jhey
are ugly and lmperfect, lncomplete even as human
belngs, and where they come from and where they go
cannot be known. But they are people and therefore lnfl
nltely to be preferred to those who stand upon the pedes
tals of art.
And llke the Chlnese novellst, I have been taught
to want to wrlte for these people. If they are readlng thelr
magazlnes by the mllllon, then I want my storles there
rather than ln magazlnes read only by a few. Ior story
belongs to the people. Jhey are sounder judges of lt than
anyone else, for thelr senses are unspolled and thelr emo
tlons are free. No, a novellst must not thlnk of pure lltera
ture as hls goal. He must not even know thls fleld too
well, because people, who are hls materlal, are not there.
He ls a storyteller ln a vlllage tent, and by hls storles he
entlces people lnto hls tent. He need not ralse hls volce
when a scholar passes. But he must beat all hls drums
when a band of poor pllgrlms pass on thelr way up the
mountaln ln search of gods. Jo them he must cry, 'I, too,
tell of gods!" And to farmers he must talk of thelr land,
and to old men he must speak of peace, and to old
women he must tell of thelr chlldren, and to young men
and women he must speak of each other. He must be sat
lsfled lf the common people hear hlm gladly. At least, so I
have been taught ln Chlna.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l938. Pearl S. Buck ls the
235
f~ _
(10 Uctobcr 1S70 - S òvcmbcr 19J)
g~ tK `
Uvivcrsity of !irgivio
Jhls entry was expanded by Connolly from hls
Bunln entry ln DI J17: Twcvtictl-Ccvtury Iussiov
Imigrc !ritcrs.
BOOKS. Stillotvorcviio: 1SS7-1S91 gg. (Orel. Orlovskll
vestnlk, l89l);
'ò lroi svcto i drugic rossloy (St. Petersburg. O. N. Pop
ova, l897);
Iod otlrytym vcbom: Stillotvorcviio (Moscow. Detskoe
chtenle, l898);
Stilli i rossloy (Moscow. Detskoe chtenle l Pedago
glcheskll llstok, l900);
Iistopod: Stillotvorcviio (Moscow. Skorplon, l90l);
òvyc stillotvorcviio (Moscow. O. O. Gerbek, l902);
Sobrovic soclivcvii, 5 volumes (St. Petersburg. Znanle,
l902-l909);
Stillotvorcviio i rossloy: 1907-1909 (St. Petersburg.
Obshchestvennala pol`za, l9l0);
Dcrcvvio (Moscow. Moskovskoe knlgolzdatel`stvo,
l9l0); translated by Isabel I. Hapgood as Tlc !il-
logc (New York. Knopf, l923; London. Secker,
l923);
Icrcvol: Iossloy 1S92-1902 (Moscow. Moskovskoe knl
golzdatel`stvo, l9l2);
Iossloy i stillotvorcviio 1907-1910 gg. (Moscow. Knl
golzdatel`stvo plsatelel, l9l2);
Stillotvorcviio (Moscow. Moskovskoe knlgolzdatel`stvo,
l9l2);
Sullodol: Iovcsti i rossloy 1911-1912 gg. (Moscow. Knl
golzdatel`stvo plsatelel, l9l2);
Ioovv Iydolcts: Iossloy i stilli 1912-191J gg. (Moscow.
Knlgolzdatel`stvo plsatelel v Moskve, l9l3);
olotoc dvo: Iossloy 190J-1907 gg. (Moscow. Knlgolz
datel`stvo plsatelel, l9l3);
Iolvoc sobrovic soclivcvii, 6 volumes (Petrograd. A. I.
Marks, l9l5);
Closlo livi: Iossloy 191J-1914 gg. (Moscow. Knlgolz
datel`stvo plsatelel v Moskve, l9l5);
Cospodiv i Sov-Irovtsislo: Iroivcdcviio 191-1916 gg.
(Moscow. Knlgolzdatel`stvo plsatelel v Moskve,
l9l6);
Ilrom solvtso (Petrograd. Zhlzn` l znanle, l9l7);
Iril (Berlln. Slovo, l92l);
òclol`voio liubov` (Prague. Slavlanskoe lzdatel`stvo,
l92l);
Ioo Icrillovo (Berlln. Slovo, l921);
Mitivo liubov` (Parls. Russkala zemlla, l925; Lenlngrad.
Knlzhnye novlnkl, l925); translated from the
Irench by Madelalne Boyd as Mityo`s Iovc (New
York. Holt, l926);
f~ _I NM k NVPP E ~ _~L`lo_fpF
236
f~ _ ai_ POV
Ioslcdvcc svidovic (Parls. N. P. Karbasnlkov, l926);
Dclo lorvcto Ilogivo (Khar`kov. Kosmos, l927);
Solvcclvyi udor (Parls. Rodnlk, l927);
Iludoio trovo (Moscow Lenlngrad. Zemlla l fabrlka,
l928);
Ibrovvyc stilli (Parls. Sovremennye zaplskl, l929);
Crommotilo liubvi: Ibrovvyc rossloy (Belgrade. Russkala
blblloteka, l929);
liv` Zrscv`cvo: Istoli dvci (Parls. Sovremennye zaplskl,
l930); translated by Gleb Struve and Hamlsh
Mlles as Tlc !cll of Doys (London. Hogarth Press,
l933; New York. Knopf, l931);
ol`c drcvo (Parls. Sovremennye zaplskl, l93l);
Tcv` ptitsy (Parls. Sovremennye zaplskl, l93l);
Sobrovic soclivcvii, ll volumes (Berlln. Petropolls, l931-
l936);
Uloiovvyc dvi (London, Ontarlo. Zarla, l936); translated
by Jhomas Galton Marullo as Curscd Doys: Z
Diory of Icvolutiov (Chlcago. Ivan R. Dee, l998;
London. Phoenlx, 2000);
Usvoboldcvic Tolstogo (Parls. YMCAPress, l937); trans
lated by Marullo and Vladlmlr J. Khmelkov as
Tlc Iibcrotiov of Tolstoy (Evanston, Ill.. Northwest
ern Lnlverslty Press, 200l);
liv` Zrscv`cvo: II. Iilo: Iomov (Brussels. Petropolls,
l939);
Tcmvyc ollci (New York. Novala zemlla, l913; enlarged
edltlon, Parls. La Press franalse et trangre,
l916); translated by Rlchard Hare as Dorl Zvcvucs
ovd Utlcr Storics (London. Lehmann, l919; West
port, Conn.. Hyperlon, l977);
!ospomivoviio (Parls. Vozrozhdenle, l950); translated by
Vera Jralll and Robln Chancellor as Mcmorics ovd
Iortroits (Garden Clty, N.Y.. Doubleday, l95l;
London. Lehmann, l95l);
liv` Zrscv`cvo: Iuvost` (New York. Chekhov, l952);
translated by Struve, Mlles, Heldl Hlllls, Susan
McKean, and Sven A. Wolf as Tlc Iifc of Zrscvicv:
Joutl, edlted by Andrew Baruch (Evanston, Ill..
Northwestern Lnlverslty Press, l991);
!csvoi, v Iudcc: Ioo Icrillovo (New York. Chekhov,
l953);
Ictlistyc usli i drugic rossloy (New York. Chekhov, l951);
U Clcllovc: `colovclcvvoio rulopis` (New York. Chekhov,
l955);
Stillotvorcviio (Lenlngrad. Sovetskll plsatel`, l956);
Ivov uviv: Sborvil motcriolov, 2 volumes, Llteraturnoe
nasledstvo, volume 81 (Moscow. Nauka, l973);
Iublitsistilo 191S-19J, edlted by Oleg N. Mlkhallov
(Moscow. Nasledle, l998).
`W Sobrovic soclivcvii, 5 volumes (Moscow.
Pravda, l956);
Sobrovic soclivcvii v dcvioti tomoll, 9 volumes, edlted by A.
S. Mlasnlkov, B. S. Rlurlkov, and A. J. Jvar
dovsky (Moscow. Khudozhestvennala llteratura,
l965-l967);
Soclivcviio v trcll tomoll, 3 volumes (Moscow. Khu
dozhestvennala llteratura, l982);
Sobrovic soclivcvii v slcsti tomoll, 6 volumes, edlted by IL.
V. Bondarev, Oleg N. Mlkhallov, and V. P.
Rynkevlch (Moscow. Khudozhestvennala llte
ratura, l987-l988);
Sobrovic soclivcvii v clctyrcll tomoll, 1 volumes, edlted by
N. M. Llublmov (Moscow. Pravda, l988);
Sobrovic soclivcvii v vos`mi tomoll, 8 volumes, edlted by
A. K. Baboreko (Moscow. Moskovskll rabochll,
l993-2000);
Sobrovic soclivcvii v slcsti tomoll, 6 volumes (Moscow.
Santaks, l991);
Sobrovic soclivcvii v slcsti tomoll, 6 volumes, edlted by
A. Iarlzova, I. Marev, G. Shltoeva, and V.
Antonova (Moscow. Jerra, l997).
b bW Ioorus, translated by Avrahm
Yarmollnsky (Boston. Stratford, l9l8)comprlses
'Eleazar," by Leonld Andreyev, and 'Jhe Gentle
man from San Iranclsco," by Bunln;
Icmivisccvccs of Zvtov Clcllov, by Bunln, Makslm
Gor`ky, and Aleksandr Kuprln, translated by
S. S. Kotellansky and Leonard Woolf (New York.
Huebsch, l92l);
Tlc Ccvtlcmov from Sov Irovcisco ovd Utlcr Storics, trans
lated by Woolf, Kotellansky, and D. H. Lawrence
(London. Hogarth Press, l922; New York. Selt
zer, l923);
lated by Bernard Gullbert Guerney (New York.
Knopf, l923);
Tlc Drcoms of Clovg, ovd Utlcr Storics, translated by
Guerney (New York. Knopf, l923; London.
Secker); republlshed as Iiftccv Tolcs (London.
Secker, l921; Great Neck, N.Y.. Core Collectlon
Books, l978);
Crommor of Iovc, translated by |ohn Cournos (New
York. Smlth Haas, l931; London. Woolf,
l935);
Tlc Ilogliv Zffoir ovd Utlcr Storics, translated by Guer
ney (New York. Knopf, l935);
Slodowcd Iotls, translated by Ol`ga Shartse, edlted by
Phlllppa Hentges (Moscow. Iorelgn Languages
Publlshlng House, l911; Honolulu. Lnlverslty
Press of the Paclflc, 200l);
lated by Shartse, lntroductlon by Jhompson
Bradley (New York. Washlngton Square Press,
l963);
!clgo, translated by Guy Danlels (New York. S. G. Phll
llps, l970);
237
ai_ POV f~ _
Storics ovd Iocms, translated by Shartse and Irlna
Zheleznova (Moscow. Progress, l979);
Iv o Ior Distovt Iovd: Sclcctcd Storics, translated by Robert
Bowle (Ann Arbor, Mlch.. Hermltage, l983);
Iovg Zgo: Iourtccv Storics, translated by Davld Rlchards
and Sophle Lund (London. Angel, l981);
enlarged as Tlc Ccvtlcmov from Sov Irovcisco ovd
Utlcr Storics (London. Penguln / New York.
Vlklng Penguln, l987);
Iiglt rcotlivg ovd Utlcr Storics, translated by Shartse
(Moscow. Raduga, l988);
!olvcs ovd Utlcr Iovc Storics, translated by Mark C. Scott
(San Bernardlno, Cal.. Capra Press, l989);
Suvstrolc: Sclcctcd Storics, translated by Graham Hett
llnger (Chlcago. Ivan R. Dee, 2002);
Tlc Ilogiv Zffoir ovd Utlcr Storics, translated by Hett
llnger (Chlcago. Ivan R. Dee, 2005).
JRANSLAJION. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Icsv`
o Coiovotc (Moscow. Knlzhnoe dlelo, l899).
Jhe flrst Russlan to be awarded the Nobel Prlze
ln Llterature, Ivan Bunln was the last of a promlnent
llne of wrlters who belonged to the arlstocracya llne
that lncludes Ivan Jurgenev and Leo Jolstoy. Bunln
llved well lnto the twentleth century, and he chronlcled
ln hauntlng detall the slow decllne and ultlmate dlsap
pearance of a way of llfe taken for granted by the gentry
wrlters of the nlneteenth century. Jhroughout hls long
career he was moved by an acute awareness of the eva
nescence of human llfe, and hls work records the full
range of human emotlon from ecstatlc joy at the fulflll
ment of deslre to lnconsolable grlef at the losses that fre
quently ensue.
Ivan Alekseevlch Bunln was born on l0 (New
Style, 22) October l870 ln Voronezh, a provlnclal capl
tal three hundred mlles southeast of Moscow. In later
years he polnted out wlth prlde that he could trace hls
llneage to a Llthuanlan knlght who had entered the ser
vlce of Grand Prlnce of Moscow Vasllll II ln the flf
teenth century. Hls ancestors had served a serles of
Russlan rulers, and ln the nlneteenth century two of hls
relatlves achleved slgnlflcant llterary fame. Anna
Bunlna was the flrst professlonal woman wrlter ln Rus
sla, whlle Vasllll Zhukovsky, the lllegltlmate son of Afa
nasll Bunln and a captlve Jurklsh woman, became a
noted poet and translator and served as tutor to the
future tsar Alexander II.
Desplte the achlevements of these forebears,
Bunln`s lmmedlate famlly faced straltened clrcum
stances at the tlme of hls blrth. Landowners throughout
Russla were flndlng lt lncreaslngly dlfflcult to malntaln
thelr prosperlty; the emanclpatlon of the serfs ln l86l
and the rlse of lndustry ln the countryslde ln the second
half of the nlneteenth century contrlbuted to the decllne
of the gentry estate. Bunln`s father, Aleksel Nlkolaevlch
Bunln, who had served as a volunteer ln the Crlmean
War, preferred soclallzlng wlth frlends to managlng hls
property, and whlle Bunln was stlll a chlld, hls father
was forced to sell off ancestral holdlngs untll he was left
wlth two small estates, Butyrkl and Ozerkl, ln the prov
lnce of Orel. Accordlng to Bunln`s memolrs, !ospomivo-
viio (l950; translated as Mcmorics ovd Iortroits, l95l), the
personallty of hls mother, Lludmlla Aleksandrovna, ne
Chubarova, was qulte dlfferent from that of hls father.
she was deeply rellglous and lncllned toward woeful
premonltlons and sadness. She was devoted to her chll
dren, but only four of the nlne to whom she gave blrth
survlved lnfancy. Bunln`s second wlfe ascrlbed hls wlde
mood swlngs to the contrastlng dlsposltlons of hls par
ents.
A few years after Bunln`s blrth, hls famlly found
the cost of llvlng ln Voronezh beyond thelr means and
moved to the Butyrkl estate. Bunln recalled ln an auto
blographlcal note ln l9l5, 'Here, ln the deepest stlll
ness of the flelds, amldst crops that came rlght up to our
doorstep ln the summer, and amld snowdrlfts ln wlnter,
passed my entlre chlldhood, full of sad and orlglnal
poetry." Bunln`s lmmerslon ln nature left a lastlng trace
on hls creatlve lmaglnatlon. nuanced descrlptlons of
natural phenomena became a hallmark of hls mature
wrltlng. Hls brothers, Iulll and Evgenll, were much
older than he, and hls two slsters were lnfants durlng
hls early chlldhood. As a result, Bunln`s playmates were
the peasant chlldren ln the nelghborhood, and hls famll
larlty wlth peasant llfe also had a slgnlflcant lmpact on
hls wrltlng.
Bunln`s early educatlon was ln the hands of an
eccentrlc, lmpoverlshed nobleman, Nlkolal Romashkov,
who taught hlm to read from Russlan translatlons of
texts such as Homer`s Udysscy and fed hls lmaglnatlon
wlth vlvld storles about chlvalry. Romashkov wrote
satlrlcal poetry about toplcal lssues; Bunln trled hls
hand at verse, as well, but noted ln hls memolrs that he
dld not wrlte about contemporary concerns but about
'some klnd of splrlts ln a mountaln valley on a moonllt
nlght."
Jhe death of hls lnfant slster Aleksandra shocked
Bunln and plunged hlm lnto months of tormented con
templatlon about what mlght lle beyond the grave.
Wonderment about death and lts lmpllcatlons for the
llvlng remalned an element of hls personallty through
out hls llfe.
In autumn l88l Bunln enrolled ln a gymnaslum
ln Elets. He was not lnterested ln dlsclpllned educatlon,
and hls academlc success, especlally ln mathematlcs,
steadlly deterlorated. Durlng the Chrlstmas holldays of
l885 he told hls parents that he dld not wlsh to return
238
f~ _ ai_ POV
to school, and they acceded to hls deslre. By thls tlme
they had sold the Butyrkl estate to pay off thelr debts
and had moved to the Ozerkl estate, whlch had
belonged to Bunln`s mother`s famlly. Hls brother Iulll, a
polltlcal actlvlst, had been arrested ln l881 and sen
tenced to house arrest for three years. Wlth llttle else to
do, Iulll took over hls brother`s educatlon. Recognlzlng
that Bunln had llttle afflnlty for mathematlcs, Iulll con
centrated on hlstory, polltlcal sclence, and llterature.
Lnder hls brother`s guldance Bunln read the works of
such major Russlan wrlters as Jurgenev, Aleksandr
Pushkln, Mlkhall Lermontov, Iedor Jlutchev, Afanasll
Iet, and Vsevolod Garshln. He also read the plays and
sonnets of Wllllam Shakespeare and the poetry of the
Engllsh Romantlcs ln translatlon and trled to learn
Engllsh so that he could read them ln the orlglnal.
Stlmulated by hls readlng, Bunln wrote a large
quantlty of poetry and a few prose sketches between
l886 and l889. Ior the most part thls early work
reveals hls rellance on the models of Pushkln, Lermon
tov, and Iet, but hls notebooks also lnclude translatlons
of work by |ohann Wolfgang von Goethe; Irledrlch
Schlller; George Gordon, Lord Byron; and Alphonse de
Lamartlne. A promlnent llterary flgure of the day was
Semen Nadson, a poet who expressed hls longlng to be
of use to soclety and lamented hls powerlessness to do
so. Nadson`s angulshed ldeallsm resonated powerfully
among young Russlans of Bunln`s generatlon. When
Nadson dled of tuberculosls at twentyflve ln |anuary
l887, Bunln wrote a commemoratlve poem, 'Nad
mogllol S. Ia. Nadsona" (At the Grave of S. Ia. Nad
son). It was publlshed ln the journal Iodivo (Homeland)
on 22 Iebruary l887, and Bunln`s llterary career was
launched. Wlthln a short tlme he publlshed other
poems ln Iodivo and ln Ivilli vcdcli (Books of the
Week) and hls flrst short storles, 'Nefedka" and 'Dva
strannlka" (Jwo Wanderers), ln Iodivo.
In August l888 Iulll moved to Kharkov, and
Bunln found hlmself lncreaslngly bored wlth llfe ln the
country. On 20 |anuary l889 he was lnvlted to joln the
staff of Urlovsly vcstvil (Orel Messenger), a newspaper
that covered soclal lssues, llterature, and trade. Before
taklng up the posltlon he spent two months vlsltlng Iulll
ln Kharkov, meetlng hls brother`s radlcal frlends and
engaglng ln lengthy arguments about polltlcs and ldeol
ogy. After a trlp to the Crlmea, he began work at
Urlovsly vcstvil ln autumn l889. He used hls posltlon to
publlsh hls poems, storles, and llterary artlcles ln the
paper. He fell ln love wlth a coworker, Varvara
Pashchenko, although she appears to have been amblv
alent ln her feellngs for hlm. Bunln felt constralned by
hls lack of flnanclal means, and Pashchenko`s parents
were opposed to her marrylng an lmpecunlous wrlter.
Jhe couple was forced to conceal thelr relatlonshlp,
whlch placed addltlonal stress on lt; arguments and sep
aratlons were followed by perlods of renewed lntlmacy.
Bunln lncorporated many of the elements of hls rela
tlonshlp wlth Pashchenko lnto hls novel liv` Zrscv`cvo:
Iuvost` (l952; translated as Tlc Iifc of Zrscvicv: Joutl,
l991).
In l89l Bunln`s Stillotvorcviio: 1SS7-1S91 gg.
(Poems. l887-l89l) was publlshed as a supplement to
the Urlovsly vcstvil. Jhe followlng year he and
Pashchenko moved to Poltava, where Bunln went to
work wlth Iulll ln the local zemstvo (provlnclal admlnls
tratlve organlzatlon) as a llbrarlan. Later he became a
statlstlclan, whlch requlred hlm to travel throughout the
reglon collectlng data and observlng the changlng con
dltlons of rural llfe. He dlstllled hls observatlons lnto
hls flctlon, and hls work began appearlng wlth more fre
quency ln llterary journals.
Durlng thls perlod Bunln became acqualnted wlth
followers of Jolstoy`s phllosophy of slmpllflcatlon, and
for a tlme he was selzed wlth enthuslasm for Jolstoyan
lsm. He went to Moscow to meet Jolstoy ln |anuary
l891; although Jolstoy cautloned hlm agalnst becom
lng a bllnd adherent of the slmple llfe, the meetlng
made a powerful lmpresslon on hlm. Later that year
Bunln began dlstrlbutlng llterature put out by the Jol
stoyan publlshlng house Posrednlk (Medlator) and was
arrested for selllng books wlthout a llcense. He was sen
tenced to three months` lmprlsonment but was saved
from golng to jall by the general amnesty ordered when
Nlcholas II succeeded Alexander III as tsar ln October.
Bunln`s lnfatuatlon wlth the slmple llfe soon passed,
and he conveyed hls reservatlons about the Jolstoyan
ldeal ln the story 'Na dache" (l897, At the Dacha). Jol
stoy hlmself, however, remalned one of Bunln`s llfelong
heroes, and decades later Bunln set down hls vlews on
Jolstoy and the meanlng of Jolstoy`s work ln the trea
tlse Usvoboldcvic Tolstogo (l937; translated as Tlc Iibcro-
tiov of Tolstoy, 200l).
On 1 November l891 Pashchenko wrote Bunln a
note statlng that she was leavlng hlm. Her parents
refused to glve hlm any lnformatlon as to her where
abouts. Hls despalr was such that hls parents feared
that he would commlt sulclde. He was further devas
tated when he found out that Pashchenko had marrled
thelr frlend Arsenll Blblkov. Aware of hls state of mlnd,
Iulll urged hlm to travel to St. Petersburg and Moscow
and lmmerse hlmself ln the llterary llfe ln those cltles.
Iollowlng hls brother`s counsel, Bunln became
acqualnted wlth a broad spectrum of llterary and lntel
lectual flgures ranglng from members of the older gen
eratlon, such as Dmltrll Grlgorovlch, to one of the
rlslng stars of the nascent symbollst movement, Kon
stantln Bal`mont. He contlnued to feel lsolated and
unsettled, however. He was partlcularly troubled by a
239
ai_ POV f~ _
sense that he had recelved an lnferlor educatlon and
had not been properly prepared for a career.
Returnlng to the countryslde for the sprlng and
summer of l895, Bunln worked on lmprovlng hls
Engllsh. he had begun translatlng Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow`s Tlc Sovg of Hiowotlo (l855). Jhe transla
tlon was publlshed ln Urlovsly vcstvil ln l896 and, wlth
revlslons, achleved great popularlty and went through
many edltlons. Ior the next several years perlods of cre
atlve work ln the countryslde alternated wlth travel to
the major cltles or to the south and, ultlmately, beyond
Russla`s borders. Bunln became acqualnted wlth a
growlng clrcle of wrlters, lncludlng Anton Chekhov,
Aleksandr Kuprln, Valerll Brlusov, and Nlkolal Jele
shov.
Bunln`s flrst major success came wlth the publlca
tlon of hls flrst collectlon of short storles, 'ò lroi svcto
i drugic rossloy ('Jo the Edge of the World" and Other
Jales), ln l897. Several of the storles dlsplay a popullst
orlentatlon and expose the hardshlps faced by the com
mon folk as thelr tradltlonal mode of llfe ls threatened
by famlne and relocatlon. Jhese general themes are
lnformed by Bunln`s personal concern wlth lssues such
as growlng old, the loss of cherlshed joys, and the mys
tery of death. Characterlstlc ls the concludlng sectlon of
the tltle story. havlng descrlbed the grlef that attends
the departure of a group of peasants from thelr natlve
vlllage ln quest of a better llfe ln a new terrltory, Bunln
shlfts focus from the sorrows of lndlvlduals to a broader
reflectlon on the evanescence of human llfe. Referrlng
to anclent burlal mounds on the steppe, he asks. 'But of
what concern to them, these ageold, sllent mounds, are
the sorrows or joys of some klnd of belngs who wlll
exlst for a moment and then cede thelr place to others
just llke them, others who wlll agaln worry and rejolce
and dlsappear just as completely wlthout a trace from
the face of the earth?" Repeatedly ln these storles Bunln
moves outward from the travalls of hls characters to the
natural world, dlssolvlng the tenslon of lnsoluble
human dllemmas ln nature`s ceaseless flow.
Crltlcs reacted posltlvely to the collectlon. Com
mentlng on 'Na kral sveta" ln the St. Petersburg paper
òvosti (News) on 26 October l895, Aleksandr Skabl
chevsky declared, 'Jhls ls not genre palntlng, nor
descrlptlon of everyday llfe, nor ethnography . . . but
poetry ltself!" Skablchevsky`s perceptlon of a poetlc
quallty to Bunln`s prose was accurate. not only was
Bunln`s early prose lyrlcal and rhythmlc, but he was
also contlnulng to develop as a poet. In l898 hls verse
collectlon Iod otlrytym vcbom (Lnder the Open Sky) was
publlshed ln Moscow, and lt too met wlth crltlcal
acclalm.
In l898 Bunln moved to Odessa to work for the
newspaper Iulvoc oborcvic (Southern Revlew). He
qulckly became lnfatuated wlth Anna Jsaknl, the
daughter of the publlsher of the paper, and they were
marrled on 28 September. He soon regretted the hasty
marrlage. In a letter to hls brother Iulll dated l1 Decem
ber l899 he descrlbed hls wlfe as 'foollsh and lmma
ture as a puppy." In March l900 Bunln left her and
went to Moscow. Anna gave blrth to a son, Nlkolal, ln
August. Bunln returned to Odessa only to vlslt hls son,
who dled ln |anuary l905 of compllcatlons followlng
scarlet fever and measles.
In l90l Bunln publlshed the poetry collectlon Iis-
topod (Ialllng Leaves) and dedlcated lt to the wrlter
Makslm Gor`ky (pseudonym of Aleksel Peshkov).
Gor`ky had wrltten Bunln to pralse Iod otlrytym vcbom,
and the two had met ln Yalta ln l899 and begun a
frlendshlp that lasted for nearly two decades. Jhe long
tltle poem ls characterlstlc of Bunln`s early verse. Per
sonlfylng autumn as a 'qulet wldow" sorrowfully
departlng for the south as wlnter approaches, the poem
hlghllghts the beauty of nature`s tlmeless changes. Jhe
collectlon garnered pralse from notable flgures across
the llterary spectrum. In early Iebruary l90l Gor`ky
wrote Brlusov that he consldered Bunln the foremost
poet of the day, and a young poet from the symbollst
camp, Aleksandr Blok, sald that Bunln had won the
rlght to one of the chlef posltlons ln contemporary Rus
slan poetry. Jhe collectlon, together wlth the transla
tlon of Tlc Sovg of Hiowotlo, earned Bunln hls flrst
major llterary honor. the Imperlal Academy of Sclences
awarded hlm the coveted Pushkln Prlze ln October
l903.
Whlle Iistopod had been publlshed by the symbol
lst house Skorplon, Bunln`s artlstlc temperament had
llttle ln common wlth the excesses sometlmes found ln
decadent llterature; and when negotlatlons for Skorplon
to publlsh addltlonal volumes of hls work collapsed,
Bunln turned to the flrm wlth whlch Gor`ky was
closely ldentlfled. Znanle (Knowledge) publlshed flve
volumes of hls collected works from l902 to l909. Jhe
wrlters assoclated wlth Znanle were known as 'reallsts"
or 'neoreallsts," but Bunln was never comfortable wlth
labels, and hls work defles ready categorlzatlon. Jhe
prose sketches he began wrltlng at the turn of the twen
tleth century, for example, are nearly devold of plot.
Hlghly lyrlcal, they feature dense passages of descrlp
tlon ln whlch subtle gradatlons of color, smell, and
sound are dellcately woven together lnto a rlch tapestry
of sensatlon. Aptly characterlzed by Jhomas Wlnner as
'mood palntlngs," the sketches elther convey a solltary
narrator`s reflectlons on the mysterles of human exlst
ence, as ln 'Sosny" (l90l, Plnes) and 'Juman" (l90l,
Mlst), or palnt an evocatlve plcture of the slow decllne
of tradltlonal forms of llfe ln the countryslde, as ln 'Epl
taflla" (l90l, Epltaph). Perhaps the best known of these
210
f~ _ ai_ POV
sketches ls 'Antonovskle lablokl" (l900, Antonov
Apples; translated as 'Apple Iragrance," l911), ln
whlch the rlch and expanslve estate llfe of past genera
tlons ls contrasted wlth the more meager exlstence that
survlves on lmpoverlshed estates at the end of the nlne
teenth century. Jhe wrlter`s nostalgla for the vanlshlng
beauty of the past ls conveyed through a serles of
remembered scenes that antlclpate Marcel Proust ln
thelr appreclatlon for the evocatlve power of sensual
detall. But as exqulslte as these mood palntlngs are,
they represented a dead end for Bunln. havlng evoked
the atmosphere of lnevltable decllne ln the Russlan
countryslde, he seemed to have gone as far as he could
ln thls genre. Wlthout a new perspectlve or a slgnlflcant
story to tell, he ran the rlsk of repeatlng hlmself.
In Aprll l903 Bunln departed for Constantlnople
(today Istanbul, Jurkey). He had just read the entlre
_uràn, and he wlshed to see the clty that had played
an lmportant role ln the hlstory of Islam as well as ln
early Russlan hlstory. It was the flrst of many trlps to
Constantlnople, Greece, and the Mlddle East, and he
recorded hls lmpresslons ln a serles of travel sketches
from l907 to l9ll. A readlng of these sketches together
wlth the poetry he wrote durlng the perlod reveals sev
eral underlylng concerns. Ilrst, Bunln sought to lden
tlfy the essence of a rellglon or culture by studylng the
envlronment ln whlch lt developed. Islam, he wrote ln
'Jen` ptltsy" (l908, Jhe Shadow of a Blrd), was born
'ln the wllderness," whereas the myths of anclent
Greece were born from 'sun, sea, and stone." Survey
lng the rulns of Egypt, Syrla, Greece, and Palestlne,
Bunln became aware that every clvlllzatlon seemed to
undergo a cycle of blrth, expanslon, and annlhllatlon.
Hls appreclatlon of the lnevltablllty of a clvlllzatlon`s
decay took on toplcal slgnlflcance when he returned to
Russla and wltnessed contlnulng dlslocatlon and
change at home. Strlkes, demonstratlons, and vlolent
represslon ln l905 convlnced hlm that Russla was on
an lrreverslble downward splral.
Bunln`s flrsthand observatlons of the remalns of
earller clvlllzatlons also deepened hls preoccupatlon
wlth death and loss. Annlhllatlon was not merely a per
sonal event; lt affected clvlllzatlons, cultures, and rell
glons allke. Nonetheless, Bunln always looked for slgns
of survlval and renewal. Observlng ln 'More bogov"
(l908, Jhe Sea of Gods) that 'Vremla" (Jlme) has
swallowed up the manlfestatlons of solar worshlp prac
tlced ln anclent eras, Bunln exclalms. 'But the Sun stlll
exlsts!" Iurthermore, by achlevlng an emotlonal or splr
ltual contact wlth rellcs of anclent llfe, the wrlter felt
that hls own llfe span had been expanded. As he put lt
ln the poem 'Moglla v skale" (l9l0, Cllff Jomb), the
slght of a footprlnt left by a mourner ln a grave flve
thousand years ago resurrected that moment of partlng,
and 'Jhe llfe glven me by destlny was multlplled by
flve thousand years." Such moments of transcendence
were lmmensely consollng to Bunln.
Bunln met hls future wlfe, Vera Muromtseva, ln
November l906. In l909 he was awarded a second
Pushkln Prlze and elected an honorary member of the
Imperlal Academy. When he returned to flctlon at the
end of the decade he began chronlcllng the worrlsome
changes ln the countryslde wlth a depth and lntenslty
that are not present ln hls earller work. Jhe flrst slgnlfl
cant plece that reflected thls new perspectlve was the
novella Dcrcvvio (l9l0; translated as Tlc !illogc, l923).
Jhe tltle suggests the breadth of Bunln`s conceptlon.
Dcrcvvio means both 'vlllage" and 'countryslde"; Bunln
lntended hls deplctlon of one rural vlllage to represent
rural Russla at large. A character ln the novella under
scores thls symbollsm for the reader when he caustl
cally declares about Russla. 'it is oll o villogc.
Jhe two maln characters ln Dcrcvvio are the
brothers Jlkhon and Kuzma Krasov. Bunln provldes a
capsule summary of the Krasov famlly background ln
the openlng paragraphs. the brothers` greatgrandfather
was a serf who was kllled by hls master`s dogs for steal
lng the affectlons of the master`s lover. Jhelr grandfa
ther won hls freedom and became a famous thlef. Jhelr
father opened a shop ln thelr natlve vlllage, Durnovka
(the name ls derlved from a word that means 'bad" or
'nasty"), but 'went bankrupt, took up drlnklng . . . and
dled." Clearly, the Krasovs` emanclpatlon from serfdom
dld not lead to prosperlty and fulflllment. Nor does the
present generatlon fare much better. Early ln llfe
Jlkhon Krasov declded to devote hlmself to buslness,
and after years of toll, he was able to buy the Durnovka
estate from the famlly that had formerly been hls fam
lly`s masters. Yet, materlal galn has left hlm splrltually
and emotlonally lmpoverlshed. He has no helr; he ls
estranged from hls wlfe; and he scarcely has any memo
rles of the past to savor ln hls old age. At the end of the
flrst part of the tale Jlkhon ls rellevlng hlmself outslde
hls house as a traln, a symbol of progress that has no
meanlng for hlm, roars by ln the nlght. Kuzma lnltlally
seems to have a more ambltlous agenda. Selfeducated,
he longs to make hls mark on the world, leaves the vll
lage, and publlshes a book of poetry. Yet, he too flnds
no slgnlflcant outlet for hls energles, and he returns to
an empty llfe of ldleness ln Durnovka. Bunln now wld
ens hls focus to deplct the llves of some of the Durn
ovka peasants; ln partlcular, he follows the fate of a
young woman who had been raped by Jlkhon and ls
belng readled for marrlage to a crude, poorly educated
man. Kuzma ls horrlfled by the match but can do noth
lng to prevent lt, and the marrlage ceremony has more
of the aura of a pagan orgy than a Chrlstlan rltual.
Bunln concludes hls narratlve wlth a gllmpse of one of
21l
ai_ POV f~ _
the revelers walllng 'wlth a wolf `s volce" lnto the bllz
zard raglng around her.
Bunln`s readers reacted strongly to thls somber
lmage of Russla`s destlny. Hls portralt of vlllage llfe was
a far cry from the ldeallzed peasantry ln Jolstoy`s
works, and some crltlcs accused Bunln of belng a bltter
or fearful arlstocrat slanderlng the people. Others, such
as Gor`ky, welcomed the work as an unfllnchlng dlag
nosls of the llls affllctlng the countryslde. Bunln thought
that nelther camp really understood hls work and
ascrlbed the unlnformed nature of the crltlclsm to the
lntelllgentsla`s lgnorance of the true state of rural llfe.
Havlng exposed the moral bankruptcy of the
lower classes, Bunln turned to the stratum of soclety
that had long been vlewed as the bastlon of enllghten
ment and culturethe gentry. In a l9ll lntervlew
lncluded ln volume nlne of hls p~ ~
~ (l965-l967, Collected Works ln Nlne Volumes)
Bunln polnted out that the landowners deplcted ln the
works of Jurgenev and Jolstoy were not typlcal repre
sentatlves of the gentry but were 'rare oases of culture."
In hls vlew, the llfe of the ordlnary small landowner
was much closer to that of the peasant than most people
appreclated. 'In no other country ls the llfe of the gen
try and peasantry so closely and lntlmately tled as
among us. Jhe soul of both, I thlnk, ls ldentlcally Rus
slan."
A major work wrltten at thls tlme, the novella
'Sukhodol" (l9l2; translated as 'Dry Valley," l935),
lllustrates Bunln`s convlctlon. In thls tale Bunln shows
how the llves of a landownlng famlly and thelr servants
are lntlmately lnterwoven. Jhe narratlve structure of
the tale supports thls lnterweavlng. the prlmary narra
tor ls the last male descendent of the Khrushchev fam
lly, who presents the reader wlth the storles told by a
servant, Natalla, who worked for the famlly. Jhe saga
of the Khrushchev clan, however, ls not conveyed ln a
stralghtforward llnear way. over the course of years
Natalla retells her tales; wlth each telllng new detalls
emerge, untll flnally the reader has a full vlew of the
extraordlnary events that she wltnessed. Jhls lyrlcal
structure underscores Bunln`s bellef ln the lmportance
of memory as a means of preservlng the past, as well as
ln the power of a sklllful narratlve to make past events
llve agaln ln the mlnds of an audlence.
Natalla relates that the patrlarch of the famlly was
murdered by hls lllegltlmate son, Gervaska; her mls
tress Jonla was drlven mad by a falled love affalr; and
she herself was raped by a coarse peasant, Iushka. Jhe
events themselves, dlsturblng as they are, are not as
strlklng as the fatallstlc attltude that Natalla and the rest
of the Dry Valley lnhabltants adopt toward the mlsfor
tunes that befell them. deeply superstltlous, they feel
surrounded by uncanny prlmordlal forces that they are
unable to reslstlndeed, they seem almost to thlrst for
chaos and destructlon. Jhe flnal stage of destructlon
wlll be the lnevltable dlsappearance of the memorles of
Dry Valley. Jhls sense of ultlmate loss, ln the oplnlon
of Renato Poggloll, 'glves a s~ a sense of traglc
pathos whlch no work of Bunln . . . attalned before or
after."
In the early l9l0s Bunln wrote a serles of storles
ln whlch he strove to lllumlnate, as he put lt ln the l9ll
lntervlew, 'the soul of the Russlan man . . . the tralts of
the Slav`s psyche." Jhese works lay bare the dark,
destructlve forces lurklng beneath the surface of every
day rural llfe. In 'Nochnol razgovor" (l9l2; translated
as 'A Nlght Conversatlon," l923) he deplcts the bltter
dlsllluslonment that overwhelms an ldeallstlc young
member of the gentry who spends an evenlng wlth
some peasants and ls horrlfled by the rellsh wlth whlch
they swap tales of vlolence and slaughter. In 'Ignat"
(l9l2; translated as 'A Slmple Peasant," l931) he
descrlbes the crude lmpulses that drlve a peasant to a
serles of horrlfylng acts, lncludlng bestlallty and mur
der. Yet, lt ls not just the peasants who come ln for thls
klnd of exposure. 'Poslednll den`" (l9l3, Jhe Last
Day) portrays the senseless behavlor of a landowner
who has sold hls estate to strangers and decldes to glve
the new owners a grlm welcome. he orders that hls slx
dogs be hanged and thelr bodles left dangllng from the
tree.
In hls quest to lllumlnate the 'Slav`s psyche"
Bunln turned to folktale, eplc, and rellglous llterature as
source materlal for hls flctlon and poetry of the early
l9l0s. Jhe story 'Zakhar Vorobèv" (l9l2) lndlcates
the fate of Russla`s legendary warrlors, the ~I ln
the modern era. Possesslng enormous strength and
deslrlng to lmpress those around hlm, the tltle character
ends up drlnklng hlmself to deatha solltary vlctlm of
an lnsensltlve world. Jradltlonal splrltuallty too seems
to have degenerated ln the modern world, as Bunln
shows ln 'Ia vse molchu" (l9l3; translated as 'I Say
Nothlng," l923). A young member of the gentry,
Shasha Romanov, behaves ln blzarre, selfdestructlve
ways. Although hls conduct evlnces some traces of the
anclent 'holy fool" tradltlon, ln whlch eccentrlc behav
lor and selfabnegatlon served to reproach those who
had forgotten Chrlst`s humlllty, hls real motlvatlons are
a vlle comblnatlon of masochlsm and exhlbltlonlsm.
Wlth characters such as these Bunln palnts a stark plc
ture of Russla`s decllne.
A journey to Ceylon (today Srl Lanka) ln l9ll,
coupled wlth study of Buddhlst phllosophy, provlded
Bunln wlth a new perspectlve on the human condltlon.
In Buddhlsm he found a persuaslve explanatlon of the
contradlctlon between llfe`s capaclty for provldlng
moments of ecstatlc happlness and the lnevltable annl
212
f~ _ ai_ POV
hllatlon of that joy by loss and death. Accordlng to Bud
dhlst doctrlne, sufferlng results from deslre; the only
way to end sufferlng ls to renounce deslrenot only for
love, passlon, or materlal galn but for llfe ltself. Over
the next several years Bunln wrote storles that reflect
these concepts. Some of these works, such as 'Brat`la"
(l9l1; translated as 'Brethren," l923) and 'Sny
Changa" (l9l6; translated as 'Jhe Dreams of Chang,"
l923), make overt reference to Buddhlst thought.
'Brat`la" ls partlcularly rlch ln Buddhlst apho
rlsms. Jhe story juxtaposes the arduous llfe of a young
rlcksha puller ln Colombo wlth the pleasuresated exls
tence of an Engllshman who rldes ln hls vehlcle. Jhe
natlve ls followlng the model of hls father, who worked
hard to provlde for hls famlly untll he dled from
exhaustlon. Accordlng to Buddhlst teachlngs, the father
must suffer relncarnatlon because of hls lmmerslon ln
earthly cares. Jhe young man ls fated to repeat hls
father`s errors, for he began pulllng the rlcksha to earn
money when he became lnfatuated wlth a woman. In
dolng so he became enmeshed ln the chaln of deslre.
hls deslre for love 'ls the deslre for sons, just as the
deslre for sons ls a deslre for property, and a deslre for
property ls a deslre for wellbelng." Sufferlng ls the
lnevltable result. Jhey marry, but the brlde dlsappears,
and months later the youth dlscovers that she has
become the chattel of rlch Europeans ln Colombo. He
commlts sulclde but wlll return agaln and agaln 'ln a
thousand lncarnatlons." Jhe Engllshman departs on a
shlp; at sea he rumlnates on the dlfferences between the
natlves of Ceylon and the more 'sophlstlcated" Europe
ans who have colonlzed the world. As he sees lt, Euro
peans have lost thelr humlllty ln the cosmos. 'We
elevate our Personallty hlgher than the heavens; we
wlsh to concentrate the entlre world wlthln lt, no matter
what we have sald about unlversal brotherhood and
equallty."
Wlth thls story Bunln sets forth hls understand
lng of a profound contradlctlon that underlles much of
human llfe. the contradlctlon between the deslre for
selfgratlflcatlon or selfaggrandlzement and an aware
ness of the ultlmate lnslgnlflcance of any lndlvldual ln
the vast flow of cosmlc processes. He goes on, ln work
after work, to deplct characters who dlsplay thelr bond
age to the ego elther ln love or ln the accumulatlon of
wealth and power. Ior the most part these works do not
lnclude overt references to Buddhlsm, and many of the
protagonlsts are unaware that thelr deslre wlll lead to
unhapplness.
Perhaps the most compelllng storles ln whlch the
drama of deslre and sufferlng ls enacted ln Bunln`s
work of the early and mld l9l0s are those that deal
wlth the seductlve power of love and passlon. 'Prl
doroge" (l9l3; translated as 'On the Great Road,"
l931) and 'Legkoe dykhanle" (l9l6; translated as
'Gentle Breathlng," l922) focus, respectlvely, on a
peasant glrl and one of noble blrth. 'Legkoe dykhanle,"
whlch ls just a few pages ln length, offers a compressed
vlew of a young woman`s brlef lntoxlcatlon wlth the
attractlons of passlon. It opens wlth a descrlptlon of her
portralt on her grave, then moves back ln tlme to show
what led to her early demlse. Olla Meshcherskala pos
sessed an extraordlnary zest for llfe; summoned to her
hlghschool headmlstress`s offlce and reprlmanded for
forgettlng that she ls not yet a woman, Olla shocks the
teacher by assertlng that she a woman because she
has been seduced by an older manthe headmlstress`s
brother. In the next sentence Bunln lnforms the reader
that the followlng month Olla was shot and kllled at a
rallway statlon by a Cossack offlcer 'of plebelan
appearance, who had absolutely nothlng ln common
wlth the clrcle to whlch Olla Meshcherskala belonged."
Olla had had a sexual encounter wlth the offlcer and
then told hlm that she had merely been toylng wlth
hlm; to prove lt she had shown hlm the dlary entry ln
whlch she descrlbed her seductlon by her flrst lover,
who was flftyslx. Jhe offlcer then shot her ln a jealous
rage. Olla`s early entrance lnto the realm of deslre
resulted ln her untlmely death, but her llfe dld not flare
up and burn out wlthout a trace. In the flnal scene one
of Olla`s former teachers, who has become enchanted
wlth the story of her traglc love, vlslts Olla`s grave; her
dreams wlll keep Olla`s memory allve. In thls story
Bunln shows both the ecstatlc and devastatlng effects of
passlon on the human soul. Jhe concluslon suggests
that the memory of such passlon may endure long after
the physlcal sensatlon has faded.
By thls polnt ln hls career Bunln was regarded as
one of the most dlstlngulshed wrlters of hls generatlon;
he was partlcularly halled as an helr to the classlcal tra
dltlons of Russlan llterature. Russlan art and llterature
were experlenclng the throes of modernlst experlmenta
tlon ln the l9l0s, and Bunln took an actlve part ln the
debate over the proper models for wrlters and artlsts to
follow. In a speech dellvered durlng an annlversary cel
ebratlon for the newspaper o (Russlan
Gazette) ln October l9l3 he declared that contempo
rary llterature had departed from the standards set by
Pushkln, Jurgenev, and Jolstoy and was mlred ln vul
garlty and falsehood. He percelved thls development as
emblematlc of a general decllne ln the moral and splrl
tual values of soclety. Jhe outbreak of World War I ln
August of the followlng year relnforced hls dark vlew of
socletal trends. On 28 September l9l1 he declared ln
the newspaper o (Russlan Word) that the vlo
lent acts carrled out by the Germans served as a grlm
remlnder that 'the anclent beast ls allve and strong ln
man." Jhe dangerous assertlon of the ego that Bunln
213
ai_ POV f~ _
evoked ln 'Brat`la" seemed to hlm to have galned sway
throughout Europe.
Jhe flctlon Bunln wrote at thls tlme reflected hls
dlsmay over the current state of affalrs. Especlally dls
turblng ls 'Petllstye ushl" (l9l6; translated as 'Noosl
form Ears," l983). Jhe protagonlst, Sokolovlch,
dellvers a cynlcal tlrade ln a St. Petersburg tavern ln
whlch he argues that the lust for vlolence ls more pro
nounced ln modern tlmes than ln the age of Caln and
Abel. He then goes out, plcks up a prostltute, murders
her ln a hotel room, and coolly leaves the body to be
dlscovered by the hotel staff. Bunln lnserts several allu
slons to Iyodor Dostoevsky`s m ~~~
(l867; translated as ` ~ mI l886), and the
contrast that emerges between the two works ls telllng.
Jhe sensltlve, selfdoubtlng murderer of Dostoevsky`s
novel has been replaced by a coldblooded, remorseless
klller; and whereas a prostltute plays a redemptlve role
ln Dostoevsky`s murderer`s llfe, ln Bunln`s tale the
prostltute ls not the klller`s savlor but hls vlctlm. Bunln
seems to be saylng that Dostoevsky`s ldeallstlc vlew of
humanlty`s potentlal for redemptlon can be seen to be
chlldlshly nalve at a tlme when the 'anclent beast ln
man" has been unleashed.
Less horrlfylng, but perhaps even more effectlve
ln lts lndlctment of modern egotlsm, ls 'Gospodln lz
SanIrantslsko" (l9l6; translated as 'Jhe Gentleman
from San Iranclsco," l92l), one of Bunln`s bestknown
storles. An Amerlcan buslnessman sets off wlth hls fam
lly on a grand tour of Europe to reward hlmself for hls
years of relentless accumulatlon of wealth; the journey
ends abruptly when he dles of a heart attack on the
lsland of Caprl. Hls rlches are of no use to hlm now. hls
famlly ls treated dlsrespectfully by the staff of the hotel
ln whlch he dled, and slnce no coffln ls avallable, hls
corpse ls carted off ln a crate that ls normally used to
transport bottled water. Jhe shlp that carrles the gentle
man`s body back across the sea ls the same one that had
brought hlm to Europe wlth such great expectatlons.
Whlle the rlch passengers stuff themselves at lavlsh dln
ners and dance the nlghts away ln gllttery ballrooms,
many decks below them lles a makeshlft coffln wlth lts
llfeless contentsa strlklng emblem of the ultlmate fate
of thls valn and thoughtless world.
In Iebruary (New Style, March) l9l7 a revolu
tlon resulted ln the collapse of the Romanov dynasty.
Bunln and Muromtseva spent the summer of l9l7 wlth
hls relatlves, the Pusheshnlkovs, ln the vlllage of Glo
tovo, where they constantly worrled that the peasants
mlght come and burn the house down. Jhey were ln
Moscow when the October (New Style, November)
revolutlon brought the Bolshevlks to power. In May
l9l8 they went vla Klev to Odessa, where they stayed
for nearly two years. In Moscow and Odessa, Bunln
kept a journal that he publlshed ln l936 as l~~
(translated as ` a~W ^ a~ oI l998).
Jhe journal records scenes he wltnessed, rumors and
conversatlons he overheard, excerpts from newspapers
and speeches, and hls own lmpresslons of events and
conveys the sense of chaos and turmoll that Russla
experlenced durlng the revolutlons and clvll war. Bunln
agaln castlgates the debasement of cultural values that
he flnds ln llterature and the press. Labellng some con
temporary wrltlng 'lndecent trash," he says. 'But
almost all of Russla, almost all of Russlan llfe, almost
the entlre Russlan world ls becomlng thls 'trash.`"
In |anuary l920 Bunln and Muromtseva were on
one of the last boats to leave Odessa for Constantlnople
before the Red Army selzed the clty. Irom Constantlno
ple they traveled through the Balkans to Irance. In
l922 Bunln flnallzed hls dlvorce from hls flrst wlfe and
marrled Muromtseva. Ior most of the year the Bunlns
llved ln a vllla ln the south of Irance, near Grasse, but
they often spent the wlnter ln Parls. Jhey had many
guests at the vllla, lncludlng a young wrlter, Gallna Kuz
netsova, who llved wlth them for several years and
engaged ln a serlous love affalr wlth Bunln.
After a few years of wrltlng sketches, Bunln
began produclng longer works of hlgh quallty ln
whlch he often returned to a favorlte subject. the lure
of passlon, wlth lts capaclty to brlng both ecstasy and
paln. At one end of the spectrum ln terms of length,
j~ (l925; translated as j~ iI l926) ls
a portralt of a young man`s shatterlng dlscovery of the
dlsparlty between hls ldeallzed lmage of romantlc love
and the lrreslstlble call of base sexual deslre. At the
other end, the brlef 'Solnechnyl udar" (l926; trans
lated as 'Sunstroke," l931) ls a masterplece of concl
slon and expresslve vltallty. Recalllng Chekhov`s
'Dama s sobachkol" (l899, Lady wlth a Lapdog) ln
showlng how a casual affalr can have lastlng effects,
'Solnechnyl udar" features a protagonlst who llght
heartedly spends the nlght wlth a woman he met on a
rlverboat; after she leaves he dlscovers that he desper
ately loves her but does not know her name. Bunln`s
descrlptlons of physlcal sensatlon and atmosphere pro
vlde a movlng accompanlment to the emotlonal vlcls
sltudes of the maln character.
Another work wrltten at thls tlme sets the sub
ject of deslre ln a more phllosophlcal framework. In
'Delo korneta Elaglna" (l925; translated as 'Jhe
Elaghln Affalr," l935) Aleksandr Elagln, a young mlll
tary offlcer, ls on trlal for shootlng Marlla Sosnovs
kala, wlth whom he had been havlng an affalr. Elagln
testlfles that Sosnovskala wanted hlm to klll her, as
well as hlmself, and her motlvatlon becomes the focus
of the story. She had many lovers and lndulged ln the
atrlcal dlsplays of emotlon but seemed perpetually dls
211
f~ _ ai_ POV
satlsfled wlth her llfe. Some notes she made and her
lnterest ln the pesslmlstlc wrltlngs of the German phl
losopher Arthur Schopenhauer lndlcate that she was
seeklng an escape from everyday llfe. Sosnovskala`s
struggle reflects the dlchotomy Bunln had ldentlfled ln
the mld l9l0s between the lmpulse to assert one`s ego
by pursulng one`s deslres and a recognltlon of the
futlllty of such strlvlng.
In the same year ln whlch Bunln created the
enlgmatlc flgure of Marlla Sosnovskala he summarlzed
hls understandlng of the fundamental blfurcatlon ln
human lmpulse ln a phllosophlcal sketch orlglnally
tltled 'Jslkady" (l925; translated as 'Clcadas," l935)
and retltled 'Noch`" (l925; translated as 'Nlght,"
l983). Jhe narrator declares that he ls one of a select
group of artlsts and poets who have the capaclty to
feel not only thelr own tlme and place but also past
tlmes and other lands; such people have a helghtened
receptlvlty to llfe and are eager to enjoy all of lts
dlverse rlchness, but thelr sensltlvlty makes them real
lze that all llfe ends ln death and that lmmerslon ln lts
pleasures ultlmately proves valn. Jhe narrator ldentl
fles Solomon, Buddha, and Jolstoy as prlme represen
tatlves of thls group. He proclalms. 'All the Solomons
and Buddhas at flrst embrace the world wlth avldlty;
then, wlth great passlon they curse lts temptatlons";
they feel a dual torment, 'the torment of wlthdrawal
from the Chaln, separatlon from lt . . . and the tor
ment of an lntenslfled, terrlble fasclnatlon wlth lt."
(Bunln expanded on thls concept ln relatlon to Jolstoy
ln l q.) Jhe narrator speaks for
Bunln when he declares that whlle he too reallzes the
vanlty of earthly strlvlng, he feels that the tlme to turn
hls back on llfe has not yet come; the call of the
world`s beauty ls stronger than all hls phllosophlzlng.
Another comment by the narrator hlnts at one of
the drlvlng forces behlnd Bunln`s art. He says that the
crown of every human llfe ls the memory of that llfe,
and he reveals hls dream of leavlng ln the world
'myself, my feellngs, vlslons, and deslres untll the end
of tlme." Jhe vehlcle by whlch thls goal may be
attalned ls art, and lt appears that Bunln regarded hls
flctlon and poetry as the path to whatever earthly
lmmortallty he mlght hope to attaln. Jhls lmpulse to
fashlon a permanent record of hls feellngs and vlslons
perhaps fueled the major project he undertook ln the
late l920s, a flctlonal autoblography comprlslng w
^~W f (l930; translated as q t
a~I l933) and w ^~W f.
In w ^~ Bunln deplcts the evolutlon of
an artlstlc soul. Drawlng on events from hls llfe, he
traces the development of Aleksel Arsenèv from
lmpresslonable chlld to young wrlter brlmmlng over
wlth the deslre to observe and record the pageant of
llfe. Jhroughout the novel he offers a dual perspectlve
on events. the lmmedlate sensatlons experlenced by
the hero at the tlme of thelr occurrence and the
retrospectlve evaluatlon of those sensatlons by the
mature Arsenèv. Jhe novel lncludes several of
Bunln`s most cherlshed themes. the youth`s abldlng
sense of curloslty and wonder about the world, con
sclousness of the mystery of death, and eagerness to
embrace the joys of thls world, fleetlng though they
be. Death and passlon are conslstently juxtaposed,
and one senses the wrlter`s asplratlon to transcend the
constralnts of lndlvldual mortallty through unlon wlth
another person, communlon wlth nature, and ultl
mately through the creatlon of art. Although one of
the last events ln the novel ls the death of Arsenèv`s
flrst serlous love, Llka (modeled both on Pashchenko
and on Jsaknl), the narratlve ends wlth an evocatlon
of Llka`s reappearance ln a dream. As long as the
mlnd of the creatlve artlst ls capable of lnsplratlon,
survlval after death remalns posslble.
Jhe hlgh quallty of Bunln`s llterary output
spurred efforts to promote hlm for the Nobel Prlze ln
Llterature durlng the l920s, elther on hls own, or as
part of a jolnt candldacy wlth other wrlters. Jhese
efforts began ln earnest ln l922, when the Russlan
mlgr llterary communlty rallled around the ldea that
the Nobel Prlze should go to a Russlan mlgr wrlter.
Bunln`s fellow mlgr wrlter Mark Aldanov lobbled
other llterary lumlnarles such as Romaln Rolland to
support Bunln`s candldacy. Rolland appeared wllllng
to support Bunln, but he lndlcated that he belleved
that a jolnt candldacy of Bunln and Gor`ky would
have a hlgher chance of success. Aldanov hlmself
thought that a trlo of candldatesBunln, Dmltrll
Merezhkovsky, and Kuprlnwould make a better
comblnatlon. Desplte these early efforts and hopes,
however, the Nobel Prlze went to Wllllam Butler Yeats
ln l923.
Over the course of the next decade, Aldanov
and others made a renewed effort to promote Bunln`s
candldacy for the Nobel Prlze. In l930 Aldanov trled
to enllst the support of Jhomas Mann, but although
the latter expressed admlratlon for Bunln`s work, he
held to the posltlon that he would be bound to sup
port a German candldate lf one were put forth ln com
petltlon wlth Bunln. Aldanov had hlgh hopes for
Bunln`s success ln l932, but the prlze went to |ohn
Galsworthy that year. Ilnally, on 9 November l933,
Bunln`s cherlshed dream was reallzed. he became the
flrst Russlan wrlter to recelve the Nobel Prlze ln Llter
ature.
Bunln was of course overjoyed, but hls way of
llfe dld not change slgnlflcantly as a consequence of
the award. After maklng a trlumphal vlslt to the capl
215
ai_ POV f~ _
tals of the Russlan emlgratlonBerlln and Parlshe
returned to hls home ln Grasse. Ior a brlef perlod, for
elgn publlshers showed an lnterest ln hls work, and
new collectlons of hls prose flctlon ln Engllsh
appeared ln the mld l930s. Jhls perlod of llterary and
flnanclal success proved fleetlng, however. After
recelvlng the prlze, Bunln was besleged wlth letters
pleadlng for flnanclal asslstance, and he responded
wlth as much generoslty as he could. A serles of flnan
clal mlssteps further eroded hls savlngs, and thus, by
the late l930s, the relatlve comfort he had experlenced
earller ln the decade had dlsslpated.
Wlth the outbreak of World War II, Bunln`s for
tunes took a serlous turn. Stranded ln thelr home near
Grasse, the Bunlns faced shortages of food and fuel,
and Bunln was unable to wrlte. By l911 the tlde of
war had begun to turn, and Bunln went back to work
on a project he had begun ln the late l930s. Tcmvyc
ollci (translated as Dorl Zvcvucs ovd Utlcr Storics, l919),
a collectlon of storles that flrst appeared ln l913 and
ln an enlarged verslon ln l916. Almost all of the sto
rles deal wlth love and passlon and follow a slmple
pattern. unexpectedly arrlvlng ln a person`s llfe, pas
slon flares up; reaches an ecstatlc, lncandescent peak;
and then ls snuffed out by a change of heart, vlolence,
or death. Jhe protagonlsts range from lnexperlenced
adolescents to mlddleaged couples flndlng love for the
last tlme. Although some ln the mlgr communlty
chlded Bunln for the frankness of hls deplctlons of
sensuallty, the works testlfy to hls undylng bellef that
moments of ecstatlc unlon wlth another person can
afford one a peak experlence ln an otherwlse dlfflcult
or undlstlngulshed llfe.
Although Bunln contlnued to wrlterevlslng old
materlal, preparlng new short prose pleces, and work
lng on a book about hls frlendshlp wlth Chekhov that
was publlshed posthumously as U Clcllovc:
`colovclcvvoio rulopis` (l955, About Chekhov. An
Lnflnlshed Manuscrlpt)hls health was falllng, and he
was ln woeful flnanclal stralts. He dled ln hls Parls
apartment on 8 November l953.
In an early note for liv` Zrscv`cvo, Ivan Bunln
wrote. 'Llfe, perhaps, ls glven only for competltlon
wlth death; man even struggles wlth lt from the grave.
lt takes hls name from hlm, but he wrltes lt on a cross,
on a stone; lt seeks to cover wlth darkness all that he
has experlenced, whlle he strlves to anlmate that expe
rlence ln the word." Densely lyrlcal ln structure and
lmbued wlth a strlklng lntenslty of feellng, the care
fully crafted works that Bunln produced durlng hls
slxty years of llterary creatlvlty provlde ample testl
mony to hls own asplratlon to reslst the annlhllatlng
effects of tlme and death.
_~W
Vera MuromtsevaBunlna, liv` uvivo 1S70-1906:
cscdy s pomiotìu (Parls, l958);
Aleksandr Baboreko, I. Z. uviv: Motcrioly dlio biogrofii
(Moscow. Khudozhestvennala llteratura, l967);
Jhomas Galton Marullo, Ivov uviv: Iussiov Icquicm,
1SS-1920. Z Iortroit from Icttcrs, Diorics, ovd Iictiov
(Chlcago. Ivan R. Dee, l993);
Marullo, Ivov uviv: Irom tlc Utlcr Slorc, 1920-19JJ: Z Ior-
troit from Icttcrs, Diorics, ovd Iictiov (Chlcago. Ivan R.
Dee, l995);
Mlkhall Roshchln, Ivov uviv (Moscow. Molodala gvar
dlla, 2000).
oW
Vladlslav Afanasèv, I. Z. uviv: Uclcrl tvorclcstvo (Mos
cow. Prosveshchenle, l996);
D. K. Burlaka, ed., I. Z. uviv: Iro ct covtro (St. Petersburg.
Izdatel`stvo Russkogo Khrlstlanskogo gumanltar
nogo lnstltuta, 200l);
|ullan W. Connolly, Tlc !orls of Ivov uviv (Boston.
Jwayne, l982);
Mllltsa Grln, ed., Ustomi uvivyll, 3 volumes (Irankfurt
am Maln. Posev, l977-l982);
Serge Kryzytskl, Tlc !orls of Ivov uviv (Jhe Hague.
Mouton, l97l);
Iurll Mal`tsev, Ivov uviv: 1S70-19J (Moscow Irank
furt am Maln. Posev, l991);
Jhomas Galton Marullo, If Jou Scc tlc uddlo: Studics iv tlc
Iictiov of Ivov uviv (Evanston, Ill.. Northwestern
O. N. Mlkhallov, I. Z. uviv: liv` i tvorclcstvo (Jula. Prlok
skoe knlzhnoe lzdatel`stvo, l987);
Valerll Nefedov, Cludcsvyi prirol: uviv-lludolvil (Mlnsk.
Polymla, l990);
Renato Poggloll, 'Jhe Art of Ivan Bunln," Horvord Slovic
Studics, l (l953). 219-277;
Jhomas Wlnner, 'Some Remarks about the Style of
Bunln`s Early Prose," ln Zmcricov Covtributiovs to tlc
Sixtl Ivtcrvotiovol Covgrcss of Slovists, volume 2. Iitcrory
Covtributiovs, edlted by W. E. Harklns (Jhe Hague.
Mouton, l968), pp. 369-38l;
|ames Woodward, Ivov uviv: Z Study of His Iictiov (Chapel
Hlll. Lnlverslty of North Carollna Press, l980);
Alexander I. Zweers, Tlc òrrotology of tlc Zutobiogroply: Zv
Zvolysis of tlc Iitcrory Dcviccs Imploycd iv Ivov uviv`s
'Tlc Iifc of Zrscv`cv (New York. Peter Lang, l997).
m~W
Collectlons of Ivan Bunln`s papers are ln the Rosslskll
gosudarstvennyl arkhlv llteratury l lskusstva, Moscow;
the Gosudarstvennyl muzel I. S. Jurgeneva, Orel; the
Instltut mlrovol llteratury, Moscow; the Rosslskala
gosudarstvennala blblloteka, Moscow; and the Russlan
Archlve of the Leeds Lnlverslty Llbrary.
216
f~ _ ai_ POV
_W ^~~ p~
Et ~ ~~ k mF
I come from an old and noble house that has
glven to Russla a good many lllustrlous persons ln poll
tlcs as well as ln the arts, among whom two poets of the
early nlneteenth century stand out ln partlcular. Anna
Bnlna and Vasly Zhukvsky, one of the great names
ln Russlan llterature, the son of Athanase Bunln and the
Jurk Salma.
All my ancestors had close tles wlth the soll and
the people. they were country gentlemen. My parents
were no exceptlon. Jhey owned estates ln Central Rus
sla, ln those fertlle steppes ln whlch the anclent Musco
vlte czars had settled colonlsts from all over the country
for thelr protectlon agalnst Jartar lnvaslons from the
South. Jhat ls why ln that reglon there developed the
rlchest of all Russlan dlalects, and almost all of our
great wrlters from Jurgenev to Leo Jolstoy have come
from there.
I was born ln Vornezh ln l870; my chlldhood
and youth were spent almost entlrely ln the country on
my father`s estates. Durlng my adolescence the death of
my llttle slster caused a vlolent rellglous crlsls, but lt left
no permanent scars on my soul. I had a passlon for
palntlng, whlch, I thlnk, shows ln my wrltlngs. I wrote
both poetry and prose falrly early and my works were
also publlshed from an early date.
Ever slnce I began to publlsh, my books have
been both ln prose and poetry, orlglnal wrltlngs as well
as translatlons (from the Engllsh). If one dlvldes my
work by genre, one would flnd volumes of orlglnal
poetry, two volumes of translatlons, and ten volumes of
prose.
My works were soon recognlzed by the crltlcs.
Jhey were subsequently honoured on several occa
slons, recelvlng ln partlcular the Pushkln Prlze, the
hlghest prlze awarded by the Russlan Academy of Scl
ences. In l909 that Academy elected me one of lts
twelve honorary members, a posltlon that corresponds
to the lmmortals of the Irench Academy. Among thelr
number was Leo Jolstoy.
Nonetheless, there were several reasons why I
was not wldely known for a conslderable tlme. I kept
aloof from polltlcs and ln my wrltlngs dld not touch
upon questlons concernlng lt. I dld not belong to any
llterary school; I was nelther decadent, nor symbollst,
romantlc, or naturallst. Moreover, I frequented few llt
erary clrcles. I llved chlefly ln the country; I travelled
much ln Russla as well as abroad; I vlslted Italy, Slclly,
Jurkey, the Balkans, Greece, Syrla, Palestlne, Egypt,
Algerla, Junlsla, and the troplcs. Accordlng to the
words of Saadl I trled to 'look at the world and leave
upon lt the lmprlnt of my soul." I was lnterested ln
problems of phllosophy, rellglon, morals, and hlstory.
In l9l0 I publlshed my novel a~ xq sJ
~z. It was the flrst of a serles of works to glve a plcture
of the Russlan wlthout makeup. hls character and hls
soul, hls orlglnal complexlty, hls foundatlons at once
lumlnous and obscure, but almost always essentlally
traglc. Jhese 'ruthless" works caused passlonate dls
cusslons among our Russlan crltlcs and lntellectuals
who, owlng to numerous clrcumstances pecullar to Rus
slan soclety andln these latter daysto sheer lgnorance
or polltlcal advantage, have constantly ldeallzed the
people. In short, these works made me notorlous; thls
success has been conflrmed by more recent works.
I left Moscow because of the Bolshevlk reglme ln
May, l9l8; untll Iebruary, l920, when I flnally eml
grated abroad, I llved ln the south of Russla. Slnce then
I have llved ln Irance, dlvldlng my tlme between Parls
and the marltlme Alps.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l933. Ivan Bunln ls the sole
author of the text.|
NVPP k m i~
m~ p
m e~I m~ p~ p ^~
Ivan Bunln`s llterary career has been clear and
uncompllcated. He came from a famlly of country
squlres and grew up ln the llterary tradltlon of the tlmes
ln whlch that soclal class domlnated Russlan culture,
created a llterature occupylng a place of honour ln con
temporary Europe, and led to fatal polltlcal movements.
'Jhe lords of the scrupulous consclences" ls what the
followlng generatlon lronlcally called these men who,
full of lndlgnatlon and plty, set themselves up agalnst
the humlllatlon of the serfs. Jhey deserved a better
name, for they would soon have to pay wlth thelr own
prosperlty for the upheaval that they were golng to
cause.
Only the debrls of the famlly possesslons
remalned about the young Bunln; lt was ln the world of
poetry that he could feel a strong rapport wlth the past
generatlons. He llved ln a world of llluslons wlthout
any energy, rather than of natlonal sentlment and hope
for the future. Nonetheless he dld not escape the lnflu
ence of the reform movement; as a student, he was
deeply struck by the appeal of Jolstoy`s proclalmlng fra
217
ai_ POV f~ _
ternlty wlth the humble and poor. Jhus he learned llke
others to llve by the toll of hls hands, and for hls part he
chose the craft of cooper ln the home of a corellglonlst
who greatly loved dlscusslon. (He mlght well have trled
a less dlfflcult craftthe staves come apart easlly, and lt
takes much sklll to make a vessel that wlll hold lts con
tent.)
Ior a gulde ln more splrltual doctrlnes he had a
man who fought wlth waverlng energy agalnst the
temptatlons of the flesh ln a very llteral sense, and here
vegetarlanlsm entered hls doctrlne. Durlng a voyage
wlth hlm to Jolstoy`s home to be presented to the mas
terBunln was able to observe hls vlctorles and defeats.
He was vlctorlous over several refreshment stands ln
rallroad statlons but flnally the temptatlon of the meat
pts was too strong. Havlng flnlshed chewlng, he
found lngenlous excuses for hls partlcular fall. 'I know,
however, that lt ls not the pt that holds me ln lts
power but I who hold lt. I am not lts slave; I eat when I
want to; when I don`t want to, I don`t eat." It goes wlth
out saylng that the young student dld not want to stay
long ln thls company.
Jolstoy hlmself dld not attach great lmportance to
Bunln`s rellglous zeal. 'You wlsh to llve a slmple and
lndustrlous llfe? Jhat ls good, but don`t be prlgglsh about
lt. One can be an excellent man ln all klnds of llves." And
of the professlon of poet he sald, 'Oh well, wrlte lf you
have a great fancy for lt, but remember well that lt can
never be the goal of your llfe." Jhls warnlng was lost on
Bunln; he was already a poet wlth all hls belng.
He qulckly attracted attentlon for verses that fol
lowed austere classlcal models; thelr subject was often
descrlptlons of melanchollc beauty of past llfe ln the old
manors. At the same tlme he developed ln prose poems hls
power to render nature wlth all the fullness and rlchness of
hls lmpresslons, havlng exerclsed hls facultles wlth an
extraordlnary subtlety to reproduce them falthfully. Jhus
he contlnued the art of the great reallsts whlle hls contem
porarles devoted themselves to the adventures of llterary
programs. symbollsm, neonaturallsm, Adamlsm, futur
lsm, and other names of such passlng phenomena. He
remalned an lsolated man ln an extremely agltated era.
When Bunln was forty, hls novel a~ (l9l0)
xq s~z made hlm famous and lndeed notorlous,
for the book provoked a vlolent dlscusslon. He attacked
the essentlal polnt of the Russlan falth ln the future, the
Slavophlles` dream of the vlrtuous and able peasant,
through whom the natlon must someday cover the
world wlth lts shadow. Bunln replled to thls thesls wlth
an objectlve descrlptlon of the real nature of the peas
ants` vlrtues. Jhe result was one of the most sombre
and cruel works even ln Russlan llterature, where such
works are by no means rare.
Jhe author glves no hlstorlcal explanatlon of the
decadence of the I except for the brlef lnforma
tlon that the grandfather of the two prlnclpal characters
ln the novel was dellberately tracked to death by hls
master`s greyhounds. Jhls deed expresses well, ln fact,
the lmprlnt borne by the splrlt of the suppressed. But
Bunln shows them just as they are wlthout hesltatlng
before any horror, and lt was easy for hlm to prove the
truthfulness of hls severe judgment. Vlolence of the
most cruel klnd had recently swept the provlnce ln the
wake of the flrst revolutlona foreshadowlng of a later
one.
Ior lack of another name, the book ls called a
novel ln the translatlons but lt really bears llttle resem
blance to that genre. It conslsts of a serles of lmmensely
tumultuous eplsodes from lower llfe; truth of detall has
meant everythlng to the author. Jhe crltlc questloned
not so much the detalls but thelr dlslnterested selectlon
the forelgner cannot judge the valldlty of the crltlclsm.
Now the book has had a strong revlval because of
events slnce then, and lt remalns a classlc work, the
model of a solld, concentrated, and sure art, ln the eyes
of the Russlan mlgrs as well as of those ln the home
land. Jhe descrlptlons of vlllages were contlnued ln
many shorter essays, sometlmes devoted to the rellglous
element whlch, ln the eyes of the enthuslastlc natlonal
generatlon, made the the people of promlse. In
the wrlter`s pltlless analysls the redemptlve plety of the
world ls reduced to anarchlc lnstlncts and to the taste
for selfhumlllatlon, essentlal tralts of the Russlan splrlt
accordlng to hlm. He was lndeed far from hls youthful
Jolstoylan falth. But he had retalned one thlng from lt.
hls love of the Russlan land. He has hardly ever palnted
hls marvellous countryslde wlth such great art as ln
some of these novellas. It ls as lf he had done lt to pre
serve hlmself, to be able to breathe freely once more
after all he had seen of the ugly and the false.
In a qulte dlfferent splrlt p (l9ll-l9l2)
xa s~zI the short novel of a manor, was wrltten as a
counterpart to a~. Jhe book ls not a portrayal of
the present tlmes, but of the heyday of the landed pro
prletors, as remembered by an old servant ln the house
where Bunln grew up. Jhe author ls not an optlmlst ln
thls book, elther; these masters have llttle vltal force,
they are as unworthy of belng responslble for thelr own
destlnles and those of thelr subordlnates as the severest
accuser could have deslred. In effect one flnds here ln
large measure the materlals for that defence of the peo
ple whlch Bunln sllently passed over ln a~.
But nonetheless the plcture appears now ln a
totally dlfferent llght; lt ls fllled wlth poetry. Jhls ls due
ln part to the klnd of reconclllatlon that the past pos
sesses, havlng pald lts debt by death; but also to the
sweet vlslon of the servant who glves charm to the con
218
f~ _ ai_ POV
fused and changlng world ln whlch, however, her youth
was rulned. But the chlef source of poetry ls the
author`s lmaglnatlve power, hls faculty for glvlng thls
book, wlth an lntense concentratlon, the rlchness of llfe.
p ls a llterary work of hlgh order.
Durlng the years whlch remalned before the
World War, Bunln made long trlps through the Medl
terranean countrles and to the Iar East. Jhey provlded
hlm wlth the subjects of a serles of exotlc novellas,
sometlmes lnsplred by the world of Hlndu ldeas, wlth
lts peace ln the abnegatlon of llfe, but more often by the
strongly accentuated contrast between the dreamlng
Orlent and the harsh and avld materlallsm of the West.
When the war came, these studles ln the splrlt of the
modern globetrotters wlth the lmprlnt created by the
world tragedy were to result ln the novella that came to
be hls most famous work. d p~ c~ (l9l6)
xq d~ p~ c~z.
As often elsewhere, Bunln here slmpllfles the sub
ject extremely by restrlctlng hlmself to developlng the
prlnclpal ldea wlth types rather than complex charac
ters. Here he seems to have a speclal reason for thls
method. lt ls as lf the author were afrald to come too
close to hls flgures because they awaken hls lndlgnatlon
and hls hate. Jhe Amerlcan multlmllllonalre, who after
a llfe of ceaseless thlrst for money, sets out as an old
man lnto the world to refresh the dry consclousness of
hls power, hls bllndness of soul, and hls avldlty for
senlle pleasure, lnterests the author only ln so far as he
can show ln what a pltlable manner he succumbs, llke a
burstlng bubble. It ls as lf a judgment of the pltlless
world were pronounced agalnst hls character. In place
of a portralt of thls pltlfully lnslgnlflcant man, the
novella glves by lts slngularly resolute art a portralt of
destlny, the enemy of thls man, wlthout any mystlclsm
but only wlth strlctly objectlve descrlptlon of the game
of the forces of nature wlth human vanlty. Jhe mystlcal
feellng, however, ls awakened ln the reader and
becomes stronger and greater through the perfect com
mand of language and tone. d p~ c~ was
lmmedlately accepted as a llterary masterplece; but lt
was also somethlng else. the portent of an lncreaslng
world twlllght; the condemnatlon of the essentlal gullt
ln the tragedy; the dlstortlon of human culture whlch
pushed the world to the same fate.
Jhe consequences of the war expelled the author
from hls country, so dear to hlm desplte everythlng,
and lt seemed a duty to remaln sllent under the severe
pressure of what he had suffered. But hls lost country
llved agaln doubly dear ln hls memory, and regret gave
hlm more plty for men. Stlll, he sometlmes, wlth stron
ger reason, palnted hls partlcular enemy, the I
wlth a sombre clearslghtedness of all hls vlces and
faults; but sometlmes he looked forward. Lnder all
repellent thlngs, he saw somethlng of lndestructlble
humanlty, whlch he represented not wlth moral stress
but as a force of nature, full of the lmmense posslbllltles
of llfe. 'A tree of God," one of them calls hlmself, 'I see
thus that God provldes lt; where the wlnd goes, there I
follow." In thls manner he has taken leave of them for
the present.
Irom the lnexhaustlble treasures of hls memorles
of the Russlan nature, Bunln was later able to draw
anew the joy and the deslre to create. He gave colour
and brllllance to new Russlan destlnles, concelved ln
the same austerlty as ln the era when he llved among
them. In j~ (l921-l925) xj~ izI he
analyzed young feellngs wlth all the mastery of a psy
chology ln whlch sense lmpresslons and states of mlnd,
marvellously rendered, are partlcularly essentlal. Jhe
book was very successful ln hls country, although lt slg
nalled the return to llterary tradltlons whlch, wlth many
other thlngs, had seemed condemned to death. In what
has been publlshed of w ^~ (Part I, f I
l930 xq t a~z FI partlally an autoblography, he
has reproduced Russlan llfe ln a manner broader than
ever before. Hls old superlorlty as the lncomparable
palnter of the vast and rlch beauty of the Russlan land
remalns fully conflrmed here.
In the llterary hlstory of hls country, the place of
Ivan Bunln has been clearly deflned and hls lmportance
recognlzed for a long tlme and almost wlthout dlver
gence of oplnlons. He has followed the great tradltlon
of the brllllant era of the nlneteenth century ln stresslng
the llne of development whlch can be contlnued. He
perfected concentratlon and rlchness of expresslonof a
descrlptlon of real llfe based on an almost unlque precl
slon of observatlon. Wlth the most rlgorous art he has
well reslsted all temptatlons to forget thlngs for the
charm of words; although by nature a lyrlc poet, he has
never embelllshed what he has seen but has rendered lt
wlth the most exact fldellty. Jo hls slmple language he
has added a charm whlch, accordlng to the testlmonles
of hls compatrlots, has made of lt a preclous drlnk that
one can often sense even ln the translatlons. Jhls ablllty
ls hls emlnent and secret talent, and lt glves the lmprlnt
of the masterplece to hls llterary work.
Mr. BunlnI have trled to present a plcture of
your work and of that austere art whlch characterlzes lt,
a plcture doubtlessly qulte lncomplete because of the llt
tle tlme at my dlsposal for a task so demandlng. Please
recelve now, slr, from the hands of Hls Majesty the
Klng, those marks of dlstlnctlon whlch the Swedlsh
Academy ls conferrlng on you, together wlth lts heart
felt congratulatlons.
219
ai_ POV f~ _
_W _~ p
f ~ m t k
`~ f ~ k _~ ~ d~ eI
pI NM a NVPPW
Not only the efforts to explore the subtletles of
atoms and chromosomes have been rewarded today;
also brllllant efforts to descrlbe the subtletles of the
human soul have been crowned wlth the golden laurel
of the Nobel Prlze. You have, Mr. Bunln, thoroughly
explored the soul of vanlshed Russla, and ln dolng so,
you have most merltorlously contlnued the glorlous tra
dltlons of the great Russlan llterature. You have glven
us the most valuable plcture of Russlan soclety as lt
once was, and well do we understand the feellngs wlth
whlch you must have seen the destructlon of the soclety
wlth whlch you were so lntlmately connected. May our
feellngs of sympathy be of some comfort to you ln the
melancholy of exlle.
_ Eq~~F
On November nlnth, very far from here ln a poor
country house ln an old Provenal town, I recelved the
telephone call that lnformed me of the cholce of the
Swedlsh Academy. I would not be honest lf I told you,
as one does ln such cases, that lt was the profoundest
emotlonal moment of my llfe. A great phllosopher has
sald that even the most vehement feellngs of joy hardly
count ln comparlson wlth those whlch provoke sorrow.
I do not wlsh to strlke a note of sadness at thls dlnner,
whlch I shall forever remember, but let me say nonethe
less that ln the course of the past flfteen years my sor
rows have far exceeded my joys. And not all of those
sorrows have been personalfar from lt. But I can cer
talnly say that ln my entlre llterary llfe no other event
has glven me so much legltlmate satlsfactlon as that llt
tle technlcal mlracle, the telephone call from Stockholm
to Grasse. Jhe prlze establlshed by your great country
man, Alfred Nobel, ls stlll the hlghest reward that can
crown the work of a wrlter. Ambltlous llke most men
and all wrlters, I was extremely proud to recelve that
reward at the hands of the most competent and lmpar
tlal of jurles, and be assured, gentlemen of the Acad
emy, I was also extremely grateful. But I should have
proved a paltry egotlst lf on that nlnth of November I
had thought only of myself. Overwhelmed by the con
gratulatlons and telegrams that began to flood me, I
thought ln the solltude and sllence of nlght about the
profound meanlng ln the cholce of the Swedlsh Acad
emy. Ior the flrst tlme slnce the foundlng of the Nobel
Prlze you have awarded lt to an exlle. Who am I ln
truth? An exlle enjoylng the hospltallty of Irance, to
whom I llkewlse owe an eternal debt of gratltude. But,
gentlemen of the Academy, let me say that lrrespectlve
of my person and my work your cholce ln ltself ls a ges
ture of great beauty. It ls necessary that there should be
centres of absolute lndependence ln the world. No
doubt, all dlfferences of oplnlon, of phllosophlcal and
rellglous creeds, are represented around thls table. But
we are unlted by one truth, the freedom of thought and
consclence; to thls freedom we owe clvlllzatlon. Ior us
wrlters, especlally, freedom ls a dogma and an axlom.
Your cholce, gentlemen of the Academy, has proved
once more that ln Sweden the love of llberty ls truly a
natlonal cult.
Ilnally, a few words to end thls short speech. my
admlratlon for your royal famlly, your country, your
people, your llterature, does not date from thls day
alone. Love of letters and learnlng has been a tradltlon
wlth the royal house of Sweden as wlth your entlre
noble natlon. Iounded by an lllustrlous soldler, the
Swedlsh dynasty ls one of the most glorlous ln the
world. May Hls Majesty the Klng, the chlvalrous Klng
of a chlvalrous people, permlt a stranger, a free wrlter
honoured by the Swedlsh Academy, to express to hlm
these sentlments of profound respect and deep emotlon.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l933. Ivan Bunln ls the sole
250
^ `~
(7 òvcmbcr 191J - 4 ovuory 1960)
`~~ p~~ _~
Tulovc Uvivcrsity
See also the Camus entrles ln DI 72: Ircvcl òvclists,
19J0-1960 and DI J21: Twcvtictl-Ccvtury Ircvcl Dro-
motists.
BOOKS. Icvoltc dovs lcs Zsturics, by Camus and others
(Alglers. Charlot, l936);
IÌvvcrs ct l`cvdroit (Alglers. Charlot, l937);
òccs (Alglers. Charlot, l939);
IÌtrovgcr (Parls. Galllmard, l912); translated by Stuart
Gllbert as Tlc Uutsidcr (London. Hamllton, l916);
translatlon republlshed as Tlc Strovgcr (New York.
Knopf, l916);
Ic Mytlc dc Sisyplc (Parls. Galllmard, l912); translated
by |ustln O`Brlen as Tlc Mytl of Sisyplus (London.
Hamllton, l955);
Ic Molcvtcvdu suivi dc Coligulo (Parls. Galllmard, l911);
translated by Gllbert as Coligulo ovd Cross Iurposc
(New York. New Dlrectlons, l917; London.
Hamllton, l917);
Icttrcs o uv omi ollcmovd (Parls. Galllmard, l915);
Io Icstc (Parls. Galllmard, l917); translated by Gllbert
as Tlc Iloguc (New York. Knopf, l918; London.
Hamllton, l918);
IÌtot dc sigc (Parls. Galllmard, l918);
Zctucllcs: Clroviqucs 1944-194S (Parls. Galllmard, l950);
Ics ustcs (Parls. Galllmard, l950);
I`Hommc rcvoltc (Parls. Galllmard, l95l); translated by
Anthony Bower as Tlc Icbcl (London. Hamllton,
l953; New York. Knopf, l951);
Zctucllcs II: Clroviqucs 194S-19J (Parls. Galllmard,
l953);
Ics Isprits, adapted from Plerre de Larlvey`s play (Parls.
Galllmard, l953);
IÌtc (Parls. Galllmard, l951);
Icquicm pour uvc vovvc, adapted from Wllllam Iaulkner`s
novel (Parls. Galllmard, l956);
Io Clutc (Parls. Galllmard, l956); translated by O`Brlen
as Tlc Ioll (London. Hamllton, l956; New York.
Knopf, l957);
IÌxil ct lc royoumc (Parls. Galllmard, l957); translated by
O`Brlen as Ixilc ovd tlc Iivgdom (London. Hamll
ton, l958; New York. Knopf, l958);
Icflcxiovs sur lo pcivc copitolc, by Camus and Arthur Koes
tler (Parls. CalmannLvy, l957)lncludes
'Rflexlons sur la gulllotlne," translated by
Rlchard Howard as Icflcctiovs ov tlc Cuillotivc: Zv
Issoy ov Copitol Iuvislmcvt (Mlchlgan Clty, Ind..
IrldtjofKarla, l959);
Zctucllcs III: Clroviqucs olgcricvvcs, 19J9-19S (Parls.
Galllmard, l958);
^ `~ e q EF ~ q j ~
NVRT k _~ p Ed f~F
25l
ai_ POV ^ `~
Discours dc Sudc (Parls. Galllmard, l958); translated by
O`Brlen as Spcccl of Zcccptovcc upov tlc Zword of tlc
òbcl Iric for Iitcroturc, Dclivcrcd iv Stocllolm ov tlc
Tcvtl of Dcccmbcr, ìvctccv Huvdrcd ovd Iifty-scvcv
Ics Iosscdcs, adapted from Iyodor Dostoevsky`s novel
(Parls. Galllmard, l959); translated by O`Brlen as
Tlc Iosscsscd (London. Hamllton, l960; New
York. Knopf, l960);
Corvcts: mors 19J - fcvricr 1942 (Parls. Galllmard,
l962); translated by Phlllp Jhody as Corvcts (Lon
don. Hamllton, l963); translatlon republlshed as
òtcbools, 19J-1942 (New York. Knopf, l963);
Tlcotrc, rccits, vouvcllcs (Parls. Galllmard, l962);
Corvcts: jovvicr 1942 - mors 191 (Parls. Galllmard,
l961); translated by O`Brlen as òtcbools, 1942-
191 (New York. Knopf, l965); translated by
Jhody as Corvcts, 1942-191 (London. Hamll
ton, l966);
Issois (Parls. Galllmard, l965);
Ic Combot d`Zlbcrt Comus, edlted by Norman Stokle
(_uebec. Presses de l`Lnlverslt Laval, l970);
Io Mort lcurcusc, Cahlers Albert Camus, no. l (Parls.
Galllmard, l97l); translated by Howard as Z
Hoppy Dcotl (London. Hamllton, l972; New
York. Knopf, l972);
Ic Ircmicr Comus, suivi dc Icrits dc jcuvcssc d`Zlbcrt Comus,
Cahlers Albert Camus, no. 2 (Parls. Galllmard,
l973); translated by Ellen Conroy Kennedy as
Joutlful !ritivgs (New York. Knopf, l976; Lon
don. Hamllton, l977);
Irogmcvts dùv combot: 19JS-1940, Zlgcr Icpublicoiv, Ic
Soir Icpublicoiv, 2 volumes, edlted by |acquellne
LvlValensl and Andr Abbou (Parls. Galllmard,
l978);
ourvoux dc voyogc (Parls. Galllmard, l978); translated
by Hugh Levlck as Zmcricov ourvols (New York.
Paragon House, l987; London. Hamllton, l988);
Coligulo, vcrsiov dc 1941, suivi dc Io Ioctiquc du prcmicr
Coligulo, edlted by A. |ames Arnold (Parls. Galll
mard, l981);
Zlbcrt Comus, cditoriolistc o IÌxprcss: moi 19 - fcvricr
196, edlted by PaulI. Smets (Parls. Galllmard,
l987);
Corvcts: mors 191 - dcccmbrc 199 (Parls. Galllmard,
l989);
Ic Ircmicr Hommc, edlted by Catherlne Camus (Parls.
Galllmard, l991); translated by Davld Hapgood
as Tlc Iirst Mov (London. Hamllton, l995; New
York. Knopf, l995);
Comus o 'Combot: cditorioux ct orticlcs d`Zlbcrt Comus,
1944-1947, edlted by LvlValensl (Parls. Galll
mard, 2002).
`W Uuvrcs compltcs d`Zlbcrt Comus, 5 volumes
(Parls. Club de l`Honnte Homme, l983).
b bW Tlc Mytl of Sisyplus ovd Utlcr
Issoys, translated by |ustln O`Brlen (New York.
Knopf, l955);
Coligulo ovd Tlrcc Utlcr Iloys, translated by Stuart Gll
bert (New York. Knopf, l958)comprlses
Coligulo, Cross Iurposc, Stotc of Sicgc, and Tlc ust
Zssossivs;
Icsistovcc, Icbclliov ovd Dcotl, translated by O`Brlen
(London. Hamllton, l96l; New York. Knopf,
l96l)lncludes 'Letters to a German Irlend" and
excerpts from Zctucllcs: Clroviqucs 1944-194S,
Zctucllcs II: Clroviqucs 194S-19J, and Zctucllcs III:
Clroviqucs olgcricvvcs, 19J9-19S;
Iyricol ovd Criticol, edlted and translated by Phlllp
Jhody (London. Hamllton, l967)lncludes
'Betwlxt and Between" [Tlc !rovg Sidc ovd tlc
Iiglt Sidc], ùptiols, and Summcr;
Iyricol ovd Criticol Issoys, edlted by Jhody, translated by
Ellen Conroy Kennedy (New York. Knopf,
l968)lncludes Tlc !rovg Sidc ovd tlc Iiglt Sidc,
ùptiols, and Summcr;
Tlc Strovgcr, translated by Matthew Ward (New York.
Knopf, l988);
ctwccv Hcll ovd Icosov: Issoys from tlc Icsistovcc `cwspopcr
'Combot 1944-1947, edlted and translated by
Alexandre de Gramont (Mlddletown, Conn..
Wesleyan Lnlverslty Press / Hanover, N.H.. Lnl
verslty Press of New England, l99l);
Tlc Iloguc; Tlc Ioll; Ixilc ovd tlc Iivgdom; ovd Sclcctcd
Issoys, translated by Gllbert and O`Brlen (New
York. Everyman`s Llbrary, 2001).
PLAY PRODLCJIONS. Ic Molcvtcvdu, Parls, Jhtre
des Mathurlns, 21 August l911;
Coligulo, Parls, Jhtre Hbertot, 26 September l915;
IÌtot dc sigc, Parls, Jhtre Marlgny, 27 October l918;
Ics ustcs, Parls, Jhtre Hbertot, l5 December l919;
Ics Isprits, adapted from Plerre de Larlvey`s play,
Angers, Iestlval dÀrt Dramatlque, l6 |une l953;
Icquicm pour uvc vovvc, adapted from Wllllam Iaulkner`s
novel, Parls, Jhtre des Mathurlns, 22 Septem
ber l956;
Ics Iosscdcs, adapted from Iyodor Dostoevsky`s novel,
Parls, Jhtre Antolne, 30 |anuary l959.
OJHER. SbastlenRoch Nlcolas |de| Chamfort, Moxi-
mcs ct ovccdotcs, preface by Camus (Monaco. Dac,
l911);
Andr Salvet, Ic Combot silcvcicux, preface by Camus
(Parls. Portulan, l915);
|ean Camp and others, IÌspogvc librc, preface by
Camus (Parls. CalmannLvy, l916);
252
^ `~ ai_ POV
PlerreEugne Clalrln, Dix cstompcs origivolcs, lntroduc
tlon by Camus (Parls. Rombaldl, l916);
|acques Mry, Ioissc posscr mov pcuplc, preface by
Camus (Parls. Seull, l917);
|eanne HonCanone, Dcvovt lo mort, preface by Camus
(Angers. Slraudeau, l95l);
Danlel Mauroc, Covtrc-Zmour, preface by Camus (Parls.
Mlnult, l952);
'Herman Melvllle," ln Ics Icrivoivs cclbrcs, edlted by
Raymond _ueneau and others, volume 3 (Parls.
Mazenod, l953);
A. Rosmer, Moscou sous IcvivcIcs origivcs du commuvismc,
preface by Camus (Parls. Edltlons de Ilore,
l953);
Dcscrt vivovt: Imogcs ct coulcurs dc !olt Disvcy, adapted by
Camus, Marcel Aym, Louls Bromfleld, |ullan
Huxley, Iranols Maurlac, Andr Maurols, and
Henry de Montherlant (Parls. Soclt Iranalse
du Llvre, l951);
Konrad Bleber, I`Zllcmogvc vuc por lcs ccrivoivs dc lo Icsis-
tovcc frovoisc, preface by Camus (Geneva. Droz,
l951);
'LÈnchantement de Cordes," ln Cordcs-cv-Zlbigcois,
edlted by C. Jarguebayre (Joulouse. Prlvat,
l951);
Oscar Wllde, ollodc dc lo gclc dc Icodivg, preface by
Camus (Parls. Ialalze, l951);
Roger Martln du Gard, Uuvrcs compltcs, 2 volumes,
preface by Camus (Parls. Galllmard, l955);
Io !critc sur lòffoirc ògy, preface by Camus (Parls. Plon,
l958);
Henrlette Grlndat, Io Iostcritc du solcil, text by Camus
(Geneva. Engelberts, l965).
JRANSLAJIONS. |ames Jhurber, Io Dcrvirc Ilcur
(Parls. Galllmard, l952);
Pedro Caldern de la Barca, Io Dcvotiov o lo croix (Parls.
Galllmard, l953);
Dlno Buzzatl, Uv Cos ivtcrcssovt, Zvovt-Scvc, no. l05
(l955). l-25;
Illx Lope de Vega Carplo, Ic Clcvolicr dÙlmcdo (Parls.
Galllmard, l957).
When Albert Camus recelved the Nobel Prlze ln
Llterature ln l957, he was the nlnth Irench wrlter so
honored and (at not qulte fortyfour years of age) the
youngest wrlter after Rudyard Klpllng. Jhe award pro
jected the author to worldwlde celebrlty. He was
already famous ln Irance and elsewhere for works
such as IÌtrovgcr (l912; translated ln England as Tlc
Uutsidcr and ln the Lnlted States as Tlc Strovgcr, l916),
Ic Mytlc dc Sisyplc (l912; translated as Tlc Mytl of Sisy-
plus, l955), Io Icstc (l917; translated as Tlc Iloguc,
l918), and Io Clutc (l956; translated as Tlc Ioll,
l956). In the hlghly charged polltlcal atmosphere of
Irance durlng the l950s, wlth oplnlon polarlzed over
the Cold War and the Algerlan colonlal confllct, the
award caused a furor; Camus`s moderate posltlons and
refusal to endorse revolutlonary actlon lnfurlated
many of hls compatrlots. Remarks he made ln Stock
holm concernlng Algerla became notorlous and added
to the controversy. Jhe result was, ln the eyes of many,
a severely compromlsed author and award, although
thousands on both sldes of the Atlantlc commended
the cholce. 'He ls one of the few llterary volces that
has emerged from the chaos of the postwar world wlth
the balanced, sober outlook of humanlsm," as a `cw
Jorl Timcs edltorlallst wrote.
Camus`s popularlty has endured, ln Irance and
abroad. He had two tltles (IÌtrovgcr and Io Icstc) on
a l970 topten llst of twentlethcentury Irench best
sellers; he was outranked only by Antolne de Salnt
Exupry, who had three. More than slx mllllon coples
of IÌtrovgcr had been sold by 2000; lt has been trans
lated lnto more than forty languages and ls sald to
attract two hundred thousand new readers each year.
Camus`s work has drawn the attentlon not only of gen
eral readers and llterary crltlcs but also of lntellectual
hlstorlans, theologlans, psychlatrlsts, and phllosophers.
Hls name occurs frequently ln Engllshlanguage publl
catlons, ln a wlde range of works, from mystery nov
elsTlc Motl (l993) and Tlc locl Horvct (l991) by
|ames Salllsthrough journals of hlgher educatlon such
as Zcodcmic _ucstiovs to Tlc `cw Jorlcr and Tlc òtiov.
It can even be suggested that Camus ls too well
known, clted carelessly and lncorrectly for purposes
and ln senses forelgn to the splrlt of hls work. Jo many
people, the use of the words strovgcr and obsurd ln
almost any contemporary llterary context conveys,
whether correctly or not, a Camuslan note, even
though other authors also have stressed the sense of
allenatlon between man and the unlverse. Some are
modern wrlters, such as Andr Malraux; some belong
to earller perlods, such as Blalse Pascal. Jhe ordeals of
the Greek mythologlcal hero Slsyphus are now known
to many chlefly through thelr treatment by Camus,
and mentlon of plague ln a llterary context often
evokes Camus alone because readers overlook other
works on the same subject. Iew phllosophles have
been less well understood and yet more frequently
mentloned than the exlstentlallsm wlth whlch he ls per
slstently, lf somewhat falsely, assoclated ln the publlc
mlnd.
Albert Camus was born on 7 November l9l3
outslde Mondovl, a vlllage near Bne (now Annaba),
ln eastern Algerla, then a Irench terrltory. In hls own
eyes, hls Algerlan blrth was the most lmportant fact of
hls llfe. Acknowledglng the Nobel Prlze, he expressed
253
ai_ POV ^ `~
gratltude to the commlttee 'dàvolr voulu dlstlnguer
un crlvaln franals dÀlgrle. |e nàl jamals rlen crlt
qul ne se rattache, de prs ou de loln, a la terre ou je
suls n" (for havlng wlshed to slngle out a Irench Alge
rlan wrlter. I have never wrltten anythlng that ls not
connected, closely or dlstantly, to the land where I was
born). Hls attachment to hls natlve terrltory sheds llght
on hls entlre llfenot only hls llterary productlon but
also hls journallstlc and polltlcal actlvltles and partlcu
lar unhapplness and publlc dlfflcultles at the tlme of the
Algerlan war.
Camus`s father, Luclen Auguste Camus, born ln
Algerla ln l885, was a supervlsor on a vlneyard. Jhe
author`s mother, CatherlneHlne Slnts Camus, born
ln Algerla ln l882, was, llke many European Algerlans,
of Spanlsh blood; her ancestors came from Mlnorca.
Camus had one brother, Luclen, born ln l9l0. Cathe
rlneHlne Camus was totally llllterate, doubtless ln
part because of famlly clrcumstances (she came from a
large famlly that struggled to survlve) but also because
she was nearly deaf. Her hearlng lmpalrment created
dlfflcultles ln the household and ln her relatlonshlp
wlth Albert; her llllteracy compounded the problem.
She never read a word of hls wrltlngs.
Belng partly of Spanlsh blood presumably reln
forced ln Camus a tendency he shared wlth many
Algerlan compatrlots. a powerful and obvlous male
prlde. Commentators have vlewed lt as a Medlterra
nean tralt, derlvlng from the large number of Algerlan
settlers of Medlterranean ancestry and from the natlve
Arabs and Berbers, among whom the cult of the mas
cullne ls tradltlonally strong. Camus spoke of Algerl
ans as 'flers de leur vlrlllt, de leur capaclt de bolre ou
de manger, de leur force et de leur courage" (proud of
thelr vlrlllty, thelr capaclty to drlnk or eat, thelr
strength and courage). Jhe term (a man) was
charged wlth meanlng. Durlng Meursault`s trlal ln
ib~I Cleste, a man who runs a nelghborhood
restaurant, tells the court that Meursault ls 'un
homme" (a man); when asked what 'belng a man"
means, Cleste answers that everyone knows what lt
means. Jhls notlon of mascullnlty lncluded a strong
element of honor and responslblllty, albelt exerclsed ln
a narrow range. 'on ne manque pas a sa mre" (you
don`t let your mother down); 'celul qul touche a mon
frre, ll est mort" (he who touches my brother ls dead).
It also lnvolved vanlty, a qulck temper, and a passlon
ate character. Men of thls type saw or lmaglned lnsults
easlly and were qulck to defend themselves, by thelr
flsts lf necessary. Iemlnlsts have denounced thls cult of
male values and Camus`s partlcular male chauvlnlsm
or ~~I slnce, they argue, machlsmo contrlbutes
to ethnlc and natlonal aggresslon, and the prlnclple of
defendlng not only one`s mother but also women ln
general lmplles condescenslon and paternallsm.
When World War I began ln summer l9l1,
Camus`s father was called lnto mllltary servlce; he was
wounded ln the Battle of the Marne and dled ln a hos
pltal ln autumn l9l1. Jhus, Camus never knew hlm;
moreover, he learned llttle about hlm, prlnclpally
because hls deaf mother, though not llterally mute,
spoke lnfrequently and may herself have known llttle
of her husband`s background. In Camus`s works,
fathers are often mlsslng or shadowy; only ln hls unfln
lshed autoblographlcal novel i m e (l991;
translated as q c j~I l995) does a father appear
dlrectly and extenslvely. In contrast, a mother ls a
recurrlng flgure throughout Camus`s work. He wrote
always of hls own mother wlth respect and devotlon,
often connectlng her to Algerla and the sense of home.
In a letter to hls frlend |ules Roy, Camus commented,
'Ce sont nos mres qul justlflent la vle, cèst pourquol
je souhalte de mourlr avant la mlenne" (What justlfles
llfe ls our mothers; that`s why I wlsh to dle before
mlne)a wlsh that was, ln fact, granted. Jextual evl
dence can be marshaled to show that he was haunted
by the maternal ldea; the word bears conslder
able welght ln hls prose, as when lt ls palred wlth W
'ma mre et ma vrlt." Jhere are suggestlons, how
ever, that the relatlonshlp was not an easy one; as
Camus wrote ln hls `~W ~ NVQO ~ NVRN
(l961; translated as kI NVQO NVRN). '|àlmals
ma mre avec dsespolr. |e làl toujours alme avec ds
espolr" (I loved my mother despalrlngly. I have always
loved her despalrlngly).
Iamlly clrcumstances obllged CatherlneHlne
Camus to resettle wlth her own wldowed mother,
Catherlne Slnts, ln Belcourt, an outlylng dlstrlct of
Alglers, a clty wlth more than l50,000 lnhabltants,
accordlng to the l906 census. Camus`s mother flrst
worked ln a cartrldge factory, then became a domestlc,
cleanlng ln houses and shops. As a war wldow, she
recelved only a small penslon beglnnlng late ln the war
and, later, extremely modest asslstance for her sons,
who also recelved scholarshlps and medlcal care.
Jhough the lncome from CatherlneHlne and her
brother Etlenne Slnts, who llved wlth them, was
sometlmes supplemented by another brother, the fam
lly llved on the edge of dlre poverty. Jhe small apart
ment had nelther electrlclty nor runnlng water, not
even an ovenprepared dlshes had to be taken to the
baker`s for cooklng. Jhe sanltary facllltles conslsted of
a (a hole).
Catherlne Slnts, an unbendlng, perhaps jealous
person, ruled the household wlth an lron hand and
managed the money. Poverty dlctated, to some degree,
her tyrannlcal ways; but she also had a hard character.
251
^ `~ ai_ POV
Jhus, dlsclpllne as well as poverty marked Camus`s
chlldhood. Characters ln hls flctlon are frequently of
modest means, and hls early serles of newspaper artl
cles, 'Mlsre de la Kabylle" (l939, Mlsery ln Kabylla),
concerned economlc hardshlp among the Kabyles, a
Berber trlbal people llvlng to the east of Alglers. When
challenged by |eanPaul Sartre for belng and thlnklng
llke a bourgeolsan unpardonable sln to the bourgeols
baltlng and often antagonlstlc SartreCamus observed
that he had come from the humblest of backgrounds
and had known genulne poverty, unllke Sartre, a son
of the bourgeolsle. Yet, Camus sald that hls boyhood
was not unhappy; he often deplcted lt as a tlme of joy,
both 'mlsrable et heureux" (povertystrlcken and
happy). Lpon learnlng he had won the Nobel Prlze, he
wrote ln hls `~W ~ NVRN NVRV (l989,
Notebooks. March l95l - December l959). 'A 20 ans,
pauvre, et nu, jàl connu la vrale glolre. Ma mre" (At
age 20, poor and mlserable, I knew real glory. My
mother).
As a boy, Camus llked the streets, wlth thelr var
led actlvltles and faces, and the busy port of Alglers.
He was fonder stlll of the beach, where, vlolatlng hls
grandmother`s prohlbltlon (she feared he would
drown), he played on the sand and ln the water. He
learned to play European football (soccer), the street
game of the perlodthough lt was forbldden by hls
grandmother (shoes wear out qulckly ln rough play on
pavement). Later, he was an enthuslastlc team member,
playlng goalle for many years. He made frlends easlly,
belng of an open, cordlal character. School, where he
dld well, was another counterworld that offset the
sllence, reprlmands, and beatlngs at home.
Camus`s school success earned hlm a scholarshlp
to the Grand Lyce, one of two hlgh schools ln Alglers,
the only one that lncluded the uppermost grades.
Agalnst the opposltlon of hls grandmother, who
wanted hlm to go to work fulltlme, but wlth the sup
port of an uncle by marrlage, Gustave Acault, Camus
enrolled. Jhe currlculum, whlch was entlrely secular,
emphaslzed lntellectual skllls and the Irench cultural
tradltlon. Llterature and hlstory occupled a slgnlflcant
place at all levels. One of hls teachers was |ean Grenler,
later hls phllosophy professor at the Lnlverslty of Alg
lers, an author of lyrlcal essays and a longtlme mentor
and frlend. Lnder Grenler`s guldance, Camus read the
wrltlngs of the preSocratlc phllosophers, along wlth
those of St. Augustlne, Pascal, Sren Klerkegaard, and
Irledrlch Nletzsche. He had no rellglous bellef. hls
famlly members were not practlclng Cathollcs, and hls
flrst Communlon was chlefly a symbollc step that left
llttle mark on hlm.
Camus`s work lllustrated the appeal and power
ful lmprlnt of the Irench school system. In hls last
decade, he pald homage to what he called 'la pulssante
posle de l`cole" (the powerful poetry |poetlc effect| of
school) and the role of the schoolmaster; he dedlcated
hls Nobel speech to hls elementaryschool teacher
Louls Germaln. Hostlle crltlcs, however, accuse Camus
of lntellectual weakness ln never havlng progressed
beyond the llmltatlons of the republlcan humanlsm of
the Jhlrd Republlc. Hls dlsagreement wlth Sartre and
other neoMarxlst thlnkers over the use of vlolence to
achleve polltlcal ends, and hls obstlnate attachment to
Algerla, may be attrlbuted ln part to the lmprlnt of hls
schoollng.
Durlng the wlnter of l930-l93l, when Camus
was seventeen, he was dlagnosed wlth tuberculosls ln
hls rlght lung. Perhaps because of lnadequate dlet
llkely deflclencles of protelns and vltamlnsor concelv
ably because of fatlgue resultlng from excesslve actlv
lty, he dld not have the strength to flght off the
lnfectlon. He was obllged to drop out of the lyce, and
thenceforth he llved wlth the dlsease, for whlch there
was nelther cure nor rellable and nonlnvaslve treat
ment untll l915. In the l930s, cllnlcal use of the antl
mlcroblal agent streptomycln became common, but lts
effectlveness was uncertaln, and for Camus lt never
succeeded. He was also treated repeatedly by pneu
mothorax (lung collapse therapy). Such an lllness was
an enormous shock to a young man who had a promls
lng career ahead of hlm. He often belleved that the dls
ease would klll hlm. Jhe absurd meant for hlm flrst of
all the dlsparlty between a young consclousness hun
gry for experlence and crylng out for meanlng, and a
body condemned to lllness and ultlmately death.
Camus was taken ln by Acault, who assumed responsl
blllty for hlm, fed hlm a dlet heavy ln meat (Acault was
a butcher by trade), and provlded other materlal assls
tance. Camus`s uncle also lent hlm books.
Desplte hls lllness, Camus, havlng returned to
the lyce, retook hls last year of courses, then spent a
year ln a unlversltypreparatory class. He next enrolled
(autumn l933) ln the Lnlverslty of Alglers. He
attended lectures on Klerkegaard, Edmund Husserl,
and Martln Heldegger and, ln hls thlrd year, wrote a
thesls on Chrlstlan metaphyslcs and Neoplatonlsm for
the (dlploma of advanced
studles) and recelved hls degree (l936). Ior the rest of
hls llfe, the anclent Greeks, and Greece ltself, constl
tuted part of hls thlnklng. Greek phllosophy, along
wlth hls Medlterranean outlook, led hlm to conslder
both llfe and death wlthout llluslon.
In l931 Camus marrled Slmone Hl, a beautlful
but unstable young woman addlcted to morphlne.
Although they practlced a rather open unlon, lt was
not a happy one. By the autumn of l936, the two had
255
ai_ POV ^ `~
separated; the unlon ended offlclally wlth dlvorce ln
l910.
In l935 he jolned the Algerlan Communlst Party,
remalnlng a member untll l937, when the party ltself
excluded hlm on polltlcal grounds. Jhe match had not
been rlght from the start, slnce he was lnterested
malnly ln advanclng the status of Algerlan Musllms
and lmprovlng workers` condltlons, not ln promotlng
the Stallnlst platform for world revolutlon. Whlle a
party member, he worked at the Communlst Malson
de la Culture and, wlth frlends, founded the Jhtre
du Jravall (Labor Jheater), an amateur troupe that
later, after lt separated from party sponsorshlp, became
the Jhtre de lÈqulpe (Jeam Jheater). Its repertory
lncluded a stage adaptatlon by Camus of Malraux`s i
q (l935; translated as a~ t~I l936)
and an adaptatlon by |acques Copeau of Iyodor Dos
toevsky`s q _ h~~~ (l879-l880). Camus
acted, helped to wrlte or adapt texts, and asslsted wlth
productlon. Jhe group also wanted to produce a
drama concelved collectlvely (but wrltten mostly by
Camus, lt was sald later) tltled o ~ ^
(Revolt ln Asturlas); the productlon was forbldden by
the Alglers clty government for polltlcal reasons, but
the text was publlshed ln l936. Jhereafter, Camus
always consldered the theater the prlme artlstlc experl
ence, lnvolvlng text, performance, and collaboratlon.
Camus`s flrst slngleauthored volume, ib
(translated as q t p ~ o pI
l967), appeared ln l937 under the lmprlnt of Edmond
Charlot, an Alglers bookshop owner just launchlng a
modest publlshlng venture. In these short sketches and
narratlves Camus treated such subjects as lrony, love of
llfe, 'death ln the soul" (lnsplred by hls l936 vlslt to
Prague, where he had been unhappy), and a mother
and chlld ln Alglers. Jhat same year he began a novel,
reconstructed posthumously from manuscrlpts and
publlshed as i~ j (l97l; translated as ^
e~ a~I l972). Rather lllformed and hlghly auto
blographlcal, lt deals wlth themes that recur ln hls later
work and features a hero named Mersault (not Meur
sault, as ln ib~). Jhere ls conslderable textual
and organlzatlonal resemblance between the early
novel and ib~I although crltlcs dlsagree on
whether the latter should be consldered a dlrect devel
opment or an offshoot or substltute. In l939 Charlot
publlshed k (translated as k~I l967). Jhls
short collectlon of essays, pralsed by Andr Glde (by
then an elder statesman of letters), lncludes some of
Camus`s most beautlful wrltlng, treatlng ln a poetlc yet
sober manner the sea, the desert, and death.
In |uly l937 Camus salled for Marsellle, vlslted
Parls for the flrst tlme, and spent a month ln the moun
talns ln the hope of strengthenlng hls lungs. He found
a posltlon as a journallst for a llberal dally newspaper,
^ o~I ln whlch hls artlcles on Kabylla
appeared. Shortly after World War II began (Septem
ber l939), the paper was forced by the censors to close.
In l910 Camus and the edltor ln chlef, Pascal Pla,
moved to Parls, where they worked for c~JpI a
dally; there, Camus establlshed tles wlth llterary flg
ures and members of the Galllmard publlshlng flrm.
In l937 Camus had become romantlcally lnter
ested ln Iranclne Iaure, a student of mathematlcs. She
came from a famlly long establlshed ln Oran and was
onequarter |ewlsh. She too had lost her father early ln
World War I. In the sprlng of l939, unable to flnlsh
her unlverslty studles ln Alglers, she took a job as a
substltute teacher ln Oran. Camus was slmultaneously
lnvolved wlth Yvonne Ducallar, a graduate student and
later a journallst, perhaps one of the great passlons of
hls llfe. Although Iaure`s mother was not favorably
lmpressed wlth Camus`s credentlalslll wlth tuberculo
sls, wlthout famlly money, and not yet dlvorced from
hls flrst wlfeIaure was determlned to pursue the rela
tlonshlp and demanded marrlage. In December l910,
after hls dlvorce was flnal, Camus, who was worklng
ln Lyon, where m~Jp had moved, and Iaure, who
had crossed wlth dlfflculty to Irance, were wed ln the
Iree Zone, ln Vlchy (the town where the government
was based after the fall of Irance the prevlous |une).
Jhey then salled back to Oran. Although work of any
sort was scarce, Camus eventually found a posltlon ln
a prlvate school, and Iaure resumed substltute teach
lng.
In |anuary l912 Camus fell gravely lll, splttlng
blood; tuberculosls was found ln hls left lung. In late
summer he and hls wlfe traveled to the mountalns of
southcentral Irance ln the Iree Zone. She shortly
salled back to Oran, and he expected to follow; but
when the Germans overran the zone demarcatlon llne
ln November l912 and occupled the entlre country, no
exlt passes could be obtalned, and Camus remalned ln
a vlllage called Le Paneller throughout the autumn and
lnto the followlng year.
Camus flrst knew celebrlty ln l912 wlth the pub
llcatlon by Galllmard of ib~ and i j
p. Jhe former, a short novel told ln the flrst per
son, has been called, varlously, a classlcal work ln the
mode of Voltalre`s tales, an apologue, a symbollc narra
tlve, and a bleak, Ernest Hemlngway-llke narratlve. It
attracted readers lmmedlately by lts style, lts conclslon,
and lts themes of oppresslon and allenatlon. Wlth few
exceptlons, lts language ls plaln, characterlzed by
parataxls (strlnglng sentence elements together sequen
tlally wlthout coordlnatlng or subordlnatlng connec
tlves). In the flrst part, Meursault, an Alglers
warehouse clerk, learns that hls mother has dled ln a
256
^ `~ ai_ POV
home for the elderly outslde the clty and travels there
to attend her funeral. Jhe day after returnlng, he goes
swlmmlng, plcks up a glrl, takes her to a comlc movle,
and lnvltes her home. He shortly becomes lnvolved
wlth a nelghborhood man of dublous character (appar
ently a plmp) named Raymond, who has had a dlspute
wlth hls companlon, an Arab woman. Meursault
agrees to wrlte for hlm a letter addressed to the
woman, lntended to lure her back. Some tlme later,
Meursault jolns Raymond and hls frlends at a beach
party. Durlng an encounter wlth a group of Arabs who
seem to be the woman`s relatlves and are apparently
looklng for a flght, Raymond pummels one of them,
who then slashes hls arm and face wlth a knlfe. After
belng bandaged, Raymond returns to the spot wlth
Meursault, flnds hls attacker, and proposes to shoot
hlm. Jo forestall hlm, Meursault takes the gun. Later,
he wanders out alone and ends up kllllng the Arab
wlth the revolver when the man flashes a knlfe threat
enlngly.
In the second part, Meursault, ln prlson, ls trled
on a capltal charge of murder. Jhe prosecutor lnter
prets the crlme as a coldblooded, premedltated plot of
revenge, although lt really resulted from a serles of
chance events and thoughtless conduct. Meursault ls
portrayed as a soclopath who showed lndlfference to
hls mother`s death by smoklng and drlnklng coffee
beslde the coffln and later plcklng up the glrl. Hls exe
cutlon, the prosecutor argues, wlll rld the world of a
dangerous man, both lntelllgent and morally mon
strous. Meursault ls condemned to death. Whlle awalt
lng the outcome of hls appeal, he recelves a vlslt from
the prlson chaplaln, who attempts to console hlm, on
grounds that everyone dles eventually. Meursault, usu
ally passlve, loses hls temper and shouts that such con
solatlon ls worthless and that the years of llfe he wlll
lose are prlcelesslndeed, the only lmportant thlng.
After thls moment of lllumlnatlon he dlscovers a klnd
of peace and feels at one wlth the world. At the end of
the novel he antlclpates hls executlon wlth a sense of
exhllaratlon, wlshlng to be greeted wlth shouts of
hatred; the crowd`s hostlllty wlll afflrm hls belng. Crlt
lcs have noted that the lmaglned scene suggests scenes
of Chrlst`s judgment and death. Whlle there ls no
clearcut lnternal lnterpretatlon of the novel, ln a fore
word for a l955 edltlon, Camus called Meursault 'le
seul Chrlst que nous mrltlons" (the only Chrlst we
deserve).
Meursault`s status as a stranger (that ls, for
elgner) ls lnltlally soclal. although utterly ordlnary ln
many ways, he does not act and react to others and to
soclal structures as one ls supposed to, accordlng to
custom, rellglon, and law; he ls thus vlewed as allen,
threatenlng. Jo deal wlth hlm, soclety calls on the elab
orate mechanlsm called justlce; he ls convlcted of a
capltal crlme, whereas ln fact he ls culpable only of
seconddegree homlclde or manslaughter. Hls sltuatlon
can, or could ln l912, be read also as representlng the
oppresslon of Irance by the German occuplers (the
true strangers) and the semlcollaboratlonlst Vlchy gov
ernment. Jhe hero`s allenatlon can, alternatlvely, be
vlewed as metaphyslcal. man ls condemned to death ln
an lncomprehenslble and unforglvlng unlverse. Jhls
quaslexlstentlallst lnterpretatlon ls perhaps the most
wldespread. What ls absent ls any raclal crltlque. post
colonlal crltlcs have noted that the Arabs and Berbers
are nearly lnvlslble, treated as 'strangers," wlthout
thelr lnferlor status belng questloned, whereas the
Algerlans of European descent are the genulne forelgn
ers. Jhe tltle cannot thus be lnterpreted to suggest
colonlal allenatlon except by the lrony of mlsslng
meanlng.
Among those who recognlzed the great merlt of
ib~ were Irancls Ponge, Malraux, and Sartre. In
a long artlcle publlshed ln `~ p ln l913, Sartre
asserted that the toplc was the absurdlty of the human
condltlonat once a state and the lucld consclousness
of that state. Yet, he noted, the book was not a ~
(thesls novel); lts burden ls expressed ln lmages,
not ln reasonlng. Meursault`s attltude toward hls llfe
the present and a successlon of presentsls, accordlng
to Sartre, the ldeal of the absurd man. Sartre may have
been the flrst crltlc to comment on the absence of cau
sallty ln the book; paradoxlcally, once causallty ls llm
lted, the smallest lncldent takes on welght, and
everythlng contrlbutes to the outcome. Glde expressed
esteem for Camus`s thought, but acknowledged aver
slon toward the book ltself.
i j pI a short phllosophlcal treatlse,
ls close ln splrlt to the works of many exlstentlal wrlt
ers, slnce lt focuses on the human predlcament as felt
by a thlnklng subject who has no absolute grounds for
cholce or dlvlne reassurance and faces death as the
lnevltable end. It beglns wlth what Camus calls the
only true phllosophlcal questlonsulcldeand then
develops the notlon of the absurd. Jhe absurd ls nel
ther ln the world as such nor ln man, but ln the copres
ence of the two. Men`s asplratlons to lmmortallty and
the absolute are opposed by the world`s lndlfference
and the fact of mortallty. Slnce the absurd ls the very
condltlon of human exlstence, lt must be malntalned,
not denled; one must not glve ln to hope, bellef ln the
lnvlslble, or any other lrratlonal posltlon, lncludlng the
'exlstentlallst leap" seen ln the wrltlngs of such authors
as Klerkegaard and Karl |aspers, by whlch they 'leap
over" the dlfflculty of exlstentlal lsolatlon and mean
lnglessness. Jo malntaln the absurd, one must remaln
consclous and ln perpetual revolt. Jhe essay ends wlth
257
ai_ POV ^ `~
Camus`s verslon of the myth of Slsyphus pushlng hls
rock. 'La lutte ellemme vers les sommets sufflt a rem
pllr un coeur d`homme. Il faut lmaglner Slsyphe heu
reux" (Jhe struggle toward the summlts ls ltself
enough to flll a man`s heart. One must lmaglne Slsy
phus to be happy).
Whlle many readers, especlally undergraduates
who flrst encounter Ic Mytlc dc Sisyplc, are lmpressed
by Camus as a thlnker, hls standlng among profes
slonal phllosophers and lntellectuals was from the
beglnnlng much lower than hls reputatlon among llter
ary crltlcs. Dlsparaglng remarks made by Sartre and
Slmone de Beauvolrthe chlef proponents of Irench
exlstentlallsmlater contrlbuted to the trend. Perhaps
antlclpatlng future crltlclsm as well as defendlng hlm
self agalnst contemporary attacks, Camus often sald
that he was an artlst or a morolistc, not a phllosopher.
Leftwlng lntellectuals have not ceased attacklng Ic
Mytlc dc Sisyplc; ln Tlc Covtcvt of tlc Iorm: òrrotivc Dis-
coursc ovd Historicol Icprcscvtotiov (l987) Hayden Whlte
mocked Camus for 'opposlng 'totalltarlanlsm` and
holdlng up the prospect of an amlable anarchy as a
deslrable alternatlve." Handbooks and collectlons ln
modern phllosophy often omlt Camus, although selec
tlons from Ic Mytlc dc Sisyplc were lncluded ln Ixistcv-
tiolism from Dostocvsly to Sortrc (l956), a major mld
century anthology edlted by Walter Kaufmann.
In November l913 Camus moved to Parls,
where Pla had settled agaln after Irovcc-Soir had been
obllged to close ln Lyons. Camus found employment
as a reader at Galllmard and also helped produce the
underground Reslstance paper Combot, then edlted by
Pla. Iranclne Camus was not able to joln her husband
untll the autumn of l911. Lpon the llberatlon of Parls
ln August l911, the paper, wlth Camus as edltor ln
chlef, appeared openly as the leadlng journal of opln
lon. He wrote many of the edltorlals, on such contro
verslal lssues as soclallsm, paclflst movements,
punlshment of Nazl collaborators, and Communlst dlc
tatorshlp. Jhese pleces, many of whlch were collected
ln Zctucllcs: Clroviqucs 1944-194S (l950), were wldely
vlewed as the consclence of Irance. Ior health reasons
he wlthdrew temporarlly from the paper ln the wlnter
of l915; there were also perlods when, ln apparent dls
agreement wlth the pollcles of the newspaper, he
ceased wrltlng for lt. He flnally reslgned ln l917 over
ldeologlcal dlfferences and flnanclal dlfflcultles.
Durlng the Combot perlod, Camus was a hlghly
vlslble flgure ln the nelghborhood of SalntGermaln
desPrsthe Irench exlstentlallsts` headquartersand
vlslted Sartre, Beauvolr, and some of thelr frlends,
lncludlng Arthur Koestler. Jhough she denled dolng
so, lt ls obvlous that Beauvolr wrote hlm lnto her novel
Ics Movdorivs (l951) as the character Henrl Perron. In
l915 the Camus`s twlns, |ean and Catherlne, were
born. In l916 he vlslted North Amerlca, prlnclpally
New York but also Montreal and other cltles; he lec
tured, met wrlters and lntellectuals, and was recelved
as a famous man.
In l911 Galllmard brought out two plays by
Camus ln one volume. Ic Molcvtcvdu suivi dc Coligulo
(translated as Coligulo ovd Cross Iurposc, l917). Ic Molcv-
tcvdu, staged that year, recelved a cool receptlon; lts
somber quallty helped strengthen the supposltlon that
Camus was a nlhlllst. Jhe play ls based on the story
Meursault reads on a scrap of newspaper ln prlson.
|an, havlng left homean unldentlfled European coun
try marked by gloom and dark sklesto llve ln North
Afrlca, returns long afterward wlth hls wlfe, Marla.
Leavlng her elsewhere, he goes to the lnn run by hls
mother and slster, Martha, but does not ldentlfy hlm
self. It ls an exlstentlal test. |an wants to share hls
wealth wlth them and brlng them happlness, but flrst
they must recognlze hlm. Over the years they have
murdered strangers for thelr money, hoplng one day to
escape thelr dreary clrcumstances. |an, too, ls mur
dered; they then dlscover hls ldentlty. Jhe mother
drowns herself; Martha jolns her ln death. It ls not a
questlon of remorse; they are amoral. Rather, the
mother says she ls too weary to contlnue, and Martha
kllls herself as an act of protest agalnst the absurd,
whlch turns acts agalnst thelr agent and deprlves llfe of
meanlng and happlness. In her last sentences, Martha
tells Marla, who has found her husband dead, '|e ne
puls mourlr en vous lalssant l`lde que . . . cecl est un
accldent. Car cèst malntenant que nous sommes dans
lòrdre. . . . Prlez votre Dleu qu`ll vous fasse semblable
a la plerre" (I cannot dle leavlng you wlth the ldea . . .
that thls ls an accldent. Ior thls ls the normal order of
thlngs. . . . Ask your God to make you llke stone). Jhe
tltle of the play, whlch translates llterally as misuvdcr-
stovdivg, refers not only to the cruclal lack of recognl
tlon but also to the fundamental dlsparlty between
human asplratlons toward fulflllment and the lndlffer
ence of the worldthat ls, the absurd. Assoclated
themes are exlle, exlstentlal solltude, and the need for
communlcatlon and lts dlfflculty.
Coligulo, staged ln l915, was recelved enthuslastl
cally. Reworked more than any other text, lt belongs,
accordlng to the author, along wlth IÌtrovgcr and Ic
Mytlc dc Sisyplc, to the cluster of hls absurd wrltlngs
constltutlng the flrst stage of hls thought. Jhe outllne of
the plot and many detalls come from the hlstorlan Sue
tonlus, who reported how the Roman emperor Callgula
was transformed by the death of hls beloved slster
Drusllla. In Camus`s verslon, the emperor dlscovers,
upon the death of one he loved, that llfe ls lmperfect.
Although not a new revelatlon, as hls courtlers polnt
ORU
^ `~ ai_ POV
m~ ~ `~ ib~ ENVQOX ~~ ~ q p~I NVQSFI ~ ^ ~
~ ^~ ~ E^ c ^ `~ f j ~F
259
ai_ POV ^ `~
out, to hlm lt ls dramatlc. 'Ce monde, tel qu`ll est falt,
nèst pas supportable. . . . Les hommes meurent et lls ne
sont pas heureux" (Jhls world, such as lt ls, ls not bear
able. . . . People dle, and are not happy). Callgula wants
to remedy thls lmperfectlon and achleve happlness by
reachlng the absolute and the lmposslble. He asks for
the moon, an obvlous symbol of the unattalnable.
Denled satlsfactlon, thenceforth he vlews all acts as
morally equlvalent, slnce nelther heaven nor earth fur
nlshes grounds for dlstlnctlons; he can pursue quantlty
and varlety but not quallty. He calls on the absolute
polltlcal power that ls hls to turn hls state upslde down,
conflscatlng the patrlclans` fortunes, puttlng people to
death arbltrarlly, demandlng servlle homage and adula
tlon for hls wlldest caprlce, and rellshlng the pleasure of
destructlon. Jhough at tlmes he seems lntoxlcated wlth
a strange happlness, he contlnually requlres more stlm
ulatlon, slnce even the sacrlflclal deaths of others leave
hlm dlssatlsfled. Hls flnal act before he ls assasslnated
by the patrlclans ls to strangle hls mlstress, Caesonla.
Vlewed ln terms of Camus`s ldeas ln i j pI
Callgula has not conquered the absurd but rather has
glven ln to lt.
Camus`s second publlshed novel, i~ mI
appeared ln l917. He vlewed lt, along wlth ie
(l95l; translated as q oI l953), as constl
tutlng the second stage ln hls thought, sometlmes
called the humanlst stage. It met wlth approval from
many readers but wlth a cool receptlon from others,
lncludlng Glde, who expressed dlsappolntment, and
Beauvolr, who ln i~ c (l963) accused
Camus of eludlng true hlstorlcal questlons by fleelng
lnto abstractlon. Begun durlng the war, i~ m reflects
Camus`s separatlon from Algerla and hls wlfe durlng
those dark years. Jhe actlonln flve acts, llke a classl
cal tragedytakes place ln Oran and ls recounted by an
anonymous flrstperson narrator. It concerns an out
break of bubonlc plaguelts lnltlal appearance, spread,
and decllneand reactlons to lt. Dr. Rleux, whose wlfe
ls away at a sanltorlum, combats the dlsease energetl
cally by medlcal means. Rambert, a vlsltlng journallst,
wants to leave, desplte the quarantlne, to rejoln the
woman he loves; the plague does not concern hlm, he
argues. Paneloux, a |esult, preaches a sermon on collec
tlve gullt and dlvlne punlshment. Cottard, an unsavory
character who ls under susplclon and may be arrested
for an unspeclfled crlme, takes advantage of the crlsls
to remaln at large and even lndulges ln proflteerlng
through the black market.
Jarrou, a loner who befrlends Rleux, has been
concerned wlth how to achleve pure conduct ln a
world of vlolence, where every act has repercusslons
on others and where schemes to achleve soclal justlce
end ln tyranny and terror. He jolns the struggle agalnst
the plague by organlzlng effectlve paramedlcal teams.
Jarrou`s frlendshlp means a great deal to Rleux; frater
nlty ls a foundatlon on whlch to struggle. Jhey are
both present when a llttle boy dles. Jhe chlld`s suffer
lng seems partlcularly scandalous, a brute denlal of
Paneloux`s theology, founded on bellef ln a just God
whose provldentlal lnterventlon ln the world trans
forms evll lnto good. Paneloux hlmself ls shaken by the
death and moves toward a posltlon of lrratlonal sub
mlsslon to a dlvlne power whose unfathomable wlll he
must accept as the only posslble explanatlon for the
torture of chlldren. Joward the end of the novel Jarrou
falls lll; Rleux and hls mother nurse hlm devotedly, but
he too dles. Exhausted, Rleux, who has seen thou
sands dle, learns also of hls wlfe`s death. Yet, he does
not yleld to despalr. Afflrmlng that there ls more to
admlre ln manklnd than to desplse, he ldentlfles hlm
self as the author of the chronlcle.
Jhe novel may be read on three levels. Llterally,
lt recounts the outbreak of a fatal dlsease that ls a fact
of nature, the ways of confrontlng lt, and the conclu
slons that can be drawn about natural evll and human
response. Metaphorlcally, the plague stands for the
German occupatlon of Irance and other European
countrles durlng World War II and the brutallty exer
clsed on the populatlon. Jhe varlous characters`
responses lllustrate the attltudes one can take toward
tyranny. Allegorlcally, the plague represents moral and
metaphyslcal evll vlewed broadly. Jhat ls, lt represents
the human condltlon, ln whlchwlth the world and all
lts chances lmplnglng upon thempeople are born, suf
fer, make others suffer, and dle, but ln whlch the strug
gle wlth others agalnst unhapplness, paln, and death
provldes a meanlngful and authentlc way of llvlng.
In the late l910s Camus`s personal llfe and pub
llc llfe allke were compllcated. Although admlred by a
wlde readlng publlc, he was ln a dlfflcult ldeologlcal slt
uatlon resultlng from Cold War polltlcal polarlzatlon.
Hls dlsapproval of Sovlet rhetorlc and practlce, and hls
humanlsm, agnostlc but warm, provoked hostlllty
among the proCommunlsts; yet, as a man of the Left,
baslcally, he dld not embrace the proWestern, capltal
lst factlon elther. Durlng hls threemonth vlslt to South
Amerlca ln l919, he was both lll and deeply depressed;
he appears to have serlously contemplated sulclde. Hls
llalson wlth actress Marla Casars, who had major
roles ln some of hls plays, caused frlctlon ln hls house
hold; another woman, Patrlcla Blake, whom he met ln
Amerlca ln l916, also played a role ln hls llfe. Women
were enormously lmportant to hlm, although lf sexual
love was a source of hls lnsplratlon, as lt may have
been, lts effects were subterranean, and hls work lacks
obvlous erotlc materlal. Both hls polltlcal malalse and
260
^ `~ ai_ POV
hls personal dlfflcultles perslsted and even lncreased
throughout hls remalnlng years.
Jhe flrst of two plays produced late ln the l910s
was a complete stage fallure. ib~ (l918; trans
lated as p~ p ln `~~ ~ q l m~I
l958), whlch he called a morallty play (as ln medleval
drama), ls an allegory on freedom, related to i~ m.
Jhe dlsaster ln thls case ls not, however, expressed
reallstlcally, but symbollcally, by Plague (a character),
who arrlves, strlkes people down at random, and
lnstalls the New Order. Jhe references are clear. Nazl
Germany and lts occupatlon of Irance; the Sovlet
Lnlon and lts rule over lts satellltes; Iasclst Spaln; and,
as Camus sald, any country wlthout freedom. Jhe
scourge may also stand for the human condltlon ln
general. Jhe young hero, Dlego, dlscovers the secret to
combatlng Plague. to revolt, to go beyond fear and use
human freedom ln the struggle, rather than abandon
lng freedom for the sake of comfort.
i g (performed ln l919, publlshed ln l950;
translated as q g ^~ ln `~~ ~ q l
m~), based on events ln Russla ln l905, ls slmllarly
connected to ie through lts conslderatlons
of whether vlolence and oppresslon can justlfy counter
vlolence and under what condltlons. Jhe play con
cerns a group of flve revolutlonary terrorlsts ln
Moscow who plan to assasslnate the grand duke as a
protest agalnst czarlst tyranny. Whlle they agree on
thelr purpose, thelr motlves and understandlng of
polltlcal good dlffer. One member, Dora, wonders
whether thelr deslred enda world of justlcecan be
attalned by cruel, unjust means. Yanek, whom she
loves, ls to throw a bomb at the grand duke`s carrlage.
He does not, however, carry out the deed, because he
sees two chlldren ln the carrlage. He ls told that sentl
mentallty over chlldren ls foollsh; only by spllllng
whatever blood ls necessary, wlthout concern for
moral llmlts or consequences, can the revolutlon trl
umph. A second attempt ls successful. After hls arrest,
Yanek ls offered hls llfe lf he wlll furnlsh the names of
hls accompllces. He refuses, not only from loyalty but
also because he belleves justlce requlres hlm to pay for
the llfe he took. When he ls hanged, Dora asks to
throw the next bomb; her deslre to avenge her lover
has overcome her polltlcal scruples. Jhe play recelved
mlxed revlews.
Jhe EastWest confrontatlon ln the Korean War
(l950-l953) and the contlnulng Irench colonlal war ln
Indochlna, whlch ended ln l951, hardened Cold War
posltlons and made the polltlcal mlddle ground almost
untenable. |oseph Stalln`s death ln l953 dld not alter
the sltuatlon materlally. In Irance, an actlve Commu
nlst press, lncludlng the dally ie~I attacked wlth
out resplte the varlous governments of the Iourth
Republlc, Western pollcles, and all who dld not sub
scrlbe to Communlst party tenets. Sartre was one of
many who, whlle not enrolled ln the party and often
crltlcal of lts posltlons, generally slded wlth lt anyhow
and vlolently condemned the Lnlted States. Camus`s
polltlcal predlcament and malalse lncreased upon publl
catlon ln l95l of ie . Jhe essaywhlch
marked hlm ln leftlst radlcals` eyes as ldeologlcally slm
plemlnded, utoplstlc, lacklng ln phllosophlcal rlgor, and
essentlally a traltortakes as lts polnt of departure the
arguments on the absurd ln i j p and reln
forces the arguments of Rleux and Jarrou ln i~ m.
Camus`s thesls ls that the absurdlst man must, by the
loglc of hls posltlon, rebel or protest. Slnce the elgh
teenth century, however, rebelllon has had traglc conse
quences, lncludlng vlolent revolutlon, tyranny, and
enslavement, all ln the name of freedom. 'La terreur,
petlte ou grande, vlent alors couronner la rvolutlon"
(Jerror, on a small or grand scale, then comes along to
crown the revolutlon). Camus traces thls phenomenon
through the polltlcal and metaphyslcal protests of the
elghteenth and nlneteenth centurles, treatlng such
thlnkers and practltloners as |ean|acques Rousseau,
Louls de Salnt|ust, Georg Wllhelm Irledrlch Hegel,
and Nletzsche. Jhe supreme agents of terror, beslde the
radlcals of the Irench Revolutlon, were the Nazls and
the Sovlets, whose tyranny Camus condemns as a mon
strous dlstortlon of rebelllon ln the name of hlstorlcal
efflcacy.
When a dlsclple of Sartre, Irancls |eanson,
revlewed the essay unfavorably ln a l952 lssue of Sar
tre`s monthly i q jI attacklng lts faulty
thlnklng, Camus replled by an open letter ln the maga
zlne. Jhe letter occasloned a retort by Sartre, whlch set
out thelr dlfferences for all to see. Jhe result was a per
manent falllngout between the two former assoclates.
Camus was not the only emlnent flgure formerly ln
Sartre`s clrcle who broke wlth hlm. Maurlce Merleau
Ponty, a phllosopher of note, long a champlon of Sovlet
pollcy, flnally denounced lt and gave hls vocal support
to the West; Raymond Aron, another phllosopher and
former frlend of Sartre, had already left the Sartrean
pale. Jhese Cold War polarlzatlons affected llterary
llfe throughout the decade.
Increaslngly, Camus knew also the dllemma of
fame, whlch, orlglnatlng wlth the publlc, depends on
contlnued publlc approval and often flnds renewal dlf
flcult. Belng llonlzed at a young age rarely helps a
wrlter, even one who appears to prosper ln lt. One
result of hls predlcament was recurrlng wrlter`s paraly
sls; current theorles about creatlve lnhlbltlon, or
wrlter`s block, ldentlfy great pralse as a contrlbutlng
factor. Camus`s lnvolvements ln the theater ln the
l950s, whlle reflectlng a llfelong lnterest, may have
26l
ai_ POV ^ `~
been a way of deflectlng the lmperatlve to wrlte and
wrlte well. Durlng much of the decade he was engaged
ln attempts to flnd a theater of hls own, where he could
be the dlrector. Desplte frlends` asslstance and lnter
ventlon wlth the Irench government (whlch subsldlzed
theaters then as now) and hls own perslstence, the
enterprlse dld not succeed. He dld, however, take over
one summer (l953) as dlrector of the Iestlval dÀrt
Dramatlque ln Angers, where he staged two of hls
adaptatlons. Later, hls hlghly successful l956 adapta
tlon of Wllllam Iaulkner`s Icquicm for o ùv (l95l) was
followed ln l959 by hls adaptatlon, whlch he also
dlrected, of Dostoevsky`s Tlc Iosscsscd (l87l).
Jo the dlscomfort of worklng ln a fractlous, ldeo
loglcally charged atmosphere, the burden of fame, and
hls theatrlcal lnvolvements were added health problems
and domestlc tenslon throughout the l950s. In l953
Iranclne Camus, already depressed, fell lnto deeper
mental dlfflcultles, almost surely brought on by marltal
strlfe, ltself resultlng partly from havlng to share her
husband wlth Casars. Jhe spouses llved apart for
months; then, together, apparently wlthout harmony;
then agaln separately. Camus became lnvolved wlth
other women ln addltlon to hls wlfe and Casars.
Jhe greatest burden of all on Camus from the
mld l950s untll hls death was the Algerlan war, whlch
hlstorlans have generally agreed to date from l
November l951, when natlonallst Algerlan lnsurgents
launched attacks agalnst several pollce outposts and
other government offlces. Jhe uprlslngs spread
through the countryslde and lnto the cltles, where both
pollce and army battled agalnst the rebels. Offlclal pol
lcy was that Algerla would remaln Irench, and resl
dents of Irench ancestry were assured repeatedly that
the government would ellmlnate the guerrlllas and ter
rorlsts and protect thelr llves and propertles. Jerrorlsm
grew, however, frequently justlfled by the prlnclple that
Junlslan novellst and soclologlst Albert Memml later
enunclated, that the vlolence of the oppressed merely
reflects the vlolence of the oppressor. By l957 Irench
forces and rebels were engaged ln a fullscale urban
confllct called the Battle of Alglers. Jhe army was able
to destroy the terrorlsts` network ln the clty, but lts bru
tal methods lost much publlc support for the ldea of
Zlgcric frovoisc (as the slogan went). Although the gov
ernment denled lt, there was ample evldence that tor
ture was used to extract lnformatlon from captured
rebels. It was the Algerlan crlsls that brought down the
Iourth Republlc ln May l958, when Charles de Gaulle
was called to power wlth a mandate to rule by decree
for slx months.
Before November l951 Camus had wrltten on
the Algerlan sltuatlon, and ln the summer of l955 he
publlshed an artlcle on terrorlsm and represslon. He
subsequently contrlbuted (to the weekly IÌxprcss and
other publlcatlons) artlcles proposlng both lmmedlate
measures and longterm solutlons for a reorganlzatlon
of Algerla on a new footlng, wlth lmproved status for
Musllm resldents. Hls vlslon of a soclety bullt on jus
tlce allowed hlm to have great understandlng and sym
pathy for both Algerlan communltles (European and
Musllm), even as tenslons grew; lt also dlctated hls
stand agalnst lndependence and especlally the terrorlst
methods used eventually to achleve lt, and lt made hlm
persona non grata among the many Irench lntellectu
als who pronounced colonlallsm an unconsclonable
evll. Hls l956 vlslt to Alglers to speak on behalf of a
clvll truce was a total fallure. hls vlslon was dlsmlssed
as utoplan, hls sense of justlce as warped, and 'Camus
le juste" was called a phony. Agaln, the tendency of
absolute polltlcal thought toward extremlsm and totall
tarlanlsmpreclsely what he had denounced ln
I`Hommc rcvoltcmade compromlse lmposslble. Hls
speech denounclng the l956 Sovlet lnvaslon of Hun
gary provlded further excuse for attacks from the left
wlng. Pressed to condemn not only Irench measures
agalnst the lnsurgents but also the very prlnclple of
Zlgcric frovoisc, he turned sllent.
Notwlthstandlng hls occaslonal wrlter`s paralysls,
Camus publlshed ln the l950s a volume of lyrlcal
essays, IÌtc (l951, Summer), whlch lncludes beautlful
wrltlngs on Algerla, some composed earller, and an
essay on Prometheus, whose herolc sufferlngs ln chalns
recall the punlshment of Slsyphus. Jwo more collec
tlons of journallstlc wrltlngs also appeared durlng the
decade. Zctucllcs II: Clroviqucs 194S-19J ln l953 and
Zctucllcs III: Clroviqucs olgcricvvcs, 19J9-19S (lncludlng
the clvll truce speech) ln l958. Icflcxiovs sur lo pcivc copi-
tolc (l957, Reflectlons on Capltal Punlshment), by
Camus and Koestler, lncludes Camus`s essay 'Rfle
xlons sur la gulllotlne" (translated as Icflcctiovs ov tlc
Cuillotivc: Zv Issoy ov Copitol Iuvislmcvt, l959). Hls posl
tlon ls that capltal punlshment ls as morally revoltlng
as the crlme that supposedly warrants lt, and that lt
should be abollshed ln Irance and elsewhere. He
argues that supposed justlflcatlons for the death pen
alty (lncludlng lts role as a deterrent) lack valldlty and
that lt ls really vengeance taken by soclety.
Jwo works of flctlon also date from the l950s. Io
Clutc, perhaps Camus`s best novel, reflects hls sense of
allenatlon. Jhe last of hls novels publlshed durlng hls
llfetlme, lt ls an lronlc masterplece, analyzlng the
human heart and examlnlng mldtwentlethcentury
attltudes and mores. Irony can be vlewed as constltut
lng a flnal stage ln hls thought, but the schema ls
approxlmate, and he never abandoned hls earller
humanlstlc thlnklng. Jhe novel ls presented ln the
form of a flrstperson monologue spoken by a former
262
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lawyer from Parls who has renounced hls professlon
and frlends and gone lnto exlle ln Amsterdam. Jhe
monologue ls dlrected toward an unnamed and unseen
lnterlocutor who vlslts the bar where the former Parl
slan awalts hls 'cllents." Jhe theologlcal suggestlons of
the tltle are relnforced by the concentrlc clrcles of the
Amsterdam canals, suggestlng the clrcles of hell ln
Dante`s q a `X by remlnders of great evll ln
the form of Nazl persecutlon of the |ewlsh communlty;
and especlally by the name the protagonlst has taken.
He calls hlmself |eanBaptlste Clamence, suggestlng
|ohn the Baptlst, who preached repentance, wlth hls
'volce . . . crylng |vox clamantls| ln the wllderness."
Although the lnterlocutor ls never heard dlrectly, hls
comments can sometlmes be guessed from Clamence`s
words, whlch also remlnd readers there ls a llstener
and subtly lnvolve them ln the text. Jhe of the nar
ratlve (by whlch Clamence refers to hlmself and hls lls
tener) lmpllcates, of course, the reader also.
Havlng personally practlced a wlde varlety of
hypocrlsles and seen much ln others, havlng wltnessed
great crlmes vlslted on Europe ln the name of polltlcal
ldeals, and knowlng, thanks to hls professlon, the
human heart at lts worst, Clamence ls well placed to
denounce the evlls of hls century and preach on the
theme of culpablllty. He pronounces hlmself culpable
flrst of all, of course. Marvelous llttle scenes evoked
from the past lllustrate the sklll wlth whlch, by cultlvat
lng a false persona, he dlsgulsed hls real character,
fllled wlth envy and wlll to power. But by acknowledg
lng hls falllngs, he ralses hlmself above others; beatlng
hls breast, accuslng hlmself, he becomes superlor and
can pass judgment. Jhus, he explalns hls new profes
slon, that of J ( judgepenltent).
In the last sectlon of the novel Clamence, suffer
lng from a fever, speaks to the lnterlocutor from bed. It
lslf not a pretextat least a convenlent way for Cla
mence to reveal hls secret. a stolen flfteenthcentury
palntlng, |an van Eyck`s i g (Jhe Honest
|udges), kept ln hls cupboard. Jhe thematlc lntercon
nectlons among the subject of the palntlng (an hlstorlc
object, actually stolen ln l931 and never recovered),
Clamence`s earller and present professlon, and hls
judgments on others are enrlched by hls dlscovery that
hls vlsltor ls also an attorneyperhaps a fellow splrlt
who wlll practlce selfmortlflcatlon wlth hlm. Awaltlng
hls frlend`s confesslon, Clamence ls a judge wlthout
mercy, a prophet wlthout rellglon, and a confessor
wlthout God.
In l957 Camus publlshed hls collectlon of short
flctlon, ib ~ (translated as b ~
hI l958). Jhe slx storles, often anthologlzed, are
among hls best wrltlng. Jhe 'exlle" of the tltle ls
chlefly that of the human condltlon (as well as Camus`s
separatlon from hls natlve land); the 'klngdom" ls the
nearly unattalnable happlness toward whlch all strlve,
or posslbly some hlgher, splrltual dlmenslon. Among
major themes are allenatlon from others and lnablllty
to communlcate. One story ls called 'Les Muets"
(translated as 'Jhe Sllent Men"); ln 'Le Rengat"
(translated as 'Jhe Renegade"), a man`s tongue ls cut
out; and ln 'La Plerre qul pousse" (translated as 'Jhe
Growlng Stone"), the hero, a Irench englneer, travels
to a Brazlllan jungle town, where he feels lsolated and
out of place untll he undergoes what amounts to an lnl
tlatlon and becomes part of the communlty.
Jhe same themes of separatlon and dlfflculty ln
communlcatlon recur ln the other storles. In 'La
Iemme adultre" (translated as 'Jhe Adulterous
Woman"), however, Camus subtly brlngs out the emo
tlonal connectlons between human belngs and the
materlal world. Jhe story deals not wlth physlcal adul
tery but wlth a splrltual communlon establlshed
between |anlne, the wlfe of a travellng salesman from
coastal North Afrlca, and a severe but lnvltlng land
scape that she dlscovers on a vlslt to the southa land
scape wlth a strange appeal, relnforced by the presence
of sllent, solltary Arabs who seem mysterlously con
nected to the world. Looklng over the desert at nlght,
|anlne feels a powerful sense of freedom and unlon
wlth the world and experlences an lllumlnatlon that
contrasts wlth the pettlness and dullness of her llfe.
'L`Hte" (translated as 'Jhe Guest") ls set ln a
mountalnous area of Algerla durlng the lnsurrectlon.
Jhe story lllustrates the antagonlsms between commu
nltles that nevertheless share a common land and love
for lt. Daru, a teacher ln an lsolated school, ls told by a
rural gendarme that he must hold overnlght an Arab
prlsoner accused of kllllng a man and then dellver hlm
to the authorltles farther on. Reluctantly, Daru agrees
to keep the prlsoner for the nlght, but he ls loath to
turn hlm ln, desplte hls brutlshness. Jhe next day
Daru leads the Arab to a polnt where he may choose
between two dlrectlons, one leadlng to nomads who
wlll take hlm ln wlthout asklng questlons, the other to
the Irench authorltles ln town. Jhe prlsoner ls freed
and allowed to choose; the teacher sees hlm walklng
toward the town. Later, on the blackboard, Daru flnds
a message telllng hlm that he wlll pay for glvlng up the
Arab. Jhe story ls both a polltlcal and an exlstentlal
parable. It dramatlzes the wartlme dllemma of many
Algerlansboth colonlals and lndlgenous resldents
who dld not want to get lnvolved and yet were drawn
lnto the confllct. Llkewlse, the story lllustrates the
lmposslblllty of chooslng satlsfactorllywhatever Daru
does wlll brlng hlm troubleand the solltude of the
thlnklng and sufferlng subject.
263
ai_ POV ^ `~
'|onas ou làrtlste au travall" (translated as
'|onas or Jhe Artlst at Work"), set ln Parls, clearly
reflects Camus`s own dllemmas. After |onas, a glfted
palnter, achleves great success, hls llfe becomes con
tamlnated by publlc recognltlon; he has become a com
modlty. People lmplnge so much on hls tlme that work
becomes dlfflcult. Slmllarly, hls personal llfe ls compll
cated, ln part by the awkward deslgn of the apartment
where he llves wlth hls wlfe and chlldren. Gradually,
he wlthdraws from soclety and hls famlly and spends
all hls tlme ln a loft bullt lnto the apartment. At the
end, he ls found unconsclous ln the darkness, wlth a
new canvas on whlch ls vlslble only one unclear word,
elther ~ or ~. Both words underllne the
amblgulty of the human condltlon and the posltlon of
the artlst, who must feel solldarlty wlth others and yet
can create only ln solltude.
Also ln l957 Camus was awarded the Nobel
Prlze ln Llterature. He had earller recelved the Resls
tance Medal (l916) and the Prlx des Crltlques for i~
mI though he perslstently rejected the Leglon of
Honor. Lpon learnlng of the Nobel, he told a journal
lst that he felt rather young for the honor, and that he
would hlmself have voted for Malraux. In hls note
books he expressed the hope that what he had sald
mlght be useful to others, but that lt could not be so to
hlmself, 'llvr malntenant a une sorte de folle" (glven
over now to a sort of lnsanlty). Hls December Nobel
speech ln Stockholm lncluded a movlng statement of
the artlst`s relatlonshlp to hls audlence.
|e ne puls vlvre personnellement sans mon art. Mals je
nàl jamals plac cet art audessus de tout. S`ll mèst
ncessalre au contralre, cèst qu`ll ne se spare de per
sonne et me permet de vlvre, tel que je suls, au nlveau
de tous. Làrt nèst pas a mes yeux une rjoulssance
solltalre. Il est un moyen d`mouvolr le plus grand
nombre d`hommes en leur offrant une lmage prlv
llgle des souffrances et des joles communes. Il obllge
donc làrtlste a ne pas s`lsoler; ll le soumet a la vrlt la
plus humble et la plus unlverselle.
(Personally, I cannot llve wlthout my art. But I have
never placed thls art above everythlng else. If lt ls nec
essary to me, lndeed, lt ls because lt ls not separate
from anyone and allows me to llve, such as I am, on
everyone`s level. Art ls not ln my eyes a solltary enjoy
ment. It ls a means of movlng the greatest number of
people by offerlng them a prlvlleged plcture of common
sufferlngs and joys. It thus obllges the artlst not to
become lsolated; lt submlts hlm to the most humble
and most unlversal truth).
In Stockholm, Camus also made, durlng a questlon
andanswer sesslon at the unlverslty, what became hls
most famous, or lnfamous, statement (reported by
Domlnlque Blrmann ln i j ) on the Algerlan war.
_uestloners ralsed varlous polltlcal lssues, lncludlng
freedom of speech and censorshlp ln Irance. Jhen
words from a Musllm mllltant concernlng Camus`s
reluctance to lntervene further ln the Algerlan confllct
led to confused exchanges. After belng subjected to a
barrage of accusatlons and lnsults, Camus, vlslbly
upset, flnally retorted that he had always condemned
terrorlsmmeanlng terrorlstlc represslon of Algerlan
lnsurgents by Irench forces but also vlolence exerclsed
by rebels agalnst the Irench and fellow Musllms who
would not cooperate wlth the rebelllon. He denounced
bllnd terrorlsm exerclsed ln the streets and flnally stated
that whlle he belleved ln justlce, he would also defend
hls mother (stlll allve ln Algerla) before justlce. Jhls
statement caused the greatest uproar and was selzed
upon by hls polltlcal adversarles as evldence of hls
hypocrlsy and lncorrlglble colonlal attltudes.
Camus`s last years were not tranqull. Jhe prlze
ltself contrlbuted to hls dlfflcultles, slnce lt created a tre
mendous stlr around hlm, made hlm more of a publlc
flgure than before (thus reduclng further hls prlvacy),
and caused unlntentlonal allenatlon between hlm and
old frlends. He spoke of havlng 'mal aux poumons"
(belng lll from Algerla as he was ln the lungs). Yet, he
worked on hls dramatlc adaptatlons and on i m
eI the manuscrlpt of whlch was ln hls brlefcase
when he was kllled ln an automoblle accldent on 1 |an
uary l960.
Camus feared speed, contrary to some reports.
He had been wlth hls famlly for the Chrlstmas hollday
ln Lourmarln, ln the south of Irance, at hls vacatlon
home, purchased wlth the Nobel money. Jhere he had
experlenced some moments of morbldlty worse than
usual and had spoken of what sort of burlal he wanted.
Iranclne Camus and the twlns took the traln back to
Parls. He also had planned to do so, but lnstead
accepted the lnvltatlon of Mlchel Galllmard and hls
wlfe, who had spent New Year`s wlth the Camus famlly,
to drlve back. On the second day of the journey, wlth
Galllmard drlvlng, the car swerved off the road and hlt
a plane tree, then another. Camus dled lnstantly; Galll
mard survlved a few days; hls wlfe and chlldren were
not gravely lnjured. Camus had wrltten ln hls note
books ln l95l that he sometlmes wlshed to dle a vlo
lent death. Jhe event was wldely treated as a supremely
lronlc manlfestatlon of the absurd. Many newspapers
and other publlcatlons devoted the whole or part of an
lssue to Camus and hls place ln Irench llterature. In
c~Jl~ (7 |anuary l960), Sartre stressed the
contradlctlons ln Camus`s posltlon but pralsed hlm as
the current helr of a long llne of morallsts whose works
constltuted perhaps the most orlglnal contrlbutlon of
Irench letters. Jhese memorlal lssues, produced wlth
261
^ `~ ai_ POV
great haste, some as early as Iebruary, were the flrst
stage ln what became a tremendous Camus lndustry,
stlll thrlvlng.
i m e was publlshed from the manu
scrlpt left at hls death. Jhe tltle may be seen as havlng
mythlc suggestlons; Algerla ls vlewed retrospectlvely as
'la terre de lòubll ou chacun talt le premler homme"
(the land of forgetfulness, where each was the flrst
man). Jhere may be a reference to colonlzatlon, or to
the Edenlc quallty, as Camus saw lt, of the Medlterra
nean llfe, under 'la lumlre des premlers matlns du
monde" (the llght of the world`s flrst mornlngs). Jhe
tltle has contrastlng connotatlons of Caln, the flrst blbll
cal murderer, and, at the same tlme, of Camus`s father,
the flrst and only paternal ancestor whose llfe he lmag
lnes ln detall. Ilnally, the tltle may refer to Everyman.
As Camus observed ln a notebook entry of l951, 'Jout
homme est le premler homme, personne ne lèst"
(Everyone ls the flrst man; no one ls). Jhe work ls ded
lcated to Camus`s mother, portrayed as an extraordl
nary, Chrlstllke flgure through her goodness and sllent
sufferlng.
Jhe hlghly autoblographlcal narratlve beglns
wlth the blrth ln Algerla of |acques Cormery ( |.C., llke
|esus Chrlst). It then jumps ahead to a vlslt the adult
|acques pays to hls father`s grave ln Irance, followed by
a conversatlon wlth hls former schoolmaster, who llves
nearby. Jhe narratlve then returns to |acques`s chlld
hood and young manhood, wlth flashforwards to later
perlods. Certaln passages clearly refer to the Algerlan
rebelllon. Jhemes ln the novel or announced ln the
accompanylng notes lnclude some of Camus`s favor
ltes. games and sports, school, exlle, solltude, gullt, the
natural world and lts pleasures, and 'un grand crl de
jole et de gratltude envers làdorable vle" (a great cry of
joy and gratltude toward llfe, lovable llfe). One conse
quence of the publlcatlon of the novel was to lnvlte crlt
lcs to ldentlfy overlaps between lt and other works, thus
creatlng the lmage of a wrlter less dlstant from hls flc
tlon than had been assumed.
Whlle Camus has remalned wldely read follow
lng hls death, he has, nevertheless, lost some status
among crltlcs and ln the academy. Jhere has been a
decllne ln hls popularlty on postgraduate readlng llsts,
for lnstance, and, to judge by publlcatlons and sesslons
at scholarly meetlngs, a sharp fall ln hls prestlge among
professors, many theoryorlented. Camusbashlng per
slsts, partly on phllosophlcal grounds but chlefly on
polltlcal and cultural grounds, lncludlng hls machlsmo,
Eurocentrlsm, and 'humanlsm"that ls, holdlng the
values of the Occldent lnstead of supportlng revolutlon
ary soclallsm and Marxlst realpolltlk. Among crltlcs
who have noted the omlsslon of natlve Algerlans from
most of hls work and who have attacked hlm for feellng
solldarlty wlth the colonlal Irench and thus refuslng to
espouse the cause of the rebels and lndependence are
Conor Crulse O`Brlen and Kateb Yaclne (a Berber
wrlter).
Jhe latter charge lllustrates two crltlcal fallacles.
One ls judglng by later standards a posltlon adopted
earller. what appeared forwardlooklng when Camus
flrst wrote about mlsery ln Kabylla ln the l930s has
generally been surpassed, whlle what looked practlca
ble later ln the century wlth respect to colonlal terrlto
rles may have appeared much less so when he was
wrltlng. Jhe other fallacy ls slmply to lgnore contrary
evldence. Jrue, untll l991 crltlcs dld not have access to
i m eI ln whlch Camus deplcts natlves sym
pathetlcally and often shows great concern for them
(for example, Arab women barrlcaded ln thelr houses).
But hls artlcles on Kabylla were much more than a ges
ture. they were a call for wldesweeplng and compara
tlvely radlcal changes. Crltlcs also neglect Camus`s
behlndthescenes efforts ln the mld l950s to flnd a
polltlcal solutlon to the vlolence brought about by the
Algerlan uprlslng; moreover, the artlcles that constltute
^ fffW ` ~I NVPVNVRU were, as
Peter Dunwoodle wrltes, 'crushlngly lgnored." In an
lntervlew glven ln connectlon wlth the Nobel Prlze,
Camus stated that 'cèst a elle |Algerla|, et a son mal
heur, que vont toutes mes penses" (all my thoughts go
out to Algerla and lts mlsfortune).
Desplte crltlclsms comlng from postcolonlallsts,
femlnlsts, and other radlcals, lncludlng those who
attack the ldea of canonlzed authors, Camus`s reputa
tlon as a major wrlter of hls century ls secure. Roger
Martln du Gard, another Nobel laureate (l937), wrote
ln a l918 letter to Glde that Camus was 'celul de sa
gnratlon qul donne le plus grand espolr" (the one ln
hls generatlon who lnsplres the greatest hope). Vlctor
Brombert has explalned how the Irench concept of
the lntellectual 'remalns bound up wlth the notlon of
a soclal, polltlcal and moral crlsls" ln whlch the wrlter,
artlst, or other lntellectual conslders hlmself obllgated
to lntervene. Camus`s wrltlngs ln response to thls duty
may be flawed, though doubtless not so greatly as
some have averred; but the moral gravlty of hls work
ls of lastlng value, endurlng past the partlcular condl
tlons that gave rlse to lt. In the expresslon of Plerre
Henrl Slmon, a Cathollc crltlc, Camus served as one
of the hlgh consclences of the natlon. Even more, hls
achlevement as an artlstone remembers hls emphasls
on art ln hls Nobel speechputs hlm well above most
of hls contemporarles. Meursault, Callgula, and Cla
mence are among the most dlstlnctlve and yet charac
terlstlc creatlons of the llterary lmaglnatlon ln
twentlethcentury llterature. Camus`s lucldltythat
Medlterranean value, lllustrated by the Greeks ln thelr
265
ai_ POV ^ `~
medltatlons on man and natureproduced keen, sensl
tlve lnslghts, couched ln admlrable, often lyrlcal prose.
Hls enterprlse was that ldentlfled by Paul Valry as the
poet`s. not to feel but to make felt, 'et bellement sensl
ble" (and felt beautlfully).
iW
Zlbcrt Comus, cov Crcvicr: Corrcspovdovcc: 19J2-1960,
edlted by Marguerlte Dobrenn (Parls. Galllmard,
l98l); translated by |an I. Rlgaud as Zlbcrt Comus,
cov Crcvicr: Corrcspovdcvcc, 19J2-1960 (Llncoln.
Lnlverslty of Nebraska Press, 2003);
Comus: Dc lòbsurdc o lòmour: Icttrcs ivcditcs d`Zlbcrt Comus,
edlted by Andr ComteSponvllle (Vnlssleux.
Paroles dÀube, l995);
Corrcspovdovcc 19J9-1947 Zlbcrt Comus, Ioscol Iio, edlted
by Yves Marc Ajchenbaum (Parls. Iayard/Galll
mard, 2000);
Zlbcrt Comus - cov Scvoc: Corrcspovdovcc 1947-19S,
edlted by Hamld NacerKhodja (Parls. Parls
Mdlterrane, 2001).
_~W
Maurlce Beebe, 'Crltlclsm of Albert Camus. A Selected
Checkllst of Studles ln Engllsh," Modcrv Iictiov
Studics, l0 (Autumn l961). 303-3l1;
Peter C. Hoy, Comus iv Ivglisl (Wymondham, L.K..
Brewhouse Press, l968);
Robert I. Roemlng, Comus: Z ibliogroply (Madlson.
Lnlverslty of Wlsconsln Press, l968);
Brlan J. Iltch and Hoy, Issoi dc bibliogroplic dcs ctudcs cv
lovguc frovoisc covsocrccs o Zlbcrt Comus (19J7-
1967) (Parls. Mlnard, l969);
Raymond GayCrosler, Comus (Darmstadt. Wlssen
schaftllche Buchgesellschaft, l976);
GayCrosler, 'Albert Camus," ln Z Criticol ibliogroply of
Ircvcl Iitcroturc, volume 6. Tlc Twcvtictl Ccvtury,
edlted by Douglas W. Alden and Rlchard A.
Brooks (Syracuse. Syracuse Lnlverslty Press,
l980), part 3, pp. l573-l679.
_~W
Herbert R. Lottman, Zlbcrt Comus: Z iogroply (Garden
Clty, N.Y.. Doubleday, l979; revlsed edltlon,
Corte Madera, Cal.. Glngko Press, l997);
Patrlck McCarthy, Comus (New York. Random House,
l982);
Roger Grenler, Zlbcrt Comus solcil ct ombrc: Uvc biogroplic
ivtcllcctucllc (Parls. Galllmard, l987);
|os Lenzlnl, I`Zlgcric dc Comus (AlxenProvence.
Edlsud, l987);
Ollvler Jodd, Zlbcrt Comus: Uvc vic (Parls. Galllmard,
l996); translated by Benjamln Ivry as Zlbcrt
Comus: Z Iifc (New York. Random House, l997).
oW
Rlchard H. Akeroyd, Tlc Spirituol _ucst of Zlbcrt Comus
(Juscaloosa, Ala.. Portals Press, l976);
Alba Amola, Zlbcrt Comus (New York. Contlnuum,
l989);
Alex Argyros, Crimcs of òrrotiov: Comus` 'Io Clutc
(Joronto. Paratexte, l985);
Ronald Aronson, Comus c Sortrc: Tlc Story of o Iricvdslip
ovd tlc _uorrcl tlot Ivdcd It (Chlcago London.
Lnlverslty of Chlcago Press, 2001);
G. V. Banks, Comus: IÌtrovgcr (London. Edward
Arnold, l976; enlarged edltlon, Glasgow. Lnlver
slty of Glasgow Irench and German Publlcatlons,
l992);
Mlchelle Beauclalr, Zlbcrt Comus, Morgucritc Duros, ovd
tlc Icgocy of Mourvivg (New York. Peter Lang,
l998);
Harold Bloom, ed., Zlbcrt Comus (New York Phlladel
phla. Chelsea House, l989);
Germalne Bre, Comus ovd Sortrc: Crisis ovd Commitmcvt
(New York. Delta, l972);
Bre, ed., Comus: Z Collcctiov of Criticol Issoys (Englewood
Cllffs, N.|.. PrentlceHall, l962);
Vlctor Brombert, Tlc Ivtcllcctuol Hcro: Studics iv tlc Ircvcl
òvcl, 1SS0-19 (Chlcago London. Lnlver
slty of Chlcago Press, l960);
Stephen Erlc Bronner, Comus: Iortroit of o Morolist (Mln
neapolls London. Lnlverslty of Mlnnesota
Press, l999);
Catharlne Savage Brosman, Zlbcrt Comus (Detrolt. Gale,
2000);
Brosman, Ixistcvtiol Iictiov (Detrolt. Gale, 2000);
|ames W. Brown, 'Scvsivg,` 'Sccivg,` 'Soyivg` iv Comus`
'òccs`: Z Mcditotivc Issoy (Amsterdam New
York. Rodopl, 2001);
MlchelAntolne Burnler, Cloicc of Zctiov: Tlc Ircvcl Ixis-
tcvtiolists ov tlc Ioliticol Irovt Iivc, translated by Ber
nard Murchland (New York. Vlntage, l969);
Llonel Dubols, ed., Zlbcrt Comus: Io rcvoltc (Poltlers. Edl
tlons du PontNeuf, 200l);
Dubols, ed., Zlbcrt Comus cvtrc lo misrc ct lc solcil (Poltlers.
Edltlons du PontNeuf, l997);
Dubols, ed., Ics Trois Cucrrcs d`Zlbcrt Comus (Poltlers.
Edltlons du PontNeuf, l995);
Peter Dunwoodle and Edward |. Hughes, Covstructivg
Mcmorics: Comus, Zlgcrio, ovd 'Ic Ircmicr Hommc
(Stlrllng. Stlrllng Irench Publlcatlons, no. 6,
l998);
Bernard East, Zlbcrt Comus ou l`lommc o lo rcclcrclc dùvc
morolc (Montreal. Bellarmln / Parls. Edltlons du
Cerf, l981);
Davld R. Elllson, Uvdcrstovdivg Zlbcrt Comus (Columbla.
Lnlverslty of South Carollna Press, l990);
Iranck Evrard, Zlbcrt Comus (Parls. Elllpses, l998);
266
^ `~ ai_ POV
Eugene H. Ialk, Typcs of Tlcmotic Structurc: Tlc òturc
ovd Iuvctiov of Motifs iv Cidc, Comus, ovd Sortrc (Chl
cago London. Lnlverslty of Chlcago Press,
l967);
Raymond GayCrosler, IÌvvcrs dùv cclcc: Itudc sur lc
tlcotrc d`Zlbcrt Comus (Parls. Lettres Modernes/
Mlnard, l967);
GayCrosler and Roger _ullllot, Io Icccptiov dc lòcuvrc
dc Comus cv U.I.S.S. ct cv I.D.Z. (Parls. Lettres
Modernes Mlnard, l999);
|acob Golomb, Iv Scorcl of Zutlcvticity: Irom Iicrlcgoord to
Comus (London New York. Routledge, l995);
|eanyves Gurln, ed., Comus ct lo politiquc (Parls. L`Har
mattan, l986);
Gurln, ed., Comus ct lc prcmicr 'Combot (1944-1947)
(La GarenneColombes. Edltlons de lÈspace
Europen, l990);
Patrlck Henry, 'Albert Camus, Paneller, and Io Icstc,"
Iitcrory Imogivotiov, 5 (Iall 2003). 383-101;
Histoircs dùv livrc: 'IÌtrovgcr d`Zlbcrt Comus. Cotologuc
cditc o lòccosiov dc l`cxpositiov ivougurolc prcscvtcc ou
Ccvtrc votiovol dcs lcttrcs o Ioris, du 1J oct. ou 9 vov.
1990 (Parls. IMEC, l990);
Edward |. Hughes, Comus: Ic Ircmicr Hommc; Io Icstc
(Glasgow. Lnlverslty of Glasgow Irench and
German Publlcatlons, l995);
Jony |udt, Tlc urdcv of Icspovsibility: lum, Comus, Zrov,
ovd tlc Ircvcl Twcvtictl Ccvtury (Chlcago. Lnlver
slty of Chlcago Press, l998);
Walter Kaufmann, ed., Ixistcvtiolism from Dostocvsly to
Sortrc (New York. Merldlan Books, l956);
Jerry Keefe and Edmund Smyth, Zutobiogroply ovd tlc
Ixistcvtiol Sclf: Studics iv Modcrv Ircvcl !ritivg (New
York. St. Martln`s Press, l995);
Steven G. Kellman, ed., Zpprooclcs to Tcoclivg Comus`s
'Tlc Iloguc (New York. Jhe Modern Language
Assoclatlon of Amerlca, l995);
Adele Klng, ed., Comus`s 'IÌtrovgcr: Iifty Jcors Uv (Lon
don. Macmlllan, l992);
Bettlna L. Knapp, ed., Criticol Issoys ov Zlbcrt Comus (Bos
ton. G. K. Hall, l988);
Morvan Lebesque, Comus (Parls. Seull, l963);
Rlchard Lehan, Z Dovgcrous Crossivg: Ircvcl Iitcrory Ixis-
tcvtiolism ovd tlc Modcrv òvcl (Carbondale
Edwardsvllle. Southern Illlnols Lnlverslty Press /
London Amsterdam. Ieffer Slmons, l973);
|acquellne LvlValensl, ed., Comus ct lc tlcotrc (Parls.
IMEC Edltlons, l992);
LvlValensl and Agns Splquel, eds., Comus ct lc lyrismc:
Zctcs du Colloquc dc couvois J1 moi - 1

juiv 1996
(Parls. SEDES, l997);
|ames McBrlde, Zlbcrt Comus: Ililosoplcr ovd Iittcrotcur
(New York. St. Martln`s Press, l992);
Geraldlne I. Montgomery, òccs pour fcmmc sculc: Ic fcmi-
viv ct lc socrc dovs lòcuvrc d`Zlbcrt Comus (Amster
dam. Rodopl, 2001);
Conor Crulse O`Brlen, Zlbcrt Comus of Iuropc ovd Zfrico
(New York. Vlklng, l970);
Neal Oxenhandler, Ioolivg for Hcrocs iv Iostwor Irovcc:
Zlbcrt Comus, Mox ocob, Simovc !cil (Hanover,
N.H.. Lnlverslty Press of New England, l996);
Roger _ullllot, Io Mcr ct lcs prisovs: Issoi sur Zlbcrt Comus
(Parls. Galllmard, l956); revlsed by _ullllot and
translated by Parker as Tlc Sco ovd Irisovs: Z Com-
mcvtory ov tlc Iifc ovd Tlouglt of Zlbcrt Comus (Lnl
verslty. Lnlverslty of Alabama Press, l970);
Phllllp H. Rheln, Zlbcrt Comus (New York. Jwayne,
l969; revlsed, l989);
Anthony Rlzzuto, Comus: Iovc ovd Scxuolity (Galnesvllle.
Lnlverslty Press of Ilorlda, l998);
Rlzzuto, ed., Zlbcrt Comus` 'IÌxil ct lc Ioyoumc: Tlc
Tlird Dccodc (Joronto. Paratexte, l988);
Emmanuel Robls, Zlbcrt Comus ct lo trcvc civilc (Phlladel
phla. Celfan Edltlon Monographs, l988);
|acquellne Gabrlelle Roston, Comus`s Iccit 'Io Clutc: Z
Icwritivg Tlrougl Dovtc`s 'Commcdio (New York.
Peter Lang, l985);
Peter Royle, Tlc Sortrc-Comus Covtrovcrsy: Z Iitcrory ovd
Ililosoplicol Critiquc (Ottawa. Lnlverslty of Ottawa
Press, l982);
|eanPaul Sartre, 'Albert Camus," Irovcc-Ubscrvotcur, no.
505 (7 |anuary l960);
Sartre, 'Expllcatlon de IÌtrovgcr," Colicrs du Sud, no.
253 (l913);
Sartre, 'Rponse a Albert Camus," Ics Tcmps Modcrvcs,
no. 82 (August l952). 331-353;
Phlllp Jhody, Zlbcrt Comus (London. Macmlllan, l989);
Ena C. Vulor, Coloviol ovd Zvti-Coloviol Discourscs: Zlbcrt
Comus ovd Zlgcrio (Lanham, Md. Oxford. Lnl
verslty Press of Amerlca, 2000);
Davld H. Walker, ed., Zlbcrt Comus: Ics cxtrcmcs ct l`cquili-
brc (Amsterdam Atlanta. Rodopl, l991);
Maurlce Weyembergh, Zlbcrt Comus ou lo mcmoirc dcs orig-
ivcs (Parls Brussels. De Boeck Lnlverslt,
l998);
|ames S. Wllllams, Comus: Io Icstc (London. Grant
Cutler, 2000);
Wolodymyr J. Zyla and Wendell M. Aycock, eds.,
Zlbcrt Comus` Iitcrory Milicu: Zrid Iovds (Lubbock.
Interdepartmental Commlttee on Comparatlve
Llterature, Jexas Jech Lnlverslty, l976).
m~W
Although some of Albert Camus`s papers are deposlted
at the Blbllothque natlonale de Irance ln Parls, most
remaln ln the Catherlne and |ean Camus famlly
archlves. Camus`s portlon of hls unpubllshed corre
267
ai_ POV ^ `~
spondence wlth |ules Roy ls ln the Blbllothque Salnt
Charles ln Marsellles; Roy`s portlon ls ln the Ionds
Camus of the Blbllothque Mjane AlxenProvence.
Jwo other correspondences are held (partly ln orlgl
nals, partly ln photocoples) at the Speclal Collectlons
dlvlslon of the llbrary at the Lnlverslty of Ilorlda,
Galnesvllle. See artlcles by Raymond GayCrosler sum
marlzlng thelr contents. 'Lne Correspondance lndlte
de l`poque du Jhtre de lÈqulpe," ^ `~ NQ
(Parls. Lettres modernes, l99l), pp. l65-l72 (letters to
Iranolse Maeurer), and 'Encore une correspondance
lndlte. Albert Camus-Yvonne Ducallar, l939-l916,"
^ `~ NR (Parls. Lettres Modernes, l993), pp.
l83-l96. A tapescrlpt of Camus`s unpubllshed hand
wrltten correctlons of l939 and l91l for `~~ ls held
ln the same collectlon. Some papers are ln the Harry
Ransom Humanltles Research Center at the Lnlverslty
of Jexas at Austln.
NVRT k m i~
m~ p
^ I m~ p~ p
^~
Irench llterature ls no longer llnked geographl
cally to the frontlers of Irance ln Europe. In many
respects lt remlnds one of a garden plant, noble and
lrreplaceable, whlch when cultlvated outslde lts terrl
tory stlll retalns lts dlstlnctlve character, although tradl
tlon and varlatlon alternately lnfluence lt. Jhe Nobel
Laureate for thls year, Albert Camus, ls an example of
thls evolutlon. Born ln a small town ln eastern Algerla,
he has returned to thls North Afrlcan mllleu to flnd the
source of all the determlnlng lnfluences that have
marked hls chlldhood and youth. Even today, the man
Camus ls aware of thls great Irench overseas terrltory,
and the wrlter ln hlm ls often pleased to recall thls fact.
Irom a quaslproletarlan orlgln, Camus found lt
necessary to get ahead ln llfe on hls own; a poverty
strlcken student, he worked at all sorts of jobs to meet
hls needs. It was an arduous schoollng, but one whlch,
ln the dlverslty of lts teachlng, was certalnly not useless
to the reallst he was to become. In the course of hls
years of study, whlch he spent at the Lnlverslty of
Alglers, he belonged to a clrcle of lntellectuals who
later came to play an lmportant role ln the North Afrl
can Reslstance. Hls flrst books were publlshed by a
local publlshlng house ln Alglers, but at the age of
twentyflve he reached Irance as a journallst and soon
came to make hls reputatlon ln the metropolls as a
wrlter of the flrst rank, prematurely tempered by the
harsh, feverlsh atmosphere of the war years.
Even ln hls flrst wrltlngs Camus reveals a splrl
tual attltude that was born of the sharp contradlctlons
wlthln hlm between the awareness of earthly llfe and
the grlpplng consclousness of the reallty of death. Jhls
ls more than the typlcal Medlterranean fatallsm whose
orlgln ls the certalnty that the sunny splendour of the
world ls only a fugltlve moment bound to be blotted
out by the shades. Camus represents also the phllo
sophlcal movement called Exlstentlallsm, whlch char
acterlzes man`s sltuatlon ln the unlverse by denylng lt
all personal slgnlflcance, seelng ln lt only absurdlty.
Jhe term 'absurd" occurs often ln Camus`s wrltlngs,
so that one may call lt a leltmotlf ln hls work, devel
oped ln all lts loglcal moral consequences on the levels
of freedom, responslblllty, and the angulsh that derlves
from lt. Jhe Greek myth of Slsyphus, who eternally
rolls hls rock to the mountaln top from whlch lt perpet
ually rolls down agaln, becomes, ln one of Camus`s
essays, a laconlc symbol of human llfe. But Slsyphus,
as Camus lnterprets hlm, ls happy ln the depth of hls
soul, for the attempt alone satlsfles hlm. Ior Camus,
the essentlal thlng ls no longer to know whether llfe ls
worth llvlng but one must llve lt, wlth the share of
sufferlngs lt entalls.
Jhls short presentatlon does not permlt me to
dwell longer on Camus`s always fasclnatlng lntellectual
development. It ls more worthwhlle to refer to the
works ln whlch, uslng an art wlth complete classlcal
purlty of style and lntense concentratlon, he has
embodled these problems ln such fashlon that charac
ters and actlon make hls ldeas llve before us, wlthout
commentary by the author. Jhls ls what makes
ib~ (Jhe Stranger), l912, famous. Jhe maln
character, an employee of a government department,
kllls an Arab followlng a chaln of absurd events; then,
lndlfferent to hls fate, he hears hlmself condemned to
death. At the last moment, however, he pulls hlmself
together and emerges from a passlvlty borderlng on
torpor. In i~ m (Jhe Plague), l917, a symbollc novel
of greater scope, the maln characters are Doctor Rleux
and hls asslstant, who herolcally combat the plague
that has descended on a North Afrlcan town. In lts
calm and exact objectlvlty, thls convlnclngly reallstlc
narratlve reflects experlences of llfe durlng the Resls
tance, and Camus extols the revolt whlch the conquer
lng evll arouses ln the heart of the lntensely reslgned
and dlslllusloned man.
_ulte recently Camus has glven us the very
remarkable storymonologue, i~ ` (Jhe Iall),
l956, a work exhlbltlng the same mastery of the art of
storytelllng. A Irench lawyer, who examlnes hls con
sclence ln a sallors` bar ln Amsterdam, draws hls own
portralt, a mlrror ln whlch hls contemporarles can
equally recognlze themselves. In these pages one can
268
^ `~ ai_ POV
see Jartuffe shake hands wlth the Mlsanthrope ln the
name of that sclence of the human heart ln whlch clas
slcal Irance excelled. Jhe mordant lrony, employed by
an aggresslve author obsessed wlth truth, becomes a
weapon agalnst unlversal hypocrlsy. One may wonder,
of course, where Camus ls headlng by hls lnslstence on
a Klerkegaardlan sense of gullt whose bottomless abyss
ls omnlpresent, for one always has the feellng that the
author has reached a turnlng polnt ln hls development.
Personally Camus has moved far beyond nlhll
lsm. Hls serlous, austere medltatlons on the duty of
restorlng wlthout resplte that whlch has been ravaged,
and of maklng justlce posslble ln an unjust world,
rather make hlm a humanlst who has not forgotten the
worshlp of Greek proportlon and beauty as they were
once revealed to hlm ln the dazzllng summer llght on
the Medlterranean shore at Jlpasa.
Actlve and hlghly creatlve, Camus ls ln the centre
of lnterest ln the llterary world, even outslde of Irance.
Insplred by an authentlc moral engagement, he devotes
hlmself wlth all hls belng to the great fundamental
questlons of llfe, and certalnly thls asplratlon corre
sponds to the ldeallstlc end for whlch the Nobel Prlze
was establlshed. Behlnd hls lncessant afflrmatlon of the
absurdlty of the human condltlon ls no sterlle negatlv
lsm. Jhls vlew of thlngs ls supplemented ln hlm by a
powerful lmperatlve, nevertheless, an appeal to the wlll
whlch lncltes to revolt agalnst absurdlty and whlch, for
that reason, creates a value.
`~W _~ p
Ivtroductory rcmorls by . Iorlgrcv, Mcmbcr of tlc
Holl iv Stocllolm, 10 Dcccmbcr 197:
Mr. CamusAs a student of hlstory and lltera
ture, I address you flrst. I do not have the ambltlon and
the boldness to pronounce judgment on the character
or lmportance of your workcrltlcs more competent
than I have already thrown sufflclent llght on lt. But let
me assure you that we take profound satlsfactlon ln the
fact that we are wltnesslng the nlnth awardlng of a
Nobel Prlze ln Llterature to a Irenchman. Partlcularly
ln our tlme, wlth lts tendency to dlrect lntellectual
attentlon, admlratlon, and lmltatlon toward those
natlons who haveby vlrtue of thelr enormous mate
rlal resourcesbecome protagonlsts, there remalns,
nevertheless, ln Sweden and elsewhere, a sufflclently
large ellte that does not forget, but ls always consclous
of the fact that ln Western culture the Irench splrlt has
for centurles played a preponderant and leadlng role
and contlnues to do so. In your wrltlngs we flnd manl
fested to a hlgh degree the clarlty and the lucldlty, the
penetratlon and the subtlety, the lnlmltable art lnherent
ln your llterary language, all of whlch we admlre and
warmly love. We salute you as a true representatlve of
that wonderful Irench splrlt.
Comus`s spcccl (Trovslotiov)
In recelvlng the dlstlnctlon wlth whlch your free
Academy has so generously honoured me, my gratl
tude has been profound, partlcularly when I conslder
the extent to whlch thls recompense has surpassed my
personal merlts. Every man, and for stronger reasons,
every artlst, wants to be recognlzed. So do I. But I have
not been able to learn of your declslon wlthout com
parlng lts repercusslons to what I really am. A man
almost young, rlch only ln hls doubts and wlth hls
work stlll ln progress, accustomed to llvlng ln the soll
tude of work or ln the retreats of frlendshlp. how
would he not feel a klnd of panlc at hearlng the decree
that transports hlm all of a sudden, alone and reduced
to hlmself, to the centre of a glarlng llght? And wlth
what feellngs could he accept thls honour at a tlme
when other wrlters ln Europe, among them the very
greatest, are condemned to sllence, and even at a tlme
when the country of hls blrth ls golng through unend
lng mlsery?
I felt that shock and lnner turmoll. In order to
regaln peace I have had, ln short, to come to terms
wlth a too generous fortune. And slnce I cannot llve up
to lt by merely restlng on my achlevement, I have
found nothlng to support me but what has supported
me through all my llfe, even ln the most contrary clr
cumstances. the ldea that I have of my art and of the
role of the wrlter. Let me only tell you, ln a splrlt of
gratltude and frlendshlp, as slmply as I can, what thls
ldea ls.
Ior myself, I cannot llve wlthout my art. But I
have never placed lt above everythlng. If, on the other
hand, I need lt, lt ls because lt cannot be separated
from my fellow men, and lt allows me to llve, such as I
am, on one level wlth them. It ls a means of stlrrlng the
greatest number of people by offerlng them a prlvl
leged plcture of common joys and sufferlngs. It obllges
the artlst not to keep hlmself apart; lt subjects hlm to
the most humble and the most unlversal truth. And
often he who has chosen the fate of the artlst because
he felt hlmself to be dlfferent soon reallzes that he can
malntaln nelther hls art nor hls dlfference unless he
admlts that he ls llke the others. Jhe artlst forges hlm
self to the others, mldway between the beauty he can
269
ai_ POV ^ `~
not do wlthout and the communlty he cannot tear
hlmself away from. Jhat ls why true artlsts scorn noth
lng. they are obllged to understand rather than to
judge. And lf they have to take sldes ln thls world, they
can perhaps slde only wlth that soclety ln whlch,
accordlng to Nletzsche`s great words, not the judge but
the creator wlll rule, whether he be a worker or an
lntellectual.
By the same token, the wrlter`s role ls not free
from dlfflcult dutles. By deflnltlon he cannot put hlm
self today ln the servlce of those who make hlstory; he
ls at the servlce of those who suffer lt. Otherwlse, he
wlll be alone and deprlved of hls art. Not all the armles
of tyranny wlth thelr mllllons of men wlll free hlm
from hls lsolatlon, even and partlcularly lf he falls lnto
step wlth them. But the sllence of an unknown prls
oner, abandoned to humlllatlons at the other end of the
world, ls enough to draw the wrlter out of hls exlle, at
least whenever, ln the mldst of the prlvlleges of free
dom, he manages not to forget that sllence, and to
transmlt lt ln order to make lt resound by means of hls
art.
None of us ls great enough for such a task. But ln
all clrcumstances of llfe, ln obscurlty or temporary
fame, cast ln the lrons of tyranny or for a tlme free to
express hlmself, the wrlter can wln the heart of a llvlng
communlty that wlll justlfy hlm, on the one condltlon
that he wlll accept to the llmlt of hls abllltles the two
tasks that constltute the greatness of hls craft. the ser
vlce of truth and the servlce of llberty. Because hls task
ls to unlte the greatest posslble number of people, hls
art must not compromlse wlth lles and servltude
whlch, wherever they rule, breed solltude. Whatever
our personal weaknesses may be, the noblllty of our
craft wlll always be rooted ln two commltments, dlffl
cult to malntaln. the refusal to lle about what one
knows and the reslstance to oppresslon.
Ior more than twenty years of an lnsane hlstory,
hopelessly lost llke all the men of my generatlon ln the
convulslons of tlme, I have been supported by one
thlng. by the hldden feellng that to wrlte today was an
honour because thls actlvlty was a commltmentand a
commltment not only to wrlte. Speclflcally, ln vlew of
my powers and my state of belng, lt was a commltment
to bear, together wlth all those who were llvlng
through the same hlstory, the mlsery and the hope we
shared. Jhese men, who were born at the beglnnlng of
the Ilrst World War, who were twenty when Hltler
came to power and the flrst revolutlonary trlals were
beglnnlng, who were then confronted as a completlon
of thelr educatlon wlth the Spanlsh Clvll War, the Sec
ond World War, the world of concentratlon camps, a
Europe of torture and prlsonsthese men must today
rear thelr sons and create thelr works ln a world threat
ened by nuclear destructlon. Nobody, I thlnk, can ask
them to be optlmlsts. And I even thlnk that we should
understandwlthout ceaslng to flght ltthe error of
those who ln an excess of despalr have asserted thelr
rlght to dlshonour and have rushed lnto the nlhlllsm of
the era. But the fact remalns that most of us, ln my
country and ln Europe, have refused thls nlhlllsm and
have engaged upon a quest for legltlmacy. Jhey have
had to forge for themselves an art of llvlng ln tlmes of
catastrophe ln order to be born a second tlme and to
flght openly agalnst the lnstlnct of death at work ln our
hlstory.
Each generatlon doubtless feels called upon to
reform the world. Mlne knows that lt wlll not reform lt,
but lts task ls perhaps even greater. It conslsts ln pre
ventlng the world from destroylng ltself. Helr to a cor
rupt hlstory, ln whlch are mlngled fallen revolutlons,
technology gone mad, dead gods, and wornout ldeolo
gles, where medlocre powers can destroy all yet no
longer know how to convlnce, where lntelllgence has
debased ltself to become the servant of hatred and
oppresslon, thls generatlon startlng from lts own nega
tlons has had to reestabllsh, both wlthln and wlthout,
a llttle of that whlch constltutes the dlgnlty of llfe and
death. In a world threatened by dlslntegratlon, ln
whlch our grand lnqulsltors run the rlsk of establlshlng
forever the klngdom of death, lt knows that lt should,
ln an lnsane race agalnst the clock, restore among the
natlons a peace that ls not servltude, reconclle anew
labour and culture, and remake wlth all men the Ark
of the Covenant. It ls not certaln that thls generatlon
wlll ever be able to accompllsh thls lmmense task, but
already lt ls rlslng everywhere ln the world to the dou
ble challenge of truth and llberty and, lf necessary,
knows how to dle for lt wlthout hate. Wherever lt ls
found, lt deserves to be saluted and encouraged, partlc
ularly where lt ls sacrlflclng ltself. In any event, certaln
of your complete approval, lt ls to thls generatlon that I
should llke to pass on the honour that you have just
glven me.
At the same tlme, after havlng outllned the nobll
lty of the wrlter`s craft, I should have put hlm ln hls
proper place. He has no other clalms but those whlch
he shares wlth hls comrades ln arms. vulnerable but
obstlnate, unjust but lmpassloned for justlce, dolng hls
work wlthout shame or prlde ln vlew of everybody,
not ceaslng to be dlvlded between sorrow and beauty,
and devoted flnally to drawlng from hls double exlst
ence the creatlons that he obstlnately trles to erect ln
the destructlve movement of hlstory. Who after all thls
can expect from hlm complete solutlons and hlgh mor
als? Jruth ls mysterlous, eluslve, always to be con
quered. Llberty ls dangerous, as hard to llve wlth as lt
ls elatlng. We must march toward these two goals,
270
^ `~ ai_ POV
palnfully but resolutely, certaln ln advance of our fall
lngs on so long a road. What wrlter would from now
on ln good consclence dare set hlmself up as a preacher
of vlrtue? Ior myself, I must state once more that I am
not of thls klnd. I have never been able to renounce the
llght, the pleasure of belng, and the freedom ln whlch I
grew up. But although thls nostalgla explalns many of
my errors and my faults, lt has doubtless helped me
toward a better understandlng of my craft. It ls helplng
me stlll to support unquestlonlngly all those sllent men
who sustaln the llfe made for them ln the world only
through memory of the return of brlef and free happl
ness.
Jhus reduced to what I really am, to my llmlts
and debts as well as to my dlfflcult creed, I feel freer, ln
concludlng, to comment upon the extent and the gen
eroslty of the honour you have just bestowed upon me,
freer also to tell you that I would recelve lt as an hom
age rendered to all those who, sharlng ln the same
flght, have not recelved any prlvllege, but have on the
contrary known mlsery and persecutlon. It remalns for
me to thank you from the bottom of my heart and to
make before you publlcly, as a personal slgn of my
gratltude, the same and anclent promlse of falthfulness
whlch every true artlst repeats to hlmself ln sllence
every day.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l957. Albert Camus ls the
27l
b~ `~
(2 uly 190 - 14 Zugust 1994)
q~ eK c~
Micligov Stotc Uvivcrsity
and
a~~ `K dK i
Uvivcrsity of Illivois ot Clicogo
Jhls entry was expanded by Lorenz from Ialk`s Canettl
entrles ln DI S: Zustriov Iictiov !ritcrs Zftcr 1914 and
DI 124: Twcvtictl-Ccvtury Ccrmov Dromotists, 1919-
1992.
BOOKS. Dic lcvduvg: Iomov (Vlenna, Lelpzlg
Zurlch. Relchner, l936); translated by C. V.
Wedgwood as Zuto-do-Ic (London. Cape, l916);
translatlon republlshed as Tlc Towcr of obcl (New
York. Knopf, l917);
Iomdic dcr Iitcllcit: Dromo (Munlch. Welsmann, l950);
translated by Gltta Honegger as Comcdy of !ovity
(New York. Performlng Arts |ournal Publlcatlons,
l983);
Irit !otrubo (Vlenna. Rosenbaum, l955);
Mossc uvd Moclt (Hamburg. Claassen, l960); translated
by Carol Stewart as Crowds ovd Iowcr (London.
Gollancz, l962; New York. Vlklng, l962);
!clt im Iopf, edlted by Erlch Irled (Graz Vlenna.
Stlasny, l962);
Hoclcit: Dromo (Munlch. Hanser, l961); translated by
Honegger as Tlc !cddivg (New York. Performlng
Arts |ournal Publlcatlons, l986);
Dic cfristctcv: Dromo (Munlch. Hanser, l961); trans
lated by Honegger as Iifc-Tcrms (New York. Per
formlng Arts |ournal Publlcatlons, l983);
translated by Stewart as Tlc ùmbcrcd (London.
Calder Boyars, l981);
Dromcv (Munlch. Hanser, l961)comprlses Hoclcit,
Iomdic dcr Iitcllcit, and Dic cfristctcv;
Zufciclvuvgcv 1942-194S (Munlch. Hanser, l965);
Dic Stimmcv vov Morrolcscl: Zufciclvuvgcv vocl civcr Icisc
(Munlch. Hanser, l967); translated by |. A.
Lnderwood as Tlc !oiccs of Morrolcsl: Z Iccord of o
!isit (London. Calder Boyars, l978; New York.
Seabury Press, l978);
Dcr ovdcrc Iroc: Ioflos ricfc ov Iclicc (Munlch. Hanser,
l969); translated by Chrlstopher Mlddleton as
Ioflo`s Utlcr Triol: Tlc Icttcrs to Iclicc (London.
Calder Boyars, l971; New York. Schocken,
l971);
Zllc vcrgcudctc !crclruvg: Zufciclvuvgcv 1949-1960
(Munlch. Hanser, l970);
Dic gcspoltcvc uluvft: Zufsotc uvd Ccsproclc (Munlch.
Hanser, l972);
Moclt uvd Ubcrlcbcv: Drci Issoys (Berlln. Llterarlsches
Colloqulum, l972);
Dic Iroviv dcs Mcvsclcv: Zufciclvuvgcv 1942-1972
(Munlch. Hanser, l973); translated by |oachlm
Neugroschel as Tlc Humov Irovivcc (New York.
Seabury Press, l978);
Dcr Ulrcvcugc: Ivfig Cloroltcrc (Munlch. Hanser,
l971); translated by Neugroschel as Iorwitvcss:
Iifty Cloroctcrs (New York. Seabury Press, l979);
b~ `~ E F NVUN k m i~
h `~ usf d~ p E^m mLo~F
272
b~ `~ ai_ POV
Dos Ccwisscv dcr !ortc (Munlch. Hanser, l975;
enlarged, l976); translated by Neugroschel as
Tlc Covscicvcc of !ords (New York. Seabury
Press, l979);
Dcr Ubcrlcbcvdc (Irankfurt am Maln. Suhrkamp,
l975);
Dcr cruf dcs Dicltcrs (Munlch. Hanser, l976);
Dic gcrcttctc uvgc: Ccsclicltc civcr ugcvd (Munlch.
Hanser, l977); translated by Neugroschel as
Tlc Tovguc Sct Ircc: Icmcmbrovcc of o Iuropcov
Clildlood (New York. Contlnuum, l979);
Dic Ioclcl im Ulr: Icbcvsgcsclicltc 1921-19J1 (Munlch.
Hanser, l980); translated by Neugroschel as
Tlc Torcl iv My Ior (New York. Iarrar, Straus
Glroux, l982);
Dos Zugcvspicl: Icbcvsgcsclicltc 19J1-19J7 (Munlch.
Hanser, l985); translated by Ralph Manhelm
as Tlc Iloy of tlc Iycs (New York. Iarrar, Straus
Glroux, l986);
Dos Cclcimlcr dcr Ulr: Zufciclvuvgcv 197J-19S
(Munlch. Hanser, l987); translated by |oel
Agee as Tlc Sccrct Hcort of tlc Clocl: òtcs, Zplo-
risms, Irogmcvts 197J-19S (New York. Iarrar,
Straus Glroux, l989);
Dic Ilicgcvpciv. Zufciclvuvgcv (Munlch. Hanser,
l992); translated by H. I. Broch de Rother
mann as Tlc Zgovy of Ilics: òtcs ovd òtotiovs
(New York. Iarrar, Straus Glroux, l991);
Zufciclvuvgcv 1942-19S. Dic Iroviv dcs Mcvsclcv.
Dos Cclcimlcr dcr Ulr (Munlch. Hanser, l993);
!crlc, l0 volumes (Munlch. Hanser, l993-2005);
òcltrogc ous Hompstcod: Zus dcv Zufciclvuvgcv 194-
1971 (Zurlch. Hanser, l991); translated by
|ohn Hargraves as òtcs from Hompstcod: Tlc
!ritcr`s òtcs, 194-1971 (New York. Iarrar,
!ortmoslcv. Tcxtc u Icbcv uvd !crl vov Ilios Covctti,
edlted by Ortrun Huber (Munlch. Hanser,
l995);
Zufciclvuvgcv 1992-199J (Munlch. Hanser, l996);
Zufciclvuvgcv 197J-19S4 (Munlch. Hanser, l999);
Tlc Mcmoirs of Ilios Covctti (New York . Iarrar, Straus
Glroux, l999)comprlses Tlc Tovguc Sct Ircc,
Tlc Torcl iv My Ior, and Tlc Iloy of tlc Iycs;
Iorty im lit: Dic cvglisclcv olrc, edlted by Krlstlan
Wachlnger (Munlch. Hanser, 2003); translated
by Mlchael Hofmann as Iorty iv tlc lit (Lon
don. Harvlll, 2005);
Ubcr dcv Tod, edlted by Jhomas Macho (Munlch.
Hanser, 2003);
Ubcr dic Dicltcr, edlted by Peter von Matt (Munlch.
Hanser, 2001);
Zufciclvuvgcv fr Moric-Iouisc, edlted by |eremy Adler
(Munlch. Hanser, 2005).
PLAY PRODLCJIONS. Tlc ùmbcrcd (Dic cfristctcv),
translated by Carol Stewart, Oxford, Playhouse
Jheatre, 5 November l956;
Dic Iomdic dcr Iitcllcit, Brunswlck, Germany, Staatsthe
ater, 6 Iebruary l965;
Hoclcit, Brunswlck, Germany, Staatstheater, 3 Novem
ber l965;
Dic cfristctcv, Vlenna, Jheater ln der |osefstadt, l7
November l967.
OJHER. Veza Canettl, Dic gclbc Stroc, edlted by
Canettl (Munlch. Hanser, l990);
Veza Canettl, Dcr Ugcr, edlted by Canettl (Munlch.
Hanser, l99l);
Veza Canettl, Ccduld brivgt Ioscv, edlted by Canettl
(Munlch. Hanser, l992).
JRANSLAJIONS. Lpton Slnclalr, Icidwcg dcr Iicbc
(Berlln. Mallk, l930);
Slnclalr, Dos Ccld sclrcibt. Iivc Studic bcr dic omcrilovisclc
Iitcrotur (Berlln. Mallk, l930);
Slnclalr, Zllolol (Berlln. Mallk, l932).
Bulgarlanborn novellst and playwrlght Ellas
Canettl was awarded the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature ln
l98l for 'wrltlngs marked by a broad outlook, a wealth
of ldeas and artlstlc power." Even prlor to thls turnlng
polnt ln hls career, Canettl had attracted a small but
loyal followlng among Austrlan, Brltlsh, German, and
Amerlcan lntellectuals wlthout, however, belng a 'pop
ular" wrlter. Hls work lncludes outstandlng wrltlng ln
all major genres except poetry. Canettl was a polyglot
and a voraclous reader, a classlcal man of letters.
Jhroughout hls llfe he was an lntellectual of lndepen
dent means wlthout an academlc or professlonal posl
tlon. He developed hls ldeas and a llterary unlverse free
from obllgatlons to employers and research agencles,
and hls wrltlngs present a challenge to anthropologlsts,
culture crltlcs, phllosophers, and scholars of soclal the
ory and psychology. Jranscendlng tradltlonal bound
arles of genre and dlsclpllne, Canettl`s llterary and
nonllterary texts are structurally and lntellectually lnter
connected and functlon as a complex and ldlosyncratlc
network of ldeas that call lnto questlon 'blg" systems
such as Marxlsm, capltallsm, and fasclsm.
Canettl`s achlevements were honored throughout
hls career by coveted llterary prlzes lndlcatlng the hlgh
regard he enjoyed among crltlcs and scholars world
wlde. He recelved the Grand Prlx Internatlonal du
Club Iranals du Llvre ln l919, the Wrlter`s Prlze of
the Clty of Vlenna ln l966, the Great Austrlan State
Prlze for Llterature ln l967, the Georg Bchner Prlze ln
l972, the Iranz Nabl Prlze of the Clty of Graz ln l975,
the Nelly Sachs Prlze, and the Gottfrled Keller Prlze for
273
ai_ POV b~ `~
a wW d g (l977; trans
lated as q q p cW o~ ~ b~
Ì l979). Jhese dlstlnctlons were followed ln
l980 by the Europa Prato Prlze and the |ohann Peter
Hebel Prlze; that same year he was also lnvlted to the
order Pour le Mrlte. In l98l, ln addltlon to the Nobel
Prlze, he was awarded the Iranz Kafka Prlze, and ln
l983 he recelved the Great Servlce Cross of the Iederal
Republlc of Germany. He recelved honorary doctoral
degrees from the Lnlverslty of Manchester ln l975 and
the Lnlverslty of Munlch ln l976. Canettl was at home
ln several cultures and languages, but he chose German
as hls llterary medlum and emphaslzed hls lndebted
ness to German culture even after World War II and
the Holocaust.
Ellas |acques Canettl was born on 25 |uly l905,
the oldest of the three sons of Sephardlc merchant
|acques Canettl and hls wlfe, Mathllde, ne Ardlttl, ln
Rustschuk, Bulgarla. Jhe Canettls and the Ardlttls
were descendants of the |ews expelled from Spaln ln
l192. Canettl`s father`s ancestors had eventually settled
ln Adrlanople, Jurkey (now Edlrne). Hls grandparents
moved to Rustschuk, whlch developed lnto a prosper
ous tradlng center on the Danube Rlver. Canettl`s
father retalned hls Jurklsh cltlzenshlp; consequently,
hls chlldren were consldered Jurklsh cltlzens. Canettl`s
mother came from one of Rustschuk`s old and dlstln
gulshed Sephardlc famllles of scholars and lntellectuals.
In contrast to the Canettls, the Ardlttls had an apprecla
tlon for progress, modern culture, and world llterature.
Mathllde Ardlttl and |acques Canettl had studled
ln Vlenna, and thelr thlnklng and the cosmopolltan
atmosphere of the lmperlal clty lnfluenced thelr llfe
style. Enamored of classlcal European drama and
Vlenna`s outstandlng theater tradltlon, they had
dreamed of becomlng actors at the Vlenna Burgtheater.
Only reluctantly dld |acques Canettl follow hls father`s
wlshes and enter the famlly`s wholesale grocery busl
ness. Mathllde Canettl, the most lnfluentlal person ln
her son`s chlldhood and adolescence, used her enthusl
asm for llterature, notably dramas and novels, as a
medlum for Ellas`s educatlon and lnsplred hlm to
become an author and lntellectual.
At home Canettl`s famlly spoke Ladlno, the lan
guage of the Sephardlm ln the Balkan states and around
the Medlterranean, whlch had been derlved from medl
eval Spanlsh and contalned elements of Hebrew and
non|ewlsh languages. In addltlon, Canettl was exposed
to Bulgarlan, Hebrew, Jurklsh, Greek, Albanlan, Arme
nlan, Romanlan, and Russlan. Hls parents spoke Ger
man wlth one another as thelr lntlmate language and as
a code when they dld not want thelr chlldren to under
stand what they were saylng. Jhe German language
thus assumed a speclal fasclnatlon for the young
Canettl. Belng surrounded by so many languages early
ln llfe was undoubtedly a factor ln hls llfelong sensltlv
lty to the spoken word and dlfferent llngulstlc reglsters.
In hls autoblographlcal wrltlngs Canettl reveals that
many of hls chlldhood experlences found thelr way lnto
hls mature wrltlngs, one example belng hls earllest
memory. the fear of havlng hls tongue cut off lf he
revealed hls nanny`s amorous actlvltles. Jhls eplsode,
told ln a wI connects language wlth the
problem of truth and honesty, wlth sexuallty, and wlth
a sense of physlcal vulnerablllty.
When Canettl was slx years old hls father
escaped the oppresslve sltuatlon of worklng ln a famlly
buslness ln a small Eastern European town by jolnlng
hls brotherslnlaw`s buslness ln Manchester, England.
Mathllde Canettl welcomed the move. She was eager to
remove her chlldren from the lnfluence of her orthodox
lnlaws, and she llked England because of lts demo
cratlc tradltlon. Young Ellas learned Engllsh wlthout
dlfflculty and was able to start school. In Manchester
hls father lntroduced hlm to llterature and the llfe of the
lmaglnatlon, dlscusslng what the boy read, lncludlng
q ^~~ kI Grlmm`s falry tales, Danlel Defoe`s
o ` (l7l9-l722), |onathan Swlft`s d
q~ (l726), tales from Wllllam Shakespeare, Mlguel
de Cervantes`s a n (l605, l6l5), the works of
Dante, and Irledrlch von Schlller`s t q (l801).
He later sald that he was grateful to hls father for never
telllng hlm that falry tales were untrue.
In October l9l2 |acques Canettl, a heavy
smoker, dled unexpectedly of a heart attack. Mathllde
Canettl had just returned from a stay at the health
resort of Bad Relchenhall, where she had sought help
for her depresslon, a condltlon that became worse over
the years. A romance wlth her physlclan caused her to
postpone her date of return several tlmes. Around the
same tlme, the war on the Balkans began, whlch posed
an lncreaslng threat to the famllles ln Bulgarla. After hls
father`s death, Canettl, desplte hls lnordlnate attach
ment to hls mother, harbored resentments and suspl
clons agalnst her. Lnable to tolerate llfe wlth her
husband`s brothers, Mathllde Canettl gave ln to her
nostalgla for Austrla and moved to Vlenna ln May
l9l3. Durlng an lntermlttent sojourn of three months
ln Lausanne, Swltzerland, she subjected her son to a
palnful and humlllatlng crash course. she taught hlm
German ln record tlme so that he would be able to
enter the thlrd grade ln elementary school. Jhrough
thls troubllng experlence Canettl acqulred the language
he used for all of hls major wrltlngs, the language that
provlded hlm wlth a tenuous sense of cultural ldentlty.
Mathllde Canettl rented an apartment ln the
Leopoldstadt, a modest lmmlgrant nelghborhood near
the Danube Canal and the Prater amusement park.
271
b~ `~ ai_ POV
Canettl attended the Leopoldstadt elementary school
and, on hls way home from school, had hls flrst
encounter wlth antlSemltlsm. In the flrst volume of hls
autoblography, Dic gcrcttctc uvgc, he recalls hls mother`s
categorlcal rejectlon of the lnsultsshe belleved that her
son, a Sephardlc |ew, was not the lntended target. Con
vlnced that Ellas was destlned to become a foremost
author, she encouraged hlm ln hls lntellectual asplra
tlons. She consldered hls Sephardlc background an
asset rather than a llablllty.
In l9l6 the famlly moved to Zurlch to avold the
ravages of World War I. Jhe Swlss capltal was a para
dlse for Canettl durlng hls formatlve years. At age four
teen he completed hls flrst llterary work, an hlstorlcal
tragedy ln flve acts of 2,290 llnes of blank verse tltled
'|unlus Brutus." He dedlcated the unpubllshed play to
hls prlnclpal and most exactlng teacher, hls mother.
Decades later Canettl noted that hls flrst play, for all lts
faults, was hls earllest llterary attempt ln whlch he
examlned the horrors of the death penalty, whlch con
tlnued to be an lssue of llfelong concern for hlm.
Much to Canettl`s dlsmay, ln l92l Mathllde
Canettl moved to Irankfurt am Maln wlth her sons. If
the prevlous flve years had appeared llke a dream
world, the years ln Irankfurt lntroduced Canettl to the
harsh postwar reallty ln the defeated Germany. He was
shocked by the effects of lnflatlon when he saw an old
woman dle of hunger ln the street. In l922 another
event, a mass demonstratlon agalnst the murder of the
|ewlsh polltlclan and lndustrlallst Walter Rathenau,
revealed to Canettl the power of a crowd. In the follow
lng decades Canettl devoted hls energy to studylng and
galnlng an understandlng of the phenomena of crowds
and power ln a varlety of settlngs, modern and hlstorl
cal.
In l921 Canettl enrolled at the Lnlverslty of
Vlenna as a student of chemlstry to satlsfy hls mother`s
wlsh that he establlsh hlmself ln a lucratlve professlon.
Hls actual lnterest belng llterature, he lmmedlately
came under the lnfluence of Karl Kraus, Vlenna`s great
satlrlst and polemlclst, edltor and to a large extent sole
author of the famous journal Dic Ioclcl (Jhe Jorch).
Canettl attended almost all of Kraus`s publlc lectures
and readlngs. He credlted Kraus, a conflrmed paclflst,
wlth havlng hlm 'gegen Krleg gelmpft" (lnoculated
agalnst war); moreover, Kraus`s carlcatures of polltlcal
foes lnsplred Canettl`s concept of the olustisclc Moslc
(acoustlc mask), a detalled renderlng of the llngulstlc
ldlosyncrasles assoclated wlth lndlvldual characters and
uslng thelr speech patterns to encapsulate thelr emo
tlonal and mental makeup. Jhls devlce became a cru
clal lngredlent of Canettl`s novel, Dic lcvduvg (Jhe
Bllndlng, l936; translated as Zuto-do-Ic, l916, and as
Tlc Towcr of obcl, l917), and hls flrst two plays, Iomdic
dcr Iitcllcit (publlshed ln l950, performed ln l965;
translated as Comcdy of !ovity, l983) and Hoclcit (pub
llshed ln l961, performed ln l965; translated as Tlc
!cddivg, l986).
At hls flrst Kraus lecture Canettl met hls future
wlfe, Venetlana (Veza) JaubnerCalderon. Aged twenty
seven and known for her sophlstlcated llterary taste and
judgment, she became hls second mentor and strongest
supporter ln Vlenna and later, England. Mathllde
Canettl strongly resented JaubnerCalderon`s lnfluence
on her son and dlsapproved of the relatlonshlp. Canettl
seems to have been drawn to JaubnerCalderon
because of her llterary lnterests and her actlve lnvolve
ment ln humanltarlan and soclal causes. Most of all, her
sense of falrness and lndependence lmpressed hlm.
Havlng experlenced abuslve relatlonshlps wlthln her
lmmedlate famlly and sufferlng from a physlcal dlsabll
lty (she was mlsslng her left arm, whether as the result
of an accldent or a blrth defect ls unrecordedthe
Canettls treated the subject as taboo), she had nonethe
less succeeded ln detachlng from those who would
oppress her and had establlshed her own resldence.
In l928, frustrated by hls studles and troubled by
the l927 rlots ln Vlenna, whlch strengthened the polltl
cal Rlght, Canettl went to Berlln wlth hls frlend Ibby
Gordon, who lntroduced hlm to members of the avant
garde. He stayed wlth Wleland Herzfelde, the head of
the Mallk publlshlng house, and met George Grosz,
Bertolt Brecht, and Isaak Babel. He was both attracted
to and repulsed by Berlln`s gaudy bohemlan scene.
Some of the leadlng lntellectuals, lncludlng Brecht, he
dlsllked lntensely. In l929 Canettl completed hls chem
lstry doctorate ln Vlenna, but he never worked as a
chemlst. Jhat same year, he began wrltlng Dic lcvduvg.
Orlglnally, he had planned thls work to be one ln a
serles of elght novels, all of whlch were to make up a
'Comdle Humalne an Irren" (Human Comedy of
Madmen). Accordlng to hls plans, each novel would
have as lts protagonlst a character who dedlcates hls llfe
to the pursult of a slngle concept or ldealthe man of
truth, the vlslonary who wants to llve ln outer space,
the rellglous fanatlc, the collector, the spendthrlft, the
enemy of death, the actor, and the bookman.
Dr. Peter Klen, the clcrmcvscl (bookman), ls the
protagonlst of Dic lcvduvg. Klen, at age forty, ls the
greatest llvlng authorlty on slnology but has wlthdrawn
to hls personal llbrary of twentyflve thousand volumes
on the top floor of an apartment house at No. 21 Ehr
llch Strae (Honest Street). (Even though lt ls never
stated speclflcally, one can assume that the novel ls set
ln Vlenna.) Elght years earller Klen had hlred Jherese
Krumbholz (BentWood), who was then flftyslx, as a
housekeeper. Each day she dusts one of the four rooms
of the llbrary from floor to celllng and prepares Klen`s
275
ai_ POV b~ `~
meals, whlch he takes at hls desk. Klen, havlng severed
all contact wlth the world for the sake of hls research, ls
leadlng the llfe of 'Eln Kopf ohne Welt" (A Head wlth
out a World), as the flrst part of the novel ls tltled. Klen
has a pathologlcal relatlonshlp wlth books. he speaks to
them, scolds them as one would a recalcltrant chlld, and
on occaslon suspects them of harborlng lll wlll toward
hlm. On other occaslons Klen appears more ratlonal.
for example, hls suggestlon that a novel can help the
reader to thlnk hlmself lnto another person`s place
seems a reasonable account of what takes place ln the
readlng process.
Jo assure the contlnued care of hls llbrary, Klen
decldes to marry hls housekeeper, whose subservlence
he mlstakes for loyalty; she agrees to the marrlage
because lt wlll provlde her wlth materlal securlty ln her
old age. Klen, far from seeklng a relatlonshlp, allows
Jherese to speak to hlm for only a few mlnutes durlng
lunch, and at that tlme he concentrates on not llstenlng
to her. Whlle he remalns completely devoted to hls
scholarly work, Jherese sets about securlng her future.
She assumes that Klen must be rlch because of the gen
erous pay he gave her prlor to thelr marrlage, and even
now he seems to pay no attentlon to money matters.
When she asks for money to buy furnlture, for
lnstance, he glves her a large amount. What she does
not understand ls that he ls trylng to get rld of her so
that he wlll not be bothered at hls work. Wlth thls
mlsunderstandlng beglns Jherese`s allout search for
Klen`s bankbook and hls wlll. Not flndlng elther, she
assumes that Klen decelved her about hls flnances.
After a falled attempt at lntlmacy, whlch leaves both
partles frustrated and dlslllusloned, Jherese sets out to
get revenge by lnvadlng Klen`s space, maklng lt lmpos
slble for hlm to work. Klen flees from the house.
Homeless and separated from hls llbrary, Klen
becomes the easy prey of a ruthless explolter, the dwarf
Ilscherle, ln the sectlon of the novel tltled 'Kopflose
Welt" (Headless World). Jo contlnue hls studles, Klen
lmaglnes that he ls carrylng hls llbrary ln hls head.
Each day he adds more lmaglnary books to hls head
llbrary, and each evenlng he lmaglnes hlmself taklng
them out and stacklng them on the floor of hls hotel
room. As he accumulates more and more lmaglnary
books, he needs ever larger rooms. When the task
becomes too great, he hlres Ilscherle, who lntroduces
hlmself as the World Chess Champlon Slegfrled Ilscher
and plays along wlth the headllbrary game. Jhrough a
varlety of trlcks he swlndles Klen out of most of hls
money.
One source Klen uses to bulld hls head llbrary ls
the munlclpal pawnshop, the Jhereslanum, whlch calls
to mlnd the Vlenna Dorotheum. Rather than buylng
books, he pays wouldbe customers not to pawn thelr
books. Ilscherle enllsts four frlends who pretend to
want to pawn books ln order to get thelr hands on
Klen`s money. One day as Klen ls standlng ln the hall
way of the Jhereslanum, hls wlfe and the custodlan of
hls apartment house come to pawn Klen`s books. A row
ensues; the pollce arrlve; and Klen ls accused of theft
for preventlng the sale of hls own books. He sees
Jherese, but ln hls state of confuslon belleves that she
dld not throw hlm out of hls apartment. Instead, he ls
convlnced that he locked her ln the apartment, causlng
her to dle of starvatlon. When the pollce lnform hlm
that he ls charged wlth a crlme, he confesses to her
'murder." Jhe custodlan, a retlred pollceman named
Benedlkt Pfaff, reallzes that he can proflt from the sltua
tlon. He vouches for Klen at the pollce statlon and takes
hlm to hls own basement apartment. Iorclng Klen to
llve ln a dark room, Pfaff ensconces hlmself wlth
Jherese ln Klen`s topfloor apartment.
At thls polnt Klen`s brother Georg, a psychlatrlst,
arrlves from Parls. In the thlrd sectlon of the novel,
'Welt lm Kopf " (World ln the Head), Klen and
Jherese are dlvorced, and she ls establlshed as the
owner of a dalry store on the other slde of town. She
and Pfaff wlll recelve generous sums of money from
Georg, provlded that they stay away from the slnolo
glst. Klen`s apartment ls refurblshed and hls llbrary
reclalmed from the pawnshop. By the tlme Georg
returns to Parls he even seems to have cured hls
brother`s psychosls. But suddenly Klen ls once agaln
overcome by hls manla. He places hls beloved books ln
a plle ln the center of the room, sets them on flre, and
perlshes wlth them.
Although Canettl never wrote the seven other
novels of the 'Human Comedy of Madmen," some of
the protagonlsts of those planned works appear ln a
_ under sllghtly dlfferent gulses. Klen`s extreme
pursult of hls scholarshlp calls to mlnd the man who
would pursue one partlcular truth, or the vlslonary, or
even the rellglous fanatlc; llkewlse, Klen represents the
collector and the spendthrlft. Jhe most fasclnatlng
aspect of the book ls the metlculous development of the
maln characters` psychologlcal lmbalance. Klen,
Jherese, Ilscherle, Pfaff, and even Georg each suffers
from hls or her own brand of madness, and the unvell
lng of each partlcular form of madness ls carrled out
wlth great subtlety. In hls only major work of flctlon, a
novel wrltten at the age of twentyflve, Canettl exhlblts
an unusual mastery of storytelllng.
It took Canettl a long tlme to convlnce hlmself that
the book was worthy of publlcatlon. Ilnally, almost flve
years after Canettl completed the manuscrlpt, hls frlend,
the wrlter Stefan Zwelg, found a publlsher for lt. Jhe
novel was well recelved by some crltlcs and recelved
pralse from Hermann Broch, Alban Berg, Jhomas
276
b~ `~ ai_ POV
Mann, Robert Musll, and Hermann Hesse. However,
slnce l931 lt had become lncreaslngly dlfflcult for |ewlsh
authors to publlsh under AustroIasclsm, the socalled
Stndestaat. After the Nazl takeover, the socalled
Anschluss ln March l938, all publlcatlon venues ln Aus
trla were closed to opposltlonal and |ewlsh wrlters, and
the Nuremberg raclal laws took effect. Dlstrlbutlng Dic
lcvduvg on the Germanspeaklng market was lmpossl
ble. When the novel was translated lnto Engllsh after
World War II, many crltlcs and revlewers labeled the
work 'too dlfflcult." Llttle effort was made to promote
the translatlon, and lt soon went out of prlnt. After
Canettl won the Nobel Prlze he showed hls bltterness for
the years of neglect by wlthholdlng permlsslon to have
hls works prlnted ln England untll l985.
Jwo years before Dic lcvduvg was publlshed, ln
Iebruary l931, Canettl had marrled JaubnerCalderon
agalnst hls mother`s wlshes. Hls wlfe was an author ln
her own rlght. She had publlshed a soclalcrltlcal serlal
novel, Dic gclbc Stroc (l931; translated by Ian Mltchell as
Tlc Jcllow Strcct, l990), as well as short storles ln the
Soclallst Vlenna Zrbcitcr-cituvg and elsewhere under a
varlety of pseudonyms. Llke most |ewlsh authors, espe
clally women authors, her works were rejected by Aus
trlan publlshers after the coup d`tat ln l931. Jhe couple
took an apartment ln the ldylllc suburb of Grlnzlng, from
where, as he wrltes ln the thlrd part of hls autoblography,
Dos Zugcvspicl (l985; translated as Tlc Iloy of tlc Iycs,
l986), he commuted every day to downtown Vlenna to
spend tlme ln hls favorlte coffeehouse, the Caf
Museum, to observe the crowds. In l937 Mathllde
Canettl, who had llved ln Parls slnce l927, dled. In
November l938 Ellas and Veza Canettl left Vlenna, for
tunate to have been able to procure the necessary docu
ments. Jhey flrst went to Parls and from there to
England, where they eventually took a modest apart
ment ln the London suburb of Hampstead. Ior years the
couple malntalned separate resldences, she ln London,
he ln the suburbs. Canettl`s notes and sketches ln the
posthumously publlshed autoblographlcal volume Iorty
im lit: Dic cvglisclcv olrc (2003; translated as Iorty iv tlc
lit, 2005) and Veza Canettl`s Dcr Iuvd (200l, Jhe Ilnd)
reveal the dlfflculty they faced as exlles ln Brltaln. Iorty im
lit also provldes an lmpresslon of the author`s need for
lndependence as well as hls affalrs, lncludlng relatlon
shlps wlth the wrlters Irledl Benedlkt and Irls Murdoch
and the palnter MarleLoulse von Moteslczky.
In hls London exlle ln the l910s Canettl worked
on hls major work of nonflctlon, Mossc uvd Moclt (l960;
translated as Crowds ovd Iowcr, l962). Jhe lmpetus for
thls ambltlous study can be traced back to l5 |uly l927,
when Canettl observed the dynamlcs governlng the
crowd settlng flre to the Palace of |ustlce ln Vlenna.
Other experlences wlth crowd behavlor, notably the
seemlngly lnexpllcable power of polltlcal leaders such as
Adolf Hltler over the masses, compelled Canettl to exam
lne the orlglns, makeup, and behavlor of crowds ln a vast
array of soclal settlngs and cultures. Obvlously famlllar
wlth the phenomenon of the authorltarlan personallty as
dlscussed by Wllhelm Relch, the author of Mosscvpsyclolo-
gic dcs Iosclismus (l931; translated as Tlc Moss Isyclology of
Ioscism, l916) and Jheodor W. Adorno and others ln
Tlc Zutloritoriov Icrsovolity (l950), Canettl steered clear of
research lnformed by psychoanalysls and Marxlst theory.
He also avolded dlrect dlscusslons of men assoclated
wlth the war and the Holocaust such as Hltler or Adolf
Elchmann. Instead, Canettl developed theses about the
paranold polltlcal leader by way of the classlc case study
of Danlel Paul Schreber, the Lelpzlg judge who chronl
cled hls own schlzophrenla ln Dcvlwrdiglcitcv civcs `cr-
vcvlrovlcv (l903, Memolrs of My Nervous Illness), and
he took hls examples for the dynamlcs of crowd behavlor
and domlnatlon from lesserknown, supposedly prlml
tlve cultures.
Jhe fact that major players of the early to mld
twentleth century are consplcuously absent whlle
obscure flgures are lntroduced to elucldate lssues central
to thls epoch reveals that Canettl dellberately constructed
an antlhlstory. He revlsed the most promlnent models of
hlstory and soclety by way of hls own perceptlons and
trled to 'explaln" hls era through an anthropologlcal
model. Hls arguments are structured around concepts
that he consldered baslc to the human condltlon. death,
survlval, domlnance, submlsslon, war, kllllng, and trans
formatlon, and he examlned unlversal roles played by
human belngs throughout hlstory.
Jo counterbalance the concentratlon requlred by
hls monumental project on crowds and power, Canettl
took up wrltlng hls Zufciclvuvgcv (notebooks) ln the
l910s. Iollowlng the tradltlon of Georg Chrlstoph Llch
tenberg, Helnrlch Helne, and Irledrlch Nletzsche,
Canettl`s aphorlsms and dlarlstlc entrles lnclude lnclslve
observatlons and eplphanlc lnslghts on a broad range of
toplcs lncludlng dlfferent cultural myths, languages, war
and revolutlons, |ewlsh hlstory and experlence, crowds
and power, and lndlvldual authors and events. Some of
the entrles conslst of mlnlature essays, whlch, accordlng
to some scholars, may someday be regarded as Canettl`s
most slgnlflcant contrlbutlon to German llterature. Even
tually the Zufciclvuvgcv covered the years from l912 to
l992 and were publlshed ln several volumes.
In wrltlngs and lntervlews Canettl repeatedly
expressed hls passlon for the drama. Yet, only three plays
by hlm were publlshed and produced. In the wlnter of
l93l-l932, shortly after completlng Dic lcvduvg,
Canettl wrote hls flrst play, Hoclcit, and followed lt wlth
a second play, Iomdic dcr Iitcllcit, ln l933-l931. Both
works were wrltten ln Vlenna. Hls thlrd play, Dic
277
ai_ POV b~ `~
_ (publlshed ln l961, performed ln l967; trans
lated as iJqI l983, and as q kI l981) was
wrltten ln London durlng l952 and l953. a _
premlered ln Engllsh, translated as q kI on 5
November l956 at the Playhouse Jheatre ln Oxford; lts
German premlere occurred on the Studlobhne (Studlo
Stage) of the Jheater ln der |osefstadt ln Vlenna on l7
November l967. Jhe other two plays premlered at the
Staatstheater (State Jheater) ln Brunswlck, Iederal
Republlc of Germany. a h b on 6 Iebru
ary l965 and e on 3 November l965.
Jhere are varlous reasons for the long delay
between the wrltlng and the publlcatlon and flrst perfor
mances of the plays. As wlth all hls wrltlngs, Canettl
lnslsted on reworklng hls plays wlth great care. Before
leavlng Vlenna he gave several publlc readlngs of the flrst
two plays; by the tlme he mlght have been ready to have
them publlshed and performed, Austrla had been trans
formed lnto a fasclst reglme. It was dlfflcult enough for a
|ewlsh author to flnd a publlsher, let alone for a |ewlsh
playwrlght to flnd a producer and an audlence. Durlng
the war Canettl concentrated on hls scholarly project and
hls notebooks and dlarles. Not untll an edltlon of hls
three plays appeared wlth the Hanser publlshlng com
pany ln l961 dld Canettl become known ln Germany as
a playwrlght. Canettl belleved that the proper moment
for hls plays to appear onstage was ln the early l960s,
after German audlences had become famlllar wlth the
Jheater of the Absurd.
Occaslonally, Canettl lndlcated that he was plan
nlng a book on hls theory of the drama. Although no
such book emerged, three key concepts for hls dramatlc
practlce can be ldentlfled on the basls of lntervlews wlth
the author, hls notes, and hls essays. the ~ j~I
the d~ (baslc ldea), and the s~ (transfor
matlon). Jhe acoustlc mask, a character`s llngulstlc struc
ture, whlch ls as unlque as a flngerprlnt, reveals hls or
her emotlonal and lntellectual makeup as well as hls or
her deslres and goals ln llfe.
Accordlng to Canettl, every drama has to proceed
from a completely new d~. Jhe plot of the play
must be so lnnovatlve that lt transports the vlewers lnto a
world they have never before experlenced; lt must also
lntroduce the audlence to completely new and unex
pected events. Based on the d~I the author cre
ates a world apart from everyday reallty to appeal to the
audlence`s crltlcal facultles.
Jhe notlon of s~ refers to Canettl`s con
vlctlon that the theater ls not only a place for entertaln
ment but also an educatlonal lnstltutlon. Jhe
playwrlght`s task ls to challenge the audlence wlth a
shocklng reallty to lnduce a catharsls. Canettl does not
seek to descrlbe or lnterpret the world; he wants hls gro
tesque and absurd dramatlc antlworlds to brlng about a
transformatlon through confrontatlon and mental and
emotlonal readjustment. Jransformatlonln contrast to
rlgldlty, be lt a lack of flexlblllty, an unwllllngness to
change, stubbornness, or stagnatlonls also a central
concept ln Canettl`s theory on crowds and power. Jhe
ablllty to become a dlfferent belng, even across specles
boundarles, as ln natlve myths and falry tales, ls the key
to survlval. It enables the weak and persecuted to escape
from the power of tyrants, perhaps even from death.
e has as lts d~ the proxlmlty of
the deslres for power, sex, and possesslon wlth self
destructlon and, ultlmately, death. Jhe play deplcts a
merclless soclety vold of a moral code and headlng
toward complete destructlon. e ls dlvlded lnto a
prelude ln flve scenes and the maln act. Jhe prelude
lntroduces the resldents of an apartment house on
Gtlgkeltstrae (Klndness Street), all of whom are
obsessed by the deslre of ownlng the house ln whlch they
llve. Jhe landlady ls a shrewd old woman who ls vlslted
every day by her granddaughter. Lnder the gulse of con
cern the younger woman, who hopes that the old lady
wlll soon dle, plots to become the helress and brlng the
house lnto her possesslon. Each tlme the landlady`s par
rot hears the word e~ (house), he repeats lt three tlmes,
emphaslzlng the major theme of the play. Subsequent
scenes wlthln the prelude lntroduce the other resldents,
lncludlng a pompous schoolteacher and a young couple
whose weddlng ls celebrated ln the maln act. Jhey, too,
are trylng to cheat the old woman out of her house. Jhe
flfth scene takes place ln the janltor`s basement apart
ment, a settlng that calls to mlnd the chapter 'Der gute
Vater" (Jhe Good Iather) ln a _I a slnlster farce
on patrlarchal patterns. In the play the janltor`s wlfe ls
shown lylng on her deathbed whlle her husband reads
from the Book of |udges ln the Blble. Jhe eplsode ln
questlon tells how the bllnded Samson pulls down the
house upon the Phlllstlnes, thereby foreshadowlng the
events of the maln act.
Jhe weddlng celebratlon ln the maln act lntro
duces the audlence to a depraved, bourgeols famlly. Jhe
brlde`s father, Oberbaurat Segenrelch (Chlef Construc
tlon Englneer Rlchly Blessed), lnslsts ln hls vanlty that
everyone acknowledge that he has bullt a solld house
and a flne famlly. However, lt ls obvlous that the mem
bers of thls famlly and the weddlng party are drlven by
greed and the wlll to power. they want to acqulre prop
erty and domlnate other people. In addltlon, all of them
are obsessed wlth sex. Jhe sexcrazed mother of the
brlde can thlnk of nothlng but copulatlng wlth the
groom; the brlde lusts after three frlends of the famlly;
andreveallng the connectlon between sexuallty, power,
and domlnatlonthe elghtyyearold famlly physlclan,
Dr. Bock (Stud), an erotomanlac and pedophlle, brags
that he has 'had" all the women ln the famlly and those
278
b~ `~ ai_ POV
present at the party. Into thls macabre world Horch
(Hark), an ldeallst, lntroduces a play wlthln the play. He
asks what each person would do lf the one he or she
loves were threatened by lmmlnent danger. When a sud
den earthquake changes the game lnto reallty, and the
characters could really save the person they love, they try
to save themselves flrst. Jhe play ends wlth cruel, hateful
screams cuttlng through the sllence. Jhe parrot has the
last word. 'Haus! Haus! Haus!"
Jhe premlere of Hoclcit caused a scandal. Specta
tors were offended by Canettl`s expllclt language, by the
way the characters were portrayed, and by the message
of the play. Jo make matters worse, the day before the
premlere, a Brunswlck newspaper had prlnted an anony
mous artlcle charglng that the play was pornographlc.
Even though several wrlters and crltlcs, lncludlng Gnter
Grass and Adorno, vouched for the hlgh artlstlc quallty
of Hoclcit, the play closed after seven performances.
Joday Hoclcit ls consldered Canettl`s most stageable
play. It was successfully performed under the dlrectlon of
Karl Paryla ln l970 ln Cologne and had an enthuslastlc
receptlon when Canettl read lt later that year at the
Schausplelhaus (Playhouse) ln Klel. When the clty of
Vlenna celebrated Canettl`s elghtleth blrthday ln
October l985, Hans Hollmann dlrected Hoclcit at the
Akademletheater wlth a dlstlngulshed cast.
Jhe Cruvdcivfoll of Iomdic dcr Iitcllcit ls that the
human race would waste away lf lndlvlduals were
deprlved of the ablllty to see themselves ln a mlrror or
through the eyes of others. A new government decree
lntended to ellmlnate vanlty, lnterpreted ln a narrow
sense as the lndulgence of selflshness, ls lmposed on the
populatlon. Jhe ownershlp and use of mlrrors are pro
hlblted; photographlng people ls forbldden, and all pho
tographs of human belngs must be destroyed; and all
movle houses must be closed and all movles destroyed.
Jhe punlshment for vlolatlng the decree ls longterm
lmprlsonment or death. Jhe play lllustrates dlfferent
reactlons to the new soclal sltuatlon by way of some two
dozen characters. Jhe teacher Irltz Schakerl (Llttle
|ackal) represents the strlct dlsclpllnarlan. When he ls not
actlng as an enforcer of conduct, he develops a severe
stutter. He ls the one who announces the decree; durlng
the announcement he does not stammer a slngle tlme. S.
Blelss, a photographer, ls ln the buslness of perpetuatlng
vanlty. Hls favorlte glmmlck ls to take plctures of poor
newlyweds standlng ln front of hls car, whlch the couple
can pass off as thelr own when they show the plcture.
Iranols Iant (Iop) steals all of hls mother`s mlrrors and
takes them to the carnlval, where he smashes them wlth
a ball whlle watchlng hls reflectlon ln them. Emllle Iant,
Iranols`s mother, needs the mlrrors for her brothel for
amblence and to help her glrls make themselves attrac
tlve for her customers. Helnrlch Ihn (Hot Alr) strolls
across the stage, pontlflcatlng to hls companlon Leda
Irlsch (Iresh) that a selflmage of good health provldes
the lndlvldual wlth a meanlngful llfe.
Jhe second half of the play, set ten years later,
shows how the characters have come to terms wlth the
decree. Schakerl has become the powerful chalrman of a
commlttee of crlme flghters after he advocated the pas
sage of a law under whlch the eyes of glrls are torn out lf
they look lnto someone else`s eyes to see themselves.
Marrled to one such glrl, Schakerl grows lll and despon
dent, a vlctlm of the socalled mlrror slckness, whlch can
only be cured by looklng lnto a mlrror. When he obtalns
a mlrror, hls stammerlng returns. Blelss ls stlll deallng ln
vanlty, golng from door to door selllng tlme ln front of a
mlrror at ten schllllngs for two mlnutes. Although he ls
occaslonally caught ln thls lllegal venture, he survlves.
Emllle Iant has establlshed a 'Splegelbordell" (mlrror
brothel) where almost all the characters of the play pay
hlgh prlces to slt ln front of mlrrors and admlre them
selves. Ihn stands before a fulllength mlrror ln a lux
ury cabln maklng pompous and trlvlal pronouncements.
After each proclamatlon he pushes a button and hears
applause; but each tlme, the applause grows weaker, untll
there ls none. Becomlng demented, he threatens ln a
thunderlng volce to destroy the establlshment. Jhe flnal
scene shows the majorlty of the characters ln Emllle`s
'Splegelsaal" (Hall of Mlrrors). Each ls confronted by
and recolls from a raglng volce that summarlzes hls or
her character tralts, exposlng the untruthfulness of the
mask each had created. All ralse hlgh mlrrors or plctures
of themselves, but they never merge lnto a group; lndl
vldual vanlty prevalls.
Jhe revlews of openlng nlght were so negatlve that
Iomdic dcr Iitcllcit closed after only elght performances.
Yet, most revlewers thought hlghly of the play ltself and
placed the blame on the dlrector, Helmut Matlasek. He
had chosen the Nazl perlod as the settlng, thereby trans
formlng Canettl`s drama lnto a commentary on Natlonal
Soclallsm rather than leavlng lt more neutral as a general
statement on totalltarlan systems. Jhe hlstorlcally spe
clflc settlng, approprlate to the author`s own experlence
ln the l930s and l910s, had supposedly prevented the
catharsls Canettl lntended. Jhe most successful produc
tlon of the play took place ln Basel ln Iebruary l978
under the dlrectlon of Hollmann, who was famlllar wlth
Canettl`s concepts of the olustisclc Moslc and the Cruv-
dcivfoll.
In Dic cfristctcv the Cruvdcivfoll ls a utoplan soclety
ln whlch people are not tormented by the uncertalnty of
when they wlll dle. At blrth, people are glven a locket
contalnlng thelr blrth and death dates, along wlth a num
ber that lndlcates the number of years they wlll llve.
Although everyone knows the lnformatlon ln hls or her
own locket, lt ls a crlme to reveal lt to others. An offlclal
279
ai_ POV b~ `~
called the Kapselan (locketeer) ls the only one authorlzed
to open the locket at the tlme of death to conflrm the
accuracy of the date recorded there. Jhe play has three
major and twenty mlnor characters, as well as a chorus.
Jhe mlnor characters have names such as Dle Mutter 32
(Jhe Mother 32), Der |unge 70 (Jhe Boy 70), Zwel
junge Herren, 28 und 88 (Jwo Young Men, 28 and 88),
Der Mann, Dr. 16 (Jhe Man, Dr. 16), and Der |unge
zehn (Jhe Boy l0). Each person`s number determlnes
hls or her personallty and behavlor. Jhe Mother 32, for
example, ls unable to persuade her son, the Boy 70, to be
cautlous whlle playlng, because the son knows that he
cannot be kllled untll he ls seventy. Jhe Boy l0 ls a
spolled brat because he knows that hls ls only a short llfe.
Jhe dystoplan character of thls soclety ls expressed ln a
woman`s remlnder to her granddaughter that the latter
wlll llve 'bls zu delnem Augenbllck" (only untll your
moment). Characters wlth hlgh numbers assume a supe
rlor and arrogant attltude; those wlth low numbers obvl
ously feel lnferlor and behave ln an obsequlous and
downtrodden manner.
Jhe major characters are Infzlg (Ilfty), Ireund
(Irlend), and the Kapselan. Infzlg reslsts the dlctates of
the Kapselan. Ior many years he has suspected that the
lockets mlght be empty and that the Kapselan was a
fraud. He reveals hls susplclons to Ireund and subse
quently to the masses, who follow hlm merrlly ln preclpl
tatlng the downfall of the deceptlve system, drlven by the
ldea that they wlll now llve forever. However, the death
of the flrst person puts an end to thls dream. It turns out
that the uncertalnty of the tlme of one`s death ls worse
than the certalnty that death wlll occur at a predestlned
moment. Here, as elsewhere ln Canettl`s wrltlng, the new
system achleved through vlolent actlon ls even less deslr
able than the prevlous one, desplte the latter`s lmperfec
tlon.
Revlews of the premlere performance of Dic
cfristctcv as Tlc ùmbcrcd by the Meadow Players of the
Oxford Playhouse Company, dlrected by Mlonos Vol
anakls, were posltlve. Jhe Timcs of London compared
the play wlth works by |ean Glraudoux and |ean Coc
teau. 'Into thls dlstlngulshed repertolre Mr. Ellas
Canettl`s play erupts wlth a strangely mathematlcal
absorptlon." Uxford magazlne reported that 'the wrltlng ls
forceful and plaln, as ls the productlon. . . . In scene upon
scene they bulld up the dellcate web of tenslon, achlevlng
wlth truth and economy effects whlch grlp the mlnd." By
contrast, the Germanlanguage premlere ln Vlenna under
the dlrectlon of Irledrlch Kalllna on l7 November l967
was not well recelved. Jhe crltlc for Dic !clt (Jhe World)
consldered the drama a nlce exerclse for the mlnd but
not a play for the stage. Other crltlcs descrlbed Canettl`s
dramas as 'dlfflcult" or 'uncomfortable." Jhe frequent
controversles occasloned by the performances suggest
the publlc`s unwllllngness to take an honest, albelt pessl
mlstlc, look at ltself. Canettl addressed such major lssues
as greed, power, lasclvlousness, freedom, death, the dep
ersonallzatlon of the lndlvldual, and the creatlon of an
lnhumane mass soclety.
In l952 Canettl had traveled to Morocco ln the
company of a movle team. Jhe experlence of a North
Afrlcan Arab soclety wlth a rlch Sephardlc hlstory and
subculture proved hlghly productlve. It resulted ln a
manuscrlpt lnltlally tltled 'Moroccan Memolrs" and pub
llshed under the tltle Dic Stimmcv vov Morrolcscl: Zufcicl-
vuvgcv vocl civcr Icisc (l967; translated as Tlc !oiccs of
Morrolcsl, l978). Jhe volume successfully comblnes the
genre of the travelogue and documentary wlth autoblo
graphlcal wrltlng.
Veza Canettl dled on l May l963. In her afterword
to the 200l edltlon of Dcr Iuvd, Angellka Schedel specu
lates that the death was a sulclde; however, blographer
Sven Hanuschek argues convlnclngly that Veza Canettl,
ln all llkellhood sufferlng from cancer, dled after weeks of
hospltallzatlon. In l97l Canettl marrled Hera Buschor,
an art restorer; thelr daughter, |ohanna, was born ln
l972. Canettl had met Buschor, daughter of classlcal
archaeologlst Ernst Buschor, ln London ln l957. Hls rela
tlonshlp wlth the much younger woman (she was born ln
l933) developed slowly over the years. Desplte her back
ground from parents supportlve of the Nazl system, her
common lnterests wlth Canettl ln hlstory, languages, and
art prevalled. In the l970s Canettl had acqulred an apart
ment ln Zurlch and had begun llvlng alternately ln
Hampstead and Zurlch.
Another genre ln whlch Canettl excelled was the
essay. Some of hls longer essays were collected ln Dos
Ccwisscv dcr !ortc (l975; enlarged, l976; translated as Tlc
Covscicvcc of !ords, l979). Jhese essays explore flgures
who had a major lmpact on Canettl`s wrltlng and thlnk
lng durlng the decades he devoted to the study of crowds
and power, among them Broch, Musll, Kraus, Stendhal,
Leo Jolstoy, and Arlstophanes. Jhe essays also examlne
the human condltlon after the Holocaust and the atomlc
bombfor the most part lndlrectly, wlthout namlng these
speclflc reference polnts, but sometlmes dlrectly, as ln
'Dr. Hachlyas Jagebuch aus Hlroshlma" (l975; trans
lated as 'Dr. Hachlya`s Dlary of Hlroshlma," l979), a
sensltlve and compasslonate revlew of a |apanese survl
vor`s account. Partlcularly reveallng ln the context of
Canettl`s theorles on crowd management and hls most
dlrect commentary on Hltler`s mentallty ls hls revlew
artlcle 'Hltler, nach Speer" (translated as 'Hltler, Accord
lng to Speer") ln Dos Ccwisscv dcr !ortc.
Jhe volumes of Canettl`s autoblography not only
serve as a chronlcle of the author`s llfe but also constltute
an lmportant contrlbutlon to hlstorlcal and autoblo
graphlcal wrltlng. Dic gcrcttctc uvgc ls devoted to
280
b~ `~ ai_ POV
Canettl`s experlences between l901 and l92l and dls
cusses the formatlve experlences and soclal forces ln the
author`s youth. Jhese forces lnclude hls Sephardlc back
ground and lmportant personalltles such as hls parents,
hls grandparents, and other people wlth whom he lnter
acted as an adolescent ln Bulgarla, Brltaln, Swltzerland,
Austrla, and Germany. Of all the eplsodes, those set ln
lnterwar Germany are the bleakest and most pesslmlstlc.
Jhe spontanelty and the easy flow of Canettl`s narratlve
are deceptlve. All of the key eplsodes are carefully cho
sen, and the characters are framed ln such a way as to
reveal aspects of the author`s development and hls cre
atlve processes. a c~ lW i NVON
NVPN (l980; translated as q q j b~I l982)
descrlbes Canettl`s experlences from the years l92l to
l93l, most notably hls fasclnatlon and eventual dlslllu
slonment wlth Kraus, hls courtshlp of Veza Canettl, and
hls lncreaslng detachment from hls mother. Rather than
sketchlng a panoramlc vlew of hls llfe, Canettl focuses on
central personalltles. One of these flgures ls Broch, who
provlded hlm wlth lnslghts concernlng mass psychology;
another ls Abraham Sonne, a fellow patron of the Caf
Museum ln Vlenna and author of Hebrew poetry pub
llshed under the pen name of Abraham ben Yltchak,
who helped Canettl to overcome Kraus`s overpowerlng
lnfluence. Jhe thlrd volume of Canettl`s autoblography,
a~ Î revlews experlences and events of the
years l93l to l937.
In every part of hls memolrs Canettl establlshes
connectlons between personal, soclal, hlstorlcal, and
polltlcal developments. Ior example, ln the flrst volume
he places hls famlly`s move from Vlenna to Irankfurt
lnto the larger context of the aftermath of World War I,
and the second volume makes obvlous the lnterplay
between the author`s lntellectual development and the
freewheellng revolutlonary splrlt of the tlmes. Wlthout
addresslng AustroIasclsm and Natlonal Soclallsm
dlrectly, as Veza Canettl dld ln her novel a p
(l999; translated as q qI 200l), Canettl`s mem
olrs lndlcate that the ldylllc abode of the newlyweds ln
the Vlennese suburb of Grlnzlng was a retreat from the
lncreaslngly threatenlng urban atmosphere. Interestlngly,
Canettl makes more of an lssue about the proxlmlty of
hls llvlng quarters to the house of the publlsher Ernst
Benedlkt (who because of the rlslng antlSemltlsm had to
rellnqulsh hls posltlon as edltor and hls share ln hls paper
a k c m ln l931), than he does about the radl
callzatlon of the Austrlan publlc and the Nazl threat.
Although many of hls lnterlocutors of those years chose
exlle, as dld sculptor Anna Mahler ln London and Sonne
ln Palestlne, Canettl does not comment on thelr fates.
Jhe key flgures ln the autoblography reveal to what
degree Canettl steered clear of the fashlons of hls tlme
and refused to follow llterary and ldeologlcal move
ments. He llkewlse treats wlth dlscretlon hls personal
affalrs, the wanlng passlon ln hls marrlage, hls lnfatua
tlon wlth Mahler, and hls evolvlng relatlonshlp wlth
Irledl Benedlct, Ernst`s daughter and a successful author
ln England.
Durlng the war era Canettl was preoccupled wlth
the kllllng, devastatlon, and sufferlng caused by the
natlon whose language he had adopted. He was greatly
concerned about the consequences of the vlolence, the
extent of whlch was not known at the tlme. Canettl, who
was so closely ldentlfled wlth the culture of the aggres
sors, faced a double blnd. an exlle from Nazlcontrolled
Austrla llvlng ln Great Brltaln, he felt that he owed a
double loyalty, both to hls country of exlle and to the
German culture to whlch he owed much of hls creatlve
lmpulse. Havlng learned German under almost trau
matlc clrcumstances, he noted ln hls ^ that
the language of hls splrlt would forever be the German
language, not desplte the fact that he was a |ew but
because of lt. Canettl consldered hlmself the protector of
the unspolled German language, whose task lt was to
return to the Germans thelr uncorrupted language to
pay hls debt of gratltude. Canettl contlnued to wrlte ln
German, even though durlng the war and for several
years afterward he was vlrtually unknown ln German
speaklng countrles.
Lnllke other exlles from Nazlcontrolled terrltorles,
he dld not publlsh durlng the war years or take part ln
the propaganda effortdolng so would have compro
mlsed hls posltlon as a neutral arblter, whlch he wanted
to establlsh. Even after Germany`s defeat, when he had
learned of the extent of the destructlon and the devasta
tlon of the Holocaust, he refralned from taklng sldes. Hls
^ of the postwar years reveal the agony that
resulted from hls attempt to preserve hls neutral stance.
Canettl contlnued to examlne the phenomenon of the
masses and the paranold leader ln unlversal rather than
speclflc terms, and he contlnued to state hls compasslon
for all those who had suffered, lncludlng the Germans
and the |apanese. Canettl avolded addresslng the toplcs
of Nazl antlSemltlsm and the Holocaust dlrectly, even
though aspects of both are lmplled ln hls crowd studles
and hls Î whlch over the years sketch an
lncreaslngly pesslmlstlc lmage of humanlty.
Crltlcs and the lnternatlonal medla reacted wlth
bewllderment to the announcement that Canettl, at the
tlme stlll somewhat of a cult author lacklng the lnterna
tlonal standlng of hls later years, was the reclplent of the
l98l Nobel Prlze ln Llterature. Because seven natlons
had supported Canettl`s nomlnatlon for the Nobel
PrlzeBulgarla, Germany, England, Austrla, Israel,
Spaln, and Swltzerland, countrles where he had reslded
or been a vlsltorCanettl`s ldentlty became an lssue of
debate. A slmllar stlr had followed the l966 nomlnatlon
28l
ai_ POV b~ `~
of Nelly Sachs, the German Holocaust poet llvlng as a
recluse ln Sweden, and that of the Ylddlsh Amerlcan nov
ellst Isaac Bashevls Slnger ln l978both wrlters whose
llves, llke Canettl`s, had been shaped by the exlle experl
ence. Tlc `cw Jorl Timcs noted that Canettl was 'the flrst
natlve of Bulgarla to wln the prlze." Jhe Timcs of London
ldentlfled Canettl as 'the flrst Brltlsh cltlzen to wln the llt
erature prlze slnce Wlnston Churchlll," observlng that
'most unusually of all for a Brltlsh laureate, Dr. Canettl
wrltes, and has always wrltten, ln German." A crltlc for
the Austrlan llterary journal Iitcrotur uvd Iritil wrote that
Canettl, although not an Austrlan cltlzen, could be
counted among the representatlves of Austrlan llterature
on the basls of hls vlews. Jhe journal termed hlm the
flrst author of Austrlan splrlt to recelve the Nobel Prlze.
In hls presentatlon speech at the Nobel award cere
mony, |ohannes Edfelt of the Swedlsh Academy charac
terlzed Canettl as an exlled and cosmopolltan author and
pralsed hlm for never havlng abandoned hls true natlve
land, the German language, and hls love of classlcal Ger
man culture. Iurthermore, Edfelt extolled the laureate`s
lntellectual passlon and hls dedlcatlon to the cause of
humanlty. He lnterpreted Canettl`s one novel, Dic lcv-
duvg, as a metaphor of the dangers posed by hyperspe
clallzatlon and the ensulng lsolatlon of the lndlvldual on
the one hand, and the rlse of the lnternallzed 'massman"
on the other. He observed structural and ldeologlcal
afflnltles between Dic lcvduvg and Canettl`s crltlcally
acclalmed anthropologlcalphllosophlcal study Mossc uvd
Moclt, 'a maglsterlal work" on 'the orlgln, composltlon
and reactlon patterns of mass movements." Canettl`s
three plays, Iomdic dcr Iitcllcit, Hoclcit, and Dic
cfristctcv, were celebrated ln the laudatlon for thelr por
trayal of 'extreme sltuatlons" and thelr lnslghtful examl
natlon of a 'unlque world of ldeas." Also recognlzed ln
the Nobel speech was Canettl`s study of the tortured
relatlonshlp of Iranz Kafka and hls flance Iellce Bauer,
as lt emerges from the letters he sent her whlle wrltlng
Dcr Iroc (l925; translated as Tlc Triol, l937). Canettl`s
essay on Kafka and Bauer had appeared separately ln
l969 as Dcr ovdcrc Iroc (translated as Ioflo`s Utlcr Triol,
l971).
Edfelt gave hls most heartfelt trlbute to Canettl`s
autoblography, of whlch the flrst two volumes had
appeared (Dic gcrcttctc uvgc and Dic Ioclcl im Ulr).
Accordlng to Edfelt, these hlghly personal texts represent
'a peak ln Canettl`s wrltlngs" and reveal 'hls forceful
eplc power of descrlptlon to lts full extent" as they por
tray the polltlcal and cultural llfe ln central Europe ln the
early l900s. Jhe laudatlon concluded on a note of hlgh
est acclalm. 'wlth your versatlle wrltlngs, whlch attack
slck tendencles ln our age, you wlsh to serve the cause of
humanlty. Intellectual passlon ls comblned ln you wlth
the moral responslblllty that . . . ls nourlshed by mercy."
Conflrmlng Edfelt`s observatlons about hls lntel
lectual ldentlty, Canettl presented hls speech at the Nobel
Banquet on l0 December l98l ln German. He credlted
three cltles, Vlenna, London, and Zurlch, for havlng
played a plvotal role ln hls lntellectual development,
because they represented to hlm perll, lnsplratlon, and
excess. Moreover, he also stated hls lndebtedness to three
|ewlsh lntellectuals and one non|ewlsh author. the
Vlennese journallst and satlrlst Kraus, the Prague prose
wrlter and lawyer Kafka, the Austrlan novellst and mass
psychologlst Broch, and flnally, the prose wrlter Musll,
an observer and crltlc of Central European culture.
Indeed, these four authors, foremost representatlves of
fln de slcle modernlty, epltomlze and transcend the mul
tlcultural legacy of the Habsburg Emplre, the cultural
realm that shaped Canettl. Cltlng these partlcular sltes
and names, Canettl placed hlmself wlthln the larger
European modernlst tradltlon, the major achlevement of
whlch he characterlzed as the ethlcs of paclflsm, most
notably the dlstrust of power and authorlty and the lnstl
tutlons that admlnlster them. Llnklng hls own concerns
wlth authors he admlred, Canettl polnts ln hls speech to
aspects of hls own wrltlng, whlch comblnes the personal
and emplrlcal wlth the phllosophlcal and ratlonal ln an
attempt to transcend conventlonal or fashlonable con
cepts and thought patterns.
Even though Canettl dld not mentlon hls country
and culture of orlgln, Bulgarla and Sephardlc |ewry, the
name of hls natlve clty, Rustschuk (now Ruse), was
lnscrlbed on the back of hls chalr ln the hall of Nobel lau
reates, rather than the author`s country of cltlzenshlp as
ls customary. Indeed, Dic gcrcttctc uvgc reveals Canettl`s
vlvld memorles of Rustschuk and the lmportance of hls
chlldhood place for hls thought and creatlvlty. Jhrough
hls avoldance of Bulgarla ln hls wrltlngs Canettl seems to
suggest hls culture of orlgln perlshed as the result of the
Holocaust and World War II. Susan Sontag, who quoted
Canettl as saylng that he set out to 'grab thls century by
the throat," was lmpressed wlth hls refusal to adopt a
reductlonlst psychologlcal approach, hls opposltlon to
hlstorlclsm, and hls rebelllon agalnst death. In hls wrlt
lngs she recognlzed both hls afflnlty wlth classlcal Euro
pean authors and hls fasclnatlon wlth Chlnese, Buddhlst,
Musllm, and Chrlstlan thought. As was the case wlth
many crltlcs, she overlooked the slgnlflcance of |ewlsh,
especlally Sephardlc, tradltlon ln Canettl`s work and dld
not mentlon how profoundly the Holocaust, the war, and
the atomlc bomb affected the author.
Wlnnlng the Nobel Prlze made Canettl flnanclally
lndependent for the flrst tlme ln hls llfe. Jhe event also
placed hlm at the forefront of llterary debates and lnto
the llmellght, whlch he trled to avold. Iollowlng the
award, Canettl was ln demand as an author, publlc lec
turer, and reader, and asplrlng scholars besleged hlm. Yet,
282
b~ `~ ai_ POV
he malntalned hls modest llfestyle, llvlng ln a nondescrlpt
modern apartment bulldlng ln Zurlch and remalnlng
loyal to old frlends. In l988 Hera Canettl dled of cancer,
leavlng her young daughter and her husband, who was
now advanced ln years, on thelr own.
In the late l980s Canettl started to release new
edltlons of Veza Canettl`s novels and short storles wlth
the Hanser publlshlng company. Aslde from paylng trlb
ute to her creatlvlty, hls observatlons about hls late wlfe`s
wrltlngs provlde lnslghts lnto hls vlews on gender roles,
femlnlnlty, and hls and Veza Canettl`s relatlonshlp.
Canettl dled suddenly ln Zurlch on l1 August
l991. Hls grave slte ln the Iluntern Cemetery ls close to
that of |ames |oyce, whom he admlred and who as a
wrlter stood slmllarly apart from the crowds.
Slnce Canettl`s death new publlcatlons by and
about hlm have appeared from hls extenslve estate,
whlch the author entrusted to the Zentralblbllothek
Zrlch. Jhe posthumously publlshed books lnclude the
fourth volume of hls autoblography, Iorty im lit, lmpres
slons from Canettl`s early years ln England. Wrltten ln
l990, the work provldes boldly stated observatlons
about Canettl`s personal averslons and predllectlons, hls
flrst lmpresslons about Brltlsh soclety, and astute lnslghts
lnto hls own tenuous posltlon as an exlle. He also pre
sents assessments of global events, polltlcs, and soclety.
In llght of the seemlngly neverendlng wars and
confllcts ln the late twentleth century lnvolvlng natlonal
lty, ethnlclty, and rellglon, Ellas Canettl`s lncreaslngly
crltlcal, lf not downrlght mlsanthroplc, vlew of the
human specles deserves speclal attentlon. Irom the con
frontatlon wlth lnhumanlty and brutallty evolves
Canettl`s alternatlve anthropology that llnks human and
nonhuman anlmal behavlor ln unexpected ways.
Canettl`s often mlsquoted and mlslnterpreted 'opposl
tlon to death" ls at the very core of hls thlnklng, calllng
for a rlgorous nonvlolent ethlc that rules out deathklll
lng and sulcldeas optlons, regardless what the clrcum
stances may be. Canettl flercely objected to the threat of
death as a polltlcal tool (warfare), a means to dlsclpllne
and punlsh (capltal punlshment), or a way of deallng
wlth other specles (huntlng and slaughter). Indeed, hls
ethlc calls for the ellmlnatlon of kllllng or murder alto
gether, even ln the realm of lmaglnatlon, arts, and lltera
ture. Canettl`s lnslstence that a fundamental reorlentatlon
and a global lntellectual and educatlonal effort be under
taken to delay the selfdestructlon of the human specles
constltutes hls major contrlbutlon to the twentleth
century dlscourse on the human condltlon.
_~W
Sven Hanuschek, Ilios Covctti: iogroplic (Munlch. Carl
Hanser, 2005).
oW
Helnz Ludwlg Arnold, ed., Iitcrotur uvd Iritil, speclal
Canettl lssue, no. 28, thlrd edltlon (September
l982);
Irledbert Aspetsberger and Gerald Stleg, eds., Ilios
Covctti: lcvduvg ols Icbcvsform (Knlgsberg.
Athenum, l985);
Dagmar Barnouw, Ilios Covctti (Stuttgart. Metzler,
l979);
Barnouw, Ilios Covctti ur Iivflruvg (Hamburg. |unlus,
l996);
Kurt Bartsch and Gerhard Melzer, eds., Ilios Covctti:
Ixpcrtc dcr Moclt (Graz. Droschl, l985);
AlfonsM. Blschoff, Ilios Covctti: Stotiovcv um !crl
(Bern Irankfurt am Maln. Lang, l973);
Mechthlld Curtlus, Iritil dcr !crdivglicluvg iv Covcttis
Iomov 'Dic lcvduvg Iivc Soiolpsyclologisclc Iitcr-
oturovolysc (Bonn. Bouvler, l973);
Davld Darby, ed., Criticol Issoys ov Ilios Covctti (New
York. G. K. Hall, 2000);
Wllllam Colllns Donahue, Tlc Ivd of Modcrvism: Ilios
Covctti`s Zuto-do-Ic (Chapel Hlll. Lnlverslty of
North Carollna Press, 200l);
Manfred Durzak, ed., u Ilios Covctti (Stuttgart. Klett,
l983);
Irlederlke Elgler, Dos outobiogroplisclc !crl vov Ilios
Covctti. !crwovdluvg, Idcvtitot, Mocltousbuvg
(Jblngen. Stauffenburg, l988);
Susanna Engelmann, obcl - ibcl - ibliotlcl. Covcttis
Zplorismcv ur Sproclc (Wrzburg. Knlgshausen
Neumann, l997);
Jhomas H. Ialk, Ilios Covctti (New York. Jwayne,
l993);
Leslle Iledler, 'Jhe Jower of Babel," Iortisov Icvicw, 3
(May / |une l917). 3l6-320;
Krlstle A. Ioell, livd Icflcctiovs: Ccvdcr iv Ilios Covctti`s
Dic lcvduvg (Rlverslde. Arladne Press, l991);
Helmut Gbel, Ilios Covctti (Relnbek. Rowohlt, 2005);
Herbert G. Gpfert, ed., Covctti lcscv: Irfolruvgcv mit
scivcv clcrv (Munlch. Hanser, l975);
Werner Hoffmann, ed., Htcr dcr !crwovdluvg (Munlch.
Hanser, l985); translated by Mlchael Hulse as
Issoys iv Hovor of Ilios Covctti (New York. Iarrar,
Walter Hllerer and Norbert Mlller, eds., Ilios Covctti u
Ilrcv, Sproclc im tcclvisclcv citoltcr, 91 (l985);
Gltta Honegger, 'Acoustlc Masks. Strategles of Lan
guage ln the Jheater of Canettl, Bernhard, and
Handke," Modcrv Zustriov Iitcroturc, l8, no. 2
(l985). 57-66;
Helke Knoll, Dos Systcm Covctti. ur Iclovstrultiov civcs
!irllicllcitscvtwurfcs (Stuttgart. M P, l993);
283
ai_ POV b~ `~
Mlchael Krger, ed., Iivloduvg ur !crwovdluvg. Issoys u
Ilios Covcttis 'Moclt uvd Moclt (Munlch. Hanser,
l995);
Detlef Krumme, Icscmodcllc: Covctti, Cross, Hlcrcr
(Munlch. Hanser, l983), pp. 3l-81;
Rlchard H. Lawson, Uvdcrstovdivg Ilios Covctti (Colum
bla, S.C.. Lnlverslty of South Carollna Press,
l99l);
Dagmar C. G. Lorenz, ed., Z Compoviov to tlc !orls of
Ilios Covctti (Columbla, S.C.. Camden House,
2001);
Mlchael Mack, Zvtlropology os Mcmory: Ilios Covctti`s ovd
Irov ocrmovv Stcivcr`s Icspovscs to tlc Slool
(Jblngen. Nlemeyer, 200l);
Modcrv Zustriov Iitcroturc, speclal Canettl lssue, l6, no.
3/1 (l983);
Edgar Plel, Ilios Covctti (Munlch. Beck, l981);
Davld Roberts, Iopf uvd !clt: Ilios Covcttis Iomov 'Dic
lcvduvg (Munlch. Hanser, l975);
Sldney Rosenfeld, 'l98l Nobel Laureate Ellas Canettl.
A Wrlter Apart," !orld Iitcroturc Todoy, 56, no. l
(l982). 5-9;
Angellka Schedel, 'Nachwort," ln Veza Canettl, Dcr
Iuvd (Munlch. Hanser, 200l), pp. 309-321;
Susan Sontag, 'Mlnd as Passlon," ln her Uvdcr tlc Sigv
of Soturv (New York. Iarrar, Straus Glroux,
l980);
Adrlan Stevens and Ired Wagner, eds., Ilios Covctti:
Iovdovcr Symposium (Stuttgart. Verlag HansDleter
Helnz/Akademlscher Verlag Stuttgart, l99l);
Krlstlan Wachlnger, ed., Ilios Covctti: ildcr ous scivcm
Icbcv (Munlch. Carl Hanser, 2005).
m~W
Ellas Canettl left hls papers to the Zentralblbllothek
Zrlch under the condltlon that hls llterary estate (l20
boxes) be made avallable for research ln 2001 and hls
personal papers (30 boxes) ln 2021.
NVUN k m i~
m~ p
by Dr. olovvcs Idfclt, of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy
Gentlemen,
Jhe exlled and cosmopolltan author Canettl has
one natlve land, and that ls the German language. He has
never abandoned lt, and he has often avowed hls love of
the hlghest manlfestatlons of the classlcal German culture.
In a speech ln Vlenna ln l936 Canettl pralsed Her
mann Broch as one of the few contemporary representa
tlve wrlters. What lrremlsslble demands, accordlng to
Canettl, must be made upon the truly representatlve
man? He must be subject to hls tlme as lts 'lowest slave"
and yet be ln opposltlon to lt; ln a wlsh for unlversallty he
must summarlze hls age, and he must possess the most
dlstlnct 'conceptlon of atmospherlc lmpresslons." Such
crlterla also mark Canettl`s own wrltlngs. Pursued ln dlf
ferent dlrectlons and comprlslng several genres, they are
held together by a most orlglnal and vlgorously proflled
personallty.
Hls foremost purely flctlonal achlevement ls the
great novel Dic lcvduvg ('Auto da I"), publlshed ln l935
|l936| but attalnlng lts full effect only durlng the last
decades. agalnst the background of Natlonal Soclallsm`s
brutal power polltlcs, the novel acqulres a deepened per
spectlve.
Dic lcvduvg was part of an orlglnally planned serles
of novels whlch was to take the shape of a 'comcdic lumoivc
of madmen." Jhe book has such fantastlc and demonla
cal elements that assoclatlons wlth Russlan l9thCentury
wrlters llke Gogol and Dostoevsky are apparent. It ls an
aspect of key lmportance when Dic lcvduvg ls regarded
by several crltlcs as a slngle fundamental metaphor for the
threat exerclsed by the 'mass man" wlthln ourselves.
Close at hand ls the vlewpolnt from whlch the novel
stands out as a study of a type of man who lsolates hlm
self ln selfsufflclent speclallzatlon, only to succumb help
lessly ln a world of ruthlessly harsh realltles.
Dic lcvduvg leads over to the blg examlnatlon of
the orlgln, composltlon and reactlon patterns of the mass
movements whlch Canettl, after decades of research and
study, publlshed wlth Mossc uvd Moclt ('Crowds and
Power") ln l960. It ls a maglsterlal work by a polyhlstor
who can dlsclose an overwhelmlngly large number of
vlewpolnts of men`s behavlour as mass belngs. In hls basl
cally a hlstorlcal analysls what he wants to expose and
attack by scrutlnlzlng the orlgln and nature of the masses
ls, ln the end, the rellglon of power. Survlval becomes the
nucleus of power. At last the mortal enemy ls death ltself.
thls ls a prlnclpal theme, held to wlth a strangely pathetlc
strength, ln Canettl`s llterary works.
Apart from the lntenslve work on Mossc uvd Moclt
Canettl has wrltten aphorlstlc notes, lssued ln several vol
umes. Abundant humour and a satlrlcal blte ln the obser
vatlon of people`s behavlour, a loathlng of wars and
devastatlon, bltterness at the thought of llfe`s brevlty are
characterlstlc features here.
Canettl`s three plays are all of a more or less absurd
klnd. In thelr portrayal of extreme sltuatlons, often deplct
lng human vulgarlty, these 'acoustlc masks," as he hlm
self calls them, glve an lnterestlng gllmpse lnto hls unlque
world of ldeas.
281
b~ `~ ai_ POV
Among hls many sharpslghted portralt studles spe
clal mentlon can be made of Dcr ovdcrc Iroc ('Kafka`s
Other Jrlal"), ln whlch wlth lntense lnvolvement he
examlnes Kafka`s compllcated relatlonshlp to Iellce
Bauer. Jhe study resolves lnto a plcture of a man whose
llfe and work meant the rellnqulshlng of power.
Ilnally, standlng out as a peak ln Canettl`s wrltlngs,
are hls memolrs, so far ln two large volumes. In these rec
ollectlons of hls chlldhood and youth he reveals hls force
ful eplc power of descrlptlon to lts full extent. A great deal
of the polltlcal and cultural llfe ln central Europe ln the
early l900`sespeclally the form lt took ln Vlennals
reflected ln the memolrs. Jhe pecullar envlronments, the
many remarkable human destlnles wlth whlch Canettl
has been confronted and hls unlque educatlonal path
always almlng at unlversal knowledgeare seen here ln a
style and wlth a lucldlty that have very few qualltatlve
equlvalents ln the memolrs wrltten ln the German lan
guage durlng thls century.
Dear Mr. Canettl, wlth your versatlle wrltlngs,
whlch attack slck tendencles ln our age, you wlsh to serve
the cause of humanlty. Intellectual passlon ls comblned ln
you wlth the moral responslblllty thatln your own
words'ls nourlshed by mercy." I beg to convey to you
the warm congratulatlons of the Swedlsh Academy, and
ask you now to accept thls year`s Nobel Prlze for Lltera
ture from the hands of Hls Majesty the Klng.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l98l.|
`~W _~ p
Covctti`s spcccl ot tlc òbcl ovquct, 10 Dcccmbcr 19S1
Eure Majestten, Eure Knlgllchen Hohelten, melne
Damen und Herren,
Elner Stadt, dle man kennt, verdankt man vlel und
elner, dle man kennen mchte, wenn man slch lange
vergebllch nach lhr sehnt, vlellelcht noch mehr. Aber es
glbt, glaube lch, lm Leben elnes Menschen auch beson
dere Stadtgotthelten, durch Drohung, Lnermessllchkelt
oder Verklrung ausgezelchnete Gebllde. Dle drel, dle es
fr mlch waren, slnd Wlen, London und Zrlch.
Man mag es dem Zufall zuschrelben, dass es dlese
drel slnd, aber dleser Zufall helsst noch Europa, und
sovlel Europa vorzuwerfen wre,denn was lst nlcht
alles von lhm ausgegangen!heute, da der Atemschatten,
unter dem wlr leben, schwer auf Europa lastet, zlttern
wlr zuerst um Europa. Denn dleser Kontlnent, dem slch
sovlel verdankt, trgt auch elne grosse Schuld und er
braucht Zelt, um selne Snden wledergutzumachen. Wlr
wnschen lhm leldenschaftllch dlese Zelt, elne Zelt, ln
der slch elne Wohltat nach der anderen ber dle Erde
verbrelten konnte, elne Zelt, dle so segensrelch wre,
dass nlemand auf der ganzen Welt Grund mehr htte,
den Namen Europas zu verfluchen.
Zu dlesem verspteten, zum elgentllchen Europa
haben ln melnem Leben vler Mnner gehrt, von denen
lch mlch nlcht zu trennen vermag. Ihnen verdanke lch es,
dass lch heute vor Ihnen stehe und lch mchte lhre
Namen vor Ihnen nennen. Der Erste lst Karl Kraus, der
grsste Satlrlker der deutschen Sprache. Er hat mlch das
Hren gelehrt, dle unbelrrbare Hlngabe an dle Laute
Wlens. Er hat mlch, was noch wlchtlger war, gegen Krleg
gelmpft, elne Impfung, dle damals fr Vlele noch not
wendlg war. Heute, selt Hlroshlma, welss jeder, was
Krleg lst, und dass jeder es welss, lst unsere elnzlge Hoff
nung.Der Zwelte lst Iranz Kafka, dem es gegeben war,
slch lns Klelne zu verwandeln und slch so der Macht zu
entzlehen. In dlese lebenslange Lehre, dle dle notwen
dlgste von allen war, bln lch bel lhm gegangen. Den Drlt
ten wle den Vlerten, Robert Musll und Hermann Broch,
habe lch ln melner Wlener Zelt gekannt. Robert Muslls
Werk faszlnlert mlch bls zum heutlgen Jage, vlellelcht
bln lch erst selt den spten |ahren lmstande, es ganz zu
erfassen. Damals ln Wlen war erst eln Jell davon
bekannt und was lch von lhm lernte, war das Schwerste.
dass man eln Werk auf |ahrzehnte hln unternehmen
kann, ohne zu wlssen, ob es slch vollenden lsst, elne
Waghalslgkelt, dle hauptschllch aus Geduld besteht, dle
elne belnahe unmenschllche Hartncklgkelt voraussetzt.
Mlt Hermann Broch war lch befreundet. Ich glaube
nlcht, dass seln Werk mlch beelnflusst hat, wohl aber
erfuhr lch lm Lmgang mlt lhm von jener Gabe, dle lhn
zu dlesem Werk befhlgt hat. dlese Gabe war seln Atem
Gedchtnls. Ich habe selther ber Atmen vlel nachge
dacht und dle Beschftlgung damlt hat mlch getragen.
Es wre unmgllch fr mlch, heute nlcht an dlese
vler Mnner zu denken. Wren sle noch am Leben, so
stnde wohl elner von lhnen an melner Stelle da.
Betrachten Sle es nlcht als Anmassung, wenn lch etwas
ausspreche, worber mlr kelne Entscheldung zukommt.
Aber lch mchte Ihnen von Herzen danken und lch
glaube, lch darf das nur, wenn lch zuvor melne Schuld an
dlese vler vor Ihnen ffentllch bekannt habe.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l98l. Ellas Canettl ls the
Trovslotiov by omcs Hordiv ovd Ililip . Dcmottcis:
Your Majestles, your Royal Hlghnesses, Ladles and
Gentlemen.
One owes much to a clty that one knows, and
perhaps even more to one that one would llke to know,
285
ai_ POV b~ `~
lf one has long yearned for lt ln valn. But I belleve there
are also ln a person`s llfe cltles of a nlgh dlvlne nature,
cltles of pecullar dlstlnctlon owlng to thelr lmmeasur
able rlchness, thelr transflgured state, or to outer threat.
Jhe three that were these thlngs for me are Vlenna,
London, and Zurlch.
One mlght attrlbute lt to chance that these are the
three, but thls chance ls called Europe, and there would
be so much to crltlclze her for, because what all has not
emanated from lt! Joday, slnce the shadow under
whlch we llve welghs heavlly on Europe, we tremble
especlally for Europe. Ior thls contlnent, to whlch so
much ls owed, bears also a great gullt and lt needs tlme
to make amends for lts offenses. We passlonately wlsh
lt thls tlme, a tlme ln whlch one blesslng after another
can spread over the earth, a tlme that would be so
blessed that no one ln the world would have more rea
son to curse the name of Europe.
In my llfetlme have belonged to thls latecomer,
thls real Europe, four men from whom I am unable to
separate myself. Jo them I owe lt that I stand before
you today, and I would llke to tell you thelr names. Jhe
flrst ls Karl Kraus, the greatest satlrlst of the German
language. He taught me how to llsten, the unerrlng ded
lcatlon to the sounds of Vlenna. More lmportant, he
lnoculated me agalnst war, an lnoculatlon that was stlll
necessary for many at that tlme. Joday, after
Hlroshlma, everyone knows what war ls, and that
everyone knows lt ls our only hope.Jhe second ls Iranz
Kafka, to whom lt was glven to transform hlmself lnto
smallness, and so to evade authorlty. I followed hlm ln
thls llfelong apprentlceshlp, whlch was the most lndls
pensable of all. Jhe thlrd, llke the fourth, Robert Musll
and Hermann Broch, I knew ln my Vlenna days. Rob
ert Musll`s work stlll fasclnates me today; perhaps I
have only been able to comprehend lt entlrely ln recent
years. At that tlme ln Vlenna only part of lt was known,
and what I learned from lt was the most dlfflcult. that
one can undertake a work for decades wlthout knowlng
whether one wlll be able to complete lt, a foolhardlness
that malnly conslsts of patlence, that presupposes an
almost lnhuman obstlnacy. I was a frlend of Hermann
Broch. I do not belleve that hls work lnfluenced me, but
I learned ln the assoclatlon wlth hlm of that glft that
made hlm capable of accompllshlng hls work. thls glft
was hls breathmemory. I have slnce then thought much
about breathlng, and thls lnterest ln lt has sustalned me.
It would be lmposslble for me not to thlnk of
these men today. If they were stlll allve, one of them
would probably be standlng ln my place. I would llke to
thank you from my heart, and I belleve I may be per
mltted to do so only lf I flrst publlcly acknowledge my
debt to these four.
286
d `~
(27 uly 1SJ - 16 Icbruory 1907)
q~ bK m
Uvivcrsity of Ccorgio
BOOKS. Iimc di Ciosu Corducci (San Mlnlato. Jlpogra
fla Rlstorl, l857);
Dcllo scclto di curiosito lcttcroric ivcditc o rorc (Bologna. G.
Romagnoll, l863);
Icvio grovio, as Enotrlo Romano (Plstola. Jlpografla
Nlccolal e _uarteronl, l868); revlsed as Icvio gro-
vio: 1S61-1S67, as Carduccl (Bologna. Zanlchelll,
l88l; revlsed, l888);
Iocsic di Ciosu Corducci (Ivotrio Iomovo) (Ilorence. Bar
bra, l87l; revlsed, l875)comprlses Dcccvvoli,
Icvio grovio, and uvcvilio;
Irimovcrc cllcviclc di Ivotrio Iomovo (Ilorence. Barbra,
l872);
ùovc pocsic di Ivotrio Iomovo (Imola. Galeatl, l873);
Studi lcttcrori di Ciosu Corducci (Llvorno. Vlgo, l871);
Dcllc pocsic lotivc cditc c ivcditc di Iudovico Zriosto (Bologna.
Zanlchelll, l875); republlshed as Io giovcvtu di
Iudovico Zriosto c lc suc pocsic lotivc (Bologna. Zanl
chelll, l88l);
Ivtorvo od olcuvc rimc dci sccoli XIII c XI! ritrovotc vci Mcmo-
rioli dcll`Zrclivio votorilc di ologvo, studi di Ciosu
Corducci (Imola. Galeatl, l876);
octti critici c discorsi lcttcrori (Llvorno. Vlgo, l876);
Udi borborc di Ciosu Corducci (Ivotrio Iomovo) (Bologna.
Zanlchelll, l877);
Sotovo c polcmiclc sotoviclc (Bologna. Zanlchelll, l879);
uvcvilio (Bologna. Zanlchelll, l880);
Tibullo, by Carduccl and Rocco de Zerbl (Mllan. Iratelll
Jreves, l880);
ùovc odi borborc (Bologna. Zanlchelll, l882; revlsed and
enlarged, l886);
Ciombi cd cpodi di Ciosu Corducci (1S67-1S72), vuovomcvtc
roccolti c corrctti cov prcfoiovc (Bologna. Zanlchelll,
l882);
Covfcssiovi c bottoglic (Rome. Sommaruga, l882); revlsed
as Covfcssiovi c bottoglic. Scric primo (Rome. Som
maruga, l883);
Covfcssiovi c bottoglic. Scric sccovdo (Rome. Sommaruga,
l883 |l.e., l882|);
o iro. Scttcmbrc MDCCXCII [1792] (Rome. Som
maruga, l883);
Covfcssiovi c bottoglic. Scric tcro (Rome. Sommaruga,
l881);
Covvcrsoiovi criticlc (Rome. Sommaruga, l881);
Ictrorco c occocci (Rome. Perlno, l881);
d `~ E m d `~I NVMRX
q~ ` i~I r p `~~F
287
ai_ POV d `~
Iimc vuovc di Ciosu Corducci (Bologna. Zanlchelll, l887;
revlsed, l889);
Il libro dcllc prcfoiovi (Castello. Lapl, l888);
Io studio bologvcsc: Discorso di Ciosu Corducci pcr lòttovo ccv-
tcvorio (Bologna. Zanlchelll, l888);
oufrc Iudcl: Iocsio ovtico c modcrvo (Bologna. Zanlchelll,
l888);
Upcrc di Ciosu Corducci, 20 volumes ln l0 (Bologna. Zan
lchelll, l889-l909)comprlses volume l, Discorsi
lcttcrori c storici (l889); volume 2, Irimi soggi
(l889); volume 3, octti c sclcrmc (l889); volume
1, Covfcssiovi c bottoglic (l890); volume 5, Ccvcri c
fovillc, scric primo, 1S9-1S70 (l89l); volume 6,
uvcvilio c Icvio grovio (l89l); volume 7, Ccvcri c
fovillc, scric sccovdo, 1S71-1S76 (l893); volume 8,
Studi lcttcrori (l893); volume 9, Ciombi cd cpodi c
Iimc vuovc (l891); volume l0, Studi, soggi c discorsi
(l898); volume ll, Ccvcri c fovillc, scric tcro c
ultimo, 1S77-1901 (l902); volume l2, Covfcssiovi c
bottoglic, scric sccovdo (l902); volume l3, Studi su
Ciuscppc Iorivi: Il Iorivi mivorc (l903); volume l1,
Studi su Ciuscppc Iorivi: Il Iorivi moggiorc, cov uv
oppcvdicc ivcdito (l907); volume l5, Su Iudovico Zri-
osto c Torquoto Tosso studi (l905); volume l6, Iocsio c
storio, cov uvo fototipio (l905); volume l7, Udi bor-
borc c Iimc c ritmi. Cov uv` oppcvdicc (l907); volume
l8, Zrclcologio poctico (l908); volume l9, Mclico c
lirico dcl scttcccvto, cov oltri studi di vorio lcttcroturo
(l909); and volume 20, Covollcrio c umovcsimo
(l909);
Tcrc odi borborc (Bologna. Zanlchelll, l889);
Ictturc itoliovc, 3 volumes (Bologna. Zanlchelll, l890-
l898);
Storio dcl Ciorvo di Ciuscppc Iorivi (Bologna. Zanlchelll,
l892);
Dcllc odi borborc di Ciosu Corducci, libri II ordivoti c corrctti
(Bologna. Zanlchelll, l893);
Su l`Zmivto di T. Tosso. Soggi trc di Ciosu Corducci, cov uvo
postorolc ivcdito di C. . Ciroldi Civtlio (Bologna.
Zanlchelll, l896);
Dcgli spiriti c dcllc formc vcllo pocsio di Ciocomo Icopordi
(Bologna. Zanlchelll, l898);
Iimc c ritmi (Bologna. Zanlchelll, l899);
Iocsic di Ciosu Corducci (Bologna. Zanlchelll, l90l);
Irosc di Ciosu Corducci (Bologna. Zanlchelll, l905);
Do uv cortcggio ivcdito di Ciosu Corducci, edlted by Anto
nlo Messerl (Bologna. Zanlchelll, l907).
b ~ `W Upcrc. Idiiovc òiovolc, 30
volumes (Bologna. Zanlchelll, l935-l910);
Ciombi cd cpodi, edlted by Enzo Palmlerl (Bologna. Zanl
chelll, l959);
Udi borborc, edlted by Manara Valglmlgll (Bologna. Zan
lchelll, l959);
Iimc vuovc, edlted by Pletro Paolo Jrompeo and Glam
battlsta Sallnarl (Bologna. Zanlchelll, l96l);
Iimc c ritmi, edlted by Valglmlgll and Sallnarl (Bologna.
Zanlchelll, l961);
Iocsic c prosc sccltc, edlted by Marlo Iublnl and Remo
Ceseranl (Ilorence. La Nuova Italla, l968);
Iocsic, edlted by Glorglo Barberl Squarottl and Marlo
Rettorl (Mllan. Garzantl, l982);
Irosc, edlted by Glovannl Ialaschl (Mllan. Garzantl,
l987);
Upcrc sccltc, edlted by Marlo Saccentl (Jurln. Lnlone
JlpograflcoEdltrlce Jorlnese, l993).
b bW Iocms of Itoly: Sclcctiovs from tlc Udcs
of Ciosuc Corducci, translated by M. W. Arms (New
York. Grafton Press, l906);
Iocms of Ciosu Corducci, translated by Maud Holland
(New York. Scrlbners, l907);
Sclcctiovs from Corducci: Irosc ovd Ioctry, translated by
Antonlo Marlnonl (New York. Wllllam R. |en
klns, l9l3);
Corducci: Z Sclcctiov of His Iocms, translated by G. L. Blck
ersteth (London. Longmans, Green, l9l3);
Tlc Iimc vuovc of Ciosu Corducci, translated by Laura
Iullerton Gllbert (Boston. R. G. Badger, l9l6);
Z Sclcctiov from tlc Iocms of Ciosu Corducci, translated by
Emlly A. Jrlbe (London. Longmans, Green,
l92l);
Irom tlc Iocms of Ciosu Corducci, translated by Romllda
Rendel (London, l929);
Tlc orboriov Udcs of Ciosu Corducci, translated by Wll
llam Iletcher Smlth (Menasha, Wls.. G. Banta,
l939);
Tlc Iyrics ovd Ilytlms of Ciosuc Corducci, translated by
Smlth (Colorado Sprlngs, Colo.. Prlvately
prlnted, l912);
Twcvty-Iour Sovvcts of Ciosuc Corducci, translated by
Arthur Burkhard (Yarmouth Port, Mass.. Regls
ter Press, l917);
Ciosuc Corducci: Sclcctcd !crsc, translated by Davld H.
Hlgglns (Warmlnster, L.K.. Arls Phllllps,
l991).
OJHER. Iòrpo dcl popolo. Scclto di pocsic rcligiosc, moroli c
potriotticlc covotc doi vostri outori c occomodotc ollìvtclli-
gcvo dcl popolo, edlted by Carduccl (Ilorence.
Galllelana, l855);
Zvtologio lotivo c soggi di studi sopro lo livguo c lcttcroturo lot-
ivo, edlted by Carduccl (Ilorence. Galllelana,
l855);
Vlttorlo Alflerl, Sotirc c pocsic mivori di !ittorio Zlficri,
edlted by Carduccl (Ilorence. Barbra, l858);
Alessandro Jassonl, Io Sccclio ropito c lÙccovo di Zlcssov-
dro Tossovi, cov votc, edlted by Carduccl (Ilorence.
288
d `~ ai_ POV
Barbra, l858); republlshed as Io Sccclio ropito c
oltrc pocsic (Ilorence. Barbra, l86l);
Gluseppe Parlnl, Iocsic di Ciuscppc Iorivi, edlted by Car
duccl (Ilorence. Barbra, l858);
Vlncenzo Montl, Ic pocsic liriclc di !ivccvo Movti, edlted
by Carduccl (Ilorence. Barbra, l858; revlsed
and enlarged, l862);
Alflerl, Dcl privcipc c dcllc lcttcrc, cov oltrc prosc di !ittorio
Zlficri, edlted by Carduccl (Ilorence. Barbra,
l859);
Lorenzo de` Medlcl, Iocsic di Iorcvo dc` Mcdici, edlted by
Carduccl (Ilorence. Barbra, l859);
Gluseppe Glustl, Ic pocsic di Ciuscppc Ciusti, cov uv discorso
sullo vito c sullc opcrc dcllòutorc, edlted by Carduccl
(Ilorence. Barbra, l859; revlsed and enlarged,
l86l and l862);
Salvator Rosa, Sotirc, odi c lcttcrc di Solvotor Ioso, edlted
by Carduccl (Ilorence. Barbra, l860);
Gabrlele Rossettl, Iocsic di Cobriclc Iossctti, edlted by
Carduccl (Ilorence. Barbra, l86l);
Clno da Plstola, Iimc di m. Civo do Iistoio c dòltri dcl sccolo
XI!, edlted by Carduccl (Ilorence. Barbra,
l862);
Montl, Covti c pocmi di !ivccvo Movti, 2 volumes, edlted
by Carduccl (Ilorence. Barbra, l862);
Angelo Ambroglnl Pollzlano, Ic Stovc, lÙrfco c lc Iimc di
mcsscr Zvgclo Zmbrogivi Ioliiovo, rivcdutc su i codici c
su lc ovticlc stompc c illustrotc cov ovvotoiovi di vorii c
vuovc do C. Corducci (Ilorence. Barbra, l863);
Lucretlus, Di T. Iucrcio Coro Dcllo voturo dcllc cosc, libri
!I, edlted by Carduccl and Alessandro Marchettl
(Ilorence. Barbra, l861);
Montl, Trogcdic, drommi c covtotc di !ivccvo Movti, cov
oppcvdicc di vcrsi ivcditi o rori, edlted by Carduccl
(Ilorence. Barbra, l865);
Dlno Irescobaldl, Iimc di Mottco di Divo Ircscoboldi,
edlted by Carduccl (Plstola. Socleta Jlpograflca
Plstolese, l866);
Iocti crotici dcl sccolo X!III, edlted by Carduccl (Ilorence.
Barbra, l868);
Covtilcvc c bollotc, strombotti c modrigoli vci sccoli XIII c XI!,
edlted by Carduccl (Plsa. Nlstrl, l87l);
Iirici dcl sccolo X!III, edlted by Carduccl (Ilorence. Bar
bra, l87l);
Benedetto Menzlnl, Sotirc, rimc c lcttcrc sccltc di cvcdctto
Mcvivi, edlted by Carduccl (Ilorence. Barbra,
l871);
Petrarch, Iimc di Irovccsco Ictrorco sopro orgomcvti storici,
moroli c divcrsi, edlted by Carduccl (Llvorno. Vlgo,
l876);
Strombotti c rispctti dci sccoli XI!, X!, X!I roccolti do C. Cor-
ducci, pcr voc Tco-Icrlosco (Bologna. Zanlchelll,
l877);
Irancesco Domenlco Guerrazzl, Icttcrc di I. D. Cucrroi
o curo di Ciosu Corducci, 2 volumes, edlted by Car
duccl (Llvorno. Vlgo, l880, l882);
Io pocsio borboro vci sccoli X! c X!I, edlted by Carduccl
(Bologna. Zanlchelll, l88l);
Pletro Metastaslo, Icttcrc dispcrsc c ivcditc di Iictro Mctosto-
sio, edlted by Carduccl (Bologna. Zanlchelll,
l883);
Alberto Marlo, Scritti di Zlbcrto Morio, edlted by Car
duccl (Bologna. Zanlchelll, l881); enlarged by
Carduccl and |essle Whlte Marlo as Scritti lcttcrori
c ortistici di Zlbcrto Morio (Bologna. Zanlchelll,
l90l);
Ictturc itoliovc sccltc c ordivotc o uso dcl givvosio supcriorc,
edlted by Carduccl and Lgo Brllll (Bologna.
Zanlchelll, l885);
Montl, Sccltc pocsic di !ivccvo Movti, edlted by Carduccl
(Llvorno. Vlgo, l885);
Zvticlc loudi codorivc, edlted by Carduccl (Pleve dl
Cadore. Jlpografla Berengan, l892);
Ictturc dcl Iisorgimcvto itoliovo, edlted by Carduccl (Bolo
gna. Zanlchelll, l895; enlarged, 2 volumes, l896,
l897);
Jorquato Jasso, Tcotro di Torquoto Tosso, edlted by Car
duccl and Angelo Solertl (Bologna. Zanlchelll,
l895);
Coccc iv rimo dci sccoli XI! c X! roccoltc do C. Corducci pcr
voc Morpurgo-Irovclctti (Bologna. Zanlchelll,
l896);
Petrarch, Ic Iimc di Irovccsco Ictrorco di su gli origivoli com-
mcvtotc do C. Corducci c S. Icrrori (Ilorence. San
sonl, l899);
Marlo, Scritti politici di Zlbcrto Morio, edlted by Carduccl
(Bologna. Zanlchelll, l90l);
Irimovcro c fiorc dcllo lirico itoliovo, 2 volumes, edlted by
Carduccl (Ilorence. Sansonl, l903);
Zvtico lirico itoliovo (covovcttc, covovi, sovctti dci sccoli XIII-
X!), edlted by Carduccl (Ilorence. Sansonl,
l907).
Glosu Carduccl`s poetry glorlfles the era of the
Itallan Rlsorglmentothe lengthy struggle leadlng up to
natlonal unlflcatlon ln l86l. Jhe 'age of Carduccl"
colncldes wlth a vlgorous publlc commltment to the
sacred ldeal of the homeland and to the role of lltera
ture ln advanclng that clvlc ldeal by defendlng human
dlgnlty. When Carduccl was awarded the Nobel Prlze
ln Llterature on l0 December l906 (less than three
months before hls death), C. D. af Wlrsn, the secre
tary of the Swedlsh Academy, descrlbed hlm as 'a poet
who ls always moved by patrlotlsm and a love of llb
erty, who never sacrlflces hls oplnlons to galn favour,
and who never lndulges ln base sensuallsm . . . a soul
lnsplred by the hlghest ldeals." As the major Itallan poet
289
ai_ POV d `~
of hls age, Carduccl represented ln llterature the
natlonal destlny of Italy over the flnal thlrd of the nlne
teenth century. A robust and passlonate man, he advo
cated a restoratlon of the classlcal herltage and a return
to the clvlc and natural vlrtues lt represents. Worklng ln
several llterary forms, he exhorted the Itallans to revl
tallze themselves and to honor the greatness of thelr
anclent, medleval, and Renalssance clvlllzatlons. Car
duccl was commonly referred to as 'lùltlmo scudlero
del classlcl" (the last shleld bearer of the classlcs), and
hls focus on hlstory spans the centurles and engages
Italy`s heroes, from those of the newly formed state to
those of antlqulty. He embodled the classlcal flgure of
the ~I or poetprophet, who sang of the glory of the
clvlllzatlon and natural landscape of Italy.
Carduccl produced several hlghly structured and
technlcally accompllshed volumes of poetry, beglnnlng
wlth the l857 o d `~ (Lyrlcs of Glosu
Carduccl) and endlng wlth the l90l m d
(Poetry of Glosu Carduccl). Jhe blbllographlcal hls
tory of the works ls complex, glven the poet`s ongolng
lnvolvement ln dlfferent collectlons at the same tlme
and hls hablt of reworklng poems over a perlod of
many years. Jhe years of composltlon of hls major col
lectlons are. g~ (l87l), l850-l860; i~ ~~
(l868, Llght and Serlous Poems), l86l-l87l; d~
(l882, Iamblcs and Epodes), l867-l879; o
(l887, Jhe New Lyrlcs), l86l-l887; l ~~
(l877, Barbarlan Odes), l877-l889; and o
(l899, Lyrlcs and Rhythms), l887-l899. Jhus, Car
duccl organlzed hls overlapplng collectlons on a the
matlc and formal basls, not a chronologlcal one. Alded
by the poet`s coplous selfdocumentatlon, scholars can
date wlth confldence almost all of Carduccl`s major
poems; whlle each of the separate collectlons has lts
own character, they have ln common the subject matter
of poetry ltself. Carduccl ls a radlcal styllstlc lnnovator
whose formal devlatlon from establlshed meters and
verse forms set a pattern for the poets of the twentleth
century. Durlng hls fortyfouryear career at the Lnlver
slty of Bologna, Carduccl galned fame as a lecturer and
scholar, as the one genulne helr of Itallan classlclsm as
well as the major patrlotlc poet of the natlon. At the
same tlme, hls career was full of contradlctlons and
reversals as well as personal tragedy.
Born ln Val dl Castello (Pletrasanta) ln northwest
Juscany on 27 |uly l835, Glosu Alessandro Gluseppe
Carduccl reslded from l838 to l819 ln Blgherl, ln the
Juscan Maremma near the Jyrrhenlan Sea. Carduccl`s
mother, Ildegonda Celll, was a welleducated and llberal
woman; hls father, Mlchele Carduccl, was a provlnclal
physlclan who taught hls son Latln and encouraged hlm
to study the works of Vlrgll, Homer, Jorquato Jasso,
and Alessandro Manzonl. Glosu had two younger
brothers, Dante and Valfredo. Mlchele Carduccl, also a
member of the Carbonarla (Charcoalburners), a secret
soclety commltted to endlng the Austrlan occupatlon,
was lmprlsoned for hls republlcan bellefs. Glosu lnher
lted hls parents` cosmopolltanlsm and hls father`s polltl
cal passlon. He wrote hls flrst satlrlc poem ln l816, and
by l850 he had expressed hls antlRomantlc, proclasslcal
sympathles ln verse. When the famlly moved to Ilorence
ln l819, hls llterary educatlon expanded to lnclude Gla
como Leopardl, Irledrlch von Schlller, and George Gor
don, Lord Byron.
Irom l819 to l852 he attended the school of the
Scolopl frlars ln Ilorence, speclallzlng ln rhetorlc and
classlcal and Itallan llterature. In l852 Carduccl founded
wlth a group of classmates the Academy of the Illomusl
(Muse Lovers), a llterary group that provlded the forum
for hls dellvery of two early speeches, 'Su lo stato attuale
della letteratura ltallana" (On the Current State of Itallan
Llterature) and 'Della Italla" (On Italy). On l6 |une
l855 he graduated from the Scuola Normale Superlore
of Plsa after wrltlng a thesls on chlvalrlc poetry. In the
same year, he and some of hls classmates founded a llter
ary soclety, the Socleta degll Amlcl Pedantl (Soclety of
Irlendly Pedants), whose declared adversary was
Romantlclsm, whlch they saw as an enervatlng and llst
less cultural tendency that had sapped the wlll of the Ital
lans wlth lts mystlclsm, dream states, and evaslons of the
polltlcal problems confrontlng the country.
Shortly after startlng a teachlng job ln the small
Juscan town of San Mlnlato ln l857, Carduccl was
twlce warned by the archducal authorltles that he mlght
lose the job because of hls strldent prorepubllcan posl
tlons. Also ln l857 Carduccl`s brother Dante commlt
ted sulclde after a bltter argument wlth thelr father. Less
than a year later, ln l858, thelr father also dled. Car
duccl was then worklng ln Arezzo as an lnstructor of
Itallan llterature, rhetorlc, and Greek. In l859 he mar
rled hls cousln Elvlra Menlcuccl, and thelr flrst chlld,
Beatrlce, was born. Jhe couple went on to have a son,
Dante, and two more daughters, Laura and Llberta.
Carduccl supported the annexatlon of Juscany to
Pledmont and publlcly exalted the Savoy monarch, Vlctor
Emmanuel II, for that reason. (Wlth the Itallan unlflca
tlon, Carduccl began a decadelong dlstanclng from the
monarchy, based on what he saw as lts denlal of the patrl
otlc ldeals of the republlcan Gluseppe Mazzlnl and an
unsavory alllance wlth the Cathollc Church, whlch
sought to lmpede the annexatlon of Rome and lts terrlto
rles to the new natlon.) When Gluseppe Garlbaldl llber
ated Slclly ln l860 and crossed over to the malnland wlth
hls expedltlonary force of one thousand redshlrted sol
dlers, a jubllant Carduccl wrote the ode 'Slcllla e la rlv
oluzlone" (Slclly and the Revolutlon), publlshed ln the
poetry revlew s~ ln l863. On 26 September
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d `~ ai_ POV
l860 Carduccl was appolnted to the chalr of Itallan lltera
ture at the Lnlverslty of Bologna, a posltlon he held for
fortyfour years. Hls appolntment was a deflnlng moment
ln hls llfe and career. In hls lnaugural lecture at thls oldest
of unlversltles, he announced the renewal of Itallan letters
under the slgn of the now unlfled Itallan natlon and the
classlcal llterary tradltlon. A consummate reader of the
classlc works of Latln, Greek, and Itallan llterature, Car
duccl saw the new state as the fulflllment of the promlse
of the republlc of anclent Rome; thls concept presupposed
a classlcal ldeal of humanlty ln harmony wlth nature.
Carduccl`s early poetry ls antlRomantlc and antl
clerlcal ln nature; lt possesses a strongly classlcal and
patrlotlc tone. Jhe poems of the flrst book, o dJ
`~I were eventually reworked and glven a
deflnltlve form ln the l880 edltlon of g~. Enrlco
Jhovez refers to the g~ as an 'archaeologlcal
exhumatlon of Greek mythology and Roman rhetorlc."
Whlle thls assessment ls a falr one, lt concerns the earll
est work, when the poet was stlll experlmentlng wlth a
varlety of academlc forms and maturlng; ln a more pos
ltlve llght, lt suggests the extent of Carduccl`s knowl
edge of phllology, rhetorlc, and Itallan and Roman
llterary and polltlcal hlstory. Carduccl remalned an
lnveterate experlmenter and lmltator of sources. Hls
poems dlsplayed a mastery of varlous metrlc and stan
zalc solutlons. Jhus, the reader ls rarely afforded the
experlence of a pure lyrlc. On a llngulstlc plane, the
reader of Carduccl`s poetry must gloss references from
the hlstorlcal matrlces of anclent Rome, the medleval
Italy of the communes, and the Rlsorglmento; the
reader must also conslder the poetlc tradltlons of the
classlcal perlod ln Rome and Greece, the lyrlcal vocabu
lary of the (sweet new style, deslgnatlng
courtly love lyrlcs) tradltlon, the language of the chlval
rlc eplcs of the Renalssance, the moral odes of Gluseppe
Parlnl and Vlncenzo Montl, and the transltlon from
neoclasslclsm lnto Romantlclsm.
Ilercely antlclerlcal ln a country ln whlch the
Cathollc Church long exerclsed conslderable polltlcal
power, Carduccl comblned hls erudltlon wlth the secu
lar progresslve thrust of the Enllghtenment. But rather
than drawlng on the polltlcal thlnkers of the elghteenth
century, he drew on lts llterary examples, especlally the
neoclasslcal poets Parlnl, Montl, Vlttorlo Alflerl, and
Lgo Ioscolo, and sought hls polltlcal models ln the dls
tant past of republlcan and lmperlal Rome. Jhe poetlc
results can be booklsh, slnce the ldeallstlc fervor the
poet lmputes to the past and lts ablllty to lnsplre change
ln the present ls unreallstlc. Hls nostalglc dream and hls
deslre that the future Itallan state wlll overcome the crl
ses that beset lt after unlflcatlon are charged wlth a
monumental sense of gravlty, whlch strlkes the reader
as somehow false. Yet, there ls another Carduccl, the
poet of melancholy landscapes and the pastoral
rhythms of the countryslde, the exqulslte love poet and
the author of parodles and satlres.
Carduccl had many complalnts about the new
state, wlth lts capltal ln Jurln. He was skeptlcal of the
monarchy of Vlctor Emmanuel and the rullng ellte of
the Llberal Party, whlch effectlvely dlsmlssed the repub
llcanlsm of Mazzlnl and marglnallzed Garlbaldl. Car
duccl pralses Garlbaldl ln 'Dopo Aspromonte" (l861,
After Aspromonte), an ode that recounts the Slclllan`s
herolsm, hls belng wounded at the battle of
Aspromonte on 29 August l862, and hls subsequent
arrest, all as part of the struggle agalnst the absolutlsm
of the reactlonary governments of Europe. Carduccl
saves hls most bltlng sarcasm for Pope Plus IX, who
contlnued to reslst the terrltorlal unlflcatlon of Italy by
blocklng the resolutlon of the Instltutlonal _uestlon
(the annexatlon of papal Rome to the Itallan state,
whlch flnally occurred ln l870).
In the twohundredllne hymn 'A Satana" (l865,
Jo Satan), publlshed under the pen name Enotrlo
Romano (a pseudonym he used frequently to denote
hls polemlcal slde as a defender of the Roman herltage),
Carduccl exalts a llfe prlnclple that ls not Chrlstlan or
otherwlse dependent on rellglous dogma. Jhe tltle of
thls tour de force should not be mlsunderstood. by
'Satan" he lntends the regeneratlve, creatlve forces of
Nature and human Reason. Not only was Carduccl
unfazed about offendlng the clerlcs or the bourgeolsle,
but he seemed to lnvlte controversy, especlally when he
republlshed the poem on 8 December l869 ln the
Bolognese newspaper f as a polltlcal protest
agalnst the Church on the occaslon of the meetlng of
the Jwentleth Vatlcan Councll. In these llnes he
defends the moral valldlty of the temples torn down by
the early Chrlstlans.
Che val se barbaro
Il nazareno
Furor de làgapl
Dal rlto osceno
Con sacra flaccola
O templl tàrse
E l segnl argollcl
A terra sparse?
(Jo what avall dld
the barbarous Chrlstlan
fury of ~~I
ln obscene rltual,
Wlth holy torch
burn down your temples,
scatterlng thelr
Greek statuary? |translated by Davld H. Hlgglns|)
29l
ai_ POV d `~
Jhls Satan, 'bello e orrlblle / Mostro sl sferra" (beautlful
and awful / a monster ls unleashed), ls at once a destruc
tlve, devourlng force that roams over the earth, and a flg
ure of reason and the natlve human ablllty to achleve
harmony ln nature and construct a noble, just, and free
clvlllzatlon. Poetry ls a prlmary means toward thls end,
and Carduccl seeks to expand the number of lts practlcal
appllcatlons. On the one hand, he does so ln order to
evoke the majesty, equlllbrlum, and serenlty of nature; on
the other, he chastlzes the lndolent and corrupt, maklng of
poetry a polltlcal vehlcle.
Carduccl`s i~ ~~ lncludes poems 'llght and
heavy," as the tltle lndlcates. As Carduccl wrote ln a letter
to Iellce Jrlbolatl on 21 September l868, 'i~ ~~
vuol dlre. fantasle dl gloventu, e dolorl ed esperlmentl
della vlta. cose leggere per sentlmento e per lstlle, mesco
late ad altre gravl per le stesse raglonl" (i~ ~~ means.
the fantasles of youth, and the sorrows and experlments of
llfe. thlngs that are llght ln thelr feellngs and style, mlxed
wlth others that are heavy for the same reasons). Jhe poet
understands the dlchotomy of llght and heavy as one of
ease and dlfflculty, both of composltlon and comprehen
slon. He ls aware that the cult of the past that he proposes,
whlch embraces the great flgures of antlqulty and the Ital
lan tradltlon, goes agalnst the graln of a certaln llterary
taste and wlll seem ponderous and burdensome to many;
he also knows that hls lncessant formal experlmentatlon
may be seen as frlvolous or lacklng ln substance. Irom hls
perspectlve, the llght and heavy are natural features of
youth and memory; the memory of youth that comes for
ward ln the collectlon lncludes the youth of the new coun
try, remembered through the lcons of lts past poetlcal and
hlstorlcal greatness. In the openlng llnes to the sonnet
'Làntlca poesla toscana" (l866, Anclent Juscan Poetry),
the speaker ls, ln fact, the old Juscan poetry.
Su le plazze pe` campl e ne` verzlerl
dàmor tra l ludl e le tenzon clvlll
crebbl` e adulta cercal templl e mlsterl,
scuole pensose ed agltatl eslll.
Or dove son le donne alte e gentlll,
l franchl clttadlnl e` cavallerl?
dove le rose de` glocondl aprlll?
dove le querce de` castelll nerl?
(On the plazzas, ln the flelds and meadows
of love among the dellghts and clvlc battles
I grew up and as an adult sought temples and mysterles,
penslve schools and agltated exlles.
Oh but now where are the noble and graceful ladles,
the stalwart cltlzens and knlghts?
Where the roses of joyous Aprlls?
Where the oaks of black castles?)
In d~ I the most satlrlcal of Carduccl`s
poetlc collectlons, aspects of hls personal style emerge, ln
partlcular the penchant for polemlc and melancholy. As
the selfproclalmed spokesman of the 'Jhlrd Italy," he was
dlsappolnted when the new country dld not prove to be
the glorlous thlng he had hoped for; thus, he became a
serlous crltlc of the present. Hls polltlcal enemles at thls
tlme were the Itallan monarchy, the Vatlcan, the feudallst
arlstocracy, the Hlstorlc Rlght of the Llberal Party, and the
Romantlcs. Hls lnsplratlon came from Mazzlnl and
Garlbaldl, the Irench Revolutlon, and the hlstorlcal exam
ple of the age of the Itallan communes (thlrteenthcentury
cltystates). Jhe epode ls a moralsatlrlcal form made up of
dlstlchs (or couplets) ln whlch the second llnethe ls
shorter. Carduccl`s maln llterary model ln thls regard ls
Horace, whose lamblc epodes are largely satlres lnsplred
by Archllochus. Carduccl belleved that thls type of acerblc
poetry belongs justly to a llmlted perlod ln one`s llfefor
hlm, lt was a threeyear perlod, l867 to l869 (though
some works lncluded ln thls collectlon, notably 'Il canto
dellàmore" |l878, Love Song|, were wrltten much later).
Jhe thlrtyone poems of d~ lnclude evo
catlons of Italy`s past as mlrrored ln the geography; the
poet frequently wrote poems based on vlslts to speclflc
sltes. Ior example, after an l867 trlp to the orlglns of the
Jlber Rlver ln the Juscan Appenlnes, Carduccl wrote an
ode to those new frlends who had hosted hlm. In 'Agll
amlcl della valle Jlberlna" (Jo Irlends ln the Jlber Val
ley), the Jlber Rlver possesses the transcendent vlrtues of
the Roman people, and nature ls vlewed as healthy and
vlrtuous, so that the landscape ltself takes on a metahlstor
lcal slgnlflcance.
d~ ls domlnated by satlres and lnvec
tlves, approprlate subjects ln the poet`s vlew for those clas
slcal verse forms; the targets are predomlnately the Itallan
mlddle classes, whose medlocrlty Carduccl denounces,
comparlng them (and thelr lnstltutlons, flrst among them
the Cathollc Church) negatlvely to the glorles of republl
can Rome, as recounted by Llvy and embodled by
Mazzlnl, the subject of the l872 sonnet 'Gluseppe
Mazzlnl".
_ual da gll arldl scogll erma su 'l mare
Genova sta, marmoro glgante,
Jal, surto ln bassl d, su 'l fluttuante
Secolo, el grande, austero, lmmoto appare.
(Llke Genoa, a marble glant standlng
solltary above the sea on lts barren reefs, so he too appears,
tall, severe, motlonless, rlslng above the stormy
century ln a tlme barren of greatness. |translated by Hlgglns|)
d~ lncludes homages ln the form of lmlta
tlons of such poets as Vlctor Hugo and Helnrlch Helne,
whose work had helped Carduccl grow as a poet. Jhe
292
d `~ ai_ POV
structure of the book suggests an ascenslonal path, begln
nlng wlth the 'Prologue," whlch announces the poet`s
great sorrow over hls deceased famlly members and hls
deslre to endure thls tlme of darkness, not slmply ln grlef
but ln protest agalnst 'the false world" and the cowardlce
and fraud that that world adores. He concludes the book
wlth 'Il canto dellàmore," a hymn to unlversal love and
a celebratlon of the Itallan natlon (seen ln lofty pan
oramlc vlews wlth lts landscape flgured as a woman cher
lshed by her lover, the sun) as lt moves forward ln
progress and under the slgn of Llberta (Ireedom).
Also ln d~ are poems centered on clvlc
vlrtues and vlces, lofty patrlotlc ldeals, and the hlghly
personal emotlons of regret, melancholy, and nostalgla.
One example of Carduccl`s satlrlcal bent ls the lronlc
epode 'Canto dellÌtalla che va ln Campldogllo" (l872,
Song of Italy on Its Way to the Capltollne), whlch docu
ments the hlstorlc moment when Rome and lts terrltorles
have flnally been annexed by the Itallan state and Rome
has been named the capltal, though the klng has yet to
pay a vlslt. Jhe poem ls an account of the klng`s flrst vlslt
to the capltal.
Wlth the o I Carduccl`s polemlcal volce ls
dlmlnlshed, though not ellmlnated. On a personal level
he ls more lntrospectlve; on an hlstorlcal level he ls more
retrospectlve. Irom the start, as a poet, he tended to con
trol the overly subjectlve lmpulses wlth classlcal forms
and derlvatlons; but some thlngs are genulnely beyond
one`s control. Carduccl was strlcken by the death of hls
mother on 3 Iebruary l870, and on 9 November l870
hls son, Dante, dled at age two and a half. Jhls event ls
recalled ln several poems, prlmarlly ln the o K In
the flrst of these, 'Iunere merslt acerbo" (Plunged lnto
Bltter Death), wrltten on the day of the boy`s death, Car
duccl addresses the splrlt of hls brother who dled thlrteen
years earller, asklng lf he has heard the volce of llttle
Dante, who has just now passed on. Jhe tltle ls a Vlrgll
lan hemlstlch (half a llne of verse) from when Aeneas
descends to the underworld and hears the weeplng of the
souls of dead chlldren.
In the o I the poet repudlates the conten
tlousness of hls earller persona, lnstead looklng lnward.
Stlll, the hlstorlcal passlon remalns strong. Jhe sonnet
form ls revltallzed by Carduccl, who, ln 'Il sonetto"
(l870, Jhe Sonnet), lnserts hlmself ln the secular tradl
tlon among the greatest Itallan lyrlc poets.
Sesto lo no, ma postremo, estasl e planto
E profumo, lra ed arte, a` mlel d soll
Memore lnnovo ed a l sepolcrl canto.
(Not slxth, but last, I brlng to lt new glfts of ecstasy
and grlef and scent, of anger and of art,
as mlndful of my solltary days and of our dead, I slng.
|translated by Hlgglns|)
Jhe poets alluded to ln the flnal tercet are Dante
(ecstasy), Petrarch (grlef ), Jasso (scent), Alflerl (anger),
and Ioscolo (art). Much of the Carducclan style con
cerns hls cultlvatlon and lmltatlon of the poetlc models
of the past. Good taste and decorum are essentlal com
ponents of these models and are found lacklng ln the
modern poetry of symbollsm and decadence. Jhe
moderns, llke the Romantlcs, eschew the old categorles
of dlstlnctlon of levels; Carduccl recovers them. Jhe
moderns, he clalms, do not recognlze the oratorlcal,
rhetorlcal purpose of the dlvlslon of form and content,
or the value of lmltatlon. Carduccl malntalns the dlvl
slon and engages ln lmltatlon as the one proper means
to dlscover hls own authentlc volce. Carduccl sees
Romantlclsm and the poets of the nlneteenthcentury
avantgarde ~~~ (bohemlanlsm) movement as
mlred ln dreamllke mysterles and uncertalntles; lf such
poets slng of lllness and physlcal degradatlon, he pre
sents hlmself as a plcture of emotlonal and lntellectual
vlrtue and health. He tends to lgnore those aspects of
Romantlclsm that represent a contlnuatlon of the neo
classlcal tradltlon, lncludlng the cult of beauty and the
preference for the ldyll, the hymn, and the elegy.
In 'Classlclsmo e Romantlclsmo" (l869, Classl
clsm and Romantlclsm), Carduccl presents the opposl
tlon of these two currents ln Itallan culture as much
more than a clash of aesthetlcs; rather lt ls a cholce
between the dlgnlfled and solar force of reason and her
olsm, of classlcal strength and vlrtue, versus the valnly
splrltuallstlc, sentlmental, weak, lunar, and enervated
Romantlclsm.
Ma tu, luna, abbelllr godl co 'l ragglo
Le rulne ed l luttl;
Maturar nel fantastlco vagglo
Non sal n flor n fruttl.
(But thy dellght, O moon, ls adornlng rulns
and tombs wlth thy rays;
yet ln thy fabled voyage thou art helpless
to rlpen elther flower or frult. |translated by Hlgglns|)
Carduccl was vlewed as a wholesome bulwark agalnst
the Romantlc decadence. Hls reputatlon and lnfluence
grew conslderably ln the l870s and l880s; hls reputa
tlon as a scholar and orator contrlbuted to hls prestlge
as a poetlc authorlty, and the acclalm wlth whlch hls
nuanced and technlcally accompllshed books of verse
were recelved added to hls fame as a publlc flgure.
Carduccl`s hostlllty to the current of
(reglonallst reallsm) that arose ln the l880s reflected hls
lncreaslngly arlstocratlc and elltest polltlcal ldeology.
He sang the pralses of the Rlsorglmento, recastlng lts
polltlcal and mllltary leaders as herolc patrlots. He com
posed celebratory verses on the annlversarles of battles
293
ai_ POV d `~
and conquests, creatlng ln the process a gap between
the heraldlc and ldeallzed verslon of events and the
often medlocre reallty. Whlle the actual unlflcatlon that
resulted ln the 'Jhlrd Italy" was accompllshed by a dls
tlnct mlnorlty and through feats more dlplomatlc than
mllltary, the poet preferred to mythologlze and glorlfy
the new natlon, endowlng lt wlth the aura of the earller
two lmperlal Italys, that of the anclent Roman Republlc
and that of the Renalssance popes. As Carduccl came to
recognlze the severlty of thls gap between the ldeal and
the real, hls emotlonal dlstress began to mount.
In the gap between the ldeal and real there
emerges another Carduccl. the melanchollc whose lntl
mate stralns of amorous passlon and nostalglc evoca
tlons of the desolate landscape of the Maremma result
ln a newly modern form of the ldyll. In 'Idllllo marem
mano" (l872, Maremman Idyll), the poet evokes the
dlstant memory of a ladylove from the Maremma. Wrlt
ten as a ~an amorous or satlrlcal poem wrltten ln
Dantean terza rlmathe melancholy ldyll ls tlnged wlth
regret.
Oh come fredda lndl la vlta mla,
Come oscura e lncresclosa trapassata!
Megllo era sposar te, blonda Marla!
Megllo lr tracclando per la sconsolata
Boscaglla al plano ll bufolo dlsperso,
Che salta fra la macchla e sosta e guata,
Che sudar dletro al plccloletto verso!
Megllo oprando oblar, senza lndagarlo;
_uesto enorme mlster de lùnlverso!
(Oh how cold has my llfe been slnce,
how dark and tedlous has lt sped away!
Jo marry you would have been the better course, my falr
halred Marla!
Better far to range through the desolate
thlckets of our plalns, tracklng down some lost steer,
whlch leaps amongst the scrub, pauses and watches,
Jhan to sweat after puny poetry!
Better far to labour, and forget thls vast mystery of the unl
verse,
than to questlon lt! |translated by Hlgglns|)
In l871 Carduccl declared an end to the wrltlng
of epodes and began worklng on more objectlve odes,
and wlth them returned to a purer and more serene art.
In the ode 'Davantl San Guldo" (l871, completed ln
l886, Outslde San Guldo), the poet travels back to hls
chlldhood home ln the town of Blgherl near Plsa. It ls
a confesslonal poem that alternates between dream and
reallty, youth and adulthood. Its domlnant motlfs are
the flgure of Carduccl`s grandmother and a double row
of cypress trees who recognlze the poet and speak to
hlm. Jhe poem ls a prlme example of Carduccl`s ablllty
to lnclude a broad varlety of themes and emotlonal
tonalltles wlthln a stlll coherent overall structure. As
translator Davld H. Hlgglns wrltes, 'Jhese are the trees
whlch, ln the poem, valnly lnvlte Carduccl to stay and
plck up the threads of hls happy chlldhood and adoles
cence. Jhe offer ls debated at length by Carduccl, but
decllned. lt ls too late." Jhe poet addresses hlmself to
the trees, whlch represent a purer tlme and way of
thlnklng than the poet now enjoys ln hls late mlddle
age.
In response to the crlses ln hls own llfe and that of
the natlon, and ln harmony wlth hls readlngs of
Charles Baudelalre, Carduccl`s poetry grew less noml
nal and more verbcentered. Jhe lncreased motlon and
movement ln hls verse occurs ln an lmaglnary space
that ls remote from the hlstorlcal sltuatlon he had
lnvoked wlth such optlmlsm ln hls earller patrlotlc
poems. As he recognlzes the lnertla and stasls of the
Itallan natlon, he enters lnto that sltuatlon of crlsls on a
wholly personal plane, provldlng a new dynamlc varl
ously descrlbed as sentlmental, nostalglc, and melan
choly. 'Davantl San Guldo" serves as an example of
thls fundamental styllstlc change, as does the poem
'Planto antlco" (l87l, Grlef of Ages), wrltten on the
death of hls son. Jhe sonnet contrasts the perennlal llfe
cycle of a buddlng pomegranate tree ln the household
garden to the abrupt and absolute cessatlon of the lnno
cent llfe on whlch the poet had placed so much hope.
Sel ne la terra fredda,
Sel ne la terra negra;
N ll sol pl tl rallegra
N tl rlsveglla amor.
(Jhou art ln the cold earth,
thou art ln the darkllng earth;
nor doth the sun cheer thee,
nor love awake thee more. |translated by Hlgglns|)
Carduccl strlkes a new depth ln brlef elegles and
laments such as 'Planto antlco." Walter Blnnl labels
Carduccl a 'poet of the contrast of earthly exlstence,"
as one who deals wlth the feellngs of vltallty and of
death translated lnto llght and darkness, sound and
sllence, the green earth ln lts sprlngtlme fertlllty and the
black tombllke earth of wlnter. Jhe rhyme scheme of
'Planto antlco" ls also found ln the celebrated 'Jedlo
lnvernale" (l875, Wlnter Jedlum) and 'San Martlno"
(l883, Salnt Martln`s Day).
In l872 daughter Llberta was born to the poet
and hls wlfe. Also that year, Carduccl wrote the sonnet
'Il bove" (Jhe Ox). Jhls best known of Carduccl`s
poems concerns the vlrtue and plety of the ox, a slmple
beast of burden. It ls remlnlscent of the sonnet to
Mazzlnl, ln whlch the central flgure was also a glant,
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alone. Jhough modern crltlcs have bellttled the human
lzatlon of the ox, 'Il bove" lays down a slmple and lrre
futable truth ln a dlstlnctlve manner remlnlscent of the
reallstlc Itallan landscape palnters of the late nlneteenth
century. Jhe lmpact of the flnal tercet concernlng the
ox`s dlgnlfled gaze ls helghtened by the use of hypal
lage, the rhetorlcal flgure of radlcally alterlng the natu
ral word order. 'E del grave occhlo glauco entro
làustera / Dolcezza sl rlspecchla amplo e queto / Il
dlvlno del plan sllenzlo verde" (Whllst ln the sweet
severlty of your solemn, glaucous eye / ls reflected,
broad and calm, / the dlvlne sllence of the green plaln
|translated by Hlgglns|).
In |uly l87l Carduccl recelved a letter of admlra
tlon from the Mllanese soclallte Carollna Crlstofarl
Plva, the wlfe of an army offlcer and mother of seven
chlldren. Her connectlon to the wrlter was through a
common frlend, the poet Marla Antonletta Jorrlanl.
Carduccl qulckly responded to Crlstofarl Plva`s letter,
and the two began a poetlcally amorous correspon
dence even before thelr flrst meetlng, ln Aprll l872.
Jhe relatlonshlp grew lnto an lntense love affalr that pro
vlded the lnsplratlon for some of Carduccl`s most
remarkable love poetry. Plva ls referred to as Llna (and
sometlmes Lldla) ln these poems. In 'Prlmavere ellenlche
(II. Dorlca)" (l872, Hellenlc Sprlngtlmes | II. Dorlan
Mode|), she ls pralsed ln the ldeal landscape of an lmag
lned and archalc Slclly, saturated wlth the flgures of
Greek myth. Jhls dlvlne beauty ls able to admlnlster a
draft of nepenthe and other sacred balms to her hero
the poetjust as Helen of Jroy was empowered ln clas
slc tlmes. She ls endowed by oreads and dryads wlth
bouquets of flowers and the ablllty to understand the
glorlous and woeful tales they tell.
Jhe love affalr wlth Plva lasted for several years
and provlded the sentlmental materlal for many power
ful poems. In a farewell letter to Plva (who dled ln
l88l), Carduccl wrote on l5 |uly l878.
Amaml dunque ancora; e rlcrdatl, con benevolenza,
del bene; e oblla, con pla lndulgenza, l mlel tortl. Io
rlcordo e amo e desldero con molta mestlzla, ma non
senza una speranza dl conforto e dl glola. Addlo, dolce
amore. Io tl amo ancora come nel prlml glornl che ml tl
destl. E non vogllo avere altrl rlcordl trlstl e affannosl.
(So love me stlll; and remember, wlth benevolence, the
good; and forget, wlth plous lndulgence, my faults. I
remember and I love and I deslre wlth much sadness,
but not wlthout a hope of comfort and joy. Farewell,
my sweet love. I stlll love you as I dld ln the flrst days
when you gave yourself to me. And I do not wlsh to
have any other sad and troubled memorles.)
Carduccl had other dalllanceslncludlng Annle
Vlvante, Adele Bergamlnl, Dafne Garglolllwho, ln
addltlon to Plva, played an lmportant part ln the hls
tory of hls poetry.
Before thelr affalr ended, Plva accompanled Car
duccl on an l878 vlslt to Jrleste and the former sea
slde retreat of the Austrlan archduke Maxlmllllan,
Mlramare. Jhe sapphlc ode 'Mlramar" (l889) ls an
homage to that leader, whom Napoleon III had
named emperor of Mexlco ln l861 and who was slaln
by rebels loyal to Benlto |uarez on an l867 mlsslon to
Mexlco wlth hls wlfe, the Empress Charlotte. After the
slaylng, Charlotte went lnsane. In Carduccl`s vlew,
these events are a manlfestatlon of kI the paylng
of an hlstorlcal debt lncurred by one`s ancestors. Jhe
poem ls remarkable for lts settlng and for the generous
attltude of the poet toward a man who had been the
resldent leader (ln Lombardy and Venetla) of Italy`s
occupler and lts prlmary enemy durlng the Rlsorgl
mento. Also ln l878, Carduccl wrote an ode to the
queen of Italy and was named the offlclal poet of the
House of Savoy.
Irom the l880s forward, Carduccl`s poetry was
extolled by academlc and nonacademlc crltlcs allke as
the embodlment of a fresh neoclasslclsm, elevated ln
lts mythlc vlrtues above the baseness of dally llfe, com
blned ln lts essence wlth the splrltual reclamatlon of
the Itallan countryslde and lts agrlculturally based vlr
tues. Jhe countryslde ls vlewed as a prlmltlve land
scape compatlble wlth the myth of lnfancyboth the
lnfancy of the lndlvldual (as ln Carduccl`s memorlalls
tlc evocatlons of hls chlldhood) and that of the Itallan
culture. Whlle the crltlc Jhovez ln l926 accused Car
duccl of a false and brlttle archalsm based on outdated
rhetorlcal models, far more lmportant was the earller
pralse by Benedetto Croce, who extolled Carduccl ln
l920 as the 'poet of hlstory," a vltal and wholesome
volce of clvlc and herolc lnsplratlon to hls country
men.
In the o I Carduccl`s hlstorlcal and
anthropologlcal research emerges ln a way remlnlscent
of the Romantlclsts` exploratlon of popular folklore,
legends, and verse forms. In fact, the poet who had
polemlcally opposed Romantlclsm now dedlcated a
celebratory ode to Shelley. 'Presso lùrna dl Percy
Bysshe Shelley" (l881, By the Iuneral Lrn of Percy
Bysshe Shelley). Preoccupled wlth death, Carduccl
wrltes of an Elyslum shared only by the great poets.
'la bella / lsola rlsplendente dl fantasla" (that blessed /
lsland of the lmaglnatlon), and of hls flnal doubts
about lmmortallty.
In hls celebrated sonnet 'Jraversando la
Maremma toscana" (l885, Crosslng the Juscan
Maremma), Carduccl evokes a bynowfamlllar sentl
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ai_ POV d `~
mental landscape, but wlth lrony toward hlmself and
toward the code of courtly love. Strlcken by melan
choly upon seelng the landscape of hls youth,
acknowledglng the vanlty of hls efforts, he flnds solace
ln the landscape.
E dlmanl cadr. Ma dl lontano
Pace dlcono al cuor le tue colllne
Con le nebble sfumantl e ll verde plano
Rldente ne le ploggle mattutlne.
(And tomorrow I shall fall. But from afar
Your hllls speak peace to my heart,
as the mlsts rlse and sunllght plays upon your green plaln
amongst the mornlng showers. |translated by Hlgglns|)
'San Martlno" ls another Anacreontlc ode ln four qua
tralns llke 'Planto antlco." In lt, a hunter stands at the
threshold of a stone house, turnlng a splt and watch
lng ln the sunset the mlgratlon of blrds. Jhe landscape
ls deplcted wlth the mlnlmallst technlques of the
lmpresslonlsts or the Itallan mocclioioli (blotchpalnt
ers), the equlvalent belng a swlft appllcatlon of colors
and sounds to reflect passlng cllmatlc phenomena and
other sensory lmpresslons.
Among the fortyseven sonnets ln Iimc vuovc are
the twelve of o iro (l883, It Wlll Pass), a sequence lnl
tlally publlshed as a pamphlet ln pralse of the splrlt of
the Irench Revolutlon. Insplred by hls readlng of |ules
Mlchelet`s Histoirc dc lo Icvolutiov frovoisc (l817-l853),
Carduccl proposed the Irench Revolutlon as a herolc
model to hls countrymen; and when several leglsla
tors, journallsts, and educators objected to hls sonnet
serles, accuslng hlm of |acobln tendencles, he
responded wlth o iro (Iroso), a lengthy polemlc
dlvlded lnto ten chapters, ln the thlrd serles of Covfcs-
siovi c bottoglic (l881, Confesslons and Battles). When
the flnal sonnet closes, the Irench have defeated the
Prusslans at Valmy, and |ohann Wolfgang von Goethe
has the flnal word, as he attests to the monumental
lmport of the current events. 'Al mondo oggl da
questo / luogo lncomlncla la novella storla" (Events
you wltness here today / Chart new horlzons for the
human race |translated by Arthur Burkhard|). Here
and throughout hls poetlc productlon Carduccl wrltes
of man ln hlstory, not of man ln the cosmos. Hls fre
quent recourse to lrony ls necessary because of the
perslstent force of `cmcsis, or the reallty of vendettas
and retrlbutlve justlce ln human hlstory. 'Ahlm, tutta
la storla umana un orrlblle marea dl sangue" (Alas,
all of human hlstory ls a horrlble tlde of blood).
Hereln lles the progresslvlst and ultlmately posltlvlst
orlentatlon of the poet. In o iro the notlon of `cmcsis
ls the revenge of the Irench populace agalnst centurles
of monarchlcal abuse. Whlle such a bllnd force works
for the good ln thls lnstance, ln others lt does not;
what Carduccl dreams of ls a flnal vlctory over `cmcsis
by Reason.
Plutarch was a major lnsplratlon for Carduccl,
representlng the ablllty to lsolate the partlcular human
essence wlthln a glven hlstorlcal context, and to mlr
ror the natlonal glory. In thls splrlt, the flnal poem of
the Iimc vuovc, 'Congedo" (l873, completed ln l887,
Envol), presents the flgure of the poet as a blacksmlth
whose arduous work ls centered on the forge. lnvest
lng all hls skllls and memorles, hls artlstry and lntel
lect, lnto the poem, the craftsman ylelds up the flnal
product of 'uno strale / Dòro" (a golden shaft) that
he casts to the sun, deslrlng no more.
Jhe flrst edltlon of Udi borborc was followed by
edltlons ln l882 and l889. In thls ambltlous project
Carduccl alms to recreate ln Itallan verse the quantlta
tlve verse forms of classlcal Greek and Latln poetry.
He seeks modern verslons of the hexameter and pen
tameter llne forms set lnto lmltatlons of the classlc
elegy and such strophlc forms as the Alchalc, the
Archllochean, and the sapphlc. At the same tlme he
does not lmpose the metrlc stresses those forms would
dlctate, but allows for thelr natural, grammatlcal
accentlng ln Itallan. Jhe 'barbarlc" verse ls not a scl
entlflc recreatlon on Carduccl`s part but an lntultlve
one; hls knowledge of classlcal Greek meter was medl
ocre, so he was free to approxlmate and not get
bogged down ln unnecessary phllologlcal detalls. Even
those scholars who are expert ln the classlcal verse
forms he adopts wlll not necessarlly recognlze them
because of the lmpractlcallty of adaptlng a language ln
whlch rhythms are generated by tonlc accents to a lan
guage ln whlch rhythms are determlned by the length
of vowel sounds.
Udi borborc beglns ln llght and moves toward
darkness, the lnverse of the ascenslonal pattern of
Icvio grovio. Carduccl deslgnated these works as 'bar
barlc" or 'pagan" ln order to lndlcate the forelgnness
of thelr sound to the classlcal poets, should they hear
the adaptatlon of thelr strophlc poetlc forms lnto Ital
lan. One of the effects of thls ongolng experlment ls a
novel sense of the beauty of words, and by extenslon
of the calm and repose that ls generated by thelr use ln
thls hlghly skllled and anachronlstlc composltlonal
format. Jhe themes are those of separatlon from the
world of struggle and harklng back to the landscapes
of one`s chlldhood and youth.
By creatlng an alternatlve to the qualltatlve
'parlsyllablc" verse of the Itallan lyrlc and eplc tradl
tlon, Carduccl created an openlng for the entry of
free verse ln the poetry of comlng generatlons. Slnce
parlsyllablc verse tends to be rhythmlc and repetl
tlve, by golng agalnst lt and suppresslng rhyme, one
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d `~ ai_ POV
creates a less melodlc, more severe, and more ele
vated metrlcal space. If tradltlonal Itallan verse lends
ltself too easlly to muslcal harmonles and faclle sentl
mentallty, Carduccl`s pursult of a neutral ground
wlth precedents ln the dlgnlty and sobrlety of the
classlcal past suggested new, more modern, tonalltles
to hls poetlc successors.
One of Carduccl`s bestknown barbarlc odes,
'Alle fontl del Clltumno" (l876, At the Sprlngs of the
Clltunno), maps the hlstorlcalmythlc ltlnerary of the
Clltunno (Clltumnus) Rlver from lts source near Spo
leto ln Lmbrla as lt proceeds downstream. Jhe thlrty
nlne sapphlc quatralns are mostly unrhymed, though
the poet ls free to rhyme lf he wlshes. By lnvoklng the
tutelary rlver god of the Lmbrlans, Etruscans, and
Romans and referrlng to Vlrgll`s evocatlon ln the dJ
of thls slte and the bleachlng ln the sacred water of
the coats of llvestock lntended for rltuals, the poet
lmaglnes a llvlng hlstorlcal record that mlght agaln
serve as a model for cultural prosperlty. Jhe concelt of
the rlver`s mythlc correspondence to anclent hlstory
allows the poet to evoke the varlous dlstant cultures
(ln contrast to what he saw as the mystlcal fanatlclsm
of Chrlstlanlty) ln order to pralse the fertlllty and
abundance assoclated wlth the god Pan and the pagan
rellglons of the lndlgenous preRoman cultures. Jhe
poem ends wlth the poet`s pralse of Italy ln lts natural
beauty as lt renews ltself. Carduccl`s posltlvlstlc con
vlctlon that secular clvlllzatlon ls progresslng ls com
pllcated by the evocatlon of anclent rellglons, bellefs,
and the expresslon of plety found ln classlcal and ear
ller lndlgenous myths. In the flnal stanza, 'll vapore"
(the steam englne) ls deplcted as a symbol of Italy
movlng forward to meet the challenge of lndustrlal
clvlllzatlon, together wlth the anclent vlrtues and
fecundlty symbollzed by the rlver.
In December l876 Carduccl wrote 'Alla stazlone
ln una mattlna dàutunno" (At the Statlon, One
Autumn Mornlng), a poem that characterlzes the
strength of hls more melancholy later poems. Car
duccl`s later poetry grows pesslmlstlc and antlclpates,
wlth a prollferatlon of autumnal and wlntery lmages,
hls own decllne. In response to the crlsls of thls per
celved twlllght, the poet seeks an escape lnto dream
and memory. Jhe vlslon of autumn alludes to the
autumn of hls own llfe, when llterature and myth no
longer offer solace and consolatlon. metaphors of
death abound, the prlmary one belng that of the mon
strous traln whose arrlval marks the flnal separatlon
between the poet and hls beloved. Wlth the lover`s
departure, the dream of love ltself departs. Jhe lmage
of the traln has a wholly dlfferent resonance from the
steam englne ln 'Alle fontl del Clltumno".
Gla ll mostro, consclo dl sua metalllca
anlma, sbuffa, crolla, ansa, l flammel
occhl sbarra; lmmane pe 'l bulo
gltta ll flschlo che sflda lo spazlo.
Va lèmplo mostro; con tralno orrlblle
sbattendo làle gll amor mlel portasl.

(Already the monster, aware of lts metalllc soul,
puffs, shudders, pants, glarlng flames;
huge ln the darkness lt whlstles
challenglng the empty alr.
Jhe monster departs, pltlless;
wlth flapplng wlngs lt bears off my beloved ln lts awful
traln. |translated by Hlgglns|)
A nostalgla for the classlcal world now permeates Car
duccl`s poetlcs, a vlslon born from books and a dlsdaln
for the medlocrlty of the current day. 'Dlnanzl alle
Jerme dl Caracalla" (l877, By the Baths of Caracalla) ls a
pastoral symphony ln varlous movements; ln lt Carduccl
deplores the tourlstlc lndulgence ln monuments and
rulns. If Italy had become a musty museum for the arld
and selflnvolved perusal of curloslty seekers, Carduccl
exhorts hls countrymen to relnhablt the greatness of the
past and to be satlsfled wlth nothlng less ln the present.
Jhe `~ i~ (l879, Song of Legnano) ls
an eplc song projected ln three parts, of whlch only the
flrst, 'Il parlamento" (Jhe Parllament), ls complete. It
flrst appeared ln the perlodlcal o~~ ~~ (30
March l879) and was subsequently lncluded ln o
K It ls concerned wlth the truthful evocatlon of the
free commune of Mllan ln the Mlddle Ages and the resls
tance agalnst the German emperor Irederlck Barbarossa,
who devastated Mllan ln ll62, a fact that led to the for
matlon of the Lombard League, an armed coalltlon of clt
les that defeated Barbarossa at the Battle of Legnano ln
ll76, thus regalnlng the cltles` autonomy. Such an hlstor
lcal theme ls lntended to pralse the current natlon and
glorlfy lts struggles. Desplte Carduccl`s dedlcatlon to
clvlc poetry, the lower class ls consplcuously absent from
hls treatments of Itallan soclety, and the mlddle class ls
the target of much crltlclsm. Rather than addresslng the
urgent economlc and educatlonal needs of the natlon, as
had been done by Mazzlnl or the Iederallst Carlo Catta
neo, Carduccl looked to llterature for hls model of the
natlon, to the classlc Roman republlc. Lnlmpressed by
the recent dlscoverles of classlcal phllology and archaeol
ogy, he preferred to fllter hls classlclsm through the elgh
teenthcentury Enllghtenment myths, ln partlcular the
ldeallsm of serenlty and beauty, and the vlew of poetry
as a herolc act. In the early l890s hls scholarshlp focused
on Parlnl, culmlnatlng ln the publlcatlon of p~
d d m~ (l892, Hlstory of the 'Day" of
Gluseppe Parlnl).
In the poems of o lt ls clear that Car
duccl`s days of poetlc genlus are past; yet, some remark
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ai_ POV d `~
able poems are produced nonetheless, such as the twelve
llne elegy 'Ad Annle" (l890, Jo Annle). Carduccl met
the twentyyearold Annle Vlvante, then an asplrlng
wrlter and opera slnger, ln l889; she became the amo
rous presence ln thls flnal book of poems. In 'Ad Annle"
the poet adopts the form of the Horatlan ~~~I
the song before the woman`s closed door.
Batto a la chlusa lmposta con un ramlcello dl florl
glauchl ed azzurrl, come l tuol occhl, o Annle.
Vedl. ll sole co 'l rlso dùn tremulo ragglo ha baclato
la nube, e ha detto-Nuvola blanca, tàprl.
(I knock at the closed shutter wlth a branch of flowers
seagreen and blue, llke your eyes, oh Annle.
See. the sun wlth lts tremulous smlllng ray has klssed
the cloud, and sald. 'Open up, whlte cloud.")
Good taste and decorum are essentlal components of
classlcal poetry, and thus of Carduccl`s. Jhese ele
ments are absent from modern poetry, whlch, start
lng wlth Romantlclsm, tends to dlsmlss the
oratorlcal, rhetorlcal purpose of poetry and the clas
slcal dlvlslon of form and content. Jwo styllstlc regls
ters ln partlcular are prevalent throughout Carduccl`s
work. the noble and dlgnlfled classlcal dlctlon, and
the daytoday language of satlre, journallsm, and
popullst polemlcs. Whlle Carduccl belleved ln the
functlon and speclflc propertles of genresthe ode to
celebrate, the lamblc to polemlclze, the sonnet to lyrl
clze, the ballad for romantlc narratlon, and the elegy
to solemnlzehe knew that thls falth ln flxed genres
belongs to an earller tlme. He knew that, ln the mod
ern era, any rellance on them would be a remlnls
cence, and to that extent lronlc. Whlle Carduccl
tended to lgnore the poetry of Symbollsm, whlch
focuses on the unconsclous motlvatlons and myster
les of the poet`s psyche, ultlmately hls exploratlon of
the self leaves the greatest lmprlnt on the modern
reader, more than the heraldlc verse.
Lulgl Baldaccl has stated that Carduccl ls 'll
pl centrlfugo del poetl ltallanl" (the most centrlfugal
of Itallan poets), reslstant to categorlzatlon. One does
not flnd abrupt transltlons ln the work but rather a
slow evolutlon ln response to changes ln the outslde
world and the poet`s personal llfe. Jhere are many
lnternal references wlthln the poems, and also a self
referentlal tendency that lncludes the occaslonal
lament of the poet`s lnablllty to truly master hls
medlum, or of the lnablllty of poetry to measure up
to the demands of a traglc and dlsordered reallty.
Jhe flrst great crltlc of Carduccl`s poetlc opus
was Croce, the authorltatlve founder of the journal
i~ ~. Accordlng to Croce, Carduccl`s 'hlstorlcal
reconstructlons" ln verse are successful because 'the
sentlment of the poet doesn`t gloss the event, but per
meates lt." Moreover, Carduccl`s love ls '~ ln
the elevated meanlng of the word, the joy of one`s
entlre belng, of one`s eyes and one`s lmaglnatlon."
Wrltlng ln l920, Croce contrasted Carduccl`s 'pure
and sober poetry . . . ln whlch the fundamental and
essentlal llnes are always drawn wlth confldence" to
the other llterature that had domlnated Europe over
the prevlous flfty years, 'the nausea of all that
lmpresslonlsm, symbollsm, sensuallsm, verlsm,
vaunted as superreflned art."
Later generatlons were less lmpressed by Car
duccl`s 'rellglon of letters" and hls wholesome and
herolc 'human dlgnlty." In the aftermath of World
War II, Natallno Sapegno labeled Carduccl a
'mlnor" poet, reflectlng the taste of the era; but thls
judgment ltself has waned as Carduccl`s crltlcal for
tunes have rlsen once agaln, ln partlcular regardlng
the derlvatlons of twentlethcentury poets from the
styllstlc novelty of hls work. Sapegno also wrltes that
Carduccl exhlblts 'an lngenuous ablllty to lgnlte and
glve hlmself over to the sung rhythms of hls fanta
sles, ln the burstlng energy of hls plastlc lmaglna
tlon." Jhls strength of lmaglnatlon and wllllngness to
venture lnto the unknown dlstlngulshed Carduccl`s
wrltlngs durlng hls own llfetlmean hlstorlcal perlod
when Itallans had few thlngs to celebrate and much
to be dlsappolnted aboutand guarantees hls contln
ued relevance.
In addltlon to hls work as a poet, Carduccl`s glfts
as a publlc speaker were conslderable. On 1 |une l882
he gave an extemporaneous speech on the death of
Garlbaldl two days earller. He spoke publlcly at Arqua
to memorlallze Petrarch and at Certaldo on Boccacclo.
When the monument to Dante Allghlerl was dedlcated
ln Jrent on l3 September l896, Carduccl dellvered a
celebratory poem for the occaslon. In l890 he was
named a senator just as the flrst of two terms of Prlme
Mlnlster Irancesco Crlspl (l887-l89l, l893-l896)
was about to end. When the Itallan Soclallst Party was
formed ln l892, Italy was faclng the growlng phenom
enon of class struggle, lncludlng strlkes by newly
formed labor unlons and peasant uprlslngs. Carduccl,
a member of the Llberal Party, opposed the Soclallsts
and defended the lmperlallstlc polltlcs of Crlspl, whose
government was unresponslve to the problems of the
Itallan laborer and farmer, partlcularly ln the south,
where the problems of lgnorance, poverty, and a sub
slstencelevel agrlcultural economy were aggravated.
Carduccl ultlmately came to belleve that hls own role
as ~I or prophetlc bard, was best served by hls
embrace of the exlstlng monarchy. Lnder hls guld
ance, the Iacolta dl Lettere (Department of Itallan Llt
298
d `~ ai_ POV
erature) at Bologna grew from a small to a large
program; hls regular lectures were heavlly attended by
students from around the unlverslty and by the general
publlc, especlally women. Carduccl`s fame was such
that after l880 he was generally consldered as the
natlonal authorlty on matters of Itallan llterary schol
arshlp.
Jhere ls ln Carduccl the scholar a posltlvlstlc
use of the hlstorlcal method. Hls crltlcal thought
endures ln two major areas. One ls the llterary hlstory
he asslduously pursued from hls adolescent years for
ward wlth major studles of Dante, Parlnl, Jasso,
Ludovlco Arlosto, and especlally Petrarch, ln the form
of hls commentary ln an l899 edltlon of Petrarch`s
oK As a llterary hlstorlan hls work ls dlstlngulshed
by the clarlty and equanlmlty of hls judgments, even as
regards a flgure such as Manzonl, whom he crltlclzed
ln verse. Jhe second area ls represented by the three
volumes (or 'serles") of ` ~~I texts of a
more cultural flavor. Jhls prose has a famlllar charac
ter, lncludlng many colorful polemlcs and personal
remlnlscences. Jhe qulntessentlally Juscan character
of the man and hls language forms a llnk between the
reglon and the natlon as between the entlre range of
the soclal classes, from the popular to the arlstocratlc.
Whlle Croce valued the poetry hlghly, he under
valued Carduccl`s prose. Jhls overslght ls slgnlflcant,
glven Croce`s enormous lnfluence durlng the flrst half
of the twentleth century. In fact, Carduccl ls the great
est nlneteenthcentury Itallan crltlc after Irancesco De
Sanctls. As hls crltlcal prose matured, Carduccl`s best
essays were not the hlghly synthetlc onestyplcally cel
ebratory, natlonallstlc, and morallzlngbut rather the
analytlc, keenly lnslghtful, and technlcal examlnatlons
of texts, such as hls studles of Polltlan, Petrarch, and
Leopardl. In thls area of llterary analysls he surpasses
De Sanctls. Carduccl provldes as close to an exhaus
tlve representatlon of the Itallan llterary patrlmony
that one can flnd; there are few perlods or masters ln
the Itallan llterary canon he dld not treat. He has also
lncorporated lnto hls readlngs the contrlbutlons of the
major llterary hlstorlans of the prevlous two centurles.
Jhe technlque of thls 'poor laborer of llterature," as
he called hlmself, was to reconstruct the hlstorlcal
tlmes and context of an author by a close textual and
llngulstlc analysls of lndlvldual works. Jhus he pro
vldes ln the composlte a rlgorous hlstory of the llterary
lnstltutlons and of Itallan llterary forms.
Carduccl suffered a paralytlc attack to hls rlght
arm and hand on 25 September l899; a debllltatlng
hemlplegla was the longterm result. In l90l he lost
most of hls ablllty to wrlte because of lncreased weak
enlng from the attack two years earller. He was forced
to dlctate most of hls works.
In l901 he was awarded a penslon for llfe by the
Itallan Parllament, as had been done only for Alessan
dro Manzonl. In December l901 he retlred from teach
lng and soon afterward hlred a personal nurse who
asslsted hlm untll the end of hls llfe. Hls temperament
grew even more restless and melancholy. Whlle he
recelved many homages and honors, he avolded publlc
gatherlngs and preferred whenever posslble (even
agalnst doctors` orders) to travel to hls favorlte spot ln
the Lombard Alps, Madeslmo.
When on l0 December l906 the Swedlsh Acad
emy awarded the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature to Car
duccl, he was too frall to travel, but a celebratory event
was held at hls home ln Bologna at the same hour.
(Earller ln l906, Carduccl`s home had been purchased
for the natlon by the queen.) Vlttorlo Puntonl, the rec
tor of the Lnlverslty of Bologna, had been nomlnatlng
Carduccl for the prlze slnce l902; but these efforts
were unsuccessful untll a member of the Academy,
Baron De Blldt, made the nomlnatlon. Jhe baron was
present ln Bologna for the personal conferral; Car
duccl mustered the strength to gesture posltlvely to the
small group ln attendancelncludlng hls wlfe and three
daughtersand then, after the baron`s speech, whlch
extolled the poet`s exaltatlon of the ldeals of country,
freedom, and justlce, managed to utter a few words.
'Salutateml ll popolo svedese, noblle nel penslerl e
negll attl" (Please send my greetlngs to the Swedlsh
people, noble ln thelr thoughts and thelr actlons).
Carduccl dld not have much opportunlty to
enjoy the prlze or to spend the money; he dled on l6
Iebruary l907. Certalnly the fact that Carduccl was
the flrst Itallan to wln the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature
enhanced hls reputatlon; but ln Italy, Carduccl`s fame
was already conslderable. Jhe effect of the award was
perhaps more lmportant lnternatlonally, as lt lnformed
the world that the flrst poet laureate of the relatlvely
new Itallan natlon had been conferred wlth thls hlgh
honor.
Jhe general tendency of twentlethcentury crltl
clsm has been to lgnore Carduccl`s phllologlcal novelty
and rlgor and to conslder the challenge of hls poetry as
a fact of the past. Yet, thls vlew ls a mlsreadlng of the
Juscan poet`s lnslstence on hlstorlcal and practlcal
matters ln comblnatlon wlth an archalc lexlcon and
anachronlstlc rellance on classlcal forms. In the seem
lng lncongrultles lles hls true contemporanelty to later
poets and scholars. Carduccl unknowlngly set the
benchmark for free verse; he also perfected a form of
secular contemplatlon ln verse that seeks to confront
death honestly ln the sphere of the lmmanent. In hls
299
ai_ POV d `~
oratory and prose he emerged as the most dlgnlfled
and respected spokesman of hls age; he was called on
to memorlallze and euloglze, to make sense of the
changlng tldes of the modern world. In addltlon, he
gave an lncreaslngly llterate Itallan publlc a dlgnlfled
vlslon of lts natlonal narratlve, whlch comblned past,
present, and future. As he wrote ln 'Il canto
dellàmore," from Ciombi cd cpodi: 'Il mondo bello e
santo làvvenlr" (Jhe world ls beautlful and holy ls the
future).
iW
Icttcrc. Idiiovc òiovolc, 22 volumes (Bologna. Zanl
chelll, l938-l968).
_~W
Glovannl Paplnl, Iùomo Corducci (Bologna. Zanlchelll,
l9l3);
Marlo Blaglnl, Ciosu Corducci (Mllan. Mursla, l976).
oW
Lulgl Baldaccl, 'Carduccl," ln hls Sccovdo Uttoccvto (Bolo
gna. Zanlchelll, l969), pp. 55-73;
Walter Blnnl, Corducci c oltri soggi (Jurln. Elnaudl, l973),
pp. 3-83;
Benedetto Croce, Ciosu Corducci. Studio critico (Barl.
Laterza, l920);
Cesare De Lollls, Zppuvti sullo livguo poctico dcl Corducci
(1912), ln hls Scrittori dÌtolio (Mllan Naples. Rlc
clardl, l968), pp. 539-570;
Marlo Praz, Il clossicismo di Ciosu Corducci (19J), ln hls
Custo vcoclossico (Mllan. Rlzzoll, l971), pp. 359-371;
Lulgl Russo, Corducci scvo rctorico (Barl. Laterza, l957);
Glambattlsta Sallnarl, 'Glosu Carduccl," ln Storio dcllo
lcttcroturo itoliovo, !III: DollÙttoccvto ol òvcccvto
(Mllan. Garzantl, l968), pp. 627-729;
Marlo Santoro, Ivtroduiovc ol Corducci critico (Naples.
Llguorl, l968);
Natallno Sapegno, Storio di Corducci (1949), ln hls Iitrotto
dcl Movovi c oltri soggi (Barl. Laterza, l96l), pp.
205-225;
Renato Serra, Icr uv cotologo (1910), ln hls Scritti, I, edlted
by G. De Robertls and A. Grllll (Ilorence. Le
Monnler, l938), pp. 7l-l00;
Raffaele Slrrl, Ictorico c rcolto vcllo pocsio giombico dcl Cor-
ducci (Naples. Il Jrlpode, l965);
Enrlco Jhovez, Il postorc, il grcggc c lo ompogvo: dollÌvvo o
Sotovo ollo Ious vitoc (Naples. Rlcclardl, l926).
m~W
Jhe 'Casa Carduccl" ln Bologna ls the center of Glosu
Carduccl studles; lt houses an archlve of the poet`s books
and manuscrlpts and malntalns a comprehenslve cata
logue of studles of hls work.
NVMS k m i~
m~ p
Zcodcmy, 10 Dcccmbcr 1906
Irom the unusually large number of poets and
authors proposed for the Nobel Prlze thls year, the
Swedlsh Academy has chosen a great Itallan poet who
for a long tlme has attracted the attentlon both of the
Academy and of the entlre clvlllzed world.
Slnce antlqulty, Northern men have been drawn
to Italy by her hlstory and her artlstlc treasures as well
as by her sweet and gentle cllmate. Jhe Northerner
does not stop untll he has arrlved ln the eternal clty of
Rome, just as the war for Itallan unlty could not stop
before Rome was conquered. But before arrlvlng ln
Rome the vlsltor ls fasclnated by the beauty of so many
other places. Among these, ln the Appenlnes, ls the
Etruscan clty of Bologna, whlch ls known to us through
the Sovgs of Ivo by Carl August Nlcander.
Slnce the Mlddle Ages, when a famous unlverslty
gave lt the tltle of learned, Bologna has been of great
lmportance ln the cultural hlstory of Italy. Although ln
anclent tlmes lt was renowned as an authorlty on jurls
prudence, lt has now become especlally famous for lts
poetlc marvels. Jhus, lt ls today stlll worthy of the
expresslon 'Bononla docet" (Bologna teaches). Ior lts
greatest poetlc attalnments of the present, lt ls lndebted
to the man to whom the Nobel Prlze has been awarded
thls yearGlosu Carduccl.
Carduccl was born on |uly 27, l835, ln Val dl
Castello. He hlmself has glven an lnterestlng account of
hls lmpresslons from hls chlldhood and youth, and he
has been the subject of several good blographles.
In order to judge properly the development of hls
mlnd and hls talents, lt ls lmportant to know that hls
father, Dr. Mlchele Carduccl, was a member of the Car
bonerla (a secret polltlcal soclety worklng for Itallan
unlty) and was actlve ln the polltlcal movements for
Itallan llberty, and that hls mother was an lntelllgent
and llberal woman.
Mlchele obtalned a posltlon as a doctor ln Casta
gneto. Jhe young poet thus spent hls earllest years ln
the Juscan Maremma. He learned Latln from hls
father, and Latln llterature was to become very famlllar
to hlm. Although Carduccl later opposed Manzonl`s
ldeas wlth great fervour, he was also strongly lnfluenced
for a long tlme by hls father`s admlratlon for the poet.
At thls tlme he also studled the Iliod and the Zcvcid,
300
d `~ ai_ POV
Jasso`s d~I Rollln`s Roman hlstory, and
Jhler`s work on the Irench Revolutlon.
It was a tlme of great polltlcal tenslon, and one
can well belleve that ln those days of dlscord and
oppresslon the young poet`s flery lmaglnatlon absorbed
everythlng whlch had to do wlth anclent llberty and the
lmpendlng unlflcatlon.
Jhe boy soon turned lnto a llttle revolutlonary.
As he hlmself recounts, ln hls games wlth hls brothers
and frlends he organlzed llttle republlcs whlch were
governed by archons or consuls or trlbunes. Vlgorous
brawls frequently broke out. Revolutlon was consld
ered a normal state of affalrs; clvll war was always the
order of the day. Jhe young Carduccl stoned a make
belleve Caesar who was about to cross the Rublcon.
Caesar had to flee and the republlc was saved. But the
next day the llttle patrlotlc hero got a sound trounclng
from the conquerlng Caesar.
Not too much stress need be lald on these games,
slnce they are frequent among young boys. But Car
duccl dld, ln fact, embrace strong republlcan sympa
thles ln later llfe.
In l819 the famlly moved to Ilorence, where Car
duccl was enrolled ln a new school. Here, ln addltlon to
hls requlred studles, he flrst read the poetry of Leop
ardl, Schlller, and Byron. And soon he started wrltlng
poetrysatlrlc sonnets. He later studled at the Scuola
Normale Superlore ln Plsa, where he seems to have
shown a great deal of energy ln hls work. After flnlsh
lng hls studles he became a teacher of rhetorlc ln San
Mlnlato. Because of hls expresslons of radlcal ldeas, the
grandducal government annulled hls later electlon to a
post at the Arezzo elementary school. Afterward, how
ever, he taught Greek at the lyceum ln Plstola. Ilnally
he obtalned a chalr at the Lnlverslty of Bologna, where
he has had a long and hlghly successful career.
Jhese ln brlef are the general llnes of hls external
llfe. Jhere has been no lack of struggle ln hls career. He
was, for example, even suspended for some tlme from
teachlng ln Bologna, and on several occaslons he was
lnvolved ln llvely polemlcs wlth several Itallan authors.
He suffered great personal tragedles, of whlch hls
brother Dante`s sulclde was undoubtedly the most paln
ful. But hls famlly llfe and hls love for hls wlfe and chll
dren have offered hlm great consolatlon.
Jhe flght for Itallan llberty was extremely lmpor
tant to the development of hls senslblllty. Carduccl was
a passlonate patrlot; he followed the war wlth all the
flre of hls soul. And no matter how much he may have
been emblttered by the defeats at Aspromonte and
Mentana, and no matter how much he was dlslllu
sloned by the new parllamentary government, whlch
was not belng organlzed ln accordance wlth hls deslres,
he was, nevertheless, overjoyed at the trlumph of hls
sacred patrlotlc cause.
Hls ardent nature was tormented by anythlng
whlch ln hls oplnlon lnterfered wlth the fulfllment of
the work for Itallan unlty. He was not one to walt
patlently; he contlnuously demanded lmmedlate results
and felt a strong averslon to dlplomatlc delays and the
dlplomatlc ~ .
In the meantlme hls poetry blossomed abun
dantly. Although he ls also the author of excellent hls
torlcal and llterary crltlclsm, we should be concerned
above all wlth hls poetry, for lt ls through hls poetry
that he has won hls greatest fame.
Jhe volume g~ (l863) contalns, as the tltle
lndlcates, hls youthful work of the l850`s. Jwo qualltles
characterlze thls collectlon. on the one hand, lts classlcal
cast and lntonatlon, sometlmes carrled to the polnt
where Carduccl salutes Phoebus Apollo and Dlana
Jrlvla; and on the other, lts profoundly patrlotlc tone,
accompanled by a vlolent hatred of the Cathollc
Church and of the Pope`s power, the strongest obstacles
to Itallan unlty.
In strong opposltlon to ultramontanlsm, Carduccl
ln hls songs evokes the memorles of anclent Rome, the
lmages of the great Irench Revolutlon, and the flgures
of Garlbaldl and Mazzlnl. At tlmes, when he belleves
Italy`s state hopeless and fears that all of lts anclent vlr
tues and vallant deeds have been vltlated, he plunges
lnto the profoundest despalr.
Jhls bltterness helps to explaln Carduccl`s
numerous attacks on varlous authors and on other peo
ple; Carduccl was generally vlolent ln hls polemlcs. But
ln g~ there are also poems wlth a more posltlve
content, llke the song to Vlctor Emanuel, wrltten ln
l859 at the moment when lt became obvlous that a war
wlth Austrla would soon break out. In thls song he jubl
lantly celebrates the monarch who bore the banner of
Itallan unlty.
Jrue patrlotlsm ls expressed ln the sonnet
'Magenta" and ln the poem 'Il Pleblsclto," ln whlch he
renews hls enthuslastlc pralse of Vlctor Emanuel. . . .
Jhe most beautlful of the poems ln g~ ls probably
the poem to the Savoy cross. . . .
Jhe later collectlon called i~ ~~ (l868)
|i ~ e~| contalns the poems of the slxtles. A
certaln sadness can be heard ln many of these poems.
Jhe long delay of the conquest of Rome contrlbuted
much to Carduccl`s bltter feellngs, but there were a
great many other thlngs whlch Carduccl passlonately
regretted ln the prevalllng polltlcs of the day. Carduccl
had expected more from the new polltlcal condltlons
than they could offer. Yet we encounter some very
beautlful poems ln thls collectlon. Carduccl was famll
lar wlth fourteenthcentury poetry, and a great many
30l
ai_ POV d `~
echoes of thls epoch are heard, for lnstance, ln 'Poetl dl
Parte Blanca" |Poets of the Whlte Party| and ln hls
poem on the proclamatlon of the Itallan klngdom.
Only ln the o (l877) |New Rhymes| and
ln the three collectlons of the l ~~ (l877-l889)
|Jhe Barbarlan Odes| do Carduccl`s full lyrlcal matu
rlty and accompllshed styllstlc beauty appear. Here we
no longer flnd the same dlsdalnful poet who fought
wlth sword and flre under the pseudonym of Enotrlo
Romano. Instead, the character of the poet seems
wholly transformed; sweeter, softer melodles are to be
heard. Jhe lntroductory poem 'Alla Rlma" |Jo Rhyme|
ls extremely muslcal, a true hymn to the beauty of
rhyme. Its endlng excellently characterlzes Carduccl
hlmself. . . . Evldently Carduccl understood hls own
temperament, whlch he compares wlth the Jyrrhenlan
Sea. But hls uneaslness ls not contlnuous, and notes of
real joy resound ln the enchantlng poem 'Idllllo dl
Magglo" |A May Eclogue|. 'Mattlnata" |Mornlng|,
whlch clearly recalls Hugo, ls also lovely, as are the
songs entltled 'Prlmavere Ellenlche" |Hellenlc Sprlng
tlmes|. . . .
'Ca Ira" |Jhe Rebelllon|, a sectlon of the o
I ls composed of a serles of sonnets. Although lt ls
not of great poetlc value, lt does represent Carduccl`s
more or less unreserved apotheosls of the Irench Revo
lutlon.
Jhe poet`s greatness ls more fully revealed ln hls
l ~~I the flrst collectlon of whlch came out ln
l877, the second ln l882, and the thlrd ln l889. Jhere
ls some justlflcatlon, however, for crltlclsm of the work`s
form.
Although Carduccl adopted anclent meters, he
transformed them so entlrely that an ear accustomed to
anclent poetry wlll not hear the classlcal rhythms.
Many of these poems attaln the plnnacle of perfectlon
ln thelr poetlc content. Carduccl`s genlus has never
reached greater helghts than ln some of hls l ~~.
One need only name the fasclnatlng 'Mlramar" and the
melodlous and melancholy poem 'Alla Stazlone ln una
Mattlnata dÀutunno" |Jo the Statlon On an Autumn
Mornlng|, products of the most noble lnsplratlon. Jhe
song 'Mlramar" ls about the unfortunate emperor
Maxlmlllan and hls brlef Mexlcan adventure. It excels
as much ln lts movlng traglc tone as lt does ln lts vlvld
nature lmagery. Jhe Adrlatlc shore ls deplcted wlth per
fect mastery. Jhls song exhales a certaln feellng of com
passlon whlch ls rare ln Carduccl`s treatment of
Austrlan subject matter, but whlch he expressed yet
another tlme ln the beautlful song on the Empress Ellz
abeth`s sad fate ln o o (l898) |Rhymes and
Rhythms|. . . .
Many contrasts clearly are to be found ln a vlo
lent and rlch poetlc nature llke Carduccl`s. Dlsapproval
from many sldes has thus been mlxed wlth the just
admlratlon for thls poet. Yet Carduccl ls wlthout doubt
one of the most powerful genluses of world llterature,
and such dlsapproval, volced also by hls compatrlots,
has not been spared even the greatest poets. No one ls
wlthout defect.
Jhe blame ls not, however, dlrected at hls some
tlmes passlonate republlcan tendencles. Let hls oplnlons
remaln hls own possesslon. No one wlll contest hls
lndependent polltlcal posltlon. In any case, hls hostlllty
toward the monarchy has subslded wlth the years. He
has come more and more to conslder the Itallan
dynasty as the protector of Itallan lndependence. In
fact, Carduccl has even dedlcated poems to the queen
mother of Italy, Margherlta. A venerable woman
revered by almost all factlons, her poetlc soul has been
celebrated by Carduccl`s grandlose art. He has pald her
beautlful and affectlonate homage ln the magnlflcent
song 'Alla Reglna dÌtalla" |Jo the _ueen of Italy| and
ln the lmmortal poem 'Il Lluto e la Llra" |Lute and
Lyre|, ln whlch, through the Provenal slrventes and
the pastoral, he expresses hls admlratlon of the noble
prlncess. . . . Jhe petty, obstlnate republlcans, because
of these and other trlbutes, have looked upon Carduccl
as a deserter of thelr cause. He justly responded, how
ever, that a song of admlratlon dedlcated to a magnanl
mous and good woman has nothlng whatever to do
wlth polltlcs, and that he reserved the rlght to thlnk and
wrlte whatever he pleased about the relgnlng Itallan
famlly and lts members.
Jhe reasons for the antagonlsm of hls frlends and
polltlcal partlsans toward hlm are of a completely dlffer
ent orlgln. Jhls antagonlsm ls occasloned less by hls
feroclous assaults on persons of dlfferlng polltlcal opln
lons than by hls overenthuslastlc paganlsm, whlch often
assumes a bltlng tone toward Chrlstlanlty ltself. Hls
antlChrlstlan sentlments have above all produced hls
much dlscussed hymn to Satan.
Jhere ls a good deal of justlce ln many of the
attacks on Carduccl`s antlChrlstlanlty. Although one
cannot perfectly approve of the way ln whlch he has
trled to defend hlmself ln ` ~~ |Confes
slons and Battles| and ln other wrltlngs, a knowledge of
the attendant clrcumstances helps to explaln, lf not to
justlfy, Carduccl`s attltudes.
Carduccl`s paganlsm ls understandable to a Prot
estant, at least. As an ardent patrlot who saw the Catho
llc Church as ln many ways a mlsgulded and corrupt
force opposed to the freedom of hls adored Italy, Car
duccl was qulte llkely to confuse Cathollclsm wlth
Chrlstlanlty, extendlng to Chrlstlanlty the severe judg
ments wlth whlch he sometlmes attacked the Church.
Stlll we must not forget the genulne rellglous sen
tlments expressed ln some of hls poems. It ls helpful to
302
d `~ ai_ POV
remember the end of 'La Chlesa dl Polenta" |Jhe
Church of Polenta|, whlch stands ln healthy contrast to
'In una Chlesa Gotlca" | In a Gothlc Church|.
And as to the lmpetuous Ivvo o Sotovo (l865)
|Hymv to Sotov|, lt would be a great wrong to Carduccl
to ldentlfy hlm, for example, wlth Baudelalre and to
accuse Carduccl of polsonous and unhealthy 'Satan
lsm." In fact, Carduccl`s Satan has an lllchosen name.
Jhe poet clearly means to lmply a Luclfer ln the llteral
sense of the wordthe carrler of llght, the herald of free
thought and culture, and the enemy of that ascetlc dlscl
pllne whlch rejects or dlsparages natural rlghts. Yet lt
seems strange to hear Savonarola pralsed ln a poem ln
whlch ascetlclsm ls condemned. Jhe whole of the
hymn abounds wlth such contradlctlons. Carduccl hlm
self ln recent tlmes has rejected the entlre poem and has
called lt a 'vulgar slngsong." Jhus, there ls no reason
to dwell any longer on a poem whlch the poet hlmself
has dlsavowed.
Carduccl ls a learned llterary hlstorlan who has
been nurtured by anclent llterature and by Dante and
Petrarch. But he cannot be easlly classlfled. He ls not
devoted to romantlclsm, but rather to the classlcal ldeal
and Petrarchan humanlsm. Regardless of the crltlclsm
whlch can justly be launched agalnst hlm, the lrrefut
able truth remalns that a poet who ls always moved by
patrlotlsm and a love of llberty, who never sacrlflces hls
oplnlons to galn favour, and who never lndulges ln base
sensuallsm, ls a soul lnsplred by the hlghest ldeals.
And lnsofar as hls poetry ln the aesthetlc sense
attalns a rare force, Carduccl can be consldered worthy
ln the hlghest degree of the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature.
Jhe Swedlsh Academy thus pays respect to a poet
who already enjoys a worldwlde reputatlon, and adds
lts homage of admlratlon to the many pralses already
glven hlm by hls country. Italy has elected Carduccl
senator and repald the honour he has brought her by
asslgnlng hlm a llfelong penslon amountlng to a con
slderable sum.
Zt tlc bovquct, C. D. of !irscv spolc iv Itoliov obout
tlc poct wlom illvcss lod prcvcvtcd from comivg to Stocllolm.
Subscqucvtly lc oddrcsscd limsclf to tlc Itoliov clorgc dòffoircs,
Couvt Coproro, ovd rccollcd tlot tlrougl tlc òbcl Iric Swc-
dcv lod wovtcd to lovour lis couvtry ovd ovc of lcr grcotcst sovs
ot tlc somc timc. Mr. Coproro cxprcsscd lis grotitudc iv Ircvcl
ovd, oftcr o spcccl oddrcsscd to tlc couvtry of Zlfrcd òbcl,
promiscd to covvcy tlc lomogc to tlc poct.
303
`~ g `~
(11 Moy 1916 - 17 ovuory 2002)
i `K `~
Uvivcrsity of Soutl Corolivo
Jhls entry was expanded by Charlebols from her Cela
entry ln DI J22: Twcvtictl-Ccvtury Spovisl Iictiov !rit-
crs. See also the Cela entry ln DI Jcorbool: 19S9.
BOOKS. Io fomilio dc Ioscuol Duortc (Madrld Burgos.
Aldecoa, l912); translated by |ohn Marks as Ios-
cuol Duortc`s Iomily (London. Eyre Spottlswoode,
l916); translated by Anthony Kerrlgan as Tlc
Iomily of Ioscuol Duortc (Boston. Llttle, Brown,
l961);
ùcvos ovdovos y dcsvcvturos dc Ioorillo dc Tormcs
(Madrld. La Nave, l911); revlsed as ùcvos ovdov-
os y dcsvcvturos dc Ioorillo dc Tormcs, y sictc opuvtcs
corpctovctovicos (Madrld. Alron, l952);
Iobcllov dc rcposo (Madrld. Afrodlslo Aguado, l911);
blllngual edltlon, wlth Engllsh translatlon by
Herma Brlffault as Icst Homc (New York. Las
Amrlcas, l96l);
Iisovdo lo dudoso lu dcl do: Iocmos dc uvo odolcsccvcio crucl
(Barcelona. Zodaco, l915; revlsed and enlarged
edltlon, Palma de Mallorca. Papeles de Son
Armadans, l963);
Isos vubcs quc posov (Madrld. Afrodlslo Aguado, l915);
Mcso rcvuclto (Madrld. Edlclones de los Estudlantes
Espaoles, l915; enlarged edltlon, Madrld. Jau
rus, l957);
Il bovito crimcv dcl corobivcro, y otros ivvcvciovcs (Barcelona.
|os |ans, l917); republlshed ln part as Il bovito
crimcv dcl corobivcro (Barcelona. Plcazo, l972);
Ios botos dc sictc lcguos: !iojc o lo Zlcorrio, cov los vcrsos dc su
covciovcro, codo uvo cv su dcbido lugor (Madrld.
Revlsta de Occldente, l918); translated by
Irances M. LpezMorlllas as ourvcy to tlc Zlco-
rrio (Madlson. Lnlverslty of Wlsconsln Press,
l961); revlsed as ùcvo viojc o lo Zlcorrio (Barce
lona. Plaza y |ans, l986);
Sov uov dc lo Cru, as Matllde Verd (Madrld. Her
nando, l918);
Il gollcgo y su cuodrillo y otros opuvtcs corpctovctovicos
(Madrld. Rlcardo Agullera, l919; revlsed and
enlarged edltlon, Barcelona. Destlno, l967);
Io colmcvo (Buenos Alres. Emec, l95l; Barcelona.
Noguer, l955); translated by |. M. Cohen and
Arturo Barea as Tlc Hivc (London. Gollancz,
l953; New York. Iarrar, Straus Young, l953);
Zvilo (Barcelona. Noguer, l952); translated by |ohn
Iorrester as Zvilo (Barcelona. Noguer, l952);
Sovto olbivo, J7, gos cv codo piso (Melllla. Mlrto y Laurel,
l952);
Dcl Mivo ol idosoo: òtos dc uv vogobuvdojc (Barcelona.
Noguer, l952);
Timotco cl ivcomprcvdido (Madrld. Rolln, l952);
orojo dc ivvcvciovcs (Valencla. Castalla, l953);
Cofc dc ortistos (Madrld. Jecnos, l953);
Mrs. Coldwcll loblo cov su lijo (Barcelona. Destlno, l953);
translated by |. S. Bernsteln as Mrs. Coldwcll Spcols
to Hcr Sov (Ithaca, N.Y.. Cornell Lnlverslty Press,
l968);
Ivsucvos y figurociovcs (Barcelona. G. P., l951);
Historios dc !cvcuclo: Io cotiro (Barcelona. Noguer,
l955);
!ogobuvdo por Costillo (Barcelona. Selx Barral, l955);
udos, moros y cristiovos: òtos dc uv vogobuvdojc por Zvilo,
Scgovio y sus ticrros (Barcelona. Destlno, l956);
Il molivo dc vicvto y otros vovclos cortos (Barcelona. Noguer,
l956);
`~ g `~ EF NVUV k m i~
h `~ usf d~ p E^m t tF
301
`~ g `~ ai_ POV
Mis pgivos prcfcridos (Madrld. Gredos, l956);
Cojov dc sostrc (Madrld. Cld, l957);
ùcvo rctoblo dc dov Cristobito; ivvcvciovcs, figurociovcs y oluci-
vociovcs (Barcelona. Destlno, l957);
Io rucdo dc los ocios (Barcelona. Mateu, l957);
Historios dc Ispovo: Ios cicgos, los tovtos (Madrld. Arln,
l957); enlarged as volume l of Z lo poto dc polo
(Barcelona. Noguer, l965);
Io obro litcrorio dcl pivtor Solovo (Madrld. Papeles de Son
Armadans, l957);
Iccucrdo dc dov Io orojo (Mexlco Clty. De Andrea,
l958);
Io cucovo: Mcmorios (Barcelona. Destlno, l959); repub
llshed as Io roso (Barcelona. Destlno, l979;
revlsed edltlon, Madrld. EspasaCalpe, 200l);
Irimcr viojc ovdolu: òtos dc uv vogobuvdojc por ocv, Cor-
dobo, Scvillo, Scgovio, Huclvo y sus ticrros (Barcelona.
Noguer, l959);
Cuodcrvos dcl Cuodorromo (Madrld. Arln, l960);
Ios vicjos omigos, 2 volumes (Barcelona. Noguer, l960,
l96l);
Cuotro figuros dcl 9S: Uvomuvo, !ollc-Ivclv, orojo, Zorv, y
otros rctrotos y cvsoyos cspovolcs (Barcelona. Aedos,
l96l);
Tobogv dc lombricvtos (Barcelona. Noguer, l962);
Covillo dc fbulos siv omor (Palma de Mallorca. Papeles de
Son Armadans, l962);
Ubro complcto, 25 volumes (Barcelona. Destlno, l962-
l990);
Corito dc lospiciovos; o, Cuirigoy dc imposturos y bombollos
(Barcelona. Noguer, l963);
Il solitorio, publlshed wlth Rafael Zabaleta, Ios sucvos dc
_ucsodo (Palma de Mallorca. Papeles de Son
Armadans, l963);
Torco dc solov: Iorso cov ocompovomicvto dc clomor y murgo
(Barcelona. Lumen, l963);
Uvcc cucvtos dc ftbol (Madrld. Naclonal, l963);
Ios compovos covvcvicvtcs y otros fivgimicvtos y ccgucros (Bar
celona. Destlno, l963);
Ios, robios y colipotcrros: Dromo cov ocompovomicvto dc
coclovdco y dolor dc coroov, text by Cela, photo
graphs by |uan Colom (Barcelona. Lumen,
l961);
Igivos dc gcogrofo crrobuvdo (Madrld. Alfaguara, l965);
!iojc ol Iirivco dc Icrido: òtos dc uv posco o pic por cl
Iollors, Sobir, cl !ollc dc Zrv y cl Covdodo dc
Iibogoro (Madrld. Alfaguara, l965);
ùcvos csccvos motritcvscs, 7 volumes (Madrld. Alfaguara,
l965-l966); republlshed ln one volume as
Iotogrofos ol mivuto (Madrld. Sala, l972);
Z lo poto dc polo, 1 volumes (Madrld. Alfaguara, l965-
l967)comprlses volume l, Historios dc Ispovo;
volume 2, Io fomilio dcl lcroc; o, Discurso listorico dc
los ltimos rcstos (cjcrcicios poro uvo solo movo); volume
3, Il ciudodovo Iscoriotc Iccls; and volume 1, !iojc o
U.S.Z.; o, Il quc lo siguc lo moto; republlshed ln one
volume as Il tocot oxidodo: Ilorilcgio dc corpc-
tovctovismos y otros livdcos (Barcelona. Noguer,
l973);
Modrid (Madrld. Alfaguara, l966);
Colidoscopio collcjcro, mortimo y compcstrc (Madrld. Alfa
guara, l966);
Moro Sobivo (Madrld. Papeles de Son Armadans,
l967); republlshed wlth Il corro dc lcvo; o, Il ivvcv-
tor dc lo guillotivo (Madrld. Alfaguara, l970);
Dicciovorio sccrcto, 2 volumes (Madrld. Alfaguara, l968,
l972);
Io bovdodo dc polomos (Barcelona. Labor, l969);
!spcro, fcstividod y octovo dc Sov Comilo dcl ovo 19J6 cv
Modrid (Madrld. Alfaguara, l969); translated by
|ohn H. R. Polt as Sov Comilo, 19J6 (Durham,
N.C.. Duke Lnlverslty Press, l99l);
Homcvojc ol osco, I: Il corro dc lcvo; o, Il ivvcvtor dc lo guil-
lotivo (Madrld. Papeles de Son Armadans, l969);
Zl scrvicio dc olgo (Madrld. Alfaguara, l969);
orcclovo (Barcelona. Alfaguara, l970);
Io Movclo cv cl coroov y cv los ojos (Barcelona. EDIS
VEN, l97l);
Ubros sclcctos (Madrld. Alfaguara, l97l);
Io bolo dcl muvdo: Isccvos cotidiovos (Madrld. Sala, l972);
oficio dc tivicblos ; o, vovclo dc tcsis cscrito poro scr covtodo por
uv coro dc cvfcrmos (Barcelona. Noguer, l973);
Z vucltos cov Ispovo (Madrld. Semanarlos y Edlclones,
l973);
olodo dcl vogobuvdo siv sucrtc y otros popclcs volovdcros
Cucvtos poro lccr dcspucs dcl bovo (Barcelona. La Gaya
Clencla, l971);
Iroso, edlted by |aclnto Luls Guerea (Madrld. Narcea,
l971);
Iol dc corvudos (Barcelona. Noguer, l976);
Ivciclopcdio dcl crotismo (Madrld. Sedmay, l977);
expanded as Dicciovorio dcl crotismo, 2 volumes
(Barcelona. Grljalbo, l988);
Io ivsolito y glorioso loovo dcl cipotc dc Zrclidovo (Barce
lona. Jusquets, l977);
Ios sucvos vovos, los vgclcs curiosos (Barcelona. Argos Ver
gara, l979);
Zlbum dc tollcr (Barcelona. Amblt, l98l);
Il cspcjo y otros cucvtos (Madrld. EspasaCalpe, l98l);
Ios vosos comuvicovtcs (Barcelona. Bruguera, l98l);
!uclto dc lojo (Barcelona. Destlno, l98l);
Mourco poro dos mucrtos (Barcelona. Selx Barral, l983);
translated by Patrlcla Haugaard as Mourlo for
Two Dcod Mcv (New York. New Dlrectlons, l992);
Il jucgo dc los trcs modrovos (Barcelona. Destlno, l983);
Il osvo dc uridv (Madrld. El Pas, l986);
305
ai_ POV `~ g `~
i~ ~ o~ (Madrld. Debate Llteratura
Infantll, l986);
a~~ (Madrld. Observatorlo, l986);
`~ ~~ (Barcelona. Plaza y |ans,
l987);
` ^~ (Barcelona. Selx Barral, l988);
i ~ c~ d~ i (Spaln.
Sllex, l989);
b ~ (Barcelona. Plaza y |ans, l990);
d~~I text by Cela, lllustratlons by Laxelro, photo
graphs by Vctor Vaquelro (Vlgo, Spaln. Ir
Indo, l990);
a ~~ ~ ~~ ~~ (Vlgo,
Spaln. Ir Indo, l99l);
`~I ~ (Madrld. Jemas de
Hoy, l99l);
a ~~ e~ (Barcelona. Plaza y |ans,
l99l);
m~ ~I edlted by Daro Vlllanueva (Madrld.
EspasaCalpe, l99l);
q~W b ~ ~~I j~I q ~
~ ~ ~~I edlted by Andrs Amors
(Madrld. EspasaCalpe, l99l);
b ~~ (Madrld. Grupo Llbro 88, l992);
b (Barcelona. Selx Barral, l993);
j~I ~ (Barcelona. Plaza y
|ans/Camblo l6, l993);
b ~~ (Barcelona. Selx Barral, l991);
i~ p~ ^ (Barcelona. Planeta, l991);
i~ ~~ ~~ (Madrld. EspasaCalpe,
l991);
^ (Barcelona. Selx Barral, l991);
b ~ ~~~ (Madrld. EspasaCalpe, l996);
m~ ~ (Spaln. Galaxla Gutenberg / Barcelona.
Crculo de lectores, l996);
a~ ~ b~~ (Madrld. Comu
nldad de Madrld/ Iundacln de Camllo |os
Cela, Marqus de Irla Ilavla/ Nosls, l998);
e~ ~~ (Barcelona. Macla Nublola,
l998);
j~~ (Madrld. EspasaCalpe, l999); trans
lated by Haugaard as _ (New York. New
Dlrectlons, 2002);
e~ ~ _I ffW i~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~X I b ~ (Barcelona. Selx
Barral, l999);
`~ b b~W a ~
~~ (N.p.. L. Estal de Lletres, 2002).
PLAY PRODLCJIONS. j~~ p~~I llbretto by
Cela, translated by Luz Castaos and Jheodore
S. Beardsley, score by Leonardo Balada, New
York, Carnegle Hall, l7 Aprll l970;
i~ ~ ~ ~ ~I by Cela and |os Mara
Sublrachs Barcelona, Palaclo de Pedralbes, 30
November l993; Madrld, Hotel Rltz, l1 Decem
ber l993.
OJHER. e~ ~ d j~~ ENUUT
NVSMFI edlted by Cela (Madrld. Papeles de Son
Armadans, l96l);
Iernando de Rojas, i~ `~ ~ ~
~~ `~ g `~ ~~
~ I adapted by Cela (Barce
lona. Destlno, l979);
Mlguel de Cervantes Saavedra, b nI edlted by
Cela (Allcante. Rembrandt, l98l).
JRANSLAJION. Bertolt Brecht, i~ ~
^ r (Madrld. |car, l975).
In l912 Camllo |os Cela publlshed hls flrst
major work of narratlve flctlon, the novel i~ ~~
m~~ a~ (translated as m~~ a~ c~I
l916), whlch slgnaled the reemergence of Spaln`s tradl
tlon of excellence relatlve to the modern European
novel. Jhls book secured for hlm a place alongslde
other young Spanlsh novellsts whose works were lndl
cators of Spaln`s gradual recovery from the clvll war
thelr country had endured from l8 |uly l936 through l
Aprll l939. Cela`s reputatlon grew rapldly, and because
he remalned ln Spaln lnstead of golng lnto exlle, hls
works glve testlmony to hls country`s struggle through
the thlrtyslx years of Iranclsco Iranco`s rule and the
eventual emergence ln l975 of Spaln as a democracy.
Desplte the controversles that have always surrounded
hls chosen themes and styllstlc devlces and hls oplnlons
about such matters as democracy, homosexuallty, pros
tltutlon, technology, and younger Spanlsh wrlters,
Cela`s unwaverlng dedlcatlon to the professlon of wrlt
lng was recognlzed toward the end of hls career when
he was awarded lmportant Spanlsh llterary prlzes, such
as the Premlo Naclonal (l981), the Prnclpe de Asturlas
(l987), the Planeta Prlze (l991), and the Cervantes
Prlze (l995). In l989 he was awarded the Nobel Prlze
ln Llterature. He recelved the Pluma de Oro (Golden
Pen) ln l995 and the Premlo Gallegos del Mundo de las
Letras (Gallclans of the World of Arts Prlze) ln 200l for
hls llfetlme llterary achlevements.
Cela wrote short storles, essays, poetry, drama,
travel books, and newspaper columns, but hls novels ln
partlcular pay trlbute to the strength of the Spanlsh
splrlt. Jhey also attest to Cela`s selflmposed goal of
renewed experlmentatlon wlth narratlve style. Cela`s
works conflrm hls dlssatlsfactlon wlth conformlty.
Decades of represslon and censorshlp, whlch had
become a way of llfe for Spanlards slnce l936, were cat
306
`~ g `~ ai_ POV
alysts for Cela`s llterary audaclty, hls penchant for scan
dal, and a purposeful dlsregard for hlstorlcal accuracy,
as well as a rejectlon of lndepth psychologlcal character
portrayals. In llght of the publlc scrutlny to whlch he
had been subjected when censors deemed i~ ~~
m~~ a~ the product of a depraved mlnd, Cela
lntentlonally fashloned the offenslve publlc persona to
whlch hls only son, Camllo |os Cela Conde, attests ln
`~I ~ (l989, Cela, My Iather). Such acrlmony
culmlnated ln Cela`s chosen epltaph. 'El que reslste,
gana" (He who wlthstands, wlns).
Cela was born Camllo |os Manuel |uan Ramn
Cela y Jrulock ln Irla Ilavla (O Corua), Spaln, on ll
May l9l6, of Itallan, Brltlsh, Welsh, and Spanlsh ances
try. Hls parents were Camlla Emmanuela Jrulock y
Bertorlnl and Camllo Cela y Iernndez. He had four
slbllngs. |orge, Rafael, |uanCarlos, and Jeresa Mara.
Cela often boasted of hls llneage, bellevlng that lt gave
hlm a speclal objectlvlty wlth whlch to understand hls
country, lts hlstory, and tradltlons. Hls father worked as
a customs offlclal, and ln l933 the famlly establlshed
permanent resldence ln Madrld. In hls autoblographlcal
volume i~ ~~W j~ (l959, Jhe Greasy Pole.
Memolrs; republlshed as i~ ~ |l979|, Jhe Rose),
Cela deplcts hlmself as a dlfflcult chlld, and hls eccen
trlcltles began to take root ln hls unlverslty years
(l931-l935 and l939), durlng whlch he began and
abandoned studles of medlclne and law at the Central
Lnlverslty of Madrld. In l931 the flrst of two bouts
wlth tuberculosls changed hls llfe. hls convalescence
afforded hlm the opportunlty to read the seventy
onevolume collectlon of the Blblloteca de Autores
Espaoles (Llbrary of Spanlsh Authors), thereby foster
lng hls buddlng llterary asplratlons. Cela dld not take a
unlverslty degree. Instead, hls frlendshlp wlth Pedro
Sallnas, a leadlng Spanlsh poet and crltlc, lnsplred hlm
to start wrltlng poetry.
Cela`s flrst work was m~ ~ ~ ~W
m~ ~ ~~ (Jreadlng the Dublous
Llght of Day. Poems of a Cruel Adolescence), wrltten
ln l936 but not publlshed untll l915 because of hls feel
lngs of lnsecurlty as an lnexperlenced wrlter and
because of wartlme hardshlps that llmlted publlcatlon
of works by unknown authors. It ls a collectlon of vlru
lently expresslve poems wrltten at the helght of the
aerlal bomblngs of Madrld ln the flrst phase of the clvll
war. Irom l910 on, when Cela began to frequent the
prestlglous Caf Gljn ~ (llterary dlscusslon
group) ln Madrld, the way was paved for the unflag
glng llterary output of the slx decades of hls llfe as a
wrlter.
In l937 he was drafted lnto the Natlonallst army
and was dlscharged two years later for wounds recelved
ln the llne of duty. Jhose of hls crltlcs who have been
less than favorable have made a practlce of emphaslzlng
the fact that Cela fought on the slde of the lnsurgents ln
addltlon to havlng worked for a brlef perlod as a censor
for varlous publlcatlons ln the early days of the Iran
colst reglme.
Cela`s flrst novel, i~ ~~ m~~ a~I ls
about a dlsadvantaged man who was born to a vlolent,
alcohollc father and an unschooled, promlscuous, and
loveless mother ln the early part of the twentleth cen
tury ln Extremadura, one of the poorest reglons of
Spaln. Pascual ls a crlmlnal who, whlle lmprlsoned,
wrltes a flrstperson account of the events of hls llfe. He
contlnually assures the anonymous (slr) to whom
hls dlscourse ls dlrected of hls repentance, but ultl
mately the reader must make the flnal judgment con
cernlng Pascual`s slncerlty and the cause of hls
murderous acts and the matrlclde wlth whlch hls narra
tlon ends. Playlng rlght lnto the predetermlned lnno
cence of hls symbollc name (the Paschal lamb sacrlflced
at the flrst Passover), he casts hlmself ln the role of vlc
tlm, all the whlle narratlng hls crlmes ln dlstorted chro
nologlcal fashlon. Hls lnherlted bad blood ls
underscored by the flrst llnes of hls wrltten confesslon.
'Yo, seor, no soy malo aunque no me faltaran motlvos
para serlo. Los mlsmos cueros tenemos todos los mor
tales al nacer y sln embargo, cuando vamos creclendo,
el destlno se complace en varlarnos como sl fusemos
de cera" (I am not, slr, a bad person, though ln all truth
I am not lacklng ln reasons for belng one. We are all
born naked, and yet, as we begln to grow up, lt pleases
Destlny to vary us, as lf we were made of wax |trans
lated by Anthony Kerrlgan|). As he beglns to recount
the events of hls llfe (and the llves of hls parents, slster
Rosarlo, retarded brother Marlo, and wlves Lola and
Esperanza), contradlctlons, gaps, and enlgmas surface.
Hls recollectlon ls spotty and replete wlth an accompa
nylng ratlonale that ls meant to condone hls repeated
acts of vlolence.
As |ohn Kronlk has polnted out, Pascual recreates
hlmself through hls memolrs and thus permlts hls narra
tlve to vaclllate between the polnts of vlew of one who
ls sentenced to death and of the young man from
Extremadura whose manhood was constantly brought
lnto questlon. Ilve of hls chapters are selfproclalmed
moments of poetlc and exlstentlal lnslght more beflttlng
a poet than a murderer. On the other hand, hls memory
ls talnted wlth colloqulallsms, folk saylngs, and a
crudely scatologlcal deplctlon of those events he
selected to lnclude ln the eplsodlc plottlng of hls story.
In the same breath wlth whlch he excuses hls bad mem
ory, he nevertheless provldes ample descrlptlons that
can only be credlted to fabrlcatlon and/or outrlght
selfcontradlctlon. In sum, hls retrospectlon ls lucld and
307
ai_ POV `~ g `~
graphlc, as are hls wellphrased jallhouse medltatlons
on llfe and lts meanlng.
Cela frames Pascual`s words ln a context of sub
verslon, beglnnlng wlth a 'Prellmlnary Note by the
Jranscrlber," who clalms to have 'found the pages here
transcrlbed ln the mlddle of l939 ln a pharmacy at
Almendralejo (God knows who put them there ln the
flrst place!). And from that day to thls I have . . .
brought some order lnto them, transcrlbed them, and
made them make sense." Jhe note ls followed by other
quaslofflclal documents. 'Duarte`s letter to the Ilrst
Reclplent of Hls Manuscrlpt" (don |oaqun Barrera
Lpez, who was a good frlend of the Count of Jorreme
ja, don |ess Gonzlez de la Rlva, whom Pascual mur
dered); an 'Extract from the Last Wlll and
|Handwrltten| Jestament of don |oaqun Barrera
Lpez"; and lastly, Pascual`s own tonguelncheek dedl
catlon to hls vlctlm, 'don |ess . . . who, at the moment
when the author of thls chronlcle came to klll hlm,
called hlm Pascuallllo, and smlled." As Pascual ends hls
confesslon wlth the words he uttered after havlng kllled
hls mother ('I could breathe"), more documents are
appended by the Jranscrlber, lncludlng a further expla
natlon about the perplexlng chronology of Pascual`s llfe
after the matrlclde and the murder of don |ess, the
lack of lnformatlon concernlng the crlme for whlch Pas
cual recelved the death sentence, and the fate of the
manuscrlpt of hls confesslon. Included are also two let
ters, dated 9 and l2 |anuary l912, from eyewltnesses,
both of whlch are at odds regardlng Pascual`s
demeanor at the tlme of hls death by garrotte. Jhese
materlals further confound Pascual`s veraclty whlle pur
posefully exacerbatlng the amblgultles that plague the
dlscourse.
Jhe shocklng and sordld detalls ln i~ ~~
m~~ a~ were condemned by censors and crltlcs
allke on the flrst publlcatlon of the novel. Jhe second
edltlon was selzed by government censors ln l913 and
held for two years untll lt could be publlshed agaln ln
Spaln. Slnce then, however, i~ ~~ m~~ a~
has gone through more than 250 edltlons, second only
to Mlguel de Cervantes`s a nK It has been trans
lated lnto thlrtythree languages and contlnues to gener
ate much debate, partlcularly concernlng the pathology
of crlmlnallty. Jhe novel launched a serles of works,
such as k~~ (l911, Nothlng) by Carmen Laforet, that
shared ln Pascual`s graphlc deplctlon of the condltlons
of llfe ln Spaln ln the tlme precedlng and followlng
l939. Studles ln hlstorlography have made lt posslble to
vlew Cela`s Paschal lamb as the flrst of many dlsavow
als of the Irancolst reglme`s sanltlzatlon of Spanlsh hls
tory.
In 'Algunas palabras al que leyere" (A Iew Words
to Whoever Mlght Read Jhls), hls prologue to jK
`~ ~~ (l953; translated as jK `~
p~ e pI l968), Cela classlfles hls second novel,
m~ (l911; translated as o eI l96l), as
the antlthesls of i~ ~~ m~~ a~K Even those
harsh crltlcs of Cela`s flrst novel pralsed m~
for lts lyrlcally sensltlve treatment of seven patlents who
are dylng of tuberculosls as well as for lts use of thelr
narratlng volces ln what constltutes a new beglnnlng for
them ln the face of death. Jhe work ls admlttedly tled
to Cela`s flrsthand experlence wlth the same lllness,
ltself the lnvlslble protagonlst to whom reverence ls
pald by way of the dlary entrles, letters, and other
modes of narratlve dlscourse ln whlch these alllng men
and women express thelr lnnermost fears and longlngs.
Except for one character named Iellsa, all of the
patlents are ldentlfled by numbers (52, 37, l1, 10, ll,
73, and l03 |Iellsa|). An authorlal volce ls heard spar
lngly over the course of the otherwlse fragmented nar
ratlve dlscourse, breaklng forth only to lnform readers
of a letter recelved from a 'wellknown physlclan and
speclallst ln tuberculosls, Dr. A. M. S.," who begged lts
reclplent to stop publlshlng the novel ln weekly newspa
per lnstallments. Overall, the commentarles of the sana
torlum resldents are what provlde the detalls of thelr
proflles. for example, number 37 says that her 'frlend
ln 52" ls 'a dreamer and a romantlc"; and number 10
says of number l1 that 'Hls eyes are more burnlng
than ever, hls smlle more bltter, hls nose more plnched
ln hls face that ls whlter. He looks llke an amorous
romantlc poet, trlumphant and sulcldal, and scarcely
twentyflve years old." Jhelr llves glve polgnancy to
thelr lllness as they attempt to flnd happlness, plan for
the future, attend to buslness, and mend broken famlly
relatlonshlps from wlthln thelr conflnement. A master
plece of structural symmetry, the novel ls dlvlded lnto
two equal parts, each one subdlvlded lnto seven chap
ters that ln turn correspond to thelr respectlve
patlentnarrators. Jhe refralnllke appearance of a red
headed gardener, pulllng hls rusted green wheelbarrow,
marks the end of each chapter ln the second part of the
novel, thereby slgnallng the objectlve correlatlve of
death cartlng away lts vlctlms one by one wlth unrelent
lng predlctablllty.
Jhls symmetry substantlates Cela`s preference for
aesthetlcs over styllstlcs ln deallng wlth the toplc of
tuberculosls. Wllllam Davld Ioster comments that
m~ represents 'the flrst . . . of Cela`s many
attempts to order the chaos of the unlverse lnto a mean
lngful pattern." Other crltlcs, such as |. M. Castellet,
polnt to the determlnlsm and sustalned ~
modallty as lndlcatlve of Cela`s commltment to technl
cal lnnovatlon. Jhls work, whlch appears mllder than
i~ ~~ m~~ a~I ls ln reallty shocklngly lntl
mate, however lyrlcal, regardlng the lnsldlous power of
308
`~ g `~ ai_ POV
death over the characters, whose bloodspattered bed
clothes are a constant remlnder of thelr lmpendlng fate.
Interspersed wlth the publlcatlon of Cela`s flrst
two novels are the plcaresque adventures he created for
Spaln`s archetypal rogue, Lazarlllo de Jormes (ùcvos
ovdovos y dcsvcvturos dc Ioorillo dc Tormcs |l911, New
Adventures and Mlsfortunes of Lazarlllo de Jormes|),
and the flrst of many short storles that are an lmportant
segment of hls work. Among these collectlons of short
works of prose flctlon are Isos vubcs quc posov (l915,
Jhose Clouds that Go Past and Dlsappear), Il bovito cri-
mcv dcl corobivcro, y otros ivvcvciovcs (l917, Jhe Jldy
Crlme of the Armed Pollceman and Other Jales), and
Ios botos dc sictc lcguos: !iojc o lo Zlcorrio, cov los vcrsos dc su
covciovcro, codo uvo cv su dcbido lugor (l918, Jhe Boots of
Seven Leagues. |ourney to the Alcarrla, wlth Verses
from Its Songbook of Poems, Each One ln Its Due
Place; translated as ourvcy to tlc Zlcorrio, l961). Jhe lat
ter was one of the products of Cela`s ardent deslre to
fathom the essence of Iberlan Spaln through a serles of
walklng tours. In l919 he publlshed more short prose
works under the headlng of Il gollcgo y su cuodrillo y otros
opuvtcs corpctovctovicos (Jhe Gallclan and Hls Jroupe and
Other Jhoroughly Spanlsh Notes). Jhese tales led to
the creatlon of a subgenre known as the opuvtc corpc-
tovctovico, whlch, ln a fashlon slmllar to the hybrld prose
works of hls llterary forebears of the 'Generatlon of
l898" and |os Ortega y Gasset (ln hls 'walklng and
seelng" essays), ls llkened by Cela to a sllceofllfe
sketch, ln elther narratlon or drawlng, of a character
type or way of llfe that ls speclflc to a certaln tlme and
place ln Spaln and whose partlcular pathos ls derlved
from lts own blttersweet quallty.
Cela`s opuvtcs flourlshed throughout the l950s
and l960s, as evldenced ln Dcl Mivo ol idosoo (l952,
Irom Jhe Mlo to the Bldassoa Rlvers), udos, moros y
cristiovos (l956, |ews, Moors and Chrlstlans), Cuodcrvos
dcl Cuodorromo (l960, Guadarrama Notebooks), and
Igivos dc gcogrofo crrobuvdo (l965, Pages about Wan
derlng). Wlthln thls same tlme frame he also publlshed
the novellas Timotco cl ivcomprcvdido (l952, Jlmoko the
Mlsunderstood), Sovto olbivo, J7, gos cv codo piso (l952,
Santa Balblna Street, or Gas ln Every Apartment), Il
molivo dc vicvto y otros vovclos cortos (l956, Jhe Wlndmlll
and Other Short Novels), and Cofc dc ortistos (l953, Art
lsts` Caf), as well as more collectlons of short storles.
orojo dc ivvcvciovcs (l953, Pack of Jales), ùcvo rctoblo dc
dov Cristobito (l957, Don Crlstoblta`s New Jableau), Io
rucdo dc los ocios (l957, Jhe Chorus of Jhose who Pos
sess Lelsure Jlme), Cojov dc sostrc (l957, Hodgepodge),
and Historios dc Ispovo: Ios cicgos, los tovtos (l957, Storles
about Spaln. Jhe Bllnd Ones, the Ioollsh Ones). Hls
llterary fecundlty of the l950s was enhanced by three
new novels. Io colmcvo (l95l; translated as Tlc Hivc,
l953), Mrs. Coldwcll loblo cov su lijo, and Historios dc !cvc-
uclo: Io cotiro (l955, Storles of Venezuela. Jhe Blonde).
Io colmcvo was flrst publlshed ln Buenos Alres,
because the Spanlsh censors objected to lts themes of
hunger, depravlty, promlsculty, vlolence, and repres
slon. Jhe novel takes up the desperatlon and sense of
hopelessness felt by the slckly characters ln Iobcllov dc
rcposo. Jhls tlme, the emotlons are seen through the
quaslobjectlve style of a rovlng journallst who lnjects
hls narratlon wlth sllceofllfe conversatlons among
more than 350 characters who llve ln Madrld ln early
l910, durlng a tlme of severe shortages as the Spanlsh
capltal struggled through the aftermath of lts clvll war.
Characterlzed technlcally by qualltles of slmultanelty,
clnematography, fragmentatlon, and deconstructlon, Io
colmcvo ls one of lts author`s most accompllshed works.
In wrltlng about the novel as llterary genre ln 'Algunas
palabras al que leyere," Cela refers to Io colmcvo as a
'clock novel . . . made of multlple wheels and tlny
pleces whlch work together ln harmony so that lt |the
clock| works." Jhe novel moves around the actlons of a
twoday perlod. Of the slx parts of the novel, chapters
l, 2, and 1 constltute the flrst day, wlth the second day
belng spread out over chapters 3, 5, and 6. Everythlng
occurs from afternoon through late nlght, wlth only the
'Ilnale" taklng place ln the mornlng three or four days
later.
Readers are plunged mldstream lnto the mun
dane conversatlons of Madrld`s teemlng masses, wlth
partlcular emphasls on doa Rosa`s caf 'La Dellcla,"
don Celestlno`s bar 'Aurora," brothels, and the apart
ments of marrled couples, as well as the open space of
streets and the empty lot outslde Madrld`s bullrlng.
Jhe novel opens wlth a tlmely remlnder from doa
Rosa. 'Don`t let`s lose our sense of proportlon," an
admonltlon that ls lmmedlately muted by the swell of
the buzzlng volces of the 'hlve." Agalnst the backdrop
of lncessant coughlng (lmplylng tuberculosls) and
muslc, one soon gets the lmpresslon of overhearlng prl
vate matters (clandestlne sexual encounters, flnanclal
problems, and llllclt proposltlons of varlous klnds) amld
the nervousness of a soclety just gettlng used to a
reglme ln whlch susplclous behavlor or crltlclsm of the
new government warranted prosecutlon. Llttle of what
ls presented makes sense (ln any true narratlve fashlon)
untll the dead body of doa Margot ls found ln the
early evenlng hours of the flrst day (chapter 2). Irom
that polnt on, varlous lndlvlduals` names begln to pro
vlde dlrectlon, as characters such as her son, hls homo
sexual partner, and the ltlnerant Martn Marco subtly
are connected wlth other characters, lncldents, and blts
of lnformatlon, thus formlng story llnes that hold the
promlse of solvlng the murder.
309
ai_ POV `~ g `~
Jhe descrlptlons of people and places are polnt
edly reallstlc, and allencompasslng abject poverty ls
deplcted wlth genulne pathos evoked for chlldren and
young women such as Elvlra, who ls lucky to have a
stale orange and a flstful of roasted chestnuts for sup
per. Much of the actlon lnvolves llalsons between rela
tlvely affluent marrled men and lessfortunate women,
such as Mercedltas (sold lnto bondage at the age of thlr
teen), Purlta (ln charge of flve younger slbllngs), or Vlc
torlta (who wlll go to any lengths to get money for the
medlclne that her boyfrlend needs lf he ls to survlve the
tuberculosls from whlch he suffers). Among the more
helpless ls a slxyearold gypsy boy who llves under a
brldge and eats sporadlcally, dependlng upon how
many colns he collects from people who llke to hear
hlm slng. |ust when tenslons converge concernlng doa
Margot`s murder (and other llllclt actlvltles), the actlon
ls brought to an lrregularly openended concluslon, as
frlends and famlly of Martn Marco read ln the morn
lng newspaper that he ls belng sought for questlonlng,
at the same tlme that he, happler than ever before, ls on
hls way to the cemetery to pay hls respects at hls
mother`s grave.
i~ ~ recelved resoundlng pralse from such
respected crltlcs as Rlcardo Gulln, Gonzalo Jorrente
Ballester, Dmaso Alonso, Gregorlo Maran, and
Gonzlez Ruano; yet, many of the more conservatlve
llterary crltlcs of the tlme condemned lts radlcal depar
ture from the prevalllng llterary reallsm of the l950s.
Eugenlo de Nora, for example, whose semlnal i~ ~
~ (l968, Jhe Contemporary |Spanlsh|
Novel) assured hls place as a volce of authorlty,
branded Cela a rebelllous author whose works, llke i~
~~ m~~ a~I were hyperreallstlc, crudely
offenslve, and unacceptable for the llterary and moral
senslbllltles of Iranco`s conservatlve Cathollc Spaln.
Even presentday Hlspanlsts, such as blographer Ian
Glbson, perslst ln denlgratlng Cela`s achlevement ln i~
~ by underscorlng the precedent set by |ohn Dos
Passos`s novel j~~~ q~ (l925) and hence cast
lng asperslons on the orlglnallty of i~ ~ and the
revolutlonary polnt of departure lt heralded for the
Spanlsh novel.
jK `~ ~~ shocked the Spanlsh
readlng publlc of lts day by way of lts taboodrlven
theme of lncest. Jhe lmplled dlalogue of the tltle ls
embedded ln a narratlve dlscourse of bawdy double
entendres and helghtened fragmentatlon. In a foreword
to the novel, Mrs. Caldwell ls ldentlfled by a frlend and
the edltor of her papers as someone who has 'dled ln
the Royal Insane Asylum" of London; the 2l3 seg
ments of her wrltten trlbute to her son, Ellaclm (who
dled a sallor whlle on a tralnlng mlsslon ln the Aegean
Sea), are lrregular ln length and coherence, matchlng
perfectly the grlevlng mother`s selfcentered, schlzo
phrenlc dlscourse. Because thls motherson relatlonshlp
could only have been handled lndlrectly by way of the
surreallstlc lmages that break forth from Mrs. Cald
well`s wrltlngs, thelr conversatlon had to be equally
evaslve. Her narratlve consclousness aslde, Ellaclm`s
mother ls fully aware that she ls treadlng new ground
and provldes a cleverly velled ratlonale for her state
ments. 'It`s a long and strange story, Ellaclm darllng,
that I don`t thlnk ought to be told entlrely." In addltlon,
a chapter tltled 'Jhe Devll`s Presence" proffers strong
evldence that Mrs. Caldwell was probably sexually
abused as a chlld by her father, hence transferrlng her
sexual devlance to her only chlld.
Mrs. Caldwell follows Pascual Duarte`s need to
bare her soul ln wrltlng, whlle at the same tlme sharlng
wlth the reporternarrator of i~ ~ an understand
lng of the tragedy of the human condltlon. 'Jhe people
who pass ln the street, my son, are . . . borlng, reslgned,
monotonous . . . Wlth thelr debts, thelr stomach ulcers,
thelr famlly problems, thelr lnsane, mlraculous plans,
etc., walk wlth thelr splrlts cowed, ln no partlcular
dlrectlon, wlth the secret hope that death wlll catch
them by surprlse, llke the ax murderer who walts ln
ambush at the doors of schools." She also resembles her
predecessors ln m~ I for she too awakes
wlth lncreaslng regularlty to a bloodstalned plllow. Her
fragmentary messages are encoded ln contradlctlon and
amblgulty, at tlmes sworn to her son to be truthful yet
at the same tlme outrlghtly 'lylng." Mrs. Caldwell cre
ates her own and her son`s characters, together wlth
eplsodes related to thelr frlends, hablts, and llves, all of
whlch are based solely on her dlstorted perceptlon of
reallty. What makes good sense to her comes across as
absurd, as ln the tltles of her scrlbbles ('In the Swlm
mlng Pool" |chapter l3|, 'Lord Macaulay" |chapter 12|,
and 'Chlna and Crystal" |chapter ll1|). Contrary to
Cela`s prevlous novels, jK `~ ~~
offers no sustalned edltorlal lnterference except the
'Letters from the Royal Insane Asylum" and a conclud
lng 'Edltor`s Note" that provldes a keen
tonguelncheek exegesls of her flnal statement. 'In
Mrs. Caldwell`s orlglnal, there follow two blurred, and
completely undeclpherable pages wlth obvlous slgns of
molsture, showlng unmlstakable slgns of havlng spent
hours and hours under water, llke a drowned sallor."
By allowlng a mentally and physlcally lll charac
ter such freedom of expresslon, Cela lntroduced the
way for a repertolre of subjects that had, for the most
part, been offllmlts for Spanlsh readers. Mrs. Caldwell
attests to marltal lnfldellty, sulclde, vlce, fetlshlsm, sex
ual abuse, vlolence, and hatred. In keeplng wlth the
prudence that was stlll requlred of Spanlsh wrlters ln
the early l950s, Cela purposefully conferred upon hls
3l0
`~ g `~ ai_ POV
female narrator a name that was obvlously not Spanlsh,
bestowlng her wlth autonomy but at the same tlme
offerlng polnted, styllzed commentary about Spanlsh
mothers. 'In faroff Spaln, mothers blte thelr sons on
the neck, drawlng blood, to demonstrate thelr tenaclous,
unchanglng love." Such publlc natlonal selfscrutlny, ln
turn, facllltated more crltlclsm relatlve to such sacred
lnstltutlons as 'Iamlly Llfe" (chapter ll0) and marrlage
(ln chapter l99, 'Jhe WellMatched Marrled Couple"),
all of whlch served as metaphors for the hypocrlsy of
the rules of etlquette and soclal decorum. It ls not sur
prlslng that overall the novel has generated scant crltlcal
attentlon.
Slmllar outrage among crltlcs was expressed
when Cela was promlsed a slzable amount of money ln
l953 by the Venezuelan government to spend tlme ln
that country ln order to wrlte a novel (Io cotiro) that
would accurately deplct the natlon`s splrlt. Llke ùcvos
ovdovos y dcsvcvturos dc Ioorillo dc Tormcs of l911, Io cot-
iro has never been consldered one of Cela`s major
works; yet, lt earned hlm the Crltlcs` Prlze and the
Andrs Bello Medal of Honor, whlch was conferred
upon hlm by Venezuelan presldent Ramn |os
Velsquez. Also at thls juncture ln hls career, Cela was
lnducted lnto the Royal Spanlsh Academy of the Lan
guage (l957); slnce then, he has been looked on as a
leadlng llterary flgure and ploneer ln post-Spanlsh
Clvll War prose flctlon.
Cela moved to Majorca ln l956. He named the
journal he founded that same year Iopclcs dc Sov
Zrmodovs (Papers from Son Armadans), after the nelgh
borhood ln Palma where he llved wlth hls wlfe, Mara
del Rosarlo Conde Plcavea, whom he had marrled ln
l911, and thelr son, born ln l916. Iopclcs dc Sov
Zrmodovs grew to be one of the only vlable publlshlng
outlets avallable to lnternatlonal wrlters and artlsts
whose works would be otherwlse banned by the reglme
on the Iberlan Penlnsula. Wlth hls brother |orge, Cela
also establlshed the Alfaguara publlshlng house, whlch
became one of the leadlng presses ln Spaln for the con
temporary Spanlsh novel. Lntll l989, when he
returned to Spaln to llve (outslde of Madrld ln Guadala
jara), he spent what were perhaps the most productlve
years of hls career ln hls beloved Balearlc house ln La
Bonanova. Jhere he was lnstrumental ln startlng the
Conversaclones Potlcas de Iormentor, a colloqulum
for artlsts and wrlters such as |oan Mlr and Robert
Graves. Jhere he also became frlends wlth Pablo
Plcasso, who contrlbuted varlous drawlngs to lllustrate
Iopclcs dc Sov Zrmodovs that were later lncorporated lnto
Cela`s Covillo dc fbulos siv omor (l962, Bundle of Love
less Iables). In hls l961 plctorlal essay Ios, robios y coli-
potcrros: Dromo cov ocompovomicvto dc coclovdco y dolor dc
coroov (the tltle words are neologlsms wlthout a sultable
translatlon; the subtltle ls Drama Accompanled by |ok
lng and Heartache), Cela collaborated wlth the photog
rapher |uan Colom, whose strlklng lmages of
streetwalkers and other destltute Spanlsh women of the
tlme boldly ralsed publlc consclousness about prostltu
tlon.
Cela contlnued to wrlte such varled works as Io
cucovo, the flrst part of hls autoblography; Io obro litc-
rorio dcl pivtor Solovo (l957, Jhe Llterary Works of the
Palnter | |os Gutlrrez| Solana), whlch orlglnated as
hls acceptance speech for membershlp ln the Royal
Spanlsh Academy of the Language; trlbutes to Spanlsh
lntellectuals such as Po Baroja and Gregorlo Maran;
and more travel journals, such as Irimcr viojc ovdolu:
òtos dc uv vogobuvdojc por ocv, Cordobo, Scvillo, Scgovio,
Huclvo y sus ticrros (l959, Ilrst Andaluslan Jrlp. Notes of
a Jraveler through |an, Crdoba, Sevllla, Segovla,
Huelva and Jhelr Lands), !iojc ol Iirivco dc Icrido: òtos
dc uv posco o pic por cl Iollors, Sobir, cl !ollc dc Zrv y cl
Covdodo dc Iibogoro (l965, |ourney to the Pyrenees of
Lrlda. Notes of a Passage on Ioot through Pallars,
Soblr, the Valle de Arn and the Condado de
Rlbagorza), Modrid (l966), and orcclovo (l970). Hls
repertolre of short storles also expanded wlth Corito dc
lospiciovos (l963, Gambllng Den of Hosplced People), Il
solitorio (l963, Jhe Recluse), Torco dc solov (l963, Arm
chalr Bullflghtlng), and Io bovdodo dc polomos (l969,
Jhe Ilock of Plgeons).
Durlng the l960s Cela`s propenslty for lnnova
tlon resulted ln lncreaslng dlverslty and crltlcal acclalm.
In l96l he wrote Cuotro figuros dcl 9S (Iour Important
People of the Generatlon of l898) ln trlbute to hls llter
ary and splrltual mentors. Jhls volume was followed by
short works lncludlng ùcvos csccvos motritcvscs (l965-
l966, New Scenes from Madrld) and Tobogv dc lombri-
cvtos (l962, Joboggan of Starvlng People), whlch crltlcs
such as |orge A. Marbn conslder to mark the apex of
hls excellence as an opuvtcs wrlter. Cela`s lconoclasm
advanced hls radlcal departure from llterary conven
tlons, as evldenced ln such tltles as Cucvtos poro lccr
dcspucs dcl bovo (l971, Storles to Read after One`s Bath)
and Ivciclopcdio dcl crotismo (l977, Encyclopedla of Erotl
clsm). Hls works became markedly layered wlth scatol
ogy and sexual lnnuendos, as, for example, ln
Dicciovorio sccrcto (l968, l972; Secret Dlctlonary) and Iol
dc corvudos (l976, Catalogue of Cuckolds). Jhls perlod
of experlmentatlon also ylelded Cela`s debut as a play
wrlght wlth Moro Sobivo (l967) and Homcvojc ol osco, I:
Il corro dc lcvo; o, Il ivvcvtor dc lo guillotivo (l969, Hom
age to Bosch, I. Jhe Haywaln; or, Jhe Inventor of the
Gulllotlne).
Spanlsh readers became famlllar wlth Cela`s
thoughtful yet unfllnchlngly provocatlve slde when hls
essays about the state of affalrs ln Spaln as the Iranco
3ll
ai_ POV `~ g `~
dlctatorshlp waned began appearlng ln Spanlsh dallles
such as Il Ios, Il Ivdcpcvdicvtc, and ZC. Jhese essays
were later republlshed ln such collectlons as Zl scrvicio dc
olgo (l969, In the Servlce of Somethlng), Z vucltos cov
Ispovo (l973, Agaln Jalklng about Spaln), !uclto dc lojo
(l98l, Next Page), Ios vosos comuvicovtcs (l98l, Commu
nlcatlng Vessels), Il comolcov soltcro (l992, Jhe Lnmar
rled Chameleon), Il lucvo dcl juicio (l993, Jhe Egg of
|udgment), and Il color dc lo movovo (l996, Jhe Color of
the Mornlng).
In Cela`s wldely mlsunderstood Spanlsh Clvll
War novel, !spcro, fcstividod y octovo dc Sov Comilo dcl ovo
19J6 cv Modrid (l969, Eve, Ieast and Octave of St.
Camlllus`s Day l936 ln Madrld; translated and com
monly referred to as Sov Comilo, 19J6, l99l), an anony
mous narrator attempts to appease hls gullt and sense
of cowardlce for not havlng partlclpated ln the events of
the outbreak of the clvll war and ln partlcular ln the
slege of the Montaa Barracks ln Madrld, whlch took
the llves of many of hls frlends. He feels obllged to keep
a wrltten account of the events, and hls most useful wrlt
lng tool ls a looklng glass that fuels hls lntrospectlon and
serves as a metaphor for the streamofconsclousness
mode of storytelllng ln the novel. Maryse Bertrand de
Muoz speaks of the 'rlverparagraphs" that overtake a
fluctuatlng second and thlrdperson narratlon of fact
and flctlon surroundlng l8 |uly l936, as the narrator
'wrlte|s| and wrlte|s| telllng God what`s happenlng on
earth" whlle also pleadlng for an explanatlon concern
lng why 'ln Spaln only the dead are lmportant." Cela`s
concern for symmetry ls agaln manlfested ln the subtl
tles and pertlnent eplgraphs that emphaslze the upheav
als of a country on the brlnk of clvll war. Sov Comilo,
19J6 ls dlvlded lnto three parts. structured around
'Jhe Eve of St. Camlllus`s Day," 'St. Camlllus`s Day,"
and 'Jhe Octave of St. Camlllus." Also lncluded ls a
somewhat dlssonant epllogue ln whlch the young narra
tor and hls mentoruncle, |ernlmo, dlscuss how to sur
vlve the lmpendlng catastrophe. Jhe narrator`s
halluclnatory verbal odyssey ls metlculously punctu
ated by a numerlcal orderlng of thlngs ln twos and
threes and a carefully orchestrated progresslon of
events ln harmony wlth preclse clock tlme, radlo news
bulletlns, and conversatlons ln bars throughout Madrld.
Jhe urban landscape ls slmllar to that of Io colmcvo, but
the sustalned focus on the clty brothels glves the
lmpresslon that the Spanlsh capltal has nothlng else
wlth whlch to provlde refuge for lts polltlclans and ordl
nary cltlzens.
Sov Comilo, 19J6 ls also propelled by the constant
movement set ln motlon ln part l as a result of the
deaths of the prostltute Magdalena and two lmportant
polltlcal flgures from opposlng sldes. Lleutenant Colo
nel |os Castlllo and |oaqun Calvo Sotelo. As the syn
copated narratlon of thelr funeral corteges fuels the
actlon, other characters emerge and poslt a future of
further destructlon, such as the young woman Vlrtudes,
who dles ln chlldblrth, and the frlghtened homosexual
Matltas, who commlts sulclde ln a spectacularly gro
tesque manner once the war beglns. Jhe horror of the
war notwlthstandlng, the narrator flnds solace ln hls
uncle |ernlmo`s words of wlsdom. 'don`t squander
your twenty years ln the servlce of anybody. . . . look out
for the Spanlard you carry lnslde you . . . even though
you thlnk thls ls the end of the world lt`s not . . . lt`s only
a purgatlon of the world, a preventlve and bloody purga
tlon but not an apocalyptlc one."
As wlth much of Cela`s work after Io colmcvo, crlt
lclsm of Sov Comilo, 19J6 has been varled. Jhose who
vlew lt posltlvely, such as Davld Herzberger, Plerre Lll
man, and Bertrand de Muoz, share a postmodern orl
entatlon. Paul Ille, on the other hand, exempllfles
lessfavorable commentarles ln hls assessment of 'the
polltlcs of obscenlty" that underscore the novel. Stlll
others fall to dlscern that the kernels of Cela`s llfe that
are lntegrated lnto the novel dlsparage Cela by attrlbut
lng to hlm the narrator`s cowardlce. Jhe strldency of
thls response, however, culmlnated wlth the publlcatlon
ln l973 of Cela`s outlandlsh novel oficio dc tivicblos
(offlce of darkness 5), whlch ls wrltten entlrely ln lower
case letters, wlth mlnlmal punctuatlon. It borrows from
Gottfrled Wllhelm Lelbnlz ln lts dlvlslon of the narra
tlon lnto l,l91 'monads" (short text fragments) that
conflrm the flrst of three eplgraphs to the work. 'natu
rally, thls ls not a novel but rather the purge of my
heart."
Jhe lrregular structure of oficio dc tivicblos ls clar
lfled by a long subtltle. vovclo dc tcsis cscrito poro scr cov-
todo por uv coro dc cvfcrmos (thesls novel wrltten to be
sung by a cholr of slckly people). It ls lntended to take
place on the flrst of Aprll, when eccleslastlcal homage ls
rendered to those people who have successfully passed
through the process of canonlzatlon on thelr way to offl
clal salnthood. Sarcasm and parody of church rltuals
and bellef aslde, the date ls slgnlflcant because lt marks
the offlclal proclamatlon ln l939 of the end of the Span
lsh Clvll War and the beglnnlng of Iranco`s rule. In
addltlon, the thematlcs of the novel and the crltlclsm lt
levels on modern soclety slgnal the plnnacle of Cela`s
career ln terms of breaklng wlth tradltlon. Jaboos are
unleashed ln an unceaslng lltany of sexual freedom and
devlance. Jhe characters (more than l20 of them),
whether real (Napoleon Bonaparte, the Roman
emperor Jrajan, Plcasso) or flctltlous, are spared no
mercy as the styllzed sketches of thelr llves are con
verted lnto deconstructed storles that are grouped
together as flctlon, sometlmes ln sequenced monads, for
example, numbers 939-91l (El Cld and Charlemagne).
3l2
`~ g `~ ai_ POV
As wlth Cela`s use of the tltular number 5 to lndlcate an
absence of loglc, a poetlcs of decelt governs every
absurdlty comlng from the narratorauthor as he ls
remlnded that people love to be entertalned wlth lles
(monad 372). He understands that hls exlstence, llke
that of the narrator of p~ `~I NVPSI ls one of nega
tlon and selfdestructlon faclng emotlonal and splrltual
bankruptcy (monad 119). Ior hlm, hls 'offlce of dark
ness" facllltates searchlng for what holds humanklnd
hostage. 'lt ls maglc ln the servlce of evll struggllng
agalnst manklnd" (monad l097).
Jhe narratlon, ln the flrst and second persons,
flows from lntrospectlon about 'defeat . . . at
twentyflve years of age" to the certalnty of death. Jhe
narrator`s anonymlty ls carrled over to those famlly
members whose antlcs and blzarre relatlonshlps
become an lntegral part of hls wrltten testlmony. they
are referred to as 'yourcousln" (wrltten as one word),
'your father don`t mentlon hls name," 'your llttle
grandmother," and 'your mother." Because
'yourcousln" bears on hls forehead a slgnature wrlnkle
ln the shape of an lnverted questlon mark (unlque to
Spanlsh orthography), lt ls clear that the famlly ls of
Spanlshspeaklng llneage. Such nonsenslcal practlces as
the grandfather`s obsesslon wlth maklng tape record
lngs of chlrplng dead blrds confound every aspect of
the narratlon and any semblance of a story. In contrast
to the anonymlty wlthln the narrator`s famlly, however,
ls a panoply of lnvented and real names, such as 'mon
seor metrfanes davld peloponeslano" (monad ll86),
'slr joshua nehemlt" (monad ll89), |ames Meredlth,
Ired Hampton, and Martln Luther Klng |r., all of
whlch llft the narratlve from lts Spanlsh orlglns and cat
apult lt lnto a unlversal realm where lt ls not uncom
mon to hear references to the Holocaust, Vletnam, or
Bosnla.
In sum, the story ln ~ R ls about the
llfe and death of humanklnd as lt ls refracted ln charac
ters such as Napoleon, El Cld, 'yourcousln," or 'your
father don`t mentlon hls name," whose endeavors
respond to a dynamlcs of negatlon and annlhllatlon.
Ior that reason the narratlve axls (beglnnlng wlth
monad 791) follows along the llnes of fourteen death
notlces (of some of the more coheslvely sustalned char
acters) and ends wlth the mlnutebymlnute account of
the narrator`s own demlse at '23h, 59' 59" yes, lt would
have been more convenlent to be defeated on tlme 0h 0'
0"" (monad ll91).
Jhe broadened scope and lncreaslngly unlnhlb
lted tenor of Cela`s llterary undertaklngs durlng the
l970s prompted even crltlcs and enthuslasts who had
pralsed i~ ~~ m~~ a~ and i~ ~ as pre
mler examples of post-Spanlsh Clvll War flctlon to pro
clalm that hls career as a novellst had come to an end.
Cela contlnued nonetheless to wrlte short flctlon (col
lected ln _~~~ ~~ ~ ~J
|l973, Jhe Luckless Vagabond`s Ballad and Other
Loose Papers|, b |l98l, Jhe Mlrror
and Other Short Storles|, and i~ ~ o~
|l986, Young Raul`s Ears|), essays, and k ~ ~ ~
^~~ (l986, New |ourney to Alcarrla), a revlsed ver
slon of hls acclalmed l918 travel book. Jwo years after
Iranco`s death ln l975, Cela was named by Klng |uan
Carlos I as a senator to the Spanlsh parllament, a ser
vlce that prompted hlm to wrlte a serles of essays about
Spaln`s transltlon to democratlc rule. In l980 he was
lnducted lnto the Gallclan Academy, and, much to hls
crltlcs` surprlse, ln l981 he was awarded the country`s
Premlo Naclonal (Natlonal Prlze) for hls novel j~~
~~ (l983; translated as j~~ q a~
jI l992), whlch was a resoundlng success, selllng
more than l80,000 coples ln l981 and another 235,000
ln l990.
j~~ ~~ marks a return to more
tradltlonal storytelllng whlle also lmplementlng a new
dlscurslve model. Wlth perhaps the exceptlon of i~ J
~ and ~ RI the flctlve truths around
whlch Cela`s novels revolve are dlsclosed at the outset.
Pascual ls a crlmlnal; the patlents ln m~
know they are golng to dle; Mrs. Caldwell`s son has
already dled; and the Spanlsh Clvll War ls an hlstorlcal
fact. Jhe same unvelllng applles ln j~~ ~~
desplte lts protracted account of the full detalls
of the story. Someone wlth obvlous narratlve omnl
sclence beglns by explalnlng that 'In that whorehouse
where he earned hls llvlng, Gaudenclo would play a
falrly wlde repertolre of tunes but there ls one mazurka,
Ma Petlte Marlanne, that he played only twlce. ln
November l936 when Llonheart |Afouto| was kllled,
and ln |anuary l910 when Moucho was kllled. He
never would play lt agaln." Because nobody under
stands much about what ls taklng the llves of so many
of thelr men, the narratlon ls dlsmlsslve of the slgnlfl
cance of the war, and lt ls overshadowed by what
remalns foremost ln the mlnds of the Gamuzo famlly.
avenglng the untlmely deaths of two of thelr klnsmen,
Afouto and Lzaro Codesal. Afouto was murdered by
Iabln Mlnguela Abrogn (Moucho), whlle Lzaro
Codesal dled on mllltary asslgnment 'at the JlzzlAzza
post ln Morocco," where he 'was treacherously kllled
by a Moor |from the Jaferslt trlbe|." Jhe events per
talnlng to both are told to don Camllo on a vlslt to hls
famlly after years of havlng been away, wlth narratlve
and chronologlcal tlme blendlng lnto 'the prudent
onward march of the world splnnlng and turnlng as the
drlzzle falls wlth nelther beglnnlng nor end."
Jhe typlcally lush landscape and bountlful leg
ends and superstltlons of Gallcla support an atmo
3l3
ai_ POV `~ g `~
sphere ln whlch death and annlhllatlon, vengeance,
murder, vlolence, and famlly honor are the prlnclple
coordlnates of a narratlve grld of lncldents that have
made wldows of most of the women. Jhe volces of
matrlarchs such as Ramona and Adega are cruclal to
the dlscourse that expands wlth each retelllng of basl
cally the same events. Everythlng don Camllo hears
centers around what happened before and after elther
the Spanlsh Clvll War or Afouto`s murder.
Jhe osclllatlng rhythm of past memory and
present narratlon emphaslzes the oral transmlsslon of
lnformatlon, whlle references to the mazurka mark the
muslcal substructure of clrcularlty, repetltlon, and
refraln ln the novel. 'I play whatever I llke. . . . Jhat
plece of muslc lsn`t for any Jom, Dlck, or Harry and
I`m the only one that knows when to play lt and what lt
means." Jhe alternatlng volces that carry on the oral
tradltlon offer brlef conversatlonal vlgnettes that clarlfy
prevlous utterances, lntroduce new characters, or
explaln llngulstlc pecullarltles that are a part of the Gall
clan lexlcon that ls lntrlnslc to the novel (Cela lncluded
ln the Spanlsh edltlon a map of the area and a vocabu
lary of Gallclan terms). Jhe dlscourse unfolds ln rltual
lstlc fashlon as pleces of lnformatlon are dlssemlnated
relatlve to the famlly`s plans for avenglng Afouto`s mur
der. Moucho ls eventually kllled by Janls Gamuzo`s
two dogs, Sultan and Moor, and poetlc justlce ls
lnversely conferred upon Lzaro Codesal, whose llfe
was ended by a Moorlsh assassln.
Jhe move away from Madrld as chosen flctlve
space for Cela`s later novels ls most evldent ln ` J
^~ (l988, Chrlst versus Arlzona), whlch takes
place ln Jombstone, Arlzona, and covers the years from
l895 through l988 amld the desert flora and fauna of
the southwestern Lnlted States, where Spaln left an
lndellble mark on the dlverse lndlgenous cultures. Jhe
narrator, Wendell Espana, offers what he repeatedly
states to be a true report of the events he wltnessed dur
lng hls llfe ln the 'Sodom and Gomorrah" of Jomb
stone, where 'law and order are worthless." In contrast
to hls sworn truthfulness, hls testlmony ls dotted wlth
tonguelncheek lnslstence on the lnaccuracles of the
eplsodes lncluded ln hls chronlcle, prlmarlly because he
wrltes down what has been told hlm by word of mouth,
thus followlng j~~ ~~ ln preferrlng oral
over wrltten transmlsslon. Aware of the llcentlous and
graphlc quallty of the storles, Wendell ls lnslstent upon
not publlshlng hls chronlcle untll all of hls sources are
dead, a narratlve strategy that calls to mlnd the confus
lng paratextual documents that frame Pascual`s confes
slondrlven manuscrlpt.
Lnllke Pascual, however, Wendell ls merely the
chronlcler of the hybrldlzed tlme and place lnto whlch
he was born and of whlch hls ldentlty bears all the slgns
(lncludlng the mark hls father made on hlm wlth a
brandlng lron to commemorate the beglnnlng of the
twentleth century). Wendell, at twentytwo years of age,
haphazardly made hls mother`s acqualntance ln the
brothel where she worked, after he had pald for her ser
vlces. Whereas matrlclde forever seals Pascual`s fate,
Wendell (llke Ellaclm ln jK `~ ~~ ) ls
plagued wlth the consequences of hls lmplled lncest.
Perhaps for that reason he lnslsts upon clarlfylng repeat
edly that hls name ls 'Wendell Espana, Wendell Llver
pool Espana, maybe lt ls Span or Aspen lnstead of
Espana, I never really found out," desplte the fact that
'many people keep thlnklng that my name ls Wendell
Llverpool Lochlel, that was before knowlng who my
parents had been."
He never reveals the real motlve for keeplng hls
wrltten record, but at the same tlme he fllls lt wlth lnfor
matlon, dates of events, and names of characters, such
as the wellknown prostltutes Blg Nose Kate, Pumlce
Stone, Blg Mlnnle, and Betty Plnk Casey; the Earp and
Clanton famllles; Sherlff Sam W. Llndo; Slttlng Bull;
and Cochlse. Hls account models 'the lltany to Our
Lady who ls the armor that preserves us from sln,"
whlch echoes rhythmlcally throughout the narratlon. In
addltlon, the lltany to the Mother of God also parallels
a reglstry that the prostltute Cyndy keeps of her regular
cllents. Interspersed wlth the sordld background of bar
room and brothel scenes, lynchlngs, and gunflghts are
legends (about snakes, desert plants, and ellxlrs) and
lndlgenous mythologles (lncludlng the lnvocatlon of a
lltany to St. |oseph ln order to stave off polsonous
vlpers). Once agaln, a chaln of characterdrlven lncl
dents holds the narratlon together.
Wendell`s story ls made up of one hyperbollcally
long sentence. Hls ls the prose of an unschooled lndl
vldual, but lt ls, nevertheless, polntedly crltlcal of the
malevolence vlslted upon natlve Amerlca by the colo
nlzlng Spanlards (and, by extenslon, Europeans), and
also remlndful of certaln themes that are ln the forefront
of Cela`s later novels, among them the deplctlon of
twentlethcentury llfe as a dlvlslon between 'wlnners
and losers" whose actlons square them off wlth a legal
system ln whlch poorly tralned judges and executloners
purportedly strlve to achleve justlce. Most vlslble ln
` ^~ are the crlmlnals and forelgners who
make thelr way to Jombstone, where 'more than half
of the hanged were forelgners"; equally strlklng are the
large numbers of Chlnese and Afrlcan Amerlcans. Jhe
same applles to the Natlve Amerlcan populatlon. 'the
Sloux were defeated by the Whlte Man at Wounded
Knee, the herolc adventures of Chlef Llttle Blg Man
had nothlng to do wlth the movle." Ior all of the
lncrlmlnatory words about how 'everythlng Yankee ls
bad," no one bears the brunt of Cela`s chastlsement
3l1
`~ g `~ ai_ POV
more than the Spanlards themselves, as Wendell calls to
mlnd hls own ethnlc background by nalvely explalnlng
hls use of Spanlsh. 'one has to perpetrate the savage act
ln the same language and wlth the same tongue as the
one wlth whlch one curses and blesses." In full recognl
tlon and publlc admlsslon of the many slns coverlng a
'heartshaped stone" that ls a symbollc gatherlng polnt
ln the nearby Arlzona desert as well as a metaphor for
Europe`s expanslon lnto the Amerlcas by way of Jomb
stone, a serlous 'examlnatlon of consclence" precedes
Wendell`s partlng plea for mercy ln the Agnus Del llt
any wlth whlch he ends hls chronlcle. Luls Blanco Vlla
ls correct ln hls assertlon that ` ^~
enjoyed llttle popularlty ln Spaln because lts readers
were unable to grasp the meanlng of the Wlld West and
were therefore unwllllng to accept Wendell`s lnvltatlon
for selfscrutlny.
Cela recelved the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature ln
l989. Jhat same year hls dlvorce from hls wlfe of
fortyfour years fueled a wave of publlc crltlclsm, whlch
lntenslfled ln l99l when he wed Marlna Castao, a
journallst several decades hls junlor. Jhe flfth Spanlsh
Nobel laureate slnce Vlcente Alelxandre ln l973, Cela
was overjoyed at havlng won thls prlze, whlch he admlt
ted (ln a 6 November l989 b m~ lntervlew) that he
had sought slnce havlng wrltten i~ ~~ m~~
a~. In a l996 m~ o lntervlew he polntedly
stated that he 'was one of the least awarded Spanlsh
wrlters." Hls candldacy had flrst been proposed to the
Nobel commlttee ln l959, and agaln ln l975 (by Marcel
Batalllon, a wellknown Irench Hlspanlst), ln l982, and
ln l987. q k v q (20 October l989) was
qulck to report that 'Some scholars today questlon . . .
the academy`s cholce of Mr. Cela," cltlng noted Hlspan
lst |ullo Ortega`s tepld acknowledgment that 'Mr. Cela
ls a conventlonal, safe cholce." Notwlthstandlng dlverse
reactlons to the selectlon of Cela over the l50 candl
dates presented for the award that year, the prlze
appeared to glve taclt recognltlon to Spaln`s peaceful
transltlon to democracy and full partnershlp ln
Europe`s emerglng proflle as a unlted world power. On
a more personal level, Cela`s frlend and fellow wrlter
Iranclsco Lmbral summed lt up best. 'hls trlumph
colnclded wlth the separatlon from hls wlfe, an lllness,
meetlng Marlna, and a change ln clty and home, the
return to the Alcarrla of hls younger days, and hls flnal
move to |the fashlonable| Puerta de Hlerro" dlstrlct ln
Madrld. Addltlonally, Lmbral`s oplnlon about 'the
hard part of wlnnlng the Nobel belng not so much wln
nlng as knowlng how to cope wlth lt" provldes a velled
assessment of the effects such fame had on Cela.
Jhere ls general agreement that l989 marked the
dlmlnutlon of Cela`s creatlvlty. Lntll the tlme of hls
death ln 200l, Cela`s prlvate llfe and characterlstlc pub
llc gaffes, rather than hls llterary output, became the
rallylng polnts for commentary about hlm. When the
longawalted novel j~~ (translated as _I
2002), whlch he had been promlslng slnce at least l991,
flnally appeared ln October l999, |ess Rulz Mantllla
reported that Cela had sald wlnnlng the Nobel Prlze
had so overwhelmed hlm that he threw away all of hls
prevlous notes for the novel and only began worklng
on lt ln earnest years later. j~~ and other nov
els took second place to publlc appearances, lntervlews,
and endorsements, whlch he clalmed the Nobel legltl
mlzed. A few years before hls death, a caustlc publlc
remark about homosexuallty and the Spanlsh poet
Iederlco Garca Lorca`s legacy led to a voclferous out
cry from crltlcs demandlng that the Nobel commlsslon
conslder resclndlng lts l989 declslon. Whlle nothlng
ever came of lt, the lncldent dld llttle to bolster publlc or
crltlcal acceptance of Cela`s last three novels. When he
won Spaln`s most prestlglous llterary award, the Cer
vantes Prlze, ln l995, there was llttle jubllatlon. Irom
l990 through l99l and from l993 to l995, Cela wrote
(almost) dally artlcles for the b f and ^_`
newspapers, respectlvely. He also devoted an lnordlnate
amount of tlme to such publlc venues as presldlng over
the panel of judges for the Prnclpe de Asturlas Prlze ln
l99l and glvlng lectures for the openlng of the '|orna
das Semana del Seguro" ln May l99l and the Interna
tlonal Congress on the Spanlsh Language (although the
press crltlclzed hlm for readlng the same speeches).
Ior Cela the Nobel Prlze was curlously mls
allgned wlth other events ln hls llfe that dlstorted hls
llfelong goal of nurturlng the creatlve process through
wrltlng. Accordlng to a 2001 memolr by Cela`s last
asslstant and secretary, Gaspar Snchez Salas, Cela had
often sald that 'money ln llterature, lf lt comes along, ls
always lclng on the cake"; but as Lmbral polnts out, he
wlll also be remembered as the Nobel reclplent whose
flnanclal worrles prevented hlm from wrltlng. Hls lav
lsh expenses lncluded a Bentley automoblle and a large
house ln Puerta de Hlerro. Ilnanclal concerns were
behlnd hls enterlng hls novel i~ p~ ^
(l991, St. Andrew`s Cross) ln the competltlon for the
commerclallzed Planeta Prlze, worth flfty mllllon pese
tas, whlch he won ln l991. Spanlsh newspapers fre
quently gave accounts of the corporate network that he
and Castao created ln order to shleld hls personal
assets. Both hls son and hls brother |orge, ln expresslng
regret that Cela had allowed hlmself to become fodder
for the tablold press, echoed Lmbral`s comment con
cernlng the utter lonellness that shrouded the Nobel
laureate`s last years ln Puerta de Hlerro. Ior Cela, how
ever, no reward was greater than the Nobel`s symbollc
publlc repudlatlon of the scorn of hls harshest and most
unrelentlng crltlcs.
3l5
ai_ POV `~ g `~
Desplte hls wanlng career, he composed the sec
ond part of hls longawalted autoblography. Mcmorios,
cvtcvdimicvtos y voluvtodcs (l993, Memorles, Lnderstand
lngs and Wlshes). In addltlon, he developed more
opuvtcs-type works, such as Coclovdcos, cscorccos y otros
mcvcos (l99l, |okes, Dabbllngs and Other Ildgetlng),
the play Io simo dc los pcvltimos ivoccvcios (l993, Jhe
Slnkhole of Penultlmate Innocence), the play Io domo
pjoro y otros cucvtos (l991, Lady Blrd and Other Jales),
and Historios fomiliorcs (l998, Iamlllar Storles). Also
among these works ls a return (as wlth prlor works
devoted to Solana and Plcasso) to the world of art. Ios
copriclos dc Irovcisco dc Coyo y Iucicvtcs (l989, Iranclsco
de Goya`s Caprlces). In l999 Homcvojc ol osco, II: Io
cxtrocciov dc lo picdro dc lo locuro; o, Il ivvcvtor dcl gorrotc
(Homage to Bosch, II. Jhe Orlglns of the Source of
Insanlty; or, Jhe Inventor of the Garrote), the second
part of hls l969 play Il corro dc lcvo, was publlshed but,
desplte havlng been commlssloned for the celebratlon
of the qulncentennlal dlscovery of the Amerlcas, never
staged because of lts projected length (almost slx hours)
and proposed budget (mllllons of pesetas). He also
wrote three novels of conslderable length. Il oscsivoto dcl
pcrdcdor (l991, Jhe Murder of the Loser), Io cru dc Sov
Zvdrcs, and Modcro dc boj, whlch all share the same
themes as Cela`s flctlon over the years. soclal devlance
and rejectlon of authorlty and fanatlclsm.
In Il oscsivoto dcl pcrdcdor, Mateo Ruecas ls jalled
for havlng shown publlc affectlon to hls glrlfrlend
Soledad ln a Spanlsh town called N.N. Hls case ls
emblematlc of the many others ln the novel whose
'errors" form the mlsmatched eplsodlc vlgnettes that
destablllze an already dlzzylng, fragmented text for
whlch several narratorauthors clalm responslblllty. It ls
made clear at the onset that any 'concesslon to the col
lectlve good taste, to cunnlng and uneducated publlc
good taste" ls out of order. Jhe novel opens wlth a solll
oquy of sorts by Mlchael Perclval, 'el Agachadlzo" (the
StoopedOver), who llved some two hundred years ago.
He mumbles about how to deal wlth enemles, address
lng some lnvlslble llsteners. 'make every effort to lnfect
them wlth some humlllatlng lllness . . . AIDS or leprosy
or nostalgla." Even though Perclval`s enlgmatlc flgure
resurfaces rarely over the course of the novel, he func
tlons as a marker ln an otherwlse almless narratlon of
dlsconnected characters and events. He also becomes
loosely assoclated wlth Mateo, a metaphor for those
whom soclety has labeled as 'losers." Lnllke Pascual,
Mateo feels an overwhelmlng sense of shame for havlng
spent tlme ln jall, whlch causes hlm to take hls own llfe.
Hls 'error" ls juxtaposed wlth lasclvlous and scatologl
cal storles that mlrror and at the same tlme mlnlmlze
greatly hls own. An array of sllly characters (lncludlng
Mrs. Belushl, |uan Grujldora, Estefana Yellowblld,
Zaqueo Nlcomedlano, Professor Maurus Waldawj,
M.D., and Pamela Pleshette of Restrlcted Beach, Ilor
lda) underscores the rldlculousness of Mateo`s faux pas,
agaln attestlng to Cela`s use of parody and sarcasm as a
means of cuttlng down to slze all socletally sanctloned
pretenslons of greatness. In thls way, Cela undermlnes
even hls own narratorlal authorlty and, therefore,
favors llterary lnventlon over hlstorlcal accuracy. Jhe
masses, however, contlnue to be entertalned by the mls
fortunes of such 'losers" ( prostltutes, beggars, people
wlth physlcal lmpedlments and llttle formal educatlon),
who end up ln publlc executlons for whlch people
clamor to get tlckets.
Jhe dlscourse amounts to a catalogue of utter
ances and antlcs replete wlth gymnastlcs, pantomlme,
and Chapllnesque mlmlcry. Jhe gosslp that spreads ln
everyday llfe about people`s mlsfortunes runs current
wlth the spontanelty of the text; short snlppets of con
versatlons parody the narratlon and allow the dlscourse
to proceed along the same chatty llnes. Perlodlc refer
ences are made to a 'cholr of beggars" who provlde the
muslc for the publlc executlons. Also dlstlngulshable ls
a constralned theatrlcal subtext that transforms Il osc-
sivoto dcl pcrdcdor lnto a llngulstlc, narratlve, thematlc,
phllosophlcal, and flctlve spectacle, not the least of
whlch ls the metamorphosls of Pascual Duarte lnto
Esteban Ojeda, who conflrms the transformatlon by
clalmlng that he 'was pretty famous years ago, when I
wrote a few pages whlch began llke thls. I am not, slr, a
bad person, though ln all truth I am not lacklng ln rea
sons for belng one, etc." Later, Ojeda says that he
'would llke to wrlte ln the flrst person, lt ls always eas
ler. It`s as lf I were Mateo Ruecas, I close my eyes and I
feel llke I am Mateo Ruecas, the loser about whom they
speak ln thls true story. My glrlfrlend ls called Soledad."
Contlnulng Cela`s fondness for accompanylng docu
ments, readers are also presented wlth a letter wrltten
by |uana Olmedo, coordlnator of the Mateo Ruecas
Effort, to Mr. Sebastln Cardeosa Lpez of O Corua
(Gallcla), remlndlng hlm of the harm that was done to
Mateo because of hls modest soclal status and the
'errors" of the Spanlsh judlclal system; she cltes a need
to change 'artlcle 13l of the Penal Code, referrlng to
publlc scandals" and asks that he wrlte a formal con
demnatlon of the matter so that, as petltloned her by
Mateo`s mother, no other poor Spanlsh famlly ever
agaln has to suffer the abuses of a legal system that ls
rlfe wlth poorly tralned judges.
Il oscsivoto dcl pcrdcdor provoked lre, frustratlon,
and dlsllluslonment among readers accustomed to the
more tradltlonal storytelllng format to whlch Spanlsh
novels had returned ln the l980s, and lt has been glven
llttle crltlcal attentlon. Nevertheless, Pascual Duarte`s
latetwentlethcentury relncarnatlon ls evldence of
3l6
`~ g `~ ai_ POV
Cela`s llfelong commltment to artlstlc lnventlon. Jhe
same can be sald of i~ p~ Î whlch lnter
twlnes elements of theater and narratlve ln keeplng
wlth lts author`s goal of constant renewal. Jhls novel
deals wlth multlple themes ranglng from metaflctlon to
phllosophy, femlnlsm, rellglous fanatlclsm, hlstorlogra
phy, llterary lnventlon, and llfe at the end of the mlllen
nlum. It chronlcles the collapse of the Lpez Santana
famlly, whlch ls celebrated as a 'black Mass of confu
slon" and ls unabashedly thrown, llke 'rotten entralls,"
to lts readers as transcrlbed from the orlglnal 'manu
scrlpt" of sorts, whlch was boastfully wrltten by narra
tor Matllde Verd (under whose name Cela publlshed
the book) on rolls of tollet paper.
Jhe structure of the novel, llke that of j~~
~~ I echoes a more tradltlonal manner of
wrltlng; yet, the chapters are glven subtltles that are
beflttlng of plays. 'Dramatls personae," 'Plot," 'Expo
sltlon," 'Compllcatlon," and 'Denouement/Endlng,
Ilnal Coda, and Internment of the Last Puppets." Jhe
dramatlc vlclssltudes of the Lpez Santana famlly are
hlghllghted by myrlad references to lcons of pop culture
(Betty Boop, Ava Gardner, Marllyn Monroe, Robert
Jaylor, and L. Ron Hubbard). Jhere ls one prevalllng
thlrdperson volce that comments on the other narra
tors. Addltlonally, recognltlon ls glven to the source
document that was wrltten by the character Pllar
Selxn, but Matllde Verd, who sometlmes also refers
to herself as Matllde Lens and Matllde Melzoso,
remalns the prlmary chronlcler.
Matllde tells her story based on cues from her
own conversatlonal lnterludes wlth an unnamed lnter
rogatlng volce who occaslonally says thlngs such as
'Jake a short break and contlnue," or 'Do you belleve
that hlstory has to be told ln detall and stopplng for
mlnutlae and nulsances?" Matllde also embelllshes her
tale wlth parts of her own llfe, prlnclpally clalmlng that
she and her husband, because of thelr polltlcal affllla
tlon wlth the Republlcan factlon of the Spanlsh Clvll
War, were cruclfled on St. Andrew`s crosses. When,
however, lt ls revealed that Matllde ls slmply satlsfylng
the edltorlal demands of her llterary agent, Paula Ilelds,
ln order to earn the $600,000 she has been promlsed for
her manuscrlpt, the noble undertaklng of her chronlcle
turns as farclcal as the tollet paper on whlch lt ls wrlt
ten. As Iran, the last of the Lpez Santana famlly mem
bers, sllts hls wrlsts ln obedlence to the leader of the
secret cult of the 'Communlty of the Daybreak of |esus
Chrlst," so too dlslntegrates the famlly and, by exten
slon, the lgnoble chronlcle.
j~~ ls both a trlbute to those who
drowned ln the waters off the coast of Spaln`s north
western promontory and a narratlve elegy to that por
tlon of the Atlantlc Ocean that bathes Gallcla`s 'Coast
of Death" and (land`s end). Jhe lltanyllke nar
ratlon ls lntentlonally mlred ln sentences that go on for
pages, lnterrupted by casual conversatlonal exchanges,
a Gallclan reglster of terms and expresslons, reclpes,
legends and superstltlons, aphorlsms, punctlllous refer
ences to the area`s marltlme topography, flora and
fauna, and a blend of forelgn names (Knut Sklen, |ua
nlto |orlck, |ames and Hans E. Allen, and Marco Polo).
Jhe endless tosslng of the dlscourse ls a metaphor for a
sea that ls an 'open book ln whlch everythlng was wrlt
ten and could be read wlth ease" and also the source of
a 'neverendlng llst of shlpwrecks" that populate a vlr
tual world of dead people. Both narrator and reader
assume the role of 'sallors" and, as such, have scant
assurance that the compass that the narratlng volce
lnherlted wlll be of use because of the dlsquletlng, yet
allurlng, submerged gold from the teeth of all the sallors
who drowned therewhlch, seafarers say, throws rell
able navlgatlonal lnstruments wlldly off course.
Jhe anonymous narrator shows extenslve knowl
edge of the marltlme and the Engllshspeaklng worlds.
Havlng developed a successful whallng lndustry (whlch
ended up dlvldlng them), hls ancestors were also tled to
water. hls Norweglan uncle, Knut Sklen, hunted whales
and the mythlcal Marco Polo ram; hls cousln, Vltlo
Lels Agullelro, was the captaln of the shlpwrecked
^~~X and hls grandfather founded the Royal Regatta
Club of Gallcla ln l902. Jhelr favorlte pastlmes
lncluded playlng rugby, tennls, and crlcket, and recltlng
Edgar Allan Poe`s poetry ln Gallclan whlle faclng the
sea. Jhe most wealthy among them, Lncle Dlck, spent
an entlre llfetlme almlessly pursulng hls dream of bulld
lng a house out of boxwood, a shrub that ls used deco
ratlvely ln gardens but unsultable for the constructlon
of large structures. Glven the clearly enunclated
premlse that legend and fantasy are 'more powerful
than the truth," j~~ constltutes an allegorlcal
superstructure about struggllng to attaln what ls
beyond reach.
In 2000 Camllo |os Cela Lnlverslty was
founded on the outsklrts of Madrld. It ls a small, prl
vate lnstltutlon that offers computerbased lnstructlon
wlth an emphasls on research and crltlcal lnqulry.
Cela dled on l7 |anuary 2002. He bequeathed hls
small forest resort along the coast of Sant Elm ln
Majorca to the Grup dÒrnltologla Balear (Balearlc
Ornlthology Group). He also left several unflnlshed
projects, among them a novel to be called 'Dry slcuta"
(Dry Hemlock). In November 2002 hls wldow
appeared at the Relna Sofa Museum ln Madrld to
unvell `~ b b~W a ~
~~ (Notebooks from Jhe Esplnar Resldence. Jwelve
Women wlth Ilowers on Jhelr Heads), facslmlles of
twelve etchlngs by Cela. Publlc scrutlny of hls work
3l7
ai_ POV `~ g `~
contlnued, focuslng on an accusatlon of plaglarlsm ln Io
cru dc Sov Zvdrcs, of whlch he was posthumously found
not gullty, and an alleged prlor agreement wlth the Plan
eta publlshlng house to submlt the novel for the l991
Planeta Prlze, whlch Cela had won. Snchez Salas has
asserted that the Nobel laureate ls lnnocent of these
charges, as well as of uslng ghostwrlters toward the end
of hls career. Cela`s death also drew attentlon because of
questlons of lnherltance, the legal rlghts to hls llterary
legacy, and the future dlrectlon of the Cela Ioundatlon,
whlch he had establlshed some years before ln Irla Ila
vla, Gallcla, as the reposltory for hls manuscrlpts and rel
evant papers. Jhe degree to whlch Cela`s llfe and works
have generated both pralse and crltlclsm ls brought home
by several blographlcal accounts of hls llfe. Cclo: Uv
codvcr cxquisito (2002, Cela, an Exqulslte Corpse) by
Lmbral; Dcsmovtovdo o Cclo (2002, Dlsmantllng Cela) by
journallst Joms Garca Yebra; Cclo, cl lombrc quc quiso
govor (2003, Cela, the Man Who Wanted to Wln) by
Glbson; and the two publlshed works of Snchez Salas,
Cclo: Il lombrc o quicv v lloror (2002, Cela. Jhe Man I
Saw Cry) and Cclo: Mi dcrcclo o covtor lo vcrdod (2001,
Cela. My Rlght to Jell the Jruth).
As has often been stated, Camllo |os Cela`s works
of prose flctlon do not placate the palnful soulsearchlng
of the human condltlon. Jo quote the Nobel commlttee,
hls ls a 'rlch and lntenslve prose, whlch wlth restralned
compasslon forms a challenglng vlslon of man`s vulnera
blllty." Cela`s novels far surpass capturlng the splrlt of
Spaln ln the twentleth century; they lay bare the work
lngs of the human specles over the course of tlme. Cela`s
dlsjolnted language parallels the truncated bond between
people of all places and walks of llfe. Jhe shocklng
lmperfectlons and personal falllngs of hls characters are
exponentlally equlvalent to Cela`s dlsdaln for the entrap
ment of polltlcally constralned soclal and llterary correct
ness. In the words of the anonymous narrator of Modcro
dc boj, 'the model ls Emlle Zola or doa Emllla Pardo
Bazn, now lt`s not anymore llke before, now people
have dlscovered that the novel ls a reflectlon of llfe and
llfe has no endlng other than death, that plrouette that ls
never the same."
fW
'Ln escrltor sln mledo," Il Ios, Suplemento Mensual de
las Letras, 6 November l989, Internatlonal Edl
tlon, l-3;
Valerle Mlles, 'Camllo |os Cela. Jhe Art of Ilctlon
CXLV," Ioris Icvicw, l39 (Summer l996). l21-
l63.
_~W
Camllo |os Cela Conde, Cclo, mi podrc (Madrld. Jemas
de Hoy, l989);
Iranclsco Lmbral, Cclo: Uv codvcr cxquisito (Barcelona.
Planeta, 2002);
Gaspar Snchez Salas, Cclo: Il lombrc o quicv v lloror (Bar
celona. Carena, 2002);
Joms Garca Yebra, Dcsmovtovdo o Cclo (Madrld.
Llbertarlas, 2002);
Ian Glbson, Cclo, cl lombrc quc quiso govor (Madrld. Agul
lar, 2003);
Snchez Salas, Cclo: Mi dcrcclo o covtor lo vcrdod (Barce
lona. Belacqva, 2001).
oW
Maryse Bertrand de Muoz, 'El estatuto del narrador en
San Camllo, l936," ln Crtico scmiologico dc tcxtos litc-
rorios lispvicos, edlted by Mlguel Angel Garrldo
Gallardo (Madrld. Consejo Superlor de Investlga
clones Clentflcas, l986), pp. 579-589;
Luls Blanco Vlla, Ioro lccr o Comilo osc Cclo (Madrld.
Palas Atenea, l99l);
Sllvla Burunat, 'El monlogo lnterlor en Camllo |os
Cela," ln her Il movologo como formo vorrotivo cv lo
vovclo cspovolo (Madrld. |os Porra Juranzas,
l980), pp. 57-82;
'Camllo |os Cela, a Spanlsh Novellst, Wlns Nobel
Prlze," `cw Jorl Timcs, 20 October l989;
|. M. Castellet, 'Inlclacln a la obra narratlva de Camllo
|os Cela," Icvisto Hispvico Modcrvo, 28 (l962).
l07-l50;
'Cela cre con Marlna Castao una red de socledades
para bllndar su patrlmonlo," Il Ios, 5 Iebruary
2002;
'Cela repltl su dlscurso de Zacatecas de l997, que era
lgual a otro de l992, Il Ios, l9 October 200l;
Luclle C. Charlebols, Uvdcrstovdivg Comilo osc Cclo
(Columbla. Lnlverslty of South Carollna Press,
l998);
|avler Cuartas, 'El pueblo de Puerto Rlco reclbe el Pre
mlo Prnclpe de Asturlas de las Letras," Il Ios, 22
Aprll l99l, p. l9;
Wllllam Davld Ioster, Iorms of tlc òvcl iv tlc !orl of
Comilo osc Cclo (Columbla. Lnlverslty of Mlssourl
Press, l967);
Paul Ille, Io vovclstico dc Comilo osc Cclo (Madrld. Gredos,
l96l);
Ille, 'Jhe Polltlcs of Obscenlty ln San Camllo, l936,"
Zvolcs dc lo òvclo dc Iosgucrro, l (l976). 25-63;
cvsulo, speclal Cela/Nobel Prlze ln Llterature lssue, 5l8-
5l9 (Iebruary-March l990);
Robert Klrsner, Tlc òvcls ovd Trovcls of Comilo osc Cclo
(Chapel Hlll. Lnlverslty of North Carollna Press,
l961);
|ohn Kronlk, 'Pascual`s Parole," Icvicw of Covtcmporory
Iictiov, 1, no. 3 (l981). lll-ll8;
3l8
`~ g `~ ai_ POV
|orge A. Marbn, 'Iases y alcance del humorlsm en los
apuntes carpetovetnlcos de Cela," Hispovic our-
vol, 2 (Sprlng l98l). 7l-79;
Eloy E. Merlno, Il vucvo Ioorillo dc Comilo . Cclo:
Ioltico y culturo cv su polimpscsto (Lewlston, N.Y..
Edwln Mellen Press, 2000);
|anet Prez, Comilo osc Cclo Icvisitcd (New York.
Jwayne, 2000);
|os Luls S. Ponce de Len, Io vovclo cspovolo dc lo
Cucrro Civil (Madrld. nsula, l97l);
Olga Prjevallnsky, Il sistcmo cstctico dc Comilo osc Cclo
(Valencla. Castalla, l960);
Icvicw of Covtcmporory Iictiov, speclal Cela lssue, 1, no. 3
(l981);
|ess Rulz Mantllla, 'Con el Nobel cog mledo a Modcro
dc boj," Il Ios, 28 September l999;
Daro Vlllanueva, 'La lntenclonalldad de lo sexual en
Cela," Ios Cuodcrvos dcl òrtc, 5l (October-
November l988). 51-57.
m~W
Camllo |os Cela`s papers are at the Cela Ioundatlon ln
Irla Ilavla, Gallcla, Spaln.
NVUV k m i~
m~ p
by Irofcssor Ivut Zlvluvd, of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy
Gentlemen,
Camllo |os Cela has wrltten upwards of a hun
dred books, a verltable llbrary ln ltself, fllled wlth the
most astoundlng contrasts, popular, crudely humorous
tales slde by slde wlth some of the darkest and most
desolate works ln European llterature.
Once Cela was a young poet ln a Madrld on the
verge of clvll war. More than almost any wrlter he was
at the center of those agonlzlng events, both as one of
those responslble for them and as a reslstance flghter. It
was after servlng ln the trenches, belng wounded and
lylng awhlle ln fleld hospltals, after the war was over
and he had come home and Spaln had embarked on
her many dreary years under the new reglme, that he
made hls debutas a prose wrlter. In hlgh quarters
there was a deslre to see edlfylng books, preferably
cheerful and sunny ones. Cela`s flrst novel was about a
multlple murderer who relates hls llfe hlstory before hls
executlon. Io fomilio dc Ioscuol Duortc, Ioscuol Duortc`s
Iomily, was prlnted secretly ln a garage ln Burgos ln
l912, and by the tlme lt had come to the authorltles`
notlce the edltlon was almost sold out. Gradually the
censors became reslgned; next to Dov _uixotc lt must be
the most wldely read of all Spanlsh novels. Jhls story
of a matrlclde can be read as an allegory, a falry tale
about Spaln`s monstrous sufferlngs and furlous lnternal
strlfe.
It opened the slulcegates. Cela`s works grew ln
range and splendor. If they had anythlng ln common lt
was the swarms of characters appearlng ln them; lt was
hardly a matter of the hlerarchy of maln characters and
secondary ones that ls customary ln novels. On the
stage where the author lets dramas of llfe and of Spaln
play themselves out under grlm starllght, one could
argue, wlth only sllght exaggeratlon, that there were
only secondary characters.
Io Colmcvo or Tlc cclivc, wlth more than 300
characters, deplcts Madrld llfe durlng the flrst sad years
of the Iranco era. It was Cela`s boldest challenge hlth
erto to the authorltles` represslon of free expresslon.
Although lt was translated lnto many languages, the
Spanlards themselves were long denled access to lt.
Elghteen years later, ln l969, when Cela pub
llshed hls novel Sov Comilo 19J6, the mesh of censorshlp
had numerous gaps and tears ln lt, so thls book was at
last publlshed where lt was wrltten. Jo some extent, the
Madrld of Tlc cclivc stlll exlsts ln Sov Comilo 19J6, but
lllumlned by streaks of vlslonary llght, and swathed ln
an apocalyptlc glow. Jhe actlon takes place ln Madrld
durlng the week lmmedlately on the eve of the Clvll
War. Here we encounter the young man wlth the sad
burnlng eyes, see hlm mlngllng wlth the clty`s crowds
or starlng lnto the mlrror of hls own bltter reflectlons.
Jo a great extent the narratlve ls an lncantatlon, an
exorclzatlon, an lnvocatlon, and so lt polnts forward to
the work whlch must be Cela`s most obscure, Uficio dc
Tivicblos a poetlc apocalypse, a major poem eleven
hundred and nlnetyfour verses long, an overall vlslon
of llfe`s dark absurd antlloglc, arranged ln a form slml
lar to the Mass.
In Mourco poro dos mucrtos, Cela, after hls forays
lnto the border lands where language and exlstence
meet chaos, came back to the realltles of Spanlsh llfe
whlch he had deplcted ln so many facets. It ls an
account of the llves of ordlnary people ln the green and
damp Gallcla where he llved as a chlld. But most of all,
perhaps, lt ls a tale about Death, an lmaglstlc fresco
deplctlng the tumult, lnsanltles, comedy and tragedy of
human llfe, always agalnst the background of death,
whlch ln the end gathers everythlng and everyone to
ltself. Its great, crude humor ls part of a tradltlon that
goes back to Arlstophanes, Rabelals and Shakespeare,
yet lt resembles nothlng we have ever read ln that llne.
3l9
ai_ POV `~ g `~
In hls classlcal travel books from the fortles and
flftles, redolent wlth a quleter humor, we meet a more
gentle, pllant Cela; Cela the vagabond, looklng for
mllleux and cultures that at the tlme were ln the process
of dlsappearlng.
As a whole, what we have before us ls an extraor
dlnarlly rlch, welghty and substantlal body of wrltlngs
that possess great wlldness, llcense and vlolence, but
whlch nonetheless ln no way lack sympathy or com
mon human feellng, unless we demand that those sentl
ments should be expressed ln the slmplest posslble way.
Cela has renewed and revltallzed the Spanlsh language
as few others have done ln our modern age. As a cre
ator of language he ls ln the tradltlon of Cervantes,
Gngora, _uevedo, ValleIncln and Garcla Lorca;
Spanlsh has not really been qulte the same language
slnce those wrlters have put thelr marks ln lts great
book.
Dear Camllo |os Cela,
I have devoted a few brlef mlnutes to descrlblng a
body of work so great and varled as to defy any sum
mary. Your contrlbutlon to the rlghts of creatlve lmagl
natlon spans nearly half a century, lncludlng long
perlods under dlfflcult condltlons, but ln the end lt won
out. In recent years the wealth of Latln Amerlcan lltera
ture has been wldely dlscussed everywhere. Perhaps
too llttle attentlon has been pald, however, to lts coun
terpart ln the country where Spanlsh was flrst spoken.
Personally, and on behalf of the Swedlsh Academy, may
I congratulate you most cordlally, and may I ask you to
recelve from the hands of Hls Majesty the Klng thls
year`s Nobel Prlze ln Llterature.
`~W _~ p
`~ ~ k _~I NM a NVUV
Your Majestles, Your Royal Hlghness, Your Excellen
cles, Ladles and Gentlemen,
Jhe Swedlsh Academy ls honourlng me by
lnscrlblng my name ln the marglns of the roll of lllustrl
ous personages of contemporary world llterature. It ls
an honour whlch ls out of all proportlon to my sklll and
ablllty. Apart from showlng my gratltude wlth all my
heart, I would llke to be permltted to make clear that, lf
I have dared to arrlve where I am now, lt ls only
because I understand that the Prlze ls not just belng
awarded to me, but also to my contemporarles who
wrlte ln the glorlous language whlch ls our tool. Span
lsh. I do not wlsh to dwell on thls very slncere confes
slon, for, slnce my teacher has been Mlguel de
Cervantes, I know full well that an argument, however
good, does not seem so successful when propounded at
length.
When on my way to Stockholm, ln response to
your benevolence, I asked myself about the reasons
whlch brought me here. I surmlsed that your purpose
was to reward the occupatlon rather than the person. If
so, you have not erred, for, accordlng to Cervantes
Cervantes once and for everthe goal of llterature ls to
glve justlce lts rlghtful place by renderlng to everyone
what ls hls, and by understandlng and upholdlng good
laws. Llterature ls hazardously and lrreverslbly, my llfe,
my death and my sufferlng, my vocatlon and my servl
tude, my constant yearnlng and my wellmerlted conso
latlon. How peaceful my consclence becomes after I
have sald thls!
Amongst the names honoured by the Nobel Prlze,
there are lllustrlous sclentlflc personages, both global
and contemporary, who are gulded by the same pralse
worthy alms whlch dlstlngulsh and characterlze all of
us. peace ln our heads and our hearts, and solldarlty
between human belngs and between peoples. I am
aware that we have not reached the goal that we are
almlng at, and that there are stlll many steps to be taken
ln serenlty and good sense, wlth constancy, no doubt,
but also wlth luck. I propose that we never wander off
thls salubrlous road.
I ralse a toast to the Klng and _ueen of Sweden,
who relgn over a natlon at peace; to the people of Swe
den, who love peace; to the Swedlsh Academy and
other Nobel Instltutlons, who sponsor peace; and to all
those ln the entlre world who defend and proclalm
peace. I ralse a toast to peace.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l989. Camllo |os Cela ls
the sole author of hls speech.|
m o~W q k m
i~ NVUV
l m~ p~ p
^~
Jhls year`s Nobel Prlze for llterature goes to the
Spanlsh wrlter Camllo |os Cela. Wlth hlm ls rewarded
the leadlng flgure ln Spaln`s llterary renewal durlng the
postwar era.
Jhe background of Cela`s experlence ls the cruel
Spanlsh clvll war, whlch dlvlded the country lnto two
factlons whose borders could cut rlght through tles of
320
`~ g `~ ai_ POV
famlly and frlendshlp. He hlmself was drawn lnto the
flghtlng and was badly wounded.
Cela ls a restless splrlt. In hlm ls unlted a marked
fondness for experlment wlth a provocatlve attltude. At
the same tlme he can be lncluded ln an old Spanlsh tra
dltlon of hllarlous grotesquenesswhlch ls often the
other slde of despalr. Compasslon for man`s hopeless
sufferlng ls there, but tlghtly controlled.
Jhe baslc features of hls attltude are evldent
already ln the book whlch made hls nameq c~
m~~ a~ (l912). It ls a powerful, ln parts gruesome
novel, whlch ln splte of belng censored and banned had
an almost unparalleled lmpact. After a n lt ls
probably the most read novel ln Spanlsh llterature.
We seldom meet any characters ln hls books
whlch are drawn ln any detall. Instead, often llke Mah
fouz ln j~ Î Cela captures the crowd, the buzz
lng, as ln q e (l95l). Jhe effect ls attalned by
means of a feverlsh montage, whlch ls reflected ln other
authors.
A sensatlon was caused ln l969 by S~ `~I
whlch tells of the week before the outbreak of the clvll
war. Jhe declslve factor was that the mlghty flow of
words wlth lts plctures of vlolence and sexual obsesslon
wlthln the small sphere seemed to reflect happenlngs on
the natlonal plane.
In l q~ R (Requlem of Darkness 5),
l973, and j~~ ~~ (Mazurca for Jwo
Dead), l983, the experlments wlth form of language
and contentln dlfferent wayshave been carrled very
far. Jhe books are at once challenglng and deflantly
dark but also secretly entlclng. Jhe latter ls a macabre
but cheerfully obscene dance of death that ls valld far
beyond the deplctlon of Gallclan everyday llfe.
Especlally noteworthy ls what Cela has done as
publlsher of the llterary magazlne m~ p
^~~. Many ls the wrlter who has found an open
forum here durlng years of hardshlp. In search of the
Spaln that Cela saw dlsappear ln those years, he
roamed far and wlde. Perhaps the most enjoyable of all
the accounts of hls travelsat the same tlme humorous
masterplecesare g ^~~ (l918) and a
j ~ _~~ (Irom Mlno to Bldasoa), l952.
32l
`~W k iI U a NVUV
b c~
q~~ p~ j~ m
Dlstlngulshed Academlclans,
My old frlend and mentor Po Barojawho dld
not recelve the Nobel Prlze because the brlght llght of
success does not always fall on the rlghteoushad a
clock on hls wall. Around the face of that clock there
were words of enllghtenment, a saylng that made you
tremble as the hands of the clock moved round. It sald
'Each hour wounds; the last hour kllls." In my case,
many chlmes have been rung ln my heart and soul by
the hands of that clockwhlch never goes backand
today, wlth one foot ln the long llfe behlnd me and the
other ln hope for the future, I come before you to say a
few words about the spoken word and to reflect ln a
splrlt of goodwlll and hopefully to good avall on llberty
and llterature. I do not rlghtly know at what polnt one
crosses the threshold lnto old age but to be on the safe
slde I take refuge ln the words of Don Iranclsco de
_uevedo who sald. 'We all wlsh to reach a rlpe old
age, but none of us are prepared to admlt that we are
already there."
However one cannot lgnore the obvlous. I also
know that tlme marches lnexorably onwards. So I wlll
say what I have to say here and now wlthout resortlng
to elther lnsplratlon or lmprovlsatlon, slnce I dlsllke
both.
Ilndlng myself here today, addresslng you from
thls dals whlch ls so dlfflcult to reach, I begln to wonder
whether the glltter of wordsmy words ln thls casehas
not dazzled you as to my real merlt whlch I feel ls a
poor thlng compared to the hlgh honour you have con
ferred upon me. It ls not dlfflcult to wrlte ln Spanlsh;
the Spanlsh language ls a glft from the gods whlch we
Spanlards take for granted. I take comfort therefore ln
the bellef that you wlshed to pay trlbute to a glorlous
language and not to the humble wrlter who uses lt for
everythlng lt can express. the joy and the wlsdom of
Manklnd, slnce llterature ls an art form of all and for
all, although wrltten wlthout deference, heedlng only
the volceless, anonymous murmur of a glven place and
tlme.
I wrlte from solltude and I speak from solltude.
Mateo Alemn ln hls ` ^~~ and Irancls
Bacon ln hls essay l pIboth wrltlng more or less
at the same perlodsald that the man who seeks soll
tude has much of the dlvlne and much of the beast ln
hlm. However I dld not seek solltude. I found lt. And
from my solltude I thlnk, work, and llveand I belleve
that I wrlte and speak wlth almost lnflnlte composure
and reslgnatlon. In my solltude I constantly keep ln
mlnd the prlnclple expounded by Plcasso, another old
frlend and mentor, that no lastlng work of art can be
achleved wlthout great solltude. As I go through llfe
glvlng the lmpresslon that I am belllgerent, I can speak
of solltude wlthout embarrassment and even wlth a cer
taln degree of thankful, lf palnful, acceptance.
Jhe greatest reward ls to know that one can
speak and emlt artlculate sounds and utter words that
descrlbe thlngs, events and emotlons.
When deflnlng man, phllosophers have tradltlon
ally used the standard medlum of close genus and spe
clflc dlfference that ls to say reference to our anlmal
status and the orlgln of dlfferences. Irom Arlstotle`s
to Descartes` ~ such reference has been
an essentlal means of dlstlngulshlng man from beast.
But however much moral phllosophers may challenge
what I`m golng to say, I malntaln that lt would not be
dlfflcult to flnd abundant evldence ldentlfylng language
as the deflnltlve source of human nature whlch, for bet
ter or worse, sets us apart from all other anlmals.
We are dlfferent from other anlmals, although
slnce Darwln we know that we have evolved from
them. Jhe evolutlon of language ls thus a fundamental
fact whlch we cannot lgnore.
Jhe phylogenesls of the human specles covers a
process of evolutlon ln whlch the organs that produce
and ldentlfy sounds and the braln whlch makes sense of
those sounds develop over a long perlod of tlme whlch
lncludes the blrth of Manklnd. No subsequent phenom
ena, nelther b `~~ j ` nor b nI nor
quantum theory, can compare ln lmportance to the flrst
tlme that the most baslc thlngs were glven a name.
However for obvlous reasons I am not golng to dwell
322
`~W k iI U a NVUV ai_ POV
here on the evolutlon of language ln lts prlmeval and
fundamental sense. Rather I wlll deal wlth lts secondary
and accldental but relatlvely more lmportant meanlng
for those of us who were born lnto a soclety whose tra
dltlon ls more llterary than secular.
Ethnologlsts such as the dlstlngulshed A. S. Dla
mond belleve that the hlstory of language, of all lan
guages, follows a pattern ln whlch at the very beglnnlng
sentences are slmple and prlmltlve but go on to become
more compllcated ln terms of syntactlc and semantlc
varlatlons. By extrapolatlng from thls hlstorlcally
verlflable trend, lt can be deduced that thls lncreaslng
complexlty evolves from the lnltlal stage where commu
nlcatlon relles malnly on the verb, bulldlng up to the
present sltuatlon where lt ls nouns, adjectlves and
adverbs that glve flavour and depth to the sentence. If
thls theory ls correct and lf we apply a llttle lmaglna
tlon, we mlght conclude that the flrst word to be used
was a verb ln lts most lmmedlate and urgent tense,
namely the lmperatlve.
And lndeed the lmperatlve stlll retalns conslder
able lmportance ln communlcatlon. It ls a dlfflcult tense
to use. It must be handled wlth care slnce lt requlres a
hlghly detalled knowledge of the rules of the game
whlch are not always stralghtforward. A badlyplaced
lmperatlve can brlng about the exact opposlte of the
deslred objectlve. |ohn Langshaw Austln`s famous trlple
dlstlnctlon (locutlonary, lllocutlonary and perlocutlon
ary language) ls an erudlte demonstratlon of the thesls
that perlocutlonary language tends to provoke speclflc
behavlour on the part of the lnterlocutor. It ls useless to
lssue an order lf the person to whom lt ls addressed dls
sembles and ends up dolng whatever he llkes.
Jhus from to ~ sufflclent dls
tlnctlons have been drawn between the beast that
grazes and the man that slngs albelt not always ln well
measured tones.
In Plato`s a~ whlch bears hls name, Cratylus
hldes Heraclltus among the folds of hls tunlc. Jhe phl
losopher Democrltus through hls lnterlocutor Hermo
genes speaks of the concepts of fullness and emptlness.
Jhe same can be sald of Protagoras the antlgeometrlclan
who lrreverently malntalned that 'Man ls the measure
of all thlngs". what they are and how they are, what
they are not and how they are not.
Cratylus was concerned wlth languagewhat lt ls
and what lt ls notand developed those ldeas at some
length ln hls dlscourse wlth Hermogenes. Cratylus
belleves that what thlngs are called ls naturally related
to what they are. Jhlngs are born or created or are dls
covered or lnvented. Irom thelr very beglnnlng they
contaln essentlally the exact term whlch ldentlfles them
and dlstlngulshes them from everythlng else. He seems
to be trylng to tell us that thls dlstlnctlon ls unlque and
comes from the same ovum as the thlng ltself. Except ln
the reasoned world of the etymologlst, a dog has always
been a dog ln all the anclent languages and love has
been love slnce flrst lt was felt. Jhe boundarles of para
dox ln the thoughts of Cratylus ln contrast to Heracll
tus` hypotheses are hldden ln the dovetalled
lndlvlslblllty or unlty of opposltes, thelr harmony (day
and nlght), the constant movement and reafflrmatlon of
thelr substance. Jhe same ls true of words as thlngs ln
thelr own rlght (there ls no dog wlthout the cat and no
love wlthout hate).
Conversely Hermogenes thought that words were
mere conventlons establlshed by humans for the rea
sonable purpose of understandlng one another. Man ls
confronted wlth thlngs or they are presented to hlm.
Iaced wlth somethlng new, man glves lt a name. Jhe
slgnlflcance of thlngs ls not the sprlng ln the woods but
the well dug by man. Jhe parabollc frontler of the
senses, and of expresslon, as expounded by Hermo
genes and concealed by Democrltus and at tlmes by
Protagoras, comes up tlme and agaln. ls man who mea
sures and deslgnates all thlngs generlc or lndlvldual? Is
the measurement of those thlngs a mere eplstemologlcal
concept? Are thlngs only physlcal matter or are they
also feellngs and concepts? By reduclng belng to lllu
slon, Hermogenes kllls off truth ln the cradle; the
contradlctory concluslon that the only posslble proposl
tlons are those whlch man formulates by hlmself and to
hlmself, renders real what ls true and what ls not true.
You wlll recall that accordlng to Vlctor Henry`s famous
aporla man can glve a name to thlngs but he cannot
take them over; he can change the language but he can
not change lt any way he wlshes. Referrlng ln perhaps
overcautlous terms to the exactltude of names Plato
seems to sympathlse obllquely wlth Cratylus` posltlon.
thlngs are called what they have to be called (an organlc
and valld theory that ls on the verge of belng acknowl
edged ln pure reason as a prlnclple) and not what man
decldes they should be called accordlng to whlch way
the wlnd ls blowlng at any glven tlme (thls belng a
changlng or even fluctuatlng corollary, dependent on
the changlng supposltlons present at the same tlme as,
or prlor to, a glven thlng).
Jhls attltude, orlglnally romantlc and conse
quently demagoglcal, was the startlng polnt for the
Latln poets, headed by Horace. It gave rlse to all the llls
whlch have affllcted us ln thls fleld slnce that tlme and
whlch we have not been able to remedy. ^ m~I
verses 70 to 72, slngs of the prevalence of usage ln the
evolutlon of language (not always a welcome develop
ment).
323
ai_ POV `~W k iI U a NVUV
Multa renascentur quae lam cecldere cadentque quae
nunc sunt ln honore vocabula, sl volet usus, quem
penes arbltrlum est et lus et norma loquendl.
Jhls tlmebomb, however pleaslng ln lts charlty, had
several complex consequences leadlng flnally to the
supposltlon that language ls made by the peopleand
lnevltably by the people aloneand that lt ls futlle to try
and subject language to the preclse and reasonable rules
of loglc. Jhls dangerous assertlon by Horace that usage
determlnes what ls rlght and acceptable ln language cre
ated a rubblshdump clogged wlth overgrown efforts ln
whlch the shortcut became the hlghway along whlch
man progressed bearlng the banner of language blow
lng freely and trembllng ln the breeze, obstlnately con
tlnulng to confuse vlctory wlth the subservlence
lnherent ln lts very lmage.
Whlle Horace was partly rlght (and we should
not deny that), he was also wrong ln a number of ways
and we should not try to hlde that elther. But we should
also acknowledge the contrlbutlon of Cratylus and Her
mogenes by reflnlng thelr prlnclples. Cratylus` posltlon
falls wlthln what ls referred to as natural or ordlnary or
spoken language, whlch ls the product of the constant
use of a hlstorlcal and psychologlcal path, whlle Her
mogenes` proposltlon flts lnto what we understand as
artlflclal or speclallzed language or jargon, derlvlng
from a more or less formal arrangement or from some
formal method based on loglc but wlth no hlstorlcal or
psychologlcal tradltlon behlnd ltat least at the tlme lt ls
concelved. Jhe flrst Wlttgensteln, the author of the
q~~I ls a celebrated modern exponent of Hermo
genes` proposltlon. Jhus ln that sense lt would not be
llloglcal to talk of Cratyllan or natural or human lan
guage and of Hermogenean or artlflclal or parahuman
language. Llke Horace my polnt of reference ls obvl
ously the former, the language of llfe and llterature,
wlthout technlcal or defenslve obstacles. Max Scheler
and lndeed phenomenologlsts generallyls also refer
rlng to what I wlll now call Cratyllan language when he
talks about language as an lndlcatlon or announcement
or expresslon, as ls Karl Bhler when he classlfles the
three functlons of language as symptom, slgnal and
symbol.
It goes wlthout saylng that Hermogenean lan
guage naturally accommodates lts orlglnal artlflclallty.
On the other hand Cratyllan language does not adapt
to extraneous terrltory where there are often hldden plt
falls allen to lts essentlal transparency.
It ls dangerous to admlt that ln the flnal analysls
natural, Cratyllan language ls the offsprlng of a maglcal
marrlage between the people and chance. Because
people do not create language they determlne lts
development. We can say, albelt wlth conslderable res
ervatlons, that people solve to a certaln extent the puz
zle of language by glvlng names to thlngs; but they also
adulterate and hybrldlze lt. If people were not subject to
those hldden pltfalls referred to earller thls lssue would
be much more urgent and llnear. What ls not put for
ward but whlch nevertheless lles hldden wlthln the true
heart of the matter ls one and the same and already
determlned; and nelther I nor anyone else can change
that.
Jhe Cratyllan language, the structure or system
descrlbed by Ierdlnand de Saussure as 'langue," ls the
common language of a communlty (or rather more
than a communlty), ls formed and authentlcated by
wrlters and regulated and generally orlentated by Acad
emles. Jhese three estatesthe communlty, the wrlter
and the Academlesdo not always fulfll thelr respectlve
dutles. Very often they lnvade and lnterfere ln other
areas. It would appear that nelther the Academles, nor
the wrlters nor the communlty are happy wlth thelr
own roles. Whlle not competent to do so they prefer to
deflne the role of others whlch, perhaps even rlghtly ln
prlnclple, wlll always be unclear and llldeflned and,
even worse, end up dlsslpatlng and obscurlng the sub
ject of thelr attentlon, namely the language and the verb
whlch should be essentlally transparent. Jhe algebralc
and mere lnstrument wlth no value other than lts use
fulness, ln the flnal analysls as ln Lnamuno`s i ~
m~K
Jhe flnal determlnlng factor, the State, whlch ls
nelther the communlty nor the wrlters nor the Acade
mles, condltlons and constralns everythlng, lntervenes
ln a thousand dlfferent ways (admlnlstratlve jargon,
government pronouncements, televlslon, etc.) com
poundlng, more by bad example than by lnhlbltlon, dls
order and dlsarray, chaos and confuslon.
But no one says anythlng about popular, llterary,
academlc, state and other excesses. Language evolves
not ln lts own way whlch ln prlnclple would be appro
prlate, but ls rather pushed around by the opposlng
forces surroundlng lt.
Jhe communlty to whom Horace`s llnes are
reclted eventually belleve that thls ls how a language
should evolve and trles to lncorporate phrases, styles
and expresslons that are nelther lntultlve nor the prod
uct of thelr subconsclouswhlch at least mlght produce
somethlng valld or plauslblebut rather dellberately
and consclously lnvented, or, even worse, lmported (at
the wrong tlme and agalnst sound common sense).
Wrlters, obvlously wlth some exceptlons, follow
the often defectlve usage ln thelr own envlronment and
lntroduce and sanctlon expresslons that are cumber
some and, worse stlll, dlvorced from the essentlal splrlt
of the language.
321
Jhe Academles` problems stem from the basls on
whlch they operate. as lnstltutlons they tend to be con
servatlve and afrald of belng challenged.
Jhe eroslon of the Cratyllan language by Hermo
genean lnfluences ls becomlng more pronounced and
there ls a danger that lt wlll deslccate that llvlng lan
guage and render the natural language artlflclal. As I
have already sald, thls threat ls caused by lnvented, gra
tultously lncorporated or lnopportunely resurrected or
revltallsed language.
Jhere seems to be some polltlcal reason behlnd
the lmpetus that now leads, as lt has ln the past, gally to
abandon the prlnclples of a language ln the face of a
blunt attack by those besleglng lt. In my vlew the rlsks
outwelgh the posslble benefltswhlch are somewhat
Ltoplanthat mlght accrue at some future unspeclfled
date. Whlle I am far from belng a purlst, I would llke to
call on wrlters ln the flrst lnstance and then on Acade
mles and on States to a lesser degree to put an end to
the chaos. Jhere ls undoubtedly a contlnulty ln lan
guage that supersedes any classlflcatlons we wlsh to
establlsh but that does not constltute grounds for tear
lng down the natural frontlers of language. If we allow
that we would be admlttlng to a defeat that has not yet
taken place.
Let us rally our genlus ln defence of language, all
languages, and let us never forget that confuslng proce
dure wlth the rule of Law, just as observlng the letter
rather than the splrlt of the Law, always leads to lnjus
tlce whlch ls both the source and consequence of dlsor
der.
Jhought ls lntrlnslcally llnked to language. More
over, freedom ls also probably llnked to certaln llnguls
tlc and conceptual patterns. Jogether they provlde the
broad framework for all human endeavour; those that
seek to explore and expand human frontlers, also those
that seek to undermlne the status of man. Jhought and
llberty are found ln the mlnds of heroes and vlllalns
allke.
But thls generallsatlon obscures the need for
greater preclslon lf we are to arrlve at an understandlng
of the real meanlng of what lt ls to thlnk and to be free.
Insofar as we are able to ldentlfy the phenomena that
take place ln the mlnd, thlnklng for man means thlnk
lng about belng free. Jhere has been much argument
regardlng the extent to whlch thls freedom or llberty ls
somethlng concrete or whether lt ls just another sllck
phenomenon produced by the human mlnd. But such
argument ls probably futlle. A wlse Spanlsh phllosopher
has polnted out that the llluslon and the real lmage of
freedom are one and the same thlng. If man ls not free,
lf he ls bound by chalns that psychology, blology, socl
ology and hlstory seek to ldentlfy, as a human belng he
also carrles wlthln hlmself the ldea, whlch may be an
llluslon but whlch ls absolutely unlversal, that he ls free.
And lf we wlsh to be free we wlll organlse our world ln
much the same way as we would lf we were free.
Jhe archltectural deslgn on whlch we have trled
to bulld successfully or otherwlse the complex frame
work of our socletles, contalns the baslc prlnclple of
human freedom and lt ls ln the llght of that prlnclple
that we value, exalt, denlgrate, castlgate and suffer. the
aura of llberty ls the splrlt enshrlned ln our moral
codes, polltlcal prlnclples and legal systems.
We know that we thlnk. We thlnk because we are
free. Jhe llnk between thought and freedom ls llke a
flsh bltlng lts own tall or rather a flsh that wants to get
hold of lts own tall; because belng free ls both a dlrect
consequence of and an essentlal condltlon for thought.
Jhrough thought man can detach hlmself as much as
he wants from the laws of nature; he can accept and
submlt to those laws, for example llke the chemlst who
has gone beyond the boundarles of phloglston theory
wlll base hls success and prestlge on such acceptance
and submlsslon. In thought however, the realms of the
absurd lle slde by slde wlth the emplre of loglc because
man does not thlnk only ln terms of the real and the
posslble. Jhe mlnd can shatter lts own machlnatlons
lnto a thousand pleces and rearrange them lnto a totally
dlfferent lmage.
Jhus one can have as many ratlonal lnterpreta
tlons of the world based on emplrlcal prlnclples as the
thlnker wlshes prlmarlly on the basls of the promlse of
freedom. Iree thlnklng ln thls narrow sense ls that
antlthesls of the emplrlcal world and flnds expresslon ln
the fable. Jhus the capaclty to create fables would
appear to be the thlrd element ln the human statusthe
others belng thought and freedomand thls capaclty
can turn thlngs round ln such a way that thlngs whlch
before they became the subject of a fable were not even
untruths become truths.
Jhrough the process of thought man beglns to
dlscover hldden truth ln the world, he can alm to create
hls own dlfferent world ln whatever terms he wlshes
through the medlum of the fable. Jhus truth, thought,
freedom and fable are lnterllnked ln a compllcated and
on occaslon suspect relatlonshlp. It ls llke a dark pas
sageway wlth several sldeturnlngs golng off ln the
wrong dlrectlon; a labyrlnth wlth no way out. But the
element of rlsk has always been the best justlflcatlon for
embarklng on an adventure.
Jhe fable and sclentlflc truth are not forms of
thought. Jhey are rather heterogeneous entltles whlch
cannot posslbly be compared wlth one another slnce
they are subject to completely dlfferent rules and tech
nlques. Consequently, lt ls not approprlate to brandlsh
the standard of llterature ln the struggle to free men`s
mlnds. Llterature should rather be regarded as a coun
325
ai_ POV `~W k iI U a NVUV
terwelght to the newfound slavlsh submlsslon to scl
ence. I would go further and say that I belleve that a
prudent and careful dlstlnctlon must be drawn between
those forms of sclence and llterature whlch joln together
to conflne man wlthln rlgld llmlts whlch deny all ldeas
of freedom, and that we must be darlng and offset those
forms by other sclentlflc and llterary experlences almed
at engenderlng hope. By unreservedly trustlng ln the
superlorlty of human freedom and dlgnlty, rather than
suspect truths whlch dlssolve ln a sea of presumptlon,
would be an lndlcatlon that we have progressed. How
ever ln ltself lt ls not enough. If we have learned any
thlng lt ls that sclence ls lncapable of justlfylng
asplratlons to freedom and that on the contrary lt rests
on crutches that tllt lt ln exactly the opposlte dlrectlon.
Sclence should be based solely on the most profound
exlgencles of human freedom and wlll. Jhat ls the only
means of enabllng sclence to break away from utllltarl
anlsm whlch cannot wlthstand the pltfalls of quantlty
and measurement. Jhls leads us to the need to recogn
lse that llterature and sclence although heterogeneous
cannot remaln lsolated ln a prophylactlc endeavour to
deflne areas of lnfluence and thls for two reasons,
namely the status of language (that baslc lnstrument of
thought) as well as the need to deflne the llmlts of and
dlstlngulsh between that whlch ls commendable and
laudable and that whlch must be denounced by all com
mltted lndlvlduals.
I belleve that llterature as an lnstrument for creat
lng fables ls founded on two baslc plllars whlch provlde
lt wlth strength to ensure that llterary endeavour ls
worthwhlle. Ilrstly aesthetlcs, whlch lmpose a requlre
ment on an essay, poem, drama or comedy to malntaln
certaln mlnlmum standards whlch dlstlngulsh lt from
the subllterary world ln whlch creatlvlty cannot keep
pace wlth the readers` emotlons. Irom soclallst reallty
to the lnnumerable lnconstancles of wouldbe experl
mentallsts, wherever aesthetlc talent ls lacklng the
resultlng subllterature becomes a monotonous lltany of
words lncapable of creatlng a genulne worthwhlle fable.
Jhe second plllar on whlch llterary endeavour
rests ls ethlcs whlch complements aesthetlcs and whlch
has a lot to do wlth all that has been sald up to now
regardlng thought and freedom. Of course ethlcs and
aesthetlcs are ln no way synonymous nor do they have
the same value. Llterature can balance ltself precarl
ously on aesthetlcs aloneart for art`s sakeand lt could
be that aesthetlcs ln the long run may be a more com
prehenslve concept than ethlcal commltment. We can
stlll appreclate Homer`s verses and medleval eplc cantl
cles although we may have forgotten or at least no
longer automatlcally llnk them wlth ethlcal behavlour
ln anclent Greek cltles or ln feudal Europe. However
art for art`s sake ls by deflnltlon an extremely dlfflcult
undertaklng and one whlch always runs the rlsk of
belng used for purposes whlch dlstort lts real meanlng.
I do belleve that ethlcal prlnclple ls the element
whlch makes a work of llterature worthy of playlng the
noble role of creatlng a fable. But I must explaln clearly
what I mean because the llterary fable as a means of
expresslng the llnks between man`s capaclty to thlnk
and the perhaps Ltoplan ldea of belng free cannot be
based on just any klnd of ethlcal commltment. My
understandlng ls that a work of llterature can only be
subject to the ethlcal commltment of the person, the
author, to hls own ldea of freedom. Of course noone,
not even the cleverest and most balanced llterary
author, can ever (or rather cannot always) overcome hls
humanlty; anyone can have a bllnd spot and freedom ls
a sufflclently amblguous concept and many bllndlng
errors can be commltted ln lts name. Nor can an aes
thetlc sense be acqulred from a textbook. Jhus, the llt
erary fable must be based on both a sense of ethlcs and
a commltment to aesthetlcs. Jhat ls the only way lt can
acqulre a slgnlflcance that wlll transcend ephemeral
fashlons or confused appreclatlon that can qulckly
change. Jhe hlstory of man ls changlng and tortuous.
Consequently, lt ls dlfflcult to antlclpate ethlcal or aes
thetlc senslbllltles. Jhere are wrlters who are so tuned
ln to the feellng of thelr tlme that they become magnlfl
cent exponents of the prevalllng collectlve trend and
whose work ls a condltlonal reflex. Others take on the
thankless and not sufflclently applauded task of carry
lng freedom and human creatlvlty further along the
road, even lf ln the end that too may lead nowhere.
Jhls ls the only way ln whlch llterature can fulfll
lts role of closely ldentlfylng lts commltment to the
human status and, lf we wlsh to be absolutely preclse ln
thls thesls, the only endeavour that can unreservedly be
called true llterature. However, human soclety cannot
be llnked to genluses, salnts and heroes alone.
In thls task of seeklng out freedom, the fable has
the beneflt of the wellknown characterlstlc of the lntrln
slc malleablllty of the llterary story. Jhe fable does not
need to subject ltself to anythlng that mlght restrlct lts
scope, novelty and element of surprlse. Jhus, unllke
any other form of thought lt can wave the Ltoplan ban
ner hlgh. Perhaps that ls why the most avld authors of
treatlses of polltlcal phllosophy have opted to use the llt
erary story to convey Ltoplan proposltlons that would
not have found ready acceptance outslde the realms of
flctlon at the tlme they were wrltten. Jhere are no llmlts
to the Ltoplanlsm that the fable can express slnce by lts
very nature the fable ltself ls based on Ltoplanlsm.
However, the advantages of llterary expresslon
are not conflned to the ease wlth whlch lt can convey
Ltoplan proposltlons. Jhe lntrlnslc plastlclty of the
story, the malleablllty of the sltuatlons, personalltles
326
and events lt creates provlde a superb foundry from
whlch one can, wlthout undue rlsk, set up an entlre fac
tory, or, to put lt another way, a laboratory ln whlch
men conduct experlments on human behavlour ln optl
mum condltlons. But the fable does not restrlct ltself to
expresslng the Ltoplan. It can also analyse carefully
what lt means and what lts consequences are ln the
myrlad dlfferent alternatlve sltuatlons ranglng from
learned predlctlon to the absurd that creatlve thought
can produce.
Jhe role of llterature as an experlmental labora
tory has been often hlghllghted ln sclence flctlon; specu
latlon about the future that has subsequently been
reallsed. Crltlcs have heaped pralse on novellsts who
have a talent for predlctlng ln thelr fables the baslc
coordlnates whlch subsequently have been substantl
ated. But the real usefulness of the fable as a testtube
lles not ln lts anecdotal capaclty for accurately predlct
lng somethlng technlcal but as a means of conveylng ln
a tlmely, dlrect or negatlve fashlon all posslble facets of
a world that may be posslble now or ln the future. It ls
the search for human commltment, for traglc experl
ences, that can shed llght on the amblgulty of bllndly
chooslng optlons ln the face of the demands placed
upon us by our world, now or ln the future, that turns
the fresco of llterature lnto an experlmental laboratory.
Jhe value of llterature as a means of carrylng out
experlments on behavlour has llttle to do wlth predlc
tlon slnce human behavlour only has a past, present
and future ln a very speclflc, narrow sense. Jhere are,
however, baslc aspects of our nature whlch have an
lmpresslve permanency about them and whlch cause us
to be deeply moved by an emotlonal story from a com
pletely dlfferent age to the one we llve ln. It ls thls 'unl
versal man" that ls the most prlzed flgure ln llterary
fable, an experlmental workshop ln whlch there are no
frontlers and no ages. It ls the _ulxotes, the Othellos,
the Don |uans that lllustrate to us that the fable ls a
game of chess played over and over agaln, a thousand
tlmes wlth whatever pleces destlny throws up at any
glven tlme.
In absolute terms lt mlght appear that thls
detracts from the socalled freedom I am advocatlng
and lndeed that would be the case lf one dld not take
account of the role of that lmperfect, voluble and con
fused personallty, the author, the man. Jhe maglc of
Shylock would never have emerged wlthout the genlus
of the Bard, whose unrellable memory was of course
far more lnconslstent than that of the characters to
whom he gave llfe and to whom ln the end he denled
death. And what of those anonymous scholars and jug
glers whom we remember only for the result produced
by thelr talents. Jhere ls undoubtedly somethlng that
must be remembered over whatever soclology or hls
tory trles to lmpose upon us and that ls that thus far
and lnsofar we can concelve of the future of manklnd,
works of llterature are very much subject to the needs
of the author; that ls to say to a slngle source of those
ethlcal and aesthetlc lnslghts I referred to earller, an
author who acts as a fllter for the current whlch
undoubtedly emanates from the whole surroundlng
soclety. It ls perhaps thls llnk between Man and Soclety
that best expresses the very paradox of belng a human
belng proud of hls lndlvlduallty, and at the same tlme
tled to the communlty that surrounds hlm and from
whlch he cannot dlsengage hlmself wlthout rlsklng
madness. Jhere ls a moral here; the llmltatlons of lltera
ture are preclsely those of human nature and they show
us that there ls another status, ldentlcal ln other ways,
whlch ls that of gods and demons. Our mlnd can lmag
lne demlurges and the ease wlth whlch human belngs
lnvent rellglons clearly demonstrates that thls ls so. Our
capaclty to create fables provldes a useful llterary
means of lllustratlng those demlurges, as lndeed we
have done constantly slnce Homer wrote hls verses.
But even that cannot lead us to mlstake our nature or
put out once and for all the tenuous flame of freedom
that burns ln the lnnermost belng of the slave who can
be forced to obey but not to love, to suffer and dle but
not to change hls most profound thoughts.
When the proud, bllnd ratlonallst renewed ln
enllghtened mlnds the blbllcal temptatlon, the last
maxlm of whlch promlsed 'You wlll be as gods" he dld
not take account of the fact that Man had already gone
much further down that road. Jhe mlsery and the
prlde that for centurles had marked Man`s efforts to be
llke the gods had already taught Man a better reason;
that through effort and lmaglnatlon they could become
Men. Ior my part, I must say proudly that ln thls latter
task, much of whlch stlll remalns to be accompllshed,
the llterary fable has always been, and ln all clrcum
stances proved to be, a declslve tool; a weapon that can
cleave the way forward ln the endless march to free
dom.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l989. Camllo |os Cela ls
327
p t `
(J0 òvcmbcr 1S74 - 24 ovuory 196)
i~ h~
Jhls entry was expanded by Kltzan from hls Churchlll
entry ln DI 100: Modcrv ritisl Issoyists, Sccovd Scrics.
BOOKS. Tlc Story of tlc Mololovd Iicld Iorcc: Zv Ipisodc
of Irovticr !or (London New York. Longmans,
Green, l898);
Tlc Iivcr !or: Zv Historicol Zccouvt of tlc Iccovqucst of tlc
Soudov, edlted by Irancls Wllllam Rhodes (2 vol
umes, London New York. Longmans, Green,
l899; revlsed, l volume, l902);
Sovrolo: Z Tolc of tlc Icvolutiov iv Iourovio (New York.
Longmans, Green, l900; London. Longmans,
Green, l900);
Iovdov to Iodysmitl vio Irctorio (London New York.
Longmans, Green, l900);
Iov Homiltov`s Morcl: Togctlcr witl Ixtrocts from tlc Diory of
Iicutcvovt H. Irovllovd, o Irisovcr of !or ot Irctorio
(London New York. Longmans, Green, l900);
Mr. rodcricl`s Zrmy (London. Humphreys, l903; Sacra
mento, Cal.. Churchllllana, l977);
!ly I Zm o Ircc Trodcr (London. Stead, l905);
Iord Iovdolpl Clurclill, 2 volumes (London New
York. Macmlllan, l906);
Ior Ircc Trodc: Z Collcctiov of Spccclcs Dclivcrcd ot Movclcs-
tcr or iv tlc Housc of Commovs durivg tlc Iiscol Covtro-
vcrsy Ircccdivg tlc Iotc Ccvcrol Ilcctiov (London.
Humphreys, l906; Sacramento, Cal.. Churchll
llana, l977);
My Zfricov ourvcy (London. Hodder Stoughton,
l908; New York. Doubleday, Doran, l909);
Iibcrolism ovd tlc Sociol Iroblcm (London. Hodder
Stoughton, l909; Doubleday, Doran, l9l0);
Tlc Icoplc`s Iiglts (London. Hodder Stoughton, l909;
New York. Japllnger, l97l);
Irisov ovd Irisovcrs: Z Spcccl Dclivcrcd iv tlc Housc of Com-
movs, 20
uly, 1910 (London New York. Cas

sell, l9l0);
Tlc !orld Crisis, 6 volumes (London. Butterworth,
l923-l93l; New York. Scrlbners, l923-l93l);
abrldged and revlsed, l volume (London. Butter
worth, l93l; New York. Scrlbners, l93l);
Iorliomcvtory Covcrvmcvt ovd tlc Icovomic Iroblcm: Tlc
Iomovcs Iccturc Dclivcrcd iv tlc Slcldoviov Tlcotrc, 19
uvc 19J0 (Oxford. Clarendon Press, l930);
My Iorly Iifc: Z Iovivg Commissiov (London. Butter
worth, l930); republlshed as Z Iovivg Commissiov:
My Iorly Iifc (New York. Scrlbners, l930);
Ivdio: Spccclcs ovd ov Ivtroductiov (London. Butterworth,
l93l);
p t ` EF NVRP k m
i~ h d~ sf ^ p
~ p b~ i
E^m t tF
328
p t ` ai_ POV
Tlouglts ovd Zdvcvturcs (London. Butterworth, l932);
republlshed as Zmid Tlcsc Storms: Tlouglts ovd
Zdvcvturcs (New York. Scrlbners, l932);
Morlborougl: His Iifc ovd Timcs, 1 volumes (London.
Harrap, l933-l938; New York. Scrlbners, l933-
l938);
Crcot Covtcmpororics (London. Butterworth, l937; New
York. Putnam, l937); revlsed and enlarged (Lon
don. Butterworth, l938); revlsed edltlon (Lon
don. Macmlllan, l913); revlsed edltlon (London.
Odhams, l958);
Zrms ovd tlc Covcvovt: Spccclcs, edlted by Randolph S.
Churchlll (London. Harrap, l938); republlshed
as !lilc Ivglovd Slcpt: Z Survcy of !orld Zffoirs,
19J2-19JS (New York. Putnam, l938);
Stcp by Stcp: 19J6-19J9 (London. Butterworth, l939;
New York. Putnam, l939);
Zddrcsscs Dclivcrcd iv tlc Jcor ìvctccv Huvdrcd ovd Iorty to
tlc Icoplc of Crcot ritoiv, of Irovcc, ovd to tlc Mcmbcrs
of tlc Ivglisl Housc of Commovs (San Iranclsco. Ran
sohoffs, l910);
roodcost Zddrcsscs to tlc Icoplc of Crcot ritoiv, Itoly, Iolovd,
Iussio ovd tlc Uvitcd Stotcs (San Iranclsco. Ranso
hoffs, l91l);
Ivto ottlc: Spccclcs, edlted by Randolph S. Churchlll
(London. Cassell, l91l); republlshed as lood,
Swcot ovd Tcors (New York. Putnam, l91l);
Tlc Uvrclcvtivg Strugglc: !or Spccclcs, edlted by Charles
Eade (London. Cassell, l912; Boston. Llttle,
Brown, l912);
Tlc Ivd of tlc cgivvivg: !or Spccclcs, edlted by Eade
(London. Cassell, l913; Boston. Llttle, Brown,
l913);
!ivstov Clurclill, Irimc Mivistcr: Z Sclcctiov from Spccclcs
Modc by !ivstov Clurclill Durivg tlc Iour Jcors Tlot
ritoiv Hos ccv ot !or (New York. Brltlsh Infor
matlon Servlces, l913);
Uvwords to !ictory: !or Spccclcs, edlted by Eade (London.
Cassell, l911; Boston. Llttle, Brown, l911);
Tlc Dowv of Iibcrotiov: !or Spccclcs, edlted by Eade
(London. Cassell, l915; Boston. Llttle, Brown,
l915);
!ictory: !or Spccclcs, edlted by Eade (London. Cassell,
l916; Boston. Llttle, Brown, l916);
!or Spccclcs: 1940-194 (London. Cassell, l916);
Sccrct Scssiov Spccclcs, edlted by Eade (London. Cassell,
l916); republlshed as !ivstov Clurclill`s Sccrct Scs-
siov Spccclcs (New York. Slmon Schuster, l916);
Tlc Sivcws of Icocc: Iost-!or Spccclcs, edlted by Randolph
S. Churchlll (London. Cassell, l918; Boston.
Houghton Mlfflln, l919);
Moxims ovd Icflcctiovs, edlted by Colln Coote and Denzll
Batchelor (London. Eyre Spottlswoode, l918;
Boston. Houghton Mlfflln, l919);
Tlc Sccovd !orld !or, 6 volumes (Boston. Houghton
Mlfflln, l918-l953; London. Cassell, l918-
l951)comprlses volume l, Tlc Cotlcrivg Storm;
volume 2, Tlcir Iivcst Hour; volume 3, Tlc Crovd
Zlliovcc; volume 1, Tlc Hivgc of Iotc; volume 5,
Closivg tlc Iivg; and volume 6, Triumpl ovd Trogcdy;
abrldged by Denls Kelly as Tlc Sccovd !orld !or,
by Churchlll and the edltors of Iifc, 2 volumes
(New York. Jlme, l959); abrldged by Kelly, wlth
a new epllogue by Churchlll, as Mcmoirs of tlc Scc-
ovd !orld !or (Boston. Houghton Mlfflln, l959);
Ioivtivg os o Iostimc (London. Odhams Benn, l918; New
York. Whlttlesey House, l950);
Iuropc Uvitc: Spccclcs 1947 ovd 194S, edlted by Ran
dolph S. Churchlll (London. Cassell, l950; Bos
ton. Houghton Mlfflln, l950);
Iv tlc olovcc: Spccclcs 1949 ovd 190, edlted by Ran
dolph S. Churchlll (London. Cassell, l95l; Bos
Tlc !or Spccclcs of tlc It. Hov. !ivstov S. Clurclill, U.M.,
C.H., I.C., M.I., 3 volumes, edlted by Eade (Lon
don. Cassell, l952; Boston. Houghton Mlfflln,
l953);
Stcmmivg tlc Tidc: Spccclcs 191 ovd 192, edlted by Ran
dolph S. Churchlll (London. Cassell, l953; Bos
Sir !ivstov Clurclill, o Sclf-Iortroit, edlted by Coote and
P. D. Bunyan (London. Eyre Spottlswoode,
l951); expanded as Z Clurclill Icodcr: Tlc !it ovd
!isdom of Sir !ivstov Clurclill, edlted by Coote
and and Bunyan (Boston. Houghton Mlfflln,
l951);
Tlc !isdom of !ivstov Clurclill: civg o Sclcctiov of Zplo-
risms, Icflcctiovs, Ircccpts, Moxims, Ipigroms, Ioro-
doxcs, ovd Upiviovs from His Iorliomcvtory ovd Iublic
Spccclcs, 1900-19, edlted by I. B. Czarnomskl
(London. Allen Lnwln, l956); abrldged as Tlc
Iloqucvcc of !ivstov Clurclill, edlted by Czarnom
skl (New York. New Amerlcan Llbrary, l957);
Z History of tlc Ivglisl-Spcolivg Icoplcs, 1 volumes (Lon
don. Cassell, l956-l958; New York. Dodd,
Mead, l956-l958)comprlses volume l, Tlc
irtl of ritoiv; volume 2, Tlc `cw !orld; volume
3, Tlc Zgc of Icvolutiov; and volume 1, Tlc Crcot
Dcmocrocics;
Cotologuc of ov Ixlibitiov of Ioivtivgs by tlc It. Hov. Sir !iv-
stov Clurclill, edlted by Alfred M. Irankfurter
(Kansas Clty, Mo., l958);
Ioivtivgs by tlc It. Hov. Sir !ivstov S. Clurclill, Ixlibitcd ot
tlc Ioyol Zcodcmy of Zrts, Iovdov, 199 (London.
Jhe Academy, l959);
Tlc Zmcricov Civil !or (London. Cassell, l96l; New
York. Dodd, Mead, l96l);
329
ai_ POV p t `
Tlc Uvwrittcv Zlliovcc: Spccclcs 19J to 199, edlted by
Randolph S. Churchlll (London. Cassell, l96l);
Irovticrs ovd !ors |selectlons from Churchlll`s early non
flctlon| (New York. Harcourt, Brace World,
l962);
Tlc Islovd Iocc (New York. Dodd, Mead, l961);
Clurclill: His Ioivtivgs: Z Cotolog, complled by Davld
Coombs (London. Hamllton, l967; Cleveland.
World, l967);
Jouvg !ivstov`s !ors: Tlc Urigivol Dcspotclcs of !ivstov S.
Clurclill, !or Corrcspovdcvt, 1S97-1900, edlted by
Irederlck Woods (London. Cooper, l972; New
York. Vlklng, l973); revlsed as !ivstov S. Clurclill,
!or Corrcspovdcvt, 1S9-1900 (London Wash
lngton, D.C.. Brassey`s, l992).
b ~ `W Z Clurclill Zvtlology: Sclcctiovs
from tlc !ritivgs ovd Spccclcs of Sir !ivstov Clurclill,
edlted by I. W. Heath (London. Odhams, l965);
Clurclill`s History of tlc Ivglisl-Spcolivg Icoplcs, abrldged
by Henry Steele Commager (New York. Dodd,
Mead, l965);
Morlborougl: His Iifc ovd Timcs, abrldged by Commager
(New York. Scrlbners, l968);
Tlc Collcctcd !orls of Sir !ivstov Clurclill: Ccvtcvory Iim-
itcd Iditiov, 31 volumes (London. Llbrary of
Imperlal Hlstory, l973-l976);
!ivstov S. Clurclill: His Complctc Spccclcs, 1S97-196J, 8
volumes, edlted by Robert Rhodes |ames (New
York. Chelsea House, l971);
Tlc Collcctcd Issoys of Sir !ivstov Clurclill, 1 volumes,
edlted by Mlchael Wolff (London. Llbrary of
Imperlal Hlstory, l976);
Tlc Crcot Icpublic: Z History of Zmcrico |from Z History of
tlc Ivglisl-Spcolivg Icoplcs|, edlted by Wlnston S.
Churchlll (New York. Random House, l999).
Preemlnent Brltlsh statesman Slr Wlnston
Churchlll was awarded the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature ln
l953. In hls presentatlon speech, Slgfrld Slwertz, a
member of the Swedlsh Academy, noted that
'Churchlll`s polltlcal and llterary achlevements are of
such magnltude that one ls tempted to resort to portray
hlm as a Caesar who also has the glft of Clcero`s pen.
Never before has one of hlstory`s leadlng flgures been
so close to us by vlrtue of such an outstandlng comblna
tlon." Churchlll was not at the presentatlon, and at the
Nobel Banquet hls wlfe, Lady Clementlne Churchlll,
read hls speech; but he probably was pleased at the ref
erence to Clcero, a master wrlter and orator, as well as
the reference to |ullus Caesar. Llke Caesar`s, hls flrst
career was ln the army, and he always showed a speclal
lnterest ln the mllltary as well as ln developlng hls pollt
lcal skllls. Polltlcs was Churchlll`s endurlng passlon,
and lt was as a polltlclan and statesman that hls prlmary
reputatlon stands; however, Churchlll`s polltlcal career
must also be seen ln conjunctlon wlth hls outstandlng
llterary achlevements. Irom an early age hls wrltlngs
underplnned hls polltlcal career, but hls hlstorles and
other wrltlngs were also slgnlflcant contrlbutlons to llt
erature.
Wlnston Leonard Spencer Churchlll, born at
Blenhelm Palace on 30 November l871, was the flrst of
two chlldren of Lord Randolph Churchlll, the younger
son of the seventh duke of Marlborough, and the
former |ennle |erome, the daughter of a wealthy Amerl
can buslnessman. All of these factors played slgnlflcant
roles ln hls llfe. He had a romantlclzed vlew of hls Marl
borough background and became an avld defender of
the reputatlon of the flrst duke, whom he percelved as
havlng been unjustly attacked as a traltor by hlstorlans;
he was also a strong defender of the reputatlon of hls
father, Lord Randolph, who at the tlme of Wlnston`s
blrth was just beglnnlng what could have been a brll
llant polltlcal career but ended ln dlsaster. Late ln hls
llfe Churchlll strongly emphaslzed hls Amerlcan herl
tage.
Churchlll began hls precarlous and sometlmes
unhappy experlence ln the academlc slde of hls educa
tlon at prlvate schools, and then at Harrow, where, as
he notes ln My Iorly Iifc: Z Iovivg Commissiov (l930),
examlners 'almost lnvarlably" set questlons 'to whlch I
was unable to suggest a satlsfactory answer." Slnce
young Churchlll dld not excel at currlcula wlth strong
emphases on the classlcal languages, and because he
had from an early age enjoyed marshalllng hls battal
lons of toy soldlers, Lord Randolph declded that hls
son was destlned for a mllltary career. After two falled
attempts at the entrance exams to the Royal Mllltary
Academy at Sandhurst, Churchlll entered Sandhurst ln
l893, where he found a currlculum much more sulted
to hls tastes; he was able to cultlvate hls lnterest ln hls
tory, the subject ln whlch he had shown the most ablllty
at Harrow. Jo hls great satlsfactlon he passed elghth out
of a class of l50 students. He recelved hls commlsslon
as second lleutenant ln the Iourth Hussars ln Iebruary
l895, shortly after the death of hls father. Jhe reglment
was posted to Indla ln the followlng year, where
Churchlll began hls wrltlng careera flnanclal necesslty
brought on by belng an offlcer ln a fashlonable cavalry
reglment ln whlch a lleutenant`s salary met less than
half of hls needs. Hls wldowed mother also chronlcally
exceeded her own llmlted lncome and found lt dlfflcult
to meet the flnanclal demands of two sons.
Roy |enklns, ln Clurclill: Z iogroply (200l), notes
that Churchlll responded to hls shortfall ln lncome by
evolvlng 'two flrm rules whlch he followed falthfully
for the rest of hls llfe. Jhe flrst was that expendlture
should be determlned by needs (generously lnterpreted)
330
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rather than by resources. . . . Second, he declded that
when the gap between lncome and expendlture became
uncomfortably wlde the splrlted solutlon must always
be to lncrease lncome rather than to reduce expendl
ture." Hls mother was pressed to use her soclal connec
tlons to get hlm posted to scenes of mllltary actlvlty,
where he not only would see mllltary servlce but also
would be able to act as a pald newspaper correspon
dent. In l895, even before golng to Indla, he had ful
fllled both deslres by recelvlng permlsslon to be an
observer among the Spanlsh forces attemptlng to sub
due an lnsurrectlon ln Cuba, where, to hls lmmense sat
lsfactlon, he had for the flrst tlme ln hls llfe come under
flre; hls letters from Cuba were publlshed by the Doily
Croplic.
Once ln Indla, Churchlll was able to obtaln per
mlsslon to accompany Slr Blndon Blood`s punltlve
expedltlon to the Swat Valley on the northwest frontler,
agaln as a correspondent, for two newspapers, Tlc Iio-
vccr and the Doily Tclcgropl. He qulckly found hlmself
actlvely lmmersed ln a dangerous frontler campalgn,
where he plunged eagerly lnto actlve combat and
learned about both the thrlll of battle and the human
dlmenslons of war. Churchlll`s l5 October l897 letter
to hls newspapers descrlbed a sklrmlsh ln whlch he was
lnvolved.
Now, suddenly, grlm tragedy burst upon the scene. As
the soldlers rose from the shelter of the rocks behlnd
whlch they had been flrlng, an offlcer turned qulckly
round, hls face covered wlth blood. He put hls hands to
hls head and fell on the ground. Jwo of the men ran to
help hlm away. One fell shot through the leg. A sepoy
who was stlll flrlng sprang lnto the alr and, falllng,
began to bleed terrlbly. Another fell close to hlm.
Everyone began to pull these men along, dragglng
them roughly over the rocky ground ln splte of thelr
groans. Another offlcer was lmmedlately shot. Several
Slkhs ran forward to hls help. Jhlrty yards away was
the crest of the spur. From thls a score of trlbesmen
were now flrlng wlth deadly effect. Over lt ran a crowd
of swordsmen, throwlng pleces of rock and yelllng. It
became lmposslble to remaln an lmpasslve spectator.
Jhe two offlcers who were left |one of them was
Churchlll| used thelr revolvers. Jhe men flred wlldly.
One offlcer and two wounded sepoys were dropped on
the ground. Jhe offlcer lay on hls back. A tall man ln
dlrtywhlte llnen pounced on hlm wlth a sword. It was
a horrlble slght.
Churchlll was already developlng the style, whlch he
used so effectlvely ln hls later books, of uslng short,
breathless sentences to suggest the feellng of combat.
He used thls experlence to publlsh hls flrst book,
Tlc Story of tlc Mololovd Iicld Iorcc (l898), a reworklng
of hls newspaper columns. Jhe lntroductory chapters
of thls book glve the background to the confllct and
descrlbe the progress of the campalgn before he arrlved.
It was Churchlll`s flrst excurslon lnto the research and
wrltlng of hlstory.
An aspect of Churchlll`s relatlvely short stay ln
Indla (about nlneteen months) was hls determlnatlon to
ln some way make up for hls lack of a unlverslty educa
tlon. He read steadlly through the books sent to hlm by
hls mother. Ilrst came the volumes of Edward Glbbon
and Jhomas Bablngton Macaulay, whlch had an
lmpact on hls speeches and hls wrltlng, followed by
Adam Smlth`s !coltl of òtiovs (l776), Charles Darwln`s
Urigiv of Spccics (l859), and Plato`s Icpublic (ln transla
tlon). He also read through twentyseven volumes of
the Zvvuol Icgistcr, startlng wlth the year of hls blrth
(l871), and he pasted ln hls own summarles and com
mentarles on the polltlcs of thls perlod. Already he was
preparlng for a career beyond the mllltary.
Tlc Story of tlc Mololovd Iicld Iorcc brought
Churchlll conslderable notlce ln England and some crlt
lcal and flnanclal success. Jhe vlgorous and colorful
descrlptlons of mllltary actlons and the emphasls on the
courage of Brltlsh troops, a quallty that he hlmself
shared, became the hallmark of hls mllltary books. Also
evldent was hls wllllngness to comment crltlcally on
government pollcles, a tralt that garnered hlm hls share
of enemles ln the future and almost lmmedlately caused
hlm dlfflculty ln the achlevement of the next adventure
he had planned.
Early ln l898 lt was evldent that the Brltlsh gov
ernment was prepared to launch the flnal push agalnst
the government of the Khallfa ln the Sudan, where, ln
l885, the Brltlsh general Charles Gordon had been
kllled at Khartoum. Jhe expedltlon agalnst Omdur
man, now the capltal of the Sudan, was led by Slr Her
bert Kltchener, the commander of the Egyptlan army,
and lncluded a slzable contlngent of Brltlsh troops.
Churchlll was determlned to be part of that expedltlon.
Kltchener, aware of the lnconvenlence of havlng as part
of hls forces an offlcer/newspaper correspondent who
could be crltlcal of the actlons of hls superlors, strongly
reslsted, and lt took conslderable lobbylng by |ennle
Churchlll and varlous other allles to get Churchlll
attached to the Jwentyflrst Lancers. Jhe llterary result
of thls adventure was Tlc Iivcr !or: Zv Historicol Zccouvt
of tlc Iccovqucst of tlc Soudov (l899), a book that fulfllled
Kltchener`s mlsglvlngs about havlng Churchlll accom
pany the expedltlon. Crltlclsms publlshed ln the book,
even though he omltted or modlfled most of them ln
later edltlons, lald the groundwork for the coolness
between the two men when they were colleagues ln the
Llberal cablnet at the beglnnlng of World War I
Churchlll as Ilrst Lord of the Admlralty and Kltchener
as Secretary for Wara coolness that was exacerbated
33l
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by dlfferences of oplnlon on the Dardanelles Campalgn
of l9l5.
Tlc Iivcr !or beglns wlth four chapters of back
ground to the confllct ln the Sudan and several more on
the lnltlal campalgns before Churchlll`s arrlval on the
scene. Jhere are detalled descrlptlons of the battles,
lncludlng those that dld not go well for the Brltlsh.
Descrlblng the scene when the Mahdlst forces over
whelmed the defenslve llnes of General Gordon ln
Khartoum ln l885, Churchlll wrote. 'Mad wlth the joy
of vlctory and rellglous frenzy, they rushed upon hlm
|Gordon| and, whlle he dlsdalned even to flre hls
revolver, stabbed hlm ln many places. Jhe body fell
down the steps and laya twlsted heapat the foot.
Jhere lt was decapltated." But the most memorable and
colorful descrlptlon of battle came when Churchlll hlm
self was part of the cavalry charge of the Jwentyflrst
Lancers at the Battle of Omdurman.
Stubborn and unshaken lnfantry hardly ever meet stub
born and unshaken cavalry. Elther the lnfantry run
away and are cut down ln fllght, or they keep thelr
head and destroy nearly all the horsemen by thelr mus
ketry. On thls occaslon two llvlng walls had actually
crashed together. Jhe Dervlshes fought manfully. Jhey
trled to hamstrlng the horses. Jhey flred thelr rlfles,
presslng the muzzles lnto the very bodles of thelr oppo
nents. Jhey cut relns and stlrrupleathers. Jhey flung
thelr throwlng spears wlth great dexterlty. Jhey trled
every devlce of cool, determlned men practlced ln war
and famlllar wlth cavalry; and, besldes, they swung
sharp, heavy swords whlch blt deep.
Jhe charge, llke the more famous Charge of the Llght
Brlgade ln the Crlmean War, mlght have been, mllltar
lly, a mlstake; but lt was, llke lts predecessor, a glorlous
explolt, and Churchlll, ln the mlddle of lt, shared ln the
glory.
Jhls glory was already made known to the publlc
through hls columns ln the Morvivg Iost, whlch enabled
Churchlll not only to dlne wlth the polltlcal ellte ln
England but also to asplre, not yet twentyflve years
old, to a polltlcal career. He ran as a Conservatlve can
dldate ln a byelectlon and lost but dld well enough to
glve hlmself some encouragement for the future. Hls
potentlal, however, stlll needed some more develop
ment, and hls opportunlty came wlth the beglnnlng of
the Boer War ln South Afrlca ln l899.
Iourth Churchlll had reslgned hls commlsslon ln
the Hussars before the byelectlon ln l899, but he salled
for South Afrlca both as a wellpald correspondent for
the Morvivg Iost and wlth a promlse of a commlsslon ln
the Lancashlre Hussars. Jhls dual posltlon certalnly
made amblguous hls later clalm to be a noncombatant,
and there ls some doubt whether hls actlvltles after the
armored traln that he was accompanylng was wrecked
could be vlewed as strlctly noncombatant, though he
was unarmed (hls plstol havlng been lost ln the confu
slon of the wreck) when he was captured by the Boers.
Shortly before he was to be released as a noncombatant
from the prlson camp ln Pretorla, he escaped and made
hls way down the rallway to the Portuguese port of
Loureno Marques, an adventure he descrlbed ln detall
ln hls Iovdov to Iodysmitl vio Irctorio (l900) and repeated
wlth rellsh ln My Iorly Iifc. Jhe publlclty of both hls
capture and hls escape galned hlm a great deal of atten
tlon ln England, as dld hls account of the Boer War
campalgns ln Iovdov to Iodysmitl vio Irctorio and Iov
Homiltov`s Morcl: Togctlcr witl Ixtrocts from tlc Diory of
Iicutcvovt H. Irovllovd, o Irisovcr of !or ot Irctorio (l900).
Lpon Churchlll`s return to England ln l900, he
ran agaln as a Conservatlve candldate ln the electlon of
that year, and thls tlme was elected as part of the Con
servatlve vlctory ln an electlon much of whlch was
fought on the lmperlal lssues of war ln South Afrlca.
Almost lmmedlately he began a lucratlve lecture tour ln
Brltaln recountlng hls South Afrlcan adventures, and a
somewhat less lucratlve tour ln the Lnlted States. Jhe
lncome from hls publlc lectures gave hlm the flnanclal
resources to slt ln Parllament, necessary because mem
bers of Parllament were not pald. Back ln London he
began worklng out a speaklng style ln Parllament that
was most effectlve for hlm. He qulckly learned that lt
was best to have a major speech fully prepared and
largely wrltten out, and then memorlzed, and soon he
was speaklng wlth some lmpact. Meanwhlle he began a
serlous questlonlng of hls polltlcal oplnlons and alle
glances.
Whlle he was ln Indla, Churchlll began hls one
and only novel, Sovrolo: Z Tolc of tlc Icvolutiov iv Iouro-
vio, serlallzed ln l899 and publlshed ln l900. It
lncluded somethlng of a polltlcal statement that could
be attrlbuted to Churchlll hlmself. Jhe herolne, Lucllle,
modeled ldeallstlcally on Churchlll`s mother, ls marrled
to Molara, the dlctator of Lauranla, but ls attracted to
Savrola, a patrlclan wlth democratlc tendencles, mod
eled on Churchlll hlmself, or perhaps hls father. Savrola
ls ambltlous but deslrous to brlng llberty, falrness,
peace, and prosperlty to the people. He ls also a man of
great courage and manages, desplte vlolence, bombard
ment, betrayal, and exlle, to establlsh a more just state
for hls people. Jhe book ls ldeallstlc and romantlc and
contlnues to be reprlnted.
Whlle servlng hls apprentlceshlp ln Parllament,
Churchlll was busy worklng on a blography of hls
father, Iord Iovdolpl Clurclill, publlshed ln two volumes
ln l906 and stlll recognlzed, desplte some shortcom
lngs, as one of hls best works. Jhe book was an act of
homage to a father whom he admlred but to whom he
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never had been able to get close. In thls blography,
Churchlll concentrated on the more successful aspects
of Lord Randolph`s polltlcal career and presented hlm
ln the best llght posslble. He saw hls father`s Iourth
Party and hls champlonlng of Jory democracy as an
embodlment of Savrola`s patrlclan concern for the
worklng class, and he gave thls pollcy more conslstency
than Lord Randolph, essentlally an opportunlst ln poll
tlcs, ever had. Churchlll declded that hls father`s llberal
prlnclples would be hls own, and thls declslon was the
catalyst for the flrst blg swltch ln hls polltlcal career.
Jhe occaslon for Churchlll`s growlng dlssatlsfac
tlon wlth the Conservatlve Party was the emerglng spllt
wlthln the party over |oseph Chamberlaln`s tarlff
reform campalgn and Prlme Mlnlster Alfred Balfour`s
attempt to shut down dlvlslve debate by party members
lnstead of comlng out clearly, as Churchlll wanted, ln
favor of contlnulng the Iree Jrade pollcy that had dom
lnated polltlcal economlc theory ln Brltaln for at least a
half century. Churchlll saw hlmself as standlng for
cheap food for the worklng class. Jhls convlctlon, and
the feellng that the Conservatlve Party lacked any com
mltment to soclal reform, as well as a sense of frustra
tlon over the lack of any apparent movement ln hls own
polltlcal career, led Churchlll to defect to the Llberal
Party ln l901. Hls vlctory ln the electlon of l906 was
part of a Llberal landsllde majorlty.
Jhough the swltch ln party alleglance earned
Churchlll the endurlng hostlllty of many Conservatlves
and dld not overcome the susplclons of many of hls
new Llberal colleagues, hls polltlcal ambltlons certalnly
were reallzed. Irom l905 to l9l5 he was contlnuously
ln offlce. He started out as Lnder Secretary for the Col
onles, a posltlon ln whlch he was a constant trlal to the
Colonlal Secretary Lord Elgln, who was contlnually
faced wlth the task of keeplng hls subordlnate`s enthusl
asm ln some sort of check. Jogether they trled to deal
wlth the constltutlonal aftereffects of the Boer War and
the annexatlon of the two Boer republlcs. Whlle ln thls
offlce, Churchlll went on a fourmonth tour of East
Afrlca ln l907-l908, partlally for some sport, and par
tlally because of hls lnterest ln colonlal problems, whlch
he proceeded to analyze ln detall. Jhe product of thls
tour was a sllm volume, j ^~ g (l908).
Shortly after Churchlll`s return from South Afrlca
ln l908, he was promoted to the cablnet as presldent of
the Board of Jrade. He also met Clementlne Ogllvy
Hozler, a twentytwoyearold woman of 'flawless
beauty" (as Vlolet Bonham Carter recalled ln a l965
memolr), and they were marrled ln September. Jhelrs
was a long and affectlonate relatlonshlp ln whlch her
only real rlval was polltlcseven on thelr honeymoon
Churchlll carrled on an extenslve polltlcal correspon
dence. As much as lt was wlthln her power, she was
often a moderatlng lnfluence on some of hls more
extreme enthuslasms. Jhey had flve chlldren. a son,
Randolph, and four daughters, Dlana, Sarah, Marlgold
(who dled ln l92l, aged two years and nlne months),
and Mary.
In l9l0 Churchlll succeeded Davld Lloyd George
as Home Secretary. Whlle at the Board of Jrade and as
Home Secretary, he worked wlth Lloyd George on the
soclal leglslatlon that began Brltaln`s journey to becom
lng a soclal welfare state. Labor exchanges, oldage pen
slons, unemployment lnsurance, and a natlonal health
lnsurance scheme helped Churchlll to fulflll, as he saw
lt, hls duty to the worklng classes. On the other hand,
as hls dutles as Home Secretary called for the malnte
nance of order ln the lncreaslngly volatlle labor unrest
between l9l0 and l9l1 and led to hls dlspatch of pollce
and mllltary unlts to strlkebound areas, such actlons
gave hlm a reputatlon for belng antllabor.
In l9ll Churchlll became Ilrst Lord of the Adml
ralty and was lmmedlately transported from the more
mundane dutles of looklng after the welfare of the peo
ple to the excltlng lnternatlonal arena of enhanclng
natlonal defense ln the lncreaslngly tense era precedlng
the outbreak of World War I. He was now worklng ln
the same mllleu as had hls lllustrlous ancestor, the flrst
duke of Marlborough, and clrcumstances placed hlm ln
a sltuatlon that could wln hlm a conslderable amount of
glory. In the meantlme, he was thrust lnto the mlddle of
the emotlonal debates of the naval race wlth Germany
and the battle over approprlatlons for the constructlon
of more dreadnoughts.
Churchlll conslstently supported a dreadnought
constructlon program deslgned to keep Brltaln well
ahead of any German constructlon, and naval estlmates
lncreased substantlally. As the lnternatlonal crlsls deep
ened ln l9l3 and l9l1, he was one of the flrst cablnet
mlnlsters to see the necesslty of supportlng Iorelgn
Mlnlster Lord Grey`s pollcy of backlng Irance ln the
event of war. When the flghtlng dld break out ln
August l9l1, he plunged wlth enthuslasm lnto the
organlzatlon of war, though naval dlsasters at the begln
nlng somewhat dlmmed hls luster. Stlll, he was wllllng
to undertake such adventures as personally organlzlng
the evacuatlon of Antwerp and presslng on hls col
leagues plans for endlng the stalemate on the Western
Iront. Jhat last endeavor landed hlm ln a project that
spelled temporary dlsaster to hls career.
Wlth the Irench and the Brltlsh bogged down fac
lng the Germans ln trenches across Belglum and
Irance, from the Engllsh Channel to Swltzerland, and
wlth thelr Russlan allles havlng serlous dlfflcultles keep
lng thelr armles adequately equlpped to prevall agalnst
the Germans, Austrlans, and Jurks, Churchlll proposed
a flank attack, flrst of all ln the north, wlth an lnvaslon
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of SchleswlgHolsteln from the sea. When thls plan met
wlth opposltlon, he plcked up a scheme for a naval
attack through the Dardanelles to Constantlnople, to
drlve the Jurks out of the war, to encourage the
Greeks, the Bulgarlans, and the Romanlans to ally
agalnst the Germans, and to open up a dlrect channel of
supply to and from Russla. Jhe attack could be by
shlps alone or wlth a coordlnated land campalgn on the
Galllpoll Penlnsula. Churchlll qulckly became a convert
to the Dardanelles scheme and ln December l9l1
began plannlng for a naval attack alone, barely notlclng
growlng opposltlon from hls colleagues, most oml
nously from Lord Ilsher, Churchlll`s own cholce as
Ilrst Sea Lord. When the naval attack falled, posslbly
because lt had not been pushed vlgorously enough, and
a land operatlon was now added to the plan, Lord
Kltchener was dlstlnctly not enthuslastlc about dlver
slons of troops from the Western Iront. Brltlsh and
Imperlal troops began arrlvlng at Galllpoll plecemeal,
allowlng the Jurks to rally thelr defenses, and several
months of murderous battle followed, wlth the allles
plnned to the beaches, untll the expedltlon was wlth
drawn ln December l9l5. By thls tlme Churchlll was
no longer Ilrst Lord of the Admlralty.
Churchlll had fallen from hls exalted posltlon as
one of the archltects of the Brltlsh war effort as a result
of several factors. Hls 'lmpetuousness," a term often
used about Churchlll by hls colleagues, had led hlm to
attempt to lnterfere ln areas outslde of hls own speclflc
responslblllty, whlch created tenslon even wlth old
allles, such as Lord Grey at the Iorelgn Offlce and
Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Exchequer. Jhe
enthuslasm of hls support for the Dardanelles project,
often frustrated by the tlmldlty and lncompetence of
fleld commanders at the local level, made Churchlll an
obvlous and convenlent scapegoat for the flasco. Most
lmportantly, the prlme mlnlster, Herbert Asqulth, who
had tolerated Churchlll`s eccentrlcltles, had come to the
reluctant concluslon that a coalltlon wlth the Conserva
tlves was essentlal to pursue the war, but the prlce of
thelr leader, Bonar Law, was the dlsmlssal of Churchlll
from the Admlralty.
Jhe loss of the Admlralty and the revelatlon of
how llttle support he had ln the Llberal Party was a
severe blow to Churchlll and threw hlm lnto a perlod of
the depresslon that hounded hlm throughout hls llfe
'black dog" as he called lt. Hls wlfe came to hls rescue
wlth a dlverslon. Churchlll, who had never been lnter
ested ln art, was persuaded to try experlments wlth hls
chlldren`s palnt boxes, and these efforts captured hls
lnterest. He qulckly abandoned the pastels of watercol
ors ln favor of the boldness of olls; hls sklll lmproved,
and palntlng became hls hobby and passlon for the rest
of hls llfe. In 'Palntlng as a Pastlme," lncluded ln hls
book of essays Tlouglts ovd Zdvcvturcs (l932), Churchlll
wrote about the tlme when he was dlsmlssed from the
Admlralty. 'Llke a seabeast flshed up from the depths,
or a dlver too suddenly holsted, my velns threatened to
burst from the fall ln pressure. I had great anxlety and
no means of rellevlng lt; I had vehement convlctlons
and small power to glve effect to them." Irom thls
dllemma palntlng rescued hlm, and he found that he
could dlstract hls mlnd even from polltlcs for long perl
ods of tlme.
By |uly l9l7 Churchlll`s polltlcal fortunes had
revlved, and he appeared to have been forglven the
Dardanelles debacle, lf not by everyone, at least by hls
prlme mlnlster. Lloyd George wanted Churchlll ln the
crltlcal Munltlons Mlnlstry because, llke Lloyd George
hlmself, he could stlr thlngs up, push people, get thlngs
done, and could keep cruclal munltlons productlon at
the level that Lloyd George`s control of that mlnlstry
had already achleved. Churchlll, who was as usual con
stantly comlng up wlth ldeas and could not help tres
passlng on the terrltorles of other mlnlstrles, dld
provlde plenty of shells for the endless artlllery barrages
of the Western Iront and also began produclng large
numbers of tanks for what he belleved would be the
flnal offenslve ln l9l9, after the Amerlcans had arrlved
ln strength.
Jhe downfall of the Lloyd George coalltlon, pre
clpltated by a Conservatlve backbench revolt agalnst
contlnulng the wartlme alllance and the defeat of the
Lloyd George Llberals ln the electlon of l922, lncluded
Churchlll`s loslng declslvely ln hls own constltuency.
He lost agaln, runnlng as a Llberal, ln the general elec
tlon of l923, and as an Independent AntlSoclallst ln a
l921 byelectlon, before wlnnlng ln the l921 general
electlon as a Constltutlonallst. Wlth no Conservatlve
opponent ln thls last electlon, the vlctory marked a way
statlon on hls mlgratlon back to the Conservatlve Party.
It also provlded hlm wlth a safe House of Commons
seat, ln Epplng, for the rest of hls llfe. Meanwhlle, he
had on hls mlnd the vlndlcatlon of hls dlsgrace over the
Dardanelles, and he had begun work on Tlc !orld Cri-
sis: 1911-191S, publlshed ln slx volumes (l923-l93l).
Jhe volumes of Tlc !orld Crisis sold well. Here
was the story of a tremendous confllct, told by an
lnslder. It was full of maps, statlstlcal tables, and
extracts from the letters of the partlclpants of the great
drama, all set ln the vlvld lf sometlmes overblown style
of a master storyteller, speaklng of bloody battles ln the
mllltary sphere and tense struggles ln the polltlcal. It
establlshed, at least to Churchlll`s own satlsfactlon, how
he could have won the war years earller lf he had had
full control and support ln the Dardanelles Campalgn
from the beglnnlng. Arthur Balfour, hls sometlmes
frlend and sometlmes enemy, llghtly mocked Tlc !orld
331
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Crisis as 'Wlnston`s brllllant autoblography, dlsgulsed
as world hlstory." |ohn Maynard Keynes, the proml
nent economlst who was no frlend of Churchlll`s eco
nomlc pollcles ln the l920s, nevertheless wrote an
admlrlng revlew ln the òtiov (9 March l929).
Jhe chronlcle ls flnlshed. Wlth what feellngs does one
lay down Mr. Churchlll`s twothousandth page? Gratl
tude to one who can wrlte wlth so much eloquence and
feellng of thlngs whlch are part of the llves of all of us
of the war generatlon, but whlch he saw and knew
much closer and clearer. Admlratlon for hls energles of
mlnd and hls lntense absorptlon of lntellectual lnterest
and elemental emotlon on what ls for the moment the
matter ln handwhlch ls hls best quallty. A llttle envy,
perhaps, for hls undoubtlng convlctlon that frontlers,
races, patrlotlsms, even wars lf need be, are ultlmate
verltles for manklnd, whlch lends for hlm a klnd of dlg
nlty and even noblllty to events, whlch for others are
only a nlghtmare lnterlude, somethlng to be perma
nently avolded.
Havlng moved practlcally to the doorstep of the
Conservatlve Party ln the electlon of l921, Churchlll
was lnvlted the rest of the way when Prlme Mlnlster
Stanley Baldwln offered hlm the cablnet post of Chan
cellor of the Exchequer, a post he held untll the defeat
of the Conservatlves ln the electlon of l929. He
approached hls new mlnlstry wlth hls usual vlgor, and
at the same tlme he contrlbuted a stream of advlce to
Baldwln on all matters polltlcal.
Jhe Labour Party formed the government ln
l929, and ln the aftermath a growlng rlft developed
between Churchlll and most of the Conservatlve lead
ershlp over the lssue of constltutlonal advances ln Indla.
When the Labour government, unable to cope wlth
enormous problems because of the Depresslon, ylelded
to the formatlon of a coalltlon natlonal government
wlth Labour leader Ramsay MacDonald as prlme mln
lstera coalltlon that, after the electlon of l93l, was
masslvely supported by the Conservatlve Party
Churchlll was not asked to be ln the cablnet. Even more
reveallng of hls lsolatlon, when Baldwln succeeded
MacDonald as prlme mlnlster ln l935, Baldwln felt no
need to offer a cablnet offlce to hls former Chancellor
of the Exchequer. Churchlll`s polltlcal career appeared
to be effectlvely over.
Churchlll had a congenlal dlstractlon whlle he
was pursulng hls ultlmately futlle opposltlon to Indlan
reform. He became lnvolved ln the rehabllltatlon of the
polltlcal reputatlon of the flrst duke of Marlborough,
who, Churchlll felt, had been unjustly mallgned by the
nlneteenthcentury hlstorlan Jhomas Bablngton
Macaulay ln hls multlvolume History of Ivglovd from tlc
Zcccssiov of omcs II (l818-l86l). Macaulay had
deplcted the duke as lacklng sexual, polltlcal, and flnan
clal morallty and had labeled hlm a traltor. Jhe
research for Churchlll`s fourvolume Morlborougl: His
Iifc ovd Timcs (l933-l938) probably began ln l93l or
l932; Churchlll employed several researchers and vls
lted the battleflelds. Jhe wrltlng of these lengthy vol
umes proceeded brlskly, and there were respectable
sales ln both Brltaln and the Lnlted States. In the same
perlod he flnlshed Tlouglts ovd Zdvcvturcs and Crcot Cov-
tcmpororics, the latter not publlshed untll l937 and
revlsed ln l938, l913, and l958. In l932 he also
recelved from a publlsher a conslderable advance for
the four volumes of Z History of tlc Ivglisl-Spcolivg Ico-
plcs, flnlshed ln l939 but not publlshed untll the l950s,
after extenslve revlslons. In addltlon to all these works,
Churchlll contrlbuted wellpaylng artlcles to journals
and newspapers. Slnce he could no longer rely on the
salary of a cablnet mlnlster, he counted on hls wrltlngs
to malntaln an lncome large enough to keep hls famlly
ln the llfestyle that Churchlll expected.
Churchlll`s war agalnst the leadershlp of the Con
servatlve Party over the lssue of Indlan constltutlonal
reform, durlng whlch he had fought frultlessly to alert
the Brltlsh publlc to the dangers belng posed both to
Indla and to the Brltlsh Emplre, had serlous conse
quences for the other great crusade upon whlch he
embarked ln the l930s. Churchlll had badgered so per
slstently and had made clalms about the consequences
of lgnorlng the warnlngs that were essentlally lncapable
of proof untll a conslderable perlod of tlme had passed,
lf at all, that he had undermlned hls credlblllty when he
began to warn the leadershlp and the country of the
dangers posed by Adolf Hltler`s Germany.
In Tlc Cotlcrivg Storm, the flrst of hls slx volumes
on Tlc Sccovd !orld !or (l918-l953), Churchlll out
llnes how hls growlng apprehenslon over the Nazl
threat had become acute ln l936 when German troops
marched lnto the Rhlneland, whlch had been demlllta
rlzed by the Jreaty of Versallles ln l9l9. Hls speeches
ln Parllament and ln publlc at tlmes were followed wlth
close attentlon and at other tlmes were dlsregarded
because they ran counter to the prevalllng deslre not
only for keeplng estlmates for the armed forces low, but
also for dlsarmament and the avoldance of armed con
fllct. Churchlll desperately wanted to be ln the cablnet,
where he could exert greater pressure on hls colleagues
to heed hls warnlngs. But lf MacDonald, whom he
desplsed, had lgnored hlm, as dld Baldwln, wlth whom
hls frlendly relatlons of the l920s had suffered because
of the Indla quarrel, Churchlll dld not get any more
conslderatlon from Nevllle Chamberlaln, who became
prlme mlnlster ln l937, a move Churchlll had sup
ported. Chamberlaln feared brlnglng Churchlll lnto hls
cablnet because, as he explalned, 'If I take hlm lnto the
Cablnet he wlll domlnate lt. He won`t glve others a
PPR
ai_ POV p t `
m~ ~I ~~ Ì ` I r p~ p NVPM
~ ^ o `W j b~ i Eo~ _ ~ p~ Ì m r i~F
336
p t ` ai_ POV
chance of even talklng." Chamberlaln preferred to be
the domlnant force ln hls cablnet.
Churchlll developed many sources of lnforma
tlon, even ln the Iorelgn Offlce, and used the statlstlcal
lnformatlon fed to hlm on the extent of German rear
mament to reveal the growlng strength of Germany and
the momentum that would soon enable the Germans to
undermlne the securlty of even Brltaln and Irance.
When Chamberlaln flew to Munlch to meet Hltler and
returned home wlth the agreement that destroyed
Czechoslovakla`s barrlers agalnst German attack (and
shortly destroyed the lndependence of that state), Duff
Cooper reslgned from the cablnet, followlng the earller
reslgnatlon of Anthony Eden. Churchlll was bulldlng
allles among the younger leaders of the Conservatlves.
He commented ln Parllament on what had happened ln
the negotlatlons on the Czech state. 'l was demanded
at the plstol`s polnt. When lt was glven, 2 were
demanded at the plstol`s polnt. Ilnally the dlctator con
sented to take l.l7s6d. and the rest ln promlses of
goodwlll for the future." He contlnued that thls conces
slon was not the end of the problem but rather the
beglnnlng of a process that would compel Brltaln to
flght for freedom. If Churchlll`s stand agalnst the Nazl
threat was not as conslstent as he later malntalned ln
q d~ pI lt was stlll lntenslve enough ln
speeches and newspaper artlcles to ensure that when hls
dlre predlctlons were vlndlcated, and Chamberlaln led
Brltaln lnto war wlth Germany ln l939 upon the Ger
man lnvaslon of Poland, Churchlll was brought lnto the
cablnet, once agaln ln the Admlralty.
Jhe war for Churchlll at the Admlralty, as well as
for the natlon, dld not begln well. Churchlll busled hlm
self organlzlng the safety of the sealanes for the mer
chant fleet and launchlng a vlgorous campalgn agalnst
the German Lboats that were clalmlng casualtles even
ln what had been consldered protected areas. Jhls cam
palgn was a major concern throughout the war; protect
lng Brltaln`s vltal supply llnes extended eventually from
the huntlng of the submarlnes at sea to alr attacks on
thelr bases and manufacturlng facllltles. Jhe Brltlsh
navy was also unable to prevent what became a success
ful German attack on and occupatlon of Norway.
Jhough the maln brunt of the flghtlng had to thls
polnt been borne by the navy, the blame for the lack of
success was plnned not on Churchlll, who had the
advantage of belng only recently on the job, but on
Chamberlaln. Dlscontent wlthln the country was
matched by growlng restlessness wlthln Parllament, and
the Labour opposltlon was soon jolned ln crltlclsm by
an lncreaslng number of Conservatlves. Chamberlaln`s
attempt to create a natlonal coalltlon was effectlvely sty
mled by Labour`s refusal to serve ln a Chamberlaln
cablnet, and soon pressure mounted from senlor mem
bers of hls own supporters wlthln the Conservatlves to
make way for a new prlme mlnlster. When Chamber
laln reluctantly bent to thls pressure, the questlon of a
successor became paramount. Publlc oplnlon polls
placed Churchlll narrowly ln second place to Eden, but
Chamberlaln`s own preference was hls Iorelgn Secre
tary, Lord Hallfax. It was a preference shared by many
leaders of all partles, on the grounds that Churchlll was
too lmpetuous. However, thls preference was not
shared by Hallfax, who correctly reallzed that wlth
Churchlll ln the cablnet, an essentlal, Churchlll would
soon be runnlng the entlre war efforthe was already
up to hls old hablts at the Admlralty of poachlng on the
responslbllltles of other mlnlstersand he mlght as well
have the entlre responslblllty. Slnce Hallfax would not
budge, Chamberlaln gave way, and on l0 May l910,
Klng George VI requested that Churchlll form a new
admlnlstratlon.
Churchlll qulckly formed a small war cablnet,
conslstlng of hlmself, the two leadlng members of the
Labour PartyClement Attlee and Arthur Green
woodand Hallfax and Chamberlaln, who efflclently
and loyally served ln thls cablnet untll cancer forced
hlm to reslgn a few months later. Ior Churchlll, a coall
tlon forced hlm to malntaln a careful balanclng act, wlth
representatlves ln the larger cablnet from Labour and
the Llberals, as well as from varlous factlons of the
Conservatlves. In addltlon, he from tlme to tlme
brought ln lndlvlduals from outslde the parllamentary
ranks to make use of thelr talents and lnfluence. Jo Par
llament ln hls openlng speech he offered an example of
hls talent for colnlng memorable phrases. 'I have noth
lng to offer but blood, toll, tears and sweat." Even dls
countlng hls lmmedlate lnvlgoratlon of the war effort ln
the admlnlstratlon, and the ceaseless monltorlng of
events and posslbllltles that could brlng Brltaln to vlc
tory, Churchlll`s speeches ln Parllament and on the
radlo offered the lnsplratlon that Brltaln stood ln great
need of ln the many dark years of warfare to follow.
Jhe llfe of Churchlll to the end of the war was
the hlstory of the Brltlsh partlclpatlon ln World War II;
he almost llterally llved at hls offlce for most of the
week, to be ln close contact wlth events. When he felt lt
necessary, he attempted dlrect dlplomacy and flew to
Parls after Germany lnvaded Irance ln an effort to prop
up the qulckly fadlng Irench war effort. When Hltler
lnvaded Russla ln l91l, Churchlll put on hold hls long
standlng opposltlon to the Sovlet state to offer ald. 'If
Hltler lnvaded Hell, I would at least make a favorable
reference to the Devll ln the House of Commons." Iol
lowlng up, ln l912 he flew to Moscow to meet |oseph
Stalln and explaln why Brltaln was not yet ln a posltlon
to open a second front on the European contlnent.
337
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Almost ceaselessly he worked to get the moral and
materlal support of the Lnlted States.
Churchlll had spent conslderable perlods of tlme
after l929 tourlng ln the Lnlted States, and hls books
were almost as well known there as ln Brltaln. He dld
not hesltate to clalm klnshlp to the Amerlcans because
of hls mother. He found a sympathetlc audlence ln Pres
ldent Iranklln Delano Roosevelt, who worked hard to
overcome the lsolatlonlsm that had domlnated Amerl
can oplnlon and polltlcs slnce l9l9. In l91l thls sympa
thy bore frult when Brltaln and lts domlnlons stood
vlrtually alone faclng lmmlnent lnvaslon by the vlctorl
ous Germans. Jhe Amerlcan Congress passed a Lend
Lease Blll, whlch provlded Brltaln wlth materlal and
flnanclal resources. When the Amerlcans entered the
war after the |apanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7
December l91l, the relatlonshlp and cooperatlon
between Churchlll and Roosevelt grew even closer as
they met ln Casablanca ln l913 to dlscuss war strategy
after the ellmlnatlon of the Germans from North Afrlca.
Jhe two allles also met twlce ln _uebec, ln l913 and
l911.
It was good to have allles as powerful as the
Amerlcans and the Russlans. Jhe Russlans had hung
on, stubbornly brlnglng the German juggernaut to a
halt and then, ln return, began destroylng the German
armles on thelr road to Berlln. Jhe Amerlcans and the
Brltlsh ln l913 opened up a 'second front," lnvaded
Italy, and ln a serles of hardfought battles, pushed thelr
way up the penlnsula, and drove Italy out of the war. In
|une l911, DDay landlngs ln Normandy began the
process of clearlng the Netherlands, Belglum, and
Irance of German forces, and early ln l915 a Canadlan
army lncludlng Brltlsh forces crossed the Rhlne Rlver
wlth an Amerlcan army, openlng a campalgn that led to
the flnal dlslntegratlon of the German armles. Whlle
the Brltlsh mllltary were now on the wlnnlng end of the
war, Churchlll was at tlmes less than happy wlth hls
powerful allles, as hls fertlle ldeas on the conduct of the
war and the postwar settlement met wlth frequent
defeat.
When Germany flnally collapsed and surren
dered ln May l915, Churchlll`s pleasure ln the vlctory
was marred by hls premonltlon of a Sovletdomlnated
Europe. He was tlred and unwell, but performed hls
dutles. He lunched wlth the klng, made a vlctory
speech on the radlo and one ln Parllament, spoke to
vast crowds celebratlng vlctory ln the streets, attended a
thanksglvlng servlce, and dlned wlth members of hls
famlly. He then faced the prospect of the contlnuatlon
of the war wlth |apan, and the collapse of the coalltlon
ln the House of Commons, whlch had seen Brltaln
through all the dlfflcultles of the European campalgn.
Partlsan polltlcs reemerged.
Havlng just fought a war wlth the help of the
leaders of the Labour Party, whom he was to pralse as
valuable and loyal colleagues, Churchlll ln the electlon
campalgn ln the summer of l915 apparently redlscov
ered all hls old antlpathles to soclallsm. He proceeded
to state openly that a Labour government would lnstl
tute programs that would brlng ln the lnltlal stages of a
totalltarlan state. If thls clalm was deslgned as a scare
tactlc, lt dld not work wlth the majorlty of the voters. It
was soon clear that whlle Churchlll was popular, the
party he led, percelved as havlng left Brltaln ln poor
shape to face Hltler, was not yet forglven by the Brltlsh
electorate. Churchlll was dlsappolnted when Labour
won a landsllde vlctory.
Out of offlce, and merely a spectator as the war
agalnst |apan came to an end ln August wlth the drop
plng of the atomlc bombs on Hlroshlma and Nagasakl,
Churchlll turned once agaln to the portlon of hls llfe`s
work that he had set aslde for the slx years of war. He
began to wrlte, worklng on what became a bestseller
both ln Brltaln and the Lnlted States, hls slx volumes of
q p t t~. Jhough hls publlshers had lnl
tlally feared that the volumes were overdocumented for
the publlc taste, these fears dld not appear to be justl
fled. Jhe bookbuylng publlc warmed to the authentlc
volce of one of the major and bestknown partlclpants
ln that great event; readers felt that they were belng let
ln on the great affalrs of state that had remalned hldden
to them. Jhough a work of hlstory, lt was also a mem
olr of a remarkable perlod of Churchlll`s llfe, and
Churchlll was now a publlc flgure of such dlmenslon
that a memolr appealed to people who ln thelr varlous
ways had shared ln the events that he descrlbed.
Whlle Churchlll was busy wrltlng, the Labour
government was havlng lts dlfflcultles trylng to run a
state wlth resources that had been serlously depleted
durlng the war. Its program of reforms had to glve way
too often to the need for austerlty, and not unnaturally
many people were dlsenchanted wlth the slow pace of
Brltaln`s economlc recovery. When the electlon of l950
was held, the landsllde majorlty melted away to a sllm
majorlty of fewer than twenty seats over the comblned
total of the opposltlon, most of whom were Conserva
tlves. Jhe Labour cablnet mlnlsters stlll falled to flnd
answers to the problems that faced the natlon, and, dls
couraged by a fractlous opposltlon and a dwlndllng
majorlty, Attlee wearlly called another electlon ln the
autumn of l95l. Labour polled more votes than the
Conservatlves, but the Conservatlves had achleved a
majorlty, though a smaller one than Churchlll pre
dlcted. It was enough. Churchlll was once agaln prlme
mlnlster and had won hls flrst electlon as leader of a
polltlcal party.
338
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Whlle ln opposltlon Churchlll had assumed the
role of European elder statesman, and ln a major
speech dellvered ln Zurlch ln l916 he put hls case for a
unlted Europe that would feature a partnershlp
between Irance and a revlved Germany. Jhls unlty was
a theme he promoted over the next few years; but
Churchlll was vague about just what Brltaln`s role ln
such a unlon would be. Clearly Brltaln was an lntegral
part of the core of Europe, and Irance would need lts
help to balance Germany ln the future. On the other
hand, Churchlll could not envlslon Brltaln wlthout lts
emplre or the Commonwealth that was contlnulng to
emerge from the emplre. |ust as clearly, the Common
wealth could not flt wlthln the framework of a unlted
Europe. Hls great ldea of a unlted Europe dld not
appeal to the Labour government that was stlll busy
trylng to flnd the resources for lts own great ldeas.
Now, as prlme mlnlster, Churchlll bent hls efforts to
achleve another one of hls plans.
Churchlll, who had never been comfortable wlth
the hlgh casualty rates ln the war and had second
guessed hlmself about the approprlateness of the bomb
lng that destroyed the German clty of Dresden, was
appalled when nuclear advances had led to the creatlon
of the hydrogen bomb. Whlle he somewhat favored the
bomb as a deterrent, he knew hls hlstory well enough
to belleve that a weapon once created had every chance
of belng used, as the atomlc bomb had been ln |apan.
Jhe lmpact of a hydrogen bomb exploslon detonated ln
anger would be horrendous, and Churchlll trled to per
suade Presldent Dwlght Elsenhower and Stalln to hold
a summlt conference that would solve the outstandlng
problems of the Cold War and end the specter of a dev
astatlng war between the superpowers. Jo Churchlll`s
great dlsappolntment, Stalln and Elsenhower and thelr
advlsers were not lnterested, and lnternatlonal rlvalrles
and tenslons contlnued unabated.
Churchlll`s health appeared to be holdlng up. He
was careful to get medlcal attentlon as soon as anythlng
troubled hlm, and occaslonally he traveled wlth hls doc
tor ln tow for added securlty. But ln |une l953 he suf
fered a mlnor stroke, whlch lncapacltated hlm for a
perlod of tlme. Irom that polnt there was lncreaslng
talk of hls retlrlng to allow Eden to succeed hlm, and to
a certaln extent Churchlll fed the speculatlon. Ilnally,
on 5 Aprll l955, he succumbed to lncreaslng pressure
and reslgned, but kept hls seat ln Parllament.
In October l953 Churchlll learned he had won
the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature, 'for hls mastery of hlstor
lcal and blographlcal descrlptlon as well as for brllllant
oratory ln defendlng exalted human values," as the clta
tlon read. He could not attend the ceremonles ln Stock
holm ln December, but Klng Gustav VI Adolf of
Sweden presented hlm wlth the award at the Swedlsh
Embassy ln London on l2 November. Jhe award
pleased Churchlll, especlally the monetary prlze; he
wrote to hls wlfe, 'l2,l00 free of tax. Not so bad."
Blographer Roy |enklns reports that Churchlll later sald
he would rather have been glven the Nobel Peace Prlze;
but that award mlght have been controverslal, because
many people consldered Churchlll a warmonger. Jhe
Nobel Prlze had llttle effect on hls career, because of hls
age and fraglle health.
Ior the last ten years of hls llfe, Churchlll went
lnto gradual but obvlous decllne. He suffered a serles of
small strokes, a broken leg, and a reductlon ln hls lndul
gent llfestyle. He had to cut down on hls brandy and
hls trademark clgars; he had to reslst hls wlfe`s pressur
lng hlm to go on a dlet; and he had to have a male
nurse to watch over hlm ln case of further falls. He took
vacatlons ln the Medlterranean and grleved as many of
hls old frlends dled. He suffered through the sulclde of
hls daughter Dlana ln l963. Whlle he could, he under
took the revlslons of ^ e bJp~ mJ
I publlshed ln four volumes.
Churchlll was made an honorary cltlzen of the
Lnlted States ln l963. Even though he was not able to
attend the ceremony, and was represented by hls son
Randolph, he appreclated the honor granted hlm by the
Amerlcan Congress, as he had appreclated the honor of
belng allowed to address Congress on three occaslons,
ln l91l, l912, and l952. Churchlll felt hls lnherltance
from hls mother had stood hlm well, and though often
frustrated wlth Amerlcan pollcy, he clearly recognlzed
the lmportance for Brltaln of Amerlcan frlendshlp.
Churchlll suffered another stroke early ln l965,
and on 21 |anuary he dled. He was glven a state
funeral, a rare honor for one not of royal blood. Hls
body lay ln state ln Westmlnster Hall, and the funeral
was held ln St. Paul`s Cathedral. A speclal traln carrled
hlm to hls burlal place ln the churchyard at Bladon,
next to the Blenhelm Palace estate where he had been
born more than nlnety years earller.
Churchlll ended hls llfe as perhaps the best
known Brltlsh statesman of all tlme. A partlal explana
tlon for hls good fortune appears to be that Churchlll
arrlved on the polltlcal scene not slmply as a Churchlll,
or the son of a noted father, but as a known author
whose works were reasonably well read. He was a capa
ble wrlter who had a penchant for herolcs and the abll
lty and opportunlty to hlghllght hls actlons. He
therefore entered the House of Commons ln l900 as a
star, a relatlvely mlnor one perhaps, but stlll a star.
Once he moved to the Llberal Party and was glven
polltlcal offlce, he was able to translate the experlence
and skllls he had developed as an author lnto the ablllty
to organlze the departments that he was placed ln
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charge of, a sklll that was appreclated by hls superlors
ln the party.
Churchlll also could expound and defend hls
actlons ln government both vocally, ln the House of
Commons, or ln wrltlng, usually effectlvely. Wlth
Churchlll, speechwrltlng was an aspect of hls llterary
pursults, and the two processes gradually lntertwlned.
He also contlnued wrltlng speclflcally for publlcatlon,
and the publlcatlons kept hls name before the publlc
even when he was not ln offlce. Newspapers and book
publlshers often competed for the prlvllege of publlsh
lng hls work and were wllllng to pay handsomely,
because hls wrltlng was popular enough wlth the publlc
to be profltable. Churchlll made hls llvlng through hls
wrltlngs and malntalned a llfestyle at a comfortable,
even lndulgent, level.
Included ln the scope of Churchlll`s hlstorles are
hls blographles of hls father and the duke of Marlbor
ough as well as the fragments of hls autoblography, My
Zfricov ourvcy and My Iorly Iifc. Hls books of essays,
Tlouglts ovd Zdvcvturcs and Crcot Covtcmpororics, are
about hls adventures and the great men he has known
who had made an lmpact upon hlm. Jhe novel Sovrolo
ls hls herolc and romantlc dream. Even Z History of tlc
Ivglisl-Spcolivg Icoplcs, publlshed after he had recelved
the Nobel Prlze, represents Churchlll`s deflnltlon of
who he really was and reflected hls strong patrlotlsm.
Hls type of hlstory, based on the personal element of
hls llfe, ln the hands of a skllled wrlter, automatlcally
creates wlth lt an lnterested readershlp, carrled along by
emotlon and polnted relevance. Jhey were hlstorles
that used the past to lllumlnate the present.
Churchlll was malnly a storyteller, and the story
teller must deal wlth the speclflc, the lndlvldual whose
actlons must be descrlbed and to some extent under
stood and explalned. One of the hardest tasks of a mas
ter storyteller ls to create an atmosphere that catches the
readers lmmedlately. One example ln Churchlll`s work
ls hls descrlptlon ln Tlc !orld Crisis of Brltaln`s entry
lnto World War I.
It was ll o`clock at nlghtl2 by German tlme
when the ultlmatum explred. Jhe wlndows of the
Admlralty were thrown wlde open ln the warm nlght
alr. Lnder the roof from whlch Nelson had recelved hls
orders were gathered a small group of Admlrals and
Captalns and a cluster of clerks, pencll ln hand, walt
lng. Along the Mall from the dlrectlon of the Palace the
sound of an lmmense concourse slnglng 'God save the
Klng" floated ln. On thls deep wave there broke the
chlmes of Blg Ben; and, as the flrst stroke of the hour
boomed out, a rustle of movement swept across the
room. Jhe war telegram, whlch meant 'Commence
hostllltles agalnst Germany," was flashed to the shlps
and establlshments under the Whlte Enslgn all over the
world.
I walked across the Horse Guards Parade to the
Cablnet room and reported to the Prlme Mlnlster and
the Mlnlsters who were assembled there that the deed
was done.
It ls slmple and dlrect, not the klnd of prose that would
have the ordlnary reader reachlng for a dlctlonary, and
lt brought the reader lmmedlately lnto the event. In the
same way, ln hls excellent descrlptlons of battle scenes,
the narratlve flows wlth an elegance that speaks of ele
vated herolsm, and Churchlll once more brlngs the
reader dlrectly lnto the center of the confllct. Some of
the best examples come from Morlborougl: His Iifc ovd
Timcs. Churchlll took great palns to present a balanced
account of Marlborough`s campalgns and battles and to
glve due credlt to both hls allles` contrlbutlons and the
strategles and tactlcs of hls opponents. Churchlll trled
to convey the sense of the deadly confrontatlons of the
battles, as he dld ln hls descrlptlon of Marlborough`s
flnal great vlctory, Malplaquet, ln l709. One of Marl
borough`s allles, the young Prlnce of Orange, led hls
forces repeatedly agalnst the Irench trenches.
Here, ln llne wlth the Hlghlanders fought the redoubt
able Dutch Blue Guards, the flower of thelr army. Jhe
Prlnce of Orange had most of hls staff shot around
hlm. General Oxenstlern fell dead at hls slde. Jhe
Prlnce`s own horse collapsed, and he advanced on foot.
. . . Concealed . . . was a nest of French batterles
mountlng twenty cannon. From these there now burst a
horrlble flanklng flre of cannonballs and grapeshot
whlch tore through the Dutch and Scottlsh ranks, klll
lng or woundlng thousands of men as they moved ln
faultless dlsclpllne towards thelr goal. Jhe ground was
soon heaped wlth blue unlforms and Hlghlanders, over
whom the rear attack moved forward steadlly, paylng
thelr toll. Nevertheless the young Prlnce, hls survlvlng
generals, and Deputy Gosllnga arrlved, wlth the mass
of the Dutch and the Scots, before the French entrench
ments, endured thelr volleys at close quarters, tore
away the abattls, stormed the parapets, and captured
the works. But they were now too few.
Churchlll`s hlstorles have not been wlthout thelr
crltlcs, both lmmedlately after they were publlshed and
up to the present. He was an amateur hlstorlan, not a
tralned professlonal. He wrote hls hlstorles too qulckly,
not glvlng hlmself sufflclent tlme for reflectlon or check
lng. Jhere were occaslonal errors of fact and, ln the
vlew of the crltlcs, many errors of lnterpretatlon.
Because the books were so centered on Churchlll and
hls famlly, he was attacked for belng selfservlng, out to
justlfy hls pollcles durlng World War I, for example, or,
ln the case of hls blographles, to whltewash the reputa
tlons of hls father and of the duke of Marlborough. Hls
coverage of what crltlcs consldered to be lmportant top
lcs was flawed; cultural, lntellectual, soclal, and eco
310
p t ` ai_ POV
nomlc analyses were seldom present, lf at all. Early ln
hls wrltlng career he had developed the hablt of exten
slve quotatlons of documents ln the bellef (erroneous
bellef, sald the crltlcs) that the documents told the com
plete story better than the hlstorlan. Jhls practlce made
some of hls works much longer than they needed to be.
And the justlflcatlon for the quotatlon was further vltl
ated by the fact that Churchlll was selectlve ln hls
cholce of documents. In Tlc Sccovd !orld !or, crltlcs
polnted out, he constantly quoted hls own letters and
memoranda, seldom glvlng the replles. Documents ln
some of hls hlstorles were edlted ln such ways as to
make them untrustworthy. Desplte all these crltlclsms,
Robln Prlor, hlmself a crltlc of Churchlll`s Tlc !orld Cri-
sis, polnted out ln a l983 study that Churchlll`s hlstorles
have llved on when 'more accurate works have been
long forgotten."
Churchlll`s hlstorles emphaslzed malnly polltlcs
and wars because these were subjects about whlch he
felt most comfortable wrltlng; he could use hls own
experlences to lnterpret the polltlcs and wars of hls tlme
and of the past. He belleved that an hlstorlan could and
should judge people and events, though he was more
llkely to fully express hls vlews on the dlstant past
rather than on the perlods when the people concerned
were stlll llvlng. An extenslve portlon of volume four of
Z History of tlc Ivglisl-Spcolivg Icoplcs ls glven to a
descrlptlon of the Amerlcan Clvll War, ln whlch he dld
not hesltate to judge the generals. He was clearly hostlle
to Llysses S. Grant and hls pollcy of attrltlon but was
favorable to Robert E. Lee. Even wlth Lee, though, he
could be crltlcal lf he felt crltlclsm was merlted; after the
Battle of Gettysburg, Lee carrled out a successful
retreat. 'He carrled wlth hlm hls wounded and hls prls
oners. He had lost only two guns, and the war."
Ior most of hls hlstorles, Churchlll sought help.
When wrltlng the blography of hls father, he made use
of the lnformatlon avallable from hls father`s stlll llvlng
contemporarles. Ior Tlc !orld Crisis he recelved docu
ments and other help from hls own contemporarles.
Jhere were always frlends to read hls manuscrlpts and
suggest correctlons ln grammar and punctuatlon and
even advlce on substance. In hls last three lengthy
works, Morlborougl: His Iifc ovd Timcs, Tlc Sccovd !orld
!or, and Z History of tlc Ivglisl-Spcolivg Icoplcs, he
employed research asslstants to search out documents
and to check facts. As he rewrote hls manuscrlpt for Z
History of tlc Ivglisl-Spcolivg Icoplcs ln the l950s, he
sought the advlce of emlnent scholars ln the varlous
perlods of hlstory he was coverlng. Some were even
asked for papers on aspects of thelr speclaltles.
Churchlll, however, dld not always take advlce and
would absorb the research and papers and rework them
to flt hls own lnterpretatlons and lnterests. Jhe books
he produced, no matter how much help he had along
the way, were hls own work, hls own judgments, and
wrltten ln hls own style.
If Churchlll had crltlcs of hls work as an hlsto
rlan, he also had crltlcs of hls style of wrltlng and speak
lng. Manfred Weldhorn, an Engllsh professor and
author of many works on Churchlll, summarlzed many
of these assessments ln hls l979 study. Churchlll was
often redundant, sentlmental, melodramatlc, and por
tentous; he too frequently could not reslst purple pas
sages such as 'I turn from the plnk and ochre
panorama of Athens and Plraeus, sclntlllatlng wlth dell
clous llfe and plumed by the classlc glorles and endless
mlserles and trlumphs of lts hlstory" (from !ictory: !or
Spccclcs, l916). Hls style and language could be archalc,
too closely suggestlve of hls early models, Glbbon and
Macaulay. He was also prone to overuse of superlatlves
and exaggeratlon; too many events that he was
lnvolved ln were presented as belng vltal or great
moments ln hlstory.
On the other hand, Churchlll`s style of wrltlng
and speaklng had many strengths. He was a master of
creatlng memorable sentences and phrases such as
those ln hls wartlme speeches, recorded ln Tlc Sccovd
!orld !or: 'Never ln the fleld of human confllct was so
much owed by so many to so few," and 'we shall
defend our lsland, whatever the cost may be, we shall
flght on the beaches, we shall flght on the landlng
grounds, we shall flght ln the flelds and ln the streets,
we shall flght ln the hllls; we shall never surrender."
Churchlll`s sense of humor ls constantly present ln all
hls works, but most notably ln My Iorly Iifc, where
much of the fun ls at hls own expense. Often hls sense
of lnvolvement and emotlon shlnes through.
Jwo passages from Tlc Sccovd !orld !or are excel
lent examples of Churchlll`s style at lts best. Near the
end of the flrst volume, Churchlll summarlzes the
lmpact of becomlng prlme mlnlster.
Jhus, then, on the nlght of the tenth of May, at the out
set of thls mlghty battle, I acqulred the chlef power ln
the State, whlch henceforth I wlelded ln evergrowlng
measure for flve years and three months of world war,
at the end of whlch tlme, all our enemles havlng surren
dered uncondltlonally or belng about to do so, I was
lmmedlately dlsmlssed by the Brltlsh electorate from all
further conduct of thelr affalrs.
Jhls passage ls succlnct and powerful ln lts emotlon.
More exuberant was Churchlll`s reactlon when he
heard about the |apanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
So we had won after all! Yes, after Dunklrk; after the
fall of France; after the horrlble eplsode of Oran; after
the threat of lnvaslon, when, apart from the Alr and the
31l
ai_ POV p t `
Navy, we were an almost unarmed people; after the
deadly struggle of the Lboat warthe flrst Battle of the
Atlantlc, galned by a handsbreadth; after seventeen
months of lonely flghtlng and nlneteen months of my
responslblllty ln dlre stress, we had won the war.
England would llve; Brltaln would llve; the Common
wealth of Natlons and the Emplre would llve. How
long the war would last or ln what fashlon lt would
end, no man could tell, nor dld I at thls moment care.
Once agaln ln our long Island hlstory we should
emerge, however mauled or mutllated, safe and vlctorl
ous. We should not be wlped out. Our hlstory would
not come to an end.
Perceptlons of style vary wlth the lndlvldual. Some people
prefer the ornate, others stark slmpllclty. Most people can
tolerate varylng comblnatlons of both. It ls unllkely that
many of the readers of Churchlll`s works have been or are
bothered by the shortcomlngs of hls style as percelved by
hls crltlcs. Churchlll`s prose often reveals lts power and
attractlon lf read aloud. Churchlll created the lmpresslon
that he was talklng to the reader, often because that was
exactly what he was dolng. He had fallen lnto the hablt of
dlctatlng hls works, whether they were books, speeches,
newspaper artlcles, or memos to the clvll servants of the
departments he controlled. Maurlce Ashley, the hlstorlan
who was one of the researchers for Churchlll`s blography
of the duke of Marlborough, descrlbed Churchlll`s system
as lt had evolved by l930. 'He would walk up and down
the room (when I worked for hlm lt was usually hls bed
room) pufflng at a clgar whlle a secretary patlently took lt
all down as best she could ln Pltman. Occaslonally he
would say, 'Scrub that and start agaln.` At tlmes he would
stop . . .; at others he would be entlrely swept on by the
stlmulus of hls lmaglnatlon." Churchlll, wlth hls wrltlngs,
talked to people and took them lnto hls confldence.
Slwertz, ln hls presentatlon speech for the awardlng
of the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature ln l953, noted that
'Churchlll`s eloquence ln the fateful hours of freedom and
human dlgnlty was heartstlrrlng." Slwertz was referrlng to
Churchlll`s speeches durlng World War II; but elements of
thls eloquence were always present ln hls wrltten work and
made hlm a flttlng candldate for the Nobel Prlze.
iW
Iooscvclt ovd Clurclill, Tlcir Sccrct !ortimc Corrcspovdcvcc,
edlted by Irancls L. Loewenhelm, Harold D.
Langley, and Manfred |onas (New York. Saturday
Revlew Press, l975);
Clurclill c Iooscvclt: Tlc Complctc Corrcspovdcvcc, 3 vol
umes, edlted by Warren I. Klmball (Prlnceton.
Prlnceton Lnlverslty Press, l981);
Tlc Sccrct History of !orld !or II: Tlc Ultro-Sccrct !ortimc
Icttcrs ovd Coblcs of Iooscvclt, Stoliv ovd Clurclill,
edlted by Stewart Rlchardson (New York. Rlch
ardson Stelrman, l986);
Tlc Clurclill-Iiscvlowcr Corrcspovdcvcc, 19J-19,
edlted by Peter G. Boyle (Chapel Hlll. Lnlverslty
of North Carollna Press, l990);
!ivstov Clurclill ovd Imcry Icvcs: Corrcspovdcvcc, 19J7-
1964, edlted by Martln Gllbert (Austln. Lnlver
slty of Jexas Press, l997);
Spcolivg for Tlcmsclvcs: Tlc Icrsovol Icttcrs of !ivstov ovd
Clcmcvtivc Clurclill, edlted by Mary Soames (Lon
don New York. Doubleday, l998); republlshed
as !ivstov ovd Clcmcvtivc: Tlc Icrsovol Icttcrs of tlc
Clurclills (Boston. Houghton Mlfflln, l999);
Tlc Ducc`s Dossicr: Tlc Sccrct Mussolivi-Clurclill !ortimc
Corrcspovdcvcc, edlted by Anthony |. Panslnl
(Waco, Jex.. Greenvale, 200l);
Dcfcvdivg tlc !cst: Tlc Trumov-Clurclill Corrcspovdcvcc,
194-1960, edlted by G. W. Sand (Westport,
Conn.. Praeger, 2001).
_~W
Irederlck Woods, Z ibliogroply of tlc !orls of Sir !ivstov
Clurclill, IC, UM, CH (London. Vane, l963;
revlsed edltlon, London. Kaye Ward, l969);
Curt |. Zoller, Zvvototcd ibliogroply of !orls Zbout Sir
!ivstov S. Clurclill (Armonk, N.Y. London. M. E.
Sharpe, 2001).
_~W
Randolph S. Churchlll and Martln Gllbert, !ivstov S.
Clurclill, 21 volumes (London. Helnemann,
l966-2000; Boston. Houghton Mlfflln, l966-
2000)lncludes Tlc Clurclill !or Iopcrs, edlted by
Gllbert;
Henry Pelllng, !ivstov Clurclill (London. Macmlllan,
l971);
Wllllam Manchester, Tlc Iost Iiov: !ivstov Spcvccr
Clurclill, !isiovs of Clory 1S74-19J2 (Boston Jor
onto. Llttle, Brown, l983);
Mary Soames, !ivstov Clurclill: His Iifc os o Ioivtcr: Z
Mcmoir by His Dougltcr (London. Colllns, l990;
Boston. Houghton Mlfflln, l990);
Gllbert, Clurclill: Z Iifc (New York. Holt, l99l);
|ohn Charmley, Clurclill: Tlc Ivd of Clory: Z Ioliticol
iogroply (London. Hodder Stoughton, l993);
Norman Rose, Clurclill: Zv Uvruly Iifc (London New
York. Slmon Schuster, l991);
Geoffrey Best, Clurclill: Z Study iv Crcotvcss (London.
Hambledon London, 200l);
Roy |enklns, Clurclill: Z iogroply (New York. Iarrar,
Straus Glroux, 200l);
Davld Coombs and Mlnnle Churchlll, Sir !ivstov
Clurclill`s Iifc Tlrougl His Ioivtivgs (London.
312
p t ` ai_ POV
Chaucer, 2003; Delray Beach, Ila.. Levenger,
2003).
oW
Maurlce Ashley, Clurclill os Historiov (London. Secker
Warburg, l968);
Vlolet Bonham Carter, !ivstov Clurclill os I Ivcw Him
(London. Eyre Spottlswoode/Colllns, l965);
Robert Rhodes |ames, Clurclill: Z Study iv Ioilurc 1900-
19J9 (London. Weldenfleld Nlcolson, l970);
|ohn Lukacs, Clurclill: !isiovory. Stotcsmov. Historiov.
(New Haven London. Yale Lnlverslty Press,
2002);
Robln Prlor, Clurclill`s '!orld Crisis os History (London
Canberra. Croom Helm, l983);
Mary Soames, Z Clurclill Iomily Zlbum: Z Icrsovol Zvtlol-
ogy (London. A. Lane, l982);
Soames, Clcmcvtivc Clurclill: Tlc iogroply of o Morriogc
(Boston. Houghton Mlfflln, l979; revlsed and
updated, 2003);
A. |. P. Jaylor and others, Clurclill Icviscd: Z Criticol
Zsscssmcvt (New York. Dlal, l969);
Algls Vallunas, Clurclill`s Militory Historics: Z Ilctoricol
Study (Lanham, Boulder, New York Oxford.
Rowman Llttlefleld, 2002);
Manfred Weldhorn, Sir !ivstov Clurclill (Boston.
Jwayne, l979);
Chrls Wrlgley, !ivstov Clurclill: Z iogroplicol Compoviov
(Santa Barbara, Denver Oxford. ABCCLIO,
2002).
m~W
Jhe papers of Slr Wlnston Churchlll are located ln the
Churchlll Archlves Centre, Churchlll College, Cam
brldge, Lnlted Klngdom. Informatlon ls avallable on
llne at http.//www.chu.cam.ac.uk/churchlll_papers/
the_papers/`.
NVRP k m i~
m~ p
by Sig frid Siwcrt, Mcmbcr of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy
Very seldom have great statesmen and warrlors
also been great wrlters. One thlnks of |ullus Caesar, Mar
cus Aurellus, and even Napoleon, whose letters to |ose
phlne durlng the flrst Itallan campalgn certalnly have
passlon and splendour. But the man who can most
readlly be compared wlth Slr Wlnston Churchlll ls Dls
raell, who also was a versatlle author. It can be sald of
Dlsraell as Churchlll says of Rosebery, that 'he flour
lshed ln an age of great men and small events." He was
never subjected to any really dreadful ordeals. Hls wrlt
lng was partly a polltlcal sprlngboard, partly an emo
tlonal safety valve. Jhrough a serles of romantlc and self
reveallng novels, at tlmes rather dlfflcult to read, he
avenged hlmself for the humlllatlon and setbacks that he,
the |ewlsh stranger ln an England ruled by arlstocrats,
suffered desplte hls fantastlc career. He was not a great
wrlter but a great actor, who played hls leadlng part daz
zllngly. He could very well repeat Augustus` words of
farewell. 'Applaud, my frlends, the comedy ls over!"
Churchlll`s |ohn Bull proflle stands out effectlvely
agalnst the elder statesman`s chalkwhlte, exotlc mask
wlth the black lock of halr on the forehead. Jhe conser
vatlve Dlsraell revered the Engllsh way of llfe and tradl
tlon whlch Churchlll, radlcal ln many respects, has ln
hls blood, lncludlng steadfastness ln the mldst of the
storm and the resolute lmpetus whlch marks both word
and deed. He wears no mask, shows no slgn of cleav
age, has no complex, enlgmatlc nature. Jhe analytlcal
morbidco, wlthout whlch the modern generatlon flnds
lt hard to lmaglne an author, ls forelgn to hlm. He ls a
man for whom reallty`s block has not fallen apart.
Jhere, slmply, lles the world wlth lts roads and goals
under the sun, the stars, and the banners. Hls prose ls
just as consclous of the goal and the glory as a runner ln
the stadlum. Hls every word ls half a deed. He ls heart
and soul a late Vlctorlan who has been buffeted by the
gale, or rather one who chose of hls own accord to
breast the storm.
Churchlll`s polltlcal and llterary achlevements are
of such magnltude that one ls tempted to resort to por
tray hlm as a Caesar who also has the glft of Clcero`s
pen. Never before has one of hlstory`s leadlng flgures
been so close to us by vlrtue of such an outstandlng
comblnatlon. In hls great work about hls ancestor, Marl
borough, Churchlll wrltes, 'Words are easy and many,
whlle great deeds are dlfflcult and rare." Yes, but great,
llvlng, and persuaslve words are also dlfflcult and rare.
And Churchlll has shown that they too can take on the
character of great deeds.
It ls the excltlng and colourful slde of Churchlll`s
wrltlng whlch perhaps flrst strlkes the reader. Besldes
much else, My Iorly Iifc (l930) ls also one of the world`s
most entertalnlng adventure storles. Even a very youth
ful mlnd can follow wlth the keenest pleasure the hero`s
splrlted start ln llfe as a problem chlld ln school, as a
poloplaylng lleutenant ln the cavalry (he was consld
ered too dense for the lnfantry), and as a war corre
spondent ln Cuba, ln the Indlan border dlstrlcts, ln the
Sudan, and ln South Afrlca durlng the Boer War. Rapld
movement, undaunted judgments, and a llvely percep
tlon dlstlngulsh hlm even here. As a wordpalnter the
young Churchlll has not only verve but vlsual acute
ness. Later he took up palntlng as a hobby, and ln
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q ~ ^ (l932) dlscourses charmlngly on
the joy lt has glven hlm. He loves brllllant colours and
feels sorry for the poor brown ones. Nevertheless,
Churchlll palnts better wlth words. Hls battle scenes
have a matchless colourlng. Danger ls man`s oldest mls
tress and ln the heat of actlon the young offlcer was
flred to an almost vlslonary clearslghtedness. On a vlslt
to Omdurman many years ago I dlscovered how the
flnal struggle ln the crushlng of the Mahdl`s rebelllon,
as lt ls deplcted ln q o t~ (l899), was branded on
my memory. I could see ln front of me the dervlsh
hordes brandlshlng thelr spears and guns, the ochreyel
low sand ramparts shot to pleces, the AngloEgyptlan
troops` methodlcal advance, and the cavalry charge
whlch nearly cost Churchlll hls llfe.
Even old battles whlch must be dug out of dusty
archlves are descrlbed by Churchlll wlth awesome clar
lty. Jrevelyan masterfully deplcts Marlborough`s cam
palgns, but ln lllusory power lt ls doubtful that
Churchlll`s hlstorlc battle scenes can be surpassed.
Jake, for lnstance, the Battle of Blenhelm. One follows
ln fasclnatlon the moves of the bloody chess game, one
sees the cannon balls plough thelr furrows through the
compact squares, one ls carrled away by the thunderlng
charge and flerce handtohand flghtlng of the cavalry;
and after puttlng the book down one can waken ln the
nlght ln a cold sweat, lmaglnlng he ls rlght ln the front
rank of Engllsh redcoats who, wlthout waverlng, stand
among the plles of dead and wounded loadlng thelr
rlfles and flrlng thelr flashlng salvoes.
But Churchlll became far more than a soldler and
a dellneator of war. Even ln the strlct but brllllant school
of the parllamentary gamble for power he was, perhaps
from the outset, somethlng of a problem chlld. Jhe
young Hotspur learned, however, to brldle hls lmpetuos
lty, and he qulckly developed lnto an emlnent polltlcal
orator wlth the same glft of repartee as Lloyd George.
Hls sallles, often severe, excluded nelther warmth nor
chlvalry. In hls alternatlon between Jorylsm and radlcal
lsm, he followed ln the footsteps of hls father, Lord Ran
dolph Churchlll. He has also portrayed the latter`s short,
uneasy, traglcally lnterrupted polltlcal and personal llfe ln
a work whlch has an undlsputed place of honour ln
England`s profuse blographlcal llterature.
Even the Ilrst World War, desplte all setbacks,
meant a vast expanslon for Churchlll as both polltlclan
and wrlter. In hls hlstorlcal works the personal and the
factual elements have been lntlmately blended. He
knows what he ls talklng about. In gauglng the dynam
lcs of events, hls profound experlence ls unmlstakable.
He ls the man who has hlmself been through the flre,
taken rlsks, and wlthstood extreme pressure. Jhls glves
hls words a vlbratlng power. Occaslonally, perhaps, the
personal slde gets the upper hand. Balfour called q
t ` (l923-29) 'Wlnston`s brllllant autoblogra
phy, dlsgulsed as world hlstory." Wlth all due respect to
archlves and documents, there ls somethlng speclal
about hlstory wrltten by a man who has hlmself helped
to make lt.
In hls great book on the Duke of Marlborough
(l933-38), whose llfe`s work ls so slmllar to Churchlll`s
own, he makes an lntrepld attack on hls ancestor`s
detractors. I do not know what professlonal hlstorlans
say of hls polemlc agalnst Macaulay, but these dlatrlbes
agalnst the great general`s perslstent haters and revllers
are certalnly dlvertlng and temperamental.
Jhe Marlborough book ls not only a serles of
vlvld battle scenes and a sklllful defence of the states
man and warrlor. It ls also a penetratlng study of an
enlgmatlc and unlque personallty; lt shows that
Churchlll, ln addltlon to all else, ls capable of real character
drawlng. He returns agaln and agaln to the confuslng
mlxture ln Marlborough of methodlcal nlggardllness
and dazzllng vlrtuoslty. 'Hls prlvate fortune was
amassed," he says,
upon the same prlnclples as marked the staffwork of
hls campalgns, and was a part of the same deslgn. It
was only ln love or on the battlefleld that he took all
rlsks. In these supreme exaltatlons he was swept from
hls system and rule of llvlng, and blazed resplendent
wlth the herolc vlrtues. In hls marrlage and ln hls vlcto
rles the worldly prudence, the calculatlon, the relnsur
ance, whlch regulated hls ordlnary llfe and sustalned
hls strategy, fell from hlm llke a too heavlly embrol
dered cloak, and the genlus wlthln sprang forth ln sure
and trlumphant command.
In hls mllltary enthuslasm Churchlll forgets for a
moment that Marlborough`s famous and dearly loved
Sarah was by no means one to let herself be ordered
about. But lt ls a wonderful passage.
Churchlll regretted that he had never been able to
study at Oxford. He had to devote hls lelsure hours to
educatlng hlmself. But there are certalnly no educa
tlonal gaps notlceable ln hls mature prose. Jake, for
example, d~ `~ (l937), one of hls most
charmlng books. He ls sald to have moulded hls style
on Glbbon, Burke, and Macaulay, but here he ls
supremely hlmself. What a deft touch and at the same
tlme what a fund of human knowledge, generoslty, and
gay mallce are ln thls portralt gallery!
Churchlll`s reactlon to Bernard Shaw ls very
amuslng, a plquant meetlng between two of England`s
greatest llterary personalltles. Churchlll cannot reslst
poklng fun at Shaw`s bllthely lrresponslble talk and fllp
pancy, whlch contrasted wlth the latter`s fundamental
gravlty. Half amused, half appalled, he wlnces at the
way ln whlch the lncorrlglbly clownlng genlus was for
311
p t ` ai_ POV
ever trlpplng hlmself up and turnlng somersaults
between the most extreme antltheses. It ls the contrast
between the wrlter, who must at all costs create sur
prlses, and the statesman, whose task lt ls to meet and
master them.
It ls not easy to sum up brlefly the greatness of
Churchlll`s style. He says of hls old frlend, the Llberal
statesman, |ohn Morley, 'Jhough ln conversatlon he
paraded and manouvred nlmbly and elegantly around
hls own convlctlons, offerlng hls salutatlons and the gay
compllments of oldtlme war to the other slde, | he|
always returned to hls fortlfled camp to sleep." As a
styllst Churchlll hlmself, desplte hls mettlesome chlv
alry, ls not prone to such amlable arabesques. He does
not beat about the bush, but ls a man of plaln speaklng.
Hls fervour ls reallstlc, hls strlklngpower ls tempered
only by broadmlndedness and humour. He knows that
a good story tells ltself. He scorns unnecessary frllls and
hls metaphors are rare but expresslve.
Behlnd Churchlll the wrlter ls Churchlll the ora
torhence the reslllence and pungency of hls phrases.
We often characterlze ourselves unconsclously through
the pralse we glve others. Churchlll, for lnstance, says
of another of hls frlends, Lord Blrkenhead, 'As he
warmed to hls subject, there grew that glow of convlc
tlon and appeal, lnstlnctlve and prlceless, whlch constl
tutes true eloquence." Jhe words mlght wlth greater
justlflcatlon have been sald of Churchlll hlmself.
Jhe famous desert warrlor, Lawrence of Arabla,
the author of Tlc Scvcv Iillors of !isdom, ls another who
has both made and wrltten hlstory. Of hlm Churchlll
says, '|ust as an aeroplane only flles by lts speed and
pressure agalnst the alr, so he flew best and easlest ln
the hurrlcane." It ls agaln strlklng how Churchlll here
too speaks of the same genlus that carrled hls own
words through the storm of events.
Churchlll`s mature oratory ls swlft, unerrlng ln lts
alm, and movlng ln lts grandeur. Jhere ls the power
whlch forges the llnks of hlstory. Napoleon`s proclama
tlons were often effectlve ln thelr lapldary style. But
Churchlll`s eloquence ln the fateful hours of freedom
and human dlgnlty was heartstlrrlng ln qulte another
way. Wlth hls great speeches he has, perhaps, hlmself
erected hls most endurlng monument.
Lady ChurchlllJhe Swedlsh Academy expresses
lts joy at your presence and asks you to convey to Slr
Wlnston a greetlng of deep respect. A llterary prlze ls
lntended to cast lustre over the author, but here lt ls the
author who glves lustre to the prlze. I ask you now to
accept, on behalf of your husband, the l953 Nobel
Prlze ln Llterature from the hands of Hls Majesty the
Klng.
`W _~ p
Ivtroductory rcmorls by C. Iiljcstrovd, Mcmbcr of tlc
Holl iv Stocllolm, 10 Dcccmbcr 19J:
In the past, several prlme mlnlsters and mlnlsters
of forelgn affalrs and even two Presldents of the Lnlted
States have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prlze. Now,
for the flrst tlme, a great statesman has recelved the
Prlze ln Llterature. But Slr Wlnston Churchlll ls a rec
ognlzed master of the Engllsh language, that wonderful
and flexlble lnstrument of human thought. Hls monu
mental blographles are already classlcs, and hls works
on contemporary hlstory are an outflow of deep and
lntlmate flrsthand knowledge, of lucldlty of style as
well as of humour and generoslty. But to Slr Wlnston
the Engllsh language has also provlded an lmportant
tool, wlth the ald of whlch part of hls job has been fln
lshed. Hls words, accompanled by correspondlng
deeds, have lnsplred hope and confldence ln mllllons
from all parts of the world durlng tlmes of darkness.
Wlth a sllght alteratlon we mlght use hls own words.
Never ln the fleld of human confllct was so much owed
by so many to one man. We would llke to ask Lady
Churchlll to convey to her husband our respectful and
slncere admlratlon and reverence for what he has glven
us ln hls wrltlngs and hls speeches.
Zs Clurclill wos uvoblc to bc prcscvt, tlc spcccl wos rcod by
Iody Clurclill:
Jhe Nobel Prlze ln Llterature ls an honour for me
allke unlque and unexpected and I grleve that my
dutles have not allowed me to recelve lt myself here ln
Stockholm from the hands of Hls Majesty your beloved
and justly respected Soverelgn. I am grateful that I am
allowed to conflde thls task to my wlfe.
Jhe roll on whlch my name has been lnscrlbed
represents much that ls outstandlng ln the world`s llter
ature of the twentleth century. Jhe judgment of the
Swedlsh Academy ls accepted as lmpartlal, authorlta
tlve, and slncere throughout the clvlllzed world. I am
proud but also, I must admlt, awestruck at your decl
slon to lnclude me. I do hope you are rlght. I feel we are
both runnlng a conslderable rlsk and that I do not
deserve lt. But I shall have no mlsglvlngs lf you have
none.
Slnce Alfred Nobel dled ln l896 we have entered
an age of storm and tragedy. Jhe power of man has
grown ln every sphere except over hlmself. Never ln the
315
ai_ POV p t `
fleld of actlon have events seemed so harshly to dwarf
personalltles. Rarely ln hlstory have brutal facts so
domlnated thought or has such a wldespread, lndlvld
ual vlrtue found so dlm a collectlve focus. Jhe fearful
questlon confronts us; have our problems got beyond
our control? Lndoubtedly we are passlng through a
phase where thls may be so. Well may we humble our
selves, and seek for guldance and mercy.
We ln Europe and the Western world, who have
planned for health and soclal securlty, who have mar
velled at the trlumphs of medlclne and sclence, and
who have almed at justlce and freedom for all, have
nevertheless been wltnesses of famlne, mlsery, cruelty,
and destructlon before whlch pale the deeds of Attlla
and Genghls Khan. And we who, flrst ln the League of
Natlons, and now ln the Lnlted Natlons, have
attempted to glve an abldlng foundatlon to the peace of
whlch men have dreamed so long, have llved to see a
world marred by cleavages and threatened by dlscords
even graver and more vlolent than those whlch con
vulsed Europe after the fall of the Roman Emplre.
It ls upon thls dark background that we can
appreclate the majesty and hope whlch lnsplred the con
ceptlon of Alfred Nobel. He has left behlnd hlm a
brlght and endurlng beam of culture, of purpose, and of
lnsplratlon to a generatlon whlch stands ln sore need.
Jhls worldfamous lnstltutlon polnts a true path for us
to follow. Let us therefore confront the clatter and rlgld
lty we see around us wlth tolerance, varlety, and calm.
Jhe world looks wlth admlratlon and lndeed
wlth comfort to Scandlnavla, where three countrles,
wlthout sacrlflclng thelr soverelgnty, llve unlted ln thelr
thought, ln thelr economlc practlce, and ln thelr healthy
way of llfe. Irom such fountalns new and brlghter
opportunltles may come to all manklnd. Jhese are, I
belleve, the sentlments whlch may anlmate those whom
the Nobel Ioundatlon elects to honour, ln the sure
knowledge that they wlll thus be respectlng the ldeals
and wlshes of lts lllustrlous founder.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l953. Slr Wlnston
Churchlll ls the sole author of hls speech.|
316
gK jK `
(9 Icbruory 1940 - )
j~ j~~
Iovd Zfriloovs Uvivcrsity
and
j j
Uvivcrsity of òrtl Corolivo ot Zslcvillc
Jhls entry was expanded by Moseley from Marals`s
Coetzee entry ln DI 22: Soutl Zfricov !ritcrs. See also
the Coetzee entry ln DI J26: oolcr Iric òvcls,
1969-200
BOOKS. Dusllovds ( |ohannesburg. Ravan, l971; Lon
don. Secker Warburg, l982; New York. Pen
guln, l985);
Iv tlc Hcort of tlc Couvtry (London. Secker Warburg,
l977; blllngual edltlon, |ohannesburg. Ravan,
l978); republlshed as Irom tlc Hcort of tlc Couvtry
(New York. Harper Row, l977);
!oitivg for tlc orboriovs (London. Secker Warburg,
l980; |ohannesburg. Ravan, l98l; Harmonds
worth, L.K. New York. Penguln, l982);
Iifc c Timcs of Miclocl I (London. Secker Warburg,
l983; |ohannesburg. Ravan, l983; New York.
Vlklng, l981);
Ioc (London. Secker Warburg, l986; |ohannesburg.
Ravan, l986; New York. Vlklng, l987);
!litc !ritivg: Uv tlc Culturc of Icttcrs iv Soutl Zfrico (New
Haven. Yale Lnlverslty Press, l988; Sandton,
South Afrlca. Radlx ln assoclatlon wlth Yale Lnl
Zgc of Irov (London. Secker Warburg, l990; New
York. Random House, l990);
Doublivg tlc Ioivt: Issoys ovd Ivtcrvicws, edlted by Davld
Attwell (Cambrldge, Mass.. Harvard Lnlverslty
Press, l992);
Tlc Mostcr of Ictcrsburg (London. Secker Warburg,
l991; New York. Vlklng, l991);
Civivg Uffcvsc: Issoys ov Ccvsorslip (Chlcago. Lnlverslty
of Chlcago Press, l996);
oylood: Sccvcs from Irovivciol Iifc (London. Secker
Warburg, l997; New York. Vlklng, l997);
Tlc Iivcs of Zvimols, by Coetzee and others, edlted by
Amy Gutmann (Prlnceton, N.|.. Prlnceton Lnl
Disgrocc (London. Secker Warburg, l999; New York.
Vlklng, l999);
Tlc òvcl iv Zfrico, Doreen B. Jownsend Center Occa
slonal Papers, no. l7 (Berkeley, Cal.. Doreen B.
Jownsend Center for the Humanltles, l999);
gK jK ` EF OMMP k m
i~ h `~ usf d~ p
E^m mLg~ bI mF
317
ai_ POV gK jK `
Tlc Humovitics iv Zfrico/Dic Ccistcswisscvscloftcv iv Zfrilo
(Munlch. Slemens Stlftung, 200l);
Strovgcr Slorcs: Iitcrory Issoys, 19S6-1999 (London.
Secker Warburg, 200l; New York. Vlklng,
200l);
Joutl: Sccvcs from Irovivciol Iifc II (London. Secker
Warburg, 2002; New York. Vlklng, 2002);
Icttcr of Iliobctl, Iody Clovdos, to Irovcis ocov (Austln,
Jexas. Intermezzo, 2002);
Iliobctl Costcllo: Iiglt Icssovs (London. Secker War
burg, 2003); publlshed as Iliobctl Costcllo (New
York. Vlklng, 2003);
His Mov ovd Hc: òbcl Iccturc, Dcccmbcr 7, 200J (London.
Rees O`Nelll, 2001); publlshed as Iccturc ovd
Spcccl of Zcccptovcc, Upov tlc Zword of tlc òbcl Iric,
Dclivcrcd iv Stocllolm iv Dcccmbcr 200J (New York.
Penguln, 2001);
Slow Mov (London. Secker Warburg, 2005; New
York. Vlklng, 2005).
OJHER. Marcellus Emants, Z Iostlumous Covfcssiov,
translated by Coetzee, Llbrary of Netherlandlc
Llterature, volume 7 (Boston. Jwayne, l975;
London. _uartet, l986);
Wllma Stockenstrm, Tlc Ixpcditiov to tlc oobob Trcc,
translated by Coetzee ( |ohannesburg. |onathan
Ball, l983; London. Iaber Iaber, l983);
Z Iovd Zport: Z Soutl Zfricov Icodcr, edlted by Coetzee
and Andr P. Brlnk (London Boston. Iaber
Iaber, l986); republlshed as Z Iovd Zport: Z Cov-
tcmporory Soutl Zfricov Icodcr (New York. Vlklng,
l987);
Danlel Defoe, Iobivsov Crusoc, lntroductlon by Coetzee
(Oxford. Oxford Lnlverslty Press, l999);
Rutger Kopland, Mcmorics of tlc Uvlvowv, translated by
|ames Brockway, lntroductlon by Coetzee (Lon
don. Harvlll, 200l);
Robert Musll, Tlc Covfusiovs of Jouvg Trlcss, translated
by Shaun Whlteslde, lntroductlon by Coetzee
(London New York. Penguln, 200l);
Iovdscopc witl Iowcrs: Ioctry from tlc `ctlcrlovds, trans
lated and lntroduced by Coetzee (Prlnceton, N.|..
Prlnceton Lnlverslty Press, 2003);
Graham Greene, rigltov Iocl, lntroductlon by Coetzee
(London. Vlntage, 2001; New York. Penguln,
2001).
LNCOLLECJED. 'Jhe Great South Afrlcan Novel,"
Icodcrslip SZ, 2 (l983). 71, 77, 79;
'Jhe Novel Joday," Upstrcom: Z Mogoivc of tlc Zrts, 6
(l988). 2-5.
|. M. Coetzee publlshed hls flrst novel, Dusllovds,
ln l971. Slnce that tlme he has become one of South
Afrlca`s leadlng wrlters; and lncreaslngly, he has
achleved a posltlon at the forefront of contemporary
wrlters ln Engllsh. He was the flrst novellst to be twlce
awarded the Londonbased Booker Prlze, glven for the
best novel of the year (for Iifc c Timcs of Miclocl I,
l983, and Disgrocc, l999). Hls lnternatlonal reputatlon
was marked by the announcement ln 2003 that he was
that year`s Nobel Prlze wlnner ln Llterature.
|ohn Maxwell Coetzee was born ln Cape Jown on
9 Iebruary l910 to an attorney father and a school
teacher mother. He spent most of hls chlldhood ln Cape
Jown and Worcestera perlod of hls llfe that he recalls
ln hls autoblographlcal work oylood: Sccvcs from Iroviv-
ciol Iifc (l997). A sectlon of oylood ls devoted to the hol
ldays that Coetzee spent as a chlld on hls uncle`s farm ln
the Karoo, the semldesert reglon of the Cape Provlnce.
In all probablllty hls perennlal fasclnatlon wlth the prl
meval aspect of the South Afrlcan landscape stems from
hls boyhood vlslts to thls reglon, whlch forms the maln
settlng of hls novel Iifc c Timcs of Miclocl I.
Coetzee`s parents were blocdsoppc, Afrlkaners who
supported General |an Smuts and dlssoclated them
selves from the Afrlkaner natlonallst movement that
eventually came to power ln South Afrlca ln l918.
Although Coetzee came from an Afrlkaansspeaklng
background, he attended varlous Engllsh mlddle
schools and, after graduatlng from a Roman Cathollc
boys` school ln l956, went on to study Engllsh lltera
ture and mathematlcs at the Lnlverslty of Cape Jown,
recelvlng hls B.A. ln l960 and M.A. ln l963. Jhls bllln
gual upbrlnglng has enabled Coetzee to deplct Engllsh
and Afrlkaansspeaklng characters ln hls flctlon wlth
equal facllltyan uncommon occurrence ln South Afrl
can llterature, whlch, as part of the legacy of a dlvlded
soclety, usually ls rlddled wlth ethnlc stereotypes.
Havlng found hls studles at the Lnlverslty of
Cape Jown, partlcularly ln Engllsh, tedlous, Coetzee left
South Afrlca for England ln l962 to pursue a career as a
computer programmer, worklng for Internatlonal Busl
ness Machlnes (IBM) for two years and then for Inter
natlonal Computers from l961 to l965. In hls 2002
memolr/novel Joutl: Sccvcs from Irovivciol Iifc II, the maln
character, |ohn, enacts thls same hlstory, though the
move to London ls motlvated by revulslon from South
Afrlca and by artlstlc asplratlons, and the career ln com
puter programmlng ls chosen almost lnadvertently.
Coetzee completed hls master`s thesls ln l963 and mar
rled Phlllppa |ubber the same year; the couple has two
chlldren, Nlcolas, born ln l966, and Glsela, born ln
l968. Evldently, computer programmlng dld not prove
rewardlng; |ohn, ln Joutl, explalns to an uncomprehend
lng human resources offlcer, 'I don`t flnd worklng for
318
gK jK ` ai_ POV
IBM very satlsfylng at a human level. I don`t flnd lt ful
fllllng." Lnder a Iulbrlght exchange program, Coetzee,
after only four years ln England, left for the Lnlted
States and commenced work on a doctoral thesls ln
Engllsh at the Lnlverslty of Jexas at Austln.
Jhe tlme Coetzee spent at the Lnlverslty of
Jexas cruclally lnfluenced hls development as a novel
lst. Hls doctoral research on the flctlon of Samuel Beck
ett, for example, made a deflnlte lmpresslon on hls
subsequent novellstlc practlce, as ls evldent ln hls use of
mlnlmallst scenarlos and a llmlted number of charac
ters. Moreover, ln Jexas, Coetzee flrst encountered
reports and accounts of the Khol people, wrltten by
early European explorers, travelers, and mlsslonarles ln
South Afrlca; these documents provlded the germ for
hls flrst work, a~I speclflcally for 'Jhe Narratlve
of |acobus Coetzee." Another lmportant lnfluence from
thls perlod on hls wrltlng was the Vletnam War, whlch
reached lts helght durlng hls stay ln the Lnlted States.
Jhe war affected Coetzee deeply, and, besldes prompt
lng hlm to take part ln an antlwar demonstratlon (for
whlch he was arrested), lt lmpelled hlm to a comparlson
of L.S. colonlallsm wlth South Afrlcan colonlallsm. As
Davld Attwell contends ln hls essay 'Jhe Problem of
Hlstory ln the Ilctlon of |. M. Coetzee" (l990), Coetzee
'could scarcely avold assoclatlng the spectacle of the
bomblng of Vletnam wlth the legacy he was trylng to
shake off as a South Afrlcan." Jhls assoclatlon led
dlrectly to the creatlon of a~.
Coetzee stayed ln the Lnlted States whlle wrltlng
hls dlssertatlon, whlch he completed ln l969; as an
asslstant professor he taught at the State Lnlverslty of
New York at Buffalo from l968 to l97l. a~ was
publlshed two years after Coetzee`s return to South
Afrlca to take up a lecturlng posltlon ln Engllsh at the
Lnlverslty of Cape Jown ln l972. Wrltten partly ln
Amerlca and partly ln South Afrlca, lt conslsts of two
novellas, 'Jhe Vletnam Project" and 'Jhe Narratlve of
|acobus Coetzee," set ln Amerlca and South Afrlca,
respectlvely. 'Jhe Vletnam Project" takes place durlng
the Vletnam War and deals wlth the endeavors of
Eugene Dawn, an expert ln psychologlcal warfare, to
deslgn a propaganda pollcy that wlll undermlne the
foundatlons of Vletnamese culture and render the
North Vletnamese subservlent to the Lnlted States. By
contrast, the second novella ls set ln elghteenthcentury
South Afrlca and centers on the exploratlon of the
South Afrlcan lnterlor and subsequent extermlnatlon of
an aborlglnal trlbe by |acobus Coetzee, an hlstorlcally
verlflable personage and dlstant forebear of the author
hlmself.
Geographlcally separate and at a temporal
remove of two centurles, these two novellas lnltlally
appear to be completely lndependent. Jhe tltle of the
comblned text, however, by lmpllcatlon classlfles both
the Lnlted States and South Afrlca as 'dusklands" and
thus suggests that they have somethlng ln commona
shared hlstory of colonlallsm. Coetzee, ln a l978 lnter
vlew wlth Stephen Watson, descrlbes the South Afrlcan
colonlal condltlon as 'only one manlfestatlon of a wlder
hlstorlcal sltuatlon to do wlth colonlallsm, late colonlal
lsm, neocolonlallsm." Moreover, apart from the com
monallty of theme and analogous hlstorlcal sltuatlons
hlnted at by the tltle, the name 'Coetzee" ls used ln
both novellas ln a~X Eugene Dawn`s lmmedlate
superlor ls named Coetzee, and the second sentence of
the novella ls 'Coetzee has asked me to revlse my
essay." Jhls further evldence of the llnks between them
conflrms the lntlmatlon that they operate contrapun
tally ln thelr exploratlon of the metaphyslcs of colonlal
lsm. In terms of lts structure, however, the L.S.
lnvaslon of Vletnam ln 'Jhe Vletnam Project" precedes
the European lnvaslon of southern Afrlca ln 'Jhe Nar
ratlve of |acobus Coetzee." Jhls lnverslon of the actual
temporal sequence of these hlstorlcal occurrences sug
gests that hlstory, rather than manlfestlng a llnear pro
gresslon through tlme, statlcally repeats ltself.
In lts deplctlon of two selfdoubtlng and egocentrlc
protagonlsts who seek to afflrm thelr reallty by posltlng
themselves ln opposltlon to an 'other," a~
descrlbes Western colonlallsm as an eplphenomenon of
the dlvlded consclousness of Western humanlty. It ls
deplcted as a symptom of a speclflc eplstemologlcal and
ontologlcal condltlon. ln order to constltute ltself, the
self has to attempt to 'know" the other. Belng grounded
ln Western consclousness, thls 'mental aberratlon" ls
not conflned to a partlcular perlod, place, or economlc
structure. As long as the struggle for recognltlon that lt
actlvates contlnues, hlstory ls bound to repeat ltself. Iur
thermore, as the novel makes clear, thls struggle manl
fests ltself on both lndlvldual and natlonal planes ln the
rampant deslre to afflrm a vestlglal sense of ldentlty.
Internatlonal crltlcal response to a~ was
slow ln comlng but generally favorable. Revlewlng the
novel ln ^~ q~ (l980), Peter LaSalle detected ln
the work 'a fullness that ls utterly real, wlthout the
extremes of onedlmenslonal, deadpan morallzlng or
equally onedlmenslonal, comlc carlcaturlng that have
marked, and marred, so much flctlon about Afrlca by
both blacks and whltes." Locally, a~ ellclted
lmmedlate attentlon. Descrlbed as the advent of 'the
modern novel ln Engllsh" ln South Afrlca by |onathan
Crewe ln `~ (l971) and as a welcome departure
from 'South Afrlcan llberal reallsm" by Watson ln
o~ ^~ i~ (l986), lts appearance on
what was percelved to be a llterary scene ln serlous dan
ger of stagnatlon was welcomed. Although admlred by
many crltlcs for lts aesthetlc lnnovatlons, thls work has
319
ai_ POV gK jK `
been perslstently crltlclzed on polltlcal grounds for
neglectlng the materlal factors of oppresslon ln lts por
trayal of colonlallsm. Peter KnoxShaw, for example,
concludes a perceptlve readlng of the text wlth the
reservatlon that 'It ls regrettable that a wrlter of such
conslderable and varled talents should play down the
polltlcal and economlc aspects of hlstory ln favor of a
psychopathology of Western llfe." Jhls crltlclsm of the
obllque relatlon to hlstory of a~ has, ln varlous
permutatlons, become the basls of a growlng local crl
tlque of all of Coetzee`s novels.
By the tlme of the publlcatlon of hls second novel,
f e~ ` (l977), Coetzee had spent
twelve years teachlng and was well establlshed ln hls
academlc post at the Lnlverslty of Cape Jown. As an
unpubllshed address he gave to the Aquarlus Work
shop, a student group, on 22 Aprll l975 shows, how
ever, he had not fallen prey to the complacency and
selfdeceptlon of what he termed the academlc who
'thlnks of hlmself as a member of a crltlcal lntelllgentsla
that ls ln the polltlcal communlty but not of lt." On the
contrary, he was acutely aware of the ldeologlcal lmpll
catlons of a career as a wrlteracademlc. In thls address,
'Jhe Wrlter and the Lnlverslty. Notes on the Econom
lcs of Wrltlng," he touches on the amblvalence lnherent
ln belng pald by the State but slmultaneously 'protected
by the tradltlon of academlc free speech," a tradltlon he
skeptlcally deflnes as 'the unlon rule of academlcs that
an academlc may say what he wlshes, under certaln clr
cumstances, provlded that he does not go beyond the
bounds of the llberal ldeology." Jwo years later these
lntlmatlons of selfcensorshlp ln the llberal academlc
mllleu were thrown lnto rellef by the more concrete haz
ards of wrltlng ln a country where polltlcal represslon
extends tanglbly to the cultural domaln. before belng
cleared for general clrculatlon, a conslgnment of the
flrst edltlon of f e~ ` was lmpounded
for a brlef perlod by South Afrlcan customs offlclals.
In addltlon to havlng been embargoed, f
e~ ` had an lnterestlng publlcatlon hls
tory. Jhe orlglnal manuscrlpt comblned Engllsh text
wlth Afrlkaans dlalogue. Jo facllltate acceptance by a
Brltlsh publlsher for dlstrlbutlon on the lnternatlonal
market, however, Coetzee translated the dlalogue lnto
Engllsh. Jhus, the novel exlsts ln two edltlons. a wholly
Engllsh edltlon, flrst publlshed ln Great Brltaln by
Secker and Warburg ln l977, and a South Afrlcan edl
tlon that appeared under the Ravan Press lmprlnt ln
l978 and presents the text ln lts orlglnal blllngual form.
f e~ ` ls slmllar to a~ ln
that lt ls presented ln eplstolary form as the lnterlor
monologue of a deranged narrator. Jhe protagonlst of
the later novel ls Magda, a woman who llves wlth her
father and thelr servants, KlelnAnna and Hendrlk, on
a remote and lonely sheep farm somewhere ln South
Afrlca, probably the Karoo. Jhe exact geographlcal
locatlon of thls settlng ls not stlpulated, and nelther ls
the hlstorlcal perlod ln whlch the actlon occursthe flrst
of many lndetermlnacles ln thls hlghly amblvalent
novel. Such amblgultles are lmmedlately apparent from
the openlng paragraph, ln whlch Magda recalls watch
lng her remarrled father returnlng home. 'Joday my
father brought home hls new brlde. Jhey came
cllpclop across the flats ln a dogcart drawn by a horse
wlth an ostrlchplume wavlng on lts forehead, dusty
after the long haul. Or perhaps they were drawn by two
plumed donkeys, that ls also posslble." Jhe flnal result
of thls obfuscatory technlque ls that the novel defles any
coherent reconstructlon of lts plot. So, for example, lt ls
not clear whether Magda, who ls jealous of the sexual
relatlonshlp that her father may or may not have con
trlved wlth KlelnAnna, does or does not murder hlm.
In fact, the text undermlnes all certalnty by provldlng
the reader wlth two accounts of the putatlve murder;
yet, after each account the father reappears later ln the
story. What follows the purported murder ls equally
amblvalent. Magda attempts to regaln her posltlon of
mastery over Hendrlk and KlelnAnna but, upon fall
lng, trles to form an egalltarlan relatlonshlp wlth them.
Hendrlk, however, seemlngly rapes her and then,
together wlth KlelnAnna, deserts the farm.
Among all thls lndetermlnacy, however, there are
several concerns ln thls novel that the reader famlllar
wlth a~ wlll readlly be able to ldentlfy, such as
the relatlonshlp of domlnance and subservlence that
underplns the fatherchlld and masterslave relatlons.
Iurthermore, Magda`s apparent murder of her father,
whlch brlngs about a change ln the relatlonshlps of
domlnance and subservlence ln f e~ Ì
ls remlnlscent of the transposable relatlonshlps ln
a~for lnstance, |acobus Coetzee`s forfelture of
hls posltlon of mastery and selfhood ln the course of hls
encounter wlth the Khol. Moreover, the mythlcal arche
type of patrlclde can be found ln Eugene Dawn`s 'New
Llfe for Vletnam" report ln 'Jhe Vletnam Project."
Part of Eugene Dawn`s study lnvolves the formulatlon
of a strategy to counter the Vletnamese myth of the
demlse of the father, a myth descrlbed as 'a justlflcatlon
of the rebelllon of sons agalnst a father who uses them
as hlnds. Jhe sons come of age, rebel, mutllate the
father and dlvlde the patrlmony."
Jhe polltlcal slgnlflcance of the patrlcldal myth,
together wlth Magda`s deplctlon of her 'masterful
father" as an authorltarlan, retrlbutlve patrlarch, sug
gests a readlng of f e~ ` ln whlch the
hlerarchy on the farm forms a mlcrocosm of the South
Afrlcan polltlcal sltuatlon, wlth the farm representlng
South Afrlca ltself; the father the Afrlkaner ~~I or the
350
gK jK ` ai_ POV
Afrlkaner government; and KlelnAnna and Hendrlk
the oppressed black race. If the novel ls read ln thls way,
then the kllllng of the father could be construed as the
end of the old apartheld order, whlch ls premlsed upon
the tradltlonal roles of master and servant or doml
nance and subservlence. Magda`s attempts to forge a
new and equal relatlonshlp wlth Hendrlk and
KlelnAnna could be seen as an attempt, ln the lnterreg
num followlng the death of the old order, to establlsh a
new order that ls not premlsed on power relatlons. Such
a readlng, however, runs the serlous rlsk of slmpllfylng,
to the polnt of absurdlty, an extraordlnarlly complex
text. It falls, for example, to account for the enlgmatlc
endlng of the novel and lts exploratlon of the part
played by language, as a polltlcal weapon, ln relnforclng
the hlerarchlcal roles that malntaln the establlshed
order. In thls respect Lloyd Spencer rlghtly slngles out
language as the 'new obsesslon" that dlstlngulshes thls
novel from lts predecessor.
Jhe polltlcal role of language ls dlrectly referred
to by Magda when she observes that she 'was born ln a
language of hlerarchy, of dlstance and perspectlve." It ls
the 'antlque feudal language" that lnscrlbes the dlvlslon
between subject and object, self and other, and master
and servant that dlctates Magda`s relatlonshlp wlth her
servants. It ls not the contraventlon of the color bar that
annoys her about her father`s llalson wlth KlelnAnna
but hls 'vlolatlon" of the old language of dlvlslon. 'I
am a conserver rather than a destroyer, perhaps my
rage at my father ls slmply rage at the vlolatlons of the
old language, the correct language, that take place when
he exchanges klsses and pronouns of lntlmacy wlth a
glrl who yesterday scrubbed the floors and today ought
to be cleanlng the wlndows." Jhe 'pronouns of lntl
macy" referred to are, of course, the flrstpersonplural
pronouns 'we" and 'us" that brldge the dlvlslon
between subject and object, 'I" and 'you," whlch
underplns the language of separatlon or apartheld. Jhls
underplnnlng emerges ln another extraordlnary llnguls
tlc descrlptlon by Magda of her father`s relatlonshlp
wlth KlelnAnna. 'My father ls exchanglng forbldden
words wlth KlelnAnna. . . . l |We|, he ls saylng to
her, |we two|; and the word reverberates ln the
alr between them. . . . How can I speak to Hendrlk as
before when they corrupt my speech? How do I speak
to them?" Ior the old order to conserve ltself, language
must functlon as a medlum of separatlon rather than a
means of lntercourse. As such, soclal lntercourse
between self and other ls more to be feared than sexual
lntercourse.
Iollowlng her father`s death, whlch symbollzes
the collapse of the old order, Magda attempts to reassert
the relatlonshlp of domlnance and subservlence on the
farm. She falls, however, owlng to the dlslntegratlon of
what she calls the 'fathertongue". 'Jhe language that
should pass between myself and these people has been
subverted by my father and cannot be recovered." She
then attempts to reallze her fantasy of an egalltarlan
new order. And, as her words to KlelnAnna lndlcate,
she ls acutely aware that the lnstltutlon of anarchlc rela
tlonshlps requlres the creatlon of a new language of
equallty. 'I have never learned the speech of men, ek
wou slegs praat, ek het noolt geleer hoe `n mens met `n
ander mens praat nle | I only wanted to talk, I never
learned how a person talks to another person|. . . . I
have never known words of true exchange, wlsselbare
woorde |exchangeable words|, Anna. Woorde wat ek
aan jou kan gee kan jy nle teruggee nle |Words that I
can glve you, you cannot return|. Hulle ls woorde
sonder waarde |Jhey are words wlthout value|. Ver
staan jy |Do you understand|? No value." It ls her
deslre to replace thls language of dlvlslon wlth a lan
guage of exchange that leads her to establlsh a sexual
relatlonshlp wlth Hendrlk. By means of thls relatlon
shlp she clearly wlshes to repllcate her father`s affalr
wlth KlelnAnna, one that she suspects was conducted
through 'forbldden words" and 'pronouns of lntl
macy." Rather than belng equal, however, her relatlon
shlp wlth Hendrlk ls characterlzed by the wlll to power
and the language of allenatlon, as ls made clear by Hen
drlk`s rape of her. 'He has forced hls way lnto me. I
toss from slde to slde and weep, but he ls relentless. . . .
'Almal kry lekker |everyone enjoys lt|,` he says harshly.
Are those hls words?" Jhus she comes to reallze that
'Jhere has been no transflguratlon" of the roles of
domlnance and subservlence, that they have slmply
been reversed, not changed.
Jhe novel ends wlth Magda, now alone on the
farm, pleadlng wlth 'skycreatures" whom she belleves
are sendlng her messages. Slgnlflcantly, one of her maln
pleas ls for a language that entrenches anarchlc rather
than power relatlons. 'Why wlll no one speak to me ln
the true language of the heart? Jhe medlum, the
medlanthat ls what I wanted to be! Nelther master nor
slave, nelther parent nor chlld, but the brldge between,
so that ln me the contrarles should be reconclled!" And
ln her abortlve attempt to converse wlth these creatures
she devlses a language that can only be descrlbed as a
composlte of the IndoEuropean group of languages.
Jhe suggestlon seems to be that Magda`s fallure to cre
ate a language of exchange ls not to be seen as a per
sonal fallure but should lnstead be attrlbuted to the fact
that the languages that have formed her consclousness
of self and other lnscrlbe subject posltlons of doml
nance. In thls regard, Mlchael Vaughan contends that
'Jhe whole of Western clvlllzatlon ls lmpllcated ln the
drlve towards subjugatlon and mastery."
35l
ai_ POV gK jK `
As wlth a~I then, thls novel ultlmately
emerges as an exploratlon of the cognltlve structures
that govern the West`s lmperlal wlll to power. And,
once agaln, thls concern wlth the eplstemologlcal
dlmenslon of power, rather than lts materlal condltlons,
dlssatlsfled some South Afrlcan crltlcs, such as
Vaughan, who belleve that endeavors of thls klnd do
not constltute effectlve polltlcal protest. Such crltlclsm,
of course, lgnores the materlallty of language and dls
course. It falls to see that dlscourse and materlal sltua
tlons are closely lnterrelated, that the former may
generate the latter.
Detractors of the novel also contend that charac
ters such as Magda, enthralled as they are by a Western
colonlal consclousness, represent the lmpotence of the
lndlvldual, hls/her lnablllty to change the polltlcal status
quo. Jhus, Vaughan, for example, conslders Coetzee`s
novels to be a response to the 'patent lneffectuallty of
llberal ldeas and strategles" that are premlsed on 'an
ontology of lndlvldual freedom." As far as Vaughan ls
concerned, then, protest, whlch presupposes a theory of
lndlvldual agency, ls slmply 'not avallable to Coetzee as
a strategy." Apart from thls llne of crltlclsm, the novel
has been pralsed for lts artlstry and lntellectuallty. Spen
cer, for example, regards lt as the 'most brllllant" and
also the 'most forblddlng" of Coetzee`s novels, one that
pushes 'the novel of ldeas to the borders of lmpenetra
blllty."
In South Afrlca f e~ ` recelved
both the Central News Agency (CNA) Prlze, the coun
try`s premler llterary award, and the MofoloPlomer
Llterary Prlze. A l985 IrancoBelglan motlonplcture
adaptatlon of the novel, aI starred |ane Blrkln as
Magda and Jrevor Howard as her father. Marlon
Hnsel, who dlrected and wrote the screenplay, won the
Sllver Llon for Best Ilrst Work at the Venlce Illm Iestl
val.
Wlth the publlcatlon of t~ _~~~
(l980), Coetzee`s thlrd novel, lt became evldent that the
polltlcs of colonlzatlon constltuted a recurrent theme ln
hls flctlon. Set ln the frontler settlement of a state
referred to slmply as the Jhlrd Emplre, the novel opens
wlth the arrlval from the capltal of Colonel |oll to crush
a rumored barbarlan rebelllon on the frontler. Jhls
openlng sets the stage for another encounter between
colonlzer and colonlzed. Yet, by the end of the novel,
|oll has falled to engage wlth the phantom barbarlans,
upon whlch he and hls demorallzed troops retreat to the
capltal, leavlng the fortress town once more ln the con
trol of lts maglstrate, the unnamed protagonlst of the
novel. In the lntervlew wlth Watson ln l978, a perlod
durlng whlch he, ln all probablllty, was wrltlng t~
_~~~I Coetzee commented that 'ln a way lt`s
easler and more dlfflcult belng a wrlter ln South Afrlca
than ln Western European countrles; because there are
such glgantlc subjects of such unassallable lmportance
faclng a wrlter ln South Afrlca." Ior Coetzee, one of
these 'glgantlc subjects" ls obvlously the colonlal dlalec
tlc, a subject of such 'unassallable lmportance" that
wrltlng about lt ls not so much a matter of cholce as a
matter of necesslty. Jhls compulslon constltutes a form
of determlnlsm that llmlts the wrlter`s freedom of
cholce, and thls, ln turn, ls one of the dlfflcultles that
Coetzee percelves of belng a wrlter ln South Afrlca.
As wlth lts geography, the hlstorlcal perlod ln
whlch t~ _~~~ ls set ls not speclfled.
Leon Whlteson, among others, conslders thls lack of
speclflclty a technlcal falllng, argulng. 'Jhe geography
ls garbled. there ls desert and snow, llzards and bears."
However, as Lance Olsen polnts out, thls lndeterml
nacy ls calculated to 'jam our notlons of where and
when." Jhe wrlter hlmself, ln an lntervlew wlth Dlck
Penner, makes the same polnt. 'I just put together a
varlety of locales and left a lot of thlngs vague wlth a
very deflnlte lntentlon that lt shouldn`t be plnned down
to some speclflc place." By refralnlng from establlshlng
the settlng and perlod, Coetzee slgnals hls lntentlon to
explore the eplstemology and ontology of colonlallsm.
In other words, he refuses to poslt hlstory as an a prlorl
fact and, lnstead, attempts to represent that whlch gen
erates lt. Jhe emphasls ls therefore agaln on the cognl
tlve structures that create materlal realltles.
Jhe nebulous aspect of the settlng of the novel
evldent, for example, ln lts 'jumbled" geography that ls
dlffusely descrlbed at one polnt as a 'haze of desert"
also emphaslzes the unreallty of Emplre. Llke the
Lnlted States and South Afrlca ln Coetzee`s flrst novel,
the frontler here ls a 'duskland" whose lnhabltants
have to assert thelr reallty by deflnlng themselves ln
contradlstlnctlon to another cultural group. Jhls
group`s ldentlty as 'barbarlans" ls thus largely a cre
atlon of Emplre, an ldeologlcal construct that valldates
Emplre`s sense of lts own slgnlflcance by afflrmlng lts
status as a superlor, clvlllzed culture. In the absence of
thls construct, Emplre cannot exlst. As the novel pro
ceeds, however, lt becomes lncreaslngly evldent that the
natlve lnhabltants of the area do not flt the role of 'bar
barlan" and 'foe" that Emplre has created for them. In
fact, the tltle of the novel, by alludlng to Constantlne
Cavafy`s l901 poem of the same tltle ln whlch the bar
barlans never arrlve, suggests that the 'barbarlans" wlll
never attack the settlement. By not dolng so, they fall to
conform to Emplre`s expectatlons wlth regard to the
manner ln whlch 'barbarlans" behave and thus fall to
endorse the ldentlty that has been thrust upon them. By
conslstently refuslng to adopt an opposltlonal posltlon
ln relatlon to Emplre, the colonlal other reslsts all
352
gK jK ` ai_ POV
lmposed ldentltles and consequently remalns an
absence ln the colonlal record.
Durlng the flrst year of publlcatlon, t~
_~~~ recelved the |ames Jalt Black Memorlal
Prlze, the Geoffrey Iaber Award, and the CNA Llter
ary Prlze for l980. It was, as Penner contended, 'Coet
zee`s most hlghly pralsed and probably hls most wldely
read work" to that polnt. Desplte thls overwhelmlngly
favorable response, however, there has been crltlcal dls
content wlth Coetzee`s refusal to speclfy hlstorlcal place
and tlme. In addltlon to Whlteson`s crltlque, Irvlng
Howe has complalned that thls lack of speclflclty leads
to a loss of 'urgency," a lack of 'blte and paln." Jhls
crltlclsm resurfaces ln Paul Rlch`s argument that Coet
zee`s 'vlslon of emplre" lacks 'any understandlng of the
hlstorlcal forces that produce actual lmperlal systems at
partlcular phases of hlstory." Vaughan takes lssue wlth
Coetzee for not provldlng any 'materlal loglc" for the
oppresslon of the barbarlans and for not offerlng a solu
tlon to the problems of colonlallsm.
Coetzee contlnued hls demythologlzlng project ln
i C q j~ hI a novel ln whlch Mlchael K, a
member of the oppressed majorlty ln a futurlstlc South
Afrlca embrolled ln clvll war, retreats from Cape Jown
to a farm ln the Karoo, where he llves ln a burrow and
tends a vegetable patch. On the surface thls novel, wlth
lts memolrtltle remlnlscent of the early novel of the sev
enteenth and elghteenth centurles and lts loose eplsodlc
structure, seems to be an eccentrlc reworklng of the
plcaresque novel. Lpon closer lnspectlon, though, lt
becomes evldent that thls eplsodlc deslgn ls lnformed
by a recurrlng pattern of events ln whlch Mlchael K ls
flrst colonlzed and then escapes. Startlng wlth the open
lng scene of the novel, ln whlch Anna K, wlth the assls
tance of a mldwlfe, glves blrth to her son, Mlchael K,
each of these sequences ls deplcted as a blrth of sorts. In
each of these cases, however, Mlchael K`s otherness pal
lmpsestlcally reasserts ltself after the llngulstlc colonlza
tlon of belng named and possessedas becomes
evldent, for example, ln hls llteral escape from the con
centratlon camps.
Jhls pattern of llngulstlc approprlatlon followed by
escape lncludes not only Mlchael K but also the South
Afrlcan landscape. In the course of the novel, for exam
ple, the reader flnds that the homestead, a slgn of settle
ment ln the Prlnce Albert dlstrlct, ls erased by exploslves
and that the Karoo farm reverts to veld. In other words,
the space that the colonlal enterprlse attempted to domes
tlcate, by, ln the words of |acobus Coetzee, 'turnlng lt
lnto orchard and farm," reasserts lts orlglnal ldentlty.
Moreover, the fact that thls novel ls set ln a future South
Afrlca engaged ln a revolutlonary war suggests that the
European culture that was lnscrlbed on the subcontlnent
of Afrlca durlng the colonlal era ls ln the process of belng
erased. In both the case of Mlchael K and the South Afrl
can landscape, then, 'the thlng possessed," to clte Coet
zee`s observatlon on the representatlon of the South
Afrlcan landscape ln Sldney Clouts`s poetry, 'beglns to
mutate and shed lts old name almost as soon as lt ls
taken over by language."
Jhe analogy, verglng on ldentlty, between
Mlchael K and the South Afrlcan landscape ls one of
the most noteworthy features of the novel. It provldes
movement to what ls otherwlse a remarkably statlc and
dellberately relteratlve rather than progresslve text, a
narratlve ln whlch the protagonlst undergoes no dls
cernlble psychologlcal developmentdesplte the clear
alluslon ln the tltle to the subgenre of the blldungsro
man. Indeed, Mlchael K ls descrlbed as a 'hard llttle
stone, barely aware of lts surroundlngs, enveloped ln
ltself and lts lnterlor llfe," and remarks of hlmself. 'I
was mute and stupld ln the beglnnlng, I wlll be mute
and stupld at the end." In the course of the novel, how
ever, Mlchael K does gravltate from a 'botanlcal" to a
'geologlcal" perspectlve ln terms of hls attltude toward
the South Afrlcan landscape, a terraln that Coetzee
descrlbes elsewhere as belng 'of rock, not of follage."
Jhls development ls brought about by hls move from
the exotlc, Europeanlzed landscape of Cape Jownthat
ls, an lnltlally allen landscape that has been legltlmlzed
or rewrltten wlth lmperlal labelsto the more lndlge
nous landscape of the Karoo, a reglon that galns lts
name from the Khol word meanlng 'dry."
By the end of the novel Mlchael K ls able to llken
hlmself to an earthworm and a molecomparlsons that
suggest hls fuslon wlth the earth and echo hls declslon,
on the Karoo farm, to llve ln a burrow rather than ln
the homestead, that ls, to settle for, ln Coetzee`s words
ln a dlfferent context, 'an unsettled habltatlon the
landscape." Jhe suggestlon ls that Mlchael K ls now
able to recognlze and ldentlfy wlth the 'true" South
Afrlca underlylng the European labels, the South Afrlca
that contlnually escapes the 'frenzled appllcatlon of
European metaphor." Slgnlflcantly, the reader ls told
that Mlchael K 'could not lmaglne hlmself spendlng hls
llfe drlvlng stakes lnto the ground, erectlng fences,
dlvldlng up the land."
Mlchael K`s fuslon wlth the landscape also sug
gests the brldglng of the Carteslan spllt between self
and world, a spllt that has characterlzed the consclous
ness of all Coetzee`s protagonlsts thus far. Jhe reason
for the slgnlflcant change ln consclousness lntroduced
by thls novel ls that lt, unllke Coetzee`s prevlous texts,
ls told, for the most part, from the perspectlve of the
colonlzed rather than the colonlzer, a technlcal change
that culmlnates ln a shlft ln emphasls from the colonlz
lng lmpulse ltself to the escape from such attempts.
Apart from the matter of Carteslan consclousness, some
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remarkable effects are achleved by thls shlft ln polnt of
vlew. Ior lnstance, lt accounts for the fact that, ln a
novel set ln a country that ls obsessed wlth raclal classl
flcatlon, Mlchael K`s raclal ldentlty ls never mentloned.
As Coetzee sald ln a 6 March l981 lntervlew from
whlch Dlck Penner quotes ln hls Couvtrics of tlc Mivd:
Tlc Iictiov of . M. Coctcc (l989), 'Other people ln the
book can thlnk of hlm what they want. Jhe lmportant
thlng ls that he doesn`t." Jhe slgnlflcant sllence about
race ln the novel can therefore be construed as an ana
logue of the ultlmate fallure of the colonlzer to conflne
the other ln raclal categorles.
Jhe response ellclted by Iifc c Timcs of Miclocl I
does not dlffer slgnlflcantly from the pattern establlshed
by the receptlon of Coetzee`s earller novels. On the one
hand, lt was wldely acclalmed and awarded the prestl
glous BookerMcConnell Prlze ln Brltaln, the CNA Llt
erary Award ln South Afrlca, and the Prlx Iemlna
Etranger ln Irance; on the other hand, the advocates of
a form of hlstorlcal reallsm responded ln what by then
had become predlctable terms. Jhus, fellow South Afrl
can novellst Nadlne Gordlmer, ln her revlew of the
novel for the `cw Jorl Icvicw of ools (2 Iebruary l991),
pralsed Coetzee`s artlstry but crltlclzed the passlvlty of
hls 'hero" and what she saw as an attempt to deplct the
reallzatlon of 'an ldea of survlval . . . outslde a polltlcal
doctrlne."
Although these prescrlptlve crltlclsms have been
wldely debated, the most lntrlgulng response to them
thus far has been from Coetzee hlmself. Over the years
he has conslstently refused to dlscuss hls work ln any
but the most general terms, let alone react to formal
crltlclsm of lt. It ls therefore remarkable that ln an lnter
vlew wlth Attwell, publlshed ln the volume edlted by
Attwell, Doublivg tlc Ioivt: Issoys ovd Ivtcrvicws (l992),
Coetzee responded dlrectly and ln detall to thls llne of
crltlclsm wlth lts lmpllclt charge that he should have
wrltten a dlfferent book, one ln whlch Mlchael K jolns
the band of guerrlllas that vlslts the Karoo farm.
One wrltes the books one wants to wrlte. One doesn`t
wrlte the books one doesn`t want to wrlte. Jhe empha
sls falls not on but on the word ~ ln all lts own
reslstance to belng known. Jhe book about golng off
wlth the guerlllas, the book ln the herolc tradltlon, ls
not a book I ~JJI wanted enough to be able
to brlng off, however much I mlght have wanted to
have wrltten ltthat ls to say, wanted to be the person
who had successfully brought off the wrltlng of lt.
Instead of respondlng to Gordlmer`s crltlclsm on lts
own terms, that ls, by clarlfylng hls posltlon on the rela
tlon of Iifc c Timcs of Miclocl I to the publlc, polltlcal
arena, Coetzee responded ln terms of the assumed prl
vacy of the experlence of wrltlng, an experlence that, he
stated earller ln the lntervlew, places hlm ln a realm that
ls governed by forces and prescrlptlons other than those
prevalent ln the publlc arena. 'Jhe novel becomes less
a tlivg than a plocc where one goes every day for several
hours a day for years on end. What happens ln that
place has less and less dlscernlble relatlon to the dally
llfe one llves or the llves people are llvlng around one.
Other forces, another dynamlc, take [sic] over."
In l986 Coetzee taught at |ohns Hopklns Lnlver
slty ln Baltlmore, Maryland, as Hlnkley Professor of
Engllsh, a onesemester appolntment he recelved agaln
ln l989. In hls next novel, Ioc (l986), Coetzee departed
altogether from the South Afrlcan geopolltlcal context.
Jhe flrst sectlon of the novel ls set on a deserted lsland
and constltutes a retelllng of Danlel Defoe`s Iobivsov
Crusoc (l7l9) by Susan Barton, the castaway narrator of
Ioc. It deals wlth her stay on the lsland and focuses prl
marlly on the relatlonshlp of Cruso (Coetzee`s spelllng)
wlth Irlday. In the second sectlon the lsland ls replaced
by Defoe`s house ln England, and the focus falls on
Susan Barton`s relatlonshlp wlth Irlday. Although on
the surface the settlngs of thls novel appear to constltute
a departure from those encountered ln Coetzee`s prevl
ous novels, they actually dupllcate scenarlos wlth whlch
the reader ls famlllar from these works. typlcally, a man
or woman ln a deserted landscape or house. In all these
cases, wlth the exceptlon of Mlchael K, the protagonlst
adopts a posltlon of mastery ln relatlon to that whlch ls
beyond hlm or her. It could therefore be argued that Ioc
lays bare the fact that the mlnlmallst scenarlos sketched
out ln Coetzee`s varlous narratlves are all, ln Allan Gar
dlner`s phrase, 'encounters of the Roblnsonlan klnd."
Glven hls fasclnatlon wlth the colonlzatlon pro
cess, lt ls not surprlslng that so many of Coetzee`s nov
els reenact the Roblnson Crusoe paradlgm wlth lts
classlc encounter between colonlzer and colonlzed and
the dlalectlc of self and other that lnforms thls relatlon
shlp. After all, Iobivsov Crusoc, as a llterary reflectlon of
the expanslve lmperlallst thrust of Europeans that
started ln the seventeenth century, has over the centu
rles galned the status of a folktale of whlte emplre. One
could even go as far as to say that thls fable forms a par
adlgm of the conventlonal Western mode of thlnklng
about the cultural other. Jhls reason seems to be
behlnd Coetzee`s declslon to rework Defoe`s novel, for
whlch he wrote the lntroductlon to the l999 Oxford
World`s Classlcs edltlon.
Many of Coetzee`s changes to the story affect the
raclal dlmenslon of the relatlonshlp of master to servant
that pertalns between Cruso and Irlday and that forms
the subject of part l of the novel. Rather than the
'comely, handsome" Europeanlooklng Carlb wlth skln
that ls 'not qulte black, but very tawny . . . of a brlght
klnd of dun ollve colour that had ln lt somethlng very
351
gK jK ` ai_ POV
agreeable" of Defoe`s story, Irlday, ln Coetzee`s hands,
becomes an Afrlcan whose features and complexlon are
descrlbed by Susan Barton as. 'the small dull eyes, the
broad nose, the thlck llps, the skln not black but a dark
grey, dry as lf coated wlth dust." Clearly thls change ls
calculated to emphaslze the raclal aspect of the relatlon
shlp between Cruso and Irlday. Another slgnlflcant
change that Coetzee lntroduces to the Roblnson Crusoe
story ls hls reductlon of Defoe`s hlghly loquaclous Rob
lnson Crusoe to a laconlc hater of words. Iurthermore,
Irlday, who ln the orlglnal develops lnto a falrly adept
user of pldgln Engllsh, ln Coetzee`s text becomes a mute
whose tongue has been cut out. Jhe effect of thls change
ls to hlghllght the strlctly utllltarlan use to whlch lan
guage ls put on the lsland. Jhus, Susan Barton ascer
talns that Irlday`s vocabulary ls llmlted to words of
commandthat whlle he, for example, understands the
functlonal word I whlch denotes a commodlty
that he fetches when ordered to do so, he does not
understand the generlc word K And, when she asks
Cruso how many 'words of Engllsh" Irlday knows, he
responds by saylng. 'As many as he needs. . . . Jhls ls
not England, we have no need of a great stock of
words." Language on Coetzee`s lsland emerges as a tool
of emplre that ls used to domlnate the other. In fact, thls
emphasls on language as an lnstrument of power galns a
metaflctlonal dlmenslon when Susan Barton refers to
'the new Irlday whom Cruso created." Llke the author
of a character, Cruso through language creates an lden
tlty for hls mute slave by namlng hlm Irlday.
Part 2 of the novel marks a shlft from the sllence
of the lsland to the soclal world of England, referred to
by Susan Barton as the 'world of words." On the sur
face thls change of settlng lnltlally appears to juxtapose
the mallgnant use of language as an lnstrument of
domlnatlon wlth a more benlgn use of language as a
means to freedom, that ls, Susan Barton`s attempt
through language to free Irldayto, ln her words, 'edu
cate hlm out of darkness and sllence" and 'to bulld a
brldge of words over whlch, when one day lt ls grown
sturdy enough, he may cross to the tlme before Cruso."
As the novel progresses, however, lt becomes lncreas
lngly evldent that thls welllntentloned attempt at volc
lng the other ls, ln fact, no dlfferent from attempts at
sllenclng lt. Jhus, Susan Barton eventually comes to
reallze that, llke Cruso, she, too, has through language
become the author and determlner of Irlday`s exls
tence. 'Irlday has no command of words and therefore
no defence agalnst belng reshaped day by day ln con
formlty wlth the deslres of others. I say he ls a cannlbal
and he becomes a cannlbal. . . . What he ls to the world
ls what I make of hlm." As Gayatrl Splvak has sug
gested, 'cI ln hlstory, ls the slte where the llne
between frlend and foe ls undone."
Llke Mlchael K, however, Irlday reslsts such
attempts at llngulstlc approprlatlon. Although hls
sllence lnltlally appears to render hlm vulnerable to lln
gulstlc relflcatlon, lt ls ln fact the means through whlch
he reslsts the languages of lmperlallsm. By vlrtue of hls
lnaccesslble sllence, Irlday preserves hls dlfference, hls
status as other, and avolds asslmllatlon by the West.
In South Afrlca c has been harshly dealt wlth by
crltlcs who lnslst that flctlon wrltlng should supplement
hlstory. Instead of engaglng wlth a recognlzable South
Afrlcan soclal and polltlcal context (or so thelr argu
ment goes), thls novel perversely escapes (or retreats)
lnto postmodernlst theorlzlng and games playlnga
mode of wrltlng and theoretlcal dlscourse that such
readers conslder lnapproprlate ln the South Afrlcan
polltlcal context. Mlchael Chapman`s attack on c ls
the most extreme of the responses ellclted by thls novel
ln South Afrlca. 'In our knowledge of the human suf
ferlng on our own doorstep of thousands of detalnees
who are denled recourse to the rule of law, c does not
so much speak to Afrlca as provlde a klnd of masturba
tory release, ln thls country, for the Europeanlslng
dreams of an lntellectual coterle."
In what has been lnterpreted as a response to such
negatlve crltlques, Coetzee, ln a talk glven at the l987
t j~ Book Week ln |ohannesburg, outllned hls
vlews on the relatlon of hls novels to hlstory. After com
mentlng on the tendency of South Afrlcan crltlcs 'to
subsume the novel under hlstory, to read novels as . . .
lmaglnatlve lnvestlgatlons of . . . real hlstorlcal clrcum
stances; and conversely, to treat novels that do not per
form thls lnvestlgatlon . . . as lacklng ln serlousness," he
argued for the legltlmacy of a novellstlc practlce that, ln
the process of evolvlng 'lts own paradlgms and myths,"
demythologlzes hlstory. Equally telllng, ln thls regard, ls
Coetzee`s response to a questlon ln a l987 lntervlew
wlth Jony Morphet on whether c could be seen as 'a
retreat from the South Afrlcan sltuatlon". 'c ls a retreat
from the South Afrlcan sltuatlon ln a narrow temporal
perspectlve. It ls not a retreat from the subject of colo
nlallsm or from questlons of power."
In l987 Coetzee was awarded the |erusalem Prlze
for the Ireedom of the Indlvldual ln Soclety for i C
q j~ h. In hls acceptance speech he remarked
on the manner ln whlch the South Afrlcan state`s struc
tures of power have created 'deformed and stunted
relatlons between human belngs" and on the extent to
whlch llterary representatlons of llfe ln thls country 'no
matter how lntense . . . suffer from the same stunted
ness and deformlty." He then commented that South
Afrlcan llterature 'ls a llterature of bondage. . . . a less
than fully human llterature." A few years later he pub
llshed ^ f (l990), a novel that focuses on the
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ai_ POV gK jK `
deformlng lmpact of apartheld structures on llfe and art
ln South Afrlca.
^ f dlffers from lts predecessors ln that lt
deals qulte expllcltly wlth contemporary polltlcal reall
tles ln South Afrlca. Jhe settlng ls speclfled as Cape
Jown, and, although the date ls not provlded, varlous
detalls sltuate the novel temporally ln the wlnter of
l986, a perlod ln South Afrlcan hlstory that, as the tltle
of the novel suggests, was characterlzed by unmltlgated
vlolence, bloodshed, and polltlcal lntranslgence. It was
a tlme of death not only for the country as a whole but
also for Coetzee personally, who, durlng the wrltlng of
the novel, lost four relatlveshls former wlfe (the couple
had dlvorced ln l980), both parents, and hls son, Nlco
las. Not surprlslngly, then, the novel ls, as Malvern Van
Wyk Smlth clalms, 'a medltatlon on death, on many
levels."
Its protagonlst, Mrs. Curren, ls an elderly woman
sufferlng from termlnal cancer who, on the day she ls
lnformed of the lncurablllty of her condltlon, encoun
ters ln her backyard a mysterlous tramp named Ver
cuell. Jhe latter, she thus lnfers, ls an angel of death.
Jhe other relatlonshlps ln the novel are also marked by
death. Mrs. Curren`s domestlc servant, Ilorence, har
bors two teenage 'comrades" (actlvlsts for the Afrlcan
Natlonal Congress |ANC|) ln her quarters, one of
whom ls her son and both of whom dle vlolently ln the
course of the novel. Even the settlngs are talnted by
death. Mrs. Curren`s house ls ln an advanced state of
decay, and so ls the country as a whole. Moreover, Mrs.
Curren`s vlslt to the townshlp whlle asslstlng Ilorence
ln her search for her mlsslng son ls metaphorlcally
deplcted as a vlslt to Hades, and the townshlp ls physl
cally descrlbed as a 'zone of kllllng and degradatlon." It
comes as no surprlse that thls bleak novel ends wlth the
lmplled death of Mrs. Curren herselfa concluslon that
ls conveyed ln the form of a letter that ltself ls defunct
slnce, as Van Wyk Smlth polnts out, lt ls addressed to
Mrs. Curren`s daughter ln Canada 'who ls, to all
lntents and purposes, 'dead.`"
In terms of lts deplctlon of relatlonshlps of power,
^ f follows a slmllar pattern to Coetzee`s earller
novels. Jhe by now famlllar scenarlo ln whlch one char
acter attempts to recreate another ls repeated ln thls
novel ln Mrs. Curren`s relatlonshlp wlth Vercuell.
Although thelr lnteractlon ls reallstlcally portrayed and
set ln a speclfled urban settlng, a network of alluslons
and references to the Clrce myth from Homer`s q lJ
make lt clear that thls relatlonshlp constltutes yet
another lsland encounter 'of the Roblnsonlan klnd."
Whereas Clrce attempts to turn Odysseus lnto a plg, Mrs.
Curren endeavors to turn Vercuell lnto a manservant and
angel of death. Both, however, fall ln these attempts at
recreatlon. Odysseus recelves from Hermes the mythlcal
herb moly, whlch renders hlm lmmune to Clrce`s spells,
whlle Vercuell`s sllence and addlctlon to alcohol protect
hlm from Mrs. Curren`s authorlal endeavors.
Although Coetzee`s treatment of thls relatlonshlp
follows a clearly recognlzable course, the same cannot
be sald of Mrs. Curren`s relatlonshlp to Ilorence and
her chlldren, whlch eventually forms the subject of a
metaflctlonal medltatlon on the status of art ln South
Afrlca. In developlng thls relatlonshlp, Coetzee sets up
an opposltlon between whlte suburbla and black town
shlp llfe ln South Afrlca, an opposltlon that ls empha
slzed by Mrs. Curren`s vlslt to Guguletu townshlp,
durlng whlch she ls confronted wlth a 'loomlng world
of rage and vlolence" where people are 'revealed ln
thelr true names." Jhe lndubltable reallty of thls 'oth
erworld" questlons the reallty of her own whlte bour
geols envlronment, whlch occludes lt ln medla
representatlons of South Afrlca as 'a land of smlllng
nelghbours." Jhus, as Mrs. Curren comes to reallze fol
lowlng her vlslt to the townshlp, the very fabrlc of her
soclety ls baseless, a flctlon manufactured by the soclal
englneers of apartheld.
In protest, Mrs. Curren contemplates burnlng
herself outslde the House of Parllament, whlch she
refers to as the 'House of Lles." She hopes, by lmmolat
lng herself ln thls way, to 'redeem" herself and 'rlse
above my tlmes." But, as she eventually reallzes, such
an act would be 'deeply false," not the lnnocent
selfeffaclng gesture of protest lt purports to be, but a
selfafflrmlng 'spectacle," calculated both to rld her of
the strong sense of unreallty that plagues her followlng
her vlslt to the townshlp and to galn her recognltlon
from the 'otherworld." Hence her obsesslon wlth Ilo
rence`s lmaglned reactlon to the 'spectacle," were she to
see lt. Slgnlflcantly, her speculatlons ln thls regard cul
mlnate wlth the dream ln whlch 'Ilorence does not stop
to watch. Gaze flxed ahead, she passes as lf through a
congregatlon of wralths." Llke the representatlons of
the cultural other ln Coetzee`s earller novels, Ilorence
refuses to acknowledge the doubtlng self`s exlstence
and thereby enable lt to afflrm lts reallty.
Jhere ls a strong lndlcatlon ln these passages that
Mrs. Curren`s 'spectacle" should be seen as an ana
logue for whlte llterature ln South Afrlca. Not only ls lt
compared to a llterary work open to multlple lnterpre
tatlons, but Mrs. Curren llkens herself to 'a juggler, a
clown, an entertalner," that ls, to an artlst of sorts. Jhe
suggestlon seems to be that, llke Mrs. Curren`s 'specta
cle," llterature by whlte South Afrlcan wrlters constl
tutes a trlvlal gesture whose functlon ls narclsslstlc
rather than lnterventlonlst, that ls, calculated to allay an
endemlc sense of gullt and to afflrm a precarlous sense
of self. Indeed, the novel lmplles that the whlte South
Afrlcan wrlter`s order of experlence ls so dlfferent from
356
gK jK ` ai_ POV
that of the black South Afrlcan as to render lt lmpossl
ble for hlm/her to represent black llfe. Jhe polnt ls that
even languagethe very condltlon of posslblllty for the
novel and for protesthas been contamlnated by the
polltlcs of vlolence ln South Afrlca. Jhus, ^ f
questlons the posslblllty of effectlve llterary protest
from wlthln the prlson house of a deformed language.
Desplte lts trenchant crltlclsm of whlte wrltlng,
however, thls novel does not advocate sllence as the
only authentlc avenue open to the whlte wrlter. After
all, as a llngulstlc artlfact, the novel ltself ls a product of
whlte South Afrlcan wrltlng. Moreover, Mrs. Curren,
slgnlflcantly enough, keeps on wrltlng untll she dles.
After echolng Hamlet wlth the words, 'Jhe rest should
be sllence," she goes on to say. 'But wlth thlswhatever
lt lsthls volce that ls no volce, I go on. On and on."
And she does so ln order to preserve that whlch 'ls con
demned unheard," whlch ls 'everythlng lndeflnlte,
everythlng that glves when you press lt." Jhls category
encompasses everythlng that has become obsolete ln
the age of lron ln whlch 'only blows are real, blows and
bullets". people such as Vercuell, concepts such as Mrs.
Curren`s llberal humanlst values, and words and 'devl
ous dlscourse" such as the novel form ltself. Jhe polnt
behlnd the notlon of the 'unheard" seems to be that the
functlon of llterature ln a soclety that has been dehu
manlzed by an lnlqultous polltlcal system should be to
preserve the ldea of humanlty. Jhls concept of the func
tlon of llterature explalns the constant alluslons to the
Clrce myth ln the novel. |ust as the herb moly that Her
mes gave Odysseus protected hlm from belng trans
formed lnto a plg by Clrce, so too art could protect
South Afrlcans from the dehumanlzlng lnfluence of the
cycle of vlolence ln thelr soclety.
^ f ls ultlmately a medltatlon on the role of
llterature ln an 'age of lron," that ls, ln a polltlcal cll
mate that ls hostlle not only to the ldea of humanlty but
also to the llterary form that, over the centurles, has
served as a vehlcle for thls ldea. As such lt ls also a
response of sorts to attempts to dlctate the form that the
novel should follow ln South Afrlca, attempts that lnev
ltably relegate that whlch devlates from the prescrlbed
pattern to the status of the 'unheard." Van Wyk Smlth
touches on thls metaflctlonal debate ln ^ f when
he argues that Mrs. Curren`s 'lntlmate quest for a vall
datlng narratlve, a story that attempts to wrlte her back
lnto a meanlngful hlstory even whlle recognlslng lts
own lnablllty to do so, ls preclsely Coetzee`s response to
those who demand an actuallsed text commensurate
wlth soclopolltlcal events."
Apart from Van Wyk Smlth`s artlcle, the response
from the South Afrlcan crltlcal establlshment to the pro
vocatlve metaflctlonal polemlc of thls novel was surprls
lngly sparse. Jhe general responses to the novel,
however, have been posltlve on the whole. Llonel Abra
hams found that 'the artlculate passlon wlth whlch the
novel`s protagonlst and lts author respond to the hlstor
lcal horror. . . . ls vastly dlfferent from the usual, more
or less exclted, gestures of solldarlty or provocatlon,
cheek or subscrlptlon that pass as protest." Benlta Parry
saw lt as an 'elegy to llberal humanlsm," and Rlaan
Malan descrlbed lt slmllarly as 'the death rattle of the
whlte llberal tradltlon ln South Afrlcan wrltlng, and per
haps ln South Afrlcan soclety, too." Such responses hlnt
at Coetzee`s concern wlth the deformlng effect apart
held structures have had on South Afrlcan llfe and art.
In l99l Coetzee spent a semester as vlsltlng
professor of Engllsh at Harvard Lnlverslty. Hls next
novel, q j~ mI was publlshed ln l991
and was therefore wrltten durlng the perlod ln whlch
the apartheld government flnally collapsed. Iar from
deallng wlth thls momentous transltlon, though, q
j~ m ls set ln latenlneteenthcentury Rus
sla. So, whlle ^ f seemed to suggest a deslre on
Coetzee`s part to engage more dlrectly wlth the overt
polltlcs of the day ln South Afrlca, the later novel
appears to lndlcate a return to the strategy of temporal
and geographlcal dlsplacement that characterlzes hls
earller work. Apart from thls dlfference, these two nov
els are remarkably slmllar.
As ln the earller text, ln q j~ m
Coetzee deals wlth the deformlng lmpact of socletal
structures of power and the role that llterature plays ln
elther relnforclng or reslstlng these structures. Set ln St.
Petersburg, thls novel focuses on the murder of a young
student, Ivanov, by a group of nlhlllsts led by Sergel
Nechaev. Jhls lncldent ls probably best remembered as
the hlstorlcal event that prompted Iyodor Dostoevsky
to wrlte q a (l87l), a work ln whlch he trled to
llnk moral evll and polltlcal nlhlllsm. Dostoevsky
achleved thls ldentlflcatlon by means of the blbllcal story
of the Gadarene swlne, a tale ln whlch unclean devlls,
havlng been exorclsed from two possessed men by |esus
Chrlst, enter a herd of swlne. Jhls story generates ln the
novel a serles of analogles that suggest Russla ls a 'slck
man" possessed by devlls and that the swlne that the
devlls enter when exorclsed are the revolutlonarles.
In q j~ m Coetzee employs the
same parallelsas becomes apparent when hls own
character, Dostoevsky, argues that lt ls futlle to
lmprlson revolutlonarles such as Sergel Nechaev slnce
nlhlllsm ls a 'splrlt" for whlch the lndlvldual ls merely a
'vehlcle," a 'host." Jhls parallellsm does not mean,
however, that Coetzee shares the actual Dostoevsky`s
convlctlon that the nlhlllsts are possessed by the devll. It
ls slgnlflcant ln thls regard that Coetzee applles the
story of the Gadarene swlne not only to Russla and the
phenomenon of revolutlonary nlhlllsm but also to Dos
357
ai_ POV gK jK `
toevsky hlmself and hls llterary response to thls phe
nomenon. Jhus, ln q j~ mI Dostoevsky
ls deplcted as a 'slck man" possessed by devlls. And,
whlle engaglng ln sexual lntercourse wlth hlm, Anna
Sergeyevna, at the onset of cllmax, utters the word
'devll." Importantly, ln thls scene the sexual act ls
deplcted as both an lnsplratlon and an exorclsm, wlth
Anna Sergeyevna occupylng the dual role of muse and
exorclst. As the novel ends shortly afterward wlth Dos
toevsky commenclng work on q aI the lmpllca
tlon ls, therefore, that thls text ls also to be equated wlth
the exorclsed splrlts ln the story of the Gadarene swlne.
Jhe further lnference ls that the readers wlthln whom
coples of the novel can be sald to take up resldence cor
respond to the swlne ln the blbllcal story.
Coetzee`s reworklng of the story of the Gadarene
swlne ln q j~ m appears to be a com
ment on the lmpllcatlon of wrlter and llterature ln the
power dynamlcs or 'slckness" of the soclal context ln
whlch they are located. Jhrough applylng the story to
the artlst and the artlstlc process ltself, Coetzee suggests
that Dostoevsky and hls work are not lmmune to the
'slckness" of Russla. Both are a part of Russla and are
therefore also 'slck."
Jhe polnt Coetzee makes ln thls text ls, therefore,
slmllar to that whlch emerges from hls prevlous novel.
that the llterature produced ln an 'age of lron," that ls, a
soclety and a perlod that have been 'deflned" and thus
debased by 'unnatural structures of power," ls 'a less
than fully human llterature." In lts lnevltable preoccu
patlon wlth 'power and the torslons of power," such llt
erature ls as 'stunted" and 'deformed" as the llfe that lt
seeks to represent. Accordlngly, lt colludes wlth the net
works of power that have dehumanlzed the soclety. In
thls regard, lt ls slgnlflcant that the lmagery Coetzee
uses ln q j~ m to lndlcate the ablllty of
llterature to brutallze ls slmllar to that whlch he uses ln
^ f to suggest the dehumanlzlng lmpact of the
state`s power relatlons.
In l999 Coetzee publlshed three books. Jhe
pamphlet q k ^~ ls the text of a lecture dellv
ered ln Berkeley, Callfornla, on ll November l998.
q i ^~ ls also based on a lecture. Coetzee
dellvered the central text as a Janner Lecture ln the
Humanltles at Prlnceton Lnlverslty, but lt ls actually
more of a postmodernlst flctlon. At the heart of the
book ls a story that Coetzee read at Prlnceton; the
story purports to be a lecture on anlmal rlghts dellv
ered by an elderly novellst, Ellzabeth Costello, wlth
lnterpolatlons by other characters, who are respondlng
to the lecture. Jhe rest of the book ls composed of
responses to Coetzee/Costello`s lecture by varlous real
world academlcs ln dlsclpllnes such as anthropology
and bloethlcs.
Jhe thlrd book publlshed ln l999 was Coetzee`s
elghth novel, a~I whlch ls set ln South Afrlca ln the
late l990s. Jhe protagonlst, Davld Lurle, ls a flftytwo
yearold professor at the Jechnlcal Lnlverslty of Cape
Jown. Jhe novel opens wlth a conslderatlon of the fate
of an aglng scholar, a speclallst ln the Romantlc poets
who ls reduced to teachlng lntroductory courses ln
'communlcatlons," whlch he desplses, as the unlverslty
has changed lts emphasls from llberal arts to that of
'technlcal educatlon." Lurle has a brlef affalr wlth Mel
anle, one of hls female students, who ls oddly passlve
and amblvalent about the relatlonshlp. When the affalr
comes to the attentlon of the unlverslty authorltles
Lurle suspects that Melanle`s boyfrlend has lnformed
on hlmLurle ls told by the school admlnlstratlon to
apologlze and enter lnto counsellng lf he wlshes to save
hls career. Seelng hlmself as belng scapegoated by the
forces of polltlcal correctness, he pleads gullty to the
charge of sexual harassment but refuses to apologlze or
be repentant.
Leavlng the unlverslty ln dlsgrace, Lurle goes to
vlslt hls lesblan daughter, Lucy, who llves alone on a
smallholdlng ln the Eastern Cape. She ls eklng out a
meager exlstence managlng dog kennels and ralslng
flowers and vegetables for market ln cooperatlon wlth
her black nelghbor, Petrus. Ior a tlme Lurle flnds a sort
of peace on the farm as he helps Lucy, though the two
have had an uneasy relatlonshlp slnce he and Lucy`s
mother dlvorced some years earller. Jhe fraglle peace
ls shattered, however, when the farm ls lnvaded by
three men who at flrst pretend to need help and then
attack Lurle and hls daughter, settlng hlm on flre and
locklng hlm ln the bathroom whlle they sexually
assault Lucy.
Jhe remalnder of the novel concerns Lurle`s and
hls daughter`s attempts to come to terms wlth what has
happened to them. Jhe three attackers were black, and
Lucy comes to see the rape as a sort of retrlbutlon for
hlstorlcal raclal lnjustlce. She ls pregnant as a result of
the rape and ls determlned to keep the chlld. Lurle ls
horrlfled by her response, but he too sees the assault ln
terms of hlstorlcal lnevltablllty, as the result of a sort of
lnherlted gullt.
Sales for a~ far exceeded those for t~
_~~~. In a revlew of a~ for q k
v q (ll November l999), Chrlstopher Leh
mannHaupt noted that the book reflects the uncer
talnty of postapartheld South Afrlca, where 'all values
are shlftlng"; he also noted that 'Jhe effect of the
novel`s plot ls deeply dlsturblng, ln part because of
what happens to Davld and Lucy, but equally because
of the dlslntegratlng context of thelr experlences."
Revlewlng the book for the 27 |uly l999 j~ C d~J
~ ( |ohannesburg), |ane Jaylor called the novel
358
gK jK ` ai_ POV
'remarkable ln lts gauglng of the contemporary dllem
mas arlslng from our clrcumstances ln a soclety
obsessed by our own vlolent context." Notlng that cen
tral to the work ls 'the fallure of the lmaglnatlon," she
polnted out that ln thls aspect Disgrocc ls llnked to Tlc
Iivcs of Zvimols: 'these two works ln conjunctlon
explore the seallng off of lmaglnatlve ldentlflcatlon that
has been a necessary precondltlon for us to engage ln
the longterm and sustalned buslness of slaughter."
Wrltlng ln Tlc `cw Icpublic (20 December l999),
|ames Wood argued that 'a slgnlflcant weakness" ln
the novel ls the 'formal parallel of dlsgrace". as a result
of what happened to Lucy, and her reactlon to lt, Lurle
comes to accept the necesslty of belng penltent for hls
actlons, but the 'formal parallel" equates hls dlsgrace
wlth Lucy`s, and hers ls, Wood argued, 'not one that
she earned or deserved." Wood also noted that the
'rather shocklng notlon of rape as hlstorlcal repara
tlon. . . . has earned Coetzee a certaln amount of covert
condemnatlon." Disgrocc was generally crltlcally well
recelved, however, and earned Coetzee a second
Booker Prlzehe thus became the flrst novellst ln the
thlrtyoneyear hlstory of the award to wln twlce.
Jhls slngular dlstlnctlon may have helped to
draw an unusual amount of attentlon to Disgrocc, whlch
has attracted a large body of crltlcal commentary, some
of lt focused on the apparently pesslmlstlc plcture of
llfe, for at least some people, ln a new majorltyruled
South Afrlca. Moreover, because Lucy`s attackers are
black, the novel led to a 'brulslng clash" wlth the
ANC, the rullng party of South Afrlca. Denounclng
the book as the work of a raclst who belleved blacks
were 'savage, vlolent and lncapable of reflnement
through educatlon," the party referred Coetzee`s novel
to the South Afrlcan Human Rlghts Commlsslon as a
work promotlng raclal hatred.
Coetzee`s relatlonshlp wlth South Afrlca had
always been complex, and the events deplcted ln Dis-
grocc suggest that the cholce of whltes ln the new socl
ety was, llke Lucy, to accept harsh condltlons or to
leave. He has chosen to leave. In 2002 he moved to
Australla wlth hls companlon, llterary crltlc Dorothy
Drlver, where he accepted an honorary research fellow
shlp at the Lnlverslty of Adelalde. Always retlcent, he
has refused to conflrm the wldespread lnterpretatlon
that he was shaken by the reactlon to Disgrocc. Malan,
by contrast, suggests that the book ltself was 'clearly a
valedlctory to South Afrlca" and lf that ls so, then the
reactlon by the ANC or anyone else would have noth
lng to do wlth hls departure. However, hls new resl
dence ln Australla (comblned wlth hls frequent
temporary resldencles elsewhere, lncludlng the Lnlver
slty of Chlcago, where he spent one semester per year
from l996 to 2003, and where he remalns a member of
the Commlttee on Soclal Jhought), and the subject
matter of hls work slnce 2002 compllcate one`s under
standlng of how Coetzee ls stlll a South Afrlcan novel
lst.
In Strovgcr Slorcs: Iitcrory Issoys, 19S6-1999
(200l) he reflects on South Afrlcan llfe and letters (ln a
volume that demonstrates the breadth of hls lnterests
and knowledge by also commentlng on Engllsh,
Dutch, Russlan, Egyptlan, Indlan, Israell, Czech, and
Argentlne authors). Revlewlng the work of Breyten
Breytenbach, he reflects on the 'gruesome reports . . .
of attacks on whltes ln the countryslde of the new
South Afrlca"the most sensatlonal feature of Disgrocc
and concludes that 'the clrculatlon of horror storles ls
the very mechanlsm that drlves whlte paranola about
belng chased off the land and ultlmately lnto the sea."
In an essay on Gordlmer, Coetzee reveals, lf only by
lndlrectlon, hls own dlsagreements wlth Gordlmer`s
polltlcally commltted, sometlmes polemlcal, wrltlng.
she has been concerned to glve her work a soclal justlfl
catlon, and thus to support her clalm to a place lnslde
hlstory, a hlstory whlch she herself has to some extent
been successful ln shaplng, as, ln her flctlonal oeuvre,
she has wrltten the struggle of Afrlca agalnst Europe
upon the consclousness of the West.
Coetzee ls a dlfferent klnd of wrlter, as hls next book
made clear.
Joutl ls ln one way obvlously a second volume of
Coetzee`s memolrs, followlng on from oylood. Llke
that earller book, lt tells the story of a South Afrlcan
llvlng ln Cape Jown and sufferlng from a range of
mlserles. Jhe laconlc narrator calls the maln character
'he," though from the dlscourse of other characters he
ls ldentlfled as '|ohn." Jhe story ls told ln the thlrd
person and present tense. Many detalls of |ohn`s llfe
accord wlth those of Coetzee`s. youth ln Worcester,
undergraduate studles at the Lnlverslty of Cape
Jown, expatrlatlon to London, work as a computer
programmer at IBM and Internatlonal Computers.
But ln Brltaln at least, Joutl was marketed as flc
tlon. Jhe proof copy dlstrlbuted to revlewers called lt
Coetzee`s flrst novel slnce Disgrocc. Elleen Battersby ln
the Irisl Timcs (6 Aprll 2002) welcomed lt as a 'taut
new novel," and lt ls true that nothlng ln the book
acknowledges that |ohn ls Coetzee. Nor, desplte |ohn`s
longlng to be an artlst, ls there anythlng ln the book
(whlch ends wlth lts protagonlst, age twentyfour, stlll
at loose ends ln London) to show that lts maln charac
ter possesses the seeds of future worldwlde llterary
success. An lntervlew wlth Coetzee (conducted by e
mall) referred to Joutl as 'your most recent novel ln
the form of a memolr," and ln hls responses Coetzee
359
ai_ POV gK jK `
conslstently referred to |ohn as 'he." |ohn Lpdlke
refers to v as 'the second lnstallment of what
seems to be an ongolng memolrlst project."
It ls certalnly the portralt of an artlst as a young
man, and llke |ames |oyce`s semlautoblographlcal
novel about hls alter ego Stephen Dedalus, lt mlxes
bltter recollectlon wlth a generous dose of lrony
(though the lrony ls easy to mlss because of the aus
tere language, and has been mlssed by some revlew
ers). |ohn ls by no means an admlrable or even llkable
protagonlst; nor does he admlre or llke hlmself. He ls
lndolent, usually nearly frlendless, and selfabsorbed;
selfconsclous about hls outslder status, he knows hls
artlstlc ambltlons set hlm apart from hls fellows as do
hls unlmpresslve appearance, wrong clothes, and, ln
London, provlnclal accent. He ls good at mathematlcs
and, wlthout partlcularly wantlng lt, achleves success
as a computer programmer ln earlyl960s London.
More surprlslngly, he ls a successful seducer of
women. Jhls achlevement ls talnted by the fact that he
never seems to enjoy sex or brlng joy to hls sex part
ners, and he behaves badly toward women. Dlsap
provlng revlewers called |ohn 'a model of romantlc
gloom and wllled turmoll . . . a monster of selfabsorp
tlon" ( |ason Cowley, q lI 2l Aprll 2002), and
Mark Shechner (_~ kI l5 September 2002),
readlng |ohn autoblographlcally, summed up Coetzee
as 'a summa cum laude ln styllsh depresslon and the
South Afrlcan master of the blues." But the plcture ls
redeemed by the lrony wlth whlch |ohn ls sometlmes
handled, as when the narrator reveals that 'As for hls
own wrltlng, he would hope to leave behlnd, were he
to dle tomorrow, a handful of poems that, edlted by
some selfless scholar and prlvately prlnted ln a neat llt
tle duodeclmo pamphlet, would make people shake
thelr heads and murmur beneath thelr breath, 'Such
promlse! Such a waste!` Jhat ls hls hope."
|ohn ls a proxy for Coetzee lf he ls not Coetzee,
and some of the thlngs he thlnks and the posltlons he
takes shed llght on Coetzee`s later career. When he
wrltes hls flrst story (he ls mostly a poet at thls polnt)
he ls dlsquleted that, though llvlng ln England, he ls
stlll wrltlng about South Afrlca.
He would prefer to leave hls South Afrlcan self behlnd
as he has left South Afrlca ltself behlnd. South Afrlca
was a bad start, a handlcap. An undlstlngulshed, rural
famlly, bad schoollng, the Afrlkaans language. from
each of these component handlcaps he has, more or
less, escaped. He ls ln the great world earnlng hls own
llvlng and not dolng too badly, or at least not falllng,
not obvlously.
Jhose last modlflcatlons exempllfy the careful tone
and the lronlc dlstance between narrator and |ohn that
characterlze v. Near the end of the book comes the
dlagnosls. 'If he were a warmer person he would no
doubt flnd lt all easler. llfe, love, poetry. But warmth ls
not ln hls nature." Jhe chlll ls emotlonal and flnds lts
symbollc counterpart ln the cold London to whlch the
Afrlcan |ohn has exlled hlmself. |ohn has flown past
the netslanguage, upbrlnglngand lt ls typlcal of the
subdued representatlon of the artlst ln embryo that the
book ends, not wlth some artlstlc advance, but wlth a
rueful acknowledgment of deflclency and a readlness
to dle.
In the autumn of 2003 Coetzee publlshed hls
next novel and, wlthln weeks, recelved word that he
was the 2003 Nobel laureate for Llterature. Jhe novel,
b~ Ì llke vI challenged genre expecta
tlons. Jhe subtltle of the Brltlsh edltlon ls b iI
and the L.S. edltlon ldentlfles the chapters as 'les
sons" ln the table of contents. Moreover, the contents
of the book have an unusual publlshlng hlstory. Les
sons l and 6, called 'Reallsm" and 'Eros," were pub
llshed ln sllghtly dlfferent form ln p~~I a llterary
quarterly, ln l997 and 2003. Jhe postscrlpt, 'Letter of
Ellzabeth, Lady Chandos, to Irancls Bacon," was pub
llshed as a pamphlet by Intermezzo Press ln 2002. Ear
ller verslons of Lesson 2, 'Jhe Novel ln Afrlca," and
Lesson 5, 'Jhe Humanltles ln Afrlca," had also been
separately publlshed, ln Berkeley, Callfornla, and ln
Munlch. And the central portlon of b~ Ì
Lessons 3 and 1, whlch are tltled 'Jhe Llves of Anl
mals. Jhe Phllosophers and the Anlmals" and 'Jhe
Llves of Anlmals. Jhe Poets and the Anlmals," were
the l997-l998 Janner Lectures at Prlnceton Lnlver
slty publlshed as q i ^~K
Jhe lnvltatlon to Coetzee to dellver the Janner
Lectures parallels the sltuatlon of hls flctlonal Ellza
beth Costello. A famous and aglng Australlan novellst,
Ellzabeth ls lnvlted to lecture at Appleton College ln
Massachusetts. Expected to speak about llterature, she
surprlses her hosts by glvlng two powerful, lntransl
gent lectures on the mlstreatment of anlmals, glvlng
offense by lnslstlng on the equlvalence between that
treatment and the Holocaust. Slmllarly, Coetzee,
lnvlted to dellver the Janner Lectures, read what
amounted to two storles. the accounts of how Ellza
beth dellvered her anlmalrlghts lectures at Appleton
College, complete wlth the audlence reactlon, her
son`s sad and her daughterlnlaw`s furlous responses,
and Ellzabeth`s own hesltancles. She ls not a good lec
turer; her son even remembers that, though a flctlon
wrlter, she read storles badly to her chlldren. Jhe sec
ond lecture ends wlth Ellzabeth`s frustratlon. as her
son ls drlvlng her to the alrport, she speaks through
tears. 'Calm down, I tell myself, you are maklng a
mountaln out of a molehlll. Jhls ls llfe. Everyone else
360
gK jK ` ai_ POV
comes to terms wlth lt, why can`t you? t ~ \ "
|ohn consoles her, after a fashlon, wlth a remlnder of
her age and mortallty. 'Jhere, there. It wlll soon be
over."
In one of the responses prlnted ln q i
^~I llterary crltlc Marjorle Garber says that 'the
genre of these lectures, then, ls metaflctlon, and
together they constltute a verslon of the academlc
novel, though crltlcally thls one ls suffused wlth
pathos rather than comedy." Invlted lectures comprls
lng, or approxlmatlng, an academlc novel were thus
followed by a novel conslstlng of lectures.
Jhere ls a further metaflctlonal move when the
two lectures of q i ^~ are lncorporated
lnto b~ Ì whlch beglns wlth some metaflc
tlonal placlng gestures. Jhe flrst sentence ls 'Jhere ls
flrst of all the problem of the openlng, namely, how to
get us from where we are, whlch ls, as yet, nowhere, to
the far bank." Ellzabeth ls put before the reader (at yet
another lecturlng engagement at a college). 'Jhe blue
costume, the greasy halr, are detalls, slgns of a moder
ate reallsm. Supply the partlculars, allow the slgnlflca
tlons to emerge of themselves. A procedure ploneered
by Danlel Defoe." Jhe selfconsclous commentary
contlnues.
Jhe presentatlon scene ltself we sklp. It ls not a good
ldea to lnterrupt the narratlve too often, slnce storytell
lng works by lulllng the reader or llstener lnto a dream
llke state ln whlch the tlme and space of the real world
fade away, superseded by the tlme and space of the flc
tlon. Breaklng lnto the dream draws attentlon to the
constructedness of the story, and plays havoc wlth the
reallst llluslon. However, unless certaln scenes are
sklpped over we wlll be here all afternoon. Jhe sklps
are not part of the text, they are part of the perfor
mance.
Coetzee has carefully emphaslzed several of the fea
tures of b~ ` that led revlewers to deny that
lt ls a novel. One ls that, though lt ls qulte 'reallstlc" ln
one senselt ls much llke a serles of lectures and argu
ments about art and morallty and bellef, whlch ls what
lt purports to beln others lt completely falls any
'reallstlc" alm. It lacks partlculars, of the Defoe sort; lt
never lulls the reader lnto a dreamllke state. And thls
lack ls related to the clalm that lt ls dangerous to lnter
rupt the narratlve; a low proportlon of b~ `
ls narratlve at all. Jhere are narratlve framlngs. each
lesson places Ellzabeth ln a settlng and provldes her
wlth a challenge for the exposltlon of her ldeas.
Besldes Amerlcan colleges, these lnclude a conference
ln Amsterdam, an Afrlcan unlverslty where her slster
ls recelvlng an honorary degree, an ocean llner where
she ls provldlng lntellectual stlmulatlon for the passen
gers, and a 'place" that seems to be purgatory, whlle
remlnlscent of Iranz Kafka`s 'Vor dem Gesetz"
(Before the Law) segment of a m (l925; trans
lated as q q~I l937) as well as the camps of the
Holocaust. But the heart of each lesson ls Ellzabeth`s
expatlatlng. She ls not always conslstent, and presum
ably ls not always speaklng for the author (thls clalm
ls hard to be sure about); she ls provlded wlth able
and lntelllgent people who dlsagree wlth her and chal
lenge her bellefs.
Crltlcal reactlon to b~ ` varled
wldely. Jhe genre questlon was common. Jony Iree
mantle ln the e ` (23 November 2003)
asked lf lt was 'a pseudoblographlcal, quaslphllo
sophlcal work of nonflctlon masqueradlng as a novel?
Or ls lt a novel slmply not dressed up to look llke
one?" In the d~~ (30 August 2003) Hermlone Lee
called lt a 'fragmentary and lnconcluslve book, more
llke a collectlon of proposltlons about bellef, wrltlng
and humanlty than a novel." She dld ldentlfy a unlfy
lng thematlc core, notlng that 'Costello (and presum
ably Coetzee) opposes 'embodlment`fullness, the
sensatlon of belngagalnst mechanlcal, abstract, ratlo
nal cogltatlon. . . . Every eplsode ln the novel acts out
thls opposltlon between 'embodlment` and 'reason.`
Coetzee puts Costello ln the almost untenable posltlon
of mountlng a reasoned attack on reason." And
Andrew Marr of q a~ q~ (6 September
2003) concurred. 'Jhe evll that Costello ldentlfles ls
based on the trlumph of reason and the downgradlng
of lmaglnatlon." Many revlewers judged that the lssue
that had recelved the most attentlonklndness to anl
malsfunctloned as one lnstance, but not the only
one, of the human defect of fallure of lmaglnatlon. By
contrast, |onathan Yardley, wrltlng for the t~
m (l6 November 2003), dlsmlssed the book as 'an
exerclse ln the hlgher selflndulgence. a successlon of
almost unlmaglnably tlresome rumlnatlons, cast ln the
form of formal academlc addresses, about blgtlcket
lssues ln whlch Coetzee hlmself ls lnterested, ranglng
from storytelllng to cruelty to anlmals (thls one gets
two full chapters all to ltself ) to the mystery of artlstlc
genlus to evll pure and slmple."
In December 2003 Coetzee dellvered hls Nobel
Prlze lecture. Hls address, called 'He and Hls Man," ls
a speculatlon on Roblnson Crusoe. He conslders Cru
soe as a wrlter, loslng hls fertlllty, and ends wlth some
reflectlons on the relatlonshlp between Crusoe (who ls
wrlter, but ls also wrltten) and Defoe.
How are they to be flgured, thls man and he? As mas
ter and slave? As brothers, twln brothers? As comrades
ln arms? Or as enemles, foes? What shall he glve thls
nameless fellow wlth whom he shares hls evenlngs and
36l
ai_ POV gK jK `
sometlmes hls nlghts too, who ls absent only ln the day
tlme, when he, Robln, walks the quays lnspectlng the
new arrlvals and hls man gallops about the klngdom
maklng hls lnspectlons?
'He and Hls Man" was also publlshed ln _uccv`s _uor-
tcrly (ldentlfled as a short story) and (as an essay) ln
!orld Iitcroturc Todoy.
When asked ln an 8 December 2003 lntervlew
wlth Attwell about the slgnlflcance of the Nobel Prlze to
hlm personally and ln general terms, Coetzee replled.
In lts conceptlon the llterature prlze belongs to days
when a wrlter could stlll be thought of as, by vlrtue of
hls or her occupatlon, a sage, someone wlth no lnstltu
tlonal afflllatlons who could offer an authorltatlve word
on our tlmes as well as on our moral llfe. . . . Jhe ldea
of wrlter as sage ls pretty much dead today. I would
certalnly feel very uncomfortable ln the role.
He also commented that he was already 'belng pep
pered wlth lnvltatlons to travel far and wlde to glve
lectures," whlch he consldered 'one of the stranger
aspects of llterary fame. you prove your competence
as a wrlter and an lnventor of storles, and then people
clamour for you to make speeches and tell them what
you thlnk about the world."
Jhe awardlng of the Nobel Prlze has probably
changed Coetzee less than would have been the case
for another wrlter. Hls lnwardness and reslstance to
the publlclty dlmenslon of belng a wrlter ln the
twentyflrst century ensure that. Jhe prlze may have
ralsed the stakes ln hls crltlcal receptlon. for example,
Yardley`s negatlve revlew of Iliobctl Costcllo, publlshed
ln the Clicogo Suv-Timcs (l1 December 2003), was
headllned 'An Overrated Nobellst?" Revlewlng Coet
zee`s next novel, Slow Mov (2005), for Tlc Ivdcpcvdcvt
(Iovdov) (2 September 2005), D. |. Jaylor wrote, 'As
wlth many a wrlter of thls degree of celebrltya Nobel
Prlze back ln 2003, two Booker garlandsthe novel`s
chlef dlstlnctlon ls that lt resembles other works by |
M Coetzee only more so." Rosemary Sorenson, wrlt
lng for Tlc Couricr Moil (l0 September 2005) ln Coet
zee`s adopted Australla, sald the 'Nobel prlzewlnner`s
arrogant pursult of hls own wrlterly lnterest ls part of
hls attractlon. You llke lt or you lump lt, and lt`s so
dashlng lt`s easy to llke lt for what lt ls." Whether
recelvlng the prlze has changed what Coetzee wrltes,
or just the mental map of those who read hlm, ls
unclear, but 'NobelPrlzewlnnlng" has henceforth
been enrolled among the modlflers'challenglng,"
'uncompromlslng," 'brllllant," perhaps even 'exas
peratlng"that attach themselves to the name |. M.
Coetzee.
Coetzee`s flrst post-Nobel novel, Slow Mov,
appeared ln fall 2005. Jhls book ls set ln Australla
and focuses on retlred photographer Paul Rayment,
who ls forced to reevaluate hls llfe when hls leg ls
amputated after a blcycle accldent. Hls new sltuatlon
becomes more dlfflcult when he falls ln love wlth hls
day nurse, a marrled Croatlan woman named Marl
jana. Jhen Ellzabeth Costello appears, vlsltlng Paul to
challenge and encourage hlm. Brad Hooper of oollist
called Ellzabeth`s presence an 'exasperatlng contrlv
ance," whlle the revlewer for Iublislcrs !cclly, notlng
that 'Some readers wlll object to thls cleverness," went
on to say that 'the story of how Paul wlll take charge
of hls llfe and love contlnues to engage, whlle Ellza
beth Costello the devlce softens lnto a real character,
one faclng fralltles of her own."
In l986, ln hls artlcle 'Into the Dark Chamber.
Jhe Wrlter and the South Afrlcan State" (collected ln
Doublivg tlc Ioivt), Coetzee artlculates the South Afrl
can novellst`s deslre for the freedom that true change
would brlng. 'When the cholce ls no longer llmlted to
citlcr looklng on ln horrlfled fasclnatlon as the blow
falls or turnlng one`s eyes away, then the novel can
once agaln take as lts provlnce the whole of llfe, and
even the torture chamber can be accorded a place ln
the deslgn." Elsewhere, he has argued that such free
dom ls a precondltlon for the wrltlng of novels that are
truly great. Coetzee has freed hlmself from the expec
tatlon that hls works wlll lntervene ln hlstory; from
the 'handlcaps" of South Afrlcan resldency; from the
'publlc" expectatlons of the famous wrlter; and from
some of the superflultles of flctlon. Jhe announce
ment of hls Nobel Prlze pralsed not only the 'well
crafted composltlon, pregnant dlalogue and analytlcal
brllllance" of hls novels but also the fact that Coetzee
ls 'a scrupulous doubter, ruthless ln hls crltlclsm of
the cruel ratlonallsm and cosmetlc morallty of western
clvlllsatlon." Jhe lntellectual honesty and the scrupu
lous doubtlng recognlzed by the Swedlsh Academy are
the real wellsprlng of Coetzee`s freedom.
fW
Stephen Watson, 'Speaklng. |. M. Coetzee," Spcol, l,
no. 3 (l978). 2l-21;
Avrll Herber, '|ohn Coetzee," ln Covvcrsotiovs: Somc Ico-
plc, Somc Ilocc, Somc TimcSoutl Zfrico, edlted by
Herber ( |ohannesburg. Bateleur, l979), pp. l71-
l78;
Sophle Mayoux, '|.M. Coetzee. 'Il nèst pas de texte
qul ne solt polltlque,`" Io _uivoivc Iittcroirc, 357
(l98l). 6;
Iolke Rhedln, 'Exllen l hemlandet tre vlta sydafrlkan
ska ffattare lntervjuas av Iolke Rhedln," ovvicrs
Iittcroro Mogosiv, 53, no. l (l981). l1-20;
362
gK jK ` ai_ POV
Jony Morphet, 'An Intervlew wlth |. M. Coetzee,"
Sociol Dyvomics, l0, no. l (l981). 62-65; reprlnted
ln Tri_uortcrly, 69 (Sprlng/Summer l987). 151-
162;
Rhedln, 'Intervlew," Iuvopipi, 6, no. l (l981). 6-ll;
|. D. Svry, 'Intervlew de |. M. Coetzee," ln . M. Coct-
cc: Dossicr for Socictc dcs Zvglicistcs dc lÌvscigvmcvt
SupcricurColloquc dc rcst, 9-11 Moi 19S, edlted
by Svry (Montpelller. Lnlverslt Paul Valry,
l985), pp. 13-53;
Claude Wauthler, '|eanMarle Coetzee contra la rpres
slon," ln . M. Coctcc: Dossicr for Socictc dcs Zvgli-
cistcs dc lÌvscigvmcvt SupcricurColloquc dc rcst, 9-
11 Moi 19S, p. 51;
Jony Morphet, 'Jwo Intervlews wlth |. M. Coetzee,
l983 and l987," Tri_uortcrly, 69 (Sprlng/Summer
l987). 151-161;
Rlchard Begam, 'An Intervlew wlth |. M. Coetzee,"
Covtcmporory Iitcroturc, 33 (Iall l992). 1l9-13l;
'An Intervlew wlth |. M. Coetzee," !orld Iitcroturc
Todoy, 70 (Wlnter l996). l07-ll0;
Davld Attwell, 'An Excluslve Intervlew wlth | M Coetzee,"
D` Iultur (8 December 2003) http.//www.dn.se/
DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=l058a=2l2382`.
_~W
Kevln Goddard and |ohn Read, . M. Coctcc: Z
ibliogroply (Grahamstown. Natlonal Engllsh Llt
erary Museum, l990).
oW
Derek Attrldge, 'Ethlcal Modernlsm. Servants as Others
ln |. M. Coetzee`s Early Ilctlon," Ioctics Todoy, 25,
no. 1 (Wlnter 2001). 653-67l;
Attrldge, 'Llterary Iorm and the Demands of Polltlcs.
Otherness ln |. M. Coetzee`s Zgc of Irov," ln Zcs-
tlctics ovd Idcology, edlted by George Levlne (New
Brunswlck, N.|.. Rutgers Lnlverslty Press, l991),
pp. 213-263;
Davld Attwell, 'Jhe Problem of Hlstory ln the Ilctlon of
|. M. Coetzee," ln Icvdcrivg Tlivgs !isiblc: Issoys ov
Soutl Zfricov Iitcrory Culturc of tlc 1970s ovd 19S0s,
edlted by Martln Jrump ( |ohannesburg. Ravan,
l990), pp. 91-l33;
Rlta Barnard, '|. M. Coetzee`s Disgrocc and the South
Afrlcan Pastoral," Covtcmporory Iitcroturc, 11, no. 2
(Summer 2003). l99-221;
Colln Bower, '|. M. Coetzee. Llterary Con Artlst and
Poseur," scrutivy2: issucs iv Ivglisl studics iv soutlcrv
ofrico, 8, no. 2 (2003). 3-23;
Andr P. Brlnk, 'Wrltlng agalnst Blg Brother. Notes on
Apocalyptlc Ilctlon ln South Afrlca," !orld Iitcro-
turc Todoy, 58, no. 2 (l981). l89-l91;
Annamarla Carusl, 'Ioc: Jhe Narratlve and Power,"
ourvol of Iitcrory Studics, 5, no. 2 (l989). l31-l11;
Mlchael Chapman, 'Jhe Wrltlng of Polltlcs and the Poll
tlcs of Wrltlng. On Readlng Dovey on Readlng
Lacan on Readlng Coetzee on Readlng . . . (?),"
ourvol of Iitcrory Studics, 1, no. 3 (l988). 327-31l;
Leon De Kock, 'Symposlum on Disgrocc," scrutivy2: issucs
iv Ivglisl studics iv soutlcrv ofrico, 7, no. l (2002). l-
16;
Isldore Dlala, 'Nadlne Gordlmer, |. M. Coetzee, and
Andr Brlnk. Gullt, Explatlon, and the Reconcllla
tlon Process ln PostApartheld South Afrlca," our-
vol of Modcrv Iitcroturc, 25, no. 2 (Wlnter 200l). 50-
68;
|ohn Douthwalte, 'Melanle. Volce and Its Suppresslon ln
|. M. Coetzee`s Disgrocc," Currcvt !ritivg: Tcxt ovd
Icccptiov iv Soutlcrv Zfrico, l3, no. l (200l). l30-
l62;
Jeresa Dovey, 'Coetzee and Hls Crltlcs. Jhe Case of
Dusllovds," Ivglisl iv Zfrico, l1, no. 2 (l987). l5-30;
Dovey, 'Jhe Intersectlon of Postmodern, Postcolonlal
and Iemlnlst Dlscourse ln |. M. Coetzee`s Ioc,"
ourvol of Iitcrory Studics, 5, no. 2 (l989). ll9-l33;
Dovey, Tlc òvcls of . M. Coctcc: Iocoviov Zllcgorics
( |ohannesburg. Ad. Donker, l988);
Susan VanZanten Gallagher, Z Story of Soutl Zfrico: . M.
Coctcc`s Iictiov iv Covtcxt (Cambrldge, Mass.. Har
vard Lnlverslty Press, l99l);
Allan Gardlner, '|. M. Coetzee`s Dusllovds: Colonlal
Encounters of the Roblnsonlan Klnd," !orld Iitcro-
turc !rittcv iv Ivglisl, 27, no. 2 (l987). l71-l81;
Graham Huggan and Stephen Watson, eds., Criticol
Icrspcctivcs ov . M. Coctcc (London. Macmlllan,
l996);
Rosemary |ane |olly, Coloviotiov, !iolcvcc ovd òrrotiov iv
!litc Soutl Zfricov !ritivg: Zvdrc rivl, rcytcv
rcytcvbocl ovd . M. Coctcc (Athens. Ohlo Lnlver
slty Press, l996);
Peter KnoxShaw, 'Dusllovds: A Metaphyslcs of Vlo
lence," Commovwcoltl òvcl iv Ivglisl, 2, no. l
(l983). 65-8l;
Sue Kossew, 'Jhe Anxlety of Authorshlp. |. M. Coet
zee`s Tlc Mostcr of Ictcrsburg (l991) and Andr
Brlnk`s Uv tlc Covtrory (l993)," Ivglisl iv Zfrico, 23,
no. l (l986). 67-88;
Kossew, ed., Criticol Issoys ov . M. Coctcc (New York. G. K.
Hall, l998);
Margaret Lenta, 'Autreblography. |. M. Coetzee`s oy-
lood and Joutl," Ivglisl iv Zfrico, 30, no. l (May
2003). l57-l69;
Lenta, 'Ilctlons of the Iuture," Ivglisl Zcodcmy Icvicw, 5
(l988). l33-l15;
363
ai_ POV gK jK `
Mlchael Marals, 'Languages of Power. A Story of Read
lng Miclocl I/Mlchael K," Ivglisl iv Zfrico, l6, no. 2
(l989). 3l-18;
Marals, 'Places of Plgs. Jhe Jenslon between Impllca
tlon and Jranscendence ln |. M. Coetzee`s Zgc of
Irov and Tlc Mostcr of Ictcrsburg," ourvol of Commov-
wcoltl Iitcroturc, 3l, no. l (l996). 83-96;
Brlan May, '|. M. Coetzee and the _uestlon of the
Body," MIS: Modcrv Iictiov Studics, 17, no. 2 (Sum
mer 200l). 39l-120;
Jony Morphet, 'Readlng Coetzee ln South Afrlca,"
!orld Iitcroturc Todoy, 78, no. l ( |anuary-Aprll
2001). l1-l6;
Lance Olsen, 'Jhe Presence of Absence. Coetzee`s !oit-
ivg for tlc orboriovs," Zricl, l6, no. 2 (l985). 17-56;
Dlck Penner, Couvtrics of tlc Mivd: Tlc Iictiov of . M. Coct-
cc (New York. Greenwood Press, l989);
Paul Rlch, 'Apartheld and the Decllne of Clvlllzatlon
Idea. An Essay on Nadlne Gordlmer`s uly`s Icoplc
and |. M. Coetzee`s !oitivg for tlc orboriovs,"
Icscorcl iv Zfricov Iitcroturc, l5 (l981). 365-393;
Rlch, 'Jradltlon and Revolt ln South Afrlcan Ilctlon.
Jhe Novels of Andr Brlnk, Nadlne Gordlmer and
|. M. Coetzee," ourvol of Soutlcrv Zfricov Studics, 9,
no. l (l982). 51-73;
Gayatrl Chakravorty Splvak, 'Jheory ln the Margln.
Coetzee`s Ioc Readlng Defoe`s Crusoc/Ioxovo,"
Ivglisl iv Zfrico, l7, no. 2 (l990). l-23;
Paola Splendora, ''No More Mothers and Iathers`. Jhe
Iamlly SubJext ln |. M. Coetzee`s Novels," ourvol
of Commovwcoltl Iitcroturc, 38, no. 3 ( |uly 2003).
l18-l6l;
Louls Jremalne, 'Jhe Embodled Soul. Anlmal Belng ln
the Work of |. M. Coetzee," Covtcmporory Iitcroturc,
11, no. 1 (Wlnter 2003). 587-6l2;
Malvern Van Wyk Smlth, 'Waltlng for Sllence; or, Jhe
Autoblography of Metaflctlon ln Some Recent
South Afrlcan Novels," Currcvt !ritivg, 3, no. l
(l99l). 9l-l01;
Mlchael Vaughan, 'Llterature and Polltlcs. Currents ln
South Afrlcan Wrltlng ln the Seventles," ourvol of
Soutlcrv Zfricov Studics, 9, no. l (l982). ll8-l38;
Stephen Watson, 'Colonlallsm and the Novels of |. M.
Coetzee," Icscorcl iv Zfricov Iitcroturcs, l7, no. 3
(l986). 370-392;
Paul Wllllams, 'Ioc: Jhe Story of Sllence," Ivglisl Studics
iv Zfrico, 3l, no. l (l988). 33-39;
Gllbert Yeoh, '|. M. Coetzee and Samuel Beckett. Ethlcs,
JruthJelllng, and SelfDeceptlon," Critiquc: Studics
iv Covtcmporory Iictiov, 11, no. 1 (Summer 2003).
33l-318;
Lols Parklnson Zamora, 'Allegorles of Power ln the Ilc
tlon of |. M. Coetzee," ourvol of Iitcrory Studics, 2,
no. l (l986). l-l1.
OMMP k m i~
m~ p
by Icr !ostbcrg of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy, 10 Dcccmbcr 200J
Your Majestles, Your Royal Hlghnesses, Esteemed
Nobel Laureates, Ladles and Gentlemen,
Jo wrlte ls to awaken countervolces wlthln one
self, and to dare enter lnto dlalogue wlth them. Jhe dan
gerous attractlon of the lnner self ls |ohn Coetzee`s
theme. the senses and bodles of people, the lnterlorlty of
Afrlca. 'Jo lmaglne the unlmaglnable" ls the wrlter`s
duty. As a postmodern allegorlst, Coetzee knows that
novels that do not seek to mlmlc reallty best convlnce us
that reallty exlsts.
Coetzee sees through the obscene poses and false
pomp of hlstory, lendlng volce to the sllenced and the
desplsed. Restralned but stubborn, he defends the ethlcal
value of poetry, llterature and lmaglnatlon. Wlthout
them, we bllnker ourselves and become bureaucrats of
the soul.
|ohn Coetzee`s characters seek refuge beyond the
zones of power. Iifc ovd Timcs of Miclocl I. glves form to
the dream of an lndlvldual outslde the fabrlc of human
coexlstence. Mlchael K. ls a vlrgln belng, vlewlng the
world from an lnflnlte remove. Although exposed to the
vlolence of raclst tyranny, he achleves through passlvlty
a freedom that confounds both the apartheld reglme and
the guerrllla forces slmply because he wants nothlng. nel
ther war nor revolutlon, nelther power nor money.
!oitivg for tlc orboriovs ls a dlsturblng love story
about wantlng to possess another person and to turn that
person lnslde out as though she were a rlddle to be
solved. Everyone who has recognlsed the threat of totall
tarlanlsm and felt the deslre to own another person can
learn from Coetzee`s dark fables. Wlth lntense concrete
ness and verbally dlsclpllned desperatlon, he tackles one
of the great problems of the ages. understandlng the drlv
lng forces of brutallty, torture and lnjustlce.
Who does the wrltlng, who selzes power by taklng
pen ln hand? Can black experlence be deplcted by a
whlte person? In Ioc, Irlday ls an Afrlcan, already dehu
manlsed by Defoe. Jo glve speech to Irlday would be to
colonlse hlm and deny hlm what remalns of hls lntegrlty.
Jhe glrl ln !oitivg for tlc orboriovs speaks an unlntelllgl
ble language and has been bllnded by torture; Mlchael
K. has a harellp and Irlday has had hls tongue cut out.
Hls llfe ls recounted by Susan Barton. that ls, through
'whlte wrltlng," the tltle of one of Coetzee`s books.
361
gK jK ` ai_ POV
However hard we attempt to grasp Mlchael and
Irlday, they have been made, by Coetzee, unsullled by
lnterpretatlon. Jhey remaln sllent. But between the llnes,
ln what ls unspoken, there ls a dlstlllatlon of feellngs
uncommon ln contemporary llterature.
Jhe myth of the survlvor on a desert lsland ls the
only story there ls, Coetzee once sald. Several of hls
books treat slmllar solltudes. Is lt posslble to stand out
slde hlstory? Does freedom from the dlktat of authorlty
exlst? 'I don`t llke accompllces. God, let me be alone,"
says |acobus Coetzee ln the flrst novel, a~I rejolc
lng ln belng abandoned. But he remalns the tool of hls
tory, and what compels the natlves to take hlm serlously
ls hls vlctorlous vlolence. He does, however, ask hlmself
whether the blacks populate a wonderful world closed to
hls own senses. 'Perhaps I have kllled somethlng of lnes
tlmable value."
Coetzee`s work runs llke a hlghtenslon cable across
an lnhospltable South Afrlcan landscape. Mrs. Curran ln
^ f has wltnessed monstrous actlons but ls unable to
condemn them uslng the words of others. Nelther wlll
Coetzee hlmself slgn petltlons or joln ln polltlcal rallles.
In the dystoplan novel a~I Davld Lurle does
not achleve creatlvlty and freedom untll, strlpped of all
dlgnlty, he ls affllcted by hls own shame and hlstory`s dls
grace. In thls work, Coetzee summarlses hls themes. race
and gender, ownershlp and vlolence, and the moral and
polltlcal compllclty of everyone ln that borderland where
the languages of llberatlon and reconclllatlon carry no
meanlng.
Every new book by Coetzee ls astonlshlngly unllke
hls others. He lntrudes lnto the unlnhablted spaces of hls
readers. In hls autoblographles, he pltllessly ransacks hls
former selves. In hls essaynovel b~ ` he com
blnes, wlth unlnhlblted humour and lrony, contemporary
narratlve and myth, phllosophy and gosslp.
Dear |ohn Coetzee,
Your work ls llmlted ln pages, llmltless ln scope.
What I have sald ln Swedlsh to those present here ls
merely ln so many words. 'Don`t llsten to me, just go
home and read, and some lmages wlll stay wlth you for
ever."
In your own llfe, you have recently moved along
the very latltude that unltes Cape Jown and Adelalde.
You may have left South Afrlca; lt wlll hardly leave you.
Ior the Swedlsh Academy, natlonal roots are lrrelevant
and we do not recognlze what ln Europe ls often called
the llterary perlphery.
You are a Jruth and Reconclllatlon Commlsslon
on your own, startlng wlth the baslc words for our
deepest concerns. Lnsettllng and surprlslng us, you
have dug deeply lnto the ground of the human condl
tlon wlth lts cruelty and lonellness. You have glven a
volce to those outslde the hlerarchles of the mlghty.
Wlth lntellectual honesty and denslty of feellng, ln a
prose of lcy preclslon, you have unvelled the masks of
our clvlllzatlon and uncovered the topography of evll.
I would llke to express the warmest congratula
tlons of the Swedlsh Academy as I now request you to
recelve thls year`s Nobel Prlze for Llterature from the
hands of Hls Majesty the Klng.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, 2003.|
`W _~ p
` ~ k _~I NM a OMMP
Gentlemen; Dlstlngulshed Guests, Irlends
Jhe other day, suddenly, out of the blue, whlle
we were talklng about somethlng completely dlfferent,
my partner Dorothy burst out as follows. 'On the other
hand," she sald, ' ~I how proud your
mother would have been! What a plty she lsn`t stlll
allve! And your father too! How proud they would
have been of you!"
'Even prouder than of my son the doctor?" I sald.
'Even prouder than of my son the professor?"
'Even prouder."
'If my mother were stlll allve," I sald, 'she would
be nlnetynlne and a half. She would probably have
senlle dementla. She would not know what was golng
on around her."
But of course I mlssed the polnt. Dorothy was
rlght. My mother would have been burstlng wlth prlde.
j k m . And for whom, anyway, do
we do the thlngs that lead to Nobel Prlzes lf not for our
mothers?
'jI jI f ~ >"
'q~ I ~K k ~ ~
K"
Why must our mothers be nlnetynlne and long
ln the grave before we can come runnlng home wlth the
prlze that wlll make up for all the trouble we have been
to them?
Jo Alfred Nobel, l07 years ln the grave, and to
the Ioundatlon that so falthfully admlnlsters hls wlll
and that has created thls magnlflcent evenlng for us, my
heartfelt gratltude. Jo my parents, how sorry I am that
you cannot be here.
Jhank you.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, 2003. |. M. Coetzee ls the
365
ai_ POV gK jK `
m o~W q k m
i~ OMMP
l m~ p~ p
^~
Jhe Nobel Prlze ln Llterature for 2003 ls awarded
to the South Afrlcan wrlter |ohn Maxwell Coetzee, 'who
ln lnnumerable gulses portrays the surprlslng lnvolve
ment of the outslder."
|. M. Coetzee`s novels are characterlsed by thelr
wellcrafted composltlon, pregnant dlalogue and analytl
cal brllllance. But at the same tlme he ls a scrupulous
doubter, ruthless ln hls crltlclsm of the cruel ratlonallsm
and cosmetlc morallty of western clvlllsatlon. Hls lntel
lectual honesty erodes all basls of consolatlon and dls
tances ltself from the tawdry drama of remorse and
confesslon. Even when hls own convlctlons emerge to
vlew, as ln hls defence of the rlghts of anlmals, he elucl
dates the premlses on whlch they are based rather than
he argues for them.
Coetzee`s lnterest ls dlrected malnly at sltuatlons
where the dlstlnctlon between rlght and wrong, whlle
crystal clear, can be seen to serve no end. Llke the man ln
the famous Magrltte palntlng who ls studylng hls neck ln
a mlrror, at the declslve moment Coetzee`s characters
stand behlnd themselves, motlonless, lncapable of taklng
part ln thelr own actlons. But passlvlty ls not merely the
dark haze that devours personallty, lt ls also the last
resort open to human belngs as they defy an oppresslve
order by renderlng themselves lnaccesslble to lts lnten
tlons. It ls ln explorlng weakness and defeat that Coetzee
captures the dlvlne spark ln man.
Hls earllest novel, a~I was the flrst example
of the capaclty for empathy that has enabled Coetzee
tlme and agaln to creep beneath the skln of the allen and
the abhorrent. A man worklng for the Amerlcan admln
lstratlon durlng the Vletnam war dreams of devlslng an
unbeatable system of psychologlcal warfare, whlle at the
same tlme hls prlvate llfe dlslntegrates around hlm. Hls
reflectlons are juxtaposed wlth a report on an expedltlon
to explore the country of the natlve Afrlcans, whlch pur
ports to have been wrltten by one of the l8thcentury
Boer ploneers. Jwo forms of mlsanthropy, one of them
lntellectual and megalomanlac, the other vltal and bar
barlc, reflect each other.
One element ln hls next novel, f e~
Ì ls the portrayal of psychosls. A careworn splnster
llvlng wlth her father observes wlth dlstaste hls love affalr
wlth a young coloured woman. She has fantasles of murder
lng both of them, but everythlng seems to lndlcate that she
decldes rather to lmmure herself ln a perverse pact wlth the
house servant. Jhe actual sequence of events cannot be
determlned, as the reader`s only sources are her notes,
where lles and truths, crudeness and reflnement alternate
caprlclously llne by llne. Jhe hlghflown Edwardlan llterary
style of the woman`s monologue harmonlses strangely
wlth the surroundlng Afrlcan landscape.
t~ _~~~ ls a polltlcal thrlller ln the
tradltlon of |oseph Conrad, ln whlch the ldeallst`s
nalvety opens the gates to horror. Jhe playful metanovel
c splns a yarn about the lncompatlblllty and lnsepara
blllty of llterature and llfe, told by a woman who yearns
to be part of a major narratlve when ln reallty only one
of mlnor lmportance ls offered.
Wlth i ~ q j~ hI whlch has lts roots
ln Defoe as well as ln Kafka and Beckett, the lmpresslon
that Coetzee ls a wrlter of solltude becomes clearer. Jhe
novel deals wlth the fllght of an lnslgnlflcant cltlzen from
growlng dlsorder and lmpendlng war to a state of lndlf
ference to all needs and speechlessness that negates the
loglc of power.
q j~ m ls a paraphrase of Dosto
evsky`s llfe and flctlonal world. Jo dle ln one`s heart
away from the world, the temptatlon that Coetzee`s
lmaglned characters face, turns out to be the prlnclple of
the unconsclonable llberty of terrorlsm. Here, the
wrlter`s struggle wlth the problem of evll ls tlnged wlth
demonology, an element that recurs ln hls most recently
publlshed work, b~ `K
In a~ Coetzee lnvolves us ln the struggle of a
dlscredlted unlverslty teacher to defend hls own and hls
daughter`s honour ln the new clrcumstances that have
arlsen ln South Afrlca after the collapse of whlte suprem
acy. Jhe novel deals wlth a questlon that ls central to hls
works. Is lt posslble to evade hlstory?
Hls autoblographlcal _ clrcles malnly around
hls father`s humlllatlon and the psychologlcal cleavage lt
has caused the son, but the book also conveys a maglc
lmpresslon of llfe ln the oldfashloned South Afrlcan
countryslde wlth lts eternal confllcts between the Boers
and the Engllsh and between whlte and black. In lts
sequel, vI the wrlter dlssects hlmself as a young man
wlth a cruelty that ls oddly consollng for anyone able to
ldentlfy wlth hlm.
Jhere ls a great wealth of varlety ln Coetzee`s
works. No two books ever follow the same reclpe. Exten
slve readlng reveals a recurrlng pattern, the downward
splralllng journeys he conslders necessary for the salva
tlon of hls characters. Hls protagonlsts are overwhelmed
by the urge to slnk but paradoxlcally derlve strength
from belng strlpped of all external dlgnlty.
|Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, 2003|.
366
`W k iI T a OMMP
e ~ e j~
But to return to my new companlon. I was greatly
dellghted wlth hlm, and made lt my buslness to teach
hlm everythlng that was proper to make hlm useful,
handy, and helpful; but especlally to make hlm speak,
and understand me when I spoke; and he was the
aptest scholar there ever was.
Danlel Defoe, o `
Boston, on the coast of Llncolnshlre, ls a hand
some town, wrltes hls man. Jhe tallest church steeple ln
all of England ls to be found there; seapllots use lt to
navlgate by. Around Boston ls fen country. Bltterns
abound, omlnous blrds who glve a heavy, groanlng call
loud enough to be heard two mlles away, llke the report
of a gun.
Jhe fens are home to many other klnds of blrds
too, wrltes hls man, duck and mallard, teal and wldgeon,
to capture whlch the men of the fens, the fenmen, ralse
tame ducks, whlch they call decoy ducks or duckoys.
Iens are tracts of wetland. Jhere are tracts of wet
land all over Europe, all over the world, but they are not
named fens, ls an Engllsh word, lt wlll not mlgrate.
Jhese Llncolnshlre duckoys, wrltes hls man, are
bred up ln decoy ponds, and kept tame by belng fed by
hand. Jhen when the season comes they are sent
abroad to Holland and Germany. In Holland and Ger
many they meet wlth others of thelr klnd, and, seelng
how mlserably these Dutch and German ducks llve,
how thelr rlvers freeze ln wlnter and thelr lands are cov
ered ln snow, fall not to let them know, ln a form of lan
guage whlch they make them understand, that ln
England from where they come the case ls qulte other
wlse. Engllsh ducks have sea shores full of nourlshlng
food, tldes that flow freely up the creeks; they have
lakes, sprlngs, open ponds and sheltered ponds; also
lands full of corn left behlnd by the gleaners; and no
frost or snow, or very llght.
By these representatlons, he wrltes, whlch are
made all ln duck language, they, the decoy ducks or
duckoys, draw together vast numbers of fowl and, so to
say, kldnap them. Jhey gulde them back across the seas
from Holland and Germany and settle them down ln
thelr decoy ponds on the fens of Llncolnshlre, chatter
lng and gabbllng to them all the tlme ln thelr own lan
guage, telllng them these are the ponds they told them
of, where they shall llve safely and securely.
And whlle they are so occupled the decoymen,
the masters of the decoyducks, creep lnto covers or
coverts they have bullt of reeds upon the fens, and all
unseen toss handfuls of corn upon the water; and the
decoy ducks or duckoys follow them, brlnglng thelr for
elgn guests behlnd. And so over two or three days they
lead thelr guests up narrower and narrower waterways,
calllng to them all the tlme to see how well we llve ln
England, to a place where nets have been spanned.
Jhen the decoymen send out thelr decoy dog,
whlch has been perfectly tralned to swlm after fowl, bark
lng as he swlms. Belng alarmed to the last degree by thls
terrlble creature, the ducks take to the wlng, but are
forced down agaln lnto the water by the arched nets
above, and so must swlm or perlsh, under the net. But the
net grows narrower and narrower, llke a purse, and at the
end stand the decoymen, who take thelr captlves out one
by one. Jhe decoyducks are stroked and made much of,
but as for thelr guests, these are clubbed on the spot and
plucked and sold by the hundred and by the thousand.
All of thls news of Llncolnshlre hls man wrltes ln
a neat, qulck hand, wlth qullls that he sharpens wlth hls
llttle penknlfe each day before a new bout wlth the
page.
In Hallfax, wrltes hls man, there stood, untll lt
was removed ln the relgn of Klng |ames the Ilrst, an
englne of executlon, whlch worked thus. Jhe con
demned man was lald wlth hls head on the crossbase
or cup of the scaffold; then the executloner knocked out
a pln whlch held up the heavy blade. Jhe blade
descended down a frame as tall as a church door and
beheaded the man as clean as a butcher`s knlfe.
Custom had lt ln Hallfax, though, that lf between
the knocklng out of the pln and the descent of the blade
the condemned man could leap to hls feet, run down the
hlll, and swlm across the rlver wlthout belng selzed agaln
by the executloner, he would be let free. But ln all the
years the englne stood ln Hallfax thls never happened.
367
ai_ POV `W k iI T a OMMP
He (not hls man now but he) slts ln hls room by
the waterslde ln Brlstol and reads thls. He ls gettlng on
ln years, almost lt mlght be sald he ls an old man by
now. Jhe skln of hls face, that had been almost black
ened by the troplc sun before he made a parasol out of
palm or palmetto leaves to shade hlmself, ls paler now,
but stlll leathery llke parchment; on hls nose ls a sore
from the sun that wlll not heal.
Jhe parasol he has stlll wlth hlm ln hls room, stand
lng ln a corner, but the parrot that came back wlth hlm
has passed away. Ioor Iobiv! the parrot would squawk
from lts perch on hls shoulder, Ioor Iobiv Crusoc! !lo sloll
sovc poor Iobiv? Hls wlfe could not ablde the lamentlng of
the parrot, Ioor Iobiv day ln, day out. I sloll wrivg its vccl,
sald she, but she had not the courage to do so.
When he came back to England from hls lsland
wlth hls parrot and hls parasol and hls chest full of trea
sure, he llved for a whlle tranqullly enough wlth hls old
wlfe on the estate he bought ln Huntlngdon, for he had
become a wealthy man, and wealthler stlll after the
prlntlng of the book of hls adventures. But the years ln
the lsland, and then the years travellng wlth hls servlng
man Irlday (poor Irlday, he laments to hlmself,
squawksquawk, for the parrot would never speak Irl
day`s name, only hls), had made the llfe of a landed
gentleman dull for hlm. And, lf the truth be told, mar
rled llfe was a sore dlsappolntment too. He found hlm
self retreatlng more and more to the stables, to hls
horses, whlch blessedly dld not chatter, but whlnnled
softly when he came, to show that they knew who he
was, and then held thelr peace.
It seemed to hlm, comlng from hls lsland, where
untll Irlday arrlved he llved a sllent llfe, that there was
too much speech ln the world. In bed beslde hls wlfe he
felt as lf a shower of pebbles were belng poured upon
hls head, ln an unendlng rustle and clatter, when all he
deslred was to sleep.
So when hls old wlfe gave up the ghost he
mourned but was not sorry. He burled her and after a
decent whlle took thls room ln Tlc olly Tor on the Brls
tol waterfront, leavlng the dlrectlon of the estate ln
Huntlngdon to hls son, brlnglng wlth hlm only the para
sol from the lsland that made hlm famous and the dead
parrot flxed to lts perch and a few necessarles, and has
llved here alone ever slnce, strolllng by day about the
wharves and quays, starlng out west over the sea, for hls
slght ls stlll keen, smoklng hls plpes. As to hls meals, he
has these brought up to hls room; for he flnds no joy ln
soclety, havlng grown used to solltude on the lsland.
He does not read, he has lost the taste for lt; but
the wrltlng of hls adventures has put hlm ln the hablt of
wrltlng, lt ls a pleasant enough recreatlon. In the evenlng
by candlellght he wlll take out hls papers and sharpen
hls qullls and wrlte a page or two of hls man, the man
who sends report of the duckoys of Llncolnshlre, and of
the great englne of death ln Hallfax, that one can escape
lf before the awful blade can descend one can leap to
one`s feet and dash down the hlll, and of numbers of
other thlngs. Every place he goes he sends report of, that
ls hls flrst buslness, thls busy man of hls.
Strolllng along the harbour wall, reflectlng upon
the englne from Hallfax, he, Robln, whom the parrot
used to call poor Robln, drops a pebble and llstens. A
second, less than a second, before lt strlkes the water.
God`s grace ls swlft, but mlght not the great blade of
tempered steel, belng heavler than a pebble and belng
greased wlth tallow, be swlfter? How wlll we ever
escape lt? And what specles of man can lt be who wlll
dash so buslly hlther and thlther across the klngdom,
from one spectacle of death to another (clubblngs,
beheadlngs), sendlng ln report after report?
A man of buslness, he thlnks to hlmself. Let hlm be
a man of buslness, a graln merchant or a leather mer
chant, let us say; or a manufacturer and purveyor of roof
tlles somewhere where clay ls plentlful, Wapplng let us
say, who must travel much ln the lnterest of hls trade.
Make hlm prosperous, glve hlm a wlfe who loves hlm
and does not chatter too much and bears hlm chlldren,
daughters malnly; glve hlm a reasonable happlness; then
brlng hls happlness suddenly to an end. Jhe Jhames
rlses one wlnter, the kllns ln whlch the tlles are baked are
washed away, or the graln stores, or the leather works;
he ls rulned, thls man of hls, debtors descend upon hlm
llke flles or llke crows, he has to flee hls home, hls wlfe,
hls chlldren, and seek hldlng ln the most wretched of
quarters ln Beggars Lane under a false name and ln dls
gulse. And all of thlsthe wave of water, the ruln, the
fllght, the pennllessness, the tatters, the solltudelet all of
thls be a flgure of the shlpwreck and the lsland where he,
poor Robln, was secluded from the world for twentyslx
years, tlll he almost went mad (and lndeed, who ls to say
he dld not, ln some measure?).
Or else let the man be a saddler wlth a home and
a shop and a warehouse ln Whltechapel and a mole on
hls chln and a wlfe who loves hlm and does not chatter
and bears hlm chlldren, daughters malnly, and glves
hlm much happlness, untll the plague descends upon
the clty, lt ls the year l665, the great flre of London has
not yet come. Jhe plague descends upon London.
dally, parlsh by parlsh, the count of the dead mounts,
rlch and poor, for the plague makes no dlstlnctlon
among statlons, all thls saddler`s worldly wealth wlll
not save hlm. He sends hls wlfe and daughters lnto the
countryslde and makes plans to flee hlmself, but then
does not. Tlou slolt vot bc ofroid for tlc tcrror ot viglt, he
reads, openlng the Blble at hazard, vot for tlc orrow tlot
flictl by doy; vot for tlc pcstilcvcc tlot wollctl iv dorlvcss; vor
for tlc dcstructiov tlot wostctl ot voov-doy. Z tlousovd sloll foll
368
`W k iI T a OMMP ai_ POV
~ I ~ ~ ~ ~I ~
K
Jaklng heart from thls slgn, a slgn of safe passage,
he remalns ln affllcted London and sets about wrltlng
reports. I came upon a crowd ln the street, he wrltes,
and a woman ln thelr mldst polntlng to the heavens.
pI she crles, ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ >
And the crowd all nod among themselves, f I
they say. ~ ~ ~ > But he, the saddler, can
see no angel, no sword. All he can see ls a strange
shaped cloud brlghter on the one slde than the other,
from the shlnlng of the sun.
f ~ ~> crles the woman ln the street; but
he can see no allegory for the llfe of hlm. Jhus ln hls
report.
On another day, walklng by the rlverslde ln Wap
plng, hls man that used to be a saddler but now has no
occupatlon observes how a woman from the door of
her house calls out to a man rowlng ln a dory. o>
o> she calls; and how the man then rows ashore,
and from the dory takes up a sack whlch he lays upon a
stone by the rlverslde, and rows away agaln; and how
the woman comes down to the rlverslde and plcks up
the sack and bears lt home, very sorrowfullooklng.
He accosts the man Robert and speaks to hlm.
Robert lnforms hlm that the woman ls hls wlfe and the
sack holds a week`s supplles for her and thelr chlldren,
meat and meal and butter; but that he dare not approach
nearer, for all of them, wlfe and chlldren, have the plague
upon them; and that lt breaks hls heart. And all of thls
the man Robert and wlfe keeplng communlon through
calls across the water, the sack left by the waterslde
stands for ltself certalnly, but stands also as a flgure of
hls, Roblnson`s, solltude on hls lsland, where ln hls hour
of darkest despalr he called out across the waves to hls
loved ones ln England to save hlm, and at other tlmes
swam out to the wreck ln search of supplles.
Iurther report from that tlme of woe. Able no
longer to bear the paln from the swelllngs ln the groln
and armplt that are the slgns of the plague, a man runs
out howllng, stark naked, lnto the street, lnto Harrow
Alley ln Whltechapel, where hls man the saddler wlt
nesses hlm as he leaps and prances and makes a thou
sand strange gestures, hls wlfe and chlldren runnlng
after hlm crylng out, calllng to hlm to come back. And
thls leaplng and pranclng ls allegorlc of hls own leaplng
and pranclng when, after the calamlty of the shlpwreck
and after he had scoured the strand for slgn of hls shlp
board companlons and found none, save a palr of shoes
that were not mates, he had understood he was cast up
all alone on a savage lsland, llkely to perlsh and wlth no
hope of salvatlon.
(But of what else does he secretly slng, he won
ders to hlmself, thls poor affllcted man of whom he
reads, besldes hls desolatlon? What ls he calllng, across
the waters and across the years, out of hls prlvate flre?)
A year ago he, Roblnson, pald two gulneas to a
sallor for a parrot the sallor had brought back from, he
sald, Brazlla blrd not so magnlflcent as hls own well
beloved creature but splendld nonetheless, wlth green
feathers and a scarlet crest and a great talker too, lf the
sallor was to be belleved. And lndeed the blrd would slt
on lts perch ln hls room ln the lnn, wlth a llttle chaln on
lts leg ln case lt should try to fly away, and say the words
m m> m m> over and over tlll he was forced to hood
lt; but could not be taught to say any other word, m
o> for lnstance, belng perhaps too old for that.
Poor Poll, gazlng out through the narrow wlndow
over the masttops and, beyond the masttops, over the
grey Atlantlc swell. t~ ~ I asks Poor Poll, ~
f ~ ~ I I ~\ t I p~I
~ \
A man, belng drunk and lt belng late at nlght
(another of hls man`s reports), falls asleep ln a doorway
ln Crlpplegate. Jhe deadcart comes on lts way (we are
stlll ln the year of the plague), and the nelghbours,
thlnklng the man dead, place hlm on the deadcart
among the corpses. By and by the cart comes to the
dead plt at Mountmlll and the carter, hls face all muf
fled agalnst the effluvlum, lays hold of hlm to throw
hlm ln; and he wakes up and struggles ln hls bewllder
ment. t ~ f\ he says. v ~ ~ ~
~I says the carter. _ ~ f ~ \ says the man.
And thls too ls a flgure of hlm on hls lsland.
Some Londonfolk contlnue to go about thelr
buslness, thlnklng they are healthy and wlll be passed
over. But secretly they have the plague ln thelr blood.
when the lnfectlon reaches thelr heart they fall dead
upon the spot, so reports hls man, as lf struck by llght
nlng. And thls ls a flgure for llfe ltself, the whole of llfe.
Due preparatlon. We should make due preparatlon for
death, or else be struck down where we stand. As he,
Roblnson, was made to see when of a sudden, on hls
lsland, he came one day upon the footprlnt of a man ln
the sand. It was a prlnt, and therefore a slgn. of a foot,
of a man. But lt was a slgn of much else too. v ~
~I sald the slgn; and also, k ~ ~ ~I
~ I ~ K
In the year of the plague, wrltes hls man, others,
out of terror, abandoned all, thelr homes, thelr wlves
and chlldren, and fled as far from London as they
could. When the plague had passed, thelr fllght was
condemned as cowardlce on all sldes. But, wrltes hls
man, we forget what klnd of courage was called on to
confront the plague. It was not a mere soldler`s courage,
llke grlpplng a weapon and charglng the foe. lt was llke
charglng Death ltself on hls pale horse.
369
ai_ POV `W k iI T a OMMP
Even at hls best, hls lsland parrot, the better loved
of the two, spoke no word he was not taught to speak
by hls master. How then has lt come about that thls
man of hls, who ls a klnd of parrot and not much loved,
wrltes as well as or better than hls master? Ior he
wlelds an able pen, thls man of hls, no doubt of that.
Iilc clorgivg Dcotl limsclf ov lis polc lorsc. Hls own sklll,
learned ln the countlng house, was ln maklng tallles
and accounts, not ln turnlng phrases. Dcotl limsclf ov lis
polc lorsc: those are words he would not thlnk of. Only
when he ylelds hlmself up to thls man of hls do such
words come.
And decoy ducks, or duckoys. What dld he, Rob
lnson, know of decoy ducks? Nothlng at all, untll thls
man of hls began sendlng ln reports.
Jhe duckoys of the Llncolnshlre fens, the great
englne of executlon ln Hallfax. reports from a great
tour thls man of hls seems to be maklng of the lsland of
Brltaln, whlch ls a flgure of the tour he made of hls own
lsland ln the sklff he bullt, the tour that showed there
was a farther slde to the lsland, craggy and dark and
lnhospltable, whlch he ever afterwards avolded, though
lf ln the future colonlsts shall arrlve upon the lsland
they wlll perhaps explore lt and settle lt; that too belng
a flgure, of the dark slde of the soul and the llght.
When the flrst bands of plaglarlsts and lmltators
descended upon hls lsland hlstory and folsted on the
publlc thelr own felgned storles of the castaway llfe,
they seemed to hlm no more or less than a horde of
cannlbals falllng upon hls own flesh, that ls to say, hls
llfe; and he dld not scruple to say so. !lcv I dcfcvdcd
mysclf ogoivst tlc covvibols, wlo souglt to strilc mc dowv ovd
roost mc ovd dcvour mc, he wrote, I tlouglt I dcfcvdcd mysclf
ogoivst tlc tlivg itsclf. Iittlc did I gucss, he wrote, tlot tlcsc
covvibols wcrc but figurcs of o morc dcvilisl vorocity, tlot would
gvow ot tlc vcry substovcc of trutl.
But now, reflectlng further, there beglns to creep
lnto hls breast a touch of fellowfeellng for hls lmltators.
Ior lt seems to hlm now that there are but a handful of
storles ln the world; and lf the young are to be forbldden
to prey upon the old then they must slt for ever ln sllence.
Jhus ln the narratlve of hls lsland adventures he
tells of how he awoke ln terror one nlght convlnced the
devll lay upon hlm ln hls bed ln the shape of a huge dog.
So he leapt to hls feet and grasped a cutlass and slashed
left and rlght to defend hlmself whlle the poor parrot that
slept by hls bedslde shrleked ln alarm. Only many days
later dld he understand that nelther dog nor devll had laln
upon hlm, but rather that he had suffered a palsy of a pass
lng klnd, and belng unable to move hls leg had concluded
there was some creature stretched out upon lt. Of whlch
event the lesson would seem to be that all affllctlons,
lncludlng the palsy, come from the devll and are the very
devll; that a vlsltatlon by lllness may be flgured as a vlslta
tlon by the devll, or by a dog flgurlng the devll, and vlce
versa, the vlsltatlon flgured as an lllness, as ln the saddler`s
hlstory of the plague; and therefore that no one who
wrltes storles of elther, the devll or the plague, should
forthwlth be dlsmlssed as a forger or a thlef.
When, years ago, he resolved to set down on paper
the story of hls lsland, he found that the words would not
come, the pen would not flow, hls very flngers were stlff
and reluctant. But day by day, step by step, he mastered
the wrltlng buslness, untll by the tlme of hls adventures
wlth Irlday ln the frozen north the pages were rolllng off
easlly, even thoughtlessly.
Jhat old ease of composltlon has, alas, deserted
hlm. When he seats hlmself at the llttle wrltlngdesk before
the wlndow looklng over Brlstol harbour, hls hand feels as
clumsy and the pen as forelgn an lnstrument as ever
before.
Does he, the other one, that man of hls, flnd the
wrltlng buslness easler? Jhe storles he wrltes of ducks and
machlnes of death and London under the plague flow
prettlly enough; but then so dld hls own storles once. Per
haps he mlsjudges hlm, that dapper llttle man wlth the
qulck step and the mole upon hls chln. Perhaps at thls very
moment he slts alone ln a hlred room somewhere ln thls
wlde klngdom dlpplng the pen and dlpplng lt agaln, full of
doubts and hesltatlons and second thoughts.
How are they to be flgured, thls man and he? As
master and slave? As brothers, twln brothers? As com
rades ln arms? Or as enemles, foes? What name shall
he glve thls nameless fellow wlth whom he shares hls
evenlngs and sometlmes hls nlghts too, who ls absent
only ln the daytlme, when he, Robln, walks the quays
lnspectlng the new arrlvals and hls man gallops about
the klngdom maklng hls lnspectlons?
Wlll thls man, ln the course of hls travels, ever
come to Brlstol? He yearns to meet the fellow ln the
flesh, shake hls hand, take a stroll wlth hlm along the
quayslde and hearken as he tells of hls vlslt to the dark
north of the lsland, or of hls adventures ln the wrltlng
buslness. But he fears there wlll be no meetlng, not ln
thls llfe. If he must settle on a llkeness for the palr of
them, hls man and he, he would wrlte that they are llke
two shlps salllng ln contrary dlrectlons, one west, the
other east. Or better, that they are deckhands tolllng ln
the rlgglng, the one on a shlp salllng west, the other on a
shlp salllng east. Jhelr shlps pass close, close enough to
hall. But the seas are rough, the weather ls stormy. thelr
eyes lashed by the spray, thelr hands burned by the cord
age, they pass each other by, too busy even to wave.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, 2003. |. M. Coetzee ls the
sole author of the text. |
PTM
d~~ a~
(21 Scptcmbcr 1S71 - 1 Zugust 19J6)
p~~ i~~
Cotlolic Uvivcrsity of Zmcrico
~
bK ^ j~
Uvivcrsity of Icvvsylvovio
q ~ ~ j~ i~J
~ a~ DI 264: Itoliov Irosc !ritcrs,
1900-194.
_llhpW `cllòurro Ej~W q~I NUVMFX
Stcllo dÙricvtc, ~ f~ p~Jf~ E`~~W ^
p~~I NUVNFX
Iior di Sordcgvo EoW mI NUVNFX
Zmorc rcgolc EoW mI NUVOFX
Io rcgivo dcllc tcvcbrc EqW l~I NUVOFX
Zvimc ovcstc Ej~W `~I NUVPFX
Ioccovti sordi Ep~~W aI NUVQFX
Trodiiovi popolori di ùoro iv Sordcgvo Eo~W c~ C
p~I NUVQFX
Io vio dcl molc EqW p~I NUVSFX
Il tcsoro EqW p~I NUVTFX
Iòspitc Eo~ p~ `~~W `~I NUVTFX
Iocsoggi sordi EqW p~I NUVTFX
I trc tolismovi Em~W p~I NUVVFX
`.S. dcl buov covsiglio: Icggcvdo sordo Em~W p~I
NUVVFX
Io giustiio EqW p~I NUVVFX
Cioffol Em~W p~I NUVVFX
Ic disgroic clc pu cogiovorc il dcvoro Em~W p~I
NUVVFX
Ic tcvtoiovi Ej~W `~I NUVVFX
Il vccclio dcllo movtogvo EqW o C s~I NVMMFX
Dopo il divorio EqW o C s~I NVMOFX J
~ òufrogli iv porto Ej~W qI NVOMFX
~~ j~~ e i~~ ~ Zftcr tlc
Divorcc: Z Iomovcc Ek vW eI NVMRFX
Io rcgivo dcllc tcvcbrc Ej~W Î NVMOFX
Ilios Iortolu Eq C oW o C s~I NVMPFX
~~ j~~ h EiW n~I
NVVOFX
Ccvcrc EoW o~ C Ì NVMQFX ~~
e e ` ~ Zslcs (Ccvcrc): Z Sordiv-
iov Story Ei C k vW g i~I NVMUFX
I giuocli dcllo vito Ej~W qI NVMRFX
òstolgic EoW k~ ^~I NVMRFX
Zmori modcrvi EoW s~I NVMTFX
Iòmbro dcl possoto EoW k~ ^~I NVMT\FX
I`cdcro EoW k~ ^~I NVMUFX
Il vovvo EoW k~ ^~I NVMUFX
Il vostro podrovc Ej~W qI NVNMFX
Sivo ol covfivc Ej~W qI NVNMFX
`cl dcscrto Ej~W qI NVNNFX
Clioroscuro Ej~W qI NVNOFX
Colombi c sporvicri Ej~W qI NVNOFX
d~~ a~I OR k NVOT
E ~ _~L`lo_fpF
37l
ai_ POV d~~ a~
I`cdcro: Drommo iv trc otti, by Deledda and Camlllo
AntonaJraversl (Mllan. Jreves, l9l2);
Covvc ol vcvto (Mllan. Jreves, l9l3); translated by Klng
as Iccds iv tlc !ivd (New York. Itallca, l999);
Ic colpc oltrui (Mllan. Jreves, l9l1);
Moriovvo Sirco (Mllan. Jreves, l9l5);
Il fovciullo voscosto (Mllan. Jreves, l9l6);
Iìvccvdio vcllùlivcto (Mllan. Jreves, l9l8);
Il ritorvo dcl figlio c Io bombivo ruboto (Mllan. Jreves,
l9l9);
Io modrc (Mllan. Jreves, l920); translated by Mary G.
Steegman as Tlc !omov ovd tlc Iricst (London.
Cape, l922); translatlon republlshed as Tlc
Motlcr (New York. Macmlllan, l923; London.
Cape, l928);
Io groio: Drommo postorolc iv trc otti, by Deledda, Clau
dlo Guastallo, and Vlcentlno Mlchettl (Mllan.
Rlcordl, l92l);
Cottivc compogvic (Mllan. Jreves, l92l);
Il scgrcto dcllùomo solitorio (Mllan. Jreves, l92l);
Il Dio dci vivcvti (Mllan. Jreves, l922);
Il flouto vcl bosco (Mllan. Jreves, l923);
Io dovo dcllo collovo: Iomovo, scguito dol boctto drommo-
tico 'Z sivistro (Mllan. Jreves, l921);
Io fugo iv Igitto (Mllan. Jreves, l925);
Covi, gotti, pulcivi cd oltri ovimoli: Sccvc rusticlc (Palermo
Rome, l926);
Il sigillo dòmorc (Mllan. Jreves, l926);
Il cicco di Ccrico (Rome. Nuova Antologla, l927);
Zvvolcvo ilsivi (Mllan. Jreves, l927);
Il vccclio c i fovciulli (Mllan. Jreves, l928);
Il dovo di òtolc (Mllan. Jreves, l930);
Io coso dcl pocto (Mllan. Jreves, l930);
Il pocsc dcl vcvto (Mllan. Jreves, l93l);
Io vigvo sul morc (Mllan. Jreves, l932);
Solc d`cstotc (Mllan. Jreves, l933);
Iòrgivc (Mllan. Jreves, l931);
Io clicso dcllo solitudivc (Mllan. Jreves, l936); translated
by E. Ann Matter as Tlc Clurcl of Solitudc
(Albany. State Lnlverslty of New York Press,
2002);
Cosimo (Mllan. Jreves, l937); translated by Klng (New
York. Itallca, l988);
!crsi c prosc giovovili, edlted by Antonlo Scano (Mllan.
Jreves, l938);
Il ccdro dcl Iibovo (Mllan. Garzantl, l939).
`W Iomovi c vovcllc, Omnlbus, 5 volumes,
edlted by Emlllo Cecchl (Mllan. Mondadorl,
l91l-l969);
Scritti scclti (Mllan. Mondadorl, l959)comprlses Covvc
ol vcvto, Uv drommo, Io fcsto dcl Cristo, Clioroscuro,
Io polmo, and Covtrotto;
Upcrc sccltc, 2 volumes, edlted by Eurlalo De Mlchells, I
classlcl contemporanel ltallanl (Mllan. Monda
dorl, l961);
Iomovi c vovcllc, edlted by Natallno Sapegno, I merl
dlanl (Mllan. Mondadorl, l97l);
I grovdi romovi, edlted by Marta Savlnl (Rome. Newton,
l993)comprlses Il vccclio dcllo movtogvo, Ilios Ior-
tolu, Ccvcrc, I`cdcro, Colombi c sporvicri, Covvc ol vcvto,
Moriovvo Sirco, Io modrc, Zvvolcvo ilsivi, and
Cosimo.
b bW Clioroscuro ovd Utlcr Storics, trans
lated by Martha Klng (London. _uartet, l991);
Zftcr tlc Divorcc, translated by Susan Ashe (Evanston,
Ill.. Northwestern Lnlverslty Press, l995);
Ilios Iortolu, translated by Klng (Evanston, Ill.. North
western Lnlverslty Press, l995);
Zslcs, translated by |anlce M. Kozma (Madlson, N.|..
Ialrlelgh Dlcklnson Lnlverslty Press, 2001).
OJHER. Adalglso Lanfranchl, Mirovdolivo: Iomovo pcr
giovivcttc, preface by Deledda (Rocca San Cas
clano. Cappelll, l9l2);
Nlcola Pascazlo, Dollo trivcco ollo rcggio (combottcvdo cov lo
rigoto Sossori): imprcssiovidi uv fcrito, preface by
Deledda (Mllan. Socleta Edltorlale Itallana,
l9l6);
Ic pi bcllc pogivc di Silvio Icllico, selected by Deledda
(Mllan. Jreves, l923);
Il libro dcllo tcro clcmcvtorc: lctturc, rcligiovc, storio, gcogrofio,
oritmctico, complled by Deledda (Rome. La llbrerla
dello Stato, l930).
LNCOLLECJED. 'Sangue sardo," Ultimo modo
(l888);
'Remlgla Helder," Ultimo modo (l888);
'Memorle dl Iernanda," Ultimo modo (l888);
'La pesca mlracolosa," Io Sordcgvo (l889);
'Il castello dl San Loor," Io Sordcgvo (l889).
Grazla Deledda was the only Itallan womanand,
after Selma Lagrlof of Sweden, the second of only nlne
women wrlters ln the twentleth centuryto recelve the
Nobel Prlze ln Llterature, whlch she was awarded ln
l926. Her name thus stands out ln the Itallan canon as
a slgnlflcant example for all the female wrlters who
have succeeded her. Her flctlon ls profoundly rooted ln
Sardlnlan ethlcs and hlstory and expands on the unlver
sal themes of love, money, death, and famlly relatlon
shlps.
She was born Grazla Marla Coslma Deledda on
2l September l87l ln Nuoro on the lsland of Sardlnla.
Jhe daughter of wealthy landowners Glovannl Antonlo
and Irancesca Cambosu Deledda, she was, as she
372
d~~ a~ ai_ POV
descrlbed herself ln the autoblographlcal work `~
(l937; translated, l988), 'una bamblna bruna, con gll
occhl castanel, llmpldl e grandl, le manl e l pledl mlnus
coll, vestlta dl un gremblale grlglastro con le tasche, con
le calze dl grosso cotone grezzo e le scarpe rustlche a
laccl, plu paesana che borghese" (a darkhalred chlld,
serlous, wlth blg, brlght brown eyes, wlth mlnuscule
hands and feet, dressed ln a gray smock wlth pockets,
wlth heavy cotton socks and rustlc lace shoes, more
peasant than bourgeols). Glovannl Deleddaa good,
gentle, and understandlng man, as well as a dlalectal
poet wlth great falth ln the good nature of peopledled
ln November l892, after whlch the famlly faced flnan
clal problems. Nelther of Grazla`s two brothers, one
mentally lll and the other a spendthrlft, was able to
restore the orlglnal wealth accumulated by thelr astute
father. Yet, from Nuoro, whlch was known for lts llter
ary assoclatlons and even called the 'Athens of Sar
dlnla," Deledda managed to establlsh connectlons wlth
wrlters and edltors ln Rome, even 'A costo dl rubare un
lltro dòllo per poter comprare spedlre le sue novelle a
Roma" (at the cost of steallng a llter of oll ln order to
mall her novellas to the Contlnent), as she wrote ln
`~K
Conslderlng the tlme ln whlch the author llved
and, more speclflcally, the lntense lsolatlon of Nuoro
from the malnland, Deledda had an adequate lf some
what atyplcal educatlon; she attended a conventlonal
school untll the fourth grade and also recelved prlvate
tutorlng ln Itallan, Irench, Latln, and readlngs of her
cholce. Her early output reflects ample lnfluence from
the most popular and readlly avallable feullletons and
popular novels. Jhe young Deledda read the works of
the most famous Itallan wrlters of the day, lncludlng
Gabrlele DÀnnunzlo, Edmondo De Amlcls, Antonlo
Iogazzaro, Glovannl Verga, and Ada Negrl. Later she
read the wrltlngs of Alessandro Manzonl, Slr Walter
Scott, Sllvlo Pelllco, and Carlo Goldonl, as well as of
Russlan authors such as Leo Jolstoy, Nlkolal
Vasllèvlch Gogol, Makslm Gor`ky, and Iyodor Dosto
evsky. She had great admlratlon partlcularly for Dosto
evsky and often remarked on hls ablllty to portray
human passlons ln thelr most contradlctory and unex
pected moments.
Deledda was wrltlng and publlshlng by her early
twentles. She contrlbuted to several newspapers and
perlodlcalsnamely i~ p~~ and s~ p~~and her
short storles were collected ln k~ (l890, Into the
Blue), o~ ~ (l891, Sardlnlan Short Storles),
i (l897, Jhe Guest), and i ~ (l899, Jhe
Jemptatlons). Llke the works of Lulgl Plrandello, these
short storles lntroduced themes that she resumed ln her
subsequent, longer narratlves. Expandlng on subjects
flrst presented ln shortstory form, her novels focus on
the torment of passlon, a determlnlstlc vlew of llfe, a
muchstressed morallty, the representatlon of crlmes or
transgresslons for whlch one must be held accountable,
and emotlons such as remorse, desperatlon, and hope
for redemptlon. But, as Natallno Sapegno has argued,
as quoted by Glullana Sangulnettl Katz ln 'Immaglnl e
strutture ln un racconto della Deledda" (l991), a super
stltlonthat the condltlon of belng ls related to maglc
and naturerenders Deledda`s sense of morallty for her
characters qulte opaque. Ior Marlo Massalu, on the
other hand, ln 'Il folklore sardo nellòpera dl Grazla
Deledda" ln p~~ ~ ~~ (l977),
the wrlter`s ldeologlcal lnvolvement ln the archalc sltua
tlon of her fellow Sardlnlans ls expressed ln her works
of flctlon through her sklllful juxtaposltlon of folklorlc
materlal. Sapegno also dlverges from the lnterpretatlon
of Angelo Pellegrlno, as presented ln 'Deledda Grazla"
ln a~ _~ f~~I volume 36 (l988),
who malntalns the thesls of Deledda`s systematlc dlsen
gagement from the current events of the warthat dur
lng wartlme she concelved of her storles ln a sort of
'hlstorlcal vacuum." As Sangulnettl Katz polnts out
agaln ln 'Immaglnl e strutture ln un racconto della
Deledda," Sapegno was always convlnced of Deledda`s
ablllty to lnterpret the rellcs of the past hlstory of her
reglon, ln whlch folklore and mythology play a great
role, as well as her ablllty to look toward a twentleth
century of progress and lnventlons.
In l891 q~ ~ k p~~ (Pop
ular Jradltlons of Nuoro ln Sardlnla) was publlshed,
and from then on Deledda`s research on popular cul
ture and folklore accentuated her fasclnatlon wlth her
reglonal background; wlth few exceptlons, Sardlnla and
the everyday llfe of Sardlnlans served as the toplcs of
her works. Jhough conflned ln her small Sardlnlan
town, Deledda was, from an early age, profoundly con
sclous of the partlcular way that she percelved her llfe
ln Nuoro and lnterpreted lt ln flctlon. In the fall of l899
Deledda accepted an lnvltatlon to vlslt Cagllarl, the cap
ltal of Sardlnla, and for the flrst tlme left the mlcrocosm
of Nuoro. As she recalled later ln `~I she was
lmpressed by the dlfferent landscape that met her eyes
at the exlt of the Cagllarl traln statlon. Jhe palm trees,
the sea, and the openness of the clty lmbued Cagllarl
wlth an almost exotlc atmosphere, especlally ln compar
lson wlth the austere, enclosed, and stlll prlmltlve world
of Nuoro.
In l900, after a brlef engagement, Deledda mar
rled Palmlro Madesanl, a government employee whom
she had met ln Cagllarl, and they moved soon after
ward to Rome, where he was reasslgned. Her encoun
ter wlth Madesanl marked a deflnlng moment ln her
llfe, for the marrlage fulfllled certaln of her needs at the
tlme. It satlsfled a soclal necesslty for a woman of her
373
ai_ POV d~~ a~
age (twentynlne); marrlage saved her the 'embarrass
ment" of becomlng a itcllo (splnster) who, even worse,
nourlshed artlstlc ambltlons. It also met her ambltlon to
leave Nuoro and lts suffocatlng envlronment. In the
context of her flctlon, a relocatlon to Romethe clty of
Deledda`s dreamsoften occaslons for her characters a
psychologlcal reblrth or the onset of a new, artlstlc llfe.
Her characters almost always percelve a move to Rome
as a turnlng polnt ln thelr llves, although the clty repre
sents more often than not the corruptlon and tempta
tlons of the modern world, versus the patrlarchal nature
of Sardlnlan soclety. As a husband, Madesanl was a
falthful companlon and became even more so ln hls
eventual role as her llterary agent, taklng care of her
communlcatlons wlth publlshers and wlth the press.
Irom l895 onward, Deledda publlshed novels of
myth, archalc destlnles, and traglc mlsfortunes. Jhe
blrths of her two sons wlth MadesanlSardus ln l900
and Iranz ln l903dld not lnterfere wlth her prollflc
productlon, whlch contlnued steadlly wlth the publlca
tlon of one novel a year untll her death. In her works
she descrlbes a world dlctated malnly by passlons and
almost pagan ln lts outlook. As ln the flctlon of Glo
vannl Verga, consldered the most slgnlflcant wrlter of
verlsmo ln Itallan llterature, ln Deledda`s novels and
short storles the openlng pages usually project an
unhappy scenarlo and almost lmmedlately dlsplay the
predestlned vlctlm and the settlng ln whlch the story
wlll develop. Jhe wlld and relatlvely unexplored Sar
dlnlan lnland frequently provldes the background of
her narratlves; ln the short storles she constructs her
characters, both male and female, accordlng to a pat
tern of repetltlon, and they recur later ln the novels ln
what ls best descrlbed as a set categorlzatlon. Ior exam
ple, the characters and the settlngs from her flrst short
story, 'Vlta sllvana" (l881, Llfe ln the Woods), appear
ln subsequent works such as Ilios Iortolu (l903; trans
lated, l992), I`cdcro (l908, Jhe Ivy), Covvc ol vcvto
(l9l3; translated as Iccds iv tlc !ivd, l999), Moriovvo
Sirco (l9l5), and Io modrc (l920, Jhe Mother; trans
lated as Tlc !omov ovd tlc Iricst, l922).
Although descrlptlons of Sardlnlan soclety lnfuse
her narratlves, Deledda does not provlde the reader
wlth hlstorlcal detalls of any sort. Yet, no worthwhlle
dlscusslon of her major works can commence wlthout
an understandlng of the geopolltlcal and hlstorlcal con
text ln whlch she wrote them. In deflnlng the physlcal
borders of 'her" Sardlnlathat ls, not the lsland as a
whole or even as the spatlal expanse of her flctlon but,
rather, the Sardlnla that lles close to her heartshe
enables the reader to vlsuallze the lnner core of thls cap
tlvatlng lsle located ln the center of the Medlterranean
Sea. Sardlnla ls the land of the ùroglcs, the prehlstorlc
agglomerates where llfe began and prospered thou
sands of years before the Moors and the Catalans colo
nlzed them. Deledda falthfully, lf evocatlvely, renders ln
both short and long narratlve works the harsh land
scape of the Nuorese reglonthe plnnacled mountalns
of the Gennargentu, the llttle vlllages that lle at thelr
base, and the pleces of land, typlcally cultlvated wlth
ollve trees, known ln the Logudorese dlalect as tovcos.
She wrltes of a settlng ln whlch llfe unfolds accordlng to
passlon; ln terms of thelr nature and way of llfe, Sardln
lans reflected an ancestral, preChrlstlan culture that
was obvlously remote from the modernlzatlon already
ln process ln the coastal parts of the lsland and ln the
'upwardly moblle" towns of Sassarl and Cagllarl. In
Deledda`s day Nuoro had scarcely more than slx thou
sand lnhabltants, and ln her flctlon Sardlnla remalns
along wlth lts perlpheral areasan lsland 'wlthln" an
lsland, where passlons, soclal dlvlslons, and lnequltles
lnterfere wlth progress and modern clvlllzatlon.
She vlewed the process of asslmllatlon attempted
on the lsland by the Pledmontese reglme, based ln
Jurln, ln terms that parallel those expressed by Antonlo
Gramscl regardlng the questlon of Southern Italy. As
Gramscl wrote ln hls Il Iisorgimcvto (l919), the role of
Pledmont was slmllar to that of a polltlcal party dlrect
lng the efforts of prevlously segregated classes through
out Italy, thus exerclslng a form of 'dlttatura senza
egemonla" (dlctatorshlp wlthout hegemony). Ior
Deledda, the rule of the lsland by the government of
Jurln marked a heavy lmposltlon, both polltlcal and
economlc, upon Sardlnlans; they faced a contlnual bat
tle agalnst the external power of Pledmont that
remlnded them lncessantly of thelr oppresslon by the
Moors and the Catalans ln prevlous eras. Glven thls
context, the bovditi ln Deledda`s flctlon are outlaws, not
surprlslngly, who are forced to flnd refuge ln the caves
of the Supramonte and Gennargentu (located ln central
Sardlnla) by an outslder`s judlclal system, that of Jurln,
whlch does not understand the unspoken laws of the
lsland and lts system of justlce. Moreover, the bovditi are
not only enslaved men but also podrovi, landowners
wholn order to sustaln thelr code of honor and, para
doxlcally, thelr famlly`s feudsklll an adversary and are
then forced to leave the vlllage for fear of an 'lnlqul
tous" trlal, whlch commonly brlngs about starvatlon
and dlshonor for thelr whole famlly.
Jhese bovditi ln Deledda`s flctlon become sym
bollc and typlfled characters that relfy the perennlal
struggle between obedlence to power and the deslre to
oppose wrongful laws wlth lnner strengthlaws result
lng from the ratlonal declslons of the lnvader. Jhe bov-
diti are consldered outlaws, because thelr own
'prlmltlve" culture does not correspond to the laws of
the colonlzers. Accordlng to the dlctates of Sardlnlan
soclety, however, they are not outlaws. In Deledda`s
371
d~~ a~ ai_ POV
novels the bovditi contlnue vlsltlng frlends and relatlves
ln thelr home vlllages desplte publlc dlsplays of ostra
clsm agalnst them. Adherlng to a code of honor, these
men generally refraln from robblng churches, but when
they commlt such a crlme, they are percelved as out
laws ln the eyes of thelr own communlty as well.
Jhe clash between Sardlnlan culture and the cul
tural hegemony of the Pledmontese produced acutely
oppresslve flnanclal sanctlons and laws for the lsland
ersas exempllfled by the odcmprivi, a tax lmposed by
the Jurln government of l865, whlch lgnlted the su cov-
vottu (back to tradltlon) rlots of l868, protestlng the end
of tradltlonal communal land use. Jhe Pledmontese
falled to understand both the Sardlnlan economy,
whlch was based largely on stock ralslng and extenslve
agrlculture, and the mlllenary cooperatlon between the
landowners and the shepherds, who ralsed thelr stock
on these lands; thls lnablllty to grasp the central fea
tures of Sardlnlan llvellhood only escalated as a result
of an l869 law on ground wheat. Lnable to transform
the laws of the communlty lnto laws relatlng to prop
erty, the Sardlnlan economy began to falter, as Nerla De
Glovannl descrlbes ln her book Comc lcggcrc 'Covvc ol
vcvto di Croio Dclcddo (l993, How to Read Grazla
Deledda`s Reeds of the Wlnd). Deledda accurately por
trays the decllne of the wealthy postori (shepherds) ln
her novels of Sardlnla and shows how the rlslng num
ber of postori forced to become bovditi was related to the
heavy land taxes lmposed by the central government
whlch exproprlated the landowners` property when
they falled to pay.
Deledda`s storles take place ln an lmmemorlal
tlme, where the flocks and the harvest stlll determlne
the spatlal and temporal 'coordlnates" of a people.
Detalls of the customs of cheesemaklng and of the
roastlng of porclctto (baby plg), for example, evoke a prl
mordlal exlstence that spatlally and temporally departs
from the lndustrlallzatlon and progress elsewhere, par
tlcularly on the malnland. Jhe lnner feellngs of the
characters, such as thelr economlc and moral angulsh ln
belng pcrdcvti (losers), ln Verga`s sense of the word,
denote some of the emotlonal repercusslons of the con
trast between thelr slmple way of llfe on the lsland and
llfe on the malnland. Deledda hlnts that only nature
through lts posltlve as well as negatlve effects on
humans and wlth lts sense of plty and remlssloncan
regulate lsland llfe. Inltlally, she followed the determln
lstlc theses of Alberto Nlceforo`s Io dclivqucvo iv Sordc-
gvo (l897, Dellnquency ln Sardlnla), whlch gave a
genetlc reason for crlmlnallty ln Sardlnlan culture; Nlce
foro asserted that Sardlnlan fathers passed the gene for
crlme on to thelr sons.
Deledda`s works are also lntensely grounded ln
the superstltlons that lnfuse reglonal folktales and ln
certaln local myths, such as the ones that surround the
tombs of glants, the jovos (wltches), and the houses of
falrles; these myths are also connected to actual geo
graphlc sltesespeclally to those hllls, mountalns, and
rlvers on the lsland that are closely llnked to the
ùroglcs era. Massalu has long analyzed the folklorlc
component ln Deledda`s work, statlng agaln ln 'Il folk
lore sardo nellòpera dl Grazla Deledda" that
la curloslta erudlta, ll dato etnograflco sono ancora pre
sentl, anzl sono presentl con frequenza e forse con
lntenslta magglore che nellòpera glovanlle, ma
nellòpera dàrte matura (approsslmatlvamente a partlre
da Ellas Portolu) sono assuntl nella vltale materla
dàrte, ln quanto perennlta dl valorl.
(the erudlte curloslty, the ethnographlc data are stlll
present, are lndeed present wlth great frequency and,
perhaps, wlth greater lntenslty ln her adult work than
ln her earller years, but ln the works of her maturlty
|startlng approxlmately wlth b~ m| they are
assumed wlthln the artlstlc materlal, so as to show the
perennlal meanlng of thelr values.)
In addltlon, features of verlsmo, the llterary movement
that lnfluenced Deledda`s flrst perlod of Sardlnlan nar
ratlves, surface ln several ways ln her flctlon. Jhe char
acters speak ln Deledda`s Logudorese dlalect, and much
of thelr speech, upon closer readlng, ln fact reveals a
syntax that ls preemlnently Sardlnlan rather than Ital
lan. Jhe frequent use of dlalectal terms and Sardlnlan
surnames emphaslzes the authentlclty of the characters
ln the storles. Jhe lmportance of land as the sole form
of possesslon ls another theme that relates Deledda`s
work to verlsmo. _uarrels about the land and lts pas
sage to the next generatlon ln the famlly often set a plot
ln motlon. Jhe reglonal settlngs of Deledda`s flctlon
can actually stlll be found on a current map of Sardlnla
and deplct the travels of characters such as Iellx of
Covvc ol vcvto.
Jhe prlvate homes of the ùorcsi, the lnhabltants
of Nuoro, and the tovcos, denotlng the lands that they
own, are segregated; they are unconnected to any klnd
of urban envlronment, such as the plazzas, the clty
halls, and the markets that are usually found ln nlne
teenth and twentlethcentury Itallan flctlon. Accordlng
to Luca Plnna ln Io fomiglio csclusivo (l97l), the only
soclal structure remalnlng ln Sardlnla ls the famlly. 'll
nucleo famlllare ln Sardegna . . . essere conslderato
come lùnlca struttura soclale entro la quale le persone
soddlsfano tutte le loro attese economlche dl collabo
razlone e dl cooperazlone, oltre che affettlve" (the
nuclear famlly ln Sardlnla . . . may be consldered the
only soclal structure wlthln whlch people satlsfy thelr
needs for cooperatlon and collaboratlon, along wlth
375
ai_ POV d~~ a~
sentlmental ones). Members of such tlght famlly nuclel
attach a hlgher value to thelr goods than to other peo
ple`s thlngs. Consequently, the house of the famlly ls a
space the force of whlch ls excluslvely centrlpetal and
prevents the members of the famlly thereln from reach
lng out for help, slnce no one from the outslde ls better
than those who llve wlthln the walls of the house. Jhe
shut wlndows of a house, to whlch she alludes ln her
novels of Sardlnla, prevent people from gazlng lnto and
thus lnvadlng the prlvacy of a famlly`s home. Jhey ln
effect stand for the Sardlnlans` lnnate sense of prlvacy
and fear of lnterference ln one`s llfe. Jhls space ls where
Deledda`s characters err ln thelr often traglc llves. Only
late ln her career does she turn the traglc natural settlng
of the lsland lnto a bucollc and serene backdrop, as seen
ln the works that take place ln her husband`s reglon, the
Padanla.
b~ mI whlch was flrst serlallzed ln k~
^~ from August to October l900 before publlca
tlon as a book, flrmly anchors Deledda`s creatlve and
poetlc world ln her homeland of Sardlnla and was the
flrst of her novels to do so. Jhe novel relates the story
of the Portolu famlly from the day Ellas, the youngest
son of Zla Annedda (Aunt Annedda) and Zlo Berte
(Lncle Berte) Portolu, returns from the Ì the
malnland of Italy; Ellas ls newly released after several
years ln prlson for theft, a sentence that he feels was
unjust. On the flrst page of the book Deledda compares
hls long absence from the lsland to a frequent reason
for travel among Sardlnlan menthe pursult of a proper
educatlon on the malnland. In her vlew, these absences
create a sense of dlsplacement and allenatlon ln such
men, for departure from the motherland means a tem
porary deraclnatlon, even ln the case of young Sardln
lans who leave for the purpose of studylng ln Rome.
She descrlbes Ellas as a man whose skln has been made
so falr and dellcate from hls lmposed lnertla ln the
prlson that one of Zlo Annedda`s frlends comments. '
blanco come una ragazza" (he ls as whlte as a glrl). Jhls
comment lends the character a sexual amblgulty at an
early stage of the novelan amblgulty that Deledda
enhances a few pages later through Ellas`s own retelllng
of the slmple work that the prlsoners were glven ln jall.
he calls hls labor 'lavorettl manuall da calzolalo, o da
donnlccluola!" (llttle manual jobs for a cobbler, or a llt
tle woman). In her flctlon she typlcally assoclates lnfan
tlle and femlnlne tralts wlth the transgressor. As Ada
Jestaferrl states ln her contrlbutlon to a~W t
f~~ ` (l989), 'questa debolezza lnlzlale lo pre
dlsporrebbe dunque a un comportamento dlverso . . .
rlvela da parte del soggetto un rapporto dl dlpendenza
dalla famlglla, e dl lmmaturlta. . . . Il destlno del sog
getto dlpende dalla soluzlone data al problema etlco;
attraverso esso, ll soggetto asplra alla maturazlone" (the
lnltlal weakness would predlspose hlm to a dlfferent
behavlor . . . also showlng lack of maturlty ln hls rela
tlonshlp wlth the famlly. . . . Jhe subject`s destlny
depends on the solutlon glven to the ethlcal problem;
and lt ls only thls way that he can asplre to maturatlon).
Deledda sharply contrasts Ellas`s femlnlne tralts
wlth the speech of Zlo Berte. Zlo Berte`s way of talklng
stresses the slgnlflcance and lnfluence of men ln a house
because of the contlnulty they bestow on the famlly.
Hls speech also emphaslzes the necesslty for these lndl
vlduals to show submlsslon and reverence to paternal
flgures, thus conflrmlng thelr role as economlc provld
ers for the famlly. Jhe relatlonshlp between father and
son ls always percelved ln hlerarchlcal terms, wlth the
father lntended also as the master of hls chlldren. A
mother ls, lnstead, a mere housekeeper who, at the
moment of her deathas ln i (l9l8,
Jhe Ilre ln the Ollve Grove)passes on her keys to the
prospectlve wlfe of her son as a symbol of domestlc leg
acy and sole power ln a patrlarchal soclety.
Scandal ls the ostraclzlng factor that the tlght fam
lly unlt ln b~ m cannot ablde. It dlsrupts the
source of serenlty and balance that the famlly`s own
lnner energy as a whole provldes to each member. After
hls return, Ellas must take another journey, albelt a psy
chologlcal one, of lnternal growth and sufferlng, remov
lng hlm from the scandal of lovlng Maddalena, the
young woman already promlsed to hls brother Pletro.
b~ m was well recelved as a novel that explored
lssues of morallty.
Deledda`s flrst great novel, ` (l901; trans
lated as ^ E`FW ^ p~~ pI l908), ls an
oedlpal narratlve that starts wlth the seductlon of Ol, a
young and beautlful glrl. After Ol glves blrth out of
wedlock to a son, Ananla, she leaves wlthout reveallng
her destlnatlon, and the chlld ls ralsed by hls natural
father, a welltodo landowner, and by the father`s wlfe,
a goodhearted woman. Jogether they take care of Ana
nla, who, llke many young men ln Deledda`s Sardlnla,
goes to Rome to pursue hls studles, thanks to hls par
ents` benevolence and flnanclal asslstance. Yet, the
trauma of hls abandonment by Ol constantly jeopar
dlzes Ananla`s chances for success. hls attempt at flnd
lng hls mother, whlch slgnals that he wlshes to dlscover
hls herltage, ultlmately ends ln hls ruln. Deledda sug
gests that passlon leads to Ol`s own ruln; commenclng
her youth wlth the betrayal of Ananla`s father, she ends
her llfe vlolently. Jhe last scene of the novel deplcts her
sulclde. as a scapegoat, or a sacrlflclal lamb, Ol cuts her
throat to purlfy her son from the gullt of lllegltlmacy
that blnds them together. Afterward, Ananla flnds ashes
ln the charm he has worn slnce the tlme of hls blrth.
Jhat hls llfe ls forever marred by the lnltlal, orlglnal
mlstake of hls mother plays out Deledda`s convlctlon
376
d~~ a~ ai_ POV
that the worldSardlnlan soclety ln partlculardoes not
allow for forglveness.
Jhe unconsclously lncestuous deslre of Ananla to
flnd hls natural mother ls expressed, accordlng to Vlt
torlo Splnazzola ln hls artlcle for Iroblcmi (l973), ln the
young man`s wlll to submlt her to hls own protectlve
supremacy. Yet, Ananla feels hate agalnst hls mother,
and he renouncesrather than experlencesln a mor
bldly destructlve way, the typlcal rltes of sexual lnltla
tlon. As Anna Dolfl wrltes ln her book Croio Dclcddo
(l979), the lncest taboo as a perennlal longlng for chlld
hood constltutes, ln the context of class confllct, the
maln theme of the novel. Ananla ls aware of hls actual
provenance, and though trylng wlth hls law studles to
reach a better status, he also reallzes that he wlll never
be able to speak or behave as a person of a class dlffer
ent from the one of hls blologlcal orlglns. Marllyn
Mlglel asserts ln her contrlbutlon to the Stovford Itoliov
Icvicw (l985) that 'Educatlon as any force leadlng to
upward soclal moblllty ls assoclated ln Ccvcrc wlth the
dlabollcal"; that ls, educatlon spolls the human
resources ln the lndlvldual, who ls only concerned wlth
the soclal aspects of hls studles. Ananla flnds some sal
vatlon and llberatlon only ln deathhls mother`s death.
Jhe devlllsh, tormented slde of hlm, at whlch Deledda
hlnts all along ln the novel, jlbes wlth the tragedy of
Ol`s sulclde.
Jhe end of Ccvcrc suggests an uncertaln future for
Ananla. On the one hand, the ablllty of man to control
hls destlny ls llmlted by heredltary characterlstlcs,
lmplylng that Ananla ls condemned to remaln ln the
lmmoblle waters of prlmltlve Sardlnlan soclety. On the
other, Deledda`s characterlzatlon of Ol manlfests the
everlastlng ablllty of women to put thelr chlldren before
anythlng else, even themselves, thereby hlntlng at hopes
for Ananla`s future. Jhe lack of a resolute endlng glves
Ccvcrc, llke Colombi c sporvicri (l9l2, Doves and Ialcons)
and Ilios Iortolu, an open structure that ls further accen
tuated by the travel motlf. As Glorglo Brberl Squarottl
asserts ln hls artlcle 'La tecnlca e la struttura del
romanzo deleddlano" (l975, Jhe Jechnlque and Struc
ture of the Deleddlan Novel), Deledda ls one of a hand
ful of Itallan wrlters who convey travel, or the journey,
whether physlcal or psychologlcal, as an experlence
of explatlon for a character. ln an act of selfpunlsh
ment, Ol glves up her chlld ln Sardlnla and departs,
wanderlng the lsland wlth ltlnerant beggars untll Ana
nla flnds her agaln; Ellas`s flrst trlp away from the
lsland takes hlm to prlson, whlle the scandal of deslrlng
Maddalena evolves lnto a psychologlcal journey that
results ln hls jolnlng the prlesthood; and ln Covvc ol
vcvto, Eflx goes on a pllgrlmage through the mountalns.
Accordlng to Brberl Squarottl, Deledda translates expl
atlon lnto the klnd of journey that occurs ln falry tales.
In the novel, however, all that the reader sees of such
travels ls the returnthe reappearance of a character
who, typlcally, has derlved a sense of solltude from the
experlence of lsolated medltatlon. Indeed, her novels
recount few detalls regardlng the geography of travels
beyond Sardlnla, even ln her later novels, whlch thus
dlsprove the notlon that sheer geographlc lgnorance
lmpelled her to refraln from wrltlng about places other
than Sardlnla.
Jhe exceptlon to the lack of outslde descrlptlon ls
Dopo il divorio (l902; translated as Zftcr tlc Divorcc: Z
Iomovcc, l905), ln whlch Costantlno`s jall tlme on the
malnland for a false murder convlctlon ls descrlbed ln
some detall, but only to emphaslze hls mlsery when he
learns that hls wlfe, Glovanna, has taken advantage of a
new law and dlvorced hlm. Jhe descrlptlon of Costan
tlno`s prlson envlronment serves to emphaslze the
domestlc prlson ln whlch Glovanna ls cast. Left alone
wlth a chlld when her husband ls sent away, she allows
herself to be courted by the rlch and brutal Brontu, and
eventually she marrles hlm. When Costantlno returns,
he flnds her ln greater mlsery than when he had left
her. Dopo il divorio ends wlth Glovanna and Costantlno
falllng lnto each other`s arms. Jhls endlng was
amended for the Engllsh translatlon of l905, to whlch
Deledda added an 'Epllogue" ln whlch Brontu dles and
Costantlno and Glovanna are reunlted as a happy fam
lly. In l920 Deledda recast the novel wlth a new tltle,
òufrogli iv porto (Shlpwrecks ln Port); ln thls verslon,
Costantlno actually commlts the crlme for whlch he
had been falsely accused. he murders the wlcked old
woman who had encouraged Glovanna to leave hlm for
Brontu. As Carla Locatelll has polnted out, thls change
does not just glve the novel a new endlng but makes lt
another novel altogether. Lnllke the earller verslon,
òufrogli iv porto hlnts darkly that Costantlno was not
an lnnocent vlctlm but was predetermlned to be a mur
derer. Jhls polnt ls somethlng that has not been fully
appreclated by the secondary llterature.
Deledda`s next most slgnlflcant novel, I`cdcro, also
concerns the lssue of predestlnatlon. Jhe plot plvots on
the murder of Zlu Zua (Lncle Zua), an old relatlve of
the Decherchl famlly; Annesa, a glrl whom the Decher
chls took lnto thelr household when she was qulte
young, kllls Zlu Zua ln order that the famlly`s debts
would be pald and they would retaln the only proper
tles they have leftthelr house and one tovco. As events
unfold, the novel shows how her crlme need not have
been commltted; yet, the authorltles wlll not catch
Annesa, thus reconflrmlng thelr extraneous exlstence
beslde Sardlnlan lnner laws and rules. Jhe ldea of expl
atlon and penltence for the murder she carrled out,
however, wlll perslst ln her soul. Jhe decadence of the
Sardlnlan arlstocrats lles at the center of I`cdcro; stlll
377
ai_ POV d~~ a~
more preoccupled by socletal posltlon wlthln thelr small
vlllage and anclent flefdom than wlth actual economlc
concerns, they are unable to progress wlth the tlmes.
Jhe poor, who have always llved at the slde of the pod-
rovi, both physlcally and psychologlcally, wlll also be
rulned; humble people wlth no possesslons, they
remaln, at all costs, tradltlonally falthful to thelr mas
ters.
Annesa commlts a crlme to save the honor and
famlly name of her benefactors. Irom the moment they
gave her shelter, after dlscoverlng her abandoned on the
slde of the road ln Barunel, wlth no famlly name of her
own, she has devoted herself to the Decherchls. She
now stays close to the famlly, 'come lèdera che sl
attacca al muro" (llke lvy stlcks to a wall) untll the wall
falls, as her longtlme secret lover, Paulu, says bltterly
after an outburst from the herolne. Iollowlng her mur
derous act, a moment ln whlch Annesa somehow loses
her ablllty to understand the path to follow for her
future and lrreverslbly talnts her llfe, the vlllage prlest,
Prete Vlrdls, vlslts her ln the hope of helplng her
retrleve a sense of morals and ethlcs. Yet, lnslstently
projectlng herself as a member of the famlly by uslng
the possesslve vostro, Annesa says to Prete Vlrdls.
Non so . . . E vero; da moltl e moltl annl non credevo
plu ln Dlo, perch troppe sventure cadevano sulla nos
tra famlglla, come fulmlnl sullo stesso albero. . . . In
questl glornl, per, ho pensato a Dlo, qualche volta. e
ora penso che ella ha raglone, prete Vlrdls, ma lo non
sono malvagla come lel crede; lo ho fatto male a me
stessa, vero, ma l`ho fatto per far del bene agll altrl. E
sono pronta ancora, le rlpeto. ml dlca che cosa devo
fare.
(I do not know . . . It ls true; I have not belleved ln God
for many, many years, because too many dlsgraces
were falllng upon our famlly, llke llghtnlng bolts on the
same tree. . . . Jhese days my thoughts have sometlmes
addressed God. and now I thlnk you were rlght, Prete
Vlrdls, but I am not as wlcked as you thlnk; I have hurt
myself, lt`s true, but I have done lt to do some good to
others. And I am ready. tell me what to do.)
On the last page of the novel, the message of the author
ls clear. Annesa wlll eventually marry Paulu, but the
old tree to whlch she alludes ln her talk wlth Prete Vlr
dlsa metaphor for the Decherchl famlly, who are now
stalned by the crlmewlll no longer bear any frult. Her
llfe wlll contlnue to be one of repentance and sacrlflce,
not unllke her llfe before she unnecessarlly murdered
Zlu Zua.
Approxlmately flve years after I`cdcro came out,
Covvc ol vcvto was publlshedone of the few novels that
Deledda counted as a favorlte. It tells of the three Plntor
slsters, who once owned all the land surroundlng thelr
vlllage but are now left wlth a tlny plot and thelr ser
vant, Eflx, to take care of lt. Slgnor Predu, thelr cousln,
ls a rlch and powerful landowner who hovers as a con
stant threat to the slsters. Resembllng a Greek tragedy,
Covvc ol vcvto focuses on both Eflx, who belleves hlmself
gullty of kllllng hls master, Don Zame, the father of the
young women, and on Lla, the fourth Plntor slster, who
ls physlcally absent from the narratlve but whom other
characterssubsequently lncludlng Glaclnto, the son
she left behlndfrequently dlscuss. Lla left the famlly
and the lsland some tlme ago for the Contlnent. Ior
Eflx, she represented true love; though an act of self
defense, hls murder of Lla`s father occurred because the
oppresslve Don Zame was trylng to prevent hls dlssatls
fled daughter from runnlng away. Haunted by hls mas
ter`s death and Lla`s departure, Eflx feels he must
explate all hls llfe for the crlme he has commltted.
When he takes walks ln the forest and ln the flelds to
calm hlmself, Eflx hears the nolse of the povos (women
who dled glvlng blrth), and he sees the ommottodorc (llt
tle elf) and the jovos; all three of these phenomena are
tropes of the ancestral and mythlcal herltage of Sardlnla
that Deledda studled years before. Eflx`s world ls llm
lted to the care of the Plntor slsters` poor possesslons,
untll the day a letter announces Glaclnto`s arrlval; Eflx
and the slsters harbor hopes that Lla`s son wlll help
return the famlly to thelr former affluence. Yet, as they
all eventually learn, Glaclnto arrlves on the lsland to
escape the law on the other slde of the sea for a crlme
he has commltted. After several mlsunderstood lncl
dents, and because one of the slsters, Noeml, reacts hys
terlcally to what she belleves ls her servant`s
wrongdolng, Eflx leaves the house and takes up the llfe
of a wanderlng beggar, dylng ln the end only after he
has suffered for hls terrlble crlme.
Moriovvo Sirco, one of Deledda`s most accom
pllshed works, embodles an analysls of one year ln the
llves of the two maln characters, Marlanna Slrca and
Slmone Solepartlcularly of the development of thelr
lmposslble love. As many crltlcs have noted, thls slmple
story resembles Verga`s 'Làmante dl Gramlgna" (Jhe
Mlstress of Gramlgna, flrst publlshed ln !ito dci Compi
|l897, Country Llfe|) through lts treatment of the motlf
of passlon and of the character of the bovdito. Jhe love
between Marlanna, a wealthy young woman, and her
former servant turned bandlt, Slmone, ls forbldden
because of thelr vastly dlsparate soclal backgrounds.
Although she was born lnto poor clrcumstances, Marl
anna llves accordlng to the path lald out by her famlly
partlcularly by her uncle, a rlch prlest who adopted her
when she was a chlld. He treats her llke a prlson
lnmate. under lock and key, she llves constantly under
hls control and ls lncapable of any lndependent actlon.
She thus follows an exlstence that strlklngly parallels
378
d~~ a~ ai_ POV
the llfe of Slmone, but as a servant he can scarcely con
celve of falllng ln love wlth Marlanna. Only after her
uncle dles and she becomes the sole helr to hls fortune,
and after Slmone adopts the ways of a bandlt ln order
to feed hls famlly, do the two meet agaln and fall ln
love.
Jhe reasons for the love between Marlanna and
Slmone are not purely sentlmental; ln essence, they
have plalnly tlred of pursulng the llves that others had
planned for them. Marlanna experlences serenlty and
peace only ln the countryslde, ln the pure slmpllclty of
her father, Berte`s, company, andwhlle she cannot
help but blame her father for the awful llfe she led wlth
her uncleshe nonetheless wants to return to her roots
as a shepherd`s daughter. Slmone, on the other hand,
turns out not to be the great bandlt she belleved he was,
and she feels decelved by her own desperate longlng for
love. Slmone falls ln love wlth Marlanna because he
hopes that her presence and wealth wlll end hls undeslr
able exlstence as an outlaw, much ln the same way that
she sees ln hlm the posslblllty of a more llvely and satls
fylng llfe than the one she has llved untll then. 'E Marl
anna aveva obbedlto. Aveva obbedlto sempre fln da
quando bamblna era stata messa come un uccelllno ln
una gabbla nella casa dello zlo, a spandere la glola e la
luce della sua fanclullezza, attorno al melanconlco sacer
dote, ln camblo della posslblle eredlta dl lul" (And
Marlanna had obeyed. Had always obeyed, slnce as a
glrl she had been put llke a blrd ln a cage ln her uncle`s
house, to lrradlate the joy and the llght of her youth
around the melanchollc prlest, ln exchange for hls
future lnherltance).
A flgure of fasclnatlon ln Sardlnlan lore, the ban
dlt ls a mascullne flgure who llves on the perlphery of
soclety ln order to keep hls name and hls dlgnlty; by
not robblng from prlests or churches and by vlsltlng hls
famlly regularly, the bandlt does dlsplay a certaln code
of honor. Slmone, however, ls not a true bovdito because
he ls tlred of llvlng llke an outlaw and wants flnally to
rest. By lovlng Slmone, Marlanna challenges the socl
etal taboos that protect the honor of a woman, but she
cannot forglve hlm hls amblvalence about cedlng, for
her, hls 'freedom" as a bandlt and taklng responslblllty
for hls own actlonsas she herself has done by assoclat
lng her name wlth Slmone`s. As Deledda`s novels show,
Sardlnlan women follow thelr passlons and the welght
of thelr declslons untll the end, even at the rlsk of great
losses to themselves. Whereas men appear weak and
act lndeclslvely untll thelr own ends, women such as
Marlanna ln Moriovvo Sirco, Annesa ln I`cdcro, and Ol
ln Ccvcrc exhlblt endurlng strength. In 'Woman as Out
law. Grazla Deledda and the Polltlcs of Gender," pub
llshed ln Modcrv Iovguogc òtcs (l995), Susan Brlzlarelll
wrote that
Deledda`s posltlonlng of her female characters along
slde the marglnallzed and rebel group of outlaws lllus
trates and glves volce to her vlslon of a soclety
constructed along a class and power axls. It ls clear that
she allgns her strong women ldeologlcally wlth the
soclally outcast group, flndlng ln them the common
denomlnator not only of courage and rebelllon, but of
transgresslon agalnst soclety. As sheltered women wlth
llttle formal educatlon and few posltlve roles, Deledda`s
female characters cannot vlsuallze thelr own struggle
wlthln a consclously ldeologlcal framework, but tend
rather to assoclate lt wlth that of the ~I as meta
phor for soclety`s outcasts.
Jhe famed Itallan crltlc Attlllo Momlgllano noted
ln l918 that Io modrc, Deledda`s next slgnlflcant work,
and Ilios Iortolu are qulte slmllar, especlally ln terms of
thelr maln characters. reflectlng a femlnlne beauty and
dellcate manners, Paulo ln Io modrc recalls Ellas both
physlcally and psychologlcally. A novel that explores
erotlc themes, Io modrc relates the story of Paulo, a
young prlest, who ls asslgned the parlsh of hls mother`s
old vlllage. Apparently, the vlllage has fallen under a
strange curse that brlngs ruln upon the prlests who serve
there, as lf afflrmlng the lndependence of a rellglon that
dates prlor to Chrlstlanlty. Paulo`s predecessor smoked,
went out wlth women, and drank excesslvely, and Paulo
hlmself ls on the verge of treadlng the same path. Hls
mother, Marla Maddalena, who sllently tolled as a mald
ln the semlnary for years to support her son`s asplratlons
for the prlesthood, keeps a watch on hlm and hls weak
nesses; she ls prepared to compensate for them ln case of
danger. Irom the wlndow she observes Paulo ln the dark
of nlght as he departs for the house of a lonely and
wealthy woman, Agnese. Jhe mother lmmedlately
senses the rlsky nature of thls relatlonshlp; yet, when
Paulo asks her to dellver a letter to Agnese, she does so,
albelt wlth some hesltatlon.
Jhe welght of her son`s gullt and the terror of los
lng all that she has long worked and fought for ls para
mount to Marla Maddalena, and she suddenly drops
dead ln the modest church of Aar as her son says Sunday
mass. As Jestaferrl asserts ln Dovvo: !omcv iv Itoliov Cul-
turc, the |unglan archetypes of the moon and the nlght ln
the novel are key. Jogether they enhance the represslve,
occluded atmosphere surroundlng Paulo, who feels at
once the necesslty of both hls mother`s and Agnese`s
presence, yet becomes suffocated by them. When Paulo`s
mother closes a door wlth large bars ln one of the flrst
sequences of the novel, she representsaccordlng to
Jestaferrlthe represslve prlmary archetype of the Great
Mother, whereas Agnese ln her 'castle" stands for the
Jerrlble Mother. A flgure of seductlon, Agnese lures the
poor young prlest toward deceptlon and the corruptlon
of the sacred vows. Paulo`s eventual vlctory over Agnese
379
ai_ POV d~~ a~
ls, ln Jestaferrl`s words, 'unòvvla vlttorla ln senso crls
tlano, clo superamento della carne e trlonfo della luml
noslta, trlonfo clo dellàrchetlpo del Maschlle" (the
vlctory ln a Chrlstlan sense, the one surpasslng the flesh
wlth the trlumph of lumlnoslty, that ls the trlumph of the
Mascullne archetype). Jhls vlctory may also be vlewed
as Deledda`s flnal manlfestatlon of sympathy and under
standlng for a mother who sacrlflced herself entlrely on
her son`s behalf.
Slx years after the appearance of Io modrc, Grazla
Deledda recelved the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature; her only
travel away from Sardlnla and Italy occurred when she
went to Stockholm to accept the award. Deledda recelved
the prlze wlth llttle personal fanfare; belng a Nobel laure
ate dld not materlally change her qulet llfe. Jhe recep
tlon ln Italy of the honor glven her was cool, almost
skeptlcal, especlally slnce several other authors, notably
Lulgl Plrandello, were thought to be much better candl
dates. Plrandello, who dld wln the Nobel Prlze ln Lltera
ture ln l931, had already expressed hls frustratlon wlth
Deledda`s fame and llterary success ln hls novel Suo mor-
ito (l9ll, Her Husband), a satlre of the DeleddaMade
sanl partnershlp. Perhaps because of thls rldlcule,
perhaps just because of her recluslve nature, Deledda dld
not ln any way vaunt her status as a Nobel wlnner. Ior
the next decade, untll her death ln l936, she contlnued
to llve surrounded by famlly and to wrlte a novel a year.
She publlshed ten more novels before her death,
and one more was publlshed posthumously. In thls last
perlod Deledda allowed herself to be more autoblograph
lcal. Cosimo, publlshed the year after her death, tells the
story of her own chlldhood ln Nuoro. Jwo less cheerful
novels, Il pocsc dcl vcvto (l93l) and Io clicso dcllo solitudivc
(l936; translated as Tlc Clurcl of Solitudc, 2002), focus on
themes of physlcal and splrltual health. In the flrst, the
protagonlst, Nlna, who has gone to llve by the seaslde
wlth her new husband, flnds her old love, Gabrlele,
dylng of tuberculosls. Gabrlele ls, even ln hls lllness, a
romantlc flgure, but Nlna`s declslon to turn away from
her chlldhood obsesslons and toward a new llfe wlth her
practlcal and rather stolld husband echoes Deledda`s
own llfe wlth Madesanl. Io clicso dcllo solitudivc portrays
Marla Concezlone, a young woman who ls lntroduced as
she leaves the hospltal after havlng a cancerous breast
removed. Marla Concezlone`s struggle wlth mortallty ls
mlrrored ln the sufferlngs of several other characters, but
her selflmposed sllence about her own lllness becomes
desperate when her lnablllty to speak almost causes the
death of the man she loves. Jhe autoblographlcal ele
ment ln thls work ls strong, slnce Deledda had been dlag
nosed wlth breast cancer several years earller and was
dylng as she wrote thls novel, the last to be publlshed ln
her llfetlme.
Jhe author of more than four hundred short sto
rles and more than forty novels, Grazla Deledda dled on
l5 August l936 ln Rome. Her talent reslded notably ln
her mlcroscoplc analysls of the people, the feellngs, and
the nature of Sardlnlawhlch she made known to a wlde
readershlp through her extenslve wrltlngs. Jraces of the
motlfs and themes she employed ln her flctlon and plays
contlnue to appear ln the works of Sardlnlan wrlters such
as Salvatore Mannussu, Salvatore Salta, and Gluseppe
Dessl. She also lnfluenced many Itallan women wrlters,
especlally ln the ways they address the role of women ln
patrlarchal socletles such as that of Southern Italy.
Deledda`s volce was dlstlnctlve and hlghly orlglnal, a
product of her compelllng Sardlnlan herltage. As the
thlrdperson narrator ln Cosimo states, ln velled alluslon to
the wrlter: 'Jutto del resto, straordlnarlo per lel. pare
venuta da un mondo dlverso da quello dove vlve, e la
sua fantasla plena dl rlcordl confusl dl quel mondo dl
sogno, mentre la realta dl questo non le dlsplace, se la
guarda a modo suo, clo anchèsso col colorl della sua
fantasla" (Everythlng ls extraordlnary for her. she seems
to have come from a world entlrely dlfferent from the
one ln whlch she llves, and her fantasy ls crowded wlth
dazed memorles of that dreamworld, whlle she does not
mlnd the reallty of thls, lf she looks at lt ln her own way,
that ls, wlth the colors of her lmaglnatlon).
iW
Icttcrc di Croio Dclcddo o Morivo Morctti (191J-192J)
(Padova. Rebellato, l959);
Icttcrc ivcditc (Mllan. Iabbrl, l966).
_~W
Remo Branca, ibliogrofio dclcddiovo (Mllan. LÈrolca,
l938).
_~W
Carolyn Balduccl, Z Sclf-Modc !omov: iogroply of òbcl-
Iric-!ivvcr Croio Dclcddo (Boston. Houghton
Mlfflln, l975);
Marllyn Mlglel, 'Grazla Deledda (l87l-l936)," ln Itol-
iov !omcv !ritcrs: Z io-ibliogroplicol Sourccbool,
edlted by Rlnaldlna Russell (Westport, Conn..
Greenwood Press, l991), pp. lll-ll8.
oW
Irancesco Alzlator, 'Grazla Deledda e le tradlzlonl
popolarl," ln Covvcgvo òiovolc di studi dclcddiovi,
ùoro, J0 scttcmbrc 1972: Ztti (Cagllarl. Iossataro,
l975), pp. l75-l89;
Marlo Aste, 'Echoes of 'Verlsmo` ln Deledda`s Io clicso
dcllo solitudivc," ln Tlc Iliglt of Ulysscs: Studics iv
Mcmory of Immovucl Hotovtovis, edlted by Augus
380
d~~ a~ ai_ POV
tus Mastrl (Chapel Hlll, N.C.. Annall d`ltallanls
tlca, l997), pp. 257-266;
Glorglo Brberl Squarottl, 'La tecnlca e la struttura del
romanzo deleddlano," ln Covvcgvo òiovolc di studi
dclcddiovi, ùoro, J0 scttcmbrc 1972: Ztti (Cagllarl.
Iossataro, l975), pp. l27-l59;
Paola Blelloch, 'Grazla Deledda`s and Gavlno Ledda`s
Wrltlng on Sardlnla. Jwo Sldes of the Same Real
lty," Itoliov _uortcrly, l8 (l995). 17-58;
Remo Branca, Il scgrcto di Croio Dclcddo (Cagllarl. Ios
sataro, l97l);
Susan Brlzlarelll, 'Woman as Outlaw. Grazla Deledda
and the Polltlcs of Gender," Modcrv Iovguogc òtcs,
ll0 (l995). 20-3l;
Carol Burton, 'Deledda`s Purgatorlo," Itolico, 57
(l980). 96-l06;
Antonlo Cara, 'Ccvcrc di Croio Dclcddo vcllc figuroiovi
di Ilcovoro Dusc (Nuoro. Istltuto Superlore Reglo
nale Etnograflco, l981);
Danlela Cavallero, 'Io e Lel. Uvo dovvo e Cosimo: Due
esempl dl autoblografla al femmlnlle," Iomovcc
Iovguogcs Zvvuol, 5 (l993). l71-l79;
Alberto Marla Clrese, 'Grazla Deledda e ll mondo
tradlzlonale sardo," Iroblcmi, 36-37 (l973). 328-
33l;
Clrese, Ivtcllcttuoli, folllorc, istivto di clossc: òtc su !crgo,
Dclcddo, Scotclloro, Cromsci (Jurln. Elnaudl, l976);
Rosarlo Contarlno, 'Il mlto della Sardegna nel
Lawrence vlagglatore e crltlco della Deledda,"
Compi Immogivobili, 3 (l99l). ll9-l26;
Blce De Chlara, Isicologismo dclcddiovo iv 'Ilios Iortulu c
'Covvc ol vcvto (Naples. Loffredo, l975);
Nerla De Glovannl, Comc lcggcrc 'Covvc ol vcvto di Croio
Dclcddo (Mllan. Mursla, l993);
Eurlalo De Mlchells, 'Rlassunto sulla Deledda," Zrco-
dio, 5 (l972). 35-79;
Gluseppe Dess, 'Grazla Deledda centànnl dopo,"
ùovo Zvtologio, 5l3 (l97l). 307-3ll;
Iloro Dl Zenzo, !ocoiovc vorrotivo di Croio Dclcddo
(Naples. Glaux, l967);
Marla Lulsa Dodero Costa, 'I. S. Jurgenev e Grazla
Deledda," ln Movdo slovo c culturo itoliovo: Covtributi
itoliovi ol IX covgrcsso ivtcrvoiovolc dcgli slovisti, Iicv
19SJ, edlted by |ltka Kresalkova (Rome. Veltro,
l983), pp. ll0-l2l;
Anna Dolfl, Croio Dclcddo (Mllan. Mursla, l979);
Carlo Ierruccl, 'Grazla Coslma Deledda," ùovi-
Zrgomcvti, 53-51 (l977). 301-3l5;
|lll Iranks, 'Jhe Reglonallst Communlty. Indlgenous
versus Outslder Consclousness ln Deledda`s Io
modrc and Lawrence`s Sea and Sardlnla," ln
Icgiovolism Iccovsidcrcd: `cw Zpprooclcs to tlc Iicld,
edlted by Davld |ordan (New York. Garland,
l991), pp. 87-l03;
Gluseppe Glacalone, Iitrotto critico di Croio Dclcddo
(Rome. Clranna, l965);
Lorenzo Greco, 'Amore fra cuglnl. Letteratura e con
testo antropologlco nella Deledda," Il Iovtc, 38,
nos. l- 2 (l982). l09-l22;
D. B. Gregor, 'Polychrome ln Grazla Deledda," Modcrv
Iovguogcs, 5l (l970). l60-l66;
Lynn Gunzberg, 'Rurallsm, Iolklore, and Grazla
Deledda`s Novels," Modcrv Iovguogc Studics, l3,
no. 3 (l983). ll2-l22;
Glullo Herczeg, 'La struttura della frase dl Grazla
Deledda," ln Itolio livguistico vuovo cd ovtico: Studi
livguistici iv mcmorio di Urovo Iorlovgcli, edlted by
Vlttore Plsanl, Clro Santoro, Glovan Battlsta, and
P. Mancarella, Collana dl saggl e testl, nos. 6-7
(Galatlna. Congedo, l976-l978), pp. l9-55;
Margherlta HeyerCaput, 'Per svelare Il segreto
dellùomo solltarlo dl Grazla Deledda," _uodcrvi
dÌtoliovistico: Ufficiol ourvol of tlc Covodiov Socicty
for Itoliov Studics, 22 (200l). l2l-l38;
Rebecca Hopklns, 'Reexamlnlng Iemale Deslre. Inher
ltance Law, Colonlallsm, and Iolklore ln Grazla
Deledda`s Io volpc," _uodcrvi dÌtoliovistico: Ufficiol
ourvol of tlc Covodiov Socicty for Itoliov Studics, 23
(2002). 59-86;
|anlce M. Kozma, Croio Dclcddo`s Itcrvol Zdolcsccvts: Tlc
Iotlology of Zrrcstcd Moturotiov (Madlson, N.|.. Ialr
lelgh Dlcklnson Lnlverslty Press, 2002);
Gluseppe Leone, 'La narratlva dl Grazla Deledda tra
verlsmo e decadentlsmo," Cristollo, 38, no. 3
(l996). 96-99;
Carla Locatelll, 'Le morall del deslderlo deleddlano.
Dopo il divorio," ln Deledda, Dopo il divorio, La
Blblloteca dell`ldentlta 25 (Cagllarl. Socleta Edl
trlce L`Lnlone Sarda, 2001), pp. vll-xxxlll;
Olga Lombardl, Ivvito ollo lctturo di Croio Dclcddo
(Mllan. Mursla, l979);
Alessandro Madesanl, Glno Pllandrl, and Lmberto Ios
chl, eds., `cl pocsc dcl vcvto: Croio Dclcddo, Iivo
Socclctti, Isotto Ccrvosi o Ccrvio (Ravenna. Longo,
l998);
Marlo Massalu, 'Il folklore sardo nellòpera dl Grazla
Deledda," ln hls Sordcgvo iv prospcttivo curomcditcrro-
vco. Ic 'vuovc voiovi` cscmplificotc cov uvo culturo ivsu-
lorc (Ilorence. Olschkl, l977), pp. 323-333;
Massalu, Io Sordcgvo di Croio Dclcddo (Mllan. CELLC,
l972);
Allen E. McCormlck, 'Grazla Deledda`s Io modrc and
the Problems of Jragedy," Symposium, 22 (l968).
62-67;
Marlo Mlcclnesl, Croio Dclcddo (Ilorence. Nuova Italla,
l975);
38l
ai_ POV d~~ a~
Marllyn Mlglel, 'Jhe Devll and the Phoenlx. A Read
lng of Grazla Deledda`s Ccvcrc," Stovford Itoliov
Icvicw, 5, no. l (l985). 55-73;
Attlllo Momlgllano, Storio dcllo lcttcroturc itoliovo (Mllan
Messlna. Prlnclpato, l918);
Blce Mortara Garavelll, 'La llngua dl Grazla Deledda,"
Strumcvti Critici, 65 (l99l). l15-l63;
Anco Marzlo Mutterle, 'I colorl dell`ldllllo," Studi vovc-
ccvtcscli, l1 (l987). l97-208;
Gluseppe Petronlo, 'Grazla Deledda e l suol crltlcl,"
Iroblcmi, 79 (l987). l21-l37;
Antonlo Plromalll, 'Durata e dlsfaclmento della realta
nelle trame narratlve dl Grazla Deledda," Itoliovis-
tico, 3 (l971). ll8-l22;
Plromalll, Croio Dclcddo (Ilorence, l968);
Dlno Provenzal, 'Grazla Deledda e ll Premlo Nobel,"
Zvimo c Icvsicro, 2 (l966). l7-l9;
Ada Ruschlonl, Dollo Dclcddo o Iovcsc (Mllan. Vlta
Penslero, l977);
Glullana Sangulnettl Katz, 'Grazla Deledda vlsta
attraverso ll suo eplstolarlo," Compi Immogivobili:
Iivisto _uodrimcstrolc di Culturo, l6-l8 (l996). 29-
10;
Sangulnettl Katz, 'Immaglnl e strutture ln un racconto
della Deledda," _uodcrvi dÌtoliovistico, l5 (l991).
205-2l5;
Sangulnettl Katz, 'La scoperta dell`ldentlta femmlnlle
nel romanzo Cosimo dl Grazla Deledda," Iivisto di
Studi Itoliovi, l2, no. l (l991). 55-73;
Antonlo Scano, Croio Dclcddo (Mllan. Vlrglllo, l972);
Ines Scaramuccl, Studi dcl òvcccvto: Irospcttivc c itivcrori
(Mllan. IPL, l968);
Vlttorlo Splnazzola, 'Grazla Deledda e ll pubbllco,"
Iroblcmi, 35 (l973). 269-277;
Ada Jestaferrl, 'Infrazlone allÈros prolblto come pro
cesso d`lndlvlduazlone ln Io modrc dl Grazla
Deledda," ln Dovvo: !omcv iv Itoliov Culturc, edlted
by Jestaferrl (Ottawa. Dovehouse, l989), pp.
l09-l20;
Marla Jettamanzl, Croio Dclcddo (Brescla. La scuola,
l969);
Antonlo Jobla, Croio Dclcddo (Rome. Clranna, l97l);
Slmona Wrlght, 'Elementl narratlvl nellòpera deled
dlana con partlcolare attenzlone allÌvccvdio
vcllòlivcto," `cmlo Itoliov Studics, l8 (l991). 83-
l03;
Patrlzla Zambon and Pler Lulgl Renal, 'Prellmlnare dl
lndaglne sulle novelle dl Grazla Deledda per ll
Corricrc dcllo Scro (l909-l9l1)," Iroblcmi, 79
(l987). l38-l57.
m~W
An lmportant archlve of Grazla Deledda`s letters and
other papers ls held prlvately by her famlly.
a~W ^~~ p~
(!rittcv ot tlc timc of tlc owordivg of tlc òbcl Iric)
I was born ln the llttle town of Nuoro ln Sar
dlnla ln l87l |accordlng to other sources, l875|. My
father was a falrly welltodo landowner who farmed
hls own land. He was also a hospltable man and had
frlends ln all of the towns surroundlng Nuoro. When
these frlends and thelr famllles had to come to Nuoro
on buslness or for rellglous holldays, they usually
stayed at our house. Jhus I began to know the varl
ous characters of my novels. I went only to elemen
tary school ln Nuoro. After thls, I took prlvate lessons
ln Itallan from an elementary school teacher. He gave
me themes to wrlte about, and some of them turned
out so well that he told me to publlsh them ln a news
paper. I was thlrteen and I dldn`t know to whom I
should go to have my storles publlshed. But I came
across a fashlon magazlne. I took the address and
sent off a short story. It was lmmedlately publlshed.
Jhen I wrote my flrst novel, Iior di Sordcgvo (l892)
|Ilower of Sardlnla|, whlch I sent to an edltor ln
Rome. He publlshed lt, and lt was qulte successful.
But my flrst real success was Ilios Iortol (l903),
whlch was flrst translated by the Icvuc dcs dcux movdcs,
and then lnto all of the European languages. I have
wrltten a great deal.
òvcls: Zvimc ovcstc, romovo fomigliorc (l895) |Honest
Souls|, wlth preface by Ruggero Bonghl; Il vccclio dcllo
movtogvo (l900) |Jhe Old Man of the Mountaln| fol
lowed by a dramatlc sketch, Udio vivcc (l901) |Hate
Wlns|; Ilios Iortol (l903); Ccvcrc (l901) |Ashes|; òs-
tolgic (l905); Io vio dcl molc (l896) |Jhe Evll Way|;
òufrogli iv porto |orlglnally Dopo il divorio, l902|
(l920) |After the Dlvorce|; I`cdcro (l908) |Jhe Ivy|; Il
vostro podrovc (l9l0) |Our Master|; Sivo ol covfivc (l9l0)
|Lp to the Llmlt|; `cl dcscrto (l9ll) |In the Desert|;
Colombi c sporvicri (l9l2) |Doves and Ialcons|; Covvc ol
vcvto (l9l3) |Canes ln the Wlnd|; Ic colpc oltrui (l9l1)
|Jhe Others` Iaults|; Moriovvo Sirco (l9l5); Iìvccvdio
vcllòlivcto (l9l8) |Jhe Ilre ln the Ollve Grove|; Io
Modrc (l920) |Jhe Mother|; Il scgrcto dcllùomo solitorio
(l92l) |Jhe Secret of the Solltary Man|; Il Dio dci
vivcvti (l922) |Jhe God of the Llvlng|; Io dovo dcllo
collovo (l921) |Jhe Dance of the Necklace|, followed
by the dramatlc sketch Z sivistro (l921) |Jo the Left|;
Io fugo iv Igitto (l925) |Jhe Illght lnto Egypt|;
Zvvolcvo ilsivi (l927).
382
d~~ a~ ai_ POV
p pW 'Il gluochl della vlta" (l905) |Jhe Gambles
ln Llfe|; 'Chlaroscuro" (l9l2) |Llght and Dark|; 'Il fan
clullo nascosto" (l9l5) |Jhe Hldden Boy|; 'Il rltorno
del flgllo" (l9l9) |Jhe Son`s Return|; 'La bamblna
rubata" (l9l9) |Jhe Stolen Chlld|; 'Cattlve com pag
nle" (l92l) |Evll Company|; 'Il flauto nel bosco"
(l923) |Jhe Ilute ln the Wood|; 'Il slglllo dàmore"
(l926) |Jhe Seal of Love|.
i~ (l9l2) |Jhe Ivy|, a play ln three acts, wlth the
collaboratlon of Camlllo AntonaJraversl.
In l900 I took my flrst trlp. It was to Cagllarl, the
beautlful Sardlnlan capltal. Jhere I met my husband.
We later moved to Rome, where I am presently llvlng. I
have also wrltten some poems whlch have not been col
lected ln a volume.
_~~ d~~ a~W
Grazla Deledda (l875-l936) contlnued to wrlte
extenslvely after she recelved the Nobel Prlze. i~ ~~
~ (l930) |Jhe Poet`s House| and p ~ (l933)
|Summer Sun|, both collectlons of short storles, reflect her
optlmlstlc vlslon of llfe even durlng the most palnful years
of her lncurable lllness. Llfe remalns beautlful and serene,
unaltered by personal sufferlng; man and nature are recon
clled ln order to overcome physlcal and splrltual hardshlp.
In many of her later works, Grazla Deledda com
blned the lmaglnary and the autoblographlcal; thls blend
ls readlly apparent ln her novel, f ~ (l93l)
|Land of the Wlnd|. In another novel, i~ (l931) |q
_~|, the renunclatlon of worldly thlngs, lncludlng love,
mlrrors the llfe of the author who, acceptlng selfsacrlflce
as a hlgher manner of llvlng, ls reconclled wlth God. Jhe
common tralt of all her later wrltlngs ls a constant falth ln
manklnd and ln God.
Jwo of Grazla Deledda`s novels were publlshed
posthumously. `~ (l937) and f i~ (l939)
|Jhe Cedar of Lebanon|.
NVOS k m i~
m~ p
e pI m k c~I
NM a NVOT
Jhe Swedlsh Academy has awarded the Nobel
Prlze of l926 to the Itallan author Grazla Deledda.
Grazla Deledda was born ln Nuoro, a small town
ln Sardlnla. Jhere she spent her chlldhood and her
youth, and from the natural surroundlngs and the llfe
of the people she drew the lmpresslons whlch later
became the lnsplratlon and the soul of her llterary
work.
Irom the wlndow of her house she could see the
nearby mountalns of Orthobene wlth thelr dark forests
and jagged grey peaks. Iarther off was a chaln of llme
stone mountalns whlch sometlmes appeared vlolet,
sometlmes lemoncoloured, sometlmes dark blue,
dependlng on the varlatlons of the llght. And ln the dls
tance, the snowy peaks of Gennargentu emerged.
Nuoro was lsolated from the rest of the world.
Jhe few vlsltors to the town usually arrlved on horse
back, wlth the women mounted behlnd the men. Jhe
monotony of dally llfe was lnterrupted only by tradl
tlonal rellglous or popular holldays and by the songs
and dances ln the maln street at carnlval tlme.
In thls envlronment, Grazla Deledda`s vlew of llfe
developed lnto somethlng unlquely lngenuous and
prlmltlve. In Nuoro lt was not consldered shameful to
be a bandlt. 'Do you thlnk," says an old peasant
woman ln one of Deledda`s novels, 'that bandlts are
bad people? Well, you`re wrong. Jhey are only men
who need to dlsplay thelr sklll, that`s all. In the old days
men went to war. Now there aren`t any more wars, but
men stlll need to flght. And so they commlt thelr hold
ups, thelr thefts, and thelr cattle steallng, not to do evll
but only to dlsplay somehow thelr ablllty and thelr
strength." Jhus the bandlt rather enjoys the sympathy
of the people. If he ls caught and put ln prlson, the peas
ants have an expresslve phrase whlch means that he has
'run lnto trouble." And when he ls freed no stlgma ls
attached to hlm. In fact, when he returns to hls home
town, he ls greeted wlth the words, 'More such trouble
a hundred years from now!"
Jhe vendetta ls stlll the custom ln Sardlnla, and a
person ls respected lf he takes blood revenge on the
klller of a klnsman. Indeed, lt ls consldered a crlme to
betray the avenger. One author wrltes, 'Even lf the
reward on hls head were three tlmes lts slze, not a slngle
man ln the whole dlstrlct of Nuoro could be found to
betray hlm. Only one law relgns there. respect for a
man`s strength and scorn of soclety`s justlce."
In thls town, so llttle lnfluenced by the Itallan
malnland, Grazla Deledda grew up surrounded by a
savagely beautlful natural settlng and by people who
possessed a certaln prlmltlve grandeur, ln a house that
had a sort of blbllcal slmpllclty about lt. 'We glrls,"
Grazla Deledda wrltes, 'were never allowed to go out
except to go to Mass or to take an occaslonal walk ln
the countryslde." She had no chance to get an advanced
educatlon, and llke the other mlddleclass chlldren ln
the area, she went only to the local school. Later she
took a few prlvate lessons ln Irench and Itallan because
383
ai_ POV d~~ a~
her famlly spoke only the Sardlnlan dlalect at home.
Her educatlon, then, was not extenslve. However, she
was thoroughly acqualnted wlth and dellghted ln the
folk songs of her town wlth lts hymns to the salnts, lts
ballads, and lts lullables. She was also famlllar wlth the
legends and tradltlons of Nuoro. Iurthermore, she had
an opportunlty at home to read a few works of Itallan
llterature and a few novels ln translatlon, slnce by Sar
dlnlan standards her famlly was relatlvely welltodo.
But thls was all. Yet the young glrl took a great llklng to
her studles, and at only thlrteen she wrote a whlmslcal
but traglc short story, 'Sangue Sardo" (l888) |Sardlnlan
Blood|, whlch she succeeded ln publlshlng ln a Roman
newspaper. Jhe people at Nuoro dld not at all llke thls
dlsplay of audaclty, slnce women were not supposed to
concern themselves wlth anythlng but domestlc dutles.
But Grazla Deledda dld not conform; lnstead she
devoted herself to wrltlng novels. flrst, c p~~
|Ilower of Sardlnla|, publlshed ln l892; then i~ ~
~ (l896) |Jhe Evll Way|, f ~ ~~
(l900) |Jhe Old Man of the Mountaln|, b~ m
(l903), and others wlth whlch she made a name for
herself. She came to be recognlzed as one of the best
young female wrlters ln Italy.
She had, ln fact, made a great dlscoveryshe had
dlscovered Sardlnla. In the mlddle of the elghteenth
century a new movement had arlsen ln European lltera
ture. Wrlters at that tlme were tlred of the models con
stantly drawn from Greek and Roman llterature. Jhey
wanted somethlng new. Jhelr movement qulckly jolned
forces wlth another whlch had begun ln the same epoch
wlth Rousseau`s adoratlon of man ln hls natural state,
untouched by clvlllzatlon. Jhe new school formed from
these two movements advanced and galned force, par
tlcularly ln the great days of Romantlclsm. Jhe school`s
most recent trophles have been won by the work of
Grazla Deledda. It ls true that ln descrlptlons of local
colour and peasant llfe she had predecessors even ln her
own country. Jhe socalled 'reglonallst" school ln Ital
lan llterature had had such notable representatlves as
Verga, ln hls descrlptlons of Slclly, and Iogazzaro, ln
hls descrlptlons of the LombardoVeneto reglon. But
the dlscovery of Sardlnla decldedly belongs to Grazla
Deledda. She knew lntlmately every corner of her
natlve land. She stayed ln Nuoro untll she was twenty
flve; only then dld she flnd the courage to go to
Cagllarl, the capltal of Sardlnla. Here she met Made
sanl, the man whom she marrled ln l900. After her
marrlage she and her husband moved to Rome, where
she dlvlded her tlme between her work as a wrlter and
her famlly dutles. In the novels wrltten after she moved
to Rome, she contlnued to deal wlth Sardlnlan subjects
as ln the work entltled ib~ (l908) |Jhe Ivy|. But ln
the novels wrltten after ib~I the actlon frequently
takes place ln a less locallzed atmosphere, as, for exam
ple, ln her most recent novel i~ c~ b (l925)
|Jhe Illght lnto Egypt|, whlch the Academy has exam
lned and appreclated. However, her conceptlon of man
and nature ls, as always, fundamentally Sardlnlan ln
character. Although she ls now artlstlcally more mature,
she remalns the same serlous, eloquent, but unpreten
tlous wrlter who wrote i~ ~ ~ and b~ m.
It ls rather dlfflcult for a forelgner to judge the
artlstlc merlt of her style. I shall therefore quote one of
the most famous Itallan crltlcs on thls matter. 'Her
style," he wrltes, 'ls that of the great masters of the nar
ratlve; lt has the characterlstlc marks of all great novel
lsts. No one ln Italy today wrltes novels whlch have the
vlgour of style, the power of craftsmanshlp, the struc
ture, or the soclal relevance whlch I found ln some,
even the latest, works of Grazla Deledda such as i~
j~ (l920) |Jhe Mother| and f p J
~ (l92l) |Jhe Secret of the Solltary Man|." One
mlght note only that her composltlon does not have the
strong conslstency whlch mlght be deslred; unexpected
passages often glve the lmpresslon of hasty transltlons.
But thls defect ls more than generously compensated
for by her many vlrtues. As a palnter of nature she has
few equals ln European llterature. She does not use
lessly waste her vlvld colours; but even then, the nature
whlch she descrlbes has the slmple, broad llnes of
anclent landscapes, as lt has thelr chaste purlty and maj
esty. It ls a marvellously llvely nature ln perfect har
mony wlth the psychologlcal llfe of her characters. Llke
a truly great artlst, she succeeds ln lncorporatlng her
representatlon of people`s sentlments and customs lnto
her descrlptlons of nature. Indeed, one need only recall
the classlc descrlptlon of the pllgrlm`s sojourn on
Mount Lula ln b~ m. Jhey depart on a May
mornlng. Iamlly after famlly ascends toward the
anclent votlve church, some on horseback, some ln old
wagons. Jhey carry along enough provlslons to last a
week. Jhe wealthler famllles lodge ln the great shelter
standlng next to the church. Jhese famllles are
descended from the church`s founders, and each has a
splke ln the wall and a hearth to lndlcate the area whlch
belongs to lt. No one else can set foot ln thls area. Each
evenlng the famllles gather ln thelr respectlve areas for
as long as the feast lasts. Jhey cook thelr food over the
flreplace and tell legends, play muslc, and slng durlng
the long summer nlght. In the novel i~ ~ ~I Gra
zla Deledda descrlbes equally vlvldly the strange Sar
dlnlan marrlage and funeral customs. When a funeral ls
to take place, all of the doors are shut, all of the shutters
are closed, every flre ls put out, no one ls permltted to
prepare food, and hlred mourners wall thelr lmprovlsed
dlrges. Jhe descrlptlons of such prlmltlve customs are
so llfellke and so slmple and natural that we are almost
381
d~~ a~ ai_ POV
moved to call them Homerlc. In Grazla Deledda`s nov
els more than ln most other novels, man and nature
form a slngle unlty. One mlght almost say that the men
are plants whlch germlnate ln the Sardlnlan soll ltself.
Jhe majorlty of them are slmple peasants wlth prlml
tlve senslbllltles and modes of thought, but wlth some
thlng ln them of the grandeur of the Sardlnlan natural
settlng. Some of them almost attaln the stature of the
monumental flgures of the Old Jestament. And no mat
ter how dlfferent they may seem from the men we
know, they glve us the lmpresslon of belng lncontest
ably real, of belonglng to real llfe. Jhey ln no way
resemble theatrlcal puppets. Grazla Deledda ls a master
of the art of fuslng reallsm wlth ldeallsm.
She does not belong to that band of wrlters who
work on a thesls and dlscuss problems. She has always
kept herself far removed from the battles of the day.
When Ellen Key once trled to lnterest her ln such dls
cusslons, she answered, 'I belong to the past." Perhaps
thls confesslon of attltude ls not completely just. Cer
talnly Grazla Deledda feels tled by strong bonds to the
past, to the hlstory of her people. But she also knows
how to llve ln and respond to her own tlmes. Although
she lacks lnterest ln theorles, she has a great deal of
lnterest ln every aspect of human llfe. She wrltes ln a
letter, 'Our great angulsh ls llfe`s slow death. Jhls ls
why we must try to slow llfe down, to lntenslfy lt, thus
glvlng lt the rlchest posslble meanlng. One must try to
llve above one`s llfe, as a cloud above the sea." Preclsely
because llfe seems so rlch and admlrable to her, she has
never taken sldes ln the polltlcal, soclal, or llterary con
troversles of the day. She has loved man more than the
orles and has llved her own qulet llfe far from the
world`s uproar. 'Destlny," she wrltes ln another letter,
'caused me to be born ln the heart of lonely Sardlnla.
But even lf I had been born ln Rome or Stockholm, I
should not have been dlfferent. I should have always
been what I ama soul whlch becomes lmpassloned
about llfe`s problems and whlch lucldly percelves men
as they are, whlle stlll bellevlng that they could be bet
ter and that no one else but themselves prevents them
from achlevlng God`s relgn on earth. Everythlng ls
hatred, blood, and paln; but, perhaps, everythlng wlll
be conquered one day by means of love and good wlll."
Jhese last words express her vlslon of llfe, a serl
ous and profound vlslon wlth a rellglous cast. It ls fre
quently sad, but never pesslmlstlc. She belleves that the
forces of good ultlmately wlll trlumph ln the llfe strug
gle. Jhe prlnclple whlch domlnates all her work as a
wrlter ls represented clearly and conclsely at the end of
her novel ` (l901) |Ashes|. Ananla`s mother ls
rulned. In order not to be an obstacle to her son`s hap
plness, she has taken her own llfe and now lles dead
before hlm. When he was only a baby, she had glven
hlm an amulet. He opens lt and flnds that lt contalns
only ashes. 'Yes, all was ashes. llfe, death, man; the
very destlny whlch produced her. And stlll ln the last
hour, as he stood before the body of the most mlserable
of human creatures, who after dolng and sufferlng evll
ln all of lts manlfestatlons had dled for someone else`s
good, he remembered that among the ashes there often
lurks the spark of a lumlnous and purlfylng flame. And
he hoped. And he stlll loved llfe."
Alfred Nobel wanted the Prlze ln Llterature to be
glven to someone who, ln hls wrltlngs, had glven
humanlty that nectar whlch lnfuses the health and the
energy of a moral llfe. In conformlty wlth hls wlshes,
the Swedlsh Academy has awarded the Prlze to Grazla
Deledda, 'for her ldeallstlcally lnsplred wrltlngs whlch
wlth plastlc clarlty plcture the llfe on her natlve lsland
and wlth depth and sympathy deal wlth human prob
lems ln general."
^ ~I ^ k~~ pI j
p ^~I ~ ~~W
Dear MadameJhe proverb says, 'All roads lead
to Rome." In your llterary work, all roads lead to the
human heart. You never tlre of llstenlng affectlonately
to lts legends, lts mysterles, confllcts, anxletles, and eter
nal longlngs. Customs as well as clvll and soclal lnstltu
tlons vary accordlng to the tlmes, the natlonal character
and hlstory, falth and tradltlon, and should be respected
rellglously. Jo do otherwlse and reduce everythlng to a
unlformlty would be a crlme agalnst art and truth. But
the human heart and lts problems are everywhere the
same. Jhe author who knows how to descrlbe human
nature and lts vlclssltudes ln the most vlvld colours
and, more lmportant, who knows how to lnvestlgate
and unvell the world of the heartsuch an author ls unl
versal, even ln hls local conflnement.
You, Madame, do not llmlt yourself to man; you
reveal, flrst of all, the struggle between man`s bestlallty
and the hlgh destlny of hls soul. Ior you the road ls
extended. You have seen the road slgn whlch many
travellers pass by wlthout notlclng. Ior you the road
leads to God. Ior thls reason you belleve ln reblrth ln
splte of the degradatlon and frallty of man. You know
that lt ls posslble to reclalm the swamp so that lt
becomes flrm and fertlle land. Jherefore, a brlght ray
gleams ln your books. Jhrough darkness and human
mlsery you let shlne the solace of eternal llght.
385
g b~~
(19 Zpril 1SJ2 - 4 Scptcmbcr 1916)
g _K jf
Uvivcrsity of Dcloworc
BOOKS. Clculo dc voriociovcs: Iccciovcs cxplicodos cv lo
Iscuclo dc Ivgcvicros dc Comivos, Covolcs y Iucrtos
(Madrld. |os C. de la Pea, l858);
Mcmorio sobrc los trobojos dc pcrforociov dcl tuvcl, dc los Zlpcs
cscrito cv cl ovo 1S60 durovtc los prcticos dc lo Iscuclo
cspcciol dc Ivgcvicros dc Comivos, Covolcs y Iucrtos, by
Echegaray, Manuel Pardo, and Luls Vasconl
(Madrld. Vluda de D. |. C. de la Pea, l863);
Iroblcmos dc gcomctro (Madrld. J. Iortanet, l865);
Discursos lcdos ovtc lo Icol Zcodcmio dc Cicvcios Ixoctos, Isi-
cos y òturolcs cv lo rcccpciov pblico dc Sr. D. osc
Iclcgoroy: Historio dc los motcmticos puros cv Ispovo
(Madrld. Euseblo Aguado, l866);
Ivtroducciov o lo gcomctro supcrior (Madrld. Euseblo
Aguado, l867);
Tcoros modcrvos dc lo fsico: Uvidod dc los fucros motcriolcs:
Colccciov dc ortculos (Madrld. Iranclsco Rolg, l867;
expanded edltlon, Madrld. M. Rlvadeneyra,
l873);
Discurso provuvciodo por cl Sr. D. osc Iclcgoroy cv lo scsiov
cclcbrodo cv los Cortcs Covstituycvtcs cl do dc moyo dc
1S69 cv poco dc los ortculos 20 y 21 dcl proyccto dc
Covstituciov (Madrld. M. Rlvadeneyra, l869);
Ivflucvcio dcl cstudio dc los cicvcios cv lo cducociov dc lo mujcr
(Madrld. M. Rlvadeneyra, l869);
Tcoro motcmtico dc lo lu (Madrld. Vluda de Aguado e
Hljo, l87l);
Il libro tolovorio, as |orge Hayaseca y Elzagulrre
(Madrld. |os Rodrguez/Alonso Gulln, l871);
Io csposo dcl vcvgodor (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l871);
Io ltimo voclc (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l875);
Iv cl puvo dc lo cspodo (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l875);
Uv sol quc vocc y uv sol quc mucrc (Madrld. |os Rodrguez,
l876);
Como cmpico y como ocobo (Madrld. R. Velasco, l876);
Discursos y rcctificociov dcl Scvor Dov osc dc Iclcgoroy pro-
vuvciodos cv los scsiovcs dc los dos 7, 9 y 11 dc ulio dc
1S77, cov motivo dcl dictomcv dc lo comisiov dc Ivfor-
mociov porlomcvtorio rcfcrcvtc o los opcrociovcs dcl Tcsoro
(Madrld. Vluda e Hljos de G. Antonlo Garca,
l877);
Il glodiodor dc Ivcvo: Imitociov dc los ltimos csccvos dc lo
trogcdio olcmovo dc Ircdcrico Holm (Muvcl dc cllivg-
lousscv), based on a work by Irederlch Halm
(Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l877);
U locuro o sovtidod (Madrld. |os M. Ducazcal, l877);
translated by Hannah Lynch as Iolly or Soivtlivcss,
ln Tlc Crcot Colcoto [ovd] Iolly or Soivtlivcss: Two
Iloys Dovc from tlc !crsc of osc Iclcgoroy ivto Ivglisl
Irosc (London. |ohn Lane / Boston. Lamson
Wolffe, l895);
Iris dc po (Madrld. J. Iortanet, l877);
Ioro tol culpo tol pcvo (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l877);
Io quc vo pucdc dccirsc (Madrld. J. Iortanet, l877);
Iv cl pilor y cv lo cru (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l878);
Corrcr cv pos dc uv idcol (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l878);
Zlguvos vcccs oqu (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l878);
Morir por vo dcspcrtor (Madrld. Jlp. Yages, l879);
Iv cl scvo dc lo mucrtc (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l879);
odos trgicos (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l879);
g b~~I ~ NVMM E~
_~L`lo_fpF
386
g b~~ ai_ POV
Mor siv orillos (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l879);
ì lo pocicvcio dc ob (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l879);
Io mucrtc cv los lobios (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l880);
Il grov Colcoto (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l88l); trans
lated by Lynch as Tlc Crcot Colcoto ln Tlc Crcot
Colcoto, [ovd] Iolly or Soivtlivcss: Two Iloys Dovc from
tlc !crsc of osc Iclcgoroy ivto Ivglisl Irosc (London.
|ohn Lane / Boston. Lamson Wolffe, l895);
Horoldo cl òrmovdo (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l88l);
Ios dos curiosos impcrtivcvtcs (Madrld. |os Rodrguez,
l882);
Covflicto cvtrc dos dcbcrcs (Madrld. Cosme Rodrguez,
l882);
Uv milogro cv Igipto (Madrld. Cosme Rodrguez, l883);
Zvolcs dc tcotro y dc lo msico cov uv cstudio sobrc cl rcolismo
(Madrld. Rlcardo I, l881);
Iicvso mol . . . y occrtcrs? (Madrld. Cosme Rodrguez,
l881);
Io pcstc dc Utrovto (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l881);
Tcotro, l0 volumes (Madrld. Cosme Rodrguez, l881);
Ubros dromticos cscogidos, 2 volumes (Madrld. Jello,
l881);
!ido olcgrc y mucrtc tristc (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l885);
Il bovdido Iisovdro (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l886);
Dc molo roo (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l886);
Dos fovotismos (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l887);
Il covdc Iotorio (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l887);
Io rcolidod y cl dclirio (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l887);
Il lijo dc corvc y cl lijo dc licrro (Madrld. |os Rodrguez,
l888);
Io sublimc cv lo vulgor (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l888);
Movovtiol quc vo sc ogoto (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l889);
Ios rgidos (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l889);
Sicmprc cv ridculo (Madrld. Jlp. Yages, l890); trans
lated by J. Walter Gllkyson as Zlwoys Iidiculous
(Boston. R. G. Badger, l9l6);
Ixomcv dc vorios submorivos comporodos cov 'Il Icrol: Colcc-
ciov dc ortculos publicodos cv 'Il Hcroldo dc Modrid
(Madrld. |os M. Ducazcal, l89l);
Il prologo dc uv dromo (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l89l);
Ircvc dc Utrovto (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l89l);
Uv crtico ivcipicvtc (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l89l);
Comcdio siv dcscvlocc (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l892);
Il lijo dc Dov uov (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l892);
translated by |ames Graham as Tlc Sov of Dov
uov (London. Lnwln, l895; Boston. Roberts,
l895);
Sic vos vov vobis; o Io ltimo limosvo (Madrld. |os
Rodrguez, l892);
Moriovo (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l892); translated by
Graham as Moriovo (New York. Roberts, l895);
Il podcr dc lo impotcvcio (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l893);
Z lo orillo dcl mor (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l893);
Ivformc sobrc lo producciov y distribuciov dc clcctricidod dc lo
Compovio Modrilcvo, by Echegaray, Rlcardo
Becerro de Bengoa, and Iranclsco de P. Rojas
(Madrld. I. Rodrguez, l891);
Io rcvcoroso (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l891);
Movclo quc limpio (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l895);
Il primcr octo dc uv dromo (Madrld. |os Rodrguez,
l895);
Il cstigmo (Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l895);
Dc lo lcgolidod comv cv motcrios litcrorios (Madrld. Hljos
de I. A. Garca, l896);
Io covtovtc collcjcro (Madrld. Evarlsto Odrlzola, l896);
Zmor solvojc (Madrld. Evarlsto Odrlzola, l896);
Scmromis, o, Io lijo dcl oirc, adapted from Pedro
Caldern de la Barca`s play (Madrld. Evarlsto
Odrlzola, l896);
Io columvio por costigo (Madrld. Sucesores de Rodrguez
y Odrlzola, l897);
Icsoluciov dc ccuociovcs y tcorio dc Colois: Iccciovcs cxplicodos
cv cl Ztcvco dc Modrid (Madrld. |. A. Garca, l897);
Discurso lcdo por cl Ixcmo. Sr. D. osc Iclcgoroy cl do 10 dc
vovicmbrc dc 1S9S cv cl Ztcvco cicvtfico, litcrorio y orts-
tico dc Modrid cov motivo dc lo opcrturo dc su ctcdro:
_uc cs lo quc covtribuyc lo fucro dc los vociovcs?
(Madrld. Sucesores de Rlvadeneyra, l898);
Io dudo (Madrld. R. Velasco, l898);
Il lombrc vcgro (Madrld. R. Velasco, l898); translated
by Ellen Watson as Tlc Mov iv locl (N.p., l899);
Silcvcio dc mucrtc (Madrld. R. Velasco, l899);
Dromos (Madrld. La Novela Ilustrada, l900);
Iovccs cvtrc cobollcros: Istc libro covticvc uvo rcscvo listorico
dcl duclo y uv proyccto dc boscs poro lo rcdocciov dc uv
codigo dcl lovor cv Ispovo (Madrld. Sucesores de
Rlvadeneyra, l900);
Igivos cscogidos: Istudios litcrorios dc I. Comc Corrillo,
Covrodo Solsovo, osc Iclcgoroy, by Echegaray and
others, edlted by |uan Navarro Reverter (Parls.
Garnler Hermanos, l900);
Il loco Dios (Madrld. R. Velasco, l900); translated by
Ellzabeth Howard West as Tlc Mod Mov Divivc
(Boston. Gorham Press, l908);
Covgrcsos ivtcrvociovolcs dc fcrrocorrilcs, trovvos y clcctricidod,
cclcbrodos cv Ioris cv cl ovo 1900: Mcmorios dc los ivgcvicros
dc comivos, covolcs y pucrtos, by Echegaray and oth
ers (Madrld. Hljos de |. A. Garca, l90l);
Molos lcrcvcios (Madrld. R. Velasco, l902);
Ubscrvociovcs y tcoros sobrc lo ofividod qumico (Madrld.
Antonlo Marzo, l902);
Io cscolivoto dc uv trovo (Madrld. R. Velasco, l903);
Io dcscquilibrodo (Madrld. R. Velasco, l901);
Discurso lcdo cv lo Uvivcrsidod Ccvtrol cv lo solcmvc ivougu-
rociov dcl curso ocodcmico dc 190 o 1906 por D. osc
Iclcgoroy y Iioguirrc: Io Cicvcio y lo Crtico
387
ai_ POV g b~~
(Madrld. Imprenta Colonlal |Estrada Hermanos|,
l905);
Cicvcio populor: Colccciov dc ortculos publicodos cv los pcriodi-
cos 'Il Imporciol y 'Il Iibcrol (Madrld. Hljos de |. A.
Garca, l905);
Z fucro dc orrostrorsc (Madrld. R. Velasco, l905);
Ios trcs sucvos dc Colillo (Madrld. Vluda de Rodrlguez
Serra, l905?);
Movologos cv vcrso: 'Ivtrc doloro y cucvto, 'Il modcrvo
Ivdimiov, 'Il covto dc lo Sircvo (Madrld. R.
Velasco, l906);
Covfcrcvcios sobrc fsico motcmtico, 5 volumes (Madrld.
Imprenta de la 'Gaceta de Madrld," l906-l9l0);
Il prcfcrido y los ccvicicvtos, as Llbrado Ezguleura (Madrld.
R. Velasco, l908);
Mucstros (Madrld. Edltorlal Ibero Amerlcana, l908);
!ulgoriociov cicvtfico (Madrld. Rafael Gutlrrez |lmnez,
l9l0);
Iccucrdos, 3 volumes (Madrld. Rulz Hermanos, l9l7).
b ~ `W osc Iclcgoroy: Tcotro cscogido,
edlted by Amando Lzaro Ros (Madrld. Agullar,
l955)lncludes Il libro tolovorio, Io ltimo voclc, Iv
cl puvo dc lo cspodo, U locuro o sovtidod, Iv cl scvo dc lo
mucrtc, Io mucrtc cv los lobios, Il grov Colcoto, Iicvso
mol . . . y occrtcrs?, Dc molo roo, Sic vos vov vobis o lo
ltimo limosvo, Movclo quc limpio, Io dudo, and Z
fucro dc orrostrorsc;
Iclcgoroy, edlted by |ullo Mathas (Madrld. Espasa,
l970)lncludes selectlons from Il libro tolovorio, Iv
cl puvo dc lo cspodo, Il grov Colcoto, Movclo quc lim-
pio, and Z fucro dc orrostrorsc.
b bW Moriovo, translated by Irederlco
Sarda and Carlos D. S. Wuppermann (New York.
Moods, l909);
Tlc Ztovcmcvt of Hclcv: Z Dromo iv Iour Zcts by Irovlliv
!ivtcr from tlc Spovisl of osc Iclcgoroy (New York.
Manuscrlpts Lnlversal, l9l5).
PLAY PRODLCJIONS. Il libro tolovorio, Madrld,
Jeatro Apolo, l8 Iebruary l871;
Io csposo dcl vcvgodor, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l1
November l871;
Io ltimo voclc, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 2 March l875;
Iv cl puvo dc lo cspodo, Madrld, Jeatro Apolo, l2 Octo
ber l875;
Uv sol quc vocc y uv sol quc mucrc and Como cmpico y como
ocobo, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 9 November l876;
Il glodiodor dc Iovcvo, Madrld, Jeatro Novedades, l0
November l876;
U locuro o sovtidod, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 22 |anuary
l877;
Iris dc po, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l0 Iebruary l877;
Ioro tol culpo tol pcvo, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 27 Aprll
l877;
Io quc vo pucdc dccirsc, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l1 Octo
ber l877;
Iv cl pilor y cv lo cru, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 26 Iebru
ary l878;
Corrcr cv pos dc uv idcol, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l5
October l878;
Zlguvos vcccs oqu, Madrld, Jeatro Apolo, l5 October
l878;
Morir por vo dcspcrtor, Madrld, Jeatro Apolo, l0 Iebru
ary l879;
Iv cl scvo dc lo mucrtc, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l2 Aprll
l879;
odos trgicos, Madrld, Jeatro Apolo, 21 May l879;
Mor siv orillos, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 20 December
l879;
Io mucrtc cv los lobios, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 30
November l880;
Il grov Colcoto, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l9 March
l88l;
Ios dos curiosos impcrtivcvtcs, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 8
Aprll l88l;
Horoldo cl òrmovdo, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 3 Decem
ber l88l;
Covflicto cvtrc dos dcbcrcs, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l1
December l882;
Iicvso mol . y occrtors? Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 5 Ieb
ruary l881;
Uv milogro cv Igipto, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 21 March
l881;
Io pcstc dc Utrovto, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l2 Decem
ber l881;
!ido olcgrc y mucrtc tristc, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 7
March l885;
Il bovdido Iisovdro, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l3 Iebru
ary l886;
Dc molo roo, Barcelona, then Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 1
March l886;
Il covdc Iotorio, Valencla, 2 |une l886;
Ios dos fovotismos, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l5 |anuary
l887;
Io rcolidod y cl dclirio, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l2 Aprll
l887;
Il lijo dc corvc y cl lijo dc licrro, Madrld, Jeatro de la
Prlncesa, l1 |anuary l888;
Io sublimc cv lo vulgor, Barcelona, 1 |uly l888;
Movovtiol quc vo sc ogoto, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 9
March l889;
Ios rgidos, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l9 November l889;
Sicmprc cv ridculo, Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 2l December
l890;
Il prologo dc uv dromo, Valladolld, 27 December l890;
Ircvc dc Utrovto, Madrld, Jeatro Real, l2 Iebruary l89l;
388
g b~~ ai_ POV
r I Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, 27
Iebruary l89l;
`~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, l7
December l89l;
b a g~I Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 29 March
l892;
p I ~ ~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro de la
Comedla, l892;
j~~~I Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, 5 December
l892;
b ~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, 1
March l893;
^ ~ ~ ~I Madrld. Jeatro de la Comedla, l2
December l893;
i~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, l3 March
l891;
j~~ o~I translated from Angel Gulmer`s play,
Madrld, Jeatro de la Prlncesa, 21 November
l891;
j~~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 9 Iebruary
l895;
b ~ ~~I Madrld, Jeatro Novedades, 25
Iebruary l895;
b ~I Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l5 November l895;
i~ ~~ ~~I Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 26 March
l896;
q~ ~~I translated from Gulmer`s play, Madrld,
Jeatro Espaol, l896;
^ ~~I Madrld, Jeatro de la Comedla, l896;
p~ ~ ~ ~I translated from Pedro
Caldern de la Barca`s play, Madrld, l896;
i~ ~~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 22 |anu
ary l897;
i~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, ll Iebruary l898;
b I Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 22 Aprll l898;
p I Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 9 December
l898;
b aI Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 8 November l900;
j~~ ~I Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 20 November
l902;
i~ ~~~ I Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l9 Ieb
ruary l903;
i~ ~~I Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, l1 December
l903;
^ ~ ~~~I Madrld, Jeatro Espaol, 7 Iebru
ary l905;
b I as Llbrado Ezguleura, Madrld,
Jeatro Espaol, l908;
b bI b ~ I and b ~ ~
~I Madrld, l908.
JRANSLAJIONS. Angel Gulmer, j~~Jo~
(Madrld. |os Rodrguez, l891);
Gulmer, q~ ~~ (Madrld. Ilorenclo Ilscowlch,
l896).
LNCOLLECJED. 'El tlempo y su medlda," ^~J
~ ~ f~ b~~ ^~~ (l897);
'El reloj maravllloso," ^~~ ~ f~ b~~
^~~ (l898);
'El tlempo al revs," ^~~ ~ f~ b~~
^~~ (l900);
'El confllcto de los slglos," ^~~ ~ f~
b~~ ^~~ (l90l);
'El loco de los relojes," ^~~ ~ f~
b~~ ^~~ (l903).
|os Echegaray became Spaln`s flrst Nobel Prlze
ln Llterature wlnner ln l901, sharlng the prlze wlth
Irench poet Irdrlc Mlstral. He had dlstlngulshed
hlmself prevlously as a polltlclan and a sclentlst; but hls
llterary fame came from hls plays. Ior some thlrty years
he was one of Spaln`s leadlng popular dramatlsts, and
although the value of hls work was dlsputed by crltlcs,
lt earned hlm a place ln the hlstory of modern Spanlsh
drama.
|os Echegaray y Elzagulrre was born on Holy
Jhursday, l9 Aprll l832, the year precedlng the com
mencement of the flrst Carllst War ln Madrld. He was
the elghth chlld born to |os Echegaray Lacosta, of Ara
gonese descent, and Manuela Elzagulrre Chaler, of
Basque orlgln. Hls father, who worked as both a medl
cal doctor and a professor of botany, moved the famlly
to Murcla ln l837. An lndustrlous and glfted student,
|os had completed preparatory school at age fourteen
and convlnced hls father to enroll hlm ln the School of
Clvll Englneerlng, then consldered the most dlfflcult
and prestlglous professlon. Lpon graduatlon ln l853,
he became second englneer on a road project ln
Almera, a post wlth so few dutles that he had tlme to
read voraclously ln hls favorlte fleld of drama.
Seven months later he returned to Madrld, was
appolnted secretary of the School of Clvll Englneerlng,
and was asslgned to teach the courses of hydraullcs, dlf
ferentlal and lntegral calculus, and applled mathemat
lcs, courses for whlch he produced several textbooks.
Jhrough the publlcatlon of varlous sclentlflc and math
ematlcal papers, he soon became Spaln`s foremost
mathematlclan. He devoted hls speech upon lnductlon
lnto the Academy of Exact Sclences ln l865 to the
dearth of skllled mathematlclans ln hls country. Spaln,
he declared, had never produced even a thlrdrate
mathematlclan because of the Inqulsltlon and lts legacy
of fear and prejudlce. Echegaray endeavored to correct
thls sltuatlon wlth an enormous productlon of sclentlflc
textbooks, papers, and artlcles, wrltten for both speclal
389
ai_ POV g b~~
lsts and laypersons. Jhe journal of the Offlce of Publlc
Works and the perlodlcal b b~I whlch he
founded wlth Gabrlel Rodrguez, publlshed sclentlflc
papers and monographs by Echegaray ln the early
years of hls career. In addltlon to readlng hls own
papers at the Academy of Sclence, he lntroduced and
responded to those of others; he undertook the same
task after hls lnductlon lnto the Royal Academy.
Among the authors he presented to the Spanlsh publlc
were Iernanflor (Isldoro Iernndez Ilrez), Luls Soles
Egullaz, Enrlque Segovla Rocabertl, Clarn (Leopoldo
Alas), Arstldes Senz de Lrraca, Manuel Werthelmer,
Iernando Soldevllla, and Marlo Mndez Bejarano.
Avldly devoted to the theater, he attended open
lng nlghts and wrote hls flrst play, 'La cortesana" ( Jhe
Courtesan), treatlng a woman`s rehabllltatlon ln the
style of Alexandre Dumas `s i~ a~ ~ ~~
(l852, Jhe Lady of the Camelllas). Jhe actor/producer
|oaqun Arjona softened hls rejectlon of the play wlth
pralse of lts energy but crltlclsm of lts lmpractlcallty for
the stage. Echegaray tore lt up and, turnlng hls atten
tlon to economlcs, contrlbuted many artlcles to b bJ
~I ln whlch he argued for free trade, as he dld also
ln dlscourses dellvered at El Ateneo, a prestlglous
debatlng soclety. Meanwhlle he contlnued readlng
Irench, German, and Spanlsh contemporary flctlon and
drama, and hls attendance at the theater never faltered.
He dabbled ln poetry, wrltlng a poem of l50 llnes for
hls llterary brother Mlguel Echegaray ln l851. Jhe lat
ter`s success ln havlng hls drama `~~ (Heads or
Jalls) staged ln Madrld at the Jeatro Clrco prompted
Echegaray to try hls hand at dramaturgy once agaln.
He completed a verse drama ln three acts and a pro
logue but regarded lt as an apprentlceshlp and dld not
seek lts staglng or publlcatlon. In the late l850s he
brought hls thlrd attempt ln the dramatlc genre, 'La
hlja natural" (Jhe Illegltlmate Daughter), to the atten
tlon of the actress Jeodora Lamadrld. She pralsed the
play but dld nothlng to encourage lts productlon, whlch
dld not occur untll l877 under the tltle m~~ ~ ~ ~
~ (Jhe Punlshment Ilts the Crlme).
At the age of twentyflve, on l6 November l857,
Echegaray marrled Ana Perfecta Estrada, a young
woman so exqulslte that Klng Amadeus (Amadeo de
Saboya) later declared that the surpasslng beautles of
Spaln were the Cathedral of Burgos and the wlfe of |os
Echegaray. Jhe happy marrlage produced two chll
dren. daughter Ana, who went on to have three chll
dren of her own before her early death, and son
Manuel, who never marrled and remalned ln the paren
tal home throughout hls father`s llfe. Whlle Echegaray
enjoyed conslderable prestlge ln hls sclentlflc career, hls
salary dld not adequately support a comfortable mlddle
class standard. Jo augment hls lncome, he establlshed a
preparatory academy but soon had to yleld to hls
School of Clvll Englneerlng boss`s protests agalnst
moonllghtlng, an actlvlty ln whlch most professlonals of
the tlme engaged. Jhe same boss prevented hlm from
acceptlng a lucratlve posltlon as advlser to the bulldlng
of a network of rallroads and brldges throughout Italy.
However, hls employer dld flnance a journey to vlew
the solar ecllpse from Las Palmas and to vlslt major clt
les ln England, Irance, and Italy, then to study the tun
nel bullt through the Alps.
Meanwhlle, between l860 and l862, Echegaray
found tlme to wrlte two oneact plays, r ~
(Sun Rlslng and Sun Settlng) and j
~ (Jo Dle Not Jo Awake), that were even
tually staged successfully ln l876 and l879, respectlvely.
'El banquero" (Jhe Banker), a play ln three acts that
Echegaray wrote ln l861, was staged ln l875 under the
tltle i~ ~ (Jhe Last Nlght). Its cold receptlon
conflrmed Echegaray`s bellef that a dramatlc author
had best not attempt dlrect representatlon of hls own
phllosophy and experlence. Jhe play dealt wlth the
flnanclal world the playwrlght knew well, but hls ruth
less, connlvlng prlnclpal character dld not appeal to the
Spanlsh audlence.
Echegaray shaped and was shaped by a perlod of
great polltlcal upheaval. Durlng the nlneteenth century
there were revlslons of the Spanlsh Constltutlon ln
l808, l8l2, l831, l837, l815, l856, l869, l873, and
l876, prlmarlly because of the unresolved lssue of the
throne. Iernando VII had suppressed the Sallc Law to
make hls daughter Isabella, rather than hls brother Car
los, helr to the throne. Carllst supporters enveloped
Spaln ln clvll war three tlmes ln the nlneteenth century,
and thelr descendants stlll cavll over the dlverslon of
the throne to Isabella`s llne. Jhe economy suffered
whlle the country depleted lts resources on efforts to
malntaln the remnants of emplre ln Cuba and the Phll
lpplne Islands, lost flnally ln war agalnst the Lnlted
States ln l898.
Jhe deaths of the exlled soldlerpolltlclan
Leopoldo O`Donnell ln l867 and the dlctator General
Ramn Mara Narvez ln l868 weakened the govern
ment of the Llberal Luls Gonzlez Bravo. Generals
|uan Prlm and Iranclsco Serrano y Domnguez
marched on Madrld, and _ueen Isabella II was forced
to seek refuge wlth Napoleon III ln Blarrltz. Echegaray
was pleasantly surprlsed to be named dlrector of publlc
works, slnce he had not sought the appolntment by
actlvely engaglng ln polltlcs. He held the post only untll
l869, when he replaced hls superlor Serrano as mlnls
ter of development. Echegaray was handlly elected rep
resentatlve from Asturlas. He endorsed the Llberals`
platform and champloned both rellglous and economlc
390
g b~~ ai_ POV
freedom whlle lnstltutlng reforms ln englneerlng
schools and the mlnlng lndustry.
Echegaray headed the commlsslon to welcome
Amadeus as klng of Spaln upon hls arrlval ln the south
eastern clty of Cartagena on 30 December l870.
Recelvlng word that General Prlm had been assassl
nated and that revolutlonarles also planned to assassl
nate Amadeus, Echegaray, speaklng for the klng (who
had not yet learned Spanlsh), calmed the crowds wlth a
brllllant dlscourse. He reslgned as mlnlster of develop
ment ln that year but was reappolnted agaln ln the sum
mer of l872. Durlng thls chaotlc perlod, wlth uprlslngs
of the separatlsts ln the colonles and of the Carllsts on
the penlnsula, Amadeus abdlcated on ll Iebruary
l873, and the Senate declared Spaln a republlc. Mllltary
forces dlssolved the government mlnlsters` emergency
meetlng, and Echegaray narrowly escaped death on hls
way home through the street mobs to pack hls bags and
seek refuge ln Parls.
He used the slx months he reslded ln Irance wlth
hls famlly to wrlte the oneact play b ~~
(l871, Jhe Account Book). Lpon hls return to Madrld,
he presented the play to the actress Matllde Dez as the
work of hls flctltlous frlend |orge Hayaseca. Dez saw
through the ruse and percelved that the play could be a
success, especlally lf the publlc knew lt was wrltten by
such a hlghly placed person as Echegaray, who had
slnce been appolnted as mlnlster of flnance, followlng
General Manuel Pava y Rodrguez`s coup d`tat on 3
|anuary l871. In that posltlon Echegaray saved Spaln
from bankruptcy by creatlng the Bank of Spaln, whlch
could lend money to the state, thus freelng the country
from the usurlous lnterest rates of forelgn banks. Bor
rowlng 500 mllllon pesetas at 5 percent, the state was
able to repay lts debts lncurred ln the Carllst clvll wars.
Jhen, to the amazement of hls frlends, Echegaray
declded to reslgn from polltlcal llfe and from hls sclen
tlflc career to dedlcate hlmself excluslvely to drama.
Jhe success of b ~ ~~ (On the Hllt of the
Sword), performed at the Jeatro Apolo ln l875, and the
dlssolutlon that same year of the Democratlc Party, hls
polltlcal afflllatlon, preclpltated thls career change, one
he stuck to except for a brlef perlod ln l905 when he
was agaln recrulted to serve as mlnlster of flnance and
agaln managed to balance the budget.
A man of prodlglous energy throughout hls llfe,
Echegaray kept abreast of developments ln sclence, pol
ltlcs, and llterature, the three careers ln whlch he dlstln
gulshed hlmself. Jhe degree of hls success ln llterature
was corroborated by hls electlon ln l882 to the Royal
Academy of the Language, a seat he had to walt twelve
years to occupy because Ramn Mesoneros Romanos,
the man selected to glve the lnductlon speech, was too
busy to devote tlme to a task that he felt merlted a
superlatlve effort. Echegaray remalned an actlve mem
ber of the organlzatlon untll hls death ln l9l6. Hls pro
ductlon of stage successes ceased wlth the Nobel Prlze
ln l901; hls last success was ^ ~ ~~~ (By
Dlnt of Crawllng), produced ln Iebruary l905. b J
(Jhe Chosen One and the Dlsre
garded Someones), whlch the playwrlght presented ln
l908 under the pseudonym Llbrado Ezguleura to avold
the protests that had swamped hls most recent works,
flopped. He devoted the last years of hls llfe to qulet home
llfe, wrltlng hls memolrs, and edltlng hls collected works.
Echegaray accurately gauged the taste and tem
per of the Spanlsh publlc and ruled the stage from l876
to l905. He worked closely wlth the major actors and
actresses of the perlod, often tallorlng hls plays to thelr
strengths. He approached hls wrltlng llke carpentry,
constructlng the taut development of plot and actlon to
reach a surprlslng cllmax colncldlng wlth the fall of the
curtaln. In thls cholce he dlverged from the newer llter
ary trends of reallsm and naturallsm, whose authors
focused upon character and often presented works wlth
llttle plot development, concentratlng lnstead on the set
tlng and amblence, whlch often fatallstlcally determlned
the characters` cholces. Echegaray rejected determlnlsm
and frequently chose to present characters who chal
lenge theorles of lnherlted weakness or defect. Jhe
playwrlght favored Romantlc free form over the neo
classlcal rules ln drama as much as he favored free trade
ln the economlc sphere. Hls declslon to llmlt scene
changes and concentrate dramatlc actlon wlthln a rela
tlvely clrcumscrlbed tlme frame stemmed more from
economles of productlon than from respect for the neo
classlcal unltles of tlme, place, and actlon.
No slngle factor has compllcated the evaluatlon of
Echegaray`s work more than the Nobel Prlze he shared
wlth Mlstral ln l901. Jhe strong protest of a group of
young wrlters and crltlcs agalnst the Nobel commlttee`s
cholce of Echegaray, whom they regarded as an out
moded dramatlst caterlng to the bad taste of the Span
lsh publlc, has made all subsequent crltlcs of hls plays
take a stand upon the llterary merlt of hls works and to
defend or deplore the commlttee`s selectlon. Jhe Nobel
award sparked a furor ln Spaln comparable to lgnltlng
the dynamlte whose dlscovery had enabled Alfred
Nobel to fund the prlze.
In one of hls sonnets, Echegaray used the meta
phor of a sclentlst constructlng and lgnltlng a dynamlte
stlck to descrlbe hls creatlve procedure ln the wrltlng of
a play.
Escojo una paslon, tomo una ldea,
Ln problema, un carcter . . . y lo lnfundo,
Cual densa dlnamlta, en lo profundo
De un personaje que ml mente crea.
39l
ai_ POV g b~~
............................................................
La mecha enclendo. El fuego se propaga,
El cartucho revlenta sln remedlo,
Y el astro prlnclpal es qulen lo paga.
(I choose a passlon. I take an ldea,
A problem, a character . . . and I lnfuse lt
Wlth powerful dynamlte, ln the depths
Of a character that my mlnd creates.
.............................................................
I lgnlte the fuse. Flre breaks out.
Jhe cartrldge explodes necessarlly and lnevltably.
And the prlnclpal star ls the one who pays for lt.)
Jhe plays produced under thls lmpulse are today gener
ally classlfled as melodramas deplctlng traglc confllcts
between love and honor, '~~ " ( potbollers) ln
whlch the prlmary marks of punctuatlon are the excla
matlon polnt and the elllpsls, the flrst to lndlcate hlgh
emotlon and the second to lndlcate emotlon so extreme
that the speaker ls reduced to sllence as he or she stands
ln a ~~ ~ wlth the other actors. Of the slxty
elght dramas that Echegaray presented on the Madrld
stage, only a handful recelve accolades from modern llt
erary crltlcs and hlstorlans, and even these plays are
sometlmes crltlclzed for thelr bombastlc expresslon of
hackneyed sentlments and thelr pedestrlan verslflca
tlon. Jhat Echegaray wrote nearly half of hls plays ln
verse lndlcates the extent to whlch he stlll adhered to
Romantlc theorles of dramatlc constructlon, even at the
end of the nlneteenth century and the early years of the
twentleth, when the reallst preference for prose dlalogue
had become the norm ln the theater.
Jhe vlrulent reactlon to the Nobel Prlze, ln the
form of a manlfesto publlshed ln a major newspaper
and slgned by flfty lntellectuals, among them the fore
most drama crltlcs and several members of the 'Gener
atlon of l898" (lncludlng Azorn, Mlguel de Lnamuno,
Rubn Daro, Ramlro de Maeztu, Manuel Machado,
Antonlo Machado, |aclnto Grau, Iranclsco Vlllaespesa,
Ramn del Valle Incln, and Po Baroja), has predls
posed modern crltlcs to concentrate upon the defects of
hls plays and conslgn them, often unread, to the dustbln
of the vagarles of publlc taste. Absorbed wlth the lssue
of hls merltlng or not merltlng the Nobel Prlze, crltlcs
only ln the late twentleth century have gone beyond
addresslng the negatlve judgments of hls plays to evalu
ate thelr form and content ln the contexts of thelr spe
clflc perlod and of the hlstory of Western drama.
Several of the protestlng contemporarles later recanted
thelr condemnatlon, and not one ever achleved Echega
ray`s success on the stage.
Jhe dramatlst`s health dld not permlt hlm to
travel to Stockholm to recelve the prlze. In lleu of that
ceremony, hls Spanlsh champlons organlzed a natlonal
homage of four major events. Alfonso XIII`s conferrlng
of the prlze upon the playwrlght ln the Senate palace
before an lmpresslve array of Spanlsh wrlters and lntel
lectuals and the Swedlsh ambassador; an lmpromptu
parade on the followlng day ln whlch the Madrld popu
lace, led by bands of students, flled past the Blblloteca
Naclonal, where Echegaray recelved thelr ovatlon; a
ceremony ln the Ateneo attended by Alfonso XIII and
government offlclals, ln whlch the renowned wrlters
Benlto Prez Galds, Santlago Ramn y Cajal, |uan
Valera, and Marcellno Menndez y Pelayo partlclpated;
and a productlon of b ~ d~ (l88l; translated as
q d~ d~I l895) ln the Real Jheater.
Most modern scholars would concede that
wlthln SpalnGalds, Clarn, and Emllla Pardo Bazn
produced works of more lastlng lmport and aesthetlc
merlt than Echegaray`s and would therefore have been
more flttlng reclplents of the Nobel Prlze, just as outslde
Spaln and ln the genre of drama, Henrlk Ibsen was
clearly the most lnfluentlal wrlter of the perlod. A slml
lar controversy was sparked when Bjrnstjerne Bjrn
son, an author today known outslde Norway no more
than Echegaray ls known outslde Spaln, recelved the
Nobel Prlze ln l903, ln what some crltlcs conslder a
dlrect lnsult to Ibsen. In the flrst years of the Nobel
Prlze ln Llterature, members of the commlttee put a
narrow constructlon upon Nobel`s lnstructlon to select
a 'person who shall have produced . . . the most dlstln
gulshed work of an ldeallstlc tendency." In the commlt
tee`s vlew, thls descrlptlon precluded glvlng the prlze to
naturallstlc or even reallstlc wrlters. nelther Emlle Zola
nor Jhomas Hardy ever recelved the prlze. C. D. af
Wlrsn, secretary of the Swedlsh Academy, desplsed
both Ibsen and August Strlndberg, and he spoke for the
commlttee ln pralslng Echegaray not for slgnallng the
future but for resurrectlng the past glory of Lope de
Vega and Pedro Caldern de la Barca. Echegaray, ln
Wlrsn`s vlew, purlfled the Golden Age concepts of
honor and devotlon to duty by rejectlng lntolerance and
fanatlclsm. He contlnued the Spanlsh tradltlon of 'luxu
rlous flowerlng of fantasy" comblned wlth 'subtle and
at tlmes conventlonal casulstry," 'brllllant colorlng,"
'affectlon for rhetorlcal antlthesls," 'emphatlc lan
guage," and 'tangled lntrlgue." Along wlth pralse for
Echegaray`s lntense lyrlclsm, sharp dlsharmonles, traglc
resolutlons, and vlgorous dlalectlc, Wlrsn clted Eche
garay`s sometlmes vlolent 'strlklng effects" as especlally
laudable. the spectacular confllct comblned wlth
hlghflown passlon and rhetorlc that today most repels
crltlcs and amuses spectators rather than purglng them
of plty and fear, the Arlstotellan traglc lmperatlve that
Wlrsn credlted the Spanlsh dramatlst wlth achlevlng.
Echegaray`s neoRomantlc dramas polarlze good
and evll. the audlence never vaclllates about whlch
392
g b~~ ai_ POV
character they should ldentlfy wlth, and even lf a good
character meets a traglc end, he or she always emerges
as the moral vlctor. Jhe mlxture of good and evll
wlthln a slngle character, whlch dlstlngulshes reallstlc
and naturallstlc drama, was a 'confuslng" mlxture
Bjrnson condemned ln hls acceptance speech for the
Nobel Prlze ln l903. Echegaray sometlmes makes the
vlllaln the prlnclpal character of a drama, but he never
'confuses" the publlc about the good or evll ln a charac
ter for more than a few scenesjust enough to malntaln
lnterest and mystery. Echegaray lays a road map of hls
vlllalns` descent lnto evll; such persons may retaln a
hlgh posltlon, but the dramatlst deplcts them as utterly
allenated from soclety. Havlng abandoned the ldeal of
fosterlng love for thelr fellow human belngs and lnstead
concentratlng entlrely upon the acqulsltlon of power
and materlal wealth, they enjoy an empty trlumph. In
Echegaray`s dramas, vlce must be punlshed, elther
dlrectly upon the perpetrator or lndlrectly upon hls or
her offsprlng and/or hls or her accompllces.
Echegaray`s ^ ~ ~~~ antlclpated
|aclnto Benavente`s i ~ (l907, Bonds of
Interest) ln the portrayal of the cynlcal Plcldo, who
jolns astuteness wlth sycophantlc flattery to marry hls
employer`s physlcally and splrltually ugly daughter. Jo
achleve power Plcldo manlpulates the press and court
gosslp, whlle maklng a joke of the honor code. Echega
ray contrasts Plcldo wlth hls frlend |avler who, relylng
only on hls talent and lndustry, rlses not so hlgh and
more slowly, but wlth hls selfrespect lntact and hls hap
plness unsullled. Plcldo loses not only hls selfrespect
but also the respect of Blanca, the one good woman
whom he truly loved. Hls selfloathlng ls so extreme
that he asks Blanca to keep the portralt of hls mother,
whlch he had sold to flnance hls lnltlal foray lnto the
capltal, because he belleves lt wlll be contamlnated by
the amblence of the palace where he llves wlth hls
vapld, unfalthful wlfe and hls cowardly and pompous
fatherlnlaw. Jhroughout ^ ~ ~~~I Echega
ray emphaslzes the metaphor of llfe as theater, speclfl
cally a farce. Jhroughout hls career Echegaray deplcted
a corrupt soclety domlnated by ruthless, materlallstlc,
and selfseeklng opportunlsts.
Benavente found ln Echegaray a cynlcal vlew of
the world stage, but ln contrast to hls mentor the later
playwrlght would leave the spectator wlth a rueful
shrug, whlle the earller would prompt the audlence to
recall the Chrlstlan ldeal. In i~ ~ I Don Carlos
abandons Ernesto, the son of hls frlend Don |uan, to
hls death after havlng persuaded hlm to consplre
agalnst the government. Don Carlos swltches sldes to
hls proflt, then trles to woo the boy`s slster, Elena, away
from hls own son, Alfredo, wlth the offer of a dlamond
necklace. Jeresa, Don Carlos`s longsufferlng Cathollc
wlfe, remlnds Alfredo that however great are hls pas
slons (love of Elena and hatred of hls father), the soul
has the power to choose for good or lll.
Es llbre la humana grey,
y al que tlene llbertad
nunca la fatalldad
se lmpone, Alfredo, por ley.
Esto me dljlste. . . .
(Jhe human flock ls free,
And upon one who has llberty
Never can fate
Impose ltself, Alfredo, as a law.
Jhls you told me. . . . )
Don Carlos denounces hls famlly for followlng Chrlst`s
teachlngsteachlngs that led to cruclflxlon. Hls frlend
Ramn agrees that Chrlst rules ln few hearts ln the
modern world.
Converslones!
Eres por Crlsto blen cndldo.
En el slglo en que vlvlmos,
y en el globo en que habltamos,
slo vers converslones . . .
mllltares, o en los altos
crculos de la poltlca,
o en la deuda del Estado;
pero en las conclenclas nunca,
pero en las almas . . . ay, Carlos!
no busques ya converslones
cual la conversln de Pablo.
(Converslons!
You are through Chrlst very lnnocent.
In the age ln whlch we llve,
And on the globe that we lnhablt,
You wlll only see such converslons as
Mllltary ones, or those ln the hlghest
Reaches of polltlcs
Or ln the State`s debt level;
But never ln peoples` consclences,
But ln thelr souls . . . Oh, Carlos!
Don`t look now for converslons
Llke Paul`s converslon.)
Although Echegaray does not often enunclate the
Chrlstlan ethlc so clearly, lt ls always lmpllclt; hls own
doubts about lts lmpact upon soclety determlned hls
preference for tragedy.
Even ln the second half of hls career, whlle some
tlmes adoptlng reallstlc and naturallstlc toplcs, Echega
ray clung to the Cathollc doctrlne of free wlll, refuslng
to show the determlnatlon of character by heredlty or
envlronment. Jhus, ln a ~~ ~~ (l886, Bad Roots),
Adellna, whose mother and grandmother were rather
free wlth thelr favors, guards her vlrtue, whlle Paqulta,
393
ai_ POV g b~~
a woman wlth lmpeccable background, takes a lover. In
b a g~ (l892; translated as q p a
g~I l895), Echegaray follows Ibsen`s d (l88l) ln
the presentatlon of the son who suffers from syphllls
because of hls father`s promlsculty; but he does not
allow the physlcal lnflrmlty to talnt the son`s moral or
splrltual character. Whlle Ibsen`s Oswald planned to
marry Reglna because he knew she would termlnate hls
exlstence once slckness destroyed hls mlnd, Echega
ray`s Lzaro renounces hls flance to spare her seelng
hls descent. Echegaray underscores the slnful llfe and
egotlstlcal lack of concern for anythlng but pleasure, the
flaws that produced dlsease, by presentlng Don |uan
and hls cronles onstage and lnslstlng that they freely
chose thelr evll llfe. Lzaro`s name recalls the blbllcal
Lazarus, whom Chrlst resurrected from death; thus,
Echegaray returns to Cathollc doctrlne to suggest that
Lzaro wlll be rewarded ln heaven, lf punlshed on
Earth. Modern crltlcs tend to percelve such morallzlng
as faclle, puerlle ldeallsm, cllchs, and superflclallty ln
art, attrlbutes that masked what Roberto G. Snchez
calls the 'fundamental lnsecurlty" of both the play
wrlght and hls contemporary bourgeols publlc.
Jo appreclate Echegaray`s lmmense popularlty at
the helght of hls career, not only ln Spaln but also ln
Mexlco, Germany, Italy, Irance, and England, one
needs to conslder hls mllleu. Llke Echegaray, most of
the popular dramatlsts of the nlneteenth century
explolted sensatlonallsm and spectacle and contlnued to
wrlte thelr plays ln verse; dramatlsts were slow to adopt
the prose medlum favored by the reallst and naturallst
wrlters. Jhls perlod was the age of great actors and
actresses who cultlvated a hlghblown style best shown
off ln melodramatlc vehlcles such as those trlumphlng
then ln Parls, London, and New York as well as
Madrld. Echegaray dellberately catered to publlc taste,
and he gave lessons to such 'hlghbrow" authors as
Galds ln how to do solessons that Galds took to
heart, although the latter tended to show the trlumph of
the good character, whlle hls mentor showed that char
acter`s defeat. Echegaray`s formulalc art held the stage
for thlrty years and was succeeded by the 'School of
Echegaray," made up of Eugenlo Sells Marqus de
Gerona, Leopoldo Cano y Masas, |os Iell y Codlna,
and |oaqun Dlcenta, dramatlsts who, as Wanda C.
RosIont polnts out, rewrote the 'melodramatlc para
dlgm."
Echegaray shlfted from plays featurlng a male
protagonlst to works featurlng a female lead, less from
concern for women`s llberatlon than from the decllne of
Antonlo Vlco and the death of Rafael Calvo, two out
standlng actors whose companles presented hls works,
and from the emergence of Mara Guerrero as the most
talented performer of the perlod. In Echegaray`s dedlca
tlon of j~~~ (l892; translated, l895) to the actlng
company of the Comedla Jheater, he slngled out Gue
rrero for her sklll ln dlsplaylng the wlde range of emo
tlons of the lead role, 'from the lnsubstantlal coquetry
of the salon, from deep and palnful feellng to the ultl
mate screams of passlon and traglc outbursts." Irom hls
descrlptlon the reader easlly percelves the grandllo
quent style of actlng that Echegaray characterlzed as
'lnsplred" and 'subllme." Ior thls style and for hls clear
dlvlslon of good and evll, modern crltlcs classlfy Eche
garay`s plays as melodrama.
RosIont polnts out that Echegaray never used
the term 'melodrama" to descrlbe hls plays but lnstead
coupled them wlth tragedy, or lf they had a happy end
lng, comedy or farce. Jhe word 'melodrama" ln hls
tlme referred prlmarlly to monologues or dlalogues
lncorporatlng song to express a character`s hlgh emo
tlon. Jhe baslcally conservatlve genre afflrmed the trl
umph of soclety ln a happy endlng ln whlch the good
hero or herolne emerges vlctorlous over the evll vlllaln
and ls relntegrated lnto soclety. Jhe genre had been
lmported from Irance; there lt enjoyed great success
wlth a bourgeols audlence, whose tastes were beglnnlng
to dlctate what would be presented onstage. It
demanded spectacle, and the melodramas soon lncor
porated lavlsh sets and sound effects wlth such ele
ments as storms at sea, battles, and horses onstage.
Irom the melodrama Echegaray adopted the polarlza
tlon of good and evll ln dlstlnct characters; from
Romantlclsm he borrowed the allenated hero and the
theme of traglc love. In hls flrst perlod, from l871 to
l885, he contlnued under the spell of Romantlclsm,
wrltlng prlmarlly ln verse, often settlng hls plays ln the
dlstant past, and frequently reworklng Spanlsh legend
or showcaslng flgures such as physlclan and theologlan
Mlchael Servetus ln i~ ~ (l880, Death
Lpon Hls Llps) or the tltle character of e~ kJ
~ (l88l, Harold the Norman). Irom l885 to l888
he wrote mostly ln prose, returnlng to verse ln l888
and l889 and then contlnulng ln prose as he shlfted to
more reallstlc and naturallstlc drama.
RosIont demonstrates that Echegaray`s drama,
llke melodrama ln general, always afflrms soclety`s con
servatlve values. Sensltlve, good heroes or herolnes
may flnd themselves on the wrong slde of soclety`s and
thelr own values, but they do not pose fundamental
questlons about those values even when thelr llves are
at stake. b ~ ~~ features Don Iernando`s
kllllng hlmself upon dlscoverlng that he ls the lllegltl
mate offsprlng of Don |uan Albornoz`s rape of
Vlolante. Hls respect for patrlarchal law ls such that he
cannot commlt patrlclde; yet, hls mother`s staln, though
lncurred agalnst her wlll, must be washed out wlth
blood. Slnce she falled ln her sulclde attempt lmmedl
391
g b~~ ai_ POV
ately followlng the rape and llved to marry Don Rod
rlgo whlle bearlng Albornoz`s chlld, Iernando must
assume the burden of exclslng the bastardlzed bloodllne
and preventlng the publlc from ever learnlng of the
rape. In j~~ ~ (l895, Jhe Cleanslng Staln)
Matllde, falsely accused of an llllclt affalr wlth |ullo,
kllls Enrlqueta (the seemlng lnnocent who, ln fact, ls
|ullo`s mlstress) lmmedlately after the latter has
exchanged weddlng vows wlth Matllde`s beloved
Iernando. Jhe falsely mallgned Matllde cleanses not
her own staln but that whlch has spread over Iernando
through hls alllance wlth an lmpure woman, one who
would have borne chlldren of questlonable paternlty.
Iernando then clalms the deed as hls own, for the old
code accorded lmmunlty for men avenglng thelr honor.
He protects Matllde, who would have been subject to a
llfe sentence or death for commlttlng murder. Jhus,
Echegaray varled the resolutlon of honorcode confllct
ln hls contemporary plays, whlle stlll upholdlng the
baslc tenets of that code; he expected the audlence to
applaud Matllde`s deed, not condemn lt.
In ` ~ ~~~ (l876, How It Beglns
and How It Ends) Magdalena attempts to cleanse the
staln of adultery by murderlng her blackmalllng lover
Don Enrlque de Jorrente, but ln the darkness she mls
takenly stabs her gentle husband, Don Pablo de Agullar,
lnstead. Jhls twlst was percelved as a revolutlonary revl
slon of the denouement the seventeenthcentury
Caldern de la Barca lmposed upon hls famous honor
playsa denouement ln whlch the woman always pald
wlth her llfe for adultery, real or lmaglned, and soclety
endorsed the husband`s vengeful murder. In Echegaray`s
play, the dylng Don Pablo forglves Magdalena and con
ceals her murderous act from thelr chlld, Mara, by
clalmlng that he lnfllcted the wound by hls own hand.
In j~~~ the staln upon a woman`s honor
awalts cleanslng untll the next generatlon. Dlscoverlng
that Danlel Montoya, the man she loves, ls the son of
the lover who had rulned her mother, Marlana rejects
Danlel`s marrlage proposal and lnstead marrles a mlll
tary man twlce her age. On her weddlng day Danlel
appears at her home and entreats her to escape wlth
hlm. Prostrate from her confllctlng emotlons (passlon
for Danlel, vengeance for her mother, duty to her hus
band), Marlana throws herself lnto Danlel`s arms, all
the whlle screamlng for the General to come and take
vengeance upon hls unfalthful wlfe. He does, and she
dles at hls hand. Jhe play ends wlth the promlse of a
duel between Danlel and the General, a duel ln whlch
Danlel wlll recelve the death he longs for.
In some plays Echegaray returns to the anclent
assoclatlon of bastardy wlth a flawed moral character.
Jhe prlme example ls the evll, lasclvlous Manfredo of
b ~ (l879, In Death`s Bosom), who
seduces hls brother |alme`s wlfe, Beatrlz. Besleged by
the Irench, |alme chooses not to open the floodgates
over the route Manfredo and Beatrlz are travellng, even
though dolng so would save the llves of many Spanlsh
soldlers and glve great support to the klng of Aragn.
When hls crlme ls dlscovered, Manfredo takes hls own
llfe after offerlng the knlfe to |alme; the latter, broken
hearted upon dlscoverlng the lnfldellty of the persons
he loved most ln the world, also kllls hlmself for havlng
betrayed hls country to save the unworthy lovers. At
the concluslon of the play, Echegaray lndlcates that the
repentant Beatrlz wlll joln her husband ln death. Eche
garay deplcts the lllegltlmate Chlld Snow ln m~ ~ K K K
~\ (l881, Impose an Evll Constructlon . . . and
Be Rlght?) much as Nathanlel Hawthorne portrayed
Pearl ln q p~ i (l850). precoclous, lmaglna
tlve, but strange. Chlld Snow`s undeflned status wlthln
the patrlarchy dlsturbs the adults, all of whom lnvent
genealogles for her. Her mother, Iorgetfulness, loves
the chlld but treats her coldly and ln the end glves her
up to Hope and her newly dlscovered blologlcal father,
Valentlne. It ls not surprlslng that Echegaray would
resort to the honor code and lts anclllary themes of
adultery and bastardy ln hls perlod plays taklng place ln
earller centurles (b ~ takes place ln
l285, b ~ ~~ ln the early slxteenth cen
tury), but he develops lt as well ln dramas set ln con
temporary tlmes. Of course, adultery ls a plquant
problem ln every age, and lts bloody resolutlon ln terms
of the honor code was less anachronlstlc ln latenlne
teenthcentury Spaln than lt would be today. Jhe theme
permltted Echegaray to do what he dld best. portray
characters drlven to the edge of madness or beyond
through confllct of emotlons, sometlmes brought about
by confllct of dutles.
If one ls wllllng to suspend dlsbellef and to accept
the rather lmprobable sltuatlons lnto whlch Echegaray
thrusts hls characters, one must concede that few play
wrlghts could better deplct the varlous shades of emo
tlon. Hls masterplece, b ~ d~I provldes occaslon
for myrlad emotlons. |ulln`s lndulgent love for hls
young wlfe, Jeodora; her veneratlon and love for her
husband and her affectlon for hls protge, Ernesto;
and the mallce that motlvates |ulln`s brother Severo
and the latter`s wlfe, Mercedes, and son, Peplto. Jhe
members of Severo`s famlly lnltlate the slander that
envelops the famlly, slander that has no cause other
than |ulln`s allowlng Ernesto to escort Jeodora to the
theater and to promenades ln the park. Jhe playwrlght
slowly reveals how the power of suggestlon takes hold
of Ernesto and Jeodora, flrst to make them uncomfort
able ln each other`s presence, then to modulate thelr
fraternal affectlon lnto a wlstful romantlc longlng, a
longlng they never admlt untll others judge them gullty
395
ai_ POV g b~~
of havlng consummated an adulterous love affalr.
When Count Nebreda lnsults Jeodora, |ulln chal
lenges hlm to a duel and ls carrled, dylng, from the fleld
to Ernesto`s nearby apartment. Jhere, he dlscovers
Jeodora, who had come to persuade Ernesto to prevent
the duel; |ulln dles bellevlng that the two young peo
ple were gullty. In the end Ernesto embraces Jeodora
and wlth that embrace accepts soclety`s false construc
tlon of thelr hlstory. Alludlng to the story of Gulnevere
and Lancelot, between whom Galahad served as lnter
medlary, Ernesto declares that gosslp has been the lnter
medlary between hlmself and Jeodora. He also alludes
to the flfth canto of Dante`s Ivfcrvo, ln whlch Paolo and
Irancesca recall falllng lnto an adulterous affalr upon
readlng about the love of Lancelot and Gulnevere; the
book ltself served as thelr lntermedlary. Irederlck A.
De Armas has polnted out that Echegaray also relles
upon thls story to deplct the gullty passlon of
Magdalena and Don Enrlque ln Como cmpico y como
ocobo. Jhls klnd of lntertextuallty ls a devlce Echegaray
often uses ln hls plays.
Whlle Echegaray frequently portrayed adulterous
women, he could not, as Ibsen and George Bernard
Shaw dld, present reformed prostltutes or respectable
women rejectlng marrlage or abandonlng home and
hearth slmply from lntellectual convlctlon. Jhe women
Echegaray put onstage abandon the home only lf
drlven to do so by evll, tyrannlcal, and unfalthful hus
bands. In Io dcscquilibrodo (l901, Jhe Lnbalanced
Woman), Jereslna turns her son over to the man she
truly loves. She judges herself an unflt mother because
she preclpltated her evll husband`s drownlng and
refused to save hlm. Agaln, unllke Ibsen and Shaw,
Echegaray focused hls female characters` dlscontent
upon love. If she could just flnd her one true love, even
the wealthlest woman would slgn over her fortune and
become hls voluntary slave. Jereslna rejects her flanc,
Maurlclo, when she dlscovers he has refralned from
exposlng her father`s crlmlnal buslness dealsnot to
protect her but rather hls mother. Scarcely touchlng
upon the damage Maurlclo hlmself would have suffered
from the just or unjust tarnlshlng of the reputatlon of
hls own father (who was lmpllcated slnce he was Jere
slna`s father`s steward), Echegaray malntalns the
rejected flanc as a paragon of vlrtue throughout the
play. Maurlclo lncarnates the good ln contrast to the
nefarlous Roberto, who wlns Jereslna only to torment
and betray her sexually and economlcally. In thls play,
as was hls wont, Echegaray brought the curtaln down
wlth a surprlslng and hlghly dramatlc flnale.
Echegaray, whlle treatlng the toplc of woman`s
dependency and sometlmes enslavement, never showed
her establlshlng her economlc lndependence as dld
Ibsen, Shaw, and Oscar Wllde. He presents wealthy
women, but never women who have earned that
wealth; lt has always been earned by a male flgure,
father or husband. He dld deal wlth the subject of
men`s unprlnclpled economlc exploltatlon of the poor
and/or the gulllble, as ln Io ltimo voclc, and wlth the
lssue of the talnted sources of wealth, as ln Io dcscquili-
brodo and U locuro o sovtidod (l877; translated as Iolly or
Soivtlivcss, l895). Hls veneratlon for Mlguel de Cer
vantes`s Dov _uixotc (l605, l6l5) as well as the opportu
nlty to fashlon scenes of heartrendlng pathos or
frlghtenlng vlolence led hlm to deal wlth the toplc of
madness ln several plays, not only showlng how male
and female characters lose thelr hold on reallty but also
how famlly and soclety treat the lnsane, speclflcally
how a person may be certlfled as mad and lnstltutlonal
lzed. In several dramas Echegaray treated reallstlcally
the abuses thls procedure mlght lnvolve, especlally
when greedy famlly members wlshed to galn control of
a reputedly unstable person`s fortune. In these plays,
lncludlng Io dcscquilibrodo and U locuro o sovtidod, Eche
garay deplcted most reallstlcally the economlc as well as
the affectlve bases of marrlage.
Crltlcs today recognlze that Echegaray dellberately
developed a hybrld dramatlc formula not from lgnorance
of the reallstlc and naturallstlc dramas of Ibsen, Strlnd
berg, Zola, Shaw, and other European dramatlsts, but
from an accurate assessment of the Spanlsh audlence`s
thlrst for actlon and lnvolved plot development. After
several abortlve efforts ln the more reallstlc veln, Echega
ray hlt upon the formula that appealed to the Spanlsh
publlc. Jhe object of drama was to produce aesthetlc
emotlons or pleasure, and thls goal depended upon the
aesthetlc energy released ln the wellmade plot crafted by
a playwrlght who could legltlmately present the proba
ble, the lmprobable, and even the lmposslble. In the pro
logue to Il grov Colcoto, Ernesto struggles to wrlte a play
ln whlch the vlllaln ls gosslpnot a speclflc person but
the accumulatlon of velled lnnuendo and barbs leveled
agalnst the protagonlst by everyone he meets. |ulln
lnforms hlm that hls play must have love and jealousy,
sensatlon and exploslon, and characters lnteractlng ln
ways readlly perceptlble to the audlence. Echegaray then
proceeds to glve hls audlence thls play, uslng Ernesto`s
ldea and |ulln`s devlces. a play wlth vlctlms and vlllalns,
characters who embody the abstract concept and engage
flrst ln duels of words, then ln duels of swords and pls
tols, to the dellght and edlflcatlon of the audlence. |ullo
Mathas, ln hls notes for a l970 volume of selectlons
from Echegaray`s plays, descrlbes Il grov Colcoto and
Echegaray`s other neoRomantlc dramas as made up of
'10 tradltlonal Romantlclsm. vlolent, exalted and anar
chlc, 25 Reallsm, then very much ln vogue as helr to
the Romantlc movement, 20 melodrama ln the exag
gerated strlvlng for effect ln the deplctlon of sltuatlons
396
g b~~ ai_ POV
and sentlments, and l5 a mlxture of equal parts of local
color and soclal satlre."
Echegaray proved the vlctlm of hls own successful
formula. lt stood hlm ln good stead through the year fol
lowlng hls receptlon of the Nobel Prlze but then fell out
of fashlon. Jhe prlze focused attentlon upon Echegaray
and fanned the flame of youthful crltlcal dlsdaln. Jhe
younger generatlon percelved hlm as an embodlment of
the old guard`s conservatlve values ln both form and
content, when ln fact he had been the standardbearer of
new llberal ldeas throughout hls llfetlme; but hls notable
success ln the flelds of sclence and polltlcs before he
became Spaln`s most popular playwrlght made hlm an
easy target for dlscontented youth. One century later,
|os Echegaray`s readers and crltlcs evaluate hls works
more dlspasslonately, both wlthln the speclflc context of
hls natlonal llterature and wlthln the larger context of
world llterature. Jhey agree that he lncorporated many
new elements lnto hls dramas, lncludlng a sophlstlcated
use of lntertextuallty, symbollsm, and metatheater.
iW
Il vcorromovticismo cspovol y su cpoco: Ipistolorio dc osc
Iclcgoroy o Moro Cucrrcro, edlted by Carmen
Menndez Onrubla and |ulln vlla Arellano,
Anejos de la revlsta Seglsmundo, l2 (Madrld.
Consejo Superlor de Investlgaclones Clentflcas,
l987).
fW
Luls Antn del Olmet and Arturo Garca Carraffa, Ios
Crovdcs Ispovolcs: Iclcgoroy (Madrld. Imprenta de
Alrededor del Mundo, l9l2).
_~W
Augusto Martnez Olmedllla, osc Iclcgoroy (Il modrilcvo
trcs vcccs fomoso): Su vidosu obrosu ombicvtc
(Madrld. Imprenta Sez, l919);
Iranclsco Snchez Maba, Dov osc Iclcgoroy: !ido y pcv-
somicvto (Madrld. Instltuto Naclonal de Enseanza
Medla 'Cervantes," l966);
|avler Iornleles Alcaraz, Troycctorio dc uv ivtclcctuol dc lo
Icstourociov: osc Iclcgoroy (Almera. Confe
deracln Espaola de Cajas de Ahorro, l989).
oW
Rafael Bosch, 'La lnfluencla de Echegaray sobre Torquc-
modo cv cl purgotorio de Galds," Icvisto dc Istudios
Hispvicos, l (l967). 213-253;
|os Manuel Cabrales Arteaga, 'El teatro neorromn
tlco de Echegaray," Icvisto dc Iitcroturo, l0l
(l989). 77-91;
Vlcente Cabrera, 'ValleIncln y la escuela de Echega
ray. Ln caso de parodla llterarla," Icvisto dc Istu-
dios Hispvicos, 7 (l973). l93-2l3;
Alberto Castllla, 'Lna parodla de Il grov Colcoto," His-
povofilo, 26 (May l983). 33-10;
Irederlck A. De Armas, '|os Echegaray (Premlo
Nbel l901)," ln Ircmio òbcl: Uvcc Crovdcs cscri-
torcs dcl muvdo lispvico, edlted by Brbara Mujlca
(Washlngton, D.C.. Georgetown Lnlverslty
Press, l997), pp. l-60;
Dru Dougherty, 'El otro teatro noventayochlsta," ln
Studics iv Hovor of Sumvcr M. Crccvficld, edlted by
H. L. Boudreau and Luls Gonzlez del Valle (Lln
coln, Neb.. Soclety of Spanlsh and Spanlsh
Amerlcan Studles, l985), pp. 8l-93;
|ohn Dowllng, 'La recepcln del teatro de Echegaray
en Mxlco, l875-l878," Crtico lispvico, l7
(Sprlng l995). 36-5l;
C. Egua Rulz, 'Echegaray dramaturgo. El ocaso de su
estrella," Ioov y Ic, 17 (l9l7). 26-37;
Halfdan Gregersen, 'Ibsen and Echegaray," Hispovic
Icvicw, l (October l933). 338-310;
Gregersen, Ibscv ovd Spoiv (Cambrldge, Mass.. Harvard
Llbrada Hernndez, 'El teatro de |os Echegaray. Ln
enlgma crtlco," dlssertatlon, Lnlverslty of Call
fornla, Los Angeles, l987;
|ames H. Hoddle, 'Echegaray and Glads. Jles
Between Il grov Colcoto and Tormcvto," Iomovisti-
sclcs olrbucl, 50 (l999). 10l-1ll;
Iernando Ibarra, 'La aventura parlslense de Il grov
Colcoto," Icvuc dc Iittcroturc Comporcc, 16 (l972).
128-137;
Lawrence La|ohn, 'Azorn`s Crltlclsm of |os Echega
ray," Uccosiovol Iopcrs iv Iovguogc, Iitcroturc ovd Iiv-
guistics |Ohlo Lnlverslty Modern Language
Department|, serles A, 7 (Aprll l968). l-6;
George P. Mansour, 'Jlme ln the Prose of |os Echega
ray," Icvtucly Iomovcc _uortcrly, l3 Supp. (l967).
l7-21;
|udy B. McInnls, 'Echegaray, Ibsen y la generacln del
98," ln her Il 9S sc posco por cl Collcjov dcl Coto: Iro-
ccso o uvo gcvcrociov (Allcante. Ayuntamlento de
Murcla, l999), pp. l61-l75;
Wllma Newberry, 'Echegaray and Plrandello," IMIZ:
Iublicotiovs of tlc Modcrv Iovguogc Zssociotiov of
Zmcrico, 8l (March l966). l23-l29;
Newberry, Tlc Iirovdclliov Modc iv Spovisl Iitcroturc from
Ccrvovtcs to Sostrc (Albany. State Lnlverslty of
New York Press at Albany, l973);
Gllbert Paollnl, 'Ln acercamlento a la obra de Echega
ray," ln Soggi iv ovorc dc Ciovovvi Zllcgro (Perugla.
Lnlv. degll Studl Perugla, l995), pp. 179-19l;
397
ai_ POV g b~~
Paollnl, 'Noctls lmago en Il lijo dc dov uov de Echega
ray y Ios cspcctros de Ibsen," Ictros Icvivsulorcs, 5
(Wlnter l992-l993). 337-315;
Wanda C. RosIont, 'Jhe Impersonatlon of the Ieml
nlne. Gender and Melodramatlc Dlscourse ln the
Jheater of |os Echegaray," Hispovofilo, 36, no. l
(l992). 2l-30;
RosIont, Icwritivg Mclodromo: Tlc Hiddcv Iorodigm iv
Modcrv Spovisl Tlcotcr (Lewlsburg, Pa.. Bucknell
Edgard Samper, '|os Echegaray ou la souveralnet de
l`lndlvldu," ln Iogiquc dcs trovcrscs: Dc lìvflucvcc,
edlted by Irdrlc Regard (SalntEtlenne, Irance.
Lnlverslt de SalntEtlenne, l992), pp. 75-97;
Roberto G. Snchez, 'Mancha que no se llmpla o el
dllemma Echegaray," Cuodcrvos lispovoomcricovos:
Icvisto mcvsuol dc culturo lispvico, 297 (l975). 60l-
6l2;
Gonzalo Sobejano, 'Echegaray. Jemas y modos," ln
Historio y crtico dc lo litcroturo cspovolo, volume 5,
edlted by Irls M. Zvala (Barcelona. Edltorlal
Crtlca, l982), pp. 656-662;
Sobejano, 'Echegaray, Galds y el melodrama," Zvolcs
Coldosiovos (l978). 91-ll5;
'Spaln`s Homage to Echegaray," Zmcricov Movtlly
Icvicw of Icvicws, 3l (May l905). 6l3-6l1;
Amy |. Sparks, 'La refundlcln por Echegaray de Io
lijo dcl oirc (scguvdo portc) dc Coldcrov," ln Coldcrov:
Zctos dcl Covgrcso ivtcrvociovol sobrc Coldcrov y cl tcotro
cspovol dcl Siglo dc Uro, edlted by Luclano Garca
Lorenzo (Madrld. Consejo Superlor de Investlga
clones Clentflcas, l983), pp. l163-l169;
Ellzabeth Wallace, 'Jhe Spanlsh Drama of JoDay,"
Ztlovtic Movtlly, l02 (l908). 357-366.
NVMQ k m i~
m~ p
Zcodcmy, 10 Dcccmbcr 1904
One sometlmes hears lt sald that the Nobel Prlzes
should be awarded to authors stlll ln the prlme of llfe
and consequently at the helght of thelr development, ln
order to shelter them from materlal dlfflcultles and
assure them a wholly lndependent sltuatlon.
Jhe lnstltutlons charged wlth awardlng these
Prlzes should llke to bear such strlklng wltness to the
value of a young genlus; but the statutes of the Nobel
Ioundatlon stlpulate that the works ellglble for such a
reward must be of exceptlonal lmportance and con
flrmed by experlence. Jhus there cannot be any heslta
tlon ln chooslng between a talent ln process of
formatlon and a proven genlus at the end of hls devel
opment. Jhe jury does not have the rlght to lgnore a
stlll actlve author of European fame, merely because he
ls old. Jhe works of an old wrlter are often proof of a
unlque and youthful energy. Jhe Swedlsh Academy
therefore was rlght to render homage to Mommsen and
Bjrnson ln awardlng them Nobel Prlzes even at a tlme
when both were past thelr prlme. In maklng lts cholce
among the candldates proposed thls year for the Nobel
Prlze, the Academy has agaln glven lts attentlon to sev
eral llterary veterans of recognlzed fame, and lt has
wlshed to renew lts pledge to genlus held ln hlgh
esteem ln the llterary world.
Jhe Academy has thought partlcularly of two
authors who would both have been worthy of the
whole Nobel Prlze. Both have attalned the flnal llmlts
not only of the poetlc art, but even of human llfe; one ls
seventyfour years old, the other two years younger.
Jherefore the Academy belleves lt should not walt
longer to confer on them a dlstlnctlon they both equally
merlt, although from dlfferent polnts of vlew, and lt has
awarded half the annual Prlze to each. If the materlal
value of the award ls thus dlmlnlshed for each of the
laureates, the Academy nonetheless wlshes to state pub
llcly that, ln thls partlcular case, lt conslders each of
these two Prlzes as the equlvalent of the whole Prlze.
I
Jhe Academy has glven one of the awards to the
poet Irdrlc Mlstral. In the freshness of hls poetlc
lnsplratlon thls venerable old man ls younger than most
of the poets of our tlme. One of hls prlnclpal works, Iou
poumo dou Iosc | Jhe Song of the Rhone|, was publlshed
not long ago, ln l897, and when the Provenal poets cel
ebrated thelr flftleth annlversary on May 3l, l901, Mls
tral tuned hls lyre for a poetry that ln verve and vlgour
does not yleld to any of hls prevlous works.
Mlstral was born on September 8, l830, ln the
vlllage of Malano (ln Irench, Malllane), whlch ls sltu
ated mldway between Avlgnon and Arles ln the Rhone
Valley. He grew up ln thls magnlflcent natural settlng
among the countryfolk and soon became famlllar wlth
thelr work. Hls father, Iranols Mlstral, was a wellto
do farmer, devoted to the customs of hls falth and of hls
ancestors. Hls mother nursed the soul of the chlld wlth
the songs and tradltlons of hls blrthplace.
Durlng hls studles at the College of Avlgnon, the
young boy learned the works of Homer and Vlrgll,
whlch made a profound lmpresslon on hlm, and one of
hls professors, the poet Roumanllle, lnsplred ln hlm a
deep love for hls maternal language, Provenal.
398
g b~~ ai_ POV
Accordlng to the wlsh of hls father, Irdrlc Mls
tral took a law degree at AlxenProvence; after that he
was left free to choose hls career as he pleased. Hls
cholce was soon made. He devoted hlmself to poetry
and palnted the beautles of Provence ln the ldlom of the
country, an ldlom whlch he was the flrst to ralse to the
rank of a llterary language.
Hls flrst attempt was a long poem about rustlc
llfe; then he publlshed poems ln a collectlon entltled i
m~ (l852). After that he spent seven consecutlve
years on the work that establlshed hls unlversal fame,
j (l859).
Jhe actlon of thls poem ls very slmple. A good
and attractlve peasant glrl cannot marry a poor young
man whom she loves because her father refuses hls con
sent. In despalr she flees from the paternal home and
goes to seek succour at the church on the slte of the pll
grlmage of the Jhree Salnt Marys on the lsland of
Camargue ln the Rhone delta. Jhe author recounts ln
charmlng fashlon the youthful love of the young people
and retraces wlth masterly hand how Mlrlo rushes
across the rocky plalns of the Crau. Smltten by a sun
stroke ln the torrld Camargue, the unfortunate young
glrl crawls to the chapel of the pllgrlmage slte to dle.
Jhere, ln a vlslon, the three Marys appear to her at the
very lnstant ln whlch she breathes her last.
Jhe value of thls work ls not ln the subject nor ln
the lmaglnatlon dlsplayed ln lt, no matter how lnterest
lng the flgure of Mlrlo may be. It lles ln the art of llnk
lng together the eplsodes of the story and of unreellng
before our eyes all Provence wlth lts scenery, lts memo
rles, lts anclent customs, and the dally llfe of lts lnhablt
ants. Mlstral says that he slngs only for the shepherds
and the country people; he does so wlth Homerlc slm
pllclty. He ls, lndeed, by hls own admlsslon, a student
of the great Homer. But far from lmltatlng hlm slav
lshly, he glves proof of a very personal orlglnallty ln hls
descrlptlve technlque. A breath of the Golden Age anl
mates a number of hls descrlptlons. How can one forget
hls palntlngs of the whlte horses of the Camargue? Gal
loplng, wlth manes flylng ln the wlnd, they seem to
have been touched by Neptune`s trldent and set free
from the sea god`s charlot. If you remove them from
thelr beloved pastures at the edge of the sea, they
always escape ln the end. Even after long years of
absence, they return to the wellknown plalns whlch
they salute wlth thelr joyous nelghlng as they hear
agaln the breaklng of the waves on the shore.
Jhe rhythm of thls poem has beauty and har
mony, and lts artlstlc composltlon succeeds on all
counts. Jhe source from whlch Mlstral has drawn ls
not psychology; lt ls nature. Man hlmself ls treated
purely as a chlld of nature. Let other poets sound the
depths of the human soul! Mlrlo ls a halfopened rose,
stlll all shlnlng from the rosy llght of dawn. Jhls ls the
spontaneous work of an orlglnal splrlt and not the frult
of purely reflectlve labour.
Jhe poem was greeted wlth enthuslasm from lts
flrst appearance. Lamartlne, worn out wlth personal
cares but always smltten by beautlful poetlc works,
wrote 'A great poet ls born!" He compared Mlstral`s
poem to one of the lslands of an archlpelago, to a float
lng Delos whlch must have detached ltself from lts
group ln order to joln, ln sllence, the fragrant Provence.
He applled to Mlstral these words of Vlrgll. 'Ju Mar
cellus erls!"
Seven years after the publlcatlon of jI Mlstral
publlshed a second work of equal dlmenslons, `~~
(l867). It has been sald that the actlon of thls poem ls
too fantastlc and lmprobable. But lt matches lts prede
cessor ln the charm of lts descrlptlons. How could one
questlon the grandeur of lts ldeas about the ennoble
ment of man through trlal? Whlle j celebrates
peasant llfe, `~~ presents a grlpplng plcture of the
sea and the forests. It ls llke a brllllant gllstenlng of
water ln several remarkably preclse scenes about the llfe
of the flsherman.
Mlstral ls not only an eplc poet; he ls also a great
lyrlclst. Hls collectlon, i f (l876) | Islands of
Gold|, contalns some poems of an lmmortal beauty.
Sufflce lt to recall the stanzas on the drum of Arcole, on
the dylng mower, on the chateau of Roumanln wlth lts
memorles of the tlmes of the troubadours that seem to
evoke the splendour of the sunsets, or, agaln, the beau
tlful mystlc chant that should be spoken ln the velled
twlllght of the evenlng, 'la coumunloun dl sant."
In other lyrlc poems Mlstral lnslsts wlth fervour
on the rlghts of neoProvenal to an lndependent exlst
ence and seeks to protect lt agalnst all attempts to
neglect or dlscredlt lt.
Jhe poem ln the form of a short story, 'Nerto"
(l881), offers many beautlful pages for the reader`s
admlratlon. But the eplc narratlve, i oI
ls more profound. Composed by a poet of slxtyseven
years, lt ls stlll full of llfe, and lts numerous vlgnettes of
the reglons washed by the Rhone are most engaglng.
What a superb type ls that proud and devout captaln of
the shlp ^~I who thlnks that one must be a sallor to
know how to pray! Another ravlshlng llttle scene shows
us the pllot`s daughter, Anglora, whose lmaglnatlon has
been fed on old legends. One nlght she lmaglnes that
she has seen Lou Dra, the god of the rlver, ln the moon
llt waves of the Rhone and that she has been touched
by hlm. Jhe very verses here seem to stream and spar
kle ln the moonllght.
In short, Mlstral`s works are all lofty monuments
to the glory of hls beloved Provence.
399
ai_ POV g b~~
Jhls year ls a year of celebratlon for hlm. Ilfty
years ago on St. Estelle`s day he founded, together wlth
slx llterary frlends, the Assoclatlon of Provenal Poets,
whose goal was to purlfy and glve a deflnltlve form to
the Provenal language. Jhe language whlch ls spoken
from St. Remy to Arles and, wlthout slgnlflcant dlffer
ences, ln all the Rhone Valley from Orange to Mar
tlgues, served as a basls for a new llterary language, as
earller the Ilorentlne dlalect had served to form Itallan.
Experts such as Gaston Parls and Koschwltz tell us that
thls movement was not at all retrograde. It dld not seek
to restore to llfe the old Provenal, but on the basls of
dlalects ln use among the people, lt attempted to create
a natlonal language understood by all. Jhe efforts of
the Provenal poets have not been slow to be crowned
wlth success. In hls great neoProvenal dlctlonary, qJ
c (l879-l886), a glant work on whlch he
has worked for more than twenty years, Mlstral has
recorded the wealth of the Provenal dlalects and bullt
an lmperlshable monument to the l.
It goes wlthout saylng that a man llke Mlstral has
recelved all klnds of honours. Jhe Irench Academy has
awarded hlm a prlze four tlmes. Jhe Instltute of Irance
gave hlm the Reynaud prlze of l0,000 francs for hls dlc
tlonary. Jhe unlversltles of Halle and Bonn have con
ferred honorary doctorates on hlm. Several of hls
poems have been translated lnto varlous forelgn lan
guages. j has been set to muslc by Gounod, and
`~~ by the composer Marchal.
One knows the motto glven by Mlstral to the
Assoclatlon of Provenal Poets. 'Lou soulu me fal
canta" ('Jhe sun makes me slng"). Hls poems have, ln
effect, spread the llght of the Provenal sun ln many
countrles, even ln Northern reglons where they have
made many hearts rejolce.
Alfred Nobel demanded ldeallsm from an author
to be judged worthy of the Prlze he establlshed. Is lt not
amply found ln a poet whose work, llke that of Mlstral,
ls dlstlngulshed by a healthy and flourlshlng artlstlc lde
allsm; ln a man who has devoted hls entlre llfe to an
ldeal, the restoratlon and development of the splrltual
lnterests of hls natlve country, lts language and lts lltera
ture?
II
After the splendour of the Greek theatre, lt ls
prlnclpally among the Engllsh and the Spanlsh that a
natlonal dramatlc art has developed. Jo understand
modern Spanlsh drama, lt ls necessary to know what
condltlons ln the llfe of past perlods lle behlnd lt. Ior a
long tlme Spanlsh drama has dlsplayed sharp contrasts.
On the one hand, there ls the most luxurlous flowerlng
of fantasy; on the other, an extremely subtle and at
tlmes conventlonal casulstry. In one place, there ls brll
llant colourlng, and ln another, a great affectlon for rhe
torlcal antlthesls. Emphatlc language ls coupled wlth
tangled lntrlgue. Strlklng effects are vlolent, the lyrlc
order lntense. Dlsharmonles are sharp, and confllcts
almost always have a traglc resolutlon. Dlalectlc ls vlg
orous. However, lnterlor llfe ls very rlch, and the
severe, lnflexlbly applled dlctates of honour do not
exclude the luxury of sudden expresslons of fantasy. In
Spanlsh drama the artlflclal has managed to become
fused wlth a genulne orlglnallty.
Jhe helr and contlnuator of these glorlous and
characterlstlc tradltlons ls the wrlter who has been
awarded half of the Nobel Prlze thls year. A son of the
modern age and perfectly lndependent ln hls judg
ments, he has not the same conceptlon of the world
Caldern had. Lovlng llberty and havlng fought often
for tolerance, he ls no frlend of despotlsm or of hlerar
chy, but stlll there ls ln hlm the same exotlc ardour and
the same dlgnlty whlch from oldest tlmes have been the
dlstlnctlve marks of Spanlsh dramatlsts. Jhls wrlter ls
|os de Echegaray. Llke hls forebears, he knows how to
present confllct, ls extremely movlng and vltally lnter
ested ln dlfferent temperaments and ldeals, and llke
them he enjoys studylng the most compllcated cases of
consclence. He ls complete master of the art of produc
lng ln the audlence plty and fear, the wellknown funda
mental effects of tragedy. |ust as ln the masters of the
old Spanlsh drama, there ls ln hlm a strlklng unlon of
the most llvely lmaglnatlon and the most reflned artlstlc
sense. Ior thls lt can be sald of hlmas a crltlc otherwlse
unsympathetlc to hlm declared'that he ls of pure
Spanlsh breed." However, hls conceptlon of the world ls
vast. Hls sense of duty has been purlfled, hls fundamen
tal conceptlons are benevolent, and hls moral herolsm,
whlle retalnlng a pecullar natlonal character, has the fea
tures of a unlversal humanlty.
|os de Echegaray was born ln Madrld ln l833
|l832| but spent hls chlldhood years ln Murcla, where
hls father held the chalr of Greek Studles at the Instl
tute. Recelvlng hls bachelor`s degree at fourteen, he
soon entered the School of Clvll Englneerlng, where he
dlstlngulshed hlmself by hls zealous appllcatlon and hls
penetratlng sklll. Ilve years later, ln l853, he completed
hls englneerlng career after havlng complled a most
brllllant record. Mathematlcs and mechanlcs had been
hls favourlte studles, and hls slngular understandlng of
these branches of learnlng enabled hlm, after one year,
to be appolnted a professor ln the very school whlch he
had so recently attended as a student. It appears that for
some years hls struggle for exlstence was qulte hard,
and he had to glve prlvate lessons ln order to sustaln
the most modest way of llfe. In splte of everythlng, he
soon became an emlnent professor, dlstlngulshlng hlm
100
g b~~ ai_ POV
self both ln pure and applled mathematlcs, and became
an outstandlng englneer. At the same tlme he energetl
cally studled polltlcal economy, embraclng the ldeas of
free trade. Soon, that great talent, that vlvaclous engl
neer, was called to the hlghest and greatest tasks. Jhree
tlmes he has been a mlnlster of hls country`s govern
ment. Accordlng to those who know hlm, whether they
were adversarles or frlends, he has always shown a sln
gular sklll ln the admlnlstratlon of publlc flnance and
publlc works.
We can easlly understand the general astonlsh
ment when thls scholar, who had publlshed treatlses on
analytlc geometry, physlcs, and electrlclty, dedlcated hls
lndefatlgable energy to wrltlng for the theatre. It has
been sald that hls creatlons for the stage had the form of
equatlons and problems. If the new manlfestatlon of hls
genlus was enthuslastlcally acclalmed by numerous
admlrers, lt also found severe crltlcs. Nevertheless, no
one could deny that hls works were dlstlngulshed by a
deep moral sense. In a way, the crltlcs were not mls
taken who malntalned that ln hls dramas, followlng the
example of some surgeons, he rarely used any other
method than that of 'urere et secare"; stlll, however,
there ls somethlng to admlre ln thls Muse of romantlc
exaltatlon and austere severlty whlch condemns any
compromlse wlth duty.
Desplslng the translent approval of fashlon and
llstenlng only to the lnsplratlons of hls genlus, Echega
ray pursued hls trlumphal career, demonstratlng a dra
matlc fecundlty whlch makes us thlnk of Lope de Vega
and Caldern.
Even ln hls youth, when he was attendlng the
School of Clvll Englneerlng, he was enthuslastlc about
drama and used hls savlngs to obtaln theatre tlckets. In
l865 he wrote a play entltled i~ ~ ~~ | Jhe Illeglt
lmate Daughter|, whlch was followed by b ~~
|Book of Accounts| ln l871. Jhe playblll carrled a
pseudonym lnstead of the author`s name, but lt dld not
take the publlc long to guess that the acclalmed drama
tlst was Echegaray, then Spaln`s Mlnlster of Ilnance.
Some months later i~ ~ | Jhe Last Nlght| was
staged, and slnce then hls fertlle lmaglnatlon has not
stopped engenderlng evernew creatlons. He works
wlth such speed that ln one year he has publlshed three
or four works. Slnce lack of tlme prohlblts a complete
revlew here of all of hls productlons, sufflce lt to make
brlef mentlon of some whlch have won general atten
tlon. Echegaray scored hls flrst trlumph ln November,
l871, wlth the drama i~ ~ ~ |Jhe
Avenger`s Wlfe|, ln whlch hls true genlus was revealed
and ln whlch, slde by slde wlth certaln exaggeratlons,
the greatest beautles can be admlred. Jhe publlc could
lmaglne that lt had been taken back to the Golden Age
of Spanlsh drama, and lt saluted Echegaray as the
regenerator of the most brllllant era of the natlon`s dra
matlc poetry. b ~ ~~ |Jhe Sword`s Han
dle|, presented the followlng year, was recelved wlth the
same applause. Jhe subllme power that ls manlfest ln
thls noble conceptlon so moved the many spectators
that the applause dld not stop wlth the performance,
and, after the last act, Echegaray had to appear on stage
seven tlmes to recelve the acclalm of the audlence. But
great controversles arose ln l878 when, ln b ~
~ |Jhe Stake and the Cross|, the poet showed hlm
self the defender of free thought agalnst lntolerance, of
humanlty agalnst fanatlclsm. Jyplcal of Echegaray, as
he hlmself has observed, ls hls `
|Confllct of Dutles|, whlch was presented ln l882. A
confllct of dutles ls found ln almost all of hls dramas,
but rarely has the confllct been pushed to such an
extreme as ln thls plece. Jwo other dramas have made
hls name famous. Jhese two lnsplred, excellent plays
are l ~ ~~ |Madman or Salnt| and b ~
d~ |Great Galeoto|, the former presented ln |anu
ary, l877, and the latter ln March, l88l. In l ~
~~ there ls a great wealth of ldeas and profound
genlus. It shows a man who, moved by hls rlghteous
ness to sacrlflce hls prosperlty and worldly goods, ls
consldered crazy and treated as such by hls frlends and
by the world at large. Lorenzo de Avendano renounces
a name and a fortune when he learns unexpectedly but
undenlably that they do not legally belong to hlm, and
he perslsts ln hls resolutlon when the one lndlsputable
proof of hls lllegltlmacy has dlsappeared. Such ldeallsm
ls judged madness by hls famlly, and Lorenzo ls looked
upon by everybody as a Don _ulxote, stubborn and
slmplemlnded. Jhe structure of the drama ls flrm and
solld, demonstratlng that lt ls the work of an englneer
who calculates preclsely all the elements that have gone
lnto lt, but lt shows us to a stlll greater degree the poet
of mature creatlve genlus. More than an external colll
slon, lt treats the lnternal confllct of an extremely sad
flgure. It conslsts of a struggle between duty and oppor
tunlsm, and Lorenzo ln followlng the dlctate of hls con
sclence reaches martyrdom. Experlence has always
shown that very frequently he who falthfully obeys hls
consclence must be prepared to bear the fate of a mar
tyr.
b ~ d~ made an even greater lmpresslon.
In the flrst month after lt opened, lt went through no
fewer than flve edltlons and lnsplred a natlonal sub
scrlptlon to honour lts author. Because of the masterful
portrayal of the psychology of the characters the play
has a lastlng value. It shows the power of slander. Jhe
most lnnocent tralt ls dlsflgured and scandalously
deformed by the gosslp of people. Ernesto and Jeodora
have nothlng for whlch to reproach themselves, but the
world belleves them gullty, and at last, abandoned by
10l
ai_ POV g b~~
everyone, they end by throwlng themselves lnto one
another`s arms. Subtlety of psychologlcal analysls ls
revealed wlth such masterly detall of observatlon that
those two noble splrlts, ln no way deslrous of steallng
the rlght of thelr nelghbour, become mutually enam
oured wlthout suspectlng lt. Jhey dlscover the fact of
thelr love only by means of the persecutlon to whlch
they see themselves exposed. Romantlclsm trlumphs ln
thls drama whose poetlc beauty ls clearly perceptlble,
whose lyrlc detalls possess a dazzllng colourlng, and
whose structure ls wlthout a flaw.
Echegaray goes on worklng as a dramatlst. Jhls
year (l901) he has publlshed a new play, Io dcscquili-
brodo | Jhe Dlsturbed Woman|, whose flrst act ls a gen
ulne masterplece of exposltlon and lndlvlduallzatlon,
and whlch ln lts entlrety reveals no weakenlng of poetlc
lnsplratlon. In thls play, we are shown Don Maurlclo de
Vargas, a clear type of that chlvalry so dear to Echega
ray, that chlvalry whlch does not want to buy even lts
own happlness at the cost of compromlslng duty.
Jhus lt ls just that the Nobel Prlze be awarded to
thls great poet, whose productlon ls dlstlngulshed by lts
vlrlle energy and whose mode of seelng ls lmpregnated
wlth such hlgh ldeals that wlth abundant reason an emlnent
German crltlc has been able to say of hlm. 'Er verlangt
Recht und Pfllchterfllung unter allen Lmstnden."
Echegaray has put ln the mouth of one of the
characters of Il grov Colcoto the most pesslmlstlc words
about the world, whlch 'never recognlzes the subtletles
of the genlus untll three centurles after hls death."
No doubt thls can happen. But agalnst the general
appllcatlon of the above thesls we can offer the justlfled
admlratlon whlch the work of Echegaray has aroused.
Jo those trlbutes of appreclatlon the Swedlsh Academy
has agreed to add stlll one more, awardlng the Nobel
Prlze ln homage to the celebrated poet, the honour and
glory of the Spanlsh Academy, |os de Echegaray.
Zt tlc bovquct, C. D. of !irscv poivtcd out tlot slorivg
iv tlc Iric did vot dimivisl iv ovy woy tlc voluc of tlc lourc-
otcs. Hc rccollcd to mivd tlc worlspurc, limpid, ovd frcslof
Ircdcric Mistrol, vomivg tlc privcipol ovcs ovd oslivg tlc Miv-
istcr of Irovcc, Mr. Morclovd, to covvcy to tlc fomous Irovcvol
poct tlc lomogc wlicl tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy ovd oll tlosc osscm-
blcd tool plcosurc iv rcvdcrivg lim. Tlc spcolcr tlcv rcvicwcd
tlc imposivg worl of Iclcgoroy ovd cxprcsscd rcgrcts for lis stotc
of lcoltl ovd cxploivcd tlot tlc Mivistcr of Spoiv lod bccv prc-
vcvtcd from ottcvdivg tlis bovquct ovd from rcccivivg tlc cov-
grotulotiovs for lis fomous couvtrymov.
Tlc Mivistcr of Irovcc, Mr. Morclovd, rcplicd to tlc
Sccrctory of tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy ovd rccollcd tlot iv tlc prcccd-
ivg ycor lc lod tlovlcd tlcm for tlc Iric owordcd to Mr. ovd
Mrs. Curic; tlis timc lc spolc for tlc grcot poct of wlom
Irovcvcc is justly proud. Hc told of o most touclivg cvcvt. Iorty-
fivc ycors ogo tlc Ircvcl Zcodcmy, wlicl did vot lovc ot its dis-
posol rcsourccs os grcot os tlosc witl wlicl tlc grcot òbcl lod
cvdowcd tlc Swcdisl Zcodcmy, dccidcd, ot tlc suggcstiov of
Iomortivc, wlo wos cvtlusiostic obout Mlrlo, to oword tlc
pric of J000 frovcs to Mistrol. !lcv tlcy oslcd tlc outlor,
wlo lod bccv lcodivg o simplc lifc iv tlc couvtry, wlot lc would
do witl tlc Iric, lc ovswcrcd, 'It is o pric for poctry; it is vot
to bc touclcd! Tlc modcst poct slorcd lis 'ovcrobuvdovcc
witl otlcrs.
Mr. Morclovd olso octcd os spolcsmov for lis collcoguc,
tlc Mivistcr of Spoiv, to cxprcss Mr. Iclcgoroy`s grotitudc.
|Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l901.|
102
qK pK b
(26 Scptcmbcr 1SSS - 4 ovuory 196)
g p~ _
Iclcrd Collcgc
Jhls entry was expanded by Brooker from her Ellot
entry ln DI 4: Zmcricov Iocts, 1SS0-194, Iirst Scrics.
See also the Ellot entrles ln DI 7: Twcvtictl-Ccvtury
Zmcricov Dromotists; DI 10: Modcrv ritisl Dromotists,
1900-194; DI 6J: Modcrv Zmcricov Critics, 1920-
19; and DI 24: ritisl ovd Irisl Dromotists Sivcc
!orld !or II, Tlird Scrics.
BOOKS. Irufrocl ovd Utlcr Ubscrvotiovs (London. Egolst,
l9l7);
Iro Iouvd: His Mctric ovd Ioctry (New York. Knopf,
l9l8);
Iocms (Rlchmond, Surrey. Leonard Vlrglnla Woolf at
Jhe Hogarth Press, l9l9);
Zro !os Ircc (London. Ovld Press, l920); revlsed as
Iocms (New York. Knopf, l920);
Tlc Socrcd !ood: Issoys ov Ioctry ovd Criticism (London.
Methuen, l920; New York. Knopf, l92l);
Tlc !ostc Iovd (New York. Bonl Llverlght, l922;
Rlchmond, Surrey. Leonard Vlrglnla Woolf at
Jhe Hogarth Press, l923);
Homogc to olv Drydcv: Tlrcc Issoys ov Ioctry of tlc Scvcv-
tccvtl Ccvtury (London. Leonard Vlrglnla Woolf
at Jhe Hogarth Press, l921);
Iocms 1909-192 (London. Iaber Gwyer, l925; New
York Chlcago. Harcourt, Brace, l932);
ourvcy of tlc Mogi (London. Iaber Gwyer, l927; New
York. Rudge, l927);
Slolcspcorc ovd tlc Stoicism of Scvcco (London. Oxford
Z Sovg for Simcov (London. Iaber Gwyer, l928);
Ior Iovcclot Zvdrcwcs: Issoys ov Stylc ovd Urdcr (London.
Iaber Gwyer, l928; Garden Clty, N.Y.. Double
day, Doran, l929);
Dovtc (London. Iaber Iaber, l929);
Zvimulo (London. Iaber Iaber, l929);
Zsl-!cdvcsdoy (New York. Iountaln Press / London.
Iaber Iaber, l930);
Morivo (London. Iaber Iaber, l930);
Tlouglts Zftcr Iombctl (London. Iaber Iaber, l93l);
Triumplol Morcl (London. Iaber Iaber, l93l);
Clorlcs !liblcy: Z Mcmoir (London. Oxford Lnlverslty
Press, l93l);
Sclcctcd Issoys 1917-19J2 (London. Iaber Iaber,
l932; New York. Harcourt, Brace, l932);
olv Drydcv: Tlc Ioct, Tlc Dromotist, Tlc Critic (New
York. Jerence Elsa Holllday, l932);
Swccvcy Zgovistcs: Irogmcvts of ov Zristoplovic Mclodromo
(London. Iaber Iaber, l932);
Tlc Usc of Ioctry ovd Tlc Usc of Criticism: Studics iv tlc Iclo-
tiov of Criticism to Ioctry iv Ivglovd (London. Iaber
Iaber, l933; Cambrldge, Mass.. Harvard Lnlver
slty Press, l933);
Zftcr Strovgc Cods: Z Irimcr of Modcrv Hcrcsy (London.
Iaber Iaber, l931; New York. Harcourt, Brace,
l931);
Tlc Iocl: Z Iogcovt Iloy (London. Iaber Iaber, l931;
New York. Harcourt, Brace, l931);
Iliobctlov Issoys (London. Iaber Iaber, l931);
revlsed as Issoys ov Iliobctlov Dromo (New York.
Harcourt, Brace, l956); republlshed as Iliobctlov
Dromotists (London. Iaber Iaber, l963);
!ords for Music (Bryn Mawr, Pa.. Prlvately prlnted,
l931);
qK pK bI I ~~ p ~ ~
NVQU k m i~ E^m mF
103
ai_ POV qK pK b
Murdcr iv tlc Cotlcdrol, actlng edltlon (Canterbury. H. |.
Goulden, l935); complete edltlon (London.
Iaber Iaber, l935; New York. Harcourt, Brace,
l935);
Issoys Zvcicvt c Modcrv (London. Iaber Iaber, l936;
Collcctcd Iocms 1909-19J (London. Iaber Iaber,
Tlc Iomily Icuviov (London. Iaber Iaber, l939; New
York. Harcourt, Brace, l939);
Uld Iossum`s ool of Irocticol Cots (London. Iaber Iaber,
Tlc Idco of o Clristiov Socicty (London. Iaber Iaber,
Iost Colcr (London. Iaber Iaber, l910);
urvt òrtov (London. Iaber Iaber, l91l);
Ioivts of !icw, edlted by |ohn Hayward (London. Iaber
Iaber, l91l);
Tlc Dry Solvogcs (London. Iaber Iaber, l91l);
Tlc Clossics ovd tlc Mov of Icttcrs (London, New York
Joronto. Oxford Lnlverslty Press, l912);
Tlc Music of Ioctry (Glasgow. |ackson, Son, Publlshers to
the Lnlverslty, l912);
Iittlc Ciddivg (London. Iaber Iaber, l912);
Iour _uortcts (New York. Harcourt, Brace, l913; Lon
don. Iaber Iaber, l911);
Icuviov by Dcstructiov (London. Pax House, l913);
!lot Is o Clossic? (London. Iaber Iaber, l915);
Dic Iivlcit dcr Iuropoisclcv Iultur (Berlln. Carl Habel,
l916);
Z Irocticol Iossum (Cambrldge, Mass.. Harvard Prlntlng
Offlce Department of Graphlc Arts, l917);
Uv Ioctry (Concord, Mass.. Concord Academy, l917);
Miltov (London. Geoffrey Cumberlege, l917);
Z Scrmov (Cambrldge. Cambrldge Lnlverslty Press,
l918);
Sclcctcd Iocms (Harmondsworth, L.K.. Penguln/Iaber
Iaber, l918; New York. Harcourt, Brace
World, l967);
òtcs Towords tlc Dcfivitiov of Culturc (London. Iaber
Iaber, l918; New York. Harcourt, Brace, l919);
Irom Ioc to !olcry (New York. Harcourt, Brace, l918);
Tlc Uvdcrgroduotc Iocms of T. S. Iliot, unauthorlzed publl
catlon (Cambrldge, Mass., l919);
Tlc Zims of Ioctic Dromo (London. Poets` Jheatre Gulld,
l919);
Tlc Cocltoil Iorty (London. Iaber Iaber, l950; New
York. Harcourt, Brace, l950; revlsed edltlon,
London. Iaber Iaber, l950);
Iocms !rittcv iv Iorly Joutl (Stockholm. Prlvately
prlnted, l950; London. Iaber Iaber, l967;
New York. Iarrar, Straus Glroux, l967);
Ioctry ovd Dromo (Cambrldge, Mass.. Harvard Lnlver
slty Press, l95l; London. Iaber Iaber, l95l);
Tlc Iilm of Murdcr iv tlc Cotlcdrol, by Ellot and George
Hoellerlng (London. Iaber Iaber, l952; New
York. Harcourt, Brace, l952);
Tlc !oluc ovd Usc of Cotlcdrols iv Ivglovd Todoy (Chlches
ter. Irlends of Chlchester Cathedral, l952);
Zv Zddrcss to Mcmbcrs of tlc Iovdov Iibrory (London. Lon
don Llbrary, l952; Provldence, R.I.. Provldence
Athenaeum, l953);
Tlc Complctc Iocms ovd Iloys (New York. Harcourt,
Brace, l952);
Sclcctcd Irosc, edlted by Hayward (Melbourne, London
Baltlmore. Penguln, l953);
Zmcricov Iitcroturc ovd tlc Zmcricov Iovguogc (St. Louls.
Department of Engllsh, Washlngton Lnlverslty,
l953);
Tlc Tlrcc !oiccs of Ioctry (Cambrldge. Cambrldge Lnl
verslty Press, l953; New York. Cambrldge Lnl
Tlc Covfidcvtiol Clcrl (London. Iaber Iaber, l951;
Icligious Dromo: Mcdiocvol ovd Modcrv (New York. House
of Books, l951);
Tlc Cultivotiov of Clristmos Trccs (London. Iaber Iaber,
l951; New York. Iarrar, Straus Cudahy, l956);
Tlc Iitcroturc of Iolitics (London. Conservatlve Polltlcal
Centre, l955);
Tlc Irovticrs of Criticism (Mlnneapolls. Lnlverslty of Mln
nesota Press, l956);
Uv Ioctry ovd Iocts (London. Iaber Iaber, l957; New
York. Iarrar, Straus Cudahy, l957);
Tlc Ildcr Stotcsmov (London. Iaber Iaber, l959; New
York. Iarrar, Straus Cudahy, l959);
Ccoffrcy Iobcr 1SS9-1961 (London. Iaber Iaber,
l96l);
Collcctcd Iloys (London. Iaber Iaber, l962);
Ccorgc Hcrbcrt (London. Longmans, l962);
Collcctcd Iocms 1909-1962 (London. Iaber Iaber,
l963; New York. Harcourt, Brace World,
l963);
Ivowlcdgc ovd Ixpcricvcc iv tlc Ililosoply of I. H. rodlcy
(London. Iaber Iaber, l961; New York. Iarrar,
Straus, l961);
To Criticic tlc Critic ovd Utlcr !ritivgs (London. Iaber
Iaber, l965; New York. Iarrar, Straus Glroux,
l965);
Tlc !ostc Iovd: Z Iocsimilc ovd Trovscript of tlc Urigivol
Drofts Ivcludivg tlc Zvvototiovs of Iro Iouvd, edlted
by Valerle Ellot (London. Iaber Iaber, l97l;
New York. Harcourt Brace |ovanovlch, l97l);
Sclcctcd Irosc of T. S. Iliot, edlted by Irank Kermode
(London. Iaber Iaber, l975; New York. Har
court Brace |ovanovlch, l975);
Tlc !orictics of Mctoplysicol Ioctry: Tlc Clorl Iccturcs ot
Trivity Collcgc, Combridgc, 1926, ovd tlc Turvbull Icc-
101
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turcs ot tlc olvs Hoplivs Uvivcrsity, 19JJ, edlted by
Ronald Schuchard (London. Iaber Iaber, l993;
New York. Harcourt Brace, l991);
Ivvcvtiovs of tlc Morcl Horc: Iocms, 1909-1917, edlted by
Chrlstopher Rlcks (London. Iaber Iaber, l996;
New York. Harcourt Brace, l996).
bW Tlc !ostc Iovd: Zutloritotivc Tcxt, Covtcxts, Crit-
icism, edlted by Mlchael North, Norton Crltlcal
Edltlon (New York. Norton, 200l);
Tlc Zvvototcd !ostc Iovd, witl T.S. Iliot`s Covtcmporory
Irosc, edlted by Lawrence Ralney (New Haven.
Yale Lnlverslty Press, 2005).
PLAY PRODLCJIONS. Swccvcy Zgovistcs, Pough
keepsle, N.Y., Vassar Experlmental Jheatre, 6
May l933; London, Group Jheatre Rooms, ll
November l931;
Tlc Iocl, London, Sadler`s Wells Jheatre, 28 May
l931;
Murdcr iv tlc Cotlcdrol, Canterbury Chapter House, l5
|une l935; London, Mercury Jheatre, l Novem
ber l935; New Haven, Yale Lnlverslty Jheatre,
20 December l935; New York, Manhattan Jhe
ater, 20 March l936;
Tlc Iomily Icuviov, London, Westmlnster Jheatre, 2l
March l939; Aurora, N.Y., Wells College, 8 |une
l910; New York, Cherry Lane Jheatre, l917;
Tlc Cocltoil Iorty, Edlnburgh, Royal Lyceum Jheatre,
22 August l919; New York, Henry Mlller`s Jhe
ater, 2l |anuary l950; London, New Jheatre, 3
May l950;
Tlc Covfidcvtiol Clcrl, Edlnburgh, Royal Lyceum Jhe
atre, 25 August l953; London, Lyrlc Jheatre, l6
September l953; New York, Morosco Jheatre, ll
Iebruary l951;
Tlc Ildcr Stotcsmov, Edlnburgh, Royal Lyceum Jheatre,
21 August l958; London, Cambrldge Jheatre,
25 September l958; Mllwaukee, Ired Mlller Jhe
atre, 27 Iebruary l963.
PRODLCED SCRIPJ. Murdcr iv tlc Cotlcdrol, by
Ellot and George Hoellerlng, motlon plcture,
Classlc, l952.
OJHER. Edgar Ansel Mowrer, Tlis Zmcricov !orld,
preface by Ellot (London. Iaber Gwyer, l928);
Ezra Pound, Sclcctcd Iocms, edlted by Ellot (London.
Iaber Gwyer, l928);
'Address by J. S. Ellot, `06, to the Class of `33, |une l7,
l933," Miltov Croduotcs ullctiv, 3 (November
l933). 5-9;
Horvord Collcgc Closs of 1910. Scvcvtl Icport, lncludes an
autoblographlcal note by Ellot ( |une l935). 2l9-
22l;
Marlanne Moore, Sclcctcd Iocms, edlted by Ellot (New
York. Macmlllan, l935; London. Iaber Iaber,
l935);
Djuna Barnes, ìgltwood, lntroductlon by Ellot (New
York. Harcourt, Brace, l937); lntroductlon and
preface by Ellot (London. Iaber Iaber, l950);
Pound, Iitcrory Issoys, edlted by Ellot (London. Iaber
Iaber, l951; Norfolk, Conn.. New Dlrectlons,
l951);
Irom Mory to Jou, lncludes an address by Ellot (St. Louls.
Mary Instltute, l959), pp. l33-l36;
Tlc Critcriov, 1922-19J9, l8 volumes, edlted by Ellot
(London. Iaber Iaber, l967).
J. S. Ellot, the l918 wlnner of the Nobel Prlze ln
Llterature, ls one of the glants of modern llterature,
hlghly dlstlngulshed as a poet, llterary crltlc, dramatlst,
and edltor/publlsher. In l9l0 and l9ll, whlle stlll a stu
dent, he wrote 'Jhe Love Song of |. Alfred Prufrock"
(l9l5) and other poems that are landmarks ln the hls
tory of llterature. In these college poems, Ellot artlcu
lated dlstlnctly modern themes ln forms that were both
a strlklng development of and a marked departure from
those of nlneteenthcentury poetry. Wlthln a few years
he had composed another landmark poem, 'Geron
tlon" (l920), and wlthln a decade, one of the most
famous and lnfluentlal poems of the century, Tlc !ostc
Iovd (l922). Whlle the orlglns of Tlc !ostc Iovd are ln
part personal, the volces projected are unlversal. Ellot
later denled that he had large cultural problems ln
mlnd, but, nevertheless, ln Tlc !ostc Iovd he dlagnosed
the malalse of hls generatlon and lndeed of Western clv
lllzatlon ln the twentleth century. In l930 he publlshed
hls next major poem, Zsl-!cdvcsdoy, wrltten after hls
converslon to AngloCathollclsm. Consplcuously dlffer
ent ln style and tone from hls earller work, thls confes
slonal sequence charts hls contlnued search for order ln
hls personal llfe and ln hlstory. Jhe culmlnatlon of thls
search as well as of Ellot`s poetlc wrltlng ls hls medlta
tlon on tlme and hlstory, the works known collectlvely
as Iour _uortcts (l913). urvt òrtov (l91l), Iost Colcr
(l910), Tlc Dry Solvogcs (l91l), and Iittlc Ciddivg
(l912).
Ellot was almost as renowned a llterary crltlc as
he was a poet. Irom l9l6 through l92l he contrlbuted
approxlmately one hundred revlews and artlcles to var
lous perlodlcals. Jhls early crltlclsm was produced at
nlght under the pressure of supplementlng hls meager
salaryflrst as a teacher, then as a bank clerkand not,
as ls sometlmes suggested, under the compulslon to
rewrlte llterary hlstory. A product of hls crltlcal lntelll
gence and superb tralnlng ln phllosophy and llterature,
hls essays, however hastlly wrltten and for whatever
motlve, had an lmmedlate lmpact. Hls ldeas qulckly
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solldlfled lnto doctrlne and became, wlth the early
essays of I. A. Rlchards, the basls of the New Crltlclsm,
one of the most lnfluentlal schools of llterary study ln
the twentleth century. Jhrough half a century of crltlcal
wrltlng, Ellot`s concerns remalned more or less con
stant; hls posltlon regardlng those concerns, however,
was frequently reflned, revlsed, or, occaslonally,
reversed. Beglnnlng ln the late l920s, Ellot`s llterary
crltlclsm was supplemented by rellglous and soclal crltl
clsm. In these wrltlngs, such as q f~ ~ `~
p (l939), he can be seen as a deeply lnvolved and
thoughtful Chrlstlan poet ln the process of maklng
sense of the world between the two World Wars. Jhese
wrltlngs, sympathetlcally read, suggest the dllemma of
the serlous observer of Western culture ln the l930s,
and rlghtly understood, they complement hls poetry,
plays, and llterary journallsm.
Ellot ls also an lmportant flgure ln twentleth
century drama. He was lncllned from the flrst toward
the theaterhls early poems are essentlally dramatlc,
and many of hls early essays and revlews are on drama
or dramatlsts. By the mld l920s he was wrltlng a play,
p ^ (publlshed ln l932, performed ln
l933); ln the l930s he wrote an eccleslastlcal pageant,
q o (performed and publlshed ln l931), and two
fullblown plays, j `~~ (performed and
publlshed ln l935) and q c~ o (performed
and publlshed ln l939); and ln the late l910s and the
l950s he devoted hlmself almost excluslvely to plays, of
whlch q `~ m~ (performed ln l919, publlshed
ln l950) has been the most popular. Hls goal, reallzed
only ln part, was the revltallzatlon of poetlc drama ln
terms that would be conslstent wlth the modern age.
He experlmented wlth language that, though close to
contemporary speech, ls essentlally poetlc and thus
capable of splrltual, emotlonal, and lntellectual reso
nance. Hls work has lnfluenced several lmportant twen
tlethcentury playwrlghts, lncludlng W. H. Auden and
Harold Plnter. Ellot also made slgnlflcant contrlbutlons
as an edltor and publlsher. Irom l922 to l939 he was
the edltor of a major lntellectual journal, q Ì
and from l925 to l965 he was an edltor/dlrector ln the
publlshlng house of Iaber and Iaber. In both capacltles
he worked behlnd the scenes to nurture the lntellectual
and splrltual llfe of hls tlmes.
Jhomas Stearns Ellot was born on 26 September
l888 ln St. Louls, Mlssourl; he was the second son and
seventh chlld of Charlotte Champe Stearns and Henry
Ware Ellot, members of a dlstlngulshed Massachusetts
famlly recently transplanted to Mlssourl. Ellot`s famlly
tree lncludes settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony,
promlnent clergymen and educators, a presldent of
Harvard Lnlverslty (Charles Wllllam Ellot), and three
presldents of the Lnlted States ( |ohn Adams, |ohn
_ulncy Adams, and Rutherford B. Hayes). In l831 the
poet`s grandfather, Wllllam Greenleaf Ellot, a graduate
of Harvard Dlvlnlty School, moved to St. Louls to
establlsh a Lnltarlan mlsslon. He qulckly became a
leader ln clvlc development, foundlng the flrst Lnltar
lan Church, Washlngton Lnlverslty (whlch he served
as presldent), Smlth Academy, and Mary Instltute.
Jhe Ellot famlly llved ln downtown St. Louls, not
far from the Mlsslsslppl Rlver, and the poet spent hls
formatlve years ln a large house (no longer standlng) at
2635 Locust Street. Hls famlly summered ln New
England, and ln l897 Henry Ware Ellot bullt a house
near the sea at Gloucester, Massachusetts. Jhe sum
mers ln thls spaclous house on Cape Ann provlded the
poet wlth hls happlest memorles, whlch he tapped
through the years for poems such as 'Marlna" (l930)
and q a p~~.
Irom these few facts, several polnts emerge as rel
evant to Ellot`s mlnd and art. Ilrst, feellng that 'the
L.S.A. up to a hundred years ago was a famlly exten
slon" (as he wrote ln a l928 letter to Herbert Read),
Ellot became acutely consclous of hlstoryhls own, that
of hls famlly, hls country, hls clvlllzatlon, hls raceand
of the ways ln whlch the past constantly lmplnges on
the present and the present on the future. Second,
desplte the fact that Ellot was blessed wlth a happy
chlldhood ln a lovlng famlly, he was early possessed by
a sense of homelessness. In l928, just after he had
changed hls rellglon from Lnltarlan to Angllcan and hls
cltlzenshlp from Amerlcan to Brltlsh, he summed up the
result of these formatlve years ln Mlssourl and Massa
chusetts, descrlblng hlmself ln a letter to Read as 'an
Amerlcan who . . . was born ln the South and went to
school ln New England as a small boy wlth a nlgger
drawl, but who wasn`t a southerner ln the South
because hls people were northerners ln a border state . . .
and who so was never anythlng anywhere." As he had
wrltten to hls brother, Henry, ln l9l9, a few years after
settllng ln London, 'one remalns always a forelgner."
Jhlrd, Ellot had an urban lmaglnatlon, the shape and
content of whlch came from hls chlldhood experlence
ln St. Louls. In a l930 letter quoted ln an appendlx to
^~ i~ ~ ^~ i~~ (l953), he
sald that 'St. Louls affected me more deeply than any
other envlronment has done." Several of hls slgnature
lmagesclty streets and clty slums, clty rlvers and clty
skleswere etched on hls mlnd ln St. Louls. Clty scenes,
even sordld ones, as he suggested ln a l9l1 letter to
Conrad Alken, helped hlm to feel allve, alert, and self
consclous.
Ellot was educated at Smlth Academy ln St.
Louls (l898-l905), Mllton Academy ln Massachusetts
(l905-l906), Harvard Lnlverslty (B.A., |une l909;
M.A., Iebruary l9ll; Ph.D. courses, October l9ll -
106
qK pK b ai_ POV
May l9l1), Lnlverslty of ParlsSorbonne (October
l9l0 - |une l9ll), and Merton College, Oxford Lnl
verslty (October l9l1 - May l9l5). He devoted a fur
ther year (l9l5-l9l6) to a doctoral dlssertatlon on the
phllosophy of I. H. Bradley, eventually publlshed ln
l961.
As an undergraduate at Harvard, Ellot empha
slzed language and llteratureLatln, Greek, German,
and Irench. Perhaps the most farreachlng consequence
of hls undergraduate career was hls accldental dlscov
ery ln December l908 of Arthur Symons`s p
j i~ (l899), a book that he clalmed had
changed the course of hls llfe. Ilrst, Symons lntroduced
hlm to the poetry of |ules Laforgue and Charles Baude
lalre. Irom Laforgue, Ellot learned how to handle emo
tlon ln poetry, through lrony and a quallty of
detachment that enabled hlm to see hlmself and hls
own emotlons essentlally as objects for analysls. Irom
Baudelalre, he learned how to use the sordld lmages of
the modern clty, the materlal 'at hand," ln poetry, and
of even greater consequence, he learned somethlng of
the nature of good and evll ln modern llfe. Second,
Symons stlmulated Ellot to take a course ln Irench llter
ary crltlclsm from Irvlng Babbltt ln l9l0. Babbltt nur
tured Ellot`s buddlng Irancophllla, hls dlsllke of
Romantlclsm, and hls appreclatlon of tradltlon. Jhese
tastes are evldent ln most of Ellot`s early llterary crltl
clsm.
Durlng the year he spent at the Sorbonne ln Parls,
Ellot came to know the work of the Roman Cathollc
phllosopher Charles Maurras through the k o
c~~ and, perhaps of greater slgnlflcance, attended
the lectures of Henrl Bergson, ln the process deepenlng
the reflectlons on tlme and consclousness that are
explored ln the early poetry and recelve thelr most
expllclt treatment ln c n~K Parls was also lmpor
tant ln the development of Ellot`s urban lmaglnatlon.
He took advantage of the popular arts, of opera and
ballet, and of museums, but most of all he absorbed the
lmages of urban llfe seen on the back streets along the
rlver Selne. Near the end of hls year ln Parls, Ellot vls
lted London for the flrst tlme, and before returnlng
home, he also vlslted northern Italy and Munlch.
Durlng hls tlme at Harvard, he studled wlth some
of the most dlstlngulshed phllosophers of the century,
lncludlng George Santayana, |oslah Royce, and Ber
trand Russell. He focused on Indlc rellglon and ldeallst
phllosophy (especlally Immanuel Kant), wlth further
work ln ethlcs and psychology. Jhe Indlc studles (two
years of Sanskrlt and Indlan phllosophy) abetted hls
lnnate ascetlclsm and provlded a more comprehenslve
context for hls understandlng of culture. Inevltably,
these Eastern materlals entered hls poetry. Jhe Indlan
myth of the thunder god, for example, provldes the
context for sectlon 5 ('What the Jhunder Sald") of q
t~ i~I and Buddha`s flre sermon the context for
sectlon 3 ('Jhe Ilre Sermon"). Ellot`s most frultful
extracurrlcular actlvlty at Harvard was hls assoclatlon
wlth the college llterary magazlne, the e~~ ^~.
Several of hls earllest poems were publlshed flrst ln thls
perlodlcal, and at least one of hls llfelong frlendshlps,
that wlth fellow poet Alken, was formed ln thls nursery
of wrlters and poets.
One of the speclal pleasures of Ellot`s years ln
Boston was the close relatlonshlp that developed wlth
hls cousln Eleanor Hlnkley, three years hls junlor. As a
student at Radcllffe College, she had taken George
Plerce Baker`s famous '17 Workshop" ln theater. In
l9l2, through amateur theatrlcals at her house, Ellot
met Emlly Hale, wlth whom he fell ln love and at one
tlme lntended to marry. Ellot`s letters to Hlnkley are
among hls most hlghsplrlted, preservlng lntact hls
youthful wlt and urbanlty. Hls letters to Hale wlll prob
ably be among hls most reveallng, but untll the year
2020, they remaln under seal at Prlnceton Lnlverslty.
Evldently, he never ceased lovlng her, and ln the late
l920s he resumed contact. Jhelr relatlonshlp, whlch
seems to have been decorous ln all senses of the word,
contlnued for two decades or more, endlng before hls
second marrlage ln l957.
Arrlvlng at Oxford ln October l9l1, Ellot found
that most of the Brltlsh students had left for the West
ern Iront. He had hoped to meet Bradley, a member of
Merton, but the old don was by thls tlme a recluse, and
they never met. At the end of the academlc year, he
moved to London and contlnued worklng on hls dlsser
tatlon, whlch he flnlshed a year later. Ellot`s lmmerslon
ln contemporary phllosophy, partlcularly ln Bradley`s
ldeallsm, had many effects, of whlch two proved espe
clally lmportant. Posltlvely, these materlals suggested
methods of structure that he was able to put to lmmedl
ate use ln hls postwar poems. Negatlvely, hls work ln
phllosophy convlnced hlm that the most sophlstlcated
answers to the cultural and splrltual crlsls of hls tlme
were lnadequate. Jhls concluslon contrlbuted to hls
declslon to abandon the professorlal career for whlch
hls excellent educatlon had prepared hlm and lnstead to
contlnue llterary pursults.
Ellot`s career as a poet can be dlvlded lnto three
perlodsthe flrst colncldlng wlth hls studles ln Boston
and Parls and culmlnatlng ln 'Jhe Love Song of |.
Alfred Prufrock" ln l9ll; the second colncldlng wlth
World War I and wlth the flnanclal and marltal stress of
hls early years ln London, and culmlnatlng ln q t~
i~ ln l922; and the thlrd colncldlng wlth hls angst at
the economlc depresslon and the rlse of Nazlsm and
culmlnatlng ln the wartlme c n~ ln l913. Jhe
poems of the flrst perlod were preceded only by a few
107
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exerclses, publlshed ln school magazlnes, but ln l9l0
and l9ll he wrote four poems'Portralt of a Lady,"
'Preludes," 'Rhapsody on a Wlndy Nlght," and 'Jhe
Love Song of |. Alfred Prufrock"that lntroduce themes
to whlch, wlth varlatlon and development, Ellot
returned tlme and agaln. One of the most slgnlflcant ls
the problem of lsolatlon, wlth attentlon to lts causes and
consequences ln the contemporary world. In 'Portralt
of a Lady" a man and woman meet, but the man ls lnar
tlculate, lmprlsoned ln thought. In thls lronlc dramatlza
tlon of a 'conversatlon galante," the woman speaks
wlthout thlnklng and the man thlnks wlthout speaklng
(a structure to be repeated ln 'A Game of Chess" ln q
t~ i~ ).
Jhe profound lsolatlon of the characters ln 'Por
tralt of a Lady" becomes ln 'Jhe Love Song of |. Alfred
Prufrock" an lsolatlon that ls absolute. Jhe speclflc lady
ls succeeded by generallzed women; the superclllous
youth by the mlddleaged lntellectual he wlll become,
for whom women and lndeed the entlre unlverse exlst
as abstractlons. Jhe polgnance of thls poem derlves ln
part from a tenslon between Prufrock`s selfgenerated
lsolatlon and hls obsesslon wlth language. Although he
ls afrald to speak, he can thlnk only ln the language of
dlalogue. Jhls dlalogue wlth hlmself, moreover, consls
tently turns on the lnflnlte posslbllltles (or lmposslblll
tles) of dlalogue wlth others. In 'Rhapsody on a Wlndy
Nlght" the female Other, slmllarly lsolated and lsolat
lng, ls a young prostltute ln a stalned dress hesltatlng ln
a doorway, deslred and desplsed at once, overshadowed
by an old prostltute, the pockmarked moon, smlllng fee
bly on the mldnlght walker.
In these early poems, the progresslon from a fee
ble attempt to communlcate ln 'Portralt of a Lady" to a
total fallure ln 'Jhe Love Song of |. Alfred Prufrock" ls
paralleled on other levels. Jhe lsolatlon ls sexual, soclal,
rellglous, and (because Ellot ls a poet) vocatlonal. In
'Portralt of a Lady," other people and perhaps God
exlst, but they are unreachable; ln 'Jhe Love Song of |.
Alfred Prufrock" and 'Rhapsody on a Wlndy Nlght"
they exlst only as aspects of the thlnker`s mlnd; ln 'Pre
ludes," the Other, whether human or dlvlne, has been
so thoroughly asslmllated that he/she can no longer be
deflned. Jhls sltuatlon ls expllcltly aesthetlc. Jhe draw
lngroom protagonlst of 'Portralt of a Lady" ls paral
leled by an artlst ln the concert room, and both the
sultor and the planlst fall to reach thelr llsteners. In
both cases, the fallure ls descrlbed ln ceremonlal terms
that superlmpose the rellglous on the sexual and aes
thetlc. |. Alfred Prufrockas lover, prophet, poetalso
falls to reach hls audlence. Jhese fallures are sklllfully
layered by the use of lmagery that deflnes Prufrock`s
problem as sexual (how to relate to women), rellglous
(how to ralse hlmself from the dead, how to cope wlth
hls own flesh on a platter), and rhetorlcal (how to slng,
how to say, how to revlse). And as 'Jhe Love Song of |.
Alfred Prufrock" shows most clearly, the horlzontal and
vertlcal gaps mlrror a gap wlthln, a gap between
thought and feellng, a partltlon of the self.
Between the poems of l9l0-l9ll and q t~
i~I Ellot llved through several experlences that are
cruclal ln understandlng hls development as a poet. Hls
declslon to put down roots, or to dlscover roots, ln
Europe stands, together wlth hls flrst marrlage and hls
converslon, as the most lmportant of hls entlre llfe. Ellot
had been preceded ln London by hls Harvard frlend
Alken, who had met Ezra Pound and showed hlm a
copy of 'Jhe Love Song of |. Alfred Prufrock." Ellot
called on Pound on 22 September l9l1, and Pound
lmmedlately adopted hlm as a cause, promotlng hls
poetry and lntroduclng hlm to Wllllam Butler Yeats and
other artlsts. In l9l5, at a tlme when Ellot was close to
glvlng up on poetry, Pound arranged for the publlcatlon
of 'Jhe Love Song of |. Alfred Prufrock" ln m mag
azlne, and ln l9l7 he facllltated the publlcatlon of mJ
~ l l~. Pound contlnued to play a
central role ln Ellot`s llfe and work through the early
l920s. He lnfluenced the form and content of Ellot`s
next group of poems, the quatralns ln m (l9l9), and
more famously, he changed the shape of q t~ i~
by urglng Ellot to cut several long passages.
Jhe lmpact of Pound, however, pales beslde that
of Vlvlenne (or Vlvlen) HalghWood, the pretty Engllsh
governess Ellot marrled ln l9l5. In a 21 Aprll letter to
Hlnkley descrlblng hls soclal llfe at Oxford, Ellot men
tloned that he had met an Engllsh glrl named Vlvlen.
Pound, as part of hls strategy for keeplng Ellot ln
England, encouraged hlm to marry her, and on 26
|une, wlthout notlfylng hls parents, he dld so at the
Hampstead Reglstry Offlce. However lovlngly begun,
the marrlage was ln most respects a dlsaster. In the
l960s, ln a prlvate paper, Ellot admltted that lt was
doomed from the start. 'I thlnk that all I wanted of
Vlvlenne was a fllrtatlon or a mlld affalr. I was too shy
and unpractlsed to achleve elther . . . I came to per
suade myself that I was ln love wlth her slmply because
I wanted to burn my boats and commlt myself to stay
lng ln England. And she persuaded herself (also under
the lnfluence of Pound) that she would save the poet by
keeplng hlm ln England." Jhe odd nature of thls mlsal
llance was lmmedlately evldent to Ellot`s frlends,
lncludlng Russell, Mary Hutchlnson, and Vlrglnla
Woolf. Vlvlenne Ellot, who had suffered from 'nerves"
for years, became lrrecoverably lll after the marrlage,
and Ellot, hlmself ln fraglle health, felt partlally respon
slble for her deterloratlon. Jhls burden ls the blograph
lcal shadow behlnd a motlf recurrent ln the poems and
playsthe motlf of 'dolng a glrl ln." Jhe struggle to
108
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cope emotlonally and flnanclally wlth hls wlfe`s escalat
lng lllness exhausted Ellot and led, ln l92l, to hls col
lapse. Hls falled attempt between l9l5 and l922 to
bulld a brldge across the gulf that separated them,
reflected most consplcuously ln part 2 of Tlc !ostc
Iovd, ls a llved experlence behlnd all of hls subsequent
work.
Ellot had arrlved ln England the month that
World War I began. Llke hls European frlends, he was
deeply dlsturbed by unfoldlng events and desperately
worrled about acqualntances on the battlefleld. In May
l9l5 hls close frlend |ean Verdenal was kllled. On 3l
May the flrst German bomb hlt London, kllllng twenty
elght people and woundlng slxty. Wlthln a week or two
of thls watershed event, Ellot moved to the Clty (the
flnanclal dlstrlct), where he remalned throughout the
war. In l9l6 he wrote to hls brother that 'Jhe present
year has been . . . the most awful nlghtmare of anxlety
that the mlnd of man could concelve." Ellot, who loved
both Irance and England, trled to enllst, but hls appll
catlon was compllcated by hls fallure to pass the medl
cal exam. By the tlme the war ended ln November
l9l8, an lnfluenza epldemlc was sweeplng over the
world, clalmlng nearly three tlmes as many llves as had
been lost ln the war. By then both Ellots were gravely
lll, and lt took them years to recover completely.
Jhe events of these years were formatlve ln
Ellot`s llfe and art. Ilrst, the preclpltous marrlage com
pllcated hls attltude toward sexuallty and human love.
Some of the poems wrltten durlng and lmmedlately
after the war ('Sweeney Erect," for example, and Tlc
!ostc Iovd ) connect sexuallty wlth vlolence ln trou
bllng ways. Second, the marrlage, the war, and the
change of vocatlon generated estrangement from Amer
lca ln general and from hls famlly ln partlcular. Hls fam
lly dlsapproved of the marrlage and the declslon to
drop phllosophy as a career, and because the famlly
llved ln Amerlca, far from the bloodshed, they had a
superflclal ldea of the sufferlng ln Europe. Ellot contln
ued to brood over the fact that hls dylng father belleved
that hls son had made a mess of hls llfe. Jhlrd, the
events of these years led to severe flnanclal dlstress. Jo
support hlmself and hls chronlcally lll wlfe, Ellot took a
job as a teacherln the fall of l9l5 at Hlgh Wycombe
Grammar School, and throughout l9l6 at Hlghgate
|unlor School. Ilndlng the teachlng of young boys
dralnlng work, he gave lt up at the end of l9l6, and ln
March l9l7 he began work ln the Colonlal and Iorelgn
Department of Lloyds Bank. Although he stayed wlth
Lloyds for the next nlne years, he dlscovered that bank
lng, llke teachlng, dld not produce nearly enough
lncome to cover hls expenses and Vlvlenne Ellot`s med
lcal bllls. He was thus forced to supplement hls dutles
as teacher, banker, and nurse to hls wlfe wlth nlght
work as lecturer, revlewer, and essaylst. Worklng from
l9l6 to l920 under great pressure (a flfteenhour work
day was common for hlm), he wrote essays, publlshed
ln l920 as Tlc Socrcd !ood, that reshaped llterary hls
tory.
Ellot`s early essays can be seen as a dlscurslve
varlatlon on the subjects underlylng the early poems;
hls awareness, for example, of the problem of lsolatlon,
lts causes and lts consequences, ls evldent ln the essays.
In the poems, the emphasls ls on lsolatlon of lndlvlduals
and classes from one another and on the human lsola
tlon from God. In the llterary crltlclsm, the emphasls ls
on the artlst ln lsolatlon, cut off from hls audlence and
from great artlsts and thlnkers of both the present and
the past. In 'Jradltlon and the Indlvldual Jalent"
(l9l9), Ellot attempts to cope wlth the lsolatlon of the
artlst resultlng from the early twentleth century`s mas
slve repudlatlon of the past, a repudlatlon that severed
man`s lntellectual and splrltual roots. Ellot deals wlth
the lmpllcatlons of thls dlsaster by deflnlng 'tradltlon"
as an ldeal structure ln whlch the 'whole of the lltera
ture of Europe from Homer and wlthln lt the whole of
the llterature of hls |the artlst`s| own country has a
slmultaneous exlstence and composes a slmultaneous
order." Jo put lt more slmply, he deflnes tradltlon not
as a canon but as an ongolng and fluld relatlonshlp of
wrlters, llvlng and dead, wlthln the mlnd and bones of
the contemporary poet. Ellot`s reactlon agalnst Roman
tlclsm, slmllarly, ls related to the fact that Romantlclsm
celebrates the artlst ln lsolatlon. Ellot`s notlon that mod
ern poetry should be complex derlves ln part from hls
attempt to overcome hls lsolatlon from hls readers by
forclng them to become lnvolved as collaborators ln hls
poetry. He suggests that a text ls a selfsufflclent object
and at the same tlme a construct collaboratlvely
achleved by a reader. Hls account of the way a poet`s
mlnd works by unlfylng dlsparate phenomena ls consls
tent wlth hls dlalectlcal lmaglnatlon, as ls hls account of
llterary hlstory.
In regard to hls poetry, the perlod between l9ll
and l9l8 ls for the most part a long dry stretch. He
lncluded ln the Prufrock volume a few short pleces wrlt
ten ln London and Oxford ln l9l1 and l9l5, and he
copled others not ready for publlcatlon lnto hls note
book (publlshed ln l996 as Ivvcvtiovs of tlc Morcl Horc:
Iocms, 1909-1917 ). By l9l6 he was afrald that 'Jhe
Love Song of |. Alfred Prufrock" had been hls swan
song. And by l9l7 he had become, by hls own testl
mony, qulte desperate. Jo get golng agaln, Ellot wrote a
handful of poems ln Irench, one of whlch, 'Dovs lc Ics-
tourovt," ln a truncated Engllsh verslon, ended up ln Tlc
!ostc Iovd. Ellot and Pound were at thelr closest durlng
these years, and some of the lmpetus for Ellot`s revlval
as a poet came from hls flamboyant frlend. Both felt
109
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that the freedom achleved ln the prevlous decade of
revolutlon ln the arts had degenerated to llcense, and
they declded to move back toward more preclse forms.
Ior Ellot, the result was the quatraln poems, so called
because they were modeled, at Pound`s suggestlon, on
the quatralns of Jheophlle Gautler`s b~ `~
(l852). Jhese Gautlerlnsplred poems, all hlghly pol
lshed satlres, lnclude 'Jhe Hlppopotamus," 'Sweeney
Erect," 'Sweeney among the Nlghtlngales," 'Burbank
wlth a Baedeker," 'Mr. Ellot`s Sunday Mornlng Ser
vlce," 'Whlspers of Immortallty," and 'A Cooklng
Egg." Jhe themes of the Irench poems and the qua
traln poems overlap wlth those of the earller poems
soclal and metaphyslcal lonellness, the absence of love,
personal and cultural sterlllty, deathbut the tone ls
even darker, wlth vlolence just beneath the surface. Jhe
focuslnternatlonal, cultural, lnstltutlonalls broader
than ln the earller poems. Prufrock ls prlmarlly an lndl
vldual; Burbank and Sweeney are prlmarlly types.
Ellot`s mlserable marrlage and the experlence of World
War I seem to be the two most lmportant events behlnd
thls shlft ln hls work.
Ellot`s most slgnlflcant slngle poem between l9ll
and l922 was 'Gerontlon." Important ln ltself, lt also
serves as a transltlon to q t~ i~I to whlch, for
thematlc reasons, Ellot consldered lt an approprlate pre
lude, and to whlch, untll dlssuaded by Pound, he con
sldered preflxlng lt. Iormally, 'Gerontlon," llke 'Jhe
Love Song of |. Alfred Prufrock," descends from the
dramatlc monologue, but lt ls bolder and more compre
henslve. Jhe earller poem ls a portralt of an lndlvldual
mlnd, but 'Gerontlon" ls a portralt of the Mlnd of
Europe, a contalner for fragments of hlstory from the
Battle of Jhermopylae ln 180 _.`.b. to the Jreaty of
Versallles ln l9l9. Jhe tltle character, as hls name lndl
cates, ls old; born ln anclent Greece, he survlves as a
deslccated Socrates 'waltlng for raln" on the doorstep
of modern Europe. Llke Prufrock, Gerontlon ls an lntel
lectual, and the poem conslsts of hls thoughts. Jo order
these thoughts, Ellot uses the structural metaphor of
houses wlthln houses.
One of the most slgnlflcant houses ln thls Chlnese
boxllke poem ls warravaged Europe, a house of hor
rors wlth 'many cunnlng passages, contrlved corrl
dors." Ellot began wrltlng the poem ln l9l7, wlth the
war stlll raglng, and flnlshed lt ln early l9l9, a few
months after the Armlstlce. Europe`s great dynastlc and
polltlcal houses lay ln rulns, and nlne mllllon of her
young had been slaln for Western clvlllzatlon. Dlfferent
people analyzed the crlsls ln dlfferent ways; for Ellot,
the vlolence was lnseparable from a collapse of com
mon ground ln culture, the loss of the mythlc substruc
ture that enables the lndlvldual to understand hls
relatedness to anyone or anythlng. Jhe collapse of
shared assumptlons ln many fleldsrellglon, physlcs,
phllosophy, artproduced a crlsls ln eplstemology, ln
knowlng, and thls crlsls ls baslc to all of Ellot`s work.
Ellot`s early years as a llterary man bore tanglble
frult ln l920 wlth the publlcatlon of hls recent poems
(as ^~ s m ln England, m ln Amerlca) and the
best of hls llterary crltlclsm Eq p~ tFK As he
wrapped up the detalls surroundlng these projects, he
moved on to what became a watershed ln the hlstory of
European poetry. In December l9l9 Ellot wrote to hls
mother that hls New Year`s resolutlon was 'to wrlte a
long poem I have had on my mlnd for a long tlme."
Jhat long poem, q t~ i~I contlnues hls explora
tlon of what he saw as the decay of European clvlllza
tlon; but whereas 'Gerontlon" ls hls most lmpersonal
poem, q t~ i~ ls to some extent qulte personal,
for lt ls strongly colored by a breakdown ln hls own llfe.
In the years followlng hls marrlage, Ellot had suffered
contlnuously from overwork and flnanclal straln. Jhe
death of hls father ln l9l9 also took a heavy toll, as dld
the loss of frlends ln the war. Hls most severe dlstress,
however, was that assoclated wlth the breakdown of hls
marrlage. It had become lncreaslngly clear that he and
Vlvlenne Ellot were not good for each other. Hls com
ments about her ln the letters are klnd (they reflect,
malnly, concern for her health and respect for her
resourcefulness), but as the poems 'Hysterla" (l9l5)
and 'Ode" (l9l8) suggest, hls feellngs were more nega
tlve than he could ever have admltted to hls famlly or
frlends, or even to hlmself. In the l960s, ln a prlvate
paper (quoted ln q i qK pK bI l988), he
flnally acknowledged what had long been evldent. 'Jo
her the marrlage brought no happlness . . . to me, lt
brought the state of mlnd out of whlch came q t~
i~."
Jhese years of unmltlgated anxlety culmlnated,
flnally, ln serlous lllness. In l92l, on the verge of a ner
vous breakdown, Ellot was forced to take a rest leave
from the bank. In October he went for a month to Mar
gate; and then, leavlng Vlvlenne Ellot ln Parls, he went
to a sanatorlum ln Swltzerland. In thls protected envl
ronment, he devoted hlmself to completlng the 'long
poem" that had been on hls mlnd for years, a work ln
whlch hls lllness ls lncluded as part of the materlal. In
|anuary l922 Ellot returned to London, stopplng
brlefly ln Parls, where he left the typescrlpt of the poem,
then called 'He Do the Pollce ln Dlfferent Volces," wlth
Pound. Jhe latter lmmedlately recognlzed lt as a work
of genlus but thought lt needed to be reduced ln length.
Ellot accepted most of Pound`s suggestlons and later
testlfled that Pound was 'a marvelous crltlc because he .
. . trled to see what you were trylng to do." In October
l922 q t~ i~ appeared ln England ln the flrst
lssue of the Ì the journal Ellot edlted for most of
1l0
qK pK b ai_ POV
the next two decades; ln November lt appeared ln
Amerlca ln the a~I wlth Ellot recelvlng the a~ Award
of $2,000.
q t~ i~ was taken by some crltlcs as a
tasteless joke, by others as a masterplece expresslng the
dlsllluslonment of a generatlon. As far as Ellot was con
cerned, lt was nelther. He needed, he explalned ln a
l959 m~ o lntervlew, to get somethlng off hls
chest, addlng, 'one doesn`t know qulte what lt ls that
one needs to get off the chest untll one`s got lt off." In a
lecture at Harvard, quoted ln q t~ i~ facslmlle
(publlshed ln l97l), he responded to those who consld
ered the poem to be a cultural statement. 'Jo me lt was
only the rellef of a personal and wholly lnslgnlflcant
grouse agalnst llfe; lt ls just a plece of rhythmlcal grum
bllng." Jhe grumbllng ls personal, of course, whlch ls
why he calls lt lnslgnlflcant, but lts causes are lnsepara
ble from those that set a generatlon or more of lntelll
gent Westerners to grumbllng. Ellot`s grouse agalnst llfe
ls part of a larger and shared dlscontent about postwar
clvlllzatlon and the condltlons of modern llfe. Another
aspect of Ellot`s grumbllng that ls more than personal ls
hls anxlety about posslblllty ln art. A major theme ln
hls poetry and prose from the beglnnlng had been the
sltuatlon of the artlst who ls lsolated from hls audlence
by a collapse of common ground ln culture. Deprlved
of a shared mythlc or rellglous frame, the modern artlst
was forced to come up wlth other means of unlty. He
had to flnd, as Ellot put lt ln hls revlew of |ames |oyce`s
r (l922), 'a way of controlllng, of orderlng, of glv
lng a shape and a slgnlflcance to the lmmense pan
orama of futlllty and anarchy whlch ls contemporary
hlstory." Jhe 'narratlve method," rooted ln sequence,
ln an orderly flow of llfe (and of storles) from beglnnlng
to end, had been rendered obsolete by modern sclence
and by condltlons of hlstory.
In q t~ i~I consequently, Ellot experl
mented wlth a method that he hoped would be 'a step
towards maklng the modern world posslble for art." He
called lt the 'mythlcal method" and deflned lt as the
manlpulatlon of a contlnuous parallel between an
ordered world of myth (an abstractlon) and a chaotlc
world of hlstory, contemporary or otherwlse. In keep
lng the chaos of hls own tlme on the surface, the artlst ls
belng true to hlstory; ln referrlng thls chaos to a tlme
less order, he ls belng true to art. Jhe mythlcal method
enabled Ellot ln q t~ i~ to deal slmultaneously
wlth such lssues as hls lllness and falled marrlage and
larger lssues such as the upheavals ln polltlcs, phlloso
phy, and sclence that surrounded World War I. Jhe
tltle and much of the symbollsm were taken from Slr
|ames Irazer`s q d _ (l890-l9l5) and |essle
Weston`s Arthurlan studles, collected ln c o~
o~ (l920). Irazer argued that all myths descended
from a slngle ancestor (a monomyth) that ln hls recon
structlon descrlbes a land ln whlch a klng and hls peo
ple are so lnterrelated that lmpotence ln the ruler leads
to sterlllty ln the people and devastatlon ln the land.
Weston, a dlsclple of Irazer`s, argued that the Grall sto
rles were part of thls larger myth. Jhe monomyth had
speclal relevance to earlytwentlethcentury culture.
God had been declared dead; the earth had been devas
tated by war; polltlcal leaders had proven lmpotent; an
entlre generatlon of young men had been slaughtered ln
Irance and Belglum; and survlvors resembled ghosts
on the streets of the clty. Jhe ancestor myth ls not
present ln lts entlrety ln q t~ i~ but ls generated
ln the reader`s mlnd by juxtaposltlon of fragments of lts
many varlants and, as ln rI by a complex web of
references. Jhe poem features many volces from many
tlmes and places, and together they reveal shlftlng per
spectlves on sltuatlons ln whlch fallures of leadershlp,
communlty, and love have produced a wasteland. Jhe
use of sllvers of myth to generate structure and the use
of shlftlng perspectlves are hallmarks of the radlcal
form of q t~ i~K
Another aspect of form ln the poem ls parataxls,
that ls, the juxtaposltlon wlthout transltlon of frag
ments, some no more than a slngle word. Blts of myth,
llterature, rellglon, and phllosophy from many tlmes
and cultures are comblned wlth snatches of muslc and
conversatlon so contemporary they could have come
from yesterday`s newspaper. Meanlngless ln them
selves, the fragments ln thls llterary collage become
powerfully suggestlve ln thelr juxtaposltlon and ln the
way they echo and explaln one another as they gener
ate larger wholes.
q t~ i~ conslsts of flve parts ln whlch
Ellot`s own verse ls mlxed wlth fragments of the verse
of others. Jhe prlmary subject of the flrst sectlon,
'Burlal of the Dead," ls death. death as a problem ln
waste dlsposal, death as part of a natural cycle, death as
part of llfe, death as an end, death as a beglnnlng.
Ellot`s montage lncludes the death of the year, of lndl
vlduals, of cltles, of clvlllzatlons. All of these deaths go
back ln Irazer`s genealogy to prlmltlve rltuals ln whlch
death ls followed by a rltuallstlc 'plantlng" lntended to
lnsure a rlch harvest. Ellot refers speclflcally to such rlt
uals ln the llnes, 'Jhat corpse you planted last year ln
your garden, / Has lt begun to sprout?" Jhe plantlng,
ln Aprll, of a male corpse (or part of one, usually the
genltals) ln mother earth ls at the center of many
anclent fertlllty ceremonles. But Ellot`s llnes refer also
to the contemporary world, where plantlng the corpse
ensures harvest by actlng as organlc fertlllzer, and
where Aprll ls cruel because, ln 'breedlng / Lllacs out of
the dead land," lt promlses what lt does not dellver
new llfe.
1ll
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Jhe underlylng subject of the second sectlon, 'A
Game of Chess," ls sex, ln myth part of an lnterest ln
llfe. In hlstory, though, as Ellot shows, sex ls often not
assoclated wlth llfe at all. He juxtaposes two 'love"
scenesmlnldramas from opposlte ends of the soclal
scale, both dlsplaylng sterlle and meanlngless relatlon
shlps. Jhe relatlonshlp of an uppermlddleclass couple
ls structured by a game of chess, and that of a Cockney
couple by vlslts to the pub. Jhrough alluslon, other
sterlle sexual sltuatlonsOphella`s, Cleopatra`s, Phllo
mela`sare superlmposed. Jhe underlylng subject of
sectlon three, 'Jhe Ilre Sermon," ls agaln the sexual
wound behlnd the decay of clvlllzatlon. As ln 'A Game
of Chess," there are two contemporary sexual sltua
tlonsone, a homosexual proposltlon; the other, a
mechanlcal sexual transactlon between a typlst and a
clerk. Both sltuatlons lssue from boredom; both, obvl
ously, are loveless and frultless. Jhe underlylng subject
ln the short fourth sectlon, 'Death by Water," ls agaln
death. Jhe drownlng of a sallor, followed by dlssolu
tlon, ls juxtaposed, through alluslon, to the 'death" by
water of Chrlstlan baptlsm and of Irazer`s vegetatlon
myths, both of whlch are rltuallstlc preludes to reblrth.
Jhe rltuallstlc death by water lnvolves purlflcatlon; the
contemporary death by water ls also, lronlcally, a purlfl
catlon, a llteral cleanslng of bones.
Jhe underlylng subject of the last sectlon of q
t~ i~I 'What the Jhunder Sald," ls restoratlon,
not as a fact, but as a remote posslblllty. Jhe prevlous
lmages of drought and sterlllty reappear, but now
accompanled by lmages suggestlng the posslblllty of
revltallzatlon. Jhunder sounds ln the dlstance; Chrlst,
the slaln and resurrected hero whose death effects resto
ratlon, walks the land; the mythlc hero whose personal
trlals can secure communal blesslng approaches the
Chapel Perllous. Jhe tltle of thls sectlon refers to an
Indlan legend ln whlch men, gods, and devlls llsten to
the thunder and then construct from that sound the
posltlve message that can restore the wasteland and
make lts lnhabltants frultful agaln. Jhe poem ends,
however, not wlth restoratlon but wlth an avalanche of
fragments, the most concentrated ln the entlre poem.
Jhe last fragment ('Shantlh Shantlh Shantlh"), by
chance a benedlctlon, ls the cruelest ln that, llke Aprll,
and perhaps llke thunder, lt awakens expectatlons that
lt does not satlsfy.
Restoratlon, then, ls present only as a whlsper; lt
all hlnges, flnally, on one`s wllllngness to take the glven
and to construct somethlng that wlll enable the retrleval
of structure and meanlng. Jhe last llnes suggest a dls
tlnctlon that became cruclal ln Ellot`s own llfe. whlle lt
may not be posslble to reclalm Western clvlllzatlon, lt
may be posslble to restore order ln one`s personal llfe.
In l926 Ellot was lnvlted to glve the Clark Lec
tures at Cambrldge (publlshed ln l993 as q s~
j~~ m ), and ln l932, by thls tlme a world
renowned poet and crltlc, he was lnvlted to Harvard as
the Charles Ellot Norton Professor of Poetry. Jhree
events of the lntervenlng decade are lmportant ln fol
lowlng the shape of hls llfe and art. Ilrst, hls flnanclal
and ln a sense hls vocatlonal sltuatlon was settled when,
ln l925, he left Lloyds Bank for the publlshlng house of
Iaber and Gwyer (later Iaber and Iaber). Second, hls
marltal sltuatlon contlnued to deterlorate, endlng wlth
hls permanent separatlon from Vlvlenne Ellot ln l932;
and thlrd, ln l927, hls splrltual odyssey culmlnated ln
baptlsm lnto the Angllcan Church and naturallzatlon as
a Brltlsh subject. Jhe flnanclal nlghtmare had begun to
fade ln l922 when he launched q `K When
Ellot announced on the eve of World War II that he
was brlnglng q ` to a close, he was able to look
back wlth conslderable prlde on the quallty and range
of hls accompllshments. By publlshlng the work of such
dlstlngulshed wrlters as Paul Valry, Marcel Proust,
|oyce, Woolf, D. H. Lawrence, Auden, |acques
Marltaln, Maurras, and Wllhelm Worrlnger, he had
greatly enhanced lntellectual fellowshlp ln Europe. At
Iaber and Iaber, Ellot found a congenlal and endurlng
group of assoclates, and through the publlshlng house,
he was able to be a mentor and frlend to younger wrlt
ers.
Jhe communlty of lntellectuals and artlsts of
whlch Ellot became a part assuaged somewhat the
sense of fragmentatlon that had always haunted hlm.
Jhe sexual and the rellglous aspects of hls lsolatlon,
however, proved reslstant to lmprovement. He and
Vlvlenne Ellot were unable to forge any sort of unlty,
and as thelr relatlonshlp and her health contlnued to
worsen, he suffered ln ways that surfaced ln hls poetry.
Inseparable from hls reallzatlon that human love, and ln
partlcular, sexual love, had falled was hls turn toward
God and the church. Jhe emptlness and desolatlon of
thls perlod are perfectly caught ln 'Jhe Hollow Men,"
composed ln fragments over a two or threeyear perlod
and flrst appearlng as a slngle poem ln m NVMV
NVOR (l925).
Wrltten ln the style of what Ellot once sald was
the best part of q t~ i~the waterdrlpplng
song ln 'What the Jhunder Sald"'Jhe Hollow
Men" ls based on four maln alluslons. Dante`s a
` (clrca l3l0-l3l1), Wllllam Shakespeare`s
g `~~ (l599), |oseph Conrad`s e~ a~
(l902), and an event ln Engllsh hlstory, the Gunpow
der Plot of l605. Dante, Shakespeare, and Conrad are
arguably the most lmportant wrlters ln the back
ground of Ellot`s art, and e~ a~ ls probably
second only to q a ` as an lntellectual/
QNO
qK pK b ai_ POV
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s b E s~ bX e tK ~ ^ ^K _ Ì k v m i~I
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1l3
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splrltual resource. Conrad`s Mr. Kurtz, a cultlvated
European ldeallst and carrler of clvlllzatlon to dark
places, gllmpses as he dles a vlslon that he expresses as
'Jhe horror! Jhe horror!" Jhese words, lncluded ln
Ellot`s orlglnal eplgraph for Tlc !ostc Iovd, descrlbe
the vlslon both Conrad and Ellot saw beneath the
veneer of European clvlllzatlon. And they descrlbe
what Conrad probably and Ellot certalnly saw
beneath the surface of modern ldeallsm.
In 'Jhe Hollow Men," Ellot focuses on the ldeal
lsm shared by such flgures as Brutus, Guy Iawkes, and
(as ln Tlc !ostc Iovd ) Kurtz, and ln an eplgraph that ls
also a concluslon, he quotes from Hcort of Dorlvcss the
slmple announcement by a jungle boy. 'Mlstah Kurtz
he dead." Jhe death of Kurtz and all that he stands for
ls at the center of the meanlng of thls poem. Jhe 'Old
Guy" of the eplgraph ls not only Guy Iawkes but also
'the old man" whose death, accordlng to Salnt Paul, ls
the condltlon of new llfe. Many flgures ln Ellot`s early
poems, lncludlng all the gods and semlgods from
Irazer, have to dle or be put to death as the condltlon
for the contlnuatlon of llfe. Jhose who cannot dle can
not really llve. Jhe most strlklng of these deathlnllfe
flgures ls the Slbyl of Cumae who presldes over Tlc
!ostc Iovd. In 'Jhe Hollow Men," Ellot does not go
beyond a presentatlon of emptlness, but ln the act of
presentlng that, he seems to accept the death that ls the
essentlal step toward hls own vito vuovo. In 'Gerontlon"
and Tlc !ostc Iovd, Ellot had seen the deathlnllfe flg
ures as prlmarlly other than hlmself. But ln 'Jhe Hol
low Men," ln trylng to volce hls own lnartlculate
emptlness, he numbers hlmself among the llvlng dead.
Hls ldeallsm, llke that of Brutus, Iawkes, and Kurtz,
has led hlm to the cactus land.
Jhe way out of the cactus land led Ellot to hls
baptlsm on 29 |une l927 lnto the Angllcan Commun
lon. In November, ln what seemed to hlm part of the
same rltual, he was naturallzed as a Brltlsh cltlzen.
Many of Ellot`s contemporarles, havlng adopted hlm as
a sort of spokesman, felt that ln embraclng tradltlonal
Chrlstlanlty he had abandoned them. He explalned ln
'Jhoughts After Lambeth" (l93l) that he had never
lntended to be the spokesman for a generatlon; that he
had been trylng all along to work out hls own salvatlon;
and that, for 'powerful and concurrent reasons," he
had been drawn lnexorably toward Chrlstlanlty. In
March l932, ln a brlef artlcle ln the Iistcvcr, he
explalned, 'In my own case, I belleve that one of the
reasons was that the Chrlstlan scheme seemed to me
the only one whlch would work . . . the only posslble
scheme whlch found a place for values whlch I must
malntaln or perlsh." Llke Blalse Pascal, Ellot had pro
ceeded to the Chrlstlan posltlon by a careful process of
rejectlon and ellmlnatlon. He had consldered Buddhlsm
and trled schemes from phllosophy and anthropology,
and he concluded that these optlons falled to account
for the world as he saw lt and were an lnadequate basls
for order ln llfe and ln art. In a strlklng revlslon of hls
early aesthetlc of lmpersonallty, Ellot used hls own splr
ltual struggle as materlal ln hls next major poem, Zsl-
!cdvcsdoy.
Zsl-!cdvcsdoy ls composed of slx lyrlcs, three of
whlch had been publlshed separately before the l930
publlcatlon of all slx under one tltle. Jhe tltle refers to
the flrst day of Lent, a day of repentance and fastlng ln
whlch Chrlstlans acknowledge thelr mortallty and
begln the fortyday perlod of selfexamlnatlon leadlng
to the new llfe promlsed by Easter. Jhe structure of thls
sequence comes from Ellot`s new prlnclple of order, the
Chrlstlan scheme that for hlm had subsumed both
Bradley and Irazer. In place of the monomyth as a ref
erence polnt, Ellot now uses the Incarnatlon of Chrlst
not only ln Zsl-!cdvcsdoy but also ln Iour _uortcts and
the plays. Jhe Incarnatlon represents an lntersectlon of
the human and the dlvlne, of tlme and the tlmeless, of
movement and stlllness. Ellot`s earller schemes had
been a means of maklng art posslble ln the chaos of
contemporary hlstory; hls new scheme, however, ls a
means of maklng llfe, of whlch art ls only a part, possl
ble. Jhe lntegratlon of llfe and art can be seen ln the
fact that Zsl-!cdvcsdoy ls at once more personal, confes
slonal even, and at the same tlme more formal and styl
lzed than the earller work.
Ior all lts brlghtness, Zsl-!cdvcsdoy remalns a
poem about twlllght, about 'the tlme of tenslon
between dylng and blrth." Jhe tenslon ls resolved ln
Morivo (publlshed as a Chrlstmas pamphlet ln l930),
frequently regarded as Ellot`s most beautlful short
poem. It conslsts of an lnterlor monologue spoken by
Perlcles, Prlnce of Jyre, who ln Shakespeare`s play salls
the seas ln search of hls beloved wlfe, lost after glvlng
blrth at sea to an lnfant daughter, also lost and presum
ably dead. Ellot`s monologue, lnsplred by Shake
speare`s recognltlon scene, conveys the wonder and awe
the old prlnce experlences ln reallzlng that the beautlful
glrl standlng before hlm ls Marlna, a recognltlon that
not only restores a daughter but also leads to the resto
ratlon of hls wlfe.
Jhe decade lnaugurated wlth Zsl-!cdvcsdoy was
an eventful one for Ellot. In l932 he publlshed Sclcctcd
Issoys 1917-19J2, a collectlon of hls llterary crltlclsm
through the l920s. Jhe same year, ln September, he
returned to Amerlca to dellver the prestlglous Charles
Ellot Norton lectures at Harvard. Vlvlenne Ellot
remalned ln England. In thls crltlcal moment, Ellot
declded that they could no longer llve together. Ior sev
eral reasons, he dld not want to dlvorce her, and so he
asked hls London sollcltor to prepare a 'Deed of Sepa
1l1
qK pK b ai_ POV
ratlon." After he returned to England, they llved apart
and rarely saw each other. Her health decllned even
more, and ln l939 she was lnstltutlonallzed by her
brother Maurlce.
Jhe most rewardlng part of Ellot`s year ln Amer
lca, hls flrst vlslt home ln elghteen years, was that lt
enabled hlm to renew hls relatlonshlp wlth survlvlng
members of hls famlly. In December he traveled to Cal
lfornla, ostenslbly to glve a lecture at Scrlpps College,
but actually to spend tlme wlth Hale, who was a profes
sor there. Except for the dlstress caused by the sltuatlon
wlth hls wlfe, Ellot enjoyed hls homecomlng. Hls Har
vard lectures, a survey of hlgh polnts ln Engllsh crltl
clsm from the Renalssance to the l920s, were publlshed
ln l933 as q r m ~ r `. In |an
uary l933 he dellvered the Jurnbull Lectures at |ohns
Hopklns Lnlverslty, and ln May the PageBarbour Lec
tures at the Lnlverslty of Vlrglnla. Jhe Vlrglnla lec
tures, publlshed as ^ p~ d ln l931,
constltuted an attempt to flnetune hls old concept of
tradltlon, rechrlstenlng lt 'orthodoxy." Back ln
England, he lectured at Edlnburgh and Cambrldge, the
Cambrldge lectures later prlnted as q f~ ~ `~
p. Also ln the l930s, Ellot reallzed hls longstandlng
ambltlon of becomlng a dramatlst, flnlshlng both jJ
`~~ and q c~ o. He also pub
llshed l m _ m~~ `~ (l939), llght
poems composed for hls godchlldren.
Ellot`s major poetlc achlevement durlng the l930s
was _ kI composed ln l935, lnltlally consldered
as an lndependent workand lncluded as such ln `J
m NVMVNVPR (l936)but becomlng durlng the
war the flrst of four comparable works that together are
known as c n~. Jhls sequence_ kI b~
Ì q a p~~I and i dls wldely
regarded as Ellot`s masterplece. He hlmself thought
c n~ hls greatest achlevement and i d
hls best poem.
Whereas hls early poems had been centered on
the lsolated lndlvldual, c n~ ls centered on the
lsolated moment, the fragment of tlme that takes lts
meanlng from and glves lts meanlng to a pattern, a pat
tern at once ln tlme, contlnuously changlng untll the
supreme moment of death completes lt, and also out of
tlme. Slnce the lndlvldual llves and exlsts only ln frag
ments, he can never qulte know the whole pattern; but
ln certaln moments, he can experlence the pattern ln
mlnlature. Jhese tlmeless moments'the moment ln
the rosegarden, / Jhe moment ln the arbour where the
raln beat, / Jhe moment ln the draughty church at
smokefall"provlde for Ellot the means of conquerlng
tlme. Jhls moment of sudden lllumlnatlon, ln and out
of tlme, Ellot assoclates wlth the Wordmadeflesh, the
Incarnatlon; and also wlth the wordmadeart, poetry.
Jhe part/pattern conflguratlon, especlally ln these three
dlmenslons, ls both the maln subject and the maln prln
clple of form ln c n~.
Jhe fact that c n~ ls a medltatlon on tlme
and a celebratlon of pattern polnts to a secondary prln
clple of form, albelt the one usually mentloned flrst by
crltlcs. Irom the collectlve tltle and from a lecture called
q j m (l912), dellvered early ln the year he
flnlshed i dI lt ls clear that Ellot was worklng
wlth a muslcal analogy throughout c n~I espe
clally ln regard to structure. Jhe most consplcuous
analogles to muslc lnclude statement and counterstate
ment, theme and varlatlon, tempo varlatlon, and mood
varlatlon. By uslng the muslcal analogy, Ellot was able
to avold monotony, the plague of long and complex
phllosophlcal poems. Jhe analogy wlth muslc ls useful
ln clarlfylng the nondlscurslve nature of c n~I
but as Ellot warns ln q j m and ln essays on
the Irench symbollsts, lt should not be pushed too far.
Jhe tltle of each medltatlon refers to a speclflc
place lmportant to the poet. Burnt Norton ls the name
of a country house ln Gloucestershlre that Ellot vlslted
ln the summer of l931 ln the company of Hale. Pend
lng the avallablllty of Ellot`s many letters to thls frlend
of more than half a century, the exact nature of thelr
relatlonshlp cannot be known. But lt seems llkely that
on thls summer day ln the rose garden, Ellot, gullttorn
and exhausted from hls dlsastrous marrlage and recent
separatlon, experlenced a temptatlon to deny the
present by returnlng to the road not taken ln l9l1. Jhls
temptatlon seems to have generated the llnes that now
open _ k.
Jhe tltle of b~ ` refers to the vlllage ln
Somersetshlre from whlch, ln the seventeenth century,
Ellot`s famlly had lmmlgrated to Amerlca, and to
whlch, after hls death, Ellot`s own ashes were to be
returned. Jhe mystery of beglnnlngs and ends'In
my beglnnlng ls my end," 'In my end ls my begln
nlng"ln and out of hlstory ls explored ln thls work.
Jhe thlrd of the c n~ takes lts tltle from a small
but enormously treacherous group of rocks, the Dry
Salvages, located off the coast of Cape Ann, Massa
chusetts, where Ellot had passed hls chlldhood sum
mers. Jhese rocks, the cold and seemlngly llmltless
ocean ln whlch they are anchored, and the great Mls
slsslppl Rlver of hls chlldhood are the major symbols
ln thls medltatlon.
Jhe last of the c n~ takes lts tltle from a
tlny vlllage ln Huntlngdonshlre, Llttle Glddlng, whlch
ln the seventeenth century had been a communlty of
dedlcated Chrlstlans under the leadershlp of Nlcholas
Ierrar. Ellot, who vlslted Llttle Glddlng ln l936,
admlred the example of thls small group that had
renounced posltlon and wealth for a llfe of work and
1l5
ai_ POV qK pK b
prayer. Each of these four places ls assoclated wlth
Ellot`s part/pattern, stlllness/movement theme. He
lnslsts on the lmportance of speclflc places, just as he
does on the lmportance of speclflc moments. Jhe
tlmeless moment, ln fact, can only occur ln a speclflc
placea rose garden, a draughty church, a raln
washed arbor. Jhe places are only fragments of the
pattern; they constltute, nevertheless, the only way to
transcendence.
Jhe Iour _uortcts all have the same general form.
Jhe flrst part of each conslsts of a medltatlon on tlme
and consclousness, arranged as a statement/counter
statement/recapltulatlon. Jhe second conslsts of a
hlghly structured poetlcal passage followed by a rela
tlvely prosalc passage, both on the general subject of
belng trapped ln tlme. Jhe thlrd explores lmpllcatlons
of the flrst two ln terms of a journey metaphor, some
concept of the movement of the self ln and out of tlme.
Jhe fourth ls a brlef lyrlc treatlng of death and reblrth.
Jhe flfth beglns wlth a colloqulal passage and then
ends wlth a lyrlc that secures closure by returnlng to
the beglnnlng and collectlng major lmages. Jhe flfth
sectlon ln each work lncorporates a medltatlon on the
problem of the artlst who must stlll move ln stlllness,
keep tlme ln tlme (both contlnuously move ln step,
and contlnuously be stlll).
Ellot`s career as a poet vlrtually ended wlth Iour
_uortcts. Hls longstandlng despalr over Western clvlll
zatlon, at the heart of 'Gerontlon" and Tlc !ostc Iovd
and stlll consplcuous ln l939 ln hls farewell edltorlal
for Tlc Critcriov, was somewhat dlsplaced by the onset
of World War II. He reallzed anew that there were tra
dltlons and prlnclples worth dylng for, and he dld
what he could to help preserve themfor example,
servlng as a flre watcher on the roof of Iaber and
Iaber durlng the bomblng of London ln l910, an
experlence represented ln the 'compound ghost" sec
tlon of Iittlc Ciddivg. Jhls perlod was marked by the
loss of frlends, lncludlng Yeats ln l939 and |oyce and
Woolf ln l91l. In |anuary l917, the most palnful chap
ter ln hls personal hlstory came to an end when, after
years of lllness, Vlvlenne Ellot dled of a heart attack.
Pound was by thls tlme conflned ln a mental hospltal,
St. Ellzabeth`s ln Washlngton, D.C., charged wlth
treason for radlo speeches made durlng the war. Wlth
other concerned frlends, Ellot dld what he could to
lmprove the sltuatlon of hls old benefactor. Agalnst
these lengthenlng shadows, Ellot must have experl
enced some pleasure ln hls growlng reputatlon as one
of the greatest llvlng poets and dlstlngulshed men of
letters.
What remalned of Ellot`s creatlve energy was
put lnto hls comedlesTlc Cocltoil Iorty, Tlc Covfidcv-
tiol Clcrl ( performed ln l953, publlshed ln l951), and
Tlc Ildcr Stotcsmov ( performed ln l958, publlshed ln
l959). Jhe flrst was a popular success, wlnnlng lnter
natlonal prlzes and, when lt opened on Broadway,
attractlng an audlence that lncluded Ethel Barrymore
and the duke and duchess of Wlndsor. In the late
l910s and l950s Ellot returned to Amerlca for several
appearances at unlversltles, lncludlng Prlnceton, the
Lnlverslty of Chlcago, and Washlngton Lnlverslty.
He contlnued wlth hls work at Iaber and Iaber durlng
the l950s, and he accepted lnvltatlons to lecture ln
South Afrlca, Edlnburgh, and other places.
Beglnnlng ln the late l910s, Ellot recelved
almost every accolade the West had to offer a poet.
Several unlversltles, lncludlng hls alma mater,
bestowed honorary doctorates. In l918 he recelved
England`s most excluslve and prestlglous clvlllan
prlze, the Order of Merlt, and, ln the same year, the
Nobel Prlze ln Llterature. He responded to the Nobel
wlth a mlxture of gratltude and humor. Blographer
Peter Ackroyd records that when asked what he
recelved the prlze for, Ellot sald that he assumed lt
was for 'the entlre corpus." Jhe reporter responded,
'When dld you wrlte that?" In Tlc `cw Jorl Timcs (2l
November l918) a reporter asked how lt felt to wln
the Nobel Prlze, and Ellot replled, 'One does not feel
any dlfferent. It lsn`t that you get any blgger to flt the
world, the world gets smaller to flt you." Jhe blggest
dlfference made by the Nobel, perhaps, was that lt
lncreased Ellot`s anxlety regardlng hls future work.
Knowlng hls best work was ln the past, he feared that
the prlze would create expectatlons he could no
longer satlsfy. In the decade that followed, neverthe
less, he contlnued to recelve lnternatlonal awards.
Jhe status of thls most prlvate and dlfflcult poet ls
lndlcated by hls coverage ln popular magazlnes (ln
March l950 he appeared on the cover of Timc) and by
the slze of hls audlences (he attracted a crowd of
nearly flfteen thousand for a l956 lecture ln Mlnne
apolls). Ellot accepted all of thls attentlon wlth charac
terlstlc grace and good humor. As hls obltuary ln the
London Timcs (6 |anuary l965) noted, 'He was,
above all, a humble man; flrm, even stubborn at
tlmes, but wlth no selflmportance; qulte unspollt by
fame; free from splrltual or lntellectual prlde." Jhls
quotatlon ls substantlated by the testlmony of those
who knew hlm as a person rather than as a monu
ment.
Jhe most lmportant event ln Ellot`s later llfe
was hls second marrlage. In hls slxtynlnth year
(l957), he marrled Esme Valerle Iletcher, hls devoted
secretary at Iaber and Iaber slnce l950, and almost
forty years hls junlor. By all accounts, thls happy mar
rlage rejuvenated the poet. Hls obvlous contentment
may seem to contradlct most of hls earller references
1l6
qK pK b ai_ POV
to sexual love, but ln fact hls belated marltal bllss
reveals wlth speclal clarlty a larger pattern ln hls llfe
and art. Jhat pattern lnvolves a contlnuous quest for
wholeness. Hls early obsesslon wlth brokenness and
lsolatlon can easlly be seen ln retrospect as the nega
tlve expresslon of a quest for wholeness and commun
lon. Jhe second marrlage ls lmportant because lt ls
the complement ln hls personal llfe of the rellglous
unlty he found through commltment to the Incarna
tlon, and of the aesthetlc unlty he achleved ln Iour
_uortcts. Jhe personal unlty, the 'new person / Who
ls you and me together," ls celebrated ln hls swan
song, Tlc Ildcr Stotcsmov, most expllcltly ln lts dedlca
tory poem, 'A Dedlcatlon to My Wlfe."
J. S. Ellot`s last years, though happy, were dark
ened by lllness. He dled of emphysema ln London on
1 |anuary l965. Jhe London Timcs obltuary was
tltled 'Jhe Most Influentlal Engllsh Poet of Hls
Jlme," and the long obltuary ln Iifc magazlne con
cluded wlth 'Our age beyond any doubt has been,
and wlll contlnue to be, the Age of Ellot." Such clalms
lnevltably provoke reactlon and reevaluatlon. In
Ellot`s case, the reevaluatlon, well under way even
before hls death, has reafflrmed hls stature as a great
poet and a central flgure ln the European tradltlon.
iW
Tlc Icttcrs of T. S. Iliot, volume l [1S9S-1922], edlted
by Valerle Ellot (San Dlego. Harcourt Brace
|ovanovlch, l988; London. Iaber Iaber, l988).
fW
Henry Hewes, 'J. S. Ellot at Seventy" and 'Ellot on
Ellot," Soturdoy Icvicw, 1l (l3 September l958).
30-32;
Helen Gardner, 'Jhe 'Aged Eagle` Spreads Hls Wlngs.
A 70
Blrthday Jalk wlth J. S. Ellot," Suvdoy

Timcs, 2l September l958, p. 8;
Donald Hall, 'Jhe Art of Poetry, I. J. S. Ellot," Ioris
Icvicw, 2l (Sprlng/Summer l959). 17-70;
reprlnted ln !ritcrs ot !orl, Second Serles (New
York. Vlklng, l963), pp. 9l-ll0;
Leslle Paul, 'A Conversatlon wlth J. S. Ellot," Icvyov
Icvicw, 27 (Wlnter l961/l965). ll-2l.
_~W
Donald C. Gallup, T. S. Iliot: Z ibliogroply, revlsed and
extended edltlon (New York. Harcourt, Brace
World, l969);
Mlldred Martln, Z Holf-Ccvtury of Iliot Criticism: Zv Zvvo-
totcd ibliogroply of ools ovd Zrticlcs iv Ivglisl,
1916-196 (Lewlsburg, Pa.. Bucknell Lnlverslty
Press, l972);
Beatrlce Rlcks, T. S. Iliot: Z ibliogroply of Sccovdory
!orls (Metuchen, N.|.. Scarecrow Press, l980);
Robert Canary, T. S. Iliot: Tlc Ioct ovd His Critics (Chl
cago. Amerlcan Llbrary Assoclatlon, l982);
Stuart Y. McDougal, 'J. S. Ellot," ln Sixtccv Modcrv
Zmcricov Zutlors: Z Survcy of Icscorcl ovd Criticism
Sivcc 1972, edlted by |ackson R. Bryer (Durham,
N.C.. Duke Lnlverslty Press, l989), pp. l51-
209;
Sebastlan D. G. Knowles and Scott A. Leonard, Zv
Zvvototcd ibliogroply of o Dccodc of T. S. Iliot Criti-
cism: 1977-19S6 (Orono, Me.. Natlonal Poetry
Ioundatlon, l992).
_~W
Peter Ackroyd, T. S. Iliot: Z Iifc (London. Hamllton,
l981; New York. Slmon Schuster, l981);
Jony Sharpe, T. S. Iliot: Z Iitcrory Iifc (Baslngstoke,
L.K.. Macmlllan, l99l; New York. St. Martln`s
Press, l99l);
Lyndall Gordon, T. S. Iliot: Zv Impcrfcct Iifc (London.
Vlntage, l998; New York. Norton, l999).
oW
Rlchard Badenhausen, T. S. Iliot ovd tlc Zrt of Colloboro-
tiov (Cambrldge. Cambrldge Lnlverslty Press,
2005);
Calvln Bedlent, Hc Do tlc Iolicc iv Diffcrcvt !oiccs: 'Tlc
!ostc Iovd ovd Its Irotogovist (Chlcago. Lnlverslty
of Chlcago Press, l986);
Carollne Behr, T. S. Iliot: Z Clrovology of His Iifc ovd
!orls (London. Macmlllan, l983);
|ewel Spears Brooker, Mostcry ovd Iscopc: T. S. Iliot ovd
tlc Diolcctic of Modcrvism (Amherst. Lnlverslty of
Massachusetts Press, l991);
Brooker, ed., Zpprooclcs to Tcoclivg Iliot`s Ioctry ovd Iloys
(New York. Modern Language Assoclatlon,
l988);
Brooker, ed., Tlc Ilocivg of T. S. Iliot (Columbla. Lnl
verslty of Mlssourl Press, l99l);
Brooker, ed., T. S. Iliot: Tlc Covtcmporory Icvicws (Cam
brldge. Cambrldge Lnlverslty Press, 2001);
Brooker, ed., T. S. Iliot ovd Uur Turvivg !orld (London.
Macmlllan, 200l);
Brooker and |oseph Bentley, Icodivg Tlc !ostc Iovd:
Modcrvism ovd tlc Iimits of Ivtcrprctotiov (Amherst.
Lnlverslty of Massachusetts Press, l990);
Ronald Bush, T. S. Iliot: Z Study iv Cloroctcr ovd Stylc
(New York. Oxford Lnlverslty Press, l981);
Bush, ed., T. S. Iliot: Tlc Modcrvist iv History (Cam
brldge. Cambrldge Lnlverslty Press, l99l);
Donald |. Chllds, T. S. Iliot: Mystic, Sov c Iovcr (New
York. St. Martln`s Press, l997);
1l7
ai_ POV qK pK b
Davld Chlnltz, T. S. Iliot ovd tlc Culturol Dividc (Chl
cago. Lnlverslty of Chlcago Press, 2003);
|ohn Xlros Cooper, T. S. Iliot ovd tlc Idcology of 'Iour
_uortcts (Cambrldge. Cambrldge Lnlverslty
Press, l995);
Lols Cuddy and Davld H. Hlrsch, eds., Criticol Issoys ov
T. S. Iliot`s 'Tlc !ostc Iovd (Boston. G. K. Hall,
l989);
|. L. Dawson, P. D. Holland, and D. |. McKltterlck,
eds., Z Covcordovcc to Tlc Complctc Iocms ovd Iloys of
T. S. Iliot (Ithaca, N.Y.. Cornell Lnlverslty Press,
l995);
Denls Donoghue, !ords Zlovc: Tlc Ioct T. S. Iliot (New
Haven. Yale Lnlverslty Press, 2000);
Helen Gardner, Tlc Compositiov of Iour _uortcts (New
York. Oxford Lnlverslty Press, l978);
Plers Gray, T. S. Iliot`s Ivtcllcctuol ovd Ioctic Dcvclopmcvt,
1909-1922 (Atlantlc Hlghlands, N.|.. Humanltles
Press, l982);
M. A. R. Habld, Tlc Iorly T. S. Iliot ovd !cstcrv Ililoso-
ply (Cambrldge. Cambrldge Lnlverslty Press,
l999);
|ason Hardlng, Tlc Critcriov: Culturol Iolitics ovd Icriodicol
`ctworls iv Ivtcr-!or ritoiv (Oxford. Oxford Lnl
verslty Press, 2002);
Elolse Knapp Hay, T. S. Iliot`s `cgotivc !oy (Cambrldge,
Mass.. Harvard Lnlverslty Press, l982);
Jed Hughes, Z Dovccr to Cod: Tributcs to T. S. Iliot (New
York. Iarrar, Straus Glroux, l992);
Manju |aln, Z Criticol Icodivg of Tlc Sclcctcd Iocms of T. S.
Iliot (Oxford. Oxford Lnlverslty Press, l99l);
|aln, T. S. Iliot ovd Zmcricov Ililosoply (Cambrldge.
Cambrldge Lnlverslty Press, l992);
Russell Klrk, Iliot ovd His Zgc: T. S. Iliot`s Morol Imogivo-
tiov iv tlc Twcvtictl Ccvtury, revlsed edltlon (Peru,
Ill.. Sherwood Sugden, l981);
Roger Kojeck, T. S. Iliot`s Sociol Criticism (New York.
Iarrar, Straus Glroux, l972);
Cassandra Lalty and Nancy K. Glsh, eds., Ccvdcr,
Dcsirc, ovd Scxuolity iv T. S. Iliot (Cambrldge. Cam
brldge Lnlverslty Press, 2001);
Edward Lobb, ed., !ords iv Timc: `cw Issoys ov Iliot`s
'Iour _uortcts (London. Athlone Press, l993);
Benjamln G. Lockerd |r., Zctlcrcol Iumours: T. S. Iliot`s
Ilysics c Ioctics (Lewlsburg, Pa.. Bucknell Lnlver
slty Press, l998);
|ames Longenbach, Modcrvist Ioctics of History: Iouvd,
Iliot, ovd tlc Scvsc of tlc Iost (Prlnceton. Prlnceton
Randy Malamud, T. S. Iliot`s Dromo: Z Icscorcl ovd Iro-
ductiov Sourccbool (Westport, Conn.. Greenwood
Press, l992);
Malamud, !lcrc tlc !ords orc !olid: T. S. Iliot`s Commuvi-
tics of Dromo (Westport, Conn.. Greenwood Press,
l991);
Domlnlc Manganlello, T. S. Iliot c Dovtc (New York. St.
Martln`s Press, l989);
|ohn J. Mayer, T. S. Iliot`s Silcvt !oiccs (Oxford. Oxford
Louls Menand, Discovcrivg Modcrvism: T. S. Iliot ovd His
Covtcxt (New York. Oxford Lnlverslty Press,
l987);
A. Davld Moody, Tlomos Stcorvs Iliot: Ioct (Cambrldge.
Moody, ed., Combridgc Compoviov to T. S. Iliot (Cam
Mlchael North, Tlc Ioliticol Zcstlctic of Jcots, Iliot, ovd
Iouvd (Cambrldge. Cambrldge Lnlverslty Press,
l99l);
North, Icodivg 1922: Z Icturv to tlc Sccvc of tlc Modcrv
(Oxford. Oxford Lnlverslty Press, l999);
|effrey Perl, Slcpticism ovd Modcrv Ivmity: cforc ovd Zftcr
Iliot (Baltlmore. |ohns Hopklns Lnlverslty Press,
l989);
Lawrence Ralney, Icvisitivg 'Tlc !ostc Iovd (New
Haven. Yale Lnlverslty Press, 2005);
Chrlstopher Rlcks, Iliot ovd Ircjudicc (Berkeley. Lnlver
slty of Callfornla Press, l988);
|ohn Paul Rlquelme, Hormovy of Dissovovccs: T. S. Iliot,
Iomovticism, ovd Imogivotiov (Baltlmore. |ohns
Hopklns Lnlverslty Press, l99l);
Ronald Schuchard, Iliot`s Dorl Zvgcl: Ivtcrscctiovs of Iifc
ovd Zrt (Oxford. Oxford Lnlverslty Press, l999);
Sanford Schwartz, Tlc Motrix of Modcrvism: Iouvd, Iliot,
c Iorly 20tl-Ccvtury Tlouglt (Prlnceton. Prlnceton
Martln Scofleld, T. S. Iliot: Tlc Iocms (Cambrldge.
Rlchard Shusterman, T. S. Iliot ovd tlc Ililosoply of Criti-
cism (New York. Columbla Lnlverslty Press,
l988);
Erlc Slgg, Tlc Zmcricov T. S. Iliot (Cambrldge. Cam
Wllllam Skaff, Tlc Ililosoply of T. S. Iliot: Irom Slcpticism
to o Surrcolist Ioctic, 1909-1927 (Phlladelphla. Lnl
verslty of Pennsylvanla Press, l986);
B. C. Southam, Z Cuidc to tlc Sclcctcd Iocms of T. S. Iliot,
slxth edltlon (San Dlego. Harcourt Brace, l991);
Davld Spurr, Covflicts iv Covsciousvcss: T. S. Iliot`s Ioctry
ovd Criticism (Lrbana. Lnlverslty of Illlnols Press,
l981);
Stanley Sultan, Iliot, oycc c Compovy (Oxford. Oxford
|ohn Jlmmerman, T. S. Iliot`s Zricl Iocms (Lewlsburg,
Pa.. Bucknell Lnlverslty Press, l991).
1l8
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m~W
Jhe most valuable collectlons of J. S. Ellot`s papers
are located ln the Ellot Collectlon, Houghton Llbrary,
Harvard Lnlverslty; the Henry W. and Albert A.
Berg Collectlon, New York Publlc Llbrary; the Hay
ward Collectlon, Klng`s College at Cambrldge Lnl
verslty; the Donald Gallup papers, Belnecke Llbrary,
Yale Lnlverslty; and the Prlnceton Lnlverslty
Llbrary. Many of these papers are restrlcted, and one
major collectlon (the Emlly Hale papers at Prlnceton)
ls sealed untll the year 2020. Smaller collectlons are
located ln several unlversltles around the world.
Some lndlvldualsValerle Ellot and several of the
poet`s survlvlng correspondentsalso own valuable
collectlons.
NVQU k m i~
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In the lmpresslve successlon of Nobel Prlze
wlnners ln Llterature, J. S. Ellot marks a departure
from the type of wrlter that has most frequently
galned that dlstlnctlon. Jhe majorlty have been rep
resentatlves of a llterature whlch seeks lts natural
contacts ln the publlc consclousness, and whlch, to
attaln thls goal, avalls ltself of the medla lylng more
or less ready at hand. Jhls year`s Prlze wlnner has
chosen to take another path. Hls career ls remarkable
ln that, from an extremely excluslve and consclously
lsolated posltlon, he has gradually come to exerclse a
very farreachlng lnfluence. At the outset he
appeared to address hlmself to but a small clrcle of
lnltlates, but thls clrcle slowly wldened, wlthout hls
appearlng to wlll lt hlmself. Jhus ln Ellot`s verse and
prose there was qulte a speclal accent, whlch com
pelled attentlon just ln our own tlme, a capaclty to
cut lnto the consclousness of our generatlon wlth the
sharpness of a dlamond.
In one of hls essays Ellot hlmself has advanced,
as a purely objectlve and qulte uncategorlcal assump
tlon, that poets ln our present clvlllzatlon have to be
dlfflcult to approach. 'Our clvlllzatlon," he says,
'comprehends great varlety and complexlty, and thls
varlety and complexlty, playlng upon a reflned sensl
blllty, must produce varlous and complex results.
Jhe poet must become more and more comprehen
slve, more alluslve, more lndlrect, ln order to force,
to dlslocate lf necessary, language lnto hls meanlng."
Agalnst the background of such a pronounce
ment, we may test hls results and learn to understand
the lmportance of hls contrlbutlon. Jhe effort ls
worthwhlle. Ellot flrst galned hls reputatlon as the
result of hls magnlflcent experlment ln poetry, q
t~ i~I whlch appeared ln l922 and then seemed
bewllderlng ln several ways, due to lts compllcated
symbollc language, lts mosalcllke technlque, and lts
apparatus of erudlte alluslon. It may be recalled that
thls work appeared ln the same year as another plo
neer work, whlch had a stlll more sensatlonal effect
on modern llterature, the much dlscussed rI
from the hand of an Irlshman, |ames |oyce. Jhe par
allel ls by no means fortultous, for these products of
the nlneteentwentles are closely akln to one another,
ln both splrlt and mode of composltlon.
q t~ i~a tltle whose terrlfylng lmport
no one can help feellng, when the dlfflcult and mas
terly wordpattern has flnally ylelded up lts secrets.
Jhe melancholy and sombre rhapsody alms at
descrlblng the arldlty and lmpotence of modern clvl
llzatlon, ln a serles of sometlmes reallstlc and some
tlmes mythologlcal eplsodes, whose perspectlves
lmplnge on each other wlth an lndescrlbable total
effect. Jhe cycle of poems conslsts of 136 llnes, but
actually lt contalns more than a packed novel of as
many pages. q t~ i~ now lles a quarter of a
century back ln tlme, but unfortunately lt has proved
that lts catastrophlc vlslons stlll have undlmlnlshed
actuallty ln the shadow of the atomlc age.
Slnce then Ellot has passed on to a serles of poetlc
creatlons of the same brllllant concentratlon, ln pursu
ance of the agonlzed, salvatlonseeklng maln theme.
Jhe ~ of modern man ln a secularlzed world,
wlthout order, meanlng, or beauty, here stands out wlth
polgnant slncerlty. In hls latest work, c n~
(l913), Ellot has arrlved at a medltatlve muslc of words,
wlth almost llturglcal refralns and flne, exact expres
slons of hls splrltual experlences. Jhe transcendental
superstructure rlses ever clearer ln hls world plcture. At
the same tlme a manlfest strlvlng after a posltlve, guld
lng message emerges ln hls dramatlc art, especlally ln
the mlghty hlstorlcal play about Jhomas of Canter
bury, j `~~ (l935), but also ln q c~J
o (l939), whlch ls a bold attempt to comblne
such dlfferent conceptlons as the Chrlstlan dogma of
orlglnal sln and the classlcal Greek myths of fate, ln an
entlrely modern envlronment, wlth the scene lald ln a
country house ln northern England.
Jhe purely poetlcal part of Ellot`s work ls not
quantltatlvely great, but as lt now stands out agalnst the
horlzon, lt rlses from the ocean llke a rocky peak and
lndlsputably forms a landmark, sometlmes assumlng
the mystlc contours of a cathedral. It ls poetry
lmpressed wlth the stamp of strlct responslblllty and
extraordlnary selfdlsclpllne, remote from all emotlonal
1l9
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cllchs, concentrated entlrely on essentlal thlngs, stark,
granltlc, and unadorned, but from tlme to tlme llluml
nated by a sudden ray from the tlmeless space of mlra
cles and revelatlons.
Inslght lnto Ellot must always present certaln
problems to be overcome, obstacles whlch are at the
same tlme stlmulatlng. It may appear to be contradlc
tory to say that thls radlcal ploneer of form, the lnltl
ator of a whole revolutlon ln style wlthln presentday
poetry, ls at the same tlme a coldly reasonlng, logl
cally subtle theorlst, who never wearles of defendlng
hlstorlcal perspectlves and the necesslty of flxed
norms for our exlstence. As early as the l910`s, he
had become a convlnced supporter of the Angllcan
Church ln rellglon and of classlclsm ln llterature. In
vlew of thls phllosophy of llfe, whlch lmplles a con
slstent return to ldeals standardlzed by age, lt mlght
seem that hls modernlstlc practlce would clash wlth
hls tradltlonal theory. But thls ls hardly the case.
Rather, ln hls capaclty as an author, he has unlnter
ruptedly and wlth varylng success worked to brldge
thls chasm, the exlstence of whlch he must be fully
and perhaps palnfully consclous. Hls earllest poetry,
so convulslvely dlslntegrated, so studlously aggres
slve ln lts whole technlcal form, can flnally also be
apprehended as a negatlve expresslon of a mentallty
whlch alms at hlgher and purer realltles and must
flrst free ltself of abhorrence and cynlclsm. In other
words, hls revolt ls that of the Chrlstlan poet. It
should also be observed ln thls connectlon that, on
the whole, Ellot ls careful not to magnlfy the power
of poetry ln relatlon to that of rellglon. In one place,
where he wlshes to polnt out what poetry can really
accompllsh for our lnner llfe, he does so wlth great
cautlon and reserve. 'It may make us from tlme to
tlme a llttle more aware of the deeper, unnamed feel
lngs whlch form the substratum of our belng, to
whlch we rarely penetrate; for our llves are mostly a
constant evaslon of ourselves."
Jhus, lf lt can be sald wlth some justlflcatlon that
Ellot`s phllosophlcal posltlon ls based on nothlng but
tradltlon, lt ought nevertheless to be borne ln mlnd that
he constantly polnts out how generally that word has
been mlsused ln today`s debates. Jhe word 'tradltlon"
ltself lmplles movement, somethlng whlch cannot be
statlc, somethlng whlch ls constantly handed on and
asslmllated. In the poetlc tradltlon, too, thls llvlng prln
clple prevalls. Jhe exlstlng monuments of llterature
form an ldeallstlc order, but thls ls sllghtly modlfled
every tlme a new work ls added to the serles. Propor
tlons and values are unceaslngly changlng. |ust as the
old dlrects the new, thls ln lts turn dlrects the old, and
the poet who reallzes thls must also reallze the scope of
hls dlfflcultles and hls responslblllty.
Externally, too, the now slxtyyearold Ellot has
also returned to Europe, the anclent and stormtossed,
but stlll venerable, home of cultural tradltlons. Born an
Amerlcan, he comes from one of the Purltan famllles
who emlgrated from England at the end of the seven
teenth century. Hls years of study as a young man at
the Sorbonne, at Marburg, and at Oxford, clearly
revealed to hlm that at bottom he felt akln to the hlstor
lcal mllleu of the Old World, and slnce l927 Mr. Ellot
has been a Brltlsh subject.
It ls not posslble ln thls presentatlon to lndlcate
more than the most lmmedlate fasclnatlng features ln
the compllcated multlpllclty of Ellot`s characterlstlcs as
a wrlter. Jhe predomlnatlng one ls the hlgh, phllosoph
lcally schooled lntelllgence, whlch has succeeded ln
enllstlng ln lts servlce both lmaglnatlon and learnlng,
both sensltlvlty and the analysls of ldeas. Hls capaclty
for stlmulatlng a reconslderatlon of presslng questlons
wlthln lntellectual and aesthetlc oplnlon ls also extraor
dlnary, and however much the appralsement may vary,
lt can never be denled that ln hls perlod he has been an
emlnent poser of questlons, wlth a masterly glft for
flndlng the apt wordlng, both ln the language of poetry
and ln the defence of ldeas ln essay form.
Nor ls lt due only to chance that he has wrltten one
of the flnest studles of Dante`s work and personallty. In hls
bltter moral pathos, ln hls metaphyslcal llne of thought,
and ln hls burnlng longlng for a world order lnsplred by
rellglon, a ~ I Ellot has lndeed certaln polnts of con
tact wlth the great Ilorentlne poet. It redounds to hls
honour that, amldst the varled condltlons of hls mllleu, he
can be justly characterlzed as one of Dante`s latestborn
successors. In hls message we hear solemn echoes from
other tlmes, but that message does not by any means
therefore become less real when lt ls glven to our own tlme
and to us who are now llvlng.
Mr. EllotAccordlng to the dlploma, the award ls
made chlefly ln appreclatlon of your remarkable
achlevements as a ploneer wlthln modern poetry. I have
here trled to glve a brlef survey of thls very lmportant
work of yours, whlch ls admlred by many ardent read
ers ln thls country.
Exactly twentyflve years ago, there stood where
you are now standlng another famous poet who wrote
ln the Engllsh tongue, Wllllam Butler Yeats. Jhe
honour now passes to you as belng a leader and a
champlon of a new perlod ln the long hlstory of the
world`s poetry.
Wlth the fellcltatlons of the Swedlsh Academy, I
now ask you to recelve your Prlze from the hands of
Hls Royal Hlghness the Crown Prlnce.
120
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Humlllty ls also the characterlstlc whlch you,
Mr. Ellot, have come to regard as man`s vlrtue. 'Jhe
only wlsdom we can hope to acqulre ls the wlsdom of
humlllty." At flrst lt dld not appear that thls would be
the flnal result of your vlslons and your aculty of
thought. Born ln the Mlddle West, where the ploneer
mentallty was stlll allve, brought up ln Boston, the
stronghold of Purltan tradltlon, you came to Europe ln
your youth and were there confronted wlth the pre
war type of clvlllzatlon ln the Old World. the Europe
of Edward VII, Kalser Wllhelm, the Jhlrd Republlc,
and q j t. Jhls contact was a shock to you,
the expresslon of whlch you brought to perfectlon ln
q t~ i~I ln whlch the confuslon and vulgarlty
of the clvlllzatlon became the object of your scathlng
crltlclsm. But beneath that crltlclsm there lay profound
and palnful dlsllluslonment, and out of thls dlsllluslon
ment there grew forth a feellng of sympathy, and out
of that sympathy was born a growlng urge to rescue
from the rulns of the confuslon the fragments from
whlch order and stablllty mlght be restored. Jhe posl
tlon you have long held ln modern llterature provokes
a comparlson wlth that occupled by Slgmund Ireud, a
quarter of a century earller, wlthln the fleld of psychlc
medlclne. If a comparlson mlght be permltted, the
novelty of the therapy whlch he lntroduced wlth psy
choanalysls would match the revolutlonary form ln
whlch you have clothed your message. But the path of
comparlson could be followed stlll further. Ior Ireud
the most profound cause of the confuslon lay ln the
r~ h of modern man. In hls oplnlon
there must be sought a collectlve and lndlvldual bal
ance, whlch should constantly take lnto account man`s
prlmltlve lnstlncts. You, Mr. Ellot, are of the opposlte
oplnlon. Ior you the salvatlon of man lles ln the pres
ervatlon of the cultural tradltlon, whlch, ln our more
mature years, llves wlth greater vlgour wlthln us than
does prlmltlveness, and whlch we must preserve lf
chaos ls to be avolded. Jradltlon ls not a dead load
whlch we drag along wlth us, and whlch ln our youth
ful deslre for freedom we seek to throw off. It ls the
soll ln whlch the seeds of comlng harvests are to be
sown, and from whlch future harvests wlll be gar
nered. As a poet you have, Mr. Ellot, for decades,
exerclsed a greater lnfluence on your contemporarles
and younger fellow wrlters than perhaps anyone else
of our tlme.
b
When I began to thlnk of what I should say to
you thls evenlng, I wlshed only to express very slmply
my appreclatlon of the hlgh honour whlch the Swedlsh
Academy has thought flt to confer upon me. But to do
thls adequately proved no slmple task. my buslness ls
wlth words, yet the words were beyond my command.
Merely to lndlcate that I was aware of havlng recelved
the hlghest lnternatlonal honour that can be bestowed
upon a man of letters, would be only to say what
everyone knows already. Jo profess my own unwor
thlness would be to cast doubt upon the wlsdom of the
Academy; to pralse the Academy mlght suggest that I,
as a llterary crltlc, approved the recognltlon glven to
myself as a poet. May I therefore ask that lt be taken
for granted, that I experlenced, on learnlng of thls
award to myself, all the normal emotlons of exaltatlon
and vanlty that any human belng mlght be expected
to feel at such a moment, wlth enjoyment of the flat
tery, and exasperatlon at the lnconvenlence, of belng
turned overnlght lnto a publlc flgure? Were the Nobel
Award slmllar ln klnd to any other award, and merely
hlgher ln degree, I mlght stlll try to flnd words of
appreclatlon. but slnce lt ls dlfferent ln klnd from any
other, the expresslon of one`s feellngs calls for
resources whlch language cannot supply.
I must therefore try to express myself ln an lndl
rect way, by puttlng before you my own lnterpretatlon
of the slgnlflcance of the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature. If
thls were slmply the recognltlon of merlt, or of the fact
that an author`s reputatlon has passed the boundarles
of hls own country and hls own language, we could
say that hardly any one of us at any tlme ls, more than
others, worthy of belng so dlstlngulshed. But I flnd ln
the Nobel Award somethlng more and somethlng dlf
ferent from such recognltlon. It seems to me more the
electlon of an lndlvldual, chosen from tlme to tlme
from one natlon or another, and selected by somethlng
llke an act of grace, to flll a pecullar role and to
become a pecullar symbol. A ceremony takes place, by
whlch a man ls suddenly endowed wlth some functlon
whlch he dld not flll before. So the questlon ls not
whether he was worthy to be so slngled out, but
whether he can perform the functlon whlch you have
asslgned to hlm. the functlon of servlng as a represen
tatlve, so far as any man can be, of a thlng of far
greater lmportance than the value of what he hlmself
has wrltten.
Poetry ls usually consldered the most local of all
the arts. Palntlng, sculpture, archltecture, muslc, can
12l
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be enjoyed by all who see or hear. But language, espe
clally the language of poetry, ls a dlfferent matter.
Poetry, lt mlght seem, separates peoples lnstead of
unltlng them.
But on the other hand we must remember, that
whlle language constltutes a barrler, poetry ltself glves
us a reason for trylng to overcome the barrler. Jo
enjoy poetry belonglng to another language, ls to
enjoy an understandlng of the people to whom that
language belongs, an understandlng we can get ln no
other way. We may thlnk also of the hlstory of poetry
ln Europe, and of the great lnfluence that the poetry of
one language can exert on another; we must remem
ber the lmmense debt of every conslderable poet to
poets of other languages than hls own; we may reflect
that the poetry of every country and every language
would decllne and perlsh, were lt not nourlshed by
poetry ln forelgn tongues. When a poet speaks to hls
own people, the volces of all the poets of other lan
guages who have lnfluenced hlm are speaklng also.
And at the same tlme he hlmself ls speaklng to
younger poets of other languages, and these poets wlll
convey somethlng of hls vlslon of llfe and somethlng
of the splrlt of hls people, to thelr own. Partly through
hls lnfluence on other poets, partly through transla
tlon, whlch must be also a klnd of recreatlon of hls
poems by other poets, partly through readers of hls
language who are not themselves poets, the poet can
contrlbute toward understandlng between peoples.
In the work of every poet there wlll certalnly be
much that can only appeal to those who lnhablt the
same reglon, or speak the same language, as the poet.
But nevertheless there ls a meanlng to the phrase 'the
poetry of Europe," and even to the word 'poetry" the
world over. I thlnk that ln poetry people of dlfferent
countrles and dlfferent languagesthough lt be appar
ently only through a small mlnorlty ln any one coun
tryacqulre an understandlng of each other whlch,
however partlal, ls stlll essentlal. And I take the award
of the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature, when lt ls glven to a
poet, to be prlmarlly an assertlon of the supranatlonal
value of poetry. Jo make that afflrmatlon, lt ls neces
sary from tlme to tlme to deslgnate a poet. and I stand
before you, not on my own merlts, but as a symbol,
for a tlme, of the slgnlflcance of poetry.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l918. J. S. Ellot ls the sole
122
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(2 òvcmbcr 1911 - 1S Morcl 1996)
j~ m
rowv Uvivcrsity
BOOKS. Irosovotolismoi (Athens. Pyrsos, l939);
Ilios o Irtos (Athens. Glaros, l913);
Zsmo Irilo loi Icvtlimo gio tov clomcvo Zvtlypoloclogo ts
Zlvovios (Athens. Ikaros, l916);
To Zxiov Isti (Athens. Ikaros, l959); translated by
Edmund Keeley and George Savldls as Tlc Zxiov
Isti (Plttsburgh. Lnlverslty of Plttsburgh Press,
l971; London. Anvll Press Poetry, l980);
Ix loi mio Typscis gio tov Uyrovo (Athens. Ikaros, l960);
U Ilios o Iliotoro (Athens. Ikaros, l97l);
To Itodcvtro loi Dclot Tctort Umorfio (Athens. Ikaros,
l97l);
To I tou Irto (Athens. Asterlas, l972; expanded edl
tlon, Athens. Ypsllon, l986);
To Movogrommo (Athens. Ikaros, l972);
U grofos Tlcofilos (Athens. Ermelas, l973);
To Itcrotlol (Athens. Ikaros, l971);
Zvoiclto Clortio (Athens. Ikaros, l971); translated by
Olga Broumas as Upcv Iopcrs (Jownsend, Wash..
Copper Canyon Press, l995);
I Mogcio tou Iopodiomovt (Athens. Ermelas, l976);
Smotologciov (Athens. Ermelas, l977);
Zvoploro stov Zvdrco Impcirilo (Athens. Ikaros, l978);
Morio `cfcl (Athens. Ikaros, l978); translated by Athan
Anagnostopoulos as Morio `cplclc: Z Iocm iv Two
!oiccs (Boston. Houghton Mlfflln, l98l);
Udysscos Ilyts: Illog, 19J-1977, edlted by Renas
Chatzldakl (Athens. Akmon, l979);
Trio Ioimoto mc smoio Iyloirios (Athens. Ikaros, l982);
Imcrologio cvos Ztlcotou Zpriliou (Athens. Ypsllon, l981);
translated by Davld Connolly as ourvol of ov
Uvsccv Zpril (Athens. Ypsllon, l998);
U Milros òutilos (Athens. Ikaros, l986); translated by
Broumas as Tlc Iittlc Morivcr (Jownsend, Wash..
Copper Canyon Press, l999);
To Dmotio mc tis Iilovcs, by Elytls and Eugenlos Aranlt
sls (Athens. Ikaros, l986);
To Dmosio lo to Iditil (Athens. Ikaros, l990);
Iditil Udos (Athens. Ypsllon, l990);
To Ilcgcio ts Uxpctros (Athens. Ikaros, l99l); translated
by Connolly as Tlc Uxopctro Ilcgics (Amsterdam.
Harwood, l996);
Iv Icul (Athens. Ikaros, l992); translated by Con
nolly as Cortc lovclc: Sclcctcd !ritivgs (Amster
dam. Harwood, l999);
Dytilo ts Iyps (Athens. Ikaros, l995);
U Ipos mc tis Zytopotcs (Athens. Ypsllon, l995);
2 X 7 I. (Athens. Ikaros, l996);
Il tou Ilsiov, edlted by Ioullta Illopoulou (Athens.
Ikaros, l998);
Zytoprospogrofio sc Iogo Iroforilo (Athens. Ypsllon, 2000).
`W Iois (Athens. Ikaros, 2002).
b bW Tlc Sovcrcigv Suv: Sclcctcd Iocms,
translated by Klmon Irlar (Phlladelphla. Jemple
Lnlverslty Press, l971; Newcastle upon Jyne.
Bloodaxe, l990);
Udysscus Ilytis: Sclcctcd Iocms, edlted by Edmund Keeley
and Phlllp Sherrard (New York. Vlklng, l98l;
London. Anvll Press Poetry, l98l);
l b E F NVTV k m i~
h `~ usf d~ p E^m mF
123
ai_ POV l b
Six ovd Uvc Icmorscs for tlc Sly: Zvd Utlcr Iocms, trans
lated by |effrey Carson (Helslnkl. Eurographlca,
l985);
!lot I Iovc: Sclcctcd Iocms of Udysscos Ilytis, translated by
Olga Broumas (Jownsend, Wash.. Copper Can
yon Press, l986);
Tlc Collcctcd Iocms of Udysscus Ilytis, translated by Carson
and Nlkos Sarrls (Baltlmore. |ohns Hopklns Lnl
Iros, Iros, Iros: Sclcctcd ovd Iost Iocms, translated by
Broumas (Jownsend, Wash.. Copper Canyon
Press, l998).
JRANSLAJIONS. Dcutcr Crof |anthology| (Athens.
Ikaros, l976);
Sappho, Sopf (Athens. Ikaros, l981);
I Zpololyps tou Iovv (Athens. Ypsllon, l985);
Krlnagoras, Irivogoros (Athens. Ypsllon, l987).
Odysseus Elytls ls one of Greece`s most cele
brated wrlters, and ln l979 he became the second
Greek poet (after George Seferls ln l963) to recelve a
Nobel Prlze ln Llterature. He ls generally credlted,
along wlth other poets of the l930s generatlon, wlth
redeflnlng modern Greek ldentlty ln hls poetry. Hls
l959 collectlon To Zxiov Isti (Worthy It Is; translated
as Tlc Zxiov Isti, l971) exempllfles thls redeflnltlon of
'Greekness." In hls early career, Elytls was a fervent
supporter of Surreallsm and Ireudlan theory. Apart
from hls prollflc poetlc career, Elytls ls known as a the
orlst and a palnter. Influenced by Max Ernst`s tech
nlque of collage, hls palntlngs are often vlsual
deplctlons of hls poetlc lmages, comblnlng Byzantlne
lconography wlth sexuallty, geographlcal locl wlth aes
thetlc symbollsm, or abstract colorful representatlons
wlth sensuallty. Many of Elytls`s poems have become
relatlvely popular through havlng been set to muslc by
such composers as Mlkls Jheodorakls, Manos Had
jldakls, Dlmltrls Laglos, and Llnos Kokotos.
Elytls was born Odysseus Alepoudellls on 2
November l9ll ln Heraclelon, Crete. He was the
slxth and last chlld of Marla and Panaylotls Ale
poudellls, both from the lsland of Lesbos, who had
moved to Crete and establlshed, ln l895, a successful
soap factory. In l9l1 the Alepoudellls famlly buslness
moved to the suburb of Plraeus ln Athens, and young
Odysseus and hls famlly spent thelr summer vacatlons
on Lesbos, a place often vlslted by the promlnent
Greek polltlclan Eleftherlos Venlzelos, who became a
close frlend of the famlly. Elytls`s chlldhood memorles
of the Aegean landscape and seascape later slgnlfl
cantly lnfluenced hls poetry.
In l9l6 he enrolled ln the Makrls Prlvate
School, whlch he attended for seven years. In the
years that followed, the Alepoudellls famlly traveled
extenslvely ln Italy, Swltzerland, Yugoslavla, and Ger
many and spent some summers on the lsland of Spet
ses. In l9l8 the famlly suffered the loss of Elytls`s
eldest slster, Myrslnl, who dled on 3l December. In
l925, whlle vacatlonlng on Spetses, Elytls`s father
dled of pneumonla. Elytls later recounted the lmpact
of these emotlonal wounds ln 'Jhe Chronlcle of a
Decade," publlshed ln Zvoiclto Clorto (l971; translated
as Upcv Iopcrs, l995). He was deeply affected by these
losses; less than two years after hls father`s death, Ely
tls suffered a nervous breakdown and was forced to
spend two months ln bed. Hls asplratlons of becomlng
a track athlete were ended. Whlle recoverlng ln bed he
fervently read Greek and forelgn llterature. Jhe most
profound lnfluence on hlm was the work of Alexan
drlan poet Constantlne Cavafy, whlch lntroduced hlm
to poetry. 'Cavafy was needed for me to be shaken," he
later wrote ln Zvoiclto Clortio; 'A deep curloslty got
hold of me, that was later destlned to turn lnto a deep
lnterest, and later on, a deep admlratlon."
In l928 Elytls graduated from hlgh school. Jhat
year the poet Kostas Karyotakls, whose pesslmlstlc
poetry explored the mlserable state of soclety ln the
aftermath of lndustrlallzatlon and capltallsm, commlt
ted sulclde, and ln subsequent years he became more
popular among the youth than any other poet of the
tlme. Strongly lnfluenced by both Cavafy and Karyo
takls, Elytls attempted to wrlte hls flrst poems ln lmlta
tlon of them. When, however, he dlscovered ln
Kaufmann`s bookstore, ln Athens, the Surreallst
poetry of Paul Eluard, he came to the reallzatlon that
the poetry of Cavafy and Karyotakls dld not corre
spond to the way he experlenced llfe as a young man.
Jhe dlscovery of Eluard`s poetry ls, perhaps, the most
slgnlflcant event ln hls early poetlc orlentatlon.
In l930 Elytls entered the Law School of Athens
Lnlverslty, where he met the young poet George
Sarandarls, who ushered hlm even further lnto Surre
allsm. By l931 Elytls destroyed all the poems he had
wrltten prevlously and wrote a new, short collectlon
tltled 'Prota Polmata (Ilrst Poems). Jhese poems
were publlshed ln l939 ln the volume Irosovotolismoi
(Orlentatlons), ln an edltlon of 3l0 coples. Jhe flrst
llnes of the flrst poem of the collectlon read. 'Eros /
Jhe archlpelago," and these words became the most
frequently repeated and explored concepts ln hls
poetry. As the poet later conflded ln an lntervlew on
Natlonal Greek Jelevlslon (lncluded ln Zytoprospogro-
fio sc Iogo Iroforilo |2000, Self Portralt|), 'It ls charac
terlstlc that the flrst two verses of my book
[Irosovotolismoi ] are. 'Eros, the Archlpelago.` In a way
thls foreshadows the entlre evolutlon, ln terms of con
tent, of my poetry."
121
l b ai_ POV
Jhe most lmportant year ln Elytls`s poetlc devel
opment was l935, the year he met and befrlended the
poet Andreas Empelrlkos. Jogether they attempted to
promote the movement of Surreallsm ln Greece.
Empelrlkos had recently returned from Irance and
was close to the Irench Surreallst clrcle. Along wlth
Empelrlkos and the palnter Stratls Eleftherladls
Jerladethe publlsher of the wellknown Irench Sur
reallst perlodlcal j~Elytls traveled to Lesbos,
where he was lnvolved ln the dlscovery and promo
tlon of the art of folk palnter Jheophllos Hadjlmlchael
(known by hls flrst name), who dled ln l931. Jhelr
efforts eventually culmlnated ln the openlng of a
Jheophllos Museum ln Lesbos (ln l961) and the rec
ognltlon of Jheophllos by European artlstlc clrcles.
Elytls`s experlences ln thls regard are recounted ln a
l973 long essay tltled l w~ q (Jhe Palnter
Jheophllos).
Also ln l935, moblllzlng around the llterary
magazlne k~ d~~~I whlch presented hls flrst
poems, Elytls met the renowned poets Glorgos
Katslmballs and Seferlsa close frlend of J. S. Ellot
and Ezra Pound. In l936 he also met the poet Nlkos
Gatsos, of whom he became a llfelong frlend. In the
next few years, thls generatlon of mostly young wrlt
ers and artlsts establlshed Greece`s flrst llterary cafs
and produced some of the most profound poetry ln
modern Greek llterature. Jhey became known as
'Jhe Generatlon of the Jhlrtles."
In l910 Benlto Mussollnl`s army lnvaded
Greece, and Elytls was recalled to serve as a second
lleutenant on the Albanlan front. He had already
jolned the army ln December l936 and had tralned at
the School of Reserve Offlcers ln Corfu from |anuary
to September l937, completlng hls servlce ln March
l938. Durlng Mussollnl`s lnvaslon, Elytls`s unlt
served under flre, and after a long and tlrlng cam
palgn, he contracted typhus and was admltted,
severely lll, to a hospltal ln Ioannlna. He recovered
and returned to an Athens that was, by then, occupled
by German forces. Durlng the Nazl occupatlon of
Greece (l91l-l911), Elytls worked on two collectlons
of poetry. m (l913, Sun the Ilrst, publlshed
ln an edltlon of 600 coples) and ^~ ~ m
~ ~ ^~ ^~~ (Song Herolc
and Mournlng for the Lost Second Lleutenant of the
Albanlan Campalgn, flrst publlshed ln l915 ln the
perlodlcal q~I then as a book ln l916).
m ls fllled wlth lmages of beautlful
naked bodles, sunny Greek landscapes, and bloomlng
orchards. It clearly states the refusal of the poet to suc
cumb to the welght of oppresslon and presents hls
reslstance to whatever vlolates the free expresslon of
the human splrlt. Jhe flrst poem of the collectlonall
the poems are numbered and usually bear no tltles
expresses preclsely thls reslstance to the 'darkness"
that ls often lmposed on people. 'I no more know the
nlght death`s fearful anonymlty / In an lnlet of my soul
moors a fleet of stars." Jhls refusal to compromlse
and adjust to an oppresslve force does not slmply refer
to the partlcular hlstorlcal perlod of Greece`s occupa
tlon by the Germans. Jhe suggestlons are clearly unl
versal, referrlng to a wlder deflnltlon of oppresslon. In
some poems, reslstance to the hlstorlcally dark tlmes ls
suggested ln lmages of natural regeneratlon.
It`s a long tlme slnce the last raln was heard
Above the ants and llzards
Now the sky burns boundless
Frults palnt thelr mouths
Earth`s pores slowly open
And by water drlpplng ln syllables
A huge plant looks the sun ln the eye!
Sangulne messages of both personal and collectlve
regeneratlon are scattered throughout the collectlon.
'What I love ls born lncessantly," and 'we bulld and
dream and slng."
Jhe second collectlon that draws from Elytls`s
wartlme experlence ls ^~ ~ m ~ ~J
^~ ^~~. Elytls descrlbed the prln
clpal concept behlnd the collectlon to hls translator
Klmon Irlar.
Jhe vlrtues I found embodled and llvlng ln my com
rades formed ln synthesls a brave young man of herolc
stature, one whom I saw ln every perlod of our hlstory.
Jhey had kllled hlm a thousand tlmes, and a thousand
tlmes he had sprung up agaln, breathlng and allve. He
was no doubt the measure of our clvlllzatlon, com
pounded of hls love not of death but of llfe. It was wlth
hls love of Freedom he recreated llfe out of the stuff of
death.
As ln mI Elytls constructs an alternatlve real
lty that transubstantlates the enslavlng condltlons of
war and death lnto a song for freedom. Jhe herolc
stature of the second lleutenant ls juxtaposed to those
forces that vlolate human freedom. 'Jhose who com
mltted the evlla black cloud took them / But he who
confronted lt ln the sky`s roads / Ascends now alone
and resplendent!" Jhe mood of the collectlon ls
slowly upllfted wlth each poem. whereas the collectlon
beglns wlth a mournful lament over the passlng of the
sun and the comlng of darkness, lt ends wlth a hope of
regeneratlon made posslble because of the second lleu
tenant`s sacrlflce. 'Now the dream beats faster ln the
blood / Jhe world`s rlghtest moment rlngs out. / Iree
dom, / Greeks show the way ln the darkness. / IREE
DOM / Ior you the sun wlll weep wlth joy."
125
ai_ POV l b
Iollowlng the concluslon of World War II and
the departure of the German occupylng forces from
Greece, a clvll war broke out between leftlst guerlllas
and the natlonal government. Llke many other Greeks
who were suspected of leftlst sympathles, Elytls was
denled a passport and remalned conflned ln Greece
untll l918, when he was flnally glven permlsslon to
travel outslde the country. Leavlng Greece, he went to
Parls, where he met most of the poets he had been
admlrlng from a dlstance, lncludlng Andr Breton,
Plerre Reverdy, Plerre|ean |ouve, Gluseppe Lnga
rettl, Ellot, and Eluard (Elytls had already met Eluard
durlng the latter`s vlslt to Greece ln l916). Jhe
palnter EleftherladlsJerlade also put hlm ln contact
wlth Pablo Plcasso. Stlll ln Parls ln l919, he met the
palnters Henrl Matlsse, Iernand Lger, and Alberto
Glacomettl. Jhough the Greek government refused to
renew hls passport, he stayed ln Parls, and ln l950 he
met |eanPaul Sartre and Albert Camus. Hls encoun
ters and frlendshlps wlth these wrlters, palnters, and
thlnkers are descrlbed ln 'Jhe Chronlcle of a
Decade." He returned to Athens ln l95l.
Durlng the l950s Elytls worked on and pub
llshed two major collectlons. q ^ b (l959, Wor
thy It Is, translated as q ^ bI l980) and b ~
~ q ~ l~ (l960, Slx and One Remorses
for the Sky, publlshed ln an edltlon of 550 coples). q
^ b ls, wlthout a doubt, Elytls`s most popular
collectlon both ln Greece and abroad. He began work
lng on lt around l951 and sent lt to hls publlsher ln
l959; the flrst edltlon was 8l5 coples. It ls a monu
mental and long work dlvlded lnto three sectlons that
bear hymnologlcal tltles. 'Jhe Genesls," 'Jhe Pas
slon," and 'Jhe Glorla." In 'Jhe Genesls" seven free
verse hymns are presented, each descrlblng stages ln
the creatlon of the Greek landscape (by the poet/seer)
and the aesthetlc prlnclples that accompany lt. Jhe
flrst llne of the sectlon ls 'In the beglnnlng the llght,"
brlnglng to mlnd the Book of Genesls ('Let there be
llght," l.3) as well as the flrst sentence of |ohn`s Gos
pel ('In the beglnnlng was the Word," l.l). Jhe poet
contlnues to llterarlly recreate the Greek landscape
(the lntense llght of the sun, the archlpelago, the
lslands) untll hls psyche beglns to resemble the world
he has created. 'Jhls then am I / and the world the
Small the Great." Jhe second sectlon, 'Jhe Passlon,"
ls the most archltecturally complex part. Jranslators
|effrey Carson and Nlkos Sarrls, ln q ` m
l b (l997), descrlbe the structural dlvlslon
of thls sectlon ('sequence").
Jhree forms are represented ln thls sequence. free
verse psalms (P), odes of complex metrlcal responslon
(O), and prose readlngs (R). Jhere are three sectlons,
ldentlcally structured. PPOROPPOROPP. In the flrst,
consclousness confronts tradltlon (Greeks reslst ln
Albanla ln World War II); ln the second lt confronts
danger (occupatlon of Greece ln WWII); ln the thlrd, lt
overcomes danger (clvll war, post WWII).
'Jhe Glorla" ls a celebratlon of Greek landscape,
poetlc creatlon, and the femlnlne body. It celebrates
the trlumph of the eternal creatlve forces (both natural
and human) over ephemeral human concerns. 'Now
the Gods` humlllatlon Now the ashes of Man / Now
Now the zero / and Iorever the world the small the
great!" Jhough q ^ b was hlghly pralsed ln
academlc and artlstlc clrcles, lt remalned largely
unknown to the Greek publlc untll the composer
Jheodorakls set lt to muslc ln l961. Jhe success that
followed the flrst performance of the work was
unprecedented.
Llke q ^ bI b ~ ~ q ~ l~
was sent to the publlsher ln l959. Jhls collectlon,
however, does not present a unlfled theme but rather
conslsts of seven poems wlth dlfferent toplcs. In one of
the most powerful poems of the collectlon, 'Jhe
Autopsy," the body of a young man ls dlssected; but
lnstead of flesh and blood, what ls revealed ls emo
tlonal or lmaglstlc experlences, always connected to
Nature. 'the ollve root`s gold" ln hls heart, 'the
lntense cyanblue horlzon llne" beneath hls skln, and
'glaucous traces ln the blood." In what became a
recurrlng technlque ln Elytls`s poetry, landscape ls
lnfused wlth sentlment and becomes a projectlon and
celebratlon of the human body.
In the l960s, translators abroad began to take
notlce of Elytls`s poetry, and translatlons of hls poems
appeared ln German, Engllsh, Itallan, and Irench.
Durlng thls perlod, Elytls traveled extenslvely. In l96l
he journeyed to the Lnlted States as a guest of the
State Department; he vlslted New York, Washlngton,
New Orleans, Santa Ie, Los Angeles, San Iranclsco,
Buffalo, and Boston, and he met Yves Bonnefoy and
Allen Glnsberg. In l962, lnvlted by the Sovlet govern
ment, he vlslted the Sovlet Lnlon along wlth Empelrl
kos and Glorgos Jheotokas; the three traveled to
Odessa, Moscow, and Lenlngrad, and met Yevgeny
Yevtuchenko. In l965, lnvlted by the Lnlon of Bulgar
lan Wrlters, he vlslted Bulgarla and toured the coun
try accompanled by the local poet Ellsaveta Bagrlana.
In l967, just before the mllltary coup, he vlslted Egypt
(Alexandrla, Calro, Luxor, and Aswan), and ln l969,
unable to work under the fasclst reglme ln Greece, he
moved to Parls, where he stayed for about a year. In
l97l, stlll ln selfexlle, he stayed ln Cyprus for four
months.
126
l b ai_ POV
In l96l, whlle aboard the shlp brlnglng hlm to
the Lnlted States, Elytls composed the song cycle 'Llt
tle Cyclades," lncluded ln hls l972 collectlon To Io tou
Irto (Jhe Rhos of Eros), whlch was later set to
muslc, llke To Zxiov Isti, by varlous Greek composers.
Jhe songs of 'Llttle Cyclades" pralse the lumlnous
beauty of the Cycladlc landscape, as presented
through emotlonally charged moments ln llfe. love (as
ln the song 'Marlna"), separatlon (as ln 'Jhe Llttle
Northern Wlnd"), or slmply joy (as ln 'Jhe Poulla").
Elytls`s lnterest ln lyrlc poetry and muslc also led to
the composltlon ln l970 (durlng hls stay ln Cyprus) of
a llbretto, U Ilios o Iliotoro (l97l, Jhe Soverelgn Sun),
whlch was put to muslc by Laglos. Jhese songs return
to the everpresent (ln Elytls`s poetry) symbol of the
sun and the emotlonal values lt comes to represent ln
the Greek landscape. As ln Ilios o Irtos, Elytls evokes
natural elements of the Greek landscape (sun, wlnds,
mountalns, sea) and manmade elements that harmo
nlously coexlst wlth thls landscape (flshlng boats,
orchards, beautlful young bodles) ln order to confront
the hlstorlcal darkness of polltlcal oppresslon and
soclal stagnatlon.
In l972 the Greek fasclst government offered
hlm the Grand Prlze for Llterature, whlch he refused.
Around the same tlme he was awarded a grant by the
Iord Ioundatlon, whlch enabled hlm to survlve the
economlc hardshlps of the early l970s. Meanwhlle, he
contlnued to compose poetry but refused to publlsh
anythlng ln Athens (because of the dlctatorlal reglme).
Hls two collectlons of poetry composed durlng the
|unta rule were publlshed ln Cyprus lnstead. To Ito-
dcvtro loi Dclot Tctort Umorfio (Jhe LlghtJree and
the Iourteenth Beauty) was wrltten between l969 and
l970 and was publlshed ln l97l. In these poems, as he
explalned ln a l979 lntervlew wlth Andonls Deca
valles (quoted ln Tlc Collcctcd Iocms of Udysscus Ilytis),
Elytls returns to the use of llght. 'I glve Greece agaln
through the analogy of llght upon the senses. . . . I
express ln them |the poems| my poetlc understandlng
of the qulntessence of the Greek realm." Jhe twenty
one poems of the collectlon are unlted not only ln
thelr use of llght but also, as the crltlc Marlo Vlttl
notes, ln thelr attltude toward death.
In the iJq death ls somethlng lmmanent ln
humans, a natural, unavoldable, and unknown eplsode.
Fear towards lt remalns ln the boundarles of stolclsm.
Jhe poet does not attempt a mood of rebelllon agalnst
lt; nelther does he try to justlfy lt by turnlng lt lnto a
power tendlng towards llght. . . .
Jhe second collectlon of poetry publlshed by Elytls ln
Cyprus durlng the |unta years was To Movogrommo
(Jhe Monogram), whlch appeared ln l972. It ls one of
hls most erotlc collectlons, conslstlng of seven poems,
all addressed to an unknown and absent beloved. One
of lts astoundlng characterlstlcs ls lts strlct archltec
tural structure. Each poem has a speclflc number of
llnes (all multlples of seven), and the llnes wlthln each
poem are vlsually symmetrlc. Jhe flrst poem (seven
llnes) has a 3l3 llne structure; the second poem
(twentyone llnes) has a 31713 llne structure; the
thlrd poem (thlrtyflve llnes) has a l75957l llne
structure; the fourth and longest poem (fortynlne
llnes) has an lll7ll7lll llne structure; the flfth
poem ls symmetrlcal to the thlrd; the slxth to the sec
ond; and the seventh to the flrst. Jhls volume was not
the flrst tlme Elytls used symmetry and archltecture ln
hls poetry. In fact, all of hls collectlons are related to
the number seven (usually lncludlng seven poems or
multlples of seven). In addltlon to To Movogrommo, the
number appears contlnually ln hls poetry. Irosovotolis-
moi lncludes 'Seven Nocturnal Heptastlchs" (seven
poems of seven llnes each), 'Wlndows toward the
Ilfth Season" (seven poems), 'Orlon" (seven poems of
seven llnes each), 'Dlonysos" (seven poems), 'Clepsy
dras of the Lnknown" (seven poems), 'Clear Skles"
(twentyone poems), and 'Jhe Concert of the Hya
clnths" (twentyone poems); Ilios o Irtos lncludes
twentyone poems; and Zsmo Irilo loi Icvtlimo gio tov
clomcvo Zvtlypoloclogo ts Zlvovios lncludes fourteen
poems. Many of hls collectlons are also symmetrlcal,
as, for example, the poems of Irosovotolismoi.
In l971 Elytls publlshed To Itcrotlol (Jhe Step
chlldren), two unlts of seven poems each. All the
poems of thls collectlon are dated and placed ln chro
nologlcal sequence. the flrst, 'Psalm and Mosalc for
Sprlng ln Athens," ls dated l939, and the last, 'Mystlc
Verslcles," ls dated l972. Apart from the abundant ref
erences to anclent Greek sources, thls collectlon
lncludes odes or poems referrlng to partlcular lndlvld
uals that Elytls befrlended. Plcasso ('Ode to Pablo
Plcasso"), the poet Sarandarls ('George Sarandarls"),
the palnter Nlkos Hadjlkyrlakos Ghlkas ('Small Anal
ogon"), and EleftherladlsJerlade ('Vllla Natacha").
After the fall of the |unta, Elytls began worklng
on two poetry collectlons and varlous essays. In l971
he publlshed Zvoiclto Clortio, a volume of essays dat
lng from the mld l930s to the l970s. Jhls volume
lncludes the lengthy 'Chronlcle of a Decade," one of
the most lmportant accounts of the receptlon of the
Surreallst movement ln Greece and one of the flrst
attempts to establlsh a speclflcally Hellenlc modernlst
llterary tradltlon. He also worked extenslvely on a
serles of essays that were eventually publlshed, ln
l992, under the tltle Iv Icul (translated as Cortc
lovclc: Sclcctcd !ritivgs, l999). Jhls publlcatlon
127
ai_ POV l b
lncludes ^~~ ^~ b (Report to
Andreas Empelrlkos, flrst publlshed ln l978)a mov
lng eulogy of hls good frlend, who passed away ln
l975. Around l971 Elytls also began worklng on one
of hls most powerful collectlons, whlch was publlshed
ln l978 under the tltle j~~ k (translated as j~~
kI l98l).
j~~ k ls dlvlded lnto three parts, each rep
resentlng a 'dlalogue," or slmultaneous monologues,
between two volces. Marla Nephele, a glrl of the clty,
and the Antlphonlst, the volce of the poet. Etymologl
cally, 'Nephele" ln anclent Greek means 'cloud," glv
lng a mood of lnapproachable melancholy to the
character; apart from lts llteral meanlng as 'the other
volce," the word 'Antlphonlst" deslgnates, ln the
Orthodox tradltlon, the chanter who slngs respon
slvely to, or reclprocates, the maln chant. Elytls also
returns to a strlct archltectural structure and the use of
the number seven. Each of the three parts ls dlvlded
lnto fourteen poems. seven are narrated by the
Antlphonlst and seven by Marla Nephele. Vlsually,
each poem narrated by the Antlphonlst ls placed next
to a poem narrated by Marla Nephele (or vlce versa),
forclng an exchange between the two characters.
When Marla Nephele ls dlstressed (as ln 'Bonjour
Jrlstesse"), the Antlphonlst transforms sadness lnto a
playful song (as ln 'Mornlng Exerclses"); Marla Neph
ele talks about the tourlstfllled modern lsland of
Mykonos as the lsland of her cholce, whereas the
Antlphonlst prefers the more lsolated and unpopular
lsland of Patmos; she speaks of her 'JwentyIour
Hour Llfe," whlle he speaks of 'Jhe Llfelong
Moment"; she argues that every age has lts Jrojan
War, and he responds that every age has lts Helen.
In l975 Elytls was offered an honorary doctor
ate from the Phllosophlcal School of the Lnlverslty of
Jhessalonkl, and he was proclalmed an honorary cltl
zen of Lesbos. In l979 he was proclalmed an honorary
cltlzen of Heraclelon, Crete. In l975 _ ^~ dedl
cated an entlre lssue to hls poetry; ln l976 b ~ ~
q ~ l~ was translated lnto Irench; and ln
l978 Ingemar Rhedln began translatlng q ^ b
lnto Swedlsh. Jhe greatest surprlse for the poet, how
ever, came ln October l979, when the secretary of the
Swedlsh Academy announced the awardlng of the
l979 Nobel Prlze ln Llterature to Elytls 'for hls
poetry, whlch, agalnst the background of Greek tradl
tlon, deplcts wlth sensuous strength and lntellectual
clearslghtedness modern man`s struggle for freedom
and creatlveness." Other candldates for the l979
Nobel Prlze ln Llterature lncluded Graham Greene,
|orge Luls Borges, Gabrlel Garca Mrquez, and
Slmone de Beauvolr. Jhe announcement was under
standably recelved wlth tremendous enthuslasm ln
Greece.
Elytls went to Stockholm to recelve the prlze.
Hls lecture was dellvered ln Irench rather than Greek,
not slmply because he was fluent ln that language but
because, as evldent throughout hls essays, he wlshed
to emphaslze dlrect communlcatlon rather than trans
latlon, whlch (as he stressed ln hls lecture) ls always
bound to fall. On 8 December, ln the Stockholm Con
cert Hall, Elytls began hls lecture by settlng the gen
eral mood of hls poetlc ldeology.
May I be permltted, I ask you, to speak ln the name of
lumlnoslty and transparency? Jhe space I have llved ln
and where I have been able to fulflll myself ls deflned
by these two states. States that I have also percelved as
belng ldentlfled ln me wlth the need to express myself.
Jhe connectlon between poetlcal expresslon and llfe as
well as the assoclatlon of llfe wlth 'lumlnoslty and trans
parency"lnevltably llnked wlth the Greek landscape
are lndeed characterlstlcs that underllne the conceptual
lzatlon of hls entlre poetlc creatlon. Jo put lt slmply, he
llnks ethlcal values to physlcal values. In ^~ `~~
the concept ls further elaborated. 'In Greece llght and
hlstory are one and the same thlngmeanlng that ln the
flnal analysls the one reproduces the other, the one lnter
prets and justlfles the other, even the vold whlch ls black
ness; for thls country, by offerlng equallty of ethlcal and
physlcal values, does not happen to know any other
chlaroscuro."
Jhe awardlng of the Nobel Prlze lncreased medla
attentlon to Elytls`s work, and for the flrst tlme publlc
lnterest was also drawn to hls artwork, whlch he had
engaged ln as far back as l935. Stockholm`s Jhyelska
Galerlet exhlblted many of hls collages ln l979, and the
Zoumboulakls Gallery exhlblted them ln Athens the fol
lowlng year. Hls flrst artlstlc attempts had been greatly
lnfluenced by Surreallsm and partlcularly by the palnt
lngs of Ernst, Yves Janguy, and Oscar Domnguez. Elytls
turned to the art of collage more serlously ln the l960s,
and he contlnued to create collages, lnexhaustlbly, untll
hls death. Hls conceptlons are sometlmes purely based
on color and shape (as ln the work of Plet Mondrlan,
Georges Braque, or Matlsse), or they represent lmages
that are often found ln hls poetry. Some of these collages
were publlshed ln hls collectlons. hls early collages are
lncluded ln q~ o b~ and ln Illas Petropoulou`s
bI j~I q~ (l971), whlle the collages of the
l980s and l990s are malnly collected ln the l986 publl
catlon q a~ b (Jhe Room wlth the
Icons, wlth text by Eugenlos Aranltsls) and Elytls`s l995
book of prose tltled l h ^~~ (Jhe Garden
wlth the SelfDeceptlons).
128
l b ai_ POV
Elytls llved and contlnued to create for seventeen
years after recelvlng the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature. Hls
postNobel popularlty kept hlm busy. Jhe few years that
lmmedlately followed the Nobel presentatlon were spent
almost entlrely on award receptlons, presentatlons, and
speeches around the globe. In l980 he was presented
wlth an honorary doctorate from the Sorbonne ln
Irance, and ln l98l he recelved an honorary doctorate
from the Lnlverslty of London. He was also declared an
honorary cltlzen of Larnaca and Paphos (Cyprus), and
he was lnvlted by the Spanlsh prlme mlnlster Adolfo
Surez Gonzlez to vlslt Spaln, where he was declared an
honorary cltlzen of Joledo (ln the fall of l980). Jhe
Royal Soclety of Llterature (Lnlted Klngdom) presented
hlm wlth the Benson Medal ln l98l, an award glven as
llfetlme recognltlon ln poetry, flctlon, hlstory, and belles
lettres. Also ln l98l, Rutgers Lnlverslty, ln the Lnlted
States, establlshed the Elytls Chalr of Modern Greek
Studles ln honor of the poet, and ln March l982 he was
presented, by Mayor D. Bels of Athens, wlth the Gold
Medal of Honor of the Clty of Athens.
Durlng the l980s Elytls publlshed three collectlons
of poetry. Trio Ioimoto mc smoio Iyloirios (l982, Jhree
Poems Lnder a Ilag of Convenlence), Imcrologio cvos
Ztlcotou Zpriliou (l981; translated as ourvol of ov Uvsccv
Zpril, l998), and U Milros òutilos (l986; translated as
Tlc Iittlc Morivcr, l999). He also publlshed three books
of translatlons. Sopf (l981, Sappho), I Zpololyps tou
Iovv (l985, St. |ohn`s Revelatlon), and Irivogoros (l987).
Along wlth Dcutcr Crof (Second Wrltlng), publlshed ln
l976, these translatlons are testlmony to the wlde spec
trum of poetlc lnterests and lnfluences ln Elytls`s work.
Hls translatlons lnclude the poetry of |ouve, Eluard,
Lngarettl, Arthur Rlmbaud, Comte de Lautramont,
Vladlmlr Mayakovsky, Iederlco Garca Lorca, Bertolt
Brecht, and Isldore Luclen Ducasse.
Trio Ioimoto mc smoio Iyloirios presents three long
poems ('Jhe Garden Sees," 'Jhe Almond of the
World," and 'Ad Llbltum"), each dlvlded lnto seven sub
sectlons. In 'Jhe Garden Sees," the poet reafflrms hls
convlctlon that art ls a force that creates llfe.
t m ~
~ ~
~ ~~
~ ~ ~ e

~
~
~ ~ ~K
(A rearrangement of the three Greek letters 'omega
zeta eta" reveals the word 'Zoe," whlch means Llfe.)
Jhe Garden 'sees". lt ls not merely a decoratlve realm
but also a creatlve force that looks back at the vlewer,
much llke art does. Llfe ls also celebrated ln 'Jhe
Almond of the World," where the poet playfully vlews
lt as 'One more clgarette / whlch lasts untll we explre,"
but 'wlth really superb moments." Jhe last sectlon, 'Ad
Llbltum," ends wlth a reveallng postscrlpt. 'the more I
age the less I understand / experlence untaught me the
world." Old age brlngs the poet to a wlse sllence, where
'the omega leans to alpha" and 'dlsunltes tlme."
Elytls returns to the beglnnlng of hls youthful
lnterests wlth Imcrologio cvos Ztlcotou Zpriliou. It ls a dated
dlary of fortynlne entrles, spannlng from l Aprll to 7
May l98l, and lt ls remlnlscent of hls early experlments
wlth Surreallsm. Although, as he often repeated, he was
never an orthodox Surreallst, the entrles ln thls collec
tlon appear to be more personal; the lmages are dream
llke, often reachlng deep lnto the poet`s chlldhood
memorles.
Elytls`s greatest poetlc achlevement of the l980s
ls undoubtedly U Milros òutilos. Llke To Zxiov Isti and
Morio `cplclc, lt ls a hlghly structured collectlon com
posed of four sectlons ln prose, tltled 'Jo Anolnt the
Repast" (each sectlon ls dlvlded lnto seven short narra
tlves), alternatlng wlth three sectlons ln verse, tltled
'Wlth Both Llght and Death" (each sectlon ls dlvlded
lnto seven poems). Each prose sectlon ls preceded by a
separate part, tltled 'Spotllght," and each verse sectlon
ls followed by a sectlon tltled 'What One Loves." Jhe
entlre collectlon ls lntroduced wlth an 'Entrance" and
concluded wlth an 'Exlt."
Jhe 'Entrance" lntroduces 'journeylng" as the
underllnlng theme of the collectlon. Jhe seven scenes
of each 'Spotllght" descrlbe horrlble moments ln the
hlstory of Greece and speclflc moments of betrayal
from anclent to modern Greece, such as Mlltlades`s
condemnatlon and Phldlas`s lmprlsonment ln the flfth
century _.`.; Emperor Constantlne`s arrest of hls own
son Crlspus ln the Byzantlne years; and the lmprlson
ment of Kolokotronls, a celebrated Greek hero of the
l82l revolutlon. 'What One Loves" ls a compllatlon of
'snapshots," or moments, that the poet collects ln hls
metaphorlcal travel bag. llnes of poetry (from Sappho,
Sophocles, Cavafy, Wllllam Blake, Irledrlch Hlderlln,
Novalls, and Pound), references to concerts, sympho
nles, and songs (by Antonlo Vlvaldl, Wolfgang Ama
deus Mozart, Ludwlg von Beethoven, Jheodorakls,
and Hadjldakls), palntlngs (by Paul Klee, Matlsse, Plc
asso, Braque, |uan Grls, and |ean Arp), or slmply
words that the poet flnds lnterestlng (such as Alexan
dra, anemone, bergamot, and bougalnvlllea) and geo
graphlcal places wlth whlch he has some emotlonal
connectlon (Corfu, Lesbos, Aeglna, Cyprus, Chlos, and
Calro). 'Anolnt the Repast" and 'Wlth Both Llght and
Death" are the most elaborate sectlons of U Milros òu-
tilos, as the poet expresses hlmself ln lucld phllosophlcal
129
ai_ POV l b
concepts or emotlonally charged lmages. Jhe 'Exlt"
ends ln a surprlslngly penslve tone wlth the poet specu
latlng whether hls personal creatlons are able to lnflu
ence the publlc sphere (and as a consequence provlde a
sense of justlce), or whether they slmply remaln 'small
happlnesses" relevant only to hlmself.
Elytls further contlnues to explore the relatlon
shlp between the publlc and the prlvate spheres ln two
works publlshed ln l990. To Dmosio lo to Iditil (Jhe
Publlc and the Prlvate) and Iditil Udos (Jhe Prlvate
Road). In the last flve years of hls llfe he also wrote two
poetlc collectlons, To Ilcgcio ts Uxpctros (l99l, Jhe Ele
gles of the |uttlng Rock, translated as Tlc Uxopctro Ilc-
gics, l996) and Dytilo ts Iyps (l995, West of Sorrow).
Publlcatlon of To Ilcgcio ts Uxpctros colnclded wlth the
celebratlon of Elytls`s elghtleth blrthday. It ls a book of
fourteen poems that, as Carson suggests, are modeled
after the elegles of Hlderlln. Llke U Milros òutilos, thls
collectlon also beglns wlth the announcement of a jour
ney. 'Now, I look forward to the boat that, even lf you
get ln lt, / Wlll arrlve empty at a long sea Keramelkos /
Wlth stone Koral holdlng flowers." Jhe poems that fol
low take the reader to a flxed tlme where the actlons of
poets are 'eleglzed." Jhe poet remembers Hlderlln`s
mad love for Susette Gontard (ln 'Cupld and Psyche"),
Novalls`s beloved, twelveyearold Sophle von Khn (ln
'Elegy of Grnlngen"), and one of hls favorlte nlne
teenthcentury Greek poets, Dlonyslos Solomos (ln
'Awe and Whelmlng of Solomos"). One of the most
personal elegles of the collectlon ls 'La Palllda Morte"
(Pale Death), whlch, as Elytls`s translators suggest, was
composed after he 'spent part of the wlnter of l989-90
ln the Evangellsmos Hospltal ln Athens, sufferlng from
anemla." Jhe poem announces thls 'neardeath" expe
rlence from lts openlng llne ('Scentless ls death yet /
Jhe nostrlls catch lt llke / A flower . . ."), and lt gradu
ally moves to declarlng Death`s lnablllty to klll the
poet. 'But of these men, death, nobody knows any
thlng to say / Except the poet. |esus of the sun. Who
then rlses every Saturday / He. Jhe Is, the Was, and
the Comlng."
Elytls`s flnal collectlon, Dytilo ts Iyps, was wrltten
ln the summer of l995 ln Porto Raftl, Greece, where
the poet was vacatlonlng wlth fellow poet Ioullta
Illopoulou, who had been hls partner for about a
decade (he had never marrled nor had chlldren). Jhe
seven poems of the collectlon are 'more dense," as Ely
tls wrote to Carson, 'and for thls reason more dlfflcult,
but closer to my ldeal." Jhe tltle of the collectlon slg
nals lts mood. on one hand, the llfe of the elghtythree
yearold poet ls movlng westward toward lts settlng; but
on the other hand, lt also moves 'west of sorrow," that
ls, beyond where sorrow ltself sets. Jhe blographlcal
events ln the poet`s llfe are lnslgnlflcant. 'what
remalns," the collectlon concludes, 'ls poetry alone."
Elytls dled of a stroke ln hls apartment ln Athens
(23 Skoufa Street) on l8 March l996. A posthumous
collectlon tltled Il tou Ilsiov (Irom Nearby) was put
together by hls helr, Illopoulou, and was publlshed ln
l998.
Odysseus Elytls`s popularlty ln Greece remalns
astoundlng. He became a natlonal commodlty after the
Nobel Prlze, as evldent ln a contlnuous lncluslon of hls
name ln cultural and natlonal symbollsm. more than a
dozen streets ln Greece and Cyprus are named after
hlm; a llfeslzed statue sculpted by Ylannls Papas was
placed ln one of Kolonakl`s most central squares
(Platela Dexamenls); and a crulse shlp, a theater on the
lsland of Ios, and a hotel ln Jhessaly have all been
glven hls name. Blographlcal lnformatlon and scattered
llnes from hls poetry adorn tourlst pamphlets entlclng
vlsltors to travel to the Greek lslands. Such cultural
lncorporatlon comes as a stark contrast not only ln rela
tlon to the deeper essence of hls poetry but also to the
ascetlc llfe he had led ln hls small apartment. Elytls`s
poetry clearly reslsts superflclal classlflcatlons. Hls mul
tlfaceted style of wrltlng, along wlth hls lucld theoretlcal
formulatlons, earned hlm an endurlng place ln modern
Greek llterature.
oW
Roderlck Beaton, Iisogg st `cocllvil Iogotcclvio (Ath
ens. Ekdosels Nefel, l996);
ools Zbrood, speclal Elytls lssue, 19, no. 1 (l975);
Andonls Decavalles, U Ilyts: Zp? to Clryso s to Zsmcvio
Ioimo (Athens. Kedros, l988);
Decavalles, Udysscus Ilytis: Irom tlc Coldcv to tlc Silvcr
Iocm (New York. Pella, l991);
Nlkos Demou, Udysscus Ilytis (Athens. Ekdosels Nefel,
l992);
Danlll Iakov, I Zrcloiogvsio tou Udyssco Ilyts (Athens.
Ekdosels Ztros, 2000);
Ivar Ivask, Udysscus Ilytis: Zvologics of Iiglt (Norman.
Lnlverslty of Oklahoma Press, l98l);
Andreas Karantonls, Cio tov Udyssco Ilyts (Athens.
Ekdosels Papadma, l992);
M. G. Meraklls, Dclopcvtc Irmvcutilcs Dolimcs gio tov
Udyssco Ilyts (Athens. Ekdosels Patak, l981);
Andreas Mpelezlnls, U Upsimos Ilyts (Athens. Ikaros,
l999);
Illas Petropoulou, Ilyts, Morols, Tsoroucls (Athens. Ple
las, l971);
Marlo Vlttl, Cio tov Udyssco Ilyts (Athens. Ekdosels
Kastanlt, l998);
Vlttl, I Ccvio tou Triovto: Idcologio loi Morf (Athens.
Erms, 2000);
Vlttl, Udysscos Ilyts (Athens. Erms, l99l).
130
l b ai_ POV
NVTV k m i~
m~ p
aK h~ o~~ dI p ^~
Eq~~ pF
Gentlemen,
When Glorgos Seferls, compatrlot of thls year`s
Nobel Prlze wlnner ln llterature, came here ln l963 to
recelve the same award, he presented at the alrport a
bunch of hyaclnths each to the then Secretary of the
Swedlsh Academy and to lts offlclatlng dlrector that
wlnter as a greetlng to thelr respectlve wlves. He had
plcked them hlmself on Hymettus, the mountaln a
few mlles east of Athens where Aphrodlte had her
mlraculous sprlng and where, ever slnce antlqulty,
hyaclnths grow wlld ln a profuslon whlch makes the
whole mountaln smell of honey.
Jhe eplsode comes naturally to mlnd now that
we have the pleasure of welcomlng Odysseus Elytls,
the Greek wrlter who ln hls youth made hls name
wlth the collectlon q ` e~I ln whlch he
calls to hls beloved. 'Jake wlth you the llght of hya
clnths and baptlze lt ln the wellsprlng of day" and
assures her that 'when you glltter ln the sun that on
you glldes waterdrops, and deathless hyaclnths, and
sllences, I proclalm you the only reallty."
But there ls a more lmmedlate reason today to
thlnk of the chlvalrous gesture ln the lnhospltable
sleet of the alrport. Jhe hyaclnths Seferls gave us
were not at all llke those we are accustomed to see.
And, freshly plcked as they were, they became sym
bols not only of the cllmatlc dlfference between the
glver`s sunny south and our snowy north. If Odys
seus Elytls, the author of q ` e~I had
wlshed to use that flower as one of the analogles
between envlronment and perceptlon that are an
essentlal part of hls cultural outlook, he could have
sald that our potplants are a westEuropean ratlonal
lzatlon of somethlng whlch ln hls country grows wlld,
thereby acqulrlng lts everlastlng beauty. Jo thls
beauty he has devoted most of what he has wrltten,
and a recurrent theme ls the prevalent westEuropean
mlsconceptlon of all that goes to make up the dlstlnc
tlve world of ldeas whose legltlmate helr he ls.
He has arrlved at hls crltlcal vlew of our all too
ratlonallstlc plcture of Greece, whlch he traces back to
the Renalssance`s ldeal of antlqulty, by hls own famll
larlty wlth western Europe`s poetry, art and way of
thlnklng. It may seem llke a paradoxone whlch he
hlmself has polnted outthat lt was thls western
Europe, branded by hlm for lts sterlle ratlonallsm,
whlch gave Elytls the lmpulse that all at once set free
hls own wrltlng. surreallsm, whlch cannot be sald to
exaggerate reason.
Jhe paradox ls, lf not apparent, at any rate not
entlrely unusual. Llke a rebelllous pulse of exuberant
llfe surreallsm broke through the hardened arterles of
calclfled forms. Outslde Irance too poetry was doml
nated by a school whlch called ltself 'Les Parnass
lens" but whlch never reached even the foot of
Parnassus, lf we share Elytls`s vlew of what Greece
has been and stlll ls. But also on the Greek Parnassus
of that tlme sat the same connolsseurs of degenera
tlon who, ln ornate words, declared thelr pesslmlstlc
convlctlon that nothlng ln thls world was worth any
thlng except thelr ablllty to express perfectly thls very
thought. If such an atmosphere ls to be called captl
vatlng, surreallsm came as a llberatlon, a rellglous
revlval, even lf the slgn of the saved here and there
was a mere speaklng wlth tongues.
But much of the best that happens when an art
form ls rejuvenated ls not the result of a deflnlte pro
gram but the frult of an unforeseen cross. Ior Greek
poetry the contact wlth surreallsm meant a flowerlng
whlch allows us to call the last flfty years Hellas`s sec
ond hlghwater mark. In none of the numerous lmpor
tant poets who have created thls age of greatness can
we see more clearly than ln Elytls what thls vlgorous
cross slgnlfled. the excltlng meetlng between epoch
maklng modernlsm and lnherlted myth.
A cursory presentatlon of a poet hard to under
stand should, then, flrst establlsh hls relatlonshlp to
these two componentssurreallsm and myth. Jhe
task ls not as easy as lt looks. We have hls own word
for lt. 'I consldered surreallsm," he says on the one
hand, 'as the last avallable oxygen ln a dylng world,
dylng, at least, ln Europe." On the other hand he
states deflnltely. 'I never was a dlsclple of the surreal
lst school." Nor was he. Elytls wlll have nothlng to do
wlth lts fundamental poetry, the automatlc wrltlng
wlth lts unchecked torrent of chance assoclatlons. Hls
exploratlons ln poetry`s means of expresslon lead hlm
to surreallsm`s antlpodes. Even lf lts vlolent dlsplay of
unproven comblnatlons released hls own wrltlng, he
ls a man of strlct form, the master of dellberate cre
atlon.
Read hls q ^ bI by many regarded as hls
most representatlve work. Wlth lts palnstaklng com
posltlon and stately rhetorlc lt leaves not one syllable
to chance. Or take hls love poem j~I wlth lts
lngenlous mathematlcal basls; lt has few counterparts
ln the llterature we know. It comprlses seven songs,
13l
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each wlth seven llnes or multlples of seven ln a rlslng
scale 72 l35 up to the mlddle song`s culmlnatlon of
19, where the poem turns round and descends the
stalrcase wlth exactly the same number of llnes, 35
2ldown to the flnal song`s 7, the startlng polnt. Jhls
ls nothlng that need worry the poem`s readers; lt has
lts beauty wlthout our havlng to count lts steps. But
poetry wlth thls structure llke an Euclldean llnear
drawlng does not take after surreallsm`s
~~.
Elytls`s relatlonshlp to the other component, to
Greek myth, also calls for clarlflcatlon. We are used
to seelng Greece`s treasure of myths melted down and
remoulded to contemporary westEuropean patterns.
We have an Antlgone a la Raclne, an Antlgone a la
Anoullh and we shall have more. Ior Elytls such
treatment ls odlous, a ratlonallstlc potcultlvatlon of
wlldflowers. He hlmself wrltes no Antlgone a la Bre
ton. He lmltates no myths at all and attacks those
compatrlots who do. In thls world of ldeas he also has
hls share of responslblllty, though hls wrltlng ls a rep
etltlon not of anclent tales from the Greek past but of
the way ln whlch myths are produced.
He sees hls Greece wlth lts glorlous tradltlons,
lts mountalns whose peaks wlth thelr very names
remlnd us how hlgh the human splrlt has attalned,
and lts waters the Aegean Sea, Elytls`s home, whose
waves for thousands of years have washed ashore the
rlches that the West has been able to gather ln and
prlde ltself on. Ior hlm thls Greece ls stlll a llvlng,
everactlve myth, and he deplcts lt just as the old
mythmakers dld, by personlfylng lt and glvlng lt
human form. It lends a sensuous nearness to hls
vlslons, and the myth that ls the creed of hls poetry ls
lncarnated by beautlful young people ln an enchantlng
landscape who love llfe and each other ln dazzllng sun
shlne where the waves break on the shore.
We can call thls an optlmlstlc ldeallzatlon and,
desplte the concreteness, a fllght from the present
moment and reallty. Elytls`s very language, rltually
solemn, ls constantly strlvlng to get away from every
day llfe wlth lts pettlness. Jhe ldeallzatlon explalns
both the rapture and the crltlclsm that hls poetry has
aroused. Elytls hlmself has glven hls vlew of the mat
ter, polnt by polnt. Greek as a language, he says,
opposes a pesslmlstlc descrlptlon of llfe, and for ~
~ lt has no expresslons. Ior westEuropeans
all mystlclsm ls assoclated wlth the darkness and the
nlght, but for the Greeks llght ls the great mystery and
every radlant day lts recurrent mlracle. Jhe sun, the
sea and love are the baslc and purlfylng elements.
Jhose who malntaln that all true poetry must be
a reflectlon of lts age and a polltlcal act he can refer to
hls harrowlng poem about the second lleutenant who
fell ln the Albanlan war. Elytls, hlmself a second lleu
tenant, chanced to be one of the two offlcers who
opened the secret order of general moblllzatlon. He
took part at the front ln the passlonate and hopeless
flght agalnst Mussollnl`s crushlng superlorlty, and hls
lament over the fallen brotherlnarms, who personl
fles Greece`s nevercompleted struggle for exlstence, ls
commltted poetry ln a much more llteral and harsher
sense than that famlllar to those who usually clamour
for llterature`s commltment.
Elytls`s concluslons from hls partlclpatlon were
of a dlfferent nature. Jhe poet, he says, does not nec
essarlly have to express hls tlme. He can also hero
lcally defy lt. Hls calllng ls not to jot down ltems about
our dally llfe wlth lts soclal and polltlcal sltuatlons and
prlvate grlefs. On the contrary, hls only way leads
'from what ls to what may be." In lts essence, there
fore, Elytls`s poetry ls not loglcally clear as we see lt
but derlves lts llght from the llmpldlty of the present
moment agalnst a perspectlve behlnd lt. Hls myth has
lts roots by the Aegean Sea, whlch was hls cradle, but
the myth ls about humanlty, drawlng lts nourlshment
not from a vanlshed golden age but from one whlch
can never be reallzed. It ls polntless to call thls elther
optlmlsm or pesslmlsm. Ior, lf I have understood hlm
arlght, only our future ls worth bearlng ln mlnd and
the unattalnable alone ls worth strlvlng for.
Cher Maltre,
Malheureusement, mals sans doute au soulage
ment de làudltolre, je ne parle pas votre langue. Pour
employer la locutlon anglalse spclflque a quelque
chose dètrange. 'It`s Greek to me." Mals votre posle
nèst certalnement pas trangre, porte par la mer, qul
est en mme temps la mere de la clvlllsatlon
europenne. Dans cette descendance nous mettons
notre glolre, et, par consequent, ll faut que je contredlse
votre dlagnostlc de notre tat deplorable. Ce dont nous
sommes attelnts, ce nèst pas du tout dùn excs de
ratlonallsme. Au contralre, la maladle de lÈurope occl
dentale cèst justement que le ratlonallsme est ratlonn.
Et le peu que nous en dtenons encore, ce ne sont pas
les devolrs que nous ont donns a apprendre nos phl
losophes de la renalssance. La sagesse clalre et la
loglque pure de Platon et dÀrlstote, peuttre aussl de
Protagoras, de Gorglas et de Socrate lulmme, volla les
raclnes du ratlonallsme, dont nous ne voyons
aujourd`hul que les paves pltoyables.
Nanmolns Socrate, quand la ralson ne lul don
nalt pas de gouverne, a cout la volx de son dalmon,
et, cher matre, cèst avec une admlratlon trs profonde
que nous avons cout se falre entendre en votre posle
la mme volx de mystre, le dalmonde votre pays.
|àl grand plalslr a vous transmettre les fellclta
tlons les plus cordlales de lÀcadmle sudolse et a vous
132
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demander de recevolr des malns de Sa Majest le Rol le
Prlx Nobel de lltrature de cette anne.
Trovslotiov of Ircvcl porogropls by Miclocl I. Ioorc:
Dear Master,
Lnfortunatelybut wlthout a doubt to the rellef
of the audlenceI do not speak your tongue. Jo use the
Engllsh phrase referrlng to somethlng forelgn, 'It`s
Greek to me." But your poetry ls certalnly not forelgn,
havlng been borne by the sea of whom European clvlll
zatlon was also born. We glory ln thls ancestry, and
therefore I must contradlct your appralsal of our sad
state. What troubles us ls not at all an excess of ratlonal
lsm. Jo the contrary, the allment of Western Europe ls
ln fact a lack of sufflclent ratlonallsm. And the llttle we
stlll possess does not conslst of the lmperatlves whlch
our Renalssance phllosophers gave us to learn. Jhe
clear wlsdom and pure loglc of Plato and Arlstotle, per
haps also of Protagoras, Gorglas and Socrates hlmself.
here are the roots of ratlonallsm, of whlch today we see
only the pltlful remnants.
Nonetheless Socrates, when hls thoughts were not
gulded by reason, llstened to the lnner volce of hls genlus,
and, dear master, we have llstened wlth deep admlratlon
as the same volce of mystery, the guldlng splrlt of your
country, has made ltself heard ln your poetry.
It glves me great pleasure to offer you the most
heartfelt congratulatlons of the Swedlsh Academy, and
to ask you to recelve, from the hands of Hls Majesty the
Klng, thls year`s Nobel Prlze ln Llterature.
bW _~ p
Ilytis`s spcccl ot tlc òbcl ovquct, 10 Dcccmbcr 1979
Slre, Madame, Altesses Royales, Mesdames, Messleurs,
Le voyage dÒdysseus, dont ll mà t donn de
porter le nom, semble ne devolr jamals sàchever. Et
cèst heureux.
Comme lòbservalt un de nos grands potes con
temporalns, lèssentlel nèst pas dans le retour a Ith
aque, qul met un terme a presque tout, mals dans
lèrrance qul est connalssance et aventure. Ce besoln de
l`homme de dcouvrlr, de connatre, de s`lnltler a ce qul
le dpasse, est lrrpresslble. Nous sommes tous captlfs
de cette solf de connatre 'le mlracle," de crolre que le
mlracle se prodult, pourvu que nous y soyons prpars
et que nous làttendlons.
En me consacrant, a mon tour, pendant plus de
quarante ans, a la posle, je nàl rlen falt dàutre. |e par
cours des mers fabuleuses, je m`lnstruls en dlverses
haltes. Et me volcl, aujourd`hul, a lèscale de Stockholm
avec pour seul capltal, dans mes malns, quelques mots
hellnlques. Ils sont modestes, mals vlvants pulsqu`lls se
trouvent sur les lvres de tout un peuple.
Ils sont gs de trols mllle ans, mals aussl frals
que sl lòn venalt de les tlrer de la mer. Parml les galets
et les algues des rlves de lÈge. Dans les bleus vlfs et
làbsolue transparence de l`ther. Cèst le mot 'clel,"
cèst le mot 'mer," cèst le mot 'solell," cèst le mot
'llbert." |e les dpose respectueusement a vos pleds.
Pour vous remercler. Pour remercler le noble peuple de
Sude et ses matres a penser qul, en sòpposant a lèstl
matlon quantltatlve des valeurs, conservent le secret de
renouveler chaque anne le mlracle. |e vous remercle.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l979. Odysseus Elytls ls the
Trovslotiov by Miclocl I. Ioorc:
Slre, Madam, Your Royal Hlghnesses, Ladles and Gen
tlemen.
Jhe voyages of Odysseus, whose name lt has been
glven to me to bear, seem to never be completed. And thls
ls a good thlng.
One of our great contemporary poets observed that
the value ls not ln the return to Ithaca, whlch brlngs an
end to almost everythlng, but rather ln the wanderlng,
whlch ls knowledge and adventure. Man`s deslre to dls
cover, to know, to enter ln that whlch surpasses hlm, ls
lrrepresslble. We are all captlves of thls thlrst to know 'the
mlracle," to belleve that the mlracle wlll happen as long as
we are ready for lt and awalt lt.
In devotlng myself to poetry for more than forty
years, I have done nothlng else. I travel seas full of mar
vels, I learn ln varled stopplng places. And here I am
today, ln the Stockholm port of call, wlth a few words of
Greek the only currency ln my hands. Jhese words are
modest but full of llfe, slnce they are spoken by an entlre
people.
Jhey are three thousand years old, but as fresh as lf
they had just been pulled from the sea. Among the peb
bles and the algae of the Aegean coast. In the vlbrant
blues and absolute transparence of the alr. Jhey are the
word 'sky"; the word 'sea"; the word 'sun"; the word
'llberty." I lay them respectfully at your feet. Jo glve
thanks to you. Jo glve thanks to the noble people of Swe
den and lts best thlnkers who, ln opposlng a quantltatlve
valuatlon of worth, conserve the secret of renewlng the
mlracle each year. I thank you.
133
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^~
Odysseus Elytls`s name tells us a great deal about
hlm as a person and a wrlter.
Odysseusthe seafarer, the Homerlc poem`s hero,
allve wlth the splrlt of freedom, wlth deflant lntrepldlty,
enterprlse, and an lnsatlable appetlte for all the adven
tures and sensuous experlences that the seas and lsles of
Greece can offer. Odysseus ls the name glven to the
poet by hls parents. It testlfles to the feellng for the past
and to the llnks wlth the myths and dlstlnctlve charac
ter of Greek tradltlon. Jhe famlly comes from the
Aegean lslands. Jhe poet was born ln Crete just before
the llberatlon from Jurklsh rule.
Elytls ls the name he adopted at the very begln
nlng of hls career as a wrlter. Jhe name ls a composlte
one, wlth alluslon to several concepts dear to the poet`s
heartlt could be called a much abrldged manlfesto.
Jhe components ln the name are to serve as a remlnder
of the Greek words for Greece (Ellas), hope (elpdha),
freedom (elefthera) and the mythlcal woman who ls the
personlflcatlon of beauty, erotlc sensuallty and female
allure, Helena (Elnl). Eros and Heros are closely con
nected ln Elytls`s world of poetry or myth.
Jhe sea and the lslands, thelr fauna and flora, the
smooth pebbles on the beaches, the surge of the waves,
the prlckly black seaurchlns, the tang of salt, and the
llght over the water are constantly recurrlng elements ln
hls wrltlngllke the brlght flood of sunllght whlch bap
tlzes thls world wlth lts allpervadlng lustre, at once fer
tlle and purlfylng. Sensuallty and llght lrradlate Elytls`s
poetry. Jhe perceptlble world ls vlvldly present and
overwhelmlng ln lts wealth of freshness and astonlshlng
experlences.
But through Elytls`s evocatlve verbal art, thls
world ls also elevated to a symbollc reallty. It becomes
an ldeal for the world that ls not always so brlght and
true and wonderful, but whlch should be, and could be.
We should always pralse and worshlp thls world for
what lt ought to be, and for what lt, thereby, can be to
us. a llfeglvlng source of strength. Elytls`s extolllng of
exlstence, of man and hls potentlalltles, and llfe ln com
munlon wlth the rest of creatlon, ls no ldeallzlng or lllu
sory escaplsm. It ls a moral act of lnvocatlon of the klnd
to be found so many tlmes ln Greek hlstory, from the
presentday struggles for freedom agalnst fasclst or
other oppresslon far back through the centurles to the
herolc phase of the classlcal era. What matters ls not to
submlt. What matters ls constantly to bear ln mlnd
what llfe should be, and what man can shape for hlm
self ln deflance of all that threatens to destroy hlm and
vlolate hlm.
Jhls ls not polltlcal wrltlng ln the narrow sense of
the word. It ls a wrltlng of preparedness, whlch alms at
defendlng the moral lntegrlty or prlde that ls essentlal lf
we are to be able to reslst at all, and to endure hardshlps
and dangers, outrage and adverslty. Jhese sldes of Ely
tls`s poetry emerged strongly durlng the flrst years of
the l910s when he took part ln the campalgn ln Alba
nla agalnst the fasclst lnvaslon. He passed through what
he hlmself calls a crlsls. Everythlng had to be trled out
afreshhow to llve, what the use of poetry was, how the
beauty of poetry and art could serve ln the flght for
human dlgnlty and reslstance, yet preserve lts freedom
as art.
Jhe poem e ~ b~ p i p
i ^~~ `~~ was wrltten durlng thls
war, most of lt based on personal experlence. It lmmedl
ately evoked response and became a klnd of generatlon
document for the young. It has kept lts posltlon as an
expresslon of the Greeks` lndomltable splrlt of resls
tance. Jhe fallen soldler ls a representatlve of the
Greeks who were kllled ln thls war, but also of all those
who have fallen durlng Greece`s long hlstory of struggle
for natlonal llberty and lndlvlduallty. Here, as so often
ln Elytls`s wrltlng, reallstlc and mythlcal deplctlon are
comblned.
Jhe Albanlan campalgn and the 'herolc and ele
glac song" about lt were, ln a way, a turnlng polnt for
Elytls as a poet. Hls flrst verses had been publlshed ln
the mlddle of the l930s ln a magazlne whlch was then a
forum for young wrlters, k~ d~~ln fact, a
school for buddlng poets. Jhe lmpulses from Irench
surreallsm, ln partlcular, made themselves feltln Ely
tls`s case, chlefly from Paul Eluard. Surreallsm became
a llberator. It helped the young wrlters to flnd them
selves, not least, ln relatlon to the great Greek classlcal
tradltlon, whlch mlght threaten to become oppresslve
and to stagnate ln stereotyped and rhetorlcal formulae.
Elytls`s flrst poems, before e ~ b~ pI are
youthfully sensual, full of llght, brllllant, and very evoc
atlve ln thelr vlsual and charmlng freshness. Jhey
qulckly establlshed hlm as one of the leadlng new
Greek poets.
Wlth e ~ b~ pI however, other sldes
of the wrlter emerged and lnslsted on becomlng part of
hls creatlve worldsldes whlch had been there from the
outset but whlch now demanded more room. the traglc
and the herolc. In the poetlc cycle whlch many regard
as Elytls`s foremost work, q ^ b (Worthy It Is),
these very complex experlences and programs have
131
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been glven a form whlch makes thls work one of 20th
century llterature`s most concentrated and rlchly
faceted poems. Jhe cycle ls a klnd of lyrlc drama or
myth wlth stralns from Heslod, the Blble and Byzantlne
hymns. In lts severe and polyphonlc structure lt ls also
llnked to the avantgardlsm of modern western wrltlng.
Jhe cycle beglns almost as drama of creatlon, concern
lng not only the poet hlmself, but, through hlm, us all.
Ior, Elytls says, 'I do not speak about myself. I speak
for anyone who feels llke myself but does not have
enough nalvet to confess lt." But lt ls also about the
orlgln of Greece, ln fact of the world. Jhen follows an
archltecturally compllcated sectlon wlth descrlptlons of
the war and other scourges that have affllcted Greece
and modern man. After thls sectlon, whlch represents a
crlsls or path of sufferlng, comes a concludlng part, the
actual song of pralse; mature man ls tempered and
strengthened through hls experlences but also fortlfled
ln hls lndomltable and deflant wlll to defend llfe and lts
sensuous abundance.
In one of hls short essays, Elytls sums up hls
lntentlons. 'I conslder poetry a source of lnnocence full
of revolutlonary forces. It ls my mlsslon to dlrect these
forces agalnst a world my consclence cannot accept,
preclsely so as to brlng that world through contlnual
metamorphoses more ln harmony wlth my dreams. I
am referrlng here to a contemporary klnd of maglc
whose mechanlsm leads to the dlscovery of our true
reallty. It ls for thls reason that I belleve to the polnt of
ldeallsm, that I am movlng ln a dlrectlon whlch has
never been attempted untll now. In the hope of obtaln
lng a freedom from all constralnts, and the justlce whlch
could be ldentlfled wlth absolute llght. . . ."
In lts comblnatlon of fresh, sensuous flexlblllty
and strlctly dlsclpllned lmplacablllty ln the face of all
compulslon, Elytls`s poetry glve a shape to lts dlstlnc
tlveness,whlch ls not only very personal but also repre
sents the tradltlons of the Greek people.
135
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Eq~~F
May I be permltted, I ask you, to speak ln the
name of lumlnoslty and transparency? Jhe space I
have llved ln and where I have been able to fulflll
myself ls deflned by these two states. States that I
have also percelved as belng ldentlfled ln me wlth the
need to express myself.
It ls good, lt ls rlght that a contrlbutlon be made
to art, from that whlch ls asslgned to each lndlvldual
by hls personal experlence and the vlrtues of hls lan
guage. Even more so, slnce the tlmes are dlsmal and
we should have the wldest posslble vlew of thlngs.
I am not speaklng of the common and natural
capaclty of percelvlng objects ln all thelr detall, but of
the power of the metaphor to only retaln thelr
essence, and to brlng them to such a state of purlty
that thelr metaphyslcal slgnlflcance appears llke a rev
elatlon.
I am thlnklng here of the manner ln whlch the
sculptors of the Cycladlc perlod used thelr materlal,
to the polnt of carrylng lt beyond ltself. I am also
thlnklng of the Byzantlne lcon palnters, who suc
ceeded, only by uslng pure color, to suggest the
'dlvlne."
It ls just such an lnterventlon ln the real, both
penetratlng and metamorphoslng, whlch has always
been, lt seems to me, the lofty vocatlon of poetry. Not
llmltlng ltself to what ls, but stretchlng ltself to what
can be. It ls true that thls step has not always been
recelved wlth respect. Perhaps the collectlve neuroses
dld not permlt lt. Or perhaps because utllltarlanlsm
dld not authorlze men to keep thelr eyes open as
much as was necessary.
Beauty, Llght, lt happens that people regard
them as obsolete, as lnslgnlflcant. And yet! Jhe lnner
step requlred by the approach of the Angel`s form ls,
ln my oplnlon, lnflnltely more palnful than the other,
whlch glves blrth to Demons of all klnds.
Certalnly, there ls an enlgma. Certalnly, there ls
a mystery. But the mystery ls not a stage plece turnlng
to account the play of llght and shadow only to
lmpress us.
It ls what contlnues to be a mystery, even ln
brlght llght. It ls only then that lt acqulres that reful
gence that captlvates and whlch we call Beauty.
Beauty that ls an open paththe only one perhaps
towards that unknown part of ourselves, towards that
whlch surpasses us. Jhere, thls could be yet another
deflnltlon of poetry. the art of approachlng that whlch
surpasses us.
Innumerable secret slgns, wlth whlch the unl
verse ls studded and whlch constltute so many sylla
bles of an unknown language, urge us to compose
words, and wlth words, phrases whose declpherlng
puts us at the threshold of the deepest truth.
In the flnal analysls, where ls truth? In the ero
slon and death we see around us, or ln thls propenslty
to belleve that the world ls lndestructlble and eternal?
I know, lt ls wlse to avold redundancles. Jhe cosmog
onlc theorles that have succeeded each other through
the years have not mlssed uslng and abuslng them.
Jhey have clashed among themselves, they have had
thelr moment of glory, then they have been erased.
But the essentlal has remalned. It remalns.
Jhe poetry that ralses ltself when ratlonallsm
has lald down lts arms, takes lts rellevlng troops to
advance lnto the forbldden zone, thus provlng that lt
ls stlll the less consumed by eroslon. It assures, ln the
purlty of lts form, the safeguard of those glven facts
through whlch llfe becomes a vlable task. Wlthout lt
and lts vlgllance, these glven facts would be lost ln the
obscurlty of consclousness, just as algae become
lndlstlnct ln the ocean depths.
Jhat ls why we have a great need of transpar
ency. Jo clearly percelve the knots of thls thread run
nlng throughout the centurles and aldlng us to remaln
uprlght on thls earth.
Jhese knots, these tles, we see them dlstlnctly,
from Heraclltus to Plato and from Plato to |esus. Hav
lng reached us ln varlous forms they tell us the same
thlng. that lt ls ln the lnslde of thls world that the
other world ls contalned, that lt ls wlth the elements
of thls world that the other world ls recomblned, the
hereafter, that second reallty sltuated above the one
where we llve unnaturally. It ls a questlon of a reallty
to whlch we have a total rlght, and only our lncapac
lty makes us unworthy of lt.
It ls not a colncldence that ln healthy tlmes,
Beauty ls ldentlfled wlth Good, and Good wlth the
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Sun. Jo the extent that consclousness purlfles ltself
and ls fllled wlth llght, lts dark portlons retract and
dlsappear, leavlng empty spacesjust as ln the laws of
physlcsfllled by the elements of the opposlte lmport.
Jhus what results of thls rests on the two aspects, I
mean the 'here" and the 'hereafter." Dld not Heracll
tus speak of a harmony of opposed tenslons?
It ls of no lmportance whether lt ls Apollo or
Venus, Chrlst or the Vlrgln who lncarnate and per
sonallze the need we have to see materlallzed what we
experlence as an lntultlon. What ls lmportant ls the
breath of lmmortallty that penetrates us at that
moment. In my humble oplnlon, Poetry should,
beyond all doctrlnal argumentatlon, permlt thls
breath.
Here I must refer to Hlderlln, that great poet
who looked at the gods of Olympus and Chrlst ln the
same manner. Jhe stablllty he gave a klnd of vlslon
contlnues to be lnestlmable. And the extent of what
he has revealed for us ls lmmense. I would even say lt
ls terrlfylng. It ls what lncltes us to cry outat a tlme
when the paln now submerglng us was just begln
nlng. 'What good are poets ln a tlme of poverty?"
t a w\
Ior manklnd, tlmes were always I unfortu
nately. But poetry has never, on the other hand,
mlssed lts vocatlon. Jhese are two facts that wlll
never cease to accompany our earthly destlny, the
flrst servlng as the counterwelght to the other. How
could lt be otherwlse? It ls through the Sun that the
nlght and the stars are perceptlble to us. Yet let us
note, wlth the anclent sage, that lf lt passes lts bounds
the Sun becomes 'hubrls." Ior llfe to be posslble, we
have to keep a correct dlstance to the allegorlcal Sun,
just as our planet does from the natural Sun. We for
merly erred through lgnorance. We go wrong today
through the extent of our knowledge. In saylng thls I
do not wlsh to joln the long llst of censors of our tech
nologlcal clvlllzatlon. Wlsdom as old as the country
from whlch I come has taught me to accept evolutlon,
to dlgest progress 'wlth lts bark and lts plts."
But then, what becomes of Poetry? What does lt
represent ln such a soclety? Jhls ls what I reply.
poetry ls the only place where the power of numbers
proves to be nothlng. Your declslon thls year to
honor, ln my person, the poetry of a small country,
reveals the relatlonshlp of harmony llnklng lt to the
concept of gratultous art, the only concept that
opposes nowadays the allpowerful posltlon acqulred
by the quantltatlve esteem of values.
Referrlng to personal clrcumstances would be a
breach of good manners. Pralslng my home, stlll
more unsultable. Nevertheless lt ls sometlmes lndls
pensable, to the extent that such lnterferences asslst ln
seelng a certaln state of thlngs more clearly. Jhls ls
the case today.
Dear frlends, lt has been granted to me to wrlte
ln a language that ls spoken only by a few mllllon
people. But a language spoken wlthout lnterruptlon,
wlth very few dlfferences, throughout more than two
thousand flve hundred years. Jhls apparently surprls
lng spatlaltemporal dlstance ls found ln the cultural
dlmenslons of my country. Its spatlal area ls one of
the smallest; but lts temporal extenslon ls lnflnlte. If I
remlnd you of thls, lt ls certalnly not to derlve some
klnd of prlde from lt, but to show the dlfflcultles a
poet faces when he must make use, to name the
thlngs dearest to hlm, of the same words as dld Sap
pho, for example, or Plndar, whlle belng deprlved of
the audlence they had and whlch then extended to all
of human clvlllzatlon.
If language were not such a slmple means of
communlcatlon there would not be any problem. But
lt happens, at tlmes, that lt ls also an lnstrument of
'maglc." In addltlon, ln the course of centurles, lan
guage acqulres a certaln way of belng. It becomes a
lofty speech. And thls way of belng entalls obllga
tlons.
Let us not forget elther that ln each of these
twentyflve centurles and wlthout any lnterruptlon,
poetry has been wrltten ln Greek. It ls thls collectlon
of glven facts whlch makes the great welght of tradl
tlon that thls lnstrument llfts. Modern Greek poetry
glves an expresslve lmage of thls.
Jhe sphere formed by thls poetry shows, one
could say, two poles. at one of these poles ls
Dlonyslos Solomos, who, before Mallarm appeared
ln European llterature, managed to formulate, wlth
the greatest rlgor and coherency, the concept of pure
poetry. to submlt sentlment to lntelllgence, ennoble
expresslon, moblllze all the posslbllltles of the llnguls
tlc lnstrument by orlentlng oneself to the mlracle. At
the other pole ls Cavafy, who llke J. S. Ellot reaches,
by ellmlnatlng all form of turgldlty, the extreme llmlt
of conclslon and the most rlgorously exact expres
slon.
Between these two poles, and more or less close
to one or the other, our other great poets move. Kos
tls Palamas, Angelos Slkellanos, Nlkos Kazantzakls,
George Seferls.
Such ls, rapldly and schematlcally drawn, the
plcture of neoHellenlc poetlc dlscourse.
We who have followed have had to take over
the lofty precept whlch has been bequeathed to us
and adapt lt to contemporary senslblllty. Beyond the
llmlts of technlque, we have had to reach a synthesls,
whlch, on the one hand, asslmllated the elements of
137
ai_ POV bW k iI U a NVTV
Greek tradltlon and, on the other, the soclal and psy
chologlcal requlrements of our tlme.
In other words, we had to grasp today`s
EuropeanGreek ln all lts truth and turn that truth to
account. I do not speak of successes, I speak of lnten
tlons, efforts. Orlentatlons have thelr slgnlflcance ln
the lnvestlgatlon of llterary hlstory.
But how can creatlon develop freely ln these
dlrectlons when the condltlons of llfe, ln our tlme,
annlhllate the creator? And how can a cultural com
munlty be created when the dlverslty of languages
ralses an unsurpassable obstacle? We know you and
you know us through the 20 or 30 per cent that
remalns of a work after translatlon. Jhls holds even
more true for all those of us who, prolonglng the fur
row traced by Solomos, expect a mlracle from dls
course and that a spark flles from between two words
wlth the rlght sound and ln the rlght posltlon.
No. We remaln mute, lncommunlcable.
We are sufferlng from the absence of a common
language. And the consequences of thls absence can
be seenI do not belleve I am exaggeratlngeven ln
the polltlcal and soclal reallty of our common home
land, Europe.
We sayand make the observatlon each day
that we llve ln a moral chaos. And thls at a moment
whenas never beforethe allocatlon of that whlch
concerns our materlal exlstence ls done ln the most
systematlc manner, ln an almost mllltary order, wlth
lmplacable controls. Jhls contradlctlon ls slgnlflcant.
Of two parts of the body, when one ls hypertrophlc,
the other atrophles. A pralseworthy tendency, encour
aglng the peoples of Europe to unlte, ls confronted
today wlth the lmposslblllty of harmonlzatlon of the
atrophled and hypertrophlc parts of our clvlllzatlon.
Our values do not constltute a common language.
Ior the poetthls may appear paradoxlcal but lt
ls truethe only common language he stlll can use ls
hls sensatlons. Jhe manner ln whlch two bodles are
attracted to each other and unlte has not changed for
mlllennla. In addltlon, lt has not glven rlse to any
confllct, contrary to the scores of ldeologles that have
bloodled our socletles and have left us wlth empty
hands.
When I speak of sensatlons, I do not mean
those, lmmedlately perceptlble, on the flrst or second
level. I mean those whlch carry us to the extreme
edge of ourselves. I also mean the 'analogles of sensa
tlons" that are formed ln our splrlts.
Ior all art speaks through analogy. A llne,
stralght or curved, a sound, sharp or lowpltched,
translate a certaln optlcal or acoustlc contact. We all
wrlte good or bad poems to the extent that we llve or
reason accordlng to the good or bad meanlng of the
term. An lmage of the sea, as we flnd lt ln Homer,
comes to us lntact. Rlmbaud wlll say 'a sea mlxed
wlth sun." Except he wlll add. 'that ls eternlty." A
young glrl holdlng a myrtle branch ln Archllochus
survlves ln a palntlng by Matlsse. And thus the Medl
terranean ldea of purlty ls made more tanglble to us.
In any case, ls the lmage of a vlrgln ln Byzantlne lco
nography so dlfferent from that of her secular slsters?
Very llttle ls needed for the llght of thls world to be
transformed lnto supernatural clarlty, and lnversely.
One sensatlon lnherlted from the Anclents and
another bequeathed by the Mlddle Ages glve blrth to
a thlrd, one that resembles them both, as a chlld does
lts parents. Can poetry survlve such a path? Can sen
satlons, at the end of thls lncessant purlflcatlon pro
cess, reach a state of sanctlty? Jhey wlll return then,
as analogles, to graft themselves on the materlal
world and to act on lt.
It ls not enough to put our dreams lnto verse. It
ls too llttle. It ls not enough to polltlclze our speech. It
ls too much. Jhe materlal world ls really only an
accumulatlon of materlals. It ls for us to show our
selves to be good or bad archltects, to bulld Paradlse
or Hell. Jhls ls what poetry never ceases afflrmlng to
usand partlcularly ln these tlmesjust thls.
that ln splte of everythlng our destlny lles ln our
hands.
I have often trled to speak of solar metaphyslcs.
I wlll not try today to analyse how art ls lmpllcated ln
such a conceptlon. I wlll keep to one slngle and slm
ple fact. the language of the Greeks, llke a maglc
lnstrument, hasas a reallty or a symbollntlmate
relatlons wlth the Sun. And that Sun does not only
lnsplre a certaln attltude of llfe, and hence the prlme
val sense to the poem. It penetrates the composltlon,
the structure, andto use a current termlnologythe
nucleus from whlch ls composed the cell we call the
poem.
It would be a mlstake to belleve that lt ls a ques
tlon of a return to the notlon of pure form. Jhe sense
of form, as the West has bequeathed lt to us, ls a con
stant attalnment, represented by three or four models.
Jhree or four moulds, one could say, where lt was
sultable to pour the most anomalous materlal at any
prlce. Joday that ls no longer concelvable. I was one
of the flrst ln Greece to break those tles.
What lnterested me, obscurely at the beglnnlng,
then more and more consclously, was the edlflcatlon
of that materlal accordlng to an archltectural model
that varled each tlme. Jo understand thls there ls no
need to refer to the wlsdom of the Anclents who con
celved the Parthenons. It ls enough to evoke the hum
ble bullders of our houses and of our chapels ln the
Cyclades, flndlng on each occaslon the best solutlon.
138
bW k iI U a NVTV ai_ POV
Jhelr solutlons. Practlcal and beautlful at the same
tlme, so that ln seelng them Le Corbusler could only
admlre and bow.
Perhaps lt ls thls lnstlnct that woke ln me when,
for the flrst tlme, I had to face a great composltlon
llke 'Axlon Estl." I understood then that wlthout glv
lng the work the proportlons and perspectlve of an
edlflce, lt would never reach the solldlty I wlshed.
I followed the example of Plndar or of the Byz
antlne Romanos Melodos who, ln each of thelr odes
or cantlcles, lnvented a new mode for each occaslon. I
saw that the determlned repetltlon, at lntervals, of cer
taln elements of verslflcatlon effectlvely gave to my
work that multlfaceted and symmetrlcal substance
whlch was my plan.
But then ls lt not true that the poem, thus sur
rounded by elements that gravltate around lt, ls trans
formed lnto a llttle Sun? Jhls perfect correspondence,
whlch I thus flnd obtalned wlth the lntended con
tents, ls, I belleve, the poet`s most lofty ldeal.
Jo hold the Sun ln one`s hands wlthout belng
burned, to transmlt lt llke a torch to those followlng,
ls a palnful act but, I belleve, a blessed one. We have
need of lt. One day the dogmas that hold men ln
chalns wlll be dlssolved before a consclousness so
lnundated wlth llght that lt wlll be one wlth the Sun,
and lt wlll arrlve on those ldeal shores of human dlg
nlty and llberty.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l979. Odysseus Elytls ls the
139
o b
( ovuory 1S46 - 1 Scptcmbcr 1926)
r a~
Uvivcrsity of Iicv, Ulroivc
BOOKS. Dc Zristotclis diccvdi rotiovc: Iors primo, Ubscrvo-
tiovcs dc porticulorum usu (Gttlngen. Hofer, l866);
Ubcr dcv Sproclgcbroucl dcs Zristotclcs: cobocltuvgcv bcr
dic Irocpositiovcv (Berlln. Weldemann, l868);
Ubcr dic Mctlodc uvd dic Cruvdlogcv dcr Zristotclisclcv Itlil,
Separatabdruck aus dem Programm des Irank
furter Gymnaslums (Berlln. Weldemann, l870);
Ubcr dic cdcutuvg dcr Zristotclisclcv Ililosoplic fr dic
Ccgcvwort: Zlodcmisclc Zvtrittsrcdc (Berlln. Welde
mann, l872);
Dic Mctlodc dcr Zristotclisclcv Iorscluvg iv ilrcm usommcv-
lovg mit dcv plilosoplisclcv Cruvdprivcipicv dcs Zristo-
tclcs dorgcstcllt (Berlln. Weldemann, l872);
Ubcr dcv !crtl dcr Ccsclicltc dcr Ililosoplic: Zlodcmisclc
Zvtrittsrcdc ( |ena. Mauke, l871);
Ccsclicltc uvd Iritil dcr Cruvdbcgriffc dcr Ccgcvwort
(Lelpzlg. Velt, l878); translated by M. Stuart
Phelps as Tlc Iuvdomcvtol Covccpts of Modcrv Ililo-
soplic Tlouglt, Criticolly ovd Historicolly Covsidcrcd
(New York. Appleton, l880); orlglnal German
revlsed as Dic Cruvdbcgriffc dcr Ccgcvwort: Historiscl
uvd lritiscl cvtwiclclt (Lelpzlg. Velt, l893); revlsed
as Ccistigc Strmuvgcv dcr Ccgcvwort (Lelpzlg. Velt,
l901; revlsed, l909, l9l6; revlsed edltlon, Berlln
Lelpzlg. Verelnlgung wlssenschaftllcher Ver
leger, l920); translated by Meyrlck Booth as Moiv
Currcvts of Modcrv Tlouglt: Z Study of tlc Spirituol
ovd Ivtcllcctuol Movcmcvts of tlc Ircscvt Doy (London.
Lnwln / New York. Scrlbners, l9l2);
Ccsclicltc dcr plilosoplisclcv Tcrmivologic: Im Umriss dor-
gcstcllt (Lelpzlg. Velt, l879);
Ubcr ildcr uvd Clciclvissc iv dcr Ililosoplic (Lelpzlg. Velt,
l880);
ur Irivvcruvg ov I. Cl. I. Irousc: Icstrcdc gcloltcv u
Iiscvbcrg om 100. Ccburtstogc dcs Ililosoplcv
(Lelpzlg. Velt, l88l);
Zristotclcs` Zvsclouuvg vov Ircuvdscloft uvd vov Icbcvsgtcrv
(Berlln. Habel, l881);
Irolcgomcvo u Iorscluvgcv bcr dic Iivlcit dcs Ccistcslcbcvs iv
cwusstsciv uvd Tot dcr Mcvscllcit (Lelpzlg. Velt,
l885);
citrogc ur Ccsclicltc dcr vcucrv Ililosoplic vorvclmlicl dcr
dcutsclcv: Ccsommcltc Zblovdluvgcv (Heldelberg.
Georg Welss, l886); revlsed and enlarged as
citrogc ur Iivflruvg iv dic Ccsclicltc dcr Ililosoplic
(Lelpzlg. Drr, l906);
Dic Ililosoplic dcs Tlomos vov Zquivo uvd dic Iultur dcr
`cucit (Halle. Pfeffer, l886; revlsed edltlon,
Sachsa. Haacke, l9l0);
o b E t~ q gI ^ f~
o b mI NVNOX q~
` i~I r p `~~F
110
o b ai_ POV
Dic Iivlcit dcs Ccistcslcbcvs iv cwusstsciv uvd Tot dcr
Mcvscllcit: Uvtcrsucluvgcv (Lelpzlg. Velt, l888;
revlsed edltlon, Berlln. De Gruyter, l925);
Dic Icbcvsovsclouuvgcv dcr grosscv Dcvlcr: Iivc Ivtwicl-
luvgsgcsclicltc dcs Icbcvsproblcms dcr Mcvscllcit vov
Iloto bis ur Ccgcvwort (Lelpzlg. Velt, l890; revlsed,
l896, l899, l902, l901, l905, l907, l909, l9ll,
l9l2, l9l7, l9l8; revlsed edltlon, Berlln
Lelpzlg. Verelnlgung wlssenschaftllcher Verleger,
l9l9; revlsed, l92l, l922; revlsed edltlon, Berlln.
De Gruyter, l928); translated by Wllllston S.
Hough and W. R. Boyce Glbson as Tlc Iroblcm of
Humov Iifc os !icwcd y tlc Crcot Tlivlcrs from Iloto
to tlc Ircscvt Timc (New York. Scrlbners, l909;
London. Lnwln, l909; revlsed, l9l1, l9l6);
Dcr Iompf um dos Cymvosium: Ccsicltspuvltc uvd Zvrcguv-
gcv (Stuttgart. |. G. Cotta, l89l);
Dcr Iompf um civcv gcistigcv Icbcvsivlolt: `cuc Cruvdlcguvg
civcr !cltovsclouuvg (Lelpzlg. Velt, l896; revlsed,
l907, l9l8; revlsed edltlon, Berlln Lelpzlg.
Verelnlgung wlssenschaftllcher Verleger, l92l;
revlsed edltlon, Berlln. De Gruyter, l921);
Dcr !olrlcitsgclolt dcr Icligiov (Lelpzlg. Velt, l90l;
revlsed, l905, l9l2; revlsed edltlon, Berlln. De
Gruyter, l920); translated by W. Judor |ones as
Tlc Trutl of Icligiov (London. Wllllams Norgate
/ New York. Putnam, l9ll); excerpt of translatlon
publlshed as Tlc Trovsicvt ovd tlc Icrmovcvt iv Clris-
tiovity (London. Llndsey Press, l9l1);
Dos !cscv dcr Icligiov, plilosopliscl bctrocltct: !ortrog ouf
dcr Soclsisclcv lirclliclcv Iovfcrcv u Clcmvit om 17.
Zpril 1901 (Lelpzlg. Georg Wlgand, l90l); trans
lated by |ones as 'Jhe Nature of Rellglon, Phllo
sophlcally Consldered. An Address Dellvered
Before the Curch Conference of Saxony, Held at
Chemnltz," ln Tlc Ioivt of !icw iv Tlcology ovd Icli-
giov: Tlc Movtlly Mogoivc of tlc Uvitoriov Clurcl,
Swovsco, l, no. 1;
Tlomos vov Zquivo uvd Iovt: Iiv Iompf wcicr !cltcv (Ber
lln. Reuther Relchard, l90l);
Ccsommcltc Zufsotc ur Ililosoplic uvd Icbcvsovsclouuvg
(Lelpzlg. Drr, l903); edlted and translated by
Booth as Collcctcd Issoys of Iudolf Iuclcv (London.
Lnwln, l9l1; New York. Scrlbners, l9l1);
Cruvdlivicv civcr vcucv Icbcvsovsclouuvg (Lelpzlg. Velt,
l907; revlsed, l9l3); translated by Alban G. Wld
gery as Iifc`s osis ovd Iifc`s Idcol: Tlc Iuvdomcvtols
of o `cw Ililosoply of Iifc (London. Black, l9ll;
revlsed, l9l2);
Houptproblcmc dcr Icligiovsplilosoplic dcr Ccgcvwort (Berlln.
Reuther Relchard, l907; revlsed, l907, l909,
l9l2); translated by Lucy |udge Glbson and W.
R. Boyce Glbson as Clristiovity ovd tlc `cw Idcol-
ism: Z Study iv tlc Icligious Ililosoply of To-doy (Lon
don New York. Harper, l909);
Dcr Sivv uvd !crt dcs Icbcvs (Lelpzlg. _uelle Meyer,
l908; revlsed, l9l0, l9ll, l9l1, l9l7, l9l8,
l920, l92l, l922); translated by Lucy |udge Glb
son and W. R. Boyce Glbson as Tlc Mcovivg ovd
!oluc of Iifc (London. Black, l909);
Iivflruvg iv civc Ililosoplic dcs Ccistcslcbcvs (Lelpzlg.
_uelle Meyer, l908); translated by I. L. Pogson
as Tlc Iifc of tlc Spirit: Zv Ivtroductiov to Ililosoply
(London. Wllllams Norgate / New York. Put
nam, l909); orlglnal German edltlon revlsed as
Iivflruvg iv dic Houptfrogcv dcr Ililosoplic (Lelpzlg.
_uelle Meyer, l9l9; revlsed, l92l); revlsed as
Iivflruvg iv dic Ililosoplic (Lelpzlg. _uelle
Meyer, l925);
òturolismus odcr Idcolismus: òbclrcdc (Stockholm.
Imprlmerle Royale/Norstedt Ills, l909); repub
llshed by the Euckenbund ( |ena. Neuenhahn,
l922); translated by Wldgery as òturolism or Idc-
olism? Tlc òbcl Iccturc (Cambrldge. W. Heffer,
l9l2);
Ivvcv wir vocl Clristcv sciv? (Lelpzlg. Velt, l9ll); trans
lated by Lucy |udge Glbson as Cov !c Still c
Clristiovs? (New York. Macmlllan, l9l1; London.
Black, l9l1);
Icligiov ovd Iifc: Iccturc Dclivcrcd ot Isscx Holl Iovdov,
translated by Gustav I. Beckh (London. Brltlsh
and Iorelgn Lnltarlan Assoclatlon, l9ll);
ocl to Icligiov (Boston. Pllgrlm Press, l9l2);
Irlcvvcv uvd Icbcv (Lelpzlg. _uelle Meyer, l9l2;
revlsed edltlon, Berlln. De Gruyter, l923); trans
lated by |ones as Ivowlcdgc ovd Iifc (London. Wll
llams Norgate / New York. Putnam, l9l3);
ur Sommluvg dcr Ccistcr (Lelpzlg. _uelle Meyer, l9l3;
revlsed, l9l1);
Itlics ovd Modcrv Tlouglt: Z Tlcory of Tlcir Iclotiovs: Tlc
Dccms Iccturcs, Dclivcrcd iv 191J ot `cw Jorl Uvivcr-
sity, translated by Margaret von Seydewltz (New
York London. Putnam, l9l3); publlshed as
Ircscvt-Doy Itlics iv Tlcir Iclotiovs to tlc Spirituol
Iifc: civg tlc Dccms Iccturcs Dclivcrcd iv 191J ot
`cw Jorl Uvivcrsity, edlted by |ones (London. Wlll
lams Norgate, l9l3);
Dic wcltgcsclicltliclc cdcutuvg dcs dcutsclcv Ccistcs (Stutt
gart Berlln. Deutsche VerlagsAnstalt, l9l1);
Dic sittliclcv Iroftc dcs Iricgcs (Lelpzlg. Grfe, l9l1);
Dic Trogcr dcs dcutsclcv Idcolismus (Berlln. Lllsteln, l9l5;
revlsed, l9l9, l921);
Itlisclc uvd lygicvisclc Zufgobcv dcr Ccgcvwort: wci !or-
trogc, by Eucken and Max von Gruber (Berlln.
MsslgkeltsVerlag, l9l6);
11l
ai_ POV o b
Dic gcistcsgcsclicltliclc cdcutuvg dcr ibcl: Icdc ur Icicr dcs
100 jolrigcv cstclcvs dcr Homburg-Zltovoisclcv ibcl-
gcscllscloft (Lelpzlg. Krner, l9l7);
Dic gcistigcv Iordcruvgcv dcr Ccgcvwort (Berlln. Otto
Relchl, l9l7);
ildcr ous dcm !clt- uvd Mcvsclcvlcbcv: Icldpostousgobc ous
'Ccsommcltc Zufsotc (Lelpzlg. Melner, l9l7);
Morol uvd Icbcvsovsclouuvg: Icldpostousgobc ous 'Ccsom-
mcltc Zufsotc (Lelpzlg. Melner, l9l7);
!os blcibt uvscr Holt? Iiv !ort ov crvstc Scclcv (Lelpzlg.
_uelle Meyer, l9l8);
Mcvscl uvd !clt: Iivc Ililosoplic dcs Icbcvs (Lelpzlg.
_uelle Meyer, l9l8; revlsed, l920, l923);
Ccistcsproblcmc uvd Icbcvsfrogcv: Zusgcwolltc Zbsclvittc ous
dcv !crlcv, edlted by Otto Braun (Lelpzlg.
Reclam, l9l8; revlsed, l92l);
Dcutsclc Ircilcit: Iiv !cclruf (Lelpzlg. _uelle Meyer,
l9l9);
Uvscrc Iordcruvg ov dos Icbcv: Mit civcm Zvlovg: Zufruf ur
Crvduvg civcs Iuclcvbuvdcs (Lelpzlg. Reclam,
l920);
Dcr Soiolismus uvd scivc Icbcvsgcstoltuvg (Lelpzlg. Reclam,
l920; revlsed, l926); translated by |oseph
McCabe as Sociolism: Zv Zvolysis (London. Lnwln,
l92l; New York. Scrlbners, l922);
Icbcvscrivvcruvgcv: Iiv Stcl dcutsclcv Icbcvs (Lelpzlg.
Koehler, l92l; revlsed, l922); translated by
McCabe as Iudolf Iuclcv: His Iifc, !orl, ovd Trov-
cls, by Himsclf (London. Lnwln, l92l; New York.
Scrlbners, l922);
Irolcgomcvo uvd Ipilog u civcr Ililosoplic dcs Ccistcslcbcvs
(Berlln Lelpzlg. Verelnlgung wlssenschaftllcher
Verleger/De Gruyter, l922);
Dos Icbcvsproblcm iv Clivo uvd Iuropo, by Eucken and
Carson Chang (Lelpzlg. _uelle Meyer, l922);
Dcr Iompf um dic Icligiov iv dcr Ccgcvwort (Langensalza.
H. Beyer, l922; revlsed, l923);
Tlc Spirituol Uutlool of Iuropc To-Doy, translated by
W. R. V. Brade (London. Ialth Press, l922);
Tlc Ivdividuol ovd Socicty, translated by Brade (London.
Ialth Press, l923);
Itlil ols Cruvdlogc dcs stootsbrgcrliclcv Icbcvs (Langen
salza. H. Beyer, l921).
b ~ `W Iivflruvg iv dic Houptfrogcv
dcr Ililosoplic uvd dcr Sivv uvd !crt dcs Icbcvs
(Zrlch. Coron, l967);
Ccsommcltc !crlc iv clf ovdcv, ll volumes, edlted by
Ralner A. Bast (Hlldeshelm. Olms, 2005- )
comprlses volume l, Dic Iivlcit dcs Ccistcslcbcvs iv
cwusstsciv uvd Tlot dcr Mcvscllcit; volume 2, Ccso-
mmcltc Zufsotc ur Ililosoplic uvd Icbcvsovsclouuvg
and citrogc ur Iivflruvg iv dic Ccsclicltc dcr
Ililosoplic; volume 3, Cruvdlivicv civcr vcucv
Icbcvsovsclouuvg; volume 1, Ccistigc Strmuvgcv dcr
Ccgcvwort; volume 5, Dcr !olrlcitsgclolt dcr Icli-
giov; volume 6, Dcr Sivv uvd !crt dcs Icbcvs and
Irlcvvcv uvd Icbcv; volume 7, Mcvscl uvd !clt: Iivc
Ililosoplic dcs Icbcvs; volume 8, Dcr Iompf um civcv
gcistigcv Icbcvsivlolt: `cuc Cruvdlcguvg civcr !cltov-
sclouuvg; volume 9, Iivflruvg iv dic Ililosoplic and
Ccsclicltc dcr plilosoplisclcv Tcrmivologic; volume l0,
Ilcivcrc Zrbcitcv; volume ll, Irolcgomcvo uvd Ipilog
u civcr Ililosoplic dcs Ccistcslcbcvs and Icbcvscriv-
vcruvgcv.
OJHER. 'Zur Wrdlgung Comtes und des Posltlvls
mus," ln Ililosoplisclc Zufsotc: Iduord cllcr u
scivcm fvfigjolrigcv Doctor-ubiloum gcwidmct
(Lelpzlg. Iues, l887), pp. 53-82;
'Wlssenschaft und Rellglon," ln citrogc ur !citcrcvt-
wiclluvg dcr clristliclcv Icligiov (Munlch. |. I. Leh
mann, l905), pp. 21l-28l;
'Phllosophle und Geschlchte," ln Systcmotisclc Ililosoplic:
Dic Iultur dcr Ccgcvwort: Tcil I, Zbtciluvg !I, edlted
by Paul Hlnneberg (Berlln Lelpzlg. Jeubner,
l907), pp. 217-28l;
'What Does a Iree Chrlstlanlty Requlre ln Order to
Become Vlctorlous?" ln Irccdom ovd Icllowslip iv
Icligiov: Irocccdivgs ovd Iopcrs of tlc Iourtl Ivtcrvo-
tiovol Covgrcss of Icligious Iibcrols, edlted by Charles
W. Wendte (Boston. Internatlonal Councll,
l907), pp. 379-389;
'Zur Elnfhrung," ln |ohann Gottlleb Ilchtes, Icdcv ov
dic dcutsclc òtiov (Lelpzlg. Insel, l909), pp. l-xvl;
'Dle Bedeutung der Rellglon ln Geschlchte und Gegen
wart," ln Dic XI!. Clristliclc Studcvtcv-Iovfcrcv
Zorou 1910 (Bern. Irancke, l9l0), pp. 63-8l;
'Dle deutsche Phllosophle und dle rellglse Reformbe
wegung der Gegenwart," ln Ivftcr !cltlovgrc fr
Ircics Clristcvtum uvd Icligiscv Iortsclritt: crliv .
bis 10. Zugust 1910: Irotololl dcr !crlovdluvgcv,
edlted by Max Ilscher and Irledrlch Mlchael
Schlele (Berlln. Protestantlscher Schrlftenver
trleb, Schneberg, l9l0), pp. 718-751; translated
as Ccrmov Ililosoply ovd tlc Icligious Icform-Movc-
mcvt of To-doy (London. Wllllams Norgate,
l9l0);
'Jhe Work of Borden Parker Bowne," translated by M.
L. Perrln, ln Iolpl Tylcr Ilcwcllivg, Icrsovolism ovd
tlc Iroblcm of Ililosoply: Zv Zpprcciotiov of tlc !orl of
ordcv Iorlcr owvc (New York Clnclnnatl.
Methodlst Book Concern, l9l5), pp. l7-3l;
'Der Gelst lm Lande," ln Dcutsclc !ollslroft vocl wci
Iricgsjolrcv: !icr !ortrogc (Berlln Lelpzlg. Jeub
ner, l9l6), pp. 35-1l;
'Krleg und Kultur, iv Mcycrs Crocs Iovscrvotiovs-Icxilov:
Iricgsvocltrog: Irstcr Tcil (Lelpzlg Wlen. Blbllogra
phlsches Instltut, l9l6), pp. 3l7-322;
112
o b ai_ POV
'Dle Elnhelt der deutschen Weltanschauung," ln !om
ivvcrcv Iricdcv dcs dcutsclcv !ollcs: Iiv ucl gcgcvsci-
tigcv !crstclcvs uvd !crtroucvs, edlted by Irledrlch
Jhlmme (Lelpzlg. Hlrzel, l9l6), pp. ll-23;
'Melne persnllchen Erlnnerungen an Nletzsche," ln
Dcv Movcv Iricdricl ìctsclcs, edlted by Max
Oehler (Munlch. Musarlon, l92l), pp. 5l-55;
'Jhe Ethlcal Basls of Immortallty," ln Immortolity, edlted
by |ames Marchand (London New York. Put
nam, l921), pp. l21-l11.
LNCOLLECJED. 'Beltrge zum Verstndnls des
Arlstoteles," `cuc olrbclcr fr Ililologic uvd Iodo-
gogil, 99 (l869). 213-252, 8l7-820;
'Iortlage als Rellglonsphllosoph," citsclrift fr Ililoso-
plic uvd plilosoplisclc Iritil, 82 (l883). l80-l96;
'Lelbnlz und Geullnx. Elne Studle zur Geschlchte der
Phllosophle," Ililosoplisclc Movotslcftc, l9 (l883).
525-512;
'Partelen und Partelnamen ln der Phllosophle," Ililoso-
plisclc Movotslcftc, 20 (l881). l-32;
'Morltz Seebeck. Eln Lebensblld aus dem neunzehnten
|ahrhundert," Dcutsclc Iuvdsclou, 50 (l887). 221-
237;
'Der Neuthomlsmus und dle neue Wlssenschaft," Ili-
losoplisclc Movotslcftc, 21 (l888). 575-58l;
'Zur phllosophlschen Jermlnologle. Eln Vorschlag und
elne Aufforderung," Zrcliv fr Ccsclicltc dcr Ililoso-
plic, l (l888). 309-3l3;
'Arlstoteles` Urtcil bcr dic Mcvsclcv," Zrcliv fr Ccsclicltc
dcr Ililosoplic, 3 (l890). 51l-558;
'Phllosophlcal Jermlnology and Its Hlstory. Exposl
tory and Appelatory," Movist, 6 (l895-l896).
197-5l5;
'Hegel JoDay," translated by Jhomas |. McCormack,
Movist, 7 (Aprll l897). 32l-339;
'Llberty ln Jeachlng ln the German Lnlversltles,"
Iorum, 27 (l897). 176-186;
'Dle Stellung der Phllosophle zur rellglsen Bewegung
der Gegenwart," citsclrift fr Ililosoplic uvd plilo-
soplisclc Iritil, ll2 (l898). l6l-l78;
'Dle weltgeschlchtllche Krlse der Rellglon," Dcutsclc
Iuvdsclou, l07 (l90l). l97-209;
'Jhe Status of Rellglon ln Germany," Iorum, 3l (l90l).
387-397;
'Der moderne Mensch und dle Rellglon," `cuc Dcutsclc
Iuvdsclou, l3 (l902). 673-682;
'Zur Erlnnerung an Kant," Dcr Trmcr: Movotssclrift fr
Ccmt uvd Ccist, 6 (l903-l901), volume l, pp.
5l3-520;
'Was knnen wlr heute aus Schlller gewlnnen?," Iovt-
Studicv, l0 (l905). 253-260;
'Rellglon und Kultur, Icligiov uvd Ccistcslultur, l
(l907). 7-l2;
'Alter und neuer Ideallsmus," citsclrift fr Ililosoplic
uvd plilosoplisclc Iritil, l32 (l908). l-1;
'Dle ppstllche Enzykllka wlder dle Modernlsten,"
Ivtcrvotiovolc !oclcvsclrift fr !isscvscloft, Iuvst uvd
Tcclvil, 2 (l908). 97-ll0;
'Jhe Problem of Immortallty," Hibbcrt ourvol, 6
(l908). 836-85l;
'Gedanken ber das Ideal der Volksblldung," !ollsbil-
duvgsorcliv, l (l9l0). 2l7-226;
'What Is Drlvlng Men Joday Back to Rellglon?" Hor-
vord Tlcologicol Icvicw, 5 (l9l2). 273-282;
'Knowledge and Llfe, Ililosoplicol Icvicw, 22, no. l
(l9l3). l-l6;
'Aufruf zur Grndung elner Luthergesellschaft," Dcut-
sclcr !illc: Dcs Iuvstworts J1. olr, 3l (l9l7). l82-
l81;
'Luther und dle gelstlge Erneuerung des deutschen
Volkes," Iutlcr-olrbucl, l (l9l9). 27-31;
'Luther und wlr," Iutlcr, l (l9l9). 3-l2.
In l908 Rudolf Eucken became the flrst phlloso
pher to wln the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature. Jhe decl
slon of the Swedlsh Academy surprlsed not only the
German and lnternatlonal publlc but also the wlnner
hlmself. At the beglnnlng of the twentleth century,
Eucken had a broad German and lnternatlonal reader
shlp; hls vlews on the truth of rellglon, ln partlcular,
were absorbed by many readers, lncludlng clergymen
and educated people lnterested ln rellglous problems.
In addltlon to hls books, Eucken wrote more than 100
papers and artlcles ln journals, magazlnes, newspa
pers, and anthologles, as well as about l50 revlews, 30
forewords, and many contrlbutlons for phllosophlcal
and theologlcal dlctlonarles. Accordlng to the cltatlon
from the Swedlsh Academy, Eucken was awarded the
Nobel Prlze 'ln recognltlon of hls earnest search for
truth, hls penetratlng power of thought, hls wlde range
of vlslon, and the warmth and strength of presentatlon
wlth whlch ln hls numerous works he has vlndlcated
and developed an ldeallstlc phllosophy of llfe."
In contrast to thls emphatlc recognltlon for
Eucken`s ldeallsm, the phllosopher ls vlrtually forgot
ten by both the publlc and academlcs at the end of the
twentleth century. Only Eucken`s early academlc wrlt
lngs contlnue to attract the attentlon of some phlloso
phers. Hls later work, the artlcles, papers, pamphlets,
and books ln whlch Eucken developed a neoldeallstlc
phllosophy of llfe, ls phllosophlcally unlnterestlng,
because ln hls late wrltlngs he dld not argue to open a
dlalogue about phllosophlcal questlons but rather to
appeal to hls growlng followlng. But as Eucken`s
phllosophlcal Weltanschauung was an lmportant part
113
ai_ POV o b
of the German and lnternatlonal crltlclsm of modern
Western clvlllzatlon, hlstorlans and scholars ln cultural
studles are stlll lnterested ln lt.
Rudolf Chrlstoph Eucken was born on 5 |anu
ary l816 ln Aurlch (East Irlsla, Germany) to Protes
tant, mlddleclass parents. Hls father, Ammo Becker
Eucken, worked for the postal servlce and dled when
Rudolf was flve. Hls mother, Ida Marla Glttermann,
was a deeply rellglous woman. Hls only brother dled
ln l850. Eucken attended school untll l863 and then
studled phllosophy, phllology, and hlstory at the Lnl
verslty of Gttlngen untll l866. Eucken`s most lmpor
tant phllosophlcal teachers were Rudolf Hermann
Lotze and Gustav Jelchmller. He attended Jelch
mller`s lectures and semlnars on Arlstotle and the
hlstory of concepts and wrote a dlssertatlon on the
language of Arlstotle. Jelchmller put Eucken ln con
tact wlth the phllosopher Irledrlch Adolf Jrendelen
burg, who taught at Berlln Lnlverslty. In l866 Eucken
went to Berlln to meet Jrendelenburg. He attended
lectures and became a member of Jrendelenburg`s prl
vate clrcle, where he met other lnfluentlal scholars.
In the l860s Jrendelenburg held a speclal place
among academlc phllosophers ln Germany. He crltl
clzed Georg Wllhelm Irledrlch Hegel, Immanuel
Kant, and almost all contemporary phllosophlcal
movements, especlally the neoKantlans, and trled to
revlve phllosophlcal thlnklng by a neoArlstotellan
system. Lntll l87l Eucken shared Jrendelenburg`s
neoArlstotellan vlews and wrote at that tlme some
valuable phllologlcalphllosophlcal papers on the lan
guage of Arlstotle.
Irom l866 to l87l Eucken worked as a teacher
of Greek, Latln, and phllosophy at several hlgh
schools ln Berlln, Husum, and Irankfurt am Maln.
When he became professor of phllosophy and peda
goglc at Basel ln l87l, he was consldered among
almost all contemporary phllosophers to be Jrende
lenburg`s most falthful dlsclple and a talented hlsto
rlan of phllosophy. At Basel, Eucken met Irledrlch
Nletzsche and |acob Burckhardt, studled Plato and the
early Iathers of the Church, and began to dlstance
hlmself from Jrendelenburg`s neoArlstotellan ldeas.
Eucken`s book Dic Mctlodc dcr Zristotclisclcv Iorscluvg iv
ilrcm usommcvlovg mit dcv plilosoplisclcv Cruvdprivcipicv
dcs Zristotclcs dorgcstcllt (l872, Arlstotle`s Phllosophlcal
Method ln Its Connectlon wlth Hls Maln Prlnclples)
uncovers the methodologlcal faults of Arlstotle`s sys
tem and shows that any modern revlval of Arlstotle ls
not capable of solvlng the phllosophlcal problems of
the present.
In l871 Eucken moved to |ena, where he held a
professorshlp ln phllosophy untll l920. Prlor to hls
appolntment at |ena, Eucken stopped researchlng
Arlstotle and began to analyze the cultural and splrl
tual problems of hls tlme. Irom that perlod there ls an
lnformatlve document on Eucken`s general phllosoph
lcal polnt of vlew. In a letter dated 3l December l873,
Eucken explalned to the chancellor of |ena Lnlverslty
hls own phllosophlcal program.
It ls my fervent hope, that I am able to teach phlloso
phy ln such a way that the students do not get only a
slmple lncrease of knowledge, but above all a general
engrossment ln the splrltual llfe. |ust ln the fragmenta
tlon of lnterests and oplnlons, predomlnant and lnevl
table ln our tlme, lt should be the task of phllosophy
to polnt to the homogenelty of human belng and to
defend the unlty of all hlgher culture | Blldung|. Jhe
marvellous progress of all sclences and the tremen
dous perfectlon of modern technology wlll not be
enough for the last deslres of the whole man wlthout
such a phllosophlcal center.
Eucken notlced dlfferences ln thlnklng and ln contem
porary llfe that serlously threatened the homogeneous
human sense of belng. Jhroughout hls llfe Eucken
trled by phllosophlcal means to get over the perma
nent crlsls of the llfe and culture of the modern world.
When Eucken arrlved at |ena, he had a clear
phllosophlcal concern, but he dld not have any con
ceptual means to lmplement hls programmatlc vlslon.
He only knew that the demands of the present could
not be fulfllled by falllng back on anclent phllosophlcal
systems. Eucken wrote ln hls autoblography Icbcv-
scrivvcruvgcv: Iiv Stcl dcutsclcv Icbcvs (l92l; translated
as Iudolf Iuclcv: His Iifc, !orl, ovd Trovcls, by Himsclf,
l92l) that durlng the late l870s he prlmarlly looked
for answers, but at the same tlme he also wanted to
publlsh productlve phllosophlcal ldeas. At the end of
the l870s Eucken therefore publlshed books closely
related to the essentlal phllosophlcal problems but
wlthout any flxed systematlc oplnlon. Jhese books
are Eucken`s great contrlbutlons to the hlstory of
phllosophlcal concepts and technlcal terms, as well as
to the theory of metaphors.
In hls studles Ccsclicltc uvd Iritil dcr Cruvdbcgriffc
dcr Ccgcvwort (l878; translated as Tlc Iuvdomcvtol Cov-
ccpts of Modcrv Ililosoplic Tlouglt, Criticolly ovd Histori-
colly Covsidcrcd, l880) and Ccsclicltc dcr plilosoplisclcv
Tcrmivologic (l879, Hlstory of Phllosophlcal Jermlnol
ogy), Eucken developed orlglnal vlews on the lnterde
pendence of language and thlnklng and on the
meanlng of concepts and technlcal terms. He was one
of the most astute crltlcs of phllosophlcal language for
hls tlme and advanced lmportant ldeas for the reform
of phllosophlcal termlnology. Eucken`s small book
Ubcr ildcr uvd Clciclvissc iv dcr Ililosoplic (l880, On
Images and Slmlles ln Phllosophy) ls the most lnterest
111
o b ai_ POV
lng publlcatlon from the nlneteenth century on meta
phors. Accordlng to Eucken, flguratlve expresslons
and metaphors provlde more than mere aesthetlc
ornamentatlon or exposltory lllustratlon ln phllosophl
cal arguments; they serve an essentlal heurlstlc func
tlon. Metaphors, Eucken argued, should not usurp the
place of concepts but should lnstead pave the way for
thoughts and help wherever concepts are mlsslng.
Eucken`s phllosophlcal and semlotlc reflectlons
lnfluenced Georg Runze, Gottlob Irege, Ierdlnand
Jnnles, and Karl |aspers and have been appreclated
by Jheodor W. Adorno. Nevertheless, Eucken`s pro
posal to found an academy or at least an edltorlal
group to collect hlstorlcal materlal and to edlt a com
prehenslve hlstorlcal dlctlonary of phllosophlcal con
cepts and terms remalned unsuccessful. Dlsappolnted
by thls fallure, Eucken changed hls fleld of research
and publlshed ln the l880s many lmportant papers
(not only ln phllosophlcal journals but also ln wlde
spread German newspapers) on several problems of
the hlstory of phllosophy. But Eucken was prlmarlly
lnterested ln a systematlc treatment of the problem of
human llfe. Both hls welghty books of the l880smJ
~ c b d
_ q~ j (l885, Prolegomena to
Research on the Lnlty of the Splrltual Llfe ln Con
sclousness and Actlon of Manklnd) and a b
d _ q~ j (l888,
Research on the Lnlty of the Splrltual Llfe ln Con
sclousness and Actlon of Manklnd)had one maln
ldea, as Eucken later summarlzed ln hls book mJ
~ b m d (l922,
Prolegomena and Epllogue to a Phllosophy of Splrl
tual Llfe). Both studles struggled agalnst the tremen
dous splrltual fragmentatlon that jeopardlzed the
lnternal connectlon of modern human llfe and hln
dered all creatlve urge. Jo argue for thls ldea Eucken
crltlclzed the splrltual movements ('syntagmas" ln
Eucken`s word) domlnatlng at that tlmenaturallsm
and lntellectuallsm. Nelther of them helped to resolve
the problem of human llfe because they separated the
splrltual llfe from the lndlvldual, whereas Eucken trled
to medlate both. Jhus, he lnferred from the detalled
crltlclsm of both syntagmas hls own system of a per
sonal world.
Eucken developed the characterlstlcs of hls sys
tem along compllcated llnes of thought and used an
extremely lndlvldual, unusual, and sophlstlcated ter
mlnology. Most of Eucken`s academlc colleagues at
German unlversltles dld not know what to do wlth
both books. But those who followed Eucken`s strlct
arguments carefully were convlnced of thelr lmpor
tance. Jhe neoKantlan phllosopher Paul Natorp
wrote comprehenslve revlews, and Irege, Eucken`s
colleague at |ena Lnlverslty and the founder of mod
ern mathematlcal loglc, took over some methodologl
cal and gnoseologlcal stlmulatlons. Later, both works
were held ln hlgh esteem by such lmportant thlnkers
as Max Scheler, Edmund Husserl, |os Ortega y Gas
set, Ernst Jroeltsch, and Helnrlch Rlckert. Jhe people
whom Eucken dld not reach wlth these scholarly
books, however, were the maln addressees of hls phllo
sophlcal program. Llke a professor of phllosophy,
Eucken wanted to stlmulate the academlc dlscusslon,
but above all he hoped to convlnce the multlpllers of
phllosophlcalldeologlcal thoughts E~~F
teachers, journallsts, edltors, prlests, and wrltersof
the lmportance of hls phllosophlcal Weltanschauung.
Eucken had llttle popular success wlth these books
because both were too academlc for a general audl
ence.
In |ena, Eucken vlslted prlvate clrcles of schol
ars, dellvered publlc lectures, and took part ln the aca
demlc and local cultural llfe. At Morltz Seebeck`s
house he met Irene Passow, who belonged to the
famous German famllles Passow, Llrlchs, Glldemels
ter, and Smldt. Jhe couple became engaged ln l88l
and were marrled ln l882. Irene Eucken was a tal
ented fashlon deslgner and palnter who occaslonally
worked wlth such artlsts as Ernst Ludwlg Klrchner,
Emll Nolde, and Henry van der Velde. Both husband
and wlfe played an lmportant role ln the cultural llfe of
|ena. Jhey supported local artlsts and art socletles;
organlzed concerts, poetry readlngs, and dlscusslons;
and ran an lnternatlonal salon of phllosophy. Irene
and Rudolf Eucken had three chlldren. Jhelr daugh
ter, Ida Marla Eucken, studled volce, and both sons
were successful scholars. Arnold Eucken taught chem
lstry at the unlversltles of Breslau (now Wrocaw,
Poland) and Gttlngen, whlle Walter Eucken held pro
fessorshlps ln economlcs at Jblngen and Irelburg
and belonged to the founders of the Irelburg school of
ordollberallsm.
Because of the dlsappolntlng receptlons of hls
books ln the late l880s, Eucken changed both hls
strategles of argumentatlon and publlcatlon. After
l890 he publlshed lncreaslngly ln general magazlnes,
pedagoglcal and theologlcal journals, church papers,
and lnfluentlal newspapers. In order to react to new
splrltual, soclal, and polltlcal challenges and changes,
Eucken revlsed hls books and brought them up to
date over a perlod of several decades, so that some of
hls works went through more than elght edltlons. In
these revlsed and enlarged edltlons Eucken modlfled
some of hls arguments, but he dld not change any
major ldea of hls phllosophlcal system. Jhls new strat
egy to attract a wlder readershlp for hls phllosophlcal
oplnlons was connected wlth a fundamental change ln
115
ai_ POV o b
Eucken`s style. Hls conceptual and llngulstlc preclslon
degenerated as he turned much of hls phllosophlcal
termlnology lnto more common expresslons. Irom
that tlme hls thlnklng stressed personal ethlcal effort
more than lntellectual ldeallsm. Eucken spoke now
wlth the temper and tone of a prophet burdened wlth
a dlvlne message of awakenlng and lnsplratlon and
help for the present perplexlty. Even ln hls most soar
lng speculatlons, he had an eye for the problems of the
man ln the street. He was prophetlc and practlcal.
Eucken`s readers dld not expect austere arguments.
Jhey studled hls wrltlngs because they hoped to get
the feellng of belng lnvlted by thelr phllosophlcal
leader to share a common experlence of hldden splrl
tual connectlons.
Jhe flrst step toward the new phllosophlcal
strategy was the book Dic Icbcvsovsclouuvgcv dcr grosscv
Dcvlcr: Iivc Ivtwiclluvgsgcsclicltc dcs Icbcvsproblcms dcr
Mcvscllcit vov Iloto bis ur Ccgcvwort (l890, translated
as Tlc Iroblcm of Humov Iifc os !icwcd by tlc Crcot Tlivl-
crs from Iloto to tlc Ircscvt Timc, l909), hls most success
ful book. Among lts readers were scholars and
educated people looklng for the meanlng of llfe. It
went through some twenty edltlons. As the tltle lndl
cates, ln thls work Eucken showed ln a semlscholarly
way that the problem of human llfe was one of the
central lssues of all great thlnkers slnce Plato.
Wlth the books Dcr Iompf um civcv gcistigcv
Icbcvsivlolt: `cuc Cruvdlcguvg civcr !cltovsclouuvg
(l896, Jhe Struggle for a Splrltual Content of Llfe),
Dcr !olrlcitsgclolt dcr Icligiov (l90l; translated as Tlc
Trutl of Icligiov, l9ll), Cruvdlivicv civcr vcucv Icbcvsov-
sclouuvg (l907; translated as Iifc`s osis ovd Iifc`s Idcol:
Tlc Iuvdomcvtols of o `cw Ililosoply of Iifc, l9ll), and
Dcr Sivv uvd !crt dcs Icbcvs (l908; translated as Tlc
Mcovivg ovd !oluc of Iifc, l909), and also wlth hls pam
phlets, artlcles, and publlc lectures, Eucken almed at
creatlng a Icbcvsovsclouuvg or Weltanschauung for the
modern man. He promlsed all loyal adherents (Ccsiv-
vuvgsgcvosscv) ln the struggle for the recovery of an
eternal splrltual world amld the darkness of the
present world a Weltanschauung that would glve them
moral stablllty and rellable orlentatlon. In the flrst edl
tlon of Dic Icbcvsovsclouuvgcv dcr grosscv Dcvlcr he
wrote that the enormous changes of the last decades
and centurles had shaken the splrltual condltlon of
manklnd desplte the progress ln soclal llfe, polltlcs,
and technology. Jhese changes had provoked glgantlc
problems and glarlng contradlctlons, whlch on no
account could be accepted. Jhe tremendous expan
slon and dlvlslon of external human work had
replaced attentlon to the lnner unlty of human belng;
the lmpetuous pursult of external success had sup
pressed the concern about splrltual equlllbrlum. On
the basls of thls general stocktaklng Eucken appealed
for a radlcal turnlng back. He dld not request a wlth
drawal from polltlcs and economy, nor dld hls phllo
sophlcal program lntend any klnd of escaplsm.
Eucken argued that polltlcs and economy would rule
the external llfe, but slnce they cannot solve the prob
lems of lnner man, everyone should flght for a splrl
tual purpose ln llfe besldes external work.
Eucken attacked academlc phllosophers for for
gettlng the problem of human llfe. Whlle most people
sought the meanlng of llfe, most professors of phlloso
phy dlscussed only methodologlcal and gnoseologlcal
questlons. Because of hls preachlng the vlrtues of hls
Weltanschauung to those who looked serlously for
splrltual profundlty, Eucken had hardly any effect
wlthln academlc phllosophlcal clrcles ln Germany or
ln other countrles. A typlcal academlc reactlon to
Eucken`s prophetlc actlvlsm ls Bernard Bosanquet`s
remark. 'Jhere ls ln Eucken`s lmmense llterary out
put no really preclse and serlous contrlbutlon to phllo
sophlcal sclence. Iree cognltlon has been submerged
by morallstlc rhetorlc."
Eucken was a productlve author but a borlng
wrlter. Hls books were wrltten ln a ponderous style
full of cllchs, repetltlons, and vague phllosophlcal
terms, maklng hlm a phllosopher of questlonable llter
ary merlt, whlch ls why the awardlng of the Nobel
Prlze ln Llterature came as such a surprlse. Among the
nomlnees ln l908, the top candldates lnltlally were the
Swedlsh novellst Selma Lagerlf (who dld recelve the
prlze the followlng year) and the Engllsh poet A. C.
Swlnburne, but the Nobel commlttee could not make
a declslon between these two. Eucken was suggested
as a compromlse solutlon by Vltalls Norstrm, profes
sor of phllosophy at Gothenburg Lnlverslty, who
admlred Eucken`s phllosophlcal wrltlngs. Eucken`s
output was seen as conslstent wlth the terms of Alfred
Nobel`s wlll dlrectlng that the llterature prlze should
go to a work or works wrltten wlth an ldeallstlc ten
dency.
Swedlsh documents and letters of some mem
bers of the Nobel commlttee show that Eucken`s nom
lnatlon had a Swedlsh background. Jhese supporters
felt the phllosopher was needed as a counterwelght to
the demonstratlon ln support of hls |ena colleague and
leadlng materlallst Ernst Haeckel, whose lecture dur
lng Lppsala`s l907 blcentennlal celebratlon for Caro
lus Llnnaeus had been enthuslastlcally recelved. Wlth
Eucken`s Nobel Prlze, Scandlnavla`s readlng publlc
redlscovered the ldeallstlc, rellglous tradltlon ln phllos
ophy. After Eucken`s Nobel lecture, Swedlsh, Danlsh,
and Ilnnlsh ldeallstlc thlnkers renewed thelr campalgn
agalnst materlallstlc, antlrellglous movements.
116
o b ai_ POV
In Germany, Eucken`s Nobel award recelved
only a muted response. Of course, all German news
papers publlshed short artlcles about the declslon of
the Swedlsh Academy, but most of these artlcles pald
trlbute to both German Nobel Prlze wlnners of l908,
Eucken and the chemlst Paul Ehrllch. Eucken`s prlze
dld not start an academlc debate about hls phllosophy
ln hls own country. Eucken`s academlc colleagues
remalned unresponslve to hls greatest lnternatlonal
publlc success, because for them, the Nobel Prlze was
only further evldence that Eucken was more a popular
phllosophlcal author than a serlous scholar. Eucken
dld recelve many congratulatlons from German teach
ers and clergymen. About thls group of followers,
Eucken wrote ln an unpubllshed letter to the Pollsh
phllosopher Marlan Zdzlechowskl from l6 |anuary
l909. 'Jhey are my most loyal frlends."
Contrary to the muted academlc response ln
Germany, leadlng Irench thlnkers sent heartfelt greet
lngs to Eucken. After l908 a wave of lnterest ln
Eucken began among Irenchspeaklng lntellectuals.
Henrl Bergson, Emlle Boutroux, and Deslre Mercler
wrote commentarles on Eucken`s phllosophy.
Immedlately prlor to the declslon of the Nobel
commlttee, two of Eucken`s most lnfluentlal, most
popular, but also most unscholarly books appeared.
Houptproblcmc dcr Icligiovsplilosoplic dcr Ccgcvwort
(l907; translated as Clristiovity ovd tlc `cw Idcolism: Z
Study iv tlc Icligious Ililosoply of To-doy, l909) and Dcr
Sivv uvd !crt dcs Icbcvs. When the Nobel Prlze was
announced, there was a run on Eucken`s latest books
among German readers. Above all, Dcr Sivv uvd !crt
dcs Icbcvs, a slmple summary of Eucken`s maln ldeas,
became a bestseller. It could not be prlnted fast
enough to meet the swelllng demand. Many unpub
llshed letters to Eucken, collected ln hls llterary estate,
show the lncredlble lnfluence of Dcr Sivv uvd !crt dcs
Icbcvs. Irom l908 untll the end of World War I lt was
a hlghly popular glft for Chrlstmas and other rellglous
occaslons. Jhus, as Eucken`s academlc lnfluence
decreased, hls success outslde of phllosophy depart
ments lncreased accordlngly, as the German educated
classes absorbed hls phllosophy of llfe.
Eucken found hls dlsclples not only ln Germany
but also ln |apan, Chlna, Indla, England, Italy, Spaln,
Scandlnavla, the Baltlc Natlons, and ln the Lnlted
States, where the flrst Eucken Clubs were founded at
theologlcal schools. He won many prlzes and recelved
honorary doctorates. He dellvered academlc and pub
llc lectures ln more than one hundred German cltles,
as well as ln Austrla, Hungary, the Netherlands, Nor
way, Denmark, Sweden, Ilnland, Great Brltaln, and
Latvla. Durlng the fall semester of l9l2-l9l3 Eucken
taught as a German exchange professor at Harvard
and vlslted several Amerlcan unlversltles to dellver
lectures and to collect honors. After the turn of the
century he started to assemble hls dlsclples ln lnformal
groups and more formal assoclatlons ln order to lnstl
tutlonallze hls Weltanschauung. Prlor to World War I
he took the flrst concrete steps toward a soclety based
on hls own phllosophy of llfe.
Durlng World War I Eucken was convlnced of
hls moral obllgatlon both to encourage the Germans
and to defend German pollcy. Jherefore, he traveled
throughout the country to glve talks ln unlversltles,
schools, adult evenlng classes, clty halls, theaters, and
clubs. He wrote pamphlets and artlcles, slgned open
letters, communlqus, and appeals, and jolned several
patrlotlc commlttees, clubs, and organlzatlons. Llke
many other German scholars, wrlters, and clergymen,
Eucken belleved that the common wartlme experlence
could reunlfy the fragmented German populatlon.
Although Eucken supported the German war propa
ganda, he never shared antlSemltlc or chauvlnlstlc
oplnlons. Joward the end of the war, when the general
sltuatlon both ln Europe and Germany became worse,
Eucken strengthened hls efforts to prevent the threat
enlng collapse of morallty and rellglon ln Germany.
Hls most farreachlng actlon was the foundatlon of the
Luther Soclety ln l9l8. Wlth the help of Martln
Luther`s rellglous ldeallsm, the members of the soclety
hoped both to reunlfy the dlvlded German people and
to create a new moral basls for the postwar era.
Eucken belleved that only a new, modern splrl
tual leader could solve the deep soclal and mental crl
sls of Welmar Germany. Jo organlze all ldeallstlc
mlnded people, some of Eucken`s adherents wrote an
Zufruf ur Crvduvg civcs Iuclcvbuvdcs (Appeal to Iound
an Eucken League) and explalned that, above all,
Eucken had recognlzed not only the confused state of
llfe and the threatenlng collapse of all moral values but
also the only posslble way to rescue people from the
splrltual crlsls of that tlme. In autumn l9l9, frlends,
students, and dlsclples of the phllosopher founded the
Euckenbund (Eucken League), whlch was one of
many German assoclatlons based on a partlcular
Weltanschauung. Jhe educated classes ln Germany
responded wlth such assoclatlons to thelr decreaslng
lnfluence ln almost all spheres of the postwar soclety.
Jo lead the Euckenbund, Eucken retlred as professor
and reslgned from the chalr of the Luther Soclety ln
l920. As long as Eucken llved, the Euckenbund dld
not tend to take part ln polltlcal declslons, to reform
lnstltutlons, or to develop a democratlc attltude
toward the Welmar Republlc; lt was just lnterested ln
awakenlng a new consclousness for the crlsls of the
modern world and ln the redemptlon of all endan
gered souls.
117
ai_ POV o b
Eucken was a popular unlverslty lecturer who
attracted thousands of students from all over the
world. One of hls most famous students, Gerhart
Hauptmann, wlnner of the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature
ln l9l2, descrlbed hlm as a fasclnatlng, prophetlc
teacher, who had conducted almost all |ena students
to the absolute splrltual llfe. Eucken`s Nobel lecture,
òturolismus odcr Idcolismus (translated as òturolism or
Idcolism? l9l2) had been publlshed ln l909; Irene
Eucken and the Euckenbund republlshed thls work ln
l922, when Germany was ln physlcal and splrltual
shambles. Because of the rlslng lnflatlon, however,
only a relatlvely small number of enthuslasts could
buy the reprlnted lecture.
Joward the end of hls llfe Eucken was only one
of many splrltual leaders ln Welmar Germanyproph
ets who wanted to dellver thelr slmple moral phlloso
phy wlthln a soclety looklng for eternal splrltual
values behlnd everyday llfe. When Rudolf Eucken
dled on l5 September l926, he went down ln hlstory
as one of the last academlc scholars who belleved ln
the posslblllty of lnfluenclng and even changlng both
soclety and the common splrltual llfe by ldeallstlc
phllosophlcal systems and appeals.
iW
'Dle deutsche Sprache ln Lngarn. Brlefwechsel zwl
schen Maurus Rval und Rudolf Eucken," òrd
uvd Sd: Dcutsclc Movotssclrift, 10 (l9l6);
'Aus Brlefen von Rudolf Eucken, Wllllam |ames, Henrl
Bergson an |ullus Goldsteln," Dcr Morgcv, 5
(l929-l930). 1ll-1l5;
'Abdruck elnes unverffentllchten Brlefes von Rudolf
Eucken an Herrn Prlvatdozenten Ernst Bratu
schek," Mittciluvgcv dcs Iuclcvbuvdcs, no. l/3
(l93l). l-1;
Wladlmlr Szylkarskl, 'Aus Euckens Brlefwechsel mlt
Jelchmller," Zrcliv fr spirituolistisclc Ililosoplic
uvd ilrc Ccsclicltc, l (l910). 1l2-138;
Hans Meyer, 'Lnbekannte Brlefe Rudolf Euckens an
|akob Iroschhammer," Ililosoplisclcs olrbucl, 55
(l912). 215-250;
'Correspondence between Prof. Rudolf Eucken and
Rablndranath Jagore," ln Iobivdrovotl Togorc iv
Ccrmovy: Z Cross-Scctiov of Covtcmporory Icports,
edlted and translated by Dletmar Rothermund
(New Delhl. Max Mueller Bhavan, l962), pp.
51-56;
HansLlrlch Lesslng, 'Brlefe an Dllthey anlssllch der
Verffentllchung selner Ideen ber elne beschrel
bende und zerglledernde Psychologle," Diltlcy-
olrbucl, 3 (l985). 201-205, 223-225;
Edmund Husserl, ricfwcclscl: Husscrliovo Dolumcvtc III,
volume 6. Ililosoplcvbricfc, edlted by Karl Schu
mann (Dordrecht, Boston London. Kluver,
l993), pp. 85-91.
oW
Gunnar Ahlstrm, 'Klelne Geschlchte der Zuerken
nung des Nobelprelses an Rudolf Eucken," òbcl-
prcis fr Iitcrotur 190S: Iudolf Iuclcv, Ililosoplisclc
Sclriftcv (Zrlch. Coron, l967), pp. 9-l7;
Barbara Bellch, 'Eplgone des Ideallsmus oder
moderner Phllosoph? Rudolf Eucken zwlschen
wlssenschaftllcher Nostalgle und llterarlschem
Prophetentum," ln her !cgc iv dcv 'Iulturlricg:
ivilisotiovslritil iv Dcutscllovd 1S90-1914 (Darm
stadt. Wlssenschaftllche Buchgesellschaft, 2000),
pp. 15-ll8;
Bernard Bosanquet, 'W. R. B. GlbsonJhe Phllosophy
of Eucken," _uortcrly Icvicw (London), no. 22
(l9l1). 365-389;
Lwe Dathe, 'Begrlffsgeschlchte und Phllosophle. Zur
Phllosophle Rudolf Euckens," ln Ililosoplicgc-
sclicltc uvd Hcrmcvcutil, edlted by Volker Caysa
and KlausDleter Elchler (Lelpzlg. Lnlversltts
verlag, l996), pp. 85-96;
Dathe, 'Der EuckenNachla und dle Geschlchte selner
Bearbeltung," Mittciluvgcv: Tlrivgcr Uvivcrsitots-
uvd Iovdcsbibliotlcl cvo, 8, no. l (l998). l7-27;
Dathe, '|ena, l2. |anuar l900. Rudolf Euckens Rede
zur |ahrhundertfeler," ln Zvgst vor dcr Modcrvc:
Ililosoplisclc Zvtwortcv ouf Iriscvcrfolruvgcv: Dcr
Milrolosmos cvo 1900-1940, edlted by Klaus M.
Kodalle (Wrzburg. Knlgshausen Neumann,
2000), pp. 15-6l;
Dathe, 'Der Nachla Rudolf Euckens. Elne Bestand
sberslcht," citsclrift fr vcucrc Tlcologicgcsclicltc, 9
(2002). 268-30l;
Dathe, 'Der Phllosoph bestreltet den Krleg. Rudolf
Euckens polltlsche Publlzlstlk whrend des Ersten
Weltkrleges," ln wisclcv !isscvscloft uvd Iolitil:
Studicv ur cvocr Uvivcrsitot im 20. olrluvdcrt,
edlted by Herbert Gottwald and Matthlas Steln
bach ( |ena _uedllnburg. Bussert Stadeler,
2000), pp. 17-61;
Dathe, 'Rudolf Euckeneln Gegner des Monlsmus und
Ireund des Monlsten," ln Movismus um 1900!is-
scvscloftslultur uvd !cltovsclouuvg, edlted by Paul
Zlche (Berlln. Verlag fr Wlssenschaft und Bll
dung, 2000), pp. 1l-59;
Dathe, 'Rudolf Eucken als Sprachkrltlker und Zelchen
phllosoph," citsclrift fr Scmiotil, 23 (200l). 27-
38;
Dathe and Nlls Goldschmldt, 'Wle der Vater, so der
Sohn? Neuere Erkenntnlsse zu Walter Euckens
Leben und Werk anhand des Nachlasses von
Rudolf Eucken ln |ena," UIDU. olrbucl fr dic
118
o b ai_ POV
Urdvuvg vov !irtscloft uvd Ccscllscloft, 51 (2003).
19-71;
Hans Dfel, 'Voraussetzungen, Grndung und Anfang
der LutherGesellschaft. Lutherrezeptlon zwl
schen Aufklrung und Ideallsmus," Iutlcrjolrbucl,
60 (l993). 72-ll7;
Walter Eucken, 'Vorwort," ln Iudolf Iuclcv, Dic Icbcv-
sovsclouuvgcv dcr grocv Dcvlcr: Iivc Ivtwiclluvgsgc-
sclicltc dcs Icbcvsproblcms dcr Mcvscllcit vov Iloto bis
ur Ccgcvwort (Berlln. De Gruyter, l950);
Ierdlnand Iellmann, Ilovomcvologic ols ostlctisclc Tlcoric
(Irelburg Munlch. Alber, l989), pp. l10-l58,
l60-l62, l67-l7l;
Othmar Ieyl, 'Brlefe aus dem Nachla des |enaer Phl
losophen Rudolf Eucken (l900-l926). Zeltber
legenhelt und hlstorlschpolltlsche Wlrkllchkelt
elnes ldeallstlschen Phllosophen," !isscvscloftliclc
citsclrift dcr Iricdricl-Sclillcr-Uvivcrsitot cvo, l0,
no. 2 (l960-l96l). 219-291;
Kurt Ilasch, 'Rudolf Eucken sprlcht vor ausrckenden
Krlegern," ln hls Dic gcistigc Mobilmoclvuvg: Dic
dcutsclcv Ivtcllcltucllcv uvd dcr Irstc !cltlricg: Iiv
!crsucl (Berlln. Alexander Iest, 2000), pp. l5-35;
W. R. Boyce Glbson, Iudolf Iuclcv`s Ililosoply of Iifc
(London. Black, l9l2);
Nlls Goldschmldt, Ivtstcluvg uvd !crmocltvis ordolibcrolcv
Dcvlcvs: !oltcr Iuclcv uvd dic òtwcvdiglcit civcr lul-
turcllcv lovomil (Mnster. LIJ, 2002);
Irledrlch Wllhelm Graf, 'George Jyrrell ber selnen
Ausschlu aus dem |esultenorden. Vler
unverffentllchte Brlefe George Jyrrells an
Rudolf Eucken," citsclrift fr vcucrc Tlcologicgc-
sclicltc, 5 (l998). 228-217;
Graf, 'Dle geschelterte Berufung Husserls nach |ena.
Drel unbekannte Brlefe," Diltlcy-olrbucl, l0
(l996). l35-l12;
Graf, 'Dle Posltlvltt des Gelstlgen. Rudolf Euckens
Programm neoldeallstlscher Lnlversallntegra
tlon," ln Iultur uvd Iulturwisscvscloftcv um 1900.
!olumc II: Idcolismus uvd Iositivismus, edlted by
Rdlger vom Bruch, Graf, and Gangolf Hblnger
(Stuttgart. Stelner, l997), pp. 53-85;
Relnhold |. Haskamp, Spclulotivcr uvd plovomcvologisclcr
Icrsovolismus. Iivflssc . C. Iicltcs uvd Iudolf
Iuclcvs ouf Mox Sclclcrs Ililosoplic dcr Icrsov
(Irelburg Munlch. Alber, l966);
Max Horkhelmer, 'Rudolf Eucken. Eln Eplgone des
Ideallsmus," Irovlfurtcr cituvg, 1 November
l926;
Lwe Hossfeld, Rosemarle Nthllch, and Lennart Ols
son, 'Wlssenschaftspolltlk lnternatlonal. Ernst
Haeckel und der Nobelprels fr Llteratur l908,"
ln Ilossisclc Uvivcrsitot uvd olodcmisclc IrovivStu-
dicv ur Uvivcrsitot cvo vov dcr Mittc dcs 19. bis iv dic
drciigcr olrc dcs 20. olrluvdcrts, edlted by Mat
thlas Stelnbach and Stefan Gerber ( |ena
_uedllnburg. Bussert Stadeler, 2005), pp. 97-
l02;
Irledrlch von Hgel, 'Jhe Rellglous Phllosophy of
Rudolf Eucken," Hibbcrt ourvol, l0 (l9l2). 660-
677;
Edmund Husserl, 'Dle Phaenomenologle und Rudolf
Eucken," Dic Totwclt, 3 (l927). l0-ll;
Wllllam Judor |ones, Zv Ivtcrprctotiov of Iudolf Iuclcv`s
Ililosoply (New York. Putnam, l9l2);
Hermann Lbbe, Iolitisclc Ililosoplic iv Dcutscllovd. Stu-
dicv u ilrcr Ccsclicltc (Basel Stuttgart. Schwabe,
l962), pp. l78-l88;
Lbbe, 'Rudolf Eucken," ln iogroplisclcs Icxilov fr
Ustfricslovd, edlted by Martln Jlelke (Aurlch. Ost
frleslsche Landschaft, l993), pp. l31-l37;
Irltz Medlcus, 'Rudolf Eucken zum Gedchtnls," Iovt-
Studicv, 3l (l926). 115-151;
Brunhlld Neuland, 'Irene Eucken. Vom Salon zum
EuckenHaus," ln Ivtwurf uvd !irllicllcit: Iroucv
iv cvo 1900 bis 19JJ, edlted by Glsela Horn
(Rudolstadt |ena. Haln, 200l), pp. 2l9-233;
Peter Neuner, Icligisc Irfolruvg uvd gcsclicltliclc Uffcv-
boruvg: Iricdricl vov Hgcls Cruvdlcguvg dcr Tlcologic
(Munlch, Paderborn, Wlen. Schnlngh, l977);
Max Scheler, 'Dle deutsche Phllosophle der Gegen
wart," ln hls Ccsommcltc !crlc 7 (Bern Munlch.
Irancke, l973), pp. 273-275;
Edwln E. Slosson, 'Rudolf Eucken (Jwelve Major
Prophets of Joday VII)," Ivdcpcvdcvt: Z !cclly
Mogoivc, 71 (27 Iebruary l9l3). 115-156;
Ierdlnand Jnnles, 'Rudolf Euckens Grundbegrlffe
der Gegenwart ln neuer Iassung," Dcutsclc Iitc-
roturcituvg, 32 (l9ll). col. 69-75;
Ernst Jroeltsch, Dcr Historismus uvd scivc Iroblcmc: Irstcs
(civigcs) ucl: Dos logisclc Iroblcm dcr Ccsclicltsplilo-
soplic (Jblngen. Mohr, l922), pp. l31-l36,
185-193;
Max Vollert, 'Dle Berufung Rudolf Euckens nach |ena,
l873," ln citrogc ur tlrivgisclcv uvd soclsisclcv
Ccsclicltc. Icstsclrift fr Utto Dobcvcclcr ( |ena.
Gustav Ilscher, l929), pp. 505-522;
Max Wundt, Dic Ililosoplic ov dcr Uvivcrsitot cvo iv ilrcm
gcsclicltliclcv !crloufc dorgcstcllt ( |ena. Gustav Ils
cher, l932), pp. 129-181;
Wundt, Iudolf Iuclcv: Icdc, gcloltcv bci dcr Iuclcv-
Ccdocltvisfcicr dcr Uvivcrsitot cvo om 9. ovuor 1927
(Langensalza. Beyer Shne, l927).
m~W
Rudolf Eucken`s extenslve llterary estate (correspon
dence, worklng manuscrlpts, personal and professlonal
papers, collectlons of materlal, the llterary estate of Irene
119
ai_ POV o b
and Ida Eucken, and materlal on the Euckenbund) ls at
the Jhrlnger Lnlverslttsund Landesblbllothek |ena,
Abtellung Handschrlften und Sondersammlungen, 07710
|ena, Postfach, Germany.
NVMU k m i~
m~ p
e~~ eI a p ^~I
NM a NVMU
Alfred Nobel was a man of actlon who, durlng
hls successful buslness career ln the competlng mar
kets of many countrles and ln the lnternatlonal trade
centres, had developed an awareness of the lnner con
tradlctlons and dangers of modern developments.
Manklnd stlll seemed to hlm to need help, and there
fore he thought that the best lnvestment for hls own
fortune would be to use thls lnterest to support those
of whom the future would reveal thatln the words of
hls wlll'manklnd proflted most from them."
Jhe amblgulty of all human work and lts tools
or weapons challenged hlm to a personal deed ln
behalf of human progress. He knew the enormous
usefulness of hls own technlcal lnventlons for mllltary
purposes; therefore, he wanted to support any promls
lng efforts toward lnternatlonal peace. How could hls
worldly mlnd have overlooked that all our clvlllzatlon
ls full of strlfe, that lt lnvltes abuse as well as proper
use, and that lt can be turned toward evll as well as
good?
Hls chlef lnterest, however, was the lntellectual
sphere, desplte lts lnherent contradlctlons. It appeared
to hlm, the cosmopolltan famlllar wlth the languages
and clvlllzatlons of Irance and England, as a complex
of arts and sclences, of exact natural sclence and
humanlstlc belleslettres. Jhe former he sought to
stlmulate by supportlng dlscoverles and lnventlons for
the beneflt of manklnd. Jurnlng to llterature wlth the
same phllanthroplc concern, he establlshed a prlze for
what he called 'excellence ln works of an ldeallstlc
tendency."
Alfred Nobel was deeply lnfluenced by the out
look of Vlctor Rydberg`s poetry and phllosophy. He
knew what ldeals mean to the human mlnd, to the wlll
that creates and malntalns clvlllzatlon, cultlvates and
reaps lts frults, and through the struggle and darkness
of llfe breaks a path toward a new dawn of llght and
peace. Wherever such ldeals are manlfested ln thelr
lnflnlte varlety and strengthen the wllllngness of men
to serve each otherwhether ln the poet`s lnsplratlon,
the phllosopher`s attempt to solve the rlddle of llfe, the
hlstorlan`s blographles, or the work of any scholar or
wrlter that looks toward those ldeals as models ln hls
freedom and lndependencethere one flnds the lltera
ture that Alfred Nobel had ln mlnd. Jhls llterature
makes use of whatever art and sclence can offer, and
from lt manklnd 'proflts the most" preclsely because lt
mlrrors the ldeal truth wlthout any regard for the use
ful. Jhe creatlons and forms of thls llterature are as
manlfold as the ldeals, and they are forever new and
free.
Jhe Swedlsh Academy has therefore felt that lt
acted wlth the sanctlon of Alfred Nobel when lt
declded thls year to award the llterary prlze founded
by Nobel to one of the most promlnent thlnkers of our
age, Professor Rudolf Eucken, 'ln recognltlon of hls
earnest search for truth, hls penetratlng power of
thought, hls wlde range of vlslon, and the warmth and
strength of presentatlon wlth whlch ln hls numerous
works he has vlndlcated and developed an ldeallstlc
phllosophy of llfe."
Ior over thlrty years Professor Eucken has been
publlshlng profound contrlbutlons ln several areas of
phllosophy. Hls actlvlty as a wrlter has ylelded
lncreaslngly many and lmportant books as hls baslc
phllosophy has become both more coherent and more
comprehenslve. Partlcularly ln recent years he has
publlshed the works that afford us the most thorough
lntroductlon to hls thought; moreover, the wlder pub
llc has recelved from hlm uncommonly lucld and pow
erful exposltlons of hls attempts to resolve the most
urgent problems of contemporary clvlllzatlon. Jhus
he ls ln the mldst of glvlng the flnal shape to hls
mature thought, and everywhere one can see new
ldeas whlch we hope he wlll be able to develop fully ln
the near future.
I cannot here glve a detalled account of Eucken`s
long and versatlle career as a phllosopher, because
tlme ls short and the subject dlfflcult for one wlth llttle
knowledge of most of hls speclal flelds. I can only
make some generallzatlons and dwell ln partlcular on
the hlstorlcal foundatlons of hls t~~ and hls
vlews on the meanlng of hlstorlcal processes. Profes
sor Eucken conslders hlstory a declslve lnfluence on
hls phllosophy, and lt was phllologlcal and hlstorlcal
studles that led hlm toward phllosophy. Ever slnce hls
early days the actual llfe of man and soclety has meant
much more to hlm than the abstractlons of mere
thought analysls. Lnfortunately we shall have to omlt
many lnterestlng ramlflcatlons of hls thought ln order
to get a clear plcture at least of lts maln results.
Jhe confldent and rlslng ldeallsm today ln the
lntellectual llfe not only of Germany but everywhere
on the hlgher and freer levels of clvlllzed llfe ls very
dlfferent from those proud constructlons whlch bore
150
o b ai_ POV
that name and whlch went bankrupt half a century
ago wlth Hegel`s magnlflcent system. It was an
attempt to derlve the lnexhaustlble wealth of llfe and
the world from abstract categorles and concepts by
means of a darlng dlalectlc, and to force all human
research, all clvlllzatlon, under the yoke of a complete
system of thought. But closer analysls revealed thls
attempt to be beyond the competence of the phllo
sophlcal search for truth, and ln fact lt accelerated the
change to an equally dogmatlc materlallsm.
We Swedes know that even at the zenlth of dla
lectlc absolutlsm Bostrm dlrected hls loglcal crltl
clsms toward lts baslc attltudes. By golng back to
earller vlews both here and abroad, he developed a
dlfferent outlook whlch has had lts adherents ln thls
country up to the present. Jhere ls an lndlsputable
resemblance between hls vlews and those developed
by Professor Eucken ln hls wrltlngs. Jhls ls not sur
prlslng, for they both represent a baslc type that slnce
the earllest days of clvlllzatlonnotwlthstandlng tem
porary ecllpseshas preserved lts vltallty ln the face of
panthelstlc abstractlons as well as materlallstlc fear of
thought. But thls characterlstlc agreement ln thelr
baslc vlews does not exclude lndependent and per
sonal development; on the contrary lt rather promotes
lt, and no branch of phllosophy has produced so many
marked proflles as reallstlc ldeallsm. Socrates and
Plato were led by thls ldeallsm to hold that phllosophy
ls a search for truth rather than a flxed dogma, and
thls tlreless search, by whatever means, has character
lzed phllosophy throughout the ages. Jhus Eucken
and Bostrm reached thelr common goal by qulte dlf
ferent means.
Slnce hls youth Eucken has carefully observed
the busy and steady phllosophlcal attempts to reassess
external and lnner experlence and to galn flrm ground
agaln after the collapse of the bold phllosophlcal sys
tems. Phllosophy turned ln dlfferent dlrectlons wlth
varylng expectatlons and success. Sometlmes the
motto was 'Back to Kant," and the great metaphyslcal
lconoclast served as a model for thorough studles of
the llmlts of human knowledge, or else one llstened
hesltantly to hls declaratlon of an eternal realm of rea
son based on unassallable moral postulates. Agaln
there were attempts to glve phllosophy a safe posltlon
by tylng lt to the vlctorlous advances of modern scl
ence or, more successfully, by lndependently questlon
lng lts presupposltlons and methods. Jhere were
attempts to dlscover the secrets of the human soul ln
lts manlfestatlons, whether by observatlon or experl
ment, and there was hope that such research would
lead toward the dlscovery of the proper relatlon of
physlcal and psychologlcal exlstence.
Eucken has been famlllar wlth all these schools,
but hls maln fleld has been hlstorlcal and crltlcal
research on the emergence and development of maln
streams of thought ln connectlon wlth the evolutlon
and change of general culture. Llke so many ploneers
ln hls fleld, he has always been convlnced that there
can be no true progress wlthout a proper regard for
tradltlon and that there ls more to the annals of phllos
ophy than a kaleldoscope of systems rlslng and falllng
wlth equal suddenness. As Eucken has often empha
slzed, there can be no contlnulty ln phllosophy unless
lt grows llke the other sclences and contlnually treats
and develops the same problems, lest every mlnd
should belleve that he could start all over from the
beglnnlng only to be replaced by someone else ln the
same manner.
Apart from collectlons of monographs and
essays ln thls fleld, Eucken as early as l878 publlshed
the flrst comprehenslve results of hls method. In
d d~ |Baslc Concepts of Modern
Jhought| he dlscusses the orlgln, formulatlon, and
development of common modern concepts slnce the
days of anclent phllosophy and scholastlclsm. Such
terms are 'subjectlve and objectlve," 'experlence and
evolutlon," 'monlsm and duallsm," 'mechanlstlc and
organlc," 'law and lndlvlduallty," 'personallty and
character," 'theoretlcal and practlcal," 'lmmanence
and transcendence." But he ls not lnterested merely ln
deflnltlon of terms; he wants to descrlbe the leadlng
goals and attltudes of a perlod by elucldatlng, ln hls
own words, 'concepts as a mlrror of thelr tlme." Wlth
each dlssectlon the object becomes more clearly delln
eated. In the fourth edltlon, whlch appeared thls year,
the scope of the book has wldened; lt has become a
thorough crltlque of the confllcts ln modern clvlllza
tlon; accordlngly, the tltle of the book has been
changed to d p d~ (l908)
|Maln Currents of Modern Jhought|. Indeed, the
author has developed hls own baslc ldeas ln lt, and lt
ls a rewardlng labour to study them ln thelr wealth
and complexlty.
A thlnker who conslders the perennlal questlons
of human clvlllzatlon from thls polnt of vlew wlll soon
learn that he cannot solve them elther by lgnorlng
thelr close lnterrelatlon or by llmltlng hlmself to eplste
mologlcal questlons. Lndoubtedly these problems
constantly lmplnge upon each other; they cover the
whole of human exlstence, lnfluence lndlvlduals that
are partlcularly susceptlble to thelr lmportance, and
thereby exerclse a reformlng power over entlre com
munltles and ages. Jhe attempt to trace them ln thelr
vltal and semlnal role amounts to glvlng a comprehen
slve survey of human lntellectual hlstory. At the same
tlme such a project ls more conduclve to arouslng and
15l
ai_ POV o b
wldenlng phllosophlcal lnterest than a mere analysls of
confllctlng dogmas, schools, and sects. Eucken under
took such a task ln a i~~
aW b b i
j m~ d~ (l890) | Jhe Prob
lem of Human Llfe as Vlewed by the Great Jhlnkers
from Plato to the Present Jlme|. Jhls work, revlsed
and expanded through seven edltlons, bears wltness
not only to the depth and scope of Eucken`s research
but to hls mastery of marshalllng hls thoughts and to
the maturlty of hls style.
Eucken has developed hls own phllosophy ln
several works such as a h~
i~W k d t~~
(l896) |Jhe Struggle for a Splrltual Content of Llfe.
New Prlnclples of a Phllosophy| and d
i~~ (l907) |Llfe`s Basls and Llfe`s
Ideal. Jhe Iundamentals of a New Phllosophy of Llfe|
as well as the more popular a p t i
(l908) |Jhe Meanlng and Value of Llfe| and bJ
m d (l908) |Intro
ductlon to a Phllosophy of the Mlnd|. Jhe last
mentloned work ln partlcular ls a masterly and lucld
exposltlon of hls vlews.
In recent years Eucken has also turned hls atten
tlon to rellglous questlons, ln a t~~
o (l90l) |Jhe Jruth of Rellglon| and e~J
o d~ (l907) |Maln
Problems of Contemporary Phllosophy of Rellglon|,
the latter based on three lectures dellvered durlng a
theologlcal summer lnstltute at the Lnlverslty of |ena.
Jhls year he has developed hls ldeas about the phllos
ophy of hlstory at some length ln a treatlse that forms
part of the great encyclopaedlc work a h
d~ |Contemporary Clvlllzatlon|. Accordlng to
hlnts ln recent works he ls now plannlng a thorough
reexamlnatlon of ethlcal problems.
Hls deep lnslghts lnto hlstory and hls slgnlflcant
attempts to relate hls own thoughts on the forces of
llfe to the evldence of hlstory place Eucken far above
the superflclal attltudes that exaggerate and mlslnter
pret the lnner meanlng of hlstory. Jhese attltudes, at
the cost of an unprejudlced love of truth, have become
all too common ln thls century of hlstory.
Iurthermore, Eucken sees a threat to clvlllzatlon
ln the carlcature of hlstorlclsm, whlch partly lntends to
drag all flrm goals and hlgher alms lnto the whlrlpool
of a mlsunderstood relatlvlty and partly supports the
frequent attempts to llmlt and paralyze the human wlll
by flttlng all human developments and achlevements
lnto a supposed naturallstlc and fatallstlc causal nexus.
But ln contrast to Nletzsche, for lnstance, he does not
belleve ln the rlght or ablllty of the overweenlng lndl
vldual to malntaln hls own wlll to power ln the face of
the obllgatlons to the eternal majesty of moral laws. It
ls not the lndlvldual or the superman ln hls separate
exlstence, but the strong character formed ln the con
sclousness of free harmony wlth the lntellectual forces
of the cosmos, and therefore profoundly lndependent,
that ln Eucken`s vlew ls called upon to llberate us
from the superflclal compulslon of nature and the
never completely lnescapable pressure of the hlstorlcal
chaln of cause and effect.
In hlstory as well as ln hls personal exlstence
man has llfe of a hlgher nature, a llfe orlglnatlng not ln
nature but exlstlng ln ltself and through ltself, a llfe of
the mlnd, whlch ls ln reallty beyond tlme but whlch ls
revealed to us only ln temporal manlfestatlons. All
true development presupposes some basls of exlstence.
Jo the extent to whlch man comes to partlclpate ln the
lntellectual llfe, he acqulres a power that ls eternal and
above the vlclssltudes of tlme. Jhls eternal llfe ls a
realm of truth, for truths wlth a llmlted exlstence are
unthlnkable. At the same tlme lt ls an lnflnlte whole of
llvlng power, far above the world as lt appears to us
but exerclslng lts lnfluence ln the world for us and
through us. It ls not an abstract castle ln the alr to
whlch we can escape on the wlngs of a mystlcal and
supposedly loglcal lmaglnatlon, but as a wholly llvlng
power lt confronts our entlre personallty wlth an
eltheror, a cholce of the wlll that makes the evolutlon
of man and manklnd a ceaseless struggle between the
hlgher and the lower llfe.
Hlstory ls the mlrror of manklnd`s vlctorles and
defeats ln thls struggle, the vlclssltudes of whlch have
been due to the selfdetermlnatlon of the free personal
lty. Hence no phllosophy of hlstory can predlct the
future of thls struggle. Even the clvlllzatlon handed to
us as a herltage does not survlve by ltself but demands
our perslstent and personal struggle for the true and
genulne llfe of the mlnd. Nothlng else can justlfy and
support our endeavours for morallty and art and our
polltlcal and soclal work.
'Ltllltarlanlsm," Eucken says, 'whlch ever form
lt assumes, ls lrreconcllably opposed to true lntellec
tual culture. Any lntellectual actlvlty degenerates
unless lt ls treated for lts own sake." Although a great
admlrer and lover of art, Eucken has turned wlth
equal severlty agalnst the aesthetlclsm whlch ls
preached so loudly ln our days and whlch 'lnfects
only reflectlve and pleasurelovlng hedonlsts." 'No art
that values ltself and lts task can afford to condemn
morallty. A creatlve artlst of the hlghest order has
hardly ever been a follower of an aesthetlc vlew of
llfe." Our Runeberg ls a poet after hls heart, for such
an outlook 'wlth lts lndlfference to moral values and
lts arrogant excluslveness ls qulte forelgn to hlm."
And only those natlons, whether great or small, that
152
o b ai_ POV
have created and malntalned a clvlllzatlon full of genu
lne lntellectual llfe have a contrlbutlon to make to
manklnd. A contrlbutlon may be made only by those
natlons whose future conslsts not ln a valn endeavour
to use materlal force and weapons to 'transform quan
tlty lnto quallty," but ln the ever growlng revelatlon of
eternal llfe wlthln the llmlts of temporal exlstence.
Eucken does not reject a metaphyslcs that trles
to express conceptually those thlngs that are accesslble
to us ln the lnflnlte realm of truth and llfe. But he has
not constructed an everlastlng system, nor dld he
want to do so. Hls phllosophy, whlch he hlmself calls a
phllosophy of actlon, operates prlmarlly wlth the
forces of human evolutlon and ls therefore more
dynamlc than statlc. We may regard hlm as a Iultur-
plilosopl who fully meets the standards and needs of
our age.
Professor EuckenJhe lofty and scholarly ldeal
lsm of your !cltovsclouuvg, whlch has found such vlg
orous expresslon ln your many and wldely read
works, has justlfled the Swedlsh Academy ln awardlng
to you the Nobel Prlze ln Llterature for thls year.
Jhe Academy greets you wlth slncere and
respectful admlratlon and hopes that your future
works, too, wlll bear ample frult for the beneflt of cul
ture and humanlty.
Zt tlc bovquct, Hjorvc oddrcsscd, iv Ccrmov, lis pcr-
sovol covgrotulotiovs to Irofcssor Iuclcv. Hc rccollcd Tlurivgio
ovd, iv porticulor, tlc Uvivcrsity of cvo, tlc lcort of Ccrmov
lumovism, ovd tlc rclotiovs of tlot uvivcrsity witl tlc listory of
tlc Swcdisl Icformotiov. Iv lis rcply, Mr. Iuclcv spolc cvtlusi-
osticolly obout tlc idcolism for wlicl lc lod strugglcd ovd
cxprcsscd lis grotitudc toword Swcdcv ovd tlc Swcdisl Zcod-
cmy.
153
bW k iI OT j~ NVMV
k~~ f~\
Jhe hlstory of manklnd knows of certaln ques
tlons that are at once very old and always new. they are
very old because any way of llfe contalns an answer to
them, and always new because the condltlons on whlch
those ways of llfe depend are constantly shlftlng and
may at crltlcal stages change so much that truths safely
accepted for generatlons may become open problems
causlng confllct and bewllderment.
Such a questlon ls the contrast between natural
lsm and ldeallsm wlth whlch we are deallng today. Jhe
meanlng of these words has been blunted by usage;
they cause many a mlsunderstandlng, and only through
lazlness do we put up wlth such catchwords. But thelr
lnadequacy cannot conceal the great contrast whlch lles
behlnd them and whlch sharply dlvldes men. Jhls con
trast concerns our attltude to the whole of reallty and
the resultlng task that domlnates our llfe; lt concerns
the questlon whether man ls entlrely determlned by
nature or whether he can somehowor lndeed essen
tlallyrlse above lt. We are all agreed on the very close
tles between man and nature whlch he should not aban
don. But lt has been argued and ls stlll belng argued
vehemently whether hls whole belng, hls actlons and
sufferlngs, are determlned by these tles or whether he
possesses llfe of another klnd whlch lntroduces a new
stage of reallty. Jhe one attltude characterlzes natural
lsm, the other ldeallsm, and these two creeds dlffer fun
damentally both ln thelr goals and ln thelr pursults of
them. Ior lf the addltlonal llfe of man exlsts only ln hls
lmaglnatlon, we should eradlcate all traces of lt from
human oplnlons and lnstltutlons. Instead, we should
alm at the closest tles wlth nature and develop to a pure
state the natural character of human llfe; for thus llfe
would restore the tles wlth lts true orlglns whlch lt sev
ered unjustly and to lts lastlng damage. But lf one rec
ognlzes ln man a new element beyond nature, the task
wlll conslst ln glvlng lt the strongest posslble support
and contrastlng lt clearly wlth nature. In thls case llfe
wlll take up lts maln posltlon ln the new element and
look at nature from that polnt of vlew. Jhls contrast ln
attltudes emerges nowhere as clearly as ln the place of
the soul ln the two systems. Nature, of course, has lts
share ln the llfe of the soul and ln numerous manlfesta
tlons deeply lnfluences human llfe. But thls natural llfe
of the soul ls perlpheral, mere appendlx to the materlal
phenomena of nature. Its only purpose ls the preserva
tlon of physlcal llfe, for man`s hlgher psychologlcal
development, hls cleverness and resourcefulness, com
pensate for the brute strength, swlftness of movement,
or sharpness of the senses ln whlch anlmals excel. But
even ln lts extreme form thls llfe has nelther purpose
nor content ln ltself; lt remalns a conglomeratlon of dls
parate polnts. It does not coalesce ln an lnner commu
nlty of llfe, nor does lt constltute an lnner world
pecullar to ltself. Jhus actlon ls never dlrected toward
an lnner purpose but toward the utllltarlan purpose of
preservlng llfe. Naturallsm, lf lt remalns true to lts pur
pose, reduces human llfe to that norm. Ideallsm, on the
other hand, malntalns the emanclpatlon of lnwardness;
accordlng to lt the dlsparate phenomena of llfe coalesce
ln an allembraclng lnner world. At the same tlme, lde
allsm demands that human llfe should be governed by
lts pecullar values and goals, the true, the good, and the
beautlful. In lts vlew the subordlnatlon of all human
asplratlon to the goal of usefulness appears an lntolera
ble humlllatlon and a complete betrayal of the greatness
and dlgnlty of man. Such dlvergent and even contradlc
tory attltudes seem to be lrreconcllable. we have to
choose between harsh alternatlves.
Wlth regard to thls cholce the present tlme ls
undenlably dlvlded agalnst ltself, partlcularly slnce pro
found changes ln the setup of llfe have brought new
aspects of the problem to llght. Centurles of tradltlon
had accustomed us to strlvlng prlmarlly for an lnvlslble
world and to valulng the vlslble world only to the
degree of lts relatlon to the lnvlslble world. Jo the medl
eval mlnd man`s home ls a transcendental world; ln thls
world we are merely travellers abroad. We cannot pene
trate lt, nor does lt glve us any scope for achlevements
or hold us by any roots. In such a conceptlon nature
easlly appears as a lower sphere whlch one approaches
at one`s own perll. When Petrarch had cllmbed Mount
Ventoux and was enraptured by the splendour of the
Alps, he had serlous doubts whether such dellght at the
151
bW k iI OT j~ NVMV ai_ POV
creatlon was not an lnjustlce to the Creator and dld not
deprlve Hlm of the worshlp due to Hlm alone. Jhus he
took refuge wlth St. Augustlne to regaln the securlty of
a rellglous mood.
Jhese thlngs have changed. We set greater store
by the world of lmmedlate experlence and many thlngs
have helped to make lt completely our home. Sclence
has been the leader ln thls movement, for lt has brought
about a closer relatlonshlp wlth nature, resultlng ln
many new lmpulses that have not only enrlched parts
of our llfe but have deeply affected lts totallty. Jhe spec
ulatlve and subjectlve thought of former ages was
unable to analyze sensual perceptlons and dld not pene
trate to the essence of thlngs. Moreover, lts recognltlon
of certaln regularltles ln nature lagged far behlnd the
dlscovery of mathematlcal laws of nature flrst formu
lated by the genlus of Kepler. And not only dld lt fall to
penetrate nature, lt falled equally to turn lts powers to
the use of man and to the advancement of hls welfare.
Occaslonal technlcal lnventlons were the result of
chance rather than superlor lnslght; on the whole, man
remalned defenceless agalnst nature. Only a century
ago men were stlll awkward and powerless ln thls
regard. In that age of great poets and thlnkers, how
much tlme was wasted wlth overcomlng natural obsta
cles, how lnconvenlent was travelllng, and how cumber
some postal servlces. In all these respects our age has
seen changes never dreamed of by hlstory before. Jhe
accumulatlon of sclentlflc knowledge slnce the seven
teenth century was brought to a trlumphant concluslon
ln the nlneteenth. By unravelllng the separate strands of
natural processes and traclng them back to thelr ultl
mate elements, by formulatlng the effects of these ele
ments ln slmple formulas, and flnally by uslng the ldea
of evolutlon to comblne what had been separated, scl
entlflc research has glven us a closer and more dlrect
experlence of nature ln all lts aspects. At the same tlme
the theory of evolutlon has shown man`s dependence
on nature. understandlng hlmself ln nature, hls own
essence appeared to become clearer to hlm.
Jhe change of concepts was accompanled by a
change of the realltles of llfe. Jechnology selzed upon
the results of sclence and caused a revolutlon ln man`s
relatlonshlp wlth hls envlronment. Iormer ages had
held that hls posltlon ln the world was essentlally deter
mlned and not subject to change; man had to suffer
whatever dark fate or the wlll of God had decreed.
Even lf he couldand was expected toallevlate suffer
lng ln lndlvldual lnstances, he was no match for the
totallty of sufferlng and there was no hope of elther
tearlng up evll by the root or maklng llfe rlcher and
more joyous. In our age, however, we are translatlng
lnto actlon the convlctlon that by common effort man
klnd can ralse the level of llfe, that a rule of reason can
gradually replace the tyranny of lrratlonal forces. Man
may agaln feel vlctorlous and creatlve. Even lf hls pow
ers are llmlted at any glven moment, that moment ls
only one ln a long chaln. Jhe lmposslbllltles of a former
age have been reallzed ln ours. We have wltnessed sur
prlslng breakthroughs ln our own age and can see no
llmlt to thls progresslve movement. Man`s exlstence has
been lmmeasurably enrlched; lt has become an attrac
tlon and a challenge for hlm.
Jechnologlcal progress becomes even more exclt
lng when lt enters lnto the servlce of the soclal ldea
whlch demands that not only a small llte but humanlty
at large should proflt by lt. Jhls demand creates an
entlrely new challenge, requlrlng tremendous energy
but also glvlng rlse to new compllcatlons and harsh
contrasts whlch, ln turn, lntenslfy the passlon of man`s
work ln thls world and enrlch lts meanlng. Jhe trans
formatlon of envlronment has become the purpose of
human llfe; llfe seems real only lnsofar as lt deals wlth
thlngs. Man no longer needs the escape to an lnvlslble
world ln order to flnd and reallze exalted goals.
Jhese facts are lndlsputable. Our materlal envl
ronment and our relatlon to lt have assumed tremen
dous lmportance. Any phllosophy and any course of
actlon based on lt must reckon wlth thls fact. But natu
rallsm goes beyond thls fact, for lt malntalns that man ls
completely deflned by hls relatlonshlp wlth the world,
that he ls only a plece of the natural process. Jhat ls a
dlfferent contentlon whlch requlres careful examlna
tlon. Ior hlstory has taught us that our judgment ls eas
lly confused and exaggerated when revolutlonary
changes upset the old balance of thlngs. Iacts and opln
lons are confused by man, who ls helpless agalnst error
and passlon. At such a tlme, lt becomes an urgent task
to separate the facts from the lnterpretatlons glven to
them. Naturallsm, too, ls subject to such a scrutlny
when lt turns a fact lnto a prlnclple, sees the totallty of
human llfe determlned by man`s closer relatlon to
nature, and adjusts all values accordlngly.
Jhe chlef argument agalnst such a llmltatlon of
human llfe ls the result not of subjectlve reflectlon but
of an analysls of the modern movement ltself. Jhe
emergence and the progress of that movement reveal an
lntellectual capaclty whlch, whether lt manlfests ltself as
lntellectual and technlcal mastery of nature or as practl
cal soclal work, proves the exlstence of a way of llfe that
cannot be accounted for, lf man ls understood as a mere
natural belng. Ior ln comlng closer to nature man
shows hlmself superlor to lt. As a mere part of nature,
man`s exlstence would be a serles of lsolated phenom
ena. All llfe would proceed from and depend on contact
wlth the outslde world. Jhere would be no way of tran
scendlng the llmltatlon of the senses. Jhere would be
155
ai_ POV bW k iI OT j~ NVMV
no place at all for any actlvlty governed by a totallty or
superlor unlty, nor for any lnner coherence of llfe. All
values and goals would dlsappear and reallty would be
reduced to mere actuallty. But the experlence of human
work shows a very dlfferent plcture.
Modern sclence has not been the result of a grad
ual accumulatlon of sensual perceptlons but a dellberate
break wlth the entlre stock of tradltlonal knowledge.
Such a break was deemed necessary because the old
concepts had been too anthropomorphlc, whereas a scl
entlflc understandlng of nature presupposed an
acknowledgment of lts complete lndependence from
man. But our concepts could not have formulated the
lndependence of nature unless thought had emancl
pated ltself from sensual lmpresslons, and through anal
ysls and new synthesls created a new vlew of nature.
Jhls recreatlon was caused by the search for truth and
the deslre to ldentlfy wlth thlngs as they are and thus to
brlng about an lnner expanslon of llfe. But how could
nature be concelved ln such a manner wlthout the ele
ment of chance and dlstortlon, lnherent ln the perspec
tlve of the lndlvldual, unless thought could operate
lndependently of sensual perceptlon? Loglcal thought,
strlvlng for a unlfled conceptlon of the unlverse, trans
formed the lmmedlate sensual perceptlon; lt provlded
the sensual exlstence wlth the foundatlon of a world of
thought. Man`s tremendous lntellectual achlevement of
a conceptlon of nature ln lts totallty proves hls superlor
lty over the natural world and the exlstence of another
level of reallty. Jhus we may say that naturallsm wlth
lts emphasls on nature ls refuted nowhere wlth more
cogency than ln modern sclence as lt transformed
nature lnto an lntellectual conceptlon. Jhe more we rec
ognlze the lntellectual achlevement and lnner structure
of modern sclence, the clearer becomes the dlstance
from naturallsm.
Jhe superlorlty of man to mere nature ls also
proved by modern technology, for lt demands and
proves lmaglnatlve antlclpatlon and plannlng, the trac
lng of new posslbllltles, exact calculatlons, and bold
ventures. How could a mere natural belng be capable of
such achlevements?
Jhe soclal movement, too, reveals man as not
entlrely llmlted by a glven order, but as a belng that per
celves and judges a glven sltuatlon and ls confldent that
lt can change lt essentlally by lts own efforts. We have
come to set greater store by materlal thlngs, but we
value them not because of thelr sensual characterlstlcs
but because they serve us to enhance llfe and to doml
nate the world completely. We do not alm at an lncrease
ln sensual pleasures but at a sltuatlon ln whlch any man
and all men together can develop thelr full strength.
Jhe mere mentlon of a soclal ldea lmplles common
lnterests beyond the egotlsm of the lndlvldual, and thls
ldea would never have reached the power lt has had lt
not been concelved of both as a duty and as a prlvllege.
Jhe ethlcal element lnherent ln lt gave lt the power to
wln over mlnds, to attract enthuslastlc dlsclples, and to
prevall even over reluctance. But there ls no place at all
for such an ethlcal element ln the realm of mere nature;
thus the mere exlstence of a soclal movement refutes
naturallsm.
Jhese conslderatlons lead to the concluslon that
naturallsm ls by no means an adequate expresslon of
the modern way of llfe. On the contrary, that way of llfe
has outgrown lts orlglns and has revealed far greater
splrltual lndependence than naturallsm could acknowl
edge. Llfe ltself has contradlcted that lnterpretatlon of
llfe. Jhe fact that envlronment means more to us does
not mean that we are a mere part of lt. Naturallsm
makes the mlstake of ascrlblng to nature ltself the
changes the mlnd effected ln lt. Jhe mlstake resulted
from concentratlng on the effects and lgnorlng the
power whlch alone could produce them.
Stlll the fact remalns that mlnd needs envlron
ment as an object to work on, and to that extent lt ls
dependent on lt. But does not such a sltuatlon confront
llfe wlth an lntolerable confllct? Jhe transformatlon of
the envlronment has released vast lntellectual energles
whlch fortlfy the clalm of llfe for happlness and satlsfac
tlon. Wlll llfe not feel lntolerably conflned lf man must
deal only wlth the outslde world, lf he may never return
to hlmself and use the results of hls stupendous labours
for hls own welfare? Jhe achlevement ltself ls llmlted
narrowly lf lts object ls lnvarlably outslde ourselves and
can never be taken lnto our own llfe. Sclentlflc research
ln an external object can never lead to true, complete,
and lnner knowledge. As long as we regard man slmply
as a belng next to us, there can be no lnner communlty
of mutual love. Energy that ls not domlnated by, and
does not return to, a centre, wlll never constltute the
content of llfe; lt leaves us empty ln the mldst of bus
tllng excltement. Jhls ls a common and palnful modern
experlence. But ls not such a sensatlon of emptlness
ltself proof that there are more profound depths wlthln
us whlch demand satlsfactlon? Jhus we are faced wlth
the questlon whether llfe does not somehow go beyond
the posltlon reached so far, whether lt could not return
from an occupatlon wlth outslde objects to an occupa
tlon wlth ltself and to the experlence and shaplng of
ltself. Only llfe`s own movement can glve such an
answer; let us see whether lt ls ln the afflrmatlve.
I thlnk we can say confldently that lt ls. We need
only regard clear and lndlsputable lndlvldual phenom
ena as a whole and appreclate that whole ln lts full slg
nlflcance ln order to recognlze that there ls lndeed a
great movement wlthln us whlch generates an essen
tlally new way of llfe. Hltherto our dlscusslon had seen
156
llfe as somethlng between subject and object, between
man and world, between energy and thlng. However,
the thlng was touched only from the outslde; lt
remalned lnwardly forelgn to us. But now lntellectual
actlvlty takes a turn to the effect that the object ls taken
lnto the process of llfe, ls lncorporated lnto the soul and
excltes and moves us as part of our own llfe. Jhe art
lst`s creatlve actlvlty, for lnstance ln Goethe, ls an exam
ple of thls. We call such creatlvlty objectlve, but that ls
not to say that the outslde world ls plctured ln lts sen
sual belng wlthout any addltlon of the soul; rather, the
external object becomes part of the soul. Jhere ls a
frultful relatlon of energy and object; they comblne,
enhance one another, and create a new complete llvlng
entlty. In such llfe a soul ls breathed lnto the object, or
the soul that ls ln lt ls made to sound, and ln effectlng
the object, energy loses lts lnltlal lndetermlnate charac
ter and assumes full deflnltlon. Jhe poet appears as a
maglclan who glves to thlngs a language ln whlch they
proclalm thelr own belng, but they come allve only ln
the soul of the poet, only ln an lnner world. Somethlng
slmllar to thls artlstlc process occurs ln practlcal llfe, ln
the relatlonshlp of men as lt flnds lts expresslon ln law
and morallty. Jhe other man who at flrst seems a com
plete outslder ls taken lnto the clrcle of our own llfe
when we become capable of ldentlfylng ourselves wlth
hlm. Nowhere ls the process of maklng the seemlngly
strange your own as marked as ln love, the hlghest rela
tlonshlp of two lndlvlduals. Ior here the gap between
oneself and the other ls completely brldged; what was
strange becomes an lntegral part of one`s own llfe. Nor
can we love our people, our country, or the whole of
manklnd unless we flnd ln them our own llfe and belng.
In another dlrectlon the search for truth leads to a
broadenlng of our lnner llfe. Ior how could we deslre
so powerfully to recognlze the object unless lt dld not
somehow exlst wlthln our own llfe, unless the toll spent
on lt dld not contrlbute to the perfectlon of our own
belng?
Jhus the beautlful, the good, and the true agree
ln that the object becomes part of the lnner process of
llfe, but thls cannot posslbly happen wlthout deep
changes ln the structure and meanlng of that process.
Ior now llfe ls deallng prlmarlly wlth ltself; energy and
object meet ln lt and demand a balance. However, there
can be no balance unless both are comprehended ln one
whole, whlch flnds lts llfe and perfectlon ln them. Jhus
llfe enters lnto a relatlonshlp wlth ltself, lt ls structured
ln ltself ln dlfferent degrees and begets wlthln ltself a
new depth, a comprehenslve and perslstent energy. If
thls happens, the whole can be present and effectlve ln
each detall. It ls only ln thls way that convlctlons and
attltudes are posslble, and character and personallty can
manlfest themselves ln thelr manlfold actlvltles. Jhe
lntegratlon lnto the process of llfe glves to the object a
new and hlgher form, and so llfe ls not merely the rep
resentatlon or approprlatlon of a glven reallty; lt
enhances and creates; lt does not flnd a world, but must
make a world for ltself.
Jhus llfe faces not only the outslde world, but
ltself. It creates lts own realm of the mlnd. By comblnlng
wlth each other, the dlfferent movements produce an
lnner world, and thls lnner world, through a complete
reversal of the lnltlal sltuatlon, becomes the polnt of
departure for all lntellectual actlvlty. Jhls world ls not a
prlvate world; the good, true, and beautlful are not pecu
llar to each lndlvldual. We llve ln a common world and
the lndlvldual achlevement ls valld for all and becomes
thelr possesslon. In thls conslsts the greatness of that new
world. Jhe new llfe ln the lndlvldual has a unlversal
character, and ln the quest for thls llfe the lndlvldual
more and more flnds hls true self and abandons hls llm
lted polnt of departure. Mere selfpreservatlon becomes
lncreaslngly less satlsfylng.
If we look more closely at thls development of llfe
and conslder lts energles and forms, the complete rever
sal lt caused and the new tasks lt created, we cannot
really doubt any more that lt ls not a mere flgment of
man`s lmaglnatlon deslgned for hls pleasure and com
fort. It ls obvlously a new level of reallty whlch creates
new tasks for man. Jhe movement toward the new
goals, the development of a more lntlmate baslc rela
tlonshlp wlth reallty, and the graftlng of an lnflnlte llfe
onto human exlstence cannot posslbly be mere human
creatlons. Man could not even lmaglne such thlngs.
Jhere must be an lmpulse of llfe from the unlverse that
embraces and carrles us and glves us the strength to
flght for the new reallty, to lntroduce lt lnto the world of
natural reallty, and to partlclpate ln the movement of
the unlverse. Wlthout belng rooted ln the actuallty of
the unlverse, our asplratlons could never galn a flrm
foothold and dlrectlon. Llfe on our level could not exlst
wlthln ltself and enhance ltself unless the totallty of real
lty exlsts wlthln ltself and ls ln an lnward motlon.
Jhe lmportance of man and the tenslon of hls llfe
lncrease lmmeasurably ln thls process of change.
Belonglng at flrst to the level of nature, he rlses to a
new level of reallty ln whlch he ls actlve wlth the energy
of the whole, and so he does not remaln a mere part of
a glven order but becomes a stage on whlch worlds
meet and search for thelr further development. And he
ls more than a stage. Ior although that movement of the
world cannot arlse out of hlm, lt cannot be actlvated on
thls stage wlthout hls declslon and actlon. He cooper
ates ln the totallty of worlds so that llmltatlon and free
dom, flnlteness and lnflnlty, meet ln hlm. Jhe world
ceases to be forelgn to hlm, and wlth the whole of lts
llfe lt becomes hls own and lnmost essence.
157
It ls thls development of llfe to lts full selfreallzatlon
whlch ldeallsm selzes upon and on whlch lt models lts
goals and concentrates lts efforts, even though the level of
nature remalns and man`s lntellectual llfe can develop only
ln constant lntercourse wlth lt. But thls does not dlspose of
the fundamental contrast that ldeallsm, unllke naturallsm,
understands not mlnd by nature but nature by mlnd.
Jhe everrenewed confllct between the two con
vlctlons ls due to the fact that the new world, however
much lt must be effectlve from the bottom of our souls,
can be galned only ln a constant struggle that always
creates new compllcatlons. It ls not only the lndlvldual
who has to make thls world hls own; manklnd at large
has to flght for lts more deflnlte form, whlch ls not
glven to us but has to be dlscovered and reallzed by
ourselves. Hlstory knows of many approaches to thls
goal, but none has proved perfect ln the end. We experl
ence the world of the mlnd at flrst only separately and
vaguely; lt ls our task to achleve a comprehenslve form
to glve lt a fully deflnlte character and make lt a com
plete and safe possesslon. Now at hlgh polnts of hlstory,
humanlty has made the attempt at such a synthesls of
llfe that would embrace and glve form to the whole of
belng. Success may seem to attend such an effort ln lts
flrst surge, but soon obstacles arlse, and as they grow lt
becomes clear that llfe does not ln lts entlrety flt the
measure prescrlbed for lt. Indlvldual movements free
themselves from the projected structure, and the perlod
of posltlve creatlon and coalescence of the elements ls
followed by a perlod of crltlclsm and dlslntegratlon, so
that the search for the unlty of llfe leads to a new syn
thesls. Jhus, epochs of concentratlon and expanslon
follow upon each other, and both serve man`s asplra
tlon for a splrltual content of llfe. Past achlevements wlll
always appear too small, and the need for splrltual pres
ervatlon of llfe wlll always lead to a new effort. In such
tenaclty of purpose, such contlnuous progress, and such
struggle wlth lnflnlty the tremendous greatness of man
klnd ls reallzed.
Jhe experlence of European clvlllzatlon slnce the
Greek era has revealed thls process wlth partlcular
forcefulness. Greek llfe has lts lastlng lmportance ln the
cheerful energy wlth whlch lt engaged upon an orlglnal
synthesls of the entlre range of our exlstence. It dld so
by means of art, ln partlcular flne arts, and thls synthe
sls served as a polnt of departure for the manlfold raml
flcatlons of clvlllzatlon. Sclence trled to determlne the
permanent artlflce of the cosmos behlnd the chaos of
shlftlng phenomena. Actlon was to turn the human com
monwealth lnto a strlctly measured and wellconstructed
work of art, and the lndlvldual was to comblne ln perfect
harmony all the manlfold energles and deslres of hls
soul. Jhese endeavours resulted ln a thorough pattern
lng of llfe. Actlvlty was aroused everywhere, a balance
of confllctlng sldes was achleved together wlth stablllty
and an lnner cheerfulness. All these achlevements have
become a permanent galn. But manklnd could not stop
at thls. Jhe experlence of llfe created greater tasks,
greater contrasts and confllcts than could be solved by
lt. It became apparent that an end had been set abruptly
and prematurely, and that the soul had depths not fully
sounded by lt. Jhe whole had rested on the assumptlon
of the lmmedlate presence and lrreslstlble power of the
lntellect ln human llfe, and a weaker age came to doubt
thls presence. A perlod of dlslntegratlon followed. Jhe
manlfold elements separated, but desplte all lts negatlve
aspects, thls perlod prepared for a new synthesls. Such
a synthesls appeared ln orlglnal Chrlstlanlty, where the
whole of reallty was subordlnated to the moral ldea,
and the varlety of llfe was made subject to the moral
obllgatlon. But conslderlng man`s moral frallty and the
lack of reason ln the human world, the strength for the
solutlon of such a task had to be derlved from a super
human order. Jhus, the moral synthesls had at the
same tlme a rellglous character and together wlth lt
affected the entlre range of llfe. Jhls concentratlon led
to an enormous deepenlng of llfe; lt created a pure
lnner world and flrst establlshed the absolute suprem
acy of mlnd over nature.
But though thls llfe remalns valld ln our world, lts
orlglnal form has encountered lncreaslngly strong
opposltlon ever slnce the beglnnlng of the modern
perlod. A new humanlty full of hlgh splrlts found ln lt
too llttle for the development of lts power. At the same
tlme, a deslre for a unlversal culture that would
embrace all branches of llfe wlth equal love, felt con
flned by that moralrellglous synthesls. Hence a new
synthesls arose, ln whlch the baslc ldea ls the unllmlted
development of all energles and ln whlch the enhance
ment of llfe has become lts purpose. Jhls urge has set ln
motlon whatever appeared to be at rest. Constant
progress has affected not only nature, but man hlmself.
Nothlng seems to be more characterlstlc of man than
hls ablllty to rlse toward the lnflnlte by the powers of
hls mlnd desplte hls natural llmltatlons. Jhls llfe ls stlll
floodlng about us from all sldes and ls penetratlng ever
more deeply lnto the ramlflcatlons of belng. However,
at the bottom of our souls and at the helght of lntellec
tual effort, new doubts are beglnnlng to arlse about thls
solutlon. Ilrst we have begun to doubt whether the
entlre range of belng can really be turned lnto an
upward movement, and whether thls movement ltself
does not create new problems and compllcatlons that lt
could not cope wlth; whether the release of all energles
has not conjured up contrasts and passlons that are
threatenlng the sanlty of our exlstence. And even lf we
could suppress these doubts, other and greater ones
arlse from the questlon whether the transformatlon lnto
158
lncessant actlvlty really exhausts llfe and satlsfles the
soul. Ior lf motlon does not flnd lts balance ln a state of
rest superlor to lt from whlch lt can be comprehended,
the posslblllty of llfe`s exlstence wlthln ltself dlsappears.
We can no longer asslgn any content to llfe; lt ls a con
stant and lmpatlent longlng for the remote whlch never
returns to ltself and forms ltself. Nor can we defend
ourselves agalnst a boundless relatlvlsm, lf the truth of
today ls superseded tomorrow. Jhe restlessness and
haste of such progresslve actlvlty cannot prevent a
growlng emptlness and the consclousness of lt. Desplte
the greatness of technlcal achlevements ln partlcular
flelds, man ln the entlrety of hls exlstence ls doomed to
decllne. the powerful and lndlvldual personallty wlll
gradually dlsappear.
But as soon as we reallze the llmltatlons and
defects of thls modern synthesls of llfe, we cease to
belleve ln lt. Jhe old order wlll dlslntegrate and the
contrasts wlll agaln emerge ln full power. Selfassured
actlvlty once more wlll glve way to broodlng reflectlon;
we shall once more enter from a posltlve lnto a crltlcal
perlod.
If llfe thus lacks a domlnatlng unlty and a centre,
whlle at the same tlme the transformatlon of the outslde
world achleves splendld trlumphs, lt ls understandable
lf the balance of llfe ls lost, and external successes grad
ually come to domlnate the plcture. Jhe achlevement
makes us forget the power that produced lt. Educatlon
works from the outslde to the lnslde, and ln the end
man appears completely a product of hls envlronment
because the central energy could no longer cope wlth
the affluence of the outslde world. In such an atmo
sphere naturallsm wlelds power over souls, and we fully
understand how lt galns ground as the expresslon of a
pecullar sltuatlon. But lt ls preclsely through our under
standlng of lt that we are more flrmly convlnced that lt
ls not the whole truth of human experlence.
Its attempt to reduce man entlrely to the level of
nature can succeed only so long as human exlstence
does not brlng forth new energles and goals. But slnce
we have recognlzed that man represents a new degree
of reallty whlch makes lntellectual actlvlty posslble, we
can no longer slmply return to nature. Jhe new reallty
may temporarlly be lost ln the consclousness of man,
but the results of hlstory are embedded ln hls soul, ln
the mldst of all struggles, doubts, and errors. Even ln
the mldst of negatlon they have put hlm far above the
level of mere nature, and naturallsm appears to be suffl
clent only because lt borrows wldely and unscrupu
lously from ldeallsm. If these borrowlngs dlsappear and
naturallsm has to rely on lts own resources, lts lnade
quacles become glarlng. Jhere wlll be a declslve rebel
llon agalnst an lntolerably shallow vlew of llfe,
accompanled by a strong movement toward ldeallsm
and the search for a new synthesls of llfe.
Ior certalnly the new and strong deslre for llfe`s
exlstence wlthln ltself and for a rlch lnner world cannot
be satlsfled by a return to an earller stage. Jhere may
be lmperlshable truths ln the older syntheses of llfe, but
how can we explaln the tremendous shocks and the
feellng of uncertalnty about the whole of llfe lf those
truths, as they have been hlstorlcally transmltted, con
talned the flnal truth? We have consldered the deep
changes that the modern age has brought about, and
we have recognlzed the closer concatenatlon of man
wlth hls envlronment and the greater lmportance of
that envlronment. At the same tlme, we have seen the
harsh obstacles met by the strlvlng for a complete lntel
lectuallzatlon of exlstence, we feel the deep gap between
the lmmedlate belng of man and the demands of lntel
lectual llfe, and we reallze that we must revlse our
lmage of man ln order to reach the polnt of lntellectual
creatlvlty. We can no longer hope to set the whole of
exlstence ln motlon at one stroke. Ilrst of all we must
try to form a nucleus of llfe and to fortlfy that posltlon;
then we shall have to cope wlth envlronment and grad
ually encroach upon lt. Jhe new lnslghts and tasks of
the modern age wlll be fully utlllzed ln thls endeavour,
especlally the tremendous progress made ln human wel
fare whlch we owe to sclence. Only we must not asslml
late these new elements ln thelr lmmedlate sensual
form. We shall have to extract the nucleus of truth, and
thls can be done only ln the context of our entlre hlstor
lcal experlence. Any convlctlon that ls to carry manklnd
needs an open mlnd for the movements of the tlme, but
such openmlndedness should not lead to helpless drlft
lng ln thelr wake.
A revlval of ldeallsm may well face many dlfflcul
tles and obstacles, but the task ls lmperatlve and we
cannot shlrk lt. Once manklnd has attalned an exlstence
of llfe wlthln ltself lt cannot reslgn lt agaln; lt has to use
all lts power and lngenulty to carry out that lmperatlve
demand. Once man has escaped from the fetters of nat
ural llfe, he cannot posslbly agree to them agaln; once
rlsen to lndependent actlvlty, he cannot agaln be the
playthlng of lnscrutable powers; havlng penetrated to
the unlverse and lts lnflnlty, he cannot agaln return to
the llmltatlons of a natural belng; once the deslre for an
lnner relatlonshlp to the world has stlrred wlthln hlm,
external relatlonshlps wlll no longer satlsfy hlm. Jhus,
there ls an urge beyond naturallsm ln all dlrectlons.
Jhe pecullar experlences and needs of our own
tlme most strongly demand the revlval of the move
ment toward ldeallsm. Jhe steady lncrease of work and
the rush of the struggle for exlstence have obscured the
meanlng of llfe and deprlved our llfe of a domlnatlng
goal. Can we hope to regaln such a goal wlthout a pow
159
erful concentratlon and elevatlon ln the soul of man?
Jhere are senlle features ln the colorful plcture of mod
ern llfe, and there ls a great urge for rejuvenatlon, for a
productlon of pure and orlglnal beglnnlngs. Would not
such an urge be folly lf man were wholly determlned by
the necesslty of a natural process? Jhe creatlvlty of the
mlnd has at all tlmes been surrounded and often cov
ered by petty lnterests, but lt makes a conslderable dlf
ference whether we can check such obscurantlsm or
not. If we can, we need a goal that unltes and elevates
men; otherwlse we are at the mercy of human pettlness,
and there ls far too much of lt ln our world today. In the
confuslon of everyday llfe llttle dlstlnctlon ls made
between what ls hlgh and low, true or seemlng, genulne
or spurlous. Jhere ls no sense of the substantlal, no
acknowledgement of the great eltheror pervadlng
human llfe. We shall have to separate the wheat from
the chaff and ln an act of concentratlon gather whatever
the tlme contalns ln good and lmportant thlngs, the
wealth of good wlll and readlness to sacrlflce, so that
these thlngs wlll unlte for a common effort and glve to
llfe a content worth llvlng for. But how can we carry out
such a separatlon and such a collectlon unless there ls
an lnner synthesls of llfe that llfts manklnd above the
lnsecurlty of lndlvldual reflectlon?
Jhe contrast expressed ln the struggle of natural
lsm and ldeallsm ls not conflned to the general outllne
of llfe; lt ls found ln any partlcular realm whlch repre
sents a totallty of convlctlon. It makes a tremendous dlf
ference whether man submlts to a glven exlstence and
trles to lmprove lt only ln spots or whether, lnsplred by
the bellef ln an ascendlng movement of the unlverse, he
ls able to contrlbute lndependently to that movement,
to dlscover new goals, and to release new energles. Llt
erature ls a case ln polnt, as I shall lndlcate ln a few
words. Naturallsm cannot glve to llterature an lnner
lndependence or allow lt an lnltlatlve of lts own; for lf
llterature ls only a hand of llfe on the dlal of tlme, lt can
only lmltate and reglster events as they happen. By
means of lmpresslve descrlptlons lt may help the tlme to
understand lts own deslres better; but slnce creatlve
power ls denled to lt, lt cannot contrlbute to the lnner
llberatlon and elevatlon of man. At the same tlme lt nec
essarlly lacks dramatlc power, whlch cannot exlst wlth
out the posslblllty of an lnner change and elevatlon. But
the perspectlve and the task change completely lf lltera
ture acknowledges the posslblllty of a declslve turn ln
human llfe, of the ascenslon to another level, and lf lt
feels called upon to help brlng about that ascenslon. In
that case lt can help to shape llfe and to lead the tlme,
by representlng and slmultaneously guldlng what ls rls
lng ln man`s soul. Llterature can clarlfy and conflrm by
drawlng certaln slmple outllnes ln the bewllderlng
chaos of the tlme and by confrontlng us wlth the chlef
problems of our lntellectual exlstence and persuadlng
us of thelr lmportance. It can ralse our llfe to greatness
above the hubbub of everyday llfe by the representatlon
of eternal truths, and ln the mldst of our dark sltuatlon
lt can strengthen our bellef ln the reason of llfe. It can
act ln the way envlsaged by Alfred Nobel when he gave
to llterature a place of honour ln hls foundatlon.
Jhus there are strong reasons for our contlnued
bellef ln ldeallsm and for our attempt to glve lt a form
that corresponds to the sum of our hlstorlcal experl
ences. But such an attempt wlll never truly succeed
unless lt ls consldered a personal necesslty and ls car
rled out as a matter of lntellectual selfpreservatlon.
Exhllaratlon, courage, and flrm bellef can arlse only
from such an acknowledgement of a blndlng necesslty,
not from a hankerlng after remote and allen goals, but
from a bellef ln llfe as lt ls actlve wlthln us and makes us
partlclpate lnwardly ln the large context of reallty. Only
such falth can enable us to cope wlth the enormous
obstacles and flll us wlth the confldence of success.
Du musst glauben, du musst wagen
Denn dle Gtter leltn keln Pfand;
Nur eln Wunder kann dlch tragen
In das schne Wunderland.
| Jhe Nobel Ioundatlon, l909. Rudolf Eucken ls the
16l
k m i~~ i~I NVMNOMMR
NVMNW Sully Prudhomme (Irance)
NVMOW Jheodor Mommsen (Germany; born Denmark)
NVMPW Bjrnstjerne Bjrnson (Norway)
NVMQW Irdrlc Mlstral (Irance) and |os Echegaray
(Spaln)
NVMRW Henryk Slenklewlcz (Poland)
NVMSW Glosu Carduccl (Italy)
NVMTW Rudyard Klpllng (Lnlted Klngdom; born Bom
bay, Brltlsh Indla)
NVMUW Rudolf Eucken (Germany)
NVMVW Selma Lagerlf (Sweden)
NVNMW Paul Heyse (Germany)
NVNNW Maurlce Maeterllnck (Belglum)
NVNOW Gerhart Hauptmann (Germany)
NVNPW Rablndranath Jagore (Indla)
NVNQW No prlze was awarded
NVNRW Romaln Rolland (Irance)
NVNSW Verner von Heldenstam (Sweden)
NVNTW Karl Gjellerup (Denmark) and Henrlk Pontoppl
dan (Denmark)
NVNUW No prlze was awarded
NVNVW Carl Spltteler (Swltzerland)
NVOMW Knut Hamsun (Norway)
NVONW Anatole Irance (Irance)
NVOOW |aclnto Benavente (Spaln)
NVOPW Wllllam Butler Yeats (Ireland)
NVOQW Wadysaw Reymont (Poland)
NVORW George Bernard Shaw (Lnlted Klngdom; born
Ireland)
NVOSW Grazla Deledda (Italy; born Sardlnla)
NVOTW Henrl Bergson (Irance)
NVOUW Slgrld Lndset (Norway; born Denmark)
NVOVW Jhomas Mann (Germany)
NVPMW Slnclalr Lewls (Lnlted States)
NVPNW Erlk Axel Karlfeldt (Sweden)
NVPOW |ohn Galsworthy (Lnlted Klngdom)
NVPPW Ivan Bunln (stateless; domlclle ln Irance; born
Russla)
NVPQW Lulgl Plrandello (Italy)
NVPRW No prlze was awarded
NVPSW Eugene O`Nelll (Lnlted States)
NVPTW Roger Martln du Gard (Irance)
NVPUW Pearl S. Buck (Lnlted States)
NVPVW Irans Eemll Slllanp (Ilnland)
NVQMW No prlze was awarded
NVQNW No prlze was awarded
NVQOW No prlze was awarded
NVQPW No prlze was awarded
NVQQW |ohannes V. |ensen (Denmark)
NVQRW Gabrlela Mlstral (Chlle)
NVQSW Hermann Hesse (Swltzerland; born Germany)
NVQTW Andr Glde (Irance)
NVQUW J. S. Ellot (Lnlted Klngdom; born Lnlted States)
NVQVW Wllllam Iaulkner (Lnlted States)
NVRMW Bertrand Russell (Lnlted Klngdom)
NVRNW Pr Lagerkvlst (Sweden)
NVROW Iranols Maurlac (Irance)
NVRPW Slr Wlnston Churchlll (Lnlted Klngdom)
NVRQW Ernest Hemlngway (Lnlted States)
NVRRW Halldr Laxness (Iceland)
NVRSW |uan Ramn |lmnez (Spaln)
NVRTW Albert Camus (Irance; born Algerla)
NVRUW Borls Pasternak (LSSR)
NVRVW Salvatore _uaslmodo (Italy)
NVSMW Salnt|ohn Perse (Irance; born Guadeloupe
Island)
NVSNW Ivo Andrl (Yugoslavla; born Bosnla)
NVSOW |ohn Stelnbeck (Lnlted States)
NVSPW Glorgos Seferls (Greece; born Jurkey)
NVSQW |eanPaul Sartre (Irance)
NVSRW Mlkhall Sholokhov (LSSR)
NVSSW Shmuel Yosef Agnon (Israel) and Nelly Sachs
(Sweden; born Germany)
NVSTW Mlguel ngel Asturlas (Guatemala)
NVSUW Yasunarl Kawabata ( |apan)
NVSVW Samuel Beckett (Ireland)
NVTMW Aleksandr Solzhenltsyn (LSSR)
NVTNW Pablo Neruda (Chlle)
NVTOW Helnrlch Bll (Iederal Republlc of Germany)
NVTPW Patrlck Whlte (Australla; born Lnlted Klng
dom)
NVTQW Eyvlnd |ohnson (Sweden) and Harry Martlnson
(Sweden)
NVTRW Eugenlo Montale (Italy)
NVTSW Saul Bellow (Lnlted States; born Canada)
NVTTW Vlcente Alelxandre (Spaln)
NVTUW Isaac Bashevls Slnger (Lnlted States; born
Poland)
QSO
k m i~~ i~I NVMNOMMR ai_ POV
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NVUMW `~ j Em~Lr p~F
NVUNW b~ `~ Er hX _~~F
NVUOW d~ d~~ j E`~F
NVUPW t~ d Er hF
NVUQW g~~ p E`~~F
NVURW `~ p Ec~F
NVUSW t p~ Ek~F
NVUTW g _ Er p~X rppoF
NVUUW k~ j~ EbF
NVUVW `~ g `~ Ep~F
NVVMW l~ m~ EjF
NVVNW k~ d Ep ^~F
NVVOW a t~ Ep~ i~F
NVVPW q j Er p~F
NVVQW h~ E g~~F
NVVRW p~ e~ Ef~F
NVVSW t~~ p~ Em~F
NVVTW a~ c Ef~F
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OMMMW d~ u~ Ec~X `~F
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g p~ _ K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K Kb `
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m~ _K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K r p `~~ p
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r a~ K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K r hI r~
p~~ a~JqK K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K r q~ ~ p~ ^
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g~ ^K d~ K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K _ f~~ c~I r o~
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bK ^ j~ K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K r m~~
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j~ m K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K_ r
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e~ eK p K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K Kr l
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ai_ W a~ i~ _~I s NJPOV
v W a~ i~ _~ v~I NVUMJOMMO
ap W a~ i~ _~ a~ pI s NJNV
àî_ W ` a~ ^~ i~ _~I s NJT
à_i_ W ` a~ _ i~ _~I s NJU
àti_ W ` a~ t i~ _~I s NJQ
^
Aakjr, |eppe l8ool930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Aarestrup, Emil l800l85o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Abbey, Edward l927l989 . . . . . . . . . DL25o, 275
Abbey, Edwin Austin l852l9ll . . . . . . . . DLl88
Abbey, Maj. |. R. l891l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Abbey Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Jhe Abbey Jheatre and Irish Drama,
l900l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Abbot, Willis |. l8o3l931. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Abbott, Edwin A. l838l92o. . . . . . . . . . . DLl78
Abbott, |acob l803l879 . . . . . . . . . DLl, 12, 213
Abbott, Lee K. l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Abbott, Lyman l835l922. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL79
Abbott, Robert S. l8o8l910 . . . . . . . . . DL29, 9l
'Abd alHamid alKatib
circa o89750 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Abe Kb l921l993. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Abelaira, Augusto l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Abelard, Ieter circa l079ll12. . . . . . DLll5, 208
AbelardSchuman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Abell, Arunah S. l80ol888. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Abell, Kjeld l90ll9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Abercrombie, Lascelles l88ll938. . . . . . . . DLl9
Jhe Iriends of the Dymock Ioets. . . . . . . .Y00
Aberdeen Lniversity Iress Limited . . . . . . DLl0o
Abish, Walter l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30, 227
Ablesimov, Aleksandr Onisimovich
l712l783. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Abraham a Sancta Clara lo11l709. . . . . . DLlo8
Abrahams, Ieter
l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . DLll7, 225; CDWL3
Abramov, Iedor Aleksandrovich
l920l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Abrams, M. H. l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
Abramson, |esse l901l979 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
^~ circa 790800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Abschatz, Hans Amann von
lo1olo99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Abse, Dannie l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27, 215
Abu al'Atahiyah 718825.. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Abu Nuwas circa 7578l1 or 8l5 . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Abu Jammam circa 805815 . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Abutsuni l22ll283 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Academy Chicago Iublishers . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Accius circa l70 _.`.circa 80 _.`. . . . . . . . DL2ll
'An account of the death of the Chevalier de La
arre," Voltaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Accrocca, Elio Iilippo l923l99o. . . . . . . . DLl28
Ace ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Achebe, Chinua l930 . . . . DLll7; CDWL3
Achtenberg, Herbert l938 . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
Ackerman, Diane l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Ackroyd, Ieter l919 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55, 23l
Acorn, Milton l923l98o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Acosta, |os de l510lo00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Acosta, Oscar Zeta l935.l971. . . . . . . . . . DL82
Acosta Jorres, |os l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Actors Jheatre of Louisville . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Adair, Gilbert l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl91
Adair, |ames l709.l783.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Aalsteinn Kristmundsson (see Steinn Steinarr)
Adam, Graeme Mercer l839l9l2 . . . . . . . DL99
Adam, Robert orthwick, II
l8o3l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Adame, Leonard l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Adameteanu, Gabriel 1942- . . . . . . . . . DL232
Adamic, Louis l898l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Adamov, Arthur Surenovitch
l908l970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
Adamovich, Georgii l891l972 . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Adams, Abigail l711l8l8 . . . . . . . . . DLl83, 200
Adams, Alice l92ol999 . . . . . . . . . DL231; Y8o
Adams, ertha Leith (Mrs. Leith Adams,
Mrs. R. S. de Courcy Laffan)
l837.l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Adams, rooks l818l927. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL17
Adams, Charles Irancis, |r. l835l9l5 . . . . DL17
Adams, Douglas l952200l. . . . . . . DL2ol; Y83
Adams, Iranklin I. l88ll9o0. . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Adams, Glenda l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Adams, Hannah l755l832 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Adams, Henry l838l9l8 . . . . . . . DLl2, 17, l89
Adams, Herbert axter l850l90l . . . . . . . DL17
Adams, |ames Jruslow
l878l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7; DSl7
Adams, |ohn l735l82o. . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l, l83
Adams, |ohn _uincy l7o7l818. . . . . . . . . . DL37
Adams, Lonie l899l988. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL18
Adams, Levi l802l832. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Adams, Richard l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Adams, Samuel l722l803. . . . . . . . . . . DL3l, 13
Adams, Sarah Iuller Ilower
l805l818 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99
Adams, Jhomas l582/l583lo52 . . . . . . . DLl5l
Adams, William Jaylor l822l897 . . . . . . . DL12
|. S. and C. Adams |publishing house|. . . . . DL19
Adamson, Harold l90ol980. . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Adamson, Sir |ohn l8o7l950 . . . . . . . . . . . DL98
Adamson, Robert l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Adcock, Arthur St. |ohn
l8o1l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl35
Adcock, etty l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
'Certain Gifts" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Jribute to |ames Dickey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Adcock, Ileur l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Addams, |ane l8o0l935. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Addison, |oseph
lo72l7l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl0l; CDL2
Ade, George l8ool911. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll, 25
Adeler, Max (see Clark, Charles Heber)
Adlard, Mark l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Adler, Richard l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Adonias Iilho
(Adonias Aguiar Iilho)
l9l5l990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15, 307
Adorno, Jheodor W. l903l9o9. . . . . . . . DL212
Adoum, |orge Enrique l92o . . . . . . . . . DL283
`~ f ai_ POV
QSU
Advance Iublishing Company . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Ady, Endre l877l9l9. . . . . . DL2l5; CDWL1
AE l8o7l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9; CDL5
lfric circa 955circa l0l0 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Aeschines circa 390 _.`.circa 320 _.`. . . . . .DLl7o
Aeschylus 525521 _.`.15o155 _.`.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o; CDWLl
^ m~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl
Aesthetics
EighteenthCentury Aesthetic
Jheories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
African Literature
Letter from Khartoum. . . . . . . . . . . . . Y90
African American
AfroAmerican Literary Critics.
An Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Jhe lack Aesthetic. ackground . . . . . . . DS8
Jhe lack Arts Movement,
by Larry Neal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
lack Jheaters and Jheater Organizations
in America, l9oll982.
A Research List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
lack Jheatre. A Iorum |excerpts| . . . DL38
`~~ | journal| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y87
Community and Commentators.
lack Jheatre and Its Critics . . . . . DL38
Jhe Emergence of lack
Women Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DS8
Jhe Hatchillops Collection. . . . . . . . DL7o
A Look at the Contemporary lack
Jheatre Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
Jhe MoorlandSpingarn Research
Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7o
'Jhe Negro as a Writer," by
G. M. McClellan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL50
'Negro Ioets and Jheir Ioetry," by
Wallace Jhurman . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL50
Olaudah Equiano and Lnfinished |ourneys.
Jhe SlaveNarrative Jradition and
JwentiethCentury Continuities, by
Iaul Edwards and Iauline J.
Wangman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll7
IHYLON (Iourth _uarter, l950),
Jhe Negro in Literature.
Jhe Current Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7o
Jhe Schomburg Center for Research
in lack Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7o
Jhree Documents |poets|, by |ohn
Edward ruce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL50
After Dinner Opera Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y92
Agassiz, Elizabeth Cary l822l907. . . . . . DLl89
Agassiz, Louis l807l873 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 235
Agee, |ames
l909l955 . . . . . . . DL2, 2o, l52; CDALl
Jhe Agee Legacy. A Conference at
the Lniversity of Jennessee
at Knoxville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y89
Agnon, Shmuel Yosef l887l970 . . . . . . . . DL329
Aguilera Malta, Demetrio l909l98l . . . . DLl15
Aguirre, Isidora l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Agustini, Delmira l88ol9l1 . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Ahlin, Lars l9l5l997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Ai l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Ai Wu l901l992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Aichinger, Ilse l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85, 299
Aickman, Robert l9l1l98l. . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Aidoo, Ama Ata l912 . . . .DLll7; CDWL3
Aiken, Conrad
l889l973. . . . . . . . DL9, 15, l02; CDAL5
Aiken, |oan l9212001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
Aikin, Lucy l78ll8o1 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl11, lo3
Ainsworth, William Harrison
l805l882 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l
Ass, CharlotteElizabeth lo91.l733 . . . DL3l3
Aistis, |onas l901l973 . . . . . DL220; CDWL1
Aitken, Adam l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Aitken, George A. l8o0l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . DLl19
Robert Aitken |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DL19
Aitmatov, Chingiz l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Akenside, Mark l72ll770 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl09
Akhmatova, Anna Andreevna
l889l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Akins, Zo l88ol958. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Aksakov, Ivan Sergeevich l823l82o . . . . .DL277
Aksakov, Sergei Jimofeevich
l79ll859. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
Aksyonov, Vassily l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Akunin, oris (Grigorii Shalvovich
Chkhartishvili) l95o . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
Akutagawa Rynsuke l892l927 . . . . . . . DLl80
Alabaster, William l5o8lo10. . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Alain de Lille circa lllol202/l203 . . . . . DL208
AlainIournier l88ol9l1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo5
Alanus de Insulis (see Alain de Lille)
Alarcn, Irancisco X. l951 . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Alarcn, |usto S. l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Alba, Nanina l9l5l9o8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Albee, Edward l928 . . . DL7, 2oo; CDALl
Albert, Octavia l853ca. l889 . . . . . . . . . DL22l
Albert the Great circa l200l280 . . . . . . . DLll5
Alberti, Rafael l902l999. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Albertinus, Aegidius circa l5o0lo20 . . . . DLlo1
Alcaeus born circa o20 _.`. . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7o
Alcoforado, Mariana, the Iortuguese Nun
lo10l723. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Alcott, Amos ronson
l799l888. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 223; DS5
Alcott, Louisa May l832l888
. . . DLl, 12, 79, 223, 239; DSl1; CDAL3
Alcott, William Andrus l798l859 . . . . DLl, 213
Alcuin circa 732801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Aldana, Irancisco de l537l578 . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Aldanov, Mark (Mark Landau)
l88ol957. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Alden, Henry Mills l83ol9l9. . . . . . . . . . DL79
Alden, Isabella l81ll930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL12
|ohn . Alden |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DL19
Alden, eardsley, and Company . . . . . . . . DL19
Aldington, Richard
l892l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . .DL20, 3o, l00, l19
Aldis, Dorothy l89ol9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Aldis, H. G. l8o3l9l9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Aldiss, rian W. l925 . . . . . . . DLl1, 2ol, 27l
Aldrich, Jhomas ailey
l83ol907 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL12, 7l, 71, 79
Alegra, Ciro l909l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll3
Alegra, Claribel l921 . . . . . . . . . DLl15, 283
Aleixandre, Vicente l898l981. . . . . DLl08, 329
Aleksandraviius, Jonas (see Aistis, Jonas)
Aleksandrov, Aleksandr Andreevich
(see Durova, Nadezhda Andreevna)
Alekseeva, Marina Anatolèvna
(see Marinina, Aleksandra)
dÀlembert, |ean Le Rond l7l7l783 . . . . DL3l3
Alencar, |os de l829l877 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Aleramo, Sibilla (Rena Iierangeli Iaccio)
l87ol9o0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1, 2o1
Aleshkovsky, Ietr Markovich l957 . . . DL285
Aleshkovsky, Yuz l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL3l7
Alexander, Cecil Irances l8l8l895. . . . . DLl99
Alexander, Charles l8o8l923 . . . . . . . . . . DL9l
Charles Wesley Alexander
|publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Alexander, |ames lo9ll75o. . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Alexander, Lloyd l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Alexander, Meena l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Alexander, Sir William, Earl of Stirling
l577.lo10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2l
Alexie, Sherman l9oo . . . . . . DLl75, 20o, 278
Alexis, Willibald l798l87l . . . . . . . . . . . DLl33
Alf laylah wa laylah
ninth century onward . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Alfred, King 819899 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Alger, Horatio, |r. l832l899 . . . . . . . . . . . DL12
Algonquin ooks of Chapel Hill . . . . . . . . DL1o
Algren, Nelson
l909l98l . . . . . . .DL9; Y8l, 82; CDALl
Nelson Algren. An International
Symposium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Ali, Agha Shahid l919200l. . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Ali, Ahmed l908l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Ali, Monica l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
'Ali ibn Abi Jalib circa o00ool . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Aljamiado Literature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Allan, Andrew l907l971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Allan, Jed l9lol995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Allbeury, Jed l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL87
Alldritt, Keith l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
ai_ POV `~ f
QSV
`
Allen, Dick l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282

Allen, Ethan l738l789 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Allen, Irederick Lewis l890l951 . . . . . . . DLl37
Allen, Gay Wilson l903l995 . . . . . DLl03; Y95
Allen, George l808l87o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL59
Allen, Grant l818l899 . . . . . . . . . DL70, 92, l78
Allen, Henry W. l9l2l99l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y85
Allen, Hervey l889l919. . . . . . . . . DL9, 15, 3lo
Allen, |ames l739l808 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Allen, |ames Lane l819l925. . . . . . . . . . . . DL7l
Allen, |ay Iresson l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
|ohn Allen and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Allen, Iaula Gunn l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl75
Allen, Samuel W. l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Allen, Woody l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
George Allen |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DLl0o
George Allen and Lnwin Limited . . . . . . . DLll2
Allende, Isabel l912 . . . . . DLl15; CDWL3
Alline, Henry l718l781 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Allingham, Margery l901l9oo. . . . . . . . . . DL77
Jhe Margery Allingham Society. . . . . . . . .Y98
Allingham, William l821l889 . . . . . . . . . . DL35
W. L. Allison |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . DL19
Jhe ^~ j ^ ~ p~~
j ^ circa l350l100 . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Allott, Kenneth l9l2l973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20
Allston, Washington l779l813 . . . . . . . DLl, 235
Almeida, Manuel Antnio de
l83ll8ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
|ohn Almon |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . DLl51
Alonzo, Dmaso l898l990. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Alsop, George lo3opost lo73 . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Alsop, Richard l7oll8l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Henry Altemus and Company. . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Altenberg, Ieter l885l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8l
Althusser, Louis l9l8l990 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL212
Altolaguirre, Manuel l905l959 . . . . . . . . DLl08
Aluko, J. M. l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll7
Alurista l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Alvarez, A. l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 10
Alvarez, |ulia l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282
Alvaro, Corrado l895l95o. . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
Alver, etti l90ol989 . . . . . . DL220; CDWL1
Amadi, Elechi l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll7
Amado, |orge l9l2200l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll3
Amalrik, Andrei
l938l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Ambler, Eric l909l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
Jhe Library of America. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Jhe Library of America. An Assessment
After Jwo Decades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
America. or, A Ioem on the Settlement
of the ritish Colonies, by Jimothy
Dwight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
American ible Society
Department of Library, Archives, and
Institutional Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
American Conservatory
Jheatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
American Culture
American Iroletarian Culture.
Jhe Jwenties and Jhirties . . . . . . . . DSll
Studies in American |ewish Literature . . . . . . . .Y02
Jhe American Library in Iaris . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y93
American Literature
Jhe Literary Scene and Situation and . . .
(Who esides Oprah) Really Runs
American Literature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Who Owns American Literature, by
Henry Jaylor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y91
Who Runs American Literature. . . . . . . . .Y91
American News Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
A Century of Ioetry, a Lifetime of Collecting.
|. M. Edelstein`s Collection of Jwentieth
Century American Ioetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Jhe American Ioets` Corner. Jhe Iirst
Jhree Years (l983l98o) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
American Iublishing Company. . . . . . . . . . DL19
^~ p~
xb~z o~~ c f~
f ^~ p~
Ek NVPOF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
American Stationers` Company. . . . . . . . . . DL19
Jhe American Studies Association
of Norway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
American SundaySchool Lnion . . . . . . . . . DL19
American Jemperance Lnion . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
American Jract Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Jhe American Jrust for the ritish Library . . .Y9o
American Writers` Congress
2527 April l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
American Writers Congress
Jhe American Writers Congress
(9l2 October l98l) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8l
Jhe American Writers Congress. A Report
on Continuing usiness . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8l
Ames, Iisher l758l808. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Ames, Mary Clemmer l83ll881 . . . . . . . . DL23
Ames, William l57olo33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Amfiteatrov, Aleksandr l8o2l938 . . . . . . DL3l7
Amiel, HenriIrdric l82ll88l. . . . . . . . DL2l7
Amini, |ohari M. l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Amis, Kingsley l922l995
. . .DLl5, 27, l00, l39, 32o; Y9o; CDL7
Amis, Martin l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, l91
Ammianus Marcellinus
circa ^.a. 330^.a. 395 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ll
Ammons, A. R. l92o200l . . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo5
Amory, Jhomas lo9l.l788 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
^~I l998 ooker Irize winner,
Ian McEwan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Amyot, |acques l5l3l593. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Anand, Mulk Raj l9052001 . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Anania, Michael l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl93
Anaya, Rudolfo A. l937 . . . . . DL82, 20o, 278
^ o circa l200l225. . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Andersch, Alfred l9l1l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Andersen, enny l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Andersen, Hans Christian l805l875 . . . . DL300
Anderson, Alexander l775l870 . . . . . . . . DLl88
Anderson, David l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Anderson, Irederick Irving l877l917 . . . . DL202
Anderson, |essica l9lo . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Anderson, Margaret l88ol973 . . . . . . . . DL1, 9l
Anderson, Maxwell l888l959 . . . . . . . DL7, 228
Anderson, Iatrick l9l5l979. . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Anderson, Iaul Y. l893l938 . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Anderson, Ioul l92o200l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Jribute to Isaac Asimov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y92
Anderson, Robert l750l830. . . . . . . . . . . DLl12
Anderson, Robert l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Anderson, Sherwood l87ol91l
. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1, 9, 8o; DSl; CDAL1
Andrade, |orge (Alusio |orge Andrade
Iranco) l922l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Andrade, Mario de l893l915. . . . . . . . . . DL307
Andrade, Oswald de ( |os Oswald de Sousa
Andrade) l890l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Andreae, |ohann Valentin l58olo51 . . . . DLlo1
Andreas Capellanus
fl. circa ll85 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL208
AndreasSalom, Lou l8oll937 . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Andreev, Leonid Nikolaevich
l87ll9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Andres, Stefan l90ol970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Andresen, Sophia de Mello reyner
l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Andreu, lanca l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
Andrewes, Lancelot l555lo2o . . . . . DLl5l, l72
Andrews, Charles M. l8o3l913. . . . . . . . . DLl7
Andrews, Miles Ieter .l8l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL89
Andrews, Stephen Iearl l8l2l88o . . . . . . DL250
Andrian, Leopold von l875l95l . . . . . . . . DL8l
Andri, Ivo
l892l975 . . . . . . . . DLl17, 329; CDWL1
Andrieux, Louis (see Aragon, Louis)
Andrus, Silas, and Son. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Andrzejewski, |erzy l909l983 . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Angell, |ames urrill l829l9lo . . . . . . . . . DLo1
Angell, Roger l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7l, l85
Angelou, Maya l928 . . . . . . .DL38; CDAL7
Jribute to |ulian Mayfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y81
Anger, |ane fl. l589 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Angers, Ilicit (see Conan, Laure)
`~ f ai_ POV
QTM
q ^Jp~ `
circa 890ll51 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Angus and Robertson (LK) Limited . . . . DLll2
Anhalt, Edward l9l12000. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Anissimov, Myriam l913 . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Anker, Nini Roll l873l912 . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Annenkov, Iavel Vasilèvich
l8l3.l887. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL277
Annensky, Innokentii Iedorovich
l855l909 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Henry I. Anners |publishing house| . . . . . . DL19
^ between l077 and l08l . . . . . . . . DLl18
Anouilh, |ean l9l0l987. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
Anscombe, G. E. M. l9l9200l . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Anselm of Canterbury l033ll09. . . . . . . DLll5
Anstey, I. l85ol931 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl1l, l78
'Antarah ('Antar ibn Shaddad al'Absi)
.early seventh century.. . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Anthologizing New Iormalism. . . . . . . . . DL282
Anthony, Michael l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl25
Anthony, Iiers l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Anthony, Susanna l72ol79l . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Antin, David l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo9
Antin, Mary l88ll919 . . . . . . . . . . DL22l; Y81
Anton Llrich, Duke of runswickLneburg
lo33l7l1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Antschel, Iaul (see Celan, Iaul)
Antunes, Antnio Lobo l912 . . . . . . . DL287
Anyidoho, Kofi l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Anzalda, Gloria l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Anzengruber, Ludwig l839l889 . . . . . . . DLl29
Apess, William l798l839. . . . . . . . . .DLl75, 213
Apodaca, Rudy S. l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Apollinaire, Guillaume l880l9l8 . . DL258, 32l
Apollonius Rhodius third century _.`. . . . .DLl7o
Apple, Max l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Appelfeld, Aharon l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
D. Appleton and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
AppletonCenturyCrofts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Applewhite, |ames l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Jribute to |ames Dickey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Applewood ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
April, |eanIierre l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Apukhtin, Aleksei Nikolaevich
l810l893 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL277
Apuleius circa ^.a. l25post ^.a. lo1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ll; CDWLl
Aquin, Hubert l929l977. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Aquinas, Jhomas l221/l225l271 . . . . . . DLll5
Aragon, Louis l897l982 . . . . . . . . . . DL72, 258
Aragon, Vernacular Jranslations in the
Crowns of Castile and l352l5l5 . . . DL28o
Aralica, Ivan l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Aratus of Soli
circa 3l5 _.`.circa 239 _.`. . . . . . . . .DLl7o
Arbasino, Alberto l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Arbor House Iublishing Company . . . . . . DL1o
Arbuthnot, |ohn loo7l735. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0l
Arcadia House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Arce, |ulio G. (see Llica, |orge)
Archer, William l85ol921. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Archilochhus
mid seventh century _.`.b.. . . . . . . . . .DLl7o
Jhe Archpoet circa ll30.. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Archpriest Avvakum (Ietrovich)
lo20.lo82. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Arden, |ohn l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, 215
^ c~~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo2
Ardis Iublishers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y89
Ardizzone, Edward l900l979 . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Arellano, |uan Estevan l917 . . . . . . . . DLl22
Jhe Arena Iublishing Company . . . . . . . . DL19
Arena Stage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Arenas, Reinaldo l913l990. . . . . . . . . . . DLl15
Arendt, Hannah l90ol975 . . . . . . . . . . . DL212
Arensberg, Ann l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
Arghezi, Judor l880l9o7 . . . DL220; CDWL1
Arguedas, |os Mara l9lll9o9 . . . . . . . DLll3
Argelles, Hugo l9322003 . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Argueta, Manlio l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15
'Arib alMa`muniyah 797890 . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Arias, Ron l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Arishima Jakeo l878l923. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Aristophanes circa 11o _.`.circa 38o _.`.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o; CDWLl
Aristotle 381 _.`.322 _.`.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o; CDWLl
Ariyoshi Sawako l93ll981 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Arland, Marcel l899l98o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL72
Arlen, Michael l895l95o . . . . . . . DL3o, 77, lo2
Arlt, Roberto l900l912. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Armah, Ayi Kwei l939 . . . DLll7; CDWL3
Armantrout, Rae l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl93
Der arme Hartmann .after ll50 . . . . . . . DLl18
Armed Services Editions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Armitage, G. E. (Robert Edric) l95o . . DL2o7
Armstrong, Martin Donisthorpe
l882l971. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl97
Armstrong, Richard l903l98o . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Armstrong, Jerence Ian Iytton (see Gawsworth, |ohn)
Arnauld, Antoine lol2lo91 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Arndt, Ernst Moritz l7o9l8o0. . . . . . . . . . DL90
Arnim, Achim von l78ll83l. . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Arnim, ettina von l785l859 . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Arnim, Elizabeth von (Countess Mary Annette
eauchamp Russell) l8ool91l . . . . DLl97
Arno Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Arnold, Edwin l832l901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
Arnold, Edwin L. l857l935 . . . . . . . . . . .DLl78
Arnold, Matthew
l822l888 . . . . . . . . . . DL32, 57; CDL1
Ireface to m (l853) . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Arnold, Jhomas l795l812 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL55
Edward Arnold |publishing house| . . . . . . DLll2
Arnott, Ieter l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
Arnow, Harriette Simpson l908l98o . . . . . DLo
Arp, ill (see Smith, Charles Henry)
Arpino, Giovanni l927l987. . . . . . . . . . . .DLl77
Arrabal, Iernando l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
Arrebo, Anders l587lo37 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Arreola, |uan |os l9l8200l . . . . . . . . . . DLll3
Arrian circa 89circa l55. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7o
|. W. Arrowsmith |publishing house| . . . . DLl0o
Arrufat, Antn l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Art
|ohn Dos Iassos. Artist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Jhe Iirst IostImpressionist
Exhibition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DS5
Jhe Omega Workshops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl0
Jhe Second IostImpressionist
Exhibition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DS5
Artaud, Antonin l89ol918 . . . . . . . DL258, 32l
Artel, |orge l909l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Arthur, Jimothy Shay
l809l885 . . . . . . . .DL3, 12, 79, 250; DSl3
Artmann, H. C. l92l2000. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
Artsybashev, Mikhail Ietrovich
l878l927. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Arvin, Newton l900l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Asch, Nathan l902l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1, 28
Nathan Asch Remembers Iord Madox
Iord, Sam Roth, and Hart Crane . . . . Y02
Ascham, Roger l5l5/l5lol5o8. . . . . . . . DL23o
Aseev, Nikolai Nikolaevich
l889l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Ash, |ohn l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Ashbery, |ohn l927 . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo5; Y8l
Ashbridge, Elizabeth l7l3l755 . . . . . . . . DL200
Ashburnham, ertram Lord
l797l878 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Ashendene Iress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Asher, Sandy l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
Ashton, Winifred (see Dane, Clemence)
Asimov, Isaac l920l992 . . . . . . . . . . . DL8; Y92
Jribute to |ohn Ciardi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8o
Askew, Anne circa l52ll51o. . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Aspazija l8o5l913. . . . . . . . DL220; CDWL1
Asselin, Olivar l871l937. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Jhe Association of American Iublishers . . . . . Y99
Jhe Association for Documentary Editing. . . . Y00
ai_ POV `~ f
QTN
`
Jhe Association for the Study of

Literature and Environment (ASLE). . . . . .Y99
Astell, Mary loool73l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL252
Astley, Jhea l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Astley, William (see Warung, Irice)
Asturias, Miguel ngel
l899l971 . . . . DLll3, 290, 329; CDWL3
Atava, S. (see Jerpigorev, Sergei Nikolaevich)
Atheneum Iublishers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Atherton, Gertrude l857l918. . . . . DL9, 78, l8o
Athlone Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Atkins, |osiah circa l755l78l . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Atkins, Russell l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Atkinson, Kate l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Atkinson, Louisa l831l872. . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Jhe Atlantic Monthly Iress. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Attaway, William l9lll98o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7o
Atwood, Margaret l939 . . . . . DL53, 25l, 32o
Aubert, Alvin l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Aub, Max l903l972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Aubert de Gasp, IhillipeIgnaceIranois
l8l1l81l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Aubert de Gasp, Ihillipe|oseph
l78ol87l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Aubign, Jhodore Agrippa d`
l552lo30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Aubin, Napolon l8l2l890 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Aubin, Ienelope
lo85circa l73l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to q i `~~
m (l723) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
AubreyIletcher, Henry Lancelot (see Wade, Henry)
Auchincloss, Louis l9l7 . . . . . DL2, 211; Y80
Auden, W. H.
l907l973. . . . . . . . . . . .DLl0, 20; CDLo
Audiberti, |acques l899l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
Audio Art in America. A Iersonal Memoir . . . .Y85
Audubon, |ohn |ames l785l85l. . . . . . . . DL218
Audubon, |ohn Woodhouse
l8l2l8o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl83
Auerbach, erthold l8l2l882 . . . . . . . . . DLl33
Auernheimer, Raoul l87ol918 . . . . . . . . . . DL8l
Augier, Emile l820l889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl92
Augustine 351130. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
Aulnoy, MarieCatherine Le |umel
de arneville, comtesse d`
lo50/lo5ll705 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Aulus Gellius
circa ^.a. l25circa ^.a. l80. . . . . . . . DL2ll
Austen, |ane l775l8l7 . . . . . .DLllo; CDL3
Auster, Iaul l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL227
Austin, Alfred l835l9l3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
Austin, |. L. l9lll9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Austin, |ane Goodwin l83ll891 . . . . . . . DL202
Austin, |ohn l790l859 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Austin, Mary Hunter
l8o8l931 . . . . . . . . . DL9, 78, 20o, 22l, 275
Austin, William l778l81l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL71
Australie (Emily Manning)
l815l890 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Authors and Newspapers Association . . . . . DL1o
Authors` Iublishing Company. . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Avallone, Michael l921l999 . . . . . DL30o; Y99
Jribute to |ohn D. MacDonald . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
Jribute to Kenneth Millar . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Jribute to Raymond Chandler . . . . . . . . . .Y88
Avalon ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Avancini, Nicolaus lolllo8o . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Avendao, Iausto l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Averros ll2oll98. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
Avery, Gillian l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
Avicenna 980l037 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
vila |imnez, Antonio l898l9o5 . . . . . . DL283
Avison, Margaret l9l8l987 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Avon ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Avyius, |onas l922l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
Awdry, Wilbert Vere l9lll997 . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Awoonor, Kofi l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll7
Ayala, Irancisco l90o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Ayckbourn, Alan l939 . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, 215
Ayer, A. |. l9l0l989. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Aym, Marcel l902l9o7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL72
Aytoun, Sir Robert l570lo38 . . . . . . . . . . DLl2l
Aytoun, William Edmondstoune
l8l3l8o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32, l59
Azevedo, Alusio l857l9l3. . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Azevedo, Manuel Antnio lvares de
l83ll852 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Azorn ( |os Martnez Ruiz)
l873l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
_
.V. (see Jhomson, |ames)
a |in l9012005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
abbitt, Irving l8o5l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo3
abbitt, Natalie l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
|ohn abcock |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . DL19
abel, Isaak Emmanuilovich
l891l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL272
abits, Mihly l883l91l . . . DL2l5; CDWL1
abrius circa l50200. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o
abson, Marian l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27o
aca, |immy Santiago l952 . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
acchelli, Riccardo l89ll985. . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
ache, enjamin Iranklin l7o9l798 . . . . . . DL13
achelard, Gaston l881l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
acheller, Irving l859l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL202
achmann, Ingeborg l92ol973 . . . . . . . . . DL85
ainskaituien, Salomja (see Nris, Salomja)
acon, Delia l8lll859. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 213
acon, Irancis
l5ollo2o . . . . . DLl5l, 23o, 252; CDLl
acon, Sir Nicholas circa l5l0l579 . . . . . DLl32
acon, Roger circa l2l1/l220l292 . . . . . DLll5
acon, Jhomas circa l700l7o8. . . . . . . . . . DL3l
acovia, George
l88ll957 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220; CDWL1
Richard G. adger and Company . . . . . . . . DL19
agaduce Music Lending Library . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
age, Robert l728l80l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
agehot, Walter l82ol877 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL55
aggesen, |ens l7o1l82o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
agley, Desmond l923l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL87
agley, Sarah G. l80ol818. . . . . . . . . . . . DL239
agnold, Enid
l889l98l . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, lo0, l9l, 215
agryana, Elisaveta
l893l99l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl17; CDWL1
ahr, Hermann l8o3l931 . . . . . . . . . DL8l, ll8
af, |eanAntoine de l532l589 . . . . . . . . DL327
ail, Murray l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
ailey, Abigail Abbot
l71ol8l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
ailey, Alfred Goldsworthy l905l997 . . . . DLo8
ailey, H. C. l878l9ol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
ailey, |acob l73ll808 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
ailey, Iaul l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 27l
ailey, Ihilip |ames l8lol902 . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Irancis ailey |publishing house|. . . . . . . . . DL19
aillargeon, Iierre l9lol9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
aillie, Hugh l890l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
aillie, |oanna l7o2l85l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL93
ailyn, ernard l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
ain, Alexander
b ` ~ o (l8oo)
|excerpt| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL57
ainbridge, eryl l933 . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 23l
aird, Irene l90ll98l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
aker, Augustine l575lo1l. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5l
aker, Carlos l909l987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
aker, David l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
aker, George Iierce l8ool935 . . . . . . . . DL2oo
aker, Herschel C. l9l1l990 . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
aker, Houston A., |r. l913 . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
aker, Howard
Jribute to Caroline Gordon . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8l
Jribute to Katherine Anne Iorter . . . . . . . .Y80
aker, Nicholson l957 . . . . . . . . . DL227; Y00
Review of Nicholson aker`s a cW
i~ ~ ^~ m~ . . . . . . . Y00
aker, Samuel White l82ll893 . . . . . . . . DLloo
aker, Jhomas lo5ol710 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
`~ f ai_ POV
QTO
Walter H. aker Company
('aker`s Ilays") . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Jhe aker and Jaylor Company . . . . . . . . DL19
akhtin, Mikhail Mikhailovich
l895l975. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL212
akunin, Mikhail Aleksandrovich
l8l1l87o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL277
alaban, |ohn l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
ald, Wambly l902l990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
alde, |acob lo01loo8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
alderston, |ohn l889l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
aldwin, |ames l921l987
. . . . . . DL2, 7, 33, 219, 278; Y87; CDALl
aldwin, |oseph Glover
l8l5l8o1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, ll, 218
aldwin, Louisa (Mrs. Alfred aldwin)
l815l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
aldwin, William circa l5l5l5o3 . . . . . . DLl32
Richard and Anne aldwin
|publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl70
ale, |ohn l195l5o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
alestrini, Nanni l935 . . . . . . . . DLl28, l9o
alfour, Sir Andrew lo30lo91 . . . . . . . . DL2l3
alfour, Arthur |ames l818l930 . . . . . . . DLl90
alfour, Sir |ames lo00lo57 . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
allantine ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
allantyne, R. M. l825l891 . . . . . . . . . . DLlo3
allard, |. G. l930 . . . . . . DLl1, 207, 2ol, 3l9
allard, Martha Moore l735l8l2 . . . . . . DL200
allerini, Luigi l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
allou, Maturin Murray (Lieutenant Murray)
l820l895 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL79, l89
Robert O. allou |publishing house| . . . . . DL1o
al`mont, Konstantin Dmitrievich
l8o7l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
alzac, Guez de l597.lo51 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
alzac, Honor de l799l855 . . . . . . . . . . DLll9
ambara, Joni Cade
l939l995 . . . . . . . . . DL38, 2l8; CDAL7
amford, Samuel l788l872 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl90
A. L. ancroft and Company . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
ancroft, George l800l89l. . . DLl, 30, 59, 213
ancroft, Hubert Howe l832l9l8. . . . DL17, l10
andeira, Manuel l88ol9o8 . . . . . . . . . . DL307
andelier, Adolph I. l810l9l1 . . . . . . . . DLl8o
ang, Herman l857l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
angs, |ohn Kendrick l8o2l922 . . . . . DLll, 79
anim, |ohn l798l812. . . . . . . .DLllo, l58, l59
anim, Michael l79ol871 . . . . . . . . DLl58, l59
anks, Iain (M.) l951 . . . . . . . . . DLl91, 2ol
anks, |ohn circa lo53l70o. . . . . . . . . . . . DL80
anks, Russell l910 . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl30, 278
annerman, Helen l8o2l91o . . . . . . . . . DLl1l
antam ooks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
anti, Anna l895l985. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl77
anville, |ohn l915 . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 27l, 32o
anville, Jhodore de l823l89l. . . . . . . DL2l7
ao Jianxiao l87ol973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
araka, Amiri
l931 . . . .DL5, 7, lo, 38; DS8; CDALl
Baraczak, Stanisaw l91o . . . . . . . . . . DL232
aranskaia, Natalìa Vladimirovna
l908 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
aratynsky, Evgenii Abramovich
l800l811 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
arba|acob, Iorfirio l883l912. . . . . . . . DL283
arbauld, Anna Laetitia
l713l825. . . . . . . . . . . DLl07, l09, l12, l58
arbeau, Marius l883l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
arber, |ohn Warner l798l885 . . . . . . . . . DL30
arberi Squarotti, Giorgio l929 . . . . . . DLl28
arbey dÀurevilly, |ulesAmde
l808l889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll9
arbier, Auguste l805l882 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
arbilian, Dan (see arbu, Ion)
arbour, |ohn circa l3lol395 . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
arbour, Ralph Henry l870l911. . . . . . . . DL22
arbu, Ion l895l9ol. . . . . . DL220; CDWL1
arbusse, Henri l873l935. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo5
arclay, Alexander circa l175l552 . . . . . DLl32
E. E. arclay and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
C. W. ardeen |publishing house| . . . . . . . DL19
arham, Richard Harris l788l815 . . . . . DLl59
arich, ill l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
aring, Maurice l871l915. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL31
aringGould, Sabine l831l921 . . . DLl5o, l90
arker, A. L. l9l82002 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, l39
arker, Clive l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
arker, Dudley (see lack, Lionel)
arker, George l9l3l99l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20
arker, Harley Granville l877l91o . . . . . . DLl0
arker, Howard l91o . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, 233
arker, |ames Nelson l781l858. . . . . . . . . DL37
arker, |ane lo52l727 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39, l3l
arker, Lady Mary Anne l83ll9ll . . . . DLloo
arker, Iat l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27l, 32o
arker, William circa l520after l57o. . . . DLl32
Arthur arker Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
arkov, Ivan Semenovich l732l7o8. . . . . DLl50
arks, Coleman l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
arlach, Ernst l870l938 . . . . . . . . . . DL5o, ll8
arlow, |oel l751l8l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
q m m~ (l778) . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
arnard, |ohn lo8ll770 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
arnard, Marjorie (M. arnard Eldershaw)
l897l987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
arnard, Robert l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27o
arne, Kitty (Mary Catherine arne)
l883l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
arnes, arnabe l57llo09 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
arnes, Djuna l892l982 . . . . DL1, 9, 15; DSl5
arnes, |im l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl75
arnes, |ulian l91o . . . . . . . . . . . DLl91; Y93
Notes for a Checklist of Iublications . . . . . Y0l
arnes, Margaret Ayer l88ol9o7 . . . . . . . . DL9
arnes, Ieter l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, 233
arnes, William l80ll88o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
A. S. arnes and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
arnes and Noble ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
arnet, Miguel l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15
arney, Natalie l87ol972 . . . . . . . . DL1; DSl5
arnfield, Richard l571lo27 . . . . . . . . . . .DLl72
aroja, Io l872l95o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Richard W. aron |publishing house| . . . . . DL1o
arr, Amelia Edith Huddleston
l83ll9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL202, 22l
arr, Robert l850l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL70, 92
arral, Carlos l928l989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
arrax, Gerald William l933 . . . . DL1l, l20
arrs, Maurice l8o2l923. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl23
arreno, Maria Isabel (see Jhe Jhree Marias.
A Landmark Case in Iortuguese
Literary History)
arrett, Eaton Stannard l78ol820. . . . . . DLllo
arrie, |. M.
l8o0l937 . . . . . DLl0, l1l, l5o; CDL5
arrie and |enkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
arrio, Raymond l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
arrios, Gregg l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
arry, Ihilip l89ol919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7, 228
arry, Robertine (see Iranoise)
arry, Sebastian l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
arse and Hopkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
arstow, Stan l928 . . . . . . . . . DLl1, l39, 207
Jribute to |ohn raine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8o
arth, |ohn l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL2, 227
arthelme, Donald
l93ll989 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 231; Y80, 89
arthelme, Irederick l913 . . . . . . DL211; Y85
arthes, Roland l9l5l980 . . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
artholomew, Irank l898l985 . . . . . . . . .DLl27
artlett, |ohn l820l905. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 235
artol, Cyrus Augustus l8l3l900. . . . DLl, 235
arton, ernard l781l819. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9o
arton, |ohn ca. lol0lo75. . . . . . . . . . . . DL23o
arton, Jhomas Iennant l803l8o9 . . . . DLl10
artram, |ohn lo99l777 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
artram, William l739l823. . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
ai_ POV `~ f
QTP
`
arykova, Anna Iavlovna l839l893 . . . . DL277

ashshar ibn urd circa 7l1circa 781 . . . . DL3ll
asic ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
asille, Jheodore (see econ, Jhomas)
ass, Rick l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l2, 275
ass, J. |. l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8l
assani, Giorgio l9lo2000 . . . . DLl28, l77, 299
asse, William circa l583lo53 . . . . . . . . . DLl2l
assett, |ohn Spencer l8o7l928 . . . . . . . . . DLl7
assler, Jhomas |oseph (see ass, J. |.)
ate, Walter |ackson l9l8l999. . . . . . DLo7, l03
ateman, Stephen circa l5l0l581. . . . . . . DLl3o
Christopher ateman
|publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl70
ates, H. E. l905l971. . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo2, l9l
ates, Katharine Lee l859l929 . . . . . . . . . DL7l
atiushkov, Konstantin Nikolaevich
l787l855. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
. J. atsford |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DLl0o
atteux, Charles l7l3l780 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
attiscombe, Georgina l905 . . . . . . . . . DLl55
q _~ j~ circa l000 . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
audelaire, Charles l82ll8o7 . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
audrillard, |ean l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
auer, runo l809l882 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl33
auer, Wolfgang l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
aum, L. Irank l85ol9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
aum, Vicki l888l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
aumbach, |onathan l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y80
ausch, Richard l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Jribute to |ames Dickey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y97
Jribute to Ieter Jaylor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y91
ausch, Robert l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l8
awden, Nina l925 . . . . . . . . . DLl1, lol, 207
ax, Clifford l88ol9o2. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0, l00
axter, Charles l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
ayer, Eleanor (see Ierry, Eleanor)
ayer, Konrad l932l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
ayle, Iierre lo17l70o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8, 3l3
ayley, arrington |. l937 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
aynes, Iauline l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
aynton, arbara l857l929 . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
azin, Herv ( |ean Iierre Marie Hervazin)
l9lll99o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Jhe C Iour Samuel |ohnson Irize
for Nonfiction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
each, Sylvia l887l9o2. . . . . . . . . . . DL1; DSl5
eacon Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
eadle and Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
eagle, Ieter S. l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y80
eal, M. I. l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8l
eale, Howard K. l899l959. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
eard, Charles A. l871l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
eat Generation (eats)
As I See It, by Carolyn Cassady . . . . . . DLlo
A eat Chronology. Jhe Iirst Jwentyfive
Years, l911l9o9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Jhe Commercialization of the Image
of Revolt, by Kenneth Rexroth. . . . DLlo
Iour Essays on the eat Generation . . . DLlo
in New York City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL237
in the West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL237
Outlaw Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Ieriodicals of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
eattie, Ann l917 . . . . . . . . DL2l8, 278; Y82
eattie, |ames l735l803 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl09
eatty, Chester l875l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
eauchemin, Nre l850l93l . . . . . . . . . . DL92
eauchemin, Yves l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
eaugrand, Honor l818l90o . . . . . . . . . . DL99
eaulieu, VictorLvy l915 . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
eaumarchais, IierreAugustin Caron de
l732l799 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
eaumer, Mme de .l7oo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
eaumont, Irancis circa l581lolo
and Iletcher, |ohn
l579lo25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL58; CDLl
eaumont, Sir |ohn l583.lo27. . . . . . . . . DLl2l
eaumont, |oseph lololo99. . . . . . . . . . . DLl2o
eauvoir, Simone de l908l98o. . . . . DL72; Y8o
Iersonal Jribute to Simone de eauvoir . . . .Y8o
eaver, ruce l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
echer, Llrich l9l0l990. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
ecker, Carl l873l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
ecker, |urek l937l997 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75, 299
ecker, |urgen l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
eckett, Mary l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
eckett, Samuel
l90ol989 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, l5, 233, 3l9,
32l, 329; Y90; CDL7
eckford, William l7o0l811. . . . . . . . DL39, 2l3
eckham, arry l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
ekovi, Matija l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
econ, Jhomas circa l5l2l5o7 . . . . . . . . DLl3o
ecque, Henry l837l899 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl92
eddoes, Jhomas l7o0l808. . . . . . . . . . . DLl58
eddoes, Jhomas Lovell l803l819 . . . . . . DL9o
ede circa o73735 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
edford|ones, H. l887l919 . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
edregal, Yolanda l9l3l999. . . . . . . . . . . DL283
eebe, William l877l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL275
eecher, Catharine Esther
l800l878 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 213
eecher, Henry Ward
l8l3l887 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, 13, 250
eer, George L. l872l920. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL17
eer, |ohann lo55l700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
eer, Iatricia l9l9l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
eerbohm, Max l872l95o . . . . . . . . . DL31, l00
eerHofmann, Richard l8ool915. . . . . . . DL8l
eers, Henry A. l817l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7l
S. O. eeton |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
egley, Louis l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
gon, Elisabeth lo9ol755. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
ehan, rendan
l923l9o1 . . . . . . . . . .DLl3, 233; CDL7
ehn, Aphra lo10.lo89. . . . . . . . DL39, 80, l3l
ehn, Harry l898l973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
ehrman, S. N. l893l973. . . . . . . . . . . . DL7, 11
eklemishev, Iurii Solomonvich
(see Krymov, Iurii Solomonovich)
elaney, Archibald Stansfeld (see Grey Owl)
elasco, David l853l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Clarke elford and Company . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
elgian Luxembourg American Studies
Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
elinsky, Vissarion Grigorèvich
l8lll818 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
elitt, en l9ll2003. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
elknap, |eremy l711l798 . . . . . . . . . . DL30, 37
ell, Adrian l90ll980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
ell, Clive l88ll9o1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl0
ell, Daniel l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
ell, Gertrude Margaret Lowthian
l8o8l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl71
ell, |ames Madison l82ol902. . . . . . . . . . DL50
ell, Madison Smartt l957 . . . . . . DL2l8, 278
Jribute to Andrew Nelson Lytle . . . . . . . . .Y95
ell, Marvin l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
ell, Millicent l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
ell, _uentin l9l0l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
ell, Vanessa l879l9ol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl0
George ell and Sons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Robert ell |publishing house|. . . . . . . . . . . DL19
ellamy, Edward l850l898 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2
ellamy, |oseph l7l9l790 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
|ohn ellamy |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DLl70
i~ _ ^ l80ol837 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll0
ellezza, Dario l911l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
elli, Carlos Germn l927 . . . . . . . . . . DL290
elli, Gioconda l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
elloc, Hilaire l870l953 . . . . DLl9, l00, l1l, l71
elloc, Madame (see Iarkes, essie Rayner)
ellonci, Maria l902l98o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
ellow, Saul l9l52005
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 28, 299, 329; Y82;
DS3; CDALl
Jribute to Isaac ashevis Singer . . . . . . . . .Y9l
`~ f ai_ POV
QTQ
elmont Iroductions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
elov, Vasilii Ivanovich l932 . . . . . . . . DL302
els, Alberts l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Belevica, Vizma l93l . . . DL232; CDWL1
ely, Andrei l880l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
emelmans, Ludwig l898l9o2 . . . . . . . . . DL22
emis, Samuel Ilagg l89ll973 . . . . . . . . . DLl7
William emrose |publishing house| . . . . DLl0o
en no Naishi l228.l27l.. . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
enavente, |acinto l8ool951. . . . . . . . . . DL329
enchley, Robert l889l915. . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
encr, Matej (see Kukuin, Martin)
enedetti, Mario l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll3
enedict, Iinckney l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
enedict, Ruth l887l918. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
enedictus, David l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
enedikt Grndal l82ol907 . . . . . . . . . . DL293
enedikt, Michael l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
enediktov, Vladimir Grigorèvich
l807l873 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
ent, Stephen Vincent
l898l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1, 18, l02, 219
Stephen Vincent ent Centenary . . . . . . . Y97
ent, William Rose l88ol950 . . . . . . . . . DL15
enford, Gregory l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
entez, Sandra l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
enjamin, Iark l809l8o1 . . . . DL3, 59, 73, 250
enjamin, Ieter (see Cunningham, Ieter)
enjamin, S. G. W. l837l9l1 . . . . . . . . . DLl89
enjamin, Walter l892l910 . . . . . . . . . . DL212
enlowes, Edward lo02lo7o. . . . . . . . . . DLl2o
enn, Gottfried l88ol95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5o
enn rothers Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
ennett, Alan l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
ennett, Arnold
l8o7l93l. . . . DLl0, 31, 98, l35; CDL5
Jhe Arnold ennett Society. . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
ennett, Charles l899l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
ennett, Emerson l822l905 . . . . . . . . . . DL202
ennett, Gwendolyn l902l98l . . . . . . . . . DL5l
ennett, Hal l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
ennett, |ames Gordon l795l872 . . . . . . . DL13
ennett, |ames Gordon, |r. l81ll9l8 . . . . DL23
ennett, |ohn l8o5l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL12
ennett, Louise l9l9 . . . . .DLll7; CDWL3
enni, Stefano l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
enoist, IranoiseAlbine Iuzin de
La Martinire l73ll809 . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
enoit, |acques l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
enson, A. C. l8o2l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL98
enson, E. I. l8o7l910 . . . . . . . . . . DLl35, l53
Jhe E. I. enson Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Jhe Jilling Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
enson, |ackson |. l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
enson, Robert Hugh l87ll9l1 . . . . . . . DLl53
enson, Stella l892l933 . . . . . . . . . . DL3o, lo2
ent, |ames Jheodore l852l897. . . . . . . .DLl71
ent, Mabel Virginia Anna .. . . . . . . . . . .DLl71
entham, |eremy l718l832 . . . . DLl07, l58, 252
entley, E. C. l875l95o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL70
entley, Ihyllis l891l977 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
entley, Richard loo2l712 . . . . . . . . . . . DL252
Richard entley |publishing house| . . . . . DLl0o
enton, Robert l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
enziger rothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
_ circa 900l000 or 790825
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o; CDLl
erberova, Nina l90ll993 . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
erent, Wacaw l873l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
eresford, Anne l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
eresford, |ohn Davys
l873l917. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo2, l78, l97
'Experiment in the Novel" (l929)
|excerpt|. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3o
eresfordHowe, Constance l922 . . . . . DL88
R. G. erford Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
erg, Elizabeth l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
erg, Stephen l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
ergengruen, Werner l892l9o1 . . . . . . . . DL5o
erger, |ohn l92o . . . . . . DLl1, 207, 3l9, 32o
erger, Meyer l898l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
erger, Jhomas l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2; Y80
A Statement by Jhomas erger . . . . . . . . . Y80
ergman, Hjalmar l883l93l. . . . . . . . . . DL259
ergman, Ingmar l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
ergson, Henri l859l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL329
erkeley, Anthony l893l97l. . . . . . . . . . . DL77
erkeley, George lo85l753 . . . . DL3l, l0l, 252
Jhe erkley Iublishing Corporation . . . . . DL1o
erkman, Alexander l870l93o . . . . . . . . DL303
erlin, Irving l888l989. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
erlin, Lucia l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
erman, Marshall l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
erman, Sabina l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
ernal, Vicente |. l888l9l5. . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
ernanos, Georges l888l918 . . . . . . . . . . DL72
ernard, Catherine loo3.l7l2. . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
ernard, Harry l898l979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
ernard, |ohn l75ol828 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
ernard of Chartres circa l0o0ll21. . . . DLll5
ernard of Clairvaux l090ll53 . . . . . . . DL208
ernard, Richard l5o8lo1l/lo12 . . . . . . DL28l
ernard Silvestris
fl. circa ll30llo0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL208
ernardin de SaintIierre l737l8l1 . . . . . DL3l3
ernari, Carlo l909l992. . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl77
ernhard, Jhomas
l93ll989 . . . . . . . . .DL85, l21; CDWL2
ernires, Louis de l951 . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27l
ernstein, Charles l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo9
roalde de Verville, Iranois
l55olo2o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
erriault, Gina l92ol999 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
errigan, Daniel l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
errigan, Jed l931l983 . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo9
erry, Wendell l931 . . . . . . . DL5, o, 231, 275
erryman, |ohn l9l1l972. . . . DL18; CDALl
ersianik, Louky l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
erssenbrugge, Meimei l917 . . . . . . . DL3l2
Jhomas erthelet |publishing house| . . . . .DLl70
erto, Giuseppe l9l1l978. . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl77
ertocci, Ieter Anthony l9l0l989 . . . . . .DL279
ertolucci, Attilio l9ll2000 . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
erton, Iierre l9202001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
ertrand, Louis 'Aloysius" l807l81l . . . .DL2l7
esant, Sir Walter l83ol90l . . . . . . DLl35, l90
essaLus, Agustina l922 . . . . . . . . . . DL287
essette, Gerard l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
essie, Alvah l901l985. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
ester, Alfred l9l3l987. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
esterman, Jheodore l901l97o . . . . . . . DL20l
eston, Henry (Henry eston Sheahan)
l888l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL275
estSeller Lists
An Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
What`s Really Wrong With
estseller Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
estuzhev, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich
(Marlinsky) l797l837 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
estuzhev, Nikolai Aleksandrovich
l79ll855. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
ethamEdwards, Matilda arbara
(see Edwards, Matilda arbara etham)
etjeman, |ohn
l90ol981 . . . . . . . . .DL20; Y81; CDL7
etocchi, Carlo l899l98o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
ettarini, Mariella l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
etts, Doris l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l8; Y82
everidge, Albert |. l8o2l927 . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7
everidge, |udith l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
everley, Robert circa lo73l722 . . . . . DL21, 30
evilacqua, Alberto l931 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
evington, Louisa Sarah l815l895. . . . . DLl99
eyle, MarieHenri (see Stendhal)
ze, Jhodore de (Jheodore eza)
l5l9lo05 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
hatt, Sujata l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Biaoszewski, Miron l922l983 . . . . . . . DL232
ai_ POV `~ f
QTR
`
ianco, Margery Williams l88ll911 . . . . DLlo0

ibaud, Adle l851l91l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
ibaud, Michel l782l857 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
ibliography
ibliographical and Jextual Scholarship
Since World War II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y89
Center for ibliographical Studies and
Research at the Lniversity of
California, Riverside. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y9l
Jhe Great ibliographers Series . . . . . . . . .Y93
Irimary ibliography. A Retrospective. . . .Y95
ichsel, Ieter l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
ickerstaff, Isaac |ohn l733circa l808 . . . . DL89
Drexel iddle |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . DL19
idermann, |acob
l577 or l578lo39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
idwell, Walter Hilliard l798l88l . . . . . . . DL79
iehl, Charlotta Dorothea l73ll788. . . . . DL300
ienek, Horst l930l990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
ierbaum, Otto |ulius l8o5l9l0. . . . . . . . . DLoo
ierce, Ambrose l812l9l1.
. . . . . . DLll, l2, 23, 7l, 71, l8o; CDAL3
igelow, William I. l879l9oo. . . . . . . . . . . DL9l
iggers, Earl Derr l881l933 . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
iggle, Lloyd, |r. l9232002. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
igiaretti, Libero l905l993 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl77
igland, Eileen l898l970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl95
iglow, Hosea (see Lowell, |ames Russell)
igongiari, Iiero l9l1l997. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
ilac, Olavo l8o5l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
ilenchi, Romano l909l989. . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
illinger, Richard l890l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
illings, Hammatt l8l8l871. . . . . . . . . . . DLl88
illings, |ohn Shaw l898l975 . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
illings, |osh (see Shaw, Henry Wheeler)
inchy, Maeve l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
inding, Rudolf G. l8o7l938 . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
ing Xin l900l999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
ingay, Malcolm l881l953. . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
ingham, Caleb l757l8l7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL12
ingham, George arry l90ol988 . . . . . . DLl27
ingham, Sallie l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
William ingley |publishing house| . . . . . . DLl51
inyon, Laurence l8o9l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9
_~~ _~~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl12
iography
iographical Documents . . . . . . . . . . . .Y81, 85
A Celebration of Literary iography . . . . .Y98
Conference on Modern iography . . . . . . .Y85
Jhe Cult of iography
Excerpts from the Second Iolio Debate.
'iographies are generally a disease of
English Literature" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
New Approaches to iography. Challenges
from Critical Jheory, LSC Conference
on Literary Studies, l990 . . . . . . . . . . .Y90
'Jhe New iography," by Virginia Woolf,
k v e~ qI
30 October l927. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl19
'Jhe Iractice of iography," in q b
p e ~ l b~I by
Harold Nicolson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl19
'Irinciples of iography," in b~~
~ l b~I by Sidney Lee . . . DLl19
Remarks at the Opening of 'Jhe iographical
Iart of Literature" Exhibition, by
William R. Cagle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Survey of Literary iographies . . . . . . . . . .Y00
A Jransit of Ioets and Others. American
iography in l982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Jhe Year in Literary
iography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83-0l
iography, Jhe Iractice of.
An Interview with . L. Reid . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
An Interview with David Herbert Donald. . . Y87
An Interview with Humphrey Carpenter. . . . Y81
An Interview with |oan Mellen . . . . . . . . . .Y91
An Interview with |ohn Caldwell Guilds . . . . Y92
An Interview with William Manchester . . .Y85
|ohn ioren |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . DL19
ioy Casares, Adolfo l9l1l999 . . . . . . . . DLll3
ird, Isabella Lucy l83ll901 . . . . . . . . . . DLloo
ird, Robert Montgomery l80ol851 . . . . DL202
ird, William l888l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . DL1; DSl5
Jhe Cost of the `~W William ird
to Ezra Iound. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
irken, Sigmund von lo2olo8l . . . . . . . . DLlo1
irney, Earle l901l995. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
irrell, Augustine l850l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL98
isher, Iurman l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7l
ishop, Elizabeth
l9lll979 . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo9; CDALo
Jhe Elizabeth ishop Society . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
ishop, |ohn Ieale l892l911 . . . . . . . DL1, 9, 15
ismarck, Otto von l8l5l898 . . . . . . . . . DLl29
isset, Robert l759l805 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl12
issett, ill l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
itov, Andrei Georgievich l937 . . . . . . . DL302
itzius, Albert (see Gotthelf, |eremias)
jrnboe, |ens l920l97o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
jrnson, jrnstjerne l832l9l0 . . . . . . . DL329
jrnvig, Jhorkild l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
lack, David (D. M.) l91l . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
lack, Gavin (Oswald Morris Wynd)
l9l3l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27o
lack, Lionel (Dudley arker)
l9l0l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27o
lack, Winifred l8o3l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Walter |. lack |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DL1o
lackamore, Arthur lo79. . . . . . . . . DL21, 39
lackburn, Alexander L. l929 . . . . . . . . . . .Y85
lackburn, |ohn l923l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
lackburn, Iaul l92ol97l . . . . . . . . DLlo; Y8l
lackburn, Jhomas l9lol977 . . . . . . . . . . DL27
lacker, Jerence l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27l
lackmore, R. D. l825l900 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8
lackmore, Sir Richard lo51l729. . . . . . . DLl3l
lackmur, R. I. l901l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo3
lackwell, Alice Stone l857l950. . . . . . . . DL303
asil lackwell, Iublisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
lackwood, Algernon Henry
l8o9l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl53, l5o, l78
lackwood, Caroline l93ll99o . . . . . DLl1, 207
William lackwood and Sons, Ltd. . . . . . . DLl51
_~ b j~~
l8l7l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll0
lades, William l821l890 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
laga, Lucian l895l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
lagden, Isabella l8l7.l873 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99
lair, Eric Arthur (see Orwell, George)
lair, Irancis Ireston l79ll87o. . . . . . . . . . DL13
lair, Hugh
i o ~ _ i (l783),
|excerpts| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
lair, |ames circa lo55l713. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
lair, |ohn Durburrow l759l823 . . . . . . . . DL37
lais, MarieClaire l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
laise, Clark l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
lake, George l893l9ol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
lake, Lillie Devereux l833l9l3. . . . DL202, 22l
lake, Nicholas (C. Day Lewis)
l901l972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
lake, William
l757l827. . . . . . . DL93, l51, lo3; CDL3
Jhe lakiston Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
lanchard, Stephen l950 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
lanchot, Maurice l9072003. . . . . . . . DL72, 29o
lanckenburg, Christian Iriedrich von
l711l79o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91
landiana, Ana l912 . . . . . . DL232; CDWL1
lanshard, rand l892l987 . . . . . . . . . . . DL279
lasco Ibez, Vicente l8o7l928 . . . . . . . DL322
laser, Robin l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo5
laumanis, Rudolfs l8o3l908 . . . . . . . . . DL220
leasdale, Alan l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
ledsoe, Albert Jaylor
l809l877 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, 79, 218
leecker, Ann Eliza l752l783 . . . . . . . . . . DL200
lelock and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
lennerhassett, Margaret Agnew
l773l812 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Geoffrey les |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DLll2
lessington, Marguerite, Countess of
l789l819 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLloo
`~ f ai_ POV
QTS
lew, Mary Clearman l939 . . . . . . . . . DL25o
licher, Steen Steensen l782l818 . . . . . . DL300
Jhe lickling Homilies circa 97l . . . . . . . DLl1o
lind, Mathilde l81ll89o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99
q _ ^~I 2000 ooker Irize winner,
Margaret Atwood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
lish, |ames l92ll975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
E. liss and E. White
liven, ruce l889l977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
lixen, Karen l885l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
loch, Ernst l885l977. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
loch, Robert l9l7l991. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Jribute to |ohn D. MacDonald . . . . . . . . . Y8o
lock, Lawrence l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
lock, Rudolph (see Lessing, runo)
lok, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich
l880l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
londal, Iatricia l92ol959 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
loom, Harold l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
loomer, Amelia l8l8l891 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL79
loomfield, Robert l7ool823 . . . . . . . . . . DL93
loomsbury Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl0
Jhe a~ Hoax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl0
loor, Ella Reeve l8o2l95l. . . . . . . . . . . DL303
lotner, |oseph l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
lount, Jhomas lol8.lo79. . . . . . . . . . . DL23o
loy, Lon l81ol9l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl23
lume, |udy l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Jribute to Jheodor Seuss Geisel . . . . . . . . Y9l
lunck, Hans Iriedrich l888l9ol . . . . . . . DLoo
lunden, Edmund l89ol971 . . . .DL20, l00, l55
lundeville, Jhomas l522.lo0o . . . . . . . DL23o
lunt, Lady Anne Isabella Noel
l837l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl71
lunt, Wilfrid Scawen l810l922 . . . . .DLl9, l71
ly, Nellie (see Cochrane, Elizabeth)
ly, Robert l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
lyton, Enid l897l9o8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
oaden, |ames l7o2l839 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL89
oal, Augusto l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
oas, Irederick S. l8o2l957 . . . . . . . . . . DLl19
Jhe obbsMerrill Company . . . . . . . DL1o, 29l
Jhe obbsMerrill Archive at the
Lilly Library, Indiana Lniversity. . . . . Y90
oborykin, Ietr Dmitrievich
l83ol92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
obrov, Semen Sergeevich
l7o3.l8l0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
obrowski, |ohannes l9l7l9o5 . . . . . . . . . DL75
ocage, Manuel Maria arbosa du
l7o5l805. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
odenheim, Maxwell l892l951 . . . . . . DL9, 15
odenstedt, Iriedrich von l8l9l892. . . . DLl29
odini, Vittorio l9l1l970 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
odkin, M. McDonnell l850l933. . . . . . . DL70
odley, Sir Jhomas l515lol3. . . . . . . . . DL2l3
odley Head. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
odmer, |ohann |akob lo98l783. . . . . . . . DL97
odmershof, Imma von l895l982 . . . . . . DL85
odsworth, Ired l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
var Gumundsson l939 . . . . . . . . DL293
oehm, Sydney l908l990. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
oer, Charles l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
oethius circa 180circa 521 . . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
oethius of Dacia circa l210. . . . . . . . . . DLll5
ogan, Louise l897l970 . . . . . . . . . . DL15, lo9
ogarde, Dirk l92ll999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
ogdanov, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich
l873l928. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
ogdanovich, Ippolit Iedorovich
circa l713l803 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
David ogue |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DLl0o
ohjalian, Chris l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
hme, |akob l575lo21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
H. G. ohn |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
ohse, August looll712 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
oie, Heinrich Christian l711l80o . . . . . . DL91
oileauDespraux, Nicolas lo3ol7ll. . . . DL2o8
ojunga, Lygia l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
ok, Edward W. l8o3l930 . . . . . . DL9l; DSlo
oland, Eavan l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
oldrewood, Rolf (Jhomas Alexander rowne)
l82o.l9l5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
olingbroke, Henry St. |ohn, Viscount
lo78l75l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0l
ll, Heinrich
l9l7l985. . . . . DLo9, 329; Y85; CDWL2
olling, Robert l738l775. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
olotov, Andrei Jimofeevich
l738l833. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
olt, Carol l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
olt, Robert l921l995 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, 233
olton, Herbert E. l870l953. . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
onaventura . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
onaventure circa l2l7l271. . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
onaviri, Giuseppe l921 . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl77
ond, Edward l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, 3l0
ond, Michael l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
ondarev, Iurii Vasilèvich l921 . . . . . DL302
q _ mI l985 ooker Irize winner,
Keri Hulme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Albert and Charles oni
|publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
oni and Liveright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
onnefoy, Yves l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL258
onner, Marita l899l97l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL228
onner, Iaul Hyde l893l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl7
onner, Sherwood (see McDowell, Katharine
Sherwood onner)
Robert onner`s Sons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
onnin, Gertrude Simmons (see ZitkalaSa)
onsanti, Alessandro l901l981 . . . . . . . .DLl77
ontempelli, Massimo l878l9o0. . . . . . . DL2o1
ontemps, Arna l902l973 . . . . . . . . . DL18, 5l
q _ _ (l8o7l880, l881l9l8,
l935l938. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl3
Jhe ook League of America. . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
ook Reviewing
Jhe American ook Review. A Sketch . . . Y92
ook Reviewing and the
Literary Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9o, 97
ook Reviewing in America . . . . . . . . Y87-91
ook Reviewing in America and the
Literary Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y95
ook Reviewing in Jexas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y91
ook Reviews in Glossy Magazines. . . . . . Y95
Do Jhey or Don`t Jhey.
Writers Reading ook Reviews. . . . . . Y0l
Jhe Most Iowerful ook Review
in America |k v q
_ o| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
Some Surprises and Lniversal Jruths . . . . Y92
Jhe Year in ook Reviewing and the
Literary Situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
ook Supply Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Jhe ook Jrade History Group. . . . . . . . . . . . Y93
Jhe ooker Irize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9o-98
Address by Anthony Jhwaite,
Chairman of the ooker Irize |udges
Comments from Iormer ooker
Irize Winners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8o
oorde, Andrew circa l190l519 . . . . . . . DLl3o
oorstin, Daniel |. l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7
Jribute to Archibald MacLeish . . . . . . . . . Y82
Jribute to Charles Scribner |r. . . . . . . . . . . Y95
ooth, Iranklin l871l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl88
ooth, Mary L. l83ll889. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL79
ooth, Ihilip l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
ooth, Wayne C. l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
ooth, William l829l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl90
or, |osef l90ol979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
orchardt, Rudolf l877l915 . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
orchert, Wolfgang l92ll917 . . . . . . DLo9, l21
ording, Anders lol9lo77 . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
orel, Itrus l809l859 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll9
orgen, |ohan l902l979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
orges, |orge Luis
l899l98o . . . DLll3, 283; Y8o; CDWL3
Jhe Ioetry of |orge Luis orges . . . . . . . . Y8o
A Iersonal Jribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8o
orgese, Giuseppe Antonio l882l952. . . DL2o1
ai_ POV `~ f
QTT
`
rne, Ludwig l78ol837 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90

ornstein, Miriam l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
orowski, Jadeusz
l922l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5; CDWL1
orrow, George l803l88l . . . . . . DL2l, 55, loo
osanquet, ernard l818l923 . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
oscn, |uan circa l190l512 . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
osch, |uan l909200l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15
osco, Henri l888l97o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL72
osco, Monique l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
osman, Herman Charles l905l95l . . . . DL225
ossuet, |acquesnigne lo27l701 . . . . . . DL2o8
ostic, |oe l908l988. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
oston, Lucy M. l892l990 . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
_ n~ o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl
oston Lniversity
Editorial Institute at oston Lniversity. . . .Y00
Special Collections at oston Lniversity. . .Y99
oswell, |ames
l710l795. . . . . . . . . .DLl01, l12; CDL2
oswell, Robert l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
osworth, David . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Excerpt from 'Excerpts from a Report
of the Commission," in q a~
a~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
ote, Hermann circa l1o0circa l520. . . . DLl79
otev, Khristo l817l87o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl17
otkin, Vasilii Ietrovich l8lll8o9 . . . . . . DL277
otta, Anne C. Lynch l8l5l89l . . . . . DL3, 250
otto, |n (see Krasko, Ivan)
ottome, Ihyllis l882l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl97
ottomley, Gordon l871l918. . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
ottoms, David l919 . . . . . . . . . DLl20; Y83
ottrall, Ronald l90ol959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20
ouchardy, |oseph l8l0l870 . . . . . . . . . . DLl92
oucher, Anthony l9lll9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
oucher, |onathan l738l801. . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
oucher de oucherville, Georges
l8l1l891 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
oudreau, Daniel (see Coste, Donat)
ouhours, Dominique lo28l702 . . . . . . . . DL2o8
ourassa, Napolon l827l9lo . . . . . . . . . . DL99
ourget, Iaul l852l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl23
ourinot, |ohn George l837l902 . . . . . . . . DL99
ourjaily, Vance l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2, l13
ourne, Edward Gaylord l8o0l908. . . . . . DL17
ourne, Randolph l88ol9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . DLo3
ousoo, Carlos l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
ousquet, |o l897l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL72
ova, en l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8l
ovard, Oliver K. l872l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
ove, Emmanuel l898l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL72
owen, Elizabeth
l899l973 . . . . . . . . . .DLl5, lo2; CDL7
owen, Irancis l8lll890. . . . . . . . DLl, 59, 235
owen, |ohn l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
owen, Marjorie l88ol952. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl53
owenMerrill Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
owering, George l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
owers, athsheba lo7ll7l8 . . . . . . . . . . DL200
owers, Claude G. l878l958 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
owers, Edgar l9212000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
owers, Iredson Jhayer
l905l99l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl10; Y 9l
Jhe Editorial Style of Iredson owers . . . .Y9l
Iredson owers and
Studies in ibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . Y 9l
Iredson owers and the Cambridge
eaumont and Iletcher. . . . . . . . . . . . Y 9l
Iredson owers as Critic of Renaissance
Dramatic Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y 9l
Iredson owers as Music Critic . . . . . . . . .Y9l
Iredson owers, Master Jeacher . . . . . . . Y 9l
An Interview |on Nabokov| . . . . . . . . . . . Y80
Working with Iredson owers . . . . . . . . . .Y9l
owles, Iaul l9l0l999. . . . . . DL5, o, 2l8; Y99
owles, Samuel, III l82ol878. . . . . . . . . . . DL13
owles, William Lisle l7o2l850 . . . . . . . . . DL93
owman, Louise Morey l882l911. . . . . . . DLo8
owne, orden Iarker l817l9l9 . . . . . . . DL270
oyd, |ames l888l911 . . . . . . . . . . . DL9; DSlo
oyd, |ohn l9l22002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
oyd, |ohn l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
oyd, Martin l893l972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
oyd, Jhomas l898l935 . . . . . DL9, 3lo; DSlo
oyd, William l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23l
oye, Karin l900l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL259
oyesen, Hjalmar Hjorth
l818l895 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2, 7l; DSl3
oylan, Clare l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
oyle, Kay l902l992 DL1, 9, 18, 8o; DSl5;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y93
oyle, Roger, Earl of Orrery lo2llo79 . . . DL80
oyle, J. Coraghessan
l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l8, 278; Y8o
oi, Mirko l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
rackenbury, Alison l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
rackenridge, Hugh Henry
l718l8lo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll, 37
Jhe Rising Glory of America . . . . . . . . DL37
rackett, Charles l892l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
rackett, Leigh l9l5l978 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8, 2o
|ohn radburn |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DL19
radbury, Malcolm l9322000 . . . . . . DLl1, 207
radbury, Ray l920 . . . . . .DL2, 8; CDALo
radbury and Evans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
raddon, Mary Elizabeth
l835l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8, 70, l5o
radford, Andrew lo8ol712. . . . . . . . . DL13, 73
radford, Gamaliel l8o3l932. . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
radford, |ohn l719l830 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
radford, Roark l89ol918. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8o
radford, William l590lo57 . . . . . . . . DL21, 30
radford, William, III l7l9l79l. . . . . . DL13, 73
radlaugh, Charles l833l89l . . . . . . . . . . DL57
radley, David l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
radley, I. H. l81ol921. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
radley, Katherine Harris (see Iield, Michael)
radley, Marion Zimmer l930l999 . . . . . . . DL8
radley, William Aspenwall l878l939 . . . . . DL1
Ira radley and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
|. W. radley and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
radshaw, Henry l83ll88o . . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
radstreet, Anne
lol2 or lol3lo72. . . . . . . .DL21; CDAL2
radnas, Kazys l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
radwardine, Jhomas circa l295l319. . . DLll5
rady, Irank l921l98o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Irederic A. rady |publishing house|. . . . . . DL19
raga, Rubem l9l3l990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
ragg, Melvyn l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 27l
rahe, Jycho l51olo0l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Charles H. rainard |publishing house|. . . . DL19
raine, |ohn
l922l98o . . . . . . . . . DLl5; Y8o; CDL7
raithwait, Richard l588lo73 . . . . . . . . . DLl5l
raithwaite, William Stanley
l878l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL50, 51
rker, Llrich l735l798 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91
ramah, Ernest l8o8l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL70
ranagan, Jhomas l771l813 . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
rancati, Vitaliano l907l951 . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
ranch, William lackwell l927 . . . . . . . DL7o
rand, Christianna l907l988 . . . . . . . . . . DL27o
rand, Max (see Iaust, Irederick Schiller)
rando, Raul l8o7l930. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
randen Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
randes, Georg l812l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
ranner, H.C. l903l9oo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
rant, Sebastian l157l52l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl79
rantme (Iierre de ourdeille)
l510.lol1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
rassey, Lady Annie (Allnutt)
l839l887 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLloo
rathwaite, Edward Kamau
l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl25; CDWL3
rault, |acques l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
raun, Matt l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l2
`~ f ai_ POV
QTU
raun, Volker l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75, l21
rautigan, Richard
l935l981 . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 5, 20o; Y80, 81
raxton, |oanne M. l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
ray, Anne Eliza l790l883 . . . . . . . . . . . DLllo
ray, Jhomas lo5ol730 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
razdionis, ernardas l9072002 . . . . . . DL220
George raziller |publishing house| . . . . . . DL1o
Jhe read Loaf Writers` Conference l983. . . . Y81
reasted, |ames Henry l8o5l935 . . . . . . . DL17
recht, ertolt
l898l95o . . . . . . . . DL5o, l21; CDWL2
redel, Willi l90ll9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5o
regendahl, Marie l8o7l910 . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
reitinger, |ohann |akob l70ll77o. . . . . . . DL97
rekke, Iaal l923l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
remser, onnie l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
remser, Ray l931l998. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
rennan, Christopher l870l932 . . . . . . . DL230
rentano, ernard von l90ll9o1 . . . . . . . DL5o
rentano, Clemens l778l812 . . . . . . . . . . DL90
rentano, Iranz l838l9l7. . . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
rentano`s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
renton, Howard l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
reslin, |immy l929l99o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
reton, Andr l89ol9oo . . . . . . . . . . DLo5, 258
reton, Nicholas circa l555circa lo2o. . . DLl3o
Jhe reton Lays
l300early fifteenth century . . . . . . . . DLl1o
rett, Lily l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
rett, Simon l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27o
rewer, Gil l922l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
rewer, Luther A. l858l933 . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
rewer, Warren and Iutnam . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
rewster, Elizabeth l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
reytenbach, reyten l939 . . . . . . . . . DL225
ridge, Ann (Lady Mary Dolling Sanders
O`Malley) l889l971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
ridge, Horatio l80ol893 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl83
ridgers, Sue Ellen l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
ridges, Robert
l811l930 . . . . . . . . . . DLl9, 98; CDL5
Jhe ridgewater Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
ridie, |ames l888l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
rieux, Eugene l858l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl92
rigadere, Anna
l8oll933 . . . . . . . . . . . DL220; CDWL1
riggs, Charles Irederick
l801l877. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, 250
righouse, Harold l882l958. . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
right, Mary Chavelita Dunne
(see Egerton, George)
rightman, Edgar Sheffield l881l953. . . .DL270
. |. rimmer Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
rines, Irancisco l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
rink, Andr l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL225
rinley, George, |r. l8l7l875. . . . . . . . . . DLl10
rinnin, |ohn Malcolm l9lol998 . . . . . . . DL18
risbane, Albert l809l890 . . . . . . . . . DL3, 250
risbane, Arthur l8o1l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
ritish Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
q _ ` l793l813 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll0
ritish Library
Jhe American Jrust for the
ritish Library. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9o
Jhe ritish Library and the Regular
Readers` Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9l
uilding the New ritish Library
at St Iancras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y91
ritish Literary Irizes . . . . . . . . . . . . DL207; Y98
ritish Literature
Jhe 'Angry Young Men". . . . . . . . . . . DLl5
AuthorIrinters, l17ol599 . . . . . . . . DLlo7
Jhe Comic Jradition Continued. . . . . DLl5
Documents on SixteenthCentury
Literature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo7, l72
b _~ lo19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5l
Letter from London . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9o
^ j j~~. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo7
'Modern English Irose`` (l87o),
by George Saintsbury . . . . . . . . . . DL57
Sex, Class, Iolitics, and Religion |in the
ritish Novel, l930l959| . . . . . . . DLl5
Victorians on Rhetoric and Irose
Style. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL57
Jhe Year in ritish Iiction . . . . . . . . . . Y99-0l
'You`ve Never Had It So Good," Gusted
by 'Winds of Change". ritish
Iiction in the l950s, l9o0s,
and After . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
ritish Literature, Old and Middle English
AngloNorman Literature in the
Development of Middle English
Literature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Jhe ^~ j ^ ~
p~~ j ^
circa l350l100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
^ o circa l200l225 . . . . . . . DLl1o
q ^Jp~ ` circa
890ll51 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
q _~ j~ circa l000 . . . . . . DLl1o
_ circa 900l000 or
790825 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o; CDLl
Jhe lickling Homilies circa 97l . . . . DLl1o
Jhe reton Lays
l300early fifteenth century. . . . . DLl1o
q `~ m~
circa l100l125 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Jhe Celtic ackground to Medieval
English Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Jhe Chester Ilays circa l505l532;
revisions until l575 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
` j circa l300 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Jhe English Language. 1l0
to l500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Jhe Germanic Epic and Old English
Heroic Ioetry. tI t~I
and q c ~ c . . . . . . . DLl1o
g circa 930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Jhe Matter of England l210l100. . . DLl1o
Jhe Matter of Rome early twelfth to
late fifteenth centuries . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Middle English Literature.
An Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Jhe Middle English Lyric . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Morality Ilays. j~ circa l150l500
and b~ circa l500. . . . . . . . DLl1o
NJown Ilays circa l1o8 to early
sixteenth century. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Old English Literature.
An Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Old English Riddles
eighth to tenth centuries . . . . . . . DLl1o
q l ~ k~
circa ll89ll99 . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
q m~ i l122l509 . . . . . . . . DLl1o
q p~~ circa 970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Jhe p b i~ circa
thirteenth to fifteenth centuries . . . DLl1o
q _ o ~ i `~
g~ l8lll825. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll0
rito, Aristeo l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
rittain, Vera l893l970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
riusov, Valerii Iakovlevich
l873l921. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
rizeux, Auguste l803l858. . . . . . . . . . . .DL2l7
roadway Iublishing Company. . . . . . . . . DL1o
roch, Hermann
l88ol95l . . . . . . . . .DL85, l21; CDWL2
rochu, Andr l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
rock, Edwin l927l997. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
rockes, arthold Heinrich lo80l717 . . . DLlo8
rod, Max l881l9o8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8l
rodber, Erna l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl57
rodhead, |ohn R. l8l1l873. . . . . . . . . . . DL30
rodkey, Harold l930l99o . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
rodsky, |oseph (Iosif Aleksandrovich
rodsky) l910l99o. . . . . . DL285, 329; Y87
Nobel Lecture l987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y87
rodsky, Michael l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
roeg, ob l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7l
rgger, Suzanne l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
rome, Richard circa l590lo52 . . . . . . . . DL58
rome, Vincent l9l02001. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
romfield, Louis l89ol95o . . . . . . . . DL1, 9, 8o
romige, David l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl93
roner, E. M. l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28
Jribute to ernard Malamud. . . . . . . . . . . Y8o
ronk, William l9l8l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo5
ronnen, Arnolt l895l959 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
ai_ POV `~ f
QTV
`
ront, Anne l820l819 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l, l99

ront, Charlotte
l8lol855 . . . . . .DL2l, l59, l99; CDL1
ront, Emily
l8l8l818 . . . . . . DL2l, 32, l99; CDL1
Jhe ront Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
rook, Stephen l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
rook Iarm l81ll817 . . . . . . . . DLl; 223; DS5
rooke, Irances l721l789. . . . . . . . . . . DL39, 99
rooke, Henry l703.l783. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
rooke, L. Leslie l8o2l910 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1l
rooke, Margaret, Ranee of Sarawak
l819l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl71
rooke, Rupert
l887l9l5 . . . . . . . . . .DLl9, 2lo; CDLo
Jhe Iriends of the Dymock Ioets. . . . . . . .Y00
rooker, ertram l888l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
rookeRose, Christine l923 . . . . . DLl1, 23l
rookner, Anita l928 . . . . . DLl91, 32o; Y87
rooks, Charles Jimothy l8l3l883. . . DLl, 213
rooks, Cleanth l90ol991 . . . . . . . . DLo3; Y91
Jribute to Walker Iercy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y90
rooks, Gwendolyn
l9l72000 . . . . . . . . DL5, 7o, lo5; CDALl
rooks, |eremy l92ol991. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
rooks, Mel l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
rooks, Noah l830l903 . . . . . . . . . DL12; DSl3
rooks, Richard l9l2l992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
rooks, Van Wyck l88ol9o3 . . . . DL15, o3, l03
rophy, rigid l929l995 . . . . . . . DLl1, 70, 27l
rophy, |ohn l899l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
rorson, Hans Adolph lo91l7o1 . . . . . . . DL300
rossard, Chandler l922l993 . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
rossard, Nicole l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
roster, Dorothy Kathleen l877l950 . . . . DLlo0
rother Antoninus (see Everson, William)
rotherton, Lord l85ol930 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
rougham, |ohn l8l0l880 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
rougham and Vaux, Henry Ieter
rougham, aron l778l8o8. . . . DLll0, l58
roughton, |ames l9l3l999. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
roughton, Rhoda l810l920 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8
roun, Heywood l888l939 . . . . . . . . DL29, l7l
rowder, Earl l89ll973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
rown, Alice l85ol918. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL78
rown, ob l88ol959 . . . . . . . . DL1, 15; DSl5
rown, Cecil l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
rown, Charles rockden
l77ll8l0 . . . . . . . . DL37, 59, 73; CDAL2
rown, Christy l932l98l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
rown, Dee l9082002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y80
rown, Irank London l927l9o2 . . . . . . . . DL7o
rown, Iredric l90ol972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
rown, George Mackay
l92ll99o . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl1, 27, l39, 27l
rown, Harry l9l7l98o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
rown, Ian l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
rown, Larry l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231, 292
rown, Lew l893l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
rown, Marcia l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
rown, Margaret Wise l9l0l952. . . . . . . . DL22
rown, Morna Doris (see Ierrars, Elizabeth)
rown, Oliver Madox l855l871. . . . . . . . . DL2l
rown, Sterling l90ll989. . . . . . . . DL18, 5l, o3
rown, J. E. l830l897. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
rown, Jhomas Alexander (see oldrewood, Rolf)
rown, Warren l891l978. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
rown, William Hill l7o5l793 . . . . . . . . . . DL37
rown, William Wells
l8l5l881 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, 50, l83, 218
rown Lniversity
Jhe Iestival of Vanguard Narrative . . . . . .Y93
rowne, Charles Iarrar l831l8o7 . . . . . . . DLll
rowne, Irances l8lol879 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99
rowne, Irancis Iisher l813l9l3. . . . . . . . DL79
rowne, Howard l908l999 . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
rowne, |. Ross l82ll875. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL202
rowne, Michael Dennis l910 . . . . . . . . DL10
rowne, Sir Jhomas lo05lo82 . . . . . . . . DLl5l
rowne, William, of Javistock
l590lo15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2l
rowne, Wynyard l9lll9o1 . . . . . . . DLl3, 233
rowne and Nolan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
rownell, W. C. l85ll928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7l
rowning, Elizabeth arrett
l80ol8ol . . . . . . . . . .DL32, l99; CDL1
rowning, Robert
l8l2l889 . . . . . . . . . .DL32, lo3; CDL1
Essay on Chatterron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Introductory Essay. i m
_ p (l852) . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
'Jhe Novel in |Robert rowning`s|
'Jhe Ring and the ook`" (l9l2),
by Henry |ames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
rownjohn, Allan l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Jribute to |ohn etjeman . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y81
rownson, Orestes Augustus
l803l87o . . . . . . . . . DLl, 59, 73, 213; DS5
ruccoli, Matthew |. l93l . . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
|oseph |Heller| and George |V. Higgins| . . . .Y99
Response |to usch on Iitzgerald|. . . . . . . .Y9o
Jribute to Albert Erskine . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y93
Jribute to Charles E. Ieinberg . . . . . . . . . .Y88
Working with Iredson owers . . . . . . . . . .Y9l
ruce, Charles l90ol97l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
ruce, |ohn Edward l85ol921
Jhree Documents |African American
poets| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL50
ruce, Leo l903l979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
ruce, Mary Grant l878l958. . . . . . . . . . DL230
ruce, Ihilip Alexander l85ol933 . . . . . . . DL17
ruceNovoa, |uan l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
ruckman, Clyde l891l955. . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
ruckner, Ierdinand l89ll958. . . . . . . . . DLll8
rundage, |ohn Herbert (see Herbert, |ohn)
runner, |ohn l931l995. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Jribute to Jheodore Sturgeon . . . . . . . . . .Y85
rutus, Dennis
l921 . . . . . . . . . . DLll7, 225; CDWL3
ryan, C. D. . l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
ryan, William |ennings l8o0l925 . . . . . DL303
ryant, Arthur l899l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl19
ryant, William Cullen l791l878
. . . . . . . . . DL3, 13, 59, l89, 250; CDAL2
ryce, |ames l838l922. . . . . . . . . . . DLloo, l90
ryce Echenique, Alfredo
l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15; CDWL3
ryden, ill l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
rydges, Sir Samuel Egerton
l7o2l837 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl07, l12
ryskett, Lodowick l51o.lol2 . . . . . . . . DLlo7
uchan, |ohn l875l910 . . . . . . . . DL31, 70, l5o
uchanan, George l50ol582 . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
uchanan, Robert l81ll90l . . . . . . . . DLl8, 35
'Jhe Ileshly School of Ioetry and
Other Ihenomena of the Day"
(l872) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
'Jhe Ileshly School of Ioetry.
Mr. D. G. Rossetti" (l87l),
by Jhomas Maitland . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
uchler, |ustus l9l1l99l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL279
uchman, Sidney l902l975 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
uchner, Augustus l59llool . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
chner, Georg
l8l3l837 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl33; CDWL2
ucholtz, Andreas Heinrich lo07lo7l. . . . .DLlo8
uck, Iearl S.
l892l973 . . . . . . . DL9, l02, 329; CDAL7
ucke, Charles l78ll81o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll0
ucke, Richard Maurice l837l902 . . . . . . . DL99
uckingham, Edwin l8l0l833. . . . . . . . . . DL73
uckingham, |oseph Jinker l779l8ol . . . . DL73
uckler, Ernest l908l981. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
uckley, Vincent l925l988 . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
uckley, William I., |r. l925 . . . . DLl37; Y80
Iublisher`s Statement Irom the
Initial Issue of k~~ o
(l9 November l955). . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
uckminster, |oseph Stevens
l781l8l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
uckner, Robert l90ol989. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
`~ f ai_ POV
QUM
udd, Jhomas .lo98 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
ud, Guillaume l1o8l510 . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
udrys, A. |. l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
uechner, Irederick l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y80
uell, |ohn l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
uenaventura, Enrique l9252003 . . . . . . DL305
ufalino, Gesualdo l920l99o . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
uffon, GeorgesLouis Leclerc de
l707l788 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
'Le Discours sur le style". . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
|ob uffum |publishing house|. . . . . . . . . . DL19
ugnet, Georges l879l98l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
aluhturi 82l897 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
uies, Arthur l810l90l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
ukiet, Melvin |ules l953 . . . . . . . . . . DL299
ukowski, Charles l920l991 . . . DL5, l30, lo9
ulatovi, Miodrag
l930l99l . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l; CDWL1
ulgakov, Mikhail Afanasèvich
l89ll910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL272
ulgarin, Iaddei Venediktovich
l789l859. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
ulger, ozeman l877l932 . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7l
ull, Olaf l883l933. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
ullein, William
between l520 and l530l57o. . . . . . . DLlo7
ullins, Ed l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL7, 38, 219
ulosan, Carlos l9lll95o. . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
ulwer, |ohn lo0olo5o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23o
ulwerLytton, Edward (also Edward
ulwer) l803l873 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l
'On Art in Iiction "(l838) . . . . . . . . . . DL2l
umpus, |erry l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8l
unce and rother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
unin, Ivan l870l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7, 329
unner, H. C. l855l89o . . . . . . . . . . . .DL78, 79
unting, asil l900l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20
untline, Ned (Edward Zane Carroll
|udson) l82ll88o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8o
unyan, |ohn lo28lo88 . . . . . DL39; CDL2
Jhe Author`s Apology for
His ook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
urch, Robert l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
urciaga, |os Antonio l910 . . . . . . . . . DL82
urdekin, Katharine (Murray Constantine)
l89ol9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL255
rger, Gottfried August l717l791 . . . . . . DL91
urgess, Anthony ( |ohn Anthony urgess Wilson)
l9l7l993 . . . . . . DLl1, l91, 2ol; CDL8
Jhe Anthony urgess Archive at
the Harry Ransom Humanities
Research Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Anthony urgess`s VV kW
An Opinion Ioll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
urgess, Gelett l8ool95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
urgess, |ohn W. l811l93l. . . . . . . . . . . . DL17
urgess, Jhornton W. l871l9o5. . . . . . . . DL22
urgess, Stringer and Company. . . . . . . . . DL19
urgos, |ulia de l9l1l953. . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
urick, Si l909l98o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7l
urk, |ohn Daly circa l772l808 . . . . . . . . DL37
urk, Ronnie l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
urke, Edmund l729.l797 . . . . . . . DLl01, 252
urke, |ames Lee l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
urke, |ohnny l908l9o1. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
urke, Kenneth l897l993 . . . . . . . . . . DL15, o3
urke, Jhomas l88ol915 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl97
urley, Dan l907l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
urley, W. |. l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27o
urlingame, Edward Livermore
l818l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL79
urliuk, David l882l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
urman, Carina l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
urnet, Gilbert lo13l7l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0l
urnett, Irances Hodgson
l819l921 . . . . . . . . . .DL12, l1l; DSl3, l1
urnett, W. R. l899l982. . . . . . . . . . . DL9, 22o
urnett, Whit l899l973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
urney, Ianny l752l810 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Dedication, q t~ (l8l1) . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to b~ (l778) . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
urns, Alan l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, l91
urns, |oanne l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
urns, |ohn Horne l9lol953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y85
urns, Robert l759l79o . . . . DLl09; CDL3
urns and Oates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
urnshaw, Stanley l90o . . . . . . . . . DL18; Y97
|ames Dickey and Stanley urnshaw
Correspondence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Review of Stanley urnshaw. Jhe
Collected Ioems and Selected
Irose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Jribute to Robert Ienn Warren . . . . . . . . . Y89
urr, C. Chauncey l8l5.l883 . . . . . . . . . DL79
urr, Esther Edwards l732l758. . . . . . . . DL200
urroughs, Edgar Rice l875l950 . . . . . . . . DL8
Jhe urroughs ibliophiles . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
urroughs, |ohn l837l92l . . . . . . . . .DLo1, 275
urroughs, Margaret J. G. l9l7 . . . . . . DL1l
urroughs, William S., |r. l917l98l . . . . . DLlo
urroughs, William Seward l9l1l997
. . . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 8, lo, l52, 237; Y8l, 97
urroway, |anet l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
urt, Maxwell Struthers
l882l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8o; DSlo
A. L. urt and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
urton, Hester l9l32000 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
urton, Isabel Arundell l83ll89o. . . . . . DLloo
urton, Miles (see Rhode, |ohn)
urton, Richard Irancis
l82ll890 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL55, loo, l81
urton, Robert l577lo10. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5l
urton, Virginia Lee l909l9o8. . . . . . . . . DL22
urton, William Evans l801l8o0 . . . . . . . DL73
urwell, Adam Hood l790l819 . . . . . . . . DL99
ury, Lady Charlotte l775l8ol. . . . . . . . DLllo
usch, Irederick l91l200o . . . . . . . . . DLo, 2l8
Excerpts from Irederick usch`s LSC
Remarks |on I. Scott Iitzgerald| . . . . . Y9o
Jribute to |ames Laughlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Jribute to Raymond Carver . . . . . . . . . . . Y88
usch, Niven l903l99l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
ushnell, Horace l802l87o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl3
usiness Literature
Jhe Claims of usiness and Literature.
An Lndergraduate Essay by
Maxwell Ierkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
ussires, Arthur de l877l9l3. . . . . . . . . . DL92
utler, Charles circa l5o0lo17 . . . . . . . . DL23o
utler, Guy l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL225
utler, |oseph lo92l752. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL252
utler, |osephine Elizabeth l828l90o . . . DLl90
utler, |uan l912l98l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
utler, |udith l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
utler, Octavia E. l917200o . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
utler, Iierce l881l953. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl87
utler, Robert Olen l915 . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl73
utler, Samuel lol3lo80. . . . . . . . . .DLl0l, l2o
utler, Samuel
l835l902 . . . . . . . DLl8, 57, l71; CDL5
utler, William Irancis l838l9l0 . . . . . . DLloo
E. H. utler and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
utor, Michel l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Nathaniel utter
utterworth, Hezekiah l839l905 . . . . . . . DL12
uttitta, Ignazio l899l997. . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
utts, Mary l890l937. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
uzo, Alex l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
uzzati, Dino l90ol972. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl77
yars, etsy l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
yatt, A. S. l93o . . . . . . .DLl1, l91, 3l9, 32o
yles, Mather l707l788 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Henry ynneman
ynner, Witter l88ll9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL51
yrd, William circa l513lo23 . . . . . . . . . .DLl72
yrd, William, II lo71l711 . . . . . . . . DL21, l10
yrne, |ohn Keyes (see Leonard, Hugh)
yron, George Gordon, Lord
l788l821. . . . . . . . . . DL9o, ll0; CDL3
Jhe yron Society of America. . . . . . . . . . Y00
ai_ POV `~ f
QUN
`
yron, Robert l905l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl95

yzantine Novel, Jhe Spanish . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
`
Caballero onald, |os Manuel
l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Cabaero, Eladio l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
Cabell, |ames ranch l879l958 . . . . . . . DL9, 78
Cabeza de aca, Manuel l853l9l5 . . . . . DLl22
Cabeza de aca Gilbert, Iabiola
l898l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Cable, George Washington
l811l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2, 71; DSl3
Cable, Mildred l878l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl95
Cabral, Manuel del l907l999. . . . . . . . . . DL283
Cabral de Melo Neto, |oo
l920l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Cabrera, Lydia l900l99l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15
Cabrera Infante, Guillermo
l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll3; CDWL3
Cabrujas, |os Ignacio l937l995. . . . . . . . DL305
Cadell |publishing house|. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl51
Cady, Edwin H. l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Caedmon fl. o58o80 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Caedmon School circa oo0899 . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Caesar, Irving l895l99o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Cafs, rasseries, and istros. . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl5
Cage, |ohn l9l2l992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl93
Cahan, Abraham l8o0l95l . . . . . . . DL9, 25, 28
Cahn, Sammy l9l3l993. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Cain, George l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Cain, |ames M. l892l977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
Cain, Iaul (Ieter Ruric, George Sims)
l902l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Caird, Edward l835l908 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Caird, Mona l851l932. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl97
aks, Aleksandrs
l90ll950 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220; CDWL1
Caldecott, Randolph l81ol88o . . . . . . . . DLlo3
|ohn Calder Limited
|Iublishing house| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Caldern de la arca, Ianny
l801l882 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl83
Caldwell, en l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
Caldwell, Erskine l903l987 . . . . . . . . . . DL9, 8o
H. M. Caldwell Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Caldwell, Jaylor l900l985. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl7
Calhoun, |ohn C. l782l850 . . . . . . . . . DL3, 218
Clinescu, George l899l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . DL220
Calisher, Hortense l9ll . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 2l8
Calkins, Mary Whiton l8o3l930. . . . . . . DL270
Callaghan, Mary Rose l911 . . . . . . . . . DL207
Callaghan, Morley l903l990 . . . . . DLo8; DSl5
Callahan, S. Alice l8o8l891. . . . . . . DLl75, 22l
`~~ | journal|. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y87
Callimachus circa 305 _.`.210 _.`.. . . . . . DLl7o
Calmer, Edgar l907l98o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Calverley, C. S. l83ll881 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
Calvert, George Henry
l803l889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, o1, 218
Calverton, V. I. (George Goetz)
l900l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Calvin, |ean l509l5o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Calvino, Italo l923l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Cambridge, Ada l811l92o. . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Cambridge Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
`~ p E`~~ `~~~F
circa l050 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Cambridge Lniversity
Cambridge and the Apostles . . . . . . . . . . . DS5
Cambridge Lniversity Iress . . . . . . . . . . . DLl70
Camden, William l55llo23. . . . . . . . . . . DLl72
Camden House. An Interview with
|ames Hardin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y92
Cameron, Eleanor l9l22000 . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Cameron, George Irederick
l851l885 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Cameron, Lucy Lyttelton l78ll858. . . . . DLlo3
Cameron, Ieter l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
Cameron, William leasdell l8o2l95l. . . . DL99
Camm, |ohn l7l8l778 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Cames, Lus de l521l580. . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Camon, Ierdinando l935 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Camp, Walter l859l925. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Campana, Dino l885l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Campbell, ebe Moore l950 . . . . . . . . DL227
Campbell, David l9l5l979. . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Campbell, Gabrielle Margaret Vere
(see Shearing, |oseph, and owen, Marjorie)
Campbell, |ames Dykes l838l895 . . . . . . DLl11
Campbell, |ames Edwin l8o7l89o . . . . . . . DL50
Campbell, |ohn lo53l728. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Campbell, |ohn W., |r. l9l0l97l . . . . . . . . . DL8
Campbell, Ramsey l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Campbell, Robert l9272000 . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Campbell, Roy l90ll957 . . . . . . . . . . DL20, 225
Campbell, Jhomas l777l811 . . . . . . . DL93, l11
Campbell, William Edward (see March, William)
Campbell, William Wilfred l858l9l8 . . . . DL92
Campion, Edmund l539l58l . . . . . . . . . DLlo7
Campion, Jhomas
l5o7lo20 . . . . . . . . . . DL58, l72; CDLl
Campo, Rafael l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282
Campton, David l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
Camus, Albert l9l3l9o0 . . . . . . DL72, 32l, 329
Camus, |eanIierre l581lo52. . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Jhe Canadian Iublishers` Records Database . . .Y9o
Canby, Henry Seidel l878l9ol. . . . . . . . . . DL9l
Cancioneros. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Candelaria, Cordelia l913 . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Candelaria, Nash l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
`~I Voltaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Canetti, Elias
l905l991 . . . . . DL85, l21, 329; CDWL2
Canham, Erwin Dain l901l982. . . . . . . . DLl27
Canitz, Iriedrich Rudolph Ludwig von
lo51lo99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Cankar, Ivan l87ol9l8. . . . . DLl17; CDWL1
Cannan, Gilbert l881l955 . . . . . . . . . DLl0, l97
Cannan, |oanna l89ol9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Cannell, Kathleen l89ll971. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Cannell, Skipwith l887l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL15
Canning, George l770l827. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl58
Cannon, |immy l9l0l973 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7l
Cano, Daniel l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Old Dogs / New Jricks. New
Jechnologies, the Canon, and the
Structure of the Irofession . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Cant, Norma Elia l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Cantwell, Robert l908l978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
|onathan Cape and Harrison Smith
|publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
|onathan Cape Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
apek, Karel l890l938 . . . . DL2l5; CDWL1
Capen, |oseph lo58l725. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Capes, ernard l851l9l8. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5o
Capote, Jruman l921l981
. . . . . . . DL2, l85, 227; Y80, 81; CDALl
Capps, enjamin l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25o
Caproni, Giorgio l9l2l990 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Caragiale, Mateiu Ioan l885l93o. . . . . . . DL220
Carballido, Emilio l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Cardarelli, Vincenzo l887l959 . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Cardenal, Ernesto l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Crdenas, Reyes l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Cardinal, Marie l929200l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Cardoza y Aragn, Luis l90ll992. . . . . . DL290
Carducci, Giosu l835l907 . . . . . . . . . . . DL329
Carew, |an l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Carew, Jhomas l591 or l595lo10 . . . . . DLl2o
Carey, Henry circa lo87lo89l713 . . . . . . . DL81
Carey, Mathew l7o0l839. . . . . . . . . . . DL37, 73
M. Carey and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Carey, Ieter l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289, 32o
Carey and Hart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Carlell, Lodowick lo02lo75. . . . . . . . . . . . DL58
Carleton, William l791l8o9. . . . . . . . . . . DLl59
G. W. Carleton |publishing house| . . . . . . . DL19
Carlile, Richard l790l813 . . . . . . . . DLll0, l58
`~ f ai_ POV
QUO
Carlson, Ron l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
Carlyle, |ane Welsh l80ll8oo. . . . . . . . . . DL55
Carlyle, Jhomas
l795l88l. . . . . . . . . . DL55, l11; CDL3
'Jhe Hero as Man of Letters.
|ohnson, Rousseau, urns"
(l81l) |excerpt| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL57
Jhe Hero as Ioet. Dante; Shakspeare
(l81l) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Carman, liss l8oll929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
`~~ _~~ circa l230 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Carnap, Rudolf l89ll970 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL270
Carnero, Guillermo l917 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Carossa, Hans l878l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Carpenter, Humphrey
l91o2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55; Y81, 99
Carpenter, Stephen Cullen .l820. . . . . . . DL73
Carpentier, Alejo
l901l980 . . . . . . . . . . . DLll3; CDWL3
Carr, Emily l87ll915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Carr, |ohn Dickson l90ol977 . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Carr, Marina l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
Carr, Virginia Spencer l929 . . . . . . DLlll; Y00
Carrera Andrade, |orge l903l978 . . . . . . DL283
Carrier, Roch l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Carrillo, Adolfo l855l92o. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Carroll, Gladys Hasty l901l999. . . . . . . . . DL9
Carroll, |ohn l735l8l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Carroll, |ohn l809l881 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Carroll, Lewis
l832l898 . . . . . DLl8, lo3, l78; CDL1
Jhe Lewis Carroll Centenary . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Jhe Lewis Carroll Society
of North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Carroll, Iaul l927l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Carroll, Iaul Vincent l900l9o8 . . . . . . . . DLl0
Carroll and Graf Iublishers . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Carruth, Hayden l92l . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo5
Jribute to Raymond Carver. . . . . . . . . . . . Y88
Carryl, Charles E. l81ll920. . . . . . . . . . . DL12
Carson, Anne l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl93
Carson, Rachel l907l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL275
Carswell, Catherine l879l91o. . . . . . . . . . DL3o
Cartagena, Alfonso de circa l381l15o . . DL28o
Cartagena, Jeresa de l125.. . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Crtrescu, Mirea l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Carter, Angela
l910l992 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 207, 2ol, 3l9
Carter, Elizabeth l7l7l80o. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl09
Carter, Henry (see Leslie, Irank)
Carter, Hodding, |r. l907l972 . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Carter, |ared l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282
Carter, |ohn l905l975. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Carter, Landon l7l0l778. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Carter, Lin l930l988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8l
Carter, Martin l927l997 . . . .DLll7; CDWL3
Carter, Robert, and rothers . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Carter and Hendee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Cartwright, |im l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
Cartwright, |ohn l710l821 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl58
Cartwright, William circa lolllo13 . . . . DLl2o
Caruthers, William Alexander
l802l81o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, 218
Carver, |onathan l7l0l780 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Carver, Raymond l938l988 . . . DLl30; Y83,88
Iirst Strauss 'Livings`` Awarded to Cynthia
Ozick and Raymond Carver
An Interview with Raymond Carver. . . . Y83
Carvic, Heron l9l7.l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27o
Cary, Alice l820l87l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL202
Cary, |oyce l888l957 . . . DLl5, l00; CDLo
Cary, Iatrick lo23.lo57 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3l
Casal, |ulin del l8o3l893 . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Case, |ohn l510lo00. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Casey, Gavin l907l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Casey, |uanita l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Casey, Michael l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Cassady, Carolyn l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
'As I See It" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Cassady, Neal l92ol9o8 . . . . . . . . . . .DLlo, 237
Cassell and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Cassell Iublishing Company . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Cassill, R. V. l9l92002 . . . . . . . . DLo, 2l8; Y02
Cassity, Jurner l929 . . . . . . . . . . DLl05; Y02
Cassius Dio circa l55/lo1post 229 . . . . . .DLl7o
Cassola, Carlo l9l7l987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl77
Castellano, Olivia l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Castellanos, Rosario
l925l971. . . . . . . . .DLll3, 290; CDWL3
Castelo ranco, Camilo l825l890 . . . . . DL287
Castile, Irotest Ioetry in. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Castile and Aragon, Vernacular Jranslations
in Crowns of l352l5l5. . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Castillejo, Cristbal de l190.l550 . . . . . DL3l8
Castillo, Ana l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl22, 227
Castillo, Rafael C. l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
q `~ m~
circa l100l125 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Castlemon, Harry (see Iosdick, Charles Austin)
Castro, rian l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Castro, Consuelo de l91o . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Castro Alves, Antnio de l817l87l. . . . . DL307
aule, Kole l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Caswall, Edward l8l1l878 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Catacalos, Rosemary l911 . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Cather, Willa l873l917
. . . . . . . . DL9, 51, 78, 25o; DSl; CDAL3
Jhe Willa Cather Iioneer Memorial
and Education Ioundation . . . . . . . . . Y00
Catherine II (Ekaterina Alekseevna), 'Jhe Great,"
Empress of Russia l729l79o. . . . . . . DLl50
Catherwood, Mary Hartwell l817l902. . . DL78
Catledge, Jurner l90ll983. . . . . . . . . . . .DLl27
Catlin, George l79ol872 . . . . . . . . . DLl8o, l89
Cato the Elder 231 _.`.l19 _.`. . . . . . . . DL2ll
Cattafi, artolo l922l979 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Catton, ruce l899l978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7
Catullus circa 81 _.`.51 _.`.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL2ll; CDWLl
Causley, Charles l9l72003 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Caute, David l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 23l
Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle,
Margaret Lucas
lo23.lo73. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3l, 252, 28l
Cawein, Madison l8o5l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . DL51
William Caxton |publishing house| . . . . . .DLl70
Jhe Caxton Irinters, Limited . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Caylor, O. I. l819l897 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Caylus, MartheMarguerite de
lo7ll729. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
Cayrol, |ean l9ll2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Cecil, Lord David l902l98o . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
Cela, Camilo |os
l9lo2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322, 329; Y89
Nobel Lecture l989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y89
Celan, Iaul l920l970 . . . . . . DLo9; CDWL2
Celati, Gianni l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Celaya, Gabriel l9lll99l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Cline, LouisIerdinand l891l9ol . . . . . . DL72
Celtis, Conrad l159l508. . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl79
Cendrars, laise l887l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . DL258
Jhe Steinbeck Centennial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Censorship
Jhe Island Jrees Case. A Symposium on
School Library Censorship . . . . . . . . . Y82
Center for ibliographical Studies and
Research at the Lniversity of
California, Riverside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9l
Center for ook Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
Jhe Center for the ook in the Library
of Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y93
A New Voice. Jhe Center for the
ook`s Iirst Iive Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
Centlivre, Susanna loo9.l723. . . . . . . . . . DL81
Jhe Centre for Writing, Iublishing and
Irinting History at the Lniversity
of Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Jhe Century Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
|. M. Edelstein`s Collection of
JwentiethCentury American Ioetry . . . . . Y02
ai_ POV `~ f
QUP
`
Cernuda, Luis l902l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31

Cerruto, Oscar l9l2l98l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Cervantes, Lorna Dee l951 . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Csaire, Aim l9l3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
de Cspedes, Alba l9lll997 . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
Cetina, Gutierre de l5l1l7.l55o . . . . . . DL3l8
Ch., J. (see Marchenko, Anastasiia Iakovlevna)
Cha, Jheresa Hak Kyung l95ll982 . . . . DL3l2
Chaadaev, Ietr Iakovlevich
l791l85o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
Chabon, Michael l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL278
Chacel, Rosa l898l991 . . . . . . . . . . DLl31, 322
Chacn, Eusebio l8o9l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Chacn, Ielipe Maximiliano l873.. . . . . . . DL82
Chadwick, Henry l821l908. . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
ChadwyckHealey`s IullJext Literary Databases.
Editing Commercial Databases of
Irimary Literary Jexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y95
Challans, Eileen Mary (see Renault, Mary)
Chalmers, George l712l825. . . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Chaloner, Sir Jhomas l520l5o5 . . . . . . . DLlo7
Chamberlain, Samuel S. l85ll9lo. . . . . . . DL25
Chamberland, Iaul l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Chamberlin, William Henry l897l9o9. . . . DL29
Chambers, Charles Haddon l8o0l92l . . . DLl0
Chambers, Mara Cristina (see Mena, Mara Cristina)
Chambers, Robert W. l8o5l933 . . . . . . . DL202
W. and R. Chambers
|publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Chambers, Whittaker l90ll9ol . . . . . . . DL303
Chamfort, SbastienRoch Nicolas de
l710.l791. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
Chamisso, Adelbert von l78ll838 . . . . . . . DL90
Champfleury l82ll889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll9
Champier, Symphorien l172.l539. . . . . . DL327
Chan, |effery Iaul l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Chandler, Harry l8o1l911. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Chandler, Norman l899l973 . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Chandler, Otis l927200o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Chandler, Raymond
l888l959 . . . .DL22o, 253; DSo; CDAL5
Raymond Chandler Centenary. . . . . . . . . .Y88
Chang, Diana l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Channing, Edward l85ol93l. . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
Channing, Edward Jyrrell
l790l85o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 59, 235
Channing, William Ellery
l780l812 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 59, 235
Channing, William Ellery, II
l8l7l90l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 223
Channing, William Henry
l8l0l881 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 59, 213
Chapelain, |ean l595lo71. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Chaplin, Charlie l889l977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Chapman, George
l559 or l5o0lo31 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo2, l2l
Chapman, Olive Murray l892l977 . . . . . DLl95
Chapman, R. W. l88ll9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Chapman, William l850l9l7. . . . . . . . . . . DL99
|ohn Chapman |publishing house| . . . . . . . DLl0o
Chapman and Hall |publishing house| . . . DLl0o
Chappell, Ired l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo, l05
'A Detail in a Ioem" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Chappell, William l582lo19 . . . . . . . . . . DL23o
Char, Ren l907l988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL258
Charbonneau, |ean l875l9o0. . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Charbonneau, Robert l9lll9o7 . . . . . . . . DLo8
Charles, Gerda l9l1l99o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
William Charles |publishing house| . . . . . . . DL19
Charles dÒrlans l391l1o5 . . . . . . . . . . DL208
Charley (see Mann, Charles)
Charrire, Isabelle de l710l805 . . . . . . . . DL3l3
Charskaia, Lidiia l875l937. . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Charteris, Leslie l907l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
Chartier, Alain circa l385l130 . . . . . . . . . DL208
Charyn, |erome l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Chase, orden l900l97l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Chase, Edna Woolman l877l957 . . . . . . . . DL9l
Chase, |ames Hadley (Ren Raymond)
l90ol985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27o
Chase, Mary Coyle l907l98l. . . . . . . . . . DL228
ChaseRiboud, arbara l93o . . . . . . . . . DL33
Chateaubriand, IranoisRen de
l7o8l818 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll9
Chtelet, GabrielleEmilie Du
l70ol719 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
Chatterjee, Lpamanyu l959 . . . . . . . . . DL323
Chatterton, Jhomas l752l770 . . . . . . . . . DLl09
Essay on Chatterton (l812), by
Robert rowning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Chatto and Windus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Chatwin, ruce l910l989 . . . . . . . . DLl91, 201
Chaucer, Geoffrey
l310.l100 . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl1o; CDLl
New Chaucer Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
Chaudhuri, Amit l9o2 . . . . . . . . . DL2o7, 323
Chaudhuri, Nirad C. l897l999 . . . . . . . . DL323
Chauncy, Charles l705l787 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Chauveau, Iierre|osephOlivier
l820l890 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Chvez, Denise l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Chvez, Iray Anglico l9l0l99o . . . . . . . . DL82
Chayefsky, Iaddy l923l98l. . . . . DL7, 11; Y8l
Cheesman, Evelyn l88ll9o9 . . . . . . . . . . DLl95
Cheever, Ezekiel lol5l708 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Cheever, George arrell l807l890 . . . . . . . DL59
Cheever, |ohn l9l2l982
. . . . . . . DL2, l02, 227; Y80, 82; CDALl
Cheever, Susan l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Cheke, Sir |ohn l5l1l557 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Chekhov, Anton Iavlovich l8o0l901 . . . DL277
Chelsea House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Chnedoll, Charles de l7o9l833 . . . . . . DL2l7
Cheney, rainard
Cheney, Ednah Dow l821l901 . . . . . . DLl, 223
Cheney, Harriet Vaughan l79ol889. . . . . . DL99
Chnier, Marie|oseph l7o1l8ll . . . . . . . DLl92
Cheng Xiaoqing l893l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Cherny, Sasha l880l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Chernyshevsky, Nikolai Gavrilovich
l828l889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Cherry, Kelly l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Cherryh, C. |. l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y80
Chesebro`, Caroline l825l873 . . . . . . . . . DL202
Chesney, Sir George Jomkyns
l830l895 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl90
Chesnut, Mary oykin l823l88o. . . . . . . DL239
Chesnutt, Charles Waddell
l858l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2, 50, 78
Chesson, Mrs. Nora (see Hopper, Nora)
Chester, Alfred l928l97l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Chester, George Randolph l8o9l921 . . . . DL78
revisions until l575 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Chesterfield, Ihilip Dormer Stanhope,
Iourth Earl of lo91l773. . . . . . . . . . . DLl01
Chesterton, G. K. l871l93o
. . DLl0, l9, 31, 70, 98, l19, l78; CDLo
'Jhe Ethics of Elfland" (l908) . . . . . . DLl78
Chettle, Henry
circa l5o0circa lo07. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Cheuse, Alan l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
Chew, Ada Nield l870l915 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl35
Cheyney, Edward I. l8oll917. . . . . . . . . . DL17
Chiang Yee l903l977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Chiara, Iiero l9l3l98o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl77
Chicanos
Chicano History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Chicano Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Chicano Literature. A ibliography . . DL209
A Contemporary Ilourescence of Chicano
Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y81
Literatura Chicanesca. Jhe View Irom
Without . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Child, Irancis |ames l825l89o. . . . DLl, o1, 235
Child, Lydia Maria l802l880 . . . . DLl, 71, 213
Child, Ihilip l898l978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Childers, Erskine l870l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL70
Children`s Literature
Afterword. Iropaganda, NambyIamby,
and Some ooks of Distinction . . . DL52
`~ f ai_ POV
QUQ
Children`s ook Awards and Irizes. . . DLol
Children`s ook Illustration in the
Jwentieth Century . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Children`s Illustrators, l800l880 . . . DLlo3
Jhe Harry Iotter Ihenomenon . . . . . . . . . Y99
Iony Stories, Omnibus
Essay on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Jhe Reality of One Woman`s Dream.
Jhe de Grummond Children`s
Literature Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
School Stories, l9l1l9o0 . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Jhe Year in Children`s
ooks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y92-9o, 98-0l
Jhe Year in Children`s Literature . . . . . . . Y97
Childress, Alice l9lol991 . . . . . . . .DL7, 38, 219
Childress, Mark l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Childs, George W. l829l891 . . . . . . . . . . DL23
Chilton ook Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Chin, Irank l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20o, 3l2
Chin, |ustin l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Chin, Marilyn l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Chinweizu l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Chinnov, Igor` l909l99o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Chitham, Edward l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
Chittenden, Hiram Martin l858l9l7 . . . . DL17
Chivers, Jhomas Holley l809l858. . . DL3, 218
Chkhartishvili, Grigorii Shalvovich
(see Akunin, oris)
Chocano, |os Santos l875l931 . . . . . . . DL290
Cholmondeley, Mary l859l925 . . . . . . . DLl97
Chomsky, Noam l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
Chopin, Kate l850l901. . . DLl2, 78; CDAL3
Chopin, Ren l885l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Choquette, Adrienne l9l5l973 . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Choquette, Robert l905l99l . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Choyce, Lesley l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Chrtien de Jroyes
circa ll10circa ll90 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL208
Christensen, Inger l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Christensen, Lars Saabye l953 . . . . . . DL297
q `~ b~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl
Jhe Christian Iublishing Company. . . . . . DL19
Christie, Agatha
l890l97o. . . . . . . .DLl3, 77, 215; CDLo
Christine de Iizan
circa l3o5circa l13l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL208
Christopher, |ohn (Sam Youd) l922 . . DL255
` p~~ circa 950 . . . . . . DLl18
Christy, Howard Chandler l873l952 . . . DLl88
Chu, Louis l9l5l970. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Chukovskaia, Lidiia l907l99o. . . . . . . . . DL302
Chulkov, Mikhail Dmitrievich
l713.l792 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Church, enjamin l731l778 . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Church, Irancis Iharcellus l839l90o . . . . DL79
Church, Ieggy Iond l903l98o . . . . . . . . DL2l2
Church, Richard l893l972 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Church, William Conant l83ol9l7. . . . . . DL79
Churchill, Caryl l938 . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, 3l0
Churchill, Charles l73ll7o1 . . . . . . . . . . DLl09
Churchill, Winston l87ll917 . . . . . . . . . DL202
Churchill, Sir Winston
l871l9o5. . . DLl00, 329; DSlo; CDL5
Churchyard, Jhomas l520.lo01 . . . . . . DLl32
E. Churton and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Chute, Marchette l909l991 . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Ciardi, |ohn l9lol98o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5; Y8o
Cibber, Colley lo7ll757 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL81
Cicero l0o _.`.13 _.`. . . . . . .DL2ll, CDWLl
Cima, Annalisa l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
ingo, ivko l935l987. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Cioran, E. M. l9lll995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
ipkus, Alfonsas (see NykaNilinas, Alfonsas)
Cirese, Eugenio l881l955. . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Crulis, Jnis (see els, Alberts)
Cisneros, Antonio l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Cisneros, Sandra l951 . . . . . . . . . DLl22, l52
City Lights ooks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Civil War (l8ol-l8o5)
attles and Leaders of the Civil War. . . .DL17
Official Records of the Rebellion . . . . . DL17
Recording the Civil War . . . . . . . . . . . DL17
Cixous, Hlne l937 . . . . . . . . . . . DL83, 212
`~ Î Sophie Cottin . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Clampitt, Amy l920l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Jribute to Alfred A. Knopf. . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
Clancy, Jom l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL227
Clapper, Raymond l892l911 . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Clare, |ohn l793l8o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL55, 9o
Clarendon, Edward Hyde, Earl of
lo09lo71. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0l
Clark, Alfred Alexander Gordon
(see Hare, Cyril)
Clark, Ann Nolan l89ol995 . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Clark, C. E. Irazer, |r. l925200l. . . DLl87; Y0l
C. E. Irazer Clark |r. and
Hawthorne ibliography. . . . . . . DL2o9
Jhe Iublications of C. E. Irazer
Clark |r. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o9
Clark, Catherine Anthony l892l977. . . . . DLo8
Clark, Charles Heber l81ll9l5 . . . . . . . . DLll
Clark, Davis Wasgatt l8l2l87l. . . . . . . . . DL79
Clark, Douglas l9l9l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27o
Clark, Eleanor l9l3l99o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Clark, |. I. l935 . . . . . . . . .DLll7; CDWL3
Clark, Lewis Gaylord
l808l873. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL3, o1, 73, 250
Clark, Mary Higgins l929 . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Clark, Walter Van Jilburg
l909l97l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9, 20o
Clark, William l770l838. . . . . . . . . DLl83, l8o
Clark, William Andrews, |r.
l877l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl87
C. M. Clark Iublishing Company . . . . . . . DL1o
Clarke, Sir Arthur C. l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Jribute to Jheodore Sturgeon . . . . . . . . . . Y85
Clarke, Austin l89ol971 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0, 20
Clarke, Austin C. l931 . . . . . . . . . DL53, l25
Clarke, Gillian l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Clarke, |ames Ireeman
l8l0l888 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 59, 235; DS5
Clarke, |ohn circa l59olo58 . . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Clarke, Lindsay l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23l
Clarke, Marcus l81ol88l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Clarke, Iauline l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
Clarke, Rebecca Sophia l833l90o . . . . . . DL12
Clarke, Samuel lo75l729 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL252
Robert Clarke and Company. . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Clarkson, Jhomas l7o0l81o. . . . . . . . . . DLl58
Claudel, Iaul l8o8l955 . . . . . DLl92, 258, 32l
Claudius, Matthias l710l8l5 . . . . . . . . . . DL97
Clausen, Andy l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Claussen, Sophus l8o5l93l . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Clawson, |ohn L. l8o5l933 . . . . . . . . . . .DLl87
Claxton, Remsen and Haffelfinger . . . . . . . DL19
Clay, Cassius Marcellus l8l0l903 . . . . . . DL13
Clayton, Richard (see Haggard, William)
Cleage, Iearl l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL228
Cleary, everly l9lo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Cleary, Kate McIhelim l8o3l905. . . . . . DL22l
Cleaver, Vera l9l9l992 and
Cleaver, ill l920l98l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Cleeve, rian l92l2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27o
Cleland, |ohn l7l0l789 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Clemens, Samuel Langhorne (Mark Jwain)
l835l9l0 . . . . . . . . . . DLll, l2, 23, o1, 71,
l8o, l89; CDAL3
Comments Irom Authors and Scholars on
their Iirst Reading of e c . . . . . Y85
Huck at l00. How Old Is
Huckleberry Iinn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y85
Mark Jwain on Ierpetual Copyright . . . . . Y92
A New Edition of e c. . . . . . . . . . . . Y85
Clement, Hal l9222003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Clemo, |ack l9lol991. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Clephane, Elizabeth Cecilia l830l8o9 . . DLl99
Cleveland, |ohn lol3lo58. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2o
Cliff, Michelle l91o . . . . . .DLl57; CDWL3
Clifford, Lady Anne l590lo7o . . . . . . . . DLl5l
Clifford, |ames L. l90ll978 . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
ai_ POV `~ f
QUR
`
Clifford, Lucy l853.l929. . . . . DLl35, l1l, l97

Clift, Charmian l923l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Clifton, Lucille l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, 1l
Clines, Irancis X. l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Clive, Caroline (V) l80ll873. . . . . . . . . . DLl99
Edward |. Clode |publishing house|. . . . . . . DL1o
Clough, Arthur Hugh l8l9l8ol . . . . . . . . DL32
Cloutier, Ccile l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Clouts, Sidney l92ol982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL225
Cluttonrock, Arthur l8o8l921 . . . . . . . . DL98
Coates, Robert M.
l897l973. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1, 9, l02; DSl5
Coatsworth, Elizabeth l893l98o . . . . . . . . DL22
Cobb, Charles E., |r. l913 . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Cobb, Irank I. l8o9l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Cobb, Irvin S. l87ol911. . . . . . . . . DLll, 25, 8o
Cobbe, Irances Iower l822l901 . . . . . . . DLl90
Cobbett, William l7o3l835 . . . . DL13, l07, l58
Cobbledick, Gordon l898l9o9. . . . . . . . . DLl7l
Cochran, Jhomas C. l902l999 . . . . . . . . . DLl7
Cochrane, Elizabeth l8o7l922 . . . . . . DL25, l89
Cockerell, Sir Sydney l8o7l9o2 . . . . . . . . DL20l
Cockerill, |ohn A. l815l89o. . . . . . . . . . . . DL23
Cocteau, |ean l889l9o3 . . . . . . . DLo5, 258, 32l
Coderre, Emile (see |ean Narrache)
Cody, Liza l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27o
Coe, |onathan l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23l
Coetzee, |. M. l910 . . . . . . . . DL225, 32o, 329
Coffee, Lenore |. l900.l981. . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Coffin, Robert I. Jristram l892l955 . . . . . DL15
Coghill, Mrs. Harry (see Walker, Anna Louisa)
Cogswell, Ired l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Cogswell, Mason Iitch l7oll830 . . . . . . . . DL37
Cohan, George M. l878l912 . . . . . . . . . . DL219
Cohen, Arthur A. l928l98o. . . . . . . . . . . . DL28
Cohen, Leonard l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Cohen, Matt l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Cohen, Morris Raphael l880l917 . . . . . . DL270
Colasanti, Marina l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Colbeck, Norman l903l987. . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Colden, Cadwallader
lo88l77o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21, 30, 270
Colden, |ane l721l7oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Cole, arry l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Cole, George Watson l850l939. . . . . . . . DLl10
Colegate, Isabel l93l . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 23l
Coleman, Emily Holmes l899l971 . . . . . . . DL1
Coleman, Wanda l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Coleridge, Hartley l79ol819 . . . . . . . . . . . DL9o
Coleridge, Mary l8oll907. . . . . . . . . . DLl9, 98
Coleridge, Samuel Jaylor
l772l831 . . . . . . . . . . DL93, l07; CDL3
Coleridge, Sara l802l852. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99
Colet, |ohn l1o7l5l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Colette l873l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo5
Colette, Sidonie Gabrielle (see Colette)
Colinas, Antonio l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
Coll, |oseph Clement l88ll92l . . . . . . . . DLl88
|. M. Edelstein`s Collection of
JwentiethCentury American Ioetry . . . . .Y02
Collier, |ohn l90ll980 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77, 255
Collier, |ohn Iayne l789l883. . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Collier, Mary lo90l7o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL95
Collier, Robert |. l87ol9l8. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9l
I. I. Collier |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Collin and Small . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Collingwood, R. G. l889l913 . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Collingwood, W. G. l851l932. . . . . . . . . DLl19
Collins, An floruit circa lo53. . . . . . . . . . . DLl3l
Collins, Anthony lo7ol729. . . . . . . . . . . . DL252
Collins, Merle l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Collins, Michael l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Collins, Michael (see Lynds, Dennis)
Collins, Mortimer l827l87o . . . . . . . . . DL2l, 35
Collins, Jom (see Iurphy, |oseph)
Collins, Wilkie
l821l889 . . . . . . . DLl8, 70, l59; CDL1
'Jhe Lnknown Iublic`` (l858)
|excerpt| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL57
Jhe Wilkie Collins Society . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Collins, William l72ll759 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl09
Isaac Collins |publishing house|. . . . . . . . . . DL19
William Collins, Sons and Company. . . . . DLl51
Collis, Maurice l889l973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl95
Collyer, Mary l7lo.l7o3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Colman, enjamin lo73l717 . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Colman, George, the Elder l732l791. . . . . DL89
Colman, George, the Younger
l7o2l83o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL89
S. Colman |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Colombo, |ohn Robert l93o . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Colonial Literature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Colquhoun, Iatrick l715l820 . . . . . . . . . DLl58
Colter, Cyrus l9l02002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Colum, Iadraic l88ll972. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9
q `~ e ^~ k
A Symposium on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y92
Columbus, Christopher l15ll50o . . . . . . DL3l8
Columella fl. first century ^.a.. . . . . . . . . . DL2ll
Colvin, Sir Sidney l815l927 . . . . . . . . . . DLl19
Colwin, Laurie l911l992. . . . . . . . DL2l8; Y80
Comden, etty l9l5 and
Green, Adolph l9l82002. . . . . . . DL11, 2o5
Comi, Girolamo l890l9o8. . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Comisso, Giovanni l895l9o9. . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
Commager, Henry Steele l902l998. . . . . . DLl7
Commynes, Ihilippe de
circa l117l5ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL208
Compton, D. G. l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Comptonurnett, Ivy l881.l9o9 . . . . . . . DL3o
Conan, Laure (Ilicit Angers)
l815l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Concord, Massachusetts
Concord History and Life. . . . . . . . . . DL223
Concord. Literary History
of a Jown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL223
Jhe Old Manse, by Hawthorne . . . . . DL223
Jhe Jhoreauvian Iilgrimage. Jhe
Structure of an American Cult . . . DL223
Concrete Ioetry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Conde, Carmen l90ll99o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Condillac, Etienne onnot de
l7l1l780 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
Condorcet, Marie|eanAntoineNicolas Caritat,
marquis de l713l791 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
'Jhe Jenth Stage". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Congreve, William
lo70l729 . . . . . . . . . . .DL39, 81; CDL2
Ireface to f~ (lo92) . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
W. . Conkey Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Conlon, Evelyn l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
Conn, Stewart l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
Connell, Evan S., |r. l921 . . . . . . . . DL2; Y8l
Connelly, Marc l890l980 . . . . . . . . . DL7; Y80
Connolly, Cyril l903l971. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL98
Connolly, |ames . l8o8l957. . . . . . . . . . . DL78
Connor, Ralph (Charles William Gordon)
l8o0l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Connor, Jony l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Conquest, Robert l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Conrad, |oseph
l857l921 . . . . DLl0, 31, 98, l5o; CDL5
|ohn Conrad and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Conroy, |ack l899l990. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8l
A Jribute |to Nelson Algren|. . . . . . . . . . . .Y8l
Conroy, Iat l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
q `~I l971 ooker Irize winner,
Nadine Gordimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Considine, ob l90ol975. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Consolo, Vincenzo l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Constable, Henry l5o2lol3. . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Archibald Constable and Company . . . . . DLl51
Constable and Company Limited . . . . . . . DLll2
Constant, enjamin l7o7l830. . . . . . . . . . DLll9
Constant de Rebecque, Henrienjamin de
(see Constant, enjamin)
`~ f ai_ POV
QUS
Constantine, David l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Constantine, Murray (see urdekin, Katharine)
ConstantinWeyer, Maurice l88ll9o1. . . . DL92
` (magazine)
Contempo Caravan.
Kites in a Windstorm . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y85
Jhe Continental Iublishing Company. . . . DL19
A Conversation between William Riggan
and |anette Jurner Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Conversations with Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y95
Conway, Anne lo3llo79. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL252
Conway, Moncure Daniel
l832l907. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 223
Cook, Ebenezer circa loo7circa l732. . . . . DL21
Cook, Edward Jyas l857l9l9. . . . . . . . . DLl19
Cook, Eliza l8l8l889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99
Cook, George Cram l873l921 . . . . . . . . DL2oo
Cook, Michael l933l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
David C. Cook Iublishing Company. . . . . DL19
Cooke, George Willis l818l923 . . . . . . . . DL7l
Cooke, |ohn Esten l830l88o . . . . . . . DL3, 218
Cooke, Ihilip Iendleton
l8lol850. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, 59, 218
Cooke, Rose Jerry l827l892 . . . . . . . DLl2, 71
Increase Cooke and Company . . . . . . . . . . DL19
CookLynn, Elizabeth l930 . . . . . . . . . .DLl75
Coolbrith, Ina l81ll928 . . . . . . . . . . DL51, l8o
Cooley, Ieter l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
'Into the Mirror" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Coolidge, Clark l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl93
Coolidge, Susan
(see Woolsey, Sarah Chauncy)
George Coolidge |publishing house|. . . . . . DL19
Coomaraswamy, Ananda l877l917. . . . . DL323
Cooper, Anna |ulia l858l9o1 . . . . . . . . . DL22l
Cooper, Edith Emma l8o2l9l3 . . . . . . . DL210
Cooper, Giles l9l8l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Cooper, |. California l9.. . . . . . . . . . . DL2l2
Cooper, |ames Ienimore
l789l85l. . . . . . . DL3, l83, 250; CDAL2
Jhe icentennial of |ames Ienimore Cooper.
An International Celebration. . . . . . . . Y89
Jhe |ames Ienimore Cooper Society . . . . . Y0l
Cooper, Kent l880l9o5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Cooper, Susan l935 . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol, 2ol
Cooper, Susan Ienimore l8l3l891 . . . . . DL239
William Cooper |publishing house| . . . . . .DLl70
|. Coote |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl51
Coover, Robert l932 . . . . . . . . DL2, 227; Y8l
Jribute to Donald arthelme . . . . . . . . . . . Y89
Copeland and Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
opi, ranko l9l5l981. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Copland, Robert l170.l518 . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Coppard, A. E. l878l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo2
Coppe, Iranois l812l908 . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
Coppel, Alfred l92l2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
Jribute to |essamyn West. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
Coppola, Irancis Iord l939 . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Copway, George (Kahgegagahbowh)
l8l8l8o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl75, l83
Copyright
Jhe Development of the Author`s
Copyright in ritain . . . . . . . . . . DLl51
Jhe Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Expanding Copyright Irotection in
Cyberspace and eyond . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Editorial. Jhe Extension of Copyright . . . Y02
Mark Jwain on Ierpetual Copyright . . . . . Y92
Iublic Domain and the Violation
of Jexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Jhe _uestion of American Copyright
in the Nineteenth Century
Ireface, by George Haven Iutnam
Jhe Evolution of Copyright, by
rander Matthews
Summary of Copyright Legislation in
the Lnited States, by R. R. owker
Analysis of the Irovisions of the
Copyright Law of l89l, by
George Haven Iutnam
Jhe Contest for International Copyright,
by George Haven Iutnam
Cheap ooks and Good ooks,
by rander Matthews . . . . . . . . DL19
Writers and Jheir Copyright Holders.
the WAJCH Iroject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y91
Corazzini, Sergio l88ol907 . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Corbett, Richard l582lo35. . . . . . . . . . . DLl2l
Corbire, Jristan l815l875 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
Corcoran, arbara l9ll . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Cordelli, Iranco l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Corelli, Marie l855l921 . . . . . . . . . . DL31, l5o
Corle, Edwin l90ol95o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y85
Corman, Cid l9212001. . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, l93
Cormier, Robert l9252000 . . . DL52; CDALo
Corn, Alfred l913 . . . . . . . . DLl20, 282; Y80
Corneille, Iierre lo0olo81 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Cornford, Irances l88ol9o0. . . . . . . . . . DL210
Cornish, Sam l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Cornish, William
circa l1o5circa l521 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Cornwall, arry (see Irocter, ryan Waller)
Cornwallis, Sir William, the Younger
circa l579lol1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5l
Cornwell, David |ohn Moore (see le Carr, |ohn)
Cornwell, Iatricia l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Coronel Lrtecho, |os l90ol991. . . . . . . DL290
Corpi, Lucha l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Corrington, |ohn William
l932l988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo, 211
Corriveau, Monique l927l97o . . . . . . . . DL25l
Corrothers, |ames D. l8o9l9l7. . . . . . . . . DL50
Corso, Gregory l930200l. . . . . . . .DL5, lo, 237
Cortzar, |ulio l9l1l981. . . .DLll3; CDWL3
Cortz, Carlos l9232005. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Cortez, |ayne l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Corvinus, Gottlieb Siegmund
lo77l71o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Corvo, aron (see Rolfe, Irederick William)
Cory, Annie Sophie (see Cross, Victoria)
Cory, Desmond (Shaun Lloyd McCarthy)
l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27o
Cory, William |ohnson l823l892 . . . . . . . DL35
Coryate, Jhomas l577.lol7. . . . . . . DLl5l, l72
osi, Dobrica l92l . . . . .DLl8l; CDWL1
Cosin, |ohn l595lo72 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5l, 2l3
Cosmopolitan ook Corporation. . . . . . . . DL1o
Cossa, Roberto l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Costa, Maria Velho da (see Jhe Jhree Marias.
Literary History)
Costain, Jhomas . l885l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Coste, Donat (Daniel oudreau)
l9l2l957. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Costello, Louisa Stuart l799l870. . . . . . . DLloo
CotaCrdenas, Margarita l91l . . . . . DLl22
Ct, Denis l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Cotten, ruce l873l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl87
Cotter, |oseph Seamon, |r. l895l9l9. . . . . DL50
Cotter, |oseph Seamon, Sr. l8oll919 . . . . DL50
Cottin, Sophie l770l807 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
`~ ^ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
|oseph Cottle |publishing house| . . . . . . . DLl51
Cotton, Charles lo30lo87. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3l
Cotton, |ohn l581lo52 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Cotton, Sir Robert ruce l57llo3l . . . . DL2l3
Couani, Anna l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Coulter, |ohn l888l980. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Cournos, |ohn l88ll9oo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL51
Courteline, Georges l858l929 . . . . . . . . DLl92
Cousins, Margaret l905l99o . . . . . . . . . .DLl37
Cousins, Norman l9l5l990 . . . . . . . . . . .DLl37
Couvreur, |essie (see Jasma)
Coventry, Irancis l725l751. . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Dedication, q e m
i (l75l) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Coverdale, Miles l187 or l188l5o9 . . . . DLlo7
N. Coverly |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . DL19
CoviciIriede . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Cowan, Ieter l9l12002. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Coward, Noel
l899l973. . . . . . . . . . DLl0, 215; CDLo
Coward, McCann and Geoghegan. . . . . . . DL1o
ai_ POV `~ f
QUT
`
Cowles, Gardner l8oll91o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29

Cowles, Gardner 'Mike", |r.
l903l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27, l37
Cowley, Abraham lol8loo7. . . . . . . DLl3l, l5l
Cowley, Hannah l713l809. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL89
Cowley, Malcolm
l898l989 . . . . . . . DL1, 18; DSl5; Y8l, 89
Cowper, Richard ( |ohn Middleton Murry |r.)
l92o2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Cowper, William l73ll800. . . . . . . . DLl01, l09
Cox, A. . (see erkeley, Anthony)
Cox, |ames McMahon l903l971 . . . . . . . DLl27
Cox, |ames Middleton l870l957 . . . . . . . DLl27
Cox, Leonard circa l195circa l550 . . . . . DL28l
Cox, Ialmer l810l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL12
Coxe, Louis l9l8l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Coxe, Jench l755l821 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Cozzens, Irederick S. l8l8l8o9 . . . . . . . . DL202
Cozzens, |ames Gould l903l978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . DL9, 291; Y81; DS2; CDALl
Cozzens`s j~ p~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y97
Ernest Hemingway`s Reaction to
|ames Gould Cozzens . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
|ames Gould CozzensA View
from Afar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y97
|ames Gould Cozzens. How to
Read Him. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y97
|ames Gould Cozzens Symposium and
Exhibition at the Lniversity of
South Carolina, Columbia . . . . . . . . . .Y00
j o~ (or Something) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y97
Novels for GrownLps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y97
Crabbe, George l751l832 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL93
Crace, |im l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23l
Crackanthorpe, Hubert l870l89o . . . . . . DLl35
Craddock, Charles Egbert (see Murfree, Mary N.)
Cradock, Jhomas l7l8l770 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Craig, Daniel H. l8lll895. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Craik, Dinah Maria l82ol887 . . . . . . DL35, lo3
Cramer, Richard en l950 . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Cranch, Christopher Iearse
l8l3l892 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 12, 213; DS5
Crane, Hart l899l932 . . . . .DL1, 18; CDAL1
Iord, Sam Roth, and Hart Crane . . . . .Y02
Crane, R. S. l88ol9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo3
Crane, Stephen
l87ll900 . . . . . . . . DLl2, 51, 78; CDAL3
Stephen Crane. A Revaluation, Virginia
Jech Conference, l989. . . . . . . . . . . . .Y89
Jhe Stephen Crane Society. . . . . . . . . .Y98, 0l
Crane, Walter l815l9l5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo3
Cranmer, Jhomas l189l55o . . . . . . DLl32, 2l3
Crapsey, Adelaide l878l9l1. . . . . . . . . . . . DL51
Crashaw, Richard lol2/lol3lo19 . . . . . . DLl2o
Craven, Avery l885l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
Crawford, Charles l752circa l8l5 . . . . . . . DL3l
Crawford, I. Marion l851l909 . . . . . . . . . DL7l
Crawford, Isabel Valancy l850l887. . . . . . DL92
Crawley, Alan l887l975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Crayon, Geoffrey (see Irving, Washington)
Crayon, Iorte (see Strother, David Hunter)
Creamer, Robert W. l922 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7l
Creasey, |ohn l908l973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
Creative Age Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Creative Nonfiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Crbillon, ClaudeIrosper |olyot de
l707l777 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
Crbillon, ClaudeIrosper |olyot de
lo71l7o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
William Creech |publishing house| . . . . . . DLl51
Jhomas Creede |publishing house| . . . . . . DLl70
Creel, George l87ol953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Creeley, Robert l92o2005
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo, lo9; DSl7
Creelman, |ames
l859l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23
Cregan, David l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Creighton, Donald l902l979 . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Crmazie, Octave l827l879 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Crmer, Victoriano l909. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Crenne, Helisenne de (Marguerite de riet)
l5l0.l5o0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Crescas, Hasdai circa l310l1l2. . . . . . . . DLll5
Crespo, Angel l92ol995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
Cresset Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Cresswell, Helen l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
Crvecoeur, Michel Guillaume |ean de
l735l8l3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Crewe, Candida l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL207
Crews, Harry l935 . . . . . . . . . . DLo, l13, l85
Crichton, Michael ( |ohn Lange, |effrey Hudson,
Michael Douglas) l912 . . . . DL292; Y8l
Crispin, Edmund (Robert ruce Montgomery)
l92ll978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL87
Cristofer, Michael l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Criticism
AfroAmerican Literary Critics.
An Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Jhe Consolidation of Opinion. Critical
Responses to the Modernists . . . . . DL3o
'Criticism in Relation to Novels"
(l8o3), by G. H. Lewes . . . . . . . . . DL2l
Jhe Limits of Iluralism . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
Modern Critical Jerms, Schools, and
Movements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
'Ianic Among the Ihilistines``.
A Iostscript, An Interview
with ryan Griffin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8l
Jhe Recovery of Literature. Criticism
in the l990s. A Symposium . . . . . . . . .Y9l
Jhe Stealthy School of Criticism (l87l),
by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. . . . . . . . DL35
Crnjanski, Milos
l893l977 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl17; CDWL1
Crocker, Hannah Mather l752l829 . . . . . DL200
Crockett, David (Davy)
l78ol83o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, ll, l83, 218
CroftCooke, Rupert (see ruce, Leo)
Crofts, Ireeman Wills l879l957. . . . . . . . . DL77
Croker, |ohn Wilson l780l857. . . . . . . . . DLll0
Croly, George l780l8o0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl59
Croly, Herbert l8o9l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9l
Croly, |ane Cunningham l829l90l . . . . . . DL23
Crompton, Richmal l890l9o9 . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Cronin, A. |. l89ol98l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Cros, Charles l812l888. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
Crosby, Caresse l892l970 and
Crosby, Harry l898l929 and . . DL1; DSl5
Crosby, Harry l898l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL18
Crosland, Camilla Joulmin (Mrs. Newton
Crosland) l8l2l895. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Cross, Amanda (Carolyn G. Heilbrun)
l92o2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Cross, Gillian l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
Cross, Victoria l8o8l952 . . . . . . . . . DLl35, l97
CrossleyHolland, Kevin l91l . . . . DL10, lol
Crothers, Rachel l870l958. . . . . . . . . . DL7, 2oo
Jhomas Y. Crowell Company. . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Crowley, |ohn l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Crowley, Mart l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7, 2oo
Crown Iublishers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Crowne, |ohn lo1ll7l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL80
Crowninshield, Edward Augustus
l8l7l859 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl10
Crowninshield, Irank l872l917. . . . . . . . . DL9l
Croy, Homer l883l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Crumley, |ames l939 . . . . . . . . . DL22o; Y81
Cruse, Mary Anne l825.l9l0 . . . . . . . . . DL239
Cruz, Migdalia l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL219
Cruz, Sor |uana Ins de la lo5llo95 . . . . DL305
Cruz, Victor Hernndez l919 . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Cruz e Sousa, |oo l8oll898 . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Csokor, Iranz Jheodor l885l9o9 . . . . . . . DL8l
Csori, Sndor l930 . . . . . . DL232; CDWL1
Cuadra, Iablo Antonio l9l22002 . . . . . . DL290
Cuala Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Cudworth, Ralph lol7lo88 . . . . . . . . . . . DL252
Cueva, |uan de la l513lol2. . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Cugoano, _uobna Ottabah l797.. . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Cullen, Countee
l903l91o . . . . . . . . . DL1, 18, 5l; CDAL1
Culler, |onathan D. l911 . . . . . . . . DLo7, 21o
Cullinan, Elizabeth l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
Culverwel, Nathaniel lol9.lo5l. . . . . . . DL252
Cumberland, Richard l732l8ll. . . . . . . . . DL89
`~ f ai_ POV
QUU
Cummings, Constance Gordon
l837l921. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl71
Cummings, E. E.
l891l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . DL1, 18; CDAL5
Jhe E. E. Cummings Society. . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Cummings, Ray l887l957. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Cummings and Hilliard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Cummins, Maria Susanna l827l8oo . . . . . DL12
Cumpin, Carlos l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Cunard, Nancy l89ol9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
|oseph Cundall |publishing house| . . . . . . DLl0o
Cuney, Waring l90ol97o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5l
CuneyHare, Maude l871l93o . . . . . . . . . DL52
Cunha, Euclides da l8ool909. . . . . . . . . DL307
Cunningham, Allan
l781l812. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLllo, l11
Cunningham, |. V. l9lll985 . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Cunningham, Michael l952 . . . . . . . . DL292
Cunningham, Ieter (Ieter Lauder, Ieter
enjamin) l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Ieter I. Cunningham
Cunquiero, Alvaro l9lll98l . . . . . . . . . DLl31
Cuomo, George l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y80
Cupples, Lpham and Company. . . . . . . . . DL19
Cupples and Leon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Cuppy, Will l881l919. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Curiel, arbara rinson l95o . . . . . . . DL209
Edmund Curll |publishing house|. . . . . . . DLl51
Currie, |ames l75ol805. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl12
Currie, Mary Montgomerie Lamb Singleton,
Lady Currie (see Iane, Violet)
` j circa l300. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Curti, Merle E. l897l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
Curtis, Anthony l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
Curtis, Cyrus H. K. l850l933 . . . . . . . . . DL9l
Curtis, George William
l821l892 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 13, 223
Curzon, Robert l8l0l873 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLloo
Curzon, Sarah Anne l833l898 . . . . . . . . . DL99
Cusack, Dymphna l902l98l . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Cushing, Eliza Lanesford
l791l88o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Cushing, Harvey l8o9l939. . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Custance, Olive (Lady Alfred Douglas)
l871l911. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Cynewulf circa 770810 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Cyrano de ergerac, Savinien de
lol9lo55. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Czepko, Daniel lo05loo0 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Czerniawski, Adam l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
a
Dabit, Eugne l898l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo5
Daborne, Robert circa l580lo28. . . . . . . . DL58
Dbrowska, Maria
l889l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5; CDWL1
Dacey, Ihilip l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
'Eyes Across Centuries.
Contemporary Ioetry and 'Jhat
Vision Jhing,`" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Dach, Simon lo05lo59 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Dacier, Anne Le Ivre lo17l720 . . . . . . . DL3l3
Dagerman, Stig l923l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL259
Daggett, Rollin M. l83ll90l . . . . . . . . . . DL79
DÀguiar, Ired l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Dahl, Roald l9lol990. . . . . . . . . . . DLl39, 255
Jribute to Alfred A. Knopf. . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
Dahlberg, Edward l900l977 . . . . . . . . . . . DL18
Dahn, Ielix l831l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
q a~ t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Dal`, Vladimir Ivanovich (Kazak Vladimir
Lugansky) l80ll872. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
Dale, Ieter l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Daley, Arthur l901l971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7l
Dall, Caroline Healey l822l9l2 . . . . . DLl, 235
Dallas, E. S. l828l879 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL55
q d~ p |excerpt|(l8oo) . . . . . . . DL2l
Jhe Dallas Jheater Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
DÀlton, Louis l900l95l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Dalton, Roque l935l975. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Daly, Carroll |ohn l889l958. . . . . . . . . . DL22o
Daly, J. A. l87ll918. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Damon, S. Ioster l893l97l. . . . . . . . . . . . DL15
William S. Damrell |publishing house| . . . . DL19
Dana, Charles A. l8l9l897. . . . . . DL3, 23, 250
Dana, Richard Henry, |r.
l8l5l882 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, l83, 235
Dandridge, Ray Garfield l882l930. . . . . . DL5l
Dane, Clemence l887l9o5 . . . . . . . . .DLl0, l97
Danforth, |ohn loo0l730 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Danforth, Samuel, I lo2olo71. . . . . . . . . . DL21
Danforth, Samuel, II loool727 . . . . . . . . . DL21
a~ ^~~I IierreAmbroiseIranois
Choderlos de Laclos . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Daniel, |ohn M. l825l8o5. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Daniel, Samuel l5o2 or l5o3lol9. . . . . . . DLo2
Daniel Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Daniel`, Iulii l925l988. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Daniells, Roy l902l979. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Daniels, |im l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Daniels, |onathan l902l98l . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Daniels, |osephus l8o2l918 . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Daniels, Sarah l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
Danilevsky, Grigorii Ietrovich
l829l890 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Dannay, Irederic l905l982. . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
Danner, Margaret Esse l9l5 . . . . . . . . . DL1l
|ohn Danter |publishing house| . . . . . . . . .DLl70
Dantin, Louis (Eugene Seers)
l8o5l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Danto, Arthur C. l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL279
Danzig, Allison l898l987 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7l
DÀrcy, Ella circa l857l937 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl35
Daro, Rubn l8o7l9lo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Dark, Eleanor l90ll985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Darke, Nick l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
Darley, Ielix Octavious Carr
l822l888 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl88
Darley, George l795l81o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9o
Darmesteter, Madame |ames
(see Robinson, A. Mary I.)
Darrow, Clarence l857l938. . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Darwin, Charles l809l882 . . . . . . . . . DL57, loo
Darwin, Erasmus l73ll802. . . . . . . . . . . . DL93
Daryush, Elizabeth l887l977. . . . . . . . . . . DL20
Das, Kamala l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Dashkova, Ekaterina Romanovna
(ne Vorontsova) l713l8l0. . . . . . . . DLl50
Dashwood, Edme Elizabeth Monica de la Iasture
(see Delafield, E. M.)
Dattani, Mahesh l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Daudet, Alphonse l810l897 . . . . . . . . . . DLl23
dÀulaire, Edgar Iarin l898l98o and
dÀulaire, Ingri l901l980 . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Davenant, Sir William lo0oloo8. . . . DL58, l2o
Davenport, Guy l9272005. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Jribute to |ohn Gardner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
Davenport, Marcia l903l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl7
Davenport, Robert circa l7
century. . . . . DL58
Daves, Delmer l901l977. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Davey, Irank l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Davidson, Avram l923l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Davidson, Donald l893l9o8. . . . . . . . . . . DL15
Davidson, Donald l9l72003 . . . . . . . . . . .DL279
Davidson, |ohn l857l909 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9
Davidson, Lionel l922 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 27o
Davidson, Robyn l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
Davidson, Sara l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Davi Stefnsson fr Iagraskgi
l895l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Davie, Donald l922l995. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Davie, Elspeth l9l9l995. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl39
Davies, Sir |ohn l5o9lo2o . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl72
Davies, |ohn, of Hereford l5o5.lol8 . . . DLl2l
Davies, Rhys l90ll978 . . . . . . . . . . DLl39, l9l
Davies, Robertson l9l3l995. . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Davies, Samuel l723l7ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Davies, Jhomas l7l2.l785 . . . . . . . DLl12, l51
ai_ POV `~ f
QUV
`
Davies, W. H. l87ll910 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9, l71

Ieter Davies Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Davin, Nicholas Ilood l810.l90l . . . . . . . DL99
Daviot, Gordon l89o.l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
(see also Jey, |osephine)
Davis, Arthur Hoey (see Rudd, Steele)
Davis, enjamin |. l903l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Davis, Charles A. (Major |. Downing)
l795l8o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Davis, Clyde rion l891l9o2. . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Davis, Dick l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10, 282
Davis, Irank Marshall l905l987 . . . . . . . . DL5l
Davis, H. L. l891l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9, 20o
Davis, |ack l9l72000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Davis, |ohn l771l851 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Davis, Lydia l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Davis, Margaret Jhomson l92o . . . . . . . DLl1
Davis, Ossie l9l72005 . . . . . . . . . . DL7, 38, 219
Davis, Owen l871l95o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL219
Davis, Iaxton l925l991. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y89
Davis, Rebecca Harding
l83ll9l0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL71, 239
Davis, Richard Harding l8o1l9lo
. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2, 23, 78, 79, l89; DSl3
Davis, Samuel Cole l7o1l809. . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Davis, Samuel Iost l850l9l8. . . . . . . . . . DL202
Davison, Irank Dalby l893l970. . . . . . . . DL2o0
Davison, Ieter l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Davydov, Denis Vasilèvich
l781l839 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Davys, Mary lo71l732. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to q t jK a~
(l725) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
DAW ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Dawe, ruce l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Dawson, Ernest l882l917 . . . . . . . DLl10; Y02
Dawson, Iielding l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Dawson, Sarah Morgan l812l909 . . . . . . DL239
Dawson, William l701l752. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Day, Angel fl. l583l599 . . . . . . . . . . DLlo7, 23o
Day, enjamin Henry l8l0l889. . . . . . . . . DL13
Day, Clarence l871l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Day, Dorothy l897l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Day, Irank Iarker l88ll950 . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Day, |ohn circa l571circa lo10 . . . . . . . . . . DLo2
Day, Marele l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Day, Jhomas l718l789. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
|ohn Day |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . . DLl70
Jhe |ohn Day Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Mahlon Day |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Day Lewis, C. (see lake, Nicholas)
Dazai Osamu l909l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Deacon, William Arthur l890l977. . . . . . . DLo8
Deal, orden l922l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
de Angeli, Marguerite l889l987. . . . . . . . . DL22
De Angelis, Milo l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Debord, Guy l93ll991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
De ow, |. D. . l820l8o7 . . . . . . . DL3, 79, 218
Debs, Eugene V. l855l92o. . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
de ruyn, Gnter l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
de Camp, L. Sprague l9072000 . . . . . . . . . . DL8
De Carlo, Andrea l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
De Casas, Celso A. l911 . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Dechert, Robert l895l975 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of
the Citizen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
a~~ o t~I Olympe
de Gouges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Dedications, Inscriptions, and
Annotations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l-02
Dee, |ohn l527lo08 or lo09. . . . . . . DLl3o, 2l3
Deeping, George Warwick l877l950 . . . . DLl53
Deffand, Marie de VichyChamrond,
marquise Du lo9ol780 . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
Defoe, Daniel
loo0l73l . . . . . . . DL39, 95, l0l; CDL2
Ireface to ` g~ (l722) . . . . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to q c~ ^
o ` (l7l9) . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to j c~ (l722) . . . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to o ` (l7l9) . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to o~~ (l721) . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
de Iontaine, Ielix Gregory l831l89o. . . . . DL13
De Iorest, |ohn William
l82ol90o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2, l89
DeIrees, Madeline l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
'Jhe Ioet`s Kaleidoscope. Jhe
Element of Surprise in the
Making of the Ioem" . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
DeGolyer, Everette Lee l88ol95o . . . . . . DLl87
de Graff, Robert l895l98l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8l
de Graft, |oe l921l978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll7
De Groen, Alma l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
a e circa 980. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Deighton, Len l929 . . . . . . .DL87; CDL8
De|ong, Meindert l90ol99l. . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Dekker, Jhomas
circa l572lo32 . . . . . . DLo2, l72; CDLl
Delacorte, George J., |r. l891l99l. . . . . . . DL9l
Delafield, E. M. l890l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL31
Delahaye, Guy (Guillaume Lahaise)
l888l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
de la Mare, Walter l873l95o
. . . . . . . . . . DLl9, l53, lo2, 255; CDLo
Deland, Margaret l857l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL78
Delaney, Shelagh l939 . . . . .DLl3; CDL8
Delano, Amasa l7o3l823 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl83
Delany, Martin Robinson l8l2l885. . . . . . DL50
Delany, Samuel R. l912 . . . . . . . . . . . DL8, 33
de la Roche, Mazo l879l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Delavigne, |ean Iranois Casimir
l793l813 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl92
Delbanco, Nicholas l912 . . . . . . . . . DLo, 231
Delblanc, Sven l93ll992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Del Castillo, Ramn l919 . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Deledda, Grazia l87ll93o . . . . . . . . DL2o1, 329
De Len, Nephtal l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Deleuze, Gilles l925l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
Delfini, Antonio l907l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
Delgado, Abelardo arrientos l93l . . . . DL82
Del Giudice, Daniele l919 . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
De Libero, Libero l90ol98l . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Delibes, Miguel l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Delicado, Irancisco
circa l175circa l510. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
DeLillo, Don l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo, l73
de Lint, Charles l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
de Lisser H. G. l878l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll7
Dell, Iloyd l887l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Dell Iublishing Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
delle Grazie, Marie Eugene l8o1l93l . . . . DL8l
Deloney, Jhomas died lo00 . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo7
Deloria, Ella C. l889l97l. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl75
Deloria, Vine, |r. l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl75
del Rey, Lester l9l5l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Del Vecchio, |ohn M. l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DS9
Del`vig, Anton Antonovich l798l83l. . . . DL205
de Man, Iaul l9l9l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
DeMarinis, Rick l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l8
Demby, William l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
De Mille, |ames l833l880 . . . . . . . . . DL99, 25l
de Mille, William l878l955 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2oo
Deming, Ihilander l829l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . DL71
Deml, |akub l878l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Demorest, William |ennings l822l895. . . . DL79
De Morgan, William l839l9l7 . . . . . . . . DLl53
Demosthenes 381 _.`.322 _.`. . . . . . . . . . DLl7o
Henry Denham |publishing house| . . . . . . DLl70
Denham, Sir |ohn lol5loo9. . . . . . . . DL58, l2o
Denison, Merrill l893l975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
J. S. Denison and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Dennery, Adolphe Ihilippe l8lll899 . . . DLl92
Dennie, |oseph l7o8l8l2 . . . . . DL37, 13, 59, 73
Dennis, C. |. l87ol938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Dennis, |ohn lo58l731. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0l
Dennis, Nigel l9l2l989 . . . . . . . . DLl3, l5, 233
Denslow, W. W. l85ol9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl88
Dent, |. M., and Sons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
`~ f ai_ POV
QVM
Dent, Lester l901l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Dent, Jom l932l998. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
Denton, Daniel circa lo2ol703 . . . . . . . . . DL21
DeIaola, Jomie l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
De _uille, Dan l829l898 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8o
De _uincey, Jhomas
l785l859. . . . . . . . . DLll0, l11; CDL3
'Rhetoric`` (l828; revised, l859)
|excerpt| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL57
'Style" (l810; revised, l859)
|excerpt| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL57
Derby, George Horatio l823l8ol . . . . . . . DLll
|. C. Derby and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Derby and Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
De Ricci, Seymour l88ll912 . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Derleth, August l909l97l . . . . . . . . DL9; DSl7
Derrida, |acques l9302001 . . . . . . . . . . . DL212
Jhe Derrydale Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Derzhavin, Gavriil Romanovich
l713l8lo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Desai, Anita l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27l, 323
Desani, G. V. l9092000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Desaulniers, Gonzalve l8o3l931. . . . . . . . DL92
DesbordesValmore, Marceline
l78ol859. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
Descartes, Ren l59olo50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Deschamps, Emile l79ll87l . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
Deschamps, Eustache l310.l101 . . . . . . DL208
Desbiens, |eanIaul l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
des Iorts, LouisRene l9l8200l . . . . . . . DL83
Deshpande, Shashi l938 . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Desiato, Luca l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Desjardins, MarieCatherine
(see Villedieu, Madame de)
Desnica, Vladan l905l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Desnos, Robert l900l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL258
Des Iriers, onaventure
l5l0.l513. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Desportes, Ihilippe l51olo0o . . . . . . . . . DL327
DesRochers, Alfred l90ll978 . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Des Roches, Madeleine l520.l587. and
Catherine des Roches l512l587.. . . . . DL327
Des Roches, Madeleine
l520.l587. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Desrosiers, LoIaul l89ol9o7 . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Dessaulles, LouisAntoine l8l9l895 . . . . . DL99
Dessl, Giuseppe l909l977 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl77
Destouches, LouisIerdinand
(see Cline, LouisIerdinand)
Desvignes, Lucette l92o . . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
DeSylva, uddy l895l950 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
De Jabley, Lord l835l895 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
Deutsch, abette l895l982 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL15
Deutsch, Niklaus Manuel
(see Manuel, Niklaus)
Andr Deutsch Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Devanny, |ean l891l9o2. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Deveaux, Alexis l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
De Vere, Aubrey l8l1l902 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
Devereux, second Earl of Essex, Robert
l5o5lo0l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Jhe DevinAdair Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
De Vinne, Jheodore Low
l828l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Devlin, Anne l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
DeVoto, ernard l897l955 . . . . . . . . . DL9, 25o
De Vries, Ieter l9l0l993 . . . . . . . . . . DLo; Y82
Jribute to Albert Erskine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y93
Dewart, Edward Hartley l828l903. . . . . . DL99
Dewdney, Christopher l95l . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Dewdney, Selwyn l909l979 . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Dewey, |ohn l859l952 . . . . . . . . . . .DL21o, 270
Dewey, Orville l791l882. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL213
Dewey, Jhomas . l9l5l98l . . . . . . . . . DL22o
DeWitt, Robert M., Iublisher . . . . . . . . . . DL19
DeWolfe, Iiske and Company . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Dexter, Colin l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL87
de Young, M. H. l819l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Dhlomo, H. I. E. l903l95o. . . . . . . . DLl57, 225
Dhu alRummah (Abu alHarith Ghaylan ibn 'Lqbah)
circa o9ocirca 735 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Dhuoda circa 803after 813 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
q a~ l810l811 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL223
Jhe Dial Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
'Dialogue entre un prtre et un moribond,"
Marquis de Sade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Diamond, I. A. L. l920l988 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Dias Gomes, Alfredo l922l999. . . . . . . . DL307
Daz del Castillo, ernal
circa l19ol581 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Dibble, L. Grace l902l998 . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
Dibdin, Jhomas Irognall
l77ol817 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Di Cicco, Iier Giorgio l919 . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Dick, Ihilip K. l928l982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Dick and Iitzgerald. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Dickens, Charles l8l2l870
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l, 55, 70, l59,
loo; DS5; CDL1
Dickey, Eric |erome l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Dickey, |ames l923l997 . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, l93;
Y82, 93, 9o, 97; DS7, l9; CDALo
|ames Dickey and Stanley urnshaw
|ames Dickey at SeventyA Jribute . . . . . Y93
|ames Dickey, American Ioet. . . . . . . . . . . Y9o
Jhe |ames Dickey Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Jhe Life of |ames Dickey. A Lecture to
the Iriends of the Emory Libraries,
by Henry Hart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Jribute to Archibald MacLeish . . . . . . . . . Y82
Jribute to Malcolm Cowley. . . . . . . . . . . . Y89
Jribute to Jruman Capote. . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
Jributes |to Dickey| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Dickey, William l928l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Dickinson, Emily
l830l88o . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 213; CDAL3
Dickinson, |ohn l732l808. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Dickinson, |onathan lo88l717 . . . . . . . . . DL21
Dickinson, Iatric l9l1l991. . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Dickinson, Ieter l927 . . . . . . . DL87, lol, 27o
|ohn Dicks |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Dickson, Gordon R. l923200l . . . . . . . . . . DL8
a~ i~ _~
^~ ^~ a~
i~ _~ b ~
` . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98-02
a~ i~ _~
v~ Awards . . . . . . . . . .Y92-93, 97-02
q a~ k~~ _~ . . . . . . . DLl11
Diderot, Denis l7l3l781 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
'Jhe Encyclopedia". . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Didion, |oan l931
. . . . . . . . DL2, l73, l85; Y8l, 8o; CDALo
Di Donato, Iietro l9lll992 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Die Irstliche ibliothek Corvey . . . . . . . . . . . Y9o
Diego, Gerardo l89ol987 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
Dietz, Howard l89ol983. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Dez, Luis Mateo l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Digby, Everard l550.lo05 . . . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Digges, Jhomas circa l51ol595 . . . . . . . DLl3o
Jhe Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Expanding Copyright Irotection in
Cyberspace and eyond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Diktonius, Elmer l89ol9ol. . . . . . . . . . . DL259
Dillard, Annie l915 . . . . . . . DL275, 278; Y80
Dillard, R. H. W. l937 . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, 211
Charles J. Dillingham Company . . . . . . . . DL19
G. W. Dillingham Company . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Edward and Charles Dilly
|publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl51
Dilthey, Wilhelm l833l9ll. . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Dimitrova, laga l922 . . . .DLl8l; CDWL1
Dimov, Dimitr l909l9oo. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Dimsdale, Jhomas |. l83l.l8oo. . . . . . . DLl8o
Dinescu, Mircea l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Dinesen, Isak (see lixen, Karen)
Ding Ling l901l98o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Dingelstedt, Iranz von l8l1l88l . . . . . . DLl33
Dinis, |lio ( |oaquim Guilherme
Gomes Coelho) l839l87l. . . . . . . . . DL287
Dintenfass, Mark l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
ai_ POV `~ f
QVN
`
Diogenes, |r. (see rougham, |ohn)

Diogenes Laertius circa 200. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o
DiIrima, Diane l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo
Disch, Jhomas M. l910 . . . . . . . . . . DL8, 282
'Le Discours sur le style," GeorgesLouis Leclerc
de uffon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
a~I l999 ooker Irize winner,
|. M. Coetzee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Diski, |enny l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27l
Disney, Walt l90ll9oo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Disraeli, enjamin l801l88l . . . . . . . . DL2l, 55
DÌsraeli, Isaac l7ool818 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl07
ai_ Award for Distinguished
Literary Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Ditlevsen, Jove l9l7l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Ditzen, Rudolf (see Iallada, Hans)
Divakaruni, Chitra anerjee l95o . . . . DL323
Dix, Dorothea Lynde l802l887 . . . . . . DLl, 235
Dix, Dorothy (see Gilmer, Elizabeth Meriwether)
Dix, Edwards and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Dix, Gertrude circa l871. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl97
Dixie, Ilorence Douglas l857l905 . . . . . . DLl71
Dixon, Ella Hepworth
l855 or l857l932. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl97
Dixon, Iaige (see Corcoran, arbara)
Dixon, Richard Watson l833l900 . . . . . . . DLl9
Dixon, Stephen l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
ai_ Award for Distinguished
Literary Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Dmitriev, Andrei Viktorovich l95o . . . . DL285
Dmitriev, Ivan Ivanovich l7o0l837. . . . . . DLl50
Dobell, ertram l812l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Dobell, Sydney l821l871 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Dobie, |. Irank l888l9o1. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l2
Dobles Yzaguirre, |ulieta l913 . . . . . . . . DL283
Dblin, Alfred l878l957. . . . . DLoo; CDWL2
Dobroliubov, Nikolai Aleksandrovich
l83ol8ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL277
Dobson, Austin l810l92l . . . . . . . . . DL35, l11
Dobson, Rosemary l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Doctorow, E. L.
l93l . . . . . DL2, 28, l73; Y80; CDALo
Dodd, Susan M. l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
Dodd, William E. l8o9l910. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
Anne Dodd |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . DLl51
Dodd, Mead and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Doderer, Heimito von l89ol9oo . . . . . . . . DL85
. W. Dodge and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Dodge, Mary Abigail l833l89o . . . . . . . . DL22l
Dodge, Mary Mapes
l83l.l905 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL12, 79; DSl3
Dodge Iublishing Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Dodgson, Charles Lutwidge (see Carroll, Lewis)
Dodsley, Robert l703l7o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL95
R. Dodsley |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . DLl51
Dodson, Owen l9l1l983. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7o
Dodwell, Christina l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
Doesticks, _. K. Ihilander, I. .
(see Jhomson, Mortimer)
Doheny, Carrie Estelle l875l958 . . . . . . . DLl10
Doherty, |ohn l798.l851 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl90
Doig, Ivan l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20o
Doina, tefan Augustin l922 . . . . . . . DL232
Dolet, Etienne l509l51o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Domnguez, Sylvia Maida l935 . . . . . . DLl22
Donaghy, Michael l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282
Iatrick Donahoe |publishing house| . . . . . . DL19
Donald, David H. l920 . . . . . . . . DLl7; Y87
Donaldson, Scott l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Doni, Rodolfo l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl77
Donleavy, |. I. l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo, l73
Donnadieu, Marguerite (see Duras, Marguerite)
Donne, |ohn
l572lo3l . . . . . . . . .DLl2l, l5l; CDLl
Donnelly, Ignatius l83ll90l . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2
R. R. Donnelley and Sons Company. . . . . . DL19
Donoghue, Emma l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Donohue and Henneberry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Donoso, |os l921l99o . . . . DLll3; CDWL3
M. Doolady |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Dooley, Ebon (see Ebon)
Doolittle, Hilda l88ol9ol . . . . . DL1, 15; DSl5
Doplicher, Iabio l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Dor, Milo l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
George H. Doran Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Dorat, |ean l508l588. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Dorcey, Mary l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
Dorgels, Roland l88ol973 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo5
Dorn, Edward l929l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Dorr, Rheta Childe l8ool918. . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Dorris, Michael l915l997 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl75
Dorset and Middlesex, Charles Sackville,
Lord uckhurst, Earl of lo13l70o . . . .DLl3l
Dorsey, Candas |ane l952 . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Dorst, Jankred l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75, l21
Dos Iassos, |ohn l89ol970
. . . . . . . . . DL1, 9, 3lo; DSl, l5; CDAL5
|ohn Dos Iassos. A Centennial
Commemoration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y9o
|ohn Dos Iassos. Artist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
|ohn Dos Iassos Newsletter . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
rKpK^K (Documentary). . . . . . . . . . . . . DL271
Dostoevsky, Iyodor l82ll88l . . . . . . . . . DL238
Doubleday and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Doubrovsky, Serge l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Dougall, Lily l858l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Doughty, Charles M.
l813l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl9, 57, l71
Douglas, Lady Alfred (see Custance, Olive)
Douglas, Ellen ( |osephine Ayres Haxton)
l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Douglas, Gavin l17ol522. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Douglas, Keith l920l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Douglas, Norman l8o8l952. . . . . . . . DL31, l95
Douglass, Irederick l8l7l895
. . . . . . . . . . DLl, 13, 50, 79, 213; CDAL2
Irederick Douglass Creative Arts Center Y0l
Douglass, William circa lo9ll752 . . . . . . . DL21
Dourado, Autran l92o . . . . . . . . . DLl15, 307
Dove, Arthur G. l880l91o. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl88
Dove, Rita l952 . . . . . . . . . DLl20; CDAL7
Dover Iublications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Doves Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Dovlatov, Sergei Donatovich
l91ll990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
Dowden, Edward l813l9l3 . . . . . . . . DL35, l19
Dowell, Coleman l925l985 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Dowland, |ohn l5o3lo2o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl72
Downes, Gwladys l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Downing, |., Major (see Davis, Charles A.)
Downing, Major |ack (see Smith, Seba)
Dowriche, Anne
before l5o0after lol3 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl72
Dowson, Ernest l8o7l900 . . . . . . . . . DLl9, l35
William Doxey |publishing house|. . . . . . . . DL19
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan
l859l930 . . . DLl8, 70, l5o, l78; CDL5
Jhe Iriory Scholars of New York . . . . . . . .Y99
Doyle, Kirby l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Doyle, Roddy l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl91, 32o
Drabble, Margaret
l939 . . . . . . . . DLl1, l55, 23l; CDL8
Jribute to Graham Greene . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y9l
Drach, Albert l902l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
Drachmann, Holger l81ol908. . . . . . . . . DL300
a~~ (Documentary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL301
Dragojevi, Danijel l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Dragn, Osvaldo l929l999 . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Drake, Samuel Gardner l798l875 . . . . . . DLl87
Drama (p Jheater)
Jhe Dramatic Iublishing Company . . . . . . DL19
Dramatists Ilay Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Drant, Jhomas
early l510s.l578 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo7
Draper, |ohn W. l8lll882 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Draper, Lyman C. l8l5l89l . . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Drayton, Michael l5o3lo3l . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2l
Dreiser, Jheodore l87ll915
. . . . . . . DL9, l2, l02, l37; DSl; CDAL3
`~ f ai_ POV
QVO
Jhe International Jheodore Dreiser
Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Notes from the Lnderground
of p `~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Dresser, Davis l901l977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
Drew, Elizabeth A.
'A Note on Jechnique" |excerpt|
(l92o) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3o
Drewe, Robert l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Drewitz, Ingeborg l923l98o . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Drieu La Rochelle, Iierre l893l915 . . . . . DL72
Drinker, Elizabeth l735l807 . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Drinkwater, |ohn l882l937. . . . . .DLl0, l9, l19
Jhe Iriends of the Dymock Ioets . . . . . . . Y00
DrosteHlshoff, Annette von
l797l818 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl33; CDWL2
Jhe Drue Heinz Literature Irize
Excerpt from 'Excerpts from a Report
of the Commission," in David
osworth`s q a~ a~
An Interview with David osworth . . . . . . Y82
Drummond, William, of Hawthornden
l585lo19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2l, 2l3
Drummond, William Henry l851l907 . . . DL92
Drummond de Andrade, Carlos
l902l987. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Druzhinin, Aleksandr Vasilèvich
l821l8o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Druzhnikov, Yuri l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Dryden, Charles l8o0.l93l . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7l
Dryden, |ohn
lo3ll700. . . . . . DL80, l0l, l3l; CDL2
Dri, Marin
circa l508l5o7 . . . . . . . .DLl17; CDWL1
Duane, William l7o0l835 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Du artas, Guillaume l511l590 . . . . . . . DL327
Dub, Marcel l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Dub, Rodolphe (see Hertel, Iranois)
Du ellay, |oachim l522.l5o0 . . . . . . . . DL327
Dubie, Norman l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Dubin, Al l89ll915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Du occage, AnneMarie l7l0l802. . . . . DL3l3
Dubois, Silvia l788 or l789.l889 . . . . . . DL239
Du ois, W. E. .
l8o8l9o3 . . . .DL17, 50, 9l, 21o; CDAL3
Du ois, William Ine l9lol993 . . . . . . . DLol
Dubrovina, Ekaterina Oskarovna
l81ol9l3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Dubus, Andre l93ol999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Jribute to Michael M. Rea. . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Dubus, Andre, III l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Ducange, Victor l783l833. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl92
Du Chaillu, Iaul elloni l83l.l903 . . . . DLl89
Ducharme, Rjean l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Dui, |ovan l87ll913 . . . . .DLl17; CDWL1
Duck, Stephen l705.l75o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL95
Gerald Duckworth and Company
Limited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Duclaux, Madame Mary (see Robinson, A. Mary I.)
Dudek, Louis l9l8200l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Dudintsev, Vladimir Dmitrievich
l9l8l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
DudleySmith, Jrevor (see Hall, Adam)
Duell, Sloan and Iearce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Duerer, Albrecht l17ll528 . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl79
Duff Gordon, Lucie l82ll8o9 . . . . . . . . DLloo
Dufferin, Helen Lady, Countess of Gifford
l807l8o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99
Duffield and Green. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Duffy, Maureen l933 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 3l0
Dufief, Nicholas Gouin l77ol831 . . . . . . DLl87
Dufresne, |ohn l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Dugan, Alan l9232003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Dugard, William lo0oloo2 . . . . . . . .DLl70, 28l
William Dugard |publishing house| . . . . . .DLl70
Dugas, Marcel l883l917. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
William Dugdale |publishing house|. . . . . DLl0o
Du Guillet, Iernette l520.l515. . . . . . . . DL327
Duhamel, Georges l881l9oo . . . . . . . . . . DLo5
Dujardin, Edouard l8oll919 . . . . . . . . . DLl23
Dukes, Ashley l885l959. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Dumas, Alexandre l821l895 . . . . . . . DLl92
Dumas, Alexandre l802l870 . . . . . DLll9, l92
Dumas, Henry l931l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
du Maurier, Daphne l907l989 . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Du Maurier, George l831l89o . . . . . DLl53, l78
Dummett, Michael l925 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Dunbar, Iaul Laurence
l872l90o. . . . . . . . DL50, 51, 78; CDAL3
Introduction to i i i (l89o),
by William Dean Howells . . . . . . . DL50
Dunbar, William
circa l1o0circa l522 . . . . . . . . . DLl32, l1o
Duncan, Dave l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Duncan, David |ames l952 . . . . . . . . . DL25o
Duncan, Norman l87ll9lo. . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Duncan, _uince l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15
Duncan, Robert l9l9l988 . . . . . . DL5, lo, l93
Duncan, Ronald l9l1l982 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Duncan, Sara |eannette l8oll922. . . . . . . DL92
Dunigan, Edward, and rother . . . . . . . . . DL19
Dunlap, |ohn l717l8l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Dunlap, William l7ool839 . . . . . . . DL30, 37, 59
Dunlop, William 'Jiger" l792l818. . . . . . DL99
Dunmore, Helen l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Dunn, Douglas l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Dunn, Harvey Jhomas l881l952. . . . . . DLl88
Dunn, Stephen l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
'Jhe Good, Jhe Not So Good" . . . . DLl05
Dunne, Dominick l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Dunne, Iinley Ieter l8o7l93o. . . . . . . DLll, 23
Dunne, |ohn Gregory l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y80
Dunne, Ihilip l908l992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Dunning, Ralph Cheever l878l930 . . . . . . DL1
Dunning, William A. l857l922. . . . . . . . . .DLl7
Duns Scotus, |ohn circa l2ool308 . . . . . DLll5
Dunsany, Lord (Edward |ohn Moreton
Drax Ilunkett, aron Dunsany)
l878l957. . . . . . . . . DLl0, 77, l53, l5o, 255
Dunton, W. Herbert l878l93o . . . . . . . . DLl88
|ohn Dunton |publishing house| . . . . . . . . .DLl70
Dupin, AmantineAuroreLucile (see Sand, George)
Du Iont de Nemours, Iierre Samuel
l739l8l7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
Dupuy, Eliza Ann l8l1l880 . . . . . . . . . . DL218
Durack, Mary l9l3l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Durand, Lucile (see ersianik, Louky)
Duranti, Irancesca l935 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Duranty, Walter l881l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Duras, Marguerite (Marguerite Donnadieu)
l9l1l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83, 32l
Durfey, Jhomas lo53l723 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL80
Durova, Nadezhda Andreevna
(Aleksandr Andreevich Aleksandrov)
l783l8oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
Durrell, Lawrence l9l2l990
. . . . . . . . . . . DLl5, 27, 201; Y90; CDL7
William Durrell |publishing house|. . . . . . . DL19
Drrenmatt, Iriedrich
l92ll990 . . . . . . . . .DLo9, l21; CDWL2
Duston, Hannah lo57l737. . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Dutt, Joru l85ol877 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
E. I. Dutton and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Duun, Olav l87ol939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Duvoisin, Roger l901l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Duyckinck, Evert Augustus
l8lol878. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, o1, 250
Duyckinck, George L.
l823l8o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, 250
Duyckinck and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Dwight, |ohn Sullivan l8l3l893. . . . . DLl, 235
Dwight, Jimothy l752l8l7. . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
America. or, A Ioem on the Settlement
of the ritish Colonies, by
Jimothy Dwight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Dybek, Stuart l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Dyer, Charles l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Dyer, Sir Edward l513lo07. . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Dyer, George l755l81l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL93
Dyer, |ohn lo99l757 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL95
Dyk, Viktor l877l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Dylan, ob l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
ai_ POV `~ f
QVP
`
b
Eager, Edward l9lll9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Eagleton, Jerry l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL212
Eames, Wilberforce
l855l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl10
Earle, Alice Morse
l853l9ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22l
Earle, |ohn lo00 or lo0lloo5 . . . . . . . . . DLl5l
|ames H. Earle and Company . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
East Europe
Independence and Destruction,
l9l8l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
Social Jheory and Ethnography.
Languageand Ethnicity in
Western versus Eastern Man . . . . DL220
Eastlake, William l9l7l997 . . . . . . . . . DLo, 20o
Eastman, Carol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Eastman, Charles A. (Ohiyesa)
l858l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl75
Eastman, Max l883l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9l
Eaton, Daniel Isaac l753l8l1. . . . . . . . . . DLl58
Eaton, Edith Maude l8o5l9l1. . . . . DL22l, 3l2
Eaton, Winnifred l875l951 . . . . . . . DL22l, 3l2
Eberhart, Richard l9012005. . .DL18; CDALl
Jribute to Robert Ienn Warren . . . . . . . . .Y89
Ebner, |eannie l9l82001. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
EbnerEschenbach, Marie von
l830l9lo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8l
Ebon l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Eooks` Second Act in Libraries. . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
b~ `~ circa l015. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Ecco Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Echegaray, |os l832l9lo. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL329
Eckhart, Meister circa l2o0circa l328 . . . DLll5
q b o l805l8o8 . . . . . . . . . . . DLll0
Eco, Lmberto l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o, 212
Eddison, E. R. l882l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL255
Edel, Leon l907l997. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Edelfeldt, Inger l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
|. M. Edelstein`s Collection of Jwentieth
Century American Ioetry (A Century of Ioetry,
a Lifetime of Collecting) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Edes, enjamin l732l803. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Edgar, David l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, 233
Viewpoint. Iolitics and
Ierformance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Edgerton, Clyde l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL278
Edgeworth, Maria
l7o8l819 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLllo, l59, lo3
q b o l802l929. . . . . . . . . DLll0
Edinburgh Lniversity Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Editing
Conversations with Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y95
Editorial Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
Jhe Editorial Style of Iredson owers . . . .Y9l
Editorial. Jhe Extension of Copyright . . . .Y02
We See the Editor at Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Whose r\ Jhe Iunction of Editing . . . Y97
Jhe Editor Iublishing Company. . . . . . . . . DL19
Editorial Institute at oston Lniversity . . . . . . .Y00
Edmonds, Helen Woods Ierguson
(see Kavan, Anna)
Edmonds, Randolph l900l983 . . . . . . . . . DL5l
Edmonds, Walter D. l903l998 . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Edric, Robert (see Armitage, G. E.)
Edschmid, Kasimir l890l9oo. . . . . . . . . . . DL5o
Edson, Margaret l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2oo
Edson, Russell l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
Edwards, Amelia Anne landford
l83ll892 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl71
Edwards, Dic l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
Edwards, Edward l8l2l88o. . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Edwards, |onathan l703l758 . . . . . . . DL21, 270
Edwards, |onathan, |r. l715l80l . . . . . . . . DL37
Edwards, |unius l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Edwards, Matilda arbara etham
l83ol9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl71
Edwards, Richard l521l5oo. . . . . . . . . . . . DLo2
Edwards, Sarah Iierpont l7l0l758. . . . . . DL200
|ames Edwards |publishing house|. . . . . . . DLl51
Effinger, George Alec l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Egerton, George l859l915. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl35
Eggleston, Edward l837l902 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2
Eggleston, Wilfred l90ll98o . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Egltis, Anlavs l90ol993. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
Eguren, |os Mara l871l912 . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Ehrenreich, arbara l91l . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
Ehrenstein, Albert l88ol950 . . . . . . . . . . . DL8l
Ehrhart, W. D. l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DS9
Ehrlich, Gretel l91o . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l2, 275
Eich, Gnter l907l972 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9, l21
Eichendorff, |oseph Ireiherr von
l788l857 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Eifukumonìn l27ll312 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Eigner, Larry l92ol99o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, l93
b _~ lo19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5l
Eilhart von Oberge
circa ll10circa ll95. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Einar enediktsson l8o1l910 . . . . . . . . . DL293
Einar Krason l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Einar Mr Gumundsson l951 . . . . . . DL293
Einhard circa 770810 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Eiseley, Loren l907l977 . . . . . . . . DL275, DSl7
Eisenberg, Deborah l915 . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
Eisenreich, Herbert l925l98o . . . . . . . . . . DL85
Eisner, Kurt l8o7l9l9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Ekelf, Gunnar l907l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL259
Eklund, Gordon l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Ekman, Kerstin l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Ekwensi, Cyprian l92l . . . DLll7; CDWL3
Elaw, Zilpha circa l790. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL239
George Eld |publishing house|. . . . . . . . . . DLl70
Elder, Lonne, III l93l . . . . . . . . . DL7, 38, 11
Iaul Elder and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Eldershaw, Ilora (M. arnard Eldershaw)
l897l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Eldershaw, M. arnard (see arnard, Marjorie and
Eldershaw, Ilora)
q b jI l970 ooker Irize winner,
ernice Rubens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Jhe Electronic Jext Center and the Electronic
Archive of Early American Iiction at the
Lniversity of Virginia Library . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Eliade, Mircea l907l98o. . . . DL220; CDWL1
Elie, Robert l9l5l973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Elin Ielin l877l919. . . . . . . . DLl17; CDWL1
Eliot, George
l8l9l880 . . . . . . . .DL2l, 35, 55; CDL1
Jhe George Eliot Iellowship. . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Eliot, |ohn lo01lo90 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Eliot, J. S. l888l9o5
. . . . . . DL7, l0, 15, o3, 215, 329; CDAL5
J. S. Eliot Centennial. Jhe Return
of the Old Iossum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y88
Jhe J. S. Eliot Society. Celebration and
Scholarship, l980l999. . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Eliot`s Court Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl70
Elizabeth I l533lo03 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Elizabeth von NassauSaarbrcken
after l393l15o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl79
Elizondo, Salvador l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15
Elizondo, Sergio l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Elkin, Stanley
l930l995 . . . . . . . . .DL2, 28, 2l8, 278; Y80
Elles, Dora Amy (see Wentworth, Iatricia)
Ellet, Elizabeth I. l8l8.l877 . . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Elliot, Ebenezer l78ll819. . . . . . . . . . DL9o, l90
Elliot, Irances Minto (Dickinson)
l820l898 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLloo
Elliott, Charlotte l789l87l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99
Elliott, George l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Elliott, George I. l9l8l980 . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
Elliott, |anice l93ll995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Elliott, Sarah arnwell l818l928 . . . . . . . DL22l
Elliott, Sumner Locke l9l7l99l . . . . . . . . DL289
Elliott, Jhomes and Jalbot . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Elliott, William, III l788l8o3. . . . . . . . DL3, 218
Ellin, Stanley l9lol98o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Ellis, Alice Jhomas (Anna Margaret Haycraft)
l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl91
Ellis, ret Easton l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Ellis, Edward S. l810l9lo . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL12
`~ f ai_ POV
QVQ
Irederick Staridge Ellis
|publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Ellis, George E.
'Jhe New Controversy Concerning
Miracles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DS5
Jhe George H. Ellis Company. . . . . . . . . . DL19
Ellis, Havelock l859l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl90
Ellison, Harlan l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Jribute to Isaac Asimov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y92
Ellison, Ralph
l9l1l991. . . . DL2, 7o, 227; Y91; CDALl
Ellmann, Richard l9l8l987 . . . . . . DLl03; Y87
Ellroy, |ames l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o; Y9l
Jribute to Raymond Chandler. . . . . . . . . . Y88
Eluard, Iaul l895l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL258
Elyot, Jhomas l190.l51o. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Elytis, Odysseus l9lll99o . . . . . . . . . . . DL329
Emanuel, |ames Andrew l92l . . . . . . . . DL1l
Emecheta, uchi l911 . . . .DLll7; CDWL3
Emerson, Ralph Waldo
l803l882 . . . . . DLl, 59, 73, l83, 223, 270;
DS5; CDAL2
Ralph Waldo Emerson in l982 . . . . . . . . . Y82
Jhe Ralph Waldo Emerson Society. . . . . . Y99
Emerson, William l7o9l8ll . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Emerson, William R. l923l997. . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Emin, Iedor Aleksandrovich
circa l735l770 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Emmanuel, Iierre l9lol981 . . . . . . . . . . DL258
Empedocles fifth century _.`. . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7o
Empson, William l90ol981 . . . . . . . . . . . DL20
Enchi Iumiko l905l98o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
'Jhe Encyclopedia," Denis Diderot . . . . . DL3l1
Ende, Michael l929l995. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
End Shsaku l923l99o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Engel, Marian l933l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Engel`gardt, Sofìa Vladimirovna
l828l891 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL277
Engels, Iriedrich l820l895 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Engle, Iaul l908l99l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL18
English, Jhomas Dunn l8l9l902. . . . . . DL202
q b m~I l992 ooker Irize winner,
Michael Ondaatje. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Ennius 239 _.`.lo9 _.`. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ll
Enquist, Ier Olov l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Enright, Anne l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Enright, D. |. l9202002. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Enright, Elizabeth l909l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Enright, Nick l9502003. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Epic, Jhe SixteenthCentury Spanish. . . . DL3l8
Epictetus circa 55circa l25l30 . . . . . . . . .DLl7o
Epicurus 312/31l _.`.27l/270 _.`. . . . . . .DLl7o
dÈpinay, Louise (LouiseIlorenceItronille Jardieu
dÈsclavelles, marquise dÈpinay)
l72ol783 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
Epps, ernard l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Epshtein, Mikhail Naumovich l950 . . DL285
Epstein, |ulius l9092000 and
Epstein, Ihilip l909l952. . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Epstein, Leslie l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Editors, Conversations with . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y95
Equiano, Olaudah
circa l715l797 . . . . . . . DL37, 50; CDWL3
Olaudah Equiano and Lnfinished
|ourneys. Jhe SlaveNarrative
Jradition and JwentiethCentury
Continuities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLll7
Eragny Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Erasmus, Desiderius l1o7l53o . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Erba, Luciano l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Erdman, Nikolai Robertovich
l900l970. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL272
Erdrich, Louise
l951 . . . . . . .DLl52, l75, 20o; CDAL7
Erenburg, Ilìa Grigorèvich l89ll9o7 . . .DL272
Erichsenrown, Gwethalyn Graham
(see Graham, Gwethalyn)
Eriugena, |ohn Scottus circa 8l0877 . . . . DLll5
Ernst, Iaul l8ool933 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo, ll8
Erofeev, Venedikt Vasilèvich
l938l990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
Erofeev, Viktor Vladimirovich l917 . . . DL285
Ershov, Ietr Iavlovich l8l5l8o9. . . . . . . DL205
Erskine, Albert l9lll993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y93
At Home with Albert Erskine . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Erskine, |ohn l879l95l. . . . . . . . . . . . DL9, l02
Erskine, Mrs. Steuart .l918 . . . . . . . . . . DLl95
Ertel`, Aleksandr Ivanovich
l855l908 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Ervine, St. |ohn Greer l883l97l . . . . . . . . DLl0
Eschenburg, |ohann |oachim
l713l820. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL97
Escofet, Cristina l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Escoto, |ulio l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15
Esdaile, Arundell l880l95o. . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Esenin, Sergei Aleksandrovich
l895l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Eshleman, Clayton l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Espaillat, Rhina I. l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282
Espanca, Ilorbela l891l930 . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Espriu, Salvador l9l3l985 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
Ess Ess Iublishing Company . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Essex House Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Esson, Louis l878l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Essop, Ahmed l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL225
Esterhzy, Iter l950 . . . . . DL232; CDWL1
Estes, Eleanor l90ol988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Estes and Lauriat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Estienne, Henri II (Henricus Stephanus)
l53ll597 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Estleman, Loren D. l952 . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
Eszterhas, |oe l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Etherege, George lo3ocirca lo92 . . . . . . . DL80
Ethridge, Mark, Sr. l89ol98l . . . . . . . . . .DLl27
Ets, Marie Hall l893l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Etter, David l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Ettner, |ohann Christoph lo51l721 . . . . DLlo8
Eucken, Rudolf l81ol92o. . . . . . . . . . . . DL329
Eudora Welty Remembered in
Jwo Exhibits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Eugene Gant`s Irojected Works . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Eupolemius fl. circa l095 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Euripides circa 181 _.`.107/10o _.`.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o; CDWLl
Evans, Augusta |ane l835l909 . . . . . . . . DL239
Evans, Caradoc l878l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo2
Evans, Charles l850l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl87
Evans, Donald l881l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL51
Evans, George Henry l805l85o . . . . . . . . DL13
Evans, Hubert l892l98o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Evans, Mari l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Evans, Mary Ann (see Eliot, George)
Evans, Nathaniel l712l7o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Evans, Sebastian l830l909 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
Evans, Ray l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
M. Evans and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Evaristi, Marcella l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
Everett, Alexander Hill l790l817 . . . . . . . DL59
Everett, Edward l791l8o5. . . . . . . DLl, 59, 235
Everson, R. G. l903 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Everson, William l9l2l991 . . . . . .DL5, lo, 2l2
Evreinov, Nikolai l879l953. . . . . . . . . . . .DL3l7
Ewald, |ohannes l713l78l. . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Ewart, Gavin l9lol995. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Ewing, |uliana Horatia l81ll885 . . . DL2l, lo3
q b~ l808l88l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll0
Exley, Irederick l929l992 . . . . . . . DLl13; Y8l
Editorial. Jhe Extension of Copyright . . . . . . . Y02
von Eyb, Albrecht l120l175 . . . . . . . . . . .DLl79
Eyre and Spottiswoode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Ezekiel, Nissim l9212001 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Ezera, Regna l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Ezzo .after l0o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
c
Iaber, Irederick William l8l1l8o3. . . . . . DL32
Iaber and Iaber Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Iaccio, Rena (see Aleramo, Sibilla)
ai_ POV `~ f
QVR
`
Iacsimiles
Jhe Lses of Iacsimile. A Symposium. . . . .Y90
Iadeev, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich
l90ll95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL272
Iagundo, Ana Mara l938 . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
Iainzil`berg, Ilìa Arnol`dovich
(see Il`f, Ilìa and Ietrov, Evgenii)
Iair, Ronald L. l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Iairfax, eatrice (see Manning, Marie)
Iairlie, Gerard l899l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
Ialdbakken, Knut l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Ialkberget, |ohan ( |ohan Ietter Lillebakken)
l879l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Iallada, Hans l893l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5o
q c~ o~I l99l ooker Irize winner,
en Okri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Iancher, etsy l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Iane, Violet l813l905 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
Ianfrolico Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Ianning, Katherine l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Ianon, Irantz l925l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
Ianshawe, Sir Richard lo08looo . . . . . . . DLl2o
Iantasy Iress Iublishers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Iante, |ohn l909l983 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30; Y83
AlIarabi circa 870950. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
Iarabough, Laura l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL228
Iarah, Nuruddin l915 . . . DLl25; CDWL3
Iarber, Norma l909l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
^ c~ ^ (Documentary). . . . . . . . DL308
Iargue, LonIaul l87ol917. . . . . . . . . . . DL258
Iarigoule, Louis (see Romains, |ules)
Iarjeon, Eleanor l88ll9o5. . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Iarley, Harriet l8l2l907. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL239
Iarley, Walter l920l989. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Iarmborough, Ilorence l887l978 . . . . . . . DL201
Iarmer, everley l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Iarmer, Ienelope l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
Iarmer, Ihilip |os l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Iarnaby, Jhomas l575.lo17. . . . . . . . . . . DL23o
Iarningham, Marianne (see Hearn, Mary Anne)
Iarquhar, George circa lo77l707. . . . . . . . . DL81
Iarquharson, Martha (see Iinley, Martha)
Iarrar, Irederic William l83ll903 . . . . . . DLlo3
Iarrar, Straus and Giroux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Iarrar and Rinehart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Iarrell, |. G. l935l979 . . . . . . . . DLl1, 27l, 32o
Iarrell, |ames J. l901l979 . . . . DL1, 9, 8o; DS2
Iast, Howard l9l12003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Iaulkner, William l897l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
DL9, ll, 11, l02, 3lo; DS2; Y8o; CDAL5
Iaulkner and Yoknapatawpha
Conference, Oxford, Mississippi. . . . . .Y97
Iaulkner Centennial Addresses . . . . . . . . . .Y97
'Iaulkner l00Celebrating the Work,"
Lniversity of South Carolina,
Columbia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Impressions of William Iaulkner. . . . . . . . . Y97
William Iaulkner and the IeopletoIeople
Irogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
William Iaulkner Centenary
Celebrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Jhe William Iaulkner Society. . . . . . . . . . .Y99
George Iaulkner |publishing house| . . . . . DLl51
Iaulks, Sebastian l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL207
Iauset, |essie Redmon l882l9ol . . . . . . . . DL5l
Iaust, Irederick Schiller (Max rand)
l892l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25o
Iaust, Irvin
l921 . . . . . . . .DL2, 28, 2l8, 278; Y80, 00
I Wake Lp Screaming |Response to
Ken Auletta| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Jribute to ernard Malamud . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
Jribute to Meyer Levin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8l
Iawcett, Edgar l817l901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL202
Iawcett, Millicent Garrett l817l929 . . . . . DLl90
Iawcett ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Iay, Jheodore Sedgwick l807l898. . . . . . DL202
Iearing, Kenneth l902l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Iederal Writers` Iroject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Iederman, Raymond l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y80
Iedin, Konstantin Aleksandrovich
l892l977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL272
Iedorov, Innokentii Vasilèvich
(see Omulevsky, Innokentii Vasilèvich)
Ieiffer, |ules l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7, 11
Ieinberg, Charles E. l899l988. . . . DLl87; Y88
Ieind, arthold lo78l72l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Ieinstein, Elaine l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 10
Ieirstein, Irederick l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282
Ieiss, Iaul Louis l875l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Ieldman, Irving l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo9
Ielipe, Carlos l9lll975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Ielipe, Lon l881l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Iell, Irederick, Iublishers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Iellowship of Southern Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Ielltham, Owen lo02.loo8 . . . . . . . DLl2o, l5l
Ielman, Shoshana l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
Iels, Ludwig l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Ielton, Cornelius Conway
l807l8o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 235
Iel`zen, Iurii (Nikolai erngardovich Ireidenshtein)
l891.l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
MotheInelon, Iranois de Salignac de la
lo5ll7l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Ienn, Harry l837l9ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl88
Iennario, David l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Ienner, Dudley l558.l587. . . . . . . . . . . . DL23o
Ienno, |enny l7o5.l803 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Ienno, |ohn l75ll798. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
R. I. Ienno and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Ienoglio, eppe l922l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl77
Ienton, Geoffrey l539.lo08. . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Ienton, |ames l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Jhe Hemingway/Ienton
Correspondence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Ierber, Edna l885l9o8. . . . . . . DL9, 28, 8o, 2oo
Ierdinand, Vallery, III (see Salaam, Kalamu ya)
Ierguson, Sir Samuel l8l0l88o . . . . . . . . . DL32
Ierguson, William Scott l875l951 . . . . . . . DL17
Iergusson, Robert l750l771 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl09
Ierland, Albert l872l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Ierlinghetti, Lawrence
l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo; CDALl
Jribute to Kenneth Rexroth . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Iermor, Iatrick Leigh l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . DL201
Iern, Ianny (see Iarton, Sara Iayson Willis)
Ierrars, Elizabeth (Morna Doris rown)
l907l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL87
Ierr, Rosario l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15
Ierreira, Verglio l9lol99o. . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
E. Ierret and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Ierrier, Susan l782l851 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLllo
Ierril, Jhomas Hornsby l89ol988. . . . . . DL20o
Ierrini, Vincent l9l3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL18
Ierron, |acques l92ll985. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Ierron, Madeleine l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Ierrucci, Iranco l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Iet, Afanasii Afanasèvich
l820.l892 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL277
Ietridge and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Ieuchtersleben, Ernst Ireiherr von
l80ol819 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl33
Ieuchtwanger, Lion l881l958 . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Ieuerbach, Ludwig l801l872. . . . . . . . . . DLl33
Ieuillet, Octave l82ll890. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl92
Ieydeau, Georges l8o2l92l. . . . . . . . . . . DLl92
Iibiger, Mathilde l830l872. . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Iichte, |ohann Gottlieb l7o2l8l1. . . . . . . . DL90
Iicke, Arthur Davison l883l915 . . . . . . . . DL51
Iiction
American Iiction and the l930s . . . . . . . DL9
Iiction estSellers, l9l0l915 . . . . . . . . DL9
Iostmodern Holocaust Iiction . . . . . . DL299
Jhe Year in Iiction . . . . . . . Y81, 8o, 89, 91-99
Jhe Year in Iiction. A iased View . . . . . .Y83
Jhe Year in L.S. Iiction . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00, 0l
Jhe Year`s Work in Iiction. A Survey . . . .Y82
Iiedler, Leslie A. l9l72003 . . . . . . . . . . DL28, o7
Jribute to ernard Malamud . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
`~ f ai_ POV
QVS
Iield, arron l789l81o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Iield, Edward l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Iield, Eugene l850l895. . DL23, 12, l10; DSl3
Iield, |ohn l515.l588 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo7
Iield, |oseph M. l8l0l85o . . . . . . . . . . . DL218
Iield, Marshall, III l893l95o . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Iield, Marshall, IV l9lol9o5 . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Iield, Marshall, V l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Iield, Michael (Katherine Harris radley)
l81ol9l1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
'Jhe Ioetry Iile" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Iield, Nathan l587lol9 or lo20 . . . . . . . . DL58
Iield, Rachel l891l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9, 22
Iielding, Helen l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23l
Iielding, Henry
l707l751 . . . . . . . DL39, 81, l0l; CDL2
'Defense of ^~" (l752) . . . . . . . . . . DL39
q e ^ g ^
|excerpt| (l712) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Letter to |Samuel| Richardson on `~~
(l718). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to g ^ (l712) . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to Sarah Iielding`s c~~
i (l717) |excerpt| . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to Sarah Iielding`s q
^ a~ p (l711) . . . DL39
Review of `~~ (l718) . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
q g (l719) |excerpt| . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Iielding, Sarah l7l0l7o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to q ` (l751) . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Iields, Annie Adams l831l9l5 . . . . . . . . DL22l
Iields, Dorothy l905l971 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Iields, |ames J. l8l7l88l . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 235
Iields, |ulia l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Iields, Osgood and Company . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Iields, W. C. l880l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Iierstein, Harvey l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2oo
Iiges, Eva l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl1, 27l
Iiguera, Angela l902l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Iilmer, Sir Robert l58olo53 . . . . . . . . . . DLl5l
Iilson, |ohn circa l753l788 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Iinch, Anne, Countess of Winchilsea
looll720. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL95
Iinch, Annie l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282
Iinch, Robert l900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Iindley, Jimothy l9302002. . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Iinlay, Ian Hamilton l925 . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Iinley, Martha l828l909. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL12
Iinn, Elizabeth Anne (McCaul)
l825l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLloo
Iinnegan, Seamus l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
Iinney, |ack l9lll995. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Iinney, Walter raden (see Iinney, |ack)
Iirbank, Ronald l88ol92o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3o
Iirmin, Giles lol5lo97 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Iirst Edition Library/Collectors`
Reprints, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9l
Iischart, |ohann
l51o or l517l590 or l59l . . . . . . . . .DLl79
Iischer, Karoline Auguste Iernandine
l7o1l812. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91
Iischer, Jibor l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23l
Iish, Stanley l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
Iishacre, Richard l205l218 . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
Iisher, Clay (see Allen, Henry W.)
Iisher, Dorothy Canfield l879l958. . . DL9, l02
Iisher, Leonard Everett l921 . . . . . . . . . DLol
Iisher, Roy l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Iisher, Rudolph l897l931 . . . . . . . . . DL5l, l02
Iisher, Steve l9l3l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
Iisher, Sydney George l85ol927. . . . . . . . DL17
Iisher, Vardis l895l9o8. . . . . . . . . . . . DL9, 20o
Iiske, |ohn lo08lo77. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Iiske, |ohn l812l90l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL17, o1
Iitch, Jhomas circa l700l771 . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Iitch, William Clyde l8o5l909. . . . . . . . . . DL7
IitzGerald, Edward l809l883. . . . . . . . . . DL32
Iitzgerald, I. Scott l89ol910
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1, 9, 8o; Y8l, 92;
DSl, l5, lo; CDAL1
I. Scott Iitzgerald. A Descriptive
ibliography, Supplement (200l) . . . . Y0l
I. Scott Iitzgerald Centenary
Celebrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9o
I. Scott Iitzgerald Inducted into the
American Ioets` Corner at St. |ohn
the Divine; Ezra Iound anned . . . . . Y99
'I. Scott Iitzgerald. St. Iaul`s Native Son
and Distinguished American Writer".
Lniversity of Minnesota Conference,
293l October l982. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
Iirst International I. Scott Iitzgerald
Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y92
q d~ d~ (Documentary). . . . . DL2l9
q f k (Documentary) . . . .DL273
Iitzgerald, Ienelope
l9lo2000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, l91, 32o
Iitzgerald, Robert l9l0l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y80
IitzGerald, Robert D. l902l987 . . . . . . . DL2o0
Iitzgerald, Jhomas l8l9l89l . . . . . . . . . . DL23
Iitzgerald, Zelda Sayre l900l918 . . . . . . . . . . Y81
Iitzhugh, Louise l928l971 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Iitzhugh, William circa lo5ll70l . . . . . . . DL21
Ilagg, |ames Montgomery l877l9o0 . . . . DLl88
Ilanagan, Jhomas l9232002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y80
Ilanner, Hildegarde l899l987. . . . . . . . . . DL18
Ilanner, |anet l892l978. . . . . . . . . . DL1; DSl5
Ilannery, Ieter l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
Ilaubert, Gustave l82ll880 . . . . . . DLll9, 30l
Ilavin, Martin l883l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Ileck, Konrad (fl. circa l220) . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Ilecker, |ames Elroy l881l9l5 . . . . . . DLl0, l9
Ileeson, Doris l90ll970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Ileier, Marieluise l90ll971 . . . . . . . DL5o, l21
Ileischer, Nat l887l972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Ileming, Abraham l552.lo07. . . . . . . . . DL23o
Ileming, Ian l908l9o1 . . .DL87, 20l; CDL7
Ileming, |oan l908l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27o
Ileming, May Agnes l810l880 . . . . . . . . . DL99
Ileming, Iaul lo09lo10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Ileming, Ieter l907l97l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl95
Iletcher, Giles, the Elder l51ololl . . . . . DLl3o
Iletcher, Giles, the Younger
l585 or l58olo23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2l
Iletcher, |. S. l8o3l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL70
Iletcher, |ohn l579lo25. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL58
Iletcher, |ohn Gould l88ol950. . . . . . . DL1, 15
Iletcher, Ihineas l582lo50 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2l
Ilieg, Helmut (see Heym, Stefan)
Ilint, I. S. l885l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9
Ilint, Jimothy l780l810 . . . . . . . . . . .DL73, l8o
Ilgstad, Kjartan l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Ilorensky, Iavel Aleksandrovich
l882l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Ilores, |uan de fl. l170l500. . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
IloresWilliams, |ason l9o9 . . . . . . . . . DL209
Ilorio, |ohn l553.lo25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl72
Iludd, Robert l571lo37 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Ilynn, Elizabeth Gurley l890l9o1 . . . . . DL303
Io, Dario l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Nobel Lecture l997. Contra |ogulatores
Obloquentes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Ioden, Giles l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Iofanov, Konstantin Mikhailovich
l8o2l9ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL277
Ioix, |. V. l893l987. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
Ioley, Martha l897l977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl37
Iolger, Henry Clay l857l930 . . . . . . . . . DLl10
Iolio Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Iollain, |ean l903l97l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL258
Iollen, Charles l79ol810. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL235
Iollen, Eliza Lee (Cabot) l787l8o0 . . . DLl, 235
Iollett, Ken l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL87; Y8l
Iollett Iublishing Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
|ohn West Iolsom |publishing house| . . . . . DL19
Iolz, Hans
between l135 and l110l5l3 . . . . . . .DLl79
Ionseca, Manuel da l9lll993 . . . . . . . . DL287
Ionseca, Rubem l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Iontane, Jheodor
l8l9l898 . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl29; CDWL2
Iontenelle, ernard Le ovier de
lo57l757 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8, 3l3
Iontes, Montserrat l910 . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Ionvisin, Denis Ivanovich
l711 or l715l792 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Ioote, Horton l9lo . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o, 2oo
ai_ POV `~ f
QVT
`
Ioote, Mary Hallock

l817l938 . . . . . . . . . . DLl8o, l88, 202, 22l
Ioote, Samuel l72ll777 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL89
Ioote, Shelby l9lo2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2, l7
Iorbes, Calvin l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Iorbes, Ester l89ll9o7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Iorbes, |ohn l950l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL=325
Iorbes, Rosita l893.l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl95
Iorbes and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Iorce, Ieter l790l8o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Iorch, Carolyn l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, l93
Iord, Charles Henri l9l32002 . . . . . . . . DL1, 18
Iord, Corey l902l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Iord, Iord Madox
l873l939 . . . . . . .DL31, 98, lo2; CDLo
Iord, Sam Roth, and Hart Crane . . . . .Y02
|. . Iord and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Iord, |esse Hill l928l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Iord, |ohn l58o.. . . . . . . . . . . DL58; CDLl
Iord, R. A. D. l9l5l998. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Iord, Richard l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL227
Iord, Worthington C. l858l91l. . . . . . . . . DL17
Iords, Howard, and Hulbert . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Ioreman, Carl l9l1l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Iorester, C. S. l899l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Jhe C. S. Iorester Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
Iorester, Irank (see Herbert, Henry William)
Iormalism, New
Anthologizing New Iormalism . . . . . . DL282
Jhe Little Magazines of the
New Iormalism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282
Jhe New Narrative Ioetry . . . . . . . . . DL282
Iresses of the New Iormalism and
the New Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282
Jhe Irosody of the New Iormalism . . DL282
Younger Women Ioets of the
New Iormalism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282
Iorman, Harry uxton l812l9l7. . . . . . . DLl81
Iorns, Mara Irene l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Iorrest, Leon l937l997. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Iorsh, Ol`ga Dmitrievna l873l9ol. . . . . . DL272
Iorster, E. M. l879l970
. DL31, 98, lo2, l78, l95; DSl0; CDLo
'Iantasy," from ^ k
(l927) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl78
Iorster, Georg l751l791 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91
Iorster, |ohn l8l2l87o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl11
Iorster, Margaret l938 . . . . . . . . . DLl55, 27l
Iorsyth, Irederick l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL87
Iorsyth, William
'Literary Style`` (l857) |excerpt| . . . . . . DL57
Iorten, Charlotte L. l837l9l1 . . . . . . DL50, 239
Iages from Her Diary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL50
Iortini, Iranco l9l7l991. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Iortune, Mary ca. l833ca. l9l0 . . . . . . . . DL230
Iortune, J. Jhomas l85ol928 . . . . . . . . . . DL23
Iosdick, Charles Austin l812l9l5 . . . . . . . DL12
Iosse, |on l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Ioster, David l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Ioster, Genevieve l893l979 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Ioster, Hannah Webster
l758l810 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37, 200
Ioster, |ohn lo18lo8l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Ioster, Michael l901l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Ioster, Myles irket l825l899 . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Ioster, William Z. l88ll9ol. . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Ioucault, Michel l92ol981. . . . . . . . . . . . DL212
Robert and Andrew Ioulis
Iouqu, Caroline de la Motte l771l83l . . . .DL90
Iouqu, Iriedrich de la Motte
l777l813. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Iour Seas Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Iour Winds Iress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Iournier, Henri Alban (see AlainIournier)
Iowler, Christopher l953 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Iowler, Connie May l958 . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Iowler and Wells Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Iowles, |ohn
l92o . . . . . . . . DLl1, l39, 207; CDL8
Iox, |ohn l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
Iox, |ohn, |r. l8o2 or l8o3l9l9 . . . . DL9; DSl3
Iox, Iaula l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Iox, Richard Kyle l81ol922. . . . . . . . . . . . DL79
Iox, William Irice l92o . . . . . . . . . DL2; Y8l
Remembering |oe Heller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Richard K. Iox |publishing house|. . . . . . . . DL19
Ioxe, |ohn l5l7l587 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Iraenkel, Michael l89ol957. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Irame, Ronald l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
Irance, Anatole l811l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl23
Irance, Richard l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Irancis, Convers l795l8o3. . . . . . . . . . DLl, 235
Irancis, Dick l920 . . . . . . . .DL87; CDL8
Irancis, Sir Irank l90ll988 . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Irancis, |effrey, Lord l773l850. . . . . . . . . DLl07
C. S. Irancis |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Iranck, Sebastian l199l512 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl79
Irancke, Kuno l855l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7l
Iranoise (Robertine arry) l8o3l9l0. . . . DL92
Iranois, Louise von l8l7l893. . . . . . . . . DLl29
Irank, runo l887l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll8
Irank, Leonhard l882l9ol . . . . . . . . DL5o, ll8
Irank, Melvin l9l3l988. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Irank, Waldo l889l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9, o3
Iranken, Rose l895.l988 . . . . . . DL228, Y81
Iranklin, enjamin
l70ol790 . . . . DL21, 13, 73, l83; CDAL2
Iranklin, |ames lo97l735 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Iranklin, |ohn l78ol817. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Iranklin, Miles l879l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Iranklin Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Irantz, Ralph |ules l902l979 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Iranzos, Karl Emil l818l901 . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Iraser, Antonia l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27o
Iraser, G. S. l9l5l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Iraser, Kathleen l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo9
Irattini, Alberto l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Irau Ava .ll27. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Iraunce, Abraham l558.l592 or l593 . . DL23o
Irayn, Michael l933 . . . . . DLl3, l1, l91, 215
Irazier, Charles l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Irchette, LouisHonor l839l908 . . . . . . DL99
Irederic, Harold l85ol898. . . . DLl2, 23; DSl3
Ireed, Arthur l891l973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Ireeling, Nicolas l9272003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL87
Jribute to Georges Simenon . . . . . . . . . . . .Y89
Ireeman, Douglas Southall
l88ol953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7; DSl7
Ireeman, |oseph l897l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Ireeman, |udith l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25o
Ireeman, Legh Richmond l812l9l5 . . . . . DL23
Ireeman, Mary E. Wilkins
l852l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2, 78, 22l
Ireeman, R. Austin l8o2l913 . . . . . . . . . . DL70
Ireidank circa ll70circa l233. . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Ireiligrath, Ierdinand l8l0l87o . . . . . . . . DLl33
Iremlin, Celia l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27o
Irmont, |essie enton l831l902. . . . . . . DLl83
Irmont, |ohn Charles
l8l3l890 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl83, l8o
Irench, Alice l850l931 . . . . . . . . . DL71; DSl3
Irench, David l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Irench, Evangeline l8o9l9o0. . . . . . . . . . DLl95
Irench, Irancesca l87ll9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl95
|ames Irench |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . DL19
Samuel Irench |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DL19
Samuel Irench, Limited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Irench Literature
GeorgesLouis Leclerc de uffon, 'Le Discours
sur le style". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Marie|eanAntoineNicolas Caritat, marquis de
Condorcet, 'Jhe Jenth Stage" . . . DL3l1
Sophie Cottin, `~ ^ . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of
the Citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Denis Diderot, 'Jhe Encyclopedia" . . DL3l1
Epic and east Epic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL208
`~ f ai_ POV
QVU
Irench Arthurian Literature. . . . . . . . DL208
Olympe de Gouges, Dcclorotiov of tlc Iiglts
of !omov. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Iranoise dÌssembourg de Graffigny, Icttcrs from
o Icruviov !omov. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
ClaudeAdrien Helvtius, Tlc Spirit of
Iows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Iaul Henri Jhiry, baron d`Holbach (writing as
|eanaptiste de Mirabaud), Tlc Systcm
of Aoturc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
IierreAmbroiseIranois Choderlos de Laclos,
Dovgcrous Zcquoivtovccs . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Lyric Ioetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
LouisSbastien Mercier, Ic Toblcou
dc Ioris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
CharlesLouis de Secondat, baron de
Montesquieu, Tlc Spirit of Iows . . DL3l1
Other Ioets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
Ioetry in NineteenthCentury Irance.
Cultural ackground and Critical
Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
Iomov dc lo Iosc: Guillaume de Lorris
l200 to l205circa l230, |ean de
Meun l235/l210circa l305 . . . . DL208
|ean|acques Rousseau, Tlc Sociol
Covtroct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Marquis de Sade, 'Dialogue entre un prtre et
un moribond" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Saints` Lives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL208
Jroubadours, Troborit, and
Jrouvres. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL208
AnneRobert|acques Jurgot, baron de lÀulne,
'Memorandum on Local
Government". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Voltaire, 'An account of the death of the cheva
lier de La arre" . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Voltaire, Covdidc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Voltaire, Ililosoplicol Dictiovory . . . . . . DL3l1
Irench Jheater
Medieval Irench Drama . . . . . . . . . . DL208
Iarisian Jheater, Iall l981. Joward
a New aroque . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y85
Ireneau, Ihilip l752l832. . . . . . . . . . . . DL37, 13
Jhe Rising Glory of America. . . . . . . . DL37
Ireni, Melo l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Irron, Elie Catherine l7l8l77o . . . . . . . DL3l3
Ireshfield, Douglas W. l815l931 . . . . . . .DLl71
Ireud, Sigmund l85ol939. . . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
Ireytag, Gustav l8lol895. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Irda . Sigurardttir l910 . . . . . . . . DL293
Iridegrd, |an l897l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL259
Iried, Erich l92ll988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
Iriedan, etty l92l200o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
Iriedman, ruce |ay l930 . . . . . DL2, 28, 211
Iriedman, Carl l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Iriedman, Kinky l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Iriedrich von Hausen circa ll7lll90 . . . DLl38
Iriel, rian l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, 3l9
Iriend, Krebs l895.l9o7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Iries, Iritz Rudolf l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Irisch, Max
l9lll99l . . . . . . . . .DLo9, l21; CDWL2
Irischlin, Nicodemus l517l590. . . . . . . . .DLl79
Irischmuth, arbara l91l . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
Iritz, |ean l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Iroissart, |ean circa l337circa l101 . . . . . DL208
Iromm, Erich l900l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
Iromentin, Eugene l820l87o . . . . . . . . . DLl23
Irontinus circa ^.a. 35^.a. l03/l01. . . . . DL2ll
Irost, A. . l85ll928 . . . . . . . . . DLl88; DSl3
Irost, Robert
l871l9o3. . . . . . . . . DL51; DS7; CDAL1
Irostenson, Katarina l953 . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Irothingham, Octavius rooks
l822l895 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 213
Iroude, |ames Anthony
l8l8l891 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8, 57, l11
Iruitlands l813l811 . . . . . . . . . DLl, 223; DS5
Iry, Christopher l9072005 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Jribute to |ohn etjeman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
Iry, Roger l8ool931. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl0
Iry, Stephen l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL207
Irye, Northrop l9l2l99l . . . . . . . DLo7, o8, 21o
Iuchs, Daniel l909l993 . . . . . DL9, 2o, 28; Y93
Jribute to Isaac ashevis Singer. . . . . . . . . Y9l
Iuentes, Carlos l928 . . . . .DLll3; CDWL3
Iuertes, Gloria l9l8l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Iugard, Athol l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL225
Jhe Iugitives and the Agrarians.
Jhe Iirst Exhibition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y85
Iujiwara no Shunzei lll1l201 . . . . . . . . DL203
Iujiwara no Jameaki l230s.l290s. . . . . DL203
Iujiwara no Jameie ll98l275 . . . . . . . . . DL203
Iujiwara no Jeika llo2l21l . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Iuks, Ladislav l923l991. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Iulbecke, William l5o0lo03. . . . . . . . . . .DLl72
Iuller, Charles l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38, 2oo
Iuller, Henry lake l857l929 . . . . . . . . . . DLl2
Iuller, |ohn l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Iuller, Margaret (see Iuller, Sarah)
Iuller, Roy l9l2l99l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5, 20
Jribute to Christopher Isherwood . . . . . . . Y8o
Iuller, Samuel l9l2l997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Iuller, Sarah l8l0l850 . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 59, 73,
l83, 223, 239; DS5; CDAL2
Iuller, Jhomas lo08lool . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5l
Iullerton, Hugh l873l915. . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7l
Iullwood, William fl. l5o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23o
Iulton, Alice l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl93
Iulton, Len l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8o
Iulton, Robin l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Iurbank, I. N. l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
Iuretire, Antoine lol9lo88. . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Iurman, Laura l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8o
Iurmanov, Dmitrii Andreevich
l89ll92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL272
Iurness, Horace Howard l833l9l2 . . . . . DLo1
Iurness, William Henry
l802l89o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 235
Iurnivall, Irederick |ames l825l9l0. . . . DLl81
Iurphy, |oseph (Jom Collins)
l813l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Iurthman, |ules l888l9oo. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Shakespeare and Montaigne. A
Symposium by |ules Iurthman . . . . . . Y02
Iurui Yoshikichi l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Iushimi, Emperor l2o5l3l7 . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Iutabatei Shimei (Hasegawa Jatsunosuke)
l8o1l909 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Iyleman, Rose l877l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
d
G., l972 ooker Irize winner,
|ohn erger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Gaarder, |ostein l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Gadallah, Leslie l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Gadamer, HansGeorg l9002002 . . . . . . DL29o
Gadda, Carlo Emilio l893l973 . . . . . . . . .DLl77
Gaddis, William l922l998 . . . . . . . . . .DL2, 278
William Gaddis. A Jribute . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Gg, Wanda l893l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Gagarin, Ivan Sergeevich l8l1l882 . . . . DLl98
Gagnon, Madeleine l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Gaiman, Neil l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Gaine, Hugh l72ol807 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Hugh Gaine |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . DL19
Gaines, Ernest |.
l933 . . . . . DL2, 33, l52; Y80; CDALo
Gaiser, Gerd l908l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Gaitskill, Mary l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
Galarza, Ernesto l905l981 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Galaxy Science Iiction Novels . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Galbraith, Robert (or Caubraith)
circa l183l511 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Gale, Zona l871l938. . . . . . . . . . . .DL9, 228, 78
Galen of Iergamon l29after 2l0. . . . . . . .DLl7o
Gales, Winifred Marshall l7oll839 . . . . DL200
Galich, Aleksandr l9l8l977 . . . . . . . . . . .DL3l7
Medieval GalicianIortuguese Ioetry. . . . DL287
Gall, Louise von l8l5l855 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl33
Gallagher, Jess l913 . . . . . . .DLl20, 2l2, 211
Gallagher, Wes l9lll997 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl27
Gallagher, William Davis l808l891 . . . . . DL73
ai_ POV `~ f
QVV
`
Gallant, Mavis l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53

Gallegos, Mara Magdalena l935 . . . . . DL209
Gallico, Iaul l897l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9, l7l
Gallop, |ane l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
Galloway, Grace Growden l727l782. . . . . DL200
Galloway, |anice l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
Gallup, Donald l9l32000. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Galsworthy, |ohn l8o7l933
. . . . . . DLl0, 31, 98, lo2; DSlo; CDL5
Galt, |ohn l779l839 . . . . . . . . . . DL99, llo, l59
Galton, Sir Irancis l822l9ll . . . . . . . . . . DLloo
Galvin, rendan l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Gambaro, Griselda l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Gambit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Gamboa, Reymundo l918 . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
d~ d k . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo2
Gan, Elena Andreevna (Zeneida Rva)
l8l1l812 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand
l8o9l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Gandlevsky, Sergei Markovich
l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
Gannett, Irank E. l87ol957 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Gant, Eugene. Irojected Works . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
Gao Xingjian l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
Nobel Lecture 2000. 'Jhe Case for
Literature" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
Gaos, Vicente l9l9l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
Garca, Andrew l851.l913 . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Garca, Cristina l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Garca, Lionel G. l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Garca, Richard l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Garca, Santiago l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Garca Mrquez, Gabriel
l928 . . . . . . . . . DLll3; Y82; CDWL3
Jhe Magical World of Macondo. . . . . . . . .Y82
Nobel Lecture l982. Jhe Solitude of
Latin America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
A Jribute to Gabriel Garca Mrquez . . . . .Y82
Garca Marruz, Iina l923 . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
GarcaCamarillo, Cecilio l913 . . . . . . . DL209
Garcilaso de la Vega circa l503l53o. . . . . DL3l8
Garcilaso de la Vega, Inca l539lolo . . . . DL3l8
Gardam, |ane l928 . . . . . . . . . DLl1, lol, 23l
Gardell, |onas l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Garden, Alexander circa lo85l75o. . . . . . . DL3l
Gardiner, |ohn Rolfe l93o . . . . . . . . . . DL211
Gardiner, Margaret Iower Iarmer
(see lessington, Marguerite, Countess of)
Gardner, |ohn
l933l982 . . . . . . . . . . DL2; Y82; CDAL7
Garfield, Leon l92ll99o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
Garis, Howard R. l873l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Garland, Hamlin l8o0l910 . . DLl2, 7l, 78, l8o
Jhe Hamlin Garland Society . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
Garneau, IranoisXavier l809l8oo . . . . . DL99
Garneau, Hector de SaintDenys
l9l2l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Garneau, Michel l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Garner, Alan l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol, 2ol
Garner, Helen l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Garner, Hugh l9l3l979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Garnett, David l892l98l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL31
Garnett, Eve l900l99l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Garnett, Richard l835l90o . . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Garnier, Robert l515.l590 . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Garrard, Lewis H. l829l887 . . . . . . . . . . DLl8o
Garraty, |ohn A. l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
Garrett, Almeida ( |oo aptista da Silva
Leito de Almeida Garrett)
l799l851 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Garrett, George
l929 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 5, l30, l52; Y83
Literary Irizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
My Summer Reading Orgy. Reading
for Iun and Games. One Reader`s
Report on the Summer of 200l . . . . . .Y0l
A Summing Lp at Century`s End . . . . . . . .Y99
Jribute to Michael M. Rea . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Jribute to Iaxton Davis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y91
Jribute to William Goyen . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
A Writer Jalking. A Collage . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
Garrett, |ohn Work l872l912. . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Garrick, David l7l7l779 . . . . . . . . . . . DL81, 2l3
Garrison, William Lloyd
l805l879 . . . . . . . . DLl, 13, 235; CDAL2
Garro, Elena l920l998. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15
Garshin, Vsevolod Mikhailovich
l855l888 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL277
Garth, Samuel looll7l9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL95
Garve, Andrew l908200l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL87
Gary, Romain l9l1l980. . . . . . . . . . . DL83, 299
Gascoigne, George l539.l577 . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Gascoyne, David l9lo200l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20
Gash, |onathan ( |ohn Grant) l933 . . . . DL27o
Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn
l8l0l8o5 . . . . . . DL2l, l11, l59; CDL1
Jhe Gaskell Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Gaskell, |ane l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Gaspey, Jhomas l788l87l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLllo
Gass, William H. l921 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 227
Gates, Doris l90ll987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Gates, Henry Louis, |r. l950 . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
Gates, Lewis E. l8o0l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7l
Gatto, Alfonso l909l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Gault, William Campbell l9l0l995 . . . . . DL22o
Jribute to Kenneth Millar . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Gaunt, Mary l8oll912 . . . . . . . . . . DLl71, 230
Gautier, Jhophile l8lll872 . . . . . . . . . . DLll9
Gautreaux, Jim l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Gauvreau, Claude l925l97l . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Jhe d~~JIoet
fl. circa l350l100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Gawsworth, |ohn (Jerence Ian Iytton
Armstrong) l9l2l970. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL255
Gay, Ebenezer lo9ol787. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Gay, |ohn lo85l732 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL81, 95
Gayarr, Charles E. A. l805l895. . . . . . . . DL30
Charles Gaylord |publishing house|. . . . . . . DL19
Gaylord, Edward King l873l971 . . . . . . . DLl27
Gaylord, Edward Lewis l9l92003 . . . . . . DLl27
Gazdanov, Gaito l903l97l. . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Gbler, Carlo l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27l
Geda, Sigitas l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Geddes, Gary l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Geddes, Virgil l897l989. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Gedeon (Georgii Andreevich Krinovsky)
circa l730l7o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Gee, Maggie l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL207
Gee, Shirley l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
Geibel, Emanuel l8l5l881. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Geiogamah, Hanay l915 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl75
Geis, ernard, Associates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Geisel, Jheodor Seuss l901l99l . . . DLol; Y9l
Gelb, Arthur l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Gelb, arbara l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Gelber, |ack l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7, 228
Glinas, Gratien l909l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Gellert, Christian Ierchtegott
l7l5l7o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL97
Gellhorn, Martha l908l998. . . . . . . . . . . . Y82, 98
Gems, Iam l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Genet, |ean l9l0l98o. . . . . . . . DL72, 32l; Y8o
Genette, Grard l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL212
Genevoix, Maurice l890l980. . . . . . . . . . . DLo5
Genis, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich
l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
Genlis, StphanieIlicit Ducrest, comtesse de
l71ol830 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
Genovese, Eugene D. l930 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
Gent, Ieter l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Geoffrey of Monmouth
circa ll00ll55 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
George, Elizabeth l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
George, Henry l839l897 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23
George, |ean Craighead l9l9 . . . . . . . . . DL52
George, W. L. l882l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl97
George III, King of Great ritain
and Ireland l738l820 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
`~ f ai_ POV
RMM
Gcorgslicd 89o.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Gerber, Merrill |oan l938 . . . . . . . . . . DL2l8
Gerhardie, William l895l977 . . . . . . . . . . DL3o
Gerhardt, Iaul lo07lo7o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Grin, Winifred l90ll98l. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
GrinLajoie, Antoine l821l882 . . . . . . . . DL99
German Literature
A Call to Letters and an Invitation
to the Electric Chair . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Jhe Conversion of an Lnpolitical
Man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Jhe German Radio Ilay . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
Jhe German Jransformation from the
aroque to the Enlightenment . . . . DL97
Germanophilism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
A Letter from a New Germany . . . . . . . . . Y90
Jhe Making of a Ieople. . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Jhe Novel of Impressionism . . . . . . . . DLoo
Iattern and Iaradigm. History as
Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Iremisses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Jhe `Jwenties and erlin. . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Wolfram von Eschenbach`s Iorivol:
Irologue and ook 3. . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Writers and Iolitics. l87ll9l8 . . . . . . DLoo
German Literature, Middle Ages
Zbrogovs circa 790800 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Zvvolicd between l077 and l08l. . . . . DLl18
Jhe Arthurian Jradition and
Its European Context . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Combridgc Sovgs (Cormivo Covtobrigcvsio)
circa l050 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Clristus uvd dic Somoritcriv circa 950. . . DLl18
Dc Hcivrico circa 980. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
cbosis Coptivi circa l015. . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Gcorgslicd 89o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
German Literature and Culture from
Charlemagne to the Early Courtly
Ieriod . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18; CDWL2
Jhe Germanic Epic and Old English
Heroic Ioetry. !idsitl, !oldcrc,
and Tlc Iiglt ot Iivvsburg . . . . . . . DLl1o
Graf Rudolf between circa
ll70 and circa ll85 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Hcliovd circa 850. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Dos Hildcsbrovdslicd
circa 820 . . . . . . . . . DLl18; CDWL2
Ioiscrclrovil circa ll17 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Jhe Legends of the Saints and a
Medieval Christian
Worldview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Iudus dc Zvticlristo circa llo0 . . . . . . . DLl18
Iudwigslicd 88l or 882 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Muspilli circa 790circa 850 . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Uld Gcrmov Gcvcsis and Uld Gcrmov
xodus circa l050circa ll30 . . . . DLl18
Old High German Charms
and lessings . . . . . . DLl18; CDWL2
Jhe Uld Higl Gcrmov Isidor
circa 790800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Ictruslicd circa 851. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Ilysiologus circa l070circa ll50 . . . . . DLl18
Iuodlicb circa l050l075 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
'Spiclmovvscpcv (circa ll52
circa l500) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Jhe Strasbourg Oaths 812. . . . . . . . . DLl18
Totiov circa 830. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
!oltlorius circa 825. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
!cssobruvvcr Gcbct circa 7878l5 . . . . . DLl18
German Jheater
German Drama 800l280 . . . . . . . . . DLl38
German Drama from Naturalism
to Iascism. l889l933 . . . . . . . . . DLll8
Gernsback, Hugo l881l9o7 . . . . . . . . .DL8, l37
Gerould, Katharine Iullerton
l879l911. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL78
Samuel Gerrish |publishing house| . . . . . . . DL19
Gerrold, David l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Gerso, Jeolinda l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Gershon, Karen l923l993. . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Gershwin, Ira l89ol983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Jhe Ira Gershwin Centenary. . . . . . . . . . . Y9o
Gerson, |ean l3o3l129 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL208
Gersonides l288l311 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
Gerstcker, Iriedrich l8lol872 . . . . . . . . DLl29
Gertsen, Aleksandr Ivanovich
(see Herzen, Alexander)
Gerstenberg, Heinrich Wilhelm von
l737l823 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL97
Gervinus, Georg Gottfried
l805l87l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl33
Gery, |ohn l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282
Gener, Solomon l730l788. . . . . . . . . . . . DL97
Geston, Mark S. l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
AlGhazali l058llll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
Ghelderode, Michel de (AdolpheAdhmar Martens)
l898l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
Ghose, Zulfikar l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Ghosh, Amitav l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Tlc Glost Iood, l995 ooker Irize winner,
Iat arker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Gibbings, Robert l889l958. . . . . . . . . . . DLl95
Gibbon, Edward l737l791. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl01
Gibbon, |ohn Murray l875l952 . . . . . . . . DL92
Gibbon, Lewis Grassic (see Mitchell, |ames Leslie)
Gibbons, Iloyd l887l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Gibbons, Kaye l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Gibbons, Reginald l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Gibbons, William eighteenth century. . . . . DL73
Gibson, Charles Dana
l8o7l911. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl88; DSl3
Gibson, Graeme l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Gibson, Margaret l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Gibson, Margaret Dunlop l813l920. . . . .DLl71
Gibson, Wilfrid l878l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9
Gibson, William l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Gibson, William l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Gide, Andr l8o9l95l . . . . . . . . . . . DLo5, 32l
Gigure, Diane l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Gigure, Roland l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Gil de iedma, |aime l929l990 . . . . . . . DLl08
GilAlbert, |uan l90ol991. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
Gilbert, Anthony l899l973. . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
Gilbert, Elizabeth l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey l537l583 . . . . . . DLl3o
Gilbert, Michael l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL87
Gilbert, Sandra M. l93o . . . . . . . DLl20, 21o
Gilchrist, Alexander l828l8ol . . . . . . . . DLl11
Gilchrist, Ellen l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Gilder, |eannette L. l819l9lo . . . . . . . . . . DL79
Gilder, Richard Watson l811l909 . . . .DLo1, 79
Gildersleeve, asil l83ll921. . . . . . . . . . . DL7l
Giles, Henry l809l882 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo1
Giles of Rome circa l213l3lo. . . . . . . . . DLll5
Gilfillan, George l8l3l878 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl11
Gill, Eric l882l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL98
Gill, Sarah Irince l728l77l . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
William I. Gill Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Gillespie, A. Lincoln, |r. l895l950 . . . . . . . DL1
Gillespie, Haven l883l975 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Gilliam, Ilorence fl. twentieth century . . . . . DL1
Gilliatt, Ienelope l932l993. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Gillott, |acky l939l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Gilman, Caroline H. l791l888 . . . . . . . DL3, 73
Gilman, Charlotte Ierkins l8o0l935 . . . DL22l
Jhe Charlotte Ierkins Gilman Society . . . Y99
W. and |. Gilman |publishing house| . . . . . DL19
Gilmer, Elizabeth Meriwether
l8oll95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Gilmer, Irancis Walker l790l82o . . . . . . . DL37
Gilmore, Mary l8o5l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Gilroy, Irank D. l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Gimferrer, Iere (Iedro) l915 . . . . . . . . DLl31
Ginger, Aleksandr S. l897l9o5 . . . . . . . . .DL3l7
Gingrich, Arnold l903l97o. . . . . . . . . . . .DLl37
Irospectus Irom the Initial Issue of
squirc (Autumn l933). . . . . . . . . .DLl37
'With the Editorial Ken," Irospectus
Irom the Initial Issue of Icv
(7 April l938) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl37
Ginibi, Ruby Langford l931 . . . . . . . . DL325
Ginsberg, Allen
l92ol997 . . . .DL5, lo, lo9, 237; CDALl
Ginzburg, Evgeniia
l901l977. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Ginzburg, Lidiia Iakovlevna
l902l990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
ai_ POV `~ f
RMN
`
Ginzburg, Natalia l9lol99l. . . . . . . . . . . DLl77

Ginzkey, Iranz Karl l87ll9o3 . . . . . . . . . . DL8l
Gioia, Dana l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20, 282
Giono, |ean l895l970. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL72, 32l
Giotti, Virgilio l885l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Giovanni, Nikki l913 . . . .DL5, 1l; CDAL7
Giovannitti, Arturo l881l959. . . . . . . . . . DL303
Gipson, Lawrence Henry l880l97l . . . . . . DLl7
Girard, Rodolphe l879l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Giraudoux, |ean l882l911. . . . . . . . . DLo5, 32l
Girondo, Oliverio l89ll9o7. . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Gissing, George l857l903. . . . . . DLl8, l35, l81
Jhe Ilace of Realism in Iiction (l895). . . DLl8
Giudici, Giovanni l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Giuliani, Alfredo l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Gjellerup, Karl l857l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Glackens, William |. l870l938 . . . . . . . . . DLl88
Gladilin, Anatolii Jikhonovich
l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Gladkov, Iedor Vasilèvich l883l958. . . . DL272
Gladstone, William Ewart
l809l898 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL57, l81
Glaeser, Ernst l902l9o3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Glancy, Diane l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl75
Glanvill, |oseph lo3olo80 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL252
Glanville, rian l93l . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5, l39
Glapthorne, Henry lol0lo13. . . . . . . . . . . DL58
Glasgow, Ellen l873l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9, l2
Jhe Ellen Glasgow Society . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
Glasier, Katharine ruce l8o7l950. . . . . . DLl90
Glaspell, Susan l87ol918 . . . . . . DL7, 9, 78, 228
Glass, Montague l877l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Glassco, |ohn l909l98l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Glauser, Iriedrich l89ol938. . . . . . . . . . . . DL5o
Glavin, Anthony l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
I. Gleason`s Iublishing Hall . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Gleim, |ohann Wilhelm Ludwig
l7l9l803 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL97
Glendinning, Robin l938 . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Glendinning, Victoria l937 . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
Glidden, Irederick Dilley (Luke Short)
l908l975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25o
Glinka, Iedor Nikolaevich l78ol880 . . . . DL205
Glover, Keith l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL219
Glover, Richard l7l2l785 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL95
Glover, Sue l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Glck, Louise l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Glyn, Elinor l8o1l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl53
Gnedich, Nikolai Ivanovich l781l833 . . . DL205
Gobineau, |osephArthur de
l8lol882 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl23
q d p~ qI l997 ooker Irize winner,
Arundhati Roy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Godber, |ohn l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
Godbout, |acques l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Goddard, Morrill l8o5l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Goddard, William l710l8l7. . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Godden, Rumer l907l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
Godey, Louis A. l801l878 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL73
Godey and McMichael . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Godfrey, Dave l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Godfrey, Jhomas l73ol7o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Godine, David R., Iublisher . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Godkin, E. L. l83ll902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL79
Godolphin, Sidney lol0lo13 . . . . . . . . . . DLl2o
Godwin, Gail l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo, 231
M. |. Godwin and Company . . . . . . . . . . . DLl51
Godwin, Mary |ane Clairmont
l7ool81l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo3
Godwin, Iarke l8lol901 . . . . . . . . DL3, o1, 250
Godwin, William l75ol83o . . . . . . . DL39, l01,
l12, l58, lo3, 2o2; CDL3
Ireface to pK i (l799) . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Goering, Reinhard l887l93o . . . . . . . . . . DLll8
Goes, Albrecht l908 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Goethe, |ohann Wolfgang von
l719l832 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91; CDWL2
Goetz, Curt l888l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
Goffe, Jhomas circa l592lo29. . . . . . . . . . DL58
Goffstein, M. . l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Gogarty, Oliver St. |ohn l878l957 . . . . DLl5, l9
Gogol, Nikolai Vasilèvich l809l852 . . . . DLl98
Goines, Donald l937l971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Gold, Herbert l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2; Y8l
Jribute to William Saroyan. . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8l
Gold, Michael l893l9o7. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9, 28
Goldbarth, Albert l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Goldberg, Dick l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Golden Cockerel Iress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Golding, Arthur l53olo0o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Golding, Louis l895l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl95
Golding, William l9lll993
. . . . . DLl5, l00, 255, 32o; Y83; CDL7
Nobel Lecture l993. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Jhe Stature of William Golding . . . . . . . . .Y83
Goldman, Emma l8o9l910 . . . . . . . . . . . DL22l
Goldman, William l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Goldring, Douglas l887l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . DLl97
Goldschmidt, Meir Aron l8l9l887 . . . . . DL300
Goldsmith, Oliver l730.l771
. . . . . . . DL39, 89, l01, l09, l12; CDL2
Goldsmith, Oliver l791l8ol. . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Goldsmith Iublishing Company . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Goldstein, Richard l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Goldsworthy, Ieter l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Gollancz, Sir Israel l8o1l930 . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Victor Gollancz Limited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Gomberville, Marin Le Roy, sieur de
lo00.lo71. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL2o8
Gombrowicz, Witold
l901l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5; CDWL1
Gomez, MadeleineAnglique Ioisson de
lo81l770 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
Gmez de Ciudad Real, Alvar (Alvar Gmez
de Guadalajara) l188l538 . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Gmez_uiones, |uan l912 . . . . . . . . DLl22
Laurence |ames Gomme
Gompers, Samuel l850l921. . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Gonalves Dias, Antnio l823l8o1 . . . . . DL307
Goncharov, Ivan Aleksandrovich
l8l2l89l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Goncourt, Edmond de l822l89o . . . . . . . DLl23
Goncourt, |ules de l830l870 . . . . . . . . . . DLl23
Gonzales, Rodolfo 'Corky" l928 . . . . . DLl22
Gonzaleserry, Erlinda l912 . . . . . . . . DL209
'Chicano Language". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Gonzlez, Angel l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Gonzalez, Genaro l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Gonzalez, N. V. M. l9l5l999. . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Gonzlez, OttoRal l92l . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Gonzalez, Ray l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Gonzlez de Mireles, |ovita
l899l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Gonzlez Martnez, Enrique l87ll952 . . . DL290
GonzlezJ., Csar A. l93l . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Goodis, David l9l7l9o7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
Goodison, Lorna l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Goodman, Allegra l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
Goodman, Nelson l90ol998 . . . . . . . . . . DL279
Goodman, Iaul l9lll972. . . . . . . . . DLl30, 21o
Jhe Goodman Jheatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Goodrich, Irances l89ll981 and
Hackett, Albert l900l995 . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Goodrich, Samuel Griswold
l793l8o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 12, 73, 213
S. G. Goodrich |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DL19
C. E. Goodspeed and Company . . . . . . . . . DL19
Goodwin, Stephen l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Googe, arnabe l510l591 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Gookin, Daniel lol2lo87. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Gopegui, eln l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Goran, Lester l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
Gordimer, Nadine l923 . . . . DL225, 32o; Y9l
Nobel Lecture l99l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y9l
Gordon, Adam Lindsay l833l870 . . . . . . DL230
`~ f ai_ POV
RMO
Gordon, Caroline
l895l98l . . . . . . . DL1, 9, l02; DSl7; Y8l
Gordon, Charles I. (see OyamO)
Gordon, Charles William (see Connor, Ralph)
Gordon, Giles l910 . . . . . . . . .DLl1, l39, 207
Gordon, Helen Cameron, Lady Russell
l8o7l919. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl95
Gordon, Lyndall l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
Gordon, Mack l901l959. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Gordon, Mary l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo; Y8l
Gordone, Charles l925l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Gore, Catherine l800l8ol . . . . . . . . . . . DLllo
Goreooth, Eva l870l92o . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Gores, |oe l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o; Y02
Jribute to Kenneth Millar . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
Jribute to Raymond Chandler. . . . . . . . . . Y88
Gorey, Edward l9252000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Gorgias of Leontini
circa 185 _.`.37o _.`. . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7o
Gor`ky, Maksim l8o8l93o . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Gorodetsky, Sergei Mitrofanovich
l881l9o7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Gorostiza, |os l90ll979. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Grres, |oseph l77ol818 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Gosse, Edmund l819l928. . . . . . DL57, l11, l81
Gosson, Stephen l551lo21 . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl72
q p ^ (l579) . . . . . . . . . . .DLl72
Gotanda, Ihilip Kan l95l . . . . . . . . . . DL2oo
Gotlieb, Ihyllis l92o . . . . . . . . . . . DL88, 25l
GoJoba ll80l239. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Gottfried von Straburg
died before l230 . . . . . . DLl38; CDWL2
Gotthelf, |eremias l797l851. . . . . . . . . . . DLl33
Gottschalk circa 801/8088o9 . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Gottsched, |ohann Christoph
l700l7oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL97
Gtz, |ohann Nikolaus l72ll78l. . . . . . . . DL97
Goudge, Elizabeth l900l981. . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Gouges, Olympe de l718l793 . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
a~~ o t~. . . . . . DL3l1
Gough, |ohn . l8l7l88o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL213
Gould, Wallace l882l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL51
Gournay, Marie de l5o5lo15 . . . . . . . . . DL327
Govoni, Corrado l881l9o5. . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Govrin, Michal l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Gower, |ohn circa l330l108 . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Goyen, William l9l5l983. . . . . . DL2, 2l8; Y83
Goytisolo, |os Augustn l928 . . . . . . . DLl31
Goytisolo, |uan l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Goytisolo, Luis l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Gozzano, Guido l883l9lo . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Grabbe, Christian Dietrich l80ll83o . . . DLl33
Gracq, |ulien (Louis Ioirier) l9l0 . . . . . DL83
Grady, Henry W. l850l889 . . . . . . . . . . . DL23
Graf, Oskar Maria l891l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . DL5o
d~ o between circa ll70 and
circa ll85. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Graff, Gerald l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
Graffigny, Iranoise dÌssembourg de
lo95l758. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
i ~ m~ t~ . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Richard Grafton |publishing house| . . . . . .DLl70
Grafton, Sue l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
Graham, Irank l893l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Graham, George Rex l8l3l891 . . . . . . . . DL73
Graham, Gwethalyn (Gwethalyn Graham
Erichsenrown) l9l3l9o5. . . . . . . . . DL88
Graham, |orie l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Graham, Katharine l9l7200l . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Graham, Lorenz l902l989 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7o
Graham, Ihilip l9l5l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Graham, R. . Cunninghame
l852l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL98, l35, l71
Graham, Shirley l89ol977 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7o
Graham, Stephen l881l975. . . . . . . . . . . DLl95
Graham, W. S. l9l8l98o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20
William H. Graham |publishing house| . . . DL19
Graham, Winston l9l02003 . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
Grahame, Kenneth l859l932 . . . DL31, l1l, l78
Grainger, Martin Allerdale l871l91l . . . . DL92
Gramatky, Hardie l907l979 . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Gramcko, Ida l921l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Gramsci, Antonio l89ll937 . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
Granada, Iray Luis de l501l588 . . . . . . DL3l8
Grand, Sarah l851l913. . . . . . . . . . .DLl35, l97
Grandbois, Alain l900l975 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Grandson, Oton de circa l315l397. . . . . DL208
Grange, |ohn circa l55o.. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Granger, Jhomas l578lo27. . . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Granich, Irwin (see Gold, Michael)
Granin, Daniil l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Granovsky, Jimofei Nikolaevich
l8l3l855 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
Grant, Anne MacVicar l755l838 . . . . . . DL200
Grant, Duncan l885l978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl0
Grant, George l9l8l988. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Grant, George Monro l835l902. . . . . . . . DL99
Grant, Harry |. l88ll9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Grant, |ames Edward l905l9oo . . . . . . . . DL2o
Grant, |ohn (see Gash, |onathan)
War of the Words (and Iictures). Jhe Creation
of a Graphic Novel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Grass, Gnter l927 . . .DL75, l21; CDWL2
Nobel Lecture l999.
'Jo e Continued . . ." . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Jribute to Helen Wolff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y91
Grasty, Charles H. l8o3l921 . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Grau, Shirley Ann l929 . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 2l8
Graves, |ohn l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
Graves, Richard l7l5l801. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Graves, Robert l895l985
. . . . DL20, l00, l9l; DSl8; Y85; CDLo
Jhe St. |ohn`s College
Robert Graves Jrust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9o
Gray, Alasdair l931 . . . . . . . .DLl91, 2ol, 3l9
Gray, Asa l8l0l888 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 235
Gray, David l838l8ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Gray, Simon l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Gray, Robert l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Gray, Jhomas l7lol77l . . . . DLl09; CDL2
Grayson, Richard l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
Grayson, William |. l788l8o3. . . . DL3, o1, 218
Jhe Great ibliographers Series. . . . . . . . . . . . Y93
q d~ d~ (Documentary) . . . . . . . . DL2l9
'Jhe Greatness of Southern Literature".
League of the South Institute for the
Study of Southern Culture and History
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Grech, Nikolai Ivanovich l787l8o7 . . . . . DLl98
Greeley, Horace l8lll872. . . .DL3, 13, l89, 250
Green, Adolph l9l52002 . . . . . . . . . DL11, 2o5
Green, Anna Katharine
l81ol935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL202, 22l
Green, Duff l79ll875 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Green, Elizabeth Shippen l87ll951 . . . . DLl88
Green, Gerald l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28
Green, Henry l905l973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5
Green, |onas l7l2l7o7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Green, |oseph l70ol780. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Green, |ulien l900l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1, 72
Green, Iaul l891l98l. . . . . . . DL7, 9, 219; Y8l
Green, J. H. l83ol882 . . . . . . . . . . DLl90, 2o2
Green, Jerence M. l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
J. and S. Green |publishing house|. . . . . . . DL19
Green Jiger Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Jimothy Green |publishing house| . . . . . . . DL19
Greenaway, Kate l81ol90l. . . . . . . . . . . DLl1l
Greenberg. Iublisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Greene, Asa l789l838. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Greene, elle da Costa l883l950 . . . . . . .DLl87
Greene, Graham l901l99l
. . . . . . . . . . . .DLl3, l5, 77, l00, lo2, 20l, 201;
Y85, 9l; CDL7
Jribute to Christopher Isherwood . . . . . . . Y8o
Greene, Robert l558l592 . . . . . . . . . .DLo2, lo7
Greene, Robert ernard (ob), |r.
l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
enjamin H Greene |publishing house| . . . DL19
Greenfield, George l9l72000 . . . . . . . . . . Y9l, 00
ai_ POV `~ f
RMP
`
Derek Robinson`s Review of George

Greenfield`s o a . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Greenhow, Robert l800l851 . . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Greenlee, William . l872l953 . . . . . . . . DLl87
Greenough, Horatio l805l852. . . . . . . DLl, 235
Greenwell, Dora l82ll882. . . . . . . . . DL35, l99
Greenwillow ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Greenwood, Grace (see Lippincott, Sara |ane Clarke)
Greenwood, Walter l903l971. . . . . . . DLl0, l9l
Greer, en l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Greflinger, Georg lo20.lo77 . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Greg, W. R. l809l88l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL55
Greg, W. W. l875l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Gregg, |osiah l80ol850 . . . . . . . . . . DLl83, l8o
Gregg Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Gregory, Horace l898l982. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL18
Gregory, Isabella Augusta Iersse, Lady
l852l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Gregory of Rimini circa l300l358 . . . . . . DLll5
Gregynog Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Greiff, Len de l895l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Greiffenberg, Catharina Regina von
lo33lo91 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Greig, Nol l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
Grekova, Irina (Elena Sergeevna Venttsel`)
l9072002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Grenfell, Wilfred Jhomason
l8o5l910. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Grenville, Kate l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Gress, Elsa l9l9l988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Greve, Ielix Iaul (see Grove, Irederick Ihilip)
Greville, Iulke, Iirst Lord rooke
l551lo28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo2, l72
Grey, Sir George, K.C.. l8l2l898 . . . . . DLl81
Grey, Lady |ane l537l551 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Grey, Zane l872l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9, 2l2
Zane Grey`s West Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
Grey Owl (Archibald Stansfeld elaney)
l888l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92; DSl7
Grey Walls Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Griboedov, Aleksandr Sergeevich
l795.l829 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Grice, Iaul l9l3l988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL279
Grier, Eldon l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Grieve, C. M. (see MacDiarmid, Hugh)
Griffin, artholomew fl. l59o . . . . . . . . . . DLl72
Griffin, ryan
'Ianic Among the Ihilistines``.
A Iostscript, An Interview
with ryan Griffin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8l
Griffin, Gerald l803l810 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl59
Jhe Griffin Ioetry Irize. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
Griffith, Elizabeth l727.l793 . . . . . . . . DL39, 89
Ireface to q a~ a (l7o9) . . . DL39
Griffith, George l857l90o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl78
Ralph Griffiths |publishing house| . . . . . . . DLl51
Griffiths, Jrevor l935 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, 215
S. C. Griggs and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Griggs, Sutton Elbert l872l930 . . . . . . . . . DL50
Grignon, ClaudeHenri l891l97o. . . . . . . . DLo8
Grigorèv, Apollon Aleksandrovich
l822l8o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL277
Grigorovich, Dmitrii Vasilèvich
l822l899 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Grigson, Geoffrey l905l985 . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Grillparzer, Iranz
l79ll872 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl33; CDWL2
Grimald, Nicholas
circa l5l9circa l5o2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Grimk, Angelina Weld l880l958 . . . . DL50, 51
Grimk, Sarah Moore l792l873 . . . . . . . . DL239
Grimm, Irdric Melchior l723l807 . . . . DL3l3
Grimm, Hans l875l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Grimm, |acob l785l8o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Grimm, Wilhelm
l78ol859 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90; CDWL2
Grimmelshausen, |ohann |acob Christoffel von
lo2l or lo22lo7o. . . . . . DLlo8; CDWL2
Grimshaw, eatrice Ethel l87ll953 . . . . . DLl71
Grmur Jhomsen l820l89o. . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Grin, Aleksandr Stepanovich
l880l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL272
Grindal, Edmund l5l9 or l520l583 . . . . DLl32
Gripe, Maria (Kristina) l923 . . . . . . . . . DL257
Griswold, Rufus Wilmot
l8l5l857 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, 59, 250
Gronlund, Laurence l81ol899. . . . . . . . . DL303
Grosart, Alexander alloch l827l899 . . . DLl81
Grosholz, Emily l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282
Gross, Milt l895l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Grosset and Dunlap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Grosseteste, Robert circa llo0l253 . . . . . DLll5
Grossman, Allen l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl93
Grossman, David l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Grossman, Vasilii Semenovich
l905l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL272
Grossman Iublishers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Grosvenor, Gilbert H. l875l9oo. . . . . . . . . DL9l
Groth, Klaus l8l9l899. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Groulx, Lionel l878l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Grove, Irederick Ihilip (Ielix Iaul Greve)
l879l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Grove Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Groys, oris Efimovich l917 . . . . . . . . . DL285
Grubb, Davis l9l9l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Gruelle, |ohnny l880l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
von Grumbach, Argula
l192after l5o3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl79
Grundtvig, N. I. S. l783l872 . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Grymeston, Elizabeth
before l5o3before lo01 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Grynberg, Henryk l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Gryphius, Andreas
lololoo1 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1; CDWL2
Gryphius, Christian lo19l70o . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Guare, |ohn l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7, 219
Guarnieri, Gianfrancesco l931 . . . . . . . DL307
Guberman, Igor Mironovich l93o . . . . DL285
Gubergur ergsson l932 . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Gumundur dvarsson l901l971 . . . . . DL293
Gumundur Gslason Hagaln
l898l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Gumundur Magnsson (see |n Jrausti)
Guerra, Jonino l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Guest, arbara l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, l93
Guevara, Iray Antonio de l180.l515 . . . DL3l8
Guvremont, Germaine l893l9o8 . . . . . . . DLo8
Guglielminetti, Amalia l88ll91l . . . . . . . DL2o1
Guidacci, Margherita l92ll992 . . . . . . . . DLl28
Guilln, |orge l893l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Guilln, Nicols l902l989 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Guilloux, Louis l899l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL72
Guilpin, Everard
circa l572after lo08. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Guiney, Louise Imogen l8oll920 . . . . . . . DL51
Guiterman, Arthur l87ll913 . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Gul`, Roman l89ol98o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Gumilev, Nikolai Stepanovich
l88ol92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Gnderrode, Caroline von
l780l80o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Gunduli, Ivan l589lo38 . . . DLl17; CDWL1
Gunesekera, Romesh l951 . . . . . . DL2o7, 323
Gunn, ill l931l989. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
Gunn, |ames E. l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Gunn, Neil M. l89ll973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5
Gunn, Jhom l929 . . . . . . . . DL27; CDL8
Gunnar Gunnarsson l889l975. . . . . . . . . DL293
Gunnars, Kristjana l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Gnther, |ohann Christian lo95l723 . . . . DLlo8
Gupta, Sunetra l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Gurik, Robert l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Gurney, A. R. l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2oo
Gurney, Ivor l890l937. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Jhe Ivor Gurney Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Guro, Elena Genrikhovna l877l9l3. . . . . DL295
Gustafson, Ralph l909l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Gustafsson, Lars l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Gtersloh, Albert Iaris l887l973 . . . . . . . . DL8l
Guterson, David l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
`~ f ai_ POV
RMQ
Guthrie, A. ., |r. l90ll99l . . . . . . . . DLo, 2l2
Guthrie, Ramon l89ol973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Guthrie, Jhomas Anstey (see Anstey, IC)
Guthrie, Woody l9l2l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Jhe Guthrie Jheater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Gutirrez Njera, Manuel l859l895 . . . . DL290
Guttormur |. Guttormsson l878l9oo . . . DL293
Gutzkow, Karl l8lll878 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl33
Guy, Ray l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Guy, Rosa l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Guyot, Arnold l807l881 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl3
Gwynn, R. S. l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282
Gwynne, Erskine l898l918. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Gyles, |ohn lo80l755 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Gyllembourg, Jhomasine l773l85o . . . . DL300
Gyllensten, Lars l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Gyrir Elasson l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Gysin, rion l9lol98o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
e
H.D. (see Doolittle, Hilda)
Habermas, |rgen l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL212
Habington, William lo05lo51 . . . . . . . . DLl2o
Hacker, Marilyn l912 . . . . . . . . . DLl20, 282
Hackett, Albert l900l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Hacks, Ieter l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
Hadas, Rachel l918 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20, 282
Hadden, riton l898l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9l
Hagedorn, Iriedrich von l708l751 . . . . . DLlo8
Hagedorn, |essica Jarahata l919 . . . . . DL3l2
Hagelstange, Rudolf l9l2l981 . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Hagerup, Inger l905l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Haggard, H. Rider
l85ol925 . . . . . . . . . . . DL70, l5o, l71, l78
Haggard, William (Richard Clayton)
l907l993. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27o; Y93
Hagy, Alyson l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
HahnHahn, Ida Grfin von l805l880 . . DLl33
Haigrown, Roderick l908l97o. . . . . . . . DL88
Haight, Gordon S. l90ll985. . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Hailey, Arthur l9202001. . . . . . . . . . DL88; Y82
Haines, |ohn l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, 2l2
Hake, Edward fl. l5oolo01. . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Hake, Jhomas Gordon l809l895. . . . . . . DL32
Hakluyt, Richard l552.lolo. . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Halas, Irantisek l90ll919 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Halbe, Max l8o5l911. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll8
Halberstam, David l931 . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Haldane, Charlotte l891l9o9 . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Haldane, |. . S. l892l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Haldeman, |oe l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Haldeman|ulius Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Hale, E. |., and Son. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Hale, Edward Everett
l822l909 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl, 12, 71, 235
Hale, |anet Campbell l91o . . . . . . . . . .DLl75
Hale, Kathleen l8982000 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Hale, Leo Jhomas (see Ebon)
Hale, Lucretia Ieabody l820l900. . . . . . . DL12
Hale, Nancy
l908l988 . . . . . . . . . DL8o; DSl7; Y80, 88
Hale, Sarah |osepha (uell)
l788l879 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl, 12, 73, 213
Hale, Susan l833l9l0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22l
Hales, |ohn l581lo5o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5l
Halvy, Ludovic l831l908 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl92
Haley, Alex l92ll992 . . . . . . . DL38; CDAL7
Haliburton, Jhomas Chandler
l79ol8o5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll, 99
Hall, Adam (Jrevor DudleySmith)
l920l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27o
Hall, Anna Maria l800l88l . . . . . . . . . . DLl59
Hall, Donald l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Hall, Edward l197l517 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Hall, Halsey l898l977. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Hall, |ames l793l8o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL73, 71
Hall, |oseph l571lo5o . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2l, l5l
Hall, Radclyffe l880l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Hall, Rodney l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Hall, Sarah Ewing l7oll830 . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Hall, Stuart l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL212
Samuel Hall |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . DL19
alHallaj 857922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Hallam, Arthur Henry l8lll833 . . . . . . . DL32
On Some of the Characteristics of
Modern Ioetry and On the
Lyrical Ioems of Alfred
Jennyson (l83l) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Halldr Laxness (Halldr Gujnsson)
l902l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Halleck, IitzGreene l790l8o7 . . . . . . DL3, 250
Haller, Albrecht von l708l777. . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Halliday, rett (see Dresser, Davis)
Halligan, Marion l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
HalliwellIhillipps, |ames Orchard
l820l889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Hallmann, |ohann Christian
lo10l701 or l7lo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Hallmark Editions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Halper, Albert l901l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Halperin, |ohn William l91l . . . . . . . . DLlll
Halstead, Murat l829l908 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23
Hamann, |ohann Georg l730l788. . . . . . . DL97
Hamburger, Michael l921 . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Hamilton, Alexander l7l2l75o . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Hamilton, Alexander l755.l801 . . . . . . . . DL37
Hamilton, Cicely l872l952. . . . . . . . .DLl0, l97
Hamilton, Edmond l901l977 . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Hamilton, Elizabeth l758l8lo. . . . . .DLllo, l58
Hamilton, Gail (see Corcoran, arbara)
Hamilton, Gail (see Dodge, Mary Abigail)
Hamish Hamilton Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Hamilton, Hugo l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Hamilton, Ian l938200l . . . . . . . . . . DL10, l55
Hamilton, |anet l795l873 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99
Hamilton, Mary Agnes l881l9o2 . . . . . . .DLl97
Hamilton, Iatrick l901l9o2 . . . . . . . .DLl0, l9l
Hamilton, Virginia l93o2002 . . . DL33, 52; Y0l
Hamilton, Sir William l788l85o . . . . . . . DL2o2
HamiltonIaterson, |ames l91l . . . . . . DL2o7
Hammerstein, Oscar, 2nd l895l9o0 . . . . DL2o5
Hammett, Dashiell
l891l9ol . . . . . . . DL22o; DSo; CDAL5
An Appeal in q^` . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9l
q d~ h and Other Dashiell
Hammett Mysteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9o
Knopf to Hammett. Jhe Editoral
q j~ c~ (Documentary) . . . . DL280
Hammon, |upiter l7lldied between
l790 and l80o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l, 50
Hammond, |ohn .loo3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Hamner, Earl l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Hampson, |ohn l90ll955. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Hampton, Christopher l91o . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Hamsun, Knut l859l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
HandelMazzetti, Enrica von l87ll955. . . DL8l
Handke, Ieter l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85, l21
Handlin, Oscar l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7
Hankin, St. |ohn l8o9l909 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Hanley, Clifford l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Hanley, |ames l90ll985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Hannah, arry l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo, 231
Hannay, |ames l827l873 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l
Hannes Hafstein l8oll922 . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Hano, Arnold l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Hanrahan, arbara l939l99l . . . . . . . . . DL289
Hansberry, Lorraine
l930l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . .DL7, 38; CDALl
Hansen, |oseph l9232001 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
Hansen, Martin A. l909l955 . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Hansen, Jhorkild l927l989 . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Hanson, Elizabeth lo81l737 . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Hapgood, Norman l8o8l937 . . . . . . . . . . DL9l
Happel, Eberhard Werner lo17lo90 . . . . DLlo8
Haq, Kaiser l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Harbach, Otto l873l9o3. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
ai_ POV `~ f
RMR
`
q e~ l815l819 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 223

Harburg, E. Y. 'Yip" l89ol98l . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Harcourt race |ovanovich . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Hardenberg, Iriedrich von (see Novalis)
Harding, Walter l9l7l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Hardwick, Elizabeth l9lo . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Hardy, Alexandre l572.lo32 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Hardy, Irank l9l7l991. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Hardy, Jhomas
l810l928 . . . . . . . DLl8, l9, l35; CDL5
'Candour in English Iiction" (l890) . . . DLl8
Hare, Cyril l900l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
Hare, David l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, 3l0
Hare, R. M. l9l92002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Hargrove, Marion l9l92003 . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Hring, Georg Wilhelm Heinrich
(see Alexis, Willibald)
Harington, Donald l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl52
Harington, Sir |ohn l5o0lol2 . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Harjo, |oy l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20, l75
Harkness, Margaret ( |ohn Law)
l851l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl97
Harley, Edward, second Earl of Oxford
lo89l71l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Harley, Robert, first Earl of Oxford
looll721 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Harlow, Robert l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Harman, Jhomas fl. l5ool573. . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Harness, Charles L. l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Harnett, Cynthia l893l98l . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
Harnick, Sheldon l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Jribute to Ira Gershwin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y9o
Jribute to Lorenz Hart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y95
Harper, Edith Alice Mary (see Wickham, Anna)
Harper, Iletcher l80ol877 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL79
Harper, Irances Ellen Watkins
l825l9ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL50, 22l
Harper, Michael S. l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Harper and rothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Harpur, Charles l8l3l8o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Harraden, eatrice l8o1l913 . . . . . . . . . . DLl53
George G. Harrap and Company
Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Harriot, Jhomas l5o0lo2l . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Harris, Alexander l805l871. . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Harris, enjamin .circa l720 . . . . . . . . DL12, 13
Harris, Christie l9072002. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Harris, Errol E. l908 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL279
Harris, Irank l85ol93l . . . . . . . . . . DLl5o, l97
Harris, George Washington
l8l1l8o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, ll, 218
Harris, |oanne l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27l
Harris, |oel Chandler
l818l908 . . . . . . . . . . . DLll, 23, 12, 78, 9l
Jhe |oel Chandler Harris Association . . . .Y99
Harris, Mark l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2; Y80
Jribute to Irederick A. Iottle . . . . . . . . . . . Y87
Harris, William Jorrey l835l909. . . . . . . DL270
Harris, Wilson l92l . . . . . DLll7; CDWL3
Harrison, Mrs. urton
(see Harrison, Constance Cary)
Harrison, Charles Yale l898l951. . . . . . . . DLo8
Harrison, Constance Cary l813l920. . . . DL22l
Harrison, Irederic l83ll923 . . . . . . . DL57, l90
'On Style in English Irose`` (l898). . . . DL57
Harrison, Harry l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
|ames I. Harrison Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Harrison, |im l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Harrison, M. |ohn l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Harrison, Mary St. Leger Kingsley
(see Malet, Lucas)
Harrison, Iaul Carter l93o . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
Harrison, Susan Irances l859l935. . . . . . . DL99
Harrison, Jony l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10, 215
Harrison, William l535l593 . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Harrison, William l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
Harrisse, Henry l829l9l0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL17
Harry, |. S. l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Jhe Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
at the Lniversity of Jexas at Austin. . . . . .Y00
Harryman, Carla l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl93
Harsdrffer, Georg Ihilipp lo07lo58 . . . . DLlo1
Harsent, David l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Hart, Albert ushnell l851l913. . . . . . . . . DLl7
Hart, Anne l7o8l831 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Hart, Elizabeth l77ll833 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Hart, |ulia Catherine l79ol8o7. . . . . . . . . . DL99
Hart, Kevin l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Hart, Lorenz l895l913. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Larry Hart. Still an Influence . . . . . . . . . . .Y95
Lorenz Hart. An American Lyricist . . . . . .Y95
Jhe Lorenz Hart Centenary . . . . . . . . . . . .Y95
Hart, Moss l901l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7, 2oo
Hart, Oliver l723l795 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Rupert HartDavis Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Harte, ret l83ol902
. . . . . . . . . DLl2, o1, 71, 79, l8o; CDAL3
Harte, Edward Holmead l922 . . . . . . . DLl27
Harte, Houston Harriman l927 . . . . . . DLl27
Harte, |ack l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
Hartlaub, Ielix l9l3l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5o
Hartlebon, Otto Erich l8o1l905 . . . . . . . DLll8
Hartley, David l705l757. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL252
Hartley, L. I. l895l972 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5, l39
Hartley, Marsden l877l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL51
Hartling, Ieter l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Hartman, Geoffrey H. l929 . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
Hartmann, Sadakichi l8o7l911 . . . . . . . . . DL51
Hartmann von Aue
circa llo0circa l205. . . . DLl38; CDWL2
Hartshorne, Charles l8972000 . . . . . . . . . DL270
Haruf, Kent l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Harvey, Gabriel l550.lo3l . . . DLlo7, 2l3, 28l
Harvey, |ack (see Rankin, Ian)
Harvey, |eanCharles l89ll9o7 . . . . . . . . . DL88
Harvill Iress Limited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Harwood, Gwen l920l995. . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Harwood, Lee l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Harwood, Ronald l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
alHasan alasri o12728 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Haek, |aroslav l883l923. . . DL2l5; CDWL1
Haskins, Charles Homer l870l937 . . . . . . DL17
Haslam, Gerald l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l2
Hass, Robert l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05, 20o
Hasselstrom, Linda M. l913 . . . . . . . . . DL25o
Hastings, Michael l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
Hatar, Gyz l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Jhe Hatchillops Collection . . . . . . . . . . . DL7o
Hathaway, William l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Hatherly, Ana l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Hauch, Carsten l790l872. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Hauff, Wilhelm l802l827 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Hauge, Olav H. l908l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Haugen, IaalHelge l915 . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Haugwitz, August Adolph von
lo17l70o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Hauptmann, Carl l858l92l. . . . . . . . DLoo, ll8
Hauptmann, Gerhart
l8o2l91o . . . . . . . . . DLoo, ll8; CDWL2
Hauser, Marianne l9l0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Havel, Vclav l93o . . . . . . . DL232; CDWL1
Haven, Alice . Neal l827l8o3 . . . . . . . . DL250
Havergal, Irances Ridley l83ol879 . . . . . DLl99
Hawes, Stephen l175.before l529 . . . . . . DLl32
Hawker, Robert Stephen l803l875 . . . . . . DL32
Hawkes, |ohn
l925l998 . . . . . . . . . DL2, 7, 227; Y80, Y98
|ohn Hawkes. A Jribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Jribute to Donald arthelme . . . . . . . . . . .Y89
Hawkesworth, |ohn l720l773. . . . . . . . . . DLl12
Hawkins, Sir Anthony Hope (see Hope, Anthony)
Hawkins, Sir |ohn l7l9l789 . . . . . . . DLl01, l12
Hawkins, Walter Everette l883.. . . . . . . . . DL50
Hawthorne, Nathaniel l801l8o1
. . . DLl, 71, l83, 223, 2o9; DS5; CDAL2
Jhe Nathaniel Hawthorne Society . . . . . . . Y00
Jhe Old Manse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL223
`~ f ai_ POV
RMS
Hawthorne, Sophia Ieabody
l809l87l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl83, 239
Hay, |ohn l835l905 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2, 17, l89
Hay, |ohn l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL275
Hayashi Iumiko l903l95l . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Haycox, Ernest l899l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20o
Haycraft, Anna Margaret (see Ellis, Alice Jhomas)
Hayden, Robert
l9l3l980. . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, 7o; CDALl
Haydon, enjamin Robert l78ol81o . . . DLll0
Hayes, |ohn Michael l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Hayley, William l715l820. . . . . . . . . DL93, l12
Haym, Rudolf l82ll90l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Hayman, Robert l575lo29 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Hayman, Ronald l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
Hayne, Iaul Hamilton
l830l88o . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL3, o1, 79, 218
Hays, Mary l7o0l813 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl12, l58
Hayslip, Le Ly l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Hayward, |ohn l905l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Haywood, Eliza lo93.l75o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Dedication of i~~ |excerpt|
(l723). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to q a m
|excerpt| (l723) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
q q~Jq~ |excerpt| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Haywood, William D. l8o9l928. . . . . . . DL303
Willis I. Hazard |publishing house| . . . . . . DL19
Hazlitt, William l778l830 . . . . . . . . DLll0, l58
Hazzard, Shirley l93l . . . . . . . . . DL289; Y82
Head, essie
l937l98o. . . . . . . . . DLll7, 225; CDWL3
Headley, |oel J. l8l3l897 . . . DL30, l83; DSl3
Heaney, Seamus l939 . . DL10; Y95; CDL8
Nobel Lecture l991. Crediting Ioetry . . . . Y95
Heard, Nathan C. l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Hearn, Lafcadio l850l901 . . . . . .DLl2, 78, l89
Hearn, Mary Anne (Marianne Iarningham,
Eva Hope) l831l909 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Hearne, |ohn l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll7
Hearne, Samuel l715l792 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Hearne, Jhomas lo78.l735 . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Hearst, William Randolph l8o3l95l . . . . DL25
Hearst, William Randolph, |r.
l908l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Heartman, Charles Irederick
l883l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
e~ ~ aI l975 ooker Irize winner,
Ruth Irawer |habvala. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Heath, Catherine l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Heath, |ames Ewell l792l8o2 . . . . . . . . . DL218
Heath, Roy A. K. l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll7
HeathStubbs, |ohn l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Heavysege, Charles l8lol87o . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Hebbel, Iriedrich
l8l3l8o3 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29; CDWL2
Hebel, |ohann Ieter l7o0l82o. . . . . . . . . . DL90
Heber, Richard l771l833 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Hbert, Anne l9lo2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Hbert, |acques l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Hebreo, Len circa l1o0l520 . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Hecht, Anthony l923 . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo9
Hecht, en l891l9o1 . . . . DL7, 9, 25, 2o, 28, 8o
Hecker, Isaac Jhomas l8l9l888. . . . . DLl, 213
Hedge, Irederic Henry
l805l890 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 59, 213; DS5
Hefner, Hugh M. l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Iriedrich
l770l83l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Heiberg, |ohan Ludvig l79ll8o0 . . . . . . DL300
Heiberg, |ohanne Luise l8l2l890. . . . . . DL300
Heide, Robert l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL219
Heidegger, Martin l889l97o . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
Heidish, Marcy l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
Heienbttel, Helmut l92ll99o . . . . . . . . DL75
Heike monogatari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Hein, Christoph l911 . . . DLl21; CDWL2
Hein, Iiet l905l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Heine, Heinrich l797l85o . . . DL90; CDWL2
Heinemann, Larry l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DS9
William Heinemann Limited . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Heinesen, William l900l99l. . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Heinlein, Robert A. l907l988 . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Heinrich, Willi l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Heinrich |ulius of runswick|
l5o1lol3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Heinrich von dem Jrln
fl. circa l230. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Heinrich von Melk
fl. after llo0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Heinrich von Veldeke
circa ll15circa ll90 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Heinse, Wilhelm l71ol803 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91
Heinz, W. C. l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7l
Heiskell, |ohn l872l972. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Hejinian, Lyn l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo5
Helder, Herberto l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
e~ circa 850 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Heller, |oseph
l923l999 . . . . . . DL2, 28, 227; Y80, 99, 02
Excerpts from |oseph Heller`s
LSC Address, 'Jhe Literature
of Despair" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9o
Remembering |oe Heller, by William
Irice Iox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
A Jribute to |oseph Heller . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Heller, Michael l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo5
Hellman, Lillian l90ol981 . . . . . DL7, 228; Y81
Hellwig, |ohann lo09lo71. . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Helprin, Mark l917 . . . . . . . . . . Y85; CDAL7
Helvtius, ClaudeAdrien l7l5l77l. . . . . DL3l3
q p i~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Helwig, David l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Hemans, Ielicia l793l835 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9o
Hemenway, Abby Maria l828l890. . . . . DL213
Hemingway, Ernest l899l9ol. . . . DL1, 9, l02,
2l0, 3lo; Y8l, 87, 99; DSl, l5, lo; CDAL1
A Centennial Celebration . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Come to Iapa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Jhe Ernest Hemingway Collection at
the |ohn I. Kennedy Library. . . . . . . . Y99
Ernest Hemingway Declines to
Introduce t~ ~ m~ . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Ernest Hemingway`s Reaction to
|ames Gould Cozzens . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Ernest Hemingway`s Joronto |ournalism
Revisited. With Jhree Ireviously
Lnrecorded Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y92
Ialsifying Hemingway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9o
^ c~ ^ (Documentary) . . . . DL308
Hemingway Centenary Celebration
at the |IK Library. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Jhe Hemingway/Ienton
Hemingway in the |IK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Jhe Hemingway Letters Iroject
Iinds an Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Hemingway Salesmen`s Dummies . . . . . . . Y00
Hemingway. JwentyIive Years Later . . . . Y85
A Literary Archaeologist Digs On.
A rief Interview with Michael
Reynolds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Not Immediately Discernible . . . but
Eventually _uite Clear. Jhe c
i and c~ v~ of
Hemingway`s Centenary . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Iackaging Iapa. q d~ b . . . . . . Y8o
Second International Hemingway
Colloquium. Cuba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Hmon, Louis l880l9l3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Hempel, Amy l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l8
Hempel, Carl G. l905l997 . . . . . . . . . . . .DL279
Hemphill, Iaul l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y87
Hnault, Gilles l920l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Henchman, Daniel lo89l7ol . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Henderson, Alice Corbin l88ll919 . . . . . DL51
Henderson, Archibald l877l9o3 . . . . . . . DLl03
Henderson, David l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Henderson, George Wylie l901l9o5 . . . . DL5l
Henderson, Zenna l9l7l983. . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Henighan, Jom l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Henisch, Ieter l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
Henley, eth l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8o
Henley, William Ernest l819l903. . . . . . . DLl9
Henniker, Ilorence l855l923 . . . . . . . . . DLl35
ai_ POV `~ f
RMT
`
Henning, Rachel l82ol9l1. . . . . . . . . . . . DL230

Henningsen, Agnes l8o8l9o2 . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Henry, Alexander l739l821 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Henry, uck l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Henry, Marguerite l902l997 . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Henry, O. (see Iorter, William Sydney)
Henry, Robert Selph l889l970. . . . . . . . . . DLl7
Henry, Will (see Allen, Henry W.)
Henry VIII of England l19ll517 . . . . . . DLl32
Henry of Ghent
circa l2l7l229 l293 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
Henryson, Robert
l120s or l130scirca l505. . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Henschke, Alfred (see Klabund)
Hensher, Ihilip l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Hensley, Sophie Almon l8ool91o . . . . . . . DL99
Henson, Lance l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl75
Henty, G. A. l832l902. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8, l1l
Jhe Henty Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Hentz, Caroline Lee l800l85o . . . . . . . DL3, 218
Heraclitus
fl. circa 500 _.`. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o
Herbert, Agnes circa l880l9o0. . . . . . . . . DLl71
Herbert, Alan Iatrick l890l97l . . . . . DLl0, l9l
Herbert, Edward, Lord, of Cherbury
l582lo18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2l, l5l, 252
Herbert, Irank l920l98o . . . . . .DL8; CDAL7
Herbert, George l593lo33. . DLl2o; CDLl
Herbert, Henry William l807l858 . . . . . DL3, 73
Herbert, |ohn l92o200l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Herbert, Mary Sidney, Countess of Iembroke
(see Sidney, Mary)
Herbert, Xavier l90ll981 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Herbert, Zbigniew
l921l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232; CDWL1
Herbst, |osephine l892l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Herburger, Gunter l932 . . . . . . . . . DL75, l21
Herculano, Alexandre l8l0l877. . . . . . . . DL287
Hercules, Irank E. M. l9l7l99o. . . . . . . . . DL33
Herder, |ohann Gottfried l711l803 . . . . . . DL97
. Herder ook Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Heredia, |osMara de l812l905. . . . . . . DL2l7
Herford, Charles Harold l853l93l . . . . . DLl19
Hergesheimer, |oseph l880l951. . . . . . DL9, l02
Heritage Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Hermann the Lame l0l3l051 . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Hermes, |ohann Jimotheu l738l82l . . . . . DL97
Hermlin, Stephan l9l5l997 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Hernndez, Alfonso C. l938 . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Hernndez, Ins l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Hernndez, Miguel l9l0l912. . . . . . . . . . DLl31
Hernton, Calvin C. l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
Herodotus circa 181 _.`.circa 120 _.`.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o; CDWLl
Hrot, Antoine l190.l5o7. . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Heron, Robert l7o1l807. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl12
Herr, Michael l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Herrera, Daro l870l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Herrera, Iernando de l531.l597 . . . . . . . DL3l8
Herrera, |uan Ielipe l918 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
E. R. Herrick and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Herrick, Robert l59llo71 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2o
Herrick, Robert l8o8l938 . . . . . . . . DL9, l2, 78
Herrick, William l9l52001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Herrmann, |ohn l900l959. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Hersey, |ohn
l9l1l993 . . . DLo, l85, 278, 299; CDAL7
Hertel, Iranois l905l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Hervazin, |ean Iierre Marie (see azin, Herv)
Hervey, |ohn, Lord lo9ol713. . . . . . . . . . DLl0l
Herwig, Georg l8l7l875. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl33
Herzen, Alexander (Aleksandr Ivanovich
Gersten) l8l2l870 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL277
Herzog, Emile Salomon Wilhelm
(see Maurois, Andr)
Hesiod eighth century _.`. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o
Hesse, Hermann
l877l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo; CDWL2
Hessus, Eobanus l188l510 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl79
Heureka! (see Kertsz, Imre and Nobel Irize
in Literature. 2002) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Hewat, Alexander circa l713circa l821 . . . DL30
Hewett, Dorothy l9232002 . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Hewitt, |ohn l907l987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Hewlett, Maurice l8oll923 . . . . . . . . DL31, l5o
Heyen, William l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Heyer, Georgette l902l971. . . . . . . . . DL77, l9l
Heym, Stefan l9l3200l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Heyse, Iaul l830l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Heytesbury, William
circa l3l0l372 or l373. . . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
Heyward, Dorothy l890l9ol. . . . . . . . DL7, 219
Heyward, Duose l885l910 . . . DL7, 9, 15, 219
Heywood, |ohn l197.l580.. . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Heywood, Jhomas l573 or l571lo1l . . . . DLo2
Hiaasen, Carl l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Hibberd, |ack l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Hibbs, en l90ll975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
'Jhe Saturday Evening Iost reaffirms
a policy," en Hibb`s Statement
in q p~~ b m
(lo May l912) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
Hichens, Robert S. l8o1l950 . . . . . . . . . . DLl53
Hickey, Emily l815l921. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99
Hickman, William Albert l877l957 . . . . . . DL92
Hicks, Granville l90ll982 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
Hidalgo, |os Luis l9l9l917 . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Hiebert, Iaul l892l987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Hieng, Andrej l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Hierro, |os l9222002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Higgins, Aidan l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Higgins, Colin l91ll988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Higgins, George V.
l939l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2; Y8l, 98-99
Afterword |in response to Cozzen`s
j o~ (or Something)| . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
^ b a~W Jhe Last George V.
Higgins Novel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Jhe ooks of George V. Higgins.
A Checklist of Editions
and Irintings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
George V. Higgins in Class . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Jribute to Alfred A. Knopf . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y81
Jributes to George V. Higgins . . . . . . . . . .Y99
'What You Lose on the Swings You Make
Lp on the MerryGoRound". . . .Y99
Higginson, Jhomas Wentworth
l823l9ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, o1, 213
Highsmith, Iatricia l92ll995. . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Highwater, |amake l912. . . . . . . . DL52; Y85
Hijuelos, Oscar l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15
Hildegard von ingen l098ll79. . . . . . . . DLl18
a~ e~
circa 820 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18; CDWL2
Hildesheimer, Wolfgang l9lol99l. . . DLo9, l21
Hildreth, Richard l807l8o5 . . . DLl, 30, 59, 235
Hill, Aaron lo85l750 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL81
Hill, Geoffrey l932 . . . . . . . .DL10; CDL8
George M. Hill Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Hill, 'Sir" |ohn l7l1.l775. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Lawrence Hill and Company,
Iublishers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Hill, |oe l879l9l5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Hill, Leslie l880l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5l
Hill, Reginald l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27o
Hill, Susan l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, l39
Hill, Walter l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Hill and Wang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Hillberry, Conrad l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Hillerman, Jony l925 . . . . . . . . . . DL20o, 30o
Hilliard, Gray and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Hills, Lee l90o2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Hillyer, Robert l895l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL51
Hilsenrath, Edgar l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Hilton, |ames l900l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL31, 77
Hilton, Walter died l39o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Hilton and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Himes, Chester l909l981 . . . DL2, 7o, l13, 22o
|oseph Hindmarsh |publishing house| . . . . DLl70
Hine, Daryl l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
`~ f ai_ POV
RMU
Hingley, Ronald l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
HinojosaSmith, Rolando l929 . . . . . . . DL82
Hinton, S. E. l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CDAL7
Hippel, Jheodor Gottlieb von
l71ll79o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL97
Hippius, Zinaida Nikolaevna
l8o9l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Hippocrates of Cos fl. circa
125 _.`. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o; CDWLl
Hirabayashi Jaiko l905l972 . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Hirsch, E. D., |r. l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
Hirsch, Edward l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
'Historical Novel," Jhe Holocaust . . . . . . DL299
Hoagland, Edward l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Hoagland, Everett H., III l912 . . . . . . . DL1l
Hoban, Russell l925 . . . . . . . . . . . DL52; Y90
Hobbes, Jhomas l588lo79. . . DLl5l, 252, 28l
Hobby, Oveta l905l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Hobby, William l878l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Hobsbaum, Ihilip l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Hobsbawm, Eric (Irancis Newton)
l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
Hobson, Laura Z. l900l98o . . . . . . . . . . . DL28
Hobson, Sarah l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
Hoby, Jhomas l530l5oo . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Hoccleve, Jhomas
circa l3o8circa l137 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Hoch, Edward D. l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Hochhuth, Rolf l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
Hochman, Sandra l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Hocken, Jhomas Morland l83ol9l0 . . . DLl81
Hocking, William Ernest l873l9oo. . . . . .DL270
Hodder and Stoughton, Limited. . . . . . . . DLl0o
Hodgins, |ack l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Hodgman, Helen l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Hodgskin, Jhomas l787l8o9 . . . . . . . . . DLl58
Hodgson, Ralph l87ll9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9
Hodgson, William Hope
l877l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL70, l53, l5o, l78
Hoe, Robert, III l839l909 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Hoeg, Ieter l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Hoel, Sigurd l890l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Hoem, Edvard l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Hoffenstein, Samuel l890l917 . . . . . . . . . DLll
Hoffman, Alice l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Hoffman, Charles Ienno l80ol881. . . DL3, 250
Hoffman, Daniel l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Jribute to Robert Graves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y85
Hoffmann, E. J. A.
l77ol822 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90; CDWL2
Hoffman, Irank . l888l958 . . . . . . . . . DLl88
Hoffman, William l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
Jribute to Iaxton Davis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y91
Hoffmanswaldau, Christian Hoffman von
lololo79. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Hofmann, Michael l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Hofmannsthal, Hugo von
l871l929. . . . . . . . . .DL8l, ll8; CDWL2
Hofmo, Gunvor l92ll995 . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Hofstadter, Richard l9lol970 . . . . . . . DLl7, 21o
Hogan, Desmond l950 . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 3l9
Hogan, Linda l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl75
Hogan and Jhompson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Hogarth Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2; DSl0
Hogg, |ames l770l835. . . . . . . . .DL93, llo, l59
Hohberg, Wolfgang Helmhard Ireiherr von
lol2lo88 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
von Hohenheim, Ihilippus Aureolus
Jheophrastus ombastus (see Iaracelsus)
Hohl, Ludwig l901l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5o
Hjholt, Ier l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Holan, Vladimir l905l980 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
d`Holbach, Iaul Henri Jhiry, baron
l723l789 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
q p k~ (as |eanaptiste de
Mirabaud) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Holberg, Ludvig lo81l751 . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Holbrook, David l923 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 10
Holcroft, Jhomas l715l809 . . . . DL39, 89, l58
Ireface to ^ (l780). . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Holden, |onathan l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
'Contemporary Verse Storytelling". . . DLl05
Holden, Molly l927l98l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Hlderlin, Iriedrich
l770l813. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90; CDWL2
Holdstock, Robert l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
e~I l971 ooker Irize winner,
Stanley Middleton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Holiday House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Holinshed, Raphael died l580 . . . . . . . . . DLlo7
Holland, |. G. l8l9l88l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl3
Holland, Norman N. l927 . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
Hollander, |ohn l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Holley, Marietta l83ol92o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Hollinghurst, Alan l951 . . . . . . . . DL207, 32o
Hollingsworth, Margaret l910 . . . . . . . . DLo0
Hollo, Anselm l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Holloway, Emory l885l977 . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Holloway, |ohn l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Holloway House Iublishing Company . . . DL1o
Holme, Constance l880l955 . . . . . . . . . . DL31
Holmes, Abraham S. l82l.l908 . . . . . . . . DL99
Holmes, |ohn Clellon l92ol988 . . . . .DLlo, 237
'Iour Essays on the eat
Generation". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Holmes, Mary |ane l825l907 . . . . . DL202, 22l
Holmes, Oliver Wendell
l809l891 . . . . . . DLl, l89, 235; CDAL2
Holmes, Richard l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
Holmes, Jhomas |ames l871l959. . . . . . .DLl87
Jhe Holocaust 'Historical Novel" . . . . . . DL299
Holocaust Iiction, Iostmodern. . . . . . . . . DL299
Holocaust Novel, Jhe 'SecondGeneration"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Holroyd, Michael l935 . . . . . . . . DLl55; Y99
Holst, Hermann E. von l81ll901 . . . . . . DL17
Holt, |ohn l72ll781 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Henry Holt and Company . . . . . . . . . DL19, 281
Holt, Rinehart and Winston. . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Holtby, Winifred l898l935. . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Holthusen, Hans Egon l9l3l997 . . . . . . . DLo9
Hlty, Ludwig Christoph Heinrich
l718l77o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91
Holub, Miroslav
l923l998 . . . . . . . . . . . DL232; CDWL1
Holz, Arno l8o3l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll8
Home, Henry, Lord Kames
(see Kames, Henry Home, Lord)
Home, |ohn l722l808. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL81
Home, William Douglas l9l2l992 . . . . . . DLl3
Home Iublishing Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Homer circa eighthseventh centuries _.`.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o; CDWLl
Homer, Winslow l83ol9l0. . . . . . . . . . . DLl88
Homes, Geoffrey (see Mainwaring, Daniel)
Honan, Iark l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Hone, William l780l812. . . . . . . . . .DLll0, l58
Hongo, Garrett Kaoru l95l . . . . DLl20, 3l2
Honig, Edwin l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Hood, Hugh l9282000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Hood, Mary l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
Hood, Jhomas l799l815 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9o
Hook, Sidney l902l989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL279
Hook, Jheodore l788l81l . . . . . . . . . . . DLllo
Hooker, |eremy l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Hooker, Richard l551lo00 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Hooker, Jhomas l58olo17. . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
hooks, bell l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
Hooper, |ohnson |ones
l8l5l8o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, ll, 218
Hope, A. D. l9072000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Hope, Anthony l8o3l933. . . . . . . . DLl53, l5o
Hope, Christopher l911 . . . . . . . . . . . DL225
Hope, Eva (see Hearn, Mary Anne)
Hope, Laurence (Adela Ilorence
Cory Nicolson) l8o5l901. . . . . . . . . DL210
Hopkins, Ellice l83ol901 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl90
Hopkins, Gerard Manley
l811l889 . . . . . . . . . . DL35, 57; CDL5
ai_ POV `~ f
RMV
`
Hopkins, |ohn .l570. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32

Hopkins, |ohn H., and Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Hopkins, Lemuel l750l80l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Hopkins, Iauline Elizabeth l859l930 . . . . DL50
Hopkins, Samuel l72ll803 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Hopkinson, Irancis l737l79l . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Hopkinson, Nalo l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Hopper, Nora (Mrs. Nora Chesson)
l87ll90o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Hoppin, Augustus l828l89o . . . . . . . . . . DLl88
Hora, |osef l89ll915 . . . . . . DL2l5; CDWL1
Horace o5 _.`.8 _.`. . . . . . . . DL2ll; CDWLl
Horgan, Iaul l903l995 . . . . . DLl02, 2l2; Y85
Horizon Iress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Horkheimer, Max l895l973. . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
Hornby, C. H. St. |ohn l8o7l91o . . . . . . . DL20l
Hornby, Nick l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL207
Horne, Irank l899l971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5l
Horne, Richard Henry (Hengist)
l802 or l803l881 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Horne, Jhomas lo08lo51 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Horney, Karen l885l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
Hornung, E. W. l8ool92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL70
Horovitz, Israel l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Horta, Maria Jeresa (see Jhe Jhree Marias.
Literary History)
Horton, George Moses l797.l883. . . . . . . DL50
George Moses Horton Society . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Horvth, Odn von l90ll938 . . . . . . DL85, l21
Horwood, Harold l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
E. and E. Hosford |publishing house| . . . . . DL19
Hoskens, |ane Ienn lo93l770.. . . . . . . . . DL200
Hoskyns, |ohn circa l5oolo38 . . . . . DLl2l, 28l
Hosokawa Ysai l535lol0. . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Hospers, |ohn l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL279
Hospital, |anette Jurner l912 . . . . . . . . DL325
Hostovsk, Egon l908l973. . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Hotchkiss and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
e i~I l981 ooker Irize winner,
Anita rookner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Hough, Emerson l857l923. . . . . . . . . . DL9, 2l2
Houghton, Stanley l88ll9l3 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Houghton Mifflin Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
e ~ e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl3
Household, Geoffrey l900l988 . . . . . . . . . DL87
Housman, A. E. l859l93o . . . DLl9; CDL5
Housman, Laurence l8o5l959. . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Houston, Iam l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
Houwald, Ernst von l778l815 . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Hovey, Richard l8o1l900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL51
e i~ f t~I e i~I l991 ooker Irize winner,
|ames Kelman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Howard, Donald R. l927l987 . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Howard, Maureen l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Howard, Richard l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Howard, Roy W. l883l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Howard, Sidney l89ll939 . . . . . . . DL7, 2o, 219
Howard, Jhomas, second Earl of Arundel
l585lo1o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Howe, E. W. l853l937. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2, 25
Howe, Henry l8lol893 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Howe, Irving l920l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
Howe, |oseph l801l873 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Howe, |ulia Ward l8l9l9l0. . . . . DLl, l89, 235
Howe, Iercival Iresland l88ol911. . . . . . DLl19
Howe, Susan l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Howell, Clark, Sr. l8o3l93o. . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Howell, Evan I. l839l905 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23
Howell, |ames l591.looo. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5l
Howell, Soskin and Company . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Howell, Warren Richardson
l9l2l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl10
Howells, William Dean l837l920
. . . . . . . . . DLl2, o1, 71, 79, l89; CDAL3
Introduction to Iaul Laurence
Dunbar`s i i i
(l89o) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL50
Jhe William Dean Howells Society . . . . . .Y0l
Howitt, Mary l799l888 . . . . . . . . . . DLll0, l99
Howitt, William l792l879 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll0
Hoyem, Andrew l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Hoyers, Anna Ovena l581lo55 . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Hoyle, Ired l9l5200l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Hoyos, Angela de l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Henry Hoyt |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Hoyt, Ialmer l897l979. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Hrabal, ohumil l9l1l997. . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Hrabanus Maurus 77o.85o. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Hronsk, |osef Cger l89ol9o0 . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Hrotsvit of Gandersheim
circa 935circa l000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Hubbard, Elbert l85ol9l5. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9l
Hubbard, Kin l8o8l930. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Hubbard, William circa lo2ll701 . . . . . . . DL21
Huber, Jherese l7o1l829. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Huch, Iriedrich l873l9l3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Huch, Ricarda l8o1l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Huddle, David l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Hudgins, Andrew l95l . . . . . . . . . DLl20, 282
Hudson, Henry Norman l8l1l88o . . . . . . DLo1
Hudson, Stephen l8o8.l911 . . . . . . . . . . DLl97
Hudson, W. H. l81ll922. . . . . . DL98, l53, l71
Hudson and Goodwin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Huebsch, . W., oral history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
. W. Huebsch |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DL1o
Hueffer, Oliver Madox l87ol93l. . . . . . . DLl97
Huet, Iierre Daniel
Ireface to q e o~
(l7l5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Hugh of St. Victor circa l09oll1l . . . . . . DL208
Hughes, David l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Hughes, Dusty l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
Hughes, Hatcher l88ll915 . . . . . . . . . . . DL219
Hughes, |ohn lo77l720. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL81
Hughes, Langston l902l9o7 . . . . . . . DL1, 7, 18,
5l, 8o, 228, 3l5; DSl5; CDAL5
Hughes, Richard l900l97o. . . . . . . . . DLl5, lol
Hughes, Jed l930l998. . . . . . . . . . . . DL10, lol
Hughes, Jhomas l822l89o . . . . . . . . DLl8, lo3
Hugo, Richard l923l982 . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, 20o
Hugo, Victor l802l885 . . . . . . DLll9, l92, 2l7
Hugo Awards and Nebula Awards . . . . . . . . DL8
Huidobro, Vicente l893l918 . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Hull, Richard l89ol973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
Hulda (Lnnur enediktsdttir jarklind)
l88ll91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Hulme, Keri l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Hulme, J. E. l883l9l7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9
Hulton, Anne .l779. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Humanism, SixteenthCentury
Spanish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Humboldt, Alexander von l7o9l859 . . . . . DL90
Humboldt, Wilhelm von l7o7l835. . . . . . . DL90
Hume, David l7lll77o. . . . . . . . . . . DLl01, 252
Hume, Iergus l859l932. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL70
Hume, Sophia l702l771 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
HumeRothery, Mary Catherine
l821l885 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Humishuma
(see Mourning Dove)
Hummer, J. R. l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Humor
American Humor. A Historical
Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
American Humor Studies Association . . . .Y99
Jhe Comic Jradition Continued
|in the ritish Novel|. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5
Humorous ook Illustration . . . . . . . . . DLll
International Society for Humor Studies. . .Y99
Newspaper Syndication of American
Humor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Selected Humorous Magazines
(l820l950) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
ruce Humphries |publishing house| . . . . . DL1o
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
l39ll117 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Humphrey, William
l921l997 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo, 2l2, 231, 278
Humphreys, David l752l8l8. . . . . . . . . . . DL37
`~ f ai_ POV
RNM
Humphreys, Emyr l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5
Humphreys, |osephine l915 . . . . . . . . DL292
Hunayn ibn Ishaq 809873 or 877. . . . . . . DL3ll
Huncke, Herbert l9l5l99o. . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Huneker, |ames Gibbons
l857l92l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7l
Hunold, Christian Iriedrich
lo8ll72l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Hunt, Irene l907 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Hunt, Leigh l781l859. . . . . . . . .DL9o, ll0, l11
Hunt, Violet l8o2l912 . . . . . . . . . . .DLlo2, l97
Hunt, William Gibbes l79ll833 . . . . . . . . DL73
Hunter, Evan (Ed Mcain)
l92o2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o; Y82
Hunter, |im l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Hunter, Kristin l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Jribute to |ulian Mayfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
Hunter, Mollie l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
Hunter, N. C. l908l97l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
HunterDuvar, |ohn l82ll899 . . . . . . . . . DL99
Huntington, Henry E. l850l927. . . . . . . DLl10
Jhe Henry E. Huntington Library . . . . . . Y92
Huntington, Susan Mansfield
l79ll823. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Hurd and Houghton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Hurst, Iannie l889l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8o
Hurst and lackett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Hurst and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Hurston, Zora Neale
l90l.l9o0. . . . . . . . . . DL5l, 8o; CDAL7
Husserl, Edmund l859l938 . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
Husson, |ulesIranoisIlix (see Champfleury)
Huston, |ohn l90ol987. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Hutcheson, Irancis lo91l71o . . . . . . DL3l, 252
Hutchinson, Ron l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
Hutchinson, R. C. l907l975 . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Hutchinson, Jhomas l7lll780 . . . . . . DL30, 3l
Hutchinson and Company
(Iublishers) Limited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Huth, Angela l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27l
Hutton, Richard Holt
l82ol897. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL57
von Hutten, Llrich l188l523 . . . . . . . . . .DLl79
Huxley, Aldous l891l9o3
. . . . . . DL3o, l00, lo2, l95, 255; CDLo
Huxley, Elspeth |osceline
l907l997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77, 201
Huxley, J. H. l825l895 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL57
Huyghue, Douglas Smith l8lol89l . . . . . DL99
Huysmans, |orisKarl l818l907 . . . . . . . DLl23
Hwang, David Henry
l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l2, 228, 3l2
Hyde, Donald l909l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Hyde, Mary l9l22003. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Hyman, Jrina Schart l939 . . . . . . . . . . DLol
f
Iavorsky, Stefan lo58l722 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Iazykov, Nikolai Mikhailovich
l803l81o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Ibez, Armando I. l919 . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Ibez, Sara de l909l97l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Ibarbourou, |uana de l892l979. . . . . . . . DL290
Ibn Abi Jahir Jayfur 820893 . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Ibn _utaybah 828889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Ibn alRumi 83o89o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Ibn Sa'd 781815. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Ibrahim alMawsili 712 or 713803 or 801 DL3ll
Ibn ajja circa l077ll38. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
Ibn Gabirol, Solomon
circa l02lcirca l058 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
Ibn alMuqaffa' circa 723759 . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Ibn alMu'tazz 8ol908 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Ibuse Masuji l898l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Ichij Kanera
(see Ichij Kaneyoshi)
Ichij Kaneyoshi (Ichij Kanera)
l102l18l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Iffland, August Wilhelm
l759l8l1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91
Iggulden, |ohn l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Ignatieff, Michael l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Ignatow, David l9l1l997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Ike, Chukwuemeka l93l . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Ikky Sjun l391l18l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Iles, Irancis
(see erkeley, Anthony)
Il`f, Ilìa (Ilìa Arnol`dovich Iainzil`berg)
l897l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL272
Illich, Ivan l92o2002. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL212
Illustration
Children`s ook Illustration in the
Jwentieth Century . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Children`s Illustrators, l800l880 . . . DLlo3
Early American ook Illustration . . . . DL19
Jhe Iconography of ScienceIiction
Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Jhe Illustration of Early German
Literary Manuscripts, circa
ll50circa l300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Minor Illustrators, l880l9l1 . . . . . . DLl1l
Illys, Gyula l902l983 . . . . DL2l5; CDWL1
Imbs, ravig l901l91o . . . . . . . . . . DL1; DSl5
Imbuga, Irancis D. l917 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Immermann, Karl l79ol810 . . . . . . . . . . DLl33
Imru` al_ays circa 52ocirca 5o5 . . . . . . . DL3ll
f ~ c p~I l97l ooker Irize winner,
V. S. Naipaul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Inchbald, Elizabeth l753l82l . . . . . . . DL39, 89
Indiana Lniversity Iress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Ingamells, Rex l9l3l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Inge, William l9l3l973. . . .DL7, 219; CDALl
Ingelow, |ean l820l897. . . . . . . . . . . DL35, lo3
Ingemann, . S. l789l8o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Ingersoll, Ralph l900l985. . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl27
Jhe Ingersoll Irizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
Ingoldsby, Jhomas (see arham, Richard Harris)
Ingraham, |oseph Holt l809l8o0 . . . . DL3, 218
Inman, |ohn l805l850 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL73
Innerhofer, Iranz l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
Innes, Michael ( |. I. M. Stewart)
l90ol991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27o
Innis, Harold Adams l891l952. . . . . . . . . DL88
Innis, Mary _uayle l899l972. . . . . . . . . . DL88
In Sgi l12ll502. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Inoue Yasushi l907l99l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
International Iublishers Company. . . . . . . DL1o
Internet (publishing and commerce)
Author Websites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Jhe ook Jrade and the Internet . . . . . . . Y00
Eooks Jurn the Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Jhe EResearcher. Iossibilities
and Iitfalls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Interviews on Epublishing. . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
|ohn Lpdike on the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
LitCheck Website. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Virtual ooks and Enemies of ooks. . . . . Y00
Interviews
Adoff, Arnold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Aldridge, |ohn W. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9l
Anastas, enjamin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
aker, Nicholson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
ank, Melissa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
ass, J. |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y80
ernstein, Harriet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
etts, Doris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
osworth, David . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
ottoms, David . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
owers, Iredson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y80
urnshaw, Stanley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Carpenter, Humphrey . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81, 99
Carr, Virginia Spencer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Carver, Raymond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
Cherry, Kelly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
Conroy, |ack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8l
Coppel, Alfred . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
Cowley, Malcolm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8l
Davis, Iaxton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y89
Devito, Carlo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y91
De Vries, Ieter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
ai_ POV `~ f
RNN
`
Dickey, |ames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82

Donald, David Herbert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y87
Editors, Conversations with . . . . . . . . . . . .Y95
Ellroy, |ames. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y9l
Iancher, etsy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Iaust, Irvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
Iulton, Len . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
Iurst, Alan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
Garrett, George . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Gelfman, |ane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y93
Goldwater, Walter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y93
Gores, |oe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Greenfield, George . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y9l
Griffin, ryan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8l
Groom, Winston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
Guilds, |ohn Caldwell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y92
Hamilton, Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
Hardin, |ames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y92
Harris, Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y80
Harrison, |im. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Hazzard, Shirley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Herrick, William . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
Higgins, George V. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Hoban, Russell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y90
Holroyd, Michael . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Horowitz, Glen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y90
Iggulden, |ohn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
|akes, |ohn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
|enkinson, Edward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
|enks, Jom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
Kaplan, |ustin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
King, Ilorence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y85
Klopfer, Donald S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y97
Krug, |udith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Lamm, Donald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y95
Laughlin, |ames. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y9o
Lawrence, Starling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y95
Lindsay, |ack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y81
Mailer, Norman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y97
Manchester, William . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y85
Max, D. J.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y91
McCormack, Jhomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
McNamara, Katherine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Mellen, |oan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y91
Menaker, Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y97
Mooneyham, Lamarr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Murray, Les. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
Nosworth, David. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
O`Connor, Iatrick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y81, 99
Ozick, Cynthia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Ienner, |onathan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Iennington, Lee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Ienzler, Otto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y9o
Ilimpton, George . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Iotok, Chaim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y81
Iowell, Iadgett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
Irescott, Ieter S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
Rabe, David . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y9l
Rechy, |ohn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Reid, . L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Reynolds, Michael. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y95, 99
Robinson, Derek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Rollyson, Carl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Rosset, arney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Schlafly, Ihyllis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Schroeder, Iatricia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Schulberg, udd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8l, 0l
Scribner, Charles, III. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y91
Sipper, Ralph. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y91
Smith, Cork. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y95
Staley, Jhomas I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
Styron, William. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y80
Jalese, Nan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y91
Jhornton, |ohn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y91
Joth, Susan Allen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
Jyler, Anne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Vaughan, Samuel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Von Ogtrop, Kristin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y92
Wallenstein, arry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y92
Weintraub, Stanley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Williams, |. Chamberlain . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y81
Into the Iast. William |ovanovich`s
Reflections in Iublishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Ionesco, Eugne l909l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
Ireland, David l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Jhe National Library of Ireland`s
New |ames |oyce Manuscripts. . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Irigaray, Luce l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
Irving, |ohn l912 . . . . . . . . . . DLo, 278; Y82
Irving, Washington l783l859
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, ll, 30, 59, 73, 71,
l83, l8o, 250; CDAL2
Irwin, Grace l907 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Irwin, Will l873l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Isaksson, Llla l9lo2000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Iser, Wolfgang l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL212
Isherwood, Christopher
l901l98o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5, l95; Y8o
Jhe Christopher Isherwood Archive,
Jhe Huntington Library . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Ishiguro, Kazuo l951 . . . . . . . . . . DLl91, 32o
Ishikawa |un l899l987. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Iskander, Iazil` Abdulevich l929 . . . . . DL302
Jhe Island Jrees Case. A Symposium on
School Library Censorship
An Interview with |udith Krug
An Interview with Ihyllis Schlafly
An Interview with Edward . |enkinson
An Interview with Lamarr Mooneyham
An Interview with Harriet ernstein. . . . . .Y82
Islas, Arturo
l938l99l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Issit, Debbie l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
Ivanievi, Drago l907l98l . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Ivanov, Georgii l891l951. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Ivanov, Viacheslav Ivanovich
l8ool919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Ivanov, Vsevolod Viacheslavovich
l895l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL272
Ivask, Yuri l907l98o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Ivaska, Astrde l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
M. |. Ivers and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Iwaniuk, Wacaw l9l5200l . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Iwano Hmei l873l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Iwaszkiewicz, |arosav l891l980 . . . . . . . DL2l5
Iyayi, Iestus l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Izumi Kyka l873l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
g
|ackmon, Marvin E. (see Marvin X)
|acks, L. I. l8o0l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl35
|ackson, Angela l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
|ackson, Charles l903l9o8. . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
|ackson, Helen Hunt
l830l885 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL12, 17, l8o, l89
|ackson, Holbrook l871l918 . . . . . . . . . . . DL98
|ackson, Laura Riding l90ll99l . . . . . . . . DL18
|ackson, Shirley
l9lol9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . DLo, 231; CDALl
|acob, Max l87ol911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL258
|acob, Naomi l881.l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
|acob, Iiers Anthony Dillingham
(see Anthony, Iiers)
|acob, Violet l8o3l91o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
|acobi, Iriedrich Heinrich l713l8l9. . . . . . DL91
|acobi, |ohann Georg l710l81l . . . . . . . . . DL97
George W. |acobs and Company. . . . . . . . . DL19
|acobs, Harriet l8l3l897 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL239
|acobs, |oseph l851l9lo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1l
|acobs, W. W. l8o3l913. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl35
Jhe W. W. |acobs Appreciation Society . . .Y98
|acobsen, |. I. l817l885 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
|acobsen, |rgenIrantz l900l938 . . . . . . DL2l1
|acobsen, |osephine l908 . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
|acobsen, Rolf l907l991. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
|acobson, Dan l929 . . . . DLl1, 207, 225, 3l9
|acobson, Howard l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL207
|acques de Vitry circa llo0/ll70l210. . . . DL208
|ger, Irank l92ol977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
|a'far alSadiq circa 7027o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
William |aggard |publishing house| . . . . . . DLl70
|ahier, Iiero l881l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1, 2o1
al|ahiz circa 77o8o8 or 8o9 . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
`~ f ai_ POV
RNO
|ahnn, Hans Henny l891l959 . . . . . DL5o, l21
|aimes, Ireyre, Ricardo l8oo.l933 . . . . . DL283
|akes, |ohn l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL278; Y83
|akobna |ohnson ( |akobna Sigurbjarnardttir)
l883l977. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
|akobson, Roman l89ol982 . . . . . . . . . . DL212
|ames, Alice l818l892. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22l
|ames, C. L. R. l90ll989 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl25
|ames, Clive l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
|ames, George I. R. l80ll8o0 . . . . . . . . DLllo
|ames, Henry l813l9lo
. . . . . . .DLl2, 7l, 71, l89; DSl3; CDAL3
'Jhe Iuture of the Novel" (l899) . . . . DLl8
'Jhe Novel in |Robert rowning`s|
'Jhe Ring and the ook`"
(l9l2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
|ames, |ohn circa lo33l729 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
|ames, M. R. l8o2l93o . . . . . . . . . . DLl5o, 20l
|ames, Naomi l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
|ames, I. D. (Ihyllis Dorothy |ames White)
l920 . . . . . . DL87, 27o; DSl7; CDL8
Jribute to Charles Scribner |r. . . . . . . . . . . Y95
|ames, Jhomas l572.lo29 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
L. I. |ames |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . DL19
|ames, Will l892l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSlo
|ames, William l812l9l0 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL270
|ames VI of Scotland, I of England
l5oolo25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl5l, l72
^ p q~ ` p o
~ `~ _ l ~
b p m (l581). . . . . .DLl72
|ameson, Anna l791l8o0. . . . . . . . . . DL99, loo
|ameson, Iredric l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
|ameson, |. Iranklin l859l937 . . . . . . . . . DLl7
|ameson, Storm l89ll98o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3o
|anar, Drago l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
|ans, Clara l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
|anevski, Slavko l9202000 . DLl8l; CDWL1
|anowitz, Jama l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
|ansson, Jove l9l1200l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
|anvier, Jhomas l819l9l3 . . . . . . . . . . . DL202
|apan
'Jhe Development of Meiji |apan" . . DLl80
'Encounter with the West". . . . . . . . . DLl80
|apanese Literature
Letter from |apan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y91, 98
Medieval Jravel Diaries . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Surveys. l987l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
|aramillo, Cleofas M. l878l95o. . . . . . . . DLl22
|aramillo Levi, Enrique l911 . . . . . . . . DL290
|arir after o50circa 730. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
|arman, Mark l952 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20, 282
|arrell, Randall
l9l1l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . DL18, 52; CDALl
|arrold and Sons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
|arry, Alfred l873l907. . . . . . . . . . . DLl92, 258
|arves, |ames |ackson l8l8l888 . . . . . . . DLl89
|asmin, Claude l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
|aunsudrabi, |nis l877l9o2. . . . . . . . . DL220
|ay, |ohn l715l829. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
|ean de Garlande (see |ohn of Garland)
|efferies, Richard l818l887 . . . . . . . . DL98, l1l
Jhe Richard |efferies Society . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
|effers, Lance l9l9l985. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
|effers, Robinson
l887l9o2. . . . . . . . . . DL15, 2l2; CDAL1
|efferson, Jhomas
l713l82o. . . . . . . . . . DL3l, l83; CDAL2
|g l8ool910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
|elinek, Elfriede l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
|ellicoe, Ann l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, 233
|emison, Mary circa l712l833. . . . . . . . . DL239
|en, Gish l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
|enkins, Dan l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
|enkins, Elizabeth l905 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
|enkins, Robin l9l22005. . . . . . . . . . .DLl1, 27l
|enkins, William Iitzgerald (see Leinster, Murray)
Herbert |enkins Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
|ennings, Elizabeth l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
|ens, Walter l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
|ensen, Axel l9322003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
|ensen, |ohannes V. l873l950 . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
|ensen, Merrill l905l980. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
|ensen, Jhit l87ol957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
|ephson, Robert l73ol803. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL89
|erome, |erome K. l859l927 . . . . .DLl0, 31, l35
Jhe |erome K. |erome Society . . . . . . . . . . Y98
|erome, |udson l927l99l. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
'Reflections. After a Jornado". . . . . . DLl05
|errold, Douglas l803l857 . . . . . . . DLl58, l59
|ersild, Ier Christian l935 . . . . . . . . . . DL257
|esse, I. Jennyson l888l958 . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
|ewel, |ohn l522l57l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23o
|ohn I. |ewett and Company . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
|ewett, Sarah Orne l819l909 . . . .DLl2, 71, 22l
Jhe |ewish Iublication Society. . . . . . . . . . DL19
Studies in American |ewish Literature . . . . . . . Y02
|ewitt, |ohn Rodgers l783l82l . . . . . . . . . DL99
|ewsbury, Geraldine l8l2l880 . . . . . . . . . DL2l
|ewsbury, Maria |ane l800l833 . . . . . . . DLl99
|habvala, Ruth Irawer
l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl39, l91, 323, 32o
|iang Guangci l90ll93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
|imnez, |uan Ramn l88ll958 . . . . . . . DLl31
|in, Ha l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL211, 292
|oans, Jed l9282003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo, 1l
|odelle, Estienne l532.l573. . . . . . . . . . . DL327
|ha l525lo02. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
|hann Sigurjnsson l880l9l9 . . . . . . . . DL293
|hannes r Ktlum l899l972 . . . . . . . . DL293
|ohannis de Garlandia (see |ohn of Garland)
|ohn, Errol l921l988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
|ohn, Eugenie (see Marlitt, E.)
|ohn of Dumbleton
circa l3l0circa l319 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
|ohn of Garland ( |ean de Garlande,
|ohannis de Garlandia)
circa ll95circa l272 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL208
Jhe |ohn Reed Clubs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
|ohns, Captain W. E. l893l9o8 . . . . . . . DLlo0
|ohnson, Mrs. A. E. ca. l858l922. . . . . . DL22l
|ohnson, Amelia (see |ohnson, Mrs. A. E.)
|ohnson, . S. l933l973 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 10
|ohnson, Charles lo79l718 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL81
|ohnson, Charles l918 . . . . . . . . . . .DL33, 278
|ohnson, Charles S. l893l95o. . . . . . . DL5l, 9l
|ohnson, Colin (Mudrooroo) l938 . . . DL289
|ohnson, Denis l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
|ohnson, Diane l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y80
|ohnson, Dorothy M. l905-l981. . . . . . . DL20o
|ohnson, E. Iauline (Jekahionwake)
l8oll9l3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl75
|ohnson, Edgar l90ll995 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
|ohnson, Edward l598lo72. . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
|ohnson, Eyvind l900l97o . . . . . . . . . . . DL259
|ohnson, Ienton l888l958 . . . . . . . . . DL15, 50
|ohnson, Georgia Douglas
l877.l9oo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5l, 219
|ohnson, Gerald W. l890l980 . . . . . . . . . DL29
|ohnson, Greg l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
|ohnson, Helene l907l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5l
|acob |ohnson and Company . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
|ohnson, |ames Weldon
l87ll938. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5l; CDAL1
|ohnson, |ohn H. l9l82005. . . . . . . . . . . .DLl37
'ackstage," Statement Irom the
Initial Issue of b
(November l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl37
|ohnson, |oseph |publishing house| . . . . . DLl51
|ohnson, Linton Kwesi l952 . . . . . . . . .DLl57
|ohnson, Lionel l8o7l902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9
|ohnson, Nunnally l897l977 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
|ohnson, Owen l878l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y87
|ohnson, Iamela Hansford l9l2l98l . . . . DLl5
|ohnson, Iauline l8oll9l3 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
|ohnson, Ronald l935l998 . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo9
|ohnson, Samuel lo9ol772 . . . DL21; CDL2
ai_ POV `~ f
RNP
`
|ohnson, Samuel
l709l781. . . . . . . . . DL39, 95, l01, l12, 2l3
o~I no. 1 (l750) |excerpt| . . . . . . . . DL39
Jhe C Iour Samuel |ohnson Irize
for Nonfiction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
|ohnson, Samuel l822l882. . . . . . . . . . DLl, 213
|ohnson, Susanna l730l8l0 . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
|ohnson, Jerry l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
|ohnson, Lwe l931l981. . . . . DL75; CDWL2
enjamin |ohnson |publishing house| . . . . . DL19
enjamin, |acob, and Robert |ohnson
|publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
|ohnston, Annie Iellows l8o3l93l. . . . . . . DL12
|ohnston, asil H. l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
|ohnston, David Claypole l798.l8o5 . . . . DLl88
|ohnston, Denis l90ll981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
|ohnston, Ellen l835l873 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99
|ohnston, George l9l2l970 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
|ohnston, George l9l3l970 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
|ohnston, Sir Harry l858l927 . . . . . . . . . DLl71
|ohnston, |ennifer l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
|ohnston, Mary l870l93o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
|ohnston, Richard Malcolm l822l898 . . . . DL71
|ohnstone, Charles l7l9.l800.. . . . . . . . . . DL39
|ohst, Hanns l890l978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
|kull |akobsson l933l978 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
|olas, Eugene l891l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1, 15
|olley, Elizabeth l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
|n Stefn Sveinsson or Svensson (see Nonni)
|n Jrausti (Gumundur Magnsson)
l873l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
|n r Vr ( |n |nsson) l9l72000 . . . . . DL293
|nas Hallgrmsson l807l815. . . . . . . . . . DL293
|ones, Alice C. l853l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
|ones, Charles C., |r. l83ll893 . . . . . . . . . DL30
|ones, D. G. l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
|ones, David l895l971 . . .DL20, l00; CDL7
|ones, Diana Wynne l931 . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
|ones, Ebenezer l820l8o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
|ones, Ernest l8l9l8o8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
|ones, Gayl l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33, 278
|ones, George l800l870 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl83
|ones, Glyn l905l995. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5
|ones, Gwyn l907 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5, l39
|ones, Henry Arthur l85ll929. . . . . . . . . . DLl0
|ones, Hugh circa lo92l7o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
|ones, |ames l92ll977 . . . . . . . DL2, l13; DSl7
|ames |ones Iapers in the Handy
Writers` Colony Collection at
the Lniversity of Illinois at
Springfield. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Jhe |ames |ones Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y92
|ones, |enkin Lloyd l9ll2001. . . . . . . . . . DLl27
|ones, |ohn eauchamp l8l0l8oo . . . . . . DL202
|ones, |oseph, Major
(see Jhompson, William Jappan)
|ones, LeRoi (see araka, Amiri)
|ones, Lewis l897l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5
|ones, Madison l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl52
|ones, Marie l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
|ones, Ireston l93ol979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
|ones, Rodney l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
|ones, Jhom l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
|ones, Sir William l71ol791 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl09
|ones, William Alfred l8l7l900 . . . . . . . . . DL59
|ones`s Iublishing House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
|ong, Erica l912 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 5, 28, l52
|onke, Gert I. l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
|onson, en
l572.lo37 . . . . . . . . .DLo2, l2l; CDLl
|onsson, Jor l9lol95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
|ordan, |une l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
|orgensen, |ohannes l8ool95o . . . . . . . . . DL300
|ose, Nicholas l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
|oseph, |enny l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
|oseph and George. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Michael |oseph Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
|osephson, Matthew l899l978 . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
|osephus, Ilavius 37l00. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o
|osephy, Alvin M., |r.
|osiah Allen`s Wife (see Holley, Marietta)
|osipovici, Gabriel l910 . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 3l9
|osselyn, |ohn .lo75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
|oudry, Iatricia l92l2000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
|ouve, Iierre |ean l887l97o . . . . . . . . . . . DL258
|ovanovich, William l920200l. . . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
Into the Iast. William |ovanovich`s
Reflections on Iublishing . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
|Response to Ken Auletta| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
q q tW William
|ovanovich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Jribute to Charles Scribner |r.. . . . . . . . . . .Y95
|ovine, Irancesco l902l950 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
|ovine, Giuseppe l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
|oyaux, Ihilippe (see Sollers, Ihilippe)
|oyce, Adrien (see Eastman, Carol)
|oyce, |ames l882l91l
. . . . . . . . DLl0, l9, 3o, lo2, 217; CDLo
Danis Rose and the Rendering of r. . . .Y97
|ames |oyce Centenary. Dublin, l982. . . . .Y82
|ames |oyce Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y85
A |oyce (Con)Jext. Danis Rose and the
Remaking of r. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Jhe National Library of Ireland`s
New |ames |oyce Manuscripts . . . . . . .Y02
Jhe New r. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y81
Iublic Domain and the Violation of
Jexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Jhe _uinn Draft of |ames |oyce`s
Circe Manuscript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Stephen |oyce`s Letter to the Editor of
q f q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
rI Reader`s Edition. Iirst Reactions. . . Y97
We See the Editor at Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Whose r\ Jhe Iunction of Editing . . . Y97
|ozsef, Attila l905l937 . . . . . DL2l5; CDWL1
San |uan de la Cruz l512l59l . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
|uarroz, Roberto l925l995. . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Orange |udd Iublishing Company . . . . . . . DL19
|udd, Sylvester l8l3l853 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 213
g circa 930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
|uelHansen, Erna l815l922 . . . . . . . . . . DL300
|ulian of Norwich l312circa l120. . . . . . DLll1o
|ulius Caesar
l00 _.`.11 _.`. . . . . . . . . DL2ll; CDWLl
|une, |ennie
(see Croly, |ane Cunningham)
|ung, Carl Gustav l875l9ol. . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
|ung, Iranz l888l9o3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll8
|nger, Ernst l895l998. . . . . . DL5o; CDWL2
a q circa l275 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
|ungStilling, |ohann Heinrich
l710l8l7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91
|unqueiro, Ablio Manuel Guerra
l850l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
|ustice, Donald l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
|uvenal circa ^.a. o0circa ^.a. l30
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ll; CDWLl
Jhe |uvenile Library
(see M. |. Godwin and Company)
h
Kacew, Romain (see Gary, Romain)
Kafka, Iranz l883l921. . . . . . DL8l; CDWL2
Kahn, Gus l88ol91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Kahn, Roger l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7l
Kaik Jakeshi l939l989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Kinn (Kristjn Nels |nsson/Kristjan
Niels |ulius) l8o0l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Kaiser, Georg l878l915 . . . . DLl21; CDWL2
h~ circa ll17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Kaleb, Vjekoslav l905 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Kalechofsky, Roberta l93l . . . . . . . . . . . DL28
Kaler, |ames Otis l818l9l2 . . . . . . . . . DLl2, 12
Kalmar, ert l881l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Kamensky, Vasilii Vasilèvich
l881l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Kames, Henry Home, Lord
lo9ol782 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l, l01
Kamo no Chmei (Kamo no Nagaakira)
ll53 or ll55l2lo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Kamo no Nagaakira (see Kamo no Chmei)
`~ f ai_ POV
RNQ
Kampmann, Christian l939l988. . . . . . . DL2l1
Kandel, Lenore l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Kane, Sarah l97ll999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Kaneko, Lonny l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Kang, Younghill l903l972. . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Kanin, Garson l9l2l999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
A Jribute (to Marc Connelly) . . . . . . . . . . Y80
Kaniuk, Yoram l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Kant, Hermann l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Kant, Immanuel l721l801. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91
Kantemir, Antiokh Dmitrievich
l708l711 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Kantor, MacKinlay l901l977 . . . . . . . DL9, l02
Kanze Kjir Nobumitsu l135l5lo . . . . DL203
Kanze Motokiyo (see Zeimi)
Kaplan, Ired l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Kaplan, |ohanna l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28
Kaplan, |ustin l925 . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll; Y8o
Kaplinski, |aan l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Kapnist, Vasilii Vasilevich l758.l823 . . . DLl50
Karadi,Vuk Stefanovi
l787l8o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl17; CDWL1
Karamzin, Nikolai Mikhailovich
l7ool82o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Karinthy, Irigyes l887l938 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Karmel, Ilona l9252000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Karnad, Girish l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Karsch, Anna Louisa l722l79l . . . . . . . . . DL97
Kasack, Hermann l89ol9oo . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Kasai Zenz l887l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Kaschnitz, Marie Luise l90ll971 . . . . . . . DLo9
Kassk, Lajos l887l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Kastelan, |ure l9l9l990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl17
Kstner, Erich l899l971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5o
Kataev, Evgenii Ietrovich
(see Il`f, Ilìa and Ietrov, Evgenii)
Kataev, Valentin Ietrovich l897l98o. . . . DL272
Katenin, Iavel Aleksandrovich
l792l853. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Kattan, Naim l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Katz, Steve l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
KaJzetnik l35o33 (Yehiel Dinur)
l909200l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Kauffman, |anet l915 . . . . . . . . . DL2l8; Y8o
Kauffmann, Samuel l898l97l. . . . . . . . . DLl27
Kaufman, ob l925l98o. . . . . . . . . . . DLlo, 1l
Kaufman, George S. l889l9ol . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Kaufmann, Walter l92ll980. . . . . . . . . . .DL279
Kavan, Anna (Helen Woods Ierguson
Edmonds) l90ll9o8. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL255
Kavanagh, I. |. l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Kavanagh, Iatrick l901l9o7 . . . . . . . . DLl5, 20
Kaverin, Veniamin Aleksandrovich
(Veniamin Aleksandrovich Zil`ber)
l902l989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL272
Kawabata Yasunari l899l972 . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Kay, Guy Gavriel l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
KayeSmith, Sheila l887l95o. . . . . . . . . . . DL3o
Kazakov, Iurii Iavlovich l927l982 . . . . . DL302
Kazin, Alfred l9l5l998. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
Keane, |ohn . l9282002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Keary, Annie l825l879 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo3
Keary, Eliza l827l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Keating, H. R. I. l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL87
Keatley, Charlotte l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
Keats, Ezra |ack l9lol983. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Keats, |ohn l795l82l . . . DL9o, ll0; CDL3
Keble, |ohn l792l8oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32, 55
Keckley, Elizabeth l8l8.l907 . . . . . . . . . DL239
Keeble, |ohn l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
Keeffe, arrie l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, 215
Keeley, |ames l8o7l931. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
W. . Keen, Cooke and Company . . . . . . . DL19
Jhe Mystery of Carolyn Keene . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Kefala, Antigone l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Keillor, Garrison l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y87
Keith, Marian (Mary Esther MacGregor)
l871.l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Keller, Gary D. l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Keller, Gottfried
l8l9l890 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29; CDWL2
Keller, Helen l880l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Kelley, Edith Summers l881l95o . . . . . . . . DL9
Kelley, Emma Dunham .. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22l
Kelley, Ilorence l859l932. . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Kelley, William Melvin l937 . . . . . . . . . DL33
Kellogg, Ansel Nash l832l88o . . . . . . . . . DL23
Kellogg, Steven l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Kelly, George E. l887l971. . . . . . . . . . .DL7, 219
Kelly, Hugh l739l777 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL89
Kelly, Iiet and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Kelly, Robert l935 . . . . . . . . . . DL5, l30, lo5
Kelman, |ames l91o . . . . . . DLl91, 3l9, 32o
Kelmscott Iress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Kelton, Elmer l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25o
Kemble, E. W. l8oll933. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl88
Kemble, Ianny l809l893 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Kemelman, Harry l908l99o . . . . . . . . . . . DL28
Kempe, Margery circa l373l138 . . . . . . . DLl1o
Kempinski, Jom l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Kempner, Iriederike l83ol901 . . . . . . . . DLl29
Kempowski, Walter l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Kenan, Randall l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Claude Kendall |publishing company| . . . . DL1o
Kendall, Henry l839l882 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Kendall, May l8oll913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Kendell, George l809l8o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Keneally, Jhomas l935 . . . . DL289, 299, 32o
Kenedy, I. |., and Sons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Kenk circa l283circa l352. . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Kenna, Ieter l930l987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Kennan, George l815l921 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl89
Kennedy, A. L. l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27l
Kennedy, Adrienne l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
Kennedy, |ohn Iendleton l795l870. . . DL3, 218
Kennedy, Leo l9072000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Kennedy, Margaret l89ol9o7 . . . . . . . . . . DL3o
Kennedy, Iatrick l80ll873 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl59
Kennedy, Richard S. l920 . . . . . . DLlll; Y02
Kennedy, William l928 . . . . . . . . DLl13; Y85
Kennedy, X. |. l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Kennelly, rendan l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Kenner, Hugh l9232003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
Jribute to Cleanth rooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y80
Mitchell Kennerley |publishing house| . . . . DL1o
Kenny, Maurice l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl75
Kent, Irank R. l877l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Kenyon, |ane l917l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Kenzheev, akhyt Shkurullaevich
l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
Keough, Hugh Edmund l8o1l9l2 . . . . . .DLl7l
Keppler and Schwartzmann . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Ker, |ohn, third Duke of Roxburghe
l710l801. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Ker, N. R. l908l982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
KeralioRobert, LouiseIlicit de
l758l822. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
Kerlan, Irvin l9l2l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl87
Kermode, Irank l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL212
Kern, |erome l885l915. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl87
Kernaghan, Eileen l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Kerner, |ustinus l78ol8o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Kerouac, |ack
l922l9o9 . . DL2, lo, 237; DS3; CDALl
Auction of |ack Kerouac`s
l o~ Scroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Jhe |ack Kerouac Revival . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y95
'Remeeting of Old Iriends``.
Jhe |ack Kerouac Conference. . . . . . . Y82
Statement of Correction to "Jhe |ack
Kerouac Revival" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9o
Kerouac, |an l952l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Charles H. Kerr and Company . . . . . . . . . DL19
Kerr, Orpheus C. (see Newell, Robert Henry)
Kersh, Gerald l9lll9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL255
ai_ POV `~ f
RNR
`
Kertsz, Imre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299; Y02

Kesey, Ken
l935200l . . . . . . . . DL2, lo, 20o; CDALo
Kessel, |oseph l898l979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL72
Kessel, Martin l90ll990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5o
Kesten, Hermann l900l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5o
Keun, Irmgard l905l982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Key, Ellen l819l92o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL259
Key and iddle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Keynes, Sir Geoffrey l887l982. . . . . . . . . DL20l
Keynes, |ohn Maynard l883l91o. . . . . . . . . DSl0
Keyserling, Eduard von l855l9l8 . . . . . . . DLoo
alKhalil ibn Ahmad circa 7l879l . . . . . . . DL3ll
Khan, Adib l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Khan, Ismith l9252002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl25
alKhansa` fl. late sixthmid
seventh centuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Kharitonov, Evgenii Vladimirovich
l91ll98l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
Kharitonov, Mark Sergeevich l937 . . . . DL285
Khaytov, Nikolay l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Khemnitser, Ivan Ivanovich
l715l781. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Kheraskov, Mikhail Matveevich
l733l807 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Khlebnikov, Velimir l885l922 . . . . . . . . . DL295
Khodasevich, Vladislav l88ol939 . . . . . . DL3l7
Khomiakov, Aleksei Stepanovich
l801l8o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Khristov, oris l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Khvoshchinskaia, Nadezhda Dmitrievna
l821l889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Khvostov, Dmitrii Ivanovich
l757l835. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Kibirov, Jimur Iurèvich (Jimur
Iurèvich Zapoev) l955 . . . . . . . . . DL285
Kidd, Adam l802.l83l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
William Kidd |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Kidde, Harald l878l9l8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Kidder, Jracy l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Kiely, enedict l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5, 3l9
Kieran, |ohn l892l98l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7l
Kierkegaard, Sren l8l3l855. . . . . . . . . . DL300
Kies, Marietta l853l899. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL270
Kiggins and Kellogg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Kiley, |ed l889l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Kilgore, ernard l908l9o7. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Kilian, Crawford l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Killens, |ohn Oliver l9lol987 . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Killigrew, Anne loo0lo85. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3l
Killigrew, Jhomas lol2lo83 . . . . . . . . . . . DL58
Kilmer, |oyce l88ol9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL15
Kilroy, Jhomas l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
Kilwardby, Robert circa l2l5l279 . . . . . . DLll5
Kilworth, Garry l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Kim, Anatolii Andreevich l939 . . . . . . DL285
Kimball, Richard urleigh l8lol892 . . . . DL202
Kincaid, |amaica l919
. . . . . . . DLl57, 227; CDAL7; CDWL3
Kinck, Hans Ernst l8o5l92o . . . . . . . . . . DL297
King, Charles l811l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8o
King, Clarence l812l90l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2
King, Ilorence l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y85
King, Irancis l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5, l39
King, Grace l852l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2, 78
King, Harriet Hamilton l810l920 . . . . . . DLl99
King, Henry l592loo9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2o
Solomon King |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DL19
King, Stephen l917 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl13; Y80
King, Susan Ietigru l821l875 . . . . . . . . . DL239
King, Jhomas l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl75
King, Woodie, |r. l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
Kinglake, Alexander William
l809l89l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL55, loo
Kingo, Jhomas lo31l703. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Kingsbury, Donald l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Kingsley, Charles
l8l9l875 . . . . . . . . DL2l, 32, lo3, l78, l90
Kingsley, Henry l830l87o . . . . . . . . . DL2l, 230
Kingsley, Mary Henrietta l8o2l900. . . . . DLl71
Kingsley, Sidney l90ol995. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Kingsmill, Hugh l889l919. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl19
Kingsolver, arbara
l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL20o; CDAL7
Kingston, Maxine Hong
l910 . . DLl73, 2l2, 3l2; Y80; CDAL7
Kingston, William Henry Giles
l8l1l880 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo3
Kinnan, Mary Lewis l7o3l818. . . . . . . . . DL200
Kinnell, Galway l927 . . . . . . . . . . . DL5; Y87
Kinsella, |ohn l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Kinsella, Jhomas l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Kipling, Rudyard l8o5l93o
. . . . . . . . . . . DLl9, 31, l1l, l5o; CDL5
Kipphardt, Heinar l922l982 . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
Kirby, William l8l7l90o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Kircher, Athanasius lo02lo80 . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Kireevsky, Ivan Vasilèvich l80ol85o. . . . DLl98
Kireevsky, Ietr Vasilèvich l808l85o . . . . DL205
Kirk, Hans l898l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Kirk, |ohn Ioster l821l901 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL79
Kirkconnell, Watson l895l977. . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Kirkland, Caroline M.
l80ll8o1 . . . . . . . . DL3, 73, 71, 250; DSl3
Kirkland, |oseph l830l893. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2
Irancis Kirkman |publishing house| . . . . . DLl70
Kirkpatrick, Clayton l9l52001 . . . . . . . . DLl27
Kirkup, |ames l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Kirouac, Conrad (see MarieVictorin, Irre)
Kirsch, Sarah l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Kirst, Hans Hellmut l9l1l989. . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Kis, Danilo l935l989. . . . . . DLl8l; CDWL1
Kita Morio l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Kitcat, Mabel Greenhow l859l922 . . . . . DLl35
Kitchin, C. H. . l895l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
Kittredge, William l932 . . . . . . . . DL2l2, 211
Kiukhel`beker, Vil`gel`m Karlovich
l797l81o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Kizer, Carolyn l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo9
Kjaerstad, |an l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Klabund l890l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Klaj, |ohann lololo5o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Klappert, Ieter l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Klass, Ihilip (see Jenn, William)
Klein, A. M. l909l972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Kleist, Ewald von l7l5l759 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL97
Kleist, Heinrich von
l777l8ll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90; CDWL2
Klma, Ivan l93l . . . . . . . . DL232; CDWL1
Klimentev, Andrei Ilatonovic
(see Ilatonov, Andrei Ilatonovich)
Klinger, Iriedrich Maximilian
l752l83l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91
Kliuev, Nikolai Alekseevich l881l937 . . . DL295
Kliushnikov, Viktor Ietrovich
l81ll892 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Klopfer, Donald S.
Impressions of William Iaulkner . . . . . . . . Y97
Oral History Interview with Donald
S. Klopfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Klopstock, Iriedrich Gottlieb
l721l803 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL97
Klopstock, Meta l728l758 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL97
Kluge, Alexander l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Kluge, I. I. l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Knapp, |oseph Ialmer l8o1l95l . . . . . . . . DL9l
Knapp, Samuel Lorenzo l783l838 . . . . . . . DL59
|. |. and I. Knapton |publishing house| . . . DLl51
Kniazhnin, Iakov orisovich
l710l79l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Knickerbocker, Diedrich (see Irving, Washington)
Knigge, Adolph Iranz Iriedrich Ludwig,
Ireiherr von l752l79o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91
Charles Knight and Company. . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Knight, Damon l9222002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Knight, Etheridge l93ll992. . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Knight, |ohn S. l891l98l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Knight, Sarah Kemble loool727. . . . . DL21, 200
`~ f ai_ POV
RNS
Knightruce, G. W. H. l852l89o . . . . . .DLl71
Knister, Raymond l899l932 . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Knoblock, Edward l871l915. . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Knopf, Alfred A. l892l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
Knopf to Hammett. Jhe Editoral
Alfred A. Knopf |publishing house| . . . . . . DL1o
Knorr von Rosenroth, Christian
lo3olo89 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Knowles, |ohn l92o200l. . . . . . DLo; CDALo
Knox, Irank l871l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Knox, |ohn circa l5l1l572 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Knox, |ohn Armoy l850l90o . . . . . . . . . . DL23
Knox, Lucy l815l881 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Knox, Ronald Arbuthnott l888l957. . . . . DL77
Knox, Jhomas Wallace l835l89o. . . . . . DLl89
Knudsen, |akob l858l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Knut, Dovid l900l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Kobayashi Jakiji l903l933 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Kober, Arthur l900l975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Kobiakova, Aleksandra Ietrovna
l823l892 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Kocbek, Edvard l901l98l . . . DLl17; CDWL1
Koch, C. |. l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Koch, Howard l902l995. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Koch, Kenneth l9252002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Kda Rohan l8o7l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Koehler, Jed l891l973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Koenigsberg, Moses l879l915. . . . . . . . . . DL25
Koeppen, Wolfgang l90ol99o. . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Koertge, Ronald l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Koestler, Arthur l905l983 . . . . . . Y83; CDL7
Kohn, |ohn S. Van E. l90ol97o. . . . . . . . DLl87
Kokhanovskaia
(see Sokhanskaia, Nadezhda Stepanova)
Kokoschka, Oskar l88ol980. . . . . . . . . . DLl21
Kolatkar, Arun l9322001 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Kolb, Annette l870l9o7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Kolbenheyer, Erwin Guido
l878l9o2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo, l21
Kolleritsch, Alfred l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
Kolodny, Annette l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
Kolts, ernardMarie l918l989. . . . . . . DL32l
Kol`tsov, Aleksei Vasilèvich
l809l812 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Komarov, Matvei circa l730l8l2. . . . . . . DLl50
Komroff, Manuel l890l971. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Komunyakaa, Yusef l917 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Kondoleon, Harry l955l991. . . . . . . . . . DL2oo
Koneski, lae l92ll993. . . DLl8l; CDWL1
Konigsburg, E. L. l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Konparu Zenchiku l105l1o8. . . . . . . . . DL203
Konrd, Gyrgy l933 . . . . DL232; CDWL1
Konrad von Wrzburg
circa l230l287 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Konstantinov, Aleko l8o3l897 . . . . . . . . DLl17
Konwicki, Jadeusz l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Koontz, Dean l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Kooser, Jed l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Kopit, Arthur l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Kops, ernard l92o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Kornbluth, C. M. l923l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Krner, Jheodor l79ll8l3 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Kornfeld, Iaul l889l912. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll8
Korolenko, Vladimir Galaktionovich
l853l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL277
Kosinski, |erzy l933l99l. . . . . . . DL2, 299; Y82
Kosma, Ciril l9l0l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Kosovel, Sreko l901l92o. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl17
Kostrov, Ermil Ivanovich l755l79o . . . . . DLl50
Kotzebue, August von l7oll8l9 . . . . . . . . DL91
Kotzwinkle, William l938 . . . . . . . . . . .DLl73
Kovai, Ante l851l889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl17
Kovalevskaia, Sofìa Vasilèvna
l850l89l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL277
Kovi, Kajetan l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Kozlov, Ivan Ivanovich l779l810. . . . . . . DL205
Kracauer, Siegfried l889l9oo . . . . . . . . . DL29o
Kraf, Elaine l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8l
Kramer, |ane l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Kramer, Larry l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL219
Kramer, Mark l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Kranjevi, Silvije Strahimir l8o5l908 . . DLl17
Krasko, Ivan l87ol958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Krasna, Norman l909l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Kraus, Hans Ieter l907l988 . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Kraus, Karl l871l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll8
Krause, Herbert l905l97o. . . . . . . . . . . . DL25o
Krauss, Ruth l9lll993. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Krauth, Nigel l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Kreisel, Henry l922l99l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Krestovsky V.
(see Khvoshchinskaia, Nadezhda Dmitrievna)
Krestovsky, Vsevolod Vladimirovich
l839l895 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Kreuder, Ernst l903l972. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
KrvMickeviius, Vincas l882l951 . . . DL220
Kreymborg, Alfred l883l9oo . . . . . . . . DL1, 51
Krieger, Murray l9232000 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
Krim, Seymour l922l989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Kripke, Saul l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL279
Kristensen, Jom l893l971 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Kristeva, |ulia l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL212
Kristjn Nels |nsson/Kristjan Niels |ulius
(see Kinn)
Kritzer, Hyman W. l9l82002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Krivulin, Viktor orisovich l911200l. . . DL285
Krlea, Miroslav
l893l98l . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl17; CDWL1
Krock, Arthur l88ol971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Kroetsch, Robert l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Kropotkin, Ietr Alekseevich l812l92l . . .DL277
Kross, |aan l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Kruchenykh, Aleksei Eliseevich
l88ol9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Krdy, Gyula l878l933. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Krutch, |oseph Wood
l893l970. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo3, 20o, 275
Krylov, Ivan Andreevich l7o9l811 . . . . . DLl50
Krymov, Iurii Solomonovich
(Iurii Solomonovich eklemishev)
l908l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL272
Kubin, Alfred l877l959. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8l
Kubrick, Stanley l928l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
h circa l230l210. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Kuffstein, Hans Ludwig von l582lo5o. . DLlo1
Kuhlmann, _uirinus lo5llo89. . . . . . . . DLlo8
Kuhn, Jhomas S. l922l99o . . . . . . . . . . .DL279
Kuhnau, |ohann loo0l722 . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Kukol`nik, Nestor Vasilèvich
l809l8o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Kukun, Martin
l8o0l928 . . . . . . . . . . . .DL2l5; CDWL1
Kumin, Maxine l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Kuncewicz, Maria l895l989 . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Kundera, Milan l929 . . . . . DL232; CDWL1
Kunene, Mazisi l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLll7
Kunikida Doppo l8o9l908 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Kunitz, Stanley l905200o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL18
Kunjufu, |ohari M. (see Amini, |ohari M.)
Kunnert, Gunter l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Kunze, Reiner l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Kuo, Helena l9lll999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Kupferberg, Juli l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Kuprin, Aleksandr Ivanovich
l870l938. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Kuraev, Mikhail Nikolaevich l939 . . . DL285
Kurahashi Yumiko l935 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Kureishi, Hanif l951 . . . . . . . . . . DLl91, 215
Krnberger, Ierdinand l82ll879 . . . . . . DLl29
Kurz, Isolde l853l911. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Kusenberg, Kurt l901l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Kushchevsky, Ivan Afanasèvich
l817l87o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Kushner, Jony l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL228
Kuttner, Henry l9l5l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
ai_ POV `~ f
RNT
`
Kuzmin, Mikhail Alekseevich

l872l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Kuznetsov, Anatoli
l929l979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299, 302
Kyd, Jhomas l558l591 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo2
Kyffin, Maurice circa l5o0.l598 . . . . . . . DLl3o
Kyger, |oanne l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Kyne, Ieter . l880l957. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL78
Kygoku Jamekane l251l332 . . . . . . . . . DL203
Kyrklund, Willy l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
i
L. E. L. (see Landon, Letitia Elizabeth)
Lab, Louise l520.l5oo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Laberge, Albert l87ll9o0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Laberge, Marie l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Labiche, Eugne l8l5l888. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl92
Labrunie, Gerard (see Nerval, Gerard de)
La ruyre, |ean de lo15lo9o . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
La Calprende lo09.loo3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Lacan, |acques l90ll98l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
La Capria, Raffaele l922 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
La Ceppde, |ean de l550.lo23. . . . . . . . DL327
La Chausse, IierreClaude Nivelle de
lo92l751 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
Laclos, IierreAmbroiseIranois Choderlos de
l71ll803 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
a~ ^~~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Lacombe, Iatrice
(see JrullierLacombe, |oseph Iatrice)
Lacretelle, |acques de l888l985 . . . . . . . . . DLo5
Lacy, Ed l9lll9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
Lacy, Sam l903 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7l
Ladd, |oseph rown l7o1l78o . . . . . . . . . . DL37
La Iarge, Oliver l90ll9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Lafayette, MarieMadeleine, comtesse de
lo31lo93 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Laffan, Mrs. R. S. de Courcy
(see Adams, ertha Leith)
Lafferty, R. A. l9l12002. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
La Ilesche, Irancis l857l932 . . . . . . . . . . DLl75
La Iontaine, |ean de lo2llo95 . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Laforet, Carmen l92l2001. . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Laforge, |ules l8o0l887 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
Lagerkvist, Ir l89ll971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL259
Lagerlf, Selma
l858l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL259
Lagorio, Gina l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
La Guma, Alex
l925l985 . . . . . . . . DLll7, 225; CDWL3
Lahaise, Guillaume (see Delahaye, Guy)
La Harpe, |eanIranois de l739l803 . . . . DL3l3
Lahiri, |humpa l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Lahontan, LouisArmand de Lom dÀrce,
aron de loool7l5.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Lai He l891l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Laing, Kojo l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Laird, Carobeth l895l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Laird and Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Lake, Iaul l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282
Lali, Ivan V. l93ll99o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Lali, Mihailo l9l1l992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Lalonde, Michle l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Lamantia, Ihilip l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Lamartine, Alphonse de
l790l8o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
Lamb, Lady Caroline
l785l828 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLllo
Lamb, Charles
l775l831 . . . . . . DL93, l07, lo3; CDL3
Lamb, Mary l7o1l871 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo3
Lambert, Angela l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27l
Lambert, AnneJhrse de (AnneJhrse de
Marguenat de Courcelles, marquise de Lambert)
lo17l733. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
Lambert, etty l933l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
La Mettrie, |ulien Offroy de
l709l75l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
Lamm, Donald
Goodbye, Gutenberg. A Lecture at
the New York Iublic Library,
l8 April l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y95
Lamming, George
l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl25; CDWL3
La Mothe Le Vayer, Iranois de
l588lo72 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
LÀmour, Louis l908l988. . . . . . . . DL20o; Y80
Lampman, Archibald l8oll899 . . . . . . . . . DL92
Lamson, Wolffe and Company . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Lancer ooks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Lanchester, |ohn l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Lander, Ieter (see Cunningham, Ieter)
Landesman, |ay l9l9 and
Landesman, Iran l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Landolfi, Jommaso l908l979. . . . . . . . . . DLl77
Landon, Letitia Elizabeth l802l838. . . . . . DL9o
Landor, Walter Savage l775l8o1 . . . . DL93, l07
Landry, NapolonI. l881l95o . . . . . . . . . DL92
Landvik, Lorna l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Lane, Charles l800l870 . . . . . . . DLl, 223; DS5
Lane, I. C. l885l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Lane, Laurence W. l890l9o7. . . . . . . . . . . DL9l
Lane, M. Jravis l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Lane, Iatrick l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Lane, Iinkie Gordon l923 . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
|ohn Lane Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Laney, Al l89ol988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1, l7l
Lang, Andrew l811l9l2 . . . . . . DL98, l1l, l81
Langer, Susanne K. l895l985 . . . . . . . . . DL270
Langevin, Andr l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Langford, David l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Langgsser, Elisabeth l899l950. . . . . . . . . DLo9
Langhorne, |ohn l735l779 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl09
Langland, William circa l330circa l100. . DLl1o
Langton, Anna l801l893. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Lanham, Edwin l901l979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Lanier, Sidney l812l88l . . . . . . . . DLo1; DSl3
Lanyer, Aemilia l5o9lo15 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2l
Lao She l899l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Lapointe, Gatien l93ll983 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Lapointe, IaulMarie l929 . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
La Rame, Iierre de (Ietrus Ramus, Ieter Ramus)
l5l5l572 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Larcom, Lucy l821l893. . . . . . . . . . DL22l, 213
Lardner, |ohn l9l2l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7l
Lardner, Ring l885l933
. . . . . . DLll, 25, 8o, l7l; DSlo; CDAL1
Lardner l00. Ring Lardner
Centennial Symposium. . . . . . . . . . . . .Y85
Lardner, Ring, |r. l9l52000 . . . . . . . DL2o, Y00
Larivey, Iierre de l51llol9 . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Larkin, Ihilip l922l985 . . . . . . DL27; CDL8
Jhe Ihilip Larkin Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
La Roche, Sophie von l730l807. . . . . . . . . DL91
La Rochefoucauld, Iranois duc de
lol3lo80 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL2o8
La Rocque, Gilbert l913l981. . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Laroque de Roquebrune, Robert
(see Roquebrune, Robert de)
Larrick, Nancy l9l02001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Lars, Claudia l899l971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Larsen, Nella l893l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5l
Larsen, Jhger l875l928. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Larson, Clinton I. l9l9l991 . . . . . . . . . . DL25o
La Sale, Antoine de
circa l38ol1o0/l1o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL208
Las Casas, Iray artolom de
l171l5oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Lasch, Christopher l932l991. . . . . . . . . . DL21o
Lasdun, |ames l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
LaskerSchler, Else l8o9l915 . . . . . . DLoo, l21
Lasnier, Rina l9l5l997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Lassalle, Ierdinand l825l8o1. . . . . . . . . . DLl29
i~ lI l99o ooker Irize winner,
Graham Swift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
La Jaille, |ean de l531.loll. . . . . . . . . . DL327
LateMedieval Castilian Jheater . . . . . . . . DL28o
Latham, Robert l9l2l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Lathan, Emma (Mary |ane Latsis |l927l997| and
Martha Henissart |l929 |) . . . . . . . . DL30o
Lathrop, Dorothy I. l89ll980. . . . . . . . . . DL22
Lathrop, George Iarsons l85ll898 . . . . . . DL7l
`~ f ai_ POV
RNU
Lathrop, |ohn, |r. l772l820 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Latimer, Hugh l192.l555. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Latimore, |ewel Christine McLawler
(see Amini, |ohari M.)
Latin Literature, Jhe Lniqueness of . . . . DL2ll
La Jour du Iin, Iatrice de l9lll975. . . . DL258
Latymer, William l198l583 . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Laube, Heinrich l80ol881 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl33
Laud, William l573lo15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Laughlin, |ames l9l1l997. . . . . . DL18; Y9o, 97
A Jribute |to Henry Miller| . . . . . . . . . . . . Y80
Jribute to Kenneth Rexroth. . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
Jribute to Malcolm Cowley. . . . . . . . . . . . Y89
Laumer, Keith l925l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Lauremberg, |ohann l590lo58 . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Laurence, Margaret l92ol987. . . . . . . . . . DL53
Laurentius von Schnffis lo33l702. . . . . DLlo8
Laurents, Arthur l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Laurie, Annie (see lack, Winifred)
Laut, Agnes Christiana l87ll93o . . . . . . . DL92
Lauterbach, Ann l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl93
Lautramont, Isidore Lucien Ducasse,
Comte de l81ol870 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
Lavater, |ohann Kaspar l71ll80l . . . . . . . DL97
Lavin, Mary l9l2l99o . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5, 3l9
Law, |ohn (see Harkness, Margaret)
Lawes, Henry l59oloo2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2o
Lawler, Ray l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Lawless, Anthony (see MacDonald, Ihilip)
Lawless, Emily (Jhe Hon. Emily Lawless)
l815l9l3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Lawrence, D. H. l885l930
. . . . . DLl0, l9, 3o, 98, lo2, l95; CDLo
Jhe D. H. Lawrence Society of
North America. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Lawrence, David l888l973 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Lawrence, |erome l9l52001 . . . . . . . . . . DL228
Lawrence, Seymour l92ol991 . . . . . . . . . . . . Y91
Jribute to Richard Yates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y92
Lawrence, J. E. l888l935. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl95
Jhe J. E. Lawrence Society. . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Lawson, George l598lo78 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Lawson, Henry l8o7l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Lawson, |ohn .l7ll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Lawson, |ohn Howard l891l977. . . . . . . DL228
Lawson, Louisa Albury l818l920. . . . . . DL230
Lawson, Robert l892l957. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Lawson, Victor I. l850l925 . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Layard, Austen Henry l8l7l891. . . . . . . DLloo
Layton, Irving l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
LaZamon fl. circa l200. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Lazarevi, Laza K. l85ll890. . . . . . . . . . DLl17
Lazarus, George l901l997 . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Lazhechnikov, Ivan Ivanovich
l792l8o9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
Lea, Henry Charles l825l909 . . . . . . . . . DL17
Lea, Sydney l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20, 282
Lea, Jom l907200l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Leacock, |ohn l729l802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Leacock, Stephen l8o9l911 . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Lead, |ane Ward lo23l701 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3l
Leadenhall Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Leakey, Caroline Woolmer l827l88l . . . . DL230
Leapor, Mary l722l71o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl09
Lear, Edward l8l2l888. . . . . . . DL32, lo3, loo
Leary, Jimothy l920l99o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
W. A. Leary and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Lautaud, Iaul l872l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo5
Leavis, I. R. l895l978. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL212
Leavitt, David l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Leavitt and Allen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Le lond, Mrs. Aubrey l8oll931. . . . . . .DLl71
le Carr, |ohn (David |ohn Moore Cornwell)
l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL87; CDL8
Jribute to Graham Greene. . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9l
Jribute to George Greenfield. . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Lcavel, Roland (see Dorgeles, Roland)
Lechlitner, Ruth l90l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL18
Leclerc, Ilix l9l1l988. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Le Clzio, |. M. G. l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Leder, Rudolf (see Hermlin, Stephan)
Lederer, Charles l9l0l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Ledwidge, Irancis l887l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . . DL20
Lee, Changrae l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Lee, Cherylene l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Lee, Dennis l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Lee, Don L. (see Madhubuti, Haki R.)
Lee, George W. l891l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5l
Lee, Gus l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Lee, Harper l92o . . . . . . . . . . DLo; CDALl
Lee, Harriet l757l85l and
Lee, Sophia l750l821 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Lee, Laurie l9l1l997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Lee, Leslie l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2oo
Lee, LiYoung l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo5, 3l2
Lee, Manfred . l905l97l. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
Lee, Nathaniel circa lo15lo92 . . . . . . . . . DL80
Lee, Robert E. l9l8l991. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL228
Lee, Sir Sidney l859l92o . . . . . . . . DLl19, l81
'Irinciples of iography," in
b~~ ~ l b~ . . . . . . DLl19
Lee, Janith l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Lee, Vernon
l85ol935 . . . . . . . .DL57, l53, l5o, l71, l78
Lee and Shepard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Le Ianu, |oseph Sheridan
l8l1l873. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l, 70, l59, l78
Lefvre dÈtaples, |acques
l1o0.l53o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Leffland, Ella l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
le Iort, Gertrud von l87ol97l. . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Le Gallienne, Richard l8ool917 . . . . . . . . . DL1
Legar, Hugh Swinton
l797l813 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL3, 59, 73, 218
Legar, |ames Mathewes l823l859. . . . DL3, 218
Lger, Antoine|. l880l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Leggett, William l80ll839 . . . . . . . . . . . DL250
Le Guin, Lrsula K.
l929 . . . . . .DL8, 52, 25o, 275; CDALo
Lehman, Ernest l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Lehmann, |ohn l907l989 . . . . . . . . . . DL27, l00
|ohn Lehmann Limited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Lehmann, Rosamond l90ll990 . . . . . . . . DLl5
Lehmann, Wilhelm l882l9o8. . . . . . . . . . DL5o
Leiber, Iritz l9l0l992. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm lo1ol7lo . . . DLlo8
Leicester Lniversity Iress. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Leigh, Carolyn l92ol983 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Leigh, W. R. l8ool955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl88
Leinster, Murray l89ol975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Leiser, ill l898l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Leisewitz, |ohann Anton l752l80o . . . . . . DL91
Leitch, Maurice l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Leithauser, rad l913 . . . . . . . . . DLl20, 282
Leland, Charles G. l821l903 . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Leland, |ohn l503.l552 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Lemaire de elges, |ean l173.. . . . . . . . . DL327
Lemay, Iamphile l837l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Lemelin, Roger l9l9l992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Lemercier, Louis|eanNpomucne
l77ll810. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl92
Le Moine, |ames MacIherson l825l9l2 . DL99
Lemon, Mark l809l870 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo3
Le Moyne, |ean l9l3l99o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Lemperly, Iaul l858l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl87
Leero, Vicente l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
LÈngle, Madeleine l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Lennart, Isobel l9l5l97l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Lennox, Charlotte l729 or l730l801 . . . . DL39
Lenox, |ames l800l880. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl10
Lenski, Lois l893l971. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Lentricchia, Irank l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
ai_ POV `~ f
RNV
`
Lenz, Hermann l9l3l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9

Lenz, |. M. R. l75ll792 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91
Lenz, Siegfried l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Len, Iray Luis de l527l59l . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Leonard, Elmore l925 . . . . . . . . . DLl73, 22o
Leonard, Hugh l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Leonard, William Ellery l87ol911 . . . . . . . DL51
Leong, Russell C. l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Leonov, Leonid Maksimovich
l899l991. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL272
Leonowens, Anna l831l9l1. . . . . . . . DL99, loo
Leontèv, Konstantin Nikolaevich
l83ll89l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL277
Leopold, Aldo l887l918. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL275
LeIan, Douglas l9l1l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Lepik, Kalju l920l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Leprohon, Rosanna Eleanor l829l879. . . . DL99
Le _ueux, William l8o1l927. . . . . . . . . . . DL70
Lermontov, Mikhail Iurèvich
l8l1l81l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Lerner, Alan |ay l9l8l98o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Lerner, Max l902l992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
LernetHolenia, Alexander l897l97o . . . . . DL85
Le Rossignol, |ames l8ool9o9 . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Lesage, AlainRen loo8l717 . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
Lescarbot, Marc circa l570lo12 . . . . . . . . . DL99
LeSeur, William Dawson l810l9l7 . . . . . . DL92
LeSieg, Jheo. (see Geisel, Jheodor Seuss)
Leskov, Nikolai Semenovich
l83ll895 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Leslie, Doris before l902l982 . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Leslie, Eliza l787l858 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL202
Leslie, Irank (Henry Carter)
l82ll880 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13, 79
Irank Leslie |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Lemian, olesaw l878l937 . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Lesperance, |ohn l835.l89l . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Lespinasse, |ulie de l732l77o . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
Lessing, runo l870l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28
Lessing, Doris
l9l9 . . . . . . . DLl5, l39; Y85; CDL8
Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim
l729l78l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL97; CDWL2
Jhe Lessing Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
LÈstoile, Iierre de l51ololl . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Le Sueur, Meridel l900l99o. . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Lettau, Reinhard l929l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
i ~ m~ t~I Iranoise dÌssembourg
de Graffigny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Jhe Hemingway Letters Iroject Iinds
an Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Lever, Charles l80ol872. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l
Lever, Ralph ca. l527l585 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23o
Leverson, Ada l8o2l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl53
Levertov, Denise
l923l997 . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo5; CDAL7
Levi, Ieter l93l2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Levi, Irimo l9l9l987. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl77, 299
Levien, Sonya l888l9o0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Levin, Meyer l905l98l . . . . . . . . DL9, 28; Y8l
Levin, Ihillis l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282
Lvinas, Emmanuel l90ol995 . . . . . . . . . DL29o
Levine, Norman l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Levine, Ihilip l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Levis, Larry l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
LviStrauss, Claude l908 . . . . . . . . . . DL212
Levitov, Aleksandr Ivanovich
l835.l877 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL277
Levy, Amy l8oll889 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5o, 210
Levy, enn Wolfe l900l973 . . . . . . . DLl3; Y8l
Levy, Deborah l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Lewald, Ianny l8lll889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Lewes, George Henry l8l7l878 . . . . . DL55, l11
(l8o3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l
q m p i~
(l8o5) |excerpt|. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL57
Lewis, Agnes Smith l813l92o . . . . . . . . . DLl71
Lewis, Alfred H. l857l9l1 . . . . . . . . . DL25, l8o
Lewis, Alun l9l5l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20, lo2
Lewis, C. Day (see Day Lewis, C.)
Lewis, C. I. l883l9o1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL270
Lewis, C. S. l898l9o3
. . . . . . . . . . DLl5, l00, lo0, 255; CDL7
Jhe New York C. S. Lewis Society . . . . . . .Y99
Lewis, Charles . l812l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Lewis, David l91l200l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL279
Lewis, Henry Clay l825l850. . . . . . . . DL3, 218
Lewis, |anet l899l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y87
Lewis, Matthew Gregory
l775l8l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39, l58, l78
Lewis, Meriwether l771l809 . . . . . . DLl83, l8o
Lewis, Norman l9082003 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
Lewis, R. W. . l9l72002. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Lewis, Richard circa l700l731 . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Lewis, Saunders l893l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Lewis, Sinclair
l885l95l . . . . . . DL9, l02; DSl; CDAL1
Sinclair Lewis Centennial Conference. . . . .Y85
Jhe Sinclair Lewis Society . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Lewis, Wilmarth Sheldon l895l979. . . . . DLl10
Lewis, Wyndham l882l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5
q ~ t j~
|excerpt| (l927) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3o
Lewisohn, Ludwig l882l955 . . . DL1, 9, 28, l02
Leyendecker, |. C. l871l95l. . . . . . . . . . . DLl88
Leyner, Mark l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Lezama Lima, |os l9l0l97o . . . . . . DLll3, 283
Lzardire, MarieCharlotteIauline Robert de
l751l835 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l3
L`Heureux, |ohn l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
Libbey, Laura |ean l8o2l921. . . . . . . . . . DL22l
Libedinsky, Iurii Nikolaevich
l898l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL272
q i~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Library History Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
Eooks` Second Act in Libraries . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Jhe Library of America. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Jhe Library of America. An Assessment
After Jwo Decades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Licensing Act of l737. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL81
Leonard Lichfield I |publishing house| . . . DLl70
Lichtenberg, Georg Christoph
l712l799 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91
Jhe Liddle Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Lidman, Sara l9232001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Lieb, Ired l888l980. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7l
Liebling, A. |. l901l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1, l7l
Lieutenant Murray (see allou, Maturin Murray)
i ~ q j~ hI l983 ooker Irize winner,
|. M. Coetzee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
i mI 2002 ooker Irize winner,
Yann Martel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Lighthall, William Douw l857l951 . . . . . . DL92
Lihn, Enrique l929l988. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Lilar, Iranoise (see Mallet|oris, Iranoise)
Liliùokalani, _ueen l838l9l7. . . . . . . . . DL22l
Lillo, George lo9ll739. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL81
Lilly, |. K., |r. l893l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl10
Lilly, Wait and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Lily, William circa l1o8l522 . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Lim, Shirley Geoklin l911 . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Lima, |orge de l893l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Lima arreto, Afonso Henriques de
l88ll922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Limited Editions Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Limn, Graciela l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Limonov, Eduard l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Lincoln and Edmands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Lind, |akov l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Linda Vilhjlmsdttir l958 . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Lindesay, Ethel Iorence
(see Richardson, Henry Handel)
Lindgren, Astrid l9072002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Lindgren, Jorgny l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Lindsay, Alexander William, Jwentyfifth
Earl of Crawford l8l2l880 . . . . . . . . DLl81
Lindsay, Sir David circa l185l555 . . . . . . DLl32
`~ f ai_ POV
ROM
Lindsay, David l878l915. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL255
Lindsay, |ack l900l990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
Lindsay, Lady (Caroline lanche
Elizabeth Iitzroy Lindsay)
l811l9l2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99
Lindsay, Norman l879l9o9. . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Lindsay, Vachel
l879l93l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL51; CDAL3
q i _~I 2001 ooker Irize winner,
Alan Hollinghurst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Linebarger, Iaul Myron Anthony
(see Smith, Cordwainer)
Ling Shuhua l900l990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Link, Arthur S. l920l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
Linn, Ed l9222000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Linn, |ohn lair l777l801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Lins, Osman l921l978 . . . . . . . . . . DLl15, 307
Linton, Eliza Lynn l822l898 . . . . . . . . . . DLl8
Linton, William |ames l8l2l897. . . . . . . . DL32
arnaby ernard Lintot
Lion ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Lionni, Leo l9l0l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Lippard, George l822l851 . . . . . . . . . . . DL202
Lippincott, Sara |ane Clarke
l823l901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
|. . Lippincott Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Lippmann, Walter l889l971 . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Lipton, Lawrence l898l975. . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Lisboa, Irene l892l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Liscow, Christian Ludwig
l70ll7o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL97
Lish, Gordon l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Jribute to Donald arthelme . . . . . . . . . . . Y89
Lisle, CharlesMarieRen Leconte de
l8l8l891. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
Lispector, Clarice
l925.l977 . . . . . . . . DLll3, 307; CDWL3
LitCheck Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Literary Awards and Honors . . . . . . . . . . . Y8l-02
ooker Irize. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8o, 9o-98
Jhe Drue Heinz Literature Irize . . . . . . . . Y82
Jhe Elmer Holmes obst Awards
in Arts and Letters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y87
Jhe Griffin Ioetry Irize. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Literary Irizes |ritish|. . . . . . . . . DLl5, 207
National ook Critics Circle
Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00-0l
Jhe National |ewish
ook Awards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y85
Nobel Irize. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y80-02
Winning an Edgar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
q i~ ` ~ t o
NUNVJNUOU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll0
Literary Ieriodicals.
`~~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y87
Expatriates in Iaris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl5
New Literary Ieriodicals.
A Report for l987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y87
A Report for l988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y88
A Report for l989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y89
A Report for l990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y90
A Report for l99l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9l
A Report for l992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y92
A Report for l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y93
Literary Research Archives
Jhe Anthony urgess Archive at
the Harry Ransom Humanities
Research Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Archives of Charles Scribner`s Sons. . . . . DSl7
erg Collection of English and
American Literature of the
New York Iublic Library. . . . . . . . . . . Y83
Jhe obbsMerrill Archive at the
Lilly Library, Indiana Lniversity. . . . . Y90
Die Irstliche ibliothek Corvey. . . . . . . . Y9o
Guide to the Archives of Iublishers,
|ournals, and Literary Agents in
North American Libraries . . . . . . . . . . Y93
Jhe Henry E. Huntington Library . . . . . . Y92
Jhe Humanities Research Center,
Lniversity of Jexas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
Jhe |ohn Carter rown Library . . . . . . . . Y85
Kent State Special Collections . . . . . . . . . . Y8o
Jhe Lilly Library. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
Jhe Modern Literary Manuscripts
Collection in the Special
Collections of the Washington
Lniversity Libraries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y87
A Iublisher`s Archives. G. I. Iutnam . . . . Y92
Special Collections at oston
Lniversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Jhe Lniversity of Virginia Libraries . . . . . Y9l
Jhe William Charvat American Iiction
Collection at the Ohio State
Lniversity Libraries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y92
Literary Societies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98-02
Jhe Margery Allingham Society . . . . . . . . Y98
Jhe American Studies Association
of Norway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Jhe Arnold ennett Society. . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Jhe Association for the Study of
Literature and Environment
(ASLE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
elgian Luxembourg American Studies
Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Jhe E. I. enson Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Jhe Elizabeth ishop Society. . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Jhe |Edgar Rice| urroughs
ibliophiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Jhe yron Society of America. . . . . . . . . . Y00
Jhe Lewis Carroll Society
of North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Jhe Willa Cather Iioneer Memorial
and Education Ioundation . . . . . . . . . Y00
New Chaucer Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Jhe Wilkie Collins Society . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Jhe |ames Ienimore Cooper Society. . . . . Y0l
Jhe Stephen Crane Society . . . . . . . . . Y98, 0l
Jhe E. E. Cummings Society. . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Jhe |ames Dickey Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
|ohn Dos Iassos Newsletter. . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Jhe Iriory Scholars |Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle| of New York. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Jhe International Jheodore Dreiser
Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Jhe George Eliot Iellowship . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Jhe J. S. Eliot Society. Celebration and
Scholarship, l980l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Jhe Ralph Waldo Emerson Society. . . . . . Y99
Jhe William Iaulkner Society . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Jhe C. S. Iorester Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Jhe Hamlin Garland Society. . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Jhe |Elizabeth| Gaskell Society . . . . . . . . . Y98
Jhe Charlotte Ierkins Gilman Society . . . Y99
Jhe Ellen Glasgow Society . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Zane Grey`s West Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Jhe Ivor Gurney Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Jhe |oel Chandler Harris Association . . . . Y99
Jhe Nathaniel Hawthorne Society. . . . . . . Y00
Jhe |George Alfred| Henty Society . . . . . . Y98
George Moses Horton Society. . . . . . . . . . Y99
Jhe William Dean Howells Society. . . . . . Y0l
WW2 HMSO Iaperbacks Society . . . . . . Y98
American Humor Studies Association . . . . Y99
International Society for Humor Studies . . . Y99
Jhe W. W. |acobs Appreciation Society . . Y98
Jhe Richard |efferies Society. . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Jhe |erome K. |erome Society. . . . . . . . . . Y98
Jhe D. H. Lawrence Society of
North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Jhe J. E. Lawrence Society. . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Jhe |Gotthold| Lessing Society . . . . . . . . . Y00
Jhe New York C. S. Lewis Society . . . . . . Y99
Jhe Sinclair Lewis Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Jhe |ack London Research Center . . . . . . Y00
Jhe |ack London Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Jhe Cormac McCarthy Society. . . . . . . . . Y99
Jhe Melville Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Jhe Arthur Miller Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Jhe Milton Society of America . . . . . . . . . Y00
International Marianne Moore Society . . . Y98
International Nabokov Society. . . . . . . . . . Y99
Jhe Vladimir Nabokov Society. . . . . . . . . Y0l
Jhe Ilannery O`Connor Society . . . . . . . . Y99
Jhe Wilfred Owen Association . . . . . . . . . Y98
Ienguin Collectors` Society . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Jhe |E. A.| Ioe Studies Association. . . . . . Y99
Jhe Katherine Anne Iorter Society . . . . . . Y0l
Jhe eatrix Iotter Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Jhe Ezra Iound Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
ai_ POV `~ f
RON
`
Jhe Iowys Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98

Iroust Society of America . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
Jhe Dorothy L. Sayers Society . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Jhe ernard Shaw Society . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Jhe Society for the Study of
Southern Literature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
Jhe Wallace Stevens Society. . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Jhe Harriet eecher Stowe Center . . . . . . .Y00
Jhe R. S. Surtees Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Jhe Jhoreau Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Jhe Jilling |E. I. enson| Society. . . . . . . .Y98
Jhe Jrollope Societies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
H. G. Wells Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Jhe Western Literature Association . . . . . .Y99
Jhe William Carlos Williams Society. . . . .Y99
Jhe Henry Williamson Society. . . . . . . . . .Y98
Jhe |Nero| Wolfe Iack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Jhe Jhomas Wolfe Society. . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Worldwide Wodehouse Societies. . . . . . . . .Y98
Jhe W. . Yeats Society of N.Y. . . . . . . . . .Y99
Jhe Charlotte M. Yonge Iellowship . . . . . .Y98
Literary Jheory
Jhe Year in Literary Jheory. . . . . . . Y92-Y93
i~ ~ kI `~ j~ (l885),
by George Moore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8
Litt, Joby l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7, 3l9
Littell, Eliakim l797l870 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL79
Littell, Robert S. l83ll89o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL79
Little, rown and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Little Magazines and Newspapers . . . . . . . . . DSl5
Selected EnglishLanguage Little
Magazines and Newspapers
|Irance, l920l939| . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
New Iormalism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282
q i o l9l1l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl5
Littlewood, |oan l9l12002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Liu, Aimee E. l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Liu E l857l909. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Lively, Ienelope l933 . . . DLl1, lol, 207, 32o
Liverpool Lniversity Iress. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
q i m (l753) . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl12
Livesay, Dorothy l909l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Livesay, Ilorence Randal l871l953 . . . . . . DL92
Livings, Henry l929l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Livingston, Anne Howe l7o3l81l . . . DL37, 200
Livingston, |ay l9l5200l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Livingston, Myra Cohn l92ol99o . . . . . . . DLol
Livingston, William l723l790. . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Livingstone, David l8l3l873 . . . . . . . . . . DLloo
Livingstone, Douglas l932l99o . . . . . . . . DL225
Livshits, enedikt Konstantinovich
l88ol938 or l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Livy 59 _.`.^.a. l7 . . . . . . . . DL2ll; CDWLl
Liyong, Jaban lo (see Jaban lo Liyong)
Lizrraga, Sylvia S. l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Llamazares, |ulio l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Llewellyn, Kate l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Llewellyn, Richard l90ol983. . . . . . . . . . . DLl5
Llorns Jorres, Luis l87ol911 . . . . . . . . . DL290
Edward Lloyd |publishing house| . . . . . . . DLl0o
Lobato, |os ento Monteiro
l882l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Lobel, Arnold l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Lochhead, Liz l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Lochridge, etsy Hopkins (see Iancher, etsy)
Locke, Alain l88ol951. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5l
Locke, David Ross l833l888. . . . . . . . DLll, 23
Locke, |ohn lo32l701. . . . . DL3l, l0l, 2l3, 252
Locke, Richard Adams l800l87l . . . . . . . . DL13
LockerLampson, Irederick
l82ll895 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35, l81
Lockhart, |ohn Gibson
l791l851 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLll0, llo l11
Lockridge, Irancis l89ol9o3 . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Lockridge, Richard l898l982. . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Lockridge, Ross, |r. l9l1l918 . . . . DLl13; Y80
i ~ p . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo2
Lodge, David l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, l91
Lodge, George Cabot l873l909. . . . . . . . . DL51
Lodge, Henry Cabot l850l921 . . . . . . . . . DL17
Lodge, Jhomas l558lo25 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl72
a m (l579) |excerpt| . . . . . . DLl72
Loeb, Harold l89ll971 . . . . . . . . . . DL1; DSl5
Loeb, William l905l98l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Loesser, Irank l9l0l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Lofting, Hugh l88ol917. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Logan, Deborah Norris l7oll839 . . . . . . DL200
Logan, |ames lo71l75l. . . . . . . . . . . . DL21, l10
Logan, |ohn l923l987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Logan, Martha Daniell l701.l779 . . . . . . DL200
Logan, William l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Logau, Iriedrich von lo05lo55 . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Logue, Christopher l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Lohenstein, Daniel Casper von
lo35lo83 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Lohrey, Amanda l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Lo|ohansson, Ivar l90ll990 . . . . . . . . . . DL259
Lokert, George (or Lockhart)
circa l185l517 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Lomonosov, Mikhail Vasilèvich
l7lll7o5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
London, |ack
l87ol9lo . . . . . DL8, l2, 78, 2l2; CDAL3
Jhe |ack London Research Center . . . . . . .Y00
Jhe |ack London Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
q i j~~ l820l829 . . . . . . . . . DLll0
Long, David l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
Long, H., and rother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Long, Haniel l888l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL15
Long, Ray l878l935. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth
l807l882 . . . . . . . . DLl, 59, 235; CDAL2
Longfellow, Samuel l8l9l892 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl
Longford, Elizabeth l90o2002 . . . . . . . . . DLl55
Longinus circa first century . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o
Longley, Michael l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
J. Longman |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . DLl51
Longmans, Green and Company . . . . . . . . DL19
Longmore, George l793.l8o7 . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Longstreet, Augustus aldwin
l790l870 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, ll, 71, 218
D. Longworth |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DL19
Lnn, ystein l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Lonsdale, Irederick l88ll951 . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Loos, Anita l893l98l. . . . . DLll, 2o, 228; Y8l
Lopate, Ihillip l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y80
Lope de Rueda l5l0.l5o5. . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Lopes, Ierno l380/l390.l1o0. . . . . . . . DL287
Lopez, arry l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25o, 275
Lpez, Diana (see Isabella, Ros)
Lpez, |osefina l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Lpez de Mendoza, igo
(see Santillana, Marqus de)
Lpez Velarde, Ramn l888l92l. . . . . . . DL290
Loranger, |eanAubert l89ol912 . . . . . . . . DL92
Lorca, Iederico Garca l898l93o . . . . . . . DLl08
Lord, |ohn Keast l8l8l872. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Lorde, Audre l931l992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Lorimer, George Horace l8o7l937. . . . . . . DL9l
A. K. Loring |publishing house|. . . . . . . . . . DL19
Loring and Mussey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Lorris, Guillaume de (see o~ ~ o)
Lossing, enson |. l8l3l89l . . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Lothar, Ernst l890l971. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8l
D. Lothrop and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Lothrop, Harriet M. l811l921. . . . . . . . . . DL12
Loti, Iierre l850l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl23
Lotichius Secundus, Ietrus l528l5o0. . . . DLl79
Lott, Emmeline fl. nineteenth century . . . . DLloo
Louisiana State Lniversity Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Lounsbury, Jhomas R. l838l9l5 . . . . . . . DL7l
Lous, Iierre l870l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl23
Lveid, Cecile l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Lovejoy, Arthur O. l873l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . DL270
Lovelace, Earl l935 . . . . . . DLl25; CDWL3
Lovelace, Richard lol8lo57. . . . . . . . . . . DLl3l
`~ f ai_ POV
ROO
|ohn W. Lovell Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Lovell, Coryell and Company . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Lover, Samuel l797l8o8. . . . . . . . . . DLl59, l90
Lovesey, Ieter l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL87
Jribute to Georges Simenon . . . . . . . . . . . Y89
Lovinescu, Eugen
l88ll913 . . . . . . . . . . . DL220; CDWL1
Lovingood, Sut
(see Harris, George Washington)
Low, Samuel l7o5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Lowell, Amy l871l925 . . . . . . . . . . . DL51, l10
Lowell, |ames Russell l8l9l89l
. . . . . . .DLl, ll, o1, 79, l89, 235; CDAL2
Lowell, Robert
l9l7l977 . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo9; CDAL7
Lowenfels, Walter l897l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Lowndes, Marie elloc l8o8l917 . . . . . . . DL70
Lowndes, William Jhomas l798l813 . . . DLl81
Humphrey Lownes |publishing house| . . . .DLl70
Lowry, Lois l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Lowry, Malcolm l909l957 . . . DLl5; CDL7
Lowther, Iat l935l975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Loy, Mina l882l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1, 51
Loynaz, Dulce Mara l902l997. . . . . . . . DL283
Lozeau, Albert l878l921. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Lu Ling l923l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Lu Xun l88ll93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Lu Yin l898.l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Lubbock, Iercy l879l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl19
Lucan ^.a. 39^.a. o5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ll
Lucas, E. V. l8o8l938. . . . . . . . DL98, l19, l53
Iielding Lucas |r. |publishing house|. . . . . . DL19
Luce, Clare ooth l903l987 . . . . . . . . . . DL228
Luce, Henry R. l898l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9l
|ohn W. Luce and Company . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Lucena, |uan de ca. l130l50l. . . . . . . . . DL28o
Lucian circa l20l80. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7o
LucieSmith, Edward l933 . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Lucilius circa l80 _.`.l02/l0l _.`. . . . . . DL2ll
Lucini, Gian Iietro l8o7l9l1 . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Luco Cruchaga, Germn l891l93o . . . . DL305
Lucretius circa 91 _.`.circa 19 _.`.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ll; CDWLl
Luder, Ieter circa l1l5l172. . . . . . . . . . . .DLl79
Ludlam, Charles l913l987 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2oo
Ludlum, Robert l927200l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
i ^ circa llo0 . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Ludvigson, Susan l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Ludwig, |ack l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Ludwig, Otto l8l3l8o5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
i 88l or 882. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Luera, Yolanda l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Luft, Lya l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15
Lugansky, Kazak Vladimir
(see Dal`, Vladimir Ivanovich)
Lugn, Kristina l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Lugones, Leopoldo l871l938 . . . . . . . . . DL283
Luhan, Mabel Dodge l879l9o2 . . . . . . . DL303
Lukcs, Georg (see Lukcs, Gyrgy)
Lukcs, Gyrgy
l885l97l. . . . . . . . .DL2l5, 212; CDWL1
Luke, Ieter l9l9l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Lummis, Charles I. l859l928. . . . . . . . . DLl8o
Lundkvist, Artur l90ol99l. . . . . . . . . . . DL259
Lunts, Lev Natanovich
l90ll921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL272
I. M. Lupton Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Lupus of Ierrires
circa 805circa 8o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Lurie, Alison l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2
Lussu, Emilio l890l975. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
Lustig, Arnot l92o . . . . . . . . . . . DL232, 299
Luther, Martin
l183l51o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl79; CDWL2
Luzi, Mario l9l12005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
L`vov, Nikolai Aleksandrovich
l75ll803 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Lyall, Gavin l9322003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL87
Lydgate, |ohn circa l370l150 . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Lyly, |ohn circa l551lo0o . . . . . . . . . DLo2, lo7
Lynch, Martin l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Lynch, Iatricia l898l972 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Lynch, Richard fl. l59olo0l. . . . . . . . . . .DLl72
Lynd, Robert l879l919. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL98
Lynds, Dennis (Michael Collins)
l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Jribute to Kenneth Millar . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
Why I Write Mysteries. Night and Day. . . Y85
Lyon, Matthew l719l822 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Lyotard, |eanIranois l921l998 . . . . . . DL212
Lyricists
Additional Lyricists. l920l9o0. . . . . DL2o5
Lysias circa 159 _.`.circa 380 _.`.. . . . . . .DLl7o
Lytle, Andrew l902l995. . . . . . . . . . . DLo; Y95
Jribute to Caroline Gordon. . . . . . . . . . . . Y8l
Jribute to Katherine Anne Iorter . . . . . . . Y80
Lytton, Edward
(see ulwerLytton, Edward)
Lytton, Edward Robert ulwer
l83ll89l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
j
Maass, |oachim l90ll972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Mabie, Hamilton Wright l815l9lo. . . . . . DL7l
Mac A`Ghobhainn, Iain (see Smith, Iain Crichton)
MacArthur, Charles l895l95o . . . . . DL7, 25, 11
Macaulay, Catherine l73ll79l . . . . . . . . DLl01
Macaulay, David l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Macaulay, Rose l88ll958. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3o
Macaulay, Jhomas abington
l800l859 . . . . . . . . . . DL32, 55; CDL1
Macaulay Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Maceth, George l932l992 . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Macbeth, Madge l880l9o5. . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
MacCaig, Norman l9l0l99o . . . . . . . . . . DL27
MacDiarmid, Hugh
l892l978. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20; CDL7
MacDonald, Cynthia l928 . . . . . . . . . DLl05
MacDonald, George l821l905. . . . DLl8, lo3, l78
MacDonald, |ohn D.
l9lol98o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8, 30o; Y8o
MacDonald, Ihilip l899.l980 . . . . . . . . . DL77
Macdonald, Ross (see Millar, Kenneth)
Macdonald, Sharman l95l . . . . . . . . . DL215
MacDonald, Wilson l880l9o7 . . . . . . . . . DL92
Macdonald and Company (Iublishers) . . DLll2
MacEwen, Gwendolyn l91ll987 . . . DL53, 25l
Macfadden, ernarr l8o8l955 . . . . . . DL25, 9l
MacGregor, |ohn l825l892. . . . . . . . . . . DLloo
MacGregor, Mary Esther (see Keith, Marian)
Macherey, Iierre l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
Machado, Antonio l875l939 . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Machado, Manuel l871l917 . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Machado de Assis, |oaquim Maria
l839l908 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Machar, Agnes Maule l837l927 . . . . . . . . DL92
Machaut, Guillaume de
circa l300l377 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL208
Machen, Arthur Llewelyn |ones
l8o3l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3o, l5o, l78
MacIlmaine, Roland fl. l571. . . . . . . . . . . DL28l
MacInnes, Colin l9l1l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
MacInnes, Helen l907l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL87
Mac Intyre, Jom l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
Maiulis, |onas (see Maironis, |onas)
Mack, Maynard l909200l . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Mackall, Leonard L. l879l937 . . . . . . . . DLl10
MacKay, Isabel Ecclestone l875l928. . . . . DL92
Mackay, Shena l911 . . . . . . . . . . DL23l, 3l9
MacKaye, Iercy l875l95o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL51
Macken, Walter l9l5l9o7. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
MacKenna, |ohn l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
Mackenzie, Alexander l7o3l820. . . . . . . . DL99
Mackenzie, Alexander Slidell
l803l818 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl83
Mackenzie, Compton l883l972 . . . . .DL31, l00
Mackenzie, Henry l715l83l . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
q iI no. 20 (l785) . . . . . . . . . . DL39
ai_ POV `~ f
ROP
`
Mackenzie, Kenneth (Seaforth Mackenzie)

l9l3l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Mackenzie, William l758l828 . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Mackey, Nathaniel l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo9
Mackey, William Wellington l937 . . . . . . DL38
Mackintosh, Elizabeth (see Jey, |osephine)
Mackintosh, Sir |ames l7o5l832 . . . . . . . DLl58
Macklin, Charles lo99l797. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL89
Maclaren, Ian (see Watson, |ohn)
MaclarenRoss, |ulian l9l2l9o1. . . . . . . . DL3l9
MacLaverty, ernard l912 . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
MacLean, Alistair l922l987 . . . . . . . . . . . DL27o
MacLean, Katherine Anne l925 . . . . . . . . DL8
Maclean, Norman l902l990 . . . . . . . . . . DL20o
MacLeish, Archibald l892l982
. . . . . . . DL1, 7, 15; Y82; DSl5; CDAL7
MacLennan, Hugh l907l990 . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
MacLeod, Alistair l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Macleod, Iiona (see Sharp, William)
Macleod, Norman l90ol985 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Mac Low, |ackson l9222001 . . . . . . . . . . DLl93
MacMahon, ryan l909l998. . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
Macmillan and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Jhe Macmillan Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Macmillan`s English Men of Letters,
Iirst Series (l878l892) . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl11
MacNamara, rinsley l890l9o3 . . . . . . . . DLl0
MacNeice, Louis l907l9o3. . . . . . . . . . DLl0, 20
Macphail, Andrew l8o1l938 . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Macpherson, |ames l73ol79o . . . . . . . . . . DLl09
Macpherson, |ay l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Macpherson, |eanie l881l91o . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Macrae Smith Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
MacRaye, Lucy etty (see Webling, Lucy)
|ohn Macrone |publishing house|. . . . . . . . DLl0o
MacShane, Irank l927l999 . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
MacyMasius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Madden, David l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Madden, Sir Irederic l80ll873 . . . . . . . . DLl81
Maddow, en l909l992. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Maddux, Rachel l9l2l983. . . . . . . DL231; Y93
Madgett, Naomi Long l923 . . . . . . . . . . DL7o
Madhubuti, Haki R. l912 . . . . . DL5, 1l; DS8
Madison, |ames l75ll83o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Madsen, Svend Age l939 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Madrigal, Alfonso Iernndez de (El Jostado)
ca. l105l155 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Maeterlinck, Maurice l8o2l919 . . . . . . . . DLl92
Mafz, Najb l9ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y88
Nobel Lecture l988. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y88
New Iormalism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282
Magee, David l905l977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Maginn, William l791l812. . . . . . . . DLll0, l59
Magoffin, Susan Shelby l827l855 . . . . . . DL239
Mahan, Alfred Jhayer l810l9l1 . . . . . . . . DL17
Mahapatra, |ayanta l928 . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
MaheuxIorcier, Louise l929 . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Mahin, |ohn Lee l902l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Mahon, Derek l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Maiakovsky, Vladimir Vladimirovich
l893l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Maikov, Apollon Nikolaevich
l82ll897 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL277
Maikov, Vasilii Ivanovich l728l778 . . . . . DLl50
Mailer, Norman l923
. . . . . . . DL2, lo, 28, l85, 278; Y80, 83, 97;
DS3; CDALo
Jribute to Meyer Levin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8l
Maillart, Ella l903l997. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl95
Maillet, Adrienne l885l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Maillet, Antonine l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Maillu, David G. l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Maimonides, Moses ll38l201 . . . . . . . . . DLll5
Main Selections of the ookoftheMonth
Club, l92ol915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Mainwaring, Daniel l902l977 . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Mair, Charles l838l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Mair, |ohn circa l1o7l550. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Maironis, |onas l8o2l932 . . DL220; CDWL1
Mais, Roger l905l955 . . . . . DLl25; CDWL3
Maitland, Sara l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27l
Major, Andre l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Major, Charles l85ol9l3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL202
Major, Clarence l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Major, Kevin l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Major ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Makanin, Vladimir Semenovich
l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
Makarenko, Anton Semenovich
l888l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL272
Makemie, Irancis circa lo58l708 . . . . . . . . DL21
q j~ ^~ Contract . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Makovsky, Sergei l877l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Maksimov, Vladimir Emelìanovich
l930l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Maksimovi, Desanka
l898l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl17; CDWL1
Malamud, ernard l9l1l98o
. . . . . . . . DL2, 28, l52; Y80, 8o; CDALl
ernard Malamud Archive at the
Harry Ransom Humanities
Research Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
Mlncioiu, Ileana l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Malaparte, Curzio
(Kurt Erich Suckert) l898l957. . . . . . DL2o1
Malerba, Luigi l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Malet, Lucas l852l93l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl53
Malherbe, Iranois de l555lo28 . . . . . . . DL327
Mallarm, Stphane l812l898 . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
Malleson, Lucy eatrice (see Gilbert, Anthony)
Mallet|oris, Iranoise (Iranoise Lilar)
l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Mallock, W. H. l819l923 . . . . . . . . . . DLl8, 57
'Every Man His Own Ioet; or,
Jhe Inspired Singer`s Recipe
ook" (l877). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
'Le Style cèst l`homme" (l892) . . . . . . DL57
j i ~ i~ (l920),
|excerpt| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL57
Malone, Dumas l892l98o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
Malone, Edmond l71ll8l2 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl12
Malory, Sir Jhomas
circa l100l1l0 l17l. . . .DLl1o; CDLl
Malouf, David l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Malpede, Karen l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL219
Malraux, Andr l90ll97o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL72
q j~ c~ (Documentary). . . . . . . . DL280
Malthus, Jhomas Robert
l7ool831 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl07, l58
Maltz, Albert l908l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl02
Malzberg, arry N. l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Mamet, David l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Mamin, Dmitrii Narkisovich
l852l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Manaka, Matsemela l95o . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Maas, |os ngel l97l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Manchester Lniversity Iress . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Mandel, Eli l922l992. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Mandel`shtam, Nadezhda Iakovlevna
l899l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Mandel`shtam, Osip Emilèvich
l89ll938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Mandeville, ernard lo70l733 . . . . . . . . . DLl0l
Mandeville, Sir |ohn
mid fourteenth century . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Mandiargues, Andr Iieyre de
l909l99l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Manea, Norman l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Manfred, Irederick l9l2l991. . . . DLo, 2l2, 227
Manfredi, Gianfranco l918 . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Mangan, Sherry l901l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Manganelli, Giorgio l922l990. . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Manilius fl. first century ^.a. . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ll
Mankiewicz, Herman l897l953 . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Mankiewicz, |oseph L. l909l993 . . . . . . . . DL11
Mankowitz, Wolf l921l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5
Manley, Delarivire lo72.l721. . . . . . . DL39, 80
Ireface to q p eI n
w~~I ~ w~~~ (l705) . . . . . DL39
Mann, Abby l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
`~ f ai_ POV
ROQ
Mann, Charles l929l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Mann, Emily l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2oo
Mann, Heinrich l87ll950. . . . . . . . . DLoo, ll8
Mann, Horace l79ol859 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 235
Mann, Klaus l90ol919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5o
Mann, Mary Ieabody l80ol887 . . . . . . . DL239
Mann, Jhomas l875l955 . . . DLoo; CDWL2
Mann, William DÀlton l839l920 . . . . . DLl37
Mannin, Ethel l900l981 . . . . . . . . . DLl9l, l95
Manning, Emily (see Australie)
Manning, Irederic l882l935. . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Manning, Laurence l899l972 . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Manning, Marie l873.l915. . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Manning and Loring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Mannyng, Robert fl.
l303l338 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Mano, D. Keith l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Manor ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Manrique, Gmez l1l2.l190 . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Manrique, |orge ca. l110l179 . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Mansfield, Katherine l888l923. . . . . . . . DLlo2
Mantel, Hilary l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27l
Manuel, Niklaus circa l181l530 . . . . . . . .DLl79
Manzini, Gianna l89ol971 . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl77
Mao Dun l89ol98l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Mapanje, |ack l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Maraini, Dacia l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Maraise, MarieCatherineRene Darcel de
l737l822 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Maramzin, Vladimir Rafailovich
l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
March, William (William Edward Campbell)
l893l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9, 8o, 3lo
Marchand, Leslie A. l900l999 . . . . . . . . DLl03
Marchant, essie l8o2l91l. . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Marchant, Jony l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
Marchenko, Anastasiia Iakovlevna
l830l880 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Marchessault, |ovette l938 . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Marcinkeviius, Justinas l930 . . . . . . . DL232
Marcos, Ilnio (Ilnio Marcos de arros)
l935l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Marcus, Irank l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Marcuse, Herbert l898l979 . . . . . . . . . . DL212
Marden, Orison Swett l850l921. . . . . . . DLl37
Marechera, Dambudzo l952l987 . . . . . . DLl57
Marek, Richard, ooks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Mares, E. A. l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Marguerite de Navarre l192l519 . . . . . . DL327
Margulies, Donald l951 . . . . . . . . . . . DL228
Mariana, |uan de l535 or l53olo21 . . . . DL3l8
Mariani, Iaul l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Maras, |avier l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Marie de Irance fl. llo0ll78. . . . . . . . . . DL208
MarieVictorin, Irre (Conrad Kirouac)
l885l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Marin, iagio l89ll985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Marinetti, Iilippo Jommaso
l87ol911. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1, 2o1
Marinina, Aleksandra (Marina Anatolèvna
Alekseeva) l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
Marinkovi, Ranko
l9l3200l . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl17; CDWL1
Marion, Irances l88ol973 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Marius, Richard C. l933l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y85
Marivaux, Iierre Carlet de Chamblain de
lo88l7o3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Markandaya, Kamala l9212001 . . . . . . . DL323
Markevich, oleslav Mikhailovich
l822l881 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Markfield, Wallace l92o2002 . . . . . . . . DL2, 28
Markham, E. A. l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
Markham, Edwin l852l910 . . . . . . . DL51, l8o
Markish, David l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Markle, Iletcher l92ll99l . . . . . . . . DLo8; Y9l
Marlatt, Daphne l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Marlitt, E. l825l887 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Marlowe, Christopher
l5o1l593 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo2; CDLl
Marlyn, |ohn l9l2l985. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Marmion, Shakerley lo03lo39 . . . . . . . . . DL58
Marmontel, |eanIranois l723l799 . . . . DL3l1
Der Marner before l230circa l287 . . . . . DLl38
Marnham, Iatrick l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
Marot, Clment l19ol511. . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Jhe j~~ q~ l588l589 . . . . . . . . DLl32
Marquand, |ohn I. l893l9o0 . . . . . . . DL9, l02
Marques, Helena l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Marqus, Ren l9l9l979 . . . . . . . . DLll3, 305
Marquis, Don l878l937 . . . . . . . . . . . DLll, 25
Marriott, Anne l9l3l997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Marryat, Irederick l792l818 . . . . . . DL2l, lo3
Mars, |uan l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Marsh, Capen, Lyon and Webb . . . . . . . . . DL19
Marsh, George Ierkins
l80ll882 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, o1, 213
Marsh, |ames l791l812. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 59
Marsh, Narcissus lo38l7l3. . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Marsh, Ngaio l899l982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
Marshall, Alan l902l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Marshall, Edison l891l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl02
Marshall, Edward l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Marshall, Emma l828l899 . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo3
Marshall, |ames l912l992. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Marshall, |oyce l9l3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Marshall, Iaule l929 . . . . . . . . DL33, l57, 227
Marshall, Jom l938l993. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Marsilius of Iadua
circa l275circa l312 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
Mars|ones, Adam l951 . . . . . . . . . DL207, 3l9
Marson, Lna l905l9o5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl57
Marston, |ohn l57olo31 . . . . . . . . . . .DL58, l72
Marston, Ihilip ourke l850l887. . . . . . . DL35
Martel, Yann l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Martens, Kurt l870l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Mart, |os l853l895. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Martial circa ^.a. 10circa ^.a. l03
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL2ll; CDWLl
William S. Martien |publishing house| . . . . DL19
Martin, Abe (see Hubbard, Kin)
Martin, Catherine ca. l817l937. . . . . . . . DL230
Martin, Charles l912 . . . . . . . . . . DLl20, 282
Martin, Claire l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Martin, David l9l5l997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Martin, |ay l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Martin, |ohann (see Laurentius von Schnffis)
Martin, Jhomas lo9ol77l . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Martin, Violet Ilorence (see Ross, Martin)
Martin du Gard, Roger l88ll958. . . . . . . DLo5
Martineau, Harriet
l802l87o. . . . . DL2l, 55, l59, lo3, loo, l90
Martnez, Demetria l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Martnez de Joledo, Alfonso
l398.l1o8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Martnez, Eliud l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Martnez, Max l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Martnez, Rubn l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Martn Gaite, Carmen l9252000 . . . . . . DL322
MartnSantos, Luis l921l9o1. . . . . . . . . DL322
Martinson, Harry l901l978 . . . . . . . . . . DL259
Martinson, Moa l890l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . DL259
Martone, Michael l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l8
Martyn, Edward l859l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Marvell, Andrew
lo2llo78. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3l; CDL2
Marvin X l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
Marx, Karl l8l8l883 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Marzials, Jheo l850l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
Masefield, |ohn l878l9o7
. . . . . . . . . . . DLl0, l9, l53, lo0; CDL5
Masham, Damaris Cudworth, Lady
lo59l708. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL252
Masino, Iaola l908l989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
Mason, A. E. W. l8o5l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL70
Mason, obbie Ann
l910 . . . . . . . . . . DLl73; Y87; CDAL7
Mason, I. van Wyck (Geoffrey Coffin, Irank W.
Mason, Ward Weaver) l90ll978 . . . . DL30o
ai_ POV `~ f
ROR
`
Mason, William l725l797. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl12

Mason rothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
q j~~ n~ o
l817l850 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl
q j~. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Massey, Gerald l828l907. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Massey, Linton R. l900l971. . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Massie, Allan l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27l
Massinger, Ihilip l583lo10 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL58
Masson, David l822l907 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl11
Masters, Edgar Lee
l8o8l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL51; CDAL3
Masters, Hilary l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
Masters, Olga l9l9l98o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Mastronardi, Lucio l930l979. . . . . . . . . . DLl77
Mat` Maria (Elizaveta Kuz`minaKaravdeva
Skobtsova, ne Iilenko) l89ll915 . . . . DL3l7
Matevski, Mateja l929 . . . DLl8l; CDWL1
Mather, Cotton
loo3l728 . . . . . . . DL21, 30, l10; CDAL2
Mather, Increase lo39l723 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Mather, Richard l59oloo9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Matheson, Annie l853l921 . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Matheson, Richard l92o . . . . . . . . . . . DL8, 11
Matheus, |ohn I. l887l98o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5l
Mathews, Aidan l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
Mathews, Cornelius l8l7.l889 . . . DL3, o1, 250
Elkin Mathews |publishing house| . . . . . . . DLll2
Mathews, |ohn |oseph l891l979 . . . . . . . DLl75
Mathias, Roland l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Mathis, |une l892l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Mathis, Sharon ell l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Matkovi, Marijan l9l5l985 . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Matos, Antun Gustav l873l9l1 . . . . . . . . DLl17
Matos Iaoli, Irancisco l9l52000 . . . . . . . DL290
Matsumoto Seich l909l992 . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Jhe Matter of England l210l100. . . . . . . DLl1o
Jhe Matter of Rome early twelfth to late
fifteenth century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Matthew of Vendme
circa ll30circa l200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL208
Matthews, rander l852l929. . DL7l, 78; DSl3
Matthews, rian l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Matthews, |ack l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Matthews, Victoria Earle l8oll907 . . . . . DL22l
Matthews, William l912l997 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Matthas |ochumsson l835l920 . . . . . . . . DL293
Matthas |ohannessen l930 . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Matthiessen, I. O. l902l950 . . . . . . . . . . . DLo3
Matthiessen, Ieter l927 . . . . . . . DLo, l73, 275
Maturin, Charles Robert l780l821 . . . . . DLl78
Matute, Ana Mara l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Maugham, W. Somerset l871l9o5
. . . . DLl0, 3o, 77, l00, lo2, l95; CDLo
Maupassant, Guy de l850l893 . . . . . . . . DLl23
Maupertuis, IierreLouis Moreau de
lo98l759 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Maupin, Armistead l911 . . . . . . . . . . . DL278
Mauriac, Claude l9l1l99o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Mauriac, Iranois l885l970. . . . . . . . . . . . DLo5
Maurice, Irederick Denison l805l872 . . . . DL55
Maurois, Andr l885l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo5
Maury, |ames l7l8l7o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Mavor, Elizabeth l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Mavor, Osborne Henry (see ridie, |ames)
Maxwell, Gavin l9l1l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
Maxwell, William
l9082000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l8, 278; Y80
Jribute to Nancy Hale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y88
H. Maxwell |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . DL19
|ohn Maxwell |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DLl0o
May, Elaine l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
May, Karl l812l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
May, Jhomas l595/l59olo50 . . . . . . . . . . DL58
Mayer, ernadette l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo5
Mayer, Mercer l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Mayer, O. . l8l8l89l. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, 218
Mayes, Herbert R. l900l987 . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
Mayes, Wendell l9l9l992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Mayfield, |ulian l928l981 . . . . . . . . DL33; Y81
Mayhew, Henry l8l2l887 . . . . . . DLl8, 55, l90
Mayhew, |onathan l720l7oo . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Mayne, Ethel Colburn l8o5l91l . . . . . . . DLl97
Mayne, |asper lo01lo72. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2o
Mayne, Seymour l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Mayor, Ilora Macdonald l872l932 . . . . . . DL3o
Mayrcker, Iriederike l921 . . . . . . . . . . DL85
Mazrui, Ali A. l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl25
Maurani, Ivan l8l1l890 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl17
Mazursky, Iaul l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
McAlmon, Robert l89ol95o . . . DL1, 15; DSl5
'A Night at ricktop`s" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
McArthur, Ieter l8ool921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
McAuley, |ames l9l7l97o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Robert M. Mcride and Company . . . . . . . DL1o
McCabe, Iatrick l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl91
McCafferty, Owen l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
McCaffrey, Anne l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
McCann, Colum l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
McCarthy, Cormac l933 . . . . . DLo, l13, 25o
Jhe Cormac McCarthy Society . . . . . . . . .Y99
McCarthy, Mary l9l2l989 . . . . . . . . DL2; Y8l
McCarthy, Shaun Lloyd (see Cory, Desmond)
McCay, Winsor l87ll931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
McClane, Albert |ules l922l99l . . . . . . . DLl7l
McClatchy, C. K. l858l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
McClellan, George Marion l8o0l931 . . . . DL50
'Jhe Negro as a Writer". . . . . . . . . . . . DL50
McCloskey, Robert l9l12003 . . . . . . . . . . DL22
McCloy, Helen l901l992. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
McClung, Nellie Letitia l873l95l . . . . . . . DL92
McClure, |ames l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27o
McClure, |oanna l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
McClure, Michael l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
McClure, Ihillips and Company . . . . . . . . . DL1o
McClure, S. S. l857l919. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9l
A. C. McClurg and Company. . . . . . . . . . . DL19
McCluskey, |ohn A., |r. l911 . . . . . . . . . DL33
McCollum, Michael A. l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y87
McConnell, William C. l9l7 . . . . . . . . . DL88
McCord, David l897l997. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
McCord, Louisa S. l8l0l879 . . . . . . . . . . DL218
McCorkle, |ill l958 . . . . . . . . . . . DL231; Y87
McCorkle, Samuel Eusebius l71ol8ll. . . . DL37
McCormick, Anne O`Hare l880l951 . . . . DL29
McCormick, Kenneth Dale l90ol997 . . . . . . . Y97
McCormick, Robert R. l880l955 . . . . . . . DL29
McCourt, Edward l907l972. . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
McCoy, Horace l897l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
McCrae, Hugh l87ol958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
McCrae, |ohn l872l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
McCrumb, Sharyn l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
McCullagh, |oseph . l812l89o . . . . . . . . DL23
McCullers, Carson
l9l7l9o7 . . . . . DL2, 7, l73, 228; CDALl
McCulloch, Jhomas l77ol813. . . . . . . . . . DL99
McCunn, Ruthanne Lum l91o . . . . . . DL3l2
McDermott, Alice l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
McDonald, Iorrest l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
McDonald, Walter l931 . . . . . . . DLl05, DS9
'Getting Started. Accepting the
Regions You Ownor Which
Own You". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
McDougall, Colin l9l7l981. . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
McDowell, Katharine Sherwood onner
l819l883 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL202, 239
Obolensky McDowell
McEwan, Ian l918 . . . . . DLl1, l91, 3l9, 32o
McIadden, David l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
McIall, Irances Elizabeth Clarke
(see Grand, Sarah)
McIarland, Ron l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25o
McIarlane, Leslie l902l977 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
`~ f ai_ POV
ROS
McIee, William l88ll9oo. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl53
McGahan, Andrew l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
McGahern, |ohn l931 . . . . . . DLl1, 23l, 3l9
McGee, Jhomas DÀrcy l825l8o8. . . . . . DL99
McGeehan, W. O. l879l933 . . . . . . . .DL25, l7l
McGill, Ralph l898l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
McGinley, Ihyllis l905l978 . . . . . . . . DLll, 18
McGinniss, |oe l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
McGirt, |ames E. l871l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL50
McGlashan and Gill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
McGough, Roger l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
McGrath, |ohn l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
McGrath, Iatrick l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23l
McGrawHill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
McGuane, Jhomas l939 . . . . . DL2, 2l2; Y80
Jribute to Seymour Lawrence . . . . . . . . . . Y91
McGuckian, Medbh l950 . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
McGuffey, William Holmes l800l873. . . . DL12
McGuinness, Irank l953 . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
McHenry, |ames l785l815 . . . . . . . . . . . DL202
McIlvanney, William l93o . . . . . . . DLl1, 207
McIlwraith, |ean Newton l859l938 . . . . . DL92
McInerney, |ay l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
McInerny, Ralph l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
McIntosh, Maria |ane l803l878 . . . DL239, 218
McIntyre, |ames l827l90o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
McIntyre, O. O. l881l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
McKay, Claude l889l918 . . . . .DL1, 15, 5l, ll7
Jhe David McKay Company. . . . . . . . . . . DL19
McKean, William V. l820l903 . . . . . . . . . DL23
McKenna, Stephen l888l9o7 . . . . . . . . . DLl97
Jhe McKenzie Jrust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9o
McKerrow, R. . l872l910 . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
McKinley, Robin l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
McKnight, Reginald l95o . . . . . . . . . . DL231
McLachlan, Alexander l8l8l89o . . . . . . . DL99
McLaren, Iloris Clark l901l978. . . . . . . . DLo8
McLaverty, Michael l907l992. . . . . . . . . . DLl5
McLean, Duncan l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
McLean, |ohn R. l818l9lo. . . . . . . . . . . . DL23
McLean, William L. l852l93l . . . . . . . . . DL25
McLennan, William l85ol901 . . . . . . . . . DL92
McLoughlin rothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
McLuhan, Marshall l9lll980 . . . . . . . . . DL88
McMaster, |ohn ach l852l932 . . . . . . . . DL17
McMillan, Jerri l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
McMurtry, Larry l93o
. . . . . . . . DL2, l13, 25o; Y80, 87; CDALo
McNally, Jerrence l939 . . . . . . . . . . .DL7, 219
McNeil, Ilorence l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
McNeile, Herman Cyril l888l937 . . . . . . DL77
McNickle, DÀrcy l901l977 . . . . . . . DLl75, 2l2
McIhee, |ohn l93l . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl85, 275
McIherson, |ames Alan l913 . . . . DL38, 211
McIherson, Sandra l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8o
McJaggart, |. M. E. l8ool925 . . . . . . . . DL2o2
McWhirter, George l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
McWilliam, Candia l955 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
McWilliams, Carey l905l980. . . . . . . . . DLl37
'q k~ Iuture," Carey
McWilliams`s Editorial Iolicy
in k~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
Mda, Zakes l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL225
Mead, George Herbert l8o3l93l . . . . . . .DL270
Mead, L. J. l811l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1l
Mead, Matthew l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Mead, Jaylor circa l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Meany, Jom l903l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7l
Mears, Gillian l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Mechthild von Magdeburg
circa l207circa l282 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Medieval GalicianIortuguese Ioetry . . . . DL287
Medill, |oseph l823l899 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Medoff, Mark l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Meek, Alexander eaufort
l8l1l8o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, 218
Meeke, Mary .l8lo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLllo
Mehta, Ved l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Mei, Lev Aleksandrovich l822l8o2 . . . . .DL277
Meinke, Ieter l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Meireles, Ceclia l90ll9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Meja, Iedro l197l55l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Mejia Vallejo, Manuel l923 . . . . . . . . . DLll3
Melanchthon, Ihilipp l197l5o0 . . . . . . . .DLl79
Melanon, Robert l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Mell, Max l882l97l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8l, l21
Mellow, |ames R. l92ol997. . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Mel`nikov, Iavel Ivanovich l8l8l883 . . . DL238
Meltzer, David l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Meltzer, Milton l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Melville, Elizabeth, Lady Culross
circa l585lo10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl72
Melville, Herman
l8l9l89l . . . . . . . DL3, 71, 250; CDAL2
Jhe Melville Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Melville, |ames
(Roy Ieter Martin) l93l . . . . . . . . .DL27o
'Memorandum on Local Government," Anne
Robert|acques Jurgot, bacon de
lÀulne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Mena, |uan de l1lll15o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Mena, Mara Cristina l893l9o5 . . . DL209, 22l
Menander 31231l _.`.circa 29229l _.`.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o; CDWLl
Menantes (see Hunold, Christian Iriedrich)
Mencke, |ohann urckhard lo71l732. . . DLlo8
Mencken, H. L. l880l95o
. . . . . . . . . DLll, 29, o3, l37, 222; CDAL1
'erlin, Iebruary, l9l7". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Irom the Initial Issue of ^~ j
( |anuary l921) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl37
Mencken and Nietzsche. An
Lnpublished Excerpt from H. L.
Mencken`s j i ~ ^ ~
b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y93
Mendelssohn, Moses l729l78o . . . . . . . . . DL97
Mendes, Catulle l81ll909 . . . . . . . . . . . .DL2l7
Mndez M., Miguel l930 . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Mendoza, Diego Hurtado de
l501l575. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Mendoza, Eduardo l913 . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Jhe Mercantile Library of New York. . . . . . . . Y9o
Mercer, Cecil William (see Yates, Dornford)
Mercer, David l928l980. . . . . . . . . . .DLl3, 3l0
Mercer, |ohn l701l7o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Mercer, |ohnny l909l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Mercier, LouisSbastien l710l8l1 . . . . . DL3l1
i q~~ m~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Meredith, George
l828l909 . . . . DLl8, 35, 57, l59; CDL1
Meredith, Louisa Anne l8l2l895 . . DLloo, 230
Meredith, Owen
(see Lytton, Edward Robert ulwer)
Meredith, William l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Meres, Irancis
m~~ q~~I t q~ (l598)
|excerpt| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl72
Merezhkovsky, Dmitrii Sergeevich
l8o5l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Mergerle, |ohann Llrich
(see Abraham Sancta Clara)
Mrime, Irosper l803l870 . . . . . . .DLll9, l92
Merino, |os Mara l91l . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Merivale, |ohn Herman l779l811. . . . . . . DL9o
Meriwether, Louise l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
MerleauIonty, Maurice l908l9ol . . . . . DL29o
Merlin Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Merriam, Eve l9lol992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Jhe Merriam Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Merril, |udith l923l997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Jribute to Jheodore Sturgeon . . . . . . . . . Y85
Merrill, |ames l92ol995 . . . . . . . DL5, lo5; Y85
Merrill and aker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Jhe Mershon Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Merton, Jhomas l9l5l9o8. . . . . . . . DL18; Y8l
Merwin, W. S. l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo9
|ulian Messner |publishing house| . . . . . . . DL1o
Mszly, Mikls l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
|. Metcalf |publishing house|. . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
ai_ POV `~ f
ROT
`
Metcalf, |ohn l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0

Jhe Methodist ook Concern. . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Methuen and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Meun, |ean de (see o~ ~ o)
Mew, Charlotte l8o9l928 . . . . . . . . . DLl9, l35
Mewshaw, Michael l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y80
Jribute to Albert Erskine . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y93
Meyer, Conrad Ierdinand l825l898 . . . . DLl29
Meyer, E. Y. l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Meyer, Eugene l875l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Meyer, Michael l92l2000. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
Meyers, |effrey l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Meynell, Alice l817l922. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9, 98
Meynell, Viola l885l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl53
Meyrink, Gustav l8o8l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8l
Mzires, Ihilipe de circa l327l105 . . . . . DL208
Michael, Ib l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Michael, Livi l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Michalis, Karen l872l950. . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Michaels, Anne l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Michaels, Leonard l9332003 . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Michaux, Henri l899l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL258
Micheaux, Oscar l881l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL50
Michel of Northgate, Dan
circa l2o5circa l310. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Micheline, |ack l929l998. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Michener, |ames A. l907.l997 . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Micklejohn, George circa l7l7l8l8. . . . . . . DL3l
Middle Hill Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Middleton, Christopher l92o . . . . . . . . . DL10
Middleton, Richard l882l9ll . . . . . . . . . DLl5o
Middleton, Stanley l9l9 . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 32o
Middleton, Jhomas l580lo27 . . . . . . . . . . DL58
j Ì l98l ooker Irize winner,
Salman Rushdie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Miegel, Agnes l879l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5o
Mieelaitis, Eduardas l9l9l997 . . . . . . . . DL220
Miguis, |os Rodrigues l90ll980. . . . . . DL287
Mihailovi, Dragoslav l930 . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Mihali, Slavko l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Mikhailov, A.
(see Sheller, Aleksandr Konstantinovich)
Mikhailov, Mikhail Larionovich
l829l8o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Mikhailovsky, Nikolai Konstantinovich
l812l901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL277
Miles, |osephine l9lll985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL18
Miles, Susan (Lrsula Wyllie Roberts)
l888l975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Milikovi, ranko l931l9ol. . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Milius, |ohn l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Mill, |ames l773l83o . . . . . . . . DLl07, l58, 2o2
Mill, |ohn Stuart
l80ol873 . . . . . .DL55, l90, 2o2; CDL1
Jhoughts on Ioetry and Its Varieties
(l833) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Andrew Millar |publishing house| . . . . . . . DLl51
Millar, Kenneth
l9l5l983 . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 22o; Y83; DSo
Mills, |uan |os l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Millay, Edna St. Vincent
l892l950 . . . . . . . . . .DL15, 219; CDAL1
Millen, Sarah Gertrude l888l9o8 . . . . . . DL225
Miller, Andrew l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Miller, Arthur l9l52005. . . DL7, 2oo; CDALl
Jhe Arthur Miller Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
Miller, Caroline l903l992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Miller, Eugene Ethelbert l950 . . . . . . . . DL1l
Miller, Heather Ross l939 . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Miller, Henry
l89ll980 . . . . . . . . DL1, 9; Y80; CDAL5
Miller, Hugh l802l85o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl90
Miller, |. Hillis l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
Miller, |ason l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Miller, |oaquin l839l9l3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8o
Miller, May l899l995. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Miller, Iaul l90ol99l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Miller, Ierry l905l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7, o3
Miller, Sue l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl13
Miller, Vassar l921l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Miller, Walter M., |r. l923l99o . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Miller, Webb l892l910. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
|ames Miller |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Millett, Kate l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
Millhauser, Steven l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2
Millican, Arthenia |. ates l920 . . . . . . . DL38
Milligan, Alice l8ool953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Mills, Magnus l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Mills and oon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Milman, Henry Hart l79ol8o8 . . . . . . . . . DL9o
Milne, A. A. l882l95o . . . . . DLl0, 77, l00, lo0
Milner, Ron l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
William Milner |publishing house|. . . . . . . DLl0o
Milnes, Richard Monckton (Lord Houghton)
l809l885 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32, l81
Milton, |ohn
lo08lo71 . . . . . DLl3l, l5l, 28l; CDL2
Jhe Milton Society of America . . . . . . . . . .Y00
Miosz, Czesaw
l9ll2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5; CDWL1
Minakami Jsutomu l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Minamoto no Sanetomo ll92l2l9. . . . . . DL203
Minco, Marga l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Jhe Minerva Iress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl51
j~ circa ll50l280 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Jhe Music of j~ . . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Minns, Susan l839l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl10
Minsky, Nikolai l855l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Minton, alch and Company . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Minyana, Ihilippe l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
Mirbeau, Octave l818l9l7. . . . . . . . DLl23, l92
Mirikitani, |anice l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Mirk, |ohn died after l1l1.. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Mir, Gabriel l879l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Mir, Ricardo l883l910. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Miron, Gaston l928l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
^ j j~~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo7
Mirsky, D. S. l890l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Mishima Yukio l925l970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Mistral, Gabriela l889l957 . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Mitchel, |onathan lo21loo8. . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Mitchell, Adrian l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Mitchell, Donald Grant
l822l908 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 213; DSl3
Mitchell, Gladys l90ll983. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
Mitchell, |ames Leslie l90ll935. . . . . . . . . DLl5
Mitchell, |ohn (see Slater, Iatrick)
Mitchell, |ohn Ames l815l9l8. . . . . . . . . . DL79
Mitchell, |oseph l908l99o . . . . . . . DLl85; Y9o
Mitchell, |ulian l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Mitchell, Ken l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Mitchell, Langdon l8o2l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Mitchell, Loften l9l9200l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
Mitchell, Margaret l900l919 . . .DL9; CDAL7
Mitchell, S. Weir l829l9l1. . . . . . . . . . . . DL202
Mitchell, W. |. J. l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
Mitchell, W. O. l9l1l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Mitchison, Naomi Margaret (Haldane)
l897l999 . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0, l9l, 255, 3l9
Mitford, Mary Russell l787l855. . . . DLll0, llo
Mitford, Nancy l901l973. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Mittelholzer, Edgar
l909l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll7; CDWL3
Mitterer, Erika l90o200l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
Mitterer, Ielix l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
Mitternacht, |ohann Sebastian
lol3lo79 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Miyamoto Yuriko l899l95l. . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Mizener, Arthur l907l988 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Mo, Jimothy l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl91
Moberg, Vilhelm l898l973 . . . . . . . . . . . DL259
Modern Age ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Modern Language Association of America
Jhe Modern Language Association of
America Celebrates Its Centennial . . .Y81
Jhe Modern Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
`~ f ai_ POV
ROU
Modiano, Iatrick l915 . . . . . . . . . DL83, 299
Modjeska, Drusilla l91o . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Moffat, Yard and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Moffet, Jhomas l553lo01 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Mofolo, Jhomas l87ol918 . . . . . . . . . . . DL225
Mohr, Nicholasa l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15
Moix, Ana Mara l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
Molesworth, Louisa l839l92l . . . . . . . . DLl35
Molire ( |eanaptiste Ioquelin)
lo22lo73 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Mller, Ioul Martin l791l838 . . . . . . . . . DL300
Mllhausen, alduin l825l905. . . . . . . . DLl29
Molnr, Ierenc l878l952. . . DL2l5; CDWL1
Molnr, Mikls (see Mszly, Mikls)
Momaday, N. Scott
l931 . . . . . . .DLl13, l75, 25o; CDAL7
Monkhouse, Allan l858l93o. . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Monro, Harold l879l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9
Monroe, Harriet l8o0l93o . . . . . . . . . DL51, 9l
Monsarrat, Nicholas l9l0l979 . . . . . . . . . DLl5
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley
lo89l7o2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL95, l0l
Montague, C. E. l8o7l928 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl97
Montague, |ohn l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Montaigne, Michel de l533l592 . . . . . . . DL327
Montale, Eugenio l89ol98l . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Montalvo, Garci Rodrguez de
ca. l150.before l505 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Montalvo, |os l91ol991 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Montemayor, |orge de l52l.l5ol. . . . . . DL3l8
Montero, Rosa l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Monterroso, Augusto l92l2003 . . . . . . . DLl15
Montesquieu, CharlesLouis de Secondat, baron de
lo89l755. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
q p i~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Montesquiou, Robert de l855l92l. . . . . DL2l7
Montgomerie, Alexander
circa l550.l598 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo7
Montgomery, |ames l77ll851. . . . . . DL93, l58
Montgomery, |ohn l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Montgomery, Lucy Maud
l871l912. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92; DSl1
Montgomery, Marion l925 . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Montgomery, Robert ruce (see Crispin, Edmund)
Montherlant, Henry de l89ol972 . . . DL72, 32l
q j o l719l811 . . . . . . . . . . DLll0
Monti, Ricardo l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Montigny, Louvigny de l87ol955. . . . . . . DL92
Montoya, |os l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Moodie, |ohn Wedderburn Dunbar
l797l8o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Moodie, Susanna l803l885. . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Moody, |oshua circa lo33lo97 . . . . . . . . . DL21
Moody, William Vaughn l8o9l9l0. . . . .DL7, 51
j qI l987 ooker Irize winner,
Ienelope Lively . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Moorcock, Michael l939 .DLl1, 23l, 2ol, 3l9
Moore, Alan l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Moore, rian l92ll999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Moore, Catherine L. l9lll987 . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Moore, Clement Clarke l779l8o3. . . . . . . DL12
Moore, Dora Mavor l888l979 . . . . . . . . . DL92
Moore, G. E. l873l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Moore, George l852l933 . . . . DLl0, l8, 57, l35
i~ ~ kI `~ j~
(l885) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8
Moore, Lorrie l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
Moore, Marianne
l887l972 . . . . . . . . . DL15; DS7; CDAL5
International Marianne Moore Society . . . Y98
Moore, Mavor l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Moore, Richard l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
'Jhe No Self, the Little Self, and
the Ioets". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Moore, J. Sturge l870l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9
Moore, Jhomas l779l852. . . . . . . . . DL9o, l11
Moore, Ward l903l978. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Moore, Wilstach, Keys and Company . . . . DL19
Moorehead, Alan l90ll983 . . . . . . . . . . DL201
Moorhouse, Irank l938 . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Moorhouse, Geoffrey l93l . . . . . . . . . DL201
Moorish Novel of the Sixteenth
Century, Jhe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Jhe MoorlandSpingarn Research
Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7o
Moorman, Mary C. l905l991 . . . . . . . . DLl55
Mora, Iat l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Moraes, Dom l9382001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Moraes, Vinicius de l9l3l980 . . . . . . . . DL307
Moraga, Cherre l952 . . . . . . . . . . DL82, 219
Morales, Alejandro l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Morales, Mario Roberto l917 . . . . . . . DLl15
Morales, Rafael l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
and b~ circa l500 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Morand, Iaul (l888l97o) . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo5
Morante, Elsa l9l2l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl77
Morata, Olympia Iulvia l52ol555 . . . . . .DLl79
Moravia, Alberto l907l990. . . . . . . . . . . .DLl77
Mordaunt, Elinor l872l912 . . . . . . . . . . .DLl71
Mordovtsev, Daniil Lukich l830l905 . . . DL238
More, Hannah
l715l833. . . . . . . . . . . DLl07, l09, llo, l58
More, Henry lol1lo87 . . . . . . . . . . DLl2o, 252
More, Sir Jhomas
l177/l178l535 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o, 28l
Morejn, Nancy l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Morellet, Andr l727l8l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Morency, Iierre l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Moreno, Dorinda l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Moretti, Marino l885l979. . . . . . . . DLll1, 2o1
Morgan, erry l9l92002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Morgan, Charles l891l958. . . . . . . . .DL31, l00
Morgan, Edmund S. l9lo . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7
Morgan, Edwin l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Morgan, |ohn Iierpont l837l9l3 . . . . . . DLl10
Morgan, |ohn Iierpont, |r. l8o7l913 . . . DLl10
Morgan, Robert l911 . . . . . . . . . DLl20, 292
Morgan, Sally l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Morgan, Sydney Owenson, Lady
l77o.l859 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLllo, l58
Morgner, Irmtraud l933l990 . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Morhof, Daniel Georg lo39lo9l . . . . . . DLlo1
Mori, Kyoko l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Mori gai l8o2l922. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Mori, Joshio l9l0l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Mricz, Zsigmond l879l912 . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Morier, |ames |ustinian
l782 or l783.l819 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLllo
Mrike, Eduard l801l875. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl33
Morin, Iaul l889l9o3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Morison, Richard l5l1.l55o . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Morison, Samuel Eliot l887l97o . . . . . . . . .DLl7
Morison, Stanley l889l9o7. . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Moritz, Karl Ihilipp l75ol793. . . . . . . . . . DL91
j `~ circa l220l230 . . . . . . . . DLl38
Morley, Christopher l890l957 . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Morley, |ohn l838l923. . . . . . . . DL57, l11, l90
Moro, Csar l903l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Morris, George Iope l802l8o1. . . . . . . . . DL73
Morris, |ames Humphrey (see Morris, |an)
Morris, |an l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
Morris, Lewis l833l907 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
Morris, Margaret l737l8lo . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Morris, Mary McGarry l913 . . . . . . . DL292
Morris, Richard . l901l989 . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7
Morris, William l831l89o
. . . . . DLl8, 35, 57, l5o, l78, l81; CDL1
Morris, Willie l931l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y80
Jribute to Irwin Shaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
Morris, Wright
l9l0l998 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 20o, 2l8; Y8l
Morrison, Arthur l8o3l915 . . . . DL70, l35, l97
Morrison, Charles Clayton l871l9oo . . . . DL9l
Morrison, |ohn l901l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Morrison, Joni l93l
. . . . . . . . . DLo, 33, l13; Y8l, 93; CDALo
Nobel Lecture l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y93
ai_ POV `~ f
ROV
`
Morrissy, Mary l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7

William Morrow and Company . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Morse, |ames Herbert l81ll923 . . . . . . . . DL7l
Morse, |edidiah l7oll82o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Morse, |ohn J., |r. l810l937 . . . . . . . . . . . DL17
Morselli, Guido l9l2l973. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl77
j Î the ^~ and the
p~~ circa l350l100 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Mortimer, Iavell Lee l802l878. . . . . . . . . DLlo3
Mortimer, |ohn
l923 . . . . . . . . DLl3, 215, 27l; CDL8
Morton, Carlos l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Morton, H. V. l892l979. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl95
|ohn I. Morton and Company . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Morton, Nathaniel lol3lo85 . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Morton, Sarah Wentworth l759l81o . . . . . DL37
Morton, Jhomas circa l579circa lo17 . . . . DL21
Moscherosch, |ohann Michael
lo0lloo9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Humphrey Moseley
Mser, |ustus l720l791. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL97
Mosley, Nicholas l923 . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 207
Mosley, Walter l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Moss, Arthur l889l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Moss, Howard l922l987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Moss, Jhylias l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Motion, Andrew l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Motley, |ohn Lothrop
l8l1l877 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 30, 59, 235
Motley, Willard l909l9o5 . . . . . . . . . DL7o, l13
Mott, Lucretia l793l880. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL239
enjamin Motte |r.
Motteux, Ieter Anthony loo3l7l8 . . . . . . . DL80
Mottram, R. H. l883l97l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3o
Mount, Ierdinand l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23l
Mour, Erin l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Mourning Dove (Humishuma) between
l882 and l888.l93o . . . . . . . . . DLl75, 22l
Movies
Iiction into Iilm, l928l975. A List
of Movies ased on the Works
of Authors in ritish Novelists,
l930l959. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5
Movies from ooks, l920l971. . . . . . . . DL9
Mowat, Iarley l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
A. R. Mowbray and Company,
Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Mowrer, Edgar Ansel l892l977 . . . . . . . . . DL29
Mowrer, Iaul Scott l887l97l . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Edward Moxon |publishing house| . . . . . . DLl0o
|oseph Moxon |publishing house| . . . . . . . DLl70
Moyes, Iatricia l9232000. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27o
Mphahlele, Es`kia (Ezekiel)
l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . DLl25, 225; CDWL3
Mroek, Sawomir l930 . . . DL232; CDWL1
Mtshali, Oswald Mbuyiseni
l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl25, 225
Mu Shiying l9l2l910. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
alMubarrad 82o898 or 899 . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
j . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo2
Mudford, William l782l818. . . . . . . . . . . DLl59
Mudrooroo (see |ohnson, Colin)
Mueller, Lisel l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Muhajir, El (see Marvin X)
Muhajir, Nazzam Al Iitnah (see Marvin X)
Muhammad the Irophet circa 570o32 . . . DL3ll
Mhlbach, Luise l8l1l873. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl33
Muir, Edwin l887l959 . . . . . . . . DL20, l00, l9l
Muir, Helen l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Muir, |ohn l838l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8o, 275
Muir, Iercy l891l979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Muj Ichien l22ol3l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Mukherjee, harati l910 . . . . DLo0, 2l8, 323
Mulcaster, Richard l53l or l532loll . . . DLlo7
Muldoon, Iaul l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Mulisch, Harry l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Mulkerns, Val l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
Mller, Iriedrich (see Mller, Maler)
Mller, Heiner l929l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
Mller, Maler l719l825 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91
Muller, Marcia l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
Mller, Wilhelm l791l827 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Mumford, Lewis l895l990 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo3
Munby, A. N. L. l9l3l971 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Munby, Arthur |oseph l828l9l0 . . . . . . . . DL35
Munday, Anthony l5o0lo33 . . . . . . . DLo2, l72
Mundt, Clara (see Mhlbach, Luise)
Mundt, Jheodore l808l8ol . . . . . . . . . . DLl33
Munford, Robert circa l737l783. . . . . . . . . DL3l
Mungoshi, Charles l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Munk, Kaj l898l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Munonye, |ohn l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll7
Muoz Molina, Antonio l95o . . . . . . . DL322
Munro, Alice l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
George Munro |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DL19
Munro, H. H.
l870l9lo . . . . . . . . . .DL31, lo2; CDL5
Munro, Neil l8o1l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5o
Norman L. Munro |publishing house| . . . . . DL19
Munroe, Kirk l850l930. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL12
Munroe and Irancis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
|ames Munroe and Company . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
|oel Munsell |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Munsey, Irank A. l851l925 . . . . . . . . DL25, 9l
Irank A. Munsey and Company. . . . . . . . . DL19
Mura, David l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Murakami Haruki l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Muratov, Iavel l88ll950. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Murayama, Milton l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Muravèv, Mikhail Nikitich l757l807 . . . . DLl50
Murdoch, Iris l9l9l999
. . . . . . . . . . DLl1, l91, 233, 32o; CDL8
Murdock, |ames
Irom p j m . . . . . . . . DS5
Murdoch, Rupert l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Murfree, Mary N. l850l922 . . . . . . . . DLl2, 71
Murger, Henry l822l8ol. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll9
Murger, LouisHenri (see Murger, Henry)
Murnane, Gerald l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Murner, Jhomas l175l537. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl79
Muro, Amado l9l5l97l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Murphy, Arthur l727l805 . . . . . . . . . DL89, l12
Murphy, eatrice M. l908l992 . . . . . . . . . DL7o
Murphy, Dervla l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
Murphy, Emily l8o8l933. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Murphy, |ack l923l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
|ohn Murphy and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Murphy, |ohn H., III l9lo . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Murphy, Richard l927l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Murphy, Jom l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Murray, Albert L. l9lo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
Murray, Gilbert l8ool957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Murray, |im l9l9l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
|ohn Murray |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DLl51
Murray, |udith Sargent
l75ll820 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37, 200
Murray, Les l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Murray, Iauli l9l0l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Murry, |ohn Middleton l889l957 . . . . . . DLl19
'Jhe reakLp of the Novel"
(l922) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3o
Murry, |ohn Middleton, |r. (see Cowper, Richard)
Musus, |ohann Karl August
l735l787. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL97
Muschg, Adolf l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Musil, Robert
l880l912 . . . . . . . . . DL8l, l21; CDWL2
j circa 790circa 850. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Musset, Alfred de l8l0l857 . . . . . . . DLl92, 2l7
enjamin . Mussey
and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Muste, A. |. l885l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Mutafchieva, Vera l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Mutis, Alvaro l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Mwangi, Meja l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl25
`~ f ai_ POV
RPM
Myers, Irederic W. H.
l813l90l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl90
Myers, Gustavus l872l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL17
Myers, L. H. l88ll911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5
Myers, Walter Dean l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Myerson, |ulie l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Mykle, Agnar l9l5l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
MykolaitisIutinas,
Vincas l893l9o7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
Myles, Eileen l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl93
Myrdal, |an l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Mystery
l985. Jhe Year of the Mystery.
A Symposium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y85
Comments from Other Writers . . . . . . . . . Y85
Jhe Second Annual New York Iestival
of Mystery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Why I Read Mysteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y85
Why I Write Mysteries. Night and Day,
by Michael Collins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y85
k
Na Irous oneta circa l29ol328. . . . . . . DL208
Nabl, Iranz l883l971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8l
Nabakov, Vra l902l99l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9l
Nabokov, Vladimir l899l977 . . . . . . . DL2, 211,
278, 3l7; Y80, 9l; DS3; CDALl
International Nabokov Society. . . . . . . . . . Y99
An Interview |On Nabokov|, by
Iredson owers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y80
Nabokov Iestival at Cornell. . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
Jhe Vladimir Nabokov Archive in the
erg Collection of the New York
Iublic Library. An Overview . . . . . . . Y9l
Jhe Vladimir Nabokov Society . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Ndasi, Ladislav (see |g)
Naden, Constance l858l889. . . . . . . . . . DLl99
Nadezhdin, Nikolai Ivanovich
l801l85o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
Nadson, Semen Iakovlevich l8o2l887 . . .DL277
Naevius circa 2o5 _.`.20l _.`. . . . . . . . . DL2ll
Nafis and Cornish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Nagai Kaf l879l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Nagel, Ernest l90ll985. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL279
Nagibin, Iurii Markovich l920l991 . . . . DL302
Nagrodskaia, Evdokiia Apollonovna
l8ool930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Naipaul, Shiva l915l985. . . . . . . . . DLl57; Y85
Naipaul, V. S. l932 . . . DLl25, 201, 207, 32o;
Y85, Y0l; CDL8; CDWL3
Nobel Lecture 200l. 'Jwo Worlds". . . . . . Y0l
Nakagami Kenji l91ol992 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Nakanoin Masatada no Musume (see Nij, Lady)
Nakowska, Zofia l881l951 . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Namora, Iernando l9l9l989 . . . . . . . . . DL287
|oseph Nancrede |publishing house| . . . . . . DL19
Naranjo, Carmen l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15
Narayan, R. K. l90o200l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Narbikova, Valeriia Spartakovna
l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
Narezhny, Vasilii Jrofimovich
l780l825. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
Narrache, |ean (Emile Coderre)
l893l970. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Nasby, Ietroleum Vesuvius (see Locke, David Ross)
Eveleigh Nash |publishing house| . . . . . . . DLll2
Nash, Ogden l902l97l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Nashe, Jhomas l5o7lo0l. . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo7
Nason, |erry l9l0l98o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Nasr, Seyyed Hossein l933 . . . . . . . . . .DL279
Nast, Cond l873l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9l
Nast, Jhomas l810l902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl88
Nastasijevi, Momilo l891l938 . . . . . . . DLl17
Nathan, George |ean l882l958. . . . . . . . DLl37
Nathan, Robert l891l985. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Nation, Carry A. l81ol9ll. . . . . . . . . . . DL303
National ook Critics Circle Awards . . . . . Y00-0l
Jhe National |ewish ook Awards. . . . . . . . . . Y85
Natsume Sseki l8o7l9lo . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Naughton, ill l9l0l992. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Nava, Michael l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Navarro, |oe l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Naylor, Gloria l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl73
Nazor, Vladimir l87ol919. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl17
Ndebele, Njabulo l918 . . . . . . . . . DLl57, 225
Neagoe, Ieter l88ll9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Neal, |ohn l793l87o . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 59, 213
Neal, |oseph C. l807l817 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Neal, Larry l937l98l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
Jhe Neale Iublishing Company. . . . . . . . . DL19
Nearing, Scott l883l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Nebel, Irederick l903l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
Nebrija, Antonio de l112 or l111l522 . . DL28o
Nedreaas, Jorborg l90ol987 . . . . . . . . . DL297
I. Jennyson Neely |publishing house| . . . . DL19
Negoiescu, Ion l92ll993. . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
Negri, Ada l870l915. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Nehru, Iandit |awaharlal l889l9o1 . . . . DL323
Neihardt, |ohn G. l88ll973 . . . . . DL9, 51, 25o
Neidhart von Reuental
circa ll85circa l210 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Neilson, |ohn Shaw l872l912 . . . . . . . . . DL230
Nekrasov, Nikolai Alekseevich
l82ll877. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL277
Nekrasov, Viktor Ilatonovich
l9lll987. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
NeledinskyMeletsky, Iurii Aleksandrovich
l752l828. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Nelligan, Emile l879l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Nelson, Alice Moore Dunbar l875l935 . . DL50
Nelson, Antonya l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
Nelson, Kent l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
Nelson, Richard K. l91l . . . . . . . . . . . .DL275
Nelson, Jhomas, and Sons |L.K.| . . . . . . DLl0o
Nelson, Jhomas, and Sons |L.S.|. . . . . . . . DL19
Nelson, William l908l978. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Nelson, William Rockhill l81ll9l5 . . . . . DL23
Nemerov, Howard l920l99l . . . . . DL5, o; Y83
Nmeth, Lszl l90ll975 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Nepos circa l00 _.`.post 27 _.`. . . . . . . . DL2ll
Nris, Salomja l901l915 . . DL220; CDWL1
Neruda, Iablo l901l973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Nerval, Grard de l808l855. . . . . . . . . . .DL2l7
Nervo, Amado l870l9l9. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Nesbit, E. l858l921 . . . . . . . . . DLl1l, l53, l78
Ness, Evaline l9lll98o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Nestroy, |ohann l80ll8o2. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl33
Nettleship, R. L. l81ol892 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Neugeboren, |ay l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28
Neukirch, enjamin lo55l729. . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Neumann, Alfred l895l952 . . . . . . . . . . . DL5o
Neumann, Ierenc (see Molnr, Ierenc)
Neumark, Georg lo2llo8l. . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Neumeister, Erdmann lo7ll75o . . . . . . . DLlo8
Nevins, Allan l890l97l. . . . . . . . . . DLl7; DSl7
Nevinson, Henry Woodd l85ol91l . . . . DLl35
Jhe New American Library. . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
New Directions Iublishing Corporation. . . DL1o
q k j j~~ l8l1l881 . . . . DLll0
k v q _ o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
|ohn Newbery |publishing house|. . . . . . . DLl51
Newbolt, Henry l8o2l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9
Newbound, ernard Slade (see Slade, ernard)
Newby, Eric l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
Newby, I. H. l9l8l997. . . . . . . . . . . DLl5, 32o
Jhomas Cautley Newby
|publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Newcomb, Charles King l820l891. . . DLl, 223
Newell, Ieter l8o2l921. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL12
Newell, Robert Henry l83ol90l . . . . . . . DLll
Newhouse, Samuel I. l895l979. . . . . . . . .DLl27
Newman, Cecil Earl l903l97o . . . . . . . . .DLl27
Newman, David l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Newman, Irances l883l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y80
Newman, Irancis William l805l897. . . . DLl90
Newman, G. I. l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Newman, |ohn Henry
l80ll890 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8, 32, 55
Mark Newman |publishing house| . . . . . . . DL19
Newmarch, Rosa Harriet l857l910. . . . . DL210
ai_ POV `~ f
RPN
`
George Newnes Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2

Newsome, Effie Lee l885l979 . . . . . . . . . . DL7o
Newton, A. Edward l8o1l910 . . . . . . . . . DLl10
Newton, Sir Isaac lo12l727 . . . . . . . . . . . DL252
Nex, Martin Andersen l8o9l951 . . . . . . DL2l1
Nezval, Vtslav
l900l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5; CDWL1
Ngugi wa Jhiongò
l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl25; CDWL3
Niatum, Duane l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl75
Jhe k and the h~
circa l200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Nichol, . I. l911l988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Nicholas of Cusa l10ll1o1 . . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
Nichols, Ann l89l.l9oo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL219
Nichols, everly l898l983. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Nichols, Dudley l895l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Nichols, Grace l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Nichols, |ohn l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Nichols, Mary Sargeant (Neal) Gove
l8l0l881 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 213
Nichols, Ieter l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, 215
Nichols, Roy I. l89ol973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
Nichols, Ruth l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Nicholson, Edward Williams yron
l819l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Nicholson, Geoff l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27l
Nicholson, Norman l9l1l987 . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Nicholson, William l872l919. . . . . . . . . . DLl1l
N Chuilleanin, Eilan l912 . . . . . . . . . DL10
Nicol, Eric l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Nicolai, Iriedrich l733l8ll . . . . . . . . . . . . DL97
Nicolas de Clamanges circa l3o3l137 . . . DL208
Nicolay, |ohn G. l832l90l and
Hay, |ohn l838l905. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL17
Nicole, Iierre lo25lo95 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Nicolson, Adela Ilorence Cory (see Hope, Laurence)
Nicolson, Harold l88ol9o8 . . . . . . . DLl00, l19
'Jhe Iractice of iography," in
q b p e ~
l b~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl19
Nicolson, Nigel l9l72001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
N Dhuibhne, Eils l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
Niebuhr, Reinhold l892l97l . . . . . DLl7; DSl7
Niedecker, Lorine l903l970 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL18
Nieman, Lucius W. l857l935. . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Nietzsche, Iriedrich
l811l900 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29; CDWL2
Mencken and Nietzsche. An Lnpublished
Excerpt from H. L. Mencken`s j i
~ ^ ~ b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y93
Nievo, Stanislao l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Niggli, |osefina l9l0l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y80
Nightingale, Ilorence l820l9l0 . . . . . . . . DLloo
Nij, Lady (Nakanoin Masatada no Musume)
l258after l30o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Nij Yoshimoto l320l388. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Nikitin, Ivan Savvich l821l8ol . . . . . . . . DL277
Nikitin, Nikolai Nikolaevich l895l9o3 . . DL272
Nikolev, Nikolai Ietrovich l758l8l5 . . . . DLl50
Niles, Hezekiah l777l839 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Nims, |ohn Irederick l9l3l999 . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Jribute to Nancy Hale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y88
Nin, Anas l903l977. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 1, l52
Nna jrk rnadttir l91l2000 . . . . . . . DL293
Nio, Ral l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Nissenson, Hugh l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28
Niven, Irederick |ohn l878l911. . . . . . . . . DL92
Niven, Larry l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Nixon, Howard M. l909l983 . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Nizan, Iaul l905l910. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL72
Njegos, Ietar II Ietrovi
l8l3l85l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl17; CDWL1
Nkosi, Lewis l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57, 225
Noah, Mordecai M. l785l85l . . . . . . . . . DL250
Noailles, Anna de l87ol933 . . . . . . . . . . . DL258
Nobel Ieace Irize
Jhe Nobel Irize and Literary Iolitics . . . . .Y88
Elie Wiesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
Nobel Irize in Literature
Shmuel Yosef Agnon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL329
Vicente Aleixandre . . . . . . . . . . . DLl08, 329
Ivo Andri. . . . . . . . DLl17, 329; CDWL1
Miguel ngel Asturias. . . . . . . . DLll3, 290,
329; CDWL3
Samuel eckett . . . . . . . DLl3, l5, 233, 3l9,
32l, 329; Y90; CDL7
Saul ellow . . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 28, 299, 329;
Y82; DS3; CDALl
|acinto enevente . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL329
Henri ergson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL329
jrnstjerne jrnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL329
Heinrich ll . . . DLo9, 329; Y85; CDWL2
|oseph rodsky . . . . . . . . . DL285, 329; Y87
Iearl S. uck . . . . . DL9, l02, 329; CDAL7
Ivan unin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7, 329
Albert Camus . . . . . . . . . . . . DL72, 32l, 329
Elias Canetti . . . DL85, l21, 329; CDWL2
Giosu Carducci . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL329
Camilo |os Cela. . . . . . . . DL322, 329; Y89
Sir Winston Churchill . . . . . . . . DLl00, 329;
DSlo; CDL5
|. M. Coetzee. . . . . . . . . . . . DL225, 32o, 329
Grazia Deledda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1, 329
|ose Echegaray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL329
J. S. Eliot . . . . . . . DL7, l0, 15, o3, 215, 329;
Y88, 99; CDAL5
Odysseus Elytis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL329
Rudolf Eucken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL329
Dario Io . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Gabriel Garca Mrquez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
William Golding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Nadine Gordimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y9l
Gnter Grass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Seamus Heaney. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y95
Imre Kertsz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Najb Mahfz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y88
Joni Morrison. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y93
V. S. Naipaul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
Kenzabur e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y91
Octavio Iaz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y90
|os Saramago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
|aroslav Seifert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y81
Claude Simon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y85
Wole Soyinka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
Wisawa Szymborska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y9o
Derek Walcott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y92
Gao Xingjian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Nobre, Antnio l8o7l900. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Nodier, Charles l780l811 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll9
Nol, Marie (Marie Mlanie Rouget)
l883l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL258
Noel, Roden l831l891. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
Nogami Yaeko l885l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Nogo, Rajko Ietrov l915 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Nolan, William I. l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Jribute to Raymond Chandler . . . . . . . . . .Y88
Noland, C. I. M. l8l0.l858 . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Noma Hiroshi l9l5l99l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Nonesuch Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Creative Nonfiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Nonni ( |n Stefn Sveinsson or Svensson)
l857l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Noon, |eff l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Noonan, Robert Ihillipe (see Jressell, Robert)
Noonday Iress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Noone, |ohn l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Nora, Eugenio de l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
Nordan, Lewis l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
Nordbrandt, Henrik l915 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Nordhoff, Charles l887l917. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Norn, Lars l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Norfolk, Lawrence l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Norman, Charles l901l99o . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Norman, Marsha l917 . . . . . . . . DL2oo; Y81
Norris, Charles G. l88ll915 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Norris, Irank
l870l902 . . . . . . . DLl2, 7l, l8o; CDAL3
Norris, Helen l9lo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Norris, |ohn lo57l7l2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL252
Norris, Leslie l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27, 25o
Norse, Harold l9lo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
`~ f ai_ POV
RPO
Norte, Marisela l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
North, Marianne l830l890. . . . . . . . . . . .DLl71
North Ioint Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Nortje, Arthur l912l970 . . . . . . . . . DLl25, 225
Norton, Alice Mary (see Norton, Andre)
Norton, Andre l9l22005. . . . . . . . . . . . DL8, 52
Norton, Andrews l78ol853. . . . DLl, 235; DS5
Norton, Caroline l808l877 . . . DL2l, l59, l99
Norton, Charles Eliot l827l908 . . DLl, o1, 235
Norton, |ohn lo0oloo3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Norton, Mary l903l992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Norton, Jhomas l532l581 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo2
W. W. Norton and Company. . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Norwood, Robert l871l932 . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Nosaka Akiyuki l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Nossack, Hans Erich l90ll977 . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Notker albulus circa 8109l2 . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Notker III of Saint Gall
circa 950l022 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Notker von Zweifalten .l095. . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Nourse, Alan E. l928l992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Novak, Slobodan l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Novak, Vjenceslav l859l905 . . . . . . . . . DLl17
Novakovich, |osip l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
Novalis l772l80l. . . . . . . . . . DL90; CDWL2
Novaro, Mario l8o8l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Novs Calvo, Lino l903l983 . . . . . . . . . DLl15
Novelists
i~ g~ Statements and
_uestionnaires from Iirst Novelists . . . . Y87
Novels
q `~ e ^~ k
A Symposium on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y92
Jhe Great Modern Library Scam . . . . . . . Y98
Novels for GrownLps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Jhe Iroletarian Novel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Novel, Jhe 'SecondGeneration" Holocaust
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Jhe Year in the Novel . . . . . . Y87-88, Y90-93
Novels, ritish
'Jhe reakLp of the Novel" (l922),
by |ohn Middleton Murry. . . . . . . DL3o
Jhe Consolidation of Opinion. Critical
Responses to the Modernists . . . . . DL3o
(l8o3), by G. H. Lewes . . . . . . . . . DL2l
'Experiment in the Novel" (l929)
|excerpt|, by |ohn D. eresford . . . DL3o
'Jhe Iuture of the Novel" (l899), by
Henry |ames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8
q d~ p (l8oo), by E. S. Dallas
|excerpt| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l
A Haughty and Iroud Generation
(l922), by Iord Madox Hueffer . . DL3o
Literary Effects of World War II . . . . . DLl5
'Modern Novelists Great and Small"
(l855), by Margaret Oliphant . . . . DL2l
Jhe Modernists (l932),
by |oseph Warren each . . . . . . . . DL3o
A Note on Jechnique (l92o), by
Elizabeth A. Drew |excerpts| . . . . . DL3o
NovelReading. q t `~
aX q t tK j~~
q~~ (l879),
by Anthony Jrollope . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l
Novels with a Iurpose (l8o1), by
|ustin M`Carthy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l
'On Art in Iiction" (l838),
by Edward ulwer. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l
Jhe Iresent State of the English Novel
(l892), by George Saintsbury . . . . DLl8
Representative Men and Women.
A Historical Ierspective on
the ritish Novel, l930l9o0. . . . . DLl5
'Jhe Revolt" (l937), by Mary Colum
|excerpts| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3o
'Sensation Novels" (l8o3), by
H. L. Manse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l
Sex, Class, Iolitics, and Religion |in
the ritish Novel, l930l959| . . . . DLl5
q ~ t j~ (l927),
by Wyndham Lewis |excerpts| . . . DL3o
Noventa, Giacomo l898l9o0 . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Novikov, Nikolai Ivanovich
l711l8l8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Novomesk, Laco l901l97o . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Nowlan, Alden l933l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Nowra, Louis l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Noyes, Alfred l880l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20
Noyes, Crosby S. l825l908. . . . . . . . . . . . DL23
Noyes, Nicholas lo17l7l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Noyes, Jheodore W. l858l91o. . . . . . . . . DL29
Nozick, Robert l9382002 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL279
sixteenth century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Nugent, Irank l908l9o5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Nunez, Sigrid l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Nusi, ranislav
l8o1l938 . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl17; CDWL1
David Nutt |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Nwapa, Ilora
l93ll993 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl25; CDWL3
Nye, Edgar Wilson (ill)
l850l89o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll, 23, l8o
Nye, Naomi Shihab l952 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Nye, Robert l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 27l
NykaNilinas, Alfonsas l9l9 . . . . . . . DL220
l
Oakes, Lrian circa lo3llo8l . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Oakes Smith, Elizabeth
l80ol893 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 239, 213
Oakley, Violet l871l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl88
Oates, |oyce Carol l938
. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 5, l30; Y8l; CDALo
ba Minako l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Ober, Irederick Albion l819l9l3 . . . . . . DLl89
Ober, William l920l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y93
Oberholtzer, Ellis Iaxson l8o8l93o . . . . . DL17
Jhe Obituary as Literary Iorm . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Obradovi, Dositej l710.l8ll. . . . . . . . . .DLl17
O`rien, Charlotte Grace l815l909 . . . . DL210
O`rien, Edna l932 DLl1, 23l, 3l9; CDL8
O`rien, Iitz|ames l828l8o2 . . . . . . . . . . DL71
O`rien, Ilann (see O`Nolan, rian)
O`rien, Kate l897l971. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5
O`rien, Jim
l91o . . . . .DLl52; Y80; DS9; CDAL7
O Cadhain, Mirtn l905l970. . . . . . . . . DL3l9
O`Casey, Sean l880l9o1. . . . . DLl0; CDLo
Occom, Samson l723l792. . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl75
Occomy, Marita onner l899l97l . . . . . . DL5l
Ochs, Adolph S. l858l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
OchsOakes, George Washington
l8oll93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl37
O`Connor, Ilannery l925l9o1
. . . . . . . . . DL2, l52; Y80; DSl2; CDALl
Jhe Ilannery O`Connor Society . . . . . . . . Y99
O`Connor, Irank l903l9oo . . . . . . . . . . DLlo2
O`Connor, |oseph l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Octopus Iublishing Group. . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Oda Sakunosuke l9l3l917. . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Odell, |onathan l737l8l8 . . . . . . . . . . DL3l, 99
O`Dell, Scott l903l989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Odets, Clifford l90ol9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7, 2o
Odhams Iress Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Odio, Eunice l922l971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Odoevsky, Aleksandr Ivanovich
l802l839 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Odoevsky, Vladimir Iedorovich
l801 or l803l8o9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
Odoevtseva, Irina l895l990 . . . . . . . . . . .DL3l7
O`Donnell, Ieter l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL87
O`Donovan, Michael (see O`Connor, Irank)
O`Dowd, ernard l8ool953 . . . . . . . . . . DL230
e, Kenzabur l935 . . . . . . . . . . DLl82; Y91
Nobel Lecture l991. |apan, the
Ambiguous, and Myself . . . . . . . . . . . Y91
Oehlenschlger, Adam l779l850. . . . . . . DL300
OÌaolain, |ulia l932 . . . . . . . .DLl1, 23l, 3l9
OÌaolain, Sean l900l99l. . . . . . . . . DLl5, lo2
OffLoop Jheatres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Offord, Carl Ruthven l9l0l990 . . . . . . . . DL7o
lI l979 ooker Irize winner,
Ienelope Iitzgerald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
OÌlaherty, Liam l89ol981. . . . DL3o, lo2; Y81
Ogarev, Nikolai Ilatonovich l8l3l877 . . .DL277
|. S. Ogilvie and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
ai_ POV `~ f
RPP
`
Ogilvy, Eliza l822l9l2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99

Ogot, Grace l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl25
O`Grady, Desmond l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Ogunyemi, Wale l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
O`Hagan, Howard l902l982 . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
O`Hara, Irank l92ol9oo . . . . . . . . DL5, lo, l93
O`Hara, |ohn
l905l970 . . .DL9, 8o, 321; DS2; CDAL5
|ohn O`Hara`s Iottsville |ournalism . . . . . .Y88
O`Hare, Kate Richards l87ol918 . . . . . . . DL303
O`Hegarty, I. S. l879l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Ohio State Lniversity
Lniversity Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y92
Okada, |ohn l923l97l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Okara, Gabriel l92l . . . . . DLl25; CDWL3
O`Keeffe, |ohn l717l833. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL89
Nicholas Okes |publishing house| . . . . . . . DLl70
Okigbo, Christopher
l930l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl25; CDWL3
Okot pìtek l93ll982. . . . . DLl25; CDWL3
Okpewho, Isidore l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Okri, en l959 . . . . . . . DLl57, 23l, 3l9, 32o
Olafur |hann Sigursson l9l8l988 . . . . DL293
q l aI l98o ooker Irize winner,
Kingsley Amis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Old Dogs / New Jricks. New Jechnologies,
the Canon, and the Structure of
the Irofession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Old Iranklin Iublishing House . . . . . . . . . . DL19
l d~ d and l d~ b
circa l050circa ll30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Jhe l e d~ f
circa 790800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Older, Iremont l85ol935. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Oldham, |ohn lo53lo83. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3l
Oldman, C. . l891l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Olds, Sharon l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Olearius, Adam l599lo7l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
O`Leary, Ellen l83ll889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
O`Leary, |uan E. l879l9o9. . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Olesha, Iurii Karlovich l899l9o0. . . . . . . DL272
Oliphant, Laurence l829.l888. . . . . . DLl8, loo
Oliphant, Margaret l828l897. . . DLl8, l59, l90
'Modern NovelistsGreat and Small"
(l855) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l
Oliveira, Carlos de l92ll98l. . . . . . . . . . DL287
Oliver, Chad l928l993. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Oliver, Mary l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, l93
Ollier, Claude l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Olsen, Jillie l9l2/l9l3
. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28, 20o; Y80; CDAL7
Olson, Charles l9l0l970 . . . . . . . . DL5, lo, l93
Olson, Elder l909l992. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL18, o3
Olson, Sigurd I. l899l982 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL275
Jhe Omega Workshops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl0
Omotoso, Kole l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl25
Omulevsky, Innokentii Vasilèvich
l83o |or l837|l883 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Ondaatje, Michael l913 . . . . . DLo0, 323, 32o
O`Neill, Eugene l888l953 . . . . .DL7; CDAL5
Eugene O`Neill Memorial Jheater
Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Eugene O`Neill`s Letters. A Review . . . . . .Y88
Onetti, |uan Carlos
l909l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll3; CDWL3
Onions, George Oliver l872l9ol. . . . . . . DLl53
Onofri, Arturo l885l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
O`Nolan, rian l9lll9oo. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23l
Oodgeroo of the Jribe Noonuccal
(Kath Walker) l920l993 . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Opie, Amelia l7o9l853. . . . . . . . . . . DLllo, l59
Opitz, Martin l597lo39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Oppen, George l908l981. . . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo5
Oppenheim, E. Ihillips l8ool91o . . . . . . . DL70
Oppenheim, |ames l882l932 . . . . . . . . . . . DL28
Oppenheimer, |oel l930l988 . . . . . . . . DL5, l93
Optic, Oliver (see Adams, William Jaylor)
Orczy, Emma, aroness l8o5l917 . . . . . . . DL70
Oregon Shakespeare Iestival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
Origo, Iris l902l988. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
O`Riordan, Kate l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Orlovitz, Gil l9l8l973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 5
Orlovsky, Ieter l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Ormond, |ohn l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Ornitz, Samuel l890l957 . . . . . . . . . . . DL28, 11
O`Rourke, I. |. l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Orozco, Olga l920l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Orten, |i l9l9l91l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Ortese, Anna Maria l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl77
Ortiz, Lourdes l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Ortiz, Simon |. l91l . . . . . . . DLl20, l75, 25o
l and t circa l225l250. . . . . DLl38
Orton, |oe l933l9o7. . . . . DLl3, 3l0; CDL8
Orwell, George (Eric Arthur lair)
l903l950 . . . DLl5, 98, l95, 255; CDL7
Jhe Orwell Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y81
(Re)Iublishing Orwell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
Ory, Carlos Edmundo de l923 . . . . . . . DLl31
Osbey, renda Marie l957 . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Osbon, . S. l827l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Osborn, Sarah l7l1l79o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Osborne, |ohn l929l991 . . . . .DLl3; CDL7
l~ ~ i~I l988 ooker Irize winner,
Ieter Carey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Osgood, Irances Sargent l8lll850 . . . . . DL250
Osgood, Herbert L. l855l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . DL17
|ames R. Osgood and Company . . . . . . . . . DL19
Osgood, McIlvaine and Company. . . . . . . DLll2
O`Shaughnessy, Arthur l811l88l . . . . . . . DL35
Iatrick O`Shea |publishing house| . . . . . . . DL19
Osipov, Nikolai Ietrovich l75ll799 . . . . . DLl50
Oskison, |ohn Milton l879l917 . . . . . . . . DLl75
Osler, Sir William l819l9l9. . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Osofisan, Iemi l91o . . . . . DLl25; CDWL3
Ostenso, Martha l900l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Ostrauskas, Kostas l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Ostriker, Alicia l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Ostrovsky, Aleksandr Nikolaevich
l823l88o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL277
Ostrovsky, Nikolai Alekseevich
l901l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL272
Osundare, Niyi l917 . . . . . DLl57; CDWL3
Oswald, Eleazer l755l795 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Oswald von Wolkenstein
l37o or l377l115 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl79
Otero, las de l9lol979. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
Otero, Miguel Antonio l859l911. . . . . . . . DL82
Otero, Nina l88ll9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Otero Silva, Miguel l908l985 . . . . . . . . . DLl15
Otfried von Weienburg
circa 800circa 875. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Otis, roaders and Company . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Otis, |ames (see Kaler, |ames Otis)
Otis, |ames, |r. l725l783. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Otsup, Nikolai l891l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Ottaway, |ames l9ll2000. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Ottendorfer, Oswald l82ol900 . . . . . . . . . DL23
Ottieri, Ottiero l9212002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl77
OttoIeters, Louise l8l9l895. . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Otway, Jhomas lo52lo85 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL80
Ouellette, Iernand l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Ouida l839l908. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8, l5o
Outing Iublishing Company. . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Overbury, Sir Jhomas
circa l58llol3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5l
Jhe Overlook Iress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Ovid 13 _.`.^.a. l7 . . . . . . . DL2ll; CDWLl
Oviedo, Gonzalo Iernndez de
l178l557 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Owen, Guy l925l98l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Owen, |ohn l5o1lo22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2l
|ohn Owen |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Ieter Owen Limited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Owen, Robert l77ll858. . . . . . . . . . DLl07, l58
Owen, Wilfred
l893l9l8 . . . . . . . .DL20; DSl8; CDLo
A Centenary Celebration . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y93
Jhe Wilfred Owen Association. . . . . . . . . .Y98
`~ f ai_ POV
RPQ
q l ~ k~
circa ll89ll99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Owsley, Irank L. l890l95o. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
Oxford, Seventeenth Earl of, Edward
de Vere l550lo01 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl72
OyamO (Charles I. Gordon)
l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2oo
Ozerov, Vladislav Aleksandrovich
l7o9l8lo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Ozick, Cynthia l928 . . . DL28, l52, 299; Y82
Iirst Strauss 'Livings`` Awarded
to Cynthia Ozick and
Raymond Carver
An Interview with Cynthia Ozick . . . . Y83
m
Iace, Richard l182.l53o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo7
Iacey, Desmond l9l7l975. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Iacheco, |os Emilio l939 . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Iack, Robert l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
m~ `~ e~ e~ e~I l993 ooker Irize winner,
Roddy Doyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Iadell Iublishing Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Iadgett, Ron l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Iadilla, Ernesto Chvez l911 . . . . . . . DLl22
L. C. Iage and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Iage, Louise l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
Iage, I. K. l9lo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Iage, Jhomas Nelson
l853l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl2, 78; DSl3
Iage, Walter Hines l855l9l8 . . . . . . . DL7l, 9l
Iaget, Irancis Edward l80ol882. . . . . . . DLlo3
Iaget, Violet (see Lee, Vernon)
Iagliarani, Elio l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Iagnol, Marcel l895l971. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
Iain, arry l8o1l928 . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl35, l97
Iain, Ihilip .circa looo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Iaine, Robert Jreat, |r. l773l8ll . . . . . . . DL37
Iaine, Jhomas
l737l809 . . . . DL3l, 13, 73, l58; CDAL2
Iainter, George D. l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
Iainter, William l510.l591. . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Ialazzeschi, Aldo l885l971 . . . . . . . DLll1, 2o1
Ialei, Marina Anatolèvna l955 . . . . . . DL285
Ialencia, Alfonso de l121l192 . . . . . . . . DL28o
Ials Matos, Luis l898l959 . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Ialey, Grace l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28, 2l8
Ialey, William l713l805 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL252
Ialfrey, |ohn Gorham
l79ol88l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 30, 235
Ialgrave, Irancis Jurner l821l897 . . . . . . DL35
Ialissy, ernard l5l0.l590. . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Ialmer, |oe H. l901l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7l
Ialmer, Michael l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo9
Ialmer, Nettie l885l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Ialmer, Vance l885l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Ialtock, Robert lo97l7o7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Ialudan, |acob l89ol975. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
IaludinMller, Irederik l809l87o . . . . . DL300
Ian ooks Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Ianaev, Ivan Ivanovich l8l2l8o2 . . . . . . DLl98
Ianaeva, Avdotìa Iakovlevna
l820l893 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Ianama, Norman l9l12003 and
Irank, Melvin l9l3l988. . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Iancake, reece D`| l952l979. . . . . . . . . DLl30
Ianduro, Leif l923l977. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Ianero, Leopoldo l909l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Iangborn, Edgar l909l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Ianizzi, Sir Anthony l797l879 . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Ianneton, Ihilippe (see Ringuet)
Ianova, Vera Iedorovna l905l973 . . . . . DL302
Ianshin, Alexei l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Iansy (see Alden, Isabella)
Iantheon ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Iapadatengescu, Hortensia
l87ol955. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
Iapantonio, Michael l907l97o . . . . . . . . DLl87
Iaperback Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Iaperback Science Iiction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Iapini, Giovanni l88ll95o . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
Iaquet, Alfons l88ll911. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Iaracelsus l193l51l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl79
Iaradis, Suzanne l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Iral, Vladimr, l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Iardoe, |ulia l801l8o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLloo
Iar, Ambroise l5l0 or l5l7.l590. . . . . DL327
Iaredes, Amrico l9l5l999 . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Iareja Diezcanseco, Alfredo l908l993 . . DLl15
Iarents` Magazine Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Iaretsky, Sara l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Iarfit, Derek l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Iarise, Goffredo l929l98o . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl77
Iarish, Mitchell l900l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Iarizeau, Alice l930l990. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Iark, Ruth l923. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Iarke, |ohn l751l789 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Iarker, Dan l893l9o7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Iarker, Dorothy l893l9o7 . . . . . . DLll, 15, 8o
Iarker, Gilbert l8o0l932. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Iarker, |ames l7l1l770 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Iarker, |ohn |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Iarker, Matthew l501l575 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Iarker, Robert . l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Iarker, Stewart l91ll988 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
Iarker, Jheodore l8l0l8o0 . . . DLl, 235; DS5
Iarker, William Riley l90ol9o8 . . . . . . . DLl03
|. H. Iarker |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Iarkes, essie Rayner (Madame elloc)
l829l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Iarkman, Irancis
l823l893 . . . . . . . . .DLl, 30, l83, l8o, 235
Iarks, Gordon l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Iarks, Jim l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23l
Iarks, William lo98l750. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
William Iarks |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DL19
Iarley, Ieter (see Goodrich, Samuel Griswold)
Iarmenides late sixthfifth century _.`. . . .DLl7o
Iarnell, Jhomas lo79l7l8. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL95
Iarnicki, Jeodor l908l988 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Iarnok, Sofiia Iakovlevna (Iarnokh)
l885l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Iarr, Catherine l5l3.l518 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Iarra, Nicanor l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Iarrington, Vernon L. l87ll929 . . . . . . DLl7, o3
Iarrish, Maxfield l870l9oo. . . . . . . . . . . DLl88
Iarronchi, Alessandro l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Iarshchikov, Aleksei Maksimovich
(Raiderman) l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
m~~ o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Iarton, |ames l822l89l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Iarton, Sara Iayson Willis
l8lll872. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL13, 71, 239
S. W. Iartridge and Company . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Iarun, Vesna l922 . . . . . . .DLl8l; CDWL1
Iascal, laise lo23loo2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Iasinetti, Iier Maria l9l3 . . . . . . . . . . .DLl77
Iasolini, Iier Iaolo l922l975 . . . . . . DLl28, l77
Iastan, Linda l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Iasternak, oris
l890l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Iaston, George (Emily Morse Symonds)
l8o0l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl19, l97
q m~ i l122l509. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Iastoral Novel of the Sixteenth
Century, Jhe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Iastorius, Irancis Daniel
lo5lcirca l720 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Iatchen, Kenneth l9lll972 . . . . . . . . DLlo, 18
Iater, Walter l839l891 . . .DL57, l5o; CDL1
Aesthetic Ioetry (l873) . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
'Style" (l888) |excerpt| . . . . . . . . . . . . DL57
Iaterson, A. . 'anjo" l8o1l91l. . . . . . DL230
Iaterson, Katherine l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Iatmore, Coventry l823l89o . . . . . . . DL35, 98
Iaton, Alan l903l988 . . . . . . . . . .DL225; DSl7
Iaton, |oseph Noel l82ll90l . . . . . . . . . . DL35
Iaton Walsh, |ill l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
ai_ POV `~ f
RPR
`
Iatrick, Edwin Hill ('Jed") l90ll9o1 . . . DLl37

Iatrick, |ohn l90ol995. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Iattee, Ired Lewis l8o3l950 . . . . . . . . . . . DL7l
Iatterson, Alicia l90ol9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Iatterson, Eleanor Medill l88ll918. . . . . . DL29
Iatterson, Eugene l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Iatterson, |oseph Medill l879l91o . . . . . . . DL29
Iattillo, Henry l72ol80l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Iaul, Elliot l89ll958 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1; DSl5
Iaul, |ean (see Richter, |ohann Iaul Iriedrich)
Iaul, Kegan, Jrench, Jrubner and
Company Limited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Ieter Iaul ook Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Stanley Iaul and Company Limited . . . . . DLll2
Iaulding, |ames Kirke
l778l8o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, 59, 71, 250
Iaulin, Jom l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Iauper, Ieter, Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Iaustovsky, Konstantin Georgievich
l892l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL272
Iavese, Cesare l908l950 . . . . . . . . . DLl28, l77
Iavi, Milorad l929 . . . . . DLl8l; CDWL1
Iavlov, Konstantin l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Iavlov, Nikolai Iilippovich l803l8o1 . . . . . DLl98
Iavlova, Karolina Karlovna l807l893. . . . . DL205
Iavlovi, Miodrag
l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l; CDWL1
Iavlovsky, Eduardo l933 . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Iaxton, |ohn l9lll985. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Iayn, |ames l830l898 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8
Iayne, |ohn l812l9lo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
Iayne, |ohn Howard l79ll852. . . . . . . . . . DL37
Iayson and Clarke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Iaz, Octavio l9l1l998 . . . . . . . DL290; Y90, 98
Nobel Lecture l990. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y90
Iazzi, Roberto l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Iea, Enrico l88ll958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
Ieabody, Elizabeth Ialmer
l801l891 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 223
Ireface to o ~ pW
b d~ m
p~ ` . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DS5
Elizabeth Ialmer Ieabody
Ieabody, |osephine Ireston l871l922 . . . DL219
Ieabody, Oliver William ourn
l799l818 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL59
Ieace, Roger l899l9o8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Ieacham, Henry l578lo11. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5l
Ieacham, Henry, the Elder
l517lo31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl72, 23o
Ieachtree Iublishers, Limited . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Ieacock, Molly l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Ieacock, Jhomas Love l785l8oo. . . . DL9o, llo
Iead, Deuel .l727. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Ieake, Mervyn l9lll9o8 . . . . . . DLl5, lo0, 255
Ieale, Rembrandt l778l8o0 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl83
Iear Jree Iress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Iearce, Ihilippa l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
H. . Iearson |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . DL19
Iearson, Hesketh l887l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl19
Ieattie, Donald Culross l898l9o1 . . . . . . DL275
Iechersky, Andrei (see Mel`nikov, Iavel Ivanovich)
Ieck, George W. l810l9lo. . . . . . . . . . DL23, 12
H. C. Ieck and Jheo. liss
Ieck, Harry Jhurston l85ol9l1 . . . . . DL7l, 9l
Ieden, William l9l3l999. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
Jribute to William Goyen . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Ieele, George l55ol59o . . . . . . . . . . . DLo2, lo7
Iegler, Westbrook l891l9o9. . . . . . . . . . . DLl7l
Iguy, Charles l873l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL258
Ieirce, Charles Sanders l839l9l1 . . . . . . DL270
Ieki, orislav l930l992 . . . DLl8l; CDWL1
Ielecanos, George I. l957 . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Ieletier du Mans, |acques l5l7l582 . . . . . DL327
Ielevin, Viktor Olegovich l9o2 . . . . . . DL285
Iellegrini and Cudahy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Ielletier, Aim (see Vac, ertrand)
Ielletier, Irancine l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Iellicer, Carlos l897.l977. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Iemberton, Sir Max l8o3l950 . . . . . . . . . . DL70
de la Iea, Jerri l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Ienfield, Edward l8ool925 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl88
Ienguin ooks |L.K.| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Iifty Ienguin Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y85
Ienguin Collectors` Society. . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Ienguin ooks |L.S.| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Ienn, William lo11l7l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Ienn Iublishing Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Ienna, Sandro l90ol977. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Iennell, |oseph l857l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl88
Ienner, |onathan l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Iennington, Lee l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Ienton, rian l901l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Iepper, Stephen C. l89ll972 . . . . . . . . . . DL270
Iepys, Samuel
lo33l703 . . . . . . . . . DLl0l, 2l3; CDL2
Iercy, Jhomas l729l8ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl01
Iercy, Walker l9lol990 . . . . . . . . DL2; Y80, 90
Iercy, William l575lo18. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl72
Ierec, Georges l93ol982 . . . . . . . . . . DL83, 299
Ierelman, ob l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl93
Ierelman, S. |. l901l979. . . . . . . . . . . . DLll, 11
Ierez, Raymundo 'Jigre"
l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Irez de Ayala, Ramn l880l9o2 . . . . . . DL322
Irez de Guzmn, Iernn
ca. l377ca. l1o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
IrezReverte, Arturo l95l . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Ieri Rossi, Cristina l91l . . . . . . . . DLl15, 290
Ierkins, Eugene l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Ierkins, Maxwell
Jhe Claims of usiness and Literature.
An Lndergraduate Essay . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
Ierkins, William l558lo02. . . . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Ierkoff, Stuart Z. l930l971 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Ierley, Moses Henry l801l8o2 . . . . . . . . . DL99
Iermabooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Ierovsky, Aleksei Alekseevich
(Antonii Iogorel`sky) l787l83o . . . . . DLl98
Ierrault, Charles lo28l703 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL2o8
Ierri, Henry l5ollol7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23o
Ierrin, Alice l8o7l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5o
Ierry, Anne l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27o
Ierry, liss l8o0l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7l
Ierry, Eleanor l9l5l98l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Ierry, Henry (see Ierri, Henry)
Ierry, Matthew l791l858. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl83
Ierry, Sampson l717l823 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl58
Ierse, Saint|ohn l887l975 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL258
Iersius ^.a. 31^.a. o2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ll
Ierutz, Leo l882l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8l
Iesetsky, ette l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Iessanha, Camilo l8o7l92o . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Iessoa, Iernando l888l935 . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Iestalozzi, |ohann Heinrich l71ol827. . . . . DL91
Ieter, Laurence |. l9l9l990 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Ieter of Spain circa l205l277 . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
Ieterkin, |ulia l880l9ol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Ieters, Ellis (Edith Iargeter)
l9l3l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27o
Ieters, Lenrie l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll7
Ieters, Robert l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
'Ioreword to i _~~". . . . . . DLl05
Ietersham, Maud l889l97l and
Ietersham, Miska l888l9o0 . . . . . . . . DL22
Ieterson, Charles |acobs l8l9l887. . . . . . . DL79
Ieterson, Len l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Ieterson, Levi S. l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20o
Ieterson, Louis l922l998. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7o
Ieterson, J. ., and rothers . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Ietitclair, Iierre l8l3l8o0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Ietrescu, Camil l891l957. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
Ietronius circa ^.a. 20^.a. oo
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ll; CDWLl
Ietrov, Aleksandar l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
`~ f ai_ POV
RPS
Ietrov, Evgenii (Evgenii Ietrovich Kataev)
l903l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL272
Ietrov, Gavriil l730l80l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Ietrov, Valeri l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Ietrov, Vasilii Ietrovich l73ol799 . . . . . . DLl50
Ietrovi, Rastko
l898l919 . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl17; CDWL1
Ietrushevskaia, Liudmila Stefanovna
l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
m circa 851. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Ietry, Ann l908l997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7o
Iettie, George circa l518l589 . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Itur Gunnarsson l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Ieyton, K. M. l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
Ifaffe Konrad fl. circa ll72. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Ifaffe Lamprecht fl. circa ll50 . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Ifeiffer, Emily l827l890 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99
Iforzheimer, Carl H. l879l957 . . . . . . . . DLl10
Ihaedrus circa l8 _.`.circa ^.a. 50 . . . . . DL2ll
Ihaer, Jhomas l5l0.l5o0 . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo7
Ihaidon Iress Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Iharr, Robert Deane l9lol992 . . . . . . . . . DL33
Ihelps, Elizabeth Stuart l8l5l852. . . . . . DL202
Ihelps, Elizabeth Stuart l811l9ll. . . DL71, 22l
Ihilander von der Linde
(see Mencke, |ohann urckhard)
Ihilby, H. St. |ohn . l885l9o0 . . . . . . . DLl95
Ihilip, Marlene Nourbese l917 . . . . . . DLl57
Ihilippe, CharlesLouis l871l909 . . . . . . . DLo5
Ihilips, |ohn lo7ol708. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL95
Ihilips, Katherine lo32loo1 . . . . . . . . . . DLl3l
Ihillipps, Sir Jhomas l792l872. . . . . . . . DLl81
Ihillips, Caryl l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Ihillips, David Graham
l8o7l9ll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9, l2, 303
Ihillips, |ayne Anne l952 . . . . . . DL292; Y80
Jribute to Seymour Lawrence . . . . . . . . . . Y91
Ihillips, Robert l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
'Iinding, Losing, Reclaiming. A Note
on My Ioems". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Jribute to William Goyen . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
Ihillips, Stephen l8o1l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Ihillips, Llrich . l877l931. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
Ihillips, Wendell l8lll881 . . . . . . . . . . . DL235
Ihillips, Willard l781l873 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL59
Ihillips, William l9072002 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
Ihillips, Sampson and Company . . . . . . . . DL19
Ihillpotts, Adelaide Eden (Adelaide Ross)
l89ol993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Ihillpotts, Eden l8o2l9o0. . . DLl0, 70, l35, l53
Ihilo circa 20l5 _.`.circa ^.a. 50 . . . . . . .DLl7o
m~ a~I Voltaire . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Ihilosophical Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Ihilosophy
EighteenthCentury Ihilosophical
ackground. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Ihilosophic Jhought in oston . . . . . DL235
Jranslators of the Jwelfth Century.
Literary Issues Raised and
Impact Created . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
Elihu Ihinney |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DL19
Ihoenix, |ohn (see Derby, George Horatio)
IHYLON (Iourth _uarter, l950),
Jhe Negro in Literature.
Jhe Current Scene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7o
m circa l070circa ll50. . . . . . . . . DLl18
II.O. (Ii O, Ieter Oustabasides)
l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Iiccolo, Lucio l903l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Iichette, Henri l9212000 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
Iickard, Jom l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
William Iickering |publishing house| . . . . DLl0o
Iickthall, Marjorie l883l922. . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Iicoult, |odi l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Iictorial Irinting Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Iiel, Gerard l9l52001. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
'An Announcement to Our Readers,"
Gerard Iiel`s Statement in p
^~ (April l918) . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
Iielmeier, |ohn l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2oo
Iiercy, Marge l93o . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl20, 227
Iierre, DC l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Iierro, Albino l9lol995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Iignotti, Lamberto l92o . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Iike, Albert l809l89l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL71
Iike, Zebulon Montgomery l779l8l3. . . DLl83
Iillat, Ion l89ll915. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
Iil`niak, oris Andreevich (oris Andreevich
Vogau) l891l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL272
Iilon, |eanGuy l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Iinar, Ilorencia fl. ca. late
fifteenth century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Iinckney, Eliza Lucas l722l793. . . . . . . . DL200
Iinckney, |osephine l895l957. . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Iindar circa 5l8 _.`.circa 138 _.`.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o; CDWLl
Iindar, Ieter (see Wolcot, |ohn)
Iineda, Cecile l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Iinero, Arthur Wing l855l931. . . . . . . . . DLl0
Iiero, Miguel l91ol988. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2oo
Iinget, Robert l9l9l997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Iinkney, Edward Coote
l802l828 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL218
Iinnacle ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Iion, Nlida l935 . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl15, 307
Iinsky, Robert l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
Reappointed Ioet Laureate . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Iinter, Harold l930 . . . DLl3, 3l0; CDL8
Writing for the Jheatre . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Iinto, Ierno Mendes l509/l5ll.l583. . DL287
Iiontek, Heinz l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Iiozzi, Hester Lynch |Jhrale|
l71ll82l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl01, l12
Iiper, H. eam l901l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Iiper, Watty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Iirandello, Luigi l8o7l93o . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
Iirckheimer, Caritas l1o7l532 . . . . . . . . .DLl79
Iirckheimer, Willibald l170l530. . . . . . . .DLl79
Iires, |os Cardoso l925l998 . . . . . . . . . DL287
Iisar, Samuel l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
Iisarev, Dmitrii Ivanovich l810l8o8. . . . .DL277
Iisemsky, Aleksei Ieofilaktovich
l82ll88l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Iitkin, Jimothy l7ool817 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Iitter, Ruth l897l992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20
Iix, Mary loool709 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL80
Iixercourt, Ren Charles Guilbert de
l773l811. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl92
Iizarnik, Alejandra l93ol972 . . . . . . . . . DL283
Il, |osefina l909l999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Ilaatje, Sol J. l87ol932. . . . . . . . . . DLl25, 225
Ilanchon, Roger l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
Ilante, David l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
Ilantinga, Alvin l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL279
Ilaten, August von l79ol835 . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Ilath, Sylvia
l932l9o3 . . . . . . . . DL5, o, l52; CDALl
Ilato circa 128 _.`.318317 _.`.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o; CDWLl
Ilato, Ann l821. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL239
Ilaton l737l8l2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Ilatonov, Andrei Ilatonovich (Andrei
Ilatonovich Klimentev)
l899l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL272
Ilatt, Charles l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Ilatt and Munk Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Ilautus circa 251 _.`.l81 _.`.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL2ll; CDWLl
Ilayboy Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
|ohn Ilayford |publishing house| . . . . . . . .DLl70
Der Ileier fl. circa l250 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Ileijel, Agneta l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Ilenzdorf, Llrich l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Ileshcheev, Aleksei Nikolaevich
l825.l893. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL277
Ilessen, Elizabeth l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Iletnev, Ietr Aleksandrovich
l792l8o5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Iliekne, Elza Rozenberga (see Aspazija)
Iliekns, |nis (see Rainis, |nis)
Ilievier, Jheodor l892l955 . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Ilimpton, George l9272003 . . DLl85, 21l; Y99
ai_ POV `~ f
RPT
`
Iliny the Elder ^.a. 23/21^.a. 79 . . . . . . . DL2ll

Iliny the Younger
circa ^.a. ol^.a. ll2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ll
Ilomer, William
l903l973 . . . . . . . . . . . DL20, lo2, l9l, 225
Ilotinus 201270. . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o; CDWLl
Ilowright, Jeresa l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Ilume, Jhomas lo30l701 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Ilumly, Stanley l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, l93
Ilumpp, Sterling D. l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Ilunkett, |ames l9202003. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Ilutarch
circa 1ocirca l20. . . . . . . DLl7o; CDWLl
Ilymell, Charles l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Iocket ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Iodest, |os |. l858l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Ioe, Edgar Allan l809l819
. . . . . . . . . . DL3, 59, 73, 71, 218; CDAL2
Jhe Ioe Studies Association . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Ioe, |ames l92ll980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Jhe Ioet Laureate of the Lnited States . . . . . . .Y8o
Statements from Iormer Consultants
in Ioetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
Ioetry
Aesthetic Ioetry (l873) . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
A Century of Ioetry, a Lifetime of
Collecting. |. M. Edelstein`s
Collection of Jwentieth
Century American Ioetry. . . . . . . . . . .Y02
'Certain Gifts," by etty Adcock . . . . DLl05
Concrete Ioetry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Contempo Caravan. Kites in a
Windstorm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y85
'Contemporary Verse Storytelling,"
by |onathan Holden . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
'A Detail in a Ioem," by Ired
Chappell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
'Jhe English Renaissance of Art"
(l908), by Oscar Wilde. . . . . . . . . . DL35
'Every Man His Own Ioet; or,
Jhe Inspired Singer`s Recipe
ook" (l877), by
H. W. Mallock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
'Eyes Across Centuries. Contemporary
Ioetry and 'Jhat Vision Jhing,`"
by Ihilip Dacey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
A Iield Guide to Recent Schools
of American Ioetry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
'Iinding, Losing, Reclaiming.
A Note on My Ioems,
by Robert Ihillips" . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
'Jhe Ileshly School of Ioetry and Other
Ihenomena of the Day" (l872). . . . DL35
'Jhe Ileshly School of Ioetry.
Mr. D. G. Rossetti" (l87l) . . . . . . . DL35
Jhe G. Ross Roy Scottish Ioetry Collection
at the Lniversity of South Carolina . . .Y89
'Getting Started. Accepting the Regions
You Ownor Which Own You,"
by Walter McDonald . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
'Jhe Good, Jhe Not So Good," by
Stephen Dunn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Jhe Griffin Ioetry Irize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
Jhe Hero as Ioet. Dante; Shakspeare
(l81l), by Jhomas Carlyle. . . . . . . DL32
'Images and 'Images,`" by Charles
Simic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
'Into the Mirror," by Ieter Cooley . . . DLl05
'Knots into Webs. Some Autobiographical
Sources," by Dabney Stuart . . . . . DLl05
'LÈnvoi" (l882), by Oscar Wilde . . . . DL35
'Living in Ruin," by Gerald Stern. . . . DLl05
Looking for the Golden Mountain.
Ioetry Reviewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y89
Lyric Ioetry (Irench) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Medieval GalicianIortuguese
Ioetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
'Jhe No Self, the Little Self, and the
Ioets," by Richard Moore. . . . . . . DLl05
On Some of the Characteristics of Modern
Ioetry and On the Lyrical Ioems of
Alfred Jennyson (l83l) . . . . . . . . . DL32
Jhe Iitt Ioetry Series. Ioetry Iublishing
Joday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y85
'Jhe Ioetry Iile," by Edward
Iield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Ioetry in NineteenthCentury Irance.
Cultural ackground and Critical
Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
Jhe Ioetry of |orge Luis orges . . . . . . . . .Y8o
'Jhe Ioet`s Kaleidoscope. Jhe Element
of Surprise in the Making of the
Ioem" by Madeline DeIrees. . . . . DLl05
Jhe IreRaphaelite Controversy. . . . . . DL35
Irotest Ioetry in Castile . . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
'Reflections. After a Jornado,"
by |udson |erome . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Statements from Iormer Consultants
in Ioetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
Statements on the Art of Ioetry . . . . . . DL51
Jhe Study of Ioetry (l880), by
Matthew Arnold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
A Survey of Ioetry Anthologies,
l879l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL51
Jhoughts on Ioetry and Its Varieties
(l833), by |ohn Stuart Mill . . . . . . . DL32
Lnder the Microscope (l872), by
A. C. Swinburne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
Jhe Lnterberg Ioetry Center of the
92nd Street Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Victorian Ioetry. Iive Critical
Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLV35
Year in Ioetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83-92, 91-0l
Year`s Work in American Ioetry . . . . . . . . .Y82
Ioets
q i m (l753) . . . . . . . . . . DLl12
Minor Ioets of the Earlier
Seventeenth Century . . . . . . . . . . DLl2l
Other ritish Ioets Who Iell
in the Great War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2lo
Other Ioets |Irench| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
SecondGeneration Minor Ioets of
the Seventeenth Century . . . . . . . DLl2o
JhirdGeneration Minor Ioets of
the Seventeenth Century . . . . . . . DLl3l
Iogodin, Mikhail Ietrovich l800l875. . . . DLl98
Iogorel`sky, Antonii
(see Ierovsky, Aleksei Alekseevich)
Iohl, Irederik l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Jribute to Isaac Asimov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y92
Jribute to Jheodore Sturgeon . . . . . . . . . .Y85
Ioirier, Louis (see Gracq, |ulien)
Iolek, Karel l892l915 . . . DL2l5; CDWL1
Iolanyi, Michael l89ll97o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl00
Iole, Reginald l500l558 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Iolevoi, Nikolai Alekseevich l79ol81o. . . DLl98
Iolezhaev, Aleksandr Ivanovich
l801l838 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Ioliakoff, Stephen l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Iolidori, |ohn William l795l82l . . . . . . . DLllo
Iolite, Carlene Hatcher l932 . . . . . . . . . DL33
Iollard, Alfred W. l859l911 . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Iollard, Edward A. l832l872. . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Iollard, Graham l903l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Iollard, Iercival l8o9l9ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7l
Iollard and Moss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Iollock, Sharon l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Iolonsky, Abraham l9l0l999 . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Iolonsky, Iakov Ietrovich l8l9l898 . . . . DL277
Iolotsky, Simeon lo29lo80 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Iolybius circa 200 _.`.ll8 _.`. . . . . . . . . . DLl7o
Iomialovsky, Nikolai Gerasimovich
l835l8o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Iomilio, Mario l92ll990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl77
Iompia, Raul (Raul dÀvila Iompia)
l8o3l895 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Ionce, Mary Helen l938 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
IonceMontoya, |uanita l919 . . . . . . . . DLl22
Ionet, |ohn l5lo.l55o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Ionge, Irancis l899l988 . . . . . . . . DL258; Y02
Ioniatowska, Elena
l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll3; CDWL3
Ionsard, Iranois l8l1l8o7 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl92
William Ionsonby |publishing house| . . . . DLl70
Iontiggia, Giuseppe l931 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Iontoppidan, Henrik l857l913 . . . . . . . . DL300
Iony Stories, Omnibus Essay on . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Ioole, Ernest l880l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Ioole, Sophia l801l89l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLloo
Ioore, enjamin Ierley l820l887 . . . . . . . DL23
Iopa, Vasko l922l99l . . . . . DLl8l; CDWL1
Iope, Abbie Hanscom l858l891 . . . . . . . DLl10
Iope, Alexander
lo88l711 . . . . . . DL95, l0l, 2l3; CDL2
Ioplavsky, oris l903l935. . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Iopov, Aleksandr Serafimovich
(see Serafimovich, Aleksandr Serafimovich)
Iopov, Evgenii Anatolèvich l91o . . . . . DL285
`~ f ai_ POV
RPU
Iopov, Mikhail Ivanovich
l712circa l790. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Iopovi, Aleksandar l929l99o . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Iopper, Karl l902l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Iopular Culture Association/
American Culture Association . . . . . . . . Y99
Iopular Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Ioquelin, |eanaptiste (see Molire)
Iorete, Marguerite .l3l0. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL208
Iorlock, Martin (see MacDonald, Ihilip)
Iorpoise Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Iorta, Antonio l935l989. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Iorter, Anna Maria l780l832 . . . . . DLllo, l59
Iorter, Cole l89ll9o1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Iorter, David l780l813 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl83
Iorter, Dorothy l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Iorter, Eleanor H. l8o8l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Iorter, Gene Stratton (see StrattonIorter, Gene)
Iorter, Hal l9lll981. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Iorter, Henry circa sixteenth century . . . . . DLo2
Iorter, |ane l77ol850. . . . . . . . . . . . DLllo, l59
Iorter, Katherine Anne l890l980
. . . . . . . DL1, 9, l02; Y80; DSl2; CDAL7
Jhe Katherine Anne Iorter Society . . . . . . Y0l
Iorter, Ieter l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10, 289
Iorter, William Sydney (O. Henry)
l8o2l9l0. . . . . . . . DLl2, 78, 79; CDAL3
Iorter, William J. l809l858 . . . . . DL3, 13, 250
Iorter and Coates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Iortillo Jrambley, Estela l927l998 . . . . . DL209
Iortis, Charles l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Medieval GalicianIortuguese Ioetry . . . . DL287
Iosey, Alexander l873l908 . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl75
mI l990 ooker Irize winner,
A. S. yatt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Iostans, Marianne circa l8l0l8o5. . . . . . DLloo
Iostgate, Raymond l89ol97l . . . . . . . . . .DL27o
Iostl, Carl (see Sealsfield, Carl)
Iostmodern Holocaust Iiction . . . . . . . . . DL299
Ioston, Jed l90ol971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5l
Iotekhin, Aleksei Antipovich
l829l908 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Iotok, Chaim l9292002 . . . . . . . . . . DL28, l52
A Conversation with Chaim Iotok . . . . . . Y81
Jribute to ernard Malamud. . . . . . . . . . . Y8o
Iotter, eatrix l8ool913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1l
Jhe eatrix Iotter Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Iotter, David M. l9l0l97l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
Iotter, Dennis l935l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
|ohn E. Iotter and Company . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Iottle, Irederick A. l897l987 . . . . . DLl03; Y87
Ioulin, |acques l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Iound, Ezra l885l972
. . . . . . . . . . . DL1, 15, o3; DSl5; CDAL1
Jhe Cost of the `~W William ird
to Ezra Iound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Jhe Ezra Iound Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Ioverman, C. E. l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
Iovey, Meic l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Iovich, Shirley l905l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7l
Iowell, Anthony l9052000 . . . DLl5; CDL7
Jhe Anthony Iowell Society. Iowell and
the Iirst iennial Conference . . . . . . . Y0l
Iowell, Dawn l897l9o5
Dawn Iowell, Where Have You een
All Our Lives.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Iowell, |ohn Wesley l831l902 . . . . . . . . DLl8o
Iowell, Iadgett l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
Iowers, |. I. l9l7l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Iowers, |immy l903l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Iownall, David l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Iowys, |ohn Cowper l872l9o3. . . . . DLl5, 255
Iowys, Llewelyn l881l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL98
Iowys, J. I. l875l953. . . . . . . . . . . . DL3o, lo2
Jhe Iowys Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Ioynter, Nelson l903l978 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Irada, |uan Manuel de l970 . . . . . . . . DL322
Irado, Adlia l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Irado, Iedro l88ol952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Irados, Emilio l899l9o2. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
Iraed, Mrs. Caroline (see Iraed, Rosa)
Iraed, Rosa (Mrs. Caroline Iraed)
l85ll935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Iraed, Winthrop Mackworth l802l839 . . DL9o
Iraeger Iublishers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Iraetorius, |ohannes lo30lo80 . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Iratolini, Vasco l9l3l99l . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl77
Iratt, E. |. l882l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Iratt, Samuel |ackson l719l8l1 . . . . . . . . DL39
Ireciado Martin, Iatricia l939 . . . . . . . DL209
Irfontaine, Yves l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Irelutsky, |ack l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Irentice, George D. l802l870 . . . . . . . . . . DL13
IrenticeHall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Irescott, Orville l90ol99o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9o
Irescott, William Hickling
l79ol859. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 30, 59, 235
Ireseren, Iranc
l800l819 . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl17; CDWL1
Iresses (p ~ Iublishing)
Small Iresses in Great ritain and
Ireland, l9o0l985. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Small Iresses I. |argon Society. . . . . . . . . . Y81
Small Iresses II. Jhe Spirit Jhat Moves
Ls Iress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y85
Small Iresses III. Iushcart Iress . . . . . . . . Y87
Ireston, Margaret |unkin
l820l897 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL239, 218
Ireston, May Wilson l873l919. . . . . . . . DLl88
Ireston, Jhomas l537l598 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo2
Irvert, |acques l900l977 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL258
Irvost dÈxiles, Antoine Iranois
lo97l7o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Irice, Anthony l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27o
Irice, Reynolds l933 . . . . . . . . . DL2, 2l8, 278
Irice, Richard l723l79l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl58
Irice, Richard l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8l
Irichard, Katharine Susannah
l883l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Irideaux, |ohn l578lo50. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23o
Iriest, Christopher l913 . . . . . DLl1, 207, 2ol
Iriestley, |. . l891l981
. . . . DLl0, 31, 77, l00, l39; Y81; CDLo
Iriestley, |oseph l733l801. . . . . . . . . . . . DL252
Irigov, Dmitrii Aleksandrovich l910 . . DL285
Irime, enjamin Young l733l79l . . . . . . . DL3l
Irimrose, Diana floruit circa lo30 . . . . . . DLl2o
Irince, I. J. l9l22003. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20
Irince, Nancy Gardner
l799circa l85o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL239
Irince, Jhomas lo87l758 . . . . . . . . . DL21, l10
Iringle, Jhomas l789l831 . . . . . . . . . . . DL225
Irintz, Wolfgang Casper lo1ll7l7 . . . . . DLlo8
Irior, Matthew loo1l72l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL95
Irisco, Michele l9202003 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl77
Irishvin, Mikhail Mikhailovich
l873l951. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL272
Iritchard, William H. l932 . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Iritchett, V. S. l900l997 . . . . . . . . . . DLl5, l39
Irobyn, May l85o or l857l909 . . . . . . . DLl99
Irocter, Adelaide Anne l825l8o1 . . . DL32, l99
Irocter, ryan Waller l787l871 . . . . . DL9o, l11
Iroctor, Robert l8o8l903 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Irokopovich, Ieofan lo8l.l73o . . . . . . . DLl50
Irokosch, Irederic l90ol989 . . . . . . . . . . DL18
Ironzini, ill l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
Iropertius circa 50 _.`.post lo _.`.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL2ll; CDWLl
Iropper, Dan l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Irose, Irancine l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
Irotagoras circa 190 _K`K120 _K`K . . . . . . . .DLl7o
Irotest Ioetry in Castile
ca. l115ca. l50o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Iroud, Robert l728l8l3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Iroust, Marcel l87ll922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo5
Marcel Iroust at l29 and the Iroust
Society of America. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Marcel Iroust`s o~ q m~W
Jhe Rediscovered Galley Iroofs . . . . . Y00
ai_ POV `~ f
RPV
`
Irutkov, Koz`ma Ietrovich

l803l8o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL277
Irynne, |. H. l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Irzybyszewski, Stanislaw l8o8l927 . . . . . . DLoo
IseudoDionysius the Areopagite floruit
circa 500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
Iublic Lending Right in America
ILR and the Meaning of Literary
Iroperty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Statement by Sen. Charles
McC. Mathias, |r. ILR. . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Statements on ILR by American Writers . . . Y83
Iublic Lending Right in the Lnited Kingdom
Jhe Iirst Year in the Lnited Kingdom . . . .Y83
Iublishers |listed by individual names|
Iublishers, Conversations with.
An Interview with Charles Scribner III . . .Y91
An Interview with Donald Lamm. . . . . . . .Y95
An Interview with |ames Laughlin . . . . . . .Y9o
An Interview with Iatrick O`Connor . . . . .Y81
Iublishing
Jhe Art and Mystery of Iublishing.
Interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y97
ook Iublishing Accounting. Some asic
Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
l873 Iublishers` Catalogues . . . . . . . . . DL19
Jhe Literary Scene 2002. Iublishing, ook
Reviewing, and Literary |ournalism. . .Y02
Main Jrends in JwentiethCentury
ook Clubs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Overview of L.S. ook Iublishing,
l9l0l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Jhe Iitt Ioetry Series. Ioetry Iublishing
Joday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y85
Iublishing Iiction at LSL Iress . . . . . . . . .Y87
Jhe Iublishing Industry in l998.
pJJ~K . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Jhe Iublishing Industry in l999. . . . . . . . .Y99
Iublishers and Agents. Jhe Columbia
Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y87
Responses to Ken Auletta . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y97
Southern Writers etween the Wars . . . . DL9
Jhe State of Iublishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y97
Jrends in JwentiethCentury
Mass Market Iublishing . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Jhe Year in ook Iublishing. . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
IcklerMuskau, Hermann von
l785l87l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl33
Iurtolas, Soledad l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Iufendorf, Samuel von lo32lo91. . . . . . . DLlo8
Iugh, Edwin William l871l930 . . . . . . . . DLl35
Iugin, A. Welby l8l2l852 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL55
Iuig, Manuel l932l990 . . . . DLll3; CDWL3
Iuisieux, Madeleine dÀrsant de
l720l798 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Iulgar, Hernando del (Iernando del Iulgar)
ca. l13oca. l192. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Iulitzer, |oseph l817l9ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23
Iulitzer, |oseph, |r. l885l955 . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Iulitzer Irizes for the Novel, l9l7l915. . . . . DL9
Iulliam, Eugene l889l975 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Iurcell, Deirdre l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Iurchas, Samuel l577.lo2o . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5l
Iurdy, Al l9l82000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Iurdy, |ames l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 2l8
Iurdy, Ken W. l9l3l972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
Iusey, Edward ouverie l800l882 . . . . . . DL55
Iushkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich
l799l837 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Iushkin, Vasilii L`vovich
l7ool830 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Iutnam, George Ialmer
l8l1l872 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, 79, 250, 251
G. I. Iutnam |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DL251
G. I. Iutnam`s Sons |L.K.| . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
G. I. Iutnam`s Sons |L.S.|. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
A Iublisher`s Archives. G. I. Iutnam. . . . .Y92
Iutnam, Hilary l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL279
Iutnam, Samuel l892l950 . . . . . . . . DL1; DSl5
Iuttenham, George l529.l590. . . . . . . . . DL28l
Iuzo, Mario l920l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Iyle, Ernie l900l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Iyle, Howard
l853l9ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL12, l88; DSl3
Iyle, Robert Michael l917 . . . . . . . . . . DL275
Iym, arbara l9l3l980 . . . . . . DLl1, 207; Y87
Iynchon, Jhomas l937 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2, l73
Iyramid ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Iyrnelle, LouiseClarke l850l907 . . . . . . . DL12
Iythagoras circa 570 _.`... . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o
n
_ays ibn alMulawwah circa o807l0 . . . . DL3ll
_ian Zhongshu l9l0l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
_uad, M. (see Lewis, Charles .)
_uaritch, ernard l8l9l899 . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
_uarles, Irancis l592lo11 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2o
q n~ o l809l9o7. . . . . . . . . . DLll0
_uasimodo, Salvatore l90ll9o8 . . . . . . . DLll1
_ueen, Ellery (see Dannay, Irederic, and
Manfred . Lee)
_ueen, Irank l822l882 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Jhe _ueen City Iublishing House . . . . . . . DL19
_ueirs, Ea de l815l900 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
_ueneau, Raymond l903l97o . . . . . . DL72, 258
_uennell, Ieter l905l993. . . . . . . . . DLl55, l95
_uental, Antero de
l812l89l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
_uesada, |os Luis l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
_uesnel, |oseph l71ol809 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
_uillerCouch, Sir Arthur Jhomas
l8o3l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl35, l53, l90
_uin, Ann l93ol973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 23l
_uinault, Ihilippe lo35lo88. . . . . . . . . . . .DL2o8
_uincy, Samuel, of Georgia
fl. eighteenth century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
_uincy, Samuel, of Massachusetts
l731l789 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
_uindlen, Anna l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
_uine, W. V. l9082000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL279
_uinn, Anthony l9l5200l. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
_uinn, |ohn l870l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
_uinez, Naomi l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
_uintana, Leroy V. l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
_uintana, Miguel de lo7ll718
A Iorerunner of Chicano
Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
_uintilian circa ^.a. 10circa ^.a. 9o . . . . . DL2ll
_uintus Curtius Rufus
fl. ^.a. 35. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ll
Harlin _uist ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
_uoirez, Iranoise (see Sagan, Iranoise)
o
Raabe, Wilhelm l83ll9l0 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Raban, |onathan l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
Rabe, David l910 . . . . . . . . . . DL7, 228; Y9l
Rabelais, Iranois l191.l593. . . . . . . . . . DL327
Rabi'ah al'Adawiyyah circa 72080l. . . . . DL3ll
Raboni, Giovanni l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Rachilde l8o0l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl23, l92
Racin, Koo l908l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl17
Racine, |ean lo39lo99. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL2o8
Rackham, Arthur l8o7l939 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1l
Raczymow, Henri l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Radauskas, Henrikas
l9l0l970 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220; CDWL1
Radcliffe, Ann l7o1l823. . . . . . . . . . . DL39, l78
Raddall, Jhomas l903l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Radford, Dollie l858l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Radichkov, Yordan l9292001. . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Radiguet, Raymond l903l923 . . . . . . . . . . DLo5
Radishchev, Aleksandr Nikolaevich
l719l802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Radnti, Mikls
l909l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5; CDWL1
Radrign, |uan l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Radvnyi, Netty Reiling (see Seghers, Anna)
Rafat, Jaufiq l927l998. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Rahv, Ihilip l908l973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
Raich, Semen Egorovich l792l855. . . . . . DL205
Raikovi, Stevan l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Raiderman (see Iarshchikov, Aleksei Maksimovich)
Raimund, Ierdinand |akob l790l83o. . . . . DL90
Raine, Craig l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Raine, Kathleen l9082003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20
`~ f ai_ POV
RQM
Rainis, |nis l8o5l929. . . . . DL220; CDWL1
Rainolde, Richard
circa l530lo0o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o, 23o
Rainolds, |ohn l519lo07. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Raki, Milan l87ol938 . . . . .DLl17; CDWL1
Rakosi, Carl l9032001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl93
Ralegh, Sir Walter
l551.lol8. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl72; CDLl
Raleigh, Walter
p (l897) |excerpt| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL57
Ralin, Radoy l9232001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Ralph, |ulian l853l903 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23
Ramanujan, A. K. l929l993 . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Ramat, Silvio l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Rame, Marie Louise de la (see Ouida)
Ramrez, Sergo l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15
Ramke, in l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Ramler, Karl Wilhelm l725l798 . . . . . . . . DL97
Ramon Ribeyro, |ulio l929l991 . . . . . . . DLl15
Ramos, Graciliano l892l953 . . . . . . . . . DL307
Ramos, Manuel l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Ramos Sucre, |os Antonio l890l930. . . DL290
Ramous, Mario l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Rampersad, Arnold l91l . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Ramsay, Allan lo81 or lo85l758 . . . . . . . DL95
Ramsay, David l719l8l5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Ramsay, Martha Laurens l759l8ll. . . . . DL200
Ramsey, Irank I. l903l930 . . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Ranch, Hieronimus |ustesen
l539lo07. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Ranck, Katherine _uintana l912 . . . . DLl22
Rand, Avery and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Rand, Ayn l905l982. . . . DL227, 279; CDAL7
Rand McNally and Company . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Randall, David Anton l905l975 . . . . . . . DLl10
Randall, Dudley l9l12000 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Randall, Henry S. l8lll87o . . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Randall, |ames G. l88ll953 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
Jhe Randall |arrell Symposium. A Small
Collection of Randall |arrells. . . . . . . . Y8o
Excerpts Irom Iapers Delivered at the
Randall |arrel Symposium. . . . . . . . . . Y8o
Randall, |ohn Herman, |r. l899l980. . . . .DL279
Randolph, A. Ihilip l889l979. . . . . . . . . . DL9l
Anson D. I. Randolph
Randolph, Jhomas lo05lo35 . . . . . . DL58, l2o
Random House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Rankin, Ian ( |ack Harvey) l9o0 . . . . . DL2o7
Henry Ranlet |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DL19
Ransom, Harry l908l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Ransom, |ohn Crowe
l888l971. . . . . . . . . . . DL15, o3; CDAL7
Ransome, Arthur l881l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Rao, Raja l908 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Raphael, Irederic l93l . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 3l9
Raphaelson, Samson l89ol983 . . . . . . . . . DL11
Rare ook Dealers
ertram Rota and His ookshop. . . . . . . . Y9l
An Interview with Glenn Horowitz . . . . . . Y90
An Interview with Otto Ienzler . . . . . . . . . Y9o
An Interview with Ralph Sipper. . . . . . . . . Y91
New York City ookshops in the
l930s and l910s. Jhe Recollections
of Walter Goldwater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y93
Rare ooks
Research in the American Antiquarian
ook Jrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Jwo Hundred Years of Rare ooks and
Literary Collections at the
Lniversity of South Carolina . . . . . . . Y00
Rascn anda, Vctor Hugo l918 . . . . DL305
Rashi circa l010ll05. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL208
Raskin, Ellen l928l981. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Rasputin, Valentin Grigorèvich
l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Rastell, |ohn l175.l53o. . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o, l70
Rattigan, Jerence
l9lll977. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3; CDL7
Raven, Simon l927200l . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27l
Ravenhill, Mark l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Ravnkilde, Adda l8o2l883 . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Rawicz, Iiotr l9l9l982. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan l89ol953
. . . . . . . . . . DL9, 22, l02; DSl7; CDAL7
Rawlinson, Richard lo90l755. . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Rawlinson, Jhomas lo8ll725 . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Rawls, |ohn l92l2002. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL279
Raworth, Jom l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Ray, David l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Ray, Gordon Norton l9l5l98o. . . . DLl03, l10
Ray, Henrietta Cordelia l819l9lo . . . . . . DL50
Raymond, Ernest l888l971. . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Raymond, Henry |. l820l8o9. . . . . . . DL13, 79
Raymond, Ren (see Chase, |ames Hadley)
Razaf, Andy l895l973. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
alRazi 8o5.925. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Rea, Michael l927l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Michael M. Rea and the Rea Award for
the Short Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Reach, Angus l82ll85o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL70
Read, Herbert l893l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . DL20, l19
Read, Martha Meredith
fl. nineteenth century . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Read, Opie l852l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23
Read, Iiers Iaul l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Reade, Charles l8l1l881 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l
Reader`s Digest Condensed ooks. . . . . . . DL1o
o~ r Symposium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Reading, Ieter l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Reading Series in New York City . . . . . . . . . . . Y9o
Reaney, |ames l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Rebhun, Iaul l500.l51o. . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl79
Rbora, Clemente l885l957 . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Rebreanu, Liviu l885l911 . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
Rechy, |ohn l931 . . . . . . . . . DLl22, 278; Y82
Redding, |. Saunders l90ol988. . . . . . .DLo3, 7o
|. S. Redfield |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . DL19
Redgrove, Ieter l9322003. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Redmon, Anne l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8o
Redmond, Eugene . l937 . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Redol, Alves l9lll9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
|ames Redpath |publishing house| . . . . . . . DL19
Reed, Henry l808l851 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL59
Reed, Henry l9l1l98o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Reed, Ishmael
l938 . . . . . . . . DL2, 5, 33, lo9, 227; DS8
Reed, Rex l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Reed, Sampson l800l880 . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 235
Reed, Jalbot aines l852l893 . . . . . . . . DLl1l
Reedy, William Marion l8o2l920 . . . . . . DL9l
Reese, Lizette Woodworth l85ol935 . . . . DL51
Reese, Jhomas l712l79o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Reeve, Clara l729l807 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to q l b _~
(l778). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
q m o~ (l785)
|excerpt|. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Reeves, |ames l909l978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
Reeves, |ohn l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
ReevesStevens, Garfield l953 . . . . . . . DL25l
Rgio, |os ( |os Maria dos Reis Iereira)
l90ll9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Henry Regnery Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Rgo, |os Lins do l90ll957 . . . . . . . . . DL307
Rehberg, Hans l90ll9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
Rehfisch, Hans |os l89ll9o0 . . . . . . . . DLl21
Reich, Ebbe Klvedal l910 . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Reid, Alastair l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Reid, . L. l9l8l990. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Reid, Christopher l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Reid, Iorrest l875l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl53
Reid, Helen Rogers l882l970 . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Reid, |ames fl. eighteenth century . . . . . . . DL3l
Reid, Mayne l8l8l883 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l, lo3
Reid, Jhomas l7l0l79o . . . . . . . . . . DL3l, 252
Reid, V. S. (Vic) l9l3l987. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl25
Reid, Whitelaw l837l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23
Reilly and Lee Iublishing Company . . . . . DL1o
Reimann, rigitte l933l973 . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
ai_ POV `~ f
RQN
`
Reinmar der Alte circa llo5circa l205. . . DLl38

Reinmar von Zweter
circa l200circa l250. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Reisch, Walter l903l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Reizei Iamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Religion
A Crisis of Culture. Jhe Changing
Role of Religion in the
New Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
q o~ a~I l989 ooker Irize winner,
Kazuo Ishiguro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Remarque, Erich Maria
l898l970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5o; CDWL2
Remington, Irederic
l8oll909 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2, l8o, l88
Remizov, Aleksei Mikhailovich
l877l957. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Renaud, |acques l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Renault, Mary l905l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Rendell, Ruth (arbara Vine)
l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL87, 27o
Rensselaer, Maria van Cortlandt van
lo15lo89 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Repplier, Agnes l855l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22l
Reshetnikov, Iedor Mikhailovich
l81ll87l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Restif (Rtif) de La retonne, NicolasEdme
l731l80o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Rettenbacher, Simon lo31l70o. . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Retz, |eanIranoisIaul de Gondi,
cardinal de lol3lo79 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Reuchlin, |ohannes l155l522. . . . . . . . . . DLl79
Reuter, Christian loo5after l7l2 . . . . . . . DLlo8
Ileming H. Revell Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Reverdy, Iierre l889l9o0. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL258
Reuter, Iritz l8l0l871 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Reuter, Gabriele l859l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Reventlow, Iranziska Grfin zu
l87ll9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Review of Reviews Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Rexroth, Kenneth l905l982
. . . . . . DLlo, 18, lo5, 2l2; Y82; CDALl
Jhe Commercialization of the Image
of Revolt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Rey, H. A. l898l977. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Reyes, Carlos |os l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Reynal and Hitchcock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Reynolds, G. W. M. l8l1l879 . . . . . . . . . . DL2l
Reynolds, |ohn Hamilton
l791l852 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9o
Reynolds, Sir |oshua l723l792 . . . . . . . . . DLl01
Reynolds, Mack l9l7l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Reza, Yazmina l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
Reznikoff, Charles l891l97o . . . . . . . . DL28, 15
Rhetoric
Continental European Rhetoricians,
l100lo00, and Jheir Influence
in Reaissance England . . . . . . . . . DL23o
A Iinding Guide to Key Works on
Microfilm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23o
Glossary of Jerms and Definitions of
Rhetoic and Logic . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23o
Rhett, Robert arnwell l800l87o. . . . . . . . DL13
Rhode, |ohn l881l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
Rhodes, Eugene Manlove l8o9l931 . . . . DL25o
Rhodes, |ames Iord l818l927 . . . . . . . . . . DL17
Rhodes, Richard l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Rhys, |ean l890l979
. . . . DL3o, ll7, lo2; CDL7; CDWL3
Ribeiro, ernadim
fl. ca. l175/l182l52o/l511. . . . . . . . . DL287
Ricardo, David l772l823 . . . . . . . . . DLl07, l58
Ricardou, |ean l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Riccoboni, Marie|eanne (Marie|eanne de
Heurles Laboras de Mzires Riccoboni)
l7l3l792. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Rice, Anne (A. N. Roquelare, Anne Rampling)
l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Rice, Christopher l978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Rice, Elmer l892l9o7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1, 7
Rice, Grantland l880l951 . . . . . . . . . DL29, l7l
Rich, Adrienne l929 . . . . . DL5, o7; CDAL7
Richard, Mark l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
Richard de Iournival
l20ll259 or l2o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL208
Richards, David Adams l950 . . . . . . . . . DL53
Richards, George circa l7o0l8l1 . . . . . . . . DL37
Richards, I. A. l893l979. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Richards, Laura E. l850l913 . . . . . . . . . . . DL12
Richards, William Carey l8l8l892 . . . . . . DL73
Grant Richards |publishing house|. . . . . . . DLll2
Richardson, Charles I. l85ll9l3. . . . . . . . DL7l
Richardson, Dorothy M. l873l957. . . . . . . DL3o
Jhe Novels of Dorothy Richardson
(l9l8), by May Sinclair. . . . . . . . . . DL3o
Richardson, Henry Handel
(Ethel Ilorence Lindesay Robertson)
l870l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl97, 230
Richardson, |ack l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Richardson, |ohn l79ol852 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Richardson, Samuel
lo89l7ol . . . . . . . . . .DL39, l51; CDL2
Introductory Letters from the Second
Edition of m~~ (l71l) . . . . . . . . . DL39
Iostscript to |the Jhird Edition of |
`~~ (l75l) . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to the Iirst Edition of
m~~ (l710) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to the Jhird Edition of
`~~ (l75l) |excerpt| . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to Volume l of `~~
(l717) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to Volume 3 of `~~
(l718) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Richardson, Willis l889l977 . . . . . . . . . . . DL5l
Riche, arnabe l512lol7. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Richepin, |ean l819l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl92
Richler, Mordecai l93l200l. . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Richter, Conrad l890l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . DL9, 2l2
Richter, Hans Werner l908l993 . . . . . . . . DLo9
Richter, |ohann Iaul Iriedrich
l7o3l825 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91; CDWL2
|oseph Rickerby |publishing house| . . . . . . DLl0o
Rickword, Edgell l898l982 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20
Riddell, Charlotte l832l90o. . . . . . . . . . . DLl5o
Riddell, |ohn (see Iord, Corey)
Ridge, |ohn Rollin l827l8o7 . . . . . . . . . . DLl75
Ridge, Lola l873l91l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL51
Ridge, William Iett l859l930 . . . . . . . . . DLl35
Riding, Laura (see |ackson, Laura Riding)
Ridler, Anne l9l2200l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Ridruego, Dionisio l9l2l975 . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Riel, Louis l811l885 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Riemer, |ohannes lo18l7l1 . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Riera, Carme l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Rifbjerg, Klaus l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Riffaterre, Michael l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
and |anette Jurner Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Riggs, Lynn l899l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl75
Riis, |acob l819l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23
|ohn C. Riker |publishing house|. . . . . . . . . DL19
Riley, |ames l777l810. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl83
Riley, |ohn l938l978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Rilke, Rainer Maria
l875l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8l; CDWL2
Rimanelli, Giose l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl77
Rimbaud, |eanNicolasArthur
l851l89l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
Rinehart and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Ringuet l895l9o0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Ringwood, Gwen Iharis l9l0l981. . . . . . . DL88
Rinser, Luise l9ll2002. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Ros, Alberto l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Ros, Isabella l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Ripley, Arthur l895l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Ripley, George l802l880 . . . . . DLl, o1, 73, 235
Jhe Rising Glory of America.
Jhree Ioems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Jhe Rising Glory of America. Written in l77l
(l78o), by Hugh Henry rackenridge
and Ihilip Ireneau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Riskin, Robert l897l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Risse, Heinz l898l989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Rist, |ohann lo07loo7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Ristikivi, Karl l9l2l977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
Ritchie, Anna Mowatt l8l9l870 . . . . . DL3, 250
Ritchie, Anne Jhackeray l837l9l9 . . . . . . DLl8
`~ f ai_ POV
RQO
Ritchie, Jhomas l778l851 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
o m~~I l980 ooker Irize winner,
William Golding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Jhe Ritz Iaris Hemingway Award. . . . . . . . . . Y85
Mario Varga Llosa`s Acceptance Speech . . Y85
Rivard, Adjutor l8o8l915. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Rive, Richard l93ll989 . . . . . . . . . DLl25, 225
Rivera, |os l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL219
Rivera, Marina l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Rivera, Joms l935l981. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Rivers, Conrad Kent l933l9o8. . . . . . . . . DL1l
Riverside Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Rivington, |ames circa l721l802. . . . . . . . DL13
Charles Rivington |publishing house|. . . . DLl51
Rivkin, Allen l903l990. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Roa astos, Augusto l9l72005 . . . . . . . . DLll3
RobbeGrillet, Alain l922 . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Robbins, Jom l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y80
Roberts, Charles G. D. l8o0l913 . . . . . . . DL92
Roberts, Dorothy l90ol993 . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Roberts, Elizabeth Madox
l88ll91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9, 51, l02
Roberts, |ohn (see Swynnerton, Jhomas)
Roberts, Kate l89ll985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
Roberts, Keith l9352000. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Roberts, Kenneth l885l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Roberts, Michle l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23l
Roberts, Jheodore Goodridge
l877l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Roberts, Lrsula Wyllie (see Miles, Susan)
Roberts, William l7o7l819 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl12
|ames Roberts |publishing house| . . . . . . . DLl51
Roberts rothers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
A. M. Robertson and Company. . . . . . . . . DL19
Robertson, Ethel Ilorence Lindesay
(see Richardson, Henry Handel)
Robertson, William l72ll793 . . . . . . . . . DLl01
Robin, Leo l895l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Robins, Elizabeth l8o2l952 . . . . . . . . . . DLl97
Robinson, A. Mary I. (Madame |ames
Darmesteter, Madame Mary
Duclaux) l857l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Robinson, Casey l903l979 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Robinson, Derek l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Robinson, Edwin Arlington
l8o9l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL51; CDAL3
Review by Derek Robinson of George
Greenfield`s o a. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Robinson, Henry Crabb l775l8o7 . . . . . DLl07
Robinson, |ames Harvey l8o3l93o. . . . . . DL17
Robinson, Lennox l88ol958. . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Robinson, Mabel Louise l871l9o2 . . . . . . DL22
Robinson, Marilynne l913 . . . . . . . . . DL20o
Robinson, Mary l758l800 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl58
Robinson, Richard circa l515lo07 . . . . . DLlo7
Robinson, Jherese l797l870 . . . . . . . DL59, l33
Robison, Mary l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Robls, Emmanuel l9l1l995 . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Roccatagliata Ceccardi, Ceccardo
l87ll9l9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Rocha, Adolfo Correira da (see Jorga, Miguel)
Roche, illy l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
Rochester, |ohn Wilmot, Earl of
lo17lo80. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3l
Rochon, Esther l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Rock, Howard l9lll97o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Rockwell, Norman Ierceval l891l978 . . DLl88
Rodgers, Carolyn M. l915 . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Rodgers, W. R. l909l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20
Rodney, Lester l9ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Rodoreda, Merc l908l983 . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Rodrigues, Nelson l9l2l980. . . . . . . . . . DL307
Rodrguez, Claudio l931l999. . . . . . . . . DLl31
Rodrguez, |oe D. l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Rodriguez, |udith l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Rodrguez, Luis |. l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Rodriguez, Richard l911 . . . . . . . . DL82, 25o
Rodrguez |ulia, Edgardo l91o . . . . . . DLl15
Roe, E. I. l838l888 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL202
Roethke, Jheodore
l908l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . DL5, 20o; CDALl
Rogers, |ane l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl91
Rogers, Iattiann l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Rogers, Samuel l7o3l855 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL93
Rogers, Will l879l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Rohmer, Sax l883l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL70
Roig, Montserrat l91ol99l. . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Roiphe, Anne l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y80
Rojas, Arnold R. l89ol988 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Rojas, Iernando de ca. l175l51l . . . . . . DL28o
Roland de la Ilatire, Marie|eanne
(Madame Roland) l751l793 . . . . . . . DL3l1
Rolfe, Edwin (Solomon Iishman)
l909l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Rolfe, Irederick William
l8o0l9l3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL31, l5o
Rolland, Romain l8ool911. . . . . . . . . . . . DLo5
Rolle, Richard circa l290l300 l319 . . . DLl1o
Rlvaag, O. E. l87ol93l. . . . . . . . . . . DL9, 2l2
Romains, |ules l885l972. . . . . . . . . . DLo5, 32l
A. Roman and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
o~ ~ oW Guillaume de Lorris
l200/l205circa l230, |ean de
Meun l235l210circa l305. . . . . . . . DL208
Romano, Lalla l90o200l . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl77
Romano, Octavio l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Rome, Harold l908l993. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Romero, Leo l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Romero, Lin l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Romero, Orlando l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Ronsard, Iierre de l521l585 . . . . . . . . . DL327
Rook, Clarence l8o3l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl35
Roosevelt, Jheodore
l858l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL17, l8o, 275
Root, Waverley l903l982. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Root, William Iitt l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Roquebrune, Robert de l889l978. . . . . . . DLo8
Rorty, Richard l93l . . . . . . . . . . .DL21o, 279
Rosa, |oo Guimarres l908l9o7 . . .DLll3, 307
Rosales, Luis l9l0l992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
Roscoe, William l753l83l . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo3
Rose, Dilys l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
Rose, Reginald l9202002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Rose, Wendy l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl75
Rosegger, Ieter l813l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Rosei, Ieter l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
Rosen, Norma l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28
Rosenbach, A. S. W. l87ol952 . . . . . . . . DLl10
Rosenbaum, Ron l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Rosenbaum, Jhane l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Rosenberg, Isaac l890l9l8 . . . . . . . . DL20, 2lo
Rosenfeld, Isaac l9l8l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28
Rosenthal, Harold l9l1l999. . . . . . . . . . DL21l
|immy, Red, and Others. Harold
Rosenthal Remembers the Stars of
the Iress ox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Rosenthal, M. L. l9l7l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Rosenwald, Lessing |. l89ll979 . . . . . . . .DLl87
Ross, Alexander l59llo51 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5l
Ross, Harold l892l95l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl37
Ross, |erry l92ol955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Ross, Leonard _. (see Rosten, Leo)
Ross, Lillian l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Ross, Martin l8o2l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl35
Ross, Sinclair l908l99o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Ross, W. W. E. l891l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Rosselli, Amelia l930l99o . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Rossen, Robert l908l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Rosset, arney l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Rossetti, Christina l830l891. . . DL35, lo3, 210
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel
l828l882 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35; CDL1
Jhe Stealthy School of
Criticism (l87l) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
Rossner, |udith l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Rostand, Edmond l8o8l9l8. . . . . . . . . . DLl92
Rosten, Leo l908l997. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Rostenberg, Leona l9082005 . . . . . . . . . DLl10
ai_ POV `~ f
RQP
`
Rostopchina, Evdokiia Ietrovna

l8lll858 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Rostovsky, Dimitrii lo5ll709. . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Rota, ertram l903l9oo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
ertram Rota and His ookshop . . . . . . . .Y9l
Roth, Gerhard l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85, l21
Roth, Henry l90o.l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28
Roth, |oseph l891l939. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
Roth, Ihilip
l933 . . . . . DL2, 28, l73; Y82; CDALo
Rothenberg, |erome l93l . . . . . . . . . DL5, l93
Rothschild Iamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Rotimi, Ola l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl25
Rotrou, |ean lo09lo50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Rousseau, |ean|acques l7l2l778 . . . . . . . DL3l1
q p~ `~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Routhier, Adolpheasile l839l920 . . . . . . DL99
Routier, Simone l90ll987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
George Routledge and Sons. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Roversi, Roberto l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Rowe, Elizabeth Singer lo71l737 . . . . . DL39, 95
Rowe, Nicholas lo71l7l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL81
Rowlands, Ian l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Rowlands, Samuel circa l570lo30 . . . . . . DLl2l
Rowlandson, Mary
circa lo37circa l7ll . . . . . . . . . . . DL21, 200
Rowley, William circa l585lo2o . . . . . . . . DL58
Rowling, |. K.
Jhe Harry Iotter Ihenomenon . . . . . . . . .Y99
Rowse, A. L. l903l997. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
Rowson, Susanna Haswell
circa l7o2l821 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37, 200
Roy, Arundhati l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . DL323, 32o
Roy, Camille l870l913. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Jhe G. Ross Roy Scottish Ioetry Collection
at the Lniversity of South Carolina . . . . . .Y89
Roy, Gabrielle l909l983. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Roy, |ules l9072000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Jhe Royal Court Jheatre and the English
Stage Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Jhe Royal Court Jheatre and the New
Drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Jhe Royal Shakespeare Company
at the Swan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y88
Royall, Anne Newport l7o9l851 . . . . DL13, 218
Royce, |osiah l855l9lo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL270
Jhe Roycroft Irinting Shop. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
RoydeSmith, Naomi l875l9o1 . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Royster, Vermont l9l1l99o . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Richard Royston |publishing house| . . . . . DLl70
Rozanov, Vasilii Vasilèvich
l85ol9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Rewicz, Tadeusz l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Ruark, Gibbons l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Ruban, Vasilii Grigorevich l712l795 . . . . DLl50
Rubens, ernice l9282001 . . . . . DLl1, 207, 32o
Rubio, Murilo l9lol99l. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Rubina, Dina Ilìnichna l953 . . . . . . . . DL285
Rubinshtein, Lev Semenovich l917 . . . DL285
Rudd and Carleton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Rudd, Steele (Arthur Hoey Davis). . . . . . . DL230
Rudkin, David l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Rudnick, Iaul l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2oo
Rudnicki, Adolf l909l990 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Rudolf von Ems circa l200circa l251. . . . DLl38
Ruffin, |osephine St. Iierre l812l921. . . . . DL79
Rufo, |uan Gutirrez l517.lo20. . . . . . . . DL3l8
Ruganda, |ohn l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Ruggles, Henry |oseph l8l3l90o. . . . . . . . DLo1
Ruiz de urton, Mara Amparo
l832l895 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209, 22l
Rukeyser, Muriel l9l3l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL18
Rule, |ane l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Rulfo, |uan l9l8l98o . . . . . . DLll3; CDWL3
Rumaker, Michael l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Rumens, Carol l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Rummo, IaulEerik l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Runyon, Damon
l880l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll, 8o, l7l
o circa l050l075 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Rush, enjamin l71ol8l3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Rush, Rebecca l779.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Rushdie, Salman l917 . . . . . . DLl91, 323, 32o
Rusk, Ralph L. l888l9o2. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Ruskin, |ohn
l8l9l900 . . . . . . DL55, lo3, l90; CDL1
Russ, |oanna l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Russell, enjamin l7oll815 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Russell, ertrand l872l970. . . . . . . . DLl00, 2o2
Russell, Charles Edward l8o0l91l . . . . . . DL25
Russell, Charles M. l8o1l92o . . . . . . . . . DLl88
Russell, Eric Irank l905l978 . . . . . . . . . . DL255
Russell, Ired l90o2003. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Russell, George William (see AE)
Russell, Countess Mary Annette eauchamp
(see Arnim, Elizabeth von)
Russell, Willy l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
. . Russell and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
R. H. Russell and Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Rutebeuf fl.l219l277 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL208
Rutherford, Mark l83ll9l3. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8
Ruxton, George Irederick
l82ll818 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8o
Rva, Zeneida (see Gan, Elena Andreevna)
Ryan, Gig l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Ryan, |ames l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Ryan, Michael l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Ryan, Oscar l901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Rybakov, Anatolii Naumovich
l9lll991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Ryder, |ack l87ll93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Ryga, George l932l987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Rylands, Enriqueta Augustina Jennant
l813l908 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Rylands, |ohn l80ll888. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Ryle, Gilbert l900l97o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Ryleev, Kondratii Iedorovich
l795l82o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Rymer, Jhomas lo13.l7l3 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0l
Ryskind, Morrie l895l985. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Rzhevsky, Aleksei Andreevich
l737l801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
p
Jhe Saalfield Iublishing Company . . . . . . . DL1o
Saba, Lmberto l883l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Sbato, Ernesto l9ll . . . . DLl15; CDWL3
Saberhagen, Ired l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Sabin, |oseph l82ll88l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Sabino, Iernando (Iernando Javares Sabino)
l9232001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Sacer, Gottfried Wilhelm lo35lo99 . . . . . DLlo8
Sachs, Hans l191l57o . . . . . DLl79; CDWL2
SCarneiro, Mrio de l890l9lo . . . . . . . DL287
Sack, |ohn l9302001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Sackler, Howard l929l982. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Sackville, Lady Margaret l88ll9o3 . . . . . DL210
Sackville, Jhomas l53olo08 and
Norton, Jhomas l532l581 . . . . . . . . . DLo2
Sackville, Jhomas l53olo08 . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
SackvilleWest, Edward l90ll9o5 . . . . . . DLl9l
SackvilleWest, Vita l892l9o2 . . . . . . DL31, l95
p~ eI l992 ooker Irize winner,
arry Lnsworth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
S de Miranda, Irancisco de
l18ll588. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Sade, Marquis de (DonatienAlphonseIranois,
comte de Sade) l710l8l1. . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
'Dialogue entre un prtre et un
moribond" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Sadlier, Mary Anne l820l903 . . . . . . . . . . DL99
D. and |. Sadlier and Company. . . . . . . . . . DL19
Sadoff, Ira l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Sadoveanu, Mihail l880l9ol . . . . . . . . . . DL220
Sadur, Nina Nikolaevna l950 . . . . . . . . DL285
Senz, enjamin Alire l951 . . . . . . . . . DL209
Saenz, |aime l92ll98o . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15, 283
Saffin, |ohn circa lo2ol7l0. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Sagan, Iranoise l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Sage, Robert l899l9o2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
`~ f ai_ POV
RQQ
Sagel, |im l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Sagendorph, Robb Hansell l900l970 . . . DLl37
Sahagn, Carlos l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Sahgal, Nayantara l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Sahkomaapii, Iiitai (see Highwater, |amake)
Sahl, Hans l902l993. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Said, Edward W. l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
Saigy lll8ll90 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Saijo, Albert l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Saiko, George l892l9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
Sainteeuve, CharlesAugustin
l801l8o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
SaintExupry, Antoine de l900l911. . . . . DL72
SaintGelais, Mellin de l190.l558. . . . . . DL327
St. |ohn, |. Allen l872l957. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl88
St |ohn, Madeleine l912 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
St. |ohns, Adela Rogers l891l988. . . . . . . DL29
St. Omer, Garth l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll7
Saint Iierre, Michel de l9lol987 . . . . . . . DL83
Saintsbury, George l815l933 . . . . . . . DL57, l19
'Modern English Irose`` (l87o) . . . . . . DL57
Jhe Iresent State of the English
Novel (l892), . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8
SaintSimon, Louis de Rouvroy, duc de
lo75l755 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
St. Dominic`s Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Jhe St. |ohn`s College Robert Graves Jrust. . . Y9o
St. Martin`s Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
pK k~ l873l88l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl3
Saiokuken Sch l118l532. . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Saki (see Munro, H. H.)
Salaam, Kalamu ya l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
Salacrou, Armand l899l989 . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
Salamun, Joma l91l . . . DLl8l; CDWL1
Salas, Iloyd l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
SlazMarquez, Rubn l935 . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Salcedo, Hugo l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Salemson, Harold |. l9l0l988. . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Salesbury, William l520.l581. . . . . . . . . DL28l
Salinas, Luis Omar l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Salinas, Iedro l89ll95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31
Salinger, |. D.
l9l9 . . . . . . . . . .DL2, l02, l73; CDALl
Salkey, Andrew l928l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl25
Sallust circa 8o _.`.35 _.`.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ll; CDWLl
Salt, Waldo l9l1l987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Salter, |ames l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Salter, Mary |o l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Saltus, Edgar l855l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL202
Saltykov, Mikhail Evgrafovich
l82ol889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Salustri, Carlo Alberto (see Jrilussa)
Salverson, Laura Goodman l890l970. . . . DL92
Samain, Albert l858l900 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
Sampson, Richard Henry (see Hull, Richard)
Samuels, Ernest l903l99o. . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Sanborn, Iranklin enjamin
l83ll9l7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 223
Snchez, Ilorencio l875l9l0 . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Snchez, Luis Rafael l93o . . . . . . DLl15, 305
Snchez, Ihilomeno 'Ihil`` l9l7 . . . . . DLl22
Snchez, Ricardo l91ll995. . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Snchez, Sal l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Sanchez, Sonia l931 . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l; DS8
Snchez de Arvalo, Rodrigo
l101l170. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Snchez de adajoz, Diego .l552. . . . . . DL3l8
Snchez Ierlosio, Rafael l927 . . . . . . . . DL322
Sand, George l801l87o. . . . . . . . . . DLll9, l92
Sandburg, Carl
l878l9o7. . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7, 51; CDAL3
Sandel, Cora (Sara Iabricius)
l880l971. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Sandemose, Aksel l899l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Sanders, Edward l939 . . . . . . . . . . DLlo, 211
Sanderson, Robert l587loo3. . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Sandoz, Mari l89ol9oo. . . . . . . . . . . . DL9, 2l2
Sandwell, . K. l87ol951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Sandy, Stephen l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo5
Sandys, George l578lo11 . . . . . . . . . DL21, l2l
Sangster, Charles l822l893. . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Sanguineti, Edoardo l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Sanjnishi Sanetaka l155l537. . . . . . . . . DL203
San Iedro, Diego de fl. ca. l192. . . . . . . . DL28o
Sansay, Leonora .after l823 . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Sansom, William l9l2l97o . . . . . . . . . . . DLl39
SantÀnna, Affonso Romano de
l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Santayana, George
l8o3l952 . . . . . . DL51, 7l, 21o, 270; DSl3
Santiago, Danny l9lll988 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Santillana, Marqus de (igo Lpez de Mendoza)
l398l158 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Santmyer, Helen Hooven l895l98o . . . . . . . . Y81
Santos, ienvenido l9lll99o . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Sanvitale, Irancesca l928 . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Sapidus, |oannes l190l5ol . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl79
Sapir, Edward l881l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Sapper (see McNeile, Herman Cyril)
Sappho circa o20 _.`.circa 550 _.`.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o; CDWLl
Saramago, |os l922 . . . . . . . . . . DL287; Y98
Nobel Lecture l998. How Characters
ecame the Masters and the Author
Jheir Apprentice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Sarban ( |ohn W. Wall) l9l0l989 . . . . . . DL255
Sardou, Victorien l83ll908 . . . . . . . . . . DLl92
Sarduy, Severo l937l993. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll3
Sargent, Iamela l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
SaroWiwa, Ken l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl57
Saroyan, Aram
Rites of Iassage |on William Saroyan| . . . . Y83
Saroyan, William
l908l98l . . . . . DL7, 9, 8o; Y8l; CDAL7
Sarraute, Nathalie l900l999 . . . . . . . DL83, 32l
Sarrazin, Albertine l937l9o7. . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Sarris, Greg l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl75
Sarton, May l9l2l995 . . . . . . . . . . . DL18; Y8l
Sartre, |eanIaul l905l980 . . . . .DL72, 29o, 32l
Sassoon, Siegfried
l88ol9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20, l9l; DSl8
A Centenary Essay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8o
Jributes from Vivien I. Clarke and
Michael Jhorpe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8o
Sata Ineko l901l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Saturday Review Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Saunders, |ames l9252001 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Saunders, |ohn Monk l897l910 . . . . . . . . DL2o
Saunders, Margaret Marshall
l8oll917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Saunders and Otley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Saussure, Ierdinand de l857l9l3 . . . . . . DL212
Savage, |ames l781l873. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Savage, Marmion W. l803.l872. . . . . . . . DL2l
Savage, Richard lo97.l713 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL95
Savard, IlixAntoine l89ol982 . . . . . . . . DLo8
Savery, Henry l79ll812 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Saville, (Leonard) Malcolm l90ll982. . . DLlo0
p~I l97o ooker Irize winner,
David Storey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Savinio, Alberto l89ll952 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
Sawyer, Robert |. l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Sawyer, Ruth l880l970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Sayer, Mandy l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Sayers, Dorothy L.
l893l957 . . . . DLl0, 3o, 77, l00; CDLo
Jhe Dorothy L. Sayers Society . . . . . . . . . Y98
Sayle, Charles Edward l8o1l921 . . . . . . DLl81
Sayles, |ohn Jhomas l950 . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Sbarbaro, Camillo l888l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Scalapino, Leslie l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl93
Scannell, Vernon l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Scarry, Richard l9l9l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Scve, Maurice circa l502circa l5o1 . . . . DL327
Schack, Hans Egede l820l859 . . . . . . . . DL300
Schaefer, |ack l907l99l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l2
Schaeffer, Albrecht l885l950 . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Schaeffer, Susan Iromberg l91l . . DL28, 299
ai_ POV `~ f
RQR
`
Schaff, Ihilip l8l9l893. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl3

Schaper, Edzard l908l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Scharf, |. Jhomas l813l898. . . . . . . . . . . . DL17
Schede, Iaul Melissus l539lo02. . . . . . . . DLl79
Scheffel, |oseph Viktor von l82ol88o . . . DLl29
Scheffler, |ohann lo21lo77. . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Schhad, Georges l905l999 . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
Schelling, Iriedrich Wilhelm |oseph von
l775l851 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Scherer, Wilhelm l81ll88o . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Scherfig, Hans l905l979. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Schickele, Ren l883l910. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Schiff, Dorothy l903l989. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Schiller, Iriedrich
l759l805 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91; CDWL2
p Î l982 ooker Irize winner,
Jhomas Keneally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Schirmer, David lo23lo87 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Schlaf, |ohannes l8o2l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll8
Schlegel, August Wilhelm l7o7l815 . . . . . . DL91
Schlegel, Dorothea l7o3l839 . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Schlegel, Iriedrich l772l829. . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Schleiermacher, Iriedrich l7o8l831 . . . . . . DL90
Schlesinger, Arthur M., |r. l9l7 . . . . . . . . DLl7
Schlumberger, |ean l877l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . DLo5
Schmid, Eduard Hermann Wilhelm
(see Edschmid, Kasimir)
Schmidt, Arno l9l1l979. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Schmidt, |ohann Kaspar (see Stirner, Max)
Schmidt, Michael l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Schmidtbonn, Wilhelm August
l87ol952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll8
Schmitz, Aron Hector (see Svevo, Italo)
Schmitz, |ames H. l9lll98l. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Schnabel, |ohann Gottfried lo92l7o0. . . . DLlo8
Schnackenberg, Gjertrud l953 . . . . . . . DLl20
Schnitzler, Arthur
l8o2l93l . . . . . . . . . DL8l, ll8; CDWL2
Schnurre, Wolfdietrich l920l989 . . . . . . . . DLo9
Schocken ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Scholartis Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Scholderer, Victor l880l97l . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Jhe Schomburg Center for Research
in lack Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7o
Schnbeck, Virgilio (see Giotti, Virgilio)
Schnherr, Karl l8o7l913. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll8
Schoolcraft, |ane |ohnston l800l81l . . . . DLl75
School Stories, l9l1l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Schopenhauer, Arthur l788l8o0. . . . . . . . . DL90
Schopenhauer, |ohanna l7ool838. . . . . . . . DL90
Schorer, Mark l908l977. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Schottelius, |ustus Georg lol2lo7o . . . . . DLlo1
Schouler, |ames l839l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL17
Schoultz, Solveig von l907l99o . . . . . . . . DL259
Schrader, Iaul l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Schreiner, Olive
l855l920 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8, l5o, l90, 225
Schroeder, Andreas l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Schubart, Christian Iriedrich Daniel
l739l79l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL97
Schubert, Gotthilf Heinrich l780l8o0 . . . . DL90
Schcking, Levin l8l1l883 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl33
Schulberg, udd l9l1 . . . . . DLo, 2o, 28; Y8l
Excerpts from LSC Iresentation
|on I. Scott Iitzgerald| . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y9o
I. |. Schulte and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Schulz, runo l892l912. . . . DL2l5; CDWL1
Schulze, Hans (see Iraetorius, |ohannes)
Schupp, |ohann althasar lol0lool. . . . . DLlo1
Schurz, Carl l829l90o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23
Schuyler, George S. l895l977. . . . . . . . DL29, 5l
Schuyler, |ames l923l99l . . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo9
Schwartz, Delmore l9l3l9oo . . . . . . . . DL28, 18
Schwartz, |onathan l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82
Schwartz, Lynne Sharon l939 . . . . . . . DL2l8
Schwarz, Sibylle lo2llo38 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Schwarzart, Andre l928 . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Schwerner, Armand l927l999 . . . . . . . . . DLlo5
Schwob, Marcel l8o7l905 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl23
Sciascia, Leonardo l92ll989 . . . . . . . . . . DLl77
Science Iiction and Iantasy
Documents in ritish Iantasy and
Science Iiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl78
Hugo Awards and Nebula Awards . . . . . DL8
Jhe Iconography of ScienceIiction
Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Jhe New Wave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Iaperback Science Iiction . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Science Iantasy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
ScienceIiction Iandom and
Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
ScienceIiction Ianzines. Jhe Jime
inders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
ScienceIiction Iilms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Science Iiction Writers of America
and the Nebula Award . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Selected ScienceIiction Magazines and
Anthologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
A World Chronology of Important Science
Iiction Works (l8l8l979) . . . . . . . . DL8
Jhe Year in Science Iiction
and Iantasy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00, 0l
Scot, Reginald circa l538l599 . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Scotellaro, Rocco l923l953 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Scott, Alicia Anne (Lady |ohn Scott)
l8l0l900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Scott, Catharine Amy Dawson
l8o5l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Scott, Dennis l939l99l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl25
Scott, Dixon l88ll9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL98
Scott, Duncan Campbell l8o2l917 . . . . . . DL92
Scott, Evelyn l893l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9, 18
Scott, I. R. l899l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Scott, Irederick George l8oll911 . . . . . . . DL92
Scott, Geoffrey l881l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl19
Scott, Harvey W. l838l9l0 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23
Scott, |ohn l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Scott, Lady |ane (see Scott, Alicia Anne)
Scott, Iaul l920l978. . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 207, 32o
Scott, Sarah l723l795 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Scott, Jom l9l8l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Scott, Sir Walter l77ll832
. . . . . . DL93, l07, llo, l11, l59; CDL3
Scott, William ell l8lll890 . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Walter Scott Iublishing Company
Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
William R. Scott |publishing house|. . . . . . . DL1o
ScottHeron, Gil l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Scribe, Eugene l79ll8ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl92
Scribner, Arthur Hawley l859l932 . . . . DSl3, lo
Scribner, Charles l851l930 . . . . . . . . . . DSl3, lo
Scribner, Charles, |r. l92ll995. . . . . . . . . . . . .Y95
Reminiscences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl7
Charles Scribner`s Sons . . . . DL19; DSl3, lo, l7
Archives of Charles Scribner`s Sons . . . . DSl7
p j~~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl3
p j . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl3
Scripps, E. W. l851l92o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Scudder, Horace Elisha l838l902 . . . . DL12, 7l
Scudder, Vida Dutton l8oll951 . . . . . . . . DL7l
Scudry, Madeleine de lo07l70l. . . . . . . . .DL2o8
Scupham, Ieter l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
q p~I 2005 ooker Irize winner,
|ohn anville. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
q p~I q p~I l978 ooker Irize winner,
Iris Murdoch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Seabrook, William l88ol915 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Seabury, Samuel l729l79o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Seacole, Mary |ane Grant l805l88l . . . . DLloo
q p~~ circa 970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Sealsfield, Charles (Carl Iostl)
l793l8o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl33, l8o
Searle, |ohn R. l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL279
Sears, Edward I. l8l9.l87o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL79
Sears Iublishing Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Seaton, George l9lll979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Seaton, William Winston l785l8oo . . . . . . DL13
Sebillet, Jhomas l5l2l589. . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Martin Secker |publishing house|. . . . . . . . DLll2
Martin Secker, and Warburg Limited . . . . DLll2
`~ f ai_ POV
RQS
Jhe 'Second Generation" Holocaust
Novel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Sedgwick, Arthur George l811l9l5 . . . . . DLo1
Sedgwick, Catharine Maria
l789l8o7. . . . . . . . . .DLl, 71, l83, 239, 213
Sedgwick, Ellery l872l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9l
Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky l950 . . . . . . . DL21o
Sedley, Sir Charles lo39l70l. . . . . . . . . . DLl3l
Seeberg, Ieter l925l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Seeger, Alan l888l9lo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL15
Seers, Eugene (see Dantin, Louis)
Segal, Erich l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8o
Segal, Lore l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Segedin, Ietar l909l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Seghers, Anna l900l983 . . . . DLo9; CDWL2
Seid, Ruth (see Sinclair, |o)
Seidel, Irederick Lewis l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
Seidel, Ina l885l971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5o
Seifert, |aroslav
l90ll98o . . . . . . . DL2l5; Y81; CDWL1
|aroslav Seifert Jhrough the Eyes of
the EnglishSpeaking Reader . . . . . . . . Y81
Jhree Ioems by |aroslav Seifert . . . . . . . . . Y81
Seifullina, Lidiia Nikolaevna l889l951 . . DL272
Seigenthaler, |ohn l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Seizin Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Sjour, Victor l8l7l871 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL50
Sjour Marcou et Ierrand, |uan Victor
(see Sjour, Victor)
Sekowski, |sef|ulian, aron rambeus
(see Senkovsky, Osip Ivanovich)
Selby, ettina l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
Selby, Hubert |r. l9282001 . . . . . . . . . DL2, 227
Selden, George l929l989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Selden, |ohn l581lo51 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Seleni, Slobodan l933l995 . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Self, Edwin I. l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
Self, Will l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL207
Seligman, Edwin R. A. l8oll939 . . . . . . . DL17
Selimovi, Mesa
l9l0l982. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l; CDWL1
Sellars, Wilfrid l9l2l989 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL279
Sellings, Arthur (Arthur Gordon Ley)
l9lll9o8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Selous, Irederick Courteney l85ll9l7 . . .DLl71
Seltzer, Chester E. (see Muro, Amado)
Jhomas Seltzer |publishing house| . . . . . . . DL1o
Selvadurai, Shyam l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Selvon, Sam l923l991. . . . . DLl25; CDWL3
Semel, Nava l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Semmes, Raphael l809l877. . . . . . . . . . . DLl89
Senancour, Etienne de l770l81o . . . . . . . DLll9
Sena, |orge de l9l9l978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Sendak, Maurice l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Sender, Ramn |. l90ll982 . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Seneca the Elder
circa 51 _.`.circa ^.a. 10. . . . . . . . . . DL2ll
Seneca the Younger
circa l _.`.^.a. o5 . . . . . DL2ll; CDWLl
Sencal, Eva l905l988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Sengstacke, |ohn l9l2l997 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl27
Senior, Olive l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Senkovsky, Osip Ivanovich
( |zef|ulian Sekowski, aron rambeus)
l800l858 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
Senoa, August l838l88l . . . .DLl17; CDWL1
Sentimental Iiction of the Sixteenth
Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Sepamla, Sipho l932 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57, 225
Serafimovich, Aleksandr Serafimovich
(Aleksandr Serafimovich Iopov)
l8o3l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL272
Serao, Matilde l85ol927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
Seredy, Kate l899l975. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Sereni, Vittorio l9l3l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
William Seres |publishing house| . . . . . . . .DLl70
SergeevJsensky, Sergei Nikolaevich (Sergei
Nikolaevich Sergeev) l875l958 . . . . .DL272
Serling, Rod l921l975. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Sernine, Daniel l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Serote, Mongane Wally l911 . . . . DLl25, 225
Serraillier, Ian l9l2l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
Serrano, Nina l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Service, Robert l871l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Sessler, Charles l851l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Seth, Vikram l952 . . . . . . . . . DLl20, 27l, 323
Seton, Elizabeth Ann l771l82l . . . . . . . . DL200
Seton, Ernest Jhompson
l8o0l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92; DSl3
Seton, |ohn circa l509l5o7 . . . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Setouchi Harumi l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Settle, Mary Lee l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Seume, |ohann Gottfried l7o3l8l0 . . . . . . DL91
Seuse, Heinrich l295.l3oo . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl79
Seuss, Dr. (see Geisel, Jheodor Seuss)
Severianin, Igor` l887l91l. . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Severin, Jimothy l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
Svign, Marie de Rabutin Chantal,
Madame de lo2olo9o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Sewall, |oseph lo88l7o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Sewall, Richard . l9082003. . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Sewall, Samuel lo52l730. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Sewell, Anna l820l878 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo3
Sewell, Stephen l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Sexton, Anne l928l971. . . DL5, lo9; CDALl
SeymourSmith, Martin l928l998. . . . . . DLl55
Sgorlon, Carlo l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Shaara, Michael l929l988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
Shabel`skaia, Aleksandra Stanislavovna
l815l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Shadwell, Jhomas lo1l.lo92. . . . . . . . . . DL80
Shaffer, Anthony l92o200l. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Shaffer, Ieter l92o . . . . DLl3, 233; CDL8
Muhammad ibn Idris alShafi'i 7o7820 . . DL3ll
Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper,
Jhird Earl of lo7ll7l3 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0l
Shaginian, Marietta Sergeevna
l888l982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL272
Shairp, Mordaunt l887l939 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Shakespeare, Nicholas l957 . . . . . . . . . DL23l
Shakespeare, William
l5o1lolo . . . . . DLo2, l72, 2o3; CDLl
Jhe New Variorum Shakespeare . . . . . . . . Y85
Shakespeare and Montaigne. A Symposium
by |ules Iurthman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
$o,loo,000 for a _> Observations on
q p~~ c cW q e
_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
JaylorMade Shakespeare. Or Is
'`Shall I Die.`` the LongLost Jext
of ottom`s Dream. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y85
Jhe Shakespeare Globe Jrust . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y93
Shakespeare Head Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Shakhova, Elisaveta Nikitichna
l822l899 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL277
Shakhovskoi, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich
l777l81o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Shalamov, Varlam Jikhonovich
l907l982. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
alShanfara fl. sixth century . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Shange, Ntozake l918 . . . . . . . . . . DL38, 219
Shapcott, Jhomas W. l935 . . . . . . . . . DL289
Shapir, Ol`ga Andreevna l850l9lo. . . . . DL295
Shapiro, Karl l9l32000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL18
Sharon Iublications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Sharov, Vladimir Aleksandrovich
l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
Sharp, Margery l905l99l. . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
Sharp, William l855l905 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5o
Sharpe, Jom l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 23l
Shaw, Albert l857l917. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9l
Shaw, George ernard
l85ol950 . . . . . . . DLl0, 57, l90, CDLo
Jhe ernard Shaw Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
'Stage Censorship. Jhe Rejected
Statement" (l9ll) |excerpts|. . . . . DLl0
Shaw, Henry Wheeler l8l8l885. . . . . . . . DLll
Shaw, Irwin
l9l3l981 . . . . . . DLo, l02; Y81; CDALl
Shaw, |oseph J. l871l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl37
'As I Was Saying," |oseph J. Shaw`s
Editorial Rationale in _~ j~
( |anuary l927) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl37
Shaw, Mary l851l929. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL228
ai_ POV `~ f
RQT
`
Shaw, Robert l927l978. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, l1

Shaw, Robert . l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Shawn, Wallace l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2oo
Shawn, William l907l992. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
Irank Shay |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Shchedrin, N. (see Saltykov, Mikhail Evgrafovich)
Shcherbakova, Galina Nikolaevna
l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
Shcherbina, Nikolai Iedorovich
l82ll8o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL277
Shea, |ohn Gilmary l821l892 . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Sheaffer, Louis l9l2l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Sheahan, Henry eston (see eston, Henry)
Shearing, |oseph l88ol952. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL70
Shebbeare, |ohn l709l788. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Sheckley, Robert l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Shedd, William G. J. l820l891 . . . . . . . . . DLo1
Sheed, Wilfrid l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Sheed and Ward |L.S.| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Sheed and Ward Limited |L.K.| . . . . . . . . DLll2
Sheldon, Alice . (see Jiptree, |ames, |r.)
Sheldon, Edward l88ol91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Sheldon and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Sheller, Aleksandr Konstantinovich
l838l900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft l797l85l
. . . . . . . . . DLll0, llo, l59, l78; CDL3
Ireface to c~X I q
j m (l8l8) . . . . . . . . DLl78
Shelley, Iercy ysshe
l792l822 . . . . . . DL9o, ll0, l58; CDL3
Shelnutt, Eve l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Shen Congwen l902l988. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Shenshin (see Iet, Afanasii Afanasèvich)
Shenstone, William l7l1l7o3 . . . . . . . . . . . DL95
Shepard, Clark and rown . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Shepard, Ernest Howard l879l97o. . . . . . DLlo0
Shepard, Sam l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7, 2l2
Shepard, Jhomas I, lo01 or lo05lo19 . . . DL21
Shepard, Jhomas, II, lo35lo77 . . . . . . . . . DL21
Shepherd, Luke fl. l517l551. . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Sherburne, Edward lolol702. . . . . . . . . . DLl3l
Sheridan, Irances l721l7oo . . . . . . . . . DL39, 81
Sheridan, Richard rinsley
l75ll8lo . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL89; CDL2
Sherman, Irancis l87ll92o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Sherman, Martin l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL228
Sherriff, R. C. l89ol975 . . . . . . . DLl0, l9l, 233
Sherrod, lackie l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Sherry, Norman l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
Jribute to Graham Greene . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y9l
Sherry, Richard l50ol55l or l555. . . . . . DL23o
Sherwood, Mary Martha l775l85l . . . . . DLlo3
Sherwood, Robert E. l89ol955 . . . DL7, 2o, 219
Shevyrev, Stepan Ietrovich
l80ol8o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Shi Juo (Lu Ien) l9l0l988 . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Shiel, M. I. l8o5l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl53
Shiels, George l88ol919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Shiga Naoya l883l97l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Shiina Rinz l9lll973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Shikishi Naishinn ll53.l20l . . . . . . . . . DL203
Shillaber, enjamin Ienhallow
l8l1l890 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, ll, 235
Shimao Joshio l9l7l98o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Shimazaki Json l872l913 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Shimose, Iedro l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Shine, Jed l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
Shinkei l10ol175 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Ship, Reuben l9l5l975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Shirer, William L. l901l993. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
ShirinskyShikhmatov, Sergii Aleksandrovich
l783l837 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Shirley, |ames l59olooo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL58
Shishkov, Aleksandr Semenovich
l753l81l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Shmelev, I. S. l873l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Shockley, Ann Allen l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Sholokhov, Mikhail Aleksandrovich
l905l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL272
Shno |unz l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Shore, Arabella l820.l90l. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99
Shore, Louisa l821l895 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99
Short, Luke (see Glidden, Irederick Dilley)
Ieter Short |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . DLl70
Shorter, Dora Sigerson l8ool9l8 . . . . . . . DL210
Shorthouse, |oseph Henry l831l903 . . . . . DLl8
Short Stories
Michael M. Rea and the Rea Award
for the Short Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Jhe Year in Short Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y87
Jhe Year in the Short Story. . . . . . . Y88, 90-93
Shtetsu l38ll159 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Showalter, Elaine l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7
Shreve, Anita l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Shteiger, Anatolii l907l911. . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Shukshin, Vasilii Makarovich
l929l971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Shulevitz, Lri l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Shulman, Max l9l9l988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Shute, Henry A. l85ol913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Shute, Nevil (Nevil Shute Norway)
l899l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL255
Shuttle, Ienelope l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 10
Shvarts, Evgenii L`vovich l89ol958 . . . . . DL272
Sibawayhi circa 750circa 795. . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Sibbes, Richard l577lo35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5l
Sibiriak, D. (see Mamin, Dmitrii Narkisovich)
Siddal, Elizabeth Eleanor l829l8o2 . . . . . DLl99
Sidgwick, Ethel l877l970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl97
Sidgwick, Henry l838l900. . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Sidgwick and |ackson Limited. . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Sidhwa, apsi l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Sidney, Margaret (see Lothrop, Harriet M.)
Sidney, Mary l5ollo2l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo7
Sidney, Sir Ihilip
l551l58o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo7; CDLl
^ ^ m (the Olney edition,
l595, of a mF . . . . . . . . DLlo7
Sidney`s Iress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
q p h~I l973 ooker Irize winner,
|. G. Iarrell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Sierra, Rubn l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Sierra Club ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Siger of rabant circa l210circa l281. . . . DLll5
Sigourney, Lydia Huntley
l79ll8o5 . . . . . . DLl, 12, 73, l83, 239, 213
Silkin, |on l930l997. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Silko, Leslie Marmon
l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl13, l75, 25o, 275
Silliman, enjamin l779l8o1 . . . . . . . . . . DLl83
Silliman, Ron l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo9
Silliphant, Stirling l9l8l99o. . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Sillitoe, Alan l928 . . . . . DLl1, l39; CDL8
Jribute to |. . Iriestly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y81
Silman, Roberta l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28
Silone, Ignazio (Secondino Jranquilli)
l900l978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
Silva, everly l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Silva, Clara l905l97o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Silva, |os Asunci l8o5l89o . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Silverberg, Robert l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Silverman, Kaja l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
Silverman, Kenneth l93o . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Simak, Clifford D. l901l988 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Simcoe, Elizabeth l7o2l850 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Simcox, Edith |emima l811l90l . . . . . . . DLl90
Simcox, George Augustus l81ll905 . . . . . DL35
Sime, |essie Georgina l8o8l958. . . . . . . . . DL92
Simenon, Georges l903l989 . . . . . . DL72; Y89
Simic, Charles l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
'Images and 'Images`". . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Simionescu, Mircea Horia l928 . . . . . . . DL232
Simmel, Georg l858l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
Simmel, |ohannes Mario l921 . . . . . . . . DLo9
Valentine Simmes |publishing house|. . . . . DLl70
Simmons, Ernest |. l903l972 . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Simmons, Herbert Alfred l930 . . . . . . . . DL33
Simmons, |ames l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
`~ f ai_ POV
RQU
Simms, William Gilmore
l80ol870. . . . . . . . . . . .DL3, 30, 59, 73, 218
Simms and MÌntyre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Simon, Claude l9l32005. . . . . . . . . . DL83; Y85
Nobel Lecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y85
Simon, Neil l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL7, 2oo
Simon and Schuster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Simonov, Konstantin Mikhailovich
l9l5l979. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Simons, Katherine Drayton Mayrant
l890l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
Simovi, Ljubomir l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Simpkin and Marshall
|publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl51
Simpson, Helen l897l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
Simpson, Louis l923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Simpson, N. I. l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Sims, George l923l999. . . . . . . . . . . DL87; Y99
Sims, George Robert l817l922 . . .DL35, 70, l35
Sinn, Rogelio l902l991. . . . . . . . . DLl15, 290
Sinclair, Andrew l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Sinclair, ertrand William l88ll972 . . . . . DL92
Sinclair, Catherine l800l8o1. . . . . . . . . . DLlo3
Sinclair, Clive l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
Sinclair, |o l9l3l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28
Sinclair, Lister l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Sinclair, May l8o3l91o . . . . . . . . . . . DL3o, l35
Jhe Novels of Dorothy Richardson
(l9l8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3o
Sinclair, Lpton l878l9o8. . . . . . DL9; CDAL5
Lpton Sinclair |publishing house|. . . . . . . . DL1o
Singer, Isaac ashevis l901l99l
. . . . . . . . . DLo, 28, 52, 278; Y9l; CDALl
Singer, Mark l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Singh, Khushwant l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL323
Singmaster, Elsie l879l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Siniavsky, Andrei (Abram Jertz)
l925l997. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Sinisgalli, Leonardo l908l98l. . . . . . . . . DLll1
Siodmak, Curt l9022000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Srbu, Ion D. l9l9l989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Siringo, Charles A. l855l928 . . . . . . . . . DLl8o
Sissman, L. E. l928l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Sisson, C. H. l9l12003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27
Sitwell, Edith l887l9o1 . . . . . . DL20; CDL7
Sitwell, Osbert l892l9o9. . . . . . . . . DLl00, l95
Sivanandan, Ambalavaner l923 . . . . . DL323
SixteenthCentury Spanish Epic, Jhe. . . . DL3l8
Skcel, |an l922l989. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Skalbe, Krlis l879l915. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
Skrmeta, Antonio
l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15; CDWL3
Skavronsky, A. (see Danilevsky, Grigorii Ietrovich)
Skeat, Walter W. l835l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
William Skeffington |publishing house| . . DLl0o
Skelton, |ohn l1o3l529. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Skelton, Robin l925l997. . . . . . . . . . . . DL27, 53
kma, Antanas l9l0l9ol. . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
Skinner, Constance Lindsay
l877l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Skinner, |ohn Stuart l788l85l. . . . . . . . . . DL73
Skipsey, |oseph l832l903 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
SkouHansen, Jage l925 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Skrzynecki, Ieter l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
kvoreck, Josef l921 . . . . DL232; CDWL1
Slade, ernard l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Slamnig, Ivan l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Slanekov, oena (see Jimrava)
Slataper, Scipio l888l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
Slater, Iatrick l880l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Slaveykov, Iencho l8ool9l2. . . . . . . . . . DLl17
Slaviek, Milivoj l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Slavitt, David l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, o
Sleigh, urrows Willcocks Arthur
l82ll8o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Sleptsov, Vasilii Alekseevich l83ol878 . . .DL277
Slesinger, Jess l905l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl02
Slessor, Kenneth l90ll97l . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Slick, Sam (see Haliburton, Jhomas Chandler)
Sloan, |ohn l87ll95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl88
Sloane, William, Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Slonimsky, Mikhail Leonidovich
l897l972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL272
Sluchevsky, Konstantin Konstantinovich
l837l901. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL277
Small, Maynard and Company. . . . . . . . . . DL19
Smart, Christopher l722l77l. . . . . . . . . . DLl09
Smart, David A. l892l957 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
Smart, Elizabeth l9l3l98o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Smart, |. |. C. l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Smedley, Menella ute l820.l877. . . . . . DLl99
William Smellie |publishing house|. . . . . . DLl51
Smiles, Samuel l8l2l901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL55
Smiley, |ane l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL227, 231
Smith, A. |. M. l902l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Smith, Adam l723l790 . . . . . . . . . . DLl01, 252
Smith, Adam (George |erome Waldo
Goodman) l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Smith, Alexander l829l8o7 . . . . . . . . DL32, 55
'On the Writing of Essays`` (l8o2) . . . DL57
Smith, Amanda l837l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22l
Smith, etty l89ol972. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
Smith, Carol Sturm l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8l
Smith, Charles Henry l82ol903 . . . . . . . . DLll
Smith, Charlotte l719l80o . . . . . . . . DL39, l09
Smith, Chet l899l973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7l
Smith, Cordwainer l9l3l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Smith, Dave l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Smith, Dodie l89ol990. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Smith, Doris uchanan l9312002. . . . . . . DL52
Smith, E. E. l890l9o5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Smith, Elihu Hubbard l77ll798 . . . . . . . . DL37
Smith, Elizabeth Oakes (Irince)
(see Oakes Smith, Elizabeth)
Smith, Eunice l757l823. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Smith, I. Hopkinson l838l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . DSl3
Smith, George D. l870l920. . . . . . . . . . . DLl10
Smith, George O. l9lll98l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Smith, Goldwin l823l9l0. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Smith, H. Allen l907l97o . . . . . . . . . . DLll, 29
Smith, Harry . l8o0l93o . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl87
Smith, Hazel rannon l9l1l991. . . . . . . .DLl27
Smith, Henry circa l5o0circa l59l . . . . . DLl3o
Smith, Horatio (Horace)
l779l819. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9o, llo
Smith, Iain Crichton (Iain Mac A`Ghobhainn)
l928l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL10, l39, 3l9
Smith, |. Allen l8o0l921. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL17
Smith, |ames l775l839 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9o
Smith, |essie Willcox l8o3l935. . . . . . . . DLl88
Smith, |ohn l580lo3l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21, 30
Smith, |ohn lol8lo52 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL252
Smith, |osiah l701l78l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Smith, Ken l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Smith, Lee l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl13; Y83
Smith, Logan Iearsall l8o5l91o . . . . . . . . DL98
Smith, Margaret ayard l778l811 . . . . . DL218
Smith, Mark l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
Smith, Michael lo98circa l77l . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Smith, Iauline l882l959. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL225
Smith, Red l905l982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29, l7l
Smith, Roswell l829l892 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL79
Smith, Samuel Harrison l772l815 . . . . . . DL13
Smith, Samuel Stanhope l75ll8l9 . . . . . . DL37
Smith, Sarah (see Stretton, Hesba)
Smith, Sarah Iogson l771l870 . . . . . . . . DL200
Smith, Seba l792l8o8 . . . . . . . . . . DLl, ll, 213
Smith, Stevie l902l97l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20
Smith, Sydney l77ll815 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl07
Smith, Sydney Goodsir l9l5l975 . . . . . . . DL27
Smith, Sir Jhomas l5l3l577. . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Smith, Vivian l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Smith, W. Gordon l928l99o. . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Smith, Wendell l9l1l972 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7l
ai_ POV `~ f
RQV
`
Smith, William fl. l595l597 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o

Smith, William l727l803 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
^ d~ f~ ` j~~
(l753) |excerpts| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Smith, William l728l793 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Smith, William Gardner l927l971 . . . . . . . DL7o
Smith, William Henry l808l872 . . . . . . . DLl59
Smith, William |ay l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Smith, Elder and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl51
Harrison Smith and Robert Haas
|. Stilman Smith and Company . . . . . . . . . . DL19
W. . Smith and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
W. H. Smith and Son. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Leonard Smithers |publishing house| . . . . . DLll2
Smollett, Jobias
l72ll77l. . . . . . . . . . .DL39, l01; CDL2
Dedication to c~ ` c~
(l753) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to c~ ` c~
(l753) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL39
Ireface to o o~ (l718) . . . . . DL39
Smythe, Irancis Sydney l900l919 . . . . . . DLl95
Snelling, William |oseph l801l818. . . . . . DL202
Snellings, Rolland (see Jour, Askia Muhammad)
Snodgrass, W. D. l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Snorri Hjartarson l90ol98o . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Snow, C. I.
l905l980 . . . . . DLl5, 77; DSl7; CDL7
Snyder, Gary
l930 . . . . . . . .DL5, lo, lo5, 2l2, 237, 275
Sobiloff, Hy l9l2l970. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL18
q p~ `~I |ean|acques
Rousseau. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Jhe Society for Jextual Scholarship and
qbuq . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y87
Jhe Society for the History of Authorship,
Reading and Iublishing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y92
Sderberg, Hjalmar l8o9l91l . . . . . . . . . DL259
Sdergran, Edith l892l923 . . . . . . . . . . . DL259
Soffici, Ardengo l879l9o1 . . . . . . . . DLll1, 2o1
Sofola, 'Zulu l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Sokhanskaia, Nadezhda Stepanovna
(Kokhanovskaia) l823.l881 . . . . . . . DL277
Sokolov, Sasha (Aleksandr Vsevolodovich
Sokolov) l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
Solano, Solita l888l975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Soldati, Mario l90ol999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl77
Soledad (see Zamudio, Adela)
Soljan, Antun l932l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Sollers, Ihilippe (Ihilippe |oyaux)
l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Sollogub, Vladimir Aleksandrovich
l8l3l882 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
Sollors, Werner l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL21o
Solmi, Sergio l899l98l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Sologub, Iedor l8o3l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Solomon, Carl l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Solrzano, Carlos l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Soloukhin, Vladimir Alekseevich
l921l997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Solovèv, Sergei Mikhailovich
l885l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Solovèv, Vladimir Sergeevich
l853l900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Solstad, Dag l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Solway, David l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr
l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Solzhenitsyn and America . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y85
Some asic Notes on Jhree Modern Genres.
Interview, lurb, and Obituary . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Somerville, Edith Cnone l858l919. . . . . DLl35
p ^ cI l9o9 ooker Irize winner,
I. H. Newby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Somov, Orest Mikhailovich l793l833 . . . DLl98
Snderby, Knud l909l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Sone, Monica l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Song, Cathy l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo9, 3l2
Sonnevi, Gran l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Sono Ayako l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Sontag, Susan l9332001. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2, o7
Sophocles 197/19o _.`.10o/105 _.`.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7o; CDWLl
Sopov, Aco l923l982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Sorel, Charles ca.lo00lo71 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Srensen, Villy l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Sorensen, Virginia l9l2l99l . . . . . . . . . . DL20o
Sorge, Reinhard |ohannes l892l9lo . . . . DLll8
Sorokin, Vladimir Georgievich
l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
Sorrentino, Gilbert l929 . . . . . DL5, l73; Y80
Sosa, Roberto l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Sotheby, |ames lo82l712 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Sotheby, |ohn l710l807 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Sotheby, Samuel l77ll812 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Sotheby, Samuel Leigh l805l8ol . . . . . . . DL2l3
Sotheby, William l757l833 . . . . . . . . . DL93, 2l3
Soto, Gary l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Soueif, Ahdaf l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Souster, Raymond l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Jhe p b i~ circa
thirteenthfifteenth centuries . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Southerland, Ellease l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Southern, Jerry l921l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2
Southern Illinois Lniversity Iress . . . . . . . . . . .Y95
Southern Literature
Iellowship of Southern Writers . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Jhe Iugitives and the Agrarians.
Jhe Iirst Exhibition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y85
Study of Southern Culture and
History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Jhe Society for the Study of
Southern Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Southern Writers etween the Wars . . . . DL9
Southerne, Jhomas lo59l71o . . . . . . . . . . DL80
Southey, Caroline Anne owles
l78ol851 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLllo
Southey, Robert l771l813 . . . . . DL93, l07, l12
Southwell, Robert l5ol.l595. . . . . . . . . . DLlo7
Southworth, E. D. E. N. l8l9l899. . . . . . DL239
Sowande, ode l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57
Jace Sowle |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . DLl70
Soyfer, |ura l9l2l939. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
Soyinka, Wole
l931 . . . . . DLl25; Y8o, Y87; CDWL3
Nobel Lecture l98o. Jhis Iast Must
Address Its Iresent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
Spacks, arry l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Spalding, Irances l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
Spanish yzantine Novel, Jhe. . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Spanish Jravel Writers of the
Late Middle Ages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Spark, Muriel l9l8 . . . . DLl5, l39; CDL7
Michael Sparke |publishing house| . . . . . . DLl70
Sparks, |ared l789l8oo. . . . . . . . . . DLl, 30, 235
Sparshott, Irancis l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Spth, Gerold l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Spatola, Adriano l91ll988 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Spaziani, Maria Luisa l921 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
p c p~~ i~
l838l812 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl
q p~ l828 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll0
Spedding, |ames l808l88l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl11
Spee von Langenfeld, Iriedrich
l59llo35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Speght, Rachel l597after lo30 . . . . . . . . . DLl2o
Speke, |ohn Hanning l827l8o1 . . . . . . . . DLloo
Spellman, A. . l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Spence, Catherine Helen l825l9l0 . . . . . DL230
Spence, Jhomas l750l8l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl58
Spencer, Anne l882l975. . . . . . . . . . . . DL5l, 51
Spencer, Charles, third Earl of Sunderland
lo71l722 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Spencer, Elizabeth l92l . . . . . . . . . . DLo, 2l8
Spencer, George |ohn, Second Earl Spencer
l758l831 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Spencer, Herbert l820l903 . . . . . . . . DL57, 2o2
'Jhe Ihilosophy of Style`` (l852). . . . . DL57
Spencer, Scott l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
Spender, |. A. l8o2l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL98
Spender, Stephen l909l995 . . .DL20; CDL7
Spener, Ihilipp |akob lo35l705 . . . . . . . . DLlo1
`~ f ai_ POV
RRM
Spenser, Edmund
circa l552l599 . . . . . . . . DLlo7; CDLl
Envoy from q p~ `~ . . . . DLlo7
'Jhe Generall Argument of the
Whole ooke," from
q p~ `~ . . . . . . . . DLlo7
'A Letter of the Authors Expounding
His Whole Intention in the Course
of this Worke. Which for that It
Giueth Great Light to the Reader,
for the etter Vnderstanding
Is Hereunto Annexed,"
from q c~ n (l590) . . . . DLlo7
'Jo His ooke," from
q p~ `~ (l579) . . . DLlo7
'Jo the Most Excellent and Learned
oth Orator and Ioete, Mayster
Gabriell Haruey, His Verie Special
and Singular Good Irend E. K.
Commendeth the Good Lyking of
Jhis His Labour, and the Iatronage
of the New Ioete," from
q p~ `~ . . . . . . . . DLlo7
Sperr, Martin l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
Spewack, ella Cowen l899l990 . . . . . . DL2oo
Spewack, Samuel l899l97l . . . . . . . . . . . DL2oo
Spicer, |ack l925l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo, l93
Spiegelman, Art l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Spielberg, Ieter l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8l
Spielhagen, Iriedrich l829l9ll. . . . . . . . DLl29
p~ (circa ll52circa l500). . . DLl18
Spier, Ieter l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Spillane, Mickey l9l8200o . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
Spink, |. G. Jaylor l888l9o2. . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Spinrad, Norman l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Spires, Elizabeth l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
q p i~I ClaudeAdrien
Helvtius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
q p i~I CharlesLouis de Secondat, baron
de Montesquieu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Spitteler, Carl l815l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Spivak, Lawrence E. l900l991 . . . . . . . . DLl37
Spofford, Harriet Irescott
l835l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL71, 22l
Sponde, |ean de l557l595 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Sports
|immy, Red, and Others. Harold
Rosenthal Remembers the Stars
of the Iress ox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Jhe Literature of oxing in England
through Arthur Conan Doyle . . . . . . . Y0l
Notable JwentiethCentury ooks
about Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Sprigge, Jimothy L. S. l932 . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Spring, Howard l889l9o5. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Springs, Elliott White l89ol959 . . . . . . . DL3lo
Squibob (see Derby, George Horatio)
Squier, E. G. l82ll888 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl89
StaalDelaunay, Marguerite|eanne Cordier de
lo81l750. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Stableford, rian l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Stacpoole, H. de Vere l8o3l95l . . . . . . . DLl53
Stal, Germaine de l7ool8l7. . . . . . DLll9, l92
StalHolstein, AnneLouise Germaine de
(see Stal, Germaine de)
Staffeldt, Schack l7o9l82o. . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Stafford, |ean l9l5l979 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL2, l73
Stafford, William l9l1l993. . . . . . . . . DL5, 20o
Stallings, Laurence l891l9o8 . . . . . DL7, 11, 3lo
Stallworthy, |on l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Stampp, Kenneth M. l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
Stnescu, Nichita l933l983. . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Stanev, Emiliyan l907l979. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Stanford, Ann l9lol987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Stangerup, Henrik l937l998 . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Stanihurst, Richard l517lol8 . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Stanitsky, N. (see Ianaeva, Avdotìa Iakovlevna)
Stankevich, Nikolai Vladimirovich
l8l3l810 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
Stankovi, orisav ('ora")
l87ol927. . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl17; CDWL1
Stanley, Henry M. l81ll901. . . . DLl89; DSl3
Stanley, Jhomas lo25lo78 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3l
Stannard, Martin l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
William Stansby |publishing house| . . . . . .DLl70
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady l8l5l902 . . . . . . DL79
Stanton, Irank L. l857l927. . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Stanton, Maura l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Stapledon, Olaf l88ol950 . . . . . . . . . DLl5, 255
Star Spangled anner Office. . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Stark, Ireya l893l993. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl95
Starkey, Jhomas circa l199l538. . . . . . . DLl32
Starkie, Walter l891l97o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl95
Starkweather, David l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Starrett, Vincent l88ol971. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Stationers` Company of London, Jhe . . . .DLl70
Statius circa ^.a. 15^.a. 9o . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ll
p~ lI l977 ooker Irize winner,
Iaul Scott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Stead, Christina l902l983. . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Stead, Robert |. C. l880l959 . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Steadman, Mark l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Stearns, Harold E. l89ll913. . . . . . DL1; DSl5
Stebnitsky, M. (see Leskov, Nikolai Semenovich)
Stedman, Edmund Clarence l833l908 . . . DLo1
Steegmuller, Irancis l90ol991 . . . . . . . . DLlll
Steel, Ilora Annie l817l929 . . . . . . DLl53, l5o
Steele, Max l9222005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y80
Steele, Richard
lo72l729. . . . . . . . . . DL81, l0l; CDL2
Steele, Jimothy l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Steele, Wilbur Daniel l88ol970. . . . . . . . . DL8o
Wallace Markfield`s 'Steeplechase" . . . . . . . . . Y02
Steere, Richard circa lo13l72l . . . . . . . . . DL21
Stefn fr Hvtadal (Stefn Sigursson)
l887l933. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Stefn Gumundsson (see Stephan G. Stephansson)
Stefn Hrur Grmsson
l9l9 or l9202002. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Steffens, Lincoln l8ool93o . . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Stefanovski, Goran l952 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Stegner, Wallace
l909l993 . . . . . . . . . . . DL9, 20o, 275; Y93
Stehr, Hermann l8o1l910. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Steig, William l9072003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Stein, Gertrude l871l91o
. . . . . . . DL1, 51, 8o, 228; DSl5; CDAL1
Stein, Leo l872l917. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Stein and Day Iublishers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Steinbeck, |ohn l902l9o8
. . . . DL7, 9, 2l2, 275, 309; DS2; CDAL5
|ohn Steinbeck Research Center,
San |ose State Lniversity. . . . . . . . . . . Y85
Jhe Steinbeck Centennial . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Steinem, Gloria l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
Steiner, George l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo7, 299
Steinhoewel, Heinrich l1ll/l1l2l179. . . .DLl79
Steinn Steinarr (Aalsteinn Kristmundsson)
l908l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Steinunn Sigurardttir l950 . . . . . . . . DL293
Steloff, Ida Irances l887l989 . . . . . . . . . .DLl87
Stendhal l783l812. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll9
Stephan G. Stephansson (Stefn Gumundsson)
l853l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Stephen, Leslie l832l901 . . . . . . DL57, l11, l90
Stephen Iamily (loomsbury Group) . . . . . . . DSl0
Stephens, A. G. l8o5l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Stephens, Alexander H. l8l2l883 . . . . . . DL17
Stephens, Alice arber l858l932 . . . . . . DLl88
Stephens, Ann l8l0l88o. . . . . . . . .DL3, 73, 250
Stephens, Charles Asbury l811.l93l . . . . DL12
Stephens, |ames l882.l950. . . . .DLl9, l53, lo2
Stephens, |ohn Lloyd l805l852 . . . DLl83, 250
Stephens, Michael l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
Stephensen, I. R. l90ll9o5 . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Sterling, George l8o9l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL51
Sterling, |ames l70ll7o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Sterling, |ohn l80ol811 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLllo
Stern, Gerald l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
'Living in Ruin" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Stern, Gladys . l890l973 . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl97
Stern, Madeleine . l9l2 . . . . . . . .DLlll, l10
Stern, Richard l928 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l8; Y87
Stern, Stewart l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Sterne, Laurence l7l3l7o8 . . . DL39; CDL2
ai_ POV `~ f
RRN
`
Sternheim, Carl l878l912. . . . . . . . . . DL5o, ll8

Sternhold, Jhomas .l519. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Steuart, David l717l821 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Stevens, Henry l8l9l88o. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl10
Stevens, Wallace l879l955 . . . .DL51; CDAL5
Jhe Wallace Stevens Society. . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Stevenson, Anne l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Stevenson, D. E. l892l973 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Stevenson, Lionel l902l973 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
Stevenson, Robert Louis
l850l891 . . . . . . . . DLl8, 57, l1l, l5o, l71;
DSl3; CDL5
'On Style in Literature.
Its Jechnical Elements`` (l885) . . . . DL57
Stewart, Donald Ogden
l891l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1, ll, 2o; DSl5
Stewart, Douglas l9l3l985 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Stewart, Dugald l753l828 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Stewart, George, |r. l818l90o . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Stewart, George R. l895l980. . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Stewart, Harold l9lol995 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Stewart, |. I. M. (see Innes, Michael)
Stewart, Maria W. l803.l879. . . . . . . . . . DL239
Stewart, Randall l89ol9o1. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Stewart, Sean l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Stewart and Kidd Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Sthen, Hans Christensen l511lol0 . . . . . DL300
Stickney, Jrumbull l871l901 . . . . . . . . . . . DL51
Stieler, Caspar lo32l707 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Stifter, Adalbert
l805l8o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl33; CDWL2
Stiles, Ezra l727l795 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Still, |ames l90o200l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9; Y0l
Stirling, S. M. l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Stirner, Max l80ol85o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Stith, William l707l755. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Stivens, Dal l9lll997. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Elliot Stock |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Stockton, Annis oudinot l73ol80l. . . . . DL200
Stockton, Irank R.
l831l902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL12, 71; DSl3
Stockton, |. Roy l892l972 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Ashbel Stoddard |publishing house|. . . . . . . DL19
Stoddard, Charles Warren l813l909 . . . . DLl8o
Stoddard, Elizabeth l823l902 . . . . . . . . . DL202
Stoddard, Richard Henry
l825l903 . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, o1, 250; DSl3
Stoddard, Solomon lo13l729. . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Stoker, ram
l817l9l2 . . . . . . . DL3o, 70, l78; CDL5
On Writing a~~I from the
Introduction to a~~ (l897). . . . DLl78
a~~ (Documentary) . . . . . . . . . . . . DL301
Irederick A. Stokes Company . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Stokes, Jhomas L. l898l958 . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Stokesbury, Leon l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Stolberg, Christian Graf zu l718l82l. . . . . DL91
Stolberg, Iriedrich Leopold Graf zu
l750l8l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91
Stone, Lucy l8l8l893 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL79, 239
Stone, Melville l818l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Stone, Robert l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl52
Stone, Ruth l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Stone, Samuel lo02loo3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Stone, William Leete l792l811. . . . . . . . . DL202
Herbert S. Stone and Company. . . . . . . . . . DL19
Stone and Kimball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Stoppard, Jom
l937 . . . . . . . DLl3, 233; Y85; CDL8
Ilaywrights and Irofessors . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Storey, Anthony l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Storey, David l933 . . DLl3, l1, 207, 215, 32o
Storm, Jheodor
l8l7l888 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29; CDWL2
Storni, Alfonsina l892l938 . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Story, Jhomas circa lo70l712 . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Story, William Wetmore l8l9l895. . . . DLl, 235
Storytelling. A Contemporary Renaissance. . . .Y81
Stoughton, William lo3ll70l. . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Stout, Rex l88ol975. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Stow, |ohn l525lo05 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Stow, Randolph l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Stowe, Harriet eecher l8lll89o. . . . . . DLl,l2,
12, 71, l89, 239, 213; CDAL3
Jhe Harriet eecher Stowe Center . . . . . . .Y00
Stowe, Leland l899l991. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Stoyanov, Dimitr Ivanov (see Elin Ielin)
Strabo o1/o3 _.`.circa ^.a. 25. . . . . . . . . . DLl7o
Strachey, Lytton l880l932. . . . . . DLl19; DSl0
Ireface to b s~ . . . . . . . . . DLl19
William Strahan |publishing house| . . . . . . DLl51
Strahan and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Strand, Mark l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Jhe Strasbourg Oaths 812. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Stratemeyer, Edward l8o2l930 . . . . . . . . . DL12
Strati, Saverio l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl77
Stratton and arnard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
StrattonIorter, Gene
l8o3l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22l; DSl1
Straub, Ieter l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y81
Strau, otho l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
Strau, David Iriedrich l808l871 . . . . . . DLl33
Strauss, |ennifer l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Jhe Strawberry Hill Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl51
Strawson, I. I. l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Streatfeild, Noel l895l98o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Street, Cecil |ohn Charles (see Rhode, |ohn)
Street, G. S. l8o7l93o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl35
Street and Smith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Streeter, Edward l89ll97o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Streeter, Jhomas Winthrop l883l9o5 . . . DLl10
Stretton, Hesba l832l9ll. . . . . . . . . DLlo3, l90
Stribling, J. S. l88ll9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Der Stricker circa ll90circa l250 . . . . . . . DLl38
Strickland, Samuel l801l8o7 . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Strindberg, August l819l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . DL259
Stringer, Arthur l871l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Stringer and Jownsend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Strittmatter, Erwin l9l2l991 . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Strnisa, Gregor l930l987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Strode, William lo30lo15 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2o
Strong, L. A. G. l89ol958 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Strother, David Hunter (Iorte Crayon)
l8lol888 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, 218
Strouse, |ean l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Strugatsky, Arkadii Natanovich
l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Strugatsky, oris Natanovich l933 . . . . DL302
Stuart, Dabney l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
'Knots into Webs. Some
Autobiographical Sources" . . . . . . DLl05
Stuart, |esse l90ol981 . . . . . DL9, 18, l02; Y81
Lyle Stuart |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Stuart, Ruth McEnery l819.l9l7 . . . . . . DL202
Stub, Ambrosius l705l758 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Stubbs, Harry Clement (see Clement, Hal)
Stubenberg, |ohann Wilhelm von
lol9loo3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Stuckenberg, Viggo l7o3l905. . . . . . . . . . DL300
Studebaker, William V. l917 . . . . . . . . . DL25o
Studies in American |ewish Literature . . . . . . . .Y02
Studio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Stump, Al l9lol995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Sturgeon, Jheodore
l9l8l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8; Y85
Sturges, Ireston l898l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Styron, William
l925 . . . . DL2, l13, 299; Y80; CDALo
Suard, |eanaptisteAntoine
l732l8l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Surez, Clementina l902l99l . . . . . . . . . DL290
Surez, Mario l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Suassuna, Ariano l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Such, Ieter l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Suckling, Sir |ohn lo09lo1l. . . . . . . . DL58, l2o
Suckow, Ruth l892l9o0. . . . . . . . . . . . DL9, l02
Sudermann, Hermann l857l928 . . . . . . . DLll8
Sue, Eugne l801l857 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll9
`~ f ai_ POV
RRO
Sue, Marie|oseph (see Sue, Eugne)
Suetonius circa ^.a. o9post ^.a. l22 . . . . DL2ll
Suggs, Simon (see Hooper, |ohnson |ones)
Sui Sin Iar (see Eaton, Edith Maude)
Suits, Gustav l883l95o . . . . DL220; CDWL1
Sukenick, Ronald l9322001 . . . . . . DLl73; Y8l
An Author`s Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
SukhovoKobylin, Aleksandr Vasilèvich
l8l7l903 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL277
Suknaski, Andrew l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Sullivan, Alan l8o8l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Sullivan, C. Gardner l88ol9o5. . . . . . . . . DL2o
Sullivan, Irank l892l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Sulte, enjamin l81ll923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Sulzberger, Arthur Hays l89ll9o8 . . . . . DLl27
Sulzberger, Arthur Ochs l92o . . . . . . . DLl27
Sulzer, |ohann Georg l720l779 . . . . . . . . . DL97
Sumarokov, Aleksandr Ietrovich
l7l7l777 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Summers, Hollis l9lol987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Sumner, Charles l8lll871 . . . . . . . . . . . DL235
Sumner, William Graham l810l9l0 . . . . .DL270
Henry A. Sumner
Sundman, Ier Olof l922l992 . . . . . . . . . DL257
Supervielle, |ules l881l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . DL258
Surtees, Robert Smith l803l8o1 . . . . . . . . DL2l
Jhe R. S. Surtees Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Sutcliffe, Matthew l550.lo29 . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Sutcliffe, William l97l . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27l
Sutherland, Efua Jheodora l921l99o. . . DLll7
Sutherland, |ohn l9l9l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Sutro, Alfred l8o3l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Svava |akobsdttir l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
Svendsen, Hanne Marie l933 . . . . . . . DL2l1
Svevo, Italo (Ettore Schmitz)
l8oll928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
Swados, Harvey l920l972. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2
Swain, Charles l80ll871. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Swallow Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Swan Sonnenschein Limited . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Swanberg, W. A. l907l992 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Swedish Literature
Jhe Literature of the Modern
reakthrough. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL259
Swenson, May l9l9l989. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Swerling, |o l897l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Swift, Graham l919 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl91, 32o
Swift, |onathan
loo7l715 . . . . . . . DL39, 95, l0l; CDL2
Swinburne, A. C.
l837l909. . . . . . . . . . . DL35, 57; CDL1
Lnder the Microscope (l872). . . . . . . . DL35
Swineshead, Richard floruit circa l350. . . DLll5
Swinnerton, Irank l881l982. . . . . . . . . . . DL31
Swisshelm, |ane Grey l8l5l881 . . . . . . . . DL13
Swope, Herbert ayard l882l958. . . . . . . DL25
Swords, |ames .l811 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL73
Swords, Jhomas l7o3l813 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL73
J. and |. Swords and Company . . . . . . . . . DL19
Swynnerton, Jhomas ( |ohn Roberts)
circa l500l551 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Sykes, Ella C. .l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl71
Sylvester, |osuah l5o2 or l5o3lol8 . . . . DLl2l
Symonds, Emily Morse (see Iaston, George)
Symonds, |ohn Addington
l810l893 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL57, l11
'Iersonal Style`` (l890) . . . . . . . . . . . . DL57
Symons, A. |. A. l900l91l . . . . . . . . . . . DLl19
Symons, Arthur l8o5l915. . . . . . . DLl9, 57, l19
Symons, |ulian l9l2l991. . . . . . DL87, l55; Y92
|ulian Symons at Eighty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y92
Symons, Scott l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Synge, |ohn Millington
l87ll909. . . . . . . . . . . DLl0, l9; CDL5
Synge Summer School. |. M. Synge
and the Irish Jheater, Rathdrum,
County Wiclow, Ireland . . . . . . . . . . . Y93
Syrett, Netta l8o5l913 . . . . . . . . . . .DLl35, l97
q p k~I Iaul Henri Jhiry,
baron d`Holbach (as |eanaptiste
de Mirabaud) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Szab, Lrinc l900l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Szab, Magda l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Szymborska, Wisawa
l923 . . . . . . . . . DL232, Y9o; CDWL1
Nobel Lecture l99o.
Jhe Ioet and the World . . . . . . . . . . . Y9o
q
Jaban lo Liyong l939. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl25
alJabari 839923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3ll
Jablada, |os |uan l87ll915 . . . . . . . . . . DL290
i q~~ m~I LouisSbastien
Mercier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Jabori, George l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL215
Jabucchi, Antonio l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Jach, |osephCharles l820l891. . . . . . . . DL99
Jachihara Masaaki l92ol980 . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Jacitus circa ^.a. 55circa ^.a. ll7
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ll; CDWLl
Jadijanovi, Dragutin l905 . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Jafdrup, Iia l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Jafolla, Carmen l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Jaggard, Genevieve l891l918 . . . . . . . . . DL15
Jaggart, |ohn l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl93
Jagger, Jheodor (see ruckner, Ierdinand)
Jagore, Rabindranath l8oll91l . . . . . . . DL323
Jaiheiki late fourteenth century . . . . . . . . DL203
Jait, |. Selwin, and Sons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
q~ b j~~ l832l8ol. . . . . . DLll0
Jhe Jakarazaka Revue Company . . . . . . . . . . Y9l
Jalander (see ohse, August)
Jalese, Gay l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Jribute to Irwin Shaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
Jalev, Dimitr l898l9oo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Jaliaferro, H. E. l8lll875. . . . . . . . . . . . DL202
Jallent, Elizabeth l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
JallMountain, Mary l9l8l991 . . . . . . . . DLl93
Jalvj l797l870 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL59, l33
Jamsi, ron l897l9oo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Jammsaare, A. H.
l878l910. . . . . . . . . . . . DL220; CDWL1
Jan, Amy l952 . . . . . .DLl73, 3l2; CDAL7
Tandori, Dezs l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Janner, Jhomas lo73/lo71l735 . . . . . . . DL2l3
Janizaki |unìchir l88ol9o5 . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Japahonso, Luci l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl75
Jhe Mark Japer Iorum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Jaradash, Daniel l9l32003. . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
JarasovRodionov, Aleksandr Ignatèvich
l885l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL272
Jarbell, Ida M. l857l911. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL17
Jardieu, |ean l903l995. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
Jardivel, |ulesIaul l85ll905 . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Jargan, arry l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Jarkington, ooth l8o9l91o. . . . . . . . DL9, l02
Jashlin, Irank l9l3l972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Jasma ( |essie Couvreur) l818l897 . . . . DL230
Jate, Allen l899l979. . . . . . .DL1, 15, o3; DSl7
Jate, |ames l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo9
Jate, Nahum circa lo52l7l5 . . . . . . . . . . . DL80
q~~ circa 830 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Jaufer, Veno l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Jauler, |ohannes circa l300l3ol . . . . . . . .DLl79
Javares, Salette l922l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Javar, Ivan l85ll923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl17
Javerner, Richard ca. l505l575 . . . . . . . DL23o
Jaylor, Ann l782l8oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo3
Jaylor, ayard l825l878. . . . . . . DL3, l89, 250
Jaylor, ert Leston l8ool92l . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Jaylor, Charles H. l81ol92l . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Jaylor, Edward circa lo12l729 . . . . . . . . . DL21
Jaylor, Elizabeth l9l2l975 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl39
Jaylor, Sir Henry l800l88o . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Jaylor, Henry l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Who Owns American Literature . . . . . . . . Y91
Jaylor, |ane l783l821 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo3
ai_ POV `~ f
RRP
`
Jaylor, |eremy circa lol3loo7 . . . . . . . . . DLl5l

Jaylor, |ohn l577 or l578 lo53 . . . . . . . . DLl2l
Jaylor, Mildred D. l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Jaylor, Ieter l9l7l991 . . . DL2l8, 278; Y8l, 91
Jaylor, Susie King l818l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . DL22l
Jaylor, William Howland l90ll9oo. . . . . DL21l
William Jaylor and Company. . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Jeale, Edwin Way l899l980 . . . . . . . . . . DL275
Jeasdale, Sara l881l933. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL15
Jeffi, Nadezhda l872l952. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Jeillier, |orge l935l99o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Jelles, Lygia Iagundes l921 . . . . . DLll3, 307
q q tW William |ovanovich . . . . .Y02
Jemple, Sir William l555.lo27 . . . . . . . . DL28l
Jemple, Sir William lo28lo99 . . . . . . . . . DLl0l
Jemple, William I. l9l1l989 . . . . . . . . . . DL255
Jemrizov, A. (see Marchenko, Anastasia Iakovlevna)
Jench, Watkin ca. l758l833. . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Jencin, AlexandrineClaude Gurin de
lo82l719 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
q f k (Documentary) . . . . . . . DL273
Jendriakov, Vladimir Iedorovich
l923l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Jenn, William l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Jennant, Emma l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Jenney, Jabitha Gilman l7o2l837 . . . DL37, 200
Jennyson, Alfred l809l892 . . DL32; CDL1
On Some of the Characteristics of
Modern Ioetry and On the Lyrical
Ioems of Alfred Jennyson
(l83l) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Jennyson, Irederick l807l898 . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Jenorio, Arthur l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
'Jhe Jenth Stage," Marie|eanAntoineNicolas
Caritat, marquis de Condorcet . . . . . . DL3l1
Jepl, |ohannes von
circa l350l1l1/l1l5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl79
Jepliakov, Viktor Grigorèvich
l801l812 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Jerence circa l81 _.`.l59 _.`. or after
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ll; CDWLl
St. Jeresa of vila l5l5l582. . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Jerhune, Albert Iayson l872l912 . . . . . . . . DL9
Jerhune, Mary Virginia l830l922 . . . . . . . . DSl3
Jerpigorev, Sergei Nikolaevich (S. Atava)
l81ll895 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL277
Jerry, Megan l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7, 219
Jerson, Ieter l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Jesich, Steve l913l99o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Jessa, Delio l88ol939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Jestori, Giovanni l923l993
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28, l77
Jexas
Jhe Year in Jexas Literature . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Jey, |osephine l89o.l952. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
Jhacher, |ames l751l811 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Jhacher, |ohn oyd l817l909 . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Jhackeray, William Makepeace
l8lll8o3 . . . DL2l, 55, l59, lo3; CDL1
Jhames and Hudson Limited . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Jhanet, Octave (see Irench, Alice)
Jhaxter, Celia Laighton
l835l891 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL239
Jhayer, Caroline Matilda Warren
l785l811 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Jhayer, Douglas H. l929 . . . . . . . . . . . DL25o
Jheater
lack Jheatre. A Iorum |excerpts| . . . . DL38
Community and Commentators.
lack Jheatre and Its Critics . . . . . DL38
German Drama from Naturalism
to Iascism. l889l933 . . . . . . . . . DLll8
A Look at the Contemporary lack
Jheatre Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
Jhe Lord Chamberlain`s Office and
Stage Censorship in England . . . . . DLl0
New Iorces at Work in the American
Jheatre. l9l5l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Off roadway and OffOff roadway. . . DL7
Oregon Shakespeare Iestival . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
Ilays, Ilaywrights, and Ilaygoers . . . . . DL81
Ilaywrights on the Jheater . . . . . . . . . . DL80
Ilaywrights and Irofessors . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Iroducing a~ _I a~ s~W
q c ~ c . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Viewpoint. Iolitics and Ierformance,
by David Edgar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Writing for the Jheatre,
by Harold Iinter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Jhe Year in Drama . . . . . . . . . . Y82-85, 87-98
Jhe Year in L.S. Drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
Jheater, English and Irish
AntiJheatrical Jracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o3
revisions until l575. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Dangerous Years. London Jheater,
l939l915. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
A Defense of Actors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o3
Jhe Development of Lighting in the
Staging of Drama, l900l915 . . . . DLl0
Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o3
Jhe End of English Stage Censorship,
l915l9o8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Epigrams and Satires. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o3
Eyewitnesses and Historians . . . . . . . . DL2o3
Iringe and Alternative Jheater in
Great ritain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Jhe Great War and the Jheater,
l9l1l9l8 |Great ritain| . . . . . . . . DLl0
Licensing Act of l737 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL81
and b~ circa l500 . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Jhe New Variorum Shakespeare . . . . . . . .Y85
sixteenth century . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Iolitics and the Jheater. . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o3
Iractical Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o3
Irologues, Epilogues, Epistles to
Readers, and Excerpts from
Ilays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o3
Jhe Iublication of English
Renaissance Ilays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo2
Regulations for the Jheater . . . . . . . . DL2o3
Sources for the Study of Judor and
Stuart Drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo2
Stage Censorship. 'Jhe Rejected
Statement" (l9ll), by ernard
Shaw |excerpts| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Synge Summer School. |. M. Synge and
the Irish Jheater, Rathdrum,
County Wiclow, Ireland . . . . . . . . . . . .Y93
Jhe Jheater in Shakespeare`s Jime . . . DLo2
Jhe Jheatre Guild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Jhe Jownely Ilays fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Jhe Year in ritish Drama . . . . . . . . . . Y99-0l
Jhe Year in Drama. London. . . . . . . . . . . .Y90
Jhe Year in London Jheatre . . . . . . . . . . .Y92
^ v q~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL58
Jheaters
Jhe Abbey Jheatre and Irish Drama,
l900l915. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Actors Jheatre of Louisville . . . . . . . . . . DL7
American Conservatory Jheatre . . . . . . DL7
Arena Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
lack Jheaters and Jheater
Organizations in America,
l9oll982. A Research List . . . . . . DL38
Jhe Dallas Jheater Center . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Eugene O`Neill Memorial Jheater
Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Jhe Goodman Jheatre. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Jhe Guthrie Jheater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Jhe Mark Japer Iorum . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Jhe National Jheatre and the Royal
Shakespeare Company. Jhe
National Companies. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
OffLoop Jheatres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Jhe Royal Court Jheatre and the
English Stage Company . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Jhe Royal Court Jheatre and the
New Drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Jhe Jakarazaka Revue Company . . . . . . .Y9l
Jhegan and the Astronomer
fl. circa 850 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Jhelwall, |ohn l7o1l831 . . . . . . . . . . DL93, l58
Jheocritus circa 300 _.`.2o0 _.`. . . . . . . . DLl7o
Jheodorescu, Ion N. (see Arghezi, Judor)
Jheodulf circa 7o0circa 82l . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Jheophrastus circa 37l _.`.287 _.`. . . . . . DLl7o
Jhriault, Yves l9l5l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Jhrio, Adrien l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Jheroux, Iaul l91l . . . . DL2, 2l8; CDAL7
Jhesiger, Wilfred l9l02003 . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
`~ f ai_ POV
RRQ
Jhey All Came to Iaris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl5
Jhibaudeau, Colleen l925 . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Jhiele, Colin l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Jhielen, enedict l903l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . DLl02
Jhiongò Ngugi wa (see Ngugi wa Jhiongò)
Jhiroux dÀrconville, MarieGenevive
l720l805. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
q n~ l925l927, l929l932 . . . . . . . . . DSl5
Jhoma, Ludwig l8o7l92l. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Jhoma, Richard l902l971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Jhomas, Audrey l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Jhomas, D. M.
l935 . . . DL10, 207, 299; Y82; CDL8
Jhe Ilagiarism Controversy . . . . . . . . . . . Y82
Jhomas, Dylan
l9l1l953. . . . . . . DLl3, 20, l39; CDL7
Jhe Dylan Jhomas Celebration . . . . . . . . Y99
Jhomas, Ed l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Jhomas, Edward
l878l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl9, 98, l5o, 2lo
Jhomas, Irederick William l80ol8oo . . DL202
Jhomas, Gwyn l9l3l98l . . . . . . . . . DLl5, 215
Jhomas, Isaiah l750l83l . . . . . . .DL13, 73, l87
Jhomas, |ohann lo21lo79 . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Jhomas, |ohn l900l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Jhomas, |oyce Carol l938 . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Jhomas, Lewis l9l3l993 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL275
Jhomas, Lorenzo l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Jhomas, Norman l881l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . DL303
Jhomas, R. S. l9l52000 . . . . . DL27; CDL8
Isaiah Jhomas |publishing house| . . . . . . . DL19
Jhomasn von Zerclre
circa ll8ocirca l259 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Jhomason, George lo02.looo . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Jhomasius, Christian lo55l728 . . . . . . . DLlo8
Jhompson, Daniel Iierce l795l8o8 . . . . DL202
Jhompson, David l770l857 . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Jhompson, Dorothy l893l9ol. . . . . . . . . DL29
Jhompson, E. I. l921l993. . . . . . . . . . . DL212
Jhompson, Ilora l87ol917. . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Jhompson, Irancis
l859l907. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9; CDL5
Jhompson, George Selden (see Selden, George)
Jhompson, Henry Yates l838l928. . . . . DLl81
Jhompson, Hunter S. l9392005. . . . . . . DLl85
Jhompson, |im l90ol977 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
Jhompson, |ohn l938l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Jhompson, |ohn R. l823l873. . . . DL3, 73, 218
Jhompson, Lawrance l90ol973 . . . . . . . DLl03
Jhompson, Maurice l811l90l . . . . . . .DL7l, 71
Jhompson, Ruth Ilumly l89ll97o. . . . . . DL22
Jhompson, Jhomas Ihillips l813l933. . . DL99
Jhompson, William l775l833 . . . . . . . . DLl58
Jhompson, William Jappan
l8l2l882 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, ll, 218
Jhomson, Cockburn
'Modern Style`` (l857) |excerpt| . . . . . DL57
Jhomson, Edward William l819l921 . . . DL92
Jhomson, |ames l700l718 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL95
Jhomson, |ames l831l882 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
Jhomson, |oseph l858l895 . . . . . . . . . . .DLl71
Jhomson, Mortimer l83ll875 . . . . . . . . . DLll
Jhomson, Rupert l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Jhon, Melanie Rae l957 . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
Jhor Vilhjlmsson l925 . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
rarinn Eldjrn l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL293
rbergur rarson l888l971. . . . . . . . DL293
Jhoreau, Henry David l8l7l8o2 . . . . DLl, l83,
223, 270, 298; DS5; CDAL2
Jhe Jhoreau Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Jhe Jhoreauvian Iilgrimage. Jhe
Structure of an American Cult . . DL223
Jhorne, William l5o8.lo30 . . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Jhornton, |ohn I.
|Repsonse to Ken Auletta| . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Jhorpe, Adam l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23l
Jhorpe, Jhomas angs
l8l5l878. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, ll, 218
Jhorup, Kirsten l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Jhotl, irgitte lol0loo2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Jhrale, Hester Lynch
(see Iiozzi, Hester Lynch |Jhrale|)
Jhe Jhree Marias. A Landmark Case in
Iortuguese Literary History
(Maria Isabel arreno, l939 ;
Maria Jeresa Horta, l937 ;
Maria Velho da Costa, l938 ) . . . . DL287
Jhubron, Colin l939 . . . . . . . . . . DL201, 23l
Jhucydides
circa 155 _.`.circa 395 _.`. . . . . . . . . .DLl7o
Jhulstrup, Jhure de l818l930. . . . . . . . DLl88
Jhmmel, Moritz August von
l738l8l7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL97
Jhurber, |ames
l891l9ol . . . . DL1, ll, 22, l02; CDAL5
Jhurman, Wallace l902l931 . . . . . . . . . . DL5l
'Negro Ioets and Jheir Ioetry" . . . . . DL50
Jhwaite, Anthony l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Jhe ooker Irize, Address . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8o
Jhwaites, Reuben Gold l853l9l3 . . . . . . DL17
Jibullus circa 51 _.`.circa l9 _.`. . . . . . . DL2ll
Jicknor, George l79ll87l. . . . .DLl, 59, l10, 235
Jicknor and Iields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Jicknor and Iields (revived). . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Jieck, Ludwig l773l853 . . . . DL90; CDWL2
Jietjens, Eunice l881l911. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL51
Jikkanen, Mrta l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Jilghman, Christopher circa l918 . . . . . . DL211
Jilney, Edmund circa l53olol0 . . . . . . . DLl3o
Charles Jilt |publishing house|. . . . . . . . . DLl0o
|. E. Jilton and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
JimeLife ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Jimes ooks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Jimothy, Ieter circa l725l782. . . . . . . . . . DL13
Jimrava l8o7l95l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Jimrod, Henry l828l8o7 . . . . . . . . . . DL3, 218
Jindal, Henrietta l8l8.l879 . . . . . . . . . . DLl99
Jinker, Chauncey rewster l87ol9o3. . . . DLl10
Jinsley rothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Jiptree, |ames, |r. l9l5l987 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Jisma, Aleksandar l9212003 . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Jitus, Edward William
l870l952. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1; DSl5
Jiutchev, Iedor Ivanovich l803l873. . . . DL205
Jlali, Miriam l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl57, 225
Jodd, arbara Euphan l890l97o . . . . . . DLlo0
Jodorov, Jzvetan l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL212
Jofte, Robert
l5ol or l5o2lol9 or lo20 . . . . . . . . .DLl72
Jibn, Colm l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL27l
Joklas, Alice . l877l9o7 . . . . . . . . DL1; DSl5
Jokuda Shsei l872l913. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Joland, |ohn lo70l722 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL252
Jolkien, |. R. R.
l892l973. . . . . . DLl5, lo0, 255; CDLo
Joller, Ernst l893l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
Jollet, Elizabeth lo91l751. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL95
Jolson, Melvin . l898l9oo . . . . . . . . .DL18, 7o
Jolstaya, Jatyana l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
Jolstoy, Aleksei Konstantinovich
l8l7l875 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Jolstoy, Aleksei Nikolaevich l883l915 . . .DL272
Jolstoy, Leo l828l9l0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Jomalin, Claire l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
Jmas Gumundsson l90ll983 . . . . . . DL293
Jomasi di Lampedusa, Giuseppe
l89ol957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl77
Jomlinson, Charles l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Jomlinson, H. M. l873l958 . . . .DL3o, l00, l95
Abel Jompkins |publishing house| . . . . . . . DL19
Jompson, enjamin lo12l7l1. . . . . . . . . . DL21
Jomson, Graham R.
(see Watson, Rosamund Marriott)
Jonà l289l372 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL203
Jondelli, Iier Vittorio l955l99l . . . . . . . DLl9o
Jonks, Rosemary l932 . . . . . . . . . .DLl1, 207
Jonna, Charlotte Elizabeth l790l81o . . . DLlo3
|acob Jonson the Elder
Joole, |ohn Kennedy l937l9o9. . . . . . . . . . . . Y8l
ai_ POV `~ f
RRR
`
Joomer, |ean
l891l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . .DL15, 5l; CDAL1
Jopsoe, Vilhelm l810l88l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Jor ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Jorberg, Iriedrich l908l979. . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
Jorga, Miguel (Adolfo Correira da Rocha)
l907l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Jorre, Irancisco de la .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Jorrence, Ridgely l871l950 . . . . . . . . DL51, 219
Jorrente allester, Gonzalo
l9l0l999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
JorresMetzger, |oseph V. l933 . . . . . . . DLl22
Jorres Naharro, artolom de
l185.l523. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
El Jostado (see Madrigal, Alfonso Iernndez de)
Joth, Susan Allen l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
Richard Jottell |publishing house| . . . . . . . DLl70
'Jhe Irinter to the Reader,"
(l557) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo7
JoughGuy Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Jour, Askia Muhammad l938 . . . . . . . DL1l
Jourge, Albion W. l838l905 . . . . . . . . . . DL79
Journemir, Elizaveta Sailhas de (see Jur, Evgeniia)
Journeur, Cyril circa l580lo2o . . . . . . . . . DL58
Journier, Michel l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Irank Jousey |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . DL19
Jower Iublications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Jowne, enjamin circa l710l793 . . . . . . . . DL13
Jowne, Robert l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Jhe Jownely Ilays fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Jownsend, Sue l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27l
Jownshend, Aurelian
by l583circa lo5l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2l
Joy, arbara l908200l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
Jozzi, Iederigo l883l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
Jracy, Honor l9l3l989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5
Jraherne, Jhomas lo37.lo71 . . . . . . . . . DLl3l
Jraill, Catharine Iarr l802l899 . . . . . . . . . DL99
Jrain, Arthur l875l915 . . . . . . . . . DL8o; DSlo
Jranquilli, Secondino (see Silone, Ignazio)
Jhe Jransatlantic Iublishing Company . . . DL19
q q~~~ o l921l925 . . . . . . . . . DSl5
Jhe Jranscendental Club
l83ol810 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl; DL223
Jranscendentalism. . . . . . . DLl; DL223; DS5
'A Response from America," by
|ohn A. Heraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DS5
Iublications and Social Movements . . . . DLl
Jhe Rise of Jranscendentalism,
l8l5l8o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DS5
Jranscendentalists, American . . . . . . . . . . DS5
'What Is Jranscendentalism. y a
Jhinking Man," by |ames
Kinnard |r. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DS5
~ l927l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl5
Jranslations (Vernacular) in the Crowns of
Castile and Aragon l352l5l5 . . . . . . DL28o
Jranstrmer, Jomas l93l . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Jranter, |ohn l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Jravel Writing
American Jravel Writing, l77ol8o1
(checklist) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl83
ritish Jravel Writing, l910l997
(checklist) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
Jravel Writers of the Late
Middle Ages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
(l87ol909. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl71
(l837l875 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLloo
(l9l0l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl95
Jraven, . l882./l890.l9o9.. . . . . . . . . DL9, 5o
Jravers, en l88ol980. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0, 233
Jravers, I. L. (Iamela Lyndon)
l899l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Jrediakovsky, Vasilii Kirillovich
l703l7o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl50
Jreece, Henry l9lll9oo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Jreitel, |onathan l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7
Jrejo, Ernesto l950l99l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Jrelawny, Edward |ohn
l792l88l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll0, llo, l11
Jremain, Rose l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 27l
Jremblay, Michel l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Jrent, William I. l8o2l939 . . . . . . . . . DL17, 7l
Jrescot, William Henry l822l898 . . . . . . . DL30
Jressell, Robert (Robert Ihillipe Noonan)
l870l9ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl97
Jrevelyan, Sir George Otto
l838l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl11
Jrevisa, |ohn circa l312circa l102 . . . . . . DLl1o
Jrevisan, Dalton l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Jrevor, William l928 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, l39
Jriana, |os l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
q c circa ll70ll80 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Jrifonov, Iurii Valentinovich
l925l98l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Jrillin, Calvin l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
Jrilling, Lionel l905l975 . . . . . . . . . . . DL28, o3
Jrilussa l87ll950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Jrimmer, Sarah l71ll8l0. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl58
Jriolet, Elsa l89ol970. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL72
Jripp, |ohn l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Jrocchi, Alexander l925l981. . . . . . . . . . . DLl5
Jroisi, Dante l920l989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Jrollope, Anthony
l8l5l882 . . . . . . . DL2l, 57, l59; CDL1
NovelReading. q t `~
aX q t tK j~~
q~~ (l879) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l
Jhe Jrollope Societies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y00
Jrollope, Irances l779l8o3. . . . . . . . . DL2l, loo
Jrollope, |oanna l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL207
Jroop, Elizabeth l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
Jropiclia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Jrotter, Catharine lo79l719 . . . . . . . . DL81, 252
Jrotti, Lamar l898l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Jrottier, Iierre l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Jrotzig, irgitta l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Jroupe, _uincy Jhomas, |r. l913 . . . . . DL1l
|ohn I. Jrow and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Jrowbridge, |ohn Jownsend l827l9lo. . . DL202
Jrudel, |eanLouis l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
q e h d~I 200l ooker Irize winner,
Ieter Carey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
JruillierLacombe, |osephIatrice
l807l8o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
Jrumbo, Dalton l905l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Jrumbull, enjamin l735l820 . . . . . . . . . . DL30
Jrumbull, |ohn l750l83l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Jrumbull, |ohn l75ol813 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl83
Jruth, Sojourner l797.l883 . . . . . . . . . . . DL239
Jscherning, Andreas lolllo59 . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Jsubouchi Shy l859l935 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Jsvetaeva, Marina Ivanovna
l892l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Juchman, arbara W.
Jucholsky, Kurt l890l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5o
Jucker, Charlotte Maria
l82ll893 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo3, l90
Jucker, George l775l8ol . . . . . . . . DL3, 30, 218
Jucker, |ames l808.l8oo. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Jucker, Nathaniel everley
l781l85l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3, 218
Jucker, St. George l752l827 . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Juckerman, Irederick Goddard
l82ll873 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL213
Juckerman, Henry Jheodore l8l3l87l. . . . .DLo1
Jumas, |uozas (see Vaizgantas)
Junis, |ohn R. l889l975. . . . . . . . . . . DL22, l7l
Junstall, Cuthbert l171l559 . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Junstrm, Gran l9372000 . . . . . . . . . . . DL257
Juohy, Irank l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, l39
Jupper, Martin I. l8l0l889 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Jur, Evgeniia l8l5l892 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Jurbyfill, Mark l89ol99l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL15
Jurco, Lewis l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y81
Jribute to |ohn Ciardi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
Jurgenev, Aleksandr Ivanovich
l781l815 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
Jurgenev, Ivan Sergeevich
l8l8l883 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Jurgot, baron de lÀulne, AnneRobert|acques
l727l78l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
`~ f ai_ POV
RRS
'Memorandum on Local
Government". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Jurnbull, Alexander H. l8o8l9l8. . . . . . DLl81
Jurnbull, Andrew l92ll970 . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Jurnbull, Gael l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Jurnbe, Odet de l552l58l . . . . . . . . . . DL327
Jurner, Arlin l909l980. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Jurner, Charles (Jennyson)
l808l879. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Jurner, Ethel l872l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Jurner, Irederick l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Jurner, Irederick |ackson
l8oll932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7, l8o
and |anette Jurner Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Jurner, |oseph Addison l82ol8o8 . . . . . . DL79
Jurpin, Waters Edward l9l0l9o8. . . . . . . DL5l
Jurrini, Ieter l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
Jusquets, Esther l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Jutuola, Amos l920l997. . . DLl25; CDWL3
Jwain, Mark (see Clemens, Samuel Langhorne)
Jweedie, Ethel rilliana
circa l8o0l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl71
A Century of Ioetry, a Lifetime of
Collecting. |. M. Edelstein`s
Collection of Jwentieth
Century American Ioetry . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Jwombly, Wells l935l977 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Jwysden, Sir Roger l597lo72 . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Jyard, Iontus de l52l.lo05 . . . . . . . . . . DL327
JyCasper, Linda l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Jyler, Anne l91l . . . . DLo, l13; Y82; CDAL7
Jyler, Mary Ialmer l775l8oo . . . . . . . . . DL200
Jyler, Moses Coit l835l900 . . . . . . . . . DL17, o1
Jyler, Royall l757l82o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Jylor, Edward urnett l832l9l7. . . . . . . . DL57
Jynan, Katharine l8oll93l . . . . . . DLl53, 210
Jyndale, William circa l191l53o . . . . . . DLl32
Jyree, Omar l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
r
Lchida, Yoshiko l92ll992 . . DL3l2; CDAL7
Ldall, Nicholas l501l55o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo2
Lgrsi, Dubravka l919 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Lhland, Ludwig l787l8o2. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Lhse, odo l901l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9
Ljevi, Augustin 'Jin"
l89ll955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl17
Llenhart, Niclas fl. circa lo00. . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Llfeldt, Leonora Christina lo2llo98 . . . DL300
Llibarr, Sabine R. l9l92003 . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Llica, |orge l870l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Llitskaya, Liudmila Evgenèvna
l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
Llivi, Ierruccio l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Llizio, . George l889l9o9 . . . . . . . . . . DLl10
Llrich von Liechtenstein
circa l200circa l275 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Llrich von Zatzikhoven
before ll91after l2l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
'Lmar ibn Abi Rabi'ah o117l2 or 72l . . DL3ll
Lnaipon, David l872l9o7. . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Lnamuno, Miguel de l8o1l93o . . . DLl08, 322
Lnder, Marie l883l980 . . . DL220; CDWL1
Lnderhill, Evelyn l875l91l . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Lndset, Sigrid l882l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Lngaretti, Giuseppe l888l970 . . . . . . . . DLll1
Lnger, Iriederike Helene
l71ll8l3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL91
Lnited States ook Company . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Lniversal Iublishing and Distributing
Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Lniversity of Colorado
Special Collections at the Lniversity of
Colorado at oulder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Indiana Lniversity Iress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
Jhe Lniversity of Iowa
Writers` Workshop Golden |ubilee . . . . . . Y8o
Lniversity of Missouri Iress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Lniversity of South Carolina
Jhe G. Ross Roy Scottish
Ioetry Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y89
Jwo Hundred Years of Rare ooks and
Literary Collections at the
Lniversity of South Carolina . . . . . . . Y00
Jhe Lniversity of South Carolina Iress. . . . . . Y91
Lniversity of Virginia
Jhe ook Arts Iress at the Lniversity
of Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9o
Jhe Electronic Jext Center and the
Electronic Archive of Early American
Iiction at the Lniversity of Virginia
Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Lniversity of Virginia Libraries . . . . . . . . . Y9l
Lniversity of Wales Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Lniversity Iress of Ilorida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Lniversity Iress of Kansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Lniversity Iress of Mississippi . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
Lnnur enediktsdttir jarklind (see Hulda)
Lno Chiyo l897l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl80
Lnruh, Iritz von l885l970 . . . . . . . . DL5o, ll8
Lnsworth, arry l930 . . . . . . . . . DLl91. 32o
Lnt, Mati l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Jhe Lnterberg Ioetry Center of the
92nd Street Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y98
Lntermeyer, Louis l885l977. . . . . . . . . . DL303
J. Iisher Lnwin |publishing house| . . . . . DLl0o
Lpchurch, oyd . (see oyd, |ohn)
Lpdike, |ohn l932 . . . . DL2, 5, l13, 2l8, 227;
Y80, 82; DS3; CDALo
|ohn Lpdike on the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Jribute to Alfred A. Knopf . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
Lpts, Andrejs l877l970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
Lppdal, Kristofer l878l9ol . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Lpton, ertha l819l9l2. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1l
Lpton, Charles l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Lpton, Ilorence K. l873l922 . . . . . . . . . DLl1l
Lpward, Allen l8o3l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3o
Lrban, Milo l901l982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Lrea de Henrquez, Salom l850l897 . DL283
Lrf, Honor d` l5o7lo25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o8
Lrista, Alberto altazar (see Alurista)
Lrquhart, Ired l9l2l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl39
Lrrea, Luis Alberto l955 . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Lrzidil, |ohannes l89ol970. . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
rKpK^K (Documentary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL271
Lsigli, Rodolfo l905l979 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Lsk, Jhomas died l388. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Lslar Iietri, Arturo l90o200l. . . . . . . . . DLll3
Lspensky, Gleb Ivanovich
l813l902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL277
Lssher, |ames l58llo5o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Lstinov, Ieter l92l2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Lttley, Alison l881l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Lz, |ohann Ieter l720l79o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL97
s
Vadianus, |oachim l181l55l . . . . . . . . . .DLl79
Vac, ertrand (Aim Ielletier) l9l1 . . . . DL88
Vcietis, Ojrs l933l983. . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Vaculk, Ludvk l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Vaiiulaitis, Antanas l90ol992 . . . . . . . . DL220
Vaiinaite, Judita 1937- . . . . . . . . . . . . DLB-232
Vail, Laurence l89ll9o8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Vail, Ietr L`vovich l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
Vailland, Roger l907l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Vaigantas l8o9l933. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
Vajda, Ernest l887l951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Valds, Alfonso de circa l190.l532 . . . . DL3l8
Valds, Gina l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Valdes, |uan de l508l51l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Valdez, Luis Miguel l910 . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Valduga, Iatrizia l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Vale Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Valente, |os Angel l9292000 . . . . . . . . . DLl08
Valenzuela, Luisa l938 . . .DLll3; CDWL3
Valera, Diego de l1l2l188 . . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Valeri, Diego l887l97o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Valerius Ilaccus fl. circa ^.a. 92 . . . . . . . . DL2ll
Valerius Maximus fl. circa ^.a. 3l . . . . . . DL2ll
Valry, Iaul l87ll915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL258
ai_ POV `~ f
RRT
`
Valesio, Iaolo l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o

Valgardson, W. D. l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Valle, Luz l899l97l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Valle, Vctor Manuel l950 . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
ValleIncln, Ramn del
l8ool93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31, 322
Vallejo, Armando l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Vallejo, Csar Abraham l892l938 . . . . . . DL290
Valls, |ules l832l885. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl23
Vallette, Marguerite Eymery (see Rachilde)
Valverde, |os Mara l92ol99o . . . . . . . . DLl08
Vampilov, Aleksandr Valentinovich (A. Sanin)
l937l972. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Van Allsburg, Chris l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLol
Van Anda, Carr l8o1l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Vanbrugh, Sir |ohn loo1l72o. . . . . . . . . . . DL80
Vance, |ack l9lo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Vanura, Vladislav
l89ll912 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5; CDWL1
van der Iost, Laurens l90ol99o. . . . . . . . DL201
Van Dine, S. S. (see Wright, Willard Huntington)
Van Doren, Mark l891l972 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL15
van Druten, |ohn l90ll957 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Van Duyn, Mona l92l2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Van Dyke, Henry l852l933. . . . . . DL7l; DSl3
Van Dyke, Henry l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Van Dyke, |ohn C. l85ol932. . . . . . . . . . DLl8o
Vane, Sutton l888l9o3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0
Van Gieson, |udith l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o
Vanguard Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
van Gulik, Robert Hans l9l0l9o7 . . . . . . . . DSl7
van Itallie, |eanClaude l93o . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Van Loan, Charles E. l87ol9l9 . . . . . . . . DLl7l
Vann, Robert L. l879l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
Van Rensselaer, Mariana Griswold
l85ll931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL17
Van Rensselaer, Mrs. Schuyler
(see Van Rensselaer, Mariana Griswold)
Van Vechten, Carl l880l9o1 . . . . . . . DL1, 9, 5l
van Vogt, A. E. l9l22000. . . . . . . . . . . DL8, 25l
Varela, lanca l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL290
Vargas Llosa, Mario
l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl15; CDWL3
Acceptance Speech for the Ritz Iaris
Hemingway Award. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y85
Varley, |ohn l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8l
Varnhagen von Ense, Karl August
l785l858 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Varnhagen von Ense, Rahel
l77ll833 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Varro llo _.`.27 _.`. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ll
Vasilenko, Svetlana Vladimirovna
l95o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
Vasiliu, George (see acovia, George)
Vsquez, Richard l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Vassa, Gustavus (see Equiano, Olaudah)
Vassalli, Sebastiano l91l . . . . . . . . . DLl28, l9o
Vaugelas, Claude Iavre de l585lo50 . . . . DL2o8
Vaughan, Henry lo2llo95. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3l
Vaughan, Jhomas lo2llooo . . . . . . . . . . DLl3l
Vaughn, Robert l592.loo7 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Vaux, Jhomas, Lord l509l55o . . . . . . . . DLl32
Vazov, Ivan l850l92l. . . . . . DLl17; CDWL1
Vzquez Montalbn, Manuel
l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31, 322
Va, Alfredo, |r. l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Veblen, Jhorstein l857l929 . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
Vedel, Anders Srensen l512lolo . . . . . . DL300
Vega, |anine Iommy l912 . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Veiller, Anthony l903l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
VelsquezJrevino, Gloria l919 . . . . . . DLl22
Veley, Margaret l813l887 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99
Velleius Iaterculus
circa 20 _.`.circa ^.a. 30 . . . . . . . . . . DL2ll
Veloz Maggiolo, Marcio l93o . . . . . . . . DLl15
Vel`tman, Aleksandr Iomich
l800l870 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
Venegas, Daniel .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Venevitinov, Dmitrii Vladimirovich
l805l827 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Verbitskaia, Anastasiia Alekseevna
l8oll928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Verde, Cesrio l855l88o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL287
Vergil, Iolydore circa l170l555 . . . . . . . . DLl32
Verssimo, Erico l905l975 . . . . . . . . DLl15, 307
Verlaine, Iaul l811l89o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
Vernacular Jranslations in the Crowns of
Castile and Aragon l352l5l5 . . . . . . DL28o
Verne, |ules l828l905 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl23
s d iI 2003 ooker Irize winner,
DC Iierre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32o
Verplanck, Gulian C. l78ol870 . . . . . . . . . DL59
Vertinsky, Aleksandr l889l957 . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Very, |ones l8l3l880 . . . . . . . . . DLl, 213; DS5
Vesaas, Halldis Moren l907l995 . . . . . . . DL297
Vesaas, Jarjei l897l970. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Vian, oris l920l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL72, 32l
Viazemsky, Ietr Andreevich
l792l878 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Vicars, Jhomas l59llo38 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23o
Vicente, Gil l1o5l53o/l510. . . . . . . DL287, 3l8
Vickers, Roy l888.l9o5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
Vickery, Sukey l779l82l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Victoria l8l9l90l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL55
Victoria Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
La vida de Lazarillo de Jormes . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Vidal, Gore l925 . . . . . . DLo, l52; CDAL7
Vidal, Mary Jheresa l8l5l873 . . . . . . . . DL230
Vidmer, Richards l898l978 . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Viebig, Clara l8o0l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Vieira, Antnio, S. |. (Antonio Vieyra)
lo08lo97 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL307
Viereck, George Sylvester l881l9o2 . . . . . DL51
Viereck, Ieter l9lo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Vietnam War (ended l975)
Resources for the Study of Vietnam War
Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Viets, Roger l738l8ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL99
VigilIion, Evangelina l919 . . . . . . . . DLl22
Vigneault, Gilles l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Vigny, Alfred de l797l8o3 . . . . DLll9, l92, 2l7
Vigolo, Giorgio l891l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll1
Vik, jorg l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Jhe Viking Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
VilaMatas, Enrique l918 . . . . . . . . . . . DL322
Vilde, Eduard l8o5l933. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
Vilinskaia, Mariia Aleksandrovna
(see Vovchok, Marko)
Villa, |os Garca l908l997 . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Villanueva, Alma Luz l911 . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Villanueva, Jino l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Villard, Henry l835l900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23
Villard, Oswald Garrison l872l919 . . . DL25, 9l
Villarreal, Edit l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Villarreal, |os Antonio l921 . . . . . . . . . DL82
Villaseor, Victor l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL209
Villedieu, Madame de (MarieCatherine
Desjardins) lo10.lo83 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL2o8
Villegas, Antonio de .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Villegas de Magnn, Leonor
l87ol955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl22
Villehardouin, Geoffroi de
circa ll50l2l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL208
Villemaire, Yolande l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Villena, Enrique de
ca. l382/81l132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL28o
Villena, Luis Antonio de l95l . . . . . . . DLl31
Villiers, George, Second Duke
of uckingham lo28lo87. . . . . . . . . . . DL80
Villiers de lÌsleAdam, |eanMarie
Mathias IhilippeAuguste,
Comte de l838l889. . . . . . . . . . DLl23, l92
Villon, Iranois l13lcirca l1o3. . . . . . . . DL208
Vinaver, Michel (Michel Grinberg)
l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
Vine Iress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Viorst, |udith l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Vipont, Elfrida (Elfrida Vipont Ioulds,
Charles Vipont) l902l992. . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Viramontes, Helena Mara l951 . . . . . . DLl22
Virgil 70 _.`.l9 _.`. . . . . . . . DL2ll; CDWLl
`~ f ai_ POV
RRU
Vischer, Iriedrich Jheodor l807l887 . . . DLl33
Vitier, Cintio l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL283
Vitrac, Roger l899l952. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
Vitruvius circa 85 _.`.circa l5 _.`. . . . . . DL2ll
Vitry, Ihilippe de l29ll3ol . . . . . . . . . . DL208
Vittorini, Elio l908l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o1
Vivanco, Luis Ielipe l907l975. . . . . . . . . DLl08
Vives, |uan Luis l193l510 . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Vivian, E. Charles (Charles Henry Cannell,
Charles Henry Vivian, |ack Mann,
arry Lynd) l882l917 . . . . . . . . . . . DL255
Viviani, Cesare l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Vivien, Rene l877l909. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l7
Vizenor, Gerald l931 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl75, 227
Vizetelly and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Vladimov, Georgii
l93l2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Voaden, Herman l903l99l. . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Vo, |ohann Heinrich l75ll82o . . . . . . . . DL90
Vogau, oris Andreevich
(see Iil`niak, oris Andreevich)
Voigt, Ellen ryant l913 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Voinovich, Vladimir Nikolaevich
l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
Vojnovi, Ivo l857l929 . . . . .DLl17; CDWL1
Vold, |an Erik l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Volkoff, Vladimir l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
I. I. Volland Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Vollbehr, Otto H. I.
l872.l915 or l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Vologdin (see Zasodimsky, Iavel Vladimirovich)
Voloshin, Maksimilian Aleksandrovich
l877l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Volponi, Iaolo l921l991. . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl77
Voltaire (IranoisMarie Arouet)
lo91l778 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
'An account of the death of the chevalier de
La arre". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
`~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
m~ a~. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l1
Vonarburg, Elisabeth l917 . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
von der Grn, Max l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Vonnegut, Kurt l922 . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 8, l52;
Y80; DS3; CDALo
Jribute to Richard rautigan. . . . . . . . . . . Y81
Voranc, Ireihov l893l950. . . . . . . . . . . DLl17
Voronsky, Aleksandr Konstantinovich
l881l937. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL272
Vorse, Mary Heaton l871l9oo . . . . . . . . DL303
Vovchok, Marko l833l907 . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Voynich, E. L. l8o1l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl97
Vroman, Mary Elizabeth
circa l921l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
t
Wace, Robert ('Maistre")
circa ll00circa ll75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
Wackenroder, Wilhelm Heinrich
l773l798 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90
Wackernagel, Wilhelm l80ol8o9 . . . . . . DLl33
Waddell, Helen l889l9o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Waddington, Miriam l9l72001. . . . . . . . . DLo8
Wade, Henry l887l9o9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
Wagenknecht, Edward l9002001 . . . . . . DLl03
Wgner, Elin l882l919. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL259
Wagner, Heinrich Leopold l717l779 . . . . . DL91
Wagner, Henry R. l8o2l957. . . . . . . . . . DLl10
Wagner, Richard l8l3l883 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Wagoner, David l92o . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, 25o
Wah, Ired l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Waiblinger, Wilhelm l801l830 . . . . . . . . . DL90
Wain, |ohn
l925l991 . . . DLl5, 27, l39, l55; CDL8
Jribute to |. . Iriestly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
Wainwright, |effrey l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Waite, Ieirce and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Wakeman, Stephen H. l859l921 . . . . . . DLl87
Wakoski, Diane l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Walahfrid Strabo circa 808819 . . . . . . . . DLl18
Henry Z. Walck |publishing house| . . . . . . DL1o
Walcott, Derek
l930 . . . . . . DLll7; Y8l, 92; CDWL3
Nobel Lecture l992. Jhe Antilles.
Iragments of Epic Memory. . . . . . . . . Y92
Robert Waldegrave |publishing house| . . . .DLl70
Waldis, urkhard circa l190l55o. . . . . . .DLl78
Waldman, Anne l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Waldrop, Rosmarie l935 . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo9
Walker, Alice l900l982. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Walker, Alice
l911 . . . . . . . . . DLo, 33, l13; CDALo
Walker, Annie Louisa (Mrs. Harry Coghill)
circa l83ol907 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Walker, George I. l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Walker, |ohn risben l817l93l. . . . . . . . . DL79
Walker, |oseph A. l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
Walker, Kath (see Oodgeroo of the Jribe Noonuccal)
Walker, Margaret l9l5l998 . . . . . . . .DL7o, l52
Walker, Obadiah lololo99. . . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Walker, Jed l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Walker, Evans and Cogswell Company . . . DL19
Wall, |ohn I. (see Sarban)
Wallace, Alfred Russel l823l9l3 . . . . . . DLl90
Wallace, Dewitt l889l98l. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
Wallace, Edgar l875l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL70
Wallace, Lew l827l905 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL202
Wallace, Lila Acheson l889l981. . . . . . . .DLl37
'A Word of Jhanks," Irom the Initial
Issue of o~ a
(Iebruary l922). . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl37
Wallace, Naomi l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL219
Wallace Markfield`s 'Steeplechase" . . . . . . . . . Y02
WallaceCrabbe, Chris l931 . . . . . . . . DL289
Wallant, Edward Lewis
l92ol9o2 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL2, 28, l13, 299
Waller, Edmund lo0olo87 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2o
Walpole, Horace l7l7l797. . . . . .DL39, l01, 2l3
Ireface to the Iirst Edition of
q `~ l~ (l7o1) . . . . DL39, l78
Ireface to the Second Edition of
q `~ l~ (l7o5) . . . . DL39, l78
Walpole, Hugh l881l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL31
Walrond, Eric l898l9oo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5l
Walser, Martin l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL75, l21
Walser, Robert l878l95o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Walsh, Ernest l895l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1, 15
Walsh, Robert l781l859 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL59
Walters, Henry l818l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl10
t~~ circa 825 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl18
Walther von der Vogelweide
circa ll70circa l230 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Walton, Izaak
l593lo83 . . . . . . . . DLl5l, 2l3; CDLl
Walwicz, Ania l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Wambaugh, |oseph l937 . . . . . . . . . DLo; Y83
Wand, Alfred Rudolph l828l89l . . . . . . DLl88
Wandor, Michelene l910 . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Waniek, Marilyn Nelson l91o . . . . . . . DLl20
Wanley, Humphrey lo72l72o . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
War of the Words (and Iictures).
Jhe Creation of a Graphic Novel . . . . . . . Y02
Warburton, William lo98l779 . . . . . . . . DLl01
Ward, Aileen l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlll
Ward, Artemus (see rowne, Charles Iarrar)
Ward, Arthur Henry Sarsfield (see Rohmer, Sax)
Ward, Douglas Jurner l930 . . . . . . . . DL7, 38
Ward, Mrs. Humphry l85ll920. . . . . . . . DLl8
Ward, |ames l813l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Ward, Lynd l905l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Ward, Lock and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl0o
Ward, Nathaniel circa l578lo52 . . . . . . . . DL21
Ward, Jheodore l902l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7o
Wardle, Ralph l909l988. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl03
Ware, Henry, |r. l791l813. . . . . . . . . . . . DL235
Ware, William l797l852 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 235
Warfield, Catherine Ann l8lol877. . . . . . . . DL218
Waring, Anna Letitia l823l9l0 . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Irederick Warne and Company |L.K.| . . . . DLl0o
Irederick Warne and Company |L.S.| . . . . DL19
ai_ POV `~ f
RRV
`
Warner, Anne l8o9l9l3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL202

Warner, Charles Dudley l829l900 . . . . . . DLo1
Warner, Marina l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl91
Warner, Rex l905l98o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5
Warner, Susan l8l9l885 . . . . DL3, 12, 239, 250
Warner, Sylvia Jownsend
l893l978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL31, l39
Warner, William l558lo09. . . . . . . . . . . . DLl72
Warner ooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Warr, ertram l9l7l913. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Warren, |ohn yrne Leicester
(see De Jabley, Lord)
Warren, Lella l899l982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y83
Warren, Mercy Otis l728l8l1 . . . . . . DL3l, 200
Warren, Robert Ienn l905l989 . . . . . DL2, 18,
l52, 320; Y80, 89; CDALo
Warren, Samuel l807l877. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl90
a t~ circa l230circa l280. . . . DLl38
Warton, |oseph l722l800 . . . . . . . . . DLl01, l09
Warton, Jhomas l728l790. . . . . . . . DLl01, l09
Warung, Irice (William Astley)
l855l9ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Washington, George l732l799 . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Washington, Ned l90ll97o . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Wassermann, |akob l873l931 . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Wasserstein, Wendy l950200o. . . . . . . . . DL228
Wassmo, Herbjorg l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL297
Wasson, David Atwood l823l887 . . . . DLl, 223
Watanna, Onoto (see Eaton, Winnifred)
Waten, |udah l9ll.l985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Waterhouse, Keith l929 . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, l5
Waterman, Andrew l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Waters, Irank l902l995. . . . . . . . . DL2l2; Y8o
Waters, Michael l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Watkins, Jobias l780l855 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL73
Watkins, Vernon l90ol9o7. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20
Watmough, David l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Watson, Colin l920l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27o
Watson, Ian l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
Watson, |ames Wreford (see Wreford, |ames)
Watson, |ohn l850l907 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5o
Watson, Rosamund Marriott
(Graham R. Jomson) l8o0l9ll. . . . . DL210
Watson, Sheila l909l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Watson, Jhomas l515.l592 . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Watson, Wilfred l9lll998. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
W. |. Watt and Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Watten, arrett l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl93
Watterson, Henry l810l92l. . . . . . . . . . . . DL25
Watts, Alan l9l5l973. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Watts, Isaac lo71l718. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL95
Iranklin Watts |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DL1o
Waugh, Alec l898l98l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Waugh, Auberon l9392000 . . . DLl1, l91; Y00
Waugh, Evelyn l903l9oo
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5, lo2, l95; CDLo
Way and Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Wayman, Jom l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Wearne, Alan l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Weatherly, Jom l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Weaver, Gordon l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Weaver, Robert l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Webb, eatrice l858l913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl90
Webb, Irancis l925l973. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Webb, Irank |. fl. l857 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL50
Webb, |ames Watson l802l881 . . . . . . . . . DL13
Webb, Mary l88ll927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL31
Webb, Ihyllis l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Webb, Sidney l859l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl90
Webb, Walter Irescott l888l9o3 . . . . . . . . DLl7
Webbe, William .l59l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32
Webber, Charles Wilkins
l8l9l85o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL202
Weber, Max l8o1l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29o
Webling, Lucy (Lucy etty MacRaye)
l877l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Webling, Ieggy (Arthur Weston)
l87ll919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Webster, Augusta l837l891 . . . . . . . . DL35, 210
Webster, |ohn
l579 or l580lo31.. . . . . . DL58; CDLl
Jhe Melbourne Manuscript . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
Webster, Noah
l758l813 . . . . . . . . DLl, 37, 12, 13, 73, 213
Webster, Iaul Irancis l907l981 . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Charles L. Webster and Company . . . . . . . DL19
Weckherlin, Georg Rodolf l581lo53 . . . . DLlo1
Wedekind, Irank
l8o1l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll8; CDWL2
Weeks, Edward Augustus, |r.
l898l989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl37
Weeks, Stephen . l8o5l9l8 . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Weems, Mason Locke l759l825. . . DL30, 37, 12
Weerth, Georg l822l85o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Weidenfeld and Nicolson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Weidman, |erome l9l3l998. . . . . . . . . . . . DL28
Weigl, ruce l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Weil, |i l900l959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299
Weinbaum, Stanley Grauman
l902l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Weiner, Andrew l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25l
Weintraub, Stanley l929 . . . . . . . DLlll; Y82
Weise, Christian lo12l708 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Weisenborn, Gunther l902l9o9. . . . . DLo9, l21
Weiss, |ohn l8l8l879 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 213
Weiss, Iaul l90l2002. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL279
Weiss, Ieter l9lol982 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9, l21
Weiss, Jheodore l9lo2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Wei, Ernst l882l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8l
Weie, Christian Ielix l72ol801 . . . . . . . . DL97
Weitling, Wilhelm l808l87l. . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Welch, Denton l9l5l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l9
Welch, |ames l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl75, 25o
Welch, Lew l92ol97l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Weldon, Iay l93l . DLl1, l91, 3l9; CDL8
Wellek, Ren l903l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo3
Weller, Archie l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Wells, Carolyn l8o2l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll
Wells, Charles |eremiah
circa l800l879 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Wells, Gabriel l8o2l91o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl10
Wells, H. G. l8ool91o
. . . . . . . . . . . DL31, 70, l5o, l78; CDLo
H. G. Wells Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98
Ireface to q p o~
eK dK t (l933) . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl78
Wells, Helena l758.l821 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Wells, Rebecca l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Wells, Robert l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Wellsarnett, Ida . l8o2l93l . . . . . DL23, 22l
Welsh, Irvine l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL27l
Welty, Eudora l909200l . . . . . . DL2, l02, l13;
Y87, 0l; DSl2; CDALl
Eudora Welty. Eye of the Storyteller. . . . . . Y87
b~ t k . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y99
Eudora Welty`s Iuneral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y0l
Eudora Welty`s Ninetieth irthday . . . . . . .Y99
Eudora Welty Remembered in
Jwo Exhibits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y02
Wendell, arrett l855l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7l
Wentworth, Iatricia l878l9ol . . . . . . . . . . DL77
Wentworth, William Charles
l790l872 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL230
Wenzel, |eanIaul l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32l
Werder, Diederich von dem l581lo57 . . . DLlo1
Werfel, Iranz l890l915 . . . . . . . . . . . DL8l, l21
Werner, Zacharias l7o8l823. . . . . . . . . . . . DL91
Jhe Werner Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Wersba, arbara l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Wescott, Glenway
l90ll987 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1, 9, l02; DSl5
Wesker, Arnold
l932 . . . . . . . . . DLl3, 3l0, 3l9; CDL8
Wesley, Charles l707l788 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL95
Wesley, |ohn l703l79l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl01
Wesley, Mary l9l22002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23l
Wesley, Richard l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
Wessel, |ohan Herman l712l785 . . . . . . . DL300
A. Wessels and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
`~ f ai_ POV
RSM
t d circa 7878l5. . . . . . . . . DLl18
West, Anthony l9l1l988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl5
Jribute to Liam OÌlaherty . . . . . . . . . . . . Y81
West, Cheryl L. l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2oo
West, Cornel l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
West, Dorothy l907l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7o
West, |essamyn l902l981 . . . . . . . . . . DLo; Y81
West, Mae l892l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
West, Michael Lee l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
West, Michelle Sagara l9o3 . . . . . . . . . DL25l
West, Morris l9lol999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
West, Nathanael
l903l910 . . . . . . . . . DL1, 9, 28; CDAL5
West, Iaul l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1
West, Rebecca l892l983 . . . . . . . . . . DL3o; Y83
West, Richard l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl85
West and |ohnson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Westcott, Edward Noyes l81ol898. . . . . DL202
Jhe Western Literature Association . . . . . . . . . Y99
q t j
l835l81l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl; DL223
Western Iublishing Company . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Western Writers of America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y99
q t o l821l9l1 . . . . . . . DLll0
Weston, Arthur (see Webling, Ieggy)
Weston, Elizabeth |ane circa l582lol2 . . .DLl72
Wetherald, Agnes Ethelwyn l857l910 . . . DL99
Wetherell, Elizabeth (see Warner, Susan)
Wetherell, W. D. l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231
Wetzel, Iriedrich Gottlob l779l8l9. . . . . . DL90
Weyman, Stanley |. l855l928 . . . . . DLl1l, l5o
Wezel, |ohann Karl l717l8l9. . . . . . . . . . . DL91
Whalen, Ihilip l9232002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Whalley, George l9l5l983 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Wharton, Edith l8o2l937. . . . . . . . . DL1, 9, l2,
78, l89; DSl3; CDAL3
Wharton, William l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y80
Whately, Mary Louisa l821l889 . . . . . . DLloo
Whately, Richard l787l8o3 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl90
b o (l828;
revised, l81o) |excerpt| . . . . . . . . . DL57
Wheatley, Dennis l897l977. . . . . . . . . DL77, 255
Wheatley, Ihillis
circa l751l781. . . . . . . DL3l, 50; CDAL2
Wheeler, Anna Doyle l785l818. . . . . . . DLl58
Wheeler, Charles Stearns l8lol813 . . DLl, 223
Wheeler, Monroe l900l988 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1
Wheelock, |ohn Hall l88ol978 . . . . . . . . . DL15
Irom |ohn Hall Wheelock`s
Oral Memoir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Wheelwright, |. . l897l910 . . . . . . . . . . . DL15
Wheelwright, |ohn circa l592lo79 . . . . . . DL21
Whetstone, George l550l587 . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Whetstone, Colonel Iete (see Noland, C. I. M.)
Whewell, William l791l8oo . . . . . . . . . . DL2o2
Whichcote, enjamin lo09.lo83 . . . . . . DL252
Whicher, Stephen E. l9l5l9ol . . . . . . . . DLlll
Whipple, Edwin Iercy l8l9l88o . . . . . DLl, o1
Whitaker, Alexander l585lol7. . . . . . . . . DL21
Whitaker, Daniel K. l80ll88l . . . . . . . . . DL73
Whitcher, Irances Miriam
l8l2l852 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll, 202
White, Andrew l579lo5o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
White, Andrew Dickson l832l9l8 . . . . . . DL17
White, E. . l899l985 . . . DLll, 22; CDAL7
White, Edgar . l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
White, Edmund l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL227
White, Ethel Lina l887l911 . . . . . . . . . . . DL77
White, Hayden V. l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
White, Henry Kirke l785l80o . . . . . . . . . DL9o
White, Horace l831l9lo . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23
White, |ames l928l999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2ol
White, Iatrick l9l2l990. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
White, Ihyllis Dorothy |ames (see |ames, I. D.)
White, Richard Grant l82ll885. . . . . . . . DLo1
White, J. H. l90ol9o1 . . . . . . . . . . DLlo0, 255
White, Walter l893l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5l
Wilcox, |ames l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
William White and Company . . . . . . . . . . DL19
White, William Allen l8o8l911 . . . . . . DL9, 25
White, William Anthony Iarker
(see oucher, Anthony)
White, William Hale (see Rutherford, Mark)
Whitechurch, Victor L. l8o8l933. . . . . . . DL70
Whitehead, Alfred North
l8oll917. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl00, 2o2
Whitehead, E. A. (Jed Whitehead)
l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Whitehead, |ames l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8l
Whitehead, William l7l5l785. . . . . . DL81, l09
Whitfield, |ames Monroe l822l87l . . . . . DL50
Whitfield, Raoul l898l915 . . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
Whitgift, |ohn circa l533lo01. . . . . . . . . DLl32
Whiting, |ohn l9l7l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Whiting, Samuel l597lo79 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Whitlock, rand l8o9l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2
Whitman, Albery Allson l85ll90l. . . . . . DL50
Whitman, Alden l9l3l990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y9l
Whitman, Sarah Helen (Iower)
l803l878. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 213
Whitman, Walt
l8l9l892 . . . DL3, o1, 221, 250; CDAL2
Albert Whitman and Company . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Whitman Iublishing Company . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Whitney, Geoffrey
l518 or l552.lo0l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Whitney, Isabella fl. l5ool573. . . . . . . . . DLl3o
Whitney, |ohn Hay l901l982. . . . . . . . . .DLl27
Whittemore, Reed l9l9l995. . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Whittier, |ohn Greenleaf
l807l892. . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 213; CDAL2
Whittlesey House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Wickham, Anna (Edith Alice Mary Harper)
l881l917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL210
Wickram, Georg circa l505circa l5ol . . .DLl79
Wicomb, Zo l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL225
Wideman, |ohn Edgar l91l . . . . . DL33, l13
Widener, Harry Elkins l885l9l2 . . . . . . DLl10
Wiebe, Rudy l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Wiechert, Ernst l887l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5o
Wied, Gustav l858l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Wied, Martina l882l957. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
Wiehe, Evelyn May Clowes (see Mordaunt, Elinor)
Wieland, Christoph Martin l733l8l3. . . . DL97
Wienbarg, Ludolf l802l872 . . . . . . . . . . DLl33
Wieners, |ohn l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo
Wier, Ester l9l02000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Wiesel, Elie
l928 . . . . DL83, 299; Y8o, 87; CDAL7
Nobel Lecture l98o. Hope, Despair and
Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y8o
Wiggin, Kate Douglas l85ol923. . . . . . . . DL12
Wigglesworth, Michael lo3ll705 . . . . . . . DL21
Wilberforce, William l759l833. . . . . . . . DLl58
Wilbrandt, Adolf l837l9ll . . . . . . . . . . . DLl29
Wilbur, Richard l92l . . DL5, lo9; CDAL7
Wilcox, |ames l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL292
Wild, Ieter l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Wilde, Lady |ane Irancesca Elgee
l82l.l89o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99
Wilde, Oscar l851l900
. . DLl0, l9, 31, 57, l1l, l5o, l90; CDL5
'Jhe Critic as Artist`` (l89l) . . . . . . . . DL57
'Jhe Decay of Lying" (l889) . . . . . . . DLl8
'Jhe English Renaissance of
Art" (l908) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
'LÈnvoi" (l882) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
Oscar Wilde Conference at Hofstra
Lniversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Wilde, Richard Henry l789l817. . . . . . DL3, 59
W. A. Wilde Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Wilder, illy l90o2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
Wilder, Laura Ingalls l8o7l957. . . . . DL22, 25o
Wilder, Jhornton
l897l975 . . . . . . . .DL1, 7, 9, 228; CDAL7
Jhornton Wilder Centenary at Yale . . . . . Y97
Wildgans, Anton l88ll932. . . . . . . . . . . DLll8
Wilding, Michael l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Wiley, ell Irvin l90ol980 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7
|ohn Wiley and Sons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Wilhelm, Kate l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
ai_ POV `~ f
RSN
`
Wilkes, Charles l798l877. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl83

Wilkes, George l8l7l885 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL79
Wilkins, |ohn lol1lo72 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23o
Wilkinson, Anne l9l0l9ol . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Wilkinson, Christopher l91l . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Wilkinson, Eliza Yonge
l757circa l8l3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Wilkinson, Sylvia l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y8o
Wilkinson, William Cleaver l833l920. . . . DL7l
Willard, arbara l909l991. . . . . . . . . . . . DLlol
Willard, Emma l787l870 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL239
Willard, Irances E. l839l898. . . . . . . . . . DL22l
Willard, Nancy l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, 52
Willard, Samuel lo10l707 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
L. Willard |publishing house|. . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Willeford, Charles l9l9l988 . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
William of Auvergne ll90l219 . . . . . . . . DLll5
William of Conches
circa l090circa ll51 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
William of Ockham circa l285l317 . . . . . DLll5
William of Sherwood
l200/l205l2oo/l27l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll5
Lniversity Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y92
Williams, en Ames l889l953. . . . . . . . . DLl02
Williams, C. K. l93o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Williams, Chancellor l905l992 . . . . . . . . . DL7o
Williams, Charles l88ol915. . . DLl00, l53, 255
Williams, Denis l923l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll7
Williams, Emlyn l905l987. . . . . . . . . . DLl0, 77
Williams, Garth l9l2l99o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL22
Williams, George Washington
l819l89l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL17
Williams, Heathcote l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Williams, Helen Maria l7oll827 . . . . . . . DLl58
Williams, Hugo l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Williams, Isaac l802l8o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL32
Williams, |oan l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Williams, |oe l889l972. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Williams, |ohn A. l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 33
Williams, |ohn E. l922l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Williams, |onathan l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Williams, Miller l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl05
Williams, Nigel l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23l
Williams, Raymond
l92ll988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, 23l, 212
Williams, Roger circa lo03lo83. . . . . . . . . DL21
Williams, Rowland l8l7l870 . . . . . . . . . . DLl81
Williams, SammArt l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL38
Williams, Sherley Anne l911l999 . . . . . . . DL1l
Williams, J. Harry l909l979 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl7
Williams, Jennessee
l9lll983 . . . . . DL7; Y83; DS1; CDALl
Williams, Jerry Jempest l955 . . . DL20o, 275
Williams, Lrsula Moray l9ll . . . . . . . . DLlo0
Williams, Valentine l883l91o . . . . . . . . . . DL77
Williams, William Appleman l92ll990. . . DLl7
Williams, William Carlos
l883l9o3 . . . . . . DL1, lo, 51, 8o; CDAL1
Jhe William Carlos Williams Society. . . . .Y99
Williams, Wirt l92ll98o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
A. Williams and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Williams rothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Williamson, David l912 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Williamson, Henry l895l977. . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Jhe Henry Williamson Society. . . . . . . . . .Y98
Williamson, |ack l908 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Willingham, Calder aynard, |r.
l922l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2, 11
Williram of Ebersberg circa l020l085 . . . DLl18
Willis, |ohn circa l572lo25. . . . . . . . . . . . DL28l
Willis, Nathaniel Iarker l80ol8o7
. . . . . . . . . . . DL3, 59, 73, 71, l83, 250; DSl3
Willis, Jed l9l8l992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l0
Willkomm, Ernst l8l0l88o . . . . . . . . . . . DLl33
Wills, Garry l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21o
Jribute to Kenneth Dale McCormick . . . . . Y97
Willson, Meredith l902l981 . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Willumsen, Dorrit l910 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l1
Wilmer, Clive l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL10
Wilson, A. N. l950 . . . . . . . . . DLl1, l55, l91
Wilson, Angus l9l3l99l . . . . . . DLl5, l39, l55
Wilson, Arthur l595lo52. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL58
Wilson, August l9152005 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL228
Wilson, Augusta |ane Evans l835l909 . . . DL12
Wilson, Colin l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl1, l91
Jribute to |. . Iriestly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y81
Wilson, Edmund l895l972 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo3
Wilson, Ethel l888l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo8
Wilson, I. I. l889l9o3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Wilson, Harriet E.
l827/l828.l8o3. . . . . . . . . . DL50, 239, 213
Wilson, Harry Leon l8o7l939 . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Wilson, |ohn l588loo7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Wilson, |ohn l785l851. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll0
Wilson, |ohn Anthony urgess
(see urgess, Anthony)
Wilson, |ohn Dover l88ll9o9 . . . . . . . . . DL20l
Wilson, Lanford l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7
Wilson, Margaret l882l973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Wilson, Michael l9l1l978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL11
Wilson, Mona l872l951. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl19
Wilson, Robert Charles l953 . . . . . . . . DL25l
Wilson, Robert McLiam l9o1 . . . . . . . DL2o7
Wilson, Robley l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l8
Wilson, Romer l89ll930. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Wilson, Jhomas l521l58l. . . . . . . . DLl32, 23o
Wilson, Woodrow l85ol921 . . . . . . . . . . . DL17
Effingham Wilson |publishing house| . . . . DLl51
Wimpfeling, |akob l150l528 . . . . . . . . . . DLl79
Wimsatt, William K., |r. l907l975 . . . . . . . DLo3
Winchell, Walter l897l972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29
|. Winchester |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . DL19
Winckelmann, |ohann |oachim
l7l7l7o8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL97
Winckler, Iaul lo30lo8o . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Wind, Herbert Warren l9lo2005 . . . . . . DLl7l
|ohn Windet |publishing house|. . . . . . . . . DLl70
Windham, Donald l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Windsor, Gerard l911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Wing, Donald Goddard l901l972 . . . . . . DLl87
Wing, |ohn M. l811l9l7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl87
Allan Wingate |publishing house| . . . . . . . DLll2
Winnemucca, Sarah l811l92l . . . . . . . . . DLl75
Winnifrith, Jom l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl55
Winsloe, Christa l888l911 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
Winslow, Anna Green l759l780. . . . . . . . DL200
Winsor, |ustin l83ll897. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL17
|ohn C. Winston Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Winters, Yvor l900l9o8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL18
Winterson, |eanette l959 . . . . . . . DL207, 2ol
Winther, Christian l79ol87o . . . . . . . . . . DL300
Winthrop, |ohn l588lo19 . . . . . . . . . . DL21, 30
Winthrop, |ohn, |r. lo0olo7o . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Winthrop, Margaret Jyndal
l59llo17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Winthrop, Jheodore
l828l8ol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL202
Winton, Jim l9o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Wirt, William l772l831 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL37
Wise, |ohn lo52l725 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Wise, Jhomas |ames l859l937 . . . . . . . . DLl81
Wiseman, Adele l928l992. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Wishart and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2
Wisner, George l8l2l819 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL13
Wister, Owen l8o0l938 . . . . . . . . . DL9, 78, l8o
Wister, Sarah l7oll801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Wither, George l588loo7. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl2l
Witherspoon, |ohn l723l791 . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
q t oK g t
(l800l80l) |excerpts| . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Withrow, William Henry l839l908 . . . . . . DL99
Witkacy (see Witkiewicz, Stanisaw Ignacy)
Witkiewicz, Stanisaw Ignacy
l885l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5; CDWL1
Wittenwiler, Heinrich before l387
circa l1l1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl79
Wittgenstein, Ludwig l889l95l. . . . . . . . DL2o2
Wittig, Monique l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL83
Witting, Amy ( |oan Austral Levick, ne Iraser)
l9l8200l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
`~ f ai_ POV
RSO
Wodehouse, I. G.
l88ll975. . . . . . . . . . DL31, lo2; CDLo
Worldwide Wodehouse Societies . . . . . . . . Y98
Wohmann, Gabriele l932 . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Woiwode, Larry l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo
Wolcot, |ohn l738l8l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl09
Wolcott, Roger lo79l7o7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL21
Wolf, Christa l929 . . . . . . . .DL75; CDWL2
Wolf, Iriedrich l888l953 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl21
Wolfe, Gene l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Wolfe, Jhomas l900l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
DL9, l02, 229; Y85; DS2, DSlo; CDAL5
'All the Iaults of Youth and Inexperience".
A Reader`s Report on
Jhomas Wolfe`s l i . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
Emendations for i e~I ^ . . . . Y00
Eugene Gant`s Irojected Works. . . . . . . . . Y0l
Iire at the Old Kentucky Home
|Jhomas Wolfe Memorial| . . . . . . . . . Y98
Jhomas Wolfe Centennial
Celebration in Asheville . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Jhe Jhomas Wolfe Collection at
the Lniversity of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Jhe Jhomas Wolfe Society . . . . . . . . . .Y97, 99
Wolfe, Jom l93l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl52, l85
|ohn Wolfe |publishing house| . . . . . . . . . .DLl70
Reyner (Reginald) Wolfe
Wolfenstein, Martha l8o9l90o . . . . . . . . DL22l
Wolff, David (see Maddow, en)
Wolff, Egon l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL305
Wolff, Helen l90ol991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y91
Wolff, Jobias l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl30
Jribute to Raymond Carver. . . . . . . . . . . . Y88
Wolfram von Eschenbach
circa ll70after l220. . . . DLl38; CDWL2
Wolfram von Eschenbach`s m~~W
Irologue and ook 3. . . . . . . . . . DLl38
Wolker, |i l900l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l5
Wollstonecraft, Mary l759l797
. . . . . . . . . . DL39, l01, l58, 252; CDL3
Women
Women`s Work, Women`s Sphere.
Selected Comments from Women
Writers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Women Writers in SixteenthCentury
Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l8
Wondratschek, Wolf l913 . . . . . . . . . . . DL75
Wong, Elizabeth l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2oo
Wong, Nellie l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Wong, Shawn l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Wongar, . (Sreten ozic) l932 . . . . . . DL325
Wood, Anthony a lo32lo95 . . . . . . . . . . DL2l3
Wood, enjamin l820l900 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL23
Wood, Charles l932l980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3
Jhe Charles Wood Affair.
A Ilaywright Revived . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y83
Wood, Mrs. Henry l8l1l887 . . . . . . . . . . DLl8
Wood, |oanna E. l8o7l927 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL92
Wood, Sally Sayward arrell Keating
l759l855. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL200
Wood, William fl. seventeenth century. . . . DL21
Samuel Wood |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DL19
Woodberry, George Edward
l855l930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL7l, l03
Woodbridge, enjamin lo22lo81 . . . . . . . DL21
Woodbridge, Irederick |. E. l8o7l910 . . .DL270
Woodcock, George l9l2l995 . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Woodhull, Victoria C. l838l927. . . . . . . . DL79
Woodmason, Charles circa l720. . . . . . . . DL3l
Woodress, |ames Leslie, |r. l9lo . . . . . DLlll
Woods, Margaret L. l855l915 . . . . . . . . DL210
Woodson, Carter G. l875l950 . . . . . . . . . DLl7
Woodward, C. Vann l908l999. . . . . . . . . DLl7
Woodward, Stanley l895l9o5. . . . . . . . . .DLl7l
Woodworth, Samuel l785l812 . . . . . . . . DL250
Wooler, Jhomas l785 or l78ol853. . . . . DLl58
Woolf, David (see Maddow, en)
Woolf, Douglas l922l992 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL211
Woolf, Leonard l880l9o9. . . . . . .DLl00; DSl0
Woolf, Virginia l882l91l
. . . . . . . . DL3o, l00, lo2; DSl0; CDLo
'Jhe New iography," k v e~
qI 30 October l927 . . . . . . . DLl19
Woollcott, Alexander l887l913. . . . . . . . . DL29
Woolman, |ohn l720l772 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Woolner, Jhomas l825l892 . . . . . . . . . . . DL35
Woolrich, Cornell l903l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . DL22o
Woolsey, Sarah Chauncy l835l905 . . . . . DL12
Woolson, Constance Ienimore
l810l891 . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl2, 71, l89, 22l
Worcester, |oseph Emerson
l781l8o5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 235
Wynkyn de Worde |publishing house| . . . .DLl70
Wordsworth, Christopher l807l885 . . . . DLloo
Wordsworth, Dorothy l77ll855 . . . . . . . .DLl07
Wordsworth, Elizabeth
l810l932 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL98
Wordsworth, William
l770l850. . . . . . . . . . DL93, l07; CDL3
Workman, Ianny ullock
l859l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl89
t i~ q~W A |ournal for the
New Millennium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y0l
World Iublishing Company . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
World War I (l9l1l9l8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl8
Jhe Great War Exhibit and Symposium
at the Lniversity of South Carolina. . . Y97
Jhe Liddle Collection and Iirst World
War Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y97
Other ritish Ioets Who Iell
in the Great War . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2lo
Jhe SeventyIifth Anniversary of
the Armistice. Jhe Wilfred Owen
Centenary and the Great War Exhibit
at the Lniversity of Virginia . . . . . . . . Y93
World War II (l939-l915)
Literary Effects of World War II . . . . . DLl5
World War II Writers Symposium
at the Lniversity of South Carolina,
l2-l1 April l995. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y95
WW2 HMSO Iaperbacks Society . . . . . . Y98
R. Worthington and Company. . . . . . . . . . DL19
Wotton, Sir Henry l5o8lo39 . . . . . . . . . DLl2l
Wouk, Herman l9l5 . . . . . . . . . Y82; CDAL7
Wreford, |ames l9l5l990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL88
Wren, Sir Christopher lo32l723. . . . . . . DL2l3
Wren, Iercival Christopher l885l91l . . DLl53
Wrenn, |ohn Henry l81ll9ll . . . . . . . . DLl10
Wright, C. D. l919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Wright, Charles l935 . . . . . . . . . DLlo5; Y82
Wright, Charles Stevenson l932 . . . . . . DL33
Wright, Chauncey l830l875. . . . . . . . . . .DL270
Wright, Irances l795l852. . . . . . . . . . . . . DL73
Wright, Harold ell l872l911. . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Wright, |ames l927l980
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo9; CDAL7
Wright, |ay l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Wright, |udith l9l52000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o0
Wright, Louis . l899l981 . . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl7
Wright, Richard
l908l9o0 . . . . DL7o, l02; DS2; CDAL5
Wright, Richard . l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53
Wright, S. Iowler l871l9o5. . . . . . . . . . . DL255
Wright, Sarah Elizabeth l928 . . . . . . . . DL33
Wright, J. H. 'Style" (l877) |excerpt| . . . . DL57
Wright, Willard Huntington (S. S. Van Dine)
l887l939. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL30o; DSlo
Wrightson, Iatricia l92l . . . . . . . . . . . DL289
Wrigley, Robert l95l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL25o
t c. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y85
Writing
A Writing Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y02
On Learning to Write . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y88
Jhe Irofession of Authorship.
Scribblers for read. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y89
A Writer Jalking. A Collage . . . . . . . . . . . Y00
Wroth, Lawrence C. l881l970 . . . . . . . . .DLl87
Wroth, Lady Mary l587lo53 . . . . . . . . . DLl2l
Wu |ianren (Wo Ioshanren)
l8ool9l0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Wu Zuxiang l908l991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Wumingshi (u aonan) l9l72002 . . . . . DL328
Wurlitzer, Rudolph l937 . . . . . . . . . . . .DLl73
Wyatt, Sir Jhomas circa l503l512 . . . . . DLl32
Wycherley, William
lo1ll7l5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL80; CDL2
Wyclif, |ohn circa l335l381 . . . . . . . . . . DLl1o
ai_ POV `~ f
RSP
`
Wyeth, N. C. l882l915 . . . . . . . . DLl88; DSlo

Wyle, Niklas von circa l1l5l179 . . . . . . . DLl79
Wylie, Elinor l885l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9, 15
Wylie, Ihilip l902l97l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL9
Wyllie, |ohn Cook l908l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . DLl10
Wyman, Lillie uffum Chace
l817l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL202
Wymark, Olwen l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL233
Wynd, Oswald Morris (see lack, Gavin)
Wyndham, |ohn ( |ohn Wyndham Iarkes
Lucas eynon Harris) l903l9o9 . . . . DL255
WynneJyson, Esm l898l972. . . . . . . . . DLl9l
u
Xenophon circa 130 _.`.circa 35o _.`. . . . . DLl7o
Xiang Kairan (Iingjiang uxiaoshengj uxiaosheng)
l890l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Xiao Hong l9lll912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Xu Dishan (Luo Huasheng)
l893l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Xu Zhenya l889l937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
v
Yahp, eth l9o1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Yamamoto, Hisaye l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Yamanaka, LoisAnn l9ol . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Yamashita, Karen Jei l95l . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Yamauchi, Wakako l921 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l2
Yang Kui l905l985. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Yasuoka Shtar l920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl82
Yates, Dornford l885l9o0 . . . . . . . . . DL77, l53
Yates, |. Michael l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Yates, Richard l92ol992. . . . DL2, 231; Y8l, 92
Yau, |ohn l950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL231, 3l2
Yavorov, Ieyo l878l9l1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl17
Ye Shaojun (Ye Shengtao) l891l988 . . . . . DL328
Yearsley, Ann l753l80o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl09
Yeats, William utler
l8o5l939 . . . . DLl0, l9, 98, l5o; CDL5
Jhe W. . Yeats Society of N.Y. . . . . . . . . .Y99
Yellen, |ack l892l99l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o5
Yep, Laurence l918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52, 3l2
Yerby, Irank l9lol99l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL7o
Yezierska, Anzia l880l970 . . . . . . . . . DL28, 22l
Yolen, |ane l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Yonge, Charlotte Mary l823l90l. . . . DLl8, lo3
Jhe Charlotte M. Yonge Iellowship . . . . . .Y98
Jhe York Cycle circa l37ocirca l5o9 . . . . DLl1o
^ v q~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL58
Jhomas Yoseloff |publishing house|. . . . . . . DL1o
Youd, Sam (see Christopher, |ohn)
Young, A. S. 'Doc" l9l9l99o. . . . . . . . . . DL21l
Young, Al l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL33
Young, Arthur l71ll820. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl58
Young, Dick l9l7 or l9l8l987. . . . . . . . . DLl7l
Young, Edward lo83l7o5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL95
Young, Irank A. 'Iay" l881l957 . . . . . . . DL21l
Young, Irancis rett l881l951 . . . . . . . . . DLl9l
Young, Gavin l928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL201
Young, Stark l88ll9o3. . . . . . . DL9, l02; DSlo
Young, Waldeman l880l938 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o
William Young |publishing house| . . . . . . . . DL19
Young ear, Ray A. l950 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl75
Yourcenar, Marguerite l903l987 . . . DL72; Y88
Yovkov, Yordan l880l937 . . . . DLl17; CDWL1
Yu Dafu l89ol915. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DL328
Yushkevich, Semen l8o8l927 . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Yver, |acques l520.l570. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL327
w
Zachari, Iriedrich Wilhelm l72ol777 . . . . DL97
Zagajewski, Adam l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Zagoskin, Mikhail Nikolaevich
l789l852 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl98
Zaitsev, oris l88ll972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Zajc, Dane l929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
Zlte, Mra l952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Zalygin, Sergei Iavlovich l9l32000 . . . . . DL302
Zamiatin, Evgenii Ivanovich l881l937. . . DL272
Zamora, ernice l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL82
Zamudio, Adela (Soledad) l851l928 . . . . DL283
Zand, Herbert l923l970. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL85
Zangwill, Israel l8o1l92o. . . . . . DLl0, l35, l97
Zanzotto, Andrea l92l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl28
Zapata Olivella, Manuel l920 . . . . . . . . . DLll3
Zapoev, Jimur Iurèvich
(see Kibirov, Jimur Iurèvich)
Zasodimsky, Iavel Vladimirovich
l813l9l2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Zebra ooks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL1o
Zebrowski, George l915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Zech, Iaul l88ll91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5o
Zeidner, Lisa l955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl20
Zeidonis, Imants l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL232
Zeimi (Kanze Motokiyo) l3o3l113 . . . . . DL203
Zelazny, Roger l937l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL8
Zeng Iu l872l935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Zenger, |ohn Ieter lo97l71o . . . . . . . . . DL21, 13
Zepheria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl72
Zernova, Ruf` l9l92001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL3l7
Zesen, Ihilipp von lol9lo89 . . . . . . . . . . DLlo1
Zhadovskaia, Iuliia Valerianovna
l821l883 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL277
Zhang Ailing (Eileen Chang)
l920l995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Zhang Henshui l895l9o7 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Zhang Jianyi l90ol985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Zhao Shuli l90ol970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL328
Zhukova, Marìa Semenovna
l805l855 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL277
Zhukovsky, Vasilii Andreevich
l783l852 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL205
Zhvanetsky, Mikhail Mikhailovich
l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL285
G. . Zieber and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL19
Ziedonis, Imants l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . CDWL1
Zieroth, Dale l91o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0
Zigler und Kliphausen, Heinrich
Anshelm von loo3lo97 . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
Zil`ber, Veniamin Aleksandrovich
(see Kaverin, Veniamin Aleksandrovich)
Zimmer, Iaul l931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL5
Zinberg, Len (see Lacy, Ed)
Zincgref, |ulius Wilhelm l59llo35 . . . . . DLlo1
Zindel, Iaul l93o . . . . . . . DL7, 52; CDAL7
Zinnes, Harriet l9l9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl93
Zinovèv, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich
l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL302
ZinovèvaAnnibal, Lidiia Dmitrievna
l8o5 or l8ool907 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL295
Zinzendorf, Nikolaus Ludwig von
l700l7o0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLlo8
ZitkalaSa l87ol938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl75
Zverts, Mrti l903l990 . . . . . . . . . . . . DL220
Zlatovratsky, Nikolai Nikolaevich
l815l9ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL238
Zola, Emile l810l902. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl23
Zolla, Elmire l92o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o
Zolotow, Charlotte l9l5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL52
Zoshchenko, Mikhail Mikhailovich
l895l958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL272
Zschokke, Heinrich l77ll818. . . . . . . . . . . DL91
Zubly, |ohn |oachim l721l78l . . . . . . . . . . DL3l
Zuolton, Ahmos, II l93o . . . . . . . . . . . DL1l
Zuckmayer, Carl l89ol977. . . . . . . . . DL5o, l21
Zukofsky, Louis l901l978 . . . . . . . . . . DL5, lo5
Zupan, Vitomil l9l1l987. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl8l
upani, Oton l878l919. . . DLl17; CDWL1
zur Mhlen, Hermynia l883l95l . . . . . . . DL5o
Zweig, Arnold l887l9o8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLoo
Zweig, Stefan l88ll912 . . . . . . . . . . . DL8l, ll8
Zwicky, Iay l933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL325
Zwinger, Ann l925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL275
Zwingli, Huldrych l181l53l . . . . . . . . . . DLl79
verland, Arnulf l889l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . DL297

Nobel Prize Laureates in Literature Part 1 - Agnon - Eucken

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Nobel Prize Laureates in Literature Part 1 - Agnon - Eucken

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a~ i~ _~

uly, 1910 (London New York. Cas

Blrthday Jalk wlth J. S. Ellot," Suvdoy

Allen, Dick l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL282

Jhe Association for the Study of

arykova, Anna Iavlovna l839l893 . . . . DL277

ianco, Margery Williams l88ll911 . . . . DLlo0

rne, Ludwig l78ol837 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL90

ront, Anne l820l819 . . . . . . . . . . . DL2l, l99

yron, Robert l905l91l . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl95

Cernuda, Luis l902l9o3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl31

Clifford, Lucy l853.l929. . . . . DLl35, l1l, l97

Cowles, Gardner l8oll91o . . . . . . . . . . . . DL29

Davies, W. H. l87ll910 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9, l71

Diogenes, |r. (see rougham, |ohn)

Ioote, Mary Hallock

Gallant, Mavis l922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL53

Ginzburg, Natalia l9lol99l. . . . . . . . . . . DLl77

Derek Robinson`s Review of George

q e~ l815l819 . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl, 223

Henning, Rachel l82ol9l1. . . . . . . . . . . . DL230

Hopkins, |ohn .l570. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl32

Dickey, |ames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y82

Kertsz, Imre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL299; Y02

Kuzmin, Mikhail Alekseevich

Lenz, Hermann l9l3l998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo9

Jhe Iowys Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Y98

Mackenzie, Kenneth (Seaforth Mackenzie)

Mason, William l725l797. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl12

Metcalf, |ohn l938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLo0

Morrissy, Mary l957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL2o7

George Newnes Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLll2

Ogilvy, Eliza l822l9l2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl99

Iatrick, Edwin Hill ('Jed") l90ll9o1 . . . DLl37

Iliny the Elder ^.a. 23/21^.a. 79 . . . . . . . DL2ll

Irutkov, Koz`ma Ietrovich

Reinmar der Alte circa llo5circa l205. . . DLl38

Rostopchina, Evdokiia Ietrovna

Schaff, Ihilip l8l9l893. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSl3

Shaw, Robert l927l978. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3, l1

Smith, William fl. l595l597 . . . . . . . . . . . DLl3o

Sternheim, Carl l878l912. . . . . . . . . . DL5o, ll8

Jaylor, |eremy circa lol3loo7 . . . . . . . . . DLl5l

Valesio, Iaolo l939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl9o

Warner, Anne l8o9l9l3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DL202

Wilkes, Charles l798l877. . . . . . . . . . . . . DLl83

Wyeth, N. C. l882l915 . . . . . . . . DLl88; DSlo

verland, Arnulf l889l9o8 . . . . . . . . . . . DL297

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