<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]><style>v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style><![endif]--><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Microsoft JhengHei";
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:"\@Microsoft JhengHei";}
@font-face
{font-family:"Microsoft JhengHei UI";
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:"\@Microsoft JhengHei UI";}
@font-face
{font-family:Tahoma;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0cm;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;}
@page WordSection1
{size:612.0pt 792.0pt;
margin:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang="EN-AU" link="blue" vlink="purple">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">“Pseudo-American” definitely suggests people aping what they see as American rather than being American. I agree that “usurp the pretence-new” sounds as though he wants someone to take over and
replace it with a real new, not fake new or fake American.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">The “terrible powerhouse just off the boulevard” also intrigues me, especially in context of the Vorticist phrasing. I’m not so sure that this is metaphoric—and I really doubt that it refers either
to Bloomsbury in general or to the Hogarth Press within Bloomsbury, neither of which can be described as “off the boulevard.” Lehmann is pushing for a writing that would “[catch] a spark from the true machine of modern life,” as opposed to “the spunkless
complacencies of Bloomsbury,” which implicitly has no spark. The Vorticist interest in the machine was at least partly literal, and the powerhouse might be too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Caroline Webb<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">The University of Newcastle, Australia<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div>
<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">From:</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> Vwoolf <vwoolf-bounces+caroline.webb=newcastle.edu.au@lists.osu.edu>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Mark Scott via Vwoolf<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, 17 September 2020 7:25 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> vwoolf@lists.osu.edu<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Vwoolf] questions about John Lehmann and Woolf<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">As a humble common reader I am going to put in my thoughts on this.
<br>
<br>
One of the definitions that Merriam-Webster gives for the word usurp is “to take the place of by or as if by force”.
<br>
<br>
I went to the Cambridge dictionary to see the definition of pretence since it seems to be a British spelling for the word pretense and M-W did not have an entry for the word using the spelling with the c. That produced the definition “a way of behaving that
is intended to deceive people”. <br>
<br>
Finally, I went back to Merriam-Webster for pseudo which gave me “being apparently rather than actually as stated : sham, spurious”.
<br>
<br>
Taking those definitions into account, I would interpret Lehman’s phrase to mean that the new journalism he is advocating for would drive out and replace the deceptively claimed “new” style of a pretended but sham American style.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Mark Scott<br>
Common Reader<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:whitesmoke"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"> Stuart N. Clarke via Vwoolf
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:whitesmoke"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Sent:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"> Wednesday, September 16, 2020 7:15 AM<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:whitesmoke"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">To:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">
<a href="mailto:vwoolf@lists.osu.edu">vwoolf@lists.osu.edu</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:whitesmoke"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Subject:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"> Re: [Vwoolf] questions about John
Lehmann and Woolf<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">I *think* “the pretence-new” = the pretend-new = the pretended new. After all, ex America semper aliquid novi.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Stuart<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">(Day 183)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:whitesmoke"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"> Mary Ellen Foley via Vwoolf
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:whitesmoke"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Sent:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"> Wednesday, September 16, 2020 1:54 PM<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:whitesmoke"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">To:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Microsoft JhengHei UI",sans-serif;color:black">陈栩</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:whitesmoke"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Cc:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"> vwoolf
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:whitesmoke"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Subject:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"> Re: [Vwoolf] questions about John
Lehmann and Woolf<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">> </span><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">a new kind of journalism ... to drive the ... New Statesman and Spectator off the stage,
</span></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">> and usurp the pretence-new of the pseudo-American</span></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
I'm only guessing, but I'll jump in:<br>
<br>
The <i>pretence-new </i>is the most intriguing part of the phrasing, to my eye. Could this be a Frenchified way of saying "the new pretension", constructing pretension in the phrase itself?
<br>
<br>
If so, then the aim is to take over the new pretension of the pseudo-American -- which I read as saying to take over a recently fashionable stance of trying to sound American. What it would mean to take this over -- 'to adopt that position themselves' seems
unlikely, and 'usurp', with its connotations of an unjust action, seems an odd choice -- I couldn't say.<br>
<br>
I don't know enough about the context to know whether this is reasonable, but I prefer it to the "Americans are crass" interpretation :-)<br>
<br>
(Reminds me of a tedious trip to London on a *packed* train during which a rude American in the window seats of our row of three -- I was on the aisle -- talked non-stop to her travelling companion, who faced her from the adjacent row of three. We heard all
about her -- they were bassoonists in an orchestra together, and, among other things, she told tuba jokes -- because she didn't shut up except for a brief respite when she went to the toilet, and her subject was mainly herself.<br>
<br>
I didn't say anything. But when we stepped off the train at Waterloo, I said to the British people who'd occupied the other 3 seats in our 6-person group, "We're not all like that" -- and they absolutely cracked up!)<br>
<br>
Mary Ellen</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">On Wed, Sep 16, 2020 at 12:36 AM
</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Microsoft JhengHei",sans-serif;color:black">陈栩</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"> via Vwoolf <<a href="mailto:vwoolf@lists.osu.edu">vwoolf@lists.osu.edu</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<blockquote style="border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0cm">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Dear friends,</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"> It is the first time that I have come here for help.</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">I have some difficulty in understanding the red short quotations that I am using in my writing as is attached below. I wonder if you could help me
clarify them? They are parts of Lehmann's journal taken from page 84 in his biography
<i>John Lehmann: A Pagan Adventure</i>:</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height:150%"><b><span style="font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Wanted: a new kind of journalism in London to drive the elderly softnesses and condescensions of the
<i>New Statesman </i>and <i>Spectator</i> off the stage, and usurp the pretence-new of the pseudo-American;</span></b><span style="font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height:150%"><b><span style="font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Wanted: a new kind of art to blow the spunkless complacencies of Bloomsbury sky-high;</span></b><span style="font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height:150%"><b><span style="font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Wanted: a new kind of writing that has really caught a spark from the true machine of modern life, the machine in the
terrible powerhouse just off the boulevard</span></b><span style="font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">The context is Lehmann's conflicts with the Woolfs which trigger his departure from Hogarth in 1932 and also consolidate
his determination to launch a magazine which turns out to be<i> New Writing</i>. So my questions are</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">1. What does the "pretence-new of the pseudo-American" mean in the first item? It seems most puzzling.</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">2. Do you think the powerhouse just off the boulevard might refer to Hogarth Press or probably the Bloomsbury Group? I'm afraid it should be a symbol
here.</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Thank you very much.</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">All the best,</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Chen Xu</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0cm">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Vwoolf mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Vwoolf@lists.osu.edu">Vwoolf@lists.osu.edu</a><br>
<a href="https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vwoolf" target="_blank">https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vwoolf</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">
<hr size="2" width="100%" align="center">
</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">_______________________________________________<br>
Vwoolf mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Vwoolf@lists.osu.edu">Vwoolf@lists.osu.edu</a><br>
<a href="https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vwoolf">https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vwoolf</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">
<hr size="2" width="100%" align="center">
</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">_______________________________________________<br>
Vwoolf mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Vwoolf@lists.osu.edu">Vwoolf@lists.osu.edu</a><br>
<a href="https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vwoolf">https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vwoolf</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>