[Vwoolf] questions about John Lehmann and Woolf

[Mary Ellen Foley]

>  *a new kind of journalism ... to drive the ... New
Statesman and Spectator off the stage, *
> and usurp the pretence-new of the pseudo-American

I'm only guessing, but I'll jump in:

The *pretence-new *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?

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.

I don't know enough about the context to know whether this is reasonable,
but I prefer it to the "Americans are crass" interpretation :-)

(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.

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!)

Mary Ellen

On Wed, Sep 16, 2020 at 12:36 AM 陈栩 via Vwoolf <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu> wrote:

> Dear friends,
>    It is the first time that I have come here for help.
> 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 *John Lehmann: A Pagan Adventure*:
>
> *Wanted: a new kind of journalism in London to drive the elderly
> softnesses and condescensions of the **New Statesman **and **Spectator**
> off the stage, and usurp the **pretence-new of the pseudo-American**;*
>
> *Wanted: a new kind of art to blow the spunkless complacencies of
> Bloomsbury sky-high;*
>
> *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*
>
> 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* New Writing*.  So my questions
> are
> 1. What does the "pretence-new of the pseudo-American" mean in the first
> item? It seems most puzzling.
> 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.
>  Thank you very much.
> All the best,
> Chen Xu
>
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