[Vwoolf] questions about John Lehmann and Woolf

[DIANA SWANSON]

Interesting.

And was John Lehman himself being pseudo-Vorticist in these manifesto-like passages?

Diana

Diana Swanson
President, Friends of Jane Adeny Memorial School for Girls
P. O. Box 292
Sycamore, IL  60178 USA
www.jamskenya.org http://jamskenya.org/

>     On 09/16/2020 9:15 AM Stuart N. Clarke via Vwoolf <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu> wrote:
> 
> 
>     I *think* “the pretence-new” = the pretend-new = the pretended new.  After all, ex America semper aliquid novi.
> 
>     Stuart
>     (Day 183)
> 
>     From: Mary Ellen Foley via Vwoolf
>     Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2020 1:54 PM
>     To: 陈栩
>     Cc: vwoolf
>     Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] questions about John Lehmann and Woolf
> 
>     >  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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> > 
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> >     > 
> 
> 
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