Women’s contributions to early twentieth-century magazine culture
by Charlene Nicholson 08-10-08
How have women contributed through little magazines to the literary world of the early twentieth-century even though they were not seriously recognized by male writers?
The time when women’s work was deemed not serious enough to be recognized had ended and the turn of the century ushered in more women who felt they had the writings to welcome the new era. Looking back on the early twentieth-century’s literary world when many women were still fighting to have their work accepted and recognized, we see many women were carving out their own pathway to express their literary genius and that of even those of the opposite sex who needed help in starting their literary career. The women focused on here were from the United States of America, England, and France but they touched the world with their achievements. The little magazines gave way for emerging writers to express themselves and thereby exposed them to a readership who judged their talents. Women proved they were multi-talented and their place was not in the home as men thought or the conventions of the time would have them believe. These women entered the professional world and made significant contributions to the little magazines as editors, publishers, writers, and contributors. Many women had to use male pseudonyms to get their work published due to cultural biases which prevailed but yet they forged ahead and became very successful writers, and their editorial skills are still spoken of today.
There is no definite definition for little magazine. Its name cannot be taken literally for some of the magazines have been large and some small. Some lasted a long time and some for a brief period. However, Ian Hamilton in his book The Little Magazines: A study of Six Editors states, “The little magazine is one which exists, indeed thrives, outside the usual business structure of magazine production and distribution: it is independent, amateur and idealistic- it doesn’t or feels it shouldn’t need to print anything it doesn’t want to print” (7-8). Since the editors had most control over what was published and at times they were the owners, then it is understandable how this feeling developed. The success of the magazine depended greatly on the skill of the editors and their ability to make correct choices and keep the readership engaged with materials which held their interest but which also challenged them intellectually. The contents of some of the magazines were varied and controversial enough to hold the interest of readers and many people contributed and kept those magazines alive. Many young writers were finding the non-commercial presses willing to publish their work and the editors were accepting their work and finding a public for them.
Europe during the early twentieth-century was producing many young talents and they were willing to challenge the traditional aesthetics but they couldn’t find eager publishers for their experimental work. Publishers were afraid of the laws which governed unknown works since these laws were known to have caused the destruction of many businesses by censuring publications (Jayne Marek, 2). The help the new writers and artists received from having their work published in the little magazines was praised and more magazines joined in the struggle and continued to promote emerging writers. The editors were willing to take the risk since they realized “editors set the field of literary study, both by deciding what works came to the public and by determining the form in which those works appeared” (Marek, 30). The success of the editors can be attributed mainly to the autonomy they had. They didn’t feel pressured. In most cases they were also the publishers or a part of the group which owned the magazine and therefore had considerable control of the magazine.
The contributions of women had not been given much credit as that of men. However, the women focused on in this research will prove the point that women’s contributions to little magazines were as important and compelling as the works of their male counterparts. One compelling magazine which was edited by women was the Freewoman which started in 1911. It later became The New Freewoman and finally The Egoist which ran from 1914 to 1919 in England. The Freewoman was a feminist journal edited by Dora Marsden and Mary Gawthorpe. It promoted free love and other controversial ideas which were not in accordance with the conventions of the time. Ill health forced Gawthorpe to quit as co- editor in 1912 and Anderson continued as its sole editor. After eight months of success, the Freewoman experienced bankruptcy and the boycott of a distributor. However, Harriet Shaw Weaver came to its rescue. She was a supporter of Marsden’s “socialist, feminist, and individualist ideas” (Marek, 10). The magazine then became the The New Freewoman and Rebecca West, a contributor was now co-editor. Through West’s efforts more poetry and fiction were printed. She also kept the “Discussion Circle” which was created by the magazine and which kept much dialogue alive. Ezra Pound was later recruited as literary editor but his aggressive and demanding attitude became a burden to West and she resigned as co-editor in October 1913 and Richard Aldington took the position.
In 1914, The New Freewoman got the name The Egoist and Harriett Shaw Weaver was the editor and Aldington the literary editor. Marsden felt much strain and she withdrew to pay attention to her own writing. Marek’s comment on The Egoist states, “The Egoist printed the much-discussed ‘Imagist number’ in 1915, as well as many serializations, particularly James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and portions of Ulysses (10). As is seen, women as editors and publishers dedicated their efforts and skills to developing the literary world with the introduction of new ideas and fresh talents. They were unafraid to defy the norm and this was one skill they needed if they were to make any significant impact on a world steeped in tradition. The literary reviews in The Egoist gave writers including H.D (Hilda Doolittle), Marianne Moore, Pound, Wyndham Lewis, and others much critical attention [10]. Without the editors giving the emerging writers their approval or the opportunity of having their work published, many of them might not have made it into the literary circle. Weaver tried to get Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man published in book form but her efforts proved futile since the publishers refused to take the job. Instead of quitting, Weaver developed the Egoist Press through which she published not only Portrait of an Artist but also many more books. Weaver published many important modernist works. As editor she was able to publish Marsden’s “philosophical writings” and she was also able to improve on her editorial skills and expand her knowledge in new direction.
A look at The Egoist confirms the philosophical nature of Marsden’s writing. Her writings were highly intellectual and gave its readers much to ponder on. She was criticized and praised for her articles but she wrote them for those who found them intellectually stimulating. The Egoist covered matters of international and national concern. Even though women were in control, it was clear that men’s views were expressed in this magazine. It promoted many other magazines so that on their arrival there was an audience for them. At times full page advertisements were run for the new magazines. Blast had a full page advertisement in the April 1, 1914 issue of The Egoist and then on September 1, of the same year, The Little Review was also promoted. There was a constant flow of correspondence between the editors and the contributors which at times were very heated and at other times very calm. Marsden and Weaver awakened their readers’ consciousness to the problems women were encountering and subtly gave ideas in their writings as to how some issues may be dealt with. Socialist and feminist ideas were discussed within the pages of The Egoist along with many literary works.
The very first issue of The Egoist, published on Thursday, January1, 1914 showed the wide range of topics which this magazine covered. “Liberty, Law, And Democracy” was the first of Marsden’s philosophical pieces and though it was lengthy, it provoked much thought about what really are liberty, law and democracy and how these affect people’s lives. It was a very interesting article. Added to that were other topics such as “France To- Day: A Group of Thinkers”, “The Cubist Room”, “Women Who Did And Who Do Yet”, “On Interference With the Environment”, a serial story, and poems. These topics demonstrated the prevailing interests of the early twentieth-century. There was interest in the arts, in foreign policies, the environment, feminism, and democracy. By accepting the writings of their contributors as they delved into these issues Marsden and Weaver were able to maintain their magazine and keep an interest in it.
The Egoist touched the lives of many intellectuals and it opened its pages to many new writers who needed their work to be accepted and published. Women’s work received much support and the idea to be independent was subtly promoted in such article as “Women Who did and Who Do Yet” by G. W. and the story “Wooings of Jezebel Pettyfer” by Haldane Macfall (1898). The magazine also published works in French as well as translated French pieces by Ezra Pound. The Egoist published materials that interested an international audience. The development of art in England, U.S.A, and other countries was discussed and political and social issues from other countries were also of interest. Readers of The Egoist were not disappointed as they read that magazine for within they found matters of interest which challenged the intellect. In 1917, Volume iv of The Egoist published American poems by Max Michelson and French poems by O.W. Milosz. Serialization was still being done and Wyndham Lewis published “Tarr”. The Poetry journal was also promoted at this time in The Egoist.
Another significant contribution which women made to the literary world was in the form of a magazine called Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. It appeared in Chicago about the same time as The New Freewoman. Harriet Monroe was its editor and Alice Corbin Henderson was its co-editor. It impacted the literary community for “poetry served as a forum for debate about the Imagist, free verse, international versus national identity in art, and the role of the artist’s audience - all issues of considerable importance for the development of modern aesthetic ideas” (Marek, 11). These issues were highly and heatedly debated and kept up a fruitful dialogue between editors, contributors, and readers. Poems of H.D., T.S.Eliot, Marianne Monroe, Ezra Pound, and many others were published. Monroe, Pound, and Henderson wrote many dynamic editorials. During the early life of the magazine Henderson was of great help to Monroe. Poetry most significant contributions are credited to these women. They introduced Imagism to America, encouraged the experiments of many modern poets, broadened public access to poetry, and helped to encourage international sensibility and reconsidered America’s role in the debates surrounding new work (Marek, 58). The co-operative work done by Weaver and Marsden in The New Freewoman and Monroe and Anderson in Poetry, “suggests that women’s community was integral to the development of modern critical sensibility” (Marek, 11). The efforts of the women were always more successful when they banded together. In unity they found strength to fight against the traditional constraints of their time. With each other’s support women got the strength to write about topics which were more or less tabooed at that time and they were allowed the chance to experiment with new and exciting forms. Henderson “discovered and promoted Sandburg, Edgar Lee Masters, and Sherwood Anderson and engaged in vigorous defense of vers libre” (Marek, 11). She and others such as Heap, Anderson, Monroe, Lowell, May Sinclair, Eunice Tietjens and Pound debated vers libre and Imagism very strongly in The Little Review and Poetry. She was also praised for her ideas which “helped to create a coherent critical approach to modernist writing much as Pound’s did, although Henderson was far more willing to discuss good work in America” (Marek, 40). This statement attests to the fact that women were of equal importance to the promotion of modernism as much as men. Even though women received their praise late, it was necessary that such action was carried out. Now women receive full credit for their input into modernist thought and the truth about some men’s poor and degrading treatment of those women and their contributions are written for all to see.
Margaret Anderson’s feelings and energy reverberate in her magazine The Little Review. Both Anderson and Jane Heap must be credited for their efforts to publish most of Joyce’s Ulysses even though they faced “legal and economic sanctions” (Marek, 8). Even though Anderson and Heap did a great job in their magazine, their work was not viewed as positively as Ezra Pound’s contributions. Women chose to carry the works of men in their magazines and made many of them famous yet there was the negative idea ‘that women’s importance rests in serving men’ which as a figure of speech carried a sexual charge” (9). At this point when the world was moving in a modernist phase, men still had the same old way of seeing women as their subordinates and as sex objects. The intellectual abilities of these women were given second place to their gender.
Margaret Anderson and Heap encountered many difficulties as editors of their magazine. They had personality clashes to deal with in addition to Ezra Pound’s aggressive and domineering attitude. Even though they were taken to court due to Pound’s controversial contributions in Ulysses and his criticisms of American poets were very disturbing, yet they worked diligently to salvage their magazine. They both had to make some decisions which even though they hurt each other’s feelings, they needed to make them in order to save the magazine. Their dedication and willingness to take risks and become adventurous enabled the magazine to survive until 1929. Reed Whittemore in his text Little Magazines reiterated Hoffman’s comment in The Little Review Magazine: A History and a Bibliography when he commented on The Little Review by saying, “feminism, anarchism, imagism, symbolism, and Dadaism” were all highlighted in Anderson’s magazine (41). In the magazine a variety of topics dealt with works which were feminist in nature such as “Interim” by Dorothy Richardson which spoke of a young woman’s need for solitude. The story says, “No more interest in men. They belonged to all the fuss and flurry of the world. Women who had anything whatever to do with men were not themselves” (Little Review 6.3: 1919, 12). The Little Review, like others was helping women to realize they had an important role to play in the world apart from the prescribed roles given them. Women were also understanding that they could make it on their own and they didn’t need a man to make them complete.
Anderson’s dialogue with her readers about the arts she published was both stimulating and pertinent (Elliott Anderson and Kinzie, 32). The ideas expressed therein were radical and they involved the authors, critics and audience. Many times there were replies to comments made by the editors and the editors would give replies or at times they would not. The lively discussions between Anderson and Heap showed their support of the avant- garde movement. Their life style as lesbians demonstrated their rejection of conventionality and this was also exemplified in their writings. Jayne E. Marek in her book Women Editing Modernism made an interesting point about The Little Review editors when she says, “By refusing to print items just for the sake of using precious page space, Heap and Anderson defied expectations about what literary magazine should do. While the blank sections dramatize the death of first-rate contributions, it also could be seen as a form of silence demonstrating resistance to social expectations (76). Their life style was contradictory to what was the norm but they wanted to make a difference in both the way people lived their lives and in the literary male dominated world. The Little Review opened its door to many important writers and this act also gave the magazine some credit.
Women’s contributions to avant garde journals were significant for they defied cultural biases and became editors, writers, and publishers at a time when women were not thought to have the intellectual skill equal to men. “ In some cases, the poetry or fiction women wrote has received far more attention than their editorial and critical works; in other cases, women’s editorial contributions have been overlooked, denigrated, or even attributed to men” (Marek, 5). It was difficult to enter the literary world but women entered it even though some times they faced harsh criticisms and even had men take credit for what was their work. Yet these women made significant contributions and now they have received the recognition that they deserve. It was the insightfulness, and resourcefulness of women which helped modernism and many of the modernist thoughts that exist today got their beginning in the little magazines.
Modernism would not be the same if the contributions of women were not reviewed and recognized. The Dial under the editorship of Marianne Moore also opened its pages to new ideas and existed from 1925 to 1929. The Dial showed its support of modern thought by printing “The Waste Land” by Eliot. Moore also published work by E.E Cummings, D.H. Lawrence, Pound and Gertrude Stein [Marek, 12]. It is noticeable that the women who succeeded in the male oriented literary world of the early twentieth- century were those who decided to go against tradition and find more unconventional ways to express their ideas and those of other aspiring writers. Even though at times women made compromises and allowed men to take the credit for their ideas, yet they came out victoriously for as contemporary readers examine their contributions, they realize that they did as much as men and at times even more and yet they were not recognized.
Women applied various strategies in order to succeed in the professions which were said to be for males alone. Women might have used silence as a diversion so that they could work without censure or they might have served as mediators but that didn’t mean they made compromises that wouldn’t benefit them but rather through compromise they continued to make connections and had interactions. Women’s defiance of tradition might have provided avenues for new definitions of culture [Marek, 20]. Men had seen women as weak and in need of their help that even when women were displaying their strength, men still saw that as weakness. Women longed to escape conventions and therefore they came up with innovative ways to get around those conventions and be successful.
Many women’s literary contributions could not be noticed because they were in the shadow of others. Alice Corbin Henderson contributed much and had her own style and taste but since she was co-editor she remained in Monroe’s shadow. Monroe worked hard but her disagreements with Ezra Pound who was highly recognized and whose opinions were valued portrayed Monroe in a negative way and that cast a shadow over Monroe’s achievements. Women who worked with Pound realized that he was getting much more recognition than they were because he was a man and he was involved in much literary work. Women faced many challenges just because of their gender. Not only did men feel that women were weak and that they did not possess the intellectual capabilities that men have but their hard work was not recognized and worst yet at times men were given credit for work that belonged to these women. Or another way in which men discredited women was by saying that their achievements were as a result of the influence of the men with whom they worked. This was not the case for women gained credit based on the value of the work and that’s why they made lasting impressions in the literary world.
French women like Adrienne Monnier and Sylvia Beach were also intrigued by the literary world and desired to become a part of it. These women were friends and Adrienne who owned the bookshop Maison des Amis des Livres also aided Beach in realizing her dream of having her own shop in which she could like Monnier not only attract great French minds but “an Anglo-American literary gathering place in Paris” (Cody and Ford, 21). The writers met at these shops to discuss and read one another’s work. Beach’s shop, Shakespeare and Company was more like a “club and lending library” because English and American books after being translated into French were very costly. Sometimes customers bought books but mostly books were borrowed and the shop was used as a place to browse and read (22). Morrill Cody and Hugh Ford in their article “The Women of Montparnasse” described Beach with the following words of Andre Chamson: “Sylvia Beach carried pollen like a bee. She crossed fertilized these writers. She did more to link England, the United States, Ireland, and France than four great ambassadors combined” (22). Both Beach and Monnier created lasting links among the writers who visited their shops and they influenced their work as much as they influenced their lives.
Beach published Joyce’s Ulysses when Anderson’s Little Review in the United States was seized because the government believed it had published material which was morally distasteful. Harriet Weaver in England also became fearful that she might get into some problems and declined to help Joyce at that time. Beach with the help of Monnier’s printer of Dijon published Ulysses February 2, 1922 on Joyce’s birthday. Beach is said to have “denied herself everything in order to get the book in print. Joyce was grateful, but his ego did not really permit him to understand the sacrifice Sylvia was making for him” (25). Both Joyce and Beach gained much fame as a result of Ulysses’ publication. Later Joyce was able to publish his book in The United States and Britain and he also found his own commercial publishers and made his negotiations. Beach was not involved in his dealings and she was never given any monetary reward for all she did (Cody and Ford, 26). Beach, though treated this way by Joyce, still stood by his side later in life and continued to help in the publication of his work.
Adrienne Monnier’s little magazine, Navire d’ Argent existed from June 1925- May 1926. This magazine published the works of many poets and prose writers whose works were in English. At times she dedicated an entire issue of her magazine to those who wrote in English. Once William Blake’s poems were printed in an issue and on another occasion she did the same for “American writers such as Walt Whitman, William Carlos Williams, Robert Mc Almon, Ernest Hemingway, and e, e, cummings” (Richard Mc Dougall, 55). Monnier’s first issue carried Beach and her joint translation of T.S. Eliot’s “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, “La Chanson d’ amour de J. Alfred Prufrock” (53). She also published critical pieces and prose pieces which she collected. In addition to these she published her own poems and prose.
Her publication of writings from different countries made her magazine interesting for in it people were exposed to writings in different languages and translations to go with some of them. Monnier’s “serial bibliography of French translations of works in foreign literatures was a permanent feature of the review except for February, 1926 issue” (53). Her bibliography was dedicated on different occasions to English Literature from Beowulf to contemporary writers, a list of American works in translation, and German writing. Monnier’s desire was to create a compilation of a comprehensive bibliography of works on ancient and foreign countries, inclusive of their literature in French translation. Her work was interrupted by the war but was seen later in her “Gazette des Amis des Livres” published from January 1938 to May 1940 (53). Mc Dougall in his commentaries on the book The Very Rich Our of Adrienne Monnier contends that Monnier’s main contribution to the Navire d’Argent was her Gazette which became a monthly feature of the magazine in December, 1925 (55). Both Monnier and Beach used their shop to help bring together the literary minds of various countries and promote their works. Like the other women, Beach and Monnier had their share of trials and difficulties but they supported each other and learned from each other’s experiences. These two women were seriously interested in literature and didn’t seem to have focused much on other issues.
The radicalism of women caused them much conflict with the opposite sex for the male felt these women were a threat to them. Marsden challenged Pound and requested he defend his philosophy in the series “The Serious Artist” and this angered him for he felt she was not experienced enough in literary work to question his writing. She felt as editor of The New Freewoman that he should present a defense once someone questioned his work. Pound was not the only male to oppose women’s writings. Eliot when he was appointed assistant editor of The Egoist wrote his father expressing his desire to have more writings from males in the magazine since he distrust “the feminine in literature” (Thaine Stearns, 463). There were others who felt the same way but there were others who supported women. When The Freewoman was boycotted, “Guy Alfred – editor and publisher of the anarchist “Herald of Revolt” - volunteered to help organize lectures, and to keep a standing notice of The Freewoman in his paper, and later suggested to Marsden that the lectures be used for fundraising” (Mark Morrisson, 445). Even though he would be selling his work alongside Marsden’s as a bonus he must be given credit for helping her to find new ways of getting her magazine accepted by the public. He did lectures on many controversial issues and these generated a lot of discussion and provided much correspondence for The Freewoman. The correspondence section of the magazine grew greatly as a result of this effort and readers found the magazine of interest for it had matters of importance to them. Mass- publicity helped to reach a wider audience. Marsden accepted this fact and used it widely in The New Freewoman, and The Egoist. She also learned about the power of advertisements and the use of brand names and put these to use quite successfully. Marsden realized that packaging of a product was important and therefore she felt the name The New Freewoman was no longer suitable for what she had planned for the future and she changed the name to The Egoist. With such a name Marsden and Weaver wished to make the public realize that they were focusing their efforts on the individualistic ideas of its writers, editors and contributors. There was nothing which Marsden and Weaver were not willing to try and that is what kept there magazine alive for the time that it did.
Harriet Monroe when she was in need of help to start her magazine found a savior in Hobart C. Chatfield-Taylor, a novelist and an arts lover. He successfully got his friends and contacts to give donations and within a year he was able to raise the money he needed to get Monoe started (Hamilton, 45). So there were men who saw women’s potential and who helped them to achieve their goals. Little magazines got support from both male and female and at times the writers and their magazine were not supported by both genders for various reasons. Some of the men’s lack of support was based only on the belief that women could not produce highly intellectual writings as men and they were probably fearful that given an opportunity, women might prove this belief wrong. Women have proven their belief wrong and have stood side by side with them in their literary accomplishments.
The research done for this project was rewarding in that it allowed me to see the importance of editors and publishers to the literary field. I now have a greater appreciation for the work of both editors and publishers since I now realize that they are great contributors to the literary community. The writers and artists depend on their thoughts and insights and it is only as they all work together that a piece of writing can successfully reach a meaningful public and make a lasting impact. Throughout this paper I have attempted to demonstrate that the literary world was male dominated and that women faced many challenges in their effort to prove that they had every right to be a part of that world. Amid all the biases, ridicule, distrust, and rejection, women stood form and built for themselves a resilient community that banded together and proved to men and the entire world that their intellectual capabilities are equal to that of any man. The contributions women made to the avant- garde little magazine are significant and cannot be dismissed for in its dismissal we would be erasing a vital part of history. The thrust to revisit and review women’s contributions have been intensified for the importance of these contributions cannot be overlooked.
Pictures of two of the magazines created by women
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