the Dada baby!
II
O my coevals! embarrasing
memories! pastiches! jokes!
All your pleasaunces and
the vividness of your ills
are only fertilizer for the kids. Who knows what
will be funny next year?
The days will not laugh
at what we say is dry, but
wheeling ridicule our
meanings. The too young
find the grave silly and
every excess absurd. I,
at twenty four, already
find the harrowing laugh
of children at my heels-
directed at me! the Dada
baby! How soon must we all
get rid of love to save
our energy, how soon our
laughter becomes defensive!
O my coevals! we cannot die
too soon. Art is sad and
life is vapid. Can we thumb
our nose at the very sea?
(Frank O'Hara)
Greenwich Village as BOHEMIA was always, in some form, a myth. There was a saying about the Village that lamented the changing atmosphere - "the Village is not what is used to be"(W 17). Allen Ginsberg is credited with stating that "Everything in bohemia changes - or ought to" (w 10). The spirit of Greenwich Village is mostly due to the push for change, for the new, for acceptance and rebellion. Ideas such as socialism, anarchy, contraceptive rights, feminism, gay rights, free verse, free love, abstract expressionism and social equality found beginnings in organizations based in the Village. At the beginning of the Village as a cultural melting pot, intellectuals and artists reveled in irreverance. They took pride in flouting conservative mores with demonstrations about anarchy to the birth of cubism. Greenwich Village became known as the center for an ideal - an ideal of freedom, intellectualism, and bohemianism.
The literary achievements that the Village lays claim to are vast. Writers from Edgar Allen Poe to Allen Ginsberg resided in the Village and were invaluably inspired by the melting pot of talent and innovation that existed. Greenwich Village was the only place where "Edgar Allen Poe could score drugs in the 1840s and Henry James could stroll past grazing cows in the 1890s" (Wetzsteon, 6). Due to the cafe culture and salons that existed in the Village that allowed writers to congregate and discuss ideas, the arts were very much alive. Movements took place in the Village that otherwise would have been impossible to form - it is due to the zeitgeist and the luck of the draw that the people who made the Beat Generation, Modernism, and Post-Modernism were able to make it happen.
There were several monthly publications that were essential to the development of literature and journalism. One was the publication called "The Masses", edited by Max Eastman in the early 1900s (Stansell, 174). "The Masses" was notable for its cooperative style of management, new layout, and most of all, daring content. The literary magazine was run by artists to showcase their own work and to make a mark on the American literary scene, which at this time was dominated by Chicago's "Friday Literary Review". "The Masses" showcased modern work and the issues that were at hand in modern New York - columns about anticapitalism were next to columns about birth control. The casual mix of topics within the publication, as well as the equal space given to female and male writers shocked many readers, some of whom felt it lacked refinement (Stansell, 174). The free speech that this publication advocated reflected the spirit of the times. Political cartoons and drawings were important to the magazine - one of the most famous covers in American journalism shows a cartoon by ______ showing two old women with the caption, "Gee, Mag, ...." (Wetzsteon, ?). The layout of the magazine was revolutionary as well. Before becoming a leftist, modern oriented literary magazine, "The Masses" was a typical Socialist publication, with block lettering and crowded columns. Under the supervision of artist John Sloan, "The Masses" became a sleek, well spaced monthly. Advertisments were no longer inserted into columns - they were relegated to the back page, reflecting the magazine's contributors' feelings about capitalism and sponsorship (Stansell, 169).
Another important literary magazine was the "Little Review", edited by Margaret Anderson. The "Little Review" was slightly more organized than "The Masses", and sold to less of a bohemian crowd. Nevertheless, Anderson's publication utilized the unexpected mix of topics - printing anarchist Emma Goldman's drama reviews next to reviews of classical music (Stansell, 176). The "Little Review" is perhaps best known for the serial publication of James Joyce's ULYSSES, which faced obscenity charges in America and is perhaps the most groundbreaking postmodern work. However, in 1920, editors Anderson and Jane Heap were brought to court for spreading obscenity with the publication of ULYSSES. The court found them guilty, and Anderson and Heap were fined, driving their financial prospects for publication to the ground (Stansell, 328). Publishing ULYSSES was a decidedly dangerous move, which the editors were aware of, and today Anderson and Heap's dedication to literature despite the law is much appreciated.
The Village lays claim to many incredible poets - it was home to Allen Ginsberg, Diane di Prima, Wallace Stevens, W.H. Auden, John Ashbery, LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka, and Frank O'Hara. The poem heading this section by O'Hara exemplifies the spirit of the changing Village. Still merry and whimsical, the Village in the 1950s and 1960s fell towards a more serious, contemplative state.
Greenwich Village exists in literature as both a mythical and concrete place. It was the site of many landmark publications, discussions and aspirations. The publications of the "Little Review" and "The Masses" contributed to the Village's reputation as progressive and politically/artistically driven, while poets such as Frank O'Hara romanticized and captured the excitement of the old Greenwich Village. Literature was communication, and the essence of Greenwich Village was well communicated.
Important artists that passed through the Village were Marcel Duchamp, Arshile Gorky, Mark Rothko, Philip Guston, Willem deKooning, and Jackson Pollock. The abstract expressionists were centered in Greenwich Village, and when the goverment began an artist sponsorship program, the New York painters used their stipends to create artists' lofts and to form a community( Wetzsteon, 523). The movement of abstract expressionism originated in part due to the closeness of the Greenwich Village artistic community and the sense of competition that arose. The cult of obscurity was in full effect as few people appreciated the new artistic movement, and the abstract expressionists continued pushing the new.
O my coevals! embarrasing
memories! pastiches! jokes!
All your pleasaunces and
the vividness of your ills
are only fertilizer for the kids. Who knows what
will be funny next year?
The days will not laugh
at what we say is dry, but
wheeling ridicule our
meanings. The too young
find the grave silly and
every excess absurd. I,
at twenty four, already
find the harrowing laugh
of children at my heels-
directed at me! the Dada
baby! How soon must we all
get rid of love to save
our energy, how soon our
laughter becomes defensive!
O my coevals! we cannot die
too soon. Art is sad and
life is vapid. Can we thumb
our nose at the very sea?
(Frank O'Hara)
Greenwich Village as BOHEMIA was always, in some form, a myth. There was a saying about the Village that lamented the changing atmosphere - "the Village is not what is used to be"(W 17). Allen Ginsberg is credited with stating that "Everything in bohemia changes - or ought to" (w 10). The spirit of Greenwich Village is mostly due to the push for change, for the new, for acceptance and rebellion. Ideas such as socialism, anarchy, contraceptive rights, feminism, gay rights, free verse, free love, abstract expressionism and social equality found beginnings in organizations based in the Village. At the beginning of the Village as a cultural melting pot, intellectuals and artists reveled in irreverance. They took pride in flouting conservative mores with demonstrations about anarchy to the birth of cubism. Greenwich Village became known as the center for an ideal - an ideal of freedom, intellectualism, and bohemianism.
The literary achievements that the Village lays claim to are vast. Writers from Edgar Allen Poe to Allen Ginsberg resided in the Village and were invaluably inspired by the melting pot of talent and innovation that existed. Greenwich Village was the only place where "Edgar Allen Poe could score drugs in the 1840s and Henry James could stroll past grazing cows in the 1890s" (Wetzsteon, 6). Due to the cafe culture and salons that existed in the Village that allowed writers to congregate and discuss ideas, the arts were very much alive. Movements took place in the Village that otherwise would have been impossible to form - it is due to the zeitgeist and the luck of the draw that the people who made the Beat Generation, Modernism, and Post-Modernism were able to make it happen.
There were several monthly publications that were essential to the development of literature and journalism. One was the publication called "The Masses", edited by Max Eastman in the early 1900s (Stansell, 174). "The Masses" was notable for its cooperative style of management, new layout, and most of all, daring content. The literary magazine was run by artists to showcase their own work and to make a mark on the American literary scene, which at this time was dominated by Chicago's "Friday Literary Review". "The Masses" showcased modern work and the issues that were at hand in modern New York - columns about anticapitalism were next to columns about birth control. The casual mix of topics within the publication, as well as the equal space given to female and male writers shocked many readers, some of whom felt it lacked refinement (Stansell, 174). The free speech that this publication advocated reflected the spirit of the times. Political cartoons and drawings were important to the magazine - one of the most famous covers in American journalism shows a cartoon by ______ showing two old women with the caption, "Gee, Mag, ...." (Wetzsteon, ?). The layout of the magazine was revolutionary as well. Before becoming a leftist, modern oriented literary magazine, "The Masses" was a typical Socialist publication, with block lettering and crowded columns. Under the supervision of artist John Sloan, "The Masses" became a sleek, well spaced monthly. Advertisments were no longer inserted into columns - they were relegated to the back page, reflecting the magazine's contributors' feelings about capitalism and sponsorship (Stansell, 169).
Another important literary magazine was the "Little Review", edited by Margaret Anderson. The "Little Review" was slightly more organized than "The Masses", and sold to less of a bohemian crowd. Nevertheless, Anderson's publication utilized the unexpected mix of topics - printing anarchist Emma Goldman's drama reviews next to reviews of classical music (Stansell, 176). The "Little Review" is perhaps best known for the serial publication of James Joyce's ULYSSES, which faced obscenity charges in America and is perhaps the most groundbreaking postmodern work. However, in 1920, editors Anderson and Jane Heap were brought to court for spreading obscenity with the publication of ULYSSES. The court found them guilty, and Anderson and Heap were fined, driving their financial prospects for publication to the ground (Stansell, 328). Publishing ULYSSES was a decidedly dangerous move, which the editors were aware of, and today Anderson and Heap's dedication to literature despite the law is much appreciated.
The Village lays claim to many incredible poets - it was home to Allen Ginsberg, Diane di Prima, Wallace Stevens, W.H. Auden, John Ashbery, LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka, and Frank O'Hara. The poem heading this section by O'Hara exemplifies the spirit of the changing Village. Still merry and whimsical, the Village in the 1950s and 1960s fell towards a more serious, contemplative state.
Greenwich Village exists in literature as both a mythical and concrete place. It was the site of many landmark publications, discussions and aspirations. The publications of the "Little Review" and "The Masses" contributed to the Village's reputation as progressive and politically/artistically driven, while poets such as Frank O'Hara romanticized and captured the excitement of the old Greenwich Village. Literature was communication, and the essence of Greenwich Village was well communicated.
Important artists that passed through the Village were Marcel Duchamp, Arshile Gorky, Mark Rothko, Philip Guston, Willem deKooning, and Jackson Pollock. The abstract expressionists were centered in Greenwich Village, and when the goverment began an artist sponsorship program, the New York painters used their stipends to create artists' lofts and to form a community( Wetzsteon, 523). The movement of abstract expressionism originated in part due to the closeness of the Greenwich Village artistic community and the sense of competition that arose. The cult of obscurity was in full effect as few people appreciated the new artistic movement, and the abstract expressionists continued pushing the new.