Politics and the Novel
Chamberlain, John
Politics and the Novel by John Chamberlain The following is on abstract of a recent lecture at the Band School: » » • I AM supposed to speak to you tonight on the subject of "Politics and...
...Broadway's best lames have left the theatre for Pictures...
...Vorse as a writer...
...It managed to save itself only by the sacrifice of the foreign minister who dared to take part in the attempted assassination of Ethiopia and the League...
...It calls upon the international organizations of the workers to puce an embargo on supplies for war purposes, and upon the League of Nation...
...A Changed "Party Line" Last spring, however, the tactics tf the United Front began to bring •larity and common sense into the vorld of the Literary Left...
...of a policy of the subjection of the masses to a handful of-exploiters and of profiteers...
...But," he demanded, "will you please tell me how in hell I am going to defend the Soviet Union...
...This ught to...
...o»fcjgjr the revolutionary potentialities of Henry Wallace...
...Lenin, as you ma' emember, once wrote a pamphle [gainst this disease...
...That this chaotic state of affairs exists in the face of a wealth of theatre resources is unbelievable...
...Well, when the party line -manges, the critic who has been busy hewing may discover that he is out on the limb which his axe has been attacking with such gusto...
...often to deal with refractory material which may not promise ultimate victory...
...BEN BELSKY...
...A Proust, as evidence is worth something, a Proust, as exhorter, would be horrible...
...The Broadway Sector Struggles to Survive 1 By Sam Jaffe 5 = ^ ^ = = ^ ^ = = Sam Jaffe is well known ae on >f the most sensitive permormsr n the theatre today- Perhap j:st remembered for hit work a ,i.ringelein in "Grand Hotel," h tae to hie credit a eerie* o portraits intimately felt and cap .ured...
...When Air...
...How long can our theatre last on this hit-or-miss basis...
...The downfall of Sir" Samuel Hoare, British foreign minister, and the impending demise of the Laval government in France, constitute eloquent refutation of the contentions of those who have maintained that the League of Nations was not to be trusted in the policy o' sanctions and firm opposition to the war adventure of Benito Mussolini • Events of the past fortnight hare proven that the masses in Hnglsml...
...The congress expects of the emigrant masses an increasingly energetic effort against the war, and against fascism...
...It had been overlooked that Cantwell was trying to make literature out of confusion in a Northwest lumber town, out of a situation that might very possibly end in the defeat of the working class...
...A certain Left "Beyond Desire...
...He was taking them for a ride but they guessed it was only o a : s merry-go-round...
...The statement may be true, given certain definitions of dictatorship, bet it suddenly became obvious—as it should have been all along—that a "democratic dictatorship" of capital is superior, a t least, to the naked dictatorship of fascism...
...Personally, t dont think very much of his poitical pamphleteering, but that is iot important here...
...Jaffe is one of th active workers in the left-wint jroup of Equity, and «peons wit I authority...
...Just what one oi the Humanist's favored character...
...in the theatre as a business as against the theatre as s living organism...
...as a poet...
...ifcm No Covet faeiaa ' J C O M M I S S I O N E R Q» 4 J V COUNTS PAUL BLANSHsfl nominated himself for a iiiaijlH...
...To win back these audiences the theatre must deal openly and courageously with our economic, social and cultural problems...
...like measles, i wasn't very serious...
...France and all democratic countries are behind the League of Nations and the policy of the Labor and Socialist International, the policy of collective strangling of the fascist adventurers in Italy and elsewhere...
...For example, when Andre Malraux was in Moscow', collaborating with the Soviets, he was ' eing look upon askance in New York for having written a "Trots'cyite" novel in "Man's Fate...
...Th' RAPP ferment, before it was liqui dated, produced, to my mind, somr of the most ignorant criticism ir the United States, and some of th< most vicious in its effects or writers...
...Use o' he "will to act" as a touchstone- oJ nerit resulted in Michael Gold's amous commendation of Marj leaton Vorse's "Strike" as t 'burning and imperishable epic' t was hardly that, and I say thy vith no desire to reflect adverse...
...J. T. S. i here will shortly appear an or tele by Joseph T. Shipley, dramaii dUor of The New Leader, in sum .nary and comment on 'The Aeu reader Series on the theatre (ant , no vies) as a social force...
...he will eultivate the good and beautiful thoI ngs I. n life , s ing the songs of love and fill the world with joy...
...This is likeb to prove serious...
...The threat if war and reaction had changed he "party line...
...therefore each is of value to a student of the conditions confronting the politician who would change America...
...of understanding each other...
...And the most flagrant political mistakes -an result from the time lag that is usually observable in the changes in the American Left literary "ront...
...Infantile Disease Well, the type of criticism the' leld the fort at this period wa •art of the infantile disease of Lef Communism...
...Finally he called the tenants'together and told them he would grant every demand...
...There is an abundance of acting talent...
...Call to International Solidarity "The congress calls upon the workers of Italy to unite, to organize opposition and to sabotage the war, to defend their lives, their subsistence and their future...
...Pollyanna Critics The point of view stressed by Josephine Herbst and James T Farrell, both of whom are excellent novelists, triumphed...
...He has since changed his mind about "Beyond Desire," probably because Anderson dam'ud the Communists and came...
...A Magical Change Here I must revert to the case of Isidore Schneider...
...to apply such sanctions as are capable of putting an end to the war, for it is convinced that economic sanctions—if they are applied energetically and without delay and, above all, if the world solidarity of tae workers give them their full efficacy—are capable of vanquishing the fascist regime before the application of military sanctions increases the danger of a world war, the last and cynical hope of Mussolini...
...but "Whacan the revolution do for the writer*" The one thing the revolution can do for the poet and the novelist is to renew his energy fuse and direct his flagging talents lead him to a new awareness of viable patterns in the life around aha...
...All must enjoin the immediate cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of the troops from Ethiopia...
...i • * * ' A Merry MarXmas...
...When -me is stewing around, convinced that negative assaults on the restrictive convictions of one's forefathers are no longer of any value, a conversion to the Left may result in a good stiff jolt of creative electricity...
...Exposed on the '.eft, the Communists and those ympathetic to the Communists sensed tile need for making com( mon cause against reaction...
...V ? • * * j • * i A dual organisation HOOTI break a duel organization...
...It must endeavor to make the public a part of the theatre by offering them creative participation in its affairs and a voice in its policy...
...Never before has Europe witnessed such a spectacle...
...He was all tied up with questions of proletarian fonr and proletarian content...
...Behind them stand the .armies of labor, led by the Socialist International and the International Federation of Trade Unions, pressing uncompromisingly for The execution of the policy of sanctions designed to bring Mussolini to his knees...
...The Communists for a while, went about judging a aovel by the amount of class:onsciousness and intransigence (xhibited by its favored characters4 ;he "will to act for the working •lass" was substituted for the "wiF o refrain...
...When the novelist is consciously tied to a political chariot wheel, it seems to me that his value as a reflector is damaged...
...Tkt Mayor of New York City msf not be an Einstein but he e*+ tainly must know simple petit ical arithmetic...
...In fact it was on the following day that he promulgated his famous "be gay" ukase to the Russian masses...
...Anyway, th ihase faded out...
...Meanwhile the Broadway sector t struggling to survive...
...And consequently the absurd stringency of Left literary criticism ceased to exist...
...The ridiculously short life f productions in our present sysem, or lack of system, is a sad ommentary on our theatre...
...other day because he got ^ f l men to work full time for thajr of one...
...The people everyhere are determined that the League of Nations shall live—a real, live, vigorous and vital League of Nations, the only immediate instrument available for the prevention of war and the curbing of the forces making for war...
...Publication of the proposal, however, kindled a veritable revolution in England and France...
...Schneider stopped worrying ibout the bourgeois form and content . of bis art, and got genuinely nterested in the labor movement, he change in him was magical...
...Cursory Rhymes' '-.'*53| Hey diddle diddle Thomas plays the fiddle -,.u While Browder calls the tion «• And Moscow laughs to ftr earn sport . . . • —. $B That spells the workers' ruin, >' - • •• ••.''> S a f * Impropaganda • r ? • ; Re: Armed Insurrection " I Goofy, goofy, propaganda* Where skaU it wander...
...A certain Bronx landlord hoi a number of Communist tenant* who were always picketing him, bearing placards on which' .afl sorts of demands were written...
...Such a theatre is bound to weld both sides of the footlights into an organic whole, eager and ready to carry on the j rich cultural heritage that is ours, The Good Tione Coming B yE V D u~eDe . ebe '1"HE time is coming when coI -~peration will sueceed eompetition ; When man will no longer be pitted against man in th~ de g r a din g struggle for eXIstence...
...For the fisst time in history the small nations, beaded by the Socialist-directed Scandinavian countries, hare taken the lead m the concert of Europe...
...Then th'rt '11 1i d . pression, :nr m~~ :ll d~vef~ thOle higher qualities which dignify his being...
...We .therefore solemnly declare that this congress is proud to find itself in the van of...
...T H E theatre news of the New York Times recently carried i note that an intensive drive toi Broadway playwrights was being inade by Metro-Ooldwyn-Mayei tor its VVest Coast story department...
...For the novelist is always of more worth as a reflector than he can possibly be ir...
...This point of view recognizes that a novelist ha...
...Italian Fascism Denounced ' ~ "Before the world and before posterity we declare that fascism Bears 'the entire .responsibility for the war, for its consequences and for the complications it involves...
...this struggle...
...By now, not to be outmaneuvered, an equally intensive irive in the same direction is undoubtedly being made by all ne major studios...
...This ska a night when vodka and vsodetiile mixed pleasantly...
...Scandinavia Forges to Front Similarly, in France, Laval was compelled to beat a hasty retreat...
...Michael Gold and his friends among the Communist intellectuals had jumped all over the Humanists But, as Irving Babbitt was fond of saying, nothing resembles a bumr so much as a hollow, and Left literary criticism, at this period was often the bump to, the Humanist's hollow...
...It is embarrassing to be confronted --vith past verdicts that have been lelivered with a political motive in mind, for if one—in obedience to the new "party line—tries to retract these verdicts, one must inevitably lay one's self open to the -harge of rank opportunism...
...Like a popular movie idol he goes around the country autographing pictures for :omely comrades with embroidered mantillas and flashy bracelets and wrist watches...
...because it had nothing to say to them that was of vital importance...
...This can only be accomplished hrough the union of writers, actors, technicians and scenic artists into harmonious groups...
...The rallying cry of all the workers should be:— " I M M E D I A T E PEACE WITH ETHIOPIA...
...Thus out of an emotional predilection for the "red dawn" finale on the but page may come defeat on the industrial front or at the polls And defeat is no more palatable because it results from the false hopes raised by Pollyanna critics than it is when it results from too gloomy a view of the possibilities for action...
...The trouble with the tactics of this second phase of the politicalization of the American critic is obvious: such tactics are constantly eaving the intellectual holding a nice, big and thoroughly empty bag...
...ft* The "peace" plan devised by the Baldwin and Laval governmenthas been thrown into the waste basket under the impact of revolt o' public opinion in England and France...
...that is, if experience is any criterion...
...r "Thin iter is only the outcome of 13 years of a policy of madnes...
...is movie backing the solution...
...For the nasi black-out Duranty told this one...
...By arousing the reprobation of the entire world by its bombardments from the air of populations without defense, fascism has provoked, to the great detriment of Italy, the application of the Sanctions against the aggressor envisaged in the Covenant of the League of Nations...
...Th Russian RAPP, you may remem ber...
...The congress appeals to the solidarity of the nations...
...Within a few days the Baldwin government was brought to the verge of downfall...
...Fascism has dishonored Italy by denying the best traditions of the Italian people, who were always to be feund'on the side of those who were fighting for their freedom and for their national independence...
...the asualties more numerous...
...Schneider's troubles, in 1932, were not to be found in the fact that he was s bourgeois...
...Malcolm Cowley, It seems to me, made a correct analysis when he asked, not "What can the writer do for t h e revolution...
...One needs the dynamo of conviction if one is to have any galvanic impulses, even if one's conviction be only of a negative nature...
...Henry Hazlitt, who waf then on the staff of the Nation justly pointed out that the Com munist critics who were under thr spiritual sway of the RAPP wer» repeating the mistakes of thf Humanists, who judged a novel b} the degree of its protagonist's "will to refrain...
...Audiences have strayed from the theatre because it had failed too often to recognize a responsibility toward them...
...Two Internationals Act " Itjs well at this time to recall the salient points of the proclamation* issued by the congress...
...Latest developments have marked a signal victory for civilization We refer, of course, to the resounding defeat suffered by the reactionary forces in England and France in their effort to pot over their shamef u' peace plan for the settlement of the Italo-Ethiopian conflict at the price of sacrificing the principles of the League of Nations, the policy pf the international Socialist and labor movement, and the integrity and independence of Ethiopia...
...The failires may be shorter-lived...
...You know John," he said to me, "I'm convinced intellectually that there wiT be no solution short of Communism, yet when I write a poem it somehow turns out to be a bourgeois poem...
...Two governments entrusted by the League to initiate negotiations with Italy for a settlement of the war in Africa have ventured to propose a plan by which the nation proclaimed by the League to be the aggressor was to get a rich reward for its aggression in the form of half of Ethiopia It seemed incredible, but it was true...
...I t must bring the theatre closer to the people by bringing it within the means of all...
...It was Joseph Stalin himself who laughed loudest and longest His robust guffaws shook Ike Kremlin walls...
...if* Now that the Tawnsendfte* hire succeeded in electing RajrwuUtive Verner W. Main they mtut feel hopefully that—as Mala gxgn, so goes the country...
...Th e flower of love will blos80m . h In is heart and he will "b 'Id hi UI s house by the s ide of the roa on ik...
...The erious manager will tell you of ne hazardous risks and almost inurmountable hurdles of producion...
...Hollow Criticism Isidore Schneider's troubles wer' coincident with the first fermen of the American intellectuals whr were "going left," as the saying is And this ferment was part of r transplanted RAPP feeling...
...But the conversion •mght to be a personal one...
...Schneider1 sail this with considerable ruefulness and perhaps some inward horror Yet he needn't have worried^if h< had failed to write "bej&geois' poetry at this stage of his develoo ment he would have been worthies...
...And the :xodus continues...
...of a policy which has vainly d° intended its supreme justification in the trial of the corporative system ^foredoomed to failure, and which is at present seek'ng a way out in . chauvinistic exaltation...
...He would cut the rent, rrpamt the rooms, repaper the halls, wstal new plumbing and lights...
...of the search for new methods that every artist must crave...
...was a writers' organizatio* dedicated to the proposition tha' "art is a class weapon...
...in Mrs...
...of experiment and the development of dramaturgy and style can only be realized through the cooperative agencies of such groups...
...His trouble was that he wouldn't generate any working energy out of the fact of his middle :lass psychological orientation...
...The succeeding phase, howevevas hardly an improvement...
...To restore' this confidence the theatre must, first of all, prove itself alive to the changing times...
...Snd liberticide...
...O B fascist Italy's heels, all the reactionary forces of Germany, which have taken an oath of mortal hatred against the Soviet Union and all thai still survives of democratic liberties, are preparing and advancing...
...By violating the treaties which assured peace and amicable cooperation between the nations, and by denying its pledge to respect the independence of the Abyssinians, fascism has exposed Italy to the .contempt of the world...
...and the recent Congress of Italians Living Abroad, held in Brussels...
...Of three closings one reek on Broadway, all three were nanced by screen companies...
...No longer was it quite so fashionable ; among intellectuals to remark that i "democratic government u n d er i capitalism is merely a mask for the dictatorship of capital...
...The support of the public at large and the collectivization of the theatre in general are natural concomitants of a social approach to the theatre...
...I remember Isidore Schneider's 1932 complaint...
...Saw Dust Brutus 'Lay off this imperialistic gMfj" said Saw Dust Caesar with » swagger...
...Politics and the Novel by John Chamberlain The following is on abstract of a recent lecture at the Band School: » » • I AM supposed to speak to you tonight on the subject of "Politics and the Novel," and those who consider the novel more important than politics may be disappointed...
...Garbed in his favorite regalia—a jockey's uniform with the crimson colors of his owsefi stables—Dunanty trotted out en the stage to the tune of "Hoists, horses, horses...
...He may discover that he has irrevocably committed himself...
...The Old LaGuardia This week's prize, a copp of Marx's "Das KapitaT printed In braille, for daffy dialectic* goes to Norman Thomas for this gem...
...To have given us "proletarian" poetry at this period wouk have been to falsify the evidence...
...Against this heroic struggle tends the tragedy of waste: the reeks of preparation...
...What is it then that is blocking the free play of the various creative agencies ? With a few prominent exceptions, the answer lies in the mad scramble of producers, actors, writers and technicians for the pot of gold...
...Said Baldwin with a furtive wink, 'I'll stick you with my paf* dagger...
...Well, the type of critic who wanted Cantwell to act as a Pollyanna on the barricades was drowned out a t the Congress...
...and already...
...And a very good thing, too...
...At the ^irst American Writers' Congress, vhich held its sessions at the New School for Social Research, the iAPP period and its heritage was horougbiy liquidated...
...On the other side of the footlights there must be that cooperative effort which will make possible a popular price scale...
...Wher be is reporting, she is ofter nagnificent...
...So has the pick of Broadway's newcomers...
...for the development and encouragement of new talent...
...the disappointed opes...
...The Old Guard wants U reduce itself to a small sect s» that it can indulge in political trading with LaGuardia...
...give some estimate of ie stabilizing effect that the picare tie-up may have on Broadway...
...the asses greater, but Broadway caries on...
...All parties joined in the revolt...
...As a critic, I tend to take the novel as offering me a window on some aspect of contemporaneity, which means that I can't draw any hard and fast poiit.cal distinctions between tlyk worth of, say, Fielding Burke's recent "A Stone Came Rolling,' which is proletarian in its viewpoint, and Ellen Glasgow's "Vein Of Iron," which is middle class...
...The third phase of the intellec-ual's politicalization was that of the "party line" fetish.4 I recall Henry Hart's "hew to the party line, let t h e chips fall where they may...
...There- is an inescapable relation between energy and conviction...
...For if he fails ic tell the truth, if he fails to recognize the realities of the situation he will be guilty of misleading the party leaders who read him...
...in the theatre as a gamble opposed to the theatre as a going concern...
...the political field as a sloganpopularizer...
...m It WILL BE HEARD...
...Isidore Schneider had, originally oosed himself a false question...
...The trouble with his art was not one if form and content, for form and "ontent follow from a writer's interests as a human being...
...Broadway's hits have held the spotlight too long on novelty and sensationalism and too infrequently on merit to give the public any confidence in the theatre as an institution...
...The writers who attended the Congress —whether they were Communists or Fellow Travellers — a t least agreed on the negative proposition of what constitutes the immediate enemy...
...His skit *as called, "I Ride As I Please"'and consisted of a number of gags about the comical doings of the American Communists...
...for the keeping alive in repertory of the best plays of the past and present...
...Our technical ingenuity is, to borrow a phrase from the movies, "bigger and better" than ever...
...and for the security ef employment so necessary for the release at creative energies...
...Of course, there are successes, ut these occur in spite of—not beause of—the present set-up...
...From the medieval morality play to the propaganda play of the present day we have the richest material to draw from...
...The jolly dictator has been feeling pretty g-ay ever since...
...7 » * * : " **f No Censors Pre—at \ ' It was Walter Dursnty's tars at the Moscow Gridiron Clah asnual frolic...
...The opportunity of working together...
...r^ ^."Through the breach which the fascist cannons have just created the conflicting desires of all the imperialisms are surging...
...We quote in part: IC - "The ?**r undertaken in Italy on October 3rd is not Italy's war but fascism's...
...The policy of the international Socialist and labor movement has been vindicated, to the discomfiture of the reactionaries, fascists and the handful of anti-sanctioniat left ^ringers who have been supporting the forces of imperialism and reaction against the League of Nations and world organized labor...
...When a novelist ha* to deal with such material he is of political value only insofar as he tells the truth...
...There must be provision for the artistic growth of the players...
...of a policy dogged by the fate common to a' capitalist and militarist dictatorships, born of the illusion that the political and economic crises which have brought them into power can he solved by making away with liberty, and who seek in vain to prevent or delay their inevitable bankruptcy by gathering the bloody laurels of short-lived military victories...
...The Committee of Action, composed of representatives of all the psMseal tendencies which have responded to the appeal for unity, itherefore instructed to organize and to intensify the struggle in favor ef the most suitable concrete measures...
...DOWN WITH MUSSOLINI r ^ _ T h c voice that spoke these words is the-voice of International Socialism, of the organized international working class...
...the heavy nancial losses...
...Robert Cantwell, for example, had been chastised because his novel, "Land of Plenty," had failed to hold out absolute assurance of .the triumph of the workers...
...For, inasmuch as my major interests are history and sociology, I am not passionately interested in the future of the novel...
...The point is that when Schneider took on new interests as a man, he suddenly found that be could write a novel, uFrom the Kingdom of Necessity...
...Each novel has something to say about America...
...And it will go forward, if the organized workers of the world can help it, under the slogans put forward by the L.S.I., the I.F.T.U...
...3§ Upstairs, downstairs, .'' In a prison chamber...
...It is a good novel, but it is ironical j to note that its form is precisely the form of bourgeois Scott Fitz- j rerald's "This Side of Paradise," i r bourgeois Floyd Dell's "MoonT h e W o r k e r s A b r o a d ; P / a / i to Partition Ethiopia Defeated by \ Mass Protests in Two Nations While Two Internationals of Labor Call on World's Workers to Fight Fascism }' ' 1 By John Powers *N the opinion of H. G. Wells the situation in Europe since the war * has been a race between civilization and catastrophe...
...were to refrain from was neve) quite clear, but you rather go' the idea that Shakespeare anr Sophocles and Dostoyevsky were bad artists because they didn't write about Caspar Milquetoast...
...Completely discredited, the Baldwin and Laval governments have been forced to turn over direction of the Italo-Ethiopian question to the League Council...
...Only when it is removed from the non-competitive industrial sphere, from the pursuit of selfish ends and the careerist domain, can we hope, to make the theatre secure for its creative agencies and sound for the people...
...s Broadway soon to become the now-shop for Hollywood and are ictures to be the dictator and riterion of our drama with the lovie censor to tell us what is or i not good for Pennsylvania and -ansas...
...That policy «will now go forward...
...ssthetically or as evidence...
...In these circumstances to fight against the war in Africa and to enjoin i t s immediate cessation by all possible means is to set oneself the aim of avoiding for humanity the most frightful of catastrophes...
...uvi..., "P™ cnB -goes out to the soldiers, the mothers, the workers, the free men of Italy and of the whole world, and to the fascists themselves, who, as a result of this war, may perhaps have realized at las 9 the true nature of the Mussolini dictatorship...
...I onsisted of praising a novelist, i ioet or a dramatist merely because if his public statements expressing ympathy for the working class, nerely because of his willingness L U ' h ^ ^ ^ r ^ a s ^ S g r ? » cf*Pr©* fessional Groups...
...This isn't acactiy news...
...Yes, he has even been seen embracing, rather sheepishly, the pretty peasant girl *?» won the all-Soviet bathing besttty contest...
...The Burke book is valuable to me for what it has to show about the politicalization of the mill workers of the Carolina towns...
...The Citizens' BajS| Commission may name BlanehS "or the Simon Legree decorsujj iut old-fashioned Socialism -^2 another name for it—eapiolte^K I Jimmy Higgins, Jr., says v. New York Post is also a capital newspaper...
...The ultimate result cannot be doubted...
...The more he dug his spurs into the ribs of the unionsqusre" «nprades the hoarser the horse-laughs...
...It was and is a better •rill, but it had nothing to do with ;he value of the novel, eithe...
...Readers comments are welcome, on anj /nose of the public arts...
...Miss Glasgow's novel is valuable because it shows the a-politica...
...jVv Repuoiation of Two Governments - What happened in Europe in the past fortnight is, indeed, a milestone on the road upon which the masses have embarked in their determination to substitute the reign of law for the rule of the jungle...
...nature of "shabby genteel" people living in the Great Valley of Virginia, which has yet to see strikes and hunger demonstrations...
...He had new experiences, in the Macaulay strike, as a political pamphleteer, reading to workers' audiences, and so on...
Vol. 18 • December 1935 • No. 52
