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Submerged Experimentation in Middlebrow Modernist Fiction

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Submerged Experimentation in Middlebrow Modernist Fiction Submerged Experimentation in Middlebrow Modernist Fiction DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Allison Fisher Graduate Program in English The Ohio State University 2011 Dissertation Committee: David Herman, Advisor Brian McHale James Phelan Robyn Warhol Copyright by Allison Fisher 2011 Abstract This dissertation explores the concept of submerged experimentation in middlebrow fiction of the modernist period. Disputing criticism that posits a “great divide” between highbrow modernism and middlebrow culture of the modernist period, I argue that middlebrow modernist authors were aware of and informed about highbrow modernist writers, adapting their innovative techniques to middlebrow publishing venues and readerships. From this process of adaptation emerged covertly experimental narrative techniques that my dissertation works to recover, document, and situate within the broader context of modernist studies. The dissertation reexamines middlebrow texts from the modernist period through the critical lenses of postclassical narratology, feminist theory, and material-historical approaches to literature. The result of this integrative approach is a project which describes and classifies the formal and thematic concerns of middlebrow modernists while also engaging in the rhetorical study of specific texts. Even as I use a rhetorical approach, I also complement that approach with archival research aimed at reconstructing the original conditions of the texts' production and reception--in order to identify how and why middlebrow modernist works had the effects they did. Each chapter brings a canonical highbrow modernist work into dialogue with a middlebrow modernist work to illustrate the similarities in their experimental impulses, as well as the strategic ii differences influenced by audience, market, and gender: Virginia Woolf‟s and Margaret Ayer Barnes‟s uses of the domestic in Mrs. Dalloway and Edna His Wife, H.D.'s and Zelda Fitzgerald‟s intertextual constructions of character in Asphodel and “Miss Ella,” and Edith Wharton‟s and Winifred Holtby‟s experimentations with the tested woman plot in The Age of Innocence and South Riding. The dissertation concludes that middlebrow women writers were in fact using--but also repurposing--highbrow experimental techniques in their fiction, in ways that have not yet received adequate scholarly recognition. In the past several decades, scholars in working in fields ranging from literary history to the study of popular culture have developed theories about artistic experimentation and the distinctions among high, middle, and lowbrow artifacts and practices. However, my dissertation illuminates a crucial issue that has been overlooked-- namely, that middlebrow authors were not only aware of the highbrow modernist movement, but also actively incorporated highbrow modernist experimental impulses and techniques into their work. By recovering these buried relationships, my project corrects the critical tradition that views middlebrow texts as lacking formal integrity; the dissertation thus rethinks conventional definitions of the middlebrow to offer a more nuanced understanding of the range of experimentation in modernist fiction. By focusing on modes of submerged experimentation in middlebrow texts, I develop new ways of characterizing the distinction between high and middlebrow as it was understood and practiced in the modernist period. In the process, I seek to intervene in contemporary debates about the nature and scope of modernism itself. Ultimately, my reexamination of iii middlebrow modernism will help to reframe current understandings of how women writers helped shape modernist practices. iv To Pat Dunn and Robert Fisher v Acknowledgments It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to finally thank all of the people who have made this document possible. I feel more indebted than I can express, and I am quite certain that without the compassion, support, and love of all of the people I will thank here, this project would never have been completed. First and foremost I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor, David Herman, for his unfailing support and guidance throughout this long journey. David offered constant enthusiasm, insightful and thoughtful feedback, and an incredible amount of patience. Most of all, David modeled the type of mentor and scholar I hope to someday become – invested, passionate, supportive, and caring. I would also like to thank Jim Phelan, who offered constructive criticism and incisive comments that always made my work stronger and more nuanced. Also, the monthly potlucks he hosted for his many advisees helped me keep in touch with the work of other graduate students, and were a welcome source of community. My thanks also go to Robyn Warhol and Brian McHale, who generously offered their time to my project, and whose careful feedback and commentary have been immensely helpful in refining my ideas and arguments. I feel honored to have had the opportunity to work so closely with all of you. The idea for this dissertation began with an independent study with Karen Leick. Karen introduced me to the middlebrow, and encouraged me to do archival research for vi the first time. Without her inspiration and support, this project truly wouldn‟t exist. I am grateful for her continued support and advice, as well as for that first push, all that time ago. I would not have been able to complete this project without the help of my friends, and there are not words for the thanks I owe them. Tera Pettella, Shannon Thomas, Alexis Martina, and Mary Crone-Romanovski all contributed to this project by reading innumerable drafts, giving me pep talks, and in general rescuing me in the ways that only friends can. Without their advice, revision help, and skill at finding my cleverly hidden thesis statements, this document would never have become a full-fledged dissertation. I would also like to thank Jeni Skar, who, although she was far away, talked me down from many ledges, was always a welcome voice of reason, and could always make me laugh – even if it was at my own expense. This project is dedicated first to my mother, Pat Dunn. I would not be where I am if not for her love and support, and her unwavering belief that it was possible. She is also the most patient and passionate teacher I know. Her strength and optimism inspire me every day, and for that I am grateful. I am also incredibly thankful for my sister, Elizabeth Clarke, who has become my friend, who always gets it, and who, when she doesn‟t get it (like why someone would want to write a dissertation), is sometimes willing to take my word for it. Finally, this project is dedicated to my husband, Robert Fisher. I am thankful that, despite graduate school and the lengthy dissertation process, he is still my best friend. Without his constant encouragement, comfort, and understanding, I would not vii have been able to make it through this process. He believed I could do it even when I didn‟t, and in addition to a thousand daily things, like making sure I ate and slept, he always made me smile. For that, and for all of the things that go unsaid, I am grateful. viii Vita September 5, 1980 ............................................................... Born, Traverse City, Michigan 2002...................................... B.A., English, summa cum laude, The University of Houston 2004…………………………………………….M.A., English, The Ohio State University 2002-2008 ........................................... Graduate Teaching Associate, English Department, The Ohio State University 2007.............................. Adjunct Instructor, Department of English, Wittenberg University 2008-2009 .................... Visiting Instructor, Department of English, Wittenberg University 2010.................................... Adjunct Instructor, Department of English, Strayer University 2010.............................. Adjunct Instructor, Department of English, Wittenberg University 2010....................... Adjunct Instructor, Department of English, Ohio Wesleyan University Publications “A Bibliography of Recent Criticism on Muriel Spark.” Modern Fiction Studies 54.3 (2008): 617-620. Fields of Study Major Field: English ix Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Dedication ........................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. vi Vita ..................................................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1: An Introduction to Submerged Experimentation and the Modernist Landscape ....................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Thematizing the Unnarratable in Virginia Woolf‟s Mrs. Dalloway and Margaret Ayer Barnes‟s Edna His Wife ...................................................................... 38 Chapter 3: Intertextual Constructions of Character in H.D.‟s Asphodel and Zelda Fitzgerald‟s “Miss Ella” .............................................................................................. 89 Chapter 4: The Tested Woman Plot in Edith Wharton‟s
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