THE PORNOGRAPHERS AND THE PROPHET: HENRY MILLER, ANAk NIN, AND LAWRENCE DZlRRELL READING DOSTOEVSKY MARIA R. BLOSHTEYN A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in partial Fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Programme in English York University Toronto, Ontario June 1998 National Library Bibliothèque nationale 191 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliogaphic Sewices seMces bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 ûttawaON K1A ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive Licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, Ioan, distribute or sel reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in rnicrofoxm, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/^, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. THE PORNOGRAPKERS AND THE PROPHET: HENRY MILLER, ANAXS NIN, AND LAWRENCE DURRELL READING WSTOEVSKY by MARIA R. BLOSHTEYN a dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studtes of York University in partial fulfillrnent of the requirements for the degree of I @ 1998 Permission has been granled Io the LIBRARY OF YORK UNIVERSITY io tend or seIl copies of this dissertation, to the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA to microfilm this dissertation and to !end or seIl copies of the film. and to UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS to publish an abstract of this dissertation The author reserves other publication rights. and neither the dissertation nor extensive extracts from it rnay be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's written permission. iv ABSTRACT In the 1930s, three expatriate writers, Henry Miller, Anaïs Nin, and Lawrence Durrell. met in Paris and formed an alliance. With Miller at the helm, they set out to bnng about a revolution in writing and to create a new kind of prose. Surprisingly, in their quest to create this new prose, they chose none other than the nineteenth century Russian novelist Fedor Dostoevsky as their guide. Although time would show that each of these three writers had a different conception of what that new prose should be like, their alliance in the 1930s proved a decisive one for each of them. Their wrestling with Dostoevsky during that period was, for each writer, an especially important stage of formulating an individual vision of prose narrative and a key to subsequent achievements. The dissertation has three focuses. The fkst is an analysis of Miller's dialogue with Dostoevsky set first within the context of the Amencan reception of the Russian novelist and then within the context of Miller's Parisian experience in the 1930s. The second is an examination of the interrelations of Miller, Nin, and Durrell and the work produced by them in the 1930s, when the three forrned the nucleus of an international group of writers. poets, and artists Iater known as the Villa Seurat Circle. The third is a consideration of how the reading of and the stmggles with Dostoevsky became reflected in the texts of Miller, Nin, and Durrell, during the 1930s. Altogether, the dissertation explores the cornplex dynamics within a case study of cross-cultural reception and appropriation. The dissertation includes a consideration of how Dostoevsky's style, philosophy, and literary types were received, interpreted, and transformed by the Villa Seurat writers (paying v special attention to their reading of Nofesfiom Underground). This dissertation will be of interest to those examining Dostoevsky's reception in the United States. to scholars of Miller. Nin, and Durrell, and to those interested in the intersection of literary and cultural studies in general. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to acknowledge the unwavering support of my farnily-my father, Roman, my mother, Evgenia, and my sister Irina. They have been my fxst readen, my most exacting critics, and my gurus. They are my inspiration and my strength, and my gratitude to them can never be suffciently expressed. 1 am most indebted to Professor Nick Lary, who has been the ideal supervisor and teacher. He has shared his knowledge and provided the needed guidance while giving me the fieedom to explore issues that were of interest to me. 1 am also greatly indebted to Professor Richard Pope who has been a mentor and whose insights and writings (both scholarly and creative) continue to inspire me in rny own work. My deepest gratitude and admiration must go to both of them. 1 wouid like to thank al1 the members of my examining cornmittee and, especially, the extemai reader, Professor Viacheslav Ivanov, for providing me with many interesting ideas and suggestions that I know 1 will develop in my füture work on the subject. Maya Johnson has contributed a trernendous amount to this dissertation while writing her own. Her insights have helped me a great deal in my work. Her knowledge, her friendship, and her sense of humour are much appreciated. 1 wouid like to thank Dr. Olga Bakich for her support, encouragement, and fnendship. Marina Avasar and Adrianna Stech have been great fnends and an unfailing support over the years. The wisdom and the many talents of these women are a perennial inspiration. vii 1 would also like to thank Professor Anne Pilgrim for her kindness and support in the years that 1 have taught with her. I should acknowledge the support that 1 have received in the early stages of planning this dissertation fiom Jay Martin and Mary Dearborn. Jan Pearson has always been a great help. I have been assisted in my research by several gants fiom York University for which 1 am grateful. 1 have also been helped by David Koch, Shelley Cox, and the staffof the Moms Rare Book Library at the Southem Illinois University when 1was conducting my research there. Separately, 1would like to acknowledge the interest taken in this dissertation by Baroness Cassandra von Sutton and to thank her for her sponsorship. TABLE OF CONTENTS Inboduction-------------------------------------- ------- ---------------- 1 Chapter One: Dostoevsky, His Amencan Reputation, and Miller's Villa Seurat Circle------------- ---- ----- --------- ----------- - ------- 14 DostoevsQ as American Culturd Iton--..-------------- ----- ------------------- 17 The Villa Seurat Ckcle------------------------------------------------------------32 Dostoevslcy and the Greenwich Village Bohernians--------------------------38 "Herr Dostoevsky Juniorm----- --------------------- -------------------- --------- -41 DostoevsQ adthe Future -------------------------------------- ------- ----- ---- - 53 ix Chapter Three: Villa Seurat and Readings in Dostoevsk#s Philosophy------------ 99 Chapter Four: "Writing the Underground": Fantastic Women, Hommes 1 INTRODUCTION In the early stages of planning my dissertation, 1 was invited by a small art gallery to attend the opening of a one-man show of a Toronto artist who was originaily fiom St. Petersburg. At the reception, afler the topic of the latest developments on the local art scene was exhausted, the artist politely inquired what 1was working on at graduate school. 1 replied that I was about to write a dissertation on Henry Miller's reception of Fedor Dostoevsky. At which point al1 politeness suddenly evaporated. The artist demanded to know how 1 could do such a thing. When he saw the blank look on my face, he angrily exclaimed, "How can you associate a prophet like Dostoevsky with a pomographer like Miller?!" Over the next few years, the scene repeated itself in a variety of contexts and settings-social, professional' and geographic. Dostoevsky scholars raised their eyebrows at the linking of Dostoevsky and Miller (when so little has been done with Dostoevsky's reception by major authors). Scholars of Amencan literature were puvled that 1 would wish to work on Miller at al1 (sexist, racist, antisemitic, homophobic). Other reactions ranged somewhere between incredulity and a sense of a personal insult. When 1 decided to broaden the focus of the dissertation to include Anaïs Nin and Lawrence Durrell, two writers with whom Miller was closely associated in the 1930s, the general response to my topic changed little. Nin was remembered mostly through Henry and June, a 1990 film by Philip KaufÎnan based on the eponyrnous volume of her unexpurgated diaries, which garnered the 2 fist ever NC- 17 rating (a controversial rating by the Motion Pichire Association of America designed to replace the stigmatized 'Xrating). Lawrence Durrell presented a different set of problems, as people would fwst happily recite such titles as A Zoo in My Luggage or My Famiiy and Oiher Anirnals (al1 written by his younger brother, the naturalist and author Gerald Durrell), and only then recall The AIexundria Quartet, a tetralogy of novels which won him international acclaim in the 1960s. The question, whether asked directly or implied, was always the sarne: What do these authors have in common with Dostoevslq? Before I offer any answers here, however. I should provide some background. It has long been a cornmonplace in Dostoevsky studies that the twentieth