By PAUL KINGSBURY, BA’80 The thorny legacy of Vanderbilt’s Fugitives and Agrarians Pride and Prejudice t’s one of the most famous and cherished photographs in Vanderbilt’s history. Allen Tate, Merrill Moore, Robert Penn Warren, John Crowe Ransom, Donald Davidson. Five balding white men, dressed impeccably in suits and ties, are seated outdoors, Iobviously posed by photographer Joe Rudis to appear as if lost in con- versation. Despite the artifice, the subjects seem relaxed and even playful, what with Moore practically sitting on Tate’s lap, Warren lean- ing in as if to insert a word edgewise, and the entire group looking to Allen Tate as if expecting a clever remark. It was a happy moment for the old friends. It was 1956, and after three decades of being ignored by the University, the Fugitives had returned to campus in glory for a colloquium devoted to their literary work. V anderbilt Magazine 31 Heroes Fugitives and Agrarians he five writers photographed in 1956 “Nothing in Vanderbilt’s history has come devoted to the Fugitives and Agrarians. The undergraduate courses on southern litera- were Vanderbilt graduates. They were anywhere close to the Fugitives and Agrari- 1956 reunion was followed by an Agrarian ture to these writers. On the graduate level, Donald Davidson (1893–1968) known as “Fugitives” after The Fugi- ans in giving it a national reputation,”con- reunion and symposium in 1980. That event, Kreyling says master’s and doctoral students BA’17, MA’22; Vanderbilt Ttive, the widely praised but little purchased firms Paul Conkin, distinguished professor though, seemed to mark a high tide for the in his department read them only occasion- English department, poetry magazine they self-published, along of history, emeritus, and the author of defin- Agrarians and Fugitives on campus. ally and then “only to deconstruct them—to 1920–1964; poet, literary with 11 other colleagues over the years, in itive histories of both Vanderbilt Universi- In the two decades since that last reunion, expose the subliminal, to expose the blind critic, historian, novelist, There is a new Nashville between 1922 and 1925. All save ty and the Vanderbilt Agrarians, among other the mementos of the Fugitives and Agrarians spots, to question why we still read them with English professor. Merrill Moore were also known as “Agrari- scholarly books.“It’s still by far the most sig- have quietly disappeared from Old Central, reverence, why we still think they provide a Lee in the Mountains and generation of ans” because of a book of social criticism, I’ll nificant aspect of Vanderbilt history in the the English department lounge and Kirkland model or a path for behavior, why we still Other Poems (1938); Take My Stand: The South and the Agrarian larger university world.” Hall. Now there is a new generation of Eng- include them. Frankly, as time goes on, they’re The Tennessee—Rivers of English professors Tradition (1930), which they co-authored And yet, as Conkin and other members lish professors at Vanderbilt who have no per- just one facet in a rapidly diversifying, chang- America Series (1946, 1948); Still Rebels, with eight other literary and university col- of Vanderbilt’s faculty have noted increas- sonal or professional loyalty to the Fugitives ing southern cultural scene.” Still Yankees (1957) at Vanderbilt who have leagues, in which they defended the virtues ingly over the years, the legacy of these men and Agrarians, and whose critical perspec- Kreyling’s colleague Kate Daniels, associ- of the South as a community of civilized is a decidedly mixed one with some very dark tives cause them to question Vanderbilt’s long- ate professor of English, also finds that the John Crowe Ransom (1888–1974) farmers facing down the onslaught of mod- corners. held reverence for these writers. Fugitives have less of a place in her classroom no personal or professional BA’09; Vanderbilt English ern progress and industrial- Michael Kreyling, professor of English, than they might have had in another gener- department, 1914–1937; ism. Ransom, Tate and Warren has been a member of the Vanderbilt facul- ation. As a poet herself and a teacher of poet- loyalty to the Fugitives and poet, literary critic, were also known as “New Crit- ty since 1985. His specialty is southern lit- ry, she recognizes the talent of some of the English professor. ics” because of their then-fresh erature, and he has studied and taught the Fugitives, particularly Warren, Tate and Ran- Agrarians, and Two Gentlemen in Bonds whose approach to literary criticism Fugitives and Agrarians for many years. His som, but Warren is the only one of these writ- (1927); God Without that focused on analyzing the book, Inventing Southern Literature, discusses ers she teaches to undergraduates. Thunder (1930); The critical perspectives text of literature itself and how the Fugitives and Agrarians shaped a Daniels is quick to note that she prefers to World’s Body (1938); explaining its function in detail, notion of southern literature in the first place. separate the Fugitive poetry from the Agrar- The New Criticism (1941); Selected Poems cause them to rather than dwelling on mat- He admits a certain grudging respect for their ian social commentary, even though the four (1945) ters outside the work to explain achievement as poets in their day (“they were best-known Fugitives—Ransom, Tate, War- question Va n d e rbilt’s long- or justify it. As a group these writing the disciplined modern poetry that ren and Davidson—all participated in I’ll Take writers were among the most T.S. Eliot and people like that were pio- My Stand.“I find the Agrarians appalling: The Allen Tate (1899–1979) held reverence for these writers. admired in literary circles in neering”), but over the years he has come to racism coming from some of them is so much BA’22; Vanderbilt visiting America in the 1950s. But none find real problems with the political views more overt, and that is really hard for me. professor, 1967; of their efforts had received that many of these writers expressed in I’ll “Warren, he’s Parnassus material. He’s poet, literary critic, Take My Stand. right up there at the top as far as I’m con- biographer, novelist, “One of the problems with this business cerned. And because he was a person who English professor. is you have to keep rereading these things was capable of change, because he did not Stonewall Jackson (1928); over and over in the presence of newer and fossilize in a way, he and his work and his rep- Jefferson Davis (1929); younger colleagues who see things differ- utation made the transition into the post- Mediterranean and Other ently,”says Kreyling.“In rereading these things modern era. And I’m not sure that’s true of Poems (1936); The Fathers (1938); Poems you realize this is a really misogynistic book— poets like Tate and Ransom. I see them almost 1922–1947 (1948); Collected Essays this is not a friendly volume to women. First as if they’re consciously antique objects in (1959) of all, there aren’t any women in it who are a way. They say something about an era, and any official support or recognition from Van- Problematic Ideology authors. And second, when the feminine does they certainly testified to a high degree of tal- Robert Penn Warren (1905–1989) derbilt until this reunion in 1956. or nearly five decades after the 1956 appear as a metaphor or as an adjective or ent, a genius level of talent as far as making BA’25; Vanderbilt English The photo remains a powerful memen- Fugitive reunion,Vanderbilt celebrat- something like that, it’s always derogatory. poems was concerned. But I’m not sure that department, 1931–1934; to,with an iconic resonance for those who ed and venerated these writers. In 1969 And then you read some more of it and think, their work overall has a lot of relevance for novelist, poet, literary know something about this group. Even Fthe Vanderbilt Library created a special col- This is not very progressive in terms of Amer- students who are still alive and studying lit- critic, English professor. for those who see it for the first time, the por- lection to house their published works and ican racial policy. This is racism. I mean, erature today.” All the King’s Men trait says: These men belong together; they papers. Elsewhere on campus, their disciples it’s not walking around in a hood with a burn- The views of Daniels and Kreyling are by (1946); Brother to are civilized and cultured. For Vanderbilt, could point with pride to a plaque at Old Cen- ing cross, but it’s racism.” no means outside the current academic main- Dragons (1953); it’s an image on par with the flag-raising at tral memorializing the Fugitives, framed pho- Because of the conservative ideology of stream, according to John Lowe, A’67,a pro- Promises: Poems Iwo Jima in 1945. It’s Vanderbilt’s Mount tographs of the Fugitives on the wall of the these writers and because he feels they are fessor of English at Louisiana State University. 1954–1956 (1957); Audubon: A Vision Rushmore, a symbol of Vanderbilt’s intel- English department’s library and lounge, and increasingly less relevant in a multicultural “I have to say that I don’t teach many of them (1969); Now and Then (1978) lectual and literary stature. a special display cabinet in Kirkland Hall world, Kreyling devotes just a week in his myself. … Nobody is going to be teaching a 32 W inter 2003 V anderbilt Magazine 33 southern literature class these days ers begin with I’ll Take My Stand, not the they assembled consisted for the most part Fugitives without lots and lots of African- poetry of The Fugitive magazine.