700
had merely "a simple regret for Eliza–
bethan hey-nonny-nonny" rather than
for a dignity which was more remote.
Considering that this hey-nonny-nonny
included the plays of Shakespeare, and
that Milton's party had closed the
theaters, it doesn't seem out of place
to remark that his direct experience
gave him something to go on for the
weird deep melancholy with which he
continually clashes together the loss of
Eden and of the pagan world.
William Empson
BUT IS IT PORNOGRAPHY?
SIRS:
I
have read "Pull Down Vanity!"
by Leslie A. Fiedler in the July-August
issue of your magazine with such dis–
gust that
I
am impelled to express my
indignation in writing.
I
had hoped
that Mary McCarthy'. "Dottie Makes
an Honest Woman of Herself" [Jan.–
Feb.
1954-]
might mark the nadir in
PARTISAN REVIEW fiction.
Why do presumably inteIligent and
talented writers prostitute that talent
and why does a magazine like the
PARTISAN REVIEW devote
50
much
apace to such fiction?
Is
it done with
the intent to seem daring and ad–
vanced? The achievement seerru quite
on the level of the vilest pornography.
Who the readers, what the end to
which you are directing such fiction?
Quite a number of your readers
would be interested in a defense of
this policy.
New York, N.
Y.
I. Louise Ligo
SIRS:
Some of tho policies of your radical
periodical, which
I
have taken and
read for a number of years, used to
puzzle and bother me. Were you not
afraid of Comstockism, of Puritanism,
of Pecksniffism, and have no attempts
been made to prosecute or intimidate
you? Have not charges of pornography
been leveled at you? And what is your
real attitude toward anti-Semitism,
still rampant and aggressive in this land
of the (once) free and independent
people proud of their Americanism?
Today
I
fancy
I
comprehend your
basic ideas. An avant-garde review can–
not afford to respect unduly irrational
prejudices and outworn conventions in
any sphere. Life is what it is, and a
little realism is not offensive to civil–
ized taste. Sex is not shameful, and
language cannot be too genteel, too
old-maidish, too euphemistic. Vulgar–
ity, in small doses, is tonic and bracing.
After reading Mary McCarthy, Les–
lie A. Fiedler, and other contributors,
I
feel certain
I
have the right ex–
planation of your course. The lame
applies to anti-Semitism-you don't
hesitate to confront that relic of bar–
barism in various ways, negative and
positive. Evasion and silence never ad–
vance problems toward intelligent solu–
tions.
La Jolla, Calif.
Victor S. Yarros
It seems to us that Mr. Yarros has
given very good reasons for our having
printed the two stories in question., and
that his letter may serve as an answer
to
Miss
Ligo's
objections.-THI!.
EDITORS
\~Preuves~--'
Revue mensuelle Iitteraire
et
politique
pnblie notament danll lion
numero d'octobre 1954
GEORGES VEDEL
L'etat souverain contre la democratie
DENIS DE ROUGEMONT
De Gasperi l'Europeen
THIERRY MAULNIER
Les Francais devant Mendes-France
ROBERT ROCHEFORT
Le probleme des hommes en trap
ETIENNE BALAZS
Le mandarinat moderne de
Mao TIO-Tong
GEORGES HUGNET
Jean
Arp
JiAN
ARP
Poemes
N. TUCCI
Amerique eternel refrain
NICOLA CHIAROMONTE
Tolstoi et l'histoire
EDMOND HUMEAU
Songeant a Charles-Albert Cingria
PREUVES:
23, rue de la P.jliniere - Pari.
vnn
C.C.P. 178.000 PARIS -
Le
numero
de 104 p.
ill. :
120
fn -
Etranger:
150 frs. Un specimen sera envoy.
gracieu.scment sur demande.
