74
PARTISAN REVIEW
Schmidt's significance lies not so much in original psychological
insight, but in applying it to literary form . The typographical and
structural plotting of the experience of time and personality is more
than formalism. Unlike topographical maps which function as visual
replicas of statal realities, Schmidt's texts are not simply blueprints
from a literary design bureau. They are both score
and
performance
at once. They are artistically successful, convincing experiments
which reproduce the mechanics of recollecting, for example , closely
enough to result in a maximum of realistic suggestion, in a "deja vu"
recognition by the reader, for whom the fictive reminiscences and
experiences thus become his own! To paraphrase the words of one
observer: Schmidt's method in its concentration and economy is like
a meat extract which may yet flavor many a literary "broth."
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