506 PARTISAN REVIEW
touched on in the magazine's pages were and are guided by the editors'
sense of the trends and tendencies in progress-in fiction, prose, and
politics. But what Harold Rosenberg ca ll ed " the tradition of the new"
has turned into what I might call "the tradition of instant celebrity."
The edi tors' adamant anti-communism was eventually vindicated.
We continue to remain open to the avant-garde and allergic to its
kitschy reproductions, and to use the word
culture
in its larger sense
rather than in the current parlance to designate specific groups. As I was
writing this introduction, I kept thinking of what we used to call sub–
cultures. But we no longer have any "subs"-only ethnic designations,
such as African-American, Latino, Hispanic, and Asian-American cul–
tures, and cultures of evil, of violence, of youth, and of the aged, as well
as various academic and ghetto cultures, and all of their divisions. In
this abundance of cultures, there is no longer much hope for a center.
Intellectuals and cosmopolitans are an ever more endangered species–
possibly the most victimized, but vehemently rejecting the status of vic–
tims. In this room, however, we have assemb led some of the best among
them. I hope that you all will contribute to the discllssions with our stel–
lar cast of panelists at the end of each session.
As in the past, we will publish the proceedings.
THREE MOMENTS OF LOVE IN LEONARD COHEN
AND BRUCE COCKBURN
Paul Nonnekes
A
series of reflections on the work of Leonard Cohen
and Bruce Cockburn, two popular singer-song-writer–
poets.
192
pages
1-55164-176-3 $19.99
A CURE OF THE MIND
The Poetics of Wallace Stevens
Theodore Sampson
Written with grace and lucidity, this book examines
Stevens deeply fragmented sense of self and world as
projected in
Harmonium.
212
pages
1-55164-148-8 $19.99
BlACK
ROSE
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