Gertrude+Stein


 * Gertrude Stein** was a German-Jewish lesbian poet who lived in France and is best know for the quote "A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose" as well as her book of poems titled //Tender Buttons//. She was an avid art collector and was good friends with Pablo Picasso.

= Biography =

[[image:stein_photo.jpg width="302" height="370" align="left" caption="Gertrude Stein" link="@http://bitchmagazine.org/post/feministory-gertrude-stein"]]Childhood
Gertrude Stein was born on February 3, 1874 to German-Jewish parents Amelia and Daniel Stein, who was a wealthy merchant in Pennsylvania. When she was 3 years old, her family moved to Vienna and later to Paris. Stein's family eventually moved back to the United States and settled in Oakland, California. After this, both of her parents died before she was 18.

Education
From 1893 to 1897, Stein attended Radcliffe College where she specialized in psychology under the guidance of William James. While attending college, Stein was able to achieve a "self-splitting" wherein she wrote with one part of her consciousness and observed the process as though actively reading at the same time. This split relates to simultaneous talking and listening to oneself or others. It is also the "essence of genius" that Stein attributed to herself. In one of her academic articles, she refers to the activity as "Normal Motor Automatism" which was later criticized by B.F. Skinner, a preeminent psychologist of behaviorism. In 1934, Stein responded to Skinner's criticism by stating that her writing was "not so automatic as he thinks." This response raises the question as to whether her poetry was without meaning in a personal or interpersonal sense. Either way, a good starting point for understanding the underpinnings of her work is to examine texts from the "master” under whom she studied. In particular, James’ //The Principles of Psychology// (1890). As required reading for Stein, this text provided the framework of Stein’s development while exploring her own consciousness and that of broader society.

Eventually, Stein changed from studying psychology to studying medicine. She studied medicine at John Hopkins University from 1897 to 1901.

Identity and Controversy
Stein's Jewish heritage did not go unnoticed when she attended Radcliffe and John Hopkins. At that time in Europe and America, Jews were seen as people separate from the rest. Whether characterized as "degenerate" or of "superior intelligence", Stein internalized the resulting alienation. This likely triggered Stein to gradually distance herself from her Jewish heritage. This distance was evident in her embracing Otto Weininger’s typology, which argued that Jews and women were negations of the ideal "genius." Stein went on to make several disparaging remarks about Jews and women. In a 1934 New York Times article, Stein said, "I say that Hitler ought to have the [Nobel] peace prize, because he is removing all the elements of contest and of struggle from Germany." Hitler was in fact nominated for the prize in 1939 by a member of Swedish parliament, an act of satire that was not well received. This negative reception can be applied to Stein's satiric remarks.

Paris, Art, and Poetry
In 1903, Stein moved to Paris. While she lived in Paris, Stein lived with her brother Leo and became interested in collecting Post-Impressionist paintings. Their home at 27 rue de Fleurs became a gathering point for young artists and writers, including Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Guillame Apollinaire, and Ezra Pound. This social circle expanded throughout her life to include friendships with William Carlos Williams, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, and many others.

In the same year Stein moved to Paris, 1903, she took to writing and composed //Q.E.D.//, a narrative portraying a Jewish woman with a lesbian antagonist. A few years later, in 1907, Stein met Alice B. Toklas who like Stein had grown up in California. After meeting, Toklas became Stein's lifelong romantic partner and secretary. Two years later, in 1909, Stein's //Three Lives// was published. Her other piece, //The Making of Americans//, was published much later in 1925.

Around 1912 or 1913, Stein experimented with cubism and avant-garde writing. Her forays in these styles are believed to have caused a split between her and her brother, which was due to her brother's move to Florence, Italy. Not long after, in 1914, Stein published //Tender Buttons//, which epitomizes her technique of fusing the fragmentation of Post-Impressionist art with the "Normal Motor Automatism" writing style she developed in college. Her use of words is a composition of sounds rather than an exposition of meaning that intrigues and baffles readers to this day.

During World War I, Stein and Toklas served as ambulance drivers for wounded fighters using a Ford van. After the war during the 1920s, Stein continued to be an important figure in the growing circle of avant-garde writers and painters. She published several works and lectures, but did not gain widespread acclaim until the 1933 release of the //The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas//, which was written in the uncharacteristically coherent character of Alice. //The Autobiography// was followed by a lecture tour through the United States, where Stein found much acclaim. This experience was used in writing //Everybody’s Autobiography//, published in 1937, which attempted to connect to every reader's genius. During the same year, 1937, the landlord of Stein's 27 rue de Fleurs studio chose not to renew the lease. It was at this time that Stein's Post-Impressionist era ended.

Surviving World War II and Her Final Years
With the outbreak of World War II, Gertrude and Alice narrowly escaped internment during the Nazi occupation. They sold some of their paintings, hid with friends and acquaintances, and would sometimes walk miles for food. This continued for four years until the liberation of Paris, to which they returned in August 1944. Little more than a year later, Stein began to notice abdominal pains. These pains turned out to be caused by colon cancer, but Stein found out too late for treatment. She died on the July 27,1946. Her last words to Alice were "What is the answer?"...(no reply). "In that case... what is the question?"

=Stein's Friendship with Picasso=

Stein and Picasso were in the same social circle, something vividly evidenced by the portrait he painted of her during the winter of 1905. They first met one another after Stein had purchased a few of his paintings. Picasso was described by Fernande Olivier as being "so attracted to Mlle Stein's physical presence that he suggested he paint her portrait, without even waiting to get to know her better". This fascination with Stein may well have been due in part to her confident and self-assured nature, something which frequently inspires respect from others.

=Poetry=

Sacred Emily
Stein's poem "Sacred Emily," published in her book //Geography and Plays//, is where the famous quotation "A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose," originates. It is possible to interpret and analyze the poem in numerous ways depending on the reader and the context. One way to analyze the poem is to deconstruct it line by line and perform a close reading.

The tone of the line “Wives of great men rest tranquil” suggests sarcasm as if to say that the wife of a great man is only calm if she is ignorant of her husband’s life. Great leaders often appear as though they have everything figured out despite multiple things in their life being awry. The public is presented with a deceptively flawless image of a leader. A wife who is calm could be under the spell of the same false image, thus the line encompasses the idea that ignorance is bliss.

The line "A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose" suggests that it is avoiding words with association. The relationship between the words and their associations is abstract, similar to art styles such as impressionism and cubism. This relationship flattens the meaning of the words as well as appearing detached, but maintains whimsical tones. This suggests that the focus is on surface impressions.



Tender Buttons
The poem “Dirt And Not Copper” contains many hard hitting ‘d,’ ‘c,’ and ‘m’ sounds. This particular poem is about the sound of the words. When read aloud, it is easy to pick up on the ‘o’ sounds spread throughout the poem. The first sentence “[d]irt and not copper makes a color darker” provides a dark, earthy mental image due to the use of "dirt" and "darker." The use of copper briefly brightens the image, but continues the earthy tone since it is a metal. Together dirt and copper combine to form the image of a sidewalk. In the cracking concrete is bits of dirt and copper could be referring to a penny.

The poem “Nothing Elegant” begins with personifying a charm when it says “[a] charm a single charm is doubtful.” Stein could be referring to the ability to charm people or trinkets that symbolize good luck. Given the context the trinket makes more sense. It can be considered ironic that Stein would describe a charm as doubtful. When someone owns a charm, they believe the charm provides good luck. To contrast this idea with doubtful could be Stein making a subtle statement. This idea can be compared to the title. The title and the first sentence could be working together to make a statement about belief through something as simple as a charm. The next sentence begins with the hypothetical “[i]f the red is rose” which could be referring to preconceived associations certain words have. A rose does not have to be red, but when one thinks of a rose their first thought might be red.

The poem “A Red Stamp” is one long hypothetical. The beginning phrase “If lilies are lily white” is very circular. The entire poem contains multiple ‘s’ and ‘d’ sounds. Words like dust, dirt, and exhaust give the poem an unclean industrial feeling like being in the city. This is contrasted with the words lily and grace which give the poem a beautiful environmental feeling.

= Lectures =

Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas began working on //The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas// in 1932. Prior to this, Stein had only published four books in the United States. //The Autobiography// was an instant success, selling more than 5,000 copies nine days prior to the official publication date. It went on to become a best-seller and led to a six-month lecture tour that proved very successful. As a follow up to the success of //The Autobiography//, Stein began writing //Everybody’s Biography//, an account of her experiences touring in the United States and being a celebrity. However, //Everybody’s Biography// did not achieve the success that its predecessor had. Sales were very poor, resulting in only 3,000 copies being printed.

= What Does it Mean? =

Stein lived out an enigmatic paradox no less than her work. As a Jewish woman living in France during the Nazi occupation, we might expect to hear the poetry of a woman who suffered great persecution. Perhaps we'd hear hints of reaction against anti-Semitism or Nationalist sentiment. As a strong woman secure in her homosexuality, and bold enough to publish her long-time lover's life story (several decades before gay people started making progress towards decriminalizing their very existence), one might detect an underlying message striking at the heart of patriarchal oppression. Armed with an encyclopedia of symbolism and one of her earlier works of abstraction, it might well be possible to decipher her sex life, political leanings, and perhaps even discover what she had for breakfast that day. Her laughter is the only thing remaining after the sensory overload the reader's brain experiences, when one fact about her life, or one short sweep of assonant absurdity cracks the foundation of understanding a reader thought to have constructed about her. The reader of her poetry would be advised to put the question "What does it all mean?", in the cupboard with the fancy silverware.

= Videos =

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= References =

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