Table Of ContentA
PARTISAN REVIEW READER
EDITED DY
EDITH KURZWEIL& WILLIAM PHILLIPS
CONTRIBUTORS
HANNAH ARENDT WILLIAM BARRETT
DANIEL BELL NORMAN BIRNBAUM
VICTOR BROMBERT ALBERTCAMUS
NICOLA CHIAROMONTE MORRIS DICKSTEIN
RICHARD GILMAN NATHAN GLAZER
IRVING HOWE ARTHUR KOESTLER
DWIGHT MACDONALD CZESLAW MILOSZ
BARBARA ROSE SUSAN SONTAG
STEPHEN SPENDER PETER STEINFELS
LEON TROTSKY JAMES Q.WILSON
.WRITERS
&POUTICS
.WRITERS
&POLITICS
A PARTISAN REVIEW READER
EDITED BYEDITH KURZWEIL&WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Routledge & Kegan Paul
Boston, London, Melbourne and Henley
Thisselectionfirstpublishedinig8j
&
byRoutledge KeganPaulLtd
gParkStreet,Boston,Mass.02108, USA,
jgStoreStreet,London WCiEyDD,
2g6BeaconsfieldParade,MiddlePark,
Melbourne,3206,Australia,and
BroadwayHouse,NewtownRoad,
Henley-on-Thames, OxonRGgiEN.
Printedinthe UnitedStatesofAmerica
©Thisselectionandintroductionscopyright
EdithKurzweilandWilliamPhillipsig8j
©
Selectionscopyright PartisanReviewigj8, ig4i,ig$2, ig§4,
ig6o, ig66,ig6y,igy2, igj3, igy4, igj6, igj8, ig8o
Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedin
anyformwithoutpermissionfromthe
publisher,exceptforthequotationofbrief
passagesincriticism
LibraryofCongress CataloginginPublicationData
Mainentryundertitle:
Writersandpolitics.
1.Politicsandliterature-Addresses,essays,lectures.
I. Kurzweil,Edith.
II.Phillips, William, igoyNov. 14-.
III.Partisanreview (New York,N.Y.: igjy)
PNji.WyjigSj 814'.54''080358 82-16533
ISBNo-ywo-g3i6-o
6 93
Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments
viii
Notes on Contributors ix
Introduction: Writers and Politics
i
Part I Literary and Political Theories
1
Introduction 15
1 Tradition and the Modern Age 1
Hannah Arendt Vol. 21, no. 1, ig$4
2 Artand Revolt 42
Albert Camus Vol. ig, no.3, ig$2
^j£Art and Politics 56
f
Leon Trotsky Vol.5, no.3, igj8
4 The Ideaofthe Avant-Garde 64
Richard Gilman Vol.jg, no.3, igjf2
5 The Intelligentsia 79
Arthur Koestler Vol. 11, no.3, ig44
6 Toward a Portraitofthe French Intellectual 93
Victor Brombert Vol. 2y, no.3, ig6o
7 Modernism and Capitalism 1 1
Daniel Bell Vol. 45, no. 2, igy8
Part II Political Emphases 133
Introduction 135
8 Readingfrom Leftto Right 38
1
Dwight Macdonald Vol. 8, no. 1, ig4i
9 Murti-Bing 48
1
Czeslaw Milosz Vol. 18, no.5, igji
1 2
vi / Contents
10 Radical Questions andthe American
Intellectual 165
Irving Howe Vol.33, no. 2, 1966
1 Old and New Classes 192
Edith Kurzweil Vol. 47, no. 4, 1966
Part III Emphasis on Literature and Art 197
Introduction 199
12 The Intellectuals' Tradition 202
William Phillips Vol. 8, no. 6, 1941
13 Writers and Politics 21
Stephen Spender Vol.34, no.3, 1967
14 Protestin Art 235
Barbara Rose Vol. 40, no. 2, 1973
Part IV Writers' Political Documents 247
Introduction 249
15 Sartre versus Camus: A Political Quarrel 254
Nicola Chiaromonte Vol. 19, no. 6, 1952
16 Yugoslav Report 261
Susan Sontag Vol.33, no. 1, 1966
17 Cold War Blues: Notes on the Culture ofthe
Fifties 269
Morris Dickstein Vol. 41, no. 1, 1974
18 While America Burns 293
William Barrett and William Phillips Vol. 43, no.3, 1976
19 Neoconservatism: Pro and Con 302
Nathan Glazer, Peter Steinfels,James Q. Wilson,
and Norman Birnbaum Vol. 47, no. 4, 1980
Preface
Politics and literature - they almost have become one
word; and the common acceptance oftheir connection has been one
ofthe cultural contributions ofPartisan Review.
The essays in this volume reflect the politics and literary
tendencies of Partisan Review since its beginnings. But they also
represent, we feel, an important sector ofopinion in America and
Europe - opinion that might be characterized as among the best
nondoctrinaire, nonconformist and open-minded writing of the
time. The selection is a joint effort: William Phillips, one of the
founding editors, originally solicited many of the pieces for the
magazine; Edith"Kurzweil read some ofthem for the first time, and
was impressed by the fact that so much ofthe material is still alive.
We had^wealth ofmaterial to choose from, but decided to take no
more .tnan one article by any one person, to stay as close to our
subject as possible, and to be representative ofwhat the magazine
stands for- independence of thought, openness to new ideas, and
quality. This is not to say that everything we publish is of equal
value, but only that it is lively and serious. In retrospect, we must
have succeeded, given that so many ofthe most respected figures of
our time were first printed in Partisan Review.
We hope that our readers will be stimulated, and that some of
them might look to the magazine for other pieces ofsimilar interest
and importance.
E.K. W.P.
June ig82
Acknowledgments
Although all the selections in this volume first appeared in
PartisanReview, the editors and publishers gratefully acknowledge as
follows permission to reprint in this collection those whose copy-
rights have in the meantime reverted to their authors:
To Harcourt BraceJovanovich for "Tradition and the Modern
Age" by Hannah Arendt; to Madame Albert Camus and the trans-
lator, Joseph Frank, for "Art and Revolt" by Albert Camus; to
Miriam Chiaromonte for "Sartre versus Camus" by Nicola Chiaro-
monte; and to the Houghton Library, Harvard University, for
permission to reprint Leon Trotsky's letter entitled "Art and Poli-
tics." "The Intelligentsia" by Arthur Koestler is reprinted by
permission ofthe Sterling Lord Agency, Inc., New York, copyright
©
1944, and A. D. Peters & Co. Ltd., London. "The Pill of
Murti-Bing" from The CaptiveMindbyCzeslawMilosz, translated by
©
Jane Zielonko, copyright 1953 by Czeslaw Milosz, is reprinted by^
permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, and Seeker &
Warburg Ltd., London.
The articles and pieces by Richard Gilman, Victor Brombert,
Daniel Bell, Dwight Macdonald, Irving Howe, Stephen Spender,
Barbara Rose, Susan Sontag, Morris Dickstein, William Barrett,
Nathan Glazer, Peter Steinfels, James Q. Wilson, and Norman
Birnbaum are reprinted here with the knowledge and authorization
oftheir authors.
