Gertrude Stein: The Language That Rises: 1923-1934

Avant-Garde & Modernism Studies

by Ulla E. Dydo, William Rice

The first extensive examination of Stein's notebooks, manuscripts and letters, prepared over a period of twenty years, Gertrude Stein: The Language That Rises asks new questions and explores new ways of reading Stein. This definitive study give us a finely detailed, deeply felt understanding of Stein, the great modernist, throughout one of her most productive periods. From "An Elucidation" in 1923 to Lectures In America in 1934, Ulla E. Dydo examines the process of the making and remaking of Stein's texts as they move from notepad to notebook to manuscript, from an idea to the ultimate refinement of the author's intentions. The result is an unprecedented view of the development of Stein's work, word by word, text by text, and over time.

Genres: Literary Criticism, Poetry

704 pages, Paperback

First published September 3, 2003

Reviews

[Erin Dindoffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ulla Dydo shows an admirable enthusiasm for Stein’s work, and goes into detail analyzing what may have inspired her (Stein’s) format. I found this book redundant, and a pedantic display of condescension. It took Dydo over 600 pages to say what can be summed up in a single paragraph explaining Stein’s meaning of “Geography”.

Stein composes words somewhat as painters, with the tools of their art, model three-dimensional perceptions on canvas or paper to create pictorial space. Yet words, whatever their arrangement, always carry referential meanings, unlike brushstrokes, lines, and colors in a painting or rhythms, sound, and phrases in music. As a result, reference and representation bedevil the reading of Stein texts as constructions. The preliminary notebooks and manuscripts help us when they show the geographical process of Stein composing words.

I would prefer reading a couple official biographies, watching documentaries and reading Stein’s work on your own.

[Elizabeth]

I thought that I bought this book for some information on Gertrude Stein, but I could not put it down. Dydo's understanding of Stein's work, letters, and speeches is thorough and complete.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book, mercifully free of jargon. Dydo's enthusiasm for Stein is touching (I don't want that to sound patronizing) and persuasive.

[Sam Lohmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully patient and thorough account of years of archival research and close (but richly contextualized) reading.