Gertrude Stein- Reading

Gertrude Stein

“In Gertrude Stein's writing every word lives... it is like a kind of sensuous music... listening to Gertrude Steins' words and forgetting to try to understand what they mean, one submits to their gradual charm.” (Mabel Dodge Luhan in ‘Speculations’, 1913)

As romanticised as the above quote is, Gertrude Stein’s work is not one easily conquered. Instead, you start to find yourself having to “work hard” for reader-satisfaction. “Working hard” as a reader in Stein’s text is to struggle and to challenge the conventions of writing and the act of reading. It is the experience of language and the power of words that have poignancy in Stein’s portraits, instead of being propelled by the subject matter we are compelled to acknowledge the strength in words to depict the person. Critic, Ulla Haselstein, aptly describes Steins work as “abstract word collages”, the language is simple and child-like reminiscent of a tongue twister or nursery rhyme.

Furthermore, a sense of bewilderment in vocabulary is experienced, language is intentionally limited, words that one encounters daily are arranged in such a way as to feel like a foreigner in your own language. Our sense of authority over a text through the act of reading has been undermined. Instead reading has been reduced to something elementary, child-like, our expectations are subverted and even insulted because simple sentences become confusing. This word play is evident in Miss Furr and Miss Skeene,

“she was always learning little things to use in being gay, she was telling about other ways of being gay, she was telling about learning other ways in being gay, she was learning other ways in being gay, she would be using other ways in being gay, she would always be gay in the same way...” (p8)

In Miss Furr and Miss Skeene we find a sense of theatricality to this portrait that reduces the reader to a state of hilarity. This work demonstrates the importance of sound and it is the repetition of words in different arrangements such as ‘gay’ and ‘regular’, that highlights the importance of not only reading but listening to the sentence to enjoy its full effect.

Initially her works appear to be less about enjoyment and that achievement is found in understanding the work (if ever) rather than finishing the work. Movement through the text seems cyclical and repetitive leaving the reader puzzled. Although Steins portraits give the illusion of repetitiveness, each sentence remains slightly different, forcing the reader to reflect with the text, which is evident in the portrait Pablo Picasso,

“One whom some were following were completely charming. One whom some were certainly following was one who was charming. One who some were following was one who was completely charming. One whom some were following was one who was certainly charming”. (p3)

Again we see in this extract that Stein plays on the arrangement of words and the way they impact upon each sentence. Shifting the key words “certainly” and “charming” throughout the passage encourages us to listen to and consider each sentence as a portrait in itself.

Additionally, in Julian Murphet’s lecture on Stein, he highlighted the way Stein’s portraits had a sense of immediacy that was “without remembering”. Therefore, most of her portraits attempted to avoid description, rather Haselstein believes Stein’s preoccupation was with the psychological state of those she was writing about, particularly in the portraits of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. Exploration into the psyche can be evident in the depiction of Henri Matisse;

“...he had been trying to be certain that he was wrong in doing what he was doing and when he could not come to be certain that he had been wrong in doing what he had been doing ... he was really certain he was a great one and he certainly was a great one”. (p2)

In conclusion, Stein’s work does have a “gradual charm” that can lead the reader to feel a sense of enjoyment in the challenge of reading and listening. Stein’s ability to subvert the conventions of writing and language successfully provokes the reader to question the way we experience and appreciate language.

Discussion point: What value does Stein’s work have today?

References:

Haselstein, Ulla (2003), Gertrude Stein's Portraits of Matisse and Picasso in New Literary History, Baltimore, Vol. 34, Iss. 4; pg. 723, 21 pgs