H.D. and Sapphic Modernism, 1910-1950

by Diana Collecott

The American poet H. D. (1886-1961) is increasingly being recognized as a key figure in the shaping of Anglo-American modernism, and this study attempts to emphasize her position, against the well-established claims of writers such as T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. The study is grounded in questions of sexuality, gender and the nature of subjectivity and H. D.'s interest in Hellenism. The development of a homoerotic strand within her distinctively modernist poetics comes together in Collecott's central concept of "sapphic modernism."

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Martmota · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had been in my ‘to-read’ shelf since I was first introduced to H.D.’s work in my MA, back in the golden days of 2019. It would have been really helpful to read this monograph then for my Literary Criticism assessment (as I intended, but someone just decided to keep the book for themselves for the whole semester), given that the way it discusses how fragmentary writing, blanks, and silence can be deciphered as key elements to construct sapphic writing and queer textuality was precisely the focus of my essay.

Anyway, this summer I finally got the time and excuse to finally dive into it, and in this quick review I’d like to highlight how influential Diane Collecott’s work remains, both in H.D. studies generally, and particularly, in the analysis of her Sapphism as a vital and creative force. Without any doubt the strength of this book is how H.D.’s writing gets analysed against everything that was happening at the time, historically and artistically. I feel like even if it’s not one of its purposes, this book works on a reparative level regarding the so called ‘neutral’ accounts that the Modernist movement has gotten in the last 50 years or so of criticism (which totally leave out how sexist, racist and homophobic the movement was, and only take seriously its male authors, the most famous of which, ehem, Pound and Eliot, were raging misogynist and fascists).

I've loved how Collecott discusses gender equality, bisexual identity, lesbian sexuality, and homoerotic-produced textualities, all by paying careful and close attention to H.D.’s life and literary (verse, prose, literary criticism) production between the years 1910-1950. However, I admit that this book is not an easy one to read, and perhaps a glossary of terminology, including literary criticism as well as psychoanalysis terms, could've been helpful and considerate for all kinds of readers. Sometimes the number of authors and theories employed to discuss one single poem or collection can be overwhelming and, although they aim to help our understanding of H.D. and her work, they actually have the opposite effect (that’s basically why I’m not giving this 5 stars).

Finally, the appendix including the complete uses of Sapphic fragments in H.D.’s poetry and prose remains, imo, the best and most complete one to date; really impressive and, most importantly, useful! Would really recommend this book to people interested in H.D.’s work, Sapphism in her life and work, sapphic/lesbian/queer textualities, and creative practices and, honestly, to anyone interested in Modernist literature really.

[Margaret Devadason]

At times uncomfortably gender-essentialist and psychoanalytic, but there’s also an incredibly beautiful photograph of Silvia Dobson. The appendix tracing Sapphic references in H.D.’s work is great too.