T.S. Eliot and the Art of Collaboration

270 Pages·2005·2.22 MB·English

by  Badenhausen, Richard

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T. S. ELIOT AND THE ART OF
COLLABORATION
RichardBadenhausenexaminesthecrucialrolethatcollaboration
with other writers played in the development of T. S. Eliot’s
worksfromtheearliestpoetryandunpublishedprosetothelate
plays.HedemonstratesEliot’sdependenceoncollaborationin
ordertocreate,andalsohisstruggletoaccepttheimplicationsof
theprocess.Incase-studiesofEliot’scollaborations,Badenhausen
reveals for thefirst time thecomplexities of Eliot’s theory and
practice of collaboration. Examining a wide range of familiar
anduncollectedmaterials,BadenhausenexploresEliot’ssocial,
psychological, and textual encounters with collaborators such
as Ezra Pound, John Hayward, Martin Browne, and Vivien
Eliot,amongothers.Finally,thisstudyshowshowEliot’slater
workincreasinglyaccommodateshisaudienceasheattempted
to apply his theories of collaboration more broadly to social,
cultural,andpoliticalconcerns.
RICHARDBADENHAUSENisProfessorandKimT.AdamsonChair
atWestminsterCollegeinSaltLakeCity,Utah,wherehealso
directs the Honors Program. He has previously taught at
Marshall University. His essays on Eliot have appeared in
several books and journals, most recently in Gender, Desire,
and Sexuality in T. S. Eliot, edited by Cassandra Laity and
NancyGish(Cambridge,2004).Thisishisfirstbook.

T. S. ELIOT AND THE ART OF
COLLABORATION
RICHARD BADENHAUSEN
  
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge  , UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521841238
© Richard Badenhausen 2004
This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format
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‘‘No writer is completely self-sufficient’’
1923
T. S. Eliot, ‘‘The Function of Criticism’’ ( )

Contents
Acknowledgments page viii
Listofabbreviations x
Introduction–Reachingthestillnessofmusic 1
1 ‘‘Speakingasourselves’’:Authorship,impersonality,andthe
creativeprocessintheearlyessays 27
2 Aconversationabout‘‘thelongestpoemintheEnglish
langwidge’’:Pound,Eliot,andTheWasteLand 62
3 ‘‘Helpingthepoets...writeforthetheatre’’:Thetransitional
essaysoncollaboration,community,anddrama 111
4 Adramatistandhismidwives:Eliot’scollaborationsinthetheatre 142
5 ThePossumandthe‘‘creatingcritick’’:Eliot’scollaboration
withJohnHayward 165
Conclusion–Placingcollaborationinperspective:Voiceand
influenceinthelateessays 213
Notes 224
Index 249
vii
Acknowledgments
Thisprojecthashadmanycollaborators.IamgratefultoMrs.T.S.Eliot
forherassistanceduringthewritingofthisbook,andforherpermissionto
examineandquotefromunpublishedwritings.Quotationsfromthework
ofT.S.EliotarethecopyrightoftheEliotEstateandFaber&Faber,and
are included with their permission. Publication of a few of these items is
alsobypermissionoftheHoughtonLibrary,HarvardUniversity.
Iwouldliketothankthefollowingpeoplewho,duringtheresearchfor
this book, responded graciously to queries, offered illuminating sugges-
tions, or helped secure materials: John Bodley, Jewel Spears Brooker,
Ronald Bush, Michael Coyle, Greg Foster, Lyndall Gordon, William
Harmon, Victor Li, Jim Loucks, Randy Malamud, William Matchett,
James Miller, Christopher Ricks, Ronald Schuchard, Michael Stevens,
and Michael Wood. I am grateful to the staffs of numerous libraries for
assistance.TheyincludeJacquelineCoxandRosalindMoadattheModern
ArchiveCenteratKing’sCollege,Cambridge;ColinHarrisandthestaffat
theBodleianLibrary,Oxford;HenriBourneuf,HeadReferenceLibrarian,
HarvardCollegeLibrary;PatriceDonoghue,AssistantArchivist,Harvard
UniversityArchives;KatieDobsonattheTatePictureLibrary,andlibrar-
ians at Magdalene College, Cambridge, the British Library, Ohio State
University,OhioUniversity,UtahStateUniversity,UniversityofVirginia,
the Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas, and the
Houghton Library at Harvard University. For their creativity in securing
essential documents, I am especially grateful to the librarians at Marshall
University, especially Tim Balsch and his staff, and at Westminster
College,especiallyDavidHales,JerryJensen,andtheirstaffs.
Friends, colleagues, and mentors have been instrumental in the evolu-
tionofthisbook.IwanttoacknowledgeSusanCerasano,whofirstshowed
mehowtowriteaboutliterature,andGeorgeBornstein,whofirsttaught
mehowtoreadEliotanddemonstratedthroughhisstellarexamplehowto
balance the lives of teaching and scholarship. I would also like to thank
viii