Secession (magazine)
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''Secession'' was an American expatriate
little magazine In the United States, a little magazine is a magazine genre consisting of "artistic work which for reasons of commercial expediency is not acceptable to the money-minded periodicals or presses", according to a 1942 study by Frederick J. Hoffman, ...
edited by Gorham Munson, Matthew Josephson, and
Kenneth Burke Kenneth Duva Burke (May 5, 1897 – November 19, 1993) was an American literary theorist, as well as poet, essayist, and novelist, who wrote on 20th-century philosophy, aesthetics, criticism, and rhetorical theory. As a literary theorist, Burke ...
. During its two-year, eight issue run, ''Secession'' managed to further the careers of writers like Waldo Frank, Slater Brown, Robert Coates,
E. E. Cummings Edward Estlin Cummings (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962), commonly known as e e cummings or E. E. Cummings, was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. During World War I, he worked as an ambulance driver and was ...
,
Marianne Moore Marianne Craig Moore (November 15, 1887 – February 5, 1972) was an American Modernism, modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. Her poetry is noted for its formal innovation, precise diction, irony, and wit. In 1968 Nobel Prize in Li ...
,
Wallace Stevens Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was an American modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as an executive for an insurance compa ...
,
Hart Crane Harold Hart Crane (July 21, 1899 – April 27, 1932) was an American poet. Inspired by the Romantics and his fellow Modernists, Crane wrote highly stylized poetry, often noted for its complexity. His collection '' White Buildings'' (1926), feat ...
, and
William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. His '' Spring and All'' (1923) was written in the wake of T. S. Eliot's '' The Waste Land'' (1922). ...
, among others. Printed in cities like
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, and
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, ''Secession'' is considered an exile magazine, and has been called the “liveliest” of the little magazines published abroad. In his article “The Interstice between Scylla and Charybdis,” Munson distinguished ''Secession'' from little magazines like ''
The Little Review ''The Little Review'' was an American avant-garde literary magazine founded by Margaret Anderson in Chicago's historic Fine Arts Building, published literary and art work from 1914 to May 1929. With the help of Jane Heap and Ezra Pound ...
'' and ''Broom'', and stated that the goal for his magazine is to be “neither a personal nor an anthological magazine, but to be a group organ. 'Secession''will make group-exclusions, found itself on a group basis, point itself in a group-direction, and derive its stability and correctiveness from a group.” The pieces published in this magazine certainly demonstrated creative energy, but the strained relationship between ''Secession’s'' editors also contributed to the magazine's spirited image.


History

In 1922, Munson, who was greatly influenced by Malcolm Cowley's essay “This Youngest Generation,” desired to launch a little magazine. It was around this time that Munson met Matthew Josephson and Malcolm Cowley, and together, they formed ''Secession'', a little magazine that would help the Younger Generation of writers “secede” from the Middle Generation; Munson supplied the funds, Josephson the literary connection, and Cowley the intellectual stimulus. Taking advantage of the favorable, post-
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
exchange rate between the American dollar and European currency, Munson printed the first issue of ''Secession'' (Spring 1922) in Vienna for under $20. In this issue, Munson stated that “beyond a two-year span, observation shows, the vitality of most reviews is lowered and their contribution, accomplished, becomes repetitious and unnecessary. ''Secession'' will take care to avoid morbidity.” After the magazine's second issue, Munson decided to return to America, and selected Josephson to handle ''Secession''’s European affairs as his official coeditor, and Kenneth Burke joined the team as the magazine’s third editor effective its fourth issue “in order that any disagreement might be settled by vote.” The third issue's costs were still low, costing approximately $25 to print. The 32 page ''Secession'', which “never sold over 150 copies (though about 320 were distributed gratis)” managed to “stir up controversy,” and reviews for the magazine appeared in publications like ''
The Dial ''The Dial'' was an American magazine published intermittently from 1840 to 1929. In its first form, from 1840 to 1844, it served as the chief publication of the Transcendentalists. From the 1880s to 1919 it was revived as a political review an ...
'', ''The Little Review'', ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', and ''The Criterion''.


Editorial feuds

Munson's review was successful thus far, but the contents of the fourth issue, edited by Munson, Josephson, and Burke, would act as the instigator of a well-known literary feud. Josephson, perturbed that Burke and Munson outvoted him, took it upon himself to condense one of Richard Ashton's greatest poems, which he objected to publishing, from about one hundred lines down to three. This action deeply angered Munson, and their feud caused Josephson to resign from his post and join the ''Broom'' camp. After the fallout, ''Secession'' was not published again for several months, but in the meantime, Munson and Burke spread stories to their contemporaries that Josephson “was an intellectual fakir." The magazine's sixth issue also saw editorial squabbling, this time between Munson and John Brooks Wheelwright. Wheelwright oversaw the printing of this issue in Florence, and radically altered Hart Crane's poem “For the Marriage of Faustus and Helen,” which greatly angered Munson. The poem was reprinted in ''Secession'' no. 7, which Munson edited himself, as the version originally written by Crane.


The end

Munson edited ''Secession''’s last two issues himself, and in April 1924, the magazine ended in accordance with his prophetic statement in ''Secession'' no. 1. Although ''Secession'' did not introduce any new writers, it did “reinforce and strengthen the rebel fight against the sentimental genteel tradition."Hoffman, Fredrick J, Charles A. Allen, and Carolyn F. Urlich. The Little Magazine: A History and a Bibliography.


References

{{Reflist Defunct literary magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1922 Magazines disestablished in 1924 American diaspora mass media Magazines published in Vienna