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89 THE E. M. FORSTER BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SECONDARY WRITINGS: SOME PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS By Frederick P. W. McDowell (University of Iowa) A renaissance in E. M. Forster study has occurred since World War II, following the so-called "revival" that got under way in America and England with Lionel Trilling's E. M. Förster (America, 19*4-3; England, 19*44) and the reprinting of Forster's early novels through Howards End. Interest in Forster has Intensified in the 1960's as evidenced by publication of upwards of a dozen books since I960, a host of articles, B. J. Kirkpatrick's Soho Bibliography of primary materials (1965)? a special E. M. Forster number of Modern Fiction Studies (i960), and interpretive bibliographies of secondary materials in English Literature in Transition. The recent secondary writings on Forster have analyzed his novels and short stories, his artistry and his influence, his social and political values, his intellectual origins, his ideas on literature and his literary criticism, and his ethical and philosophical attitudes. Many of these books and essays have been of high quality , and they have provided strong illumination for Forster and his work. In order for further research to proceed in the most intelligent ways, a sorting and evaluation of the large bulk of the writings on him will not only be helpful but indispensable. It is to fulfill this need for a careful assimilation of scholarly and critical materials about major modern authors that Northern Illinois University Press has established the series of bibliographies in which the Forster volume will appear. The abstracts of Forster items which follow represent both a gathering of the great bulk of materials recently published and a compilation of earlier items that had escaped notice before. The mass of recent writing on Forster derives from a number of sources. First, Forster's ninetieth birthday resulted in many essays and tributes and in two compilations of articles written expressly for the occasion. Aspects of E. M. Forster. edited by Oliver Stallybrass , and A Garland for E. M. Forster. edited by H. H. Anniah Gowda. The excellent critical books published on Forster in the last eight years have also resulted in a number of reviews and review -articles that seem of prime importance in understanding Förster and often more relevant than many of the full-scale scholarly articles which alone get listed in the bibliographies. While I have not read all these reviews, I have listed and abstracted the most important ones. Some of the reviews of Forster's own books are excellent criticism and make interesting points that have not been elsewhere expressed. I have subjoined a number of the most important of these, especially on A Passage to India, the Collected Short Stories, and the miscellaneous prose volumes published since 1936. There are many items published before I967 and hitherto unlisted which I include in the present listing. 90 The abstracts which follow and those that will make up the comprehensive NIU Press volume will not only provide a survey of existing scholarly and critical writings but an evaluation of them according to the principles I shall set forth in the remainder of this article. These principles formulate my understanding of Forster's works, mind, and art and are the basis of my evaluation of the writings on Forster that I have compiled and abstracted. I believe that Philip Herriton and Caroline Abbott in Where Angels Fear to Tread are changed as a result of their Italian experiences. I also feel that Gino Carella is not altogether successful as a character, though the violence in the novel is on the whole aesthetically justified. With respect to The Longest Journey, I regard Rickie Elliot as an interesting and significant character despite his eventual failure as a person and moral agent. I feel that he has more strength and resources than some critics admit and that it is a fatal conjunction of circumstance with temperament which undoes him. Like most other critics, I do not regard Stephen as fully formed in his double capacity as natural man and symbolic entity . He is relatively convincing when he is viewed in either aspect but not in both. Primarily, as...

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