Abstract

The decisions Marianne Moore made when editor at The Dial magazine between 1925 and 1929 are often interpreted as evidence of a fussy or even “hysterical” antipathy to obscenity. This article questions the gendered assumptions embedded in the critical history of Moore’s editorial role at The Dial by comparing her encounters with Hart Crane and James Joyce to the less well-known cases of Mary Butts, and D. H. Lawrence. It argues that the “downstream work” of editors needs to be recovered and understood in relation to the material constraints of periodical publication.

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