Melting-Pot Modernism

Chapter 5

165 q Chapter 5 Gertrude฀Stein฀and฀“Individual฀Anything” Gertrude฀ Stein’s฀ experimental฀ text฀ The฀ Making ฀of฀Americans,฀which฀she฀wrote฀intermittently฀from฀1903฀through฀1911,฀ firmly฀situates฀her฀within฀the฀immigration฀debates฀of฀the฀turn฀of฀the฀century ฀(it฀was฀based฀on฀her฀own฀family’s฀immigrant฀heritage).฀The฀Making฀of฀ Americans,฀published฀in฀1925,฀represents฀a฀paradigmatic฀melting-pot฀text:฀in฀ it,฀a฀story฀of฀immigration฀becomes฀the฀occasion฀for฀Stein’s฀radical฀modernist ฀deformation฀of฀conventional฀narratives.฀The฀novel฀also฀takes฀on฀a฀central฀ problem฀of฀melting-pot฀thinking:฀the฀indispensability฀of฀the฀individual฀to฀ these฀theories฀of฀cultural฀mixture฀and฀merging.฀While฀James,฀Johnson,฀and฀ Cather฀all฀touched฀on฀this฀problem,฀Stein฀focused฀more฀sustainedly฀on฀it.฀ This฀chapter฀will฀trace฀her฀particular฀concern฀over฀the฀ways฀that฀the฀formal฀ innovativeness฀of฀the฀melting฀pot฀was฀bound฀to฀the฀figure฀of฀the฀individual.฀ Especially฀at฀the฀beginning฀of฀her฀career,฀Stein฀demonstrated฀a฀willingness฀ to฀accept฀the฀individual฀as฀philosophical฀and฀aesthetic฀basis฀of฀melting-pot฀ creativity;฀however,฀even฀from฀her฀earliest฀work฀she฀did฀not฀hesitate฀to฀query฀ whether฀the฀philosophical฀and฀aesthetic฀promise฀of฀the฀melting฀pot฀justified฀ such฀a฀reliance฀on฀the฀problematic฀figure฀of฀the฀individual.฀Her฀later฀work฀ is฀far฀more฀damning฀about฀the฀ways฀individual฀being,฀to฀her฀mind,฀fetters฀ melting-pot฀innovation. The฀Making฀of฀Americans฀suggests฀some฀of฀the฀ways฀in฀which฀Stein’s฀work฀ puts฀special฀pressure฀on฀the฀individual-form.฀This฀early฀novel฀considers฀how฀ 166 MELTING-POT MODERNISM domesticity฀and฀the฀market฀serve฀as฀means฀to฀make฀Americans,฀or฀to฀incorporate ฀individuals฀into฀systems฀putatively฀responsive฀to฀the฀independence฀and฀ mobility฀of฀those฀individuals.฀The฀Making฀of฀Americans฀finds฀the฀unspoken฀ logical฀basis฀of฀melting-pot฀ideas฀of฀mobility฀in฀the฀individual’s฀freedom฀of฀ ฀ contract฀(฀ both฀marital฀and฀economic).฀The฀conventional฀“plot”฀of฀฀The฀Making฀ of฀Americans฀(which฀is฀progressively฀submerged฀under฀Stein’s฀formal฀experimentation )฀concerns฀financial฀success฀and฀marriage,฀the฀markers฀of฀individual ฀assimilation฀in฀so฀many฀accounts฀of฀immigration.฀In฀Stein’s฀hands,฀ however,฀narratives฀of฀market฀and฀middle-class฀home฀ineffectually฀punctuate฀ a฀relentless฀exercise฀in฀classification,฀one฀whose฀form฀evokes฀the฀isolation฀of฀ the฀individual฀in฀Progressive-era฀culture.฀This฀economic฀individual฀circulates฀ from฀The฀Making฀of฀Americans฀through฀much฀of฀Stein’s฀literary฀production,฀ constituting฀her฀most฀enduring฀engagement฀with฀the฀aesthetic฀and฀philosophical ฀problems฀of฀the฀melting฀pot. A฀sense฀of฀the฀individual฀as฀necessarily,฀however฀uneasily,฀embedded฀within฀ the฀interlocking฀systems฀of฀market฀and฀domesticity฀was฀by฀no฀means฀peculiar฀ to฀the฀Progressive-era฀United฀States.1 ฀However,฀acceptance฀of฀this฀ideological฀ formation,฀however฀ambivalent,฀might฀be฀said฀to฀constitute฀the฀traditionalist฀ parameters฀for฀Progressive฀reform฀—฀ that฀is,฀it฀separates฀reform฀from฀radicalism .฀Even฀the฀most฀socially฀conscious฀melting-pot฀Progressives,฀such฀as฀Jane฀ Addams฀and฀John฀Dewey,฀cast฀melting-pot฀assimilation฀as฀an฀individualized฀ process.฀In฀doing฀so,฀they฀firmly฀located฀the฀melting-pot฀paradigm฀within฀the฀ familiar฀intersecting฀systems฀of฀a฀modified฀free฀market฀and฀the฀home฀—฀ for฀ individuality฀itself฀as฀imagined฀by฀Addams฀and฀Dewey฀was฀logically฀founded฀ in฀the฀economy.฀They฀were฀hardly฀alone฀in฀this.฀If฀the฀promise฀of฀labor฀and฀ the฀dream฀of฀financial฀independence฀drew฀immigrants฀to฀the฀United฀States,฀ the฀home฀was฀understood฀as฀the฀place฀where฀these฀individuals฀claimed฀intimate ฀bonds฀and฀experiences฀that฀elevated฀them฀above฀industrial฀automatons:฀ the฀two฀spheres฀worked฀in฀concert฀to฀constitute฀melting-pot฀individuality.฀ Thus฀Dewey฀and฀Addams’s฀practical,฀tempered,฀if฀not฀muted,฀support฀for฀radical ฀interventions฀into฀contemporary฀labor฀conditions;฀thus฀Addams’s฀influential ฀adoption฀and฀remodeling฀of฀the฀form฀of฀the฀home฀in฀Hull-House.2 Even฀the฀most฀innovative฀melting-pot฀ideas฀of฀selfhood฀relied฀on฀economic ฀tropes,฀drawing฀on฀William฀James’s฀description฀of฀selfhood฀as฀a฀form฀ “ownership”฀in฀combination฀with฀more฀socialistic฀ideas฀of฀the฀self฀as฀contributor ฀to฀a฀communal฀“fund.”3 ฀Addams฀imagined฀that฀the฀self-interest฀characteristic ฀of฀economic฀agents฀could฀drive฀assimilative฀social฀ethics:฀“If฀we฀ believe฀that฀the฀individual฀struggle฀for฀life฀may฀widen฀into฀a฀struggle฀for฀ the฀lives฀of฀all,฀surely฀the฀demand฀of฀an฀individual฀for฀decency฀and฀comfort,฀ for฀a฀chance฀to฀work฀and฀obtain฀the฀fullness฀of฀life฀may฀be฀widened฀until฀it฀ GERTRUDE STEIN AND “INDIVIDUAL ANYTHING” 167 gradually฀embraces฀all฀the฀members฀of฀the฀community,฀and฀rises฀into฀a฀sense฀ of฀the฀common฀weal.”4 ฀Lesser-known฀melting-pot฀Progressives...