Partisan Review

Partisan Review was a highly influential American literary and political journal that played a central role in 20th-century intellectual life. Founded in the 1930s, it became a premier forum for serious cultural criticism, fiction, and poetry, particularly associated with the New York Intellectuals. The magazine was renowned for its rigorous engagement with modernism, Marxism, and later, anti-Stalinism and anti-totalitarianism, shaping debates on art, politics, and society for decades.

History and founding

The magazine was initially launched in 1934 under the auspices of the John Reed Club of New York City, an organization aligned with the Communist Party USA. Its early editors, including William Phillips and Philip Rahv, sought to create a publication dedicated to revolutionary literature and Marxist criticism. However, by 1937, following internal disputes over artistic freedom and political doctrine, the publication was temporarily suspended. It was relaunched later that year as an independent journal, marking a decisive break with Stalinist orthodoxy. This relaunch, supported by figures like Dwight Macdonald, established its long-term base in New York City and set it on a course of independent leftist critique, fiercely opposing both fascism and the cultural dictates of the Soviet Union.

Political and intellectual orientation

Initially aligned with the literary left, its political orientation evolved significantly after the 1937 relaunch. It became a leading voice of anti-Stalinist thought on the left, critically supporting the Trotskyist movement and publishing key documents like Leon Trotsky's essays on art. The magazine's editors developed the concept of the "fellow traveler" to describe sympathetic non-members of the Communist Party. During the late 1930s and 1940s, it championed the fusion of radical politics with avant-garde modernism, defending complex writers like James Joyce and Franz Kafka against socialist realism. After World War II, its anti-totalitarian stance led many of its writers, though not uniformly, toward a more centrist or liberal Cold War position, supporting the Marshall Plan and critiquing the Soviet bloc, while often remaining critical of mainstream American culture.

Major contributors and editors

Its editorial core long consisted of William Phillips and Philip Rahv, whose partnership defined its critical voice. Other pivotal editors included Dwight Macdonald, who later founded his own journal, *Politics*, and Delmore Schwartz, a major poet and critic. A defining feature was its stellar roster of contributors, which spanned leading intellectuals, poets, novelists, and critics. Key literary figures included Saul Bellow, Mary McCarthy, Lionel Trilling, Irving Howe, and Hannah Arendt. Renowned poets such as T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden, Elizabeth Bishop, and Robert Lowell published their work within its pages. Art criticism was significantly shaped by Clement Greenberg, who first articulated his theory of Abstract Expressionism and "kitsch" in the magazine.

Influence and legacy

The publication exerted an outsized influence on mid-century American intellectual life, defining the ethos of the New York Intellectuals. It served as a crucial incubator for ideas about the autonomy of art, the responsibilities of the intellectual, and the critique of ideology. Its debates helped shape academic discourse in fields like literary criticism and cultural theory. The magazine's shift from radicalism to a more centrist anti-communism mirrored and influenced the trajectory of a generation of thinkers. Its decline in influence from the late 1960s onward, amid the rise of the New Left and changing cultural tides, marked the end of an era. It ceased regular publication in 2003, but its archives remain a vital resource for understanding 20th-century thought.

Notable works and publications

The magazine was renowned for publishing groundbreaking essays, fiction, and poetry that entered the canon of modern criticism. Clement Greenberg's "Avant-Garde and Kitsch" (1939) and "Towards a Newer Laocoon" (1940) were seminal texts of modernist art theory. It serialized major works of fiction, such as chapters from Saul Bellow's early novel *The Adventures of Augie March*. Its pages featured influential political essays by George Orwell, including reflections on the Spanish Civil War, and critical work by Susan Sontag, such as "Notes on 'Camp'". The magazine also published early poetry by Sylvia Plath and critical defenses of complex modernist literature against its detractors, cementing its role as a guardian of high cultural standards.