Presentation reflection

James Elias
Melanctha Gertrude Stein
For my oral presentation on Steins Melanctha I decided to focus on
three aspects of the text that express modernist concerns.
First I talked about Melancthas sexual awakening as described in
the first part of the narrative. I interpreted several instances of
Melancthas childhood as stimuli for an early discovery of her
sexuality, and used a quotation to indicate how Steins language
was evocative of Melancthas sexual repression. I then suggested
that Melancthas sexual affair with her friend Jane Harden might
have been an attempt by Stein to give a literary voice to the
hitherto ignored African American lesbian.
Secondly I talked about the tensions between Melanctha and Jeff
Campbell. I chose to interpret Melanctha as a personification of the
modernist notion of multiplicity in contrast with Jeff Campbells
fidelity to a white bourgeois ideal, including the religious or
humanist tradition of transcendental essence.
Lastly I discussed the influence and appropriation of the modernist
techniques of the painters Matisse, Cezanne, and Picasso. I
explained how Steins repetition, temporality, and fixation with
superficial characterisation were consonant with the aesthetics of
cubism.
My first discussion question was To what extent does Stein treat
African American culture as a static anthropological phenomenon?
This led to discussion regarding wether or not Steins novella is
inherently a racist work affirming negative stereotypes. This
developed into a discussion of the primitivism aspects apparent in
the text. Perhaps most notable was Jeff Campbells criticism of
Melancthas inability to remember, as described in his letter. It was
suggested that perhaps Melancthas inability to remember is
expressive of her visceral temporality; that she may perhaps be a
personification of the natural; of nature, in contrast with Jeffs
pronounced humanism. I feel this was an important aspect of the
text that I had overlooked or misinterpreted.