''Secession'' was an American expatriate little magazine edited by

Gorham Munson Gorham Bockhaven Munson (May 26, 1896 – August 15, 1969) was an American literary critic. Gorham was born in Amityville, New York to Hubert Barney Munson and Carrie Louise Morrow. He received his B.A. degree in 1917 from Wesleyan University, wher ...

Matthew Josephson Matthew Josephson (February 15, 1899 – March 13, 1978) was an American journalist and author of works on nineteenth-century French literature and American political and business history of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Josephson popu ...

, and

Kenneth Burke Kenneth Duva Burke (May 5, 1897 – November 19, 1993) was an American literary theorist, as well as poet, essayist, and novelist, who wrote on 20th-century philosophy, aesthetics, criticism, and rhetorical theory. As a literary theorist, Burke ...

. During its two-year, eight issue run, ''Secession'' managed to further the careers of writers like

Waldo Frank Waldo David Frank (August 25, 1889 – January 9, 1967) was an American novelist, historian, political activist, and literary critic, who wrote extensively for ''The New Yorker'' and ''The New Republic'' during the 1920s and 1930s. Frank is best ...

, Slater Brown, Robert Coates,

E. E. Cummings Edward Estlin Cummings, who was also known as E. E. Cummings, e. e. cummings and e e cummings (October 14, 1894 - September 3, 1962), was an American poet, painter, essayist, author and playwright. He wrote approximately 2,900 poems, two autobi ...

Marianne Moore Marianne Craig Moore (November 15, 1887 – February 5, 1972) was an American modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. Her poetry is noted for formal innovation, precise diction, irony, and wit. Early life Moore was born in Kirkwood, ...

Wallace Stevens Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was an American modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as an executive for an insurance compa ...

Hart Crane Harold Hart Crane (July 21, 1899 – April 27, 1932) was an American poet. Provoked and inspired by T. S. Eliot, Crane wrote modernist poetry that was difficult, highly stylized, and ambitious in its scope. In his most ambitious work, '' The Brid ...

, and

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet, writer, and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. In addition to his writing, Williams had a long career as a physician practicing both pedia ...

, among others. Printed in cities like

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Reutte Reutte (; Swabian: ) is a market town in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is the administrative center of the Reutte district (''Districts of Austria''). Reutte is located on the Lech, and has a population of 6704 (as of 2018). Neighbouring munic ...

, and

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, ''Secession'' is considered an exile magazine, and has been called the “liveliest” of the little magazines published abroad. In his article “The Interstice between Scylla and Charybdis,” Munson distinguished ''Secession'' from little magazines like ''

The Little Review ''The Little Review'', an American literary magazine founded by Margaret Anderson in Chicago's historic Fine Arts Building, published literary and art work from 1914 to May 1929. With the help of Jane Heap and Ezra Pound, Anderson created a maga ...

'' and ''Broom'', and stated that the goal for his magazine is to be “neither a personal nor an anthological magazine, but to be a group organ. 'Secession''will make group-exclusions, found itself on a group basis, point itself in a group-direction, and derive its stability and correctiveness from a group.” The pieces published in this magazine certainly demonstrated creative energy, but the strained relationship between ''Secession’s'' editors also contributed to the magazine's spirited image.

History

In 1922, Munson, who was greatly influenced by Malcolm Cowley's essay “This Youngest Generation,” desired to launch a little magazine. It was around this time that Munson met Matthew Josephson and Malcolm Cowley, and together, they formed ''Secession'', a little magazine that would help the Younger Generation of writers “secede” from the Middle Generation; Munson supplied the funds, Josephson the literary connection, and Cowley the intellectual stimulus. Taking advantage of the favorable, post-

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

exchange rate between the American dollar and European currency, Munson printed the first issue of ''Secession'' (Spring 1922) in Vienna for under $20. In this issue, Munson stated that “beyond a two-year span, observation shows, the vitality of most reviews is lowered and their contribution, accomplished, becomes repetitious and unnecessary. ''Secession'' will take care to avoid morbidity.” After the magazine's second issue, Munson decided to return to America, and selected Josephson to handle ''Secession''’s European affairs as his official coeditor, and Kenneth Burke joined the team as the magazine’s third editor effective its fourth issue “in order that any disagreement might be settled by vote.” The third issue's costs were still low, costing approximately $25 to print. The 32 page ''Secession'', which “never sold over 150 copies (though about 320 were distributed gratis)” managed to “stir up controversy,” and reviews for the magazine appeared in publications like ''

The Dial ''The Dial'' was an American magazine published intermittently from 1840 to 1929. In its first form, from 1840 to 1844, it served as the chief publication of the Transcendentalists. From the 1880s to 1919 it was revived as a political review and ...

'', ''The Little Review'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', and ''The Criterion''.

Editorial feuds

Munson's review was successful thus far, but the contents of the fourth issue, edited by Munson, Josephson, and Burke, would act as the instigator of a well-known

literary feud A literary feud is a conflict or quarrel between well-known writers, usually conducted in public view by way of published letters, speeches, lectures, and interviews. In the book ''Literary Feuds'', Anthony Arthur describes why readers might be i ...

. Josephson, perturbed that Burke and Munson outvoted him, took it upon himself to condense one of Richard Ashton's greatest poems, which he objected to publishing, from about one hundred lines down to three. This action deeply angered Munson, and their feud caused Josephson to resign from his post and join the ''Broom'' camp. After the fallout, ''Secession'' was not published again for several months, but in the meantime, Munson and Burke spread stories to their contemporaries that Josephson “was an intellectual fakir." The magazine's sixth issue also saw editorial squabbling, this time between Munson and

John Brooks Wheelwright John Brooks Wheelwright (sometimes Wheelright) (9 September 1897 – 13 September 1940) was an American poet from a Boston Brahmin background. He belonged to the poetic ''avant garde'' of the 1930s and was a Marxist, a founder-member of the T ...

. Wheelwright oversaw the printing of this issue in Florence, and radically altered Hart Crane's poem “For the Marriage of Faustus and Helen,” which greatly angered Munson. The poem was reprinted in ''Secession'' no. 7, which Munson edited himself, as the version originally written by Crane.

The end

Munson edited ''Secession''’s last two issues himself, and in April 1924, the magazine ended in accordance with his prophetic statement in ''Secession'' no. 1. Although ''Secession'' did not introduce any new writers, it did “reinforce and strengthen the rebel fight against the sentimental genteel tradition."Hoffman, Fredrick J, Charles A. Allen, and Carolyn F. Urlich. The Little Magazine: A History and a Bibliography.

References

{{Reflist Defunct literary magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1922 Magazines disestablished in 1924