PROPAGATING A MYTH OF THE SELF

As M a ry D e a rb o rn re m a rk s , Y e z ie rs k a ’s " d is to rtio n s o f fa c tu a l p a r tic u la r s show how w e ll she took to th e m y th m a k in g p ro c es s a n d th e e x te n t to w h ic h she could t u r n e v e n ts to h e r ow n a d v a n ta g e ”. 15 Y e z ie rs k a p ro p a g a te d th e m y th th a t she had em erg ed d ir e c tly fro m th e g h e tto as a w r it e r in b o th h e r fic tio n a n d a u to b io g ra p h y , a n d she d id th is so s u c c e s s fu lly th a t e v e n c o n te m p o ra ry c r itic s su ch as I r v i n g Howe, H elen G olub, an d C h arles A n g o ff h a ve c o n tin u e d to b e lie v e i t . 16 B u t as H e n rik s e n re la te s , Y e z ie rs k a le f t th e L o w e r E a s t Side in 1897, a t th e age o f 17, and had been aw ay fo r alm ost tw e n ty y e a rs b e fo re she b eg an to w rite . Both th e re v ie w s o f H u n g r y H e a rts an d in te r v ie w s w ith Y e z ie rs k a fo llo w in g h e r s u d d e n success in 1920 show how she h elp ed to c re a te th is m y th o f h e r s e lf as an

u n e d u c a te d w r it e r fro m th e g h e tto seekin g fo r re c o g n itio n a n d s e lf - e xp re s s io n — a m y th w h ich has been p u t s tr a ig h t o n ly r e c e n tly b y H e n rik s e n ’s b io g ra p h y , A n z ia Y ezie rsk a : A W r it e r s L ife, a n d M a ry

15 Mary D earb orn, L o v e in th e P rom ised L a n d (New York: The F ree P ress, 1 9 8 8 ), p. 145.

16 See Howe’ s account in W orld o f O u r F a th e r s, p. 269, G o lu b ’ s in ”E at Your H e a rt Out: The F ic t io n o f A n zia Y e z ie r s k a " , p. 51, and C h a rles A n g o ff’ s in "Mame-Loshen on L i t e r a t u r e ” , p. 11.

D e a rb o rn ’s L o v e in th e P ro m ised L a n d : T h e S t o r y o f A n z ia Y e z ie rs k a a n d John D ew ey.

I n F r a n k C ra n e ’s re v ie w o f H u n g r y H e a rts , Y e z ie rs k a ’s choice o f e xo tic, R ussian p e n name h ad its d e s ire d e ffe c t since C ra n e

m isspelled i t , th u s m akin g i t e v e n more exo tic an d n o ticeab le. A c c o rd in g to C ra n e , w ho re c e iv e d h is in fo rm a tio n d ir e c tly from Y e z ie rs k a , she h ad r e c e iv e d ’’c o m p a ra tiv e ly lit t le e d u c a tio n ’’ an d m anaged m ira c u lo u s ly to em erg e ’’from a s w e a t-s h o p w o r k e r to [becom e] a fam ous w r i t e r ” .17 D is s a tis fie d w ith th e sales o f H u n g r y H e a rts , Y e z ie rs k a had b a rg e d in to C ra n e ’s o ffic e in o r d e r to

p u b lic iz e h e r new book, " to ld [h im ] h e r p assio n ate s to ry " in a "w a y to re jo ic e th e h e a r t o f a n e w s p a p e r p e rs o n " , a n d c a p tiv a te d C ran e in e x a c tly th e same w ay she h ad John Dewey in 1917.18 I n o th e r

w o rd s , she p u rp o s e ly d ra m a tiz e d h e rs e lf, tra n s fo rm in g h e r la n g u a g e b y m akin g i t m ore p a ss io n a te a n d sim ple (as she had done in h e r s to rie s ) in o r d e r to a p p e a l to C ra n e — a s e lf-p ro m o tin g p u b lic ity s tu n t. I n fa c t, i t was C ra n e ’s e n s u in g a r tic le t h a t a ttr a c te d Sam uel G o ld w y n ’s a tte n tio n a n d r e s u lte d in th e film c o n tra c t fo r H u n g r y H e a rts w h ic h made Y e z ie rs k a fam ous o v e r n ig h t. Y e z ie rs k a was f u lly a w a re o f h e r a p p e a l to th e re a d in g p u b lic as a p rim itiv e a n d exotic w r it e r a n d a c tu a lly w a n te d to b e g u ile C ran e in to id e n tify in g h e r w ith th e c h a ra c te rs she was w r it in g ab o u t: in th e same w ay t h a t she ty p ifie d th e exotic o r ig in o f h e r c h a ra c te rs to C ra n e , who e q u a te d h e r w ith "P o lan d ", she re p re s e n te d a liv in g v e rs io n o f h e r

in tr ig u in g a n d exotic c h a ra c te rs to h e r re a d e rs . H ow ever, a lth o u g h th is was th e w ay Y e z ie rs k a p re s e n te d h e rs e lf to th e p u b lic , i t was a fic tio n a l ro le th a t she p la y e d du e to h e r d e s ire f o r success an d re c o g n itio n . Y e z ie rs k a a d a p te d b o th h e r la n g u a g e — w hich C ra n e d e s c rib e s as "a fe w s w ift w o rd s o f keen b e a u ty , re d o le n t w ith in d iv id u a lity " — an d d em ean o u r to s u it th e p o p u la r image o f th e

passio n ate, c a p tiv a tin g , a n d p r im itiv e Jewess from th e g h e tto .19 B u t as H e n rik s e n comments, she was n o t th e p rim itiv e she was ta k e n to be; th is was th e s o p h is tic a tio n o f h e r g u is e .20 U n lik e h e r o ld e r s is te rs who w o rk e d e x c lu s iv e ly in s h irtw a is t s w eat-sh o p s, she was e d u ca te d in p u b lic schools, was a w a rd e d a s c h o la rs h ip to a tte n d New

17 Frank C rane, "A n zia Y e z y ie rs k a " [ s i c ] , Globe a n d Commercial A d v e r t is e r, (1 9 2 0 ), p. 12.

18 I b i d . 19 I b i d .

Y o rk C ity Norm al C ollege, e a rn e d a d e g re e in dom estic scien ce fro m T e a c h e rs C ollege, s tu d ie d a c tin g a t th e A m erican A cadem y o f D ra m atic A r ts , a n d to o k w r itin g c o u rse s a t C olum bia U n iv e r s ity . N o t o n ly was she a k e e n s tu d e n t o f lit e r a t u r e a n d a n a v id re a d e r , b u t also she re c e iv e d l i t e r a r y a d v ic e an d en co u ra g e m en t fro m some o f th e m ost p ro m in e n t A m erican p h ilo s o p h e rs , te a c h e rs , a n d w r ite r s o f th e tim e , such as John D ew ey, Rose P a s to r S to kes, H e n r ie tta Rodman, G e r tr u d e S te in , Zona Gale, a n d D o ro th y C a n fie ld F is h e r. H o w e ve r, w h a t is e v e n m ore o u ts ta n d in g th a n Y e z ie rs k a ’s su ccessfu l d ra m a tiz a tio n o f th e ro le as p r im itiv e g h e tto a r t i s t is th e w ay she in v e n te d a

Y id d is h -E n g lis h idiom so p e r fe c t ly t h a t no one re a liz e d t h a t i t w as c re a te d o r p u t-o n . T h is s o p h is tic a te d a rtle s s n e s s o f h e r n a r r a t iv e s , w h ic h has o n ly r e c e n tly b een n o ted b y H e n rik s e n a n d D e a rb o rn , fo rc e s us to r e e v a lu a te h e r a ch ie v em e n t as a w r it e r .

Y e z ie rs k a n eed ed to r e e n t e r th e g h e tto th r o u g h th e Y id d is h idiom o f h e r p a s t, w h ic h she a c h ie v e d b y lis te n in g to h e r s is te r , A n n ie , who c o rre c te d h e r n a r r a tiv e s to make them sound more lik e th e a u th e n tic Y id d is h -E n g lis h idiom o f th e L o w er E as t S ide Jew s. T h u s i t was th r o u g h h e r s is te r ’s g h e tto idiom an d e x p e rie n c e s , w h ic h Y e z ie rs k a u sed as m a te ria l f o r "T h e F re e V acatio n House" a n d " T h e L o st B e a u tifu ln e s s " , t h a t she fo u n d h e r voice a n d s u b je c t m a tte r. H e n rik s e n re la te s t h a t in o r d e r to g e t h e r s to rie s p u b lis h e d , Y e z ie rs k a had to r e w r it e them s e v e ra l tim es, each tim e " in je c tin g s tr o n g e r fe e lin g s , in v e n tin g h a r s h e r in c id e n ts to make i t m ore d ra m atic , so t h a t i t no lo n g e r resem b led A n n ie ’s e x p e rie n c e o r H a ttie ’s o r ig in a l s to r y " .21 H ence, h e r ta le n t fo r th e m elo d ram atic was p u t to use n o t o n ly in th e in v e n tio n o f h e rs e lf as a p r im itiv e w r it e r fro m th e g h e tto , b u t also in th e w r itin g o f th e s to rie s th em selves. As M a ry D e a rb o rn re m a rk s , " [Y e z ie rs k a ] h e r s e lf v e r y co n scio u sly c o n s tru c te d and re p e a te d ly r e fin e d th e m y th ic a l s c e n a rio o f th e im m ig ra n t who had exch an g ed an Old W orld g h e tto f o r a N ew ".22 H e r d e s ire to w r ite , D e a rb o rn ad d s,

was b o rn o u t o f an e q u a tio n o f s e lf-e x p re s s io n w ith th e