Keresztes 1

Keresztes Krisztina (En-Ma, II)

Tutor: Dr. Petronia Petrar
Modernist Novel Special Course
5 June 2016

Introduction. Prouss deathless analogy and Woolfs phenomenological impression

in Literary Impressionism and Modernist Aesthetics by Jesse Matz
(Cambridge University Press, 2001)

Jesse Matz study entitled Literary Impressionism and Modernist Aesthetics focuses on the
works of several modernist writers in a way that explains their respective theoretical backgrounds,
should these be explicitly announced by the writers themselves (in their correspondence, personal
diaries or literary disputes) or merely alluded to between the lines of their works. One of the
discussed authors is Virginia Woolf whose techniques, views and principles Matz places in the
context of her several literary works, theoretical essays and her dispute with Arnold Bennett. The
subject of the present review is the studys fifth chapter, Woolfs phenomenological impression,
as well as the first one, Introduction. Prousts deathless analogy (the latter being of importance
in understanding Matz approach to literary Impressionism).
The first chapter of the study outlines Matz way of (re)defining literary Impressionism.
The key thought of the chapter is that impressions are located not in sense, nor in thought, but in
the feeling that comes between, this intermediate place being also where Impressionistic fiction
is seen to spring from (1). Based on the works of Proust, Matz also claims that an impression could
be defined as what two separate experiences taking place in different times and places have in
common, thus bridging varieties and moments of experience (5). When the two experiences
connect, when it becomes clear that the new impression is, in fact, the counterpart of another
impression unfolded in the past, a paradise-like experience occurs (this being the deathless
analogy) (5). Due to its fugitive, unpredictable nature, pinning such impressions to paper,
translating it into linguistic representation (and thus intellectualizing an otherwise non-
intellectual process) is no easy task (7). It is equally difficult to combine the intellectual, abstract
mind with a source of material vitality (it is hinted that such vitality is to be found in women
and certain social classes) in order to represent the intermediate place between sensual and
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intellectual perception (9). It is such disaccords that Virginia Woolf (among others) attempts to
dissolve and unify.
One of the greatest defining factors in Woolfs literary and theoretical carreer is seen by
Matz to have been her disputes with Arnold Bennett, representative of the literary trend called
Materialism by Woolf. Matz explains Woolfs claim against this method: in her view, excess
of material detail is deadening, life itself escapes those who attempt to focus only on details
in their physicality (174). However, Woolf does not propagate the opposite of Materialism (which
is Idealism, and labeling one single method of representation as correct means destroying the
freedom fiction needs to thrive), but suggests an aurea mediocritas that would allow one to have
some way to have essential insight, but yet stay grounded in material life (174). However, Woolf
leaves the question unanswered, she chooses not to choose (just as her characters are collections
of different selves rather than just one self), but, according to Matz, she outlines her system of
ideas precisely by suggesting then disproving a series of different perceptual alternatives, and
discovers in the process itself the best one (178, 175, 182). Woolfs desire to capture universal
essence and material presence at the same time is what Matz refers to as the desire for
phenomenological fulness [sic] (178). However, as I have mentioned before, these two
perspectives are difficult to combine. The characters Bernard and Rhoda of Woolfs The Waves
illustrate this conflict, Bernard enjoying phenomenological mediation and Rhoda always
needing some palpable object to secure herself to the material world (179).
Matz refers to several of Woolfs works when further illustrating her literary attitude and
her attempts to dissolve the conflict between ordinary waking Arnold Bennett life and life
itself (179). The first of them is The Mark on the Wall, the narrators successive theories about
what the mark could be constituting the technique already mentioned, that of discovering in the
process itself the best [alternative]; embarking on many separate visions being the best basis
for fiction (182; 185). However, the ocean of possibilities is suddenly drained when someone
debunks the mystery (the mark on the wall is a snail) that gave so much pleasure while unanswered,
thus reminding the narrator of the material dimension of the object and deconstructing the
phenomenological fulness [sic] (192, 178). Matz also suggests the need for complete alienation
of the object in order to break free from conventional ideas and to depart from the natural
attitude (186). The second discussed work is The Death of the Moth, an experiment to capture
and represent life itself (187). The need to connect abstract and material dimensions of life is
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embodied by the moth that flutters in the liminal space of the window, between the intellectual
work indoors . . . [and] outdoor vitality, observed by the narrator also caught between the two
(187). In the third text, An Unwritten Novel, the newspaper that Minnie, the main character reads
is the object that represents the border between Impressionalism and Materialism, for when it is
up, the narrator notices details; when it comes down, she shares in Minnies experience, and
understands its meaning . . . [i]ntersubjective experience becomes possible with the fallen shield
of detail (190).
Another important aspect and defining factor in Woolfs impressionism is her connecting
feminism and impressionism (the literary representation of this connection being Mrs. Bennett,
Matz claiming that her character developed through all three texts mentioned above). Feminism is
just as related to Arnold Bennett as her suggested aurea mediocritas, her feminist theoretical and
literary manifestations having been triggered by Bennetts sexist publication . . . which celebrated
female talent only within the bounds of the assertion that intellectually and creatively man is the
superior to woman (195). Mrs. Bennett was created as a woman that Arnold Bennett would
describe poorly and who suffers as a result of the domination of the male interests (181, 197).
According to Matz, what Woolf realized regarding the link between feminism and Impressionism
(and Modernism in general) is that due to their emotional and non-rational nature, women were
more likely to grasp the essence of Impressionism (and does so consciously). Matz briefly
addresses the matter of Woolf being a self-appointed snob: even though she propagates the
elimination of the distinction between genders, she feels that social distinctions (highbrows and
lowbrows) are necessary because they compensate each others weaknesses (highbrows need
lowbrows for their vitality, lowbrows needs highbrows for their intellect), the only category she
looks upon with scorn are the ones caught between, the middlebrows. However, Woolf takes
pains to stress ambiguity so that her characters are not defined by their social status (204).
In conclusion, in Literary Impressionism and Modernist Aesthetics Jesse Matz offers a
wide and well-documented perspective on how literary Impressionism came into being, how it
similarly presents itself . . . either as a subjective mode that guarantees perspectival, experiential
truth, or as a mode of better objectivity, exposing the ideologys paradoxes and internal processes
(201). In the chapter Woolfs phenomenological impression Matz explains the writers
conscious choice not to construct a non-permissive set of principles; her attempts to reconcile
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essence and existence; the role of feminism in her work as well as her social views in relation to
her literary and theoretical activity.