“Some Issue of Little Consequence”: Mina Loy’s Neglected Short Stories
The short stories of the British artist Mina Loy (1882-1966) are still largely overshadowed by her avant-garde poetry of the 1920s. This article establishes a critical overview of Loy’s neglected short fiction and identifies her strategies to redefine humbleness. It argues that Loy uses humour and p...
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| Pubblicato in: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/jsse, |
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| Autore principale: | |
| Natura: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Lingua: | Anglais |
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Journal of the Short Story in English
2023
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| Accesso online: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Riassunto: | The short stories of the British artist Mina Loy (1882-1966) are still largely overshadowed by her avant-garde poetry of the 1920s. This article establishes a critical overview of Loy’s neglected short fiction and identifies her strategies to redefine humbleness. It argues that Loy uses humour and parody as a humble yet efficient counterpoint to the drama that unfolds in her poems and novels. Loy stages vulnerable characters struggling with poverty and draws on the Victorian tradition of social tales to depict the inequalities of her times. She revisits the popular subgenre of the fairy-tale while parodying the cosmopolitan avant-gardes. Loy’s simultaneous play on emphasis, euphemism, and ridicule helps her shape personal experience and analyse the workings of modern consciousness. This contribution explores these tensions between banality and intensity, and between humility and ambition, that crucially inform Loy’s short fiction, her narrative style, and her relationship to the avant-gardes. |
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