Renée Vivien (1877–1909)
Author of A Woman Appeared to Me
About the Author
Disambiguation Notice:
pseudonym of Pauline M. Tarn
Works by Renée Vivien
Vivien, Renée Archive 1 copy
Poèmes de Renée Vivien 1 copy
Associated Works
Chloe Plus Olivia: An Anthology of Lesbian Literature from the 17th Century to the Present (1994) — Contributor — 482 copies, 1 review
Fairy Tales for the Disillusioned: Enchanted Stories from the French Decadent Tradition (2016) — Contributor — 82 copies, 1 review
Queer: A Collection of LGBTQ Writing from Ancient Times to Yesterday (2021) — Contributor, some editions — 65 copies
The Defiant Muse: French Feminist Poems from the Middle Ages to the Present: A Bilingual Anthology (French and English Edition) (1986) — Contributor — 28 copies
Weird Fiction in France: A Showcase Anthology of Its Origins and Development (2020) — Contributor — 3 copies
Ode to Boy: Vol. 2: An Anthology of Same-Sex Attraction in Literature from the 19th Century Through the First World War (2014) — Contributor — 2 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Vivien, Renée
- Legal name
- Tarn, Pauline Mary
- Birthdate
- 1877-06-11
- Date of death
- 1909-11-18
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- poet
novelist - Relationships
- Barney, Natalie Clifford (lover)
Zuylen de Nyevelt, Hélène de (lover, co-author) - Short biography
- Of mixed Scottish and American ancestry, born in London but lived most of her life in France and wrote in French.
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- London, England, UK
- Places of residence
- Paris, France
- Place of death
- Paris, France
- Burial location
- Cimetière de Passy, Paris, France
- Disambiguation notice
- pseudonym of Pauline M. Tarn
- Associated Place (for map)
- Paris, France
Members
Reviews
A lovely little selection of Vivien's work. I particularly loved "Words to a Lover", "You for Whom I Wrote", and "The Touch". This publication has two translators (occasionally including the same poems), with the first have carried by Margaret Porter and the latter by Catherine Kroger. Both have very different styles of translations, with Porter creating an English rhyme scheme to mimic Vivien's, while Kroger adhering more to a literal one. I'll illustrate with "You for Whom I show more
Wrote:show lessSongerez-vous, parmi le désordre charmant
De vos cheveux épars, de vos robes défaites :
« Cette femme, à travers les sanglots et les fêtes,
A porté ses regards et ses lèvres d’amant. » (original)Will you sit dreaming, amid the charming disarray
Of disheveled hair, open robes, of hers you never discover
Wherever you look: "Whether on day of mourning or festival day,
This woman wore always her glance, her lips of a lover." (Porter)Will you dream, amongst the charming disorder
Of your scattered hair, and your undone robes:
"This woman, through tears and joy
Maintained her gaze and her lover's lips." (Kroger)
I really loved Catherine Kroger's translations—conservative while still enamoring, all while keeping Vivien's original French flavor we've all come to love (though I must forworn I am a literalist when it comes to translations). And just in case you're not reading with translation difficulties in mind or want to show a friend a poem that's probably more readable than Kroger's, Porter is still there to savor and pin-up without looking like a tasteless academic freak.
I recommend for people interested in Vivien's work to check out A Crown of Violets first, especially the new 2017 edition as it contains so many poems with the advantage of the dual French-English format for reference (and because I know how hard it is to get a copy of this if you don't want to pay an exorbitant sum). Very lovely little gem of queer female history I am so proud to own and enjoy!
Woman of the Wolf and Other Stories is a collection of short stories with an obvious agenda: Men are the bane of women and life is way better off without them. I don't blame Vivien a bit--being a lesbian in the 1900s was probably rife with annoying men, be it from the terrible misogyny or inability to understand female sexuality. The stories are mostly in the vein of men pursuing women with no interest to them; it's (hilariously) written in their point of view of these men baffled and show more overreaching in their goal of basically obtaining these women, and Vivien's analysis is spot on. We never get the women's point of view, and it shows that her writing was for women who could relate to these persistent men.
Another story I loved was "Prince Charming", a story told in fairly tale style with a fabulous twist ending, and the story "The Jewel(?)" with the gorgeous Madame pulling a knife on a man forcing himself on her was BADASS. Vivien writes female characters not as complex as some feminist writers do, but in roles earlier denied them. The women in her stories are martyrs: they die for what they believe in, the are stronger than the men that balk to their roles, and they are otherworldly in power and beauty. They fight for their autonomy and won't shrink from their passion. It's crazy cool.
Anyways, it's gorgeous, but hell did Vivien hate men. I don't blame her living in the time that she did, but its virulence does make me laugh--her writing can be ridiculous. 4/5 stars because I thought too many of the stories were too similar and the female characters were not particularly "deep". There wasn't much character in them other than their goal of putting men in their place. show less
Another story I loved was "Prince Charming", a story told in fairly tale style with a fabulous twist ending, and the story "The Jewel(?)" with the gorgeous Madame pulling a knife on a man forcing himself on her was BADASS. Vivien writes female characters not as complex as some feminist writers do, but in roles earlier denied them. The women in her stories are martyrs: they die for what they believe in, the are stronger than the men that balk to their roles, and they are otherworldly in power and beauty. They fight for their autonomy and won't shrink from their passion. It's crazy cool.
Anyways, it's gorgeous, but hell did Vivien hate men. I don't blame her living in the time that she did, but its virulence does make me laugh--her writing can be ridiculous. 4/5 stars because I thought too many of the stories were too similar and the female characters were not particularly "deep". There wasn't much character in them other than their goal of putting men in their place. show less
A Woman Appeared to Me is Vivien's carthartic effort surrounding the death of her friend Violet Shilleto and Vivien's stormy (and ultimately failed) relationship with Natalie Barney. In sixty odd pages Vivien attempts to come to terms with her loss, though one gets the distinct impression that she rather enjoys not coming to terms with it. That's kind of the point--sometimes the suffering from a lost love is more palpable and fulfilling than the love itself.
When I picked up this book, I was show more expecting it to be a kissing cousin of Djuna Barnes' Nightwood. It isn't and for a surprising reason. For all of Vivien's clout as an underrated poet, A Woman Appeared to Me is surprisingly less literate than Nightwood. Vivien's heavy-handed use of metaphor and symbolism comes across as overdone against the backdrop of a story that feels excessively puerile in its emotional content. This stands in sharp contrast to Barnes' linguistic contortions that makes the suffering in Nightwood so uniquely told.
Literary style aside, A Woman Appeared to Me is interesting insofar as it provides yet another glimpse into the heady lesbian angst rampant amongst Natalie Barney's Round Table. Enjoy it alongside your daily dose of Djuna Barnes' pathos, Romaine Brooks' dark solitude, and Dolly Wilde's charming self-destruction. show less
When I picked up this book, I was show more expecting it to be a kissing cousin of Djuna Barnes' Nightwood. It isn't and for a surprising reason. For all of Vivien's clout as an underrated poet, A Woman Appeared to Me is surprisingly less literate than Nightwood. Vivien's heavy-handed use of metaphor and symbolism comes across as overdone against the backdrop of a story that feels excessively puerile in its emotional content. This stands in sharp contrast to Barnes' linguistic contortions that makes the suffering in Nightwood so uniquely told.
Literary style aside, A Woman Appeared to Me is interesting insofar as it provides yet another glimpse into the heady lesbian angst rampant amongst Natalie Barney's Round Table. Enjoy it alongside your daily dose of Djuna Barnes' pathos, Romaine Brooks' dark solitude, and Dolly Wilde's charming self-destruction. show less
"We hate the Mob, the Law, and the World": Renee Vivien (Pauline Mary Tarn) was a curious personality from the period of the French decadence (Read Colette's The Pure and The Impure, and Karla Jay's study, The Amazon and the Page). A Crown of Violets is a collection of sensual (and incendiary) verse, after the manner of Sappho (literally invoked in some of the poems). Samantha Pious, in capturing both the sense and the meter of Renee Vivien's poetry, has rendered it both beautiful and show more sensible to readers of English. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 33
- Also by
- 12
- Members
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- Popularity
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- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
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- ISBNs
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