Dora Marsden
| Dora Marsden | |
|---|---|
Marsden in 1912
|
|
| Born | Dora Marsden 5 March 1882 Marsden, Yorkshire |
| Died | 13 December 1960 (aged 78) Dumfries |
| Occupation | editor, essayist, suffragist, philosopher |
| Nationality | English |
| Literary movement | Modernism |
| Notable works |
The New Freewoman The Egoist |
Dora Marsden (5 March 1882 – 13 December 1960) was an English suffragette, editor of literary journals, and philosopher of language. Beginning her career as an activist in the Women's Social and Political Union, Marsden eventually broke off from the suffragist organization in order to found a journal that would provide a space for more radical voices in the movement. Over the next 7 years, Marsden would editorially preside over three successive journals that increasingly focused on avant-garde cultural politics, eventually publishing prominent early works by many of the most important Anglo-American and French high modernists.
Scholarly opinion varies about Marsden's significance for the emergence of literary modernism. While classic studies of modernism downplay or ignore her, more recent studies have begun to emphasize her impact on the nascent tradition, with one going so far as to call her the "fugitive midwife to the miraculous birth of a literary tradition."
Dora Marsden was born on 5 March 1882 to working-class parents, Fred and Hannah, in Marsden, Yorkshire. Economic setbacks in Fred's business forced him to emigrate to the U.S. in 1890, settling in Philadelphia with his eldest son. Hannah worked as a seamstress to support her remaining children, which left the family living in poverty when Marsden was a child Among one of the first generations to benefit from the Elementary Education Act of 1870, Marsden was able to attend school as a child despite her impoverished circumstances. She proved a successful student, working as a tutor at the age of thirteen before receiving a Queen's Scholarship at the age of eighteen, which enabled her to attend Owens College in Manchester (later the Victoria University of Manchester). In 1903, Marsden graduated from college and taught school for several years, eventually becoming headmistress of the Altrincham Teacher-Pupil Center in 1908. During her time at Owens College, Marsden made the acquaintance of Christabel Pankhurst, Teresa Billington-Greig, and other prominent early feminists, and she became involved with the women's suffrage movement then gathering steam in Manchester. Marsden established a reputation with the militant wing of the movement for fierce devotion to the cause, leading one contemporary to call her "a brave and beautiful spirit," a phrase to which the title of Les Garner’s biography of Marsden refers. This devotion extended to extra-legal acts of sabotage on more than one occasion. In October 1909, Marsden was arrested with several other members of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) for dressing in full academic regalia and interrupting a speech by the chancellor of their alma mater, demanding that he speak out against the force-feeding of imprisoned suffragist alumni who were on hunger strike. A few months later, she broke into the Southport Empire Theatre and hoisted herself into the cupola, where she waited 15 hours in order to heckle Winston Churchill, who was soon to become Home Secretary, while he was speaking at an election rally. Marsden’s commitment to the cause earned her an administrative position in Christabel and Emmeline Pankhurst’s WSPU, for which she left her teaching position in 1909. Although she was dedicated to the early feminist movement, Marsden’s strong theoretical principles and independent disposition often brought her into conflict with WSPU leadership, who found her unmanageable. In 1911, Marsden mutually agreed with the Pankhursts to resign her position with the WSPU. Disaffected by the organization, but still committed to the women’s movement, she was determined to find ways to support alternative voices relevant to the cause.
...
Wikipedia