Gertrude Stein’s
Tender Buttons(1914) is a volume of prose poetry divided into three sections devoted to “Objects”, “Food”, and “Rooms”. The first two contain 108 short prose entries whose length ranges from a few words to a couple of pages, whereas the third one is a long, uninterrupted prose sequence consisting of relatively autonomous paragraphs. A collection of poetic “still lifes”, the titles of Stein’s entries prepare the reader for a description of domestic interiors. The still lifes of the first section, for instance, include “descriptions” of a carafe, a cushion, a box, a piece of coffee, a red stamp, a cloak, a red dress and an umbrella. The following description of “MILDRED’S UMBRELLA” signals Stein’s radical departure from the traditional still…
1761 words
Citation: Delville, Michel. "Tender Buttons". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 August 2018 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1686, accessed 23 November 2024.]
