OI wonder if Viagra is feminine in French.

Date sent:              Fri, 28 Feb 2003 09:42:57 -0500
Send reply to:          - Ezra Pound discussion list of the University of Maine <[log in to unmask]>
From:                   Marie-Noelle Little <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:                Yet another possibility, or "An American in Paris"
To:                     [log in to unmask]

The most interesting reply I got after sending my “French wine and
American cheese” message came from my brother in Paris, in the form of a
question: “C’est quoi Pound?”.  Not even, “WHO is Pound?”, but just
“Pound, what’s THAT?”  I am shocked that my brother doesn’t even know
what I am working on, rather than him not knowing who Pound is.  I am
surrounded by people who don’t know Pound, and also by some who
immediately start attacking me verbally, as if it was illegal to “work
on Pound”.  Librarians checking out my books usually just politely say
“oh!?!? Pound”.

No, I am not complaining (which, I tell my students, is the French
national sport), I am just surprised to realize that our 300 or more
types of cheese would never be as good as “American cheese”, for my
student, who is not going to Paris, but to Lyon.  I am sure one can find
American cheese in Paris (and perhaps even in Lyon), but why waste her
time in France looking for American cheese or peanut butter?

I made a point of saying that I am a “female”, just because others
(outside Pound circles) seem to make a difference between male and
female professors, for example.  Also, I had the impression that the
list may be like a private club, for men only.

I threw in the “Virgo” detail, just to show that I do read my messages.
Yes, it is true that sometimes I get a little impatient, but I would
never ask anybody to “shut up!”.  I wrote to a friend that some of the
exchanges on the list reminded me of being behind two joggers on the
road, who don’t leave me enough room to pass them, and I have to listen
also to their discussion about Viagra! (I was exaggerating, of course).
And when I hit spell check, before sending my message, “Virgo” came up
as a better word instead of Viagra!

What I said about Pound and Paris is not completely wrong, in the sense
that I am wondering why Pound is often seen as NOT American. The same
way French poet Saint-John Perse, for us Perse scholars, has never been
a typical FRENCH poet.  This is not a question of good or bad French
influence, but more a question of what influence did Paris (and London)
really have on Pound as a poet and as a person?  Let’s reverse the
situation and wonder if French poet Émile Pondu (who spent time in New
York and New Brunswick) would have ended up at “St Anne” in Paris after
anti-gaullist radio broadcasts from the U.S.?

In other words, did you arrest Pound because he was American or did you
arrest a poet who happened to have American papers?  Again, I am over
simplifying a question that is quite complex, I know (especially if one
gets into the whole issue of fascism, etc.).

I am not a Pound scholar, but for the last twenty years most of my
research has been related to  poetry and diplomacy.  I am now
investigating what happened between Pound’s arrest, because of politics,
and his release, thanks to poetry!  So, just for the sake of the book I
am trying to write, please allow me to be like a UN inspector, asking
simple questions and trying to get to the truth.

Any wine will do, and today my daughter is bringing me some French
cheese from New York (if they are still on the shelves).  Like Dirk
Johnson, she wants to move to France.  We all do, at times.

Marie-Noëlle
Von Underwood
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