Mina Loy’s Dialogic and “Narratable” Selves

This chapter argues that Loy’s constant concern with autobiography relies on poetic and narrative forms which construe selfhood as dialogic, rather than self-contained. On the basis of Loy’s critique of authorship and autobiographism, the author argues that Loy’s unfinished autobiographical projects (the writing of which formed the accompaniment to her whole career) should also be deemed to include her novel Insel, a work of biofiction and a collaborative autobiography. The chapter makes the case that “Songs to Johannes”, “Anglo-Mongrels and the Rose,” Insel, some early poems and unpublished works, claim authorship and interiority as fundamental categories of literary production and reception, but construct selfhood as inherently dialogic and narrative. This is particularly evident when Loy rewrites contemporary authors and uses their voices, as in the case of Papini and Barnes, and in Insel, which the author reads in dialogue with Carl Van Vechten’s novel Peter Whiffle. This analysis is based on Adriana Cavarero’s notion of “narratable selves.”