Talk:Renée Vivien

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I think that the Symbolists would have been surprised to learn that Vivien was a Symbolist. She is not normally included as part of the movement.

Poems by Vivien were included in Bernard Delvaille's anthology La Poésie Symboliste. (ISBN 2221501616) There may have been a strong element of "wannabee" in Vivien's verse, which is why I wrote that she "took to heart the mannerisms" of the school, and "claimed allegiance" to it. -- Smerdis of Tlön 04:14, 29 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I am not sure how reliable Delvaille's anthology is as a source of mainstream ideas about Symbolism. I saw the table of contents of the book which included some unusual choices of authors. I am getting a copy of the book and will see what he has to say before making a judgment. Vivien is usually associated with the Sapho 1900 group.

In the meantime, it is worth noting that Vivien was born in London. Her mother was American and her father British.

[edit] American poet?

Born in England, to an American mother and a British father; grew up in both Long Island, London and France; spent significant amounts of time in all three countries; she wrote in French. Does that make her "an American poet who wrote in the French language"? Did she identify herself as a particular nationality? In the absence of choice by her to identify as one nationality or another, I would be inclined to call her an British/American/French poet (in whatever order) -- or even just "a poet who wrote in the French language". The rest of the article discusses her (complicated) national status enough; adding the adjective "American" is not only questionable but also redundant.