Repetition in Willa Cather's Early Writings: Clues to the Development of an Artist

Abstract

Cather had so few things to write about that she had to use the same material over and over," is a complaint occasionally voiced by critical readers. The aim of this article is to suggest other explanations of the recurrence of characters, scenes, incidents, ideas, images and expressions in her works by showing where her habit of revising old material originated, and tracing its development, as well as to demonstrate how useful those "repetitions," in both her journalistic and fictional writings, are for those interested in studying the emergence of Willa Cather as a consummate master of style. Even as a student at the University of Nebraska Willa Cather was a prolific contributor to the local papers for several years. Articles and reviews, unsigned or signed with various pen-names, some of them until recently unidentified, continue to be discovered by literary scholars. Not to deny her unusual capacity to write fast, and mostly well, her surprising productivity can in part be explained by the fact that she used the same material, with cuts, additions or rearrangements, more than once, often with months and years between dates of publication. The frequent recurrence of old material, slightly changed and often applied to new contexts, suggests not only that Willa Cather, contrary to what she later maintained, saved for years much of what she had written, but also that she may have kept the pieces she was pleased with arranged and filed in such a fashion that she could easily find whatever she needed from them in a hurry. Besides, an anecdote she was. fond of relating indicates that she also had an exceptional memory of things she had once put down on paper. Asked to give a talk at a Women's Club meeting, she started to recite, almost word for word,