ABSTRACT
LITERARY publications, unlike journals of opinion that reflect the changing intellectual climate, usually have their moments of glory, after which, if they survive, they carry on like old soldiers. For literary magazines, like writers, come out of a time and a place, out of some literary current or sensibility. Thus Partisan Review was born in the thirties—actually twice-born—and originally bore the stamp of that era. If it has not been restricted by its origins, if it has defied all the pressures of a time and country that have celebrated youth, novelty, and escape from traditions, I think it is mainly because of the continuity between the thirties and the following decades, and because the traditions Partisan Review both inherited and helped form have continued to be pertinent.
