part of a ''great tradition" of their ownnot in an idealistic sense, but as models which inspire and challenge later writers, regardless of their political commitments. Olsen's work is part of this "great tradition," both in its sources and in its craft. Then too, in some eras of intense political activity, such as the thirties or the sixties, writers whose essential concerns are not explicitly political or whose work takes other directions when the era has ended may be temporarily drawn into a leftist political milieu. Edna St. Vincent Millay, Katherine Anne Porter, Mary McCarthy, and Dorothy Parker were among the women writers associated, in the thirties, with the Left; in our own era, writers like Adrienne Rich and Susan Griffinclose to Olsen both as friends and as artistsinitially shared connections and visions with the New Left, subsequently articulating values and world views partly in opposition to it.
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Yet the definition of a "socialist feminist" tradition is, I think, legitimate and useful, for it does identify writers who, like Olsen, shared a certain kind of consciousness, an engagement with the political issues of their day, and an involvement in a progressive political and cultural movement. It also enables us to examine the connections between the radical cultural traditions of the past and those our own era is creating, questioning that earlier heritage when necessary, but acknowledging also the extent to which we as contemporary feminists are its heirs.
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I could not have written this paper without Tillie Olsen's assistance, although its emphasis, its structure, and any errors in fact and interpretation are my responsibility. Over the past two years, Olsen has granted me access to some of her personal papersjournals, letters, and unpublished manuscripts. Both she and her husband, Jack Olsen, have been generous in sharing their recollections of life in the thirties. In fall 1980, Olsen responded with a detailed critique to an earlier version of this paper.
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Some of her comments called for a simple correction of factual inaccuracies; some questioned my interpretations of her experience. The paper in its present form incorporated many, although not all, of her suggestions for revision.
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This paper, then, is part of an ongoing dialogue about issues that matter very much to both Tillie Olsen and myself:
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