Re is a de Es udios No eame icanos 21 (2017), Se ille, Spain. ISSN 1133-309-X. pp. 145-165
―HE WAS IN NO PLACE AND NO PLACE WAS
IN HIM‖: EDWARD DAHLBERG‘S
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL FICTIONS AS AN
EPISTEMOLOGY OF SITES
1
MARTÍN URDIALES-SHAW
Uni e sidad de Vigo
[email p o ec ed]
Recei ed 31 July 2017
Accep ed 27 No embe 2017
KEYWORDS
Edwa d Dahlbe g; au obiog aphical ic ions; si ua edness; spa iali y;
ins i u ions; u ban spaces; ake si es; li e a y s yles
PALABRAS CLAVE
Edwa d Dahlbe g; icción au obiog á ica; condición si uacional;
espacialidad; ins i uciones; espacios u banos; luga es a i iciales;
es ilos li e a ios
ABSTRACT
Edwa d Dahlbe g‘s childhood, adolescence and you h, na a i ely
ic ionalized in wo ea ly au obiog aphical no els, Bo om Dogs
(1930) and Flushing o Cal a y (1932) is ma kedly and ecu en ly
in o med by he in luence o u ban si es and ins i u ional spaces. As
he a icle discusses, a numbe o hese spaces a e pi o al o he
de elopmen o Dahlbe g‘s au obiog aphical cha ac e Lo y, and can
be p oduc i ely ead in e ms o he Foucaldian he e o opia, while
o he si es, explici ly iden i ied as me opoli an, a e ma ginal o
Lo y‘s au obiog aphical na a i e, and ye se e o o eg ound he
p o agonis ‘s absence om hem in ele an ways. Finally, o he
spaces may epi omize a p edominan ly a i icial na u e, unc ioning
as simulac a o expe iences ha Lo y unde goes bu needs o cas
ou . D awing on heo e ical ene s ela ed o space, si e and place, as
se ou by Foucaul , Baud illa d, Le eb e, and o he s, in his a icle
1
This a icle is pa o he esea ch p ojec ―Li e a u a y globalización: la li e a u a
no eame icana desde una pe spec i a ansnacional‖ inanced by he Minis e io de
Economía, Indus ia y Compe i i idad (code FFI 2015-66767-P, MINECO/FEDER, EU)
and o he Xun a de Galicia ―Rede de Lingua e Li e a u a Inglesa e Iden idade III‖ (code
ED431D2017/17).
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I will con end ha a si ua ed epis emological app oach is essen ial in
ui ully eading Dahlbe g‘s ea ly ic ions, and, ul ima ely, in
unde s anding his ques o space in bo h biog aphical and a is ic
e ms.
RESUMEN
La in ancia, adolescencia y ju en ud de Edwa d Dahlbe g,
iccionalizada a a és de sus dos emp anas no elas
au obiog á icas, Bo om Dogs (1930) y Flushing o Cal a y (1932),
es á muy de e minada po la in luencia de en o nos u banos y
espacios ins i ucionales. Algunos de es os espacios son esenciales
pa a el desa ollo de Lo y, el p o agonis a au obiog á ico de
Dahlbe g, y pueden se in e p e ados en cla e de he e o opia
Foucaldiana. O os luga es, exp esamen e iden i icados como
espacios me opoli anos, ma ginales a la na a i a au obiog á ica
cen ada en Lo y, esul an, sin emba go, ex emadamen e
signi ica i os pa a sub aya la ausencia del p o agonis a de los
mismos. Además, o os en o nos si en pa a enca na condiciones
a i iciales, p opo cionando simulac os de i encias que Lo y
expe imen a pe o necesi a luego desecha . Pa iendo de nociones
eó icas ela i as a los concep os de si io y de espacialidad,
desa olladas po Foucaul , Baud illa d y Le eb e, en e o os, el
p esen e a ículo p opone un análisis basado en una epis emología
de ―si uacionalidad‖ que pe mi a una in e p e ación c í ica uc í e a
de la ob a iniciá ica de Dahlbe g, y, en conc e o, ilumine su obsesi a
búsqueda de espacio(s), an o en é minos biog á icos como
li e a ios.
I one we e o choose he mos i ine an , oo less, and ye
s angely place-awa e w i e in he ea ly wen ie h cen u y Ame ican
scene, Edwa d Dahlbe g would ank among he e y i s . In his
―In oduc ion‖ o an omnibus edi ion con aining ea ly no els, s o ies
and au obiog aphical ic ions, c i ic Ha old Billings highligh s he
shi ing Ame ica o Dahlbe g‘s childhood and you h: he was bo n in a
Bos on cha i y hospi al (1900), and aised singly by a Polish
immig an mo he who ambled he Sou h and he Midwes , un il
se ling in Kansas Ci y in 1905. A wel e, Edwa d was dispa ched o
he Cle eland Jewish O phan Asylum. A se en een he le he
o phanage o wo k a odd jobs in he egion. A 19, almos b oke, he
se led in he Los Angeles YMCA, whe e he depended on odd jobs and
checks om his mo he , while pu suing a li e a y educa ion wi h an
elde men o a he Ch is ian Associa ion. He a ended he Uni e si y
o Cali o nia a Be keley om 1921 o 1923, hen ans e ed o
Columbia Uni e si y, om which he g adua ed in 1925 (Billings xi ).
“He was in no place and no place was in him”: Edwa d Dahlbe g’s 147
Au obiog aphical Fic ions as an Epis emology o Si es
Re is a de Es udios No eame icanos 21 (2017), Se ille, Spain. ISSN 1133-309-X. pp. 145-165
In he la e wen ies, Dahlbe g became a li e a y expa ia e in F ance,
Belgium and England, whe e he me he Ame ican and Anglo-I ish
mode nis s, E nes Hemingway, F. Sco Fi zge ald, T.S. Elio , Ez a
Pound, W.B. Yea s, James Joyce, Samuel Becke , and he
playw igh Seán O'Casey. Looking back ac oss he A lan ic, Dahlbe g
composed much o his wo ea ly no els, Bo om Dogs (1930) and
F om Flushing o Cal a y (1932) om he Eu opean con inen ,
ende ing he luc ua ing scenes o his boyhood and you h, pa ly
unde he in luence o a mode nis aes he ics, bu also pa ly wi hin
he pa adigm o social ic ion. A e a b ie pe iod li ing in New Yo k‘s
G eenwich Village, Dahlbe g isi ed Ge many in 1933, wo king as a
co esponden o he London Times. His explici condemna ions o
he eme ging Nazi egime en angled him in a igh wi h a Ge man
s o m oope in a Be lin ca é, an e en ha scaled in o a diploma ic
inciden , and made he in e na ional news headlines, when Dahlbe g
lodged a complain wi h he Ame ican Consula e, which he Ge man
au ho i ies p essu ed him o wi hd aw (Jewish Daily Bulle in, 2).
Back in he US, Dahlbe g augh a Bos on Uni e si y om 1944 o
1948 and, b ie ly, a he Black Moun ain College in No h Ca olina.
In he i ies, as he u ned o au obiog aphy and essay w i ing, he
eloca ed o he Danish island o Bo nholm,
2
and in he ea ly six ies
he mo ed o Solle , in Mallo ca. Fo longe o sho e pe iods, o he
domiciles o Dahlbe g‘s adul li e included Dublin, Wicklow, London,
Mad id, Malaga, Mexico Ci y and he Seychelles.
Dahlbe g‘s ea ly au obiog aphical ic ions always employ
place and geog aphical space as a key s uc u al and na a i e
de ice. His au obiog aphy Because I Was Flesh
3
(1959) is s uc u ed
in wel e chap e s, each o hem signaling a new eloca ion ac oss
he Ame ican e i o y, om Bos on o New Yo k, ia he Sou h, he
Midwes , and Cali o nia. His i s wo no els Bo om Dogs and F om
Flushing o Cal a y
4
which can be ead in sequence as an
unin e up ed Bildungs oman wi h di e ing na a i e empos, ace
Dahlbe g‘s childhood and you h (Lo y in he no els), h ough
2
Uncannily symbolic o he sense o placelessness ha haun s Dahlbe g and his
au obiog aphical sel , Bo nholm is e y a om Denma k, lying in he Bal ic be ween
Sweden and he no h Ge man coas .
3
Hence o h ci ed as Flesh.
4
In discussion, hence o h ci ed as Flushing. All pa en he ical ci a ions o ei he no el,
o he un inished no el Mimes, will e e o he omnibus edi ion o Dahlbe g‘s ea ly
w i ing, ci ed simply as Wo ks.
148 Ma ín U diales-Shaw
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chap e s ha seem o s uc u e hese memo ies in e ms o place.
Bo om Dogs co e s he i s wen y yea s o Lo y‘s/Dahlbe g‘s li e,
de o ing he i s wo chap e s o ea ly childhood in Kansas Ci y,
h ee o he Cle eland O phanage yea s, ano he h ee o his eunion
wi h his mo he in Kansas Ci y, wo o his wande ings ac oss
Cali o nia and San F ancisco, and he closing chap e s o scenes o
his YMCA yea s in Los Angeles. Mo e a uned o he mode nis
conce ns wi h he in ensi ica ion o ime, consciousness, memo y
and subjec i i y, Flushing ocuses on he b ie New Yo k pe iod in he
mid-1920s, bu he ac ual ma e ial (and o en ma ginal) si es o his
me opolis in ica ely commingle wi h he childhood spaces o
memo y o i s p equel: Kansas Ci y, he Cle eland O phanage and,
again, he YMCA in Los Angeles.
Dahlbe g‘s i ine an childhood, adolescence and you h, a
o ma i e pe iod ha he w i e na a i ely ic ionalized in explici ly
opog aphical e ms in hese wo ea ly no els, which closely mi o
5
he spa ial s uc u al di ision o he au obiog aphy Flesh, is
signi ican ly and ecu en ly con igu ed by he in luence o ce ain
spaces, akin o iden ical o si es designa ed by F ench philosophe
Michel Foucaul as he e o opias, ―some hing like coun e -si es … [in
which] all he o he eal si es ha can be ound wi hin he cul u e,
a e simul aneously ep esen ed, con es ed and in e ed‖ (24). These
―coun e -si es‖ a e some imes pi o al o he de elopmen o
Dahlbe g‘s au obiog aphical cha ac e Lo y, bu hey can also be
no ably ma ginal, ha is, he e o o eg ound Lo y‘s absence om
hem in ele an ways, o hey may also embody a p edominan ly
a i icial na u e, unc ioning as a simulac a o expe iences ha need
o be cas ou by Lo y. In he ollowing pages, d awing on heo e ical
ene s ela ed o spaces, si es and en i onmen s as se ou by
Foucaul , Jean Baud illa d, Julia K is e a, and Hen i Le eb e I will
con end ha a ―si ua ed‖ epis emological app oach is essen ial in
p oduc i ely eading Dahlbe g‘s ea ly au obiog aphical ic ions,
which a e ma kedly in o med by a keen awa eness o how a sense o
place modeled bo h his iden i y as an indi idual and as a w i e . I
will be using bo h he no ions o place and si e o e e o he di e se
spaces o he building-ins i u ion, he u ban neighbo hood, o he
amusemen pa k. Thus, my p incipal conce n is no so much wi h
5
Al ed Kazin ap ly summa ized ―[Dahlbe g] published his own s o y se e al imes in
he o m o ic ion‖ (111).
“He was in no place and no place was in him”: Edwa d Dahlbe g’s 149
Au obiog aphical Fic ions as an Epis emology o Si es
Re is a de Es udios No eame icanos 21 (2017), Se ille, Spain. ISSN 1133-309-X. pp. 145-165
axonomizing di e ence be ween hese heo e ical concep s, as o
highligh he ele ance o space/s o Lo y as au obiog aphical
cha ac e and o Dahlbe g as w i e .
CRISIS HETEROTOPIAS: THE CLEVELAND ORPHAN ASYLUM &
THE LOS ANGELES YMCA.
Two signi ican ins i u ions p esided o e , and would la gely
de e mine, Dahlbe g‘s unusual childhood and you h: he Jewish
O phan Asylum in Cle eland and he Young Men‘s Ch is ian
Associa ion in Los Angeles. These, I will a gue, con o m a mo e
au hen ic sense o home han ha e e p o ided by his uns able and
e a ic mo he (Lizzie Lewis in he no els) in he pe iods in-be ween,
whe he in Kansas Ci y o in New Yo k. In Bo om Dogs, Lo y‘s
O phanage li e spans h ee chap e s (3 o 5, pp. 175-217) bu
meaning ul ecollec ions o his si e‘s esiden s in ude la e in ime,
in he mids o he Los Angeles YMCA sec ion (chap e s 12 o 15),
and, wi h e en mo e i id in ensi y, in Pa Fi e o Flushing, he
no el‘s sequel, as Lo y e isi s he hen de elic si e. The o phanage
expe ience in Bo om Dogs is ini ially auma ic, no leas because
behind he decision o dispa ch Lo y was his mo he ‘s new pa ne ,
a manipula i e and sel -se ing indi idual.
6
Fu he auma a ises
when, on a i al, Lo y is p edic ably designa ed a ―newcumbe ‖ and
his Sou he n Missou i d awl becomes a a ge o idicule when he
inally has o alk o o he boys, a e an obs ina e ini ial ese e.
G adually, howe e , and in spi e o he s ic ly egimen ed li e, bad
ood, and a penal y-based pedagogy, Lo y g ows in o he o phanage
sys em and ea ns espec when he unexpec edly p e ails in a igh he
had mean o a oid, an ea ly i e o passage wi hin his communi y o
pee s. The o phanage boys a e collec i ely e e ed o as ―inma es,‖
and, indi idually, by nicknames. Dahlbe g, in ac , i les wo o he
O phanage chap e s a e wo o i s iconic ogues, He man Mush
Ta e and Bonehead-S a -Wol e, who mee agic ends a e being
expelled o lea ing he ―home,‖ as hey all e e o he asylum.
Foucaul desc ibed he boa ding school as an ins ance o a ypically
nine een h cen u y ―c isis he e o opia‖ a si e ― ese ed o
6
In Flesh, Dahlbe g w i es ―He had in ima ed ha i she could ge he boy ou o he
way [...] hey migh make plans oge he . A 38, she was posi i e ha i Hen y Smi h
did no ma y he , she was as good as dead‖ (63-64).

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indi iduals, who a e, in ela ion o socie y and o he human
en i onmen in which hey li e, in a s a e o c isis‖ (24).
Subsequen ly, he a gues ha hese si es ha e, in he wen ie h
cen u y, been la gely eplaced by ―he e o opias o de ia ion,‖ such as
psychia ic hospi als, es homes, o p isons, which shel e
indi iduals ―de ian in ela ion o he equi ed no m‖ (25). In
Dahlbe g‘s expe ience, ic ionally na a i ized h ough he
au obiog aphical Lo y, he Jewish O phan Asylum sha es ai s
om bo h hese he e o opic si es, appea ing simul aneously as a
po en ially educa ional and spi i ually- o ming en i onmen , bu also
a ep essi e and dep i ed ins i u ion, as illus a ed by he a emp s
o i s inma es o escape empo a ily in o Cle eland o ge be e ood
o enjoy some eedom.
7
The asylum is a collec i e Home o ou cas s
and a ―coun e -si e‖ ha ― e-p esen [s], con es [s] and in e [s]‖ (24)
he eal homes o child en wi h one o bo h unc ional pa en s.
Dahlbe g‘s sense o belonging o he Jewish O phan Asylum as an
ing ained su oga e home is so s ong, ha he w i e has his
ins i u ion esu ace in Pa Fi e (―J.O.A. Ja Wohl, Das Is Das
Weisenhaus‖)
8
o he New Yo k-se Flushing, when Lo y e u ns a
decade la e :
Then some hing sank wi hin him … He s ood he e gaping. He had come
o he place. Bu he o phanage, like Wolkes, was in no place. The e was
no mo e o phan asylum. […] The e was nowhe e o him o go – and he
el as i he e would ne e be any eason o him o go anywhe e, o any
place, because no place would e e be in him. (Wo ks 454)
Pu suing an expe imen al echnique ha he had adop ed in his
second no el, he na a i e o m o Pa Fi e jux aposes Lo y‘s
wande ings h ough he all- oo amilia buildings o he now de elic
si e wi h s eam-o -consciousness sec ions, p in ed in smalle ype
and uncapi alized, in which memo ies o he las supe in enden
Simon Wolkes, a e i idly cas , specially conce ning Lo y‘s
con lic ed p ojec ion o lo e, admi a ion and desi e o app o al
7
Ye , once Lo y lea es he O phanage, Cle eland becomes an i ele an si e, as he
b ie , ansi ional chap e ―Ceda A enue Nigh s‖ e eals. On how se e al Ame ican
ci ies emain alien o Lo y, e e o he conclusions.
8
This li e ally ansla es ―Jewish O phan Asylum Indeed, This is he O phan Home.‖
The ma ked in luence o Ge man ui ion, including he ly ics o eligious hymns, is
pa en in Dahlbe g‘s o phanage memo ies.
“He was in no place and no place was in him”: Edwa d Dahlbe g’s 151
Au obiog aphical Fic ions as an Epis emology o Si es
Re is a de Es udios No eame icanos 21 (2017), Se ille, Spain. ISSN 1133-309-X. pp. 145-165
o / om a su oga e a he igu e who is essen ially obli ious o him:
―he lo ed wolkes mo e han he lo ed his mo he , he sang his p aye s
way ou loud and wi h high-pi ched de o ion so ha wolkes could
see: he ollowed him all o e ‖ (450). Wolkes is signi ican ly absen ,
pe haps pu pose ully ep essed, om he o phanage chap e s in
Bo om Dogs, bu eme ges powe ully in his agmen ed chap e o
Flushing ha also blends in sna ches o nu se y hymes (hump y
dump y), he Jewish Passo e song Chad Gadyo, and lines om he
O phanage con i ma ion hymn ( a he , see hy supplian child en).
The o e bea ing nos algia o a si e i id in Lo y‘s mind, bu
ma e ially in uins, pe mea es his sec ion, which is a imes
e oca i e o he polyphonic na u e o T.S. Elio ‘s Was eland, in i s
usion o ex s, languages and egis e s.
The childhood a Cle eland O phanage p ojec s i sel ully in o
he second c isis si e o Lo y‘s li e, he Los Angeles YMCA, which,
besides Foucaul ‘s ac ual usage o he e m, embodies he concep in
i s G eek e ymological sense, as a ― u ning poin ‖ owa ds he
incep ion o he a is as a young man, in he Joycean coinage. The
b ie Los Angeles YMCA e a is a pe iod o Dahlbe g‘s li e s ongly
colou ed by his ela ionship wi h Max Lewis, a senio pal om
O phanage imes, and al eady a YMCA boa de when he des i u e
Lo y a i ed in Hope S ee in down own LA, a age 19. The
in luence o Max Lewis on Dahlbe g as a young aspi ing w i e was
so s ong ha Dahlbe g adop ed he su name o his own ic ional
au obiog aphical pe sona (Lo y Lewis) and dedica ed Flushing o
him, in acknowledgmen o his li e a y indeb edness.
9
Tellingly, jus
as Bo om Dogs seems o in oduce Lo y‘s li e a he Los Angeles
YMCA, he na a i e ins an ly shi s back in o a e ospec i e
excu sus o he agically Faulkne ian amily accoun o he
Maxwells/Lewises
10
leading o Max and his siblings being in e ned in
he o phanage (Wo ks 280-294), be o e esuming he p esen ime
ame wo chap e s la e . In bo h he au obiog aphy and he no els,
Dahlbe g ecoun s, wi h a ying de ail, Max‘s al e na i e li es yle, his
9
In a i idly ecalled and mo ing scene o Flesh, whe e he wo young men inally pa
ways, he w i e also e e es Lewis o ha ing pe suaded him o en ol a ― he
uni e si y a Be keley‖ (141).
10
The Lewises become he Maxwells in he no els, Max Lewis being Max Maxwell. Ye
Max is e e ed o as Lao Tsu Ben in Flesh, his eal alias du ing he Los Angeles
pe iod.
152 Ma ín U diales-Shaw
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Masonic membe ship, his isky en ep eneu ial en u es, and his
many sexual exploi s. Bu Max is, abo e all, essen ial in ini ia ing
Lo y/Dahlbe g in li e a y classics and philosophical inqui y, as he
w i e ecalls in Flesh:
This man […] liked o call himsel Lao Tsu Ben, and he was o be my
men o . F om him I lea ned o Gissing‘s The P i a e Pape s o Hen y
Ryec o , Samuel Bu le ‘s E ewhon, The Upanishads, Daude ‘s
Sappho, Gau ie ‘s The Golden Fleece, The Medi a ions o Ma cus
Au elius, and Wilde‘s De P o undis—books which I bough in he
secondhand shops by selling my o e coa . (127)
While he au obiog aphy ocuses e y exclusi ely on
Lewis/Lao Tsu Ben, Lo y‘s own p ospec s a he ime a e mo e
clea ly ea u ed in some pages o he ―Bensonhu s ‖ sec ion o
Flushing (Wo ks 359-364), which, as i did wi h he o phanage
pe iod, again unc ions e ospec i ely o encapsula e he Los
Angeles-YMCA e a. He e, Lo y eminisces on how he ―decided o be
a w i e ‖ (Wo ks 359), eci ing li e a y lines om Eme son and om
Wilde‘s ―The Ballad o Reading Gaol,‖ while s uggling o ge a mo ie
sc ip accep ed a a Hollywood s udio. I is in his con ex ha Lewis
esu aces as an in ellec ual men o : ―Maxwell i s s a ed o guide
Lo y in his eadings‖ (Wo ks 361).
Beyond he ex ao dina y in luence o Lewis/Maxwell, he
YMCA i sel is also eminiscen o he Cle eland O phanage, as bo h
a su oga e home and a c isis he e o opia in Foucauldian e ms. In
Bo om Dogs, Lo y‘s i s con ac wi h he ins i u ion in ol es
hanging a ound he lobby wi h a numbe o ―bums,‖ looking o
shel e o a ee meal, who a e egula ly expelled (Wo ks 275-6; 295).
Ha ing no money o he membe ship ee, Lo y himsel is aken o a
ag an , un il Maxwell appea s and ouches o him be o e he desk
cle k (276). Al hough only one chap e o Bo om Dogs de ails la e
li e a he ―Y‖ (playing poke , d inking, and being owdy), he sense o
a disciplined li e wi h ules o deco um and a eligious educa ion
in ol ing p aye s and hymns, which also ela es o an all-male
communi y, mi o s, in a ious ways, he Jewish O phanage
backg ound.
MARGINAL SITES, LIFELESS PLACES: BENSONHURST,
BROOKLYN AND CALVARY, QUEENS.
“He was in no place and no place was in him”: Edwa d Dahlbe g’s 153
Au obiog aphical Fic ions as an Epis emology o Si es
Re is a de Es udios No eame icanos 21 (2017), Se ille, Spain. ISSN 1133-309-X. pp. 145-165
Whe eas he O phanage and he YMCA become key cen al
si es in Lo y‘s o ma ion, o en ecu ing and in uding h ough
memo y in o la e pe iods o he indi idual‘s li e, in sha p con as ,
wo u ban a eas o his you h eme ge as ma ginal, unli ed o li eless.
These New Yo k dis ic s, Bensonhu s and Cal a y, appea in
Flushing, a wo k whe e Dahlbe g employed a dis inc New Yo k
ca og aphy o en i le h ee o i s six cons i uen pa s (1.
Bensonhu s ; 2. Flushing o Cal a y; 4. Coney Island Angelus Bells),
which a e no always consis en ly ele an o Lo y‘s li e-s o y.
Re ealingly, unlike he ea lie o ma i e si es discussed abo e, bo h
Bensonhu s and Cal a y co espond o one o he pe iods o Lo y‘s
li e sha ed wi h his mo he Lizzie, who o en becomes he ocalize o
he na a i e in his no el.
The i s ou chap e s o he Bensonhu s sec ion, p e aced
by he quo ed epig am ―Cheap Peoples Li e He e!‖ (Wo ks 325),
unc ion o o eg ound se e al modes o exclusion om he Ame ican
success e hic, he neighbo hood becoming me onymic o pa alysis,
economic ailu e, and un ealized d eams. Dahlbe g does his by
ocusing on he inse s o ies o se e al cha ac e s (Lizzie Lewis, Willy
Huppe , and Je y Cale onia) while side acking Lo y‘s cen al
au obiog aphical na a i e. Con e sely, when Lo y‘s na a i e is
esumed in chap e 6 o Bensonhu s , i is h ough a e ospec i e
sec ion, encapsula ing pa s o Bo om Dogs dealing wi h his ea lie
Los Angeles li e, un ela ed o he ma e iali y o his neighbo hood.
Dahlbe g‘s conce n in his pa o he no el –oddly disco dan wi h
he aes he icized sec ions ea u ing Lo y as cen e o
consciousness— is o show aliena ed cha ac e s s uggling o ind a
sense o hei li es in Bensonhu s . Two o hese a e ecen
immig an s o he US, he Ge man-Du ch Willy Huppe , who
becomes a boa de wi h he Lewises, and he A gen inian Je y
Cale onia, who mee s Lizzie Lewis and has hopes o seducing he .
Bo h Huppe and Cale onia eel linguis ically and cul u ally
ma ginal, lacking luency in English and he capaci y o engage wi h
Ame ican social no ms o en ep eneu ship. Ini ially spellbound by
he New Yo k sigh s o he Ba e y, he S a ue o Libe y and he
island e ies, Willy Huppe despe a ely seeks a manage o pu sue
his boxing d eam, bu his li e is de e mined by a 12-hou job in a
s o e and a pe sis en soli ude: ―on la e a e noons, he liked o
sp awl on a pa kbench and alk o Ame icans‖ (Wo ks 339). Mo e
symbolically ele an o his sec ion, howe e , is he A gen inian
Je y Cale onia, he cha ac e used by Dahlbe g o ocalize he
160 Ma ín U diales-Shaw
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simul aneously memo ialized and ma e ialized, h ough an ongoing
jux aposi ion o pas and p esen na a i e ime ames.
Flushing d aws o a close in Pa Six, as Lo y inally
abandons hei enemen a e selling he u ni u e. Now ac ually
o phaned and homeless, he ge s ―caugh up in a Communis Rio a
Union Squa e‖ (Williams ―Laza us‖ 31) iolen ly dispe sed by police.
Th ough a de amilia ized pe spec i e, he s a ing Lo y is shown
picking a peanu om he sidewalk in Union Squa e, and suddenly
inding himsel amids ―a pa ade‖ he hinks is chan ing ―a ma ch ime
hymnal p ocession‖ (Wo ks 472-3), as ing ained memo ies o
o phanage imes ake o e ye again. Hu by he moun ed police
who a e b eaking up he ally and unawa e o i s poli ical
signi icance, Lo y con inues walking owa d Washing on Squa e,
chewing on he peanu and singing an o phanage hymn. Resuming
an expe imen al na a i e mode, Dahlbe g e en has he hymn‘s
music shee p in ed on he page. The no el ends wi h Lo y chan ing
his hymn, musing
T eading along, his hin soles, callousbu ns agains his ee , he
hough he would go somewhe e, bu he didn‘ know whe e […]
Vaguely, he belie ed, going, going somewhe e, would be mo e
possible o him han doing. Bu wha could he push himsel in o,
whe e could he d i e himsel ? Cle eland, Chi, F isco, L.A., hey
made him mu e wi h cold. They we e he nas ywe sea s- oebuck
ca alogue shee s o a leaky ou house up agains him. (Wo ks 474-5)
This las men al image, obscu ely ou da ed oday, jux aposes
he agic allu e o consume cul u e o he g im ce ain ies o Lo y‘s
homelessness and po e y. Coun e pa o oday‘s online Amazon,
he Sea s-Roebuck, an ea ly cen u y mail o de ca alogue which
amously ad e ised, among o he goods, homes and cabins o be se
up on one‘s p ope y, was ypically ecycled o oile pape shee s in
he ―ou house,‖ i sel also ad e ised wi hin hese pages (―The Sea s
Ca alog‖). As Lo y wande s cen al New Yo k aimlessly, hese
Ame ican ci ies a e imaged as ―nas ywe sea s- oebuck ca alogue
shee s,‖ disca ded si es o his childhood and adolescence, me ging in
his memo y as almos indis inguishable places. This inal sequence,
wi h i s b inging oge he o Ame ican me opolises, he na ionwide
bible o consume capi alism, and he homelessness o he u ban
wande e , becomes ma kedly in o med by a discou se o spa iali y
which signi ican ly pe o ms he Le eb ian pa adigm o he

“He was in no place and no place was in him”: Edwa d Dahlbe g’s 161
Au obiog aphical Fic ions as an Epis emology o Si es
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―p oduc ion o space,‖ as ―[bo h] a p econdi ion and a esul o social
supe s uc u es [o ] he S a e‖ (q d. in Tally 117). Indeed, Dahlbe g
highligh ed ― he ine i abili y o ailu e o he dolla less Ame ican
apped in a capi alis ic socie y‖ (q d. in Williams ―Laza us‖ 30) as a
signi ican heme o Flushing.
Read oge he , he wo ea ly au obiog aphical ic ions Bo om
Dogs and Flushing cha he complex in e ela edness o place in
Lo y‘s o ma i e yea s, shaping a e y dis inc app oach o he
na a i e o Dahlbe g‘s li e, one ha enac s Foucaul ‘s p emise on
he ‗spa ial u n‘ o he wen ie h cen u y. The ways in which he
o phanage and he LA YMCA in ude nos algically in o la e New
Yo k li e, he ac ha Lo y‘s au obiog aphical s o y-line ecedes
om he Cal a y and Bensonhu s sec ions, he pa icula
e/p esen a ion o Coney Island as supplie o simulac a, and he
open-endedness o Flushing, showing a homeless Lo y mechanically
d i ing in he ci y, e eal an ongoing conce n wi h he pu sui o
si ua edness ha always in igued Dahlbe g, as much as i eluded
him. In he absence o a s able home, he amilia spaces o
Lo y‘s/Dahlbe g‘s you h emain he e o opic si es, in hemsel es
su oga e homes, while he ci ies beyond –Cle eland, Los Angeles,
New Yo k— pass in quick succession and become o him ―aliena ed
ci ies,‖ in he e ms se ou by Ke in Lynch, and la e espoused by
F ed ic Jameson (Jameson 51; Lynch q d. in Tally 71): spaces which
a e unmappable, ung aspable in hei u ban o ali y.
Ano he way in which he ques ion o si ua edness becomes
cen al o hese ea ly no els has been men ioned ea ly on in his
essay, and dese es u he commen . This in ol es Dahlbe g‘s
―posi ion‖ and ―way inding‖ as a young w i e , composing hese
Ame ican no els abou Ame ican spaces om Eu opean places
(F ance, Belgium, England) and unde he in luence o Anglo-I ish
mode nism. Al hough bo h no els ace Lo y‘s you h ch onologically
and a e app op ia ely ead in sequence ( he la e , as has been
discussed, o en e oking he spaces o he o me ), hey ne e heless
cha a signi ican shi in e ms o gen e. The a he consis en
na a i e linea i y o Bo om Dogs, b oken only by wo chap e s
owa ds he no el‘s end, gi es way o he aes he ic expe imen a ion
o Flushing, wi h i s polyphonic Pa 4, i s s eam o consciousness
memo y sec ions, he jux aposi ion o ime- ames, and he collaging-
in o musical no a ion. C i ics ha e o en labelled hese wo ks,
pa icula ly Bo om Dogs, as ―classic(s) o p ole a ian li e a u e,‖
ending o ocus on he unde lying hemes o penu y and economic
162 Ma ín U diales-Shaw
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s uggle which unde lie he na a i e. Bu i is ha d o econcile
Dahlbe g‘s s yle, e en in Bo om Dogs, wi h he ealism and
na u alism ha cha ac e ized he social no els o he pe iod,
17
while
Flushing e y clea ly swi ches in o a mode nis aes he ics ha clea ly
ou weighs a sense o social c i ique. Ul ima ely, Dahlbe g‘s li e a y
space in he la e wen ies and ea ly hi ies becomes shi ing g ound,
a complex c oss oads ha blends wo king-class consciousness wi h
mode nis o m, unde he compe ing in luences o he ideological
18
and he a is ic.
In he 1940s and 1950s, as he w i e u ned away om
au obiog aphical ic ion o essay w i ing, philosophical and
an h opological enqui y, and he e ision o li e a y my hs, he
no ions o absen si es, homelessness o inne exile emained a
lei mo i o his w i ings, as a ious commen a o s obse ed.
Commen ing on one o hese la e , be e known books, The Ca nal
My h, An hony Bu gess in e p e s Dahlbe g‘s ision o Ame ican
iden i y in he New Wo ld: ―The Ame ican has been dwa ed by a
con inen so la ge i canno e e be a home‖ (Williams T ibu e 62). On
he pa , c i ic Kay Boyle e e s o Dahlbe g as a ―man in he
wilde ness,‖ who knew ―he was des ined, bo h as man and w i e , o
be an exile in he land o his bi h‖ (Williams T ibu e 68). Bu ,
pe haps, one o he mos insigh ul assessmen s o Dahlbe g‘s
indi idual and a is ic s uggle wi h a sense o place is eco ded by
A no Ka len, himsel a a e in ellec ual who s addled he ields o
li e a y c ea ion, as a poe and sho s o y w i e , wi h his medical
specializa ion in sexuali y and psychoanalysis:
17
In his e a, an in e es ing coun e poin o Dahlbe g‘s ea ly wo k is Daniel Fuchs‘
Summe in Williamsbu g (1934) a na u alis ic ic ion which p ominen ly ex ualizes, in
socioeconomic, psychological and e hnic e ms, he in luence o New Yo k dis ic s
(Williamsbu g, Manha an, and o he s) on he cha ac e s‘ des inies.
18
Dahlbe g joined he Communis Pa y in 1934 and published his hi d no el, Those
Who Pe ish, ha same yea . A he ime, a commen a o o he Ma xis jou nal New
Masses, a emp ing o si ua e Dahlbe g poli ically h ough a e iew o he new no el,
w o e: ―[a e Bo om Dogs and Flushing] he e has been unce ain y as o Dahlbe g‘s
posi ion as a w i e ‖ (Bu nshaw 26). This e iewe goes on o celeb a e Dahlbe g‘s
p og ess om ― he pic u es o decay‖ (i.e., Flushing) bu is ha d pu o label Those Who
Pe ish as ― e olu iona y ic ion,‖ as i conce ns ―complex middle-class indi iduals‖
(Bu nshaw 27). Today, his wo k is chie ly emembe ed as he i s Ame ican an i-Nazi
no el, w i en in he wake o Dahlbe g‘s a e ul isi o Ge many in 1933.
“He was in no place and no place was in him”: Edwa d Dahlbe g’s 163
Au obiog aphical Fic ions as an Epis emology o Si es
Re is a de Es udios No eame icanos 21 (2017), Se ille, Spain. ISSN 1133-309-X. pp. 145-165
[Dahlbe g] bounces as he walks he ea h, wi hou he ballas o
inhe i ed my h, longing o e en he memo y o a homeland and
ances al house. Bu e en he memo y is o go en … so i c ies o
ec ea ion e e y day in his wo k. The ec ea ion is pa guess, pa
in en ion, pa he memo y o emembe ing. So i is ne e igh . The
bes success ails and makes him y again. So he emains an a is .
And in his a he p o es ha an Ame ican, an a is , a Jew, a
a he less son li es ou he my h o my hlessness, i sel a Sa gasso
homeland. (Williams T ibu e 73)
Looking back om ea ly old age a his beginnings as a w i e
in he la e wen ies, Dahlbe g s ill e lec ed on bo h he place and he
disloca ion o his ea ly ic ion. In 1961, li ing in he medi e anean
island own o Solle , in Majo ca, Dahlbe g composed a b ie p e ace
o Bo om Dogs a he enewal o he wo k‘s copy igh . Thi y yea s
a e he no el‘s i s and la gely unsuccess ul publica ion, in his
p e ace he w i e eminisces on wha he now pe cei es as he no el‘s
cen al law, he ― ough, bleak idiom‖ (Wo ks 145) ha ma e ialized
om his ea ly a emp s o p oduce ―a e nacula Ame ican Ulysses‖
(Billings, Wo ks x i) which would b ing oge he mode nis
aes he ics, social ic ion and he Ame ican scene. So Dahlbe g
linge s, inally, bo h in ―no place‖ and in oo many places, one o he
mos ascina ingly in e s i ial w i e s in he Ame ican wen ie h
cen u y.
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