Editing Partisan Review (section)

===Establishment===
The literary journal ''Partisan Review (PR)'' was launched in New York City in 1934<ref>{{cite journal|author=Louis D. Rubin Jr.|author-link=Louis D. Rubin Jr.|title=Several Literary Magazines|journal=[[The Sewanee Review]]|date=Spring 1965|volume=73|issue=2|pages=320–330|jstor=27541124}}</ref> by the [[John Reed Clubs|John Reed Club of New York]] — a [[mass organization]] of the [[Communist Party, USA]] (CPUSA).{{sfn|Gilbert|1974|p=548}} The publication was published and edited by two members of the New York club, [[Philip Rahv]] and [[William Phillips (editor)|William Phillips]]. The launch of the magazine was assisted by the editors of ''[[New Masses]],'' the Communist Party's national artistic and literary magazine, including [[Joseph Freeman (writer)|Joseph Freeman]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1974|pp=549–550}}

Early issues of the magazine included a mixture of ostensibly [[proletarian literature]] and essays of cultural commentary — the latter of which became a hallmark of ''PR'' for the whole of its nearly seven decades of existence. Rahv and Phillips were strongly committed to the idea that radical new artistic forms and radical politics could be successfully combined and were critical of much of the form and hackneyed content of much of what passed as "proletarian literature". This critical perspective brought the pair into conflict with party stalwarts at the ''New Masses'' such as [[Mike Gold]] and [[Granville Hicks]] but was not sufficient to break ''Partisan Review'' from the [[Communist Party USA]] (CPUSA) orbit.{{sfn|Gilbert|1974|p=549}}

In 1936 as part of its [[Popular Front]] strategy of uniting Communist and non-Communist intellectuals against [[fascism]], the CPUSA launched a new mass organization called the [[League of American Writers]], abandoning the John Reed Clubs as part of the change.{{sfn|Gilbert|1974|p=550}} ''PR'' editors Phillips and Rahv were disaffected by the change, seeing the new organization as a watering down and mainstreaming of the party's commitment to a new, radical, proletarian literature. Intellectual interest turned to events abroad and interest in ''PR'' faltered to the point that effective with its October 1936 issue, publication of the magazine was suspended.{{sfn|Gilbert|1974|p=550}}