“And you can be Henry Miller,
And I’ll be Anaïs Nin;
Except this time it’ll be even better ―
We’ll stay together in the end...”
Thus began the first reference I’d known to the famed author ― a song, “Morning Song”, by Jewel, which I had first heard when I was twelve and already a doomed, lifelong romantic. And, until recently, it was my only real reference to the diarist. Which, looking back on my life, is surprising (I have a degree in English ― which included a class on French Women In Literature ― and write about sexuality here as an adult.) But still, I think it’s time we gave more than just a lyric-length focus to one of the most celebrated feminists of the 20th century.
Before I get going, I need to give some content warnings. Nin lived a very, very adult life exploring both in writing and in personal life lots of taboos, up to and including but not stopping at; incest, bigamy, and unethical psychoanalytical practices. One may easily categorize her for these things as someone who deserves to be in the Rogue’s Gallery, and I would understand them making that discernment. Also please note: this article is sort of a taster on such an impactful life, so it is more like an overview than a deep dive into the secrets of Nin.
Born in 1903 in France to her mother, Rosa, a classically trained French singer, and Joaquin, a Cuban composer, and pianist, Anaïs Nin had two brothers. By the time she was a toddler, her parents separated (with her father not being involved with her life for another twenty years) and the family eventually moved to New York City. As a result, by the time she was an adult, she was fluent in three languages (Spanish, French, and English) and would use them interchangeably in her personal writings ― starting up her diaries at the age of 11.
In 1923 at the age of 20, Nin married her first husband, banker (and later experimental artist) Hugh Guiler; within a year, the couple moved to Paris. While her husband pursued his banking career, she supplemented the house income by working as an artist’s model and flamenco dancer while continuing to develop her voice and work as a writer. By 1932, she had penned and published D.H. Lawrence: An Unprofessional Study; while not a big commercial success, it was a literary one that brought her into the bohemian social circles of the time, meeting many luminaries ― perhaps the most important amongst them, American author Henry Miller.
As a child, Nin became fascinated with erotica and, as an adult, wrote adult stories on private commission along with Miller in order to earn some coin (these stories were published posthumously). She also served as an editor on some of Miller’s manuscripts.
While Nin initially attempted to be a conventional wife to Guiler, she found that this role did not suit her and ended up having multiple affairs, including a protracted one with Miller. This affair deeply influenced her writing and her personal life and was well-documented over the course of her diaries. In a journal later named Henry and June, Nin detailed her sexual exploits with Miller as well as her attraction to wife June, deeming her something of an irresistible femme fatale who fascinated her. While it’s unclear if the attraction was consummated (though it likely was), it’s certain that Nin felt and wrote profusely about this same-sex attraction.
During the 1920s and 1930s, Nin also became fascinated with psychoanalysis. She studied under the tutelage of Otto Frank (a disciple of Sigmund Freud) and Rene Allendy, and later took on her own dubious practice of the profession. These were not done on ethical terms, as Nin took both Frank and Allendy and some of her “clients” as lovers (a no-no as therapists are supposed to remain emotionally objective and uninvolved with their clients). That said, these discoveries also showed up in both her works as an author and as a diarist.
When Nin was 30, her father reconnected with her 20 years after abandoning the family, and the two had an incestuous affair for a few weeks. Nin details this tryst in her later expurgated diaries as well as heavily alluded to it in her 1936 novel, House of Incest.
With World War II looming, Nin and Guiler moved to New York. During the ‘40s, on an elevator up to a party, Nin met Rupert Pole, a handsome actor and forest ranger, 16 years her junior, and the two quickly fell in love. While still married to her first husband, Nin married Pole and went to great lengths to keep them secret from each other. To point, she both kept a large enough purse to keep checkbooks and prescription bottles for each name as well as a “lie box”, where she kept records of what she told each husband in order to keep the fabrications and narratives straight.
While Nin experienced some success with her novels, it was the publication of her diaries in the 1960s that led her to both notoriety as well as commercial and cultural success. Her sordidly detailed journals spoke to both her personal exploits as well as the submissive narrative many women of the time were supposed to keep in the bedroom as well as in the domestic arena and how limiting that could be. These writings found a universal resonance with women and ended up being a surprising feminist touchstone in academia as well as pop culture. Nin would end up going on lectures at various universities in order to promote the works and discuss their findings.
After the publication of many novels and most of her diaries, Nin passed away in 1977 at the age of 73. While she passed almost fifty years ago, her legacy lives on. Her work directly inspired Madonna’s creation of her saucy 1992 coffee table book, Sex. She is one of the first noted erotic female writers in Western culture, alongside Kate Chopin. Her frank and open discussion of sex, her role in her own erotic life, and musings on sex from a female point of view are a big reason why we have such heralded works about women discussing these subjects in Sex And the City and Lena Dunham. Her works even sparked the framework for Meghan Markle’s recent turn as a guest editor of Vogue.
Anaïs Nin was controversial, incendiary, and a pioneer for women’s sexual agency and frank, and open discussions about sexuality without shame. And she was bi.
One final thing: Readers, please note that a brief article like this one cannot summarize the rich, full life of such an illustrious figure. If you are curious to learn more about Nin (like the fact that she recorded some of her diaries, so you can hear her read her own work) I highly encourage you to consider this article a taster about her life. Please feel free to explore her journey and writings online and at your local library. And maybe the occasional Jewel song.
Comments
Facebook Comments