Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Oct. 17, 1911, edition 1 / Page 4
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OUR ALT.1A IIATER SEES : " HER 118TH BIRTHDAY ' ' Continued from' Second Page. compare' for a" moment " in' in tellectual or ? 1 moral ' traits with Such historical - characters as Pocahontas; Miantonimoh,1 Mass- aSsoit; Hettdrick; Occum, or Brant. Odeum ' and Hendrix, it may be added, were 'both Mohicans ' and, were contemporary with JCHin- 'gachgook and Uncas ' "But'; whether J idealized or hot the' Indian of 'Cooper' has,' io, ' e H ry part' 'of Europe, "made bur early history synonymous ,? with 'romance . ' He! has" supplied a means-of 'contrast 'for1 out "highly institutionalized'1 life. - ' He J has. furnished ' th6 1 pbten Hal'materil for 'a national drama' and a' 'na ti6nal!6pera. 'yHe-1 has -proved no juiy iiic auvu ju -j aa ; " y wrought our national" genesis but the j background "agatnSt which 'Europe cbhfcmplates'with'nndi- riii nf shed interest the early3 -cen- ' t dries' bf'oui4 aationol existence J ''" But if " Cooper ! had" ' nevef been. born, American literature wOuld, still have interest for' ' foreigners Let me remind' 'ydu' that'iintirrei cenlly the only r'eedgriied "types. of 'literature' were epic 'poetry, lyr Tic ptry;dra'matic''''p6'eti,y, the. essay, the history, the' novel,' the, biography,4 ana the orktion: ? iTuiLQjjdlcir Harris, aineSffyaheA these must now be added the'short story, and ' in the short "Story American ' writers' have" sCdredJ " their most distinctive r triumph ,.J The short story is not the child of the novel; it is not a Story "that is merely snort, it is a story tuaij - V. i t. ! 1 'J j Li t.- j ,11 a . . could not be 'longer or ' shbrter could--not 'be''1 othef than it is. without sacnhCing its individual ity'.' Prbf essor Bran der Mat the ws suggests tnat tne American snori-i story should be written1 witt a1 hypeii ' (shbrt-stbry) to' "indicate its distinctiveness as a 5 literary r ' type. Schenback says that tlie-J short story differs from tlie nove about as much as an example ii multiplication differs from' the, ' slower' process of addition. 1 - The older masters of the Amer ican short story were Irving, Pocv Hawthorne, and Bret Harte. These are all widely known in foreign lands, though Poe takes easy precedence among them. Iu-4 deed, he, is justly considered the father of the American short storv as a distinctive art crea- tion. His criterion was ''toialiiy of effect." The word that best- . characterizes Poe's constructive art is the work convergence.' There are no parallel lines , in his best work. With the opening sentence of his stories the'linesi ; begin to converge toward a pre determined effect. "If the 'auth or's very initial sentence, " says Poe, "tend not to' the outbringing. of this effect, then he has failed- in nis nrst step, in tne wnoie domposition "there, should be no word written, of which the" ten dency, direct, or indirect is not to the one pre-established de sign." Poe's short stories fall into two structural; types. ? In the? first , there is an unbroken cumulative movement from the first . para- . graph to the last; in the -second, s the mvsterv deeoens in the firsts half and is . comoletelv. solved in - , . . . ii.. l...lf C.-L ,4j ( may be represented by a capital A: the lines 'of interest convergii and culminate at the apex. -The . sprond tvne mav be renresMitpfll bv a capital B: the story, in otli- - r j . ' er - words, is divided' into two and corresponding sections or semicircles. To the- first classf belongs . "The Fall of the Houst of Usher"; to the second class be- 1. rigsHhedeUktivestory. of which Poe is considered to be the foun der. The American short story ap peals to - foreigners because they see - certain ; -typical American qualitiesinits directness Of nar rative, in t its eeonomy of detai 1?, in the business-likeeffictentywi l fi which it goes about itsfi'wdrk.' There- is no., formal introduction: it iust beerins. -- It dDesnoM'an- guisn to a. conclusion :--u8tmpiy stops. ' Its brevity, too, is-ehar- acterisncauy American'5 it-consumes in the, readine-bout the same lengtaot, time 4hat is pent on a game of football or baseball; But 1avmore?iotabl service rendered ibyt theAmedcatfshof-t P story especially since 1870,V is that,ri4norfethai'any& the'fpi m ofr literature, ifcwhasloacern itself -with iocalrcOlorV" locafctfia r- icters ,o locaJ f h4story-tradjiradi-1 ; trons. v ' We Jiavit lear ried Jitoltnow the ti liferent sebtions'of xiur owj bwide -country chief I5 tfarougb the writers. ? vyNeirtMglandhte, is reproduced in the works of J6arah OmeJawettandrMity 15Wil inSi theiMtddle-WestAlivesne works-J&f Ham! hrGartand, 0 wen WisteTs jp and i- rMa rkrTwain; jtlj;. FarWest "has itsrfeistorifi' in BretTHarteyYaadtbe-SouthAnd its interpreters rn rt'George Wt Cable1, Miss-iGrace -?King?oyi 1 en r'and ! Themas Nelsan Pago . Other nations"; hat rwputariicd their? 4iist6ry. thrbujgfh 6velst ind pofetry. JSuroi 1fno s ife tetter, ifaereforedr at'leastjnaSrthtf b. Idrtttnity of? knowing usn4etfeV; threu gh -otii shortsstorieft t trfh i hrougk OttiorytsrOuTnbl v) s dr out forfflaf litstSries. If mad be'said thdt tlfe feScetosi of dialect in American 6hdrf 'stories sinie;il870 'Iilt! writers' frbnf 'beiagTead as wide ly a-s thew'cniMiJfttnfetwis ha yi been.'f '-Iflpite ' ft the dwrig Eurbpean rn teret tri'tfie'lflegro; foPtHAp mbm hisltttgniiiited a translati6tf bfthncteRemu's stories. T nded hardly say thaf"hOther tMi prevalence1 in it'dt1 AiheHdar Efflindr! Wheth- et vM like it" Or ndt'welare'con deredJ1irn'nf 61ks7A PttmiBenf 5a'mfiT,AFrinklintV1Mafk1 Twain ' Amdricaiis 4iave"',btieil J'the cfiief pUfv'eybi's bf 5hiesomet,nieirri ment; ' We ' have' n6t?i,6nly- frred tHe" IkughJ heara round'-the wdrltj but W have"' done mbrd than ? ant Vtlier!tfatidntddm'orati2-laugh; teritself'erisibrf,4hypdfcrisyi!l 'tconVehtionality, pomposity iht& are thrtf targets. ,; "At' bot ifim," saysu'Dr; -Van ':'Dykc: '"AmfeificanTiurnor is baked upon the demo&ati alssiimptidft niiaff the-'? Artificial ' fetinetibnS' arid conVentiorrar'phrases of4' life are in thehis1elv'eariiusiig., When Cladstene4 . ; .t was wlial "he i 1 consrdered 'the ' leading eft aractemtic oY Amlcan htl ihoY cfiara he' p'romptliTrepIied "Exagera- iion, anu uiusiraieu pis point oy 't'tie st'dry of an 'America inercl anwlio wKen the pride of irtk "rose,' ''Claimed' 16 nave'saved; J a "hundred1 tli6usandva"b"llars i'year by not ddttin'g his' " LL Whet ti er weutfdnimc'nda Or hbt Kthe! aptt riesfe 6fbtlii;4Irusfratib4f there is dfatiib't.ttiititckaVtb appeal ' ariCef lTvhigsf J Krriclcetbotker Hts'tbry W N(iW'Y6rk,al809) to the' presenf ''time exaggeritida hdSetfpkffof'but'tfeimoraridt''d ,th&esuggestidni,'hai'beeiit made that it" is7 aMtr'a'i t inher ited J f f d mw Vu ff"EHzabethan ,ahceJstors.rr'Mar'lr Twain sayS Professdr Br'alidctfc'Matthews, A,is th"e tWemostr bFA'nlcrt&tfftu'mor- ists because be'thus'rfttps us o our ItUlif aoetkaif ;Wigins." On the contrary Mark Twain seems ttdttWffUfetJttrettosit of tin hunioY ists not because he suggests ttte past but solely because he vJ pfesseVthe-rJresentlThe expla natibrf rjflSxScgefation in Ainert- dan 'hiSmbfls' H6"bt" 'sbugli't pri- niartly W tnbfgriess "'6f Hire tilings that cbnfront the' Ami ri am 'oi athiides? ; The" Ten gtti of A'merfcari urfve the 'height' of mdaimbuntainsrtHe distandfe f rbnr JSroW oSbtith vand"f roW Easft-Westi th 'phenbmena gfdveth of Meriiarj)Uiatibi t"g-ighticdmbliittidtis 1 "of Amerltari' capitaf, M thfevatic 6rou'cfbfAnlet!cati sbntlie t hingtf Sbbheot rdtTof m et- 'statea'nd 4thek HttttiiAitditoi Vfva1ry"that"fb'uin'd' feadVxpro sitod' inlrrmtsvrSta'tehle' n 'The fdreigriew 6f themVig nltude'Wf things AmeTicar' ivus Wehpressed'by 'd'1 FreHihinan' itTa fdrribteld tf 'translation5 df rpnbvels: ;i trifetm re- tnehibefspaks f trees' iisn.lly bytheif fifst nanies HdJ 'does fiol'say ickdry 'ttebf tak tWe" bt a $6ptif tree Tiuf a-foitftdry, aa'oak'dpopla?.' fc Itt imti'ts saVe hef sa'S'tfilc e'erslafer tlis- hftrjtintetf'and lirtiilrea rris'hbfsi' io tlMftnt) dfalotust Pfti&Fmcln fttan toickryKneWnbid4ust btfr'the rsectlS(satlterelfe) jl.ut .Iddedl the'fbUihg itrumiriania g I'ibtei'-In America'" these idsects $t&if tdsncha" siifHtfathses 4rtre'tiften;"Hitichea 'f tr theif tiead tftnbs.M The Ibreigner's appfectatibn. df the skilfurtiseTtb whicK'exagger-' attonTis put iri Ameficatf "hunnSr may be measured in p"4rt' by 'the esteem in ' whicK- Mark Twaiit' wotks'are "held' both in tigland "ani on "the" continent: '"Since' the death of Charles Dickens' said .he''EvMfSiadardk tvf ofXondbh,' no'wrlter1 EHgii&h h as bee ftVsd generally read. 'MHe wai mbresteemed " iia 'Germany;' s'ai3 ' the ' 1 Berlinea ' Zeitting-' AM Mitid2rHHn all ffie Fi-'erfch and Etiglisk KuindHsts futTdget6er; " The 1 ast characteristic t of American -literature that I shkl mention deserves far more- time than can be given it Here, It -is" a characteristic that has " been most cfearly, stated fby German critics. In his "Hi$tor of Ame ."' -r ' ' ',' " ' i -, lean Jwiieraiure- ivauara u;ngej says: v 'So far from ibetng edn- 4aminated by the Americans' alleged - love of gain getting. 6 far from being: affected by wh i f is proverbially kno'wn "as -Yankee- fisin American -iitetature - shows decidedly-less of these yery.trkif ithan dd-the literatures of most otnr-ations,. in-4actr tne tun- damental characteristic of Amer' ioan-litrature is its idealism. All' eat Vwriters in Americaalt writer- considered i 'great4rhav been-without-exception tdealistsJI , , , 1 7 j yesy ideaiists raised to the- n'thtco'tisei'buslf ,i seCs'or 'feels"' some boWert and it is - no accident Ithaifrom-an-American pdet, frrtni Longfellow, the irorld has ''fre cet yed-t bat eotqusi te poem whtwe refrainr 'Excelsior j : has "beebnu the watchword of idealists in iiit 4 lands." , , Th4si is high praise to pay American literature but- iti "abundantly merited. Erigel might-have-metltioriidf in -addi- ttiotl J toLcrngrelhow s'f amil i a r jii6Enietsori,s-,-4Fbrettiniliers," Hath'bre'tG'reat Stdfrie FaceT'f Poe's 'Eldorado;" - Lowell's "L' 'EhYoi,,td ,the'wMuse,;, Holmes's tiers' ""VaiiShers'f or Lahier's SoYi-f " dfthe1- Cha'ttahbdchee.' They f- ;a'rt tone 1 and : all iftSti net with 'art' idealism 'as pure'ttd as 'high ks Vhy ilitcrktur(J'ckttshoW.',)ritogriizcd ' irt: dur '- literature.' IftaccTlirb,e G't&i Stdrie'"' Face11) These' forces' arc' individualism -jcens1 to1 mc thfe bigiieift rcaclrdi',and!colkCtitiin:, vt, as'Iprefer'to idealism to which 'an :AmericarV short 'story ! has ' ever 'attained; It sets sa Standard- by ' which' an nation' may -'measurti its progress - 'itt moral aMdHritcliectual' 'worth.1 iBiV let - me ' remirid ' vbu thavmocracy, is thatnaenaency in nu- inahy bf dur fcritics 'concede ideaM'fuan' society to" 'emphasize' the is'm'.to' American7 literature" biit'j deny it to -Anieriiari life. -This indeed' id brie' of f W battlegrounds bf"'5donfltctirig OpinionJ To tr,r mind the"uman who' sees in tlie typical- AmeTicart ' only 'or chief l'yf the greedy-money -getter - or hl rkbid"bfficeeeker iS'J suffe'rinir'f ibrely fJ-frOmr' spiritual myopia. The?e are,' it? must be remembered, hwd kinds Of idealisnii fhe-ldeal- ism'that dreamsf and the idealism that'idoes. In the' fdrtnet the1 visroh- is an end ih itself, in the' latler it'Jsbtily' anleans to; attend'." Th'e formeif r we" may 1 calll!slibieci- tlve'idealism, the1 latter construt- tive" idealism - ThiS' kind of idealism? the; cdnstriifctive- typc',' ha's chaYacterized the" Am?ric;i'rf people from w begitining; ;'ti explains why in the Hall of Fan'ie meri of ' attiort t ake preeeden ce o I ' men of'men ! "of abstract 1 thou gh .' Ilexplains the; difference of att U tude on the'part of Americar s tdwa'rd' millionaires who 'inhei ii dr,!h6ard their "Wealth ttrid ttibe whb expend it constructively :! we have iearned that'' Richessc oblige! It explainswhy sEmersorf and 'Jefferson are juoted more 'ofti ri bytaien of all shades of -fopitlton than any other tworiterS in uf literature. Itirexplains why Poe is'tomitfg into-' hisfown: wefafv1 beginning 'to recognize t that b 1 waty essentially -American because1 iiewas as . truly a constructive force fn American ; literature hs vas"Ed wards in theology or Jef ; i erson in ?politi cs . I b expl A in dUT'loyalty to the stars and bars as- well as' to the' staTS and Stripe; It-explains the sweep of our civi! iiation r westward .td the PaciilV and across the" ' Paci fic to 'the Philippine Mands. I tv ''explains our1 capacity for expecting grea t things. . ''It explains' bur 'dissatislattticw With' the !presenit'cbndition'bf our dhbblS ljand "cOlleges; of - oii'r huibheS'and'chatitablergani' 'itionsi'of ' our city 'governments; Hhr'state'gOvfefnmentsy J and' our M a" tioTiar governments "This' dij; f s;ttisf attiort is ndt weak or1 querul ous. 'It is' born-of an "ingrained idealism.' ' It is'cbnstructive ih itSa endS ' 'arid ' beneficent - in1 its purposes? 1 It' is ' Excelsior 1 set to' Inarch' time. The" Americaii1' Indian, ; the Amefican shbrt story," American humbr arid American'' idealism- fhese are ' the elements of our tlie n tefature that havt-' madP "deepest u impression "upon the European 'niind. u Why? 1 There "srm'sto"' mfeM,6nlf'one ariswerr! - hsei'are'HHtf the;jEurob6'ari:"c'6nftrfrtus1v tTiingMis'tinc'tively' and bsentiali 1 V'-Amricari; 'Other.n'ationkVi'faie'mbers a'trreeff the 'hrtr R. llf'efkthreSi,cbhbern,iitlieiihselvefyuf wiiu iuuidus ui umci savdtrc pedptes,)'' with the' 'Shbtt stor)'',' With htrnibr, with idealism. In deed I know of no'Eurbpean tik tMrf whosVi' literal ture'dahttot show' hbtablec kchleyerftents in all of these reaches of literary effort." jtitt1 there' isemething' about the A inericiin 3 aChie Vemeri t in - these ' thiiigS that' stamps itself as ria- tiyhaliy tharacteristid' What 1 is it? It is, I believe',-' the action k'dd' ihtefattion of 'twd mighty' long been recognized "-in' our 1 political life; bur VeligiOusi' lifc,' our eco nomic life, and out1' 'educational lif6 bit' -hich 1 have0 nctbden call them, individualism and in- HtitUtionahsm. " ''Individualism, vm defined byexpresidentEliot in 1 ' The 1 Cvnptt between 'inawutu- (tH$nf toid:bmtivtm itiK-Dc- tights of each" person and to place a high value ort initiative." Collectiveism is: 'then'tendency (d,! distrust" individual initiative ;tad to'hold "that' the'interest of 1 he' many- should 'Override the in terest ' of the1 individual;" 'and, whenever the two'cOnflicti shbuld C'Ott'trol Social1 afctioa, and H'ct' does uot-'rprbpOse' td 'etiriguish' the in dividual but1 only to testrt'et'him foi4 the' common' good,' ! inbluding hisfown:" ! 'Since- 1870- Cblle'ttiv ism 'aS a social force,5 EV; Eliot linds;1 has made Steadyaiiis in our' industries," education' and evernment.'' Evidently' DH El- ' iot'S ' defitrit0ns', avail' 'little1 in literature' whett-it is cot'a'tjues tion ' 1 of rights," social or ;other- -wis'e', but' a'questiou of1 'hbitf life rs! 'Wo ked 'a t ' a nd ' ' ho w 1 c h aTic t e r iS'pr'dtrayed. ' 1 Prbfesof Kurib ' Fraridke" com ments on thesfe'tWb'forfces'aS they irikfaifest" thehiselVes '1tr'Gertnan lit'erattireay 'follbws:; ' "If "seems to' nib thai" all" literary 'ddVelop men't is determined'by' thb ences- sarit 'conflict' of two'fc'lc'merital hu- Viiari"i'endencesHVth,ei'''Vdn'aency tdvvkrd 'freedom' and 'the' tendency towkrd ' collective brganktion. 1kHe fornief leadtb the'' bbserva tidri'and fepi-esehtation'of Svhat e Ver is" striking,'" gen nib!?; i n.d i- V1dual; ih shdft td'rWalisnl'The letter' leads' to ' the observation ann. re'fJrese'ii t'itti'on'bf 'iv'li'ateter is beaetiful',!significant;"universal; iti Short' tb idealism',i ' Unchecked iitdividualism may lead' to vul-. 'ar' naitifalism; or 'a fanatic thyst iltsm". 8 Unchecked collectivism Way lead tof 'art'iempty Coriven tionalism". Without attempting' tb rribdify, f;if less to'COntcoVett; thbvpoint a T ' v i e w w hi c h ' Pro f cssor Fran ck e h.is Wse'arthihgiy arid brilliantly i!lustratfcd iri' higreat1 bdbk, let W phrase' th'e'itpbblerii;iras it re cites' to'" Ariiericanr liter ktUre, a little1 differently.- Let 'us call ii.- tiividualism the tendenfcy Hb re gard arid tb pgtray humkri'cliar ;eter as a' S'eparate'unif .'' Let us c'all institutionalisiii' the 'tridency tb' potray' huinan:;; cliara'cter in Unit "groups." An' 'individualist, then;" pkrayS Character In1 the Wknner'of a ps'ycholdgist; krid in stitutionklist, in the 'manner of a SociologistJ ,( Thel' one 'views life hi's so 'hiany' separkte ' peaks the other W a scried tarigc, - Ele Foe ' was" par excellence an individualist when " he created tlie" character of 'Robinson' Crusoe. limerson became the philosopher dfSindividualism' when 'TiW' said; aoVknir. ---v h iuv iuu ij ui uur its"niembers; Rririptv anli Mtockcotrinanv: 1 in wliit'h' the r noiaer. to surrenat r' tnr-Minpr i'kiidtUltut,e,ofJthee'kter''.''!i,AKii iine' hik!S' ilWsti4iVffli ' vrJAlt ;. . O vjvviioi v II btitutionalisni itt thC chaVafcter 1 1 Tdmlrrisbhh'11ikckeryr.in(a tl e 'ehkfkctef'bf-BedkySharp.5' 'Tor. -lihsotl" ,wks,',sdlndiv?dual''''th;,t rie'ltriei4 SkfnV Peter0 Hi'6't ' the de i I cbuld'find-'k platfe fdrJhim;'a Beck Shkrp Was so-much' k'rjrey bf ti,. Sk'dal fdrces'5 kbdut ?vhef';'th;. i Thickerhiiiisfcl'f said heVkS m -able td fdrseb whit sh'(6 f Would dc, at 'any particular"indment; ' But what' about ' th'e c'Indiar'' 'Whyttie' Iridiari' lias'pTky'cd important role' in' our ; IiteatM'. and in our life partly because li lias "stimulated thought aboVe tl . stiiutiohalism. 'Never ' " ji inuiviuuajism ana j "till 'fuw h"'
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 17, 1911, edition 1
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