Misinforming a Nation
Willard Huntington Wright, S. S. Van Dine
THE intellectual colonization of America by England has been going on for generations. Taking advantage of her position of authority-a position built on centuries of esthetic tradition-England has let pass few opportunities to ridicule and disparage our activities in all lines of creative effort, and to impress upon us her own assumed cultural superiority. Americans, lacking that sense of security which long-established institutions would give them, have been influenced by the insular judgments of England, and, in an effort to pose as atl courant of the achievements of the older world, have adopted in large degree the viewpoint of Great Britain. The result has been that for decades the superstition of Englands preeminence in the w.orld of art and letters has spread and gained power in this country. Our native snobbery, both social and intellectual, has kept the fires of this superstition well supplied with fuel and in our slavish imitation of England -the only country in Europe of which we have any intimate knowledge-we have de-American- ized ourselves to such an extent that there has grown up in us a typical British contempt for our own native achievements. One of the cardinal factors in this Briticization of our intellectual outlook is the common language of England and kerica. Of all the civilized nations of the world, we are most deficient as linguists. Because of our inability to speak fluently any language save our own, a great barrier exists between us and the Continental coun- tries. But no such barrier exists between America and England and consequently there is a con- stant exchange of ideas, beliefs, and opinions. English literature is at our command English criticism is familiar to us and English standards are disseminated among us without the impediment of translation...
Categories:
Year:
1917
Publisher:
Good Press
Language:
english
Pages:
230
File:
EPUB, 756 KB
IPFS:
,
english, 1917
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