rgue that ONE of these themes plays an important role in Williams’s play The Glass Menagerie, and provide support.

South Atlantic Modern Language Association American Literature Author(syf / H Z L V / H D U y Source: South Atlantic Bulletin, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Dec., 1941yf S S 6 Published by: South Atlantic Modern Language Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3197621 Accessed: 27-04-2017 22:27 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms South Atlantic Modern Language Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to South Atlantic Bulletin This content downloaded from 104.198.4.142 on Thu, 27 Apr 2017 22:27:30 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms December, 1941 SOUTH ATLANTIC BULLETIN Page Fifteen~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ December, 1941 SOUTH ATLANTIC BULLETIN Page Fifteen~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ college or a university-I would give strict orders to all my student ad- visers, not that they should force the incoming students to take material which they, and Pappy, and Mammy, are convinced are useless, but that they should never dissuade a student who had a glimmer of curiosity or a moment of passing interest from entering into the cultural courses that are provided. There are many young men and wo- men who enter college with an un- formed idea that they might like some more Latin, some more literature, or some art and music, who have this no- tion speedily removed from them by a busy young student adviser who is a budding economist or sociologist, or chemist, or what have you. "Why do you want to take that stuff," is their query? And then after I had insured that such dissuasion would not be tolerated, I would get busy and see to it that my professors of literature and language had something to offer. At no time in the world's history has there been a larger literate population than there is today, and the proposal of our educators is to hand them the movie magazine and a few popularized treatises on how coffee is shipped from Brazil, or a mass of material on the unsolvable problems of this world- most of which have been with us since Plato and earlier. We are then told to shut our eyes to all the experiments of twenty-five hundred years and to pop up instanter with an ingenious solution. If you and I in this room were sitting up in the planet Mars and could grasp all this through a tele- scope, we would think that the humans on Earth were fit to be locked up. It is like giving a condemned prisoner who is to be shot at dawn a puzzle picture showing the way of escape and then turning the key on the solution in a nearby dresser, thinking that the puzzle will be more stimulating for the "patient" than the solution. A knowledge of past culture informs us only too clearly that it is Apathy, the opposite of Curiosity, which puts an end to progress. Since we cannot ex- pect any thoroughgoing reform in all this to be started by the administrators, we have got to fight this apathy our- selves. By our own works, by our own breadth of interest we shall make the classics, English literature, French literature, Spanish and Italian litera- ture, and the languages themselves seem to be keys in very fact to the stu- dents who come under our spell. college or a university-I would give strict orders to all my student ad- visers, not that they should force the incoming students to take material which they, and Pappy, and Mammy, are convinced are useless, but that they should never dissuade a student who had a glimmer of curiosity or a moment of passing interest from entering into the cultural courses that are provided. There are many young men and wo- men who enter college with an un- formed idea that they might like some more Latin, some more literature, or some art and music, who have this no- tion speedily removed from them by a busy young student adviser who is a budding economist or sociologist, or chemist, or what have you. "Why do you want to take that stuff," is their query? And then after I had insured that such dissuasion would not be tolerated, I would get busy and see to it that my professors of literature and language had something to offer. At no time in the world's history has there been a larger literate population than there is today, and the proposal of our educators is to hand them the movie magazine and a few popularized treatises on how coffee is shipped from Brazil, or a mass of material on the unsolvable problems of this world- most of which have been with us since Plato and earlier. We are then told to shut our eyes to all the experiments of twenty-five hundred years and to pop up instanter with an ingenious solution. If you and I in this room were sitting up in the planet Mars and could grasp all this through a tele- scope, we would think that the humans on Earth were fit to be locked up. It is like giving a condemned prisoner who is to be shot at dawn a puzzle picture showing the way of escape and then turning the key on the solution in a nearby dresser, thinking that the puzzle will be more stimulating for the "patient" than the solution. A knowledge of past culture informs us only too clearly that it is Apathy, the opposite of Curiosity, which puts an end to progress. Since we cannot ex- pect any thoroughgoing reform in all this to be started by the administrators, we have got to fight this apathy our- selves. By our own works, by our own breadth of interest we shall make the classics, English literature, French literature, Spanish and Italian litera- ture, and the languages themselves seem to be keys in very fact to the stu- dents who come under our spell. American Literature The American Literature Group of the Modern Language Association of America approved in December, 1927, a project for the founding of a jour- nal devoted exclusively to research in its field. When a few months later the problem of securing adequate financial assistance had been solved by the acceptance from the Duke Uni- versity Press of an offer to underwrite the publication, an editorial board was elected by the group, composed of Jay B. Hubbell (Duke Universityyf , chairman, W. B. Cairns (University of Wisconsinyf ) U H G / H Z L V 3 D W W H e (Rollins Collegeyf . H Q Q H W K % 0 X U - dock (Harvard Universityyf D Q d Ralph L. Rusk (Columbia Univer- sityyf 7 K H V H U Y L F H V R I D Q D G G L W L R Q D l advisory board of twenty members were secured. Then, in March, 1929, appeared the first issue of the quar- terly American Literature: A Jour- nal of Literary History, Criticism, and Bibliography. "American Literature will not be," stated the editors in a preliminary an- nouncement, "a pedagogical journal or a journal of contemporary letters: it will be a scholarly publication." "Only rarely," they advised in the first American Literature The American Literature Group of the Modern Language Association of America approved in December, 1927, a project for the founding of a jour- nal devoted exclusively to research in its field. When a few months later the problem of securing adequate financial assistance had been solved by the acceptance from the Duke Uni- versity Press of an offer to underwrite the publication, an editorial board was elected by the group, composed of Jay B. Hubbell (Duke Universityyf , chairman, W. B. Cairns (University of Wisconsinyf ) U H G / H Z L V 3 D W W H e (Rollins Collegeyf . H Q Q H W K % 0 X U - dock (Harvard Universityyf D Q d Ralph L. Rusk (Columbia Univer- sityyf 7 K H V H U Y L F H V R I D Q D G G L W L R Q D l advisory board of twenty members were secured. Then, in March, 1929, appeared the first issue of the quar- terly American Literature: A Jour- nal of Literary History, Criticism, and Bibliography. "American Literature will not be," stated the editors in a preliminary an- nouncement, "a pedagogical journal or a journal of contemporary letters: it will be a scholarly publication." "Only rarely," they advised in the first New Latin-American Texts El Alferez Real By EUSTAQUIO PALACIOS. Edited by JOHN L. MARTIN, Marshall College. A Colombian novel with a colorful plot, giving a faithful portrayal of South American life during the late Colonial period. Written by a prominent Colom- bian educator, it has a rare purity of language and simplicity of style which make it eminently suitable for reading in the second year. Exercises, notes, vocabulary. $1.30 El Heroe comedia en tres actos By GUSTAVO SANCHEZ GALARRAGA. Edited by VIRGIL A. WARREN, Car- son-Newman College, and JAMES 0. SWAIN, University of Tennessee. One of the first Cuban plays to be put into a text edition, Galarraga's beauti- ful love story of the last World War lends itself effectively to classroom use in second-semester college (second- year high schoolyf R U I R U V X S S O H P H Q W D U y use in courses on Spanish-American literature. Exercises, notes, vocabu- lary. $1.20 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 114 Fifth Avenue New York New Latin-American Texts El Alferez Real By EUSTAQUIO PALACIOS. Edited by JOHN L. MARTIN, Marshall College. A Colombian novel with a colorful plot, giving a faithful portrayal of South American life during the late Colonial period. Written by a prominent Colom- bian educator, it has a rare purity of language and simplicity of style which make it eminently suitable for reading in the second year. Exercises, notes, vocabulary. $1.30 El Heroe comedia en tres actos By GUSTAVO SANCHEZ GALARRAGA. Edited by VIRGIL A. WARREN, Car- son-Newman College, and JAMES 0. SWAIN, University of Tennessee. One of the first Cuban plays to be put into a text edition, Galarraga's beauti- ful love story of the last World War lends itself effectively to classroom use in second-semester college (second- year high schoolyf R U I R U V X S S O H P H Q W D U y use in courses on Spanish-American literature. Exercises, notes, vocabu- lary. $1.20 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 114 Fifth Avenue New York URBAN T. HOLMES, JR. URBAN T. HOLMES, JR. issue, "do we expect to present articles on living authors, for there are numer- ous magazines in which such articles can be published. Ordinarily we shall not publish articles bearing upon teaching problems. As a rule, we shall not publish articles which are in fact chapters from books which are soon to be published." In short, the new quarterly was to be an outlet for and a service to scholars in a field for which there were few other opportunities for publication. Conceived as a co- operative enterprise, the journal was to serve both as a clearing house for studies already completed and as an impetus to further study. Since 1929 this policy has been rig- orously maintained by the board of editors. Except for Professor Hubbell who has remained chairman for twelve years, the membership of the editorial board has been occasionally changed. In 1932 Robert E. Spiller (Swarth- more Collegeyf U H S O D F H G 3 U R I H V V R U 3 D W - tee, and Killis Campbell (University of Texasyf U H S O D F H G 3 U R I H V V R U & D L U Q V ; in 1935 Norman Foerster (University of Iowayf U H S O D F H G 3 U R I H V V R U & D P S - bell; in 1938 Stanley T. Williams (Yale Universityyf U H S O D F H G 3 U R I H V V R U 0 X U - dock, who returned to the board, how- ever, in 1939 in place of Professor Rusk; and in 1940 Emory Holloway (Queens Collegeyf D Q G $ X V W L Q : D U U H n (University of Iowayf U H S O D F H G 3 U R I H V - sors Spiller and Foerster. Since 1932 Clarence Gohdes (Duke Universityyf has served as managing editor. The advisory board, which has now been reduced to twelve members, is ap- pointed by the editorial board, six members each year for a two year term. Each of the five members of the edi- torial board must read every article accepted for publication, and often an additional expert in the subject under investigation is called upon for an opinion. In order to expedite this sometimes necessarily rather lengthy process, contributors are asked to send at least two copies of each manuscript submitted. As a result, however, of this careful checking and rechecking by scholars in sometimes widely sepa- rated parts of the country who often represent extremely divergent points of view, an exceptionally high stand- ard has been maintained in American Literature over the whole twelve-year period. In 1935, for example, of seventy-four manuscripts received twenty-five were returned to the au- thors for revision, and of the total issue, "do we expect to present articles on living authors, for there are numer- ous magazines in which such articles can be published. Ordinarily we shall not publish articles bearing upon teaching problems. As a rule, we shall not publish articles which are in fact chapters from books which are soon to be published." In short, the new quarterly was to be an outlet for and a service to scholars in a field for which there were few other opportunities for publication. Conceived as a co- operative enterprise, the journal was to serve both as a clearing house for studies already completed and as an impetus to further study. Since 1929 this policy has been rig- orously maintained by the board of editors. Except for Professor Hubbell who has remained chairman for twelve years, the membership of the editorial board has been occasionally changed. In 1932 Robert E. Spiller (Swarth- more Collegeyf U H S O D F H G 3 U R I H V V R U 3 D W - tee, and Killis Campbell (University of Texasyf U H S O D F H G 3 U R I H V V R U & D L U Q V ; in 1935 Norman Foerster (University of Iowayf U H S O D F H G 3 U R I H V V R U & D P S - bell; in 1938 Stanley T. Williams (Yale Universityyf U H S O D F H G 3 U R I H V V R U 0 X U - dock, who returned to the board, how- ever, in 1939 in place of Professor Rusk; and in 1940 Emory Holloway (Queens Collegeyf D Q G $ X V W L Q : D U U H n (University of Iowayf U H S O D F H G 3 U R I H V - sors Spiller and Foerster. Since 1932 Clarence Gohdes (Duke Universityyf has served as managing editor. The advisory board, which has now been reduced to twelve members, is ap- pointed by the editorial board, six members each year for a two year term. Each of the five members of the edi- torial board must read every article accepted for publication, and often an additional expert in the subject under investigation is called upon for an opinion. In order to expedite this sometimes necessarily rather lengthy process, contributors are asked to send at least two copies of each manuscript submitted. As a result, however, of this careful checking and rechecking by scholars in sometimes widely sepa- rated parts of the country who often represent extremely divergent points of view, an exceptionally high stand- ard has been maintained in American Literature over the whole twelve-year period. In 1935, for example, of seventy-four manuscripts received twenty-five were returned to the au- thors for revision, and of the total number only thirteen were accepted (Continued on following pageyf number only thirteen were accepted (Continued on following pageyf December, 1941 December, 1941 SOUTH ATLANTIC BULLETIN SOUTH ATLANTIC BULLETIN Page Fifteen Page Fifteen This content downloaded from 104.198.4.142 on Thu, 27 Apr 2017 22:27:30 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms I American Literature (Continued from preceding pageyf for publication in their original form; in 1937 fifteen of ninety articles were accepted. "Of the manuscripts which we have been compelled to decline," said the editors in the first issue, "the major- ity fell short of our standard in two respects: they relied too exclusively upon secondary or readily accessible primary sources of information, and they showed a lack of thoroughness. It is too easy to rush into print with an article-of some merit which does not go far enough or deep enough to have any permanent value. Such an article is hardly worth printing, since in a year or two it will have to be done over. "Articles of particular value, we think, are those that bring to light new materials or new facts, which might assist in the critical interpreta- tion of an author or in a fuller under- standing of some aspect of our cul- tural history. Only less important are articles which, though based on old facts, present a new interpretation of some work or movement, made con- vincing by sound reasoning and the citation of adequate evidence." Only of slightly less interest than the longer articles, which make up the major portion of each issue, is the sec- tion of the journal reserved for "Notes and Queries"-shorter discus- sions, the presentation of a few and isolated facts, the report of an inves- tigation which because of subject- matter or form does not belong among the major contributions. These notes have varied in length from a dozen lines to almost as many pages. They have included bibliographical and bio- graphical findings, brief textual inter- pretations, transcripts of newly dis- covered manuscript materials, discus- sions of articles printed in previous issues, replies to book reviews, and an occasional editorial notice. All book reviews published in Ameri- can Literature are signed, each is writ- ten by an expert in the field under dis- cussion, and an objective critical examination is demanded of each. Books of secondary interest or of only partial bearing upon American litera- ture are commented upon in a second review section headed "Brief Men- tion." As a rule, textbooks and books dealing primarily with other fields are merely listed or very briefly noticed. Perhaps among the portions of the ively engaged in investigative prob- lems are the departments "Research in Progress" and "Articles on Ameri- can Literature Appearing in Current Periodicals." The first, listing sub- jects under investigation by students of American literature and culture, including doctoral dissertations pro- jected and completed, was compiled from 1929 through 1937 by Ernest E. Leisy (Southern Methodist Univer- sityyf W K H Q % L E O L R J U D S K H U I R U W K e American Literature Group, in 1938 and 1939 by Gregory Paine (Univer- sity of North Carolinayf W K H S U H V H Q t Bibliographer, and since 1940 by Ray- mond Adams (University of North Carolinayf $ V V L V W D Q W % L E O L R J U D S K H U . The second, compiled from two hun- dred and fifty separate periodicals, was started in 1929 by Professor Hub- bell, continued by Professor Gohdes, and since 1938 has been under the charge of Professor Paine, assisted by a committee appointed from the mem- bership of the American Literature Group. The future of American Literature, we may confidently assume, will be a continuation and a development of its past. For twelve years its standards and its essential judgments have re- mained the same. Truth to fact and a judicious interpretation of fact rather than popularization have been its goals. Contributions are solicited from all who are engaged in the investiga- tion of any phase of American litera- ture or culture; particularly valuable are the notes and short articles which frequently result from the fresh in- sight and the tireless searchings of modern students for advanced degrees. Often as important as an article on some well known and thoroughly in- vestigated literary giant is a note on a minor writer which may re-illumine some almost forgotten segment of our literary history. The editors of American Literature are justifiably proud that it has be- come one of the few scholarly publica- tions which are self-supporting, and that it has the largest paid circula- tion of any of the scholarly journals, with the exception of PMLA, in the entire field of English. They hope soon to compile an index to all the pub- lished volumes of the quarterly. It is perhaps also worth while to recall at this time the announcement that stu- dents and members of the Modern Language Association may secure the journal at a reduced subscription rate. LEWIS LEARY, quarterly most useful to scholars act- SAMLA Members (Corrected through December 5, 1941yf The information following each name in- cludes, in so far as possible, the person's rank or department, institution, address, and, in italics, the field of special interest. ABBOTT, ALICE K., Assistant Professor of Spanish, Woman's College of the Univer- sity of North Carolina, Greensboro.-Nine- teenth Century Novel and Contemporary Syntax. ABEL, COLIN MARGUERITE, Part-Time In- structor in Modern Languages, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S. C.-Com- mercial Spanish and Commercial French. ACHURCH, ROBERT W., The Citadel, Charles- ton, S. C.-Eighteenth Century. ACTON, H. M., Professor of Romance Lan- guages, Howard College, Birmingham, Ala. -French. ADAMS, GEORGE C. S., Assistant Professor of Romance Languages, West Georgia Col- lege, Genola, Ga. - French Linguistics. Seventeenth Century French Literature. ADAMS, NICHOLSON B., Professor of Span- ish, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N. C.-Nineteenth Century Spanish. ADAMS, RAYMOND, Professor of English, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N. C.-American Literature. AJAX, FRED W., Assistant Professor of Eng- lish, Georgia School of Technology, Atlanta, Ga. ALEXANDER, LUCILE, Professor and Head of the Department of French, Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Ga. ALFRIEND, MRS. MARY B., Instructor in English, Florida State College for Women, Tallahassee, Fla.-American Literature. ALLEN, DON CAMERON, Assistant Profes- sor of English, Duke University, Durham, N. C.-Comparative Literature, 1498-1672. ANDERSON, CHARLES R., Department of English, Johns Hopkins University, Balti- more, Md.-American Literature. ANDERSON, DICE R., JR., Assistant Pro- fessor of English, Georgia School of Tech- nology, Atlanta, Ga.-Medieval Literature. ANDERSON, EWING, Instructor in English, Alabama Polytechnic Institute, Auburn, Ala. -American Literature. ARCHIE, WILLIAM C., Assistant Professor of French, Wake Forest College, Wake For- est, N. C. - Eighteenth Century French Literature. ARIAIL, J. M., Stackhouse Professor of Eng- lish and Head of the Department, Columbia College, Columbia, S. C. ARJONA, MRS. DORIS KING, Professor of Spanish, John B. Stetson University, De- Land, Fla.-Sixteenth Century Chronicles. For over fifteen years we have been securing from the Latin American Republics books and other publications required. Send us Your Desiderata. Foreign & International Book Company, Inc. America South of U. S. 110 East 42nd Street New York City Page Sixteen SOUTH ATLANTIC BULLETIN December, 1941 Duke University. This content downloaded from 104.198.4.142 on Thu, 27 Apr 2017 22:27:30 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms