Cornell English Then and Now -- 6

After struggling through a run of mysterious and puzzling works, I'm cheered to discover a book written by Cornell English faculty member that I could read with pleasure from beginning to end. And understand. And which alerted me to books and poems with which I was not familiar. No theory, no pretentious jargon; just honest scholarship and intelligent stylish analysis, 

It's Facing the Abyss, American Literature and Culture in the 1940s, by George Hutchinson, who is Cornell's Farr Professor of American Culture.

Unlike Professor Hutchinson, who is a considerably younger man, I myself was alive (although barely sentient) during the 1940s. I was too young for serious reading, so 1940s culture didn't come to my doorstep until the 1950s when I belatedly came to awareness. As a result, I read many of the books that Hutchinson discusses a decade past their most relevance. There are also many influential books that I didn't read at all and therefore came as a surprise -- and underlined my ignorance. For example, during the 1950s, my high school and college years, I read many books of 1940s Jewish American writers to whom Hutchinson devotes a long chapter: Mailer, Bellow, Malamud, Rukeyser, Arthur Miller, etc. But my acquaintance was incomplete. I confess that I had never heard the names of Jo Sinclair or Isaac Rosenthal, both of whom Hutchinson scrutinizes at full. One name missing from Hutchinson's survey is J D Salinger, who started to publish in the 40s but only became famous with Cather in the Rye in 1951. Just as well -- I never caught Rye fever although many of my friends were quite taken. 

Hutchinson has presented me with a reading list of books that I should have known but didn't and that will keep me engaged for months. I'm grateful.

Hutchinson's chapter on WWII is a most revelatory. Without being unduly partisan, it exposes and corrects the "greatest generation" mythology that I had come to half accept. 

After reading Facing the Abyss, I continued my investigation by taking a couple of wild swings at Elizabeth S. Anker's mystifying On Paradox, the Claims of Theory (Duke UP, 2022). (Anker holds a joint appointment in Cornell's law school and its Department of Literature in English.) I can say just two things for certain about this difficult book: a) I didn't understand two consecutive sentences, and b) it's not about literature, not even tangentially. In fact, I'm not sure what it's about -- as far as I can tell, it's not about the law. I have rarely attempted anything in English prose that I found quite so impenetrable. I never even grasped how Anker defines paradox.

I'm sure it's mea maxima culpa, but so be it. 

 

[April 4] PGB writes: "Every time you post something, it becomes ever clearer that you're not the right person for this investigation. Give it up and stick to something within your abilities, like basketball. You write well on basketball. Do yourself a favor: stay away from the deeper issues that Anker discusses."

[April 4]  Vivian de St. Vrain responds: "Perhaps you're right, PGB (or whoever you are). The shoemaker should stick to his last. This Anker book is not intended for me, but I I wonder for whom it is intended. It's got to be an extremely small specialized audience. Six or eight people, worldwide. I doubt anyone on Cornell's English faculty could make heads or tails of it."

[April 6]  Artie Greengroin writes: "Thanks for hanging in there.  I hope you find other Cornell English Professors who know how to write English. I"m not optimistic, though. BTW, I think PGB is harshing on you, but I agree that your basketball essays are pretty good."

[April 8] Vivian de St. Vrain responds: "Thanks for the recommendation, Artie and PGB. If anyone is interested, my basketball essays are here.

[April 9]  Charles Evans (Mercer College) writes: "I agree. Vivian, your notes on basketball are quite good. But you're just not smart enough to understand philosophy."

[April 10] Joe J. Keen (Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, Idaho) writes: "I agree with Charles Evans. The basketball entries are amusing. But, Vivian, you're no philosopher."

[April 16] Vivian de St. Vrain writes: The "Artie Greengroin" who posted on April 6 does not exist. Artie Greengroin is not a real person; he's a character invented by the WWII novelist Harry Brown. Come on, Artie you can use your real name. Don't be afraid. Don't hide behind a pseudonym. We're all friends here."

 

Comments

[Chris Kyrle]

"It exposes and corrects the 'greatest generation' myth." You left me hanging here. How does it expose it? In what way was it not a great generation? The sacrifices it made were certainly great. Please expand on this.

[Fran Gardner]

I really enjoyed reading this essay.
I hope at some point you can expand on the greatest generation myth.