The Humanities in the Americas - WINTER 1943-44

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Aditya

A Winter 1943-44 excerpt argues for the continuing strength and value of the humanities across the Americas, contrasting South American literary awareness with North American narrowness. It highlights education as a nation-defining philosophy, noting Americans’ pride in schooling alongside poor engagement with educational principles. The text points to historical depth in South American universities and describes how regional classics and humanistic traditions shape writers’ outlook and call thinking to end in action.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time6 min

AccessFree to download

The Humanities in the Americas

Educating Americans About Education

V9 WINTER·1943-44 # The Humanities in the Americas We cannot afford to ignore this contrast between SouthAmerican and North American literature,between thestrength of the humanistic tradition there and the feeblenesshere.South Americans are aware of the difference.Betterfor us to be modest and learn.Our country has achieved littlein comparison with what remains for us to do.The philosophyof the humanities represents a peak in man's long attempt toimprove himself.It is a difficult philosophy,rarely achieved,and seldom sustained for more than a short time.Thefounders of our country laid down the principles of govern-ment for us according to this philosophy,but their successorssoon tended to depart from it.Yet faith in the doctrine of thehumanities persists.The world today,in spite of much evil,isrich in good will.There are kind neighbors waiting to know usbetter.We need to know them.We might seek them out inorder to learn;in certain precious matters we might be readyto sit at their feet.We might,indeed,if we care what menhereafter will think of us. JOHN ERSKINE,重BK Columbia Excerpts from an article to appear in the Winterissue of The American Scholar THE CULTURE of South America is older and moredeeply rooted than ours.I believe that I here stateplain truth,but it is not important that I think so;whatmatters is that South America thinks so.South Americaknows that our oldest college,Harvard,was established in1636,and that the University of Cordova,though older thanour oldest,is comparatively a youthful institution of learning.The University of Mexico was created in 1553,the Univer-sity of Lima in 1551.Central and South America,therefore,have three universities older than any of ours.Most of usknow little about these institutions,but their graduates areextremely well informed about us. It goes without saying,of course,that the South Americanuniversities,since they carry on the tradition of Latin civiliza-tion,give more attention than we do to the Greek andRoman literatures,and teach more diligently those workswhich first articulated the humanities and the humanisticphilosophy.It may be that only a small proportion of eachgeneration has the privilege of being exposed to this soundeducation,and of this small proportion there may be somewho do not make the best use of their opportunities.Thismay be true of them,since it is true of us. # Educating Americans AboutEducation CHARLES SIDE STEINBERG,φBK New York University Director,Educational Department,Book-of-the-Month Club TE EVER Americans needed a thorough understanding oftheir own and other systems of education,the time is now.I Perhaps never in history has the destiny of a nation,andindeed the entire world,been so dependent upon a soundphilosophy and program of education.And rarely have apeople,which pride themselves upon their momentouscontribution to the material betterment of civilization,beenso ill-equipped to comprehend and discuss the fundamentaleducational issues at stake. Do we assume that all the worth-while writing on this con-tinent is done above the northern boundary of Mexico?InArgentina,in Uruguay,in Brazil,in Chile,in Colombia,inMexico,there are a host of writers who have among theirown peoples a large and growing audience and who are ofimmediate concern to us because their work shows to what anextent the humane philosophy persists among South andCentral Americans.In practically all the South Americancountries the literary mood derives from the Greek and Latinclassics and from the French romantics.Among young authorsthere may be a tendency to follow our example,to think lessabout life in general and more about what concerns theparticular moment and the particular place,but the bulk ofthe writing is still in the broad tradition.It has a wistful note,it is a little melancholy,it is thoughtful.But South Americanwriters wish their thinking to end in action.They believewith the Greeks that both thought and action are necessary. There is a curious p

FAQs

What contrast between South American and North American literature does the excerpt emphasize?

It stresses that South American writers and readers recognize meaningful differences in humanistic tradition more clearly than Americans do.

How does the excerpt describe the role of educational philosophy in the fate of nations?

It claims a sound philosophy and program of education are essential, shaping not only a nation’s destiny but the wider world’s direction.

What does the text say about Americans’ engagement with education beyond the school system?

It notes Americans fund and value public schools, yet show little inclination to study the underlying principles and practices of education.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Aditya