. interests,

f

THE COLLEGE NEWS:

 

 

Peyre Resumes Part

In Campus Activities
As Flexner Lecturer

 

For a period of two months
this winter, French activities and
social as well as aca-
demic, centered around M. Henri

lettres and
of French at
Mary

Peyre, docteur' es
Sterling Professor
Yale, who presented the
Flexner lecture series on _ the
Modern French Novel. _An active
member of the Bryn Mawr faculty
from 1925 to 1928, M. Peyre_be-
of the

campus on his return visit, con-

came an integral part
ducting several meetings of the
Modern French Novel course, lead-
ing the graduate seminary, and
attending undergraduate teas and

conferences.

In_ his
Peyre outlined the trends of the

Flexner lectures, M.
Modern French Novel, naming the
most representative authors, and
indicating their
French literary tradition.
first noted the revival of interest
in the novel once symbolism no

Having

longer acted as a deterrent on

modern writers, M. Peyre pointed
out the effect of the recent de-

velopment of the scientific ele-
ments of psychology on the evolu-
tion of the French novel.

Diseussing the change in intent
and tone of the novels, M. Peyre
described the attempts of many of
the recent novelists to deal with
the moral and aesthetic problems
of our age, and the more recent
efforts of the writers to solve the
human problems created by
modern political and social condi-
tions.

Devoting each lecture to par-
ticular novelists and the trends of
which they are most illustrative,
M. Peyre opened his ‘series with
an analysis of Proust as repre-
sentative of the revival after the
Stagnation of the  Ssymbolist
school, and of the beginning of
the psychological novel. Proust,
M. Peyre pointed out, introduced
what is often termed the “fourth
dimension,” the element of recol-
lection and accumulated percep-
tion which plays~—-such an im-
portant part in his psychological
novels. Gide,, working along the
line of the psychological novel in-
troduced by Proust, M. Peyre con-
sidered as the first great French
novelist to feel profoundly the
Russian influence.

Following the trend of interest
toward moral and religious prob-
lems, M. Peyre contrasted Mauriac,
the tragic novelist, who brought
a combination of Catholicism and
natural pessimism to his treatment
of ethical problems, with’ the
novelists of the “younger genera-
tion,” Malraux and Green. Al-
though both writers were con-
cerned with problems arising from
modern political conditions, M.
Peyre distinguished between Mal-
raux’s interest in the effect of
the epidemic of national revolu-
tions on the peoples involved and
Green’s preoccupation with the
escapist reaction to the violent
social upheavals during and fol-
lowing World War I,

M. Peyre, after discussing
briefly the works of du Gard, Ro-
mains, Celine and Giono, closed
the series with an analysis of
the man he considered the most
modern of all the novelists, Saint-
Exupery, the prophet of aviation.

M. Peyre’s social activities while
on campus. included a reception
following his first lecture, weekly

Continued on Page 8

influences on}!

In the New Book Room (Quita Woodward Room) in the
equally new West Wing of the Library, where reading is strictly
for pleasure, is Ginny Thomas, 1944-45 president of Self-Gov’t.

 

 

Begun in the

The Soda Fountain is now a campus institution.
year 1941-42, it has taken over one large room next to the May
Day room in Goodhart. If is run financially for the benfit of the
League, but from the epicurean point of view it is the students’

own. An owner, Ann Fitzgibbons ’45, and Mary Lou Mills 45,
assistant, are shown here; (Ann Clarke ’45, co-owner, was away at

the time), during the slower part of their serving hours—
9.30-11 P. M.

 

 

Reschedule Problem
Ends in Compromise

 

Resulting from the editorial of
the January 12 News, a_ heated
discussion arose on campus this
year over the necessity for a re-
arrangement of the present semes-
ter schedule. The News maintain-
ed that the shortened exam period
and lengthened Christmas vaca-
tion, necessitated by the war, have
resulted in extreme over-crowd-
ing of the two weeks following
Christmas vacation.

Shorter Exam Period
Shortening of the exam period

 

and the consequent abolition of a
reading period meant that students
were forced to write semester pa-
pers and study for mid-years in
the same short period of time.
Exam hysteria resulted.

According to the plan suggested
by the News, the fall semester
would begin about September 15.
Classes would end December 15
for vacation. After vacation there
would be a ten day reading period
without classes, in which all stud-
ents could write their papers and
prepare for examinations.

Reading: Period

The Seniors’ traditional ‘reading

period’ would take place as usual.
Since papers are not usually due
as close to exams in the spring,
and since the examination period
is longer, no corresponding read-
ing period would be necessary
then. The second semester would
therefore begin a week earlier.

A poll of undergraduate opinion
of this plan was taken in the halls,
but proved rather unsuccessful be-
cause, during hall discussions, the
propos plan was changed in
various \halls. General opinion,
however, was obviously in favor
of improvements of some sort.

Change

The schedule for next year has
been changed somewhat, though
not as radically as suggested.
Classes are to begin on September
26. The wartime one-day Thanks-
giving vacation is to be added in-
stead to the Christmas vacation,
which is to last three weeks.

 

Hockey Camp

If you are interested in go-
ing to Miss Lynch’s Hockey
Camp at Tegawitha, Mt. Po-
cono, Pa., for the week before
college starts, see Miss Grant
or Betsy Kaltenthaler, Rhoads
South.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gimbel Brothers «

Personnel Division

Philadelphia 5, Pennsylvania

Dear Coed:°

When school is out, we invite you to become a regular Gimbel co-
worker for the summer, or for longer if you are available. There jare many
7
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If you prefer selling you may work:

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9:30 to 5:00 P. M. daily—Wednesdays 12:00 to 9:00 or

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If you prefer clerical work (full-time only) you may apply for:
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Many Others. ~ ‘

If you are graduating you may care to apply for our

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Come to the Personnel Division, Seventh Fleor, Market and

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Yours for Victory,
Gimbel Brothers

~