3

-the quality is represented by James

“is mechanital” and” carefully “planned,

_ gentle,

literature.

~-no “required to enjoy even the best of the





Sophisticated Art
Modeled on Dynamo
Maturity and Adult Philosophy

in Books Analysed
by Sloss. °



COMEDY .DISPASSIONATE

2

“Although I am. speaking of the
Sophisticates. today it is important to
remember the general characteristics
of modern literature which I pointed
out before—the influence of Freud and
the psychoanalysts, the Machine Age,
and the war,” said Mrs. Margaret
Fleisher Sloss in the second of her
talks. on contemporary literature given
in the Commons Room on Wednesday,
March 19. The dictionary defines
sophisticated as the state of being arti-
ficial or unnatural, and its meaning is



clarified whenartless, naive, simple are

found to be antonyms—it représents
maturity, and an adult philosophy of
spirit. In.the .past Voltaire, Swift,
Meredith, and France were sophisti-
cates; in the- present rebel generation

Joyce, Aldous Huxley, and Rebecéa’
West. ‘

Sophisticated literature has certain
definite characteristics. It deals with
comedy, with exceptions, following the
adage that “the world is a comedy to
hig who thinks, a tragedy to him who
feéls””” Also it is almost entirely dis-
passionate. Then great keenness of
observation is apparent, and comedy is
gained by the indulgent manner in
which man’s weaknesses are pointed
out. Finally preoccupation with form
is one of the most distinguisHing marks’
of the group: James Joyce’s “Ulysses”

with each chapter bearing a heading
and following a theme from the
“Odyssey.”—the form is—an-art-in it-
self,

The first of the modern sophisticates
was Norman Douglas, whose “South
Wind,” the story of the visit of a
bishop «to an imaginary island, was
written in 1918. It is a civilized comedy
of manners, dealing with the vanities
and idiosyncracies of a grqup of Bri-
tish expatriots, and is noteworthy for
the leisureliness of its. style and at-
mosphere. But James Branch Cabell
in his newest book “The Way of
Ecben” has departed from his usual
symbolic — satire following
Douglas’ lead to point out that the
quest:outranks the goal, and achieve-
ment is not worth the getting. Ellen
Glasgow’s “They Stooped to Folly” is
in the comedy of-manners- tradition,
but the women are too goody-goody,
and there is little gaiety. The lack of
movement, development, and life show
that she is using a wornout medium.
Thornton Wilder in “A Woman of
Andros” has created lifeless, statuesque,
and very academic characters which
show again that to be creative; an
author must use thre idiom and express
the trend of his own times. |

The modern fashions in form are ex-
tremely interesting and equally applic-
able to furniture, painting, music, and
There is the toncentration
on the rtaterial itself which is evident
in literature in the author’s concern
with words as a beautiful, decorative
building material. There.is a tendency
to distortion as is found in Virginia
Wolff's “Orlando” who changed from
a man to a-woman and lived over three
hundred years. Conscious omission is
a third characteristic: in “A Farewell
to Arms,” the previous history and cir-
cumstances of the characters is never
learned. This is a rather snobbish way
of inferring “Of course,. you under-
stand.” There is a final element which
can only be called shock-imperturbable,
and includes »that which shocks and
that by which the public is supposed
to be able to accept the concussion
without 4 quiver. It is seen in the use
of strong words, and unhackneyed

phrases, exemplifying the creed that#

expression is better than- repression.
To these shocks, and sudden changes
of mood the reader is supposed to react
with the calm of a man of the world,—
there is concern with good form as well
as form. There is of course-a~great
deal of second-rate“literature: showing

type, and to gain the tonic intellectual
treat it offers. 2 Suge ent

~The Sophisticates ~have” modelled
their books on the mechanistic perfec-

THE COLLEGE NEWS.



meee
——



through the human emotions they go
with speed and directness to an under-
standing of them. The sense of futility
brought on by the war ‘is also found
There is a division
within the ‘group however between’
those who are sensitized and have less
wit and gaiety, but more understand-
ing than their sardonic, disillusioned

fellow-Sophisticates. James. Joyce for
instance gives out the results of the
age in a highly concentrated form
which compares with the finished, fili-
greed sentences of Norman Douglas,
as a cubistic composition which en-
compasses the content of the brain and
reveals ‘everything within conscious-
ness. Gertrude Stein is a great in-
fluence on the authors of today in her
play with words which are often noth-
ing but a succession of.sounds. The
»sophisticated writing of Douglas is a
mellow, well-rounded art; that of James
Joyce and Gertrude Stein is skyscraper
writing, sharp and singular.
Contemporary humor is bitter and
hopeless, as is found beneath the New
Yorkese style of Samuel. Hoffenstein’s
“Year In, You’re Out.” ‘Comedy is
mediocre and disillusionment is ap-
parent even in fantasy, with the result
that any liking. for charm and whimsi-
cality is hidden as a “guilty secret.”
“The Innocent Voyage” by Richard
Hughes, the story of seven. children
captured by pirates in 1860, suggests
in its title the charm of youthful ad-
venture but is devoted ‘to “debunking”
the false and sentimental attitude
toward children which has been ac-

in this group.

cepted to the present. The book has
power and beauty in spite of its faults,
and is particularly Successful in the use
of backgrounds as powerful forces.
Osbert Sitwell in. “The Man Who
Found Himself” writes Swinburninan
hprose with great suavity but at times
the book is slightly rhetorical-and over-
written. “He illustrates ‘the fact that
“British writers-aré-less-touched-by-the
urge for harsh precision than the
Aimercans.

“The 42nd Parallel” by John dos
Passos is a text in which to study all
the modern tendencies: these are a
weary, cynical stream of consciousness
and a delight in coarseness: It is an
experiment in’ form, introdycing four
characters who are almost unconnected
with each other and tying the whole
together by a “News Reel,” . the
“Camera’s Eye” which gives a personal
slant on events, and a group of prose
poems, biographies of famous A‘meri-
cans. Though irritating, the book is
stimulating and challenging, particular-
ly in its satire and cubistic pattern.
“Cheri” by Colette, a French Sophisti-
cate, shows a Gallic elegance of man-
ners. “The Count’s Ball’ by a boy of
19, Radiguet,-is~a .“novel of chaste
love, “salacious in. its way,’ while the
style is as careless as the author tried
to make it. Rebecca _West’s “Harriet
Hume” is a sophisticated novel graced
with fresh and original language in the
treatment of an old’ theme, woman’s
ability to face facts.

Mrs. Sloss read entertaining and il-
luminating passages from the books
she was discussing to illustrate the
amused, dispassionate evaluation of
men and manners, the materialism,
and the primitive, often anti-social
ideas of the Sophisticates. “But a
small group is arising,” concluded Mrs.
Sloss,” which is unwilling to accept
this as the final word in tendencies.”



An Honor System Questionnaire

A compilation of the results of a ques-
tionnaire on the honor system distributed
among the students of St. Lawrence Uni-’
versity shows that, of the two hundred
and twenty-seven who returned. ballots,
ofie hundred and forty-four are dissatis-
fied with the present system and are in
favor of changing it, while seventy-seven
wish to keep it. Of the one hundred and
forty-four who desire_a_change,-eighty-
four voted to. abolish the, system entirely,
and sixty preferred to modify it.
vote was taken in the college of letters
and science, and only about one-third
of the student body voted.

The most prevalent suggestion for
modification was the proctor system oper=
ated under faculty control: This ‘was
also given-as the alternative for the
present system in the majority of cases
where the students voted for direct aboli-
tion. Among the other suggestions for
modification were increasing the penalty,
and providing a court composed of both
students and faculty. members to try
violators @etected under the proctor sys-
tem. A system of student monitors was
suggested as well-as a” general tightening
of the present rules.—St. Lawrence Uni-|

rexists-in the tabor group.

The’

; ca!

Economic Conference



Continued from Page One
Reed Cary, : Vice-President of Leeds,
Northrup and Company, took the
floor, and discussed the relationship
between the corpdPation land the in-

dividual. The worst problem in un-
qmplayment, he said, lies jin adjusting
those men who have na ability, or
who are in the wrong positions. The
problem of consolidation jis one that
has not yet. been satisfactorily worked
out, for the less efficient loses out al-
ways. The new philosophy of indus-
try is both moral and economic—to
pay the highest possible wages.’ Un-
employment, said Mr. Cary, is un-
economical as well as unjust. Many
of the unemployed are men of trained
brains; unemployment is hitting all
classes, and may affect us. This is
an evil analogous to the slavery evil.

The discussion, led by Anne Bur-
nett, Bryn Mawr, '32, centered around
the effort of Leeds, Northrup and
Company to meet the problems of
unemployment and insurance.

At one o'clock the conference ad-
journed for lunch in ‘the May Day
Room, to convene again at two.- Mr,
Tom Tippett of the Brookwood
Labor College gave a very ‘impas-
sioned speech from the point of view
of labor. The engineers are tools of
the capitalists, and so salvation will
not come from them. There must be
a power strong enough to make peo-
ple see what is happening and do
something: about it. This power
No ~ busi-
ness man wants government to come
into business except to put up tariffs,
so we must change our government.
Independent political action may do
it—if not,. then- revolution,

The Labor movement is much. more
idealistic’ more Christian than any
other -group.-Sacrifice-in- the ~Ameri-
can Labor Movement is as great.as
it is to be found anywhere. Labor
Unions have —many—faults,— but—they

are not all stupid and crooked. II-
legal and brutal opposition is the
cause. of some of this.

“This conference is an indictment

of our cofleges; because we should be
talking of these things in our classes,
and not need to call a conference.”
The college group is too intelligent;
the idealism necessary to right the
situation appeals to labor. Public
schools do not “teach this idealism.
The need and the labor movement
alone will educate people.

The discussion was led by Howard
Westwood, of Swarthmore, and _ it
continued long after Mr. Tippett’s de-
parture. Dr. Wilcox, of the Univer-
sity ,of Pennsylvania, -Mr. Biemiller,
add? Mr. Krueger took—active— parts
in this discussion,

After the announcement of the con-
ference to be held at Johns Hopkins
over the 29th of March, and after a
brief summaty of the day by V. But-
terworth, Bryne-Mawr, 732, the con-
ference adjourned to tea, and finally
ended at 5.30.



Fellowship’ Awards



- Continued from Page One
The Mary, Elizabeth Garrett European

Fellowship has been awarded to Pauline

S. Relyea; A. B. Smith College, 1924;
M. A, to be conferred,” Bryn Mawr Col-
lege, 1930; teaching; 1924-25 and 1926-
29; student, Columbia University Sum-
mer School, 1927, and Chicago Summer
School, 1928; part-time graduate ‘stu-
dent, Bryn Mawr College, 1927-29; fel-
low in history, 1929-30. Miss Relyea has
been ynominated by the Department of
History; her thesis. will be on various
aspects ‘of Continental opinion in regard
to the Boer War. She plans to study in
Germany, France and England, attend-
ing lectures on ‘modern European prob-
lems and working on general bibliog-
raphy.

The Anna Ottendorfer Memorial Re-}

search Fellowship has been awarded to
Margaret Jeffrey; A. B. Wellesley Col-
lege, 1927; exchange student at the Uni-
versity of Frankfurt, 1927-28; graduate

scholar in German at Bryn Mawr Col-

lege, 1928-29; M. A. Bryn Mawr Col-
lege, 1929; fellow in the department of
German, ~~ 1929-30.
nominated by the Department of Ger-
man, and Miss Irene Maria Huber was
recommended as_ alternate.

The Bryn Mawr European Fellowship

has been awarded to Sarah Stanley Gor-
don,- graduating Summa Cum Laude in
the class of 1930; her honour points num-

ber three hundred and three, and she}
has the second highest numberof. honour |





NHS FA: , Correspondeat.

Ap. peidh se aes





points held by an individual since the

j =

¥

honour point system began—Frederica de
Laguna has“the highest record with three

hundred and four honour points.
‘ rs



Marriage and College
Seeing the name of a married woman
leading the list of individual high grades
for fall term with ninety-five points—the
perfect grade—brings forth arguments
regarding the merits and drawbacks of
attending college when married.

A well-known professor on the Oregon
campus a year ago said ina lighter vein,
“Every student should be married before
he or she comes to college’—a startling
assertion, but containing considerable
good psychology. ,

What would happen to the moral prob-
lems of the big university if all students
were married? Would not such a situa-
tion alter the ecénomic problems? All
mottoes to the contrary, two persons re-
quire two and one-half persons’ salary
to live on. Frivolity and courting then
would be unknown—courting then would
be unknown—college work would be un-
dertaken with increased “earnestness and
the results from four years’ study would
be far greater.

The picture of a university where there
were no single students is an intriguing

one. No fraternities’ or sororities.
Bewer, dances. Less money spent on
amusements, fewer--pehnies* spent on

“bites” in wayside inns. Life would be
more serious.

Talk of dates and chit-chat on subjects
airy and inconsequential as indulged in
by women, and fireplace talk on weighty
matters which .characterizes fraternity
men would metamorphose into talk of
rent bills, clothes, and unromantic sub-
jects like lawn-mowers.

Young married couples; have in the
past tried college life together. Girls
who have a “Mrs.” in front of their
names will be found to look at studies
and classes more seriously than their
unattached sisters.. The social life is
paled before -the steadfast~ work ambi-
tions-.of-young—married—men—in“schoot:
Sometimes it is hard for them to under-
stand the light manner in which the un-
wed look at a college education.

Smiles that were once on the brow
are eclipsed by the doubled money wor-
ries. Single, a man sees the future as
a more-or-less filmy castle in the dis-
tance. Married, the castle’s outlines
disappear and he is face to face with
a blank, unwritten future. In his hand
he has the pen with which to write.
So he sets about to learn, perfecting the
crude methods he picked up while he was
joyously coasting through college. _

College is the place some call the

-last stronghold of youth, the place for
Life |,

a last spree of fun and _ jollity.
seems by turns distant or just around
the .curve. Alternately, youth is eager
to try its wings or. afraid of the leap
which must come. Whether married life
should intrude itself upon the life of the
college student, as an oil on troubled
waters, is debatable. Certain it is that
the college student would get more out
of his college education in a material
way, but in gaining this he would lose
the social broadening and fellowship of
a wide. circle of friends in- both sexes,
which circle he is able to create through
freer contact which a college community,
provides.—Oregon Emerald.

tees |

Page 3

To Other People

“George Arliss is so linked with his
portrayal of Disraeli both on the stage
and in talkies that some people have
confused him with the English hero,”
said Maude T. Howell, 16, stage man-
ager to the player, and campus visitor
for the past week.

“An American ‘girl who was travel-
ing abroad saw the statue of Disraeli in
Westminster Abbey and exclaimed hap-
pily, ‘How very nice of the English to
put a memorial to George Arliss here,
even before he dies!’ 3
_“Another instance I heard of was of
a woman who went into a London book=,
store and asked for the Life of George
Arliss by some Frenchman, confusing it
with Maurois’ Life of Disraelii—Stan-
ford Daily. eae



Competitive Year Book Elections

Resulting indirectly from discussion at
the N. S. F. A. convention at Stanford
in January, the Student Council at Penn
State has unanimously agreed to place
elections for La Vie, the senior class an-
ntial, on a competitive basis. Formerly
the editor was elected by undergraduate
political parties, and other members of
the staff were appointed as a reward for
political support.

Under the new plan, all sophomores
who wish may try out for the staff. Dur-
ing the first semester of®* their junior
year, twelve of this group will be elected
to the junior board. In May, the new
editor, his assistants, and a new junior
board will’be named by the outgoing
staff—Penn State N. S. F. A;..Corre-
spondent.

mee ut
a oe

4 When
New York
Cane...

Pack your grip and make your stop-
ping place the Hotel. La Salle
Located in the socially correct East
Sixties; near exclusive shops, adjacent
tq theatres.

RATES

Room near Bath $4.00 a Day

Double Room and Bath, ;
$5.00-to $7.00 a Day

Parlor, Bedroom and Bath,
$7.00 to $14.00 a Day

Parlor, Two Bedrooms and Two
Baths....$15.00 to $21.00 a Day

Note: No increase in rate
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Special weekly and monthly
rentals, :

Hotel La Salle

THIRTY EAST:60th«ST.
NEW: YORK; N. -¥5
CuHarces La Previe, Mgr.

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Miss Jeffrey was;

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Country during July and August for Young Ladies.






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