5

November 19, 1965

COLLEGE NEWS

Page Five



Clerical Scepticism in Fiction Size of Bryn Mawr, Haverford
- Topic of Fifth Flexner Lecture

Frank Kermode’s fifth Flexner
lecture, ‘Literary Fiction and
Reality,’’ consideréd clerical
scepticism as a factor in the
changing character of literary
fictions. -

Mr. Kermode called the novel
the central form of literary art
today because, according to
Ortega, it lends. itself to coping
with present reality, In writing
novels extremists revolt against
conventions, thereby creating new
laws that in turn must be broken.

These new forms always possess
some congruence with some
paradigm, The history of the novel
is the history of forms rejected
or modified, because the novel
is conscious of the dissidence
of inherited forms and our sense
of reality.

Iris Murdoch was offered by
Mr, Kermode as an example of
a novelist-theorist whose works
do not ‘fulfill her own doctrine.
In her search for the proper
novel form, Miss Murdoch has
rejected the ‘crystalline’: form
because it does not allow free
characters andthe *‘documentary”
form because it lacks any suit-
able framework,

As a novelist, she finds it diffi-
cult to resist what she terms
the consolations of form. These
consolations are dangerous be-
cause they are damaging to
her characters, The ideal
~character for Miss Murdoch is
both free and ‘‘opaque,’’ exercis-
ing the freedom granted by the
author.

The novel as a literary struc-
ture has a_ basic _ conflict,
said Mr, Kermode, Although it
is delighted with its own
characters, it must still respect
their freedom, At the same time,
the novel cannot afford to lose
the formal characteristics by
which we recognize it as a novel,

The patterns employed cannot
be too neat, There must be dis-
sidences, since reality itself is
incomplete. Mr. Kermode termed
this problem the dilemma of fic-
tion and reality.

As a-contrast to Iris Murdoch’s
theory, Mr. Kermode described
Muriel Spark’s view of reality
in novels, Her reality is not a
chaos but an ordered reality that
novels must consider,

Mr, Kermode summarized the
difference between the two authors
as Miss Spark’s belief that the
world is a divine, supreme, and
true fiction, Under the pressure
of the imagination, the con-
tingencies will resolve themselves
into arbitrary patterns, When man
finds a pattern, he has a right to
be consoled by it, because that
pattern is authentic.

A novelist without such a
‘universal plot’? must arrange
concord between his fictions and
reality, said Mr. Kermode. He
discussed this question as it is
illustrated by Sartre’s novel, LA
NAUSEE,

This novel displays a crisis
in the relation of fiction to reality.
Sartre’s mood is sometimes
appropriate’ to the modern de-
mythological apocalypse: there is
a crisis, but the world has no
beginning or end,

In his autobiography, Sartre
describes the falsities imposed
on him by the fictive power of
words. A character he once
attempted to portray unsympathe-
tically suddenly emerged as
a hero. Such gaps will open, said
Mr. Kermode, in the most closely
knit patterns of words.

We use fictions both in our own
existential crises and in books,
Mr. Kermode said, Novels are not
life, but they are similar to it,
In life, ways may be barred, but
we must act, To help ourselves
we pretend that we can act, re-
lying on a magical determinism.
The: function. of man’s inescap-
able freedom is expressed by his
ability to see things as they are

not. Only by fictions can he see
himself as free,

Sartre judged Camus’ L’ET-
RANGER by its. transfigura-
tion of the contingent, but he
himself @hose a plot requiring the
represeation of uch con-
tingency. LA NAUSEE presents
contingency as nauseous, unformed
matter, while Roquentin has the
male, form-giving role. He must
experience contigency without
human fictions to assist him,

Resisting the aim of the book,
the novel form imposes itself on
the material and joins in what
Sartre calls the “‘bad faith’’ of
the concord - producing author,
This conflict results from Sartre’s
attempt to include chaotic con-
tingency in a form that is itself
a destroyer of contingency.

Sartre’s doctrine must be
falsified when. it appears in a
novel, A man may have no relevant
past and live in a world of chaos
in which he is only potential, Every
novel, however, must be a
completed act. It carries with it
the potency of a humanly imagined
creation, It has a beginning and
end, but the world does not.

Sartre defines the future as a
fluid medium in which he tries
to -actualize ‘his potential, The

(Continued on page 8)

Most Impresses Frank Kermode

What appears to strike Frank
Kermode most about Bryn Mawr

and Haverford is their large size,

Mr, Kermode made this rather
startling observation last Tuesday
in a COLLEGE NEWS interview in
the Deanery.

Clarifying his point, Mr. Ker-
mode explained that the size of
the two campuses, particularly
large in proportion to the number
of students, surprised him, He
added speculatively, by way of il-
lustration, that all the colleges of
Cambridge could be placed on Hav-
erford’s campus. with room to
spare,

Asked to compare Bryn Mawr
students academically with British
university girls, he said he thought
they were ‘tabout the same -- all
bright.’’

He was flatteringly reticent when
pressed for an opinion of Bryn
Mawr’s academic quality, saying,
**Well, everyone knows you’re good
-- shall I just reiterate?’’

Mr. Kermode then’ briefly
discussed the position of women in
the British university system. As
an examiner at Cambridge, Mr.
Kermode has observed that girls
taking ‘‘firsts’’ are generally su-
perior to their male counterparts.

He pointed out that competition

SCM’s Campus Leader

Arrives and Organizes

For the first time in several
years the Student Christian Move-
ment here has a permanent lead-

. er, Michael Porteus, an Episcopal

minister from England, is filling
the post on the Bryn Mawr, Hav-
erford, andSwarthmore campuses,

Before coming to the Main Line,
Mr. Porteus was secretary of SCM
at Oxford University, which he also
attended, and asssociate Episcopal
Chaplain at the University of Chi-
cago for three years,

English himself and married to
a German, Mr. Porteus is dis-
tinctly qualified to discuss the in-
ternational aspects of SCM, The
organization began as a general
movement for young people, in con-
junction with the YMCA. Gradually,
the two organizations went their
separate ways. SCM filled the gap
left by the YMCA onthe campus,
especially in America.

Abroad it is more of a na-
tional federation, whereas here the
organization is local, determined
by the college. In the United States
SCM works in cooperation with
local churches, This is not the
case in many African and Asian
countries, where it is frequently
the only representative of the
church on campus.

Temple Professor
To Lecture Here
On Zen Buddhism

Speaking on Zen Buddhism will
be Bernard L, Phillips, profes-
sor of religion and-chairman
of the department at Temple Uni-
versity, on Wednesday, December
1, at 7:30 in the Common Room,
Mr. Phillips has been invited by
the Interfaith Association.

Mr. Phillips has specialized in
oriental religion and philosophy
and has studied in both India
and Japan, He has recently brought
out a book presenting views and
essays of Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki,
the well known interpreter of Zen
Buddhism for the West, with whom
he has worked and studied.

Mr. Phillips received his Ph.D,
in Philosophy from Yale Univer-

sity and has also served as chair=: -

man of the department of re-
ligion at the University of Dela-
ware,

SCM promotes discussion, de-
bate, and action. It often spon-
sors conferences and lectures ona
wide range of topics, This local
chapter has sponsored two lec-
tures this. year: Professor Ken
nedy on ‘*Moral Issues in U.S,
China Policy’? and Mr. Goss-Mayr
on *fThe Revolutionary Force of
the Gospel’? and ‘‘Latin America
at: the Crossroads,”’

There are tentative plans for a
group visit to East Harlem parish
to observe and work with the prob-
lems there. SCM is not at all

restricted in its functions, It can-

do anything and everything which
might be relevant and ig which
students show an interest.

Mr. Porteus finds working with
students stimulating. There are
always new issues at hand, He
enjoys his present post in par-
ticular, because he finds the at-
mosphere at Bryn Mawr and. Hav-
erford closer to Oxford and Cam-
bridge than that at the University
of Chicago. He feels the freedom
and responsibility at Bryn Mawr
and Haverford are an important
part of university life and a step
toward maturity.

Mr. Porteus’
attempt to collect the Christian
community which already exists
on the campus and then to help
its members to see themselves as
the Church. He believes it is time
**to stop seeing the Church as an
organization, but to see it as a peo-
ple.”? It is not just a building but
should be an active body, serving
the needs of the community.

, In the academic world, as inany
other community, Mr. Porteus
points to the necessity for people
to reflect on what they are doing.
Perhaps one of the best ways to
stimulate._ such reflection is
through informal meetings and dis-
cussions, This.could provide a
stepping stone in the difficult task
which each individual faces, finding
his role in society.

“SMC does not want to be a rigid
organization but rather an integral
part of campus life, catering to the
students, For this reason, Mr,
Porteus prefers a loose schedule
in which issues are met as they
arise. He welcomes the ideas and
interests “of any ‘Student and is

anxious to. know. ~ the... stu-
dents’ needs, so that he may serve
them, S.R.

approach is an



F
aN i



Flexner Lecturer Frank Kermode relaxes with his wife, right,

and twins, center, after they dined with Rhoads Hall residents.

among girls is tougher from the
beginning, “since relatively “few
places are available to them. For
those who do win places, he added,
vast scholarship aid from the state
is readily obtained,

Asked if he is a frequent visitor
to the United States, Mr. Kermode
recalled that he had spent 1943
in Seattle, and that from 1963 to
1964, he was a fellow at the Center
for Advanced Studies at Wesleyan
University in Middletown, Con-
necticut. While at Wesleyan, he
delivered the Vanderbilt Lecture
at Smith College.

During his stay at Bryn Mawr,
Mr. Kermode has paid visits to
other areas and institutions, He
was one of thee speakers at a
recent conference on ‘The Future
of Humanities’? at a centennial
in Lexington, Ky. He also spoke
at Rutgers.

Before leaving for England, Mr.
Kermonde and his family will Spend
Thanksgiving holidays at Smith

Bachrach Discusses Protests

College and then visit Seattle to
look up old acquaintances,

Asked if he would consider a
long-term position in the U.S,, Mr.
Kermode replied that he and his
wife had decided that for the sake.
of the children they would settle
permanently in England. The Ker-
mode youngsters, nine-year-old
twins Mark and Deborah, are on
their third visit to the U.S, They
are presently enrolled at the Hav-
erford Friends School, and ac-
cording to their father, are by
now completely at home in Ameri-
can schools.

Upon returning home, Mr. Ker-
mode will occupy the Winterstoke
Chair at the University of Bristol,
where he will head the English
department,

Since no sabbatical leave sys-
tem exists in British universities,
this may be Mr. Kermode’s last
visit to the United States for
a long time to come,

K.D., LK.

In Democracy’s Framework

Peter Bachrach, chairman
of the political science depart-
ment, presented his views on pro-
test within the democratic frame-
work at atalk Thursday, Nov, 12,
for the Alliance for Political Af-
fairs. one

Mr. Bachrach feels strongly that
the liberal and anti-war emphasis
of today should be placed on a
radical domestic program such as
the War on Poverty. Americans,
especially students, should face
up to what Democracy means and
live by it.

Mr. Bachrach’s explanation for
his position rests on a fear that
hysteria and adverse reaction to
anti-war protestations will leave
the President no other recourse
in the Viet. Nam War, as the
United States gradually gains a
stronger position, except more
military reaction and perhaps
bombing with atomic weapons,

Aside from using a few vague
terms used such as freedom (what
freedoms?),Mr. Bachrach clearly
expressed his concern for the
obedience to law. He also managed
at times to touch on the interest-
ing point, too often forgotten, that
pro-war and anti-war factions have
the same legal courses to action.

Recurring throughout the even-
ing came the question of where
to draw the line in demonstrations,
in civil disobedience andin de-
liberate breaking of the law. Mr.
Bachrach offered suggestions ac-

for ding to Supreme Court
decisions, but he had to make
allowance for the person who is
‘morally repulsed by some law or

_ policy and feels compelled to break’

the law of the will of the majority.

The problem arises of at

|

whether someone is acting be-
cause he is morally repulsed or
because it is an expedient poli-
tical tactic. Mr. Bachrach was
emphatic in his opinion that stu-
dents today were breaking too
many laws (and here again a cer-
tain vagueness crept in) just for
political reasons.

Mr. Bachrach’s whole position
was one of liberalism and anti-
war policy based on a firm con-
viction that changes in un-
welcome policies can be made
within the law and through the
democratic process. He offered
a challenge to find new, imagin-
ative ways to accomplish this,
because as one student pointed
out, most students cannot vote.
He refrained from offereing an-
swers to his challenge, however.

Most of the suggestions put forth
seemed to be based on an ideal
situation, in which the opposition
keeps firmly within the law. This
is not always the case, as harass-
ed civil rights workers have dis-
covered. Thus Mr. Bachrach did
not /deal with the question of
whether one has the right to go
outside the law if the opposition
does.

Unfortunately, the questions at
the end were generally poor and
on occasion lengthy monologues.
Some were definitely discussion
questions designed for a small
group. As the audience shifted and
squirmed on the crowded floor
of the Common Room, one waited
for some brilliant opposition on
either the right or left, but no
logical, clearcut ideas ever

‘emerged

A.S.