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Tag Archives: Spanish
New Spanish Poetry
A discussion of his forthcoming book, A New History of Contemporary Spanish Poetry.
George Santayana’s Religious Naturalism
The Spanish-born American philosopher of religion George Santayana (1863-1952) said, Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness?. Those that cannot remember the past are condemed to fulfill it. How best should we interpret Santayana’s admonition about progress and history? What is the contemporary cultural importance of Santayana’s religious thinking?
Reader and Writer: French and Hispanic Literature
Philip Berk discusses his study of Rabelaisian hermeneutics, or the literary relationship between Rabelais and his audiences, in “Pantagruel,” Rabelais’s sixteenth-century poem about French culture, religion, and learning. Modern readers may know less of Rabelais’ erudition and spirituality (especially as they relate to his early work in Greek translation of the Bible) than they know of his bawdy satire. Modern audiences find that Rabelais disrupts the notion of moral high-mindedness by exposing the function of literature with surprising sophistication. At the time of this interview, Berk was a Fellow at the National Humanities Center (1984-85) and professor of French at the University of Rochester.
Robert ter Horst and Patricia Sanchez comment on three noteworthy aspects of Hispanic literature between the Golden Age and the modern period: the twelfth-century Spanish epic poem, El Cid; sixteenth-century picaresque fiction, which is integral to the origins of the modern novel; and Hispanic writing in contemporary literary theory and criticism. When this interview was held, Sanchez was an independent scholar living in Durham, North Carolina. Ter Horst had been a Fellow at the National Humanities Center (1982-83) and was professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Arizona. This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
Black English; Contemporary Spanish Poetry and Poets; Energy and American Cultural Values
Harvey Brooks, John Agresto, and Sanford Lakoff discuss the cultural risks and rewards associated with coal, nuclear, and solar energy. The perceived risks of nuclear energy are compared to projected death tolls for other types of disaster. The group enumerates some factors that define American culture—travel, health care, and education, all of which involve energy expenditures—and how those facets of life might evolve as traditional energy sources such as coal and petroleum become scarce. They discuss the idealization of rural life, the trend toward urban densification, and the obligations of the United States to our allies and to developing nations: that we must protect our political, as well as our moral, interests.
At the time this interview was taped, Harvey Brooks was a Trustee of the National Humanities Center, a recent participant in the Center’s seminar on Energy and the Values of Modern Society, and professor of technology and public policy at Harvard University. Sanford Lakoff, also a member of the seminar, was a National Humanities Center Fellow (1980-81 and 1981-82), and political science professor at the University of California at Berkeley. John Agresto was a staff member at the National Humanities Center.
In the next segment [20:25], Andrew Debicki talks about modern Spanish poetry and poets and shares some of his approaches to teaching poetry.
Andrew Debicki was a National Humanities Center Fellow (1979-80 and 1992-93) and professor of Spanish at the University of Kansas at the time of this interview.
Concluding [26:15], Charles Davis speaks on the phenomenon of Black English and its urban roots.
Charles Davis was a Trustee of the National Humanities Center from 1978 until his death in 1981, and head of African American studies at Yale University.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.