The Midwest Quarterly: A Journal of Contemporary Thought
Contents
Prose
For a Vigorous Conservatism
The Challenge of Change
Berlin: Freedom behind Barbed Wire
A Religious Allegory: Joyce's A Little Cloud
Hatchets and Hoopskirts: Women in Kansas History
The Doubloon in Moby Dick
Poems
Music Lesson
10th Station: Despoilment
The Last Two Persimmons on the Tree
Abstract
in this issue...
THIS is the political spring of a political year. The "first hundred days" of the Kennedy Administration are about to become history, and there are other activities on the American and the midwestern scenes which are essentially political in nature and/ or origin. The Centennial of Kansas statehood has officially begun, and the Centennial of the American Civil War likewise. More importantly, rank-and-file Americans seem to be taking more interest in political activities and problems than is their usual wont, although this may be only a seasonal thing, what with state legislatures in session as well as a new Congress under the leadership of a new President. At any rate, the editors of THE MIDWEST QUARTERLY make no apology whatsover for the presentation of two companion-pieces on American politics as lead articles in this issue.
THAT MEMORABLE TEAM of Gilbert and Sullivan pointed years ago to the liberal-conservative split in humanity generally. This phenomenon continues to this day to be the subject of scrutiny and comment by political scientists, in this country as well as in Mother England. It seemed to the editors of this publication, a long time ago, that it would be appropriate to have statements by American political leaders--professional politicians rather than academic political scientists--as part of our bill of fare. Accordingly, letters went out over a year ago to a clutch of American politicians, all of whom at the time were actively or inactively seeking the presidential nomination from one or the other of our parties. The results, from our point of view, were rather unhappy: it was obvious that the then candidates were too busy to write much besides political speeches, although their replies were courteous and friendly. After the election last fall, we tried again in a somewhat different direction, writing this time to two United States Senators, one of whom had emerged as the outstanding voice of American political conservatism, the other a "Midwest Progressive" who had frequently demonstrated and implemented American political liberalism. Fortunately, we think, both men were quick to assure us of their cooperation, and we are proud to present the end-products of this correspondence as the first and second articles in this issue. In a sense, they are two halves of one article.
Who has not heard of Senator BARRY GOLDWATER (R., Arizona)? For that matter, who has not heard of Senator HUBERT H. HUMPHREY (D., Minnesota)? Senator Goldwater has had an almost meteoric rise in the past year as the foremost spokesman for American conservatism. For months his book, The Conscience of a Conservative, has been selling extremely well-particularly well in college book stores across the country. On radio and television, the Senator from Arizona has been discussing and debating with all comers. It seems hardly necessary to introduce Senator Humphrey to our readers. Thanks to his peripatetic campaigning in Democratic primaries last spring, many Americans had the opportunity to meet and hear this vigorous spokesman for American liberalism, a recognized leader in the Senate of the United States and the man who is given a great deal of credit for the inspiration of President John F. Kennedy's recently inaugurated Peace Corps. Again and again in the recent past, these two Americans have debated each other, and every indication is that their debate will continue for a long time to come. We count ourselves fortunate to have been able to provide them with one more opportunity to confront each other with their opposite ideologies.
LAST SUMMER HANS BEERMAN, assistant professor of literature here, revisited his native Berlin as part of a prolonged tour of western Europe. We have been able to persuade him to contribute an article on the state of affairs in higher education in that key city based on observations made both east and west of the Brandenburg Gate. Readers of THE MIDWEST QUARTERLY will recall his two earlier contributions to this journal: "Hermann Hesse and the Bhagavad-Gita'' in our October, 1959, issue and his "European Reflections" on the then best-selling novel, The Ugly American, which appeared in our January, 1960, issue.
JAMES JOYCE has entertained and baffled general readers and professional literary critics for many years. It goes almost without saying that to read Finnegan's Wakewithout a key or other literary road map is practically impossible. HAROLD BRODBAR presents in this issue an explication of one of Joyce's short stories appearing in Dubliners, "A Little Cloud," using a method developed by Professor Marvin Magalaner, the well-known Joyce critic. Mr. Brodbar, a New Yorker whose formal education includes degrees from City College and advanced work at Columbia University, argues that "the application of this type of intense, symbol-oriented analysis in unique in its ability to reveal a wealth of pristine and provocative literary insights. This is especially true . . . in the case of such a dedicated and self-conscious artist as Joyce whose enormous (and sometimes obscure) erudition is otherwise impenetrable."
Mr. Brodbar spends his days teaching English language and literature in a New York City high school. Evenings, he indulges "a dilettante's passion for the Italian Renaissance, a professional' s for more literature." He and Mrs. Brodbar live "spiritually" in Florence, Italy: Their summers they spend not only on the Ponte Vecchio but also, as occasion provides, in the Mayan ruins of Yucatan, the Greek ruins of Agrigento, or the incomparable restaurants of Copenhagen.
THE CENTENNIAL OF KANSAS statehood occupies the center of our immediate stage this year, and accordingly the editors of THE MIDWEST QUARTERLY have planned a series of articles touching on this great occasion. In this issue, DR. ELIZABETH COCHRAN, professor of history here, provides a critical analysis of the role of women in Kansas development. Dr. Cochran holds the bachelor of arts degree from Missouri Valley College, Marshall, Missouri, and master of arts and doctor of philosophy degrees from the University of Chicago. Long a student of western history generally and Kansas history in particular, she is a member of the Kansas State Historical Society and the Crawford County Historical Society. In recognition of her interests and scholarship, Governor George Docking two years ago appointed her to the Kansas Centennial Commission. In addition to these activities, she is a member of the American Historical Association, the American Association of University Women, and the Mississippi Valley Historical Association. She is also a member of the board of directors of the Kansas Council of World Affairs. This article is a condensation of Dr. Cochran's February lecture in the 1960-61 Great Issues Lecture series sponsored by the Department of Social Science.
MOBY DICK has finally emerged as and remains one of the great works of American literature. The past generation of students of that literature have given more and more time and energy to reexaminations and re-evaluations of Herman Melville generally and of the structure, symbolism, technique, and theme of his novel of Captain Ahab and his fatal search for the great white whale. CLARE and RUSSELL GOLDFARB teach English literature at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, and together they have written a clear and stimulating analysis of two of the most dramatic and meaningful episodes in Moby Dick: the incidents of the doubloon, in the first of which Ahab nails a gold piece to the mainmast of the Pequod as a prize to the man who first sights "a white-headed whale with a wrinkled brow and a crooked jaw," and a later scene in which the central characters of the novel one by one stand before the doubloon and tell what they see in it. Clare Goldfarb took her A. B. at Smith College and her A. M. at New York University where she met Russell in a course appropriately entitled Romantic Poetry. Russell holds the bachelor's and master's degrees from NYU and the Ph.D. from Indiana University. His poetry has appeared in "small" magazines, and some of his critical work has been accepted for early publication in a number of scholarly journals.
Two POETS new to the pages of our journal appear in this issue. RAYMOND ROSELIEP is professor of English at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. He has the master of arts degree from the Catholic University of America, the doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Notre Dame. The Newman Press of Westminster, Maryland, is publishing his first book of poems, The Linen Bands, this spring. Many of these poems have recently been recorded for the poetry room in Lamont Library at Harvard University. His work is appearing currently or will be published soon in many magazines and journals including Poetry, Chicago Choice, The Colorado Quarterly, Prairie Schooner, The Waterloo Review (Ontario), The Minnesota Review, Arts in Society, Impetus, Chicago Review, Commonweal, and Approach.
E. H. TEMPLIN is professor of Spanish at the University of California at Los Angeles whose poems have been rather widely printed in The Sewanee Review, Commonweal, Poetry, Antioch Review, Kenyon Review, Minnesota Review, and The Atlantic. He frequently leaves his classroom and desk to prowl around Mexico and to hike and camp in the California deserts and mountains.
Recommended Citation
Goldwater, Barry; Humphrey, Hubert H.; Templin, E. H.; Beerman, Hans; Brodbar, Harold; Roseliep, Raymond; Cochran, Elizabeth; Goldfarb, Russell; Goldfarb, Clare; and Midwest Quarterly Editors
(1961)
"The Midwest Quarterly; Vol 2. No. 3,"
The Midwest Quarterly: A Journal of Contemporary Thought: Vol. 2:
Iss.
3, Article 1.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/mwq/vol2/iss3/1
