Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1893-09-09
OUR UNCLEAN FICTION,
The Influence Which Paris He's Exerted
on American Writers.

The Influence which Paris Hos Excrted
on American Writers.
The literature of America, in its
beginning, was essentially English,
because its writers and its readers
were of the English race. Its found
ers were Irving and Cooper and the
Transcendentalists of New England.
The traditions and methods of the
mother country prevailed. even after
our American revival of letters had
created national sentiment in
literature. 1t is only within the last
few years that any departure from
them has been attempted. We have
now number of writer's, male and
female, OF varying degrees OF infe-
riorlty, who call themselves a school,
and whose efforts are devoted to foster
ing immortality. How are we to &C.
count for this phenomenon. for which
the history Of our language affords
no precedent or parallel, unless it be
in the corrupt literature of the Res
toration? Does it not occur to us,
first Of all, to seek for like cause
foreign influence?
In my judgment, this is the true
explanation-a foreign influence COM
ing through two channels. 1t seems
indisputab!e that principal cause
must be found in the fact that in the
centers of thought and population in
this country. the Anglo-Saxon modes
OF thought and belief have been for
the time superseded by sort Of cos
mopOlitan sentiment with a large
Gallo constituent. The tremendous
influx of foreigners of other races than
our own has created a hybrid popu-
lation, and unsettled conviction on
almost every subject. But, it will be
said, the argument is defective be-
cause large portion of our immi.
grant population is Teutonic. 1t
must be borne in mind that the allie
CATION of moral superiority applies es-
pecially to the Anglo-Saxon people
and literature. 1t is by the Anglo
Saxons, submit, that the old German
institutions and characteristics have
been best preserved and developed.
1t is also true that the Tuetonic as
well as other immigrants are drawn
from the lower classes OF population,
and are not, therefore, thoroughly
representative. 1t may be admitted
that the objection to the argument
is in measure valid. But who will
stultify himself by denying to our
foreign population a tremendous in
fluence in literature, as in everything
else?
This is one source of foreign in
fluence. The other is described in
hn ri Dnrio A
OF letters said to me recently that
in his judgment the French were al
most entirely responsible fer our i'm
moral fiction. There are ten thou
sand American residents in Paris.
Thousands more annually visit that
alluring capital Paris sets the fash
ion. These Americans readily yield
to its destinations, and become con-
verts to its ways of acting and think
ing. Pilgrims returning home bring
with them the Partisan ideas. II they
are only ladies and gentlemen, it is
probable that this will appear most
strikingly in certain un-American
and Gallo freedom in the range Of
conversation. If they are artists, a
decided preference for unfiinching
nudityin art will be perceptible. If
they are writer's, they will laud the
liberality of French sentiment and
long Tor the freedom of Balzac and
lola. have heard it asserted that
it is possible to trace directly to Paris
the respo visibility for all our erotic
writers, who, with accurate knowl-
edge OF our national conditions, have
begun at propitious time the imita-
tiOn of French romance.
The condition cannot continue.
Our capacity for assimilation is only
temporarily exceeded by the ire
mendouS increase Of foreign popula-
tion. Moreover we shall relieve the
situation by judicious legislation, if
necessary, and that in the near fu-
ture. The Anglo-Saxon character
and sentiment will again prove them
selves stronger than the French and
all Others. AT the heart We are still
sound. American institutions, a
higher education, and the general ad-
vance OF civilization, will triumph
over these temporary evils; and the
pitiful pissimlst and eroticist will
lose their audience and find their &C.
cupation gone.-JOsh3a w. Caldwell,
in the New England Magazine.