New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-03-09
fiction has color all its
II own in Anglo Saxon eyes. French
II farce, French novels, were all

own IN AllElO-lodNOn eyes. L rencn
n farce, French novels, were all
viewed by Americans in the long
period before the war immersed in
the prismatic colors of La vie Parish
cnne.' Now comes Camille Mauclair,
best known on this side of the Atlantic
as an eminent critic of art and author
of one of the best works on Nelasquez,
and declares that it is time for France
to begin new fashion in it's art. "The
novel has become too Parisian," he re-
marks. and with the faint thunder of
Stendhal, Balzac, Dumas, Hugo, Flau-
bert and lola still shaking the hills
where authors dwell all over the rest of
the world, it is not hard to believe.
In THE New France M. Mauclair
presents his ideas of what French liter
ature of tomorrow will be.
"The war has cut, fguratively but power
fully. trench between our ideas and tastes
of yesterday and tomorrow. We have seen
many works and talents which we perhaps
priced too highly fall into this trench and
rapidly lose their value. We have been
thrown outside ourselves by an unheardo of
shock We have felt the need Of judging
things and men in another manner In the
test. certain writers gained greatly in pres
tige; have acquired gravity and breadth
of view hitherto lacking Others, the most
brilliant the most accustomed to fashion,
success and profit, have shown themselves
unequal to the new circumstances; and their
style has suddenly appeared old and faded.
OF these latter, writer's of the theatre have
been most representative, and if, in this
balance sheet that we are examining, there
is necessity for 'Mea culpa' the writers of a
certain type of theatrical productions should
certainly pronounce it.
ut Is hard to forgite these authors for
having been guilty of discredting disfgur-
ing and let not be afraid of the only
right Notwithstanding the French family in
the eyes of foreigners. We ourselves knew
that these comedies qualified as works of
art only by the criticism of the boulevards,
and forgotten year by year like woman's
last-season hat, were only the products of
an industrial dramaturgy, fruitful asso-
citation of dressmakers, actresses, courtiers
of the public and INSCRIPTIONS authors
eager to arrive.
I'VE knew that these brutal plays pre-
scented only upon the stage handful of
idle, satiated, suspicious persons who could
not represent real Partisan life, much less
provincial France.
eve also knew that although these COM
positions brought great profits, and even
Crosses of Honor to their audacious authors,
they nevertheless remained upon the out
skirts of true literature, was the case
also with certain unfortunate erotic novels
but other countries did not know all Of
this. Tours announced with much eclat by
enterprising agents brought to them these
plays, called Comedies of Manners pur-
porting to be true pictures Of the French
soul. They could not know that it was a
lie as barefaced and also as foolish as
would be the exhibition of a cubist picture
as the latest tendency of our national taste.
The foreigner firmly believed that all our
men were unreliable lovers, silly, insolent
ne'er-d creatures, and all our women
drawing room dolls.
"They did not know our mothers, our
sisters, the gay, honest gentleness of our
family customs; the omnipresent German
agent, pralsing German virtues, found in
these unhealthy works the best and most
important auxiliaries of his efforts. We
may say that this type of theatre largely
contributed toward alternating Europe from
US She judged US an amiable, immoral
irreverent, enervated nation, only of value
when one wished to be amused
when she beheld the spectacle Of heroic
France barring the way of the monstrous
machine with the breasts of her sons; or
,.,-r,
worst conditions; pouring forth torrents of
blood and gold; holding; giving time for the
surprised world to catch its breath and take
up arms Europe understood then that she
mad been mistaken, and on the rebound has
only admired France the more during the
last four years
THE only gratitude that we can feel for
our manufacturers of vicious drama is that
unwittingly but successfully they contrib
uted toward deceiving Germany herself upon
our valor and our coeficient Of moral and
physical resistance. Germany learned at
the Marine, at the User and before Verdun.
TO her sorrow, that France was not a coun-
try OF feasters and mcrrymakers; that un-
lawful love was not her only interest and
that our cynic authors had informed her as
badly regarding as had her own spies.
The Allies and the neutrals understood.
and a vast respect for France awoke
throughout the world. Plainly this per
nicious debasing of the theatre has had its
day and can no longer be tolerated. How
many times upon witnessing the production
abroad Of one Of these shameless caricatures
have we longed to cry out 1T is all lie
this is not Franco