The Denver Jewish news., 1923-11-15
JEWS HAVE GIVEN MODERN
LITERATURE NEW VA
RIETY AND LIFE.
I.fercry Critic Presents Novel Theory
Of Jewish Influence OIL American

Burton Rascoe. literary editor Of the
| New York Tribune. writes in The cur
rent Issue Of The Menorah Journal:
The holly human element in the
Jewish contributions to American lit
| erature stand out constantly against
thc deliberate, unimpnssionel decorn-
tive. and non-utiIitarian writings of
the non-.Jcws. The tendency Of the
Jew. il to blow always hot or cold with
love or hate. Like Heine. he gives voice
either 10 the lOftiest sentiment or to
the bitterest ,lisillusions sometimes. ms
Heine often did, In the same poem. The
Jew IL never serene. nor. OH the other
hand. * lie ever complaisnnt ; coming
of n rntr Of prophets and maicontcnts
he * always either pOrtentious or In
revolt He Is either excessively hum
bile or full Of arrogance, depressed or
exalted. challenging the social order
or patiently nwnifing the coming Of the
Messiah. He never takes things ensy
or lets well enough alone: his bent is
ethical !: In, cannot fOrlear to interfere
with other peoples affairs: he judges
the world Of peoples In relation to HIM
| self. his own peculiar problems and
idiosyncrncies OF taste: he has. in
short. had manners, as the Greeks
would define that term. Alciblndcs
was the Greek ideal of the good md
gracious man. icnuae it was snid OF
Alcibiaslps that he mnle himself one
with whatever company he encounter
ed. he was martial among military
men,. scholarly among scholars; he ate
and dressed Ike the barhnrians when
he wns with them. and he accommo-
dated his preferences In all matters
IT, the situation in which he found him
self. II IL unthinkable that Jewish
Jew could ever be Alcibintes: he IL
too Jealous of his personal identity for
that. too insisten. and cgotistic. too
readily eonttmptuous Of nnsles Of liv-
ing which he thinks infeSIor to his
cw.i.
This. mind you. ~ not tIisparnGrnsens
hut the essnla,shuscnt Of n, rationsls
whereby td-v}ew the Jawisis contrfbu-
t,on to American letters n = to TH~e
Joints of difference with the nOn-Jew-
ish writer's. The Hellenic rule Of the
golden mean tends to be colorless.
vapid, trivial md unihters ing when
II Is adhered to by writer's who have
hot. shining qualities Of intellect and
/ emotional perception. On the other
hand, tile writer who considers his
own reactions In the light Of universal
laws. is l,y that very fact likely to
I've Interesting, because his work has
behind il an intensity of feeling. II Is
for that reason. believe that con-
| temporary American. as well as
French. Italian and German literature.
Is strongly colorcd with Judaism. Some
Of the outstanding works Of the great.
modern n0Il-Jewish writer's = james
Joyce. l.. \. Lawrence. Marcel Proust
(although he is said to have been part
jew. May Sinclair. Dorothy Richard
son, Virginia woolf and T. s. Eliot
are essentially Jewish In character
however modified by o. her cultures. 1t
is possible that the Judiae strain In
modern letters may eventually break
down to great extent that chill bar
ricr of austerity the Englishman has
erec ed about him.. that traditional
self-isolatiOn which keeps the English
mans thoughts pretty much TO himself +,
and his troubles out of the shop will
dows of life. Whether it will or not,
TINT strain has, incredibly crcpt into
the English and American literature Of
the period. 1t has given that literature
variety and new life: it has intensified
the critical element in literature; and
it has opened new avenues of various
experience.