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Preface
ОглавлениеAs one of my mentors, Alan Heimert, characterized the scholarly method, the goal was to determine not only what was said but what was meant. His understanding became part of my scholarly radar in the 1960s, and I have applied it ever since:
To discover the meaning of an utterance demands what is in substance a continuing act of literary interpretation for the language with which an idea is presented, and the imaginative universe by which it is surrounded, often tells us more of the author’s meaning and intention than his declarative propositions. An understanding of the significance of any idea, or of a constellation of ideas, requires an awareness of the context of institutions and events out of which thought emerged, and with which it strove to come to terms. But the full apprehension depends finally on reading, not between the lines but, as it were, through and beyond them. (Heimert 11)
Because the chapters of America Reflected involve so much personal interpretation, it seems desirable to assist the reader by offering some background information at the outset, giving some exposure to the mindset of this particular cultural historian.
The Brookline Influence
After service in World War II as a Marine officer, my father resumed participation in the political scene of Brookline, Massachusetts—an independent suburb of Boston since 1705—in the tradition of his father, who had been a judge in the municipal court for decades.
Captain Daniel G. Rollins, 1945
Grandfather, who was a Theodore Roosevelt Republican, iterated and reiterated to us the maxim of mens sana in corpore sano, echoing his political hero’s belief in the necessity of a “strenuous life,” while Father, by taking us to concerts at Boston’s famous Symphony Hall, showed us that a real man also should be interested in the arts—even avant-gardism (which to him meant Stravinsky, Le Six, and early 20th-century composers of the French school). On the political front, Dad brought me along to multiple evenings of Brookline’s town meetings where I observed him in a professional role: he led the singing of the national anthem at the opening of each evening session; as the Town Counsel (i.e., the municipal lawyer), he rendered real-time judgments on procedure and any legislative motions proposed by the assembled 100-plus elected representatives. These events—amplified by daily telephone calls from agencies and interested parties and occasional hand delivery of confidential documents by uniformed Brookline policemen—gave me an insider’s perspective on governmental affairs. I learned that politics required decisive leadership, often by an elite with the best interests of the polity in mind. And certainly one of the fundamental lessons was that public servants more often attempt to do what is right than to garner benefits from the perquisites of office—although there were some lagniappes which were enjoyed. How decisions and political images played out in the press was a regular topic of discussion at home (see Chapter 24 and interview with Wilson of Americana).
In the process of preparing four book reports during the spring break of freshman year (1956) at Brookline High School, I discovered that intellectual pursuits propelled the mind across space and time, and that such explorations were enormously stimulating. Creative writing and the history classes at BHS opened up vistas of intellectual growth and Atlantic Monthly prizes for poetry and fiction reinforced the lessons of closely-supervised writing experiences.
The Dartmouth Opportunity
Then on to Dartmouth College in a Rollins tradition since the 1820s. Grandfather and father reflexively referred to “the sacred soil of Dartmouth College” and even casual visitors to the Dartmouth Green are impressed by The Rollins Chapel—a martial, Romanesque building designed in the 1880s style of H.H. Richardson, the architect of Boston’s Trinity Church where father and the three Rollins brothers sang in the choir. Alas, as an English major at Dartmouth, I was very unhappy with the narrow perspective of the “New Criticism” approach to literature embraced by many in the department and attempted to enrich literary studies with music and history classes—when not distracted by irksome “distribution courses.”
The Rollins Chapel: Vox Clamantis in Deserto
As I later learned from mentors who shared Alan Heimert’s vision, New Criticism’s emphasis on paying attention to the text alone impoverished and “dehumanized” that text by seeking to suppress the author who wrote it. At the end of the sophomore year, I found myself unmotivated to continue marching to the Big Green’s drummer. During a student break, a Brookline High classmate who was studying at Harvard introduced me to the school’s Widener Library, where he had his own carrel (shared with others, but still a carrel). He was effusive about his experiences in the History and Literature (honors) Program—which combined both disciplines in a way that linked art to life—and “made the sale.” After much soul searching and hesitation about turning my back on the family alma mater, I transferred to the Cambridge, Massachusetts, school some five miles from Brookline and joined an interdisciplinary program started in 1906 by Barrett Wendell (1855-1921), biographer of the Rev. Cotton Mather (1663-1728).
The History and Literature Approach
The History and Literature Program’s mission was to urge honors students to connect cultural/political texts to their contexts—from the Puritans to the (then present) Cold War. As an undergraduate in the shadow of such teachers as Perry Miller (Puritans and romantics), Donald Fleming (intellectual history), Louis Hartz (political thought), Conrad Wright (religion), Alan Heimert (American culture) this pursuit was aerobic for mind and spirit.
Perry Miller, Model Scholar of “the American Mind”
After earning my bachelor’s degree and serving a challenging tour with the Marine Corps as an infantry officer (1963-66), I returned to Harvard to study for a Ph.D. in The History of American Civilization—what is called “American Studies” in schools where the programs were formed after World War II. In all phases of this scholarly training, I was prodded to interpret how works of nonfiction and fiction; paintings and architecture; and popular culture and motion pictures—either singly or in concert—reflected and impacted the America imago.
During the graduate years from 1966-1972, nearly everybody was reconsidering the meaning of America in an atmosphere which gave a special piquancy to the “continuing act of literary interpretation” urged by Heimert.
The Introduction which follows will bring this experience and method to bear on the chapters of America Reflected: Language, Satire, Film, and the National Mind.
Peter C. Rollins, Stillwater, Oklahoma
Works Cited
Heimert, Alan. Religion and the American Mind: From the Great Awakening to the Revolution. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1966.
Wilson, Leslie. “Conversations with Scholars of American Popular Culture: Featured Guest, Professor Peter C. Rollins.” Americana: The Journal of American Popular Culture, 1900 to Present. www.americanpopularculture.com/home.htm and, in book form, as 14 Conversations with Scholars of American Popular Culture. Los Angeles: Press Americana, 2006.