The Hilltopper (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, April 10, 1964 Page: 3 of 4
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HILLTOPPER
Page 3
April 10, 1964
The Ghost Writer
his
I
I
THE HILLTOPPER
2
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News Editor' .......
Sports Editor ......
Photo Editor .......
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News Staff .........
.... Daniel Riordan
...... Mark Walter
.... Richard Mazur
... Krandall Kraus
. Michael Zelsmann
.... William Hoppe
.. William Roberts
Martin McLaughlin,
they were rational expressions in
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Sports Staff.....
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Following the introductory re-
marks, the floor was opened to
the questions of the large audi-
ence. Most of the time was spent
in discussing the style and mod-
ern form as applied to specific
selections from the magazine. All
but three of the contributing au-
thors were drawn into the conflict
to defend or explicate a passage
of their work.
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Spirited Symposium
Dissects 'Writing 3'
OAM farms]
MILKICECREAM
professor of English, and
wife, Mrs. Donna Pesoli.
Unpalatable, Jarring Poetry
The general conclusion of the
symposium can best be expressed
in part of Mrs. Pesoli’s opening
remarks: “the young literary art-
ists of Writing demonstrate raw
talent, inspiration, intuition, and
intensity.” Though these artists
were dealing with a dangerous
literary style, Writing is a pol-
ished work that shows the per-
sonal discipline of the individual
contributors.
attempt to escape the charge of too much realism, falsifies
existence by ignoring or glossing over the intense and fierce
struggle between man’s higher and lower nature, between good
and evil.
In serious literature the world SHOULD be depicted as a
hard place to live in, to save one’s soul in. Furthermore, it
should be shown that life is MEANT to be a struggle, a trial,
a life-time wrestling match with those forces that tend to
prevent us from achieving our full potential. This is the human
dilemma as we know it, and literature should, while dealing
with it, depict it as such.
In other words, I object to the writer that sees man and
life in terms of success, security, prestige, happiness. This is
literature as reverie. It has little to tell us. It might falsely
entertain by idealizing, but has little ultimate value.
Instead I feel that man, caught up in the struggle of the
human dilemma, should be viewed in terms of effort, sin, partial
achievement, failure, conflict, struggle, suffering made mean-
ingful. This is literature—literature as realism, with signifi-
cance and meaning.
By Marty Lewis
Writing 3 has been received on
campus with skepticism, fervor,
confusion, and enthusiasm. This
range of critical reaction also
greeted the literary effort at a
symposium" at which it was dis-
cuseed Monday, April 6.
Writing was systematically dis-
sected by a panel composed of
Brother Germain Faddoul, CSC,
associate professor of English,
Father Fidelis Walker, OP, in-
structor in philosophy and the-
ology, Mr. Peter Pesoli, associate
PecKrIY
Caetetia
801 Congress Avenue
6:30 A.M. to 8:30 P.M. Daily
From the Professor’s Desk
Literature: Negative, Immoral?
By Peter Pesoli
(The recent Hilltopper survey, which will be published soon,
showed a definite interest in having a C(Faculty viewpoint” col-
umn appear. This column is the first of a series which will ap-
pear weekly, each written by a different faculty member.—Ed.)
Of late I have found myself vacillating between two anti-
pathetic anxieties. On the one hand I seem to detect symptoms
of a growing malaise on campus that has been breaking out
periodically in a rash of student vs. administration hostilities.
As a member of the faculty, I feel vitallv involved with both
groups, not completely identifying with either and sympathetic
to various contentions made by each. Paradoxically, however,
if we use the Letters to the Editor column as a somewhat
unreliable barometer of student ovinion, it seems that the stu-
dents (with some notable exceptions) are not publicly discuss-
ing their analyses of this student-administration imbroglio,
but rather are engaged in verbalizing their preoccupation with
such non-intellectual items as St. Mary’s girls: "Belles” or
"Babies”?, Andre vs. Doyle donations, SAC appropriations, etc.
This is especially discouraging to one who would prefer to see
such burning concern and intense involvement hooked into
higher intellectual matters.
Therefore, in an attempt to divert the bull of controversy
into a more meaningful and important area of the arena, I
wave the red flag of a new issue: Is modern literature negative
and immoral? I give this topic priority over the "campus
malaise” problem referred to above (although I would like to
see it treated here in a subsequent issue) because I have lately
too often found it necessary to defend writers such as Heming-
way, Faulkner, and Williams against the charges of "negative,”
"immoral,” “use dirty words,” “un-Catholic,” leveled by both
students and faculty. The indictment goes something like this:
Too many modern authors, in their attempt to achieve realism
by depicting the various facets of contemporary society, end
up in the dead-end back-alley of cynicism, despair and complete
negativism. This appraisal is often accompanied by much
righteous indignation, with the charge that such writers, cor-
rupting and corroding the morals of upright citizens in general
and youth in particular, ought to be deported to some literary
limbo. I feel that such a peremptory attitude frequently is based
not so much on valid moral and theological reasons but rather
on shaky and fuzzy interpretations of what these writers are
saying in their creative fiction. Often the superficial, if well-
intentioned, reader on this campus, in an intense—and occasion-
ally self-righteous—reaction to the sordid, the unpleasant, the
sinful situations presented in the novel, becomes confused and
indignant; consequently, he tries to brush away irritatingly the
web of complexity that the author is skillfully spinning for his
thoughtful investigation. This type reader, consequently, denies
himself significant insights to many contemporary dilemmas
by summarily branding these books as “negative” and “im-
moral.” /
Let us examine, then, what some of these seeming “negative”
realistic writers are attempting to convey. For want of a better
designation, I would name many of our modern writers “stoic
humanists.” They take a cold, hard look, in their fiction, at our
contemporary world and, in so doing, they see beyond the super-
ficial trivia of the so-called “satisfying life.” In effect, they
attack the standard values of our secular society. The much
sought-after goals—financial security, social status, corporeal
pleasures, comfort-filled suburban existence, prestige, promi-
nence—are stripped of their Madison Avenue, slick-magazine
shine and appeal. These stoic humanists see these false values
for what they really are: limited, illusory, ephemeral. Instead
these writers prefer to see existence in terms of turbulent con-
flict, catastrophe, chaos.
Although obviously this limited interpretation of life leaves
something to be desired, such a novel often is, I believe, a sig-
nificant artistic statement that makes a valuable contribution
toward the necessary project of jarring a cozy, complacent
society from its insulated, isolated, innoculated approach to
life. At least the writer has broken through the suffocating
atmosphere of the secular world. Now it’s true that he may be
drifting aimlessly in space insofar as he has not yet found God
around Whom to orbit. But there IS an achievement here.
Naturally we as Catholics cannot fully embrace their vision of
life. They live in an unredeemed world and therefore a world
which lacks spiritual meaning. They see no meaning—they take
a cold, hard look and end it there. But we ARE in agreement
when they criticize and condemn the same empty aspects of
modern life that we criticize and condemn, unless we too have
been gradually and imperceptibly seduced by the prevalent
middle-class, J.-Alfred-Prufrock values of "respectable” society.
Very often these stoic humanists, despite their severe criti-
cism of society, reveal in their writings a strong, stoic faith in
man. They feel that man will not only endure, in this atomic-
bomb-doom-ridden world, but that he will prevail (to para-
phrase William Faulkner’s Nobel prize acceptance speech).
Their ultimate statement often is this: despite seemingly insur-
mountable odds, despite a secular society saturated with greed,
crass commercialism, bigotry, cruelty, selfishness, mediocrity,
man will prevail, life is worth living for its own sake, for that
indefinable something in man that can cause him to rise to
splendid heights.
I believe that literature can be adequately defined as an exam-
ination of the reality of the human dilemma by the creative
imagination. Therefore I contend the realism of the stoic
humanist is a valid technique in this examination of the con-
temporary human dilemma. He takes data from real life and
shapes it into his story. Too often the "moral” writer, in an
Mr. and Mrs. Pesoli, comment-
ing jointly, promptly announced
that they were “casting an elated
affirmative" vote” for the student
endeavors. Mrs. Pesoli began the
defense by distinguishing between
obscurity and unintelligibility in
poetry. He demonstrated that ob-
scurity stemmed from the insuffi-
ciency of the reader, while unin-
telligibility rises from the au-
thor’s inability. Working with
these definitions, he noted that
both problems were evident in
Writing.
The Hilltopper is published weekly during the academic year
at St. Edward’s university, an institution of higher learning
conducted by the Brothers of Holy Cross (CSC). Opinions A
expressed herein are those of the student editors, and not ,S.
necessarily those of the University as a whole. The Hill-
topper is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press,
and Intercollegiate Press.
NEW S‘64 directory lists 20,000 summer job
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In The Basement
Of The Ivory Tower
The return of the masses after
a glorious holiday is something I
always look forward to with great
expectations. First of all, we thank
God that all had safe trips to the
four corners and, second, I check
out all the new cars, engagements,
bust-ups and various other assort-
ed happenings that all seem to
take place in a marvelous two
week vacation. But now it’s back
to the books, teachers arid Do-
minicans. Seems like all I’ve been
hearing lately is the incessant
clack of the typewriter. Profs
must have assigned a load of
papers to do. I’ve always won-
dered what teachers do with those
papers. I mean the ones they don’t
hand back. I was talking to one
of our famous business adminis-
tration profs the other day, a Mr.
B.G. from the marketing division.
He says he takes a few pages out
of each report turned into him,
puts them all in a binder, and
presents the good looking glob
for a Master’s degree. Enough
slander, hee! I do have some good
things to report but writing about
past stuff kind of grabs me the
wrong way. For one, I had the
opportunity to see Joan Baez per-
form the other night at the Coli-
seum. Was really dubious about
the $2.50 price tag on her but she
was worth it. Kind of glad I didn’t
sit too close though, because both
her looks and voice are shattering.
A casual walk about the campus
since my return produces nothing
worthwhile to write about except
Premont hall, which appears to
be rising quite well. For you Holy
Crosserg, Premont is next to
Doyle, which is next to the dining
hall, which is where you feed your
face. Ever since my boss told me
we were going to come out
weekly, I’ve really been in a bind
for goodies. I sure would like to
see some letters to the editor
about the Ghost Writer column.
Three cheers for SAGA; Hurrah
. . . Hur . . . Phooey ! ! !
Brother Germain opened the
evening by commenting favorably
on the unity of theme and the
general harmony of the presenta-
tion. He continued, however, that
he was disturbed at the constant
breach of convention in punctua-
tion, grammar and usage. He won-
dered aloud if there wasn’t a
“huge conspiracy attempting to
render poetry unpalatable.” Fa-
ther Walker explained that he
saw two characteristics that per-
vaded the magazine: a jarring of
the intellect and the senses and
an aura of despair and unnamed
desire. He, too, was disturbed by
the seeming lack of logic and ra-
tionality. Both Brother Germain
and Father Walker finally ad-
mitted that the characteristics
they had described in evident dis-
favor were actually good in that
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The Hilltopper (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, April 10, 1964, newspaper, April 10, 1964; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1491824/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting St. Edward’s University.