Standpoint

During the recent Presidential campaign there was a good deal of rather imprecise discussion of the matter of “America’s image abroad.” This number of the Review carries the second in a series of articles discussing the conception of the United States and its culture as foreign readers derive it from American literature—particularly our modern writing. Outside of the columns of Pravda or the People’s Daily, there is probably no such thing as a well-defined and concentrated “image” of this country. It is likely to vary from nation to nation, class to class, and its character is largely determined by the context in which it is being considered. Literature provides one context, or method of insight, that is both intimate and largely free of ulterior motives. It can be accepted as the voice of America, rather than as The Voice of America. Thus, Mr. Blonski finds that in Poland, “these American books exploded many of the clichés and pat formulas by which the United States has always been judged; they were the proof of an unexpected diversity.”

Of course, the sea-change that accompanies translation is more than a matter of language alone and many American readers will differ decidedly with specific Polish views on certain writers. Mr. Blonski has tried, however, to report a broad sense of his own generation’s response to a literature written in a quite alien world. That response is a far more thoughtful and hopeful one than were the stereotypes of the past.