The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1956, Síða 12

EDITORIAL
7jxan3mitting a Culture
Much has been spoken and written
about the greatness of Icelandic cul-
ture and the urgent need to preserve
it from fading into everlasting obscur-
ity. There are many who earnestly
believe that the possibility of the
world losing this great cultural asset
is a stark reality.
In an attempt to allay such fears
I am tempted to remind the reader
that true greatness is never really lost.
I am firmly convinced that if a culture
has a worthwhile contribution to offer
civilization, that contribudon will
ultimately flow naturally into the life
stream of nations as they progress to-
wards higher ideals and a greater
realization of aesthetics. It follows
then that what a culture may have to
offer the world often lies dormant until
such time that it is revived through the
burning inspirations of later scholars.
History supplies the most illuminat-
ing illustration of this remarkable
awakening to past cultures in the
“Renaissance”, or as it is more popul-
arly known, “The Revival of Learn-
ing”. There the culture of the great
civilizations of Greece and Rome
were revived through the efforts of
earnest scholars with open minds,
anxious to glean the good from the
preserved literature and art of distant
ages. Those great cultures of the past
were not lost to us. In fact they became
the main thread in the web of western
civilizations to follow.
In the light of these revelations, why
are there frequent fears demonstrated
concerning the possibility of losing our
Icelandic culture? Certainly as long
as there is an Iceland her culture will
remain. What we are really deploring,
when we express these fears, is the fact
that people of Icelandic descent in
countries other than Iceland, are fast
losing contact with the remarkable
heritage of Icelandic literature. In
this respect, I find that far too often
those who earnestly believe them-
selves to be strong supporters of keep-
ing this heritage well guarded by try-
ing to prolong its original form, are
often its greatest enemies. They fail
to realize that its cultural values must
be transmitted to the mind and that
the original medium of transmission
is lacking for the vast majority of
people of Icelandic descent living in
foreign lands. The available means of
transmission is necessarily the language
which the individual has adopted or
which is his native language by reason
of his birth in another land.
Aesthetics is, “the science of the
beautiful and how to express it”. That
Icelandic literature is beautiful and
that it has a delightful expression all
its own no well-informed person will
deny. However we must keep in mind
that it must be translated into a
medium that the Icelandic Canadian
or, indeed, any other interested reader,
is capable of absorbing before he is
able to avail himself of its cultural
values. Many offer the argument that
in other than its original form, Ice-
landic literature loses much of its
better qualities. Without doubt this
argument is founded on fact. However,
"half a pie” is better than none. Are
love, hate, joy or sorrow confined with-
in the bounds of language?
In the light of these inferences is
it not the duty of all Icelandic Can-