He had a special dedication to public education, besides his involvement in politics. Domingos Faustino Sarmiento (1811-1888), got to the p
He had a special dedication to public education, besides his involvement in politics. Domingos Faustino Sarmiento (1811-1888), got to the position of president of Argentina but, previously, he had a role on the war against the dictatorship of “Rosas�. He was part of Generation of 1837 group. For some time, he’d been exiled in Chile.
(Rosas)
Sarmiento met with great American writers. Emerson‘s reaction to Sarmiento’s writing was like this: you’ll find readers for this way of writing. Longfellow made a suggestion: write down a poem:� a cinta colorada�.
Sarmiento's writings are voluminous.
“Ha nacido así, i no es culpa suya…que jamas se ha confesado, rezado, ni oido misa�
In “Facundo: Ó Civilizacion y barbarie en las pampas argentinas� ---
This book is a travelogue in the form of a collection of letters Sarmiento would address to several people as he was passing by different locations. One of the purposes of this long voyage was to check on the state of (basic level) education in different nations.
He departed from Chile, heading towards Uruguay’s capital. The language makes you recall a time of slavery and mixing races. Sarmiento writes that Montevideo (in 1843) had more Europeans (especially the French) than local Americans. Amongst the population you could find: Orientals…and “free Africans�.
By January 1846 he reached Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was positively struck by the sunshine “…me pone miedo el sol aqui …i concibo que los pueblos tropicales lo ayan adorado�; no wonder indigenous people have once adored it.
Many of his letters are reflections on several topics, beyond the geographical or anthropological ones; but here he reflected on a poem by Echevarria: El Angel caido;[the fallen angel] a poem which summarized all wishing to return to his motherland so “covered with mud and humiliated�.
In Rio de Janeiro, he made remarks on the strength of the “mulato� (mix white/black race) and a sort of lamentation on the “decaying� state of the Portuguese race over there : “La raza pura portuguesa cae visiblemente en la decrepitude�.*
May of 1846 in Rouen,� “this France of our Dreams�.
He dedicates a lot of lines to Fourier, to whom he feels passionate about, …a “profound thinker� [an utopian socialist**].. The letters contain many quotes by Fourier. I liked this one because it looks almost prophetic, only in certain aspects . � Cuando el jénero humano habrá esplotado el globo hasta los 60º norte la temperatura del planeta se dulcificará i se hará mas regular”…“este fluido combinado con la sal del mar dará a la água marina el guste …de limonada�;…and then new species will appear: there will be anti-whales …and anti-sharks.
Fourier had interesting conceptions on the afterlife (the soul is immortal) ; he believed in the souls of the defunct; in the other life these souls would take the form (“body�) of what we call the “scent� (aroma).
The French thinker went far in religion criticism; as far as to criticize Jesus entering Jerusalem and letting himself being dragged by the “love of popularity�.
“O race de Paris Race au Coeur depravé�.
Sarmiento reached Paris by 4th September 1846. � It followed this sequence: Madrid, Barcelona (“el aspecto de la ciudad es enteramente europeo�), Argelia�.Rome; and America.
A very dense epistolary travelogue.
*"The pure Portuguese race visibly falls into decrepitude"
**Fourier denied progress in Monarchy as well as in the Republic forms of government. Both, being “vain words�. His ideas were important in the foundation of new communities in America. He proposed the idea of “work as being attractive�.
Preliminary note: I have read "Letters on England, Vol. 1 of 2 by Louis Blanc" of Sampson Low, Son and Marston",volume I, published in 1866. Since thisPreliminary note: I have read "Letters on England, Vol. 1 of 2 by Louis Blanc" of Sampson Low, Son and Marston",volume I, published in 1866. Since this edition is not featured in GR, I have included my review in the present French edition.
Louis Jean Joseph Charles Blanc was a 19th century French politician and historian.
L. B. 60 letters cover many topics and areas. They’re excellent; they’re full of mordacity, attesting a well-informed man, himself a kind of journalist while in the years of exile in Britain.
It happened that while in France his socialist reforms were hard to implement after the revolution of 1848; for reasons of security he escaped to Britain, using a false passport, via Belgium.
The letters refer to the period he lived in London: 1847-1862. They were first published in 1866.
As I said, the scope is broad, ranging from politics to foreign policy, to religion (both on Protestantism and Catholicism) and education, and even more trivial issues like the tea, the horses� races� and some obituary commentaries.
Of personal relevance to me were his political analyses of the British political system. Next I approach some.
THE QUEEN
(Albert, Victoria and their nine children, 1857)
She was named Victoria, in the time of LB. He wrote about her: she possesses “virtues� no doubt:”a good mother …and attached to the husband�. The English people:”love and respect her�. Yet he hints at some ongoing “mediocrity� in the system: hypothetically they wouldn't cope with an Elizabethan genius or one like Catherine of Russia. “In a word she honestly earns her right of reining by dint of not governing�.
As to the Prince-consort he was even more critical, apparently a “doer of nothing" type ("far niente") but “meddling in things that not belong to his province�.
In another letter, LB shows his skepticism on monarchy:� The king of England is invested with the power of making peace and war� BUT “to what this power is reduced if the will of the king happens to be opposed to that of the House of Commons…the right of voting is a weapon of incalculable power�. Reticence is made as well to other powers of the king: choice of ministers…dissolution of parliament etc.
Almost laughable are his views on the mayor of London. Upon knowing his many “functions� (markets, municipal militia, port�) LB commented: “…but are these his actual function? no�.”This lord mayor was invented to realize the conception of Rabelais. His administration means indigestion�.
Other topics:
FOREIGN POLICY
LB appeared to be well updated on several world causes: Italy’s unity, Syria religious question (druzes and Christians), the Ionian isles…Poland,…China,... and America.
The latter nation is approached in several letters. LB acknowledged “some reason� in the writer of ”Uncle Tobin’s cabin�: Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe . She was complaining with bitterness about the English “indifference (“towards the “federalists cause�): who “remains a cold spectator of the movements of the northern states�; better:� she leans towards the southern states�. Personally LB met 3 American men in London (one in the diplomatic profession) and got their views on the issue. Only one gave heart and soul to the southern men, he concluded.
EDUCATION
LB was well aware of the interwoven nature, in his time, of this duo: Education-Religion. So he wrote:”� the object at stake is the salvation of the soul! And these worthy people do not seem to have the slightest idea that to be able to read this Bible and Prayer Book, a man must first have learned to read�.
ON IRELAND
“That the English these latter days have done much more for Ireland than at any former period of their history is true but it is not less true that the native country of O’Conell is one of the most miserable countries in the globe. And yet whatever the fault of the Irish who will deny the aptitude of such an intelligent race to become happy!�.
I didn’t read his views on Scotland, but a man with such a mordacity would be needed to comment coming next September referendum on Scotland’s independence.
Royal arms (outside Scotland)
Royal arms in Scotland
Looking beyond all this criticism, one thing cannot escape my commentary: in exile, he had the chance to join other exiles and exercise his freedom of speech. And that he valued so much. In Britain he had the affection of Carlyle and the support of J. Stuart Mill, despite the political divergence.
A curious note: in London LB married a German woman who could not speak French, …nor could LB speak German.
LB returned to France in 1870, where he served as deputy on the extreme left. 22nd july,2014.
UPDATE; now that Scotland has voted for a "no" on independence, what would L. Blanc say, I wonder. Maybe: History stand...still?; 307 years on..., no change? Fear of change? hmm
Rilke, the lonely German-language poet, but not really a German, rather an exile for 10 years,...posNotes collected
Rilke, the lonely German-language poet, but not really a German, rather an exile for 10 years,...possessor of nothing, but his language, shows a young man how a "masterpiece of art" can be accomplished and last for long.
Paris 1903.
It appears that Rilke had been approached by a poet asking for a critical view of his output. Yet, Rilke's standing was not critical, at all; he rather preferred a hearty (almost paternal) reply. So he advised the young poet to look inside, instead of seeking others views and critics.
"Turn yourself inwards", was the sort of reply I am talking about; "investigate the cause for your writing"...seek its "roots" in your own heart. "Should I write"? ...if the young man gets a "yes", from his nightly meditations, then the next steps should be:
-don't approach general motives or love letters but,
-get close to Nature...focus on your own life,...your thoughts... your "faith in any form of beauty"
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