Spanish Falange Attacks Pasternak
MOWRER, RICHARD SCOTT
By Richard Scott Mowrer Spanish Falange Attacks Pasternak Madrid SOVIET WRITER Boris Pasternak and the Swedish Academy that picked him for the Nobel Prize in literature have come in for severe...
...This is not to say that now and again these hyperborean judges chance to make a proper selection...
...Two major works of writer-philosopher Miguel de Unamuno, The Agony of Christianity and The Tragic Sense of Life, are banned in Spain...
...By Richard Scott Mowrer Spanish Falange Attacks Pasternak Madrid SOVIET WRITER Boris Pasternak and the Swedish Academy that picked him for the Nobel Prize in literature have come in for severe criticism on the part of Arriba, official organ of Spain's Falange...
...Jose Ortega y Gasset returned to Spain some years after the Civil War but refused to resume his professorship at the University of Madrid...
...In 1956, the Nobel Prize for literature was awarded to the Spanish poet Juan Ramon Jimenez who died in exile this spring...
...But this happens only if the chosen one walks the laical and 'liberaloid' paths of international freemasonry...
...But we must recognize, however strongly anti-Communist we are, that it was unworthy of the Russian writer to smuggle his work abroad where it could be made use of by the enemies of his country...
...As far as these writers are concerned, Arriba forgot to mention a few facts...
...Writers of Catholic birth and formation are seldom invited to the ascetic Olympus of Nobel Prizes, even though they may no longer participate in the faith of the majority of their compatriots...
...But the fact remains that uninhibited comment by Spanish writers is not possible in the censored press unless it conforms to the Franco regime's way of thinks ing, or avoids offending it...
...The Arriba article making these charges has attracted considerable attention here because nothing is allowed to be printed without Government approval...
...At present his works are obtainable here, but not his political writings...
...It is not surprising that Pasternak's novel could not be published in the Soviet Union," Suevos writes...
...It is astounding to see local glories, or internationally famous people whose renown fails to conceal an overwhelming mediocrity, receiving prizes...
...The article goes on to say: "We do not know to what extent the awarding of Nobel Prizes for science is determined by standards of equity and justice—although one suspects that there is a certain tendency to favor those scientists who appear to be allergic to what is called 'Fascism.' But there is no doubt that the honorable members of the Swedish Academy are not very perspicacious when it comes to literature...
...Pio Baroja, a Basque writer, died in Madrid two years ago...
...The three writers were at odds with the Roman Catholic Church at various times...
...More sympathetic treatment of the "Pasternak case" has been meted out by other sections of the Government-supervised press—the Arriba article is the exception...
...This explains why Spaniards like Unamuno, Ortega and Baroja never were awarded the Nobel Prize, although they merited it rather more than 95 per cent of those so far honored...
...According to commentator Jesus Suevos, Pasternak was wrong to have "smuggled out" his novel Doctor Zhivago, and the Swedish Academy is influenced by "international freemasonry" in its selection of Nobel Prize winners...
Vol. 41 • November 1958 • No. 42
