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Introduction: Peace by Means of Culture

Introduction: Peace by Means of Culture It is often argued that a shared culture, or at least shared cultural references or practices, can help to foster peace and prevent war. This essay examines in detail and criticizes one such argument, made by Patrick Leigh Fermor, in the context of his discussing an incident during World War II, when he and a captured German general found a form of agreement, a ground for peace between them, in their both knowing Horace's ode I.9 by heart in Latin. By way of introducing the sixth and final installment of the Common Knowledge symposium “Peace by Other Means,” this essay proposes that Leigh Fermor's narrative be understood in terms of commerce, rather than consensus. It concludes by examining Ezra Pound's use of the word commerce in his poem “A Pact” (“Let there be commerce between us”) to define his relationship with his “detested” and “pig-headed” poetic “father,” Walt Whitman. Patrick Leigh Fermor Horace peace culture war http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Common Knowledge Duke University Press

Introduction: Peace by Means of Culture


Miguel Tamen, Michiko Urita, Michael N. Nagler, Gary Saul Morson, Oleg Kharkhordin, Lindsay Diggelmann, John Watkins, Jack Zipes, James Trilling Introduction: Peace by Means of Culture It has been suggested that one of the reasons why history is so fraught with wars and violent conflict is that there is a recurrent failure on the part of human beings to perceive not only their common essence but also the common ground that is supposed to be shared by all human individuals. The suggestion is often accompanied by positive claims and recommendations. A very familiar claim is that sharing in one culture, by which we mean doing roughly the same things and believing roughly the same beliefs, is a way of fostering or assuring peace. There have been many ambitious programs predicated on the notion that common cultural practices have admirable effects. Art and literature are staple ingredients of such programs. Peace, it is widely believed, can be achieved by means of culture. The most admirable thing about the idea, however, is the idea itself. One does not have to recall the possibility of very bad people enjoying the music of 22:2 DOI 10.1215/0961754X-3464780 © 2016 by Duke University Press J. S. Bach to doubt the whole theory. It is enough to consider the justifications for encouraging people to listen to Bach's music: these may have to do with beliefs about certain properties of the music, or even to do with hopes that anyone listening to it will become a certain kind of person, for instance, one capable of doing certain deeds or incapable of performing certain acts. But there are no guarantees. The idea that, were Bach to become a mandatory listening experience, we would be in a better position as a species seems unwarranted. It is unpromising to see culture or art as a form of inoculation against future wrongdoings, but its being unpromising has not prevented its repeated proposition. Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915­2011) is among those who have expounded...
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Publisher
Duke University Press
Copyright
Copyright © Duke Univ Press
ISSN
0961-754X
eISSN
1538-4578
DOI
10.1215/0961754X-3464780
Publisher site
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Abstract

It is often argued that a shared culture, or at least shared cultural references or practices, can help to foster peace and prevent war. This essay examines in detail and criticizes one such argument, made by Patrick Leigh Fermor, in the context of his discussing an incident during World War II, when he and a captured German general found a form of agreement, a ground for peace between them, in their both knowing Horace's ode I.9 by heart in Latin. By way of introducing the sixth and final installment of the Common Knowledge symposium “Peace by Other Means,” this essay proposes that Leigh Fermor's narrative be understood in terms of commerce, rather than consensus. It concludes by examining Ezra Pound's use of the word commerce in his poem “A Pact” (“Let there be commerce between us”) to define his relationship with his “detested” and “pig-headed” poetic “father,” Walt Whitman. Patrick Leigh Fermor Horace peace culture war

Journal

Common KnowledgeDuke University Press

Published: May 1, 2016

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