No noble savages

Press, 20 November 1982, Page 16

No noble savages

An English Temper: Essays on Education, Culture and Communications. By Richard Hoggart. atta . Windus, 1982. 202 pp, index. $31.75. (Reviewed by Joan Curry) In a book teeming with thoughtful and >erceptive comments on social ano ultural problems facing Western society, lichard Hoggart has collected this series f essays based on his experiences as a eacher. In language that is admirably lear and straightforward, he discusses education at all levels, the relevance of the arts in society, and the social effects of the mass media. Half the book concerns education. Mr Hoggart writes from a Left-wing, liberal standpoint although he is happy to tip his hat, where appropriate, towards those who clamour for a return to basic education. There is, for instance, a touch more authoritarianism evident in his views than we have come to expect from todays teachers and he writes that “it is well past the time at which the Left should itself loosen its over-rigid hold on the pieties and slogans of progressivism in education and look soberly at those issues which Right-wing writers have so far largely pre-empted, but not in general illuminated." Those who teach adult education classes are invited to question the comfortable, often patronising attitudes they are in danger of assuming, instead of trying to stretch the intellectual capacities of their students. And Mr Hoggart suggests that those who want to lift the burden of intellectual effort from the shoulders of young people, on the grounds that sophistication is now irrelevant, are . mistaken. He urges the teaching of written and oral skills, at least to the standard necessary to cope with ordinary, public usage. '“Noble savages, are no longer likely to emerge, least of all from big city society; if they did, they would

soon be picked clean" In making these, and many other points. Mr Hoggart urges the provision of the best, the broadest and most effective education for all. In his essay on the importance of literacy he talks about helping people to “gain greater, more articulate and more self-conscious, access to their own personal and social lives. We are asking for this kind of provision and this kind of effort not just so that people can manage their public situations better - though that is useful, since so many words uttered publicly today are out only to persuade us or make us conform — but so that they can stand up better in all sorts of deeply personal ways.” This comment applies as well to the broader areas of community education, although some might remark, pessimistically, that Mr Hoggart could be fighting a rearguard action here and that already too many of us are inadequately armed against the seductive claims of politicians, advertisers and others who wish to manipulate us. Nevertheless the battle must be fought, and the case for lifelong, community education is persuasively argued, both directly and indirectly, in these essays. In the second part of this book, Mr Hoggart broadens the subject of education, in the sense of nourishing and developing- the .mind. He says that art can widen the sense of possibilities, gives hints of greater depths and other orders; it stands ready to assist us to make better choices if we so will; and in doing so it creates experiences — artistic experiences — which are beautiful and moving.” J . , The choices we as individuals must make are often presented to us through the media; our knowledge of society is often translated or filtered by those whom we allow to make choices for us. In the last six essays Mr Hoggart discusses the relevance of the media, the community or “participant” arts, and the role of the State in cultural development.