The German Language

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20587, 28 November 1936, Page 12 (Supplement)

The German Language

PROFESSOR’S PLEA FOR STUDY

Professor W. A. Osborne of Melbourne University declares that German is not receiving its due in the Australian educational system, and emphasises its importance in the study of science.

“It is not my wish to extol German by depreciating French or any other modern tongue (writes Professor Osborne in “The Argus”). With every word which my colleague, AssociateProfessor Chisholm, would advance in support of the study of French I would agree. I believe, with him, that that France has a message to modern civilisation, in that she is the strongest upholder of the individual as against mass production and standardisation in art and in thought, as well as in manufactures. The pleasure one gains in reading good French fiction and drama it would be churlish to deny to others. Nor would I vindioate ‘he cause of any modem language at the expense of the classics. The one great regret I have concerning my own school education is that I did not get a good grounding in Greek, for as the years pass I realise more and more what a delight it would be to travel through that realm of gold; the little that I know only allows me to peep, like the Peri, through the closed gates. “I do, however, feel strongly that German is not having a fair chance in our educational system, also that the immense advantages of even a reading knowledge of it are not generally realised. German literature is the only Continental literature akin to our own. Few English-speaking people find inspiration in French poetry, and few Frenchmen are interested in English poetry; to most Frenchmen Shakespeare is what he was to Voltaire, an over-rated barbarian; whereas German lyric and English lyric are in close spiritual companionship, and English literature finds some of its best commentators in Germany. A Shakespearean drama would empty a French theatre; it fills German theatres year after year without a shadow of recession. Between Latin mentality and Anglo-Saxon there is a great gulf fixed, and the infrequent connecting bridges are open only to a select few; there is also a gulf between British and German mentality, more pronounced, perhaps, between opposing political escarpments, but intercourse is possible along viaducts of ample width and easy accessibility.

The Utilitarian Aspect

“Apart from the cultural appeal, there is a purely utilitarian argument which places German in a class by itself, and that is the supremacy of German scientific literature, using the term “scientific” in its wildest connotation. France makes her contributions to civilisation by occasional isolated explosions of supreme genius in such men as Descartes, Laplace, Lavoisier, and Pasteur; in science, at at any rate, the average standard is low; for instance, in my own subject, it is only rarely that I find a book or paper in French worth reading, and I learn that this is the case of most other departments of knowledge. In Germany, on the other hand, the standard of scholarship, of philosopic thought, and of originality in research is still extraordinarily high, though the Great War had its unfortunate after-effects. No doubt the German has contemptuously erred by underrating, often contemptuously underrating, British thoroughness in scholarship, yet, as I know by experience, one finds a certain amateurish element in British universities when one has lived and worked sufficiently long in Germany to assimilate the spirit of her great schools of learning. I am informed that in geology the main contributions are in the English language, and that this science can boast an English birth, but this is, I venture to think, the only exception, and even here, I gather, the research work next in importance is of Germanic origin. Even if this contention were denied —and there are probably some who have not lived in Germany and who are prepared to issue a challenge there remains the argument, to my mind unanswerable, that Germany was first in the field with abstracting journals, cyclopaedias, yearly digests, critical reviews, and bibliographies, where the immense mass of original publications is sifted, condensed, and presented in early assimilable form. When the Great War came efforts were made to break this monopoly, but the success has been trivial or dubious. Every chemist must consult Beilstein, every biologist and physicist has close at hand some ponderous, many-volumed publication in heavy quarto, called, with little sense of humour, a Handbuch. To put it bluntly, the man of science, technician, historian, theologian, philosopher, or philologist who is ignorant of German must be content to remain very second-rate in his profession.

To quote from a recent writer in Nature” (March 9, 1935):

“The question naturally arises, whether the amount of German taught in English schools meets the requirements of those who will later be engaged in scientific pursuits, whether academic or industrial. No research worker can nowadays afford to be without at least a sound reading knowledge of German. Is it too much to hope that German will soon be Introduced into our schools as a compulsory subject for the great number of boys whose ultimate goal Is a scientific profession? It is true that the many translations from the German which have appeared in recent years have been a valuable aid to study in various fields, but translations rarely appear until a considerable time has elapsed after the publication of the original work, and their usefulness and freshness are therefore much reduced. Moreover, In the case of research papers, complete translations, are. of course out of the question. In other ways. too. the increased study of German would have its advantages in bringing the youth of England

into closer contact with a great country, for which many of us have a deep and lasting affection, and from which no man of science can fail to draw inspiration."

In the issue of the same influential journal for April 27 there is an article on “Research and the Library" in which the following statement occurs: —“lt is no longer a valid excuse that German is not known by Englishspeaking workers, as a working knowledge would be a hopeless chaos, scientist’s equipment.” A Liaison Tongue “There is at present in the scientific sphere of action of phenomenon akin to that in agriculture and manufactures, an overproduction associated with under-consumption. The rise of nationalism has had, among other consequences, vigorous prosecution of research in each country, and the publication of the results in the language of that country. The chief bond between them lies in the German tongue, which has become a sort of lingua franca of science, and German abstracters and reviewers, thanks to their linguistic powers, are able to survey a wide field. Skilled and conscientious as they are there is much duplication, and much good research is published which does not secure the attention it deserves. But without German scholarship at the present time the dissemination of this knowledge would be a hopeless shaos. Whether the geographical supremacy of English will ultimately give it the victory in science remains to be seen, but meanwhile the liaison language is German. The Faculty of Science in our University wisely Insists on a reading knowledge of German as well as French in the course for the lowest degree; but other faculties had not been so farseelng. Every year I find some young graduate in medicine, dentistry, or agriculture complaining bitterly that he has not been compelled to learn German at school, as he feels crippled in the prosecution of some research or in the assembling of facts concerning some problems in which he is interested.”