THE BRITISH COUNCIL OVERSEAS

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23322, 4 October 1945, Page 7

THE BRITISH COUNCIL OVERSEAS

Aims And Objects Wider Knowledge Of The United Kingdom Broadcasting recently in the 8.8. C. overseas short-wave service, Sir Angus Gillan, head of the Empire section of the British Council spoke of the work of the Council in its 10 years’ existence and also of his own recent overseas tour on behalf of the Council. He visited New Zealand some months ago.

I am going to assume, Sir Angus said, that you know little, if anything, about the Council and that you may wish to ask two questions which were frequently put to me on my tour. The first of these is "British Council for what" Well, the baby was christened with the cumbrous title of The British Council for Relations with Other Countries, but obviously if it was going to make friends it could not expect them to manage that mouthful every time they wanted to address it, and it just became The British Council, following the tradition of some of its elder brothers like the Royal Society or the British Academy, about whom no one now asks "for what?”

The next question, “Why is there a British Council?” As most of you have probably observed, we United Kingdom British are rather an odd people. I do not think we mean to be unfriendly and stand-offish as we sometimes appear to be. The fact is we are rather shy. We are self-depreciatorv and given to understatement, and at the same time we are irritably complacent—except, as I hone we have again proved, in time of war. And as with individuals, so with the nation. We have taken ourselves too much for granted, and we have sat back and not worried what other people think of us, with the result that certain other nations, with no better goods in their storehouses, have put up a better display in their shop windows and sample cases, to our own considerable detriment.

It was to combat this that the British Council was inaugurated 10 years ago. It is not a Government department though it enjoys the moral and financial support of his Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. It has nothing to do with war propaganda, which is the function of the Ministry of Information. It is nonpolitical, non-sectarian and non-com-mercial. It exists under the terms of its Royal Charter "for the purpose of promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language abroad and developing closer cultural relations between the United Kingdom and other countries for the purpose of benefiting the British Commonwealth of Nations.” To put it into common language, the aim of the Council is to project or interpret overseas British life, and thought; the history and traditions of Britain and its modern progress and achievements, British political institutions and social services, our arts, our sciences, our industries, even our sports; in short, the British way of life. The Way We Live

It does not seek to cram these ideas down other people’s throats or to say “This is the way you ought to live.” It merely says, in effect, “this is the way we live; the way we govern and are governed. These are the things we do, and this the way we do them. We do not ask you to live this way, but we may have some contribution to make to our common civilisation. Take what you like and leave the rest.” And when we say this we also say: “V’Lll you not now tell us more of your own way of life, of your ideals and aspirations? We can learn lessons’ from them and we shall do what we can to help you to make them known among our people.” Our primary function is the interpretation to other countries of the British way of life. But obviously a one-day traffic is not enough, and our Charter gives us a mandate at least for the encouragement of the return traffic from other countries in what has aptly been called the commerce of ideas.

We give scholarships, mostly postgraduate, to candidates from overseas to pursue their studies at a British university or technical institution. By various means, we have a hand in the placing of professors, lecturers and teachers in overseas colleges and schools. We sent recognised experts to other countries on lecturing tours, and we invite visitors from other countries to see Britain and to investigate the activities there which particularly interest them. We publish various brochures such as the “British Life and Thought” and the “Britain Advances” series, and periodicals such as ‘‘Britain To-day,” “Monthly Science News” and the ‘‘British Medical Bulletin.” Our music department sponsors the recording of important modern British works which the commercial companies might not find to be a paying proposition. England, by the way, is considered musically the most creative country in the world at the moment. We also arrange tours for noted conductors, singers and musicians, and when transport conditions allow we hope to be a’ le to do more to assist tours of drama, opera and ballet. Our fine arts department arranges exhibitions of contemporary works and old masters. Our film department commissions and distributes documentary films, both in 35 and 16 mm. form, bn various aspects of Britain and its activities. Our visual department provides photographic exhibitions and film strip, and our Press department provides or commissions background articles on similar subjects. Method of Approach The Council's method of approach varies according to the conditions of the country in which we are workins. It may be" through a British institute which is a combination of cultural club and school of English. It may be through an Anglophil society. Where institutional methods are unnecessary or undesirable we simply work through a Council representative who, with the necessary office staff, is responsible for keeping in touch with local wants, for organising tours and exhibitions and for the distribution of our material. Parallel with this overseas side is the work of our home division which is responsibl for the interpretation of Britain to overseas people in Britain. Among other things during the war it has taught English to thousands of foreign servicemen and refugees. With the co-operation of the Universities it has arranged scores, if not hundreds, of short university courses for Dominion, American and othei - forces. It puts people in touch with opposite numbers of their own profession or trade-doctors and architects, farmers and artisans, stamp collectors and beekeepers. We have even introduced a Canadian mortician to a common or garden English undertaker with whom he spent several happy busman’s holidays. Some of you may feel inclined to ask: “How does this concern the Empire, and why go touring there on behalf of the British Council? Are they not British already and you not assume that they know all they need about Britain?” I am afraid a good many people in this country too have been satisfied with this assumption—if they took the trouble to ask the last question at all. It was only since the war that The British Council began seriously to consider whether it had not a job to do in Empire as well as foreign countries. In these last few years we have expanded our work considerably in the Colonies, and it was to get the answer in some of the Dominions that I went on my recent travels. It was emphatically this: “We want to know more. Send us lecturers, films, musicians, art exhibitions and all the wares you deal in. We are as British as you' are but we are a long way away and we want more contact machinery.” And then I would say: “All right, we will do what we can. But play fair. What are you going to do on your ide in telling us about yourselves?” Reciprocal Basis It is this reciprocal side of the business that I want to emphasise. We want to know more of the way of life of other countries, whether they are foreign, dominion or colonial. We have often been accused of insularity and aloofness and to some extent it may be deserved, particularly in these years of apathy and lack of faith (not confined to Britain by any means) between

the wars. But the appetite for knowledge is there now’, and it is largely the presence here of the service boys from other countries which has whetted it. They have seen our homes and told us of theirs. They have taken a lot of our girls to share their homes. The non-English speakers have learned our language —and if we have not learned theirs we have at least learned some of our English-speaking cousins slang They have even taught some of us to talk to our neighbours in trains. We have fought and worked and queued and laughed together. We have eaten the same old Woolton sausage together. Do not, please, let us forget our interest in other countries which these associations have aroused or revised. The basis of the whole business is reciprocity. It is not just a matter of the interpretation overseas of the British wav of life: it is a matter of the mutual interpretation to each other of our respective ways of life by free exchange of ideas. Is not that one of the freedoms and is it not one of the bases of peace on which in its turn depends the opportunity to live a free life? Ignorance is the breeding ground of intolerance and intolerance is the breeding ground of war. And the best antidote to intolerance is surelv a mutual understanding of the thoughts and wavs of life whether it be the other man or the other nation.