10
PARTISAN REVIEW
value of middlebrow culture.
In
fact, the last sentence of her book makes
a bow to the virtues of middlebrow culture. Hence, despite some casual
observations, the book never considers the full meaning and effect of
middlebrowism on the culture of the country. Another flaw of the
book, common to much academic writing of the politically correct va–
riety, is Rubin's assumption that what she refers to as the literary canon is
arrived at by elite academics, mostly going back to the so-called "genteel
tradition." She seems unaware of what every writer and literary critic
knows, and what
T.
S. Eliot concisely describes in "Tradition and the
Individual Talent," that literary tradition is created and recreated by
writers. An irony that escapes Rubin is the parallel between the practice
of the middlebrow industry not to emphasize differences in the quality of
books and the present view in some quarters that to make literary dis–
tinctions smacks of elitism. Many forces converge in culture. But there
must be some special significance in the fact that middlebrow culture has
come full circle in the culture of deconstruction, according to which
there are only texts, not good and bad texts.
w.
P.
Once Again Prague
There are as many tourists but fewer backpack–
ers than there were two years ago, and more of them are shepherded by
guides who precede their flocks with raised umbrellas, flags in various
shapes and colors, walking sticks they alternately lift in the air and lean
upon. Speaking a heavily accented English or German, they hold forth
on what visitors are too lazy or rushed to glean from their guidebooks.
Minibuses and trains requisitioned from amusement parks convey visitors
whose feet can't keep up with their curiosity. Clip-clopping amidst cars,
droshkas,
pulled by pairs of horses and driven by black-coated, mostly
mustachioed men in top hats or by women in dramatic black capes, carry
fat families in holiday garb who obviously are in town to celebrate a
birthday or an ariniversary.
Prague is bustling. Its hustling shopkeepers affect an odd manner of
being laid-back while letting you know that they know how capitalism
functions: try entering a gateway or a public restroom without paying
the requisite entrance fee, and you're politely blocked. Prices are high
for foreigners - although cheap by comparison with London, Brussels, or
Vienna - and since most of them don't know Czech, they can't tell just
how high. But anyone can see that the economy has improved. The new
taxis are small but comfortable; gasoline is available; there are no more
'lines in front of stores; wares for tourists, mostly Czech crystal and china,
