Will Fitzhugh: The NEA's indifference to the muse of history
[Mr. Fitzhugh is the founder of the Concord Review.]
The National Endowment for the Arts has released a new study of studies of the decline of reading in the United States. Some kinds of reading were apparently not considered.
Zeus and Mnemosyne [Memory] were the parents of the nine Muses. Calliope was the muse of epic poetry, Clio was the muse of history, Erato was the muse of love poetry, Euterpe was the muse of music, Melpomene was the muse of tragedy, Polyhymnia was the muse of sacred poetry, Terpsichore was the muse of dance, Thalia was the muse of comedy, and Urania was the muse of astronomy.
Of these nine, two are now off the reservation. Urania has clearly taken Astronomy over to the Science side of the Arts, and Clio has had the misfortune of presiding over history and nonfiction, and so, at least for the National Endowment for the Arts, has evidently lost her status among the Arts.
In 2004, the National Endowment of the Arts conducted a $300,000 study of the reading habits of Americans. It found a significant decline in literary reading for pleasure among just about every group. In The Washington Post, on Friday, July 9, 2004, Jacqueline Trescott wrote that the NEA study found that an industry group “predicts that annual sales for all types of books will top $44 billion by 2008, up 59 percent from last year. Nevertheless, only 46.7 percent of adults say they are reading literature, compared with 56.9 percent two decades ago.”
Their new study of studies continues this limited focus on literary reading for pleasure.
It is part of Ancient Survey Lore that if you don’t ask about something, you may not find out about it. In this case, apparently the survey didn’t ask the fairly obvious question whether, if annual sales of books are booming, and fewer people are reading literature, what are they reading instead? Could it be nonfiction? Could it be history? They never asked.
Here the banishment of Clio comes in. Although she is one of the original Daughters of Memory, apparently the National Endowment for the Arts has decided that she is no longer one of the Muses of the Arts, so History is off the radar. If anyone enjoys reading history books, for example, the NEA might still not count them as literature.
The NEA makes clear that they are very interested in music, art, drama, poetry, literature, and dance, and they have awarded, they say, more than $4 Billion for 126,000 grants to support those activities since 1965, but they seem to have no interest in history, and no understanding that it is one of the Arts, and that Clio is still one of the Muses. Her mother, Memory, would find that odd, no doubt....
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The National Endowment for the Arts has released a new study of studies of the decline of reading in the United States. Some kinds of reading were apparently not considered.
Zeus and Mnemosyne [Memory] were the parents of the nine Muses. Calliope was the muse of epic poetry, Clio was the muse of history, Erato was the muse of love poetry, Euterpe was the muse of music, Melpomene was the muse of tragedy, Polyhymnia was the muse of sacred poetry, Terpsichore was the muse of dance, Thalia was the muse of comedy, and Urania was the muse of astronomy.
Of these nine, two are now off the reservation. Urania has clearly taken Astronomy over to the Science side of the Arts, and Clio has had the misfortune of presiding over history and nonfiction, and so, at least for the National Endowment for the Arts, has evidently lost her status among the Arts.
In 2004, the National Endowment of the Arts conducted a $300,000 study of the reading habits of Americans. It found a significant decline in literary reading for pleasure among just about every group. In The Washington Post, on Friday, July 9, 2004, Jacqueline Trescott wrote that the NEA study found that an industry group “predicts that annual sales for all types of books will top $44 billion by 2008, up 59 percent from last year. Nevertheless, only 46.7 percent of adults say they are reading literature, compared with 56.9 percent two decades ago.”
Their new study of studies continues this limited focus on literary reading for pleasure.
It is part of Ancient Survey Lore that if you don’t ask about something, you may not find out about it. In this case, apparently the survey didn’t ask the fairly obvious question whether, if annual sales of books are booming, and fewer people are reading literature, what are they reading instead? Could it be nonfiction? Could it be history? They never asked.
Here the banishment of Clio comes in. Although she is one of the original Daughters of Memory, apparently the National Endowment for the Arts has decided that she is no longer one of the Muses of the Arts, so History is off the radar. If anyone enjoys reading history books, for example, the NEA might still not count them as literature.
The NEA makes clear that they are very interested in music, art, drama, poetry, literature, and dance, and they have awarded, they say, more than $4 Billion for 126,000 grants to support those activities since 1965, but they seem to have no interest in history, and no understanding that it is one of the Arts, and that Clio is still one of the Muses. Her mother, Memory, would find that odd, no doubt....