-
B.B.C. Talks on Fiction. The Change of Policy. To the Editor of The Times (22 Dec 1931)
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- document
- Additional Information
Sir, – We desire to express our profound regret at the change of policy implied in the recent decision of the B.B.C. to exclude all references to contemporary novels from broadcast talks. Many of the signatories to this letter are engaged in the creation, manufacture, distribution, and criticism of books. Some of us are, therefore, directly affected by this ban, and to that extent may be said to be prejudiced. But we base our protest on a reasoned view of the place which contemporary literature should hold in the national life, and of the place which the art of fiction holds in literature.
We do not need to argue what no one will dispute − namely, that nothing is of greater value to a nation than its literature. It is, however, too often forgotten that the value of a literature depends on the extent to which it is a living growth, maintained by a wide and intelligent popular interest. Only those professionally engaged in literature realize how small a proportion of the population of Great Britain has that interest or how far this country is behind many other countries in this regard.
There are three ways in which a popular interest in books can be stimulated − by the Press, by educational institutions, and by the B.B.C. Mr. Alfred Noyes thinks that it can all be left to the Press. “Let the written word,” he says, “take care of the written word.”
The B.B.C. has hitherto shown itself so alive to the responsibilities which this opportunity carries with it, by the proportion of programme-time allotted to the criticism of books, as well as by its choice of critics, that
It is not impossible that the B.B.C. may have been influenced by angry letters of protest from members of the public whose views do not happen to coincide with those of a particular wireless critic. Most authors, reviewers, and publishers have had similar experiences, and can sympathize with the authorities at Savoy Hill.