The
Beloit College Mindset List for 2012's entering freshmen was in the news. The
Associated Press report interview of the compilers, one of whom noted,
"biblical terms such as 'forbidden fruit,' 'the writing on the wall' and 'good Samaritan' are unknown to most of them.
"'When I teach Shakespeare or Milton there are a lot of biblical allusions,' said [Tom] McBride, an English professor, 'and I have to explain them all.'"
By contrast, Perry Anderson's
account of recent Indian political history includes this.
" the great epics of Hindu legend, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, which unlike the Odyssey or the Aeneid, are still in such absolute command of popular imagination that their dramatisation on television could not only mesmerise hundreds of millions of viewers, but occasion many a literal act of worship before the small screen."
No comments:
Post a Comment