MacLeish on Radio History
E cannot reproduce historical conversations with any degree of ‘realism or conviction, except in the rarest of cases. This topic is dealt with by the American poet Archibald MacLeish in the preface to his The American Story,-a printed series of historical
broadcasts which, having read, one must very much wish to hear. He argues that the peculiar function of the radio is not dramatisation, which is proper to the stage, but the bringing to life of original narratives and first-hand accounts. "It is, or should be, possible for radio to present a given text loyally and literally and simply, and yet in such a perspective and with such a ‘focus of attention to give breadth and presentness and meaning to its words." MacLeish has certainly succeeded in so treating the narratives ‘of American discovery, exploration, conquest and settlement without any of these laboured conversations of persons unhandily resurrected; and his method seems worth following up.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19461115.2.30.4
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 15, Issue 386, 15 November 1946, Page 14
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159MacLeish on Radio History New Zealand Listener, Volume 15, Issue 386, 15 November 1946, Page 14
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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