-4 WINDOW OPEN ON THE WORLD

rierAPRIL 1963 (16TH YEAR) - PRICE 1/-STG. (U. K.) - 30 CENTS (U. S.) - 0.70 F (FRANCE)

'

RIENT-OCCIDEI

STUDY

I IGNORANCE

i

ART FIND IN RUMANIA. A re¬

markable discovery of sculpturesdating from the Roman era (2nd

century A. D.) was made in Ru¬

mania last year during excavationsfor the construction of a new rail¬

way line. In all eight statues werefound, one of the most striking

being this sea deity in reptilianform and carved in marble. It is

now preserved in the museum ofthe Black Sea port of Constanza.

© A. Tessore, Turin

ON THE WOHLS^i*«^ 4 WINDOW OMN <

CourierContents

No. 4

PUBLISHED IN

NINE EDITIONS

EnglishFrench

SpanishRussian

German

Arabic

U.S.A.

JapaneseItalian

COVER PHOTO

One of the noblest monu¬ments of Buddhist art is the

gigantic sanctuary of Bo-robudur on the island

of Java. Dating from 750A.D., this man-mademountain of stone carvingsand terraces has 504 statues

and 1,400 bas reliefs. Fromits summit, this statueof the Buddha in medita¬

tion gazes over Java'scentral plain and itstowering volcanic peaks.

Unesco - Marc Riboud.

APRIL 1963

16TH YEAR

Page

4 ORIENT-OCCIDENT: A STUDY IN IGNORANCE

By Georges Fradier

(1) PROGRESS... AND PREJUDICE

(2) DIALOGUE ON THE FILM 'THE ISLAND'

14 A PORTUGUESE SANCHO PANZA IN THE FAR EAST

The voyages and adventures of Ferdinand Mendes Pinto

By Antonio Jose Saraiva

20 DOES LIFE END AT SIXTY?

By Alfred Métraux

24 HOLIDAY CURE FOR BORED TEEN-AGERS

Two million volunteers for world workcamp projects

By Arthur Gillette

28 CENSORSHIP: A DOUBLE-EDGED WEAPON

The Hidden Face of the Cinema Pt.4

By Paul Léglise

33 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

34 FROM THE UNESCO NEWSROOM

(U.C. 63. 1. 1 79 A)

Published monthly byThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and CulturalOrganizationEditorial Offices

Unesco, Place de Fontenoy, Paris 7*, FranceEditor-in-Chief

Sandy KofflerAssistant Editor

René Caloz

Associate Editors

English Edition : Ronald FentonFrench Edition : Jane Albert HesseSpanish Edition : Arturo DespoueyRussian Edition : Veniamln Matchavarianl (Moscow) -German Edition : Hans Rieben (Berne)Arabic Edition : Abdel Monelm El Sawi (Cairo)Japanese Edition : Shln-lchl Hasegawa (Tokyo)Italian Edition : Maria Remiddl (Rome)Layout & DesignRobert Jacquemin

THE UNESCO COURIER, is published monthly, except in July and August whenit is bi-monthly (I I issues a year) in English, French, Spanish, Russian, German.Arabic, Japanese, and Italian. In the United Kingdom it is distributed by H.M.Stationery Office, P. O. Box 569, London, S. E. I.

Individual articles and photographs not copyrighted may be reprinted providingthe credit line reads "Reprinted from THE UNESCO COURIER", plus dateof issue, and two voucher copies are sent to the editor. Signed articles re¬printed must bear author's name. Unsolicited manuscripts cannot be returnedunless accompanied by an international reply coupon covering postage. Signedarticles express the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily representthe opinions of UNESCO or those of the editors of THE UNESCO COURIER.

The Unesco Courier is indexed monthly in The Readers' Guide toPeriodical Literature published by H. W. Wilson Co., New York.

Annual subscription rates : UFrench Francs or equivalent,cents (U.S.) ; 0.70 French Francs

Sales & Distribution Offices

Unesco, Place de Fontenoy, Paris T

S. $3.00; IO/-stg. ; 7.00Single copies l/-stg. 30

All correspondence should be addressed to the Editor-in-Chief.

ORIENT-OCCIDENT

A STUDY IN IGNORANCE

by Georges Fradier Flames from myriads of tiny oil lamps twinkle in the Novembernight, lighting up a ghatone of the flights of stairs which leaddown to the River Gangesin Benares, the sacred city of theHindus. The time is Diwali, the Festival of Light, a day of cele¬bration throughout India, marking the triumph of light overdarkness. Right, a group of Greek children, each carrying alighted candle, takes part in a traditional Easter Eve procession.

Richard Lannoy From " La Joie de vivre " (Joy of Living ) published by the Federation des Cooperatives Migros, Zurich.

...AND PREJUDICE

The article below is taken from " Encounters and Celebrations ", a study on themutual appreciation of cultural values in Orient and Occident by Georges Fradier,which is shortly to be published by Unesco. The article on page 8 " DialogueBetween Orient and Occident on the Film 'The Island' " which comesfrom the same work was written in collaboration with Miss Tomiko Takeda.

re you more intelligent than your parents?kMore tolerant? Do you have a more developed

awareness of things? Is your outlook more forthrightand independent? Do you think that nations or peoplein general are more friendly today and that the worldis a less incomprehensible place than your elders foundit?

All these are questions which one would like to put toyoung people who talk in an abstract way about progress.For the images and ideas which the word Progress seemsto evoke nowadays are increasingly vague and obscure.Most of the younger generation recognize, of course, theexistence of progress in technology, science and medi¬cine. Only a minority believes in ethical progress or ifothers do believe in it they are afraid to say so.

As for progress in art, philosophy and literature, thisis an even more difficult theme. For we have got intothe habit of describing progress in statistical terms, ofillustrating development by charts and some subjects

simply do not lend themselves to such interpretation. It iseasy to point to the steadily increasing output of litera¬ture, music and painting and to the hundreds of millionsof readers. But it is impossibe for us to say whetherthe books are better, the pictures finer and the readersmore perceptive; indeed, the very question lacks meaning.

One day an attempt may be m|ade to assess the resultsof the Major Project launched by Unesco in 1957 to

promote the mutual appreciation of Eastern and Westerncultural values. It will be asked, for instance, whetherthe English or more particularly the younger generationin England now know more about the cultural values of

the Chinese, and appraise them with more perceptivenessand friendly understanding, and vice versa. Ingenious

methods and infinite patience will need to be applied here.

Meanwhile we may perhaps begin to draw a general, and

let us hope, credible picture of the progress achieved.

One might, indeed, begin by applauding the substantial 5

CONT'D ON NEXT PAGE

STUDY IN IGNORANCE (Cont'd)

Beware of the superficial

increase of information now everywhere available aboutthe history, development, social and political problems,way of life, scenery, religion and art of almost allcountries. Efforts have been made, for example, in thefield of education. In several countries studies of the

history and culture of wide areas which were hitherto

ignored have recently found their places in official schoolcurricula.

It would be even easier to show the growing influenceagain in the field of cultural values of films, broad¬

casting, television, newspapers and magazines, recordsand publications (journalistic reports, surveys, transla¬tions of classical works and contemporary novels, etc.).Then there is the part played by travel, now becomingeasier and easier for young people, and by meetings,youth festivals and international work camps not to

SMILE FROM EUROPE...

Alongside the saints, angels and demons with whichthey embellished the cathedrals of Europe, Gothicsculptors carved remarkable and distinctively humanportraits in stone. One of these a young womancarrying one of her glovesadds a note of youth andgaiety to the figures on Basle Cathedral, Switzerland.

From "La Joie de vivre" (Joy of Living) publishedby the Federation des Coopératives Migros, Zurich

mention the wonderful introduction to international life

afforded to fellowship-holders studying abroad.

In other words, the amount of information that youngpeople from Western countries, for instance, can pickup nowadays about the habits, problems and amusementsof Eastern countries is out of all proportion to the know¬ledge that was available on the same subjects twentyyears ago.

The casual listener to a radio programme may heara sarode concert or a Balinese orchestra. The cinema

will already have introduced him to the daily life ofpeasants in the Nile Valley and to the most variedepisodes of Japanese mediaeval or contemporary history,and he may have been lucky enough to come acrossdocumentary films revealing the beauties of Borobudur,Angkor Vat, Isfahan and the Taj Mahal. In daily andweekly papers he will have seen a wealth of pictures,

generally beautiful and always picturesque, of the differ¬ent "developing countries" whose glories, contrasts andmysteries never fail to interest and intrigue.

Thus, most young people in the West have now abroad access to facts about the Eastern countries, andthe same applies to youth in the East (most of whomhave become enthusiastically fond of dance music andfilms imported from America and even from Europe).Does this mean that the Major Project has achieved itsaims? That is less certain. A mass of superficial Infor¬mation, unrelated Ideas and images arbitrarily removedfrom their contexts as well as isolated statistics maywell be the raw material for lively conversation, but donot necessarily add up to genuine understanding.

O|n the contrary, there is some danger that allthis information, most of it haphazard and

passively absorbed, may build up a sense of blase com¬placency. After seeing a little of everything and hearingepochs and countries brought up in conversation in anyand every connexion, people quickly come to believe thatthey are well informed and have understood all there isto know.

Information which is too rapidly acquired does notalways even have the advantage of overcoming prejudice.The other day an article on Japan, describing a "typi¬cal" Japanese family, appeared in a glossy magazine withan international circulation. Many such articles arepublished, and this one was better than most; it conveyeda good deal of accurate and Interesting informationabout the economic and social life of the "professionalmiddle class".

At the same time, to lend a picturesque flavour tohis article, the writer stressed those well-known conflictsbetween tradition and modernism which observers are

always noticing In the East. These conflicts, or tensions,take various formsin terms of language (foreign wordsbrought into the vocabulary), in terms of psychiatry(people living half in the atomic age and half in a tradi¬tional environment become schizophrenic), or in termsof history (the Middle Ages lingering on into the 20thcentury) .

This last approach is the most popular with the captionwriters; a pair of trousers symbolizes the 20th century,a kimono is mediaeval; the naval shipyard belongs tothe 20th century and the Shinto temple to the MiddleAges. There is a grain of truth in all this. But to dwell

on these alleged contrasts is unwittingly to perpetuateprejudice. We are told that "the East derives its scien¬tific cultureeven its 'rationalism'its comforts, its

politics and its amusements from the West ; it is painfullyor ludicrously torn between the traditional, Oriental mindand the modern mentality; the result of adaptation totechnologies which its culture is unable to absorb can

only be fatal", etc.

In order to come nearer to the truth, I would suggestan article written in the same style, with the same skilledphotography about, let us say, a "typical" family in Würt¬temberg. Nothing would be easier than to underline thecontrasts, or even the irreconcilabilities between themodern life of a German engineer and the mediaevaltraditions that linger in his home.

HI is old mother, his wife and perhaps even hehimself still read an ancient work called Die

Bibel, which was translated by a monk revered eventoday long, before the Industrial Revolution. The man

works all day in an ultra-modern office. In the eveninghe meets his friends in a building which looks, and mayeven be, Gothic and joins them in drinking a beveragemade from fermented barleythe formula for which goesback to the Teutons and Celts to the accompaniment ofancient ritual choruses.

A young Chinese spending a few weeks in Stuttgartwould notice these contrasts without seeing any reasonto deplore them; he would meet people ready to supplya good-natured explanation of them. Knowledge pickedup during travel is not so piecemeal as that acquired fromthe newspapers; it is more concentrated, and its appealis not solely to the memory.

Through individual or group travel, and even moreby international meetings, young people are enabledin greater numbers every yearto discover their distantcontemporaries in the East or West. Their contacts

will probably be confined to young people like themselves,however, for it is not easy to discover a whole country,let alone a whole culture.

Nothing is better, of course, than to learn to expressourselves and be understood on the level of friendship;to work together, to play together and to join in reso¬lutions about peace and harmony all these are to beencouraged. But even the rrçost cordial meetings some¬times fade to dim memoriesand also tend to over¬simplify the problem of different cultural values.

IIn such cases, the preconception about insur¬mountable barriers makes way for an as¬

sumption of uniformity, which affirms "We are all alike.The world is the same everywhere. We all have the sameneeds and the same ambitions." This can lead to theconclusion that intellectual effort of any kind is super¬fluous.

On the other hand, a different danger seems to liein wait for those with more exacting minds, who havea taste for history and for currently fashionable his¬torical theories. The tendency to generalize, whileexcellent as an antidote to narrow-minded specialization,sometimes leads people to dip too hastily into the past andinto human geography and, for the sake of convenience,to classify whole nations in one civilization or culturalgroup.

Whatever may be the advantage of these vast, all-embracing explanations as a means of conveying ideas,we must not overlook the drawback that they aréfrequently no more than optical illusions. Even themost cultivated people may be taken In by them.

For a long time, for instance, we have heard criticism

I Sunil Janah, Calcutta

...SMILE FROM ASIA

This graceful Yak. sini or nymph was carved over tencenturies ago on the Temple of Siva at BhubawesharIn the Indian State of Orissa. A holy place, Bhuba¬weshar was once known as "The City of Temples".But of 7,000 temples only a few hundred now remain.

of the sweeping judgments pronounced on Orient andOccident; but it is astonishing how they persist. We arestill told that the East has a monopoly of spiritualenlightenment and that all Western nations are mat¬

erialistic. Other concepts, less far-reaching but equallyunsubstantiated, also survive; authoritative writers stillpublish reflections on happiness "conceived in the Westas the plenitude of life and in India as release from life,as absorption into the Infinite"; in the East one stillmeets distinguished professors leaving for Europe, lookingforward confidently to unrestricted and profitable meet¬ings with their opposite numbers in the West, "becauseIn Europe all cultivated people speak English, just asthey do here".

In reality problems relating to the mutual appreciationof cultural values are by no means simple ones. Theyare still neither outdated nor solved. And even in the

case of collective problems it is still up to the individualto solve them on a personal level by facing up to situa¬tions in which disputes or misunderstandings are likelyto occur but in which, providing the necessary effort is 7made, understanding and cultural enrichment can alsobe found.

STUDY IN IGNORANCE (Part 2)

»

DIALOGUE BET

ON THE FILM

ONE small islet, only five acres in area, was chosen by the film directorKaneto Shindo, from among the countless islands that compose the stately

yet delicate landscape of the Inland Sea of Japan, as the setting for an extraor¬dinary film which some people consider to be worthy of comparison with thework of Robert Flaherty, and in particular with " Man of Aran ".

It is a film in which nothing happens. Or, more precisely, in which a host ofepisodes, trivial and yet intense, take place without forming a story. This islandis an arid waste of stones and poor soil ; but it is inhabited and cultivated (meti¬culously, inch by inch) by a couple, who are still young and who labour unceas¬ingly from dawn to nightfall, with the frenzied obstinacy associated with certaininsects such as bees, ants and termites.

They have two little boys, the elder of whom is at school all day on the bigisland, where his parents go almost hourly to fetch water. For their own islethas no well, no springit is completely dry. For the greater part of the yearthe couple spend their lives rowing to and fro in a boat and bringing back waterin buckets which they carry, slung from a yoke, carefully and slowly to thetop of their hill, where they meticulously water their beans and their sweet pota¬toes plant by plant. They also grow maize and wheat.

Planting, hoeing, watering, rowing, carrying, digging, day after day suchis the round of their existence. They hardly pause to eat] or sleep. Theyknow nobody in the outer world, on the big island. This is simply the placewhere they go for water, the place where the school is situated, and the shop¬keepers to whom they pay rare, respectful visits, and also the doctor who arrivestoo late one day, to find the elder boy dead.

The film is as simple as that; it shows us people living, working and dyingwithout uttering a word. It is not a silent film ; it is a film in which people do notspeak. The photography is admirable, but the spectators do not always noticethe beauty of the scene, they are so gripped by the two chief characters, or rather,by the concentrated performances of two great actors, Yasuji Tonoyama andMiss Nobuko Otowa.

Oriental and Occidental impressions of "The Island" are reflected in thefollowing dialogue between a Japanese girl student (J) and a European man (E)both of whom have seen the film several times.

WEEN ORIENT & OCCIDENT

THE ISLAND

On an arid island in

Japan's Inland Sea a peas¬ant couple toils aroundthe clock tending cropsand fetching water fromthe mainland. From these

simple facts KanetoShindo has made a re¬

markable film in which

the roles of wife and the

husband are played byNobuko Otowa (left) andYasuji Tonoyama (right).

Photos Kmdai Eiga Kyokai

E. When I was in Japan a few months ago, it struckme that "The Island" was very little known or appreciat¬ed. I asked several people about it but they only saidvaguely. "Yes... a documentary film?"

3. No one in Japan took much notice of it untilpeople in the West became interested. A documentary?Yes, Shindo Kaneto has a reputation for making shortsand feature films in a proletarian spirit, films taken fromreal life, perhaps to show up its Injustice: a kind ofsocialist realism. And people admired Nobuko Otowa, whousually plays glamorous parts, for agreeing to depict anearthy character, whose face is often covered withsweat and dirt. Then the film attracted attention abroad

and won a prize at the Moscow festival; so finally, inJapan it came to be classed as a "melodrama."

E. Thafs a strange description. But let us assumefor a moment that the film really is a documentary. Ifthat is so, what does it teach us about Japan apart fromthe beauty of the scenery? We see the fields of corn orrice looking like gardens, sown in perfectly straight rows;scrubbed and polished. There is the impression that thesea carries an unceasing traffic of small boats, tugs andsteamers. We are taken to visit the town, which is ofcourse noisy, crowded and industrious.

3. That's Onomichi. It is worthwhile, in any case,to have a glimpse of a town that is so old and at the sametime so modern a medium-sized town and the scenery,both are quite typical. As for the houses, a foreigner whohas never seen our Japanese houses, except in films, findsit very difficult to imagine what they look like. Forinstance, French people think of houses as buildingsmade of stone a material never used for this purposein Japan or brick, with a roof of slates or red tiles. Thefirst thing we Japanese think of is wooden posts andexposed beams, and whitewashed earthen walls which arehollow, built upon a framework of woven bamboo stems.

The roof is thatched, or, in more modern houses, madeof grey tiles. The building gives straight onto the outerworld, through big French windows another term whichis likely to give the wrong idea. The paper door (shoji),the paper partition (fusuma) and the traditional tatami,which carpets the whole of the interior, are things onehas to know about before one can imagine a Japanesehouse.

E. The film does, I agree, give us a glimpse of all that.But the hut on the island where the couple live seems toosqualid, quite to correspond to this idea of a house. Doesthis mean that all Japanese peasants are as poor as that?

3. Certainly not. On the whole they are by no meanswell off, although they create so much wealth for thecountry. But the people in The Island are not reallydestitute. They are in no danger of starvation; they arequite respectably dressed. Yet people who live sowretchedly and work so hard are a very small minority.

E. So this may, after all, be a "propaganda film,"intended to expose the injustice from which that minoritysuffers?

3. Yes... It looks as if the director tried to give it thatmeaning at first. But he was too much of an artist, toomuch of a poet, to be satisfied with that alone. In theend it turned into a poetic work.

E. I think so too. Even a tragedy. After setting outto describe the living conditions of a peasant family ina remote part of Japan, the film goes much further. Orrather it is not quite a tragedy; just one thing is lacking.

3. What do you feel is missing?

E. Speech. These people live together and suffertogether without exchanging a word. The chief qualitythat distinguishes man from the other animals is speech, q

CONT'D ON NEXT PAGE

STUDY IN IGNORANCE (Confd)

Silence that speaks

from the heart

or so we are usually told. But these people never, abso¬lutely never, say anything; one wonders whether theyare really together, or merely side by side, one person andthen another, each quite alone.

3. Oh yes, the absence of communication! ThatIs what always strikes foreigners. Several times already,people have asked me, "Have they nothing to say to eachother?" But believe it or not, I myself did not noticethe silence at all. In Japan, in moments of the mostintense emotion, the deepest grief, people say nothing.

E. I remember that terrible scene when the youngwife, after once again climbing the hill with her infinitelyprecious supply of water, stumbles and upsets one of thebuckets. Her husband looks at her, comes closer, andknocks her down with a single blow. That blow is theonly way he can express himself.

10

J. And yet he loves hiswife, there is no doubt ofthat. He does not strikeher out of cruelty. Shehas unintentionally donewrong. He is puttingthings to rights. I thinkshe understands that.

Later on, in the evening,she is looking across at

the big island. She is all alone, watching the fireworks(it is probably August 16, the Feast of the Dead, associat¬ed with fire ; after the fireworks, we see illuminated boats ;in the old days this was the season of epidemics, andpeople are still afraid of typhoid fever); she watches.Her husband comes up behind her. He says nothing.Can he find no word to comfort her? No. He does

not know how to tell her that he, too, is unhappy, andthat he understands her. And she does not even knowthat her husband has paused for a moment to watchher, with an aching heart. And without a word theyboth go up the hill, spade in hand, to bury their son'sashes.

E. Do you mean they know instinctively that wordscannot relieve a deep sorrow?

3. It's not that; the Japanese, like other people,know very well that when one is unhappy it is a comfortnot to feel alone, and that two people together are betterable to bear a great grief.

E. You mean it is a kind of awkwardness?

3. I suppose so. But awkwardness of that kind isso common that it does not upset us. That's why Ifound the silence of this film perfectly normal and na¬tural, apart from the fact that the director wanted it tobe like that. The members of that family don't talk toone another; and that inevitably reminds me of my ownfamily, I wonder how it is that where I come frompeople express themselves so little and so badly brothersand sisters, husbands and wives, even lovers. Perhapswe talk more freely to friends or school companions...When I first came to Europe I was struck by the way inwhich the children of the family I knew (two teenageboys and one younger one) used to argue with theirparents at meals. They had no hesitation aboutcontradicting their father's opinions. And sometimes hewould say calmly "Yes, you're right." In my own homeit would never have occurred to me to argue with myfather! Even if I thought he Was mistaken, I wouldnever say "Father, I don't agree. I think so-and-so,because...!" I don't know whether he would be angryor pleased ; I have never tried. I have never talked, reallytalked, to my mother, either.

Every precious drop ofwater for cultivation has

to be rowed over to the

island and then carried in

buckets slung from a yoketo the top of the hillwhere the crops are grown.

J. No, let's make no mistake about it; it is simplythe absence of argument. I don't mean chatter...

E. But Japanese life is changing, and so is the rela¬tionship between parents and children...

3. Japan has recently experienced social changesperhaps more abrupt and violent than those In any othercountry. How can I explain? Two hundred years agoour most successful dramatists were writing popular playsin which the hero killed his own son in order to save theson of his feudal lord, as loyalty required of him. Thatkind of hero was applauded without hesitation. And evenwhen those plays are given nowadays, the audience shedsfloods of tears without pausing to ask itself whether afather is entitled to kill his own child. One such playwas forbidden during the American occupation, becauseits feudal code of morality was contrary to democracy andhuman rights. But a few years later it was revived, andreceived as enthusiastically as ever. Reason and law haveproclaimed that the individual, starting in childhood, hascertain rights. And nowadays nobody would sacrifice hisown son to save the son of his superior. But for all that,a present-day audience sees nothing criminal or immoralin such plays.

E. And what does that show?

3. In my opinion, family life is not yet up to datein its spirit. We have not entirely shaken off the vestigesof the fine Confucianist ethical code.

E. You consider it a fine code?

E. Perhaps that is a sign of good behaviour?dience?

Obe-

3. It really was veryfine. As for married

couples, they are on a moreequal footing than fifteenyears ago. The wife'ssituation has changed.There is a scene in thefilm which I find signi¬ficant. It comes towardsthe end. In a sudden fit

of rage, the woman deliberately knocks over the preciousbucket of water; she deliberately repeats the actionfor which her husband had not hesitated to strike her.And then she throws herself on the ground and beginsfrantically uprooting the plants... But this time the mandoes not move. With deep compassion, he watches hiswife, who has lost her self-control because of her child'sdeath. He says nothing. If he were to let himself go,perhaps, he, too, would throw himself on the ground.But as usual he says nothing. He turns back to his work.He quite understands his wife's grief and her revolt againstthe poverty which caused them to leave their little boy todie. She has no other way of expressing herself. Neitherhas he. They are not in the habit of speaking, ofexpressing their thoughts or feelings.

E. Sometimes it's better that way. In Tokyo a womanfriend took me one day to the Asakusa temple. As we wentthough that districtwhich might be called the religiousbirthplace of the city with its cinemas, its places ofentertainment, and its stalls of souvenirs and religious

objects, I was expecting to be given all kinds of explana¬tions about the temple, which was destroyed during thewar and rebuilt recently, with modern materials, though,*exactly as it had been standing for centuries, down to thesmallest details. Nothing of the kind; my friends merelysuggested that I should go up the steps and take my shoesoff. Then we knelt (or rather, sat down in the Japanesefashion) among the congregation. We stayed there forquite a time, naturally without uttering a word. Andwords would have been superfluous. In similar circums¬tances, one of my own countrymen would have shownme the statues and ornaments, pointed out the beautiesof the architecture, and remarked on amusing ortouching things concerning the behaviour of the monksand pilgrims. He would have tired me out. There,instead, there was this long, silent contemplation. Andit left an impression I shall never forget.

3. So you do appreciate silence. Yet In the life of afamily, or of a married couple, it baffles you. A manand a woman may be aware that they love each otherdeeply and yet find no words in which to say so.

E. Is it true, as I have been told, that the Japaneselanguage has no words to express affection?

3: It is rather that people don't know how to usethem. A young Japanese friend of mine once admittedto me that he would find it easier to tell a girl he lovedher in a foreign language than in his own. I was notsurprised. A Japanese boy who will say "I love you," inEnglish will not be so ready with the corresponding wordsin Japanese. That is because he has probably neverheard them spoken. He has often read them in romanticstories, but they are never used in daily life, and hardly

ever even between Intimates. Even a couple who aremadly in love will not speak them aloud.

E. Then how do they make themselves understood?

J. ^Wlth their eyes. There is a proverb that says"The eyes speak more clearly than the lips." So JapaneseloversN remain silent. It is not necessarily a falling, butit is certainly characteristic.

E. 7s it also characteristic to remain completelysilent at a funeral when you have come, as we shouldsay, to offer your sympathy? In "The Island," I foundthe funeral sequence unbearable. The schoolchildrencome with their teacher to attend the cremation of theirlittle school-fellow. The bonze (priest) is with them,young and well-fed, in his beautiful robes; his manner iscold and indifferent...

3. I have never known a bonze to show emotion. But

did you notice how serious, hcrargrave the little boys andgirls were?

E. The parents and the small brother go down to theshore to receive all these visitors, they greet one anotherpolitely, one almost expects them to smile.

3. They might smile. It would be proper. And youwould be even more puzzled, wouldn't you?

E. Yes, the smile of Asia... Ortega y Gasset explain¬ed it as a result of dense population, saying that the morepeople you expect to meet, the more polite you are likelybe.

3. We have heard a lot about the "Oriental smile..."

CONT'D ON NEXT PAGE

Photos Kindai Eiga Kyoka'

Planting, hoeing, watering, rowing, carrying, digging, the life of the family on the Island Is an endless,unvarying round of toll. Sometimes interpreted as a cry of protest against the lot of the Impoverished,Sindo's film Is also seen as a poetic work showing man's ability to triumph over grief and adversity.

'--ci'

11

STUDY IN IGNORANCE (Cont'd)

A merciless picture of the human conditionA Frenchman who has lived for a long time in the FarEast told me how his Chinese secretary came to him oneday to announce the death of his mother. With a smile.Anyone would have thought that the secretary waseither mad or pleased at his mother's death. Not at all.It is simply politeness; the smile sets up a barrier bothagainst you and in your own interest. You must notexpress opinions or feelings to your superior before beinginvited to do so. In the event of misfortune, one isstill less entitled to thrust one's own unhappiness uponpeople to whom one owes respect, such as neighbours.This is a hard-and-fast rule, the same in Japan as inChina or in Viet-Nam. During the funeral on The Island,no one sheds tears; but the impression is heart-rending.

E. The funeral pyre is still burning. The visitorstake their leave. The boat sails round the island; thelittle brother runs from field to field, watching till it isout of sight. Later, the parents bury the ashes and putup a little board on the grave.

j. They have written the dead boy's name on it.From the top downwards; his name under the Law, whichthe bonze has just given him for his future life, and hisown name, Taro.

E. As you say, the impression is heart-rending. Ourown feelings can easily be explained, because we are eye¬witnesses of the unbearable scene; we see the people'sfaces; and besides, we hear the music. Music plays atremendous part in a film, and this is often overlooked.

J. Yes, Hayashi Hikaru's music is perfect for thisfilm. A very simple tune, repeated at various moments,with slight variations.

E. Was Hayashi trying to compose a traditional air,the kind of thing one might call "typically Japanese?"

j. No, not at all. But the instruments sound veryJapanese. One has the impression of hearing theshakuhachi, flute, and the Koto rather than the guitar.

E. The musical score is extremely effective. But Iwould like to point out that what we hear is incidentalmusic, intended to work upon the feelings of the audience;not music within the film, such as the actors would hear.There is hardly any of that. To introduce the Springsequence, a woman's voice sings the beginning of thetraditional cherry-tree song, Sakura... The characters,one may suppose, have it running through their heads.And later we hear the schoolchildren singing a little songin class. And then a few really ancient folk-songs, intwo very short scenesthe games and dances of theharvest, and the New Year festivities. The two little boysare present on these occasions, but do not take part inthem. Much less their parents, who have no time. Theydo not belong to the world in which people sing, dance,play and say their prayers...

j. They are very poor. They live apart from thecommunity. And it is true that the community, thevillage, the big Island, despises and rejects them for thatreason. They draw their water from a brook, where itruns out of the riceflelds. Water that has already beenused. And the Island does not belong to them. Whenthey go to deliver their wheat to that horrible man whodoes not even come out to greet them, they are payingtheir rent. I think they sell one sack out of four fortheir own benefit, that brings them enough to buy afew groceries and a bottle of saké.

E. That's right, they are outsiders, outsiders andalone. That must be why I can't help seeing this film asa tragedy, a merciless picture of the human condition,or, if you prefer it, of a certain human condition. Forthe people we see in it, life is essentially a matter of toil,grief, production, reproduction and death. Once in awhile there is a digression towards something loftier andout of reach; a thought is given to "culture," to moreexalted values national and religious traditions, as re¬mote from real life as are the great liners that glide alongthe horizon. These values have not been forgotten; theyare added ironically, dangled just beyond people's reach.Then there is another thing: these people are poor and

12 exploited. Could they improve their lot?

j. How? By fixing up a winch to hoist their buckets?

Family rejoicing (left) whenone of the sons catches a

large fish which will payfor a rare visit to the nearbycity. A poignant moment(below) after the death of ason, when boys and girlsfrom his school arrive byboat to attend his funeral.

The wife (right) is an imageof grace and serenity evenas she lifts her heavy buckets.

Photos Kindai Eiga Kyokai

By digging a cistern? Perhaps. But I think they aretoo poor, too deeply Involved in their work... As forleaving the land and becoming a labourer in the town, thehusband would never dream of it. He would be just aspoor and have even less freedom.

E. Yes, they are prisoners in their existence. Shindohas succeeded in expressing alienation not only amongthe proletariat, but in ourselves. His view of the world,is completely pessimistic though the pessimism has adignified restraint.

3. I don't agree. I do not feel the irony you speakof. "The Island" is simply a very beautiful film in whichthe director shows a family that is happy, in spite ofgreat material difficulties and in spite of the death of achild, which would not have happened in wealthiersurroundings. We are shown the contentment of thesepeasants, who have complete confidence in the soil. Onesees the ecstasy which they regard the thirsty earth andthe young shoots.

E. You really call that happiness?

J. Yes, enviable happiness. There are moments ofreal delight. When the little boy catches a big fish, theyare all delighted. The next day they put on their bestclothes and take the steamer to the town, intending tosell the fish to some gourmet for a good price. Finallythey sell It to a fishmonger, rather too cheaply, perhaps,but making the best of it, for fear of disappointing thechildren. And it fetches enough money for them to havedinner at a restaurant (a great event), and buy someshirts, and go for a ride in the funicular, high above therooftops. All that is gay. But more important, there aremany other moments of even simpler happiness: thosethat come while working quietly at home during the rainyseason, and those that follow the hard day's work in theevening. Picking up a handful of leaf-mould. Rowingslowly in the morning, at earliest cock-crow. Watchingthe sun as it sinks into the sea. Taking the eveningbath. You remember that? They heat lots of water.The children jump into it first. Then the father. Andlastly, the mother. Did you notice her smile then? It isthe smile of a happy woman.

E. I feel that in discussing "The Island" you havetaught me an enormous number of things about Japan.

J. You have taught me a great deal about your own

outlook. And I must admit that it is always my foreign j 3friends who reveal to me more about my country throughthe interest they take in it.

A PORTUGUESE

SANCHO PANZA

IN THE FAR EAST

by Antonio JoseSaraiva

Europe's pioneers of oceanicnavigation to the Far Eastwere the Portuguese. In 1497,Vasco de Gama, sailed to India

and opened a maritime traderoute to the Orient. By 1519 aPortuguese cartographer wasable to depict with commendablerealism (in this picturesquelyillustrated map) countries fromthe Red Sea to South East Asia.

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I N the 15th and 16th centuries, the Portuguese_ and Spaniards reached America, the Indies,

the Pacific Islands, the Malay Archipelago, China andJapan, and in 1522 the world was first circumnavigatedby Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese. Next it was theturn of the Dutch, the English and the French to voyageand to establish settlements in many parts of the globe.

However, it cannot be claimed that Europeans imme¬diately penetrated to the spiritual treasures of the civiliza¬tions they were discovering. The conquerors and traderswere less interested in souls than in gold, silver andspices and also in slaves who were themselves trade goodslike the rest. Even Christian missionaries saw onlyhuman error or the wiles of the devil in beliefs thatdiffered from their own.

The crushing of the Aztecs and the Incas and the obli¬vion in which their remarkable art was doomed to remainfor several centuries are outstanding examples of thisfailure in understanding which led to the impoverishmentof the cultural tradition of mankind as a whole. Onlyin our own day has the pre-Columbian art of Americaregained its rightful place in the world's cultural heritageand has made a rich contribution to the originality ofmodern Mexican painting.

History, however, is not completely void of cases wherethe world's diversity was accepted and voyagers showeda sympathetic understanding of non-European civiliza¬tions. One of the oldest examples is offered by a Portu¬guese book of the 16th century, Peregrinacao, by Ferdi¬nand Mendes Pinto, a Portuguese trader in the Far East,who died in 1582.

Though almost forgotten today, Peregrinacao was atone time known throughout Europe. First published in

14 1614, it was translated into a number of languages, in¬cluding French, English, German and Dutch, during the17th and 18th centuries.

The Portuguese navigator, Vasco de Gama arrived atCalicut, the present seaport of Kozhikode, on theMalabar coast of India, in 1498. In 1511, the Portugueseannexed Malacca which gave them a firm control overtrade in the Far East for some time. In 1517, they sentan Embassy to the Emperor of China, but at that timethe Ming Dynasty had turned its back on the sea andclosed its frontiers to foreigners; and so the ambassadorof the King of Portugal failed in his mission.

Nevertheless, a few venturesome Portuguese merchantsand adventurers managed to trade between China, theMalay Archipelago and the Pacific Islands, by acceptingthe risks which this involved. Private Individuals,unconnected in any way with the Portuguese State, theyoperated in a more or less clandestine way, buildingsmall stores and depots on the Chinese coast whicheventually grew into self-governing mercantile commu¬nities and trading stations. If the opportunity cametheir way, they were not above acts of piracy. Onoccasion their voyages took them to places hithertounknown to Europeans.

Thus, about 1542 a ship with Portuguese merchantsaboard, including Ferdinand Mendes Pinto, who by thenbelonged to this strange world of adventurers, arrived atthe island of Tanegashima in Japan. Mendes Pinto hasleft us an account of this first meeting between Euro¬peans and Japanese.

He was charmed by the chivalrous spirit and noblenature of the Islanders and impressed by attention paidto questions of honour which was the cause of endlessfeuds between the nobles. He also tells us how one of

his companions, Diego Zeimoto, introduced firearms toJapan. The first time they saw Diego killing game withhis gun, the local people took him for a magician, butthey quickly learned to make guns themselves sinceas Mendes Pinto tells us their craftsmen were extremely

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skilful. Pinto also remarks on the graciousness of thewomen and the exquisite politeness of the courtiers.

This delightful picture of the Japanese is only partof the book. Its author boasts of having covered thewhole Asian coast from the Persian Gulf to Siberia, with

detours through the Indonesian Islands and the Islandof Taiwan, and of having travelled in China by river andcanal between Pekin and Nanking, where he was as¬tounded at the huge "towns" of boat-dwellers.

He claims to have worked as a convict on repairing theGreat Wall of China and to have been able to measure

its height and thickness with his own hands. He assertsthat he was enlisted into the Mongol army whichinvaded China about 1544, that he was taken before thefamous king who burnt the suburbs of Pekin (probablyDayan, King of the Ordos), and that he visited the HolyCity in Tibet.

These travels, some of them undoubtedly true, and theothers imaginary, serve him as a framework for a vi¬vidly romanticized autobiography. It is packed withincident, with land and sea fights, shipwrecks, wander¬ings, dreadful crimes, glorious exploits and popularrisings, with anecdotes, with descriptions of customs,rites, beliefs, ceremonies, towns, palaces and temples ofthe most wonderful kinds. From its pages speak a mul¬titude of characters into whose mouths the author putseloquent discourses studded with Eastern imagery. Thewhole is a blend of narrative and description almostHomeric in Its variety and power.

The main character, the author himself, is successivelyagent of the Governor of Malacca, merchant, pirate,slave, vagabond, beggar, soldier, and finally, simul¬taneously ambassador of the Viceroy of Goa to aJapanese baron and Jesuit missionary.

He never depicts himself as a hero but rather as apoor booby muddling his way as best he can out of

innumerable misfortunes. Most of the time he is at

grips with hunger and fear. In a word, he is the com¬plete "picaro," the "anti-hero" of the Spanish picares¬que novels. If we prefer, we can look on him as aPortuguese Sancho Panza of the East. He has no notionwhatever of knightly honour and he is the absolutereverse of a "hidalgo" or "conquistador."

At most, he is a trader and that is why, even when heis acting as an ambassador, he always appears to be ofa, lower order than his Eastern interlocutors, be theyMalay Sultans, Chinese mandarins, Japanese Samurai,priests anywhere and everywhere, or even the impo¬verished fishermen whose slave he was for- a while.

From all these people he receives lessons of every kindto which he is obliged to hearken submissively.

The women too, for whom Mendes Pinto has theutmost affection, have something to teach the plun¬derers. A storm hurls them on the shores of the Island

of Léquia (Taiwan). They are borne off to prison onsuspicion of being sea-rovers disguised as merchants, butthe wretched state in which they arrive, naked andcovered with cuts and bruises, stirs the. women to pity.

When the travellers are on the point of being executedthe women flock to the main square of the city with amoving petition to the King, signed by hundreds, begginghim to spare the prisoners. The King is moved andreleases the condemned men, but says that he will notreceive them "because it ill becomes a king to look onmen who, though knowing God, do not obey His lawsand are wont to steal their neighbour's goods."

To Mendes Pinto's Orientals, the Europeans are littlebetter than savages: they eat with their fingers, quarrelloudly and sometimes come to blows for futile reasons.To the East, they are objects of amazement or derision. 15

CONT'D ON NEXT PAGE

PORTUGUESE SANCHO PANZA (Cont'd)

The first European to reach JapanAbove all, however, Peregrinacao gives us a whole¬

heartedly admiring picture of the civilizations of theFar East. As for China, Mendes Pinto depicts it as anabsolute Utopia: justice is swift, humane and completelyfair to the accused; the structure of the State preventsthe corruption of its magistrates and the oppression ofits subjects; there is no unemployment or famine; manu¬facturing and trade supply all the needs of man ;there is a complete system of communications; mannersare perfect; and "Rome, Constantinople, Venice, Paris,London, Seville, Lisbon or any other famed city of Europe"do not begin to compare with the capital, Pekin. Men¬des Pinto even goes so far as to wish that the laws ofChina could be copied in Portugal.

This description of China is of course rather idealized andthe indications are that our author did not know China as

well as he knew Japan. What counts, however, is hisadmiration and lack of prejudice, and his admiration isnot purely intellectual, but comes also from the heart.

At every turn we find him moved to wonder by the

works of art, the towns, the crowds, the colour andmusic, the manner of speech the ceremonies, the beautyof the women and the delightful ways of the children.

He even gives us descriptions of Chinese and Japaneseplays, translates forms of greeting and courtesy, andprovides transcriptions (though how faithful, it is hardto say) of occasional words of the tongues of the East.

Naturally, the picture he paints is not without its blem¬ishes. It Includes accounts of unbelievable atrocities.

Yet the fact remains that Mendes Pinto was, I am sure,the first person to attempt a synoptic sketch of thecivilizations of the Far East and that he produced onethat is lively and artistic, and that seeks to penetrateto the heart and essence of those civilizations and tounderstand them from within.

Leaving aside some undeniable mistakes and errors offact, we have in Perigrinacao, which was written inLisbon in the second half of the 16th century, a bookwhich does not treat men with beliefs differing from theauthor's own as mere objects, whose sole interest liesin the profits and advantages that can be gained fromthem. In other words, for Mendes Pinto the Europeanviewpoint is not the only valid one.

That is why, in any history of European feelings andattitudes towards non-European civilizations, MendesPinto has earned an honoured place.

Japanese and Europeansmet for the first time

when a ship with Portu¬guese merchants aboard,Including Ferdinand Men¬des Pinto, reached the

Island of Tanegashima inJapan, about 1 542. Soonother trading vesselsfollowed them and the

arrival of one of these is

shown here in a Japanesescreen painting whichdates from about 1600.

Kobe City Museum, Japan

THE VOYAGES AND ADVENTURES

OF FERDINAND MÉNDEZ PINTO'

Extracts from the book with the above title, done intoEnglish by Henry Cogan and printed in London in 1663.

FOR the better satisfaction of the reader, I dare boldly say, if mytestimony may be worthy of credit, that in one and twenty yearsspace (during which time, with a world of misfortune, labour and pain,

I traversed the greatest part of Asia, as may appear by this my discourse)I had seen in some countries a wonderfull abundance of several sorts of

victuals, and provisions which we have not in our Europe ; yet, withoutspeaking what each of them might have in particular, I do not think thereis in all Europe so much as there is in China alone.

And the same may be said of all the rest, wherewith Heaven hathfavoured this climate, as well for the temperature of the air, as for thatwhich concerns the policy, and riches, the magnificence and greatnessof their estate. Now that which gives the greatest lustre unto it, is theirexact observation of justice ; for there is so well ruled a government inthis country, as it may justly be envied of all others in the world...

I think it not amiss to make a brief relation here of the city of Pequin,which may truly be termed the capital of the monarchy of the world ; asalso of some particular I observed there, as well for its arches and policy,as for that which concerns its extent, its government, the laws of thecountrey, and the admirable manner of providing for the good of the wholestate.

THIS city of Pequin (Peking) is scituated in the height of forty and onedegrees of northerly latitude ; the walls of it are in circuit (by the reportof the Chineses themselves, and as I have read in a little book, treating

of the greatness thereof, and intituled Aquisendan, which I brought sincealong with me into Portugal) thirty large leagues, namely ten long, and fivebroad... it is environed with two rows of strong walls, where there are anumber, of towers and bulwarks after our fashion.

Without this great inclosure, which (as I have said) is not comprehendedin the city, there is in a distance of three leagues broad, and seven long,fourscore thousand tombs of the Mandarins, which are little chappels all

gilded within, and compassed about with balusters of iron and lattin, theentries whereinto are through very rich and sumptuous arches...

It hath also five hundred very great palaces, which are called the housesof the son of the sun, whither all those retire that have been hurt in thewars for the service of the King, as also many other soldiers, who inregard of age or sickness are no longer able to bear arms, and to the endthat during the rest of their days they be exempted from incommodity, eachof them receives monethly a certain pay to find himself withal, and to liveupon.

LIKEWISE there are along this river Batampina, whereon we went fromNanquin to Pequin, which is distant one from the other one hundredand fourscore leagues, such a number of engines for sugar, and presses

for wine and oyl, made of divers sorts of pulse and fruit, as one could hardlysee any other thing on either side of the water.

In many other places also there were an infinite company of houses andmagazines full of all kinds of provision, that one could imagine, where allsorts of flesh are salted, dried, smoked, and piled up in great high heaps,as gammons of bacon, pork, lard, geese, ducks, cranes, bustards, ostriches,stags, cows, buffles, wild goats, rhinocerotes, horses, tygers, dogs, foxes,and almost all other creatures that one can name, so that we said manytimes amongst ourselves, that it was not possible for all the people of theworld to eat up all those provisions.

17

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From "Science and Civilisation in

China" by Joseph Needham, r Cam¬bridge University Press, I9S9.

A CHINESE VIEW OÉ THE EARTH in the mid-17th century is offered by thispage from the Ko Chih Tshao, a rare treatise on astronomy and geography,by Hsiung-Ming-Yu, which includes a diagram explaining the sphericity of ourplanet. Some 16 centuries earlier, a great Chinese astronomer of the HanEra, Chang Heng, described the heavens as "like a hen's egg and as round as acrossbow bullet ; the earth is like the yoke of the egg, and lies alone in thecentre". Hsiung Ming-Yu also used the phrase "as round as a crossbow bullet"to describe the earth, but graduated his sphere into 360 degrees instead of the365 1 4 degrees used by the Han astronomers. The sphere shows ships ofChineserig, pagodas and, at the antipodes, a large European building like a cathedral.

NEW TRADERS

THE EAST

Left, merchant adven¬turers dressed in Euro¬

pean costumes of late16th century disembarkon the coast of Japanfrom a Portuguese trad¬ing vessel. This Japan¬ese screen painting datesfrom the same period.

Below, Portuguese mer¬chants ride on an ele¬

phant and are carried bybearers in this detail from

a Japanese screen paint¬ing. The complete workshows a ship lying in theharbour of Goa, the Por¬tuguese trading settle¬ment etablished on the

west coast of India, before

setting sail for Japan.

Kobe City Museum, Japan

DOES LIFE END

AT SIXTY? Iby Alfred Métraux

MONG the many problems facing our modern^civilization, the fate of the aged is certainly

one of those foremost in the public mind, judging by thenumber of articles on this subject carried by magazinesand newspapers. Over the past century, in fact, theaverage life span in industrialized countries has increasedby leaps and bounds until it has now reached 73 years.

This growing percentage of old people in our populationIs a new phenomenon demanding new solutions. After all,how can we reconcile the very understandable Impatienceof new generations with the enforced retirement of menand women who still have many years of life ahead ofthem and who still feel energetic enough to remain activefar beyond the time limits imposed on them by society.How can we find occupations for these people whosephysiological age does not correspond to their real age?

Here I do not intend, like so many others before me, toseek answers to the problems, but rather to describebriefly some of the attitudes observed in primitive socle-ties towards elderly persons who can no longer share thenormal activities of their group.

A stubbornly persistent legend still maintains thatmany "savage" societies put people with failing strengthto tests in which failure is tantamount to a sentence of

death. It is said, for example, that in the South Seas, oldmen of some tribes are forced to climb coconut trees which

are then shaken. Those unable to hang on would thusinevitably be eliminated. These particular tales are quiteuntrue. '

I T is true, however, that among certain peoplesI living under very hard conditions as In the

past among the Eskimos or the inhabitants of Tierra delFuego those no longer able to join in the struggle for lifewere condemned to death. In such cases it was usuallythe individual himself who felt that he had become aburden. When he realized, through the veiled remarks ofhis relatives and friends, that his presence had begun to

20 weigh upon them, he asked to be put to death. With thatextreme discretion so characteristic of the Eskimoes, themen who decided to die merely stepped off their sledges

WHO photo by Pierre Pittet

without saying a word and stretched out In the snow toawait their end. Or else a member of the family wasasked to put an end to their life. The American anthro¬pologist, C. Weyer, once met an Eskimo who told himfrankly how he had killed his own father in these cir¬

cumstances. His father had even pointed out the exactspot where the son was to plunge his knife blade.

Often, too, the aged were imprisoned in an igloo wherethey died of cold. Even though these executions were notcondemned by the Eskimoes, they nevertheless gave riseto signs of remorse. This feeling of guilt is expressed inEskimo myths that often tell of the miraculous rescue ofan old person and the punishment of those who had lefthim to die.

It would be unjust to consider these peoples, whoseslender resources forced them to get rid of their old people,

A PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY. For the Dogons, a tribe which settled on the banks of the NigerRiver some 800 years ago, the word of the elders Is law. As in other societies whose traditionalways of life still hold sway, they revere the head of the family whose authority Is unquestioned.

as cruel or barbarous. One must not forget, that thequestion here was a matter of life and death for the entiregroup. In most cases, the nomads who applied this harshlaw did so upon the very request of those who could nolonger keep up with the group and who knew that theywere harming it by slowing Its progress. Usually, nomadswould abandon an invalid only after vainly trying to carryhim and not without leaving him a food supply in thehope of finding him still alive when they returned.

In a comparative study devoted to The Role of Age inPrimitive Societies, Dr. Lee Simmons reached the con¬clusion that most societies that live by hunting and foodgathering do not neglect their aged who receive their fairshares of game or fruit.

It is true that "primitives" at this economic level aremore willing to share their wealth than peoples livingfrom agriculture or grazing. Here, solidarity is the rule

and no exceptions are made for those no longer capableof participating in the group's activities.

When a Crow Indian hunter on the Great Plains of the

United States killed a large number of buffalo, he wouldcry out: "I shall take neither my arrows nor my skins."Then the meat of the carcasses belonged to the elderlypeople who were the "poor" of the tribe. In the samemanner, Creek hunters always set aside a share for theold people who also knew that no hut in their clan wouldbe closed to them.

In the past, the Samoans found it difficult to understandwhat it meant for a white man to be poor. To them, Itwas inconceivable that a person burdened by age could gohungry and without shelter. In the rural communitiesof the Inca Empire, farmers organized working parties to 21

CONT'D ON NEXT PAGE

DOES LIFE END AT SIXTY (Cont'd)

Living

of the tribes

cultivate land whose produce was reserved for widows,orphans and old people. Even today, among the descen¬dants of these same Indians, village solidarity to theneedy is an invariable rule.

It might often be wondered if the lot of the aged inarchaic civilizations is not preferable to what theyexperience in our own society. First of all, they do notfeel quite so useless. Even when their declining strengthprevents them from doing their share of the work requiredfor their community's subsistence, it is easy for them tofind a new role in the group in occupations which, bycommon consent, are reserved for them. They becomecounselors or helpers. While they may no longer takethe Initiative, they at least co-operate in the work ofothers and these new activities, far from being consideredIn any way inferior, reward them with the respect andesteem of their community.

The situation of men considered as tribal elders amongthe Cayopos whom I visited a few years ago could not bedescribed by any stretch of imagination as pitiful. Partof the "men's house" was set aside for them and therethey manufactured arrows or wove baskets. They kept awatchful eye on the village and Intervened each time aquarrel broke out. In addition, they lectured the youngergenerations and their speeches, which often went on forhours, enabled them to evoke epic incidents in their pastlives as hunters or warriors.

In a great many tribes, the most useful artisanal activi¬ties are the prerogative of the veteran craftsmen. Theirskill, acquired through long experience, assures themample customers among the younger men, eager to acquiretools or weapons.

The National Film

Board of Canada

À

THE PRESTIGE OF AGE. Persistent legendsthat aged people in some societies are treatedharshly, even to the point of being put todeath when weakness and infirmity make thema burden on their community, are discountedby studies of anthropologists. They haveconcluded that most old people are helpedby village or tribal solidarity and In fact areheld In respect and esteem. As custodians of

'ommunities also turn to the aged when they'need someone to supervise a difficult opera¬

tion, such as the building of a house or a boat. Medicine,too, is a field in which old people excel. They are reputedto know the right herbs to treat any sickness and, aboveall, the appropriate magic formulae which are no lessindispensable. One has only to recall the extent towhich magic enters into the life of these peoples, to realizethe importance of the elder's knowledge for a tribe or avillage. Hunters, fishermen and even farmers must allturn to them if they want to be sure of good luck and ofprotection against evil influences.

Furthermore, who better than the elders, knows thetribal rites and the details of ceremonies? They havewitnessed them all their lives and make sure that theyare now carried out in accordance with tradition. The

importance attached by "primitives" to ritualistic detailsis well known, and the custodians of these traditions arethe men and women of age and experience.

These people are also the tribe's living archives. It istheir duty to transmit their group's historical myths andlegends to Its young generations. They can also be con¬sulted not merely on a point of knowledge but to settlequestions of tribal law.

Among the Akambas, an African tribe, anyone in doubtas to how custom required him to act in any situationconsulted an elder whom he paid. During disputes theelders were expected to produce legal precedents forsettling these quarrels.

This knowledge and wisdom not only bestows prestigeand status on many elders, but Is also a source of wealth.For the magic formulae that they chant or the advice theygive, they are paid on the basis of agreed rates.

22 In the case of the Akambas, for example, anyonewishing to seek an elder's advice does not go to himempty-handed. He brings with him an ox or, at least, a

goat in payment. The chants, charms and prayers thatthe Navaho Indians stored in their memories was literallya goldmine of knowledge which was a rich source of profit.Old men shared their knowledge only upon payment oflarge sums and it has been said that the sum total ofmedical formulae, sacred names, secrets and songs wereworth more than a herd of three thousand animalssheep, cattle and horses. Any man could thus accumulate,during his life, the scientific, religious or historicalelements of this oral literature and in his old age use itfor the benefit of others and for his own profit.

The prestige and influence of the aged are so great inthese societies that it would be no exaggeration to describethem as gerontocracies. The classical example of thisascendancy of age is offered by the aboriginals of Austra¬lia. The elders among the bushmen wield almost tyranni¬cal authority over almost every aspect of tribal life. Often,they form secret societies whose mysteries are divulgedto young men seeking initiation only at the price ofabsolute obedience. Initiation rites so widespread Inprimitive societies are usually conducted by elders whohave made them an Instrument of domination.

This gives them control over young men who are madeto pay dearly for the religious privileges bestowed uponthem. In Australia, the elders terrorized the women andyouths by using ritual instruments that made noises likethe roaring of bulls.

According to the British anthropologists, B. Spencer andS. J. Guillen, the main purpose of certain ceremonies wasto engrave into the minds of youth their obligation toobey the laws of the tribe and to convince them of thesuperiority of the old men who alone knew the ritual ofthese ceremonies.

Knud Rasmussen, the Danish explorer, and a perceptive

tribal lore, ranging from remedies for sicknessto tribal rites and details of ceremonies, the

elders wield great influence. They are much indemand for tasks like house and boat-build¬

ing which call for skill and long experience.With age women too enjoy an enhanced statusand are allowed many privileges normallyreserved for men. Above, eskimo Igloo buildercarves out his Icy bricks in Canada's northernterritories. Right, an aged African woman.

Unesco, Gerda Böhm

interpreter of the life of the Eskimo people, recorded thefollowing remarks made by the Eskimoes about theirmedicine men: "We do not understand hidden things,but we have faith in those who say that they know them.We believe in our angakuts, in our magicians... for wewish to Uve a long time and we do not want to exposeourselves to the dangers of hunger and poverty. If wedid not follow their advice, we would perish."

North American ethnography brings us countlessexamples of respect for the aged. A man, even a youngman, would be called an "elder" as a sign of respect. Inpoint of fact, this respect was often based on fear. Theelders, after all, were close to those ancestors whom theywould soon join. If they were slighted in any way, theymight well complain to these ancestors who would thenwithdraw their protective powers leaving the descendantsexposed to all kinds of dangers.

This, too, was the way the Dahomeians reasoned whenthey explained the consideration they showed for oldpeople. To them, a long life is evidence of divine favourand proof that a person has been able to gain the good¬will both of the gods and the spirits. Among the Palungsin Burma, prestige increases with age so much so thatwomen even try to pass themselves off as older thanthey are.

Not the least of the advantages enjoyed by the aged istheir freedom from numerous taboos. It is widely believedthat those who have reached a ripe old age are immunizedagainst dangers which taboos are supposed to ward off.Furthermore, when death draws near, a man has less needto guard against the perils that threaten youth.

When women reach a certain age, their status tends torise to that of men. They are allowed to smoke, to drinkand to use strong language. In New Guinea, they are evenpermitted to enter the meeting house of the men. The

myths and legends that make up oral literature alsofavour the aged who are readily represented as sages andas the benefactors of the tribe. The authority of whichthey dispose in daily life is reflected in the supernaturalpowers attributed to them in the fabulous adventures ofwhich they are the heroes.

Family ties have always been the safest guarantee ofwell-being for the aged. Many societies give elders theprivilege of marrying young women who will take care ofthem. Often it is the first wife who feels the burden ofher years and she urges her husband to take a young wifewho will make her work easier. In Australia, the eldershad acquired a monopoly of young women so much sothat young men had trouble finding wives and had tosettle for partners who were much older than themselves.

Within a family, particularly affectionate relationsnearly always exist between grandparents and grandchil¬dren. For the youngsters the old people appear in aprotective role. Their relations are closer than thosebetween the children and their parents. Grandparentsare protectors, friends and also playmates. They oftentalk to each other as if they belonged to the same genera¬tion and they do not hesitate to jest and to play jokes oneach other. And this is why the elders prefer to confidetheir secrets to their grandchildren rather than to theirsons or daughters.

When we look once more at our own society after thisbrief glimpse of the way of Ufe of the aged in primitivesocieties, we see more clearly what our technological pro¬gress has cost us. We certainly live longer than "savages,"but we have paid a high price for this privilege.

To be respected, to feel one's self a useful and activemember of society, to enjoy the friendship of one's grand¬children... are not these advantages worth far more thanthe comfort offered by our communal homes for the agedor our "towns for old people?"

23

HOLIDAY CURE

FOR BORED

TEEN-AGERSby Arthur Gillette

24

THE youth of today is bored. Thisis a foregone conclusion of the

Study of the Objectives and Content ofOut-of-School Education that UNESCO

is undertaking in 1963-1964. Youngpeople in the industrialized countriesare faced with increasing amounts of

ready money and free time and oftenfind themselves at a loss to put these

to creative use. Growing minds andmuscles seem to lack stimulation in the

atmosphere of material ease prevalentin Europe and North America, anduntapped energies of young peoplefrom all social backgrounds expressthemselves increasingly in acts ofhooliganism and gratuitous violence.

In the developing countries, youngpeople frequently those who haveattained a relatively high level of edu¬cation are pouring out of the country¬side into the cities in search of paying

jobs and the stimulation of urban life.Many find neither employment nor ex¬citement and more often than not

spend months, if not years, perfectingthe art of wasting time.

Meanwhile, in all countries, newlyindependent and technically advancedalike, there is no lack of social prob¬lems which youthful energies couldhelp solve. In even the wealthiest ofsocieties the material and, above all,

the psychological needs of certaingroups old people, slum dwellers, thementally ill, immigrant labourers, racialminorities, juvenile delinquents, etc.go largely unanswered. The needs ofthe newly developing countries areeven greater: roads and railways,schools and community centres,teachers and technicians the list of

necessities in a modern society.

Here then is the paradoxical situa¬tion today. On one hand, young peoplethe world over are at loose ends,

bored, marking time before they gainthe rights and accept the responsibi¬lities of adulthood. On the other hand,

some of the world's most crying needsare unheeded. One answer to this

paradox though by no means a pana¬cea for all today's ills is to yoke rest¬less youthful energy to these pressingneeds, to give young people the oppor¬tunity for exciting and creative service.This is the function of the international

voluntary workcamp movement.

Unesco - Louis van Paridon

Cheerful workcampers prepare for the day's activity on a housing construction project in Waldkappel,German Federal Republic. This exceptionally large voluntary summer workcamp project was attendedby some 2,500 volunteers who put In a total of over 240,000 working hours on the building sites.

he first "modern" workcamp was held nearVerdun, France, in 1920 when young people

from France, Germany and other nations helped rebuildwar-rravaged farms. The movement has grown, especiallysince the second world war, until now each year some twomillion volunteers from all continents and most countries

gather for from three to six weeks in camps of five to 200(the average is 25) to make a personal contribution tothe welfare of their less fortunate neighbours.

During the day there are long hours of hard physicalwork: slums are painted in the U.S.A., France and GreatBritain, schools built in Bolivia, Ghana and the Ukraine,roads laid in Yugoslavia, India and Togo, flood and earth¬quake damage repaired in Morocco, Chile and the Ger¬man Federal Republic...

In the evening, guitars, recorders and mouth-organs arebrought out to accompany folk-singing and dancing. Orelse, lively, sometimes heated (and always earnest)discussions spring up. In some camps, those devotedspecifically to improving Orient-Occident understandingfor instance, lectures and discussions are carefully pre¬pared in advance, but volunteers everywhere join in withyouthful verve usually tempered by the experience oftrying to do something concrete about the problems theyare discussing.

Whether many nations or different regions of one coun¬try are represented in a given camp or not there isnever a dearth of topics: the rôle of the developingcountries in the United Nations, abstract art. Easternreligions, "are workcampers do-gooders with a guiltcomplex?", racism, etc.

On weekends there are excursions to points of localinterest, hikes and a chance for the weary to catch upon 6leep.

A good example of the kind of project undertaken isthe camp that was held a few summers ago at Blitzingen,a small picturesque village perched high in the Swiss Alps.Every summer for decades, perhaps centuries, the peopleof Blitzingen have carried their cows' milk down miles oftwisting road once or twice a day from their summerpastures perched 1,200 feet above the village.

As mechanization became widespread in Swiss dairies,Blitzingers could no longer compete; the young people ofthe village began to move away arid Blitzingen seemeddoomed to wither and die. Then 20 young workcampersrepresenting several nations and races came to help. Forabout a month they worked side by side with the villagerswho had remained and laid a plastic pipe down the moun¬tainside. Now the milk comes down from the summer

pasture in six minutes (instead of three hours) and Blit-zingen, encouraged, is beginning to revive.

As well as short-term service there also exist oppor¬tunities for experienced volunteers to do long-term(6 months to two years) workcamping, primarily in Asia,Africa and Latin America. Long-term volunteers areputting their knowledge and experience to work trans¬forming the slums of New Delhi, preparing a student-runliteracy campaign in Bolivia, helping refugees in Moroccoand Austria.

CONT'D ON NEXT PAGE

25

CURE FOR BOREDOM (Cont'd)

Vacation time, gay but usefulIn one typical long-term project, Nicole Leymann, a

young French social worker, and Max Hildesheim, a Bel¬gian architect, spent a year in Togo, helping to strength¬en the activities of the Togolese workcamp organiza¬tion "Les Volontaires au Travail." Nicole had the specialtask of Interesting Togolese women in literacy, home-making and other educational activities of the workcampgroup, while Max worked together with local developmentofficers to encourage young village men to build schools,dig wells, surface roads and accomplish other projects.

The main aim of the work done by Nicole and Max,was to make young Togolese aware of their ownconstructive potential and to teach them the techniqueswhich will enable them to put their potential towork. Now back in Europe, Nicole and Max agreethat they learned as much as they taught. Theiryear of service was not a one-way flow of informationfrom the "developed" to the "developing" countries butrather a truly human exchange.

At present, long and short-term workcamp projectsare run by some 250 organizations located in more than50 countries throughout the world; there are small, large,regional, national, international, Buddhist, Catholic,Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, non-religious, governmental,non-governmental, political and apolitical organizationsinvolved.

The most active of these (80 at the time of writing)are grouped in the Co-ordination Committee for Inter¬national Voluntary Workcamps, a supra-national, non¬governmental organization located in Paris, to whichUnesco has granted Consultative Status. The workof the Committee (whose Secretariat is staffed by long-term volunteers) includes publicity and co-ordinationof workcamp activities as well as several Major Projects.(For news of the latest project, see page 34.)

Hard physical effort of the kind furnished by thesevolunteers in England is combined with lectures,discussions and other educational activities in work¬

camp projects now run by over 250 organizations inmore than 50countrlesforover 2,000,OOOvolunteers.

Unesco

26

Weht ' > "y

One of these, provides young people from EasternEurope and Western Europe with an opportunity tolabour, play and live together in voluntary work camps,to get acquainted with one another as individuals in anatmosphere of common effort. To date, they have workedtogether in camps in France, the German DemocraticRepublic, Poland, Sweden, the U.S.S.R. and Yugoslavia.

Another Major Project of the Co-ordination Committeeis the organization of regional training courses forprospective workcamp leaders in the developing countries.In many of these countries workcamp movementsalready exist; but expansion of their activities demandsleaders and there are simply not enough experiencedqualified leaders to go around. Without solid leadership,the energy and purpose of these new movements wouldbe wasted.

he Co-ordination Committee tries to remedy

this situation by organizing, in collaborationwith local workcamp groups, regional leader training pro¬jects. So far, four projects have been organized in SouthEast Asia (three in India and one in Pakistan), three inAfrica (Ghana, Togo and the U.A.R.) and one in LatinAmerica (Paraguay). In each project between 30 and50 trainees, sponsored by local workamp and other youthorganizations, divide their time between theoreticalsessions (talks and discussions led by workcamp andcommunity development specialists) and practical phy¬sical labour (building schools, digging wells, etc.).

As a result of this combination, future leaders cometo feel the exicitement of workcamping and, at the sametime, learn how to put their newly acquired techniquesinto practice. Through these regional training projects,which are generously supported by individuals andgroups who contribute through the Unesco Gift CouponSystem, voluntary workcamping has been strengthenedin countries where it existed and spread to new areas.

At the First Latin American Training Project, forexample, 29 young people from eight countries cametogether in the village of Primavera, Alta Paraguay, inearly 1961 for a month's intensive instruction by severalexperts from the Americas and Europe. As a practicalproject, they added a wing to a rural hospital.

Typical of the trainees was Jaime Reyes Mérida, Gen¬eral Secretary of the Bolivian University Confederation.Soon after his return to La Paz from Paraguay, Jaimeand other student leaders began making careful plansfor a literacy campaign, in which student volunteerswould serve as teachers of reading and writing andbuilders of schools and literacy centres. With the helpof Unesco, interested workcamp organizations in Europeand international student groups, this campaign was putinto action.

This activity and growing interest in voluntary serviceprojects is now being "boosted" by the second LatinAmerican Training Project which takes place in Sucre,Bolivia, from March 15 to April 13. This project combinesthe hard practical work of building a university literacytraining centre with a period of intensive study of thetechniques of organizing workcamps. Some 30 volun¬teers from 9 countries in Latin America now working andstudying together will return after the training projectto use their new-found knowledge in their own countries.

It would, of course, be unrealistic to expect all youngpeople everywhere to be interested in giving their freetime to physically strenuous voluntary service activities.Yet, each year, more and more discover that work¬camping is a means of doing something practical aboutthe world's problems, of bridging the political, social,racial and other chasms that divide men, in short, ofbuilding peace. This is certainly one answer to theboredom of today's youth.

AArthur Gillette, of the United States, is General Secretary of theCo-ordination Committee for International Voluntary Workcamps,in Paris. A specialist in the organization of volunteer training pro¬grammes in developing countries, he is at present in Bolivia helpingto organize the Second Latin American Training Project.

DRUMBEATS CALL

TOGO

VOLUNTEERS

TO WORK

"

In the newly-developing nations of Africa,the International Voluntary Workcamp Move¬ment has done much to guide and encourage

work on community development projects.

In the Republic of Togo, for example, a youngFrench social worker spent a year assistingthe local workcamp organization, Les Volon¬taires au travail, her special task being to inte¬rest Togolese women in literacy, home-makingand other educational activities. A Belgian

architect worked with local development

officers to encourage young village men tobuild schools, dig wells and surface roads. Left,volunteer builders working to the sound ofdrumbeats are constructing a pre-natal clinicIn the Togo Republic. Below, another Togovolunteer group thatches a newly-built home.

Photos© Paul Almasy, Paris

27

THE HIDDEN FACE OF THE CINEMA (4)

CENSORSHIP

A double-edged weapon

by Paul Léglise

In a series of articles based on a world survey of the cinema, (SeeThe Unesco Courier, Dec. 1962 and Jan. and Feb. 1963) Paul Léglisedealt with some of the lesser-known aspects of what might be termedthe "private life" of the cinema industry, from production to distribu¬tion and presentation. But films have also a collective life, control¬led by institutions and laws. Here, M. Léglise discusses censorshipproblems and the growing importance of films for young people.

Doll actors fight a duelfor love of a lady in apuppet film version ofShakespeare's "A Mid¬summer Night's Dream",produced by the Czechpuppeteer Jiri Trnka.

Filmexport, Prague

film is a collective work subect to precisei economic imperatives and made to satisfy

cultural needs. Because of these characteristics itdemands the creation in every country of an institutionto co-ordinate, promote, control, guide and arbitrate theaffairs of the national cinema industry.

The actual forms taken- by such institutions can varygreatly. In one country the nationalization of industriesputs authority into the hands of the State. In another,professional organizations join forces to create an organ¬ization which handles the general problems of the cinemaindustry. Under other arrangements some affairs remainin the hands of the State while others are dealt with bythe film-makers themselves.

Already in the early days of the cinema, film makersformed associations not only to look after their pro¬fessional Interests, but also to co-ordinate and syste¬matize techniques and working methods. Soon they werejoined by other groups whose prime interest was in thecultural problems of the cinema.

Today all these organizations have an important func¬tion in every country, representing the interests of thecinema industry in its relations with the public authori¬ties. Sometimes a professional organization takes over theaffairs of the industry in its own country and becomesresponsible for negotiations with those of other countries.The United States is a typical example of this "selfgovernment in business."

Other groups concerned with the cultural problems ofthe cinema in turn affiliate themselves with international

bodies having similar aims, such as the InternationalFederation of Film Societies, the International ScientificFilm Association, the International Centre of Films for

28 Children, the International Committee for Film Educationand Culture, the International Experimental and Art FilmTheatres Confederation, the International Council for

Educational Films, the International Art Film Federation,the International Catholic Film Office, the InternationalAmateur Film Union, the International Animated FilmAssociation and so on.

Among the laws that affect the, cinema industry cer¬tainly the most controversial are those relating to cen¬sorship. A subject which constantly preoccupies filmmakers, censorship is the cinema problem that comesup for discussion most often of all. It is one that can beargued about endlessly. Sometimes it Is simply referredto as "control," either to distinguish it from officialcensorship in which direct power is held and exercisedby a government, or simply for euphemistic reasons which,In any case, deceive no one.

Every country provides for the maintenance of law,order and public decency in the general body of its lawsand it thus seems somewhat pointless to introduce speciallegislation applying only to films. Justification for censor¬ship, however, has been based on the immense influencewhich films have on the public and this has led to abusiveor haphazard application to films of laws relating to publicorder and morality.

The cinema industry needs protection against the con¬fused and incoherent use of such laws on a local level,and a national censorship of films thus offers a safeguardagainst such excesses.

It thus comes as no surprise to find the cinema industryitself demanding that a system of censorship be set up oreven deciding to establish one under its own responsibility.The purpose here is to prevent the blocking of commercialdistribution through contradictory censorship decisionsthat may easily vary between different areas of the samecountry and even between one city and another. A centralcensorship authority is, in fact, an economic necessity."The kind of censorship does not matter," wrote a Frenchfilm-maker in 1919, "as long as it is a centralized one."

This need for a centralized control is amply illustratedby the case of the United States. Although the Tariff Actforbids the importation of any film that incites people tosubversion or acts against the government of the UnitedStates and proscribes the entry of anything immoral orobscene, there is no federal censorship.

Some local authorities, however, possess wide dis¬cretionary powers. Five States Kansas, Maryland, NewYork, Pennsylvania and Virginia have established censor¬ship systems, and in several others censorship evenoperates on the municipal level.

Faced by such a lack of legislative uniformity, it ishardly surprising that the Motion Picture Producers andDistributors of America decided to set up a ProductionCode intended for general application and seeking toestablish some measure of uniformity in an otherwiseconfused mass of criteria. The Code, in fact, representsthe unifying force in the organization of the Americanfilm industry. Its creation only serves to emphasise itsnecessity, for economic reasons alone, to the film industry.All the American producers and the importers of pro¬ductions from abroad can submit their films to the Pro¬

duction Code Administration (PCA) for approval.

Scenarios of U.S. films submitted for PCA approval areexamined carefully and in controversial cases PCA mem¬bers may decide to watch the shooting of certain scenes.In any case, PCA approval is given only to completedfilms. Where films have not been submitted for approval,

is nothing to prevent their being shown inspecialized cinemas, but the normal channels of distribu¬tion for the commercial circuits are to all intents barred

to them. Though the PCA mark of approval has no actuallegal value it is a significant fact that films bearing it areexempted from municipal censorship in many cities. Thisalone would seem to justify its existence.

Similar kinds of- systems are found in some othercountries: The British Board of Film Censors (United

Kingdom), the Freiwillige Selbskontrolle der Filmwirt¬schaft (German Federal Republic) and the Administra¬tion Commission of Motion Picture Code of Ethics (Japan),to name but three.

In Great Britain the British Board of Film Censorsdelivers three types of certificates to approved films: "U,"meaning suitable for general release; "A," more suitablefor adult than juvenile audiences, and "X," for adultaudiences only.

In the German Federal Republic there is close collabo¬ration between the authorities and the FSK (the organ¬ization named above). There is actually no censorship inthe Republic although a 1957 law requires authorizationfor the screening of films to audiences of young people inthree age categories: less than 12, 16 and 18 years of age.All the States of the Republic have agreed to abide by thedecisions of the self-created voluntary censorship serviceof the country's cinema industry.

All these self-censorship institutions operate on the basisof a production code which defines the kinds of scenesregarded as improper: certain aspects of crime and bru¬tality, vulgarity in dialogue, indecent or obscene passagesand things likely to give offence to national sentiments orreligious beliefs.

In the United Kingdom there is no written code. TheBritish Board of Film Censors prefers to judge each filmon its individual merits and to take all aspects of thework Into account.

In cases where institutions of this kind do not exist or

where film censorship authority is not vested exclusivelyin the municipal authorities as it is in the case of Boliviaand Ecuador, for example what other systems do we findin operation: full freedom or rigorous control? Theanswer: widely varying degrees of censorship extendingbetween two extremes.

CONT'D ON NEXT PAGE

29

1 1 Zy u..A Unesco-

Hungarian

co-production

on the historyof numbers

In prehistoric times, the extent of thecave man's conception of numbers was"one", "two" and "many". One day hebegan to realize that "two" is always"two" no matter what it describes...

... and he then made the second basic

discovery: the representation of ideasby symbols. Now he has started tokeep a record of his hunting bag bymeans of notches he cuts in his club.

3 1 S ( *

0

9 -lo

ïïîïfiMM i*» »O -J

In Egypt, arithmetic was used for landmeasuring, construction and book-keep¬ing. Here ancient Egyptians show howto calculate proportions of a right-angled triangle with a knotted cord.

By the position of the numerical symbolsthey used, the Babylonians developtheir number system. The same symbol,by a use of repetition, can be employedto signify 1 or 60 or 60 x 60, and so on.

Wise men of India meet to decide on

numerological symbols. They agree onnumbers running from 1 to 9 (basis ofour present numbers). But somethingis missing. At last they find it: the zero.

i\>\^RABl^

AL6ORIÏM0ÏALGfJEA

From India, Arab men of learning bor¬rowed the numerical symbols (nowcompleted by the zero). One of themwas soon to give a striking new im¬petus to the science of mathematics.

This man was AI Khowarizmi. One of

his works entitled "Al-jebr w'al muqa-balah" has given us the word "algebra".The term "Logarithm" is said to be adistortion of this Arab author's name.

Moving across North Africa, algebraeventually reached Spain. Soon it became ah intrinsic part of mathematicsthat were taught in Spain's universitieswhose fame spread throughout Europe.

CINEMA (Cont'd;

Freedom but not licence

30

The first of these extremes Is In the Kingdom of SaudiArabia, where not only film production but also any com¬merce in films is strictly prohibited. Only diplomaticmissions and a few foreign organizations are allowed toscreen films ' and these performances must be strictlyprivate.

The other extreme Is the Republic of Argentina. Article22 of an Argentine law passed in 1957 declares that anyoneinterfering with the freedom of expression of the cinemain any way whatsoever, applying censorship or preventingthe free movement and screening of films is liable to aprison sentence of from one to six months.

Does this prohibition of censorship by law mean thatno control whatever exists in Argentina? No! For

freedom does not mean licence to do anything onepleases.

An Argentine decree of 1961 has somewhat reduced thescope of the earlier law. The new text specifies a numberof things whose presentation on the screen can give riseto legal action: offences against decency, things offensiveto religious beliefs or to other races or foreign countries;vindications of crime, dishonesty, immorality or violence.Despite these far-reaching modifications, Article 22 of theoriginal Argentine law is still in force. Control of films isnow therefore guaranteed and carried out under thepowers of judicial authority.

One aspect of the censorship problem the admission ofchildren to certain film shows still preoccupies manyauthorities and even the Argentine Republic has decided

ur cave man has learned his first lesson

arithmetic: "two" and "two" make

ur. He has already started down the>ad of abstract ideas. Then one dayi slips and falls flat in a muddy pool.

Furious and dripping with water hegoes to wipe his muddy hands on a rock.His misfortune is really a blessing indisguise for it gives him the means tomake a new and important discovery.

Gazing at his finger marks on the rockhe counts: "One handfive fingers ;two handsten fingers". Man's ten fing¬ers thus became the basis for the foun¬

dation of the decimal system of today.

These drawings are reproducedfrom a Hungarofilm-Unesco co-production entitled "1, 2, 3..." inwhich animated cartoon techniquesgive charm and humour to théhistory of mathematics (in capsuleform) and show the contributionsof Orient and Occident to Its

evolution. This colour film was

made by a team of Hungarian ani¬mators, Gyula Macskassy and GyorgyVarnai. Films by Gyula Macskassyreceived the best cartoon awards

at the Karlovy Vary Festival in1960 and the 1961 Cannes Festival.

Unesco photos

2 J-£~c

The Greeks showed genius in analyzingmany fundamental ideas of mathema¬tics. Here Pythagorus demonstrates hisnow famous theorem on the squaresof the sides of a right-angled triangle.

Roman numerals were hardly designedfor simple and rapid calculations andthe Romans were obliged to make useof the abacus, a simple calculating mach¬ine, consisting of beads sliding on wires.

t/NIVE1-0

&)I=1-Z.

W®'

Students, monks, and scholars cameto be initiated in this new branch of

science "from the Orient." AI Khowa-

rizmi's "Algebra" was widely translatedby medieval scholars and won renown.

The science of numbers spread like wild¬fire across Europe where each succeed¬ing generation of scholars and scientistscarried it one step further towards itspresent-day breadth and complexity.

A universal legacy, mathematics is ascience in itself and the to.ol of all other

sciences. It is also a vast and interna¬

tional language in which scientists ofall lands can speak and be understood.

not to leave Its solution to an application of general laws,even when these have been specially amended. The 1957law in Argentina was modified in this connexion later thesame year. The new text stipulates that the NationalInstitute of Cinematography must issue a prior certificateof approval to Argentine and foreign productions, andempowers It to classify films as being unsuitable for youngpeople under the age of 18. Local authorities have theright to prohibit the admission of minors to the perfor¬mances of such films.

The moral protection of youth is, in fact, another reasonoffered for the maintenance of censorship. Conjointlywith the threat of repressive action by local authorities,this new principle, today written into the laws of mostcountries, often raises a barrier to another long-estab¬lished principle: freedom of expression.

Belgium has found a way out of this dilemma with asolution that is both original and ingenious. It has nogeneral censorship to block the free movement of films,but admission to cinemas is forbidden to young peopleunder the age of 16. A control commission has been set

up with a mandate that is clear and precise: it givesapproval for certain films to be shown to children andthus attenuates the stringency of general censorship.

Another system long in use is a governmental author¬ization given on the advice and judgment of a specialcommission composed of educationalists, psychologists,doctors, magistrates and other competent authorities.

The universal and controversial problem of censorshipis one with which countries with socialist economies havealso to come to grips. In Poland, for example, a decreeof 1945 (modified in 1952 and 1953) created a central officefor the control of the press, publications and entertain¬ments. Its purpose is to prevent the diffusion of anywritten, auditory or visual matter considered to beagainst the interests of the State or infringing law ormorality. A Ministry of Education committee views eachfilm and decides at what age children may see it.

As the production and the distribution of films in aSocialist country are both nationalized activities, it is a

CONT'D ON NEXT PAGE

31

CINEMA (Cont'd )

A growing industry: films for the young

normal and general rule for a control to be effectedthrough the choice of subject matter for films or of filmsthemselves in cases where they are imported.

It is all too easy to criticise and poke fun at film cen¬sorship. But its roots are deeply and tenaciouslyengrained and it would be idle to hope for their eli¬mination in the near future. Far better to admit, evenunwillingly, that there is still some justification forcensorship.

The acceptance of this fact in no way prevents usfrom denouncing and exposing the abuses of censorshipor its hypocritical use, so as to prevent its extensionbeyond admissible bounds. Nor is this attitude likely toprejudice in any way a progressive advance to the daywhen everyone will regard films in the same way as allother major forms of expression, subject solely to thegeneral laws of a country and answerable, if need shouldarise, to a court of justice.

In bridging the gap that still separates us from sucha happy state of affairs, an important role will fall tothe educational and cultural aspects of the cinema. Thismovement has, in fact, already begun and most govern¬ments have shown that they are ready to take positiveaction by using the cinema for educational and culturalgoals.

There exists, no doubt, a certain long-standing mistruston the part of some authorities and a disparity betweenneeds and resources, but it is certain that nationalauthorities everywhere are giving increasing attention tothe possibilities of educational films. In many cases aspecial service attached to the ministry of educationtakes charge of film production and distribution andsupplies equipment. Two examples are the Cinemato¬graphic Service of the Belgian Ministry of Educationand the National Pedagogical Institute in France. Notall such 'institutions are governmental in origin.Frequently an autonomous institution produces films andother audio-visual materials for educational use and

trains special staff in their uses .

In this field valuable international co-ordination is ef¬

fected by the International Council for Educational Filmsfounded in 1952 and now grouping 23 countries whichencourages exchanges, and acts as a catalyzing agencyby stimulating co-productions between different countries.Other specialized organizations encourage action on aregional basis. One of these is the Latin American Ins¬titute for Educational Films, set up by the MexicanGovernment in collaboration with Unesco. It arrangesreciprocal exchanges, the training of staff and the pro¬duction and distribution of films in Latin America.

Apart from its role in the educational film field, govern¬ment action often extends into the production and dis¬tribution of cultural and scientific films, especially shortlength ones. Sometimes a special body is set up to actas co-ordlnator for the film activities of all its country'sministeries and to negotiate with private film companieson behalf of the State. Examples of this kind includeFrance's National Cinematographic Centre, Britain'sCentral Office of Information and the Information Film

Section in the Republic of South Africa.

IIn France the funds allocated by the State forthe production and distribution of short-length

cultural films an activity co-ordinated by the NationalCinematographic Centre annually amount to 10 millionfrancs. In the United Kingdom, the Central Office ofInformation is each year responsible for the productionof some 50 films destined for both commercial and non¬

commercial channels, a further 100 for overseas TVtransmission and also short films for TV and newsreel use.

Another Increasing trend today is the setting up ofofficial agencies responsible for film production on behalfof the State. These include the National Film Board of

Canada, the Dansk Kulturfilm and Ministeruerhes Film-ydvag in Denmark, the Aengencia Nacional in Brazil

oo Spain's No-Do, Morocco's Cinematographic Centre andNational Film Units in Australia, India, New Zealandand Malaya.

These organizations do not necessarily hold the exclu¬sive monopoly of film orders for the state. They aregenerally concerned with news-film production and,depending on which country they are in, have a more orless indirect share in the production of other kinds offilms, either using their own technical staffs or callingon private film companies to do the work.

India's Films Division, for instance, produces a news-film and several documentaries each week. The Canadian

National Film Board each year distributes its productions(1960-1961 figures) in over 70 countries.

Similar organizations equipped to prepare and produceeducational, scientific and cultural films exist in thecountries with socialist economies. In the Soviet Union,popular science films are produced in studios at Moscow,Leningrad, Sverdlovsk, Kiev, Tbilissi, Minsk and Tash¬kent. In Czechoslovakia, documentary films are producedin Prague, popular science and educational films in Brnoand Prague, and children's films in Gottwaldow.

Annual production of short films, documentaries andpopular science films in the Soviet Union is about 750.In 1959, 377 similar films were produced in Czechoslo¬vakia, whose Gottwaldow studios produce between 80 and100 films for children each year.

This global production of cultural films finds someoutlet through normal cinema channels, but it is chieflydistributed through specialized "non-commercial" cir¬cuits.

B:.EFORE leaving the subject of cultural films'mention should be made of developments in

the production of films for young people. In an earlierreference to censorship, we emphasized how a growingconcern for the moral protection of youth was beingwritten into the laws of many countries to an extentwhere it threatened to nullify the long-standing principleof freedom of expression.

However, negative action with regard to films is todaybeing offset by positive measures which encourage thedevelopment of films especially designed for juvenileaudiences. These include subsidies, special reduced prices,bonuses, the waiving of taxes and the creation ofspecialized production studios and distribution channels.

Under the impulse of the International Centre of Filmsfor Children in Brussels, measures are now being workedout to encourage international co-productions and filmexchanges. Though, this is a long-term project some ofits positive results can already be seen.

The International Centre of Films for Children was

created under the sponsorship of Unesco and its membersinclude international organizations and national groupswhich are working to develop the movement for chil¬dren's films in their respective countries. Priority isgiven to international film exchanges, but the Centre isalso working to bring about a greater freedom of circula¬tion for films intended for juvenile spectators.

Mention is made of these activities in this context to

show how some groups and organizations are demonstrat¬ing convincingly that outdated and negative forms ofcensorship can be counteracted, and are recognizing thepositive role that the cinema can fill for teen-agers.

Delegates to a conference on the development of infor¬mation media in Latin America, held in Santiago deChile in 1961, noted that in the field of films for youththere existed "a regrettable apathy, often resulting froma shortage of funds but chiefly due to an absence oforganizations working to highlight the need for this kindof film and to encourage its production."

If these facts are evident in Latin America, they arealso reflected in the situation existing in most other partsof the world. Thus we must look to the International

Centre in Brussels for a lead In stimulating the creationin all parts of the world of national centres whose aim isto work for this worthwhile cause.

Letters to the EditorLOST HYMNS OF GEORGIA

Sir,

I have read the letters by AlbertoHemsi and Bathja Bayer (Octo¬ber 1962 issue) dealing with my articleon the "Lost Hymns of Georgia".(May issue). ,

The composer, Mr. Hemsi, whilewelcoming the solving of the mysteryof ancient Georgian music, would likeme to explain "the problems of therhythm and duration of sound withthe same precision that the details ofthe pitch arid subsequent pattern oftones have been outlined."

Obviously, it was impossible for me,within the scope of a brief article, totreat in detail all the aspects of thedecipherment of the old Georgian mu¬sical notation. In a somewhat enlarg¬ed Georgian version of the articlethese detailed aspects have been dis¬cussed.

Replying to the two questions rais¬ed by Mr. Hemsi:

1. The rhythm of old Georgianchants corresponds exactly to the me-trorhythmical structure of the ver¬sified texts of the hymns.

2. The problem of duration ofsound. Ancient Georgian religioussinging, as ancient Christian musicin general, is the so-called cantus pla¬nus ("plain chant", or to use the oldGeorgian term "corresponsive" sing¬ing).

Religious vocal music was aimedat conveying the texts of the hymnsto the listeners without obscuring themeaning, and so the syllabes of thetext of the hymns were for the mostpart of even duration (musical "chro-nos protos" a half note in slow time,a quarter note in quick time.)

Augmentation and diminution ofduration were indicated by signs (repe¬tition of notes, signs of jubilation.)

Instructions as to the manner of

performance, tempo and dynamic col¬ouring of separate chants and groupsof hymns are given in Ancient Geor¬gian synaxaries, indicating the calen¬dar regulations as to their perfor¬mance.

My synthesizing work on "The De¬ciphering of Ancient and MediaevalGeorgian Musical Notation (with spe¬cimens of deciphered texts)" in Geor¬gian, Russian and English, is schedul¬ed to come off the press in 1963-64.Those interested will find in it a cir¬

cumstantial account of Ancient Geor¬

gian music, as well as the detailed nar¬ration of all the aspects of its decipher¬ment.

I now pass to the questions raisedby Mr. Bayer, who, while agreeingwith the fundamental thesis of mydeciphering, considers it necessary totouch upon a few details which donot, as he himself observes, affect themain points of- the problem. He be¬lieves that the names of some musi¬

cal instruments, a photograph of whichappears with my article, are not givenquite correctly. "Mostly the transla¬tor and not the author, seems to havebeen at fault" adds Mr. Bayer. In

this he is right. A comparison withthe Georgian original of my article(published Aug. 23 and 24 in the Geor¬gian press) will show at once that notone of the terms in question figuresin the Georgian original.

Though for the most partMr. Bayer's remarks are correct someof . them are not. The thirteenth-century Georgian miniature underdiscussion (Page 24 of The UnescoCourier) represents an orchestra offour instruments. Mr. Bayer isinclined to think that the third instru¬ment of this orchestra "'is more

probably a trumpet of sorts." This isnot so. The two Georgian terms forit are "stviri" and "nai". These terms

(especially the latter), as well asreferences as to the composition ofsuch orchestras preserved in Georgiansources, show that the instrument in

question is a variety of flute. Thusthe name in the text in The UnescoCourier is correct.

Mr. Bayer also points out that thepractice of writing down polyphonicchants in Western music dates fromthe 9th contury, and not from the13th. As is well known, only thefirst relatively crude attempts at sim¬ple polyphony (or rather diaphony)date from the 9th century. And evenafterwards in the following centurieswhen polyphony was undergoing fur¬ther development in the West, thechief melody, cantus firmus, wasusually written down while the accom¬panying voices were written downonly sporadically in exceptional cases(they were sung according to workedout norms). The practice of writingdown the accompanying voices alongwith the cantus firmus became generalcomparatively late, from the 13 th cen¬tury.

With this I conclude my brief notes,especially since Mr. Bayer's remarksrefer only to the details, and accord¬ing to his own summing up "the greatvalue of Dr. Ingorokva's communica¬tion of course remains unaffected in

principle."In conclusion allow me to express

my sincere gratitude to The UnescoCourier and to the authors of the

letters, for the interest they haveshown in the cultural heritage of mynative land Georgia, a country of an¬cient culture.

Pavle IngorokvaTbilisi, Georgia, U.S.S.R.

DEVELOPMENT IN ISRAEL

Sir,

You have published admirable arti¬cles on ethnological and artistic sub¬jects and interesting studies which havebrought readers into touch with Asianand African peoples. But there isalso a small nation, Israel, which, inthe face of many difficulties, has cul¬tivated and developed its lands. I amnot well acquainted with this country,but I know that in place of rocks andstones, there is now wheat, wherethere were once tracks there are now

spacious highways and where tumble¬down huts once stood, modern build

ings have risen. In the place of mules,primitive presses, shepherd boys anddarkness, there are now automobiles,

.factories, doctors and light. Thislittle country is not well known. Whynot devote some pages in your maga¬zine to this courageous, hardworkingand intelligent people?

Paul Jaume

Coursan, France

WHAT TEACHERS

SHOULD READ

Sir,

In reply to Dr. Sten Rodhe (TooHeavy for Teacher, October 1962), Itoo am a "busy" teacher of primarychildren, but I find time to read thearticles in The Unesco Courier be¬

cause I find them stimulating and inte¬resting; also the illustrations are excel¬lent; some of these I can make use ofin my class work. I don't think thatteachers should only read "what canbe used directly in their teaching",surely some time can be found to gobeyond that.

Judith MyrtleKelowna, B.C. Canada

TEMPLE AT JOCJACARTA

Sir,

The text of the cover photo of theDecember issue of The Unesco Cou¬rier comments on details of a bas

relief of a gallery of the Temple ofShiva, near Djakarta, Indonesia.

Actually this Temple of Shiva is theLoro Jonggrang-temple of the Pram-banan-complex near Jocjakarta (Cen¬tral-Java). Djakarta is the capital ofIndonesia whereas Jocjacarta is thecentre of the old Javanese culture.

The Prambanan-complex is situatedto the southeast of the famous Bud¬

dhist Borobudur-temple. Since 1961the epic of the Ramayana is enactedin the Prambanan-compounds witheach full moon. Thousands of foreigntourists have watched these Ramaya-na-ballet-performances with the Loro-Jonggrang as the background of theplay.

Licm Tiong GieSingaradja (Bali)

MORE PLACE TO SCIENCE

Sir,

Would it be possible to increase thescientific features, both in number andin contents? I am fully aware of thefact that The Unesco Courier is read

by all sorts of persons, and that there¬fore it cannot become a science peri¬odical, apart from the fact that thereare already many other periodicals ofthat sort. Still, I believe that moreemphasis on new discoveries and newhorizons opened by contemporaryscience would be of interest. This,however, should absolutely never goto detriment of the extremely goodartistic features which appear. Theones on archaeology, in particular, areof the highest level.

Andrea Larsen

Rome, Italy

33

From the Unesco New

"¡\TEWS AGENCIES FOR AFRICA:Upper Volta is shortly to have its

own national news agency, for whose staffa training seminar was recently organizedby a Unesco specialist at Ouagadougou, thecapital. Other newly-independent French-speaking African States which have set uptheir own news agencies (some with helpfrom Unesco experts) include Cameroun,Dahomey, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mada¬gascar, Mali and Senegal...

ANY CLIMATE YOU WISH. A

£A600,000 installation for plantresearch, now operating in Canberra, iscapable of producing almost every knowntype of climatic condition. Many hundredsof plant growth experiments can be car¬ried out simultaneously in this phytotronwhich is an important Australian contri¬bution to world efforts aimed at increas¬

ing food production.

UNESCO CLUBS HELP IRAN'S

BLIND: Unesco Gift Coupons total¬ling $4,000 which can be used to buybooks and educational materials were

recently presented to the Nur-Ayin schoolfor the blind at Isfahan in Iran. The

gift is part of a sum collected through acampaign organized by the French NationalCommission for Unesco and the French

Federation of Unesco Clubs to help blindchildren in many parts of the world.

ALL THE WORLD'S MUSIC: All

musical works, in printed or manu¬script form, written before 1800 are to belisted in a 50-volume inventory now beingprepared by libraries in 20 countries. Fivevolumes are already published or are beingprinted. The International MusicologicalSociety and the International Associationof Music Libraries are working on thisproject with aid from Unesco and fromAmerican foundations.

SWEDISH TECHNICAL AID: Three

new Swedish schools for vocational

training in East Pakistan, Liberia andLebanon are to start operating this year,reports the Swedish Agency for Interna¬tional Assistance (NIB) in a survey of its1963 activities. One of them, an institutein Siblin, Lebanon, for training instruc¬tors, foremen and technicians, is Sweden'scontribution to the work of UNRWA, theUnited Nations organization helping Arabrefugees.

||OM£WORK FOR TEACHERS: Bri-" tish teachers make use of TV pro¬grammes in school but usually only havetime to follow those dealing with theirown field. To give teachers a completeview of the possibilities of educational TV,British networks put out special pro¬grammes for teachers during the Christmasholidays. Teachers in schools not yet

34 equipped with TV were able to maketheir own estimates of the value of such

services.

AFRICAN TEXTBOOK CENTRE: A

centre for the production of schooltextbooks has been set up at Yaounde inCameroun with Unesco assistance. It is

to produce reading primers, textbooks forcitizenship education, geography and his¬tory, reading texts for adults, literacybooklets, leaflets and posters. It will servethe Cameroun and also four neighbouringcountries: the Central African Republic,Congo (Brazzaville), Gabon and Chad.

WARSAW'S POLYGLOT SCHOOLS:

Since the start of the present schoolyear foreign language teaching in twosecondary schools has been applied to othersubjects in the school curriculum and spe¬cial daily conversation classes have beenstarted. This is the first step towards thecreation of four schools in Warsaw where

teaching will be conducted in French andGerman and, later, in English and Russian.

]^TUCLEAR MEDICAL CENTRE: Five-^ hundred research workers are to staffthe new Institute of Nuclear Medi¬

cine, set up by the Soviet Academy ofMedical Sciences to develop all aspectsof the application of isotopes ' and radio¬active methods in the treatment and pre¬vention of disease.

TALK ABOUT STORMS. Buildingresearch engineers from eight coun¬

tries will attend the first international

conference on the effects of wind on build¬

ings and other structures, to be held atthe British National Physical Laboratoryat Teddington, near London, in June.Subjects to be discussed include the effectof sudden gusts of wind on various kindsof structures and also wind tunnel techni¬

ques developed for their investigation.

GAS UNDER THE CHANNEL: The

possibility of carrying supplies ofnatural gas from recently discovered fieldsin the Netherlands by undersea pipe toGreat Britain is now being studied. Ano¬ther possible future use of pipelines dealtwith in a paper on this subject presentedto the Royal Society of Arts, in London,was for the movement of pulverised coalby pipeline.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SERVICE: A

special bulletin listing opportunitiesopen for skilled long term volunteerswho wish to work in the world's developingcountries is now being published by theCo-ordination Committee for International

Voluntary Workcamps, 6, rue Franklin,Paris 16". Produced in co-operation withthe Mass Communication Department ofUnesco, this three-weekly bulletin (availableto volunteer organizations) is the mostrecent major project of the workcampmovement, which has also . recentlypublished a survey of the real heeds forvolunteer workers in 20 countries.

FILMS & SOCIAL SCIENCE: An

international study of the social realityof our time as seen in the images presentedby films has been published by Unesco (*).Its author, Luc de Heusch, professor at theFree University of Brussels, has analyzeddocumentary films from many countriesfrom the viewpoint of their use forsociological research and training, the termsociology being taken to include socialpsychology and cultural anthropology.

(*) "The Cinema and Social Science", by Lucde Heusch (Reports and Papers in the SocialSciences'), Unesco, Paris. Price : S 1.00 ; 5/ - ;3,50 F.

F/ashes .

UNICEFthe United Nations Chil¬

dren's Fund allocated $38.7 million to

helping children and mothers in develop¬ing countries last year its largest contri¬bution since 1950. For every $1.00 fromUNICEF, receiving countries committedmore than $2.50.

Soviet geologists report following lastyear's cruise of the research vessel "Vityaz"

that in a vast volcanic plateau on the Paci¬fic Ocean bed there are iron and manganesedeposits far richer than any revealed onthe world's continents.

International training facilities for jour¬nalists and broadcasters will be providedby the Thomson Foundation, a newly-created £5,000,000 trust. It will providea residential training centre for youngjournalists in England and a training centrein Scotland for men who will run newTV services in developing countries.

The world's lowest death rate is in the

Canal Zone of Panama which, accordingto a World Health Organization surveycovering 1950-1960, had only 3.6 deathsper 1,000 population. Lowest mortalityrates in Europe were in the Faroe Islands7.1, Iceland, 7.2 and the Netherlands, 7.6deaths per 1,000 inhabitants.

UNESCO PHILATELIC SERVICE

The second 1963 U.N. commemorative stamp, issuedlast month, salutes the World Freedom from Hunger

-"; «AClOMfiS UNIDAS _ , , , , i i i k l l- I I A It

Campaign launched by the U.N. Food and AgricultureOrganization. (During World-Freedom-from HungerWeek the last week in March over 140 countries

issued special commemorative stamps). The U.N.stamp is issued in 5 cent and 11 cent denominations.As agent in France of the U.N. Postal Administration,Unesco's. Philatelic Service stocks all the U.N.stamps and first-day covers currently on sale, andthose issued by Unesco member states to comme¬morate important events in the history of Unesco

and the U.N. For prices and further details write to The Unesco Philatelic Service,Place de Fontenoy, Paris (7e).

FREEDOM FROM HUXiHt

«»HttïHM

U

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o

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ua

OLU

No. 4 1962 UNESCO PERIODICALS

Economics

of education

Published quarterly io/-(stg.) 6NF

Impact deals with the social aspectsof science and technology, withsubjects concerning relations bet¬ween science and governments andproblems of scientific organization.It ¡s a quarterly for all thoughtfulpersons in all walks of life who areinterested in scientific progress andthe advancement of society. Annualsubscription: 9/6; $1.75.

International Social Science Jour¬

nal. The most comprehensive inter¬national journal of its kind becauseof its interdisciplinary approach:sociology, political science, law,demography, anthropology, etc. Ineach number it brings a series oforiginal studies on a subject selectedon account of its international impactor its bearing on current research,accompanied with news on researchinstitutes, international meetings.(Quarterly).Annual subscription: 32/6; $6.50.

international

journalof adult

and youtheducation

u n c 1 c o vol. xiv (1962) no. 4

International Journal of Adult

and Youth Education. A quar¬terly technical journal intended mainlyfor specialists in fundamental andadult education, which contains ar¬ticles describing important activi¬ties in this field and information

concerning programmes and generallines of policy.Annual subscription: 7/6; $1.50.

Where to obtain Unesco publicationsOrder from any bookseller, or write direct to

the National Distributor in your country. (See listbelow ; names of distributors in countries notlisted will be supplied on request.) Payment ismade in the national currency ; rates quoted arefor an annual subscription to THE UNESCO COU¬RIER in any one language.

AFGHANISTAN. Panuza?, Press Department, RoyalAfghan Ministry of Education, Kabul. AUSTRALIA.Melbourne University Press, 369 Lonsdale Street,Melbourne, C. I., Victoria. (A. 15/-). AUSTRIA.Verlag Georg Fromme & C°., Spengergasse 39, Vienna V(Sch. 60.-). BELGIUM. Editions " Labor ",342, rue Royale, Brussels, 3. NV Standaard-Boek-handel, Belgiëlei 151. Antwerp. For The UnescoCourier (100 FB) and art slides only: Louis de Lannoy,22, place de Brouckère, Brussels. CCP 3380.00.BURMA. Burma Translation Society, 3 61 Prome Road,Rangoon. (K. 5.50). CANADA. Queen's Printer,Ottawa, Ont. ($ 3.00). CEYLON. The AssociatedNewspapers of Ceylon Ltd., Lake House Bookshop,100 Parsons Road, P.O. Box 244, Colombo, 2. (Rs. 9).

CHINA. World Book Co. Ltd., 99 Chungking SouthRd., Section 1, Taipeh, Taiwan (Formosa). CUBA.Librería Económica, Pte Zayas 505-7, Apartado 113,Havana. (2.25 pesos). CZECHOSLOVAKIA. ArtiaLtd., 30 Ve Smeckich, Prague 2. DENMARK. EjnarMunksgaard, A/S Tidsskriftafdelingen, Prags Boulevard 47Copenhagen S (D.kr. 12). ETHIOPIA. InternationalPress Agency. P.O. Box 1 20. Addis Ababa. FINLAND.Akateeminen Kirjakauppa, 2 Keskuskatu, Helsinki.(Fmk. 540). FRANCE. Librairie de I'Unesco, Placede Fontenoy, Paris-7'. CCP. 12598-48. (7 F.).

GERMANY. R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Rosens-heimer Strasse 145, Munich. For the Unesco Kurier(German ed. only) Bahren-felder-Chaussee 160,Hamburg-Bahrenfeld.C.CP. 276650 (DM 8). GHANAMethodist Book Depot Ltd. Atlantis House, CommercialSt., POB 100, Cape Coast. BRITAIN. SeeUnited Kingdom. GREECE. Librairie H. Kauffmann,28, rue du Stade, Athens. HONG-KONG. Swindon

Book Co.. 64, Nathan Road, Kowloon. HUNGARY.Kultura, P.O. Box 149. Budapest, 62. INDIA. OrientLongmans Ltd. Indian Mercantile Chamber, Nicol Road,Bombay 1; 17 Chittaranjan Avenue, Calcutta 13; Gun-foundry Road, Hyderabad, 1 ; 36a, Mount Road, Madras 2;Kanson House, 24/1 Asaf Ali Road, P.O. Box 386, NewDelhi, 1 ; Sub-Depot: Oxford Book & Stationery Co.,17 Park Street, Calcutta 16, Scindia House, New Delhi.Indian National Commission for Co-operation withUnesco, Ministry of Education, New Delhi 3. (Rs. 7).INDONESIA. P. N. Fadjar Bhakti, DjalanNusantara 22, Djakarta. IRAQ. Mackenzie'sBookshop, Baghdad. IRELAND. The National Press,2, Wellington Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin. (10/-).ISRAEL. Blumstein's Bookstores Ltd., 35, AllenbyRoad and 48, Nahlat Benjamin Street, Tel-Aviv( 1 £ 5.50).

JAMAICA. Sangster's Book Room, 91 HarbourStreet, Kingston. Knox Educational Services, Spaldings.(10/-). JAPAN. Maruzen Co. Ltd., 6 Tori-Nichome,Nihonbashi, P.O. Box 605 Tokyo Central, Tokyo.(Yen 670). JORDAN. Joseph L. Bahous & Co.,Dar ul-Kutub, Salt Road. P.O.B. 66, Amman.KENYA. E.S.A. Bookshop, P.O. Box 30167, Nairobi.KOREA. Korean National Commission for Unesco,P.O. Box Central 64, Seoul. LIBERIA. Coleand Yancy Bookshops Ltd., P.O. Box 286, Monrovia.LUXEMBURG. Librairie Paul Brück, 22, Grand-Rue,Luxemburg. MALAYAN FEDERATION ANDSINGAPORE. Federal Publications Ltd., Times House,River Valley Rd., Singapore (M. S 500) MALTA.Sapienza's Library 26 Kingsway, Valetta. (10/-).MAURITIUS. Nalanda Company Ltd., 30, BourbonStreet, Port-Louis. British Library, 30 Biddes Moulins, Monte-Carlo. (7 NF.). NETHERLANDS.N. V. Martinus Nijhoff, Lange Voorhout, 9, The Hague,(fl. 6). NETHERLANDS WEST INDIES. G. C. T.Van Dorp & Co. (Ned Ant.) N.V., Willemstad, Curacao

NEW ZEALAND Government Printing OfficeWellington, and Government Bookshops, Auckland,Wellington, Christchurch. Dunedin (10/-). NIGERIA.C.M.S. Bookshop, P.O. Box 174, Lagos. (10/-). NOR

WAY. A.S. Bokhjornet, Lille Grense. 7, OsloFor the Unesco Courier only: A.S. Narvesens LitteraturTjeneste, Stortingsgt. 4, Oslo, Postboks 1 1 5 (kr 13.20

PAKISTAN. The West-Pak Publishing CorLtd., Unesco Publications House, P.O. Box 374, 56-NGulberg Industrial Colony, Lahore. PANAMA.Cultural Panameña, Avenida 7a, No. TI-49, Apartadode Correos 2018, Panama, D.F. (Balboas 3-). PHI¬LIPPINES. The Modern Book Co., 508 Rizal AvenueManila. POLAND. " RUCH " ul. Wiloza Nr. 46,Warsaw 10 (Zl. 50). PORTUGAL. Dias & AndradaLda, Livraria Portugal, Rua do C&rmo 70, Lisbon.RHODESIA & NYASALAND. The Book Centre, FirstStreet, Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. SUDAN. AIBashir Bookshop, P. O, Box 1118, Khartoum. SWEDEN.A/B CE. Fritzes Kungl. Hovbokhandel, Fredsgatan 2,Stockholm. For The Unesco Courier: Svenska Unes-

coràdet, Vasagatan 15-17, Stockholm, C (Kr. 7.50);SWITZERLAND. Europa Verlag, 5 RämistrasseZurich. Payot. 40, rue du Marché, Geneva. CCP.1-236, " Courier " only: Georges Losmaz, 1, rue desVieux-Grenadiers, Geneva. CCP. 1-4811. (Fr. S. 8).

TANGANYIKA. Dar-es-Salaam Bookshop, P.O.B.9030, Dar-es-Salaam. THAILAND. SuksapanPanit, Mansion 9, Ra|damnern Avenue, Bangkok. (3 5ticals). TURKEY. Librairie Hachette, 469 IstiklalCaddesi, Beyoglu, Istanbul. UGANDA. UgandaBookshop. P.O. Box 145, Kampala. UNION OFSOUTH AFRICA. Van Schaik's Bookstore, LibriBuilding, Church Street, Pretoria. For the Unesco Cou¬rier (single copies) only: Central News Agency, P.O.Box 1033, Johannesburg. (10/-). UNITED ARABREPUBLIC (EGYPT). La Renaissance d'Egypte, 9 Sh.Adly-Pasha, Cairo. UNITED KINGDOM. H.M.Stationery Office, P.O. Box 569, London, S.E.I. (10/-).UNITED STATES. Unesco Publications Center,801 Third Avenue, New York, 22, N.Y. (S 5.00.)and (except periodicals): Columbia University Press,2960 Broadway, New York, 27 .N.Y. U.S.S.R. Mez-hdunarodnaja Kniga, Moscow. G-200.YUGOSLAVIA.Yugoslovenska Knjïga, Teraziie 27/11, Belgrade.

SUMMER

HOLIDAY

WITH A

PURPOSE

© Paul Almasy, Paris

Since its inception in 1920, the International Volitary Workcamp Movement has grown into a world¬wide operation of building for peace. Each year

over 2,000,000 volunteers step forward to work

e by side in workcamp projects from India to

Bolivia and from the Ukraine to Morocco (seestory page 24). Above, international workcamp¬ers on a summer construction site in France.