Page:The Best continental short stories of and the yearbook of the continental short story 1926.pdf/13



short story is a literary reflection of contemporary civilization. It is not strange therefore that the Continental short story should differ as radically from the American product as the foreign student from one of our own university graduates. The exigencies of Continental civilization do not require a short story which is in reality a condensed novel. Life is not strenuous enough on the Continent to influence the form and character of the short story. Tradition, particularly that of the medieval story-teller, is a far more important factor in the shaping of the Continental short story. As my readers can judge, the Continental short story is, despite certain exceptions, more philosophical and less complete than its American brother. At least, such is its general characteristic, for the Continental short story includes the literary efforts of more than twoscore races, each exerting its own peculiar influence on the literary products of its writers.

Like the city of New York, the Continental short story is an anomaly, the reflection of the traditions and customs of a score of nations. Just as the emigrant from Poland, Albania, or Timbuctoo is influenced from the very day of his arrival by American ideals, so the Continental short story, whether Spanish, Lettish, or Danish, represents the life and culture of the Continent still at the pinnacle of its artistic triumph.

There are, however, upon close analysis, eight distinct racial groups of short story writers, the Latin, Scandinavian, Balkan, Baltic, German, North Slavic, Magyar, and Finnish.

In the case of the German group, comprising Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, there is a closer affinity between the Teutonic short story and that which we know in America. One re-