Developing an argument - Essay Example

English and Culture Culture is the richest treasure of any civilization whether it still exists or has ceased existence. According to T. S. Eliot, though poetry by itself is already filled with the most priceless treasure it is being further enriched by the English language. With the statement expressed by the author, there is that sense of pride enveloping the English culture and other forms of the arts. What makes things more interesting is that no matter where you are in the world, the English language is the medium that a person can use to communicate with others.

Does this make the English culture the better or even the best culture compared to others? Are not there any other art forms that can be dominated by other culture besides English (Murphy, 335-48)? England is not the only culture that flourishes in the field of the arts, whether written, spoken or performed. One can put into consideration the art forms which are expressed like painting or sculpting as an example to be explored. The Italian culture has been proud of its sculptures, paintings and the artists who have created them.

Sculptures are also poetry in their own sense without the need of expressing any words. Even those who are not English men can interpret these art forms without any spoken words. Just by the mere vision of the art, a person can be moved by the sculptures (Wigglesworth & Bradford, 394). Another Italian art form that can be considered as poetry is the opera. There are thousands of operas that are in Italian yet even those people who are not familiar with the language can understand the emotion the playwright would want to convey its audience.

There are instances when these opera plays are translated into the English language to cater to more audience since English is understood more than the original language the opera was written. Though still carrying the same storyline, there are times when the emotions and some ideas of the opera become lost in the whole translation process. In this case, since the opera can be considered as a form of poetry, can English still be the best for poetry when in the process of translation some ideas or most of the ideas can be twisted (Freeman, 28)?

Going back to the essay of Eliot, one of the reasons why he said such statement is that the Germans considered themselves as superior. The more German a person can be the more power he can have. However, Germans did not use language in getting attention and domination, they used violence. Violence is not a basis in measuring how rich a nation’s culture is. It is a mere display of how brute, barbaric and innate a nation is towards their goal of enriching their culture. Those who have started wars and conflicts have not much in their history that they can be proud of.

The cultures of the enemies of Germany can be concluded as richer as and more influential to the world than of what the Germans have left in for mankind (Cornis-Pope & Neubauer, 4).Works CitedCornis-Pope, Marcel and John Neubauer. History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe: Junctures and Disjunctures in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Vol. 1. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 2004.Eliot, T. S. Notes Towards a Definition of Culture. Faber Paperbacks. 1973.

Freeman, L. J. Italian Sculpture of the Renaissance. Norwood, MA: Norwood Press. 1901.Murphy, Russell. T.S. Eliot. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing. 2007.Wigglesworth, Edward and Thomas Gamaliel Bradford. Encyclopædia Americana: A Popular Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature, History, Politics and Biography. Vol. 9. Philapelphia, PA: Carey and Lea. 1832.