Fotografía del archivo gráfico de Agencia EFE firmada por Manuel H. de León de George Steiner en Madrid

Author’s Words: George Steiner (Paris 1929 – Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2020) in the speech he delivered when he received in Oviedo (Asturias, Spain) the Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities 2001: “Some problems are bigger than our brains.”

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On that occasion, when he spoke of the social and cultural importance of conservation of human languages ​​and ‘linguistic hatreds” he referred to the Spanish language as follows:

“The Spanish is only surpassed today by the Anglo-American in terms of its expansionist character – that is the example of the Hispanic United States – and, nevertheless, it suffers both bitter internal conflicts and local independence claims and apartheid.”

The prominent French-American literary critic, essayist and philosopher George Steiner died at the age of 90 at his residence in the city of Cambridge (United Kingdom), his son David Steiner confirmed to the New York Times.

Steiner was one of the best known critics of “The New Yorker”, where he worked from 1966 to 1997, but also stood out for his essays and as a teacher and academic. In his prolific work, the writer often dealt with the paradox of power The morals of literature, which he pointed out, however, has no capacity for action in the face of historical events such as the Holocaust.

“We know that a man can read Goethe or Rilke in the afternoon, that he can listen to Bach or Schubert, and then go to work at Auschwitz in the morning,” Steiner said in one of his best-known phrases, which received the Prize Prince of Asturias of Communication and Humanities in 2001.

Another of his main basic reflections regarding human communication is the diametrically opposite use that can be made of him, as he explained in his work “Grammar of Creation”.

“To my amazement, although it may seem innocent to people, the human word can be used both to love, build or forgive, but also to torture, hate, destroy or annihilate.”

Steiner, who was fluent in both French and German and English, considered that after the myth of Babel, the world language par excellence is Anglo-American.
During his career, Steiner was a controversial and divisive personality, who attracted praise from his followers for his erudition and brilliant arguments, but caused criticism that accused him of being pretentious and often inaccurate.

George Steiner was born in Paris to a Jewish family on April 23, 1929, and after an education in French, English and German, he emigrated with his parents first to France in 1924 and then to New York in 1940 with the rise of the anti-Semitism

After graduating from the University of Chicago in 1948 and receiving a master’s degree from Harvard University in 1950, Steiner joined The Economist as an editor in 1952, where he remained until 1956, after which he received a PhD from Oxford University (United Kingdom).

(EFE/PracticaEspañol)

(Automatic translation)