Briton and Italian Share Platform at Lamont Talk

British foreign policy and modern Italian literature came up for discussion last night in Lamont by two foreign students at the Summer School. The forum was one in a weekly series conducted by the Foreign Students Seminar.

Norman Barlow, a veteran of Dunkirk and the Italian campaigns, and a graduate of Kings College and the Institute of Slavonic Studies, was primarily concerned with what he termed "the pragmatic aspects" of Britain's foreign policy.

He claimed that his country was traditionally expected to maintain the geopolitical balance of power in the world, and that this end justifies the means employed. In this connection he mentioned England's relation with Communist China as an example.

Barlow discussed the importance of the unity of the Commonwealth as a political bloc, claiming that Britain's dependency on her Dominions was one of the basic influences on her policy. "The difference between the policies of the United States and England is one of method," he concluded. "What is needed is a whole-hearted attempt to integrate their approaches."

"Almost a New Renaissance"

Mauro Calamandrei, a graduate of the University of Florence, who worked with the Italian underground during the war, stressed the significance of Italy's contemporary writers, in what he termed "a wonderful artistic revival, almost a new Renaissance."

He discussed the works of the men whom he considered outstanding in the movement: Pratolini Flaiano, Vittorini, Levi, Berto, Malaparte, Moravia, Pavese, and Marrota. He considers Vittorini, whose 1937 novel "In Sicily" was recently published in this country by New Directions, to be the most important of the group.

The writers of the last fifteen years, Calamandrei stated, do not have the indifference to social problems which characterized Italian writers in the earlier part of the century. He deplored the fact that these writers, in the last few years, have been overcome by "a deep sense of despair." Nevertheless, he said, it is a healthy sign that "this new literature is concerned with the changing social situation in Italy."