ABSTRACT
Just like contemporary newspapers and magazines, periodicals in Britain during and between the world wars reflected on Britain's relationship to Europe constantly. Political developments, particularly the Treaty of Versailles and its ongoing renegotiations, were rarely out of the papers and were given considerable space even in periodicals whose remit was largely cultural or literary. While it is easy to see music and visual art, both broadly non-verbal forms of cultural expression, as transcending cultural boundaries with ease, the transnational potential of literature relies on either translation or the learning of foreign languages. While Time and Tide stressed the importance of language learning as a means of promoting transnational understanding in general terms, language learning was also more specifically seen as essential for the appreciation of foreign literatures. The Criterion recognised, however, that not everyone would be able to copy Saintsbury's polyglot man of letters and learn multiple languages and offered its readers plenty of foreign literature and criticism in translation.
