T.S. Eliot, Tradition and the Individual Talent

T.S. Eliot's 1919 essay is a response to the ascendance of a Romantic poetics of originality and self-expression. Whereas Harold Bloom had purported to defend the Western tradition in his 1995 work The Western Canon on the basis of the aesthetic value of these works, one shorn of all relevance, Eliot's defence gave a rationale more in keeping with the way in which poets actually think.

Both seem helpful responses to Terry Eagleton's nihilistic if fashionable thesis that there is no such thing as literature.

All the same, Eliot's theory made poetry into the provenance of an elite group, his poetic practice and self-understanding limiting his appeal to a minority without broader social influence. The practice and theory of the Inklings, on the other hand, enjoyed enormous appeal while still possessing a sense of the deep roots of tradition still speaking in the contemporary age.

To support my channel and assist me in providing better content, please go here:
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=...