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The Western Canon

January 01, 1970

The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages is a 1994 book about Western literature by the American literary critic Harold Bloom, in which the author defends the concept of the Western canon by discussing 26 writers whom he sees as central to the canon.

The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages
Cover of the first edition
AuthorHarold Bloom
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SubjectWestern canon
PublisherHarcourt Brace
Publication date
1994
Media typePrint (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages578
ISBN978-1-57322-514-4

Summary edit

Bloom argues against what he calls the "school of resentment", which includes feminist literary criticism, Marxist literary criticism, Lacanians, New Historicism, Deconstructionists, and semioticians. The Western Canon includes four appendices listing works that Bloom at the time considered canonical, stretching from the earliest scriptures to Tony Kushner's Angels in America. Bloom later disowned the list, saying that it was written at his editor's insistence and distracted from the book's intention.[1]

Bloom defends the concept of the Western canon by discussing 26 writers whom he sees as central to the canon:[2][3]

  1. William Shakespeare
  2. Dante Alighieri
  3. Geoffrey Chaucer
  4. Miguel de Cervantes
  5. Michel de Montaigne
  6. Molière
  7. John Milton
  8. Samuel Johnson
  9. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  10. William Wordsworth
  11. Jane Austen
  12. Walt Whitman
  13. Emily Dickinson
  14. Charles Dickens
  15. George Eliot
  16. Leo Tolstoy
  17. Henrik Ibsen
  18. Sigmund Freud
  19. Marcel Proust
  20. James Joyce
  21. Virginia Woolf
  22. Franz Kafka
  23. Jorge Luis Borges
  24. Pablo Neruda
  25. Fernando Pessoa
  26. Samuel Beckett

Reception edit

Norman Fruman of The New York Times wrote that "The Western Canon is a heroically brave, formidably learned and often unbearably sad response to the present state of the humanities."[4]

The novelist A. S. Byatt wrote:

Bloom's canon is in many ways mine. It consists of those writers all other writers have to know and by whom they measure themselves. A culture's canon is an evolving consensus of individual canons. Canonical writers changed the medium, the language they were working in. People who merely describe what is happening now don't last. Mine includes writers I don't necessarily like. D. H. Lawrence, though I hate him in a way, Jane Austen, too.[5]

Piotr Wilczek and Adam Czerniawski [pl] criticized Bloom's narrow interpretation of the concept of the West, significantly underrepresenting and even ignoring works from countries he was not familiar with, such as Poland. They interpret his list as dominated by British and American culture, with a small dose of ancient Western classics and a few non-English works from other Western European countries. At the same time, they concur that such a group is pretty standard for the Western canon as understood by most Western European scholars.[6]

School of resentment edit

"School of resentment" is a pejorative term coined by Bloom and expounded upon in his work. It is used to describe related schools of literary criticism that have gained prominence in academia since the 1970s and which Bloom contended are preoccupied with political and social activism at the expense of aesthetic values.[7] Broadly, what Bloom termed "schools of resentment" approaches associate with Marxist critical theory, including African-American studies, Marxist literary criticism, New Historicist criticism, feminist criticism and post-structuralism—specifically as promoted by Jacques Lacan, Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault. The "school of resentment" is usually defined as comprising all scholars who wish to enlarge the Western Canon by adding to it more works by authors from minority groups without regard to aesthetic merit and/or influence over time, or those who argue that some works commonly thought canonical promote sexist, racist or otherwise biased values and should therefore be removed from the canon. Bloom contended that the school of resentment threatens the nature of the canon itself and may lead to its eventual demise.[6]

Philosopher Richard Rorty[8] agreed that Bloom is at least partly accurate in his description of the "school of resentment", writing that those identified by Bloom do in fact routinely use "subversive, oppositional discourse" to attack the canon specifically and Western culture in general. Yet "this school deserves to be taken seriously—more seriously than Bloom's trivialization of it as mere resentment."[9]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Pearson, James. "Harold Bloom [Interview]". Vice Magazine. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  2. ^ Harold Bloom, The Western Canon, 1994, p. 2.
  3. ^ Tucker, Ken (21 October 1994). "Book Review: 'The Western Canon: The Books and the School of the Ages'; Books". EW.com. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  4. ^ Fruman, Norman (9 October 1994). "Bloom at Thermopylae". The New York Times.
  5. ^ Lawrence, Tim; Guttridge, Peter. "Reloading the ancient canon". The Independent (London). 21 November 1994.
  6. ^ a b Wilczek, Piotr (2006). "Czy istnieje kanon literatury polskiej?". In Cudak, Romuald (ed.). Literatura polska w świecie (in Polish). Wydawnictwo Gnome. pp. 13–23. ISBN 978-83-87819-05-7.
  7. ^ Bloom, Harold (1995). The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages. New York: Riverhead Books. pp. 4, 7, 20, 22, 24, 25, 29, 50, 56, 93, 292, 491, 492. ISBN 978-1-57322-514-4.
  8. ^ pdf [full citation needed]
  9. ^ Shifting the Scene: Shakespeare in European Culture, edited by Ladina Bezzola Lambert.

External links edit

  • Harold Bloom's canonical list

January 01, 1970
western, canon, books, school, ages, 1994, book, about, western, literature, american, literary, critic, harold, bloom, which, author, defends, concept, western, canon, discussing, writers, whom, sees, central, canon, books, school, agescover, first, editionau. The Western Canon The Books and School of the Ages is a 1994 book about Western literature by the American literary critic Harold Bloom in which the author defends the concept of the Western canon by discussing 26 writers whom he sees as central to the canon The Western Canon The Books and School of the AgesCover of the first editionAuthorHarold BloomCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishSubjectWestern canonPublisherHarcourt BracePublication date1994Media typePrint Hardcover and Paperback Pages578ISBN978 1 57322 514 4 Contents 1 Summary 2 Reception 3 School of resentment 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksSummary editBloom argues against what he calls the school of resentment which includes feminist literary criticism Marxist literary criticism Lacanians New Historicism Deconstructionists and semioticians The Western Canon includes four appendices listing works that Bloom at the time considered canonical stretching from the earliest scriptures to Tony Kushner s Angels in America Bloom later disowned the list saying that it was written at his editor s insistence and distracted from the book s intention 1 Bloom defends the concept of the Western canon by discussing 26 writers whom he sees as central to the canon 2 3 William Shakespeare Dante Alighieri Geoffrey Chaucer Miguel de Cervantes Michel de Montaigne Moliere John Milton Samuel Johnson Johann Wolfgang von Goethe William Wordsworth Jane Austen Walt Whitman Emily Dickinson Charles Dickens George Eliot Leo Tolstoy Henrik Ibsen Sigmund Freud Marcel Proust James Joyce Virginia Woolf Franz Kafka Jorge Luis Borges Pablo Neruda Fernando Pessoa Samuel BeckettReception editNorman Fruman of The New York Times wrote that The Western Canon is a heroically brave formidably learned and often unbearably sad response to the present state of the humanities 4 The novelist A S Byatt wrote Bloom s canon is in many ways mine It consists of those writers all other writers have to know and by whom they measure themselves A culture s canon is an evolving consensus of individual canons Canonical writers changed the medium the language they were working in People who merely describe what is happening now don t last Mine includes writers I don t necessarily like D H Lawrence though I hate him in a way Jane Austen too 5 Piotr Wilczek and Adam Czerniawski pl criticized Bloom s narrow interpretation of the concept of the West significantly underrepresenting and even ignoring works from countries he was not familiar with such as Poland They interpret his list as dominated by British and American culture with a small dose of ancient Western classics and a few non English works from other Western European countries At the same time they concur that such a group is pretty standard for the Western canon as understood by most Western European scholars 6 School of resentment edit School of resentment is a pejorative term coined by Bloom and expounded upon in his work It is used to describe related schools of literary criticism that have gained prominence in academia since the 1970s and which Bloom contended are preoccupied with political and social activism at the expense of aesthetic values 7 Broadly what Bloom termed schools of resentment approaches associate with Marxist critical theory including African American studies Marxist literary criticism New Historicist criticism feminist criticism and post structuralism specifically as promoted by Jacques Lacan Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault The school of resentment is usually defined as comprising all scholars who wish to enlarge the Western Canon by adding to it more works by authors from minority groups without regard to aesthetic merit and or influence over time or those who argue that some works commonly thought canonical promote sexist racist or otherwise biased values and should therefore be removed from the canon Bloom contended that the school of resentment threatens the nature of the canon itself and may lead to its eventual demise 6 Philosopher Richard Rorty 8 agreed that Bloom is at least partly accurate in his description of the school of resentment writing that those identified by Bloom do in fact routinely use subversive oppositional discourse to attack the canon specifically and Western culture in general Yet this school deserves to be taken seriously more seriously than Bloom s trivialization of it as mere resentment 9 See also editRessentimentReferences edit Pearson James Harold Bloom Interview Vice Magazine Retrieved 23 September 2020 Harold Bloom The Western Canon 1994 p 2 Tucker Ken 21 October 1994 Book Review The Western Canon The Books and the School of the Ages Books EW com Retrieved 1 May 2011 Fruman Norman 9 October 1994 Bloom at Thermopylae The New York Times Lawrence Tim Guttridge Peter Reloading the ancient canon The Independent London 21 November 1994 a b Wilczek Piotr 2006 Czy istnieje kanon literatury polskiej In Cudak Romuald ed Literatura polska w swiecie in Polish Wydawnictwo Gnome pp 13 23 ISBN 978 83 87819 05 7 Bloom Harold 1995 The Western Canon The Books and School of the Ages New York Riverhead Books pp 4 7 20 22 24 25 29 50 56 93 292 491 492 ISBN 978 1 57322 514 4 pdf full citation needed Shifting the Scene Shakespeare in European Culture edited by Ladina Bezzola Lambert External links editHarold Bloom s canonical list Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Western Canon amp oldid 1175034427 School of resentment, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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