Harold Bloom argues for the importance of the Western canon in his book The Western Canon. He claims that aesthetic value is autonomous from politics and morality, and that originality is key to inclusion in the canon. Bloom analyzes 26 influential Western writers from Shakespeare to Beckett. He sees the canon as providing a standard of cultural and individual thinking that is rarely expanded. However, some criticize focusing too much on tradition and not being open to new works or social perspectives.

1. The Western Canon
By Harold Bloom

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Harold Bloom
• 1930 – present
• American literary critic and Professor of
Humanities at Yale University
• Wrote 20+ books on literary criticism

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Claim
• Aesthetic value is autonomous from
morality and politics
• Aesthetic originality as ‘entry ticket’ to
canon
• Analysis of 26 EU-US writers, from
Shakespeare to Beckett

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Dante and Shakespeare
• Cognitive strength
• Linguistic energy
• Power of invention

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Chronological periods
• Theocratic age: from ancient Near East
to Middle Ages
• Aristocratic age: from Dante to Goethe
• Democratic age: 19th
century
• Chaotic age: 20th
century

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School of Resentment
• Use of literature to promote social
agendas
• Bloom argues against this: instead
aesthetic pleasure and self-insight

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Politics
• Should have no place in literary
criticism
• Reducement to ideology: poem
becomes social document
• Preserving poetry as fully and purely
as possible

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The western canon
• Standard of measurement
• Foundation for cultural thinking and
individual thinking
• Rarely new works added

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Context
• 1994
• 1990s  Postmodernism
• Questioning basic concepts of
knowledge, science, education,
literature and tradition

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Reception
• “Probably the most celebrated cultural
critic in the U.S.”
• “America’s best known man of letters”
• But also in the middle of literary
controversy

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Connection with modern art
• 20th
century: new art, new music, new
literature
 Bloom: cherish western traditions and
cultural foundation

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Thank you for your attention!
Any questions?
Why is the existence of the western canon important
and what criticism may be given?