Summary
Harold Bloom argues that the Western literary tradition is defined by the "autonomy of the aesthetic," and that this tradition is best represented by twenty-six central authors. He specifically places William Shakespeare at the heart of this Canon, asserting Shakespeare's unmatched originality in character creation and his profound influence on subsequent writers. Bloom champions a vision of literature that prioritizes intellectual and aesthetic standards, reacting against what he views as the politicization of criticism through ideologies like multiculturalism, Marxism, feminism, and the New Historicism.
Bloom's work offers a "vision of the Canon," a guide to great works and essential writers who have achieved lasting significance through originality fused with tradition. The book aims to inspire a return to the profound joys found in engaging with this literary heritage, demonstrating how certain writers transcend time and oblivion. It presents a passionate case for a unifying written culture, grounded in deep erudition.
Key concepts
- Autonomy of the aesthetic — The principle that literary value is determined by intrinsic aesthetic qualities, independent of external social or political ideologies.
- The Western Canon — A curated list of twenty-six authors Bloom identifies as central to the Western literary tradition, with Shakespeare at its core.
- Shakespeare as touchstone — The idea that Shakespeare serves as the ultimate standard by which all other Western writers are measured, due to his unparalleled originality.
- Originality fused with tradition — The concept that canonical writing is born from a unique creative impulse that nonetheless builds upon and engages with established literary history.
From the book
Description: Harold Bloom explores our Western literary tradition by concentrating on the works of twenty-six authors central to the Canon. He argues against ideology in literary criticism; he laments the loss of intellectual and aesthetic standards; he deplores multiculturalism, Marxism, feminism, neoconservatism, Afrocentrism, and the New Historicism.
Insisting instead upon "the autonomy of the aesthetic," Bloom places Shakespeare at the center of the Western Canon. Shakespeare has become the touchstone for all writers who come before and after him, whether playwrights poets or storytellers. In the creation of character, Bloom maintains, Shakespeare has no true precursor and has left no one after him untouched.
Milton, Samuel Johnson, Goethe, Ibsen, Joyce, and Beckett were all indebted to him; Tolstoy and Freud rebelled against him; and Dante, Wordsworth, Austen, Dickens, Whitman, Dickinson, Proust, the modern Hispanic and Portuguese writers Borges, Neruda, and Pessoa are exquisite examples of how canonical writing is born of an originality fused with tradition. Bloom concludes this provocative, trenchant work with a complete list of essential writers and books - his vision of the Canon.