TONE AND VOICE IN T. S. ELIOT'S EARLY POETRY AND PROSE by JOHN XIROS COOPER B.A., S i r George W i l l i a m s U n i v e r s i t y , 1970 M.A., The U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h Columbia, 1977 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE .OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department o f E n g l i s h ) We a c c e p t t h i s t h e s i s as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA May 1984 (?) John X i r o s Cooper, 1984 In presenting this thesis in partial f u l f i l m e n t of r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r an a d v a n c e d d e g r e e a t of British it freely agree for Columbia, available I agree that for reference the University the L i b r a r y s h a l l make and s t u d y . I that permission for extensive copying of understood that financial copying or p u b l i c a t i o n of Department o f English The U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h 1956 Main Mall V a n c o u v e r , Canada V6T 1Y3 E-6 (3/81"> this It this g a i n s h a l l n o t be a l l o w e d w i t h o u t permission. Date further thesis s c h o l a r l y p u r p o s e s may be g r a n t e d by t h e h e a d o f my d e p a r t m e n t o r by h i s o r h e r r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . for the 1 M a r c h 1984 Columbia is thesis my w r i t t e n Abstract This study examines 'tone' and 'voice' in T. S. Eliot's early poetry and prose from sociological and historical perspectives. A procedural framework is proposed drawn from recent work in the sociology of knowledge, social anthropology, and the sociology of language which helps to elucidate the specific relationship between a literary text and the concrete historical moment in which i t is lodged. In this study a literary work is not conceived of as a discrete textual object, but as a signifying practice which shares with a l l uses of language the important feature of occurring in a particular social context that is already always deeply inscribed with meaning. The shared knowledge of this system of meaning in a society I call 'common intuitive l i f e ' . Works of art impinge on the common intuitive l i f e as operations, of certain, specific kinds, on this system of settled significations. I argue that Eliot's early work actively aimed to subvert, disrupt, and, ultimately, transform the aesthetic and socio-political regions of the common intuitive l i f e of bourgeois society. This study, thus, contests the tradi- tional critical practice of assigning to Eliot's enactments of experience in his poetry and to his formulations of critical axioms in his prose a universalist or essentialist value. Instead his early work is read as embodying more limited aesthetic and cultural practices, which, on occasion, use universal ist notions, like myth, instrumentally in the service of the more limited project. iii "Hearing the dissonances" introduces the concept of 'tone' and explores the paradoxical services this notion has rendered Anglo-American formalism from I. A. Richards to American 'new c r i t i c i s m . 1 rethinks 'tone' sociologically. This chapter "The destruction of 'literature'" examines "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" as Eliot's witty attempt to annul late Romantic notions of the 'literary' and of the verbal practices which follow from such notions. "Undermining the foundations" extends this analysis to other short poems and ends with a discussion of a fragment of The waste Land, bringing to bear concepts and themes developed in previous chapters and looking forward to the fuller treatment of The waste Land in Chapter Five. activity," examines tone and form in The Chapter Four, "An incessant sacred wood, discovering and interpreting the overall unity of this signal text as a function of its iconoclastic encounter with settled notions and theories of literature and literary practice. Land" "A deep closed song; or the argument of The waste examines Eliot's early masterpiece as a work whose unity lies, not in putative intrinsic coherences, but in its relationship to the common intuitive l i f e of bourgeois readers in post-Great War England. The chapter, in short, explores the poem's negative or dialogical 'unity'. The study concludes in "A very long perspective" with a brief discussion of "Ash Wednesday" and For Lancelot Andrewes. It assesses the mutations of tone and voice consonant with Eliot's migration in English society from an uneasy marginality to a socially and institutionally more central place. iv But I have seen the birth and death of several purely literary periodicals; and I say of all of them that in isolating the concept of literature they destroy the l i f e of literature. . . . Even the purest literature is alimented from non-literary sources, and has non-literary consequences. Pure literature is a chimera of sensation; admit the vestige of an idea and i t is already transformed. . . . We must include besides 'creative' work and literary criticism, any material which should be operative on general ideas—the results of contemporary work in history, archaeology, anthropology, even the more technical sciences when those results are of such a nature to be valuable to the man of general culture and when they can be intelligible to him. T. S. Eliot, "The Idea of a Literary Review," The New criterion 4 (January 1926): 3-4. V Table o f Contents Abbreviations vi Acknowledgements v i i Preface 1 Chapter One: H e a r i n g t h e d i s s o n a n c e s 15 Chapter Two: The d e s t r u c t i o n o f " l i t e r a t u r e " 53 Chapter Three: Undermining 97 the f o u n d a t i o n s Chapter Four: An i n c e s s a n t a c t i v i t y Chapter F i v e : A deep c l o s e d song; o r the argument o f 157 The waste Land 207 Chapter S i x : A v e r y l o n g p e r s p e c t i v e 302 Works C i t e d 321 vi Abbreviations ASG After Strange CP Collected FLA For Lancelot Idea The Idea KE Knowledge Poems, Notes PP On SE Selected SW The TCC To Youth Poems A Primer of a of 1909-1962, Andrewes: and [1915], Notes Gods: Heresy, 1934 1963 Essays Christian Modern on Style Society, Experience in and Order, 1928 1939 the Philosophy of F. H. Bradley, 1964 towards Poetry the and Poets, Essays, Sacred Criticize Written Definition of Culture, Poetry and 1948 1957 1932 Wood: Essays the Critic, in Early on 1965 Youth, 1967 Criticism, 1920 Acknowledgements Over the four years this study has been in preparation many people have contributed to its completion. The Graduate Committee in the Department of English has been most helpful and its present Chairman, Professor Hulcoop, especially so. I also thank the members of my supervisory committee, Professors Graham Good and Peter Quartermain, and Professor Ross at an earlier stage, for their discerning comments and suggestions. To Professor Keith A l l d r i t t , my supervisor, I owe a special debt for his constant encouragement, sound advice, and penetrating criticism. To Cheryl Cooper I owe a debt that goes beyond words. However, any errors that remain, of fact or judgement, infelicities of thought and expression, are entirely my own responsibility. 1 Preface T h i s study examines v o i c e and tone i n T. S. E l i o t ' s e a r l y and p r o s e . The c a t e g o r y o f 'tone' i n v i t e s t h e c l o s e s c r u t i n y o f a work's c o n c r e t e r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h a p a r t i c u l a r s o c i o - h i s t o r i c a l My work develops and v o i c e . formalism." context. a s o c i o l o g i c a l approach t o the s t u d y o f l i t e r a r y I t does t h i s i n a s c h o l a r l y and c r i t i c a l "new c r i t i c i s m , " and, t h e term tone c o n t e x t dominated by t r a d i t i o n s o f r e a d i n g and i n t e r p r e t a t i o n v a r i o u s l y c a l l e d criticism," poetry "practical I adopt, "Anglo-American By "Anglo-American f o r m a l i s m " I mean t h a t t r a d i t i o n o f r e a d i n g and i n t e r p r e t a t i o n t h a t o p e r a t e s on the assumption t h a t a work o f l i t e r a t u r e i s a d i s c r e t e , s e l f - c o n t a i n e d t e x t u a l o b j e c t whose meaning i s generated as t h e r e s u l t o f t h e e n t i r e l y i n t r i n s i c a c t i o n o f the language o f t h e t e x t , r e c u p e r a b l e formal p a t t e r n s , and t h e unique i n s t a n c i n g o f c o n v e n t i o n a l f e a t u r e s (Fekete 1977: 85-98; M i c h a e l s 1980: 410-420; Fowler 1981: 186-187). My study opposes t h i s view. The dominance o f t h i s f o r m a l i s m i n t h e academic s e t t i n g where l i t e r a t u r e i s read and d i s c u s s e d has f o r c e d a c e r t a i n p o l e m i c a l tone t o creep i n t o my work and i n t o my f o r m u l a t i o n o f a c r i t i c a l a m i n o r i t y p r a c t i c e i n North A m e r i c a , practice that i s s t i l l v e r y much though l e s s so i n most o t h e r academic communities i n t h e w o r l d . For my purposes, a work o f l i t e r a t u r e i s not c o n c e i v e d o f as a d i s c r e t e t e x t u a l o b j e c t but shares w i t h a l l uses o f language t h e c r u c i a l f e a t u r e o f always o c c u r r i n g i n a communicative c o n t e x t . By t h i s I do 2 not mean t h a t a t e x t must be read a g a i n s t a communicative background. T h i s would be t o r e s u r r e c t c e r t a i n p r e - f o r m a l i s t t r a d i t i o n s o f r e a d i n g a g a i n s t which t h e r e i g n i n g f o r m a l i s m was f i r s t minted 1930s. i n t h e 1920s and The communicative c o n t e x t i s not s i m p l y a s e p a r a b l e background, r e c o v e r e d i n c r i t i c i s m as s e p a r a b l e e v e n t s , o b j e c t s , and i n d i v i d u a l s a f f e c t i n g the d i s c r e t e t e x t , e i t h e r at the l e v e l o f naive r e f e r e n t i a l i t y or at the l e v e l o f general ideas. t e x t as a whole and pervades The communicative c o n t e x t shapes a a l l i t s i n d i v i d u a l elements ( F i r t h 1957: 181-182; Fowler 1981: 191-192). not s i m p l y speak; i t addresses and p a r t s For example, a t e x t does p a r t i c u l a r r e a d e r s whom t h e a u t h o r c o n c e i v e s o f i n c e r t a i n ways, b e g i n n i n g w i t h t h e o f t e n t a c i t assumption t h a t r e a d e r s a l r e a d y always have something authorial in their l i k e e x p e c t a t i o n s o f what a l i t e r a r y t e x t s h o u l d b e - - w i t h which her own t e x t w i l l 1979b: 7-11). headsh i s or have t o s e t up some s o r t o f d e t a i l e d r e l a t i o n s h i p (Eco S i m i l a r l y , t h e language o f a l i t e r a r y work i s u n i n t e r - p r e t a b l e save i n t h e c o n t e x t o f t h e l i n g u i s t i c usages o f a p a r t i c u l a r community, and i n t h e c o n t e x t o f r e l a t i o n s h i p s t h e t e x t s e t s up w i t h those changing usages and t h e normal e x p e c t a t i o n s i m p l i e d i n e s t a b l i s h e d verbal p r a c t i c e s . A g a i n , modes o f formal and g e n e r i c p a t t e r n i n g make no sense u n l e s s read as s e t t i n g up m o t i v a t e d r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i t h s e t t l e d p r i n c i p l e s and p r a c t i c e s t h a t d i s t i n g u i s h the p a t t e r n e d from t h e amorphous, n o i s e from sound, o r d e r from The chaos. communicative c o n t e x t which makes sense o f a t e x t occurs w i t h i n a p a r t i c u l a r s o c i e t y . i n two d i m e n s i o n s : as a m u l t i - l e v e l itself T h i s study c o n c e i v e s o f s o c i e t y s t r u c t u r e i n continuous historical t r a n s f o r m a t i o n (a c o n v e n t i o n a l enough n o t i o n ) and as a s t r u c t u r e o f 3 i n t e n t i o n a l i t y g e n e r a t e d by t h e f u l l measure o f human agency i n the form o f human Praxis (Lowe 1982: 17-18). I want t o i n s i s t on t h i s latter dimension o f s o c i e t y because v e r y o f t e n an approach such as t h e one I take i n t h i s s t u d y i s accused o f d i s s o l v i n g t h e i n d i v i d u a l i n impersonal and m e c h a n i s t i c f o r c e s o f p r o d u c t i o n , o r laws o f h i s t o r y . The human b e i n g i s n e i t h e r a puppet awkwardly d a n g l i n g on t h i n w i r e s descending from t h e laws o f h i s t o r i c a l change, nor a nervous mask g r i m a c i n g i n p a i n s and p l e a s u r e s o c c a s i o n a l l y e r u p t i n g from t h e depths o f t h e u n c o n s c i o u s . I t has been a weakness o f h i s t o r i c i s t and m a t e r i a l i s t approaches human s c i e n c e s t h a t t h e y have not i n s i s t e d enough on the s o c i a l o f t h e competent i n the importance and knowledgeable human agent ( L e f e b v r e 1969: 25-58; Giddens 1981: 1 5 ) . Marx's emphasis on human Praxis has o f t e n been l o s t s i g h t o f i n t h e importance p l a c e d on t h e second p a r t o f h i s c l a s s i c f o r m u l a t i o n on human agency. Men make h i s t o r y , he s a i d , but not i n c i r c u m s t a n c e s o f t h e i r own c h o o s i n g . which t h e s o c i o l o g y o f knowledge p r o d u c t s o f human Praxis, One a s p e c t o f t h i s o b s e r v a t i o n o f has made us aware i s t h e f a c t t h a t t h e r e i f i e d i n t i m e , themselves o f t e n come t o a c q u i r e t h e i r r e d u c i b i l i t y and f o r c e o f n a t u r e . s o c i a l and c u l t u r a l the In t h i s s e n s e , r e i f i e d s t r u c t u r e s d e p e r s o n a l i z e i n t e n t i o n and c a r r y into arena o f human agency and a c t i o n i n t e n t i o n a l . i t i e s t h a t have no individual l o c u s , but a r e embodied i n o b j e c t i v a t e d and i n s t i t u t i o n a l forms (Marx 1970: 46-48; Berger and Luckmann 1979: 106-109; S a r t r e 1982: 79-94). S o c i e t y as a f i e l d o f p e r s o n a l and impersonal i n t e n t i o n a l i t i e s formed and t r a n s f o r m e d i n t h e p r o c e s s e s o f h i s t o r i c a l change g e n e r a t e s a p e r v a s i v e system o f s i g n i f i c a t i o n s o r meanings which inhabitants 4 a c q u i r e by v i r t u e o f t h e i r a c t i v e r e s i d e n c e i n t h e g i v e n community. O b j e c t s , p r o c e s s e s , e v e n t s , i n d i v i d u a l s , groups, i n s t i t u t i o n s , memories, v e r b a l p r a c t i c e s , and so on a r e a l l enveloped i n t h i s system o f s i g n i f i cations. A l l members o f a s o c i e t y a r e s o c i a l i z e d t o t h i s system which i s , i n e s s e n c e , i n t e r s u b j e c t i v e ; t h a t i s , i t i s a system o f shared meanings h e l d i n common by a l l members o f a s o c i e t y . Of t h e System Of S i g n i f i c a t i o n s I call the common The shared intuitive knowledge life. I have chosen t h i s coinage because i t conforms t o a v o c a b u l a r y f a m i l i a r to l i t e r a r y s t u d i e s , y e t p r e s e r v e s t h e concept o f s o c i e t y on which my work depends. T h i s n o t i o n i s n o t new. sources i n c l u d i n g T. S. E l i o t h i m s e l f . I t d e r i v e s from a number o f But more s p e c i f i c a l l y i t i s i n d e b t e d t o Raymond W i l l i a m s , b e g i n n i n g w i t h h i s i m p o r t a n t response t o Eliot's Notes Society (1958, 1961; see E a g l e t o n 1970 f o r a c o m p a r a t i v e a n a l y s i s o f Towards the Definition of Culture these two views o f t h e 'common c u l t u r e ' ) . on t h e i d e a o f t h e 'common c u l t u r e 1950s. 1 (1948) i n Culture However, W i l l i a m s ' have not s t o o d s t i l l and reflections since the l a t e In a l e c t u r e i n M o n t r e a l i n 1973 he s k e t c h e d t h e t h e o r e t i c a l model o f c u l t u r e t o which h i s work has l e d him and which u n d e r l i e s , t o a l a r g e e x t e n t , my n o t i o n o f t h e common i n t u i t i v e l i f e . H i s remarks come i n t h e c o n t e x t o f a d i s c u s s i o n o f 'base' and ' s u p e r s t r u c t u r e ' i n M a r x i s t c u l t u r a l s t u d i e s and o f A n t o n i o Gramsci's r e l a t e d concept o f '.hegemony'. I would say f i r s t t h a t i n any s o c i e t y , i n any p a r t i c u l a r p e r i o d , t h e r e i s a c e n t r a l system o f p r a c t i c e s , meanings and v a l u e s , which we can p r o p e r l y c a l l dominant and e f f e c t i v e . T h i s i m p l i e s no presumption about i t s v a l u e . A l l I am s a y i n g i s t h a t i t i s c e n t r a l . . . . In any case what I have i n mind i s t h e c e n t r a l , e f f e c t i v e and 5 dominant system o f meanings and v a l u e s , which a r e not merely a b s t r a c t but which a r e o r g a n i z e d and l i v e d . . . . I t i s a whole body o f p r a c t i c e s and e x p e c t a t i o n s ; our assignments o f e n e r g y , o u r o r d i n a r y u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e n a t u r e o f man and o f h i s w o r l d . I t i s a s e t o f meanings and v a l u e s which as t h e y a r e e x p e r i e n c e d as p r a c t i c e s appear as r e c i p r o c a l l y c o n f i r m i n g . (1980: 38) He goes on t o argue t h a t t h i s system c o n s t i t u t e s "a sense o f r e a l i t y f o r most people i n t h e s o c i e t y , " an awareness t h a t i s a b s o l u t e because i t i s o f a r e a l i t y t h a t i s e x p e r i e n c e d a t every l e v e l o f c o n c r e t e , practical l i f e , from t h e most f o r m a l l y c o n c e p t u a l and p u b l i c t o t h e most f e e l i n g l y i n t i m a t e and p r i v a t e . I t encompasses a s o c i e t y ' s possible range o f i d e a s and f e e l i n g s about something as formal and c o r p o r a t e as a national Constitution or legal characteristic system, and, c o r r e s p o n d i n g l y , a s o c i e t y ' s responses t o t h e f a c t , s a y , o f death o r t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n of p e r s o n a l i d e n t i t y and s u b j e c t i v i t y . I t i s n o t , moreover, a s t a t i c system, but one which depends on c o n c r e t e and s o c i a l crucial p r o c e s s e s . The f a c t o r here i s what W i l l i a m s c a l l s t h e "process o f i n c o r p o r a t i o n " (1980: 3 9 ) , t h a t i s , t h e p r o c e s s by which t h e meanings and v a l u a t i o n s o f e x p e r i e n c e a r e i n c o r p o r a t e d , p r i n c i p a l l y by language, i n t h e common i n t u i t i v e l i f e as a whole. W i t h i n t h i s "system o f p r a c t i c e s , meanings and v a l u e s , " what I am c a l l i n g t h e common i n t u i t i v e l i f e o f a s o c i e t y , language p l a y s an important role. Language does n o t s i m p l y r e c o r d t h e c o n t e n t s o f t h e common i n t u i t i v e l i f e ; i t forms t h e b a s i s f o r s i g n i f i c a n t the interaction within compass o f a shared l i f e and encodes t h e shared systems o f v a l u e , knowledge, and b e l i e f . Thus language s e r v e s not o n l y t o f i x and a s s i g n meaning, but a l s o , and t h i s i s t h e source o f i t s c r e a t i v i t y , t o c o n f i r m 6 or c o n t e s t t h e s e assignments. Works o f a r t impinge on t h e common i n t u i t i v e l i f e o f a s o c i e t y as an o p e r a t i o n , o f one k i n d o r a n o t h e r , on s e t t l e d s i g n i f i c a t i o n s which t h i n g s a c q u i r e over time ( B e n n e t t 1979: 24-25). More s p e c i f i c a l l y , works o f l i t e r a t u r e impinge on the v e r b a l p r a c t i c e s o f t h e common i n t u i t i v e l i f e and become o p e r a t i o n s on the way language a r t i c u l a t e s t h e s i g n i f i c a n c e o f t h i n g s . So t h a t a poem, s a y , i s not s i m p l y a work i n language, but a work on language; i t does n o t contain meaning, r a t h e r i t i s an o p e r a t i o n on p r i o r meaning. These o b s e r v a t i o n s a r e i m p o r t a n t f o r r e s o l v i n g t h e e s s e n t i a l problem which E l i o t ' s p o e t r y has always p r e s e n t e d l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m , a problem which was t h e o r i g i n a l spur o f t h i s s t u d y . E l i o t wrote an a l l u s i v e , r e c o n d i t e , p e r v a s i v e l y i r o n i c p o e t r y which has f a s c i n a t e d c r i t i c i s m f o r s e v e r a l g e n e r a t i o n s and which has i n v i t e d l e a r n e d commentary t h a t i s s u b t l y i n g e n i o u s i n i t s e x p l o r a t i o n o f what i s taken t o be E l i o t ' s ordinary aesthetic sophistication. extra- H i s a n t a g o n i s t s have o f t e n accused him i n t h i s r e s p e c t o f d e l i b e r a t e o b s c u r i t y and an A l e x a n d r i a n approach to c o m p o s i t i o n (Lucas 1923: 116; H a m i l t o n 1950; W i n t e r s 1963: 36, 6 4 ) . Yet when t h i s i n g e n i o u s c r i t i c i s m has come f i n a l l y t o say what t h e p o e t r y i s about, what E l i o t i s a c t u a l l y s a y i n g i n t h e poems, i t has heard something r a t h e r o l d - f a s h i o n e d , something c o n v e n t i o n a l , and even r a t h e r crude. waste Land: Here i s Helen Gardner on t h e " a g e l e s s " s u b j e c t o f The t h e poem, she w r i t e s , " d i s c o v e r s a r a d i c a l d e f e c t i n human l i f e and makes c l e a r t h e ' i n s u f f i c i e n c y o f human enjoyments'" (1959: 8 8 ) . T h i s comes from Gardner's f i r s t book on E l i o t , which i s s t i l l c i t e d as one o f t h e d e c i s i v e and more l e a r n e d r e a d i n g s o f E l i o t (Moody 1979: 9 3 ) . The "radical defect" The waste Land u n v e i l s a t t h e h e a r t o f human life 7 i s none o t h e r than O r i g i n a l S i n . T h i s ponderous, crude, anti-modernist, u n s u b t l e t h e o l o g i c a l commonplace, which was a l r e a d y b e i n g t r e a t e d as a c l i c h e ' b y t h e c i v i c humanists i n Q u a t t r o c e n t o I t a l y (Baron 1966: 302- 3 1 4 ) , s t r i k e s Gardner w i t h t h e f o r c e o f a r e v e l a t i o n about l i f e . s e v e r a l pages a f t e r t h i s r e v e l a t i o n she c o n t i n u e s e x p l i c a t i n g of details t h e poem h a v i n g seemingly a c c e p t e d O r i g i n a l S i n as a n e c e s s a r y and obvious of For ' t r u t h ' o r ' f a c t ' o f t h e human c o n d i t i o n . such an o b s e r v a t i o n about l i f e i s entirely Of c o u r s e , t h e t r u t h and she i s contestable q u i t e u n j u s t i f i e d i n passing s i l e n t l y over t h i s p o i n t . I am not s a y i n g t h a t she s h o u l d engage i n a t h e o l o g i c a l d e m o n s t r a t i o n o f t h e t r u t h o f the n o t i o n . contestabiiity It What needs t o be taken up i s a d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e o b s e r v a t i o n ' s i n 1922 when t h e poem was p u b l i s h e d . i s c l e a r from t h e s t r u c t u r e o f t h e poem i t s e l f , from prose [ F L A 5 0 ) , and from h i s b i o g r a p h y (Gordon 1977) t h a t he knew p r e c i s e l y how c o n t e s t a b l e an a s s e r t i o n about O r i g i n a l time. S i n was i n h i s I t i s c l e a r t h a t E l i o t came t o a c c e p t t h i s a n c i e n t C h r i s t i a n d o c t r i n e v e r y e a r l y i n h i s l i f e so t h a t to Eliot's achieve such an o b s e r v a t i o n . i n which we see t h e s o c i a l The waste. Land does n o t l a b o u r The poem i s not a s e r i e s o f examples and p e r s o n a l e f f e c t s o f O r i g i n a l S i n t h a t l e a d us o v e r w h e l m i n g l y t o a knowledge o f the t r u t h o f such a n o t i o n , a l t h o u g h t h i s i s t h e k i n d o f i n d u c t i v e process which Gardner suggests l i e s a t t h e h e a r t o f t h e poem. point o f departure. Instead, the notion of radical The a s s e r t i o n o f O r i g i n a l human s i n f u l n e s s i s a Sin in The waste Land cannot be i n n o c e n t l y accounted f o r as t h e u n a v o i d a b l e d i s c o v e r y o f an o r i g i n a l l y i n n o c e n t 'speaker', l o s t i n a f a l l e n w o r l d , who engages i n a h e u r i s t i c p r o b i n g o f contemporary l i f e and comes t o t h e ' s u r p r i s i n g ' 8 conclusion that eighteen right after a l l . already c e n t u r i e s o f C h r i s t i a n thought about s i n a r e The poem opens w i t h what t h e poem shows i t knows intact. E l i o t knew, and t h e r e f o r e c r i t i c i s m should a s s e r t i o n o f r a d i c a l human s i n f u l n e s s i n The know, t h a t t h e i m p l i c i t waste r e p r e s e n t e d an Land o b l i q u e a s s a u l t on c e r t a i n l i b e r a l i z i n g accounts o f human e x p e r i e n c e i n s c r i b e d i n t h e common i n t u i t i v e l i f e o f t h e E n g l i s h m i d d l e c l a s s e s . n o t i o n o f O r i g i n a l S i n f u l n e s s opposes, i n a l l i t s s p i k y The irreducibility, the m e l i o r i s t o p t i m i s m o f l i b e r a l , u t i l i t a r i a n e t h i c s which had d i s p l a c e d , in t h e p o p u l a r mind, o l d e r C h r i s t i a n d o c t r i n e s . had become t h e c o n v e n t i o n a l era. This e t h i c a l account o f t h e moral l i f e meliorism i n the bourgeois The poem n o t o n l y a t t a c k s t h e p o s i t i v e p r i n c i p l e s o f l i b e r a l --such as t h e n o t i o n o f human p e r f e c t a b i l i t y and e g a l i t a r i a n i s m - - b u t more e l u s i v e a s p e c t s , l i k e t h e atmosphere and f e e l o f t h e p a l l i d ness such e t h i c s imply. also inward- The poem's whole manner and m a t t e r i s shaped by that oppositional context. and ethics N a r r a t i v e s t r a t e g i e s , imagery, themes, v o i c e s , t h e range o f t o n a l i t i e s must be read f o r t h e c o n t r a s t s they s e t up w i t h t h e c o n t e n t s and s t y l e s i n s c r i b e d i n t h e common i n t u i t i v e l i f e . The poem must be r e a d , i n s h o r t , as an attempted r e - i n s c r i p t i o n o f fundamental experience. Thus, the p o i n t about The waste Land i s not t h a t i t p r e s e n t s some p a r t i c u l a r v i s i o n o f l i f e , b u t t h a t i t c o n t e s t s accounts o f fundamental e x p e r i e n c e t h a t E l i o t i n a l l honesty c o u l d n o t a b i d e . That he chose v i s i o n a r y modes as a method o f c o n t e s t a t i o n and as a way o f c l a i m i n g epistemological a u t h o r i t y f o r h i s 'argument' should the poem's a c t u a l i n t e r e s t s . and n o t d e f l e c t us from In t h i s way, t h e s o p h i s t i c a t i o n , l e a r n i n g , t e c h n i q u e o f t h e poem can be p u t , a p p r o p r i a t e l y , i n t h e s e r v i c e o f a 9 s i m p l e , even simple-minded, theme, because i t i s n o t t h e d i s c o v e r y o f a knowledge o f t h e theme t h a t i s a t i s s u e , but t h e f a t e o f what t h e theme a s s e r t s i n a h o s t i l e , and y e t s o p h i s t i c a t e d , l e a r n e d , p e r v a s i v e l y environment. ironic, The poem's s t y l e i s c a l l e d out by t h e r i g o u r s o f the par- t i c u l a r s i g n i f y i n g work i t must do i n an a f f e c t i v e l y complex environment (Burke 1941, 1961: 3-4; E a g l e t o n 1976: 101; Douglas 1978: 95-98). knew, and t h e r e f o r e c r i t i c i s m should Eliot know, what i t meant i n 1922 t o w r i t e a poem ' d i s c o v e r i n g ' O r i g i n a l S i n t h a t B e r t r a n d R u s s e l l was going t o read. R u s s e l l , o f c o u r s e , was o n l y one r e a d e r o f many, and an e x t r a o r d i n a r y one a t t h a t . However, he was a l s o r a t h e r t y p i c a l as a l e g a t e e o f t h e p r i n c i p l e s , p r o c e d u r e s , and a t t i t u d e s o f t h e l i b e r a l i n Europe. alone, Enlightenment Yet t h e E n l i g h t e n m e n t i s not t h e i n h e r i t a n c e o f i n d i v i d u a l s l e t alone the sole possession i t i s the i n t e l l e c t u a l o f great r a t i o n a l i s t philosophers; and a f f e c t i v e i n h e r i t a n c e o f a whole c l a s s . The p r i n c i p l e s o f European E n l i g h t e n m e n t run l i k e t h r e a d s through the s t r u c t u r e o f thought and f e e l i n g o f t h e European b o u r g e o i s i e the e i g h t e e n t h century t o our own time (ASG p a s s i m ) . from t h e end o f Of c o u r s e , i t i s i m p o r t a n t t o remember t h a t t h e impact and i n f l u e n c e o f E n l i g h t e n m e n t ideas i n the regions each r e g i o n . o f Europe vary w i t h the h i s t o r i c a l circumstances of Thus, t h e c i v i c humanism o f t h e F r e n c h , c o n s t r u c t e d a n a t i o n a l image o f le citoyen, around i s d i f f e r e n t from t h e u t i l i t a r i a n i s m o f E n g l i s h l i b e r a l s , which i s d i f f e r e n t again tendencies i n I t a l i a n l i b e r a l i s m . from t h e r a d i c a l l i b e r t a r i a n Yet running through t h e c o n s t e l l a t i o n o f i d e a s and p r a c t i c e s t h a t had t h e i r modern f o r m u l a t i o n i n the E n l i g h t - enment we f i n d common themes and common a t t i t u d e s , towards t h e p a s t , towards human n a t u r e , towards s c i e n c e and r e l i g i o n , and so on. Indeed, 10 I take t h e Enlightenment and i t s many f r u i t s i n n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y Europe t o be t h e t r a n s f o r m a t i v e i n t e l l e c t u a l and i d e o l o g i c a l programme o f t h e European b o u r g e o i s i e i n i t s disenchantment w i t h t h e s a c r e d and m y t h i c a l worlds o f the feudal a r i s t o c r a c i e s I understand (Horkheimer and Adorno 1944, 1972: 5 ) . t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y as t h e p e r i o d o f c o n s o l i d a t i o n o f the power o f the b o u r g e o i s i e as t h e d i r e c t i v e e l i t e o f i n d u s t r i a l i z i n g Europe. T h i s i s n o t t o say t h a t a r i s t o c r a c t i c forms and e x e r c i s e s o f power d i d n o t p e r s i s t i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h and w e l l centuries. They d i d . into the twentieth But i t i s t o say t h a t these were p r o g r e s s i v e l y s u b o r d i n a t e d as sources o f r e a l d i r e c t i v e power i n t h e r e l e v a n t s o c i e t i e s and took on, more and more, t h e f i g u r a t i v e and ceremonial i r r e l e v a n c e t h a t a r i s t o c r a t i c forms s t i l l to p e r s i s t . My sense o f Enlightenment t u r e o f thought of sources. have i n our t i m e , where they have managed as t h e r u l i n g i d e a s o f the s t r u c - and f e e l i n g o f the b o u r g e o i s i e i s d e r i v e d from a number F i r s t , t h e seminal study o f the Enlightenment Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, t r a n s l a t e d as ment (1944, 1972); second, L u c i e n Goldmann's Enlightenment: the The Christian Burgess and the The Dialectic Philosophy Enlightenment by Max of Enlightenof the (1973). By 'bourgeois e r a ' , I mean t h e s o c i e t y o f Western Europe, e s p e c i a l l y B r i t a i n and F r a n c e , from t h e . l a s t t h i r d o f the e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y t o t h e f i r s t decade o f the t w e n t i e t h ( c f . Davie Marx's d e f i n i t i o n and use o f the term Class Struggles in France (1964: 134). 1978: 14-15). 'bourgeois And I accept s o c i e t y ' from h i s The E. J . Hobsbawm has s u c c i n c t l y summarized t h e s p e c i f i c s o f European h i s t o r y i n t h i s e r a i n The Age of Revolution, 1789-1848: 11 The g r e a t r e v o l u t i o n o f 1789-1848 was t h e triumph not o f ' i n d u s t r y ' as s u c h , but o f capitalist industry; not o f l i b e r t y and e q u a l i t y i n g e n e r a l , but o f middle class o r 'bourgeois' liberal s o c i e t y ; not o f 'the modern economy' o r 'the modern s t a t e , ' but o f t h e economies and s t a t e s i n a p a r t i c u l a r g e o g r a p h i c a l r e g i o n o f t h e w o r l d ( p a r t o f Europe and a few patches o f North A m e r i c a ) , whose c e n t r e was t h e n e i g h b o u r i n g and r i v a l s t a t e s o f Great B r i t a i n and France. The t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f 1789-1848 i s e s s e n t i a l l y t h e t w i n upheaval which took p l a c e i n those two c o u n t r i e s , and was propagated thence a c r o s s t h e e n t i r e w o r l d . (17-18, Hobsbawm's emphasis) Of c o u r s e , Hobsbawm i s concerned w i t h t h e opening o f t h e b o u r g e o i s e r a . E l i o t ' s c a r e e r comes as t h a t e r a i s c l o s i n g i n t h e f i r s t decades o f t h e twentieth century. My s t u d y can be seen as a c o n t r i b u t i o n t o o u r know- ledge o f t h e l i t e r a r y c u l t u r e o f b o u r g e o i s s o c i e t y , and o f a p a r t i c u l a r c o n s e r v a t i v e c r i t i q u e o f b o u r g e o i s forms o f thought and f e e l i n g . T h i s s t u d y argues t h a t an e x a m i n a t i o n o f tone and v o i c e i n E l i o t ' s e a r l y work r e v e a l s a p o e t r y and prose d i r e c t e d t o t h e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n - he would have thought o f i t as a c l e a n s i n g - - o f t h e common i n t u i t i v e o f t h e Anglo-American middle c l a s s . life I do not mean t h a t h i s work i s e n t i r e l y p o l e m i c a l , as t h i s i m p l i e s E l i o t keys h i s work e n t i r e l y a t t h e level of ideas. H i s c r i t i q u e i s much more r a d i c a l than t h i s p e n e t r a t i n g t o t h e a f f e c t i v e r e a l i t y o f , what he came t o c a l l idea of a christian society (1939), "negative l i b e r a l suggests, i n The society." i m p o r t a n t t o remember t h a t E l i o t ' s h o s t i l i t y t o l i b e r a l It is s o c i e t y does not p r i m a r i l y i n v o l v e him i n h i s e a r l y work i n a s y s t e m a t i c c r i t i q u e o f t h e political economy o f l i b e r a l i s m . of p o l i t i c a l We w i l l f i n d no d e t a i l e d c o n s i d e r a t i o n s events and p e r s o n a l i t i e s o f h i s time i n h i s work, a l t h o u g h t h i s a s p e c t i s not e n t i r e l y absent. E l i o t ' s aim i s r a t h e r the u n v e i l i n g 12 o f the s p e c i f i c s o c i a l , m o r a l , and p s y c h o l o g i c a l consequences o f as i t i s found i n the l i b e r a l e t h o s . His p o e t r y works a t the l e v e l the a c t u a l l y l i v e d , the d e n s i t y o f e x p e r i e n c e domain, below the l e v e l o f formal to formulate concrete the life i n the everyday. p o l i t i c s and of In t h i s p o l i c y , E l i o t was able a metonymic approach t h a t uses an imagery drawn from the experience o f everyday l i f e i n a r e v e l a t o r y way. ' r e v e a l i n g ' p a r t i c u l a r s are o f t e n p r e s e n t e d And although i n a v i s i o n a r y or even h a l l u c i n a t o r y a e s t h e t i c c o n t e x t , t h e i r use as s o c i a l l y t y p i f y i n g elements must not be l o s t s i g h t o f . In Chapter F i v e , I argue t h a t the v i s i o n a r y mode o f p r e s e n t a t i o n f u n c t i o n s as a l e g i t i m a t i o n s t r a t e g y (Berger 31-32) t h a t r e - e n f o r c e s the r e p r e s e n t a t i v e n e s s o f the c o n c r e t e Indeed, E l i o t ' s use o f t y p i f y i n g metonymy (Greimas and particular. Courted 1982: i s a s i g n i f y i n g p r a c t i c e o f immense i m p o r t a n c e , because i t a l l o w s t e x t to o f f e r concrete experience i n immediate form and, (Burke 1941, 1961: t h a t i n s a y i n g t h i s I am t a k i n g i s s u e w i t h the way 'image' i n modernism i s n o r m a l l y the discussed. 'image' as the minimal u n i t o f aesthetic 193) the a t the same t i m e , conduct a r a t i o n a l argument i m p l i c i t l y through the metonymic of t y p i f i c a t o r y representations 1969: 22-28). 'logic' I realize the i d e a o f the C r i t i c i s m has i n t e r p r e t e d perception i n modernism. My p o i n t i s t h a t E l i o t awakened and e x p l o i t e d s y s t e m a t i c a l l y the p o t e n t i a l o f the 'image' t o f u n c t i o n m e t o n y m i c a l l y i n a s o c i a l c o n t e x t . p o e t r y the ing 'image' serves more than an a e s t h e t i c f u n c t i o n . In h i s As a t y p i f y - element, a r e v e a l i n g p a r t i c u l a r , i t becomes i m p o s s i b l e t o d i s s o c i a t e the image from the e t h i c o - r e l i g i o u s c o n c e p t s and of concrete l i f e , which i t t y p i f i e s i m p o s s i b l e , when we analyze i d e a s , o r from the forms ( D e l i a Volpe 1978: 39). the v e r b a l s t y l e o f the c o n c r e t e Also, i t is image, not 13 to hear how the s t y l e i t s e l f m o b i l i z e s and f o c u s s e s p a r t i c u l a r a t t i t u d e s towards what i s being r e p r e s e n t e d (Burke 1941, 1961: social 128-131). These a t t i t u d e s can be t r a c e d back t o a g e n e r a l c r i t i q u e o f s o c i e t y from a p a r t i c u l a r c l a s s p o s i t i o n i n t h a t s o c i e t y and t o c o h e r e n t transforma- t i v e s o c i a l and c u l t u r a l p r a c t i c e s i n t h a t c o n t e x t (Machery 1977: B a l i b a r 1978: 28; Bennett 1979: 156-168). T h i s l a t t e r o b s e r v a t i o n p o i n t s t o the importance i n E l i o t ' s work. T h i s importance o f tone and v o i c e has been r e c o g n i z e d by Anglo-American f o r m a l i s t c r i t i c i s m , but the i d e a o f 'tone', as a c r i t i c a l remained l a r g e l y undeveloped n o n e t h e l e s s . l i t e r a t u r e brings to c r i t i c a l 3; concept, has As the tone o f a work o f a t t e n t i o n the r e l a t i o n s h i p o f t e x t and w o r l d , i t has been very d i f f i c u l t f o r an a n t i - h i s t o r i c i s t , a n t i - c o n t e x t u a l critical p r a c t i c e t o pursue the i m p l i c a t i o n s o f i t s own and c o n t e x t u a l i z i n g concept. requires a notion l i k e historicizing N e v e r t h e l e s s , the f a c t t h a t f o r m a l i s m 'tone' t o account f o r the w e a l t h o f meanings t h a t n a r r o w l y formal and g e n e r i c a n a l y s e s cannot encompass d i s c l o s e s the n e c e s s i t y f o r any l i t e r a r y c r i t i c a l how r e l u c t a n t l y , the c o n c r e t e presence p r a c t i c e t o t h e o r i z e , no matter o f the w o r l d i n the t e x t . But t h i s demand p l a c e d on c r i t i c i s m r e q u i r e s a s o p h i s t i c a t e d , informed o f what the purposes. 'world' i s and how We i t i s best d e s c r i b e d f o r l i t e r a r y need t o a c q u i r e as s o p h i s t i c a t e d a grasp o f the o f the t e x t i t s e l f t h a t f o r m a l i s m has taught us. purposes, of understanding critical 'world' as I devote q u i t e a few pages o f t h i s s t u d y to d e s c r i b i n g the most p r o d u c t i v e way, critical grasp for literary the n a t u r e and s t r u c t u r e o f the s o c i a l r e a l i t y which always a l r e a d y pervades any g i v e n l i t e r a r y t e x t . d e s c r i p t i o n draws on t h e work o f s o c i a l This a n t h r o p o l o g i s t s , s o c i o l o g i s t s of 14 knowledge, o f language, and o f a r t . forms o f c o l l e c t i v e life Beyond the u s e f u l these f i e l d s o f f e r c o n v i c t i o n t h a t the study o f l i t e r a t u r e itself from c o n t a c t , not w i t h the but with the knowledge o f i t s the academy o f f e r Generally a t r o p h i e s the f u r t h e r ' w o r l d , or 1 s p e a k i n g , my study has t h r e e or h i s t o r y as in c e r n i n g the e f f e c t o f the e x t e r n a l r e c o g n i z e d , but l e f t concept o f 'tone' world on the t e x t structure represents a refers have not d i v i d e d t h i s is study i n t o three t h e s i s about E l i o t ' s silently developing its i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f what a to i n the s o c i a l take up each theme in t u r n . duced the t r i b u t a r y itself dis- and the shared knowledge of semantic c o d i n g s , which permits a f r u i t f u l text a c t u a l l y taking a c r i t i q u e o f Anglo-American f o r - unacknowledged; the t h i r d theme i n v o l v e s an understanding o f s o c i a l one sketched h e r e , s l e i g h t - o f - h a n d , by which the u n a v o i d a b l e n e c e s s i t y of principal such, concept d e r i v e d from Anglo-American malism from the p o i n t o f view t h a t i t s I insulates themes: the p r i n c i p a l work as b r i e f l y f o r m a l i s m ; the second theme i n v o l v e s I 'life' it us. as my p o i n t o f departure a c r i t i c a l literary s t u d i e s l i e s my nature and forms which our c o l l e a g u e s i s the study o f aspects o f E l i o t ' s critical literary knowledge about world. separate parts i n which I have o r g a n i z e d the whole work around a early p o e t r y and p r o s e . I have i n t r o - themes i n those p l a c e s , v a r i o u s l y d i s t r i b u t e d i n the work as a whole, where they seem to me to be most u s e f u l l y d i s c u s s e d . O b v i o u s l y because my argument about E l i o t ' s work depends on p o i n t s drawn from the o t h e r themes, e s p e c i a l l y the t h i r d , the f i r s t chapters c o n t a i n l o n g e r s e c t i o n s on formalism and s o c i e t y . on The waste Land, certain two Chapter F i v e which c u l m i n a t e s the s t u d y , extends some o f the earlier 15 r e f l e c t i o n s on s o c i e t y . T. S. E l i o t i s a w r i t e r who has had a c o n s i d e r a b l e amount o f a t t e n t i o n devoted t o h i s work. The b u l k o f i t i s f o r m a l i s t c l o s e r e a d i n g , p r a c t i c a l c r i t i c i s m , e x e g e t i c a l commentary, and t h e g l o s s i n g o f r e f e r e n c e s and a l l u s i o n s (a minor i n d u s t r y i n i t s e l f ) . Every word i n h i s p o e t r y has been r e a d , g l o s s e d , commented upon many times o v e r . Indeed, non- s p e c i a l i s t s i n E l i o t s t u d i e s a r e o f t e n f a m i l i a r not o n l y w i t h t h e man's work, but a l s o w i t h t h e c r i t i c a l and debates and c o n t r o v e r s i e s h i s p o e t r y prose have provoked i n our time. Because o f t h i s I have not f e l t compelled t o p r o v i d e a l i n e by l i n e commentary on every poem he wrote. I am i n t e r e s t e d much more i n d e v e l o p i n g an argument about E l i o t as a w r i t e r whose p o e t r y and prose a r e t h e m a t e r i a l o f a w i d e r c u l t u r a l p r a c t i c e d i r e c t e d , a t bottom, t o t h e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f people's I t h i n k t h e p e r s i s t e n c e o f h i s r e p u t a t i o n and s t a t u r e d e r i v e s lives. entirely from t h e f o r c e and power, even t h e a u d a c i t y , o f such an e n t e r p r i s e . To t h a t I should a l s o add t h a t I b e l i e v e a l l works o f l i t e r a t u r e t o be irredeemably engaged, i n t h e i r v a r i o u s d i r e c t and o b l i q u e ways, i n t r a n s f o r m a t i v e p r a c t i c e s o f a s o c i o - v e r b a l k i n d , p r a c t i c e s which f o r e ground, c h a l l e n g e , o r change t h e r o u t i n e o r c o n v e n t i o n a l in p a r t i c u l a r s o c i a l circumstances the t r u t h s o f l i v e d experience. ways i n d i v i d u a l s account f o r , o r r e p r e s e n t i n language, 16 Chapter One: H e a r i n g the d i s s o n a n c e s H i s t o r i c a l o r c o n t e x t u a l c r i t i c i s m , whether m a t e r i a l i s t o r n o t , has been most v u l n e r a b l e i n i t s t r e a t m e n t o f the d i s c r e t e l i t e r a r y text.* Too o f t e n a t e x t has been reduced t o a t h e m a t i c cypher o f p a r t i c u l a r socio-political or psycho-biographical contexts. The t e x t ' s v e r b a l and formal i n t e g r i t i e s have been d i s s o l v e d i n the s e r v i c e o f themes and concepts drawn from h i s t o r y i t s e l f . to In o p p o s i t i o n t o what were thought be r e d u c t i o n i s t o r m o n i s t i c c r i t i c a l p r a c t i c e s , Anglo-American f o r m a l i s m took as i t s p r i m a r y p o l e m i c a l s l o g a n the p r e s e r v a t i o n o f the formal i n t e g r i t y o f "the t e x t i t s e l f . " As the dominant c r i t i c a l prac- t i c e from the l a t e 1940s t o our own day, Anglo-American f o r m a l i s m has been d i f f i c u l t the to r e s i s t . In a d d i t i o n t o the p r a c t i c a l convenience o f p r i n c i p l e o f the autonomous t e x t , i t has d i r e c t e d a s e a r c h i n g and s a r d o n i c c r i t i q u e o f a l l c o n t e x t u a l i s t thought from p h i l o l o g y , b i o g r a p h y , belies lettres, and the h i s t o r y o f i d e a s . But f o r m a l i s m ' s most v i g o r o u s a t t a c k has been r e s e r v e d f o r h i s t o r i c a l m a t e r i a l i s m , m a i n l y i n the form of what has come t o be known as the ' v u l g a r Marxism' o f the 1930s (Jay 1973: 53-56; E a g l e t o n 1977: 11-43; W i l l i a m s 1977: 77-82). A g a i n s t the view o f . 1 i t e r a t u r e as c u l t u r a l p r a c t i c e on the s i m p l e t h e m a t i c and c o n t e n t p l a n e , Anglo-American f o r m a l i s m poses a more s o p h i s t i c a t e d encompassing framework f o r the p r a c t i c e o f c r i t i c i s m . and While the h i s - t o r i c i s t c r i t i c b l a n d l y d i s m a n t l e d a work's unique formal coherence i n an a n a l y s i s o f the work's s o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l c o n t e n t , the f o r m a l i s t , 17; by d i s l o d g i n g t h e t e x t from t h e s o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l t o p r e s e r v e , and thus by t h a t c r i t i c a l move and t h a t move a l o n e g u a r a n t e e , the work's i n t e r n a l e n v i r o n m e n t , seemed integrity, i t s positive structure. T h i s guarantee and t h e c o n f i d e n t a s s e r t i v e n e s s born o f t h e i n s t i t u t i o n a l f o r m a l i s t p r a c t i c e l e d t h e f o r m a l i s t t o take f o r granted triumph o f that i s e n t i r e l y i n t r i n s i c t o t h e t e x t , t h a t a work o f l i t e r a t u r e 'meaning' 'contains' meaning i n t h e same way t h a t a jam j a r ' c o n t a i n s ' t h e s t r a w b e r r y jam. The practice that meaning, i f s t r i c t l y would have developed from such an o r i e n t a t i o n t o a p p l i e d , would have produced a c r i t i c i s m so c i r c u m - s p e c t , t h i n , and i r r e l e v a n t t h a t i t would have d i s a p p e a r e d without a t r a c e l o n g ago. dominant c r i t i c a l Anglo-American f o r m a l i s m from view has made i t s e l f the p r a c t i c e o f t h e l a s t f o r t y y e a r s by i g n o r i n g i n i t s p r a c t i c e i t s own f i r s t p r i n c i p l e s , by i g n o r i n g i t s own assumptions (Michaels 1980: 418-419). While o p e n l y and e x p l i c i t l y a r g u i n g f o r the autonomy o f t h e t e x t , t h a t a poem, i n E l i o t ' s famous p h r a s e , i s "a poem and not a n o t h e r t h i n g , " t h e a c t u a l c r i t i c a l been as t h o r o u g h l y contextual a c t i v i t y o f f o r m a l i s m has as any o t h e r c r i t i c a l p r a c t i c e , but i t s 3 c o n t e x t u a l i z i n g has been u s u a l l y s i l e n t and hidden from view. This c o n t r a d i c t o r y p r a c t i c e , w h i c h , on t h e one hand, postponed (when i t d i d n ' t vehemently deny) a l l c o n t e x t u a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n s , w h i l e , on t h e o t h e r hand, i n f o r m a l l y drew them i n t o t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i v e p r o c e s s , was p o s s i b l e o n l y i n t h e i d e o l o g i c a l h a l l o f m i r r o r s t h a t has c h a r a c t e r i z e d l i f e , East and West, d u r i n g t h e C o l d War. intellectual Yet f o r m a l i s t s were not com- p l e t e l y deaf t o c o n t e x t ; a f t e r a l l , i n a c t u a l p r a c t i c e not a l l ' t e n s i o n ' or 'ambiguity' i n a t e x t c o u l d be ' r e s o l v e d ' i n t h e l a s t i n s t a n c e by r e f e r e n c e t o some s t r e n u o u s l y s t i p u l a t e d formal 'paradox' (Burgum 1951: 18 31-48). They needed some thoroughly dehistoricized contextual c r i t i c a l concept in order to surmount the obvious philosophical ineptitude and naivete of the assumption entirely that meaning i s e n t i r e l y positive and intrinsic, 'given' by the sign, and that the utterer gets meaning into an utterance by choosing the word that puts i t there (Nowottny 1968: Formalism 152). needed a way of opening the text towards i t s relevant social and p o l i t i c a l contexts, contexts that are c l e a r l y determinative at some level of a work's content and form, while at the same time seeming not to. In short, what was required was a critical idea that did not collapse the work's formal and verbal i n t e g r i t y in the 'corrosive' contingencies of real history while yet, s i l e n t l y , establishing the work's r e l a t i o n to the world. That category i s 'tone . 1 With the concept of tone, treated as i f i t were a purely formal category and occasionally thought of as a 'device', the problem of the l i t e r a r y work's external relations could be "safely" approached. Although other favoured formal c a t e g o r i e s — t e n s i o n , paradox, image pattern, ambiguity, and so on--were openly discussed and developed as critical instruments,. tone, though used continuously, consciously, and productively for interpretation, was explored as a concept. l e f t largely undefined and un- Clearly, however, from the use to which the 4 notion was put, tone represented perhaps the most important, unacknowl- edged, formalist category for getting at 'meaning'. One could spend a great deal of time scrupulously laying bare the positive structure or formal patterns of a work, but to get at what i t a l l meant in the l a s t instance required a conceptual leap that could not be managed within the naive, unidimensional positivism that formalist practice seemed to i n s i s t 19; upon. Tone f u n c t i o n e d i n p r a c t i c a l c r i t i c i s m as t h e most comprehensive semantic f e a t u r e o f a t e x t , a c c o u n t i n g f o r a l l t h a t r e s i d u e o f s i g n i f i c a t i o n which i n t r i n s i c a n a l y s e s c o u l d n o t name, because so much o f what a work means depends on a r e a d e r ' s c l o s e awareness o f t h e s o c i o - c u l t u r a l c o n t e x t s which encompass and r a t i f y t h e work. as a c r i t i c a l The n o t i o n o f tone itself i n s t r u m e n t , o r as an aspect o f meaning, o r as a c e r t a i n i n t e r p r e t a b l e output o f the a c t i v i t y o f the t e x t i n a p a r t i c u l a r environment was r a r e l y broached. semantic Tone was i n v o k e d i n o r d e r t o l i n k , s u b c r i t i c a l l y , a t e x t ' s t o t a l meaning t o t h e semantic u n i v e r s e which members o f a s o c i e t y c a r r y around i n t h e i r heads, a complex l i n k a g e t h a t went 'without s a y i n g ' because supposedly it. The inability a l l c o u l d hear i t and a c t upon t o .'hear' t h e t o n e , o r t o make t h e proper i n f e r e n c e s about a work's t o n e , was put down as a d e f e c t o f s e n s i b i l i t y , as an i n a b i l i t y t o master t h e r e f i n e m e n t s and d i s c r i m i n a t i o n s o f an a c h i e v e d civilization ( R i c h a r d s 1924, 1959: 62; L e a v i s 1943, 1965: 143-171). Tone was t r e a t e d i m p l i c i t l y as t h e s t a t i c , i n t r i n s i c p r o j e c t i o n s o f c e r t a i n a t t i t u d e s towards audience and e x t r i n s i c themes, r a t h e r than as t h e placing a c t i v i t y o f t h e t e x t w i t h i n a s p e c i f i c community. Tone, read as an i n t u i t i v e l y r e c o g n i z e d d i s t i n c t i v e f e a t u r e o f i n t r i n s i c meaning, was i g n o r e d as a r a t i o n a l c a t e g o r y o f a n a l y s i s , whose s t r u c t u r e gave l i m i t e d access t o t h e c o n c r e t e r e l a t i o n s o f t e x t and w o r l d . T h i s study argues t h a t t h e concept o f t o n e , as used i n f o r m a l i s t c r i t i c i s m , cannot by i t s e l f c a p t u r e t h e r i c h n e s s and c o m p l e x i t y o f t h e w o r l d t o which poems r i c h l y and c o m p l e x l y r e f e r . o f tone would r e q u i r e an expanded d e f i n i t i o n . saying that formalism i s a c r i t i c a l To do t h a t , t h e concept More g e n e r a l l y , I am t r a d i t i o n t h a t has c o n c e n t r a t e d 20 so much a t t e n t i o n on t h e t e x t i t s e l f , d e v e l o p i n g a h i g h l y s o p h i s t i c a t e d grasp o f t h e i n t e r n a l workings o f t h e t e x t , t h a t i t has a l l o w e d i t s sense o f t h e w o r l d beyond t h e t e x t t o a t r o p h y ; i n d e e d , i n t h e hyperf o r m a l i s m o f contemporary d e c o n s t r u c t i o n , t h e 'world' has s i m p l y d i s appeared as a t e x t u a l r e f e r e n t . The concept s i m p l y an acknowledgement i n f o r m a l i s m t h a t between t e x t and w o r l d . I will of tone, i n s h o r t , i s some relationship be a r g u i n g t h a t a simple exists acknowledgement o f t h a t r e l a t i o n s h i p , n o r m a l l y i m p r e s s i o n i s t i c a l l y conveyed, i s not enough t o do j u s t i c e t o t h e t e x t as a s i g n i f y i n g p r a c t i c e w i t h i n a particular socio-historical reality. Formalism's r e l u c t a n c e t o i n v e s t i - gate t h e t e x t i n t h e w o r l d l e d t o a now wel1-documented form o f c r i t i c a l blindness. T h i s b l i n d n e s s was t a c t i c a l l y c r u c i a l i n t h e 1920s and 1930s when t h e new c r i t i c i s m was d e v e l o p i n g i t s a s s a u l t on a v a r i e t y o f c l u m s i l y and d e t e r m i n i s t i c a l l y a p p l i e d forms o f c o n t e x t u a l c r i t i c i s m . that p o l i t i c a l moment has passed However, and t h e accompanying b l i n d n e s s t o c o n t e x t i s now a l i a b i l i t y and r e q u i r e s a thorough re-assessment. L i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m needs t o develop a grasp o f t h e w o r l d - - o r a t l e a s t o f t h e common i n t u i t i v e l i f e o f a people w i t h i n a p a r t i c u l a r reality—at social l e a s t as s o p h i s t i c a t e d , d e t a i l e d , and c o n c r e t e as i t s grasp o f t h e i n n e r workings o f the t e x t i t s e l f . Later i n t h i s chapter I a n a l y z e some comments by F. R. L e a v i s about E l i o t ' s "Burnt Norton" i n o r d e r t o show t h e r e s u l t o f t h e a t r o p h y i n g o f a c r i t i c a l l y understanding o f t h e n a t u r e and p r o c e s s e s o f s o c i a l as t h e common i n t u i t i v e l i f e o f a community. reality relevant inscribed My c h o i c e here i s somewhat i r o n i c , i n t h a t t h e e a r l y E l i o t was one o f t h e more profound i n f l u e n c e s on L e a v i s 1 own c r i t i c a l development. However, by t h e time L e a v i s came 2(1 to w r i t e h i s p i e c e on "Burnt N o r t o n " i n the 1940s, E l i o t had transformed i n h i s own critical long p r a c t i c e the p r i n c i p l e s w i t h which had been i d e n t i f i e d i n the 1920s. And he t o t h a t e a r l i e r p e r i o d I now In the mythology o f Anglo-American f o r m a l i s m i t was turn. T. S. E l i o t on French models, f i r s t thought and p r a c t i c e d what seemed to be the p r i n c i p l e s o f the In h i s e a r l y c r i t i c a l 'new criticism'. r e v i e w s , and e s p e c i a l l y the group c o l l e c t e d i n The sacred essays who, ruling and (1920), mod E l i o t seemed bent on r e s c u i n g l i t e r a t u r e , l i t e r a r y and c r i t i c a l from the hands o f l i t e r a r y gentlemen-amateurs ( E a g l e t o n 1977: work, 1 2 ) , whose d e v o t i o n t o the p a r t i c u l a r v a l u e s o f a s o c i a l c l a s s and t o the r e i g n i n g commonplaces o f n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y Gladstonian l i t e r a r y o b j e c t by making i t , when a l l was l i b e r a l i s m obscured s a i d and done, s i m p l y i n s t a n c e , e i t h e r f o r good o r e v i l , o f the m e l i o r i s t t h e m a t i c s "Whig i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f h i s t o r y " ( B u t t e r f i e l d 1931, nineteenth-century 1968: r e c e p t i o n o f John M i l t o n i s o f course of the an the 45-46). The the famous case i n p o i n t , whereby M i l t o n i s r e c r u i t e d by Macaulay as a p r o t a g o n i s t o f all t h a t was p r o g r e s s i v e , P r o t e s t a n t , and liberal i n the c e n t u r y , thus p r e f i g u r i n g the e q u i p o i s e , o f the n i n e t e e n t h 64-71). seventeenth (Weimann E l i o t ' s i n s i s t e n c e t h a t a work o f a r t c o u l d not be understood o r e v a l u a t e d 1976: adequately i f i t were s i m p l y v a n d a l i z e d f o r the Whig t r e a - sures i t harboured, w h i c h , f o r the g e n t l e m a n - c r i t i c , both a u t h e n t i c a t e d the work's e x c e l l e n c e and the c o r r e c t n e s s o f the c r i t i c ' s s o c i a l g i a n c e s , was affront. alle- o f f e r e d t o Edwardian and Georgian l i t e r a r y London as A g a i n s t the l i b e r a l l i t e r a r y amateur E l i o t developed an the g l a c i a l persona o f the p r o f e s s i o n a l c r i t i c and the i d e a o f a more o b j e c t i v e , text-based critical method t h a t took as i t s p o i n t o f d e p a r t u r e the 22 w o r k as a work o f literature o t h e r works w i t h which i t wood and e l s e w h e r e sufficiency that "and not a n o t h e r t h i n g , " has affinities. literary a theoretically comparable o n l y Hinting in The s o u n d , c o n c e p t u a l , and c o u l d be c o n s t r u c t e d t o make l i t e r a r y to Sacred logical c r i t i c i s m something more t h a n t h e e x t r a c u r r i c u l a r m u s i n g s - i n - t h e - 1 i b r a r y o f a man w h o , as 5 part of the Eliot that persona, pretended developed in his early years a style s h a r p l y and v i v i d l y cism i n late have not p e r c e i v e d literary that t h e norm a g a i n s t w h i c h E l i o t ' s and p o l e m i c a l l y a i m e d i s Edmund G o s s e , a n d t h e o t h e r s sacred early literary and t h e wood s h a p e and t h r u s t operate. o f the The f e i n t sharpness o f tongue which literary sees t h r o u g h a t e x t to r u l i n g concepts i n s i s t e d on t h e t e x t ' s and s t y l e autonomy, liberal its analysis he d e v o t e d of the only centrally system i n have had a poem was of their to reading, extra-literary meliorism, If i t was p r i m a r i l y b e c a u s e J o h n 'higher' literary The t r a d i t i o n of o f h i s own c r i t i c i s m . i m p e r s o n a l i t y of the a u t h o r , if is and s t y l e introduced i t he i n s i s t e d on t h e sonality; it gener- L y n d , E d w a r d Dowden, towards subordinacy to Lynd assumed t h a t criti- future w o r k was thematics assumed t h e t e x t ' s Robert If community i n w h i c h E l i o t d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h the namely r e a d i n g t h a t shaped the criticism. from the Eliot's Robert assertiveness literary contrast, critical do, no l o n g e r h e l p c o n s t i t u t e a c o h e r e n t c u l t u r e w h i c h makes s e n s e , n e g a t i v e l y , Eliot's culture. vivid early no l o n g e r r e a d . to of propositional c o n t r a s t e d w i t h what p a s s e d f o r V i c t o r i a n and E d w a r d i a n ations of c r i t i c s because he had more momentous t h i n g s he Morley non-literary destinies; it was p r i m a r i l y because s i m p l y a r e f l e x o f an a u t h o r ' s c o n s i d e r a b l e space t o t h e c l o s e and l a n g u a g e o f a poem o r d r a m a t i c speech, if per- subtle i t was primarily 23 because Edward Dowden quoted passages from poems as ornamental f o r h i s own d i f f u s e r a m b l i n g s about p s y c h o l o g y ; judgements i n t h e form highlights i f he c a s t h i s p l a c i n g o f p h i l o s o p h i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s marked by a t r a i n e d p h i l o s o p h e r ' s t a c t f o r d i s c r i m i n a t i v e d e l i c a c y , i t was p r i m a r i l y because Edmund Gosse wallowed i n f e c k l e s s and i r r a t i o n a l impressionism. With the d i s s o l u t i o n o f t h e Edwardian l i t e r a r y w o r l d i n t h e a p o c a l y p s e o f the Great War (Grubb 1965: 73-96), E l i o t ' s work was s u d d e n l y , almost c a t a s t r o p h i c a l l y , s t r i p p e d o f t h e c o n t e x t t h a t had determined themes. As a r e a c t i o n a g a i n s t t h e n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y Whig i t s s t y l e and world-view grew a f t e r World War One, E l i o t soon became a p r i s o n e r o f h i s own s l o g a n s , a p r i s o n e r o f h i s own r o l e i n h e l p i n g t o d i s p l a c e and l i q u i d a t e a l i t e r a r y scene. The And I . A. R i c h a r d s was h i s f i r s t g a o l e r . s t o r y o f I . A. R i c h a r d s ' h e r o i c attempts to systematize (or 'engineer' t o use h i s f a v o u r i t e metaphor [ R i c h a r d s 1919, 1946: 1 7 9 ] ) , h i s own i n v e s t i g a t i o n s i n a e s t h e t i c s , t h e t h e o r y o f c o g n i t i o n , t h e psychology o f p e r c e p t i o n , and E l i o t ' s c o n f i d e n t a s s e r t i o n s about how a s e r i o u s , p r o f e s s i o n a l l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m ought t o be done has been many times and I don't want t o go over w e l l - t i l l e d f i e l d s 362-403; Watson 1973: 186-192). cleansed E l i o t ' s critical they were launched attempt (1929). (Lodge 1970: To a l a r g e e x t e n t , i t was R i c h a r d s who m i s s i l e s o f t h e p o l e m i c a l c o n t e x t s i n which and took t h e s e t o f p r o p o s i t i o n s t h a t seemed t o u n d e r l y them as autonomous concepts c o u l d be b u i l t . told on which a t h e o r y and p r a c t i c e o f c r i t i c i s m He went about doing t h i s to s t i p u l a t e a productive c r i t i c a l i n h i s f i r s t and most theory, practical important criticism The f a c t t h a t E l i o t , as t h e y e a r s and the l i t e r a r y c u l t u r e which had provoked h i s e a r l y c e s s a y s passed i n t o t h e d u s t b i n o f h i s t o r y , came 24 to i g n o r e more and more h i s own c r i t i c a l 'principles' (Hynes 1977: 66) never seemed t o worry R i c h a r d s e x c e s s i v e l y , though i t l e d some l i k e F. W. Bateson i n t o cranky c h a g r i n (1977: 7-8). But as a consequence o f R i c h a r d s ' e f f o r t s and t h e e f f o r t s o f o t h e r s who took from E l i o t , o r R i c h a r d s , o r b o t h , a s i m i l a r n e c e s s i t y , E l i o t found h i s name s h a c k l e d to t h e o r i e s o f l i t e r a t u r e , a u t h o r s h i p , and c r i t i c i s m t h a t he spent a good deal o f h i s l a t e r c a r e e r s h a k i n g o f f . T h i s was o f t e n put down as the m a g i s t e r i a l q u i x o t i c i s m o f a man whose judgement had s u b s i d e d among high A n g l i c a n s . I t was on t h i s ambiguous ground t h a t t h e 'new c r i t i c i s m ' , o r what I c a l l Anglo-American f o r m a l i s m , r a i s e d i t s b a t t l e standard a g a i n s t t h e p h i l o l o g i s t s , h i s t o r i a n s o f i d e a s , b i o g r a p h e r s , e t c . who crowded t h e academic p r e c i n c t s where ' E n g l i s h l i t e r a t u r e b e i n g taught criticism for i n e a r n e s t i n t h e 1920s and 1930s. (1929, 1946) p r o v i d e d a c o n c e p t u a l that struggle. 1 Richards' was f i r s t Practical framework and v o c a b u l a r y I t was t h e r e t h a t t h e n o t i o n o f 'tone' as a c r i t i c a l i n s t r u m e n t was f i r s t proposed and d e f i n e d . I t was one o f R i c h a r d s ' "four a s p e c t s " o f meaning, a s p e c t s t h a t needed i n t e r p r e t a t i o n and a n a l y s i s i f the c r i t i c were t o r e c u p e r a t e t h e " T o t a l Meaning" o f an u t t e r a n c e , p o e t i c o r q u o t i d i a n (180-181). Sense, F e e l i n g , I n t e n t i o n , and Tone were t h e f o u r " b i l l i a r d - b a l l s " t h e r e a d e r , as j u g g l e r , kept i n t h e a i r w h i l e b a l a n c i n g t h e c u e . o f T o t a l Meaning on h i s nose (180). as t h e speaker's "attitude to his Tone was d e f i n e d listener." The speaker chooses o r arranges h i s words d i f f e r e n t l y as h i s audience v a r i e s , i n automatic o r d e l i b e r a t e recognition of his relation to them. The tone o f h i s u t t e r a n c e r e f l e c t s h i s awareness o f t h i s r e l a t i o n , h i s sense o f how he stands towards those he i s 25 a d d r e s s i n g . Again t h e e x c e p t i o n a l case o f d i s s i m u l a t i o n , o r i n s t a n c e s i n which t h e speaker u n w i t t i n g l y r e v e a l s an a t t i t u d e he i s not c o n s c i o u s l y d e s i r o u s o f e x p r e s s i n g , w i l l come t o mind. (182, R i c h a r d s ' emphasis) T h i s a s p e c t o f meaning f u n c t i o n e d w i t h t h e t h r e e o t h e r s i n complete interdependence i n a meaningful utterance; a p e r f e c t understanding o f such an u t t e r a n c e "would i n v o l v e not o n l y an a c c u r a t e d i r e c t i o n o f thought, a c o r r e c t e v o c a t i o n o f f e e l i n g , an e x a c t apprehension o f time and a p r e c i s e r e c o g n i t i o n o f i n t e n t i o n , but f u r t h e r i t would g e t these c o n t r i b u t o r y meanings i n t h e i r r i g h t o r d e r and p r o p o r t i o n t o one a n o t h e r , and s e i z e . . . t h e i r sequences and i n t e r r e l a t i o n s . " F o r the v a l u e o f a passage, R i c h a r d s a s s e r t e d , " f r e q u e n t l y hangs upon t h i s internal among i t s c o n t r i b u t o r y meanings" (332, R i c h a r d s ' emphasis). order The emphasis on i n t e r n a l o r d e r , p r o p o r t i o n , and sequence was a c h a r a c t e r i s t i c theme i n the 'new c r i t i c i s m ' . Not s u r p r i s i n g l y , R i c h a r d s d i d not rush t o e s t a b l i s h , e x p l i c i t l y , t h e c o n t i n u i t y o f h i s work w i t h t h e a n c i e n t r h e t o r i c a l tradi- t i o n , f o r i t i s c l e a r now t h a t w i t h o u t changing t h e o v e r a l l framework o f a n a l y s i s , w i t h o u t r e c o n s t i t u t i n g t h e o b j e c t o f s t u d y , namely p u t t i n g t h e l i t e r a r y t e x t on a new b a s i s , R i c h a r d s r e t h o u g h t components o f t h e t e x t as c o n c e i v e d oricians. and renamed t h e i n t e r n a l and c o n s t i t u t e d by t h e a n c i e n t r h e t - I say 'not s u r p r i s i n g l y ' because R i c h a r d s ' own work, l i k e E l i o t ' s i n t h e London c o n t e x t , was w r i t t e n w i t h i n a h i g h l y charged p o l e m i c a l c o n t e x t i n t h e E n g l i s h u n i v e r s i t y community i n t h e 1920s (Lodge 1970: 3 6 6 ) . garde o f i t s day. Practical Criticism represented the c r i t i c a l I t announced t h e younger g e n e r a t i o n ' s a d e c i s i v e break w i t h t h e a n c i e n t c r i t i c a l avant- attempt t o make t r a d i t i o n stemming from 26 Aristotle's and h i s Poetics i n t h e Western c r i t i c a l schools a t r a d i t i o n w i t h an ample draw Rhetoric, c o n s c i o u s n e s s and a t r a d i t i o n t h a t i n t h e new and departments o f E n g l i s h a t t h e U n i v e r s i t i e s r e p r e s e n t e d t h e heavy o r t h o d o x y o f t h e c l a s s i c i s t s who took t h e new c h a i r s and l e c t u r e s h i p s (Lodge 1970': 367, 375). practical ate a t t e m p t , based on t h e l a t e s t r e s e a r c h t o found a modern c r i t i c a l passionate doxy. challenge was both a d i s p a s s i o n - Criticism i n a e s t h e t i c s and p s y c h o l o g y , p r a c t i c e on a n o n - r h e t o r i c a l b a s i s and a t o t h e preponderence o f c l a s s i c i s t c r i t i c a l The s t u d e n t p r o t o c o l s on which R i c h a r d s ' ortho- book opened p r o v i d e d a data base f o r t h e t h e o r i z i n g t h a t f o l l o w e d and a c l e a r rebuke t o t h e softheadedness o f t h e p r a c t i t i o n e r s o f t h e o l d methods. ends, i n t h e f i n a l Indeed t h e book s e c t i o n o f h i s "Summary," d i r e c t l y a d d r e s s i n g t h e issue o f the teaching of c r i t i c a l p r a c t i c e i n the English schools on t h e new b a s i s proposed. By p e e l i n g o f f t h e r h e t o r i c a l t r a d i t i o n from t h e s k i n o f the l i t e r a r y t e x t , an e m a n c i p a t o r y e n t e r p r i s e i n t h e i n s t i t u t i o n a l worked, R i c h a r d s nevertheless t h a t had p e r m i t t e d c o n t e x t where he a l s o s t r i p p e d back t h e c r i t i c a l perspective t h e t h i n k i n g , i n i t s own l i m i t e d way, o f the r e l a t i o n o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l t e x t t o i t s a c t i v e s o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l R h e t o r i c a l a n a l y s i s not o n l y c o n c e p t u a l i z e d contexts. the i n t e r n a l o r g a n i z a t i o n o f a work, but i t a l s o helped s t a b i l i z e t h e r e l a t i o n o f t e x t and a u d i e n c e , t e x t and w o r l d . ^ Richards conceptual By r e t h i n k i n g t h e " i n t e r n a l o r d e r " o f the t e x t , hoped t h e weakly d i s c r i m i n a t e d n o t i o n o f tone would do t h e work o f a s t r o n g l y d i s c r i m i n a t e d two-thousand-year t r a d i t i o n Q o f d e a l i n g w i t h a work's e x t e r n a l r e l a t i o n s . R i c h a r d s , o f c o u r s e , was o n l y c o m p l e t i n g t h e work o f r o m a n t i c i s m . The complex r e l a t i o n s h i p s l i n k i n g w r i t e r and a u d i e n c e , w r i t e r and course (as genre and mode), w r i t e r and the dominant dis- ideology of his or her time were a l l r e t h o u g h t i n r o m a n t i c i s m i n the c o n t e x t o f the i n v e n t i o n of the m e t a p h y s i c s o f B e i n g i n German i d e a l i s m , the accompanying nomenology o f p r e s e n c e , and the new a u t h o r i t y o f v o i c e and (Wordsworth phe- speech^ 1815, 1939: 935; C o l e r i d g e 1817, 1962: 221 f f . ) . attempted w i t h o u t r e c o u r s e t o the whole system o f c l a s s i c a l T h i s was rhetoric t h a t b e f o r e r o m a n t i c i s m c o n t r o l l e d t h e s e r e l a t i o n s h i p s i n a system o f ' d e v i c e s ' , g e n r e s , modes, and r u l e s o f decorum t h a t e n c l o s e d the p l a y o f meaning w i t h i n a g i v e n o r d e r ( F o u c a u l t , 1973: 51-76). That earlier o r d e r came t o be s e c l u d e d and d i s p l a c e d i n the l a t t e r p a r t o f the e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y ( V i c k e r s 1970: 58-60). In t h a t c r i t i c a l moment, the ' d e v i c e s ' , modes, e t c . were suddenly seen t o have e p i s t e m o l o g i c a l s i o n s ; o r , t o put i t a n o t h e r way, certain epistemological dimen- inferences c o u l d be made from t h e p l a y o f metaphor and s i m i l e which c l a s s i c a l rhetorical t h e o r y , and the c u l t u r e which s u s t a i n e d i t , c o u l d not formu- l a t e i n terms o f a t h e o r y o f knowledge. The p l a y o f metaphor (one might even say the r o l e o f metaphor), f o r example, t h a t d o u b l i n g o f p l a i n sense so f a m i l i a r t o us from c l a s s i c a l and Renaissance l i t e r a t u r e , was then emblematic o f c o s m o l o g i c a l s t r u c t u r e , emblematic, as we have a l l been t a u g h t , o f the r e l a t i o n o f w o r l d t o cosmos and man t o God. By and through r o m a n t i c i s m , however, such metaphoric d o u b l i n g breached c o n s c i o u s n e s s i t s e l f i n the d i r e c t i o n o f i t s deepest r a t i o n a l i t i e s and i n the a t t e n d i n g c o n d e n s a t i o n s o f s e l f and i n d i v i d u a l i t y which the philosophical made p o s s i b l e . new language o f c o n s c i o u s n e s s , i d e a l i s t and p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l , Thus, the D major sonata f o r c e l l o and piano d i r e c t e d 28 a t t e n t i o n towards Beethoven h i m s e l f r a t h e r than t o some a u t h e n t i c a t i n g , extra-personal cosmology,** r e q u i r i n g o n l y the d i s c o v e r y o f p s y c h o l o g i c a l space t o b r i n g i n t o p l a y the new c r i t i c a l , d e s c r i p t i v e b i n a r i e s and themes. In t h i s movement o f t h o u g h t , the r h e t o r i c a l transformed system, r e f i n e d and o v e r two m i l l e n i a , c o u l d no l o n g e r s e r v e as the unsurpassed encompassing framework or space o f l i t e r a t u r e . modern c o n c e p t i o n (Abrams 1971: of 'consciousness 227) o f s i m i l i t u d e and 1 The development o f as the s p e c i e s ' access the to Nature d e f l e c t e d the p l a y o f meaning away from the c l o s u r e s resemblance ( F o u c a u l t 1973: can b e s t be glimpsed s i m i l e and metaphor. 238-240). This d i f f e r e n c e i n the f a t e o f the c e n t r a l r h e t o r i c a l W i t h i n the r h e t o r i c a l tropes- system, they r e f l e c t a w o r l d always a l r e a d y i n p l a c e p r i o r t o the a c t i v i t y o f i t s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n language. Metaphor rethought as an e x p l o r a t i o n o f consciousness-in-the- w o r l d generates meaning i n the a c t i v i t y o f w r i t i n g i t s e l f 144-145). C o l e r i d g e might begin f e i n t (Langbaum 1963: (Stone " F r o s t a t M i d n i g h t " w i t h what seems a 45-46) towards metaphor: "The F r o s t performs i t s s e c r e t m i n i s t r y , / Unhelped by any wind . . ." ( l i n e s 1-2); the poem's end, the systematic however, by 'metaphor' o f the f r o s t ' s m i n i s t e r i n g has named no s i m i l i t u d e , b u t , through t o n e - l e a d i n g , generated a sequence of contiguous o f mind. 1967: t o n a l zones which i n sum make p a l p a b l e an e v o l v i n g s t a t e The m i n i s t e r i n g f r o s t i s not the metaphor s t r i c t l y speaking so much as the o c c a s i o n , the s i t e , i n f a c t , where c o n s c i o u s n e s s c l o s e s t t o s e n s i n g i t s own sense t o i t s e l f : substance and r e p r e s e n t i n g t h a t new ' " T i s calm indeed! m e d i t a t i o n w i t h i t s s t r a n g e / And comes found so calm t h a t i t d i s t u r b s / And extreme s i l e n t n e s s " (8-10). vexes When the 29: poem rounds back t o t h e c o m p o s i t i o n a l p r e s e n t t e n s e , t h e here and now o f the process o f p e r c e p t i o n , back t o an awareness o f "the s e c r e t m i n i s t r y of f r o s t " ( 7 3 ) , i t i s not a sense o f m e t a p h o r i c a l c l o s i n g w i t h which we're l e f t , but t h e l e t t i n g go, moving out towards t h e f i e l d . Thus, metaphor i s used h e u r i s t i c a l l y t o e x p l o r e c o n s c i o u s n e s s , not t o accommodate e x p e r i e n c e t o some n o t i o n a l g i v e n t o which t h e metaphor r e f e r s . Furthermore, the s t r u c t u r a l i n t e g r i t y o f t h e poem does not f i n a l l y c r y s t a l l i z e u n t i l the e n t i r e syntagmatic chain i s achieved. o v e r t o r c o v e r t i n i t i a t i o n o f some t r a d i t i o n a l overall Without any form, t h e poet a r t i c u l a t e s t h e environment i n which he f i n d s h i m s e l f , i n i t i a l l y as a p a r t i c u l a r , c o n c r e t e p l a c e ( t h e c o t t a g e ) , the s p e c i f i c s o f which q u i c k l y accumulate and m u l t i p l y t h e p l a y o f meaning, and, by f i t s and s t a r t s , a sense o f t h e w h o l e , drawn, i n t h i s i n s t a n c e , p r i m a r i l y from C o l e r i d g e ' s sense o f h i s p a s t , h i s hopes f o r t h e f u t u r e and, i m p l i c i t l y , h i s concept i o n o f Nature as mentor. t h a t sense o f repose These a c c r e t i o n s o f meaning do n o t produce i n a s h a r e d , encompassing cosmology f o r which t h e poem i s now a r a d i a n t metonym; i n s t e a d , t h e poem i n s i s t s on f o r e g r o u n d i n g the process o f i t s a r t i c u l a t i o n , i n o t h e r words, t h e presence o f con- s c i o u s n e s s i t s e l f , and makes a v a i l a b l e t h e h e u r i s t i c drama which sciousness enacts ( R i c h a r d s 1934, 1950: 118-119). The c l o s u r a l o f t h e p l a y o f meaning i n t h e poem o c c u r s as c o n s c i o u s n e s s Nature. conlimit 'contacts' And a l t h o u g h t h e l o o s e l y c i r c u l a r form o f " F r o s t a t M i d n i g h t " g e s t u r e s towards m e t a p h o r i c a l c l o s u r e o f t h e t r a d i t i o n a l sort (which M. H. Abrams s e i z e s upon i n o r d e r t o a p p r o p r i a t e t h e poem as a sub-genre of l y r i c [Abrams 1965: 528, 5 5 0 ] ) , t h e a c t u a l h e u r i s t i c s t r u c t u r e glimpsed i n t h e sudden s h i f t s o f awareness, o f i n t e n s i t y o f f e e l i n g and 3Q shock, makes achieve. a formal openness which C o l e r i d g e cannot y e t f u l l y possible He cannot y e t fully a c h i e v e i t because even amidst t h e d e v e l o p - ment o f a new p o e t i c s C o l e r i d g e f e l t t h e i n e r t i a l drag o f t h e f o r m a l , e s p e c i a l l y c l o s u r a l , i m p e r a t i v e s e x e r t e d by t h e d o c t r i n e o f genre and mode. The c l a s s i c a l o r d e r o f t h i n g s i n s i s t e d on a poem's mimetic nature-- the poem as an i m i t a t i o n o f a N a t u r a l o r d e r , an o r d e r c u l m i n a t i n g i n a comprehensive and knowable cosmology. A poem's coherences were program- m a t i c , i n t h e sense t h a t they were s a n c t i o n e d by t h e p r i o r and a b s o l u t e coherences o f t h e cosmology. The poem's whole f i n a l form came i n t o being from t h e opening word as a c o n t r a c t e d debt p r o g r e s s i v e l y and i n e v i t a b l y amortized. A poem l i k e M i l t o n ' s " L y c i d a s " d e f a u l t s on t h e d e b t , l e a v i n g a structural 1961: 'residue 64-81). 1 which cannot be made sense o f g e n e r i c a l l y (Ransom That ' r e s i d u e ' can o n l y be i n t e r p r e t e d when t h e poem i s no l o n g e r seen s i m p l y as an e p i s o d e i n the i n t e r n a l l i f e o f a genre, but r e - i n s e r t e d i n t h e c o n c r e t e h i s t o r y t o which t h e poem's t o n a l s t r u c t u r e g i v e s us a c c e s s , not s i m p l y as a way o f f i n d i n g i n t h e poem a c t u a l r e f erences t o 'events' but i n t h e way c o n c r e t e h i s t o r y , t w i s t s and makes over t h e form o f t h e e l e g y as a f u n c t i o n o f M i l t o n ' s to attitudes use R i c h a r d s ' d e f i n i t i o n , t h e p a r t i c u l a r s o f t h a t h i s t o r y . towards, In o t h e r words, t h e c l a s s i c a l view o f genre does not d i s c r i m i n a t e between ' p a s t o r a l e l e g y ' and ' p a s t o r a l e l e g y w r i t t e n i n a p e r i o d o f heavy e p i s c o p a l ship" (Hill censor- 1977: 50-51). I f t h e c l a s s i c a l mode o f r e p r e s e n t a t i o n l i m i t e d t h e h e u r i s t i c p o s s i b i l i t i e s o f metaphor, i t had a l s o e n c l o s e d t h e n o t i o n o f ' v o i c e ' i n poetry w i t h i n the rule-governed semantics o f genre and decorum. In 305 romanticism, t h i s c a t e g o r i c a l l i m i t a t i o n gave way t o a sudden d i l a t i o n o f the p o s s i b i l i t i e s o f s i g n i f i c a t i o n when, w i t h the a c c e s s i o n o f new metaphysics o f c o n s c i o u s n e s s v a r i o u s ways as the q u i n t e s s e n c e the a r t i c u l a t e d by Kant and Hegel i n t h e i r o f the human, ' v o i c e ' was rethought as the s i g n o f the presence o f i n d i v i d u a t e d Being r a t h e r than as the s i g n o f an a l l e g i a n c e t o a p a r t i c u l a r c o r p o r a t e o r d e r l i n e s s . Indeed, the m u l t i p l i c a t i o n o f v o i c e s i n Rameau's nephew i s p e r c e i v e d by h i s i n t e r l o c u t o r as the s i g n o f derangement ( D i d e r o t 1761, 1966: 103-104). The 'music' o f these v o i c e s i s cacophonous and the opera the nephew performs singlehandedly s i m p l y b e w i l d e r i n g ( c f . A l 1 d r i t t 1978: o f the 1760s, we call 1971: 3-4). 'tone' was In t h i s t e x t are p o i s e d at one o f the moments when the n o t i o n o f r h e t o r i c i s encompassed i r r e t r i e v a b l y by the romantic (Barthes 53). The c o n t r o l o f what R i c h a r d s and idea of s t y l e E l i o t would no l o n g e r r a t i f i e d by an a b s o l u t e s i g n i f i e d later (a r e i g n i n g cosmology) t h r o u g h g e n e r i c and modal c a t e g o r i e s ; c o n t r o l d e r i v e d from a newly p r i v i l e g e d inwardness and a u t h o r i t y t i e d t o the power, e x p r e s s i o n , and presence o f s o l i t a r y i n d i v i d u a l s . 'Tone' was thematized i n roman- t i c i s m through the semantics o f s i n c e r i t y and a u t h e n t i c i t y ( T r i l l i n g 1972: 92-100). E l i o t ' s e a r l y work, i n f l u e n c e d by French models, a t t e n d e d funeral of s i n c e r i t y . 'Tone , as a c r i t i c a l 1 w i t h the derangement o f the romantic the c a t e g o r y , came i n t o view complex o f i d e a s , o f s e l f , a u t h o r i t y , e x p r e s s i o n , and a u t h e n t i c i t y , the c o l l a p s e o f the autonomous s u b j e c t as a b s o l u t e s i g n i f i e d , a c o l l a p s e t h a t breaks over the e a r l y poems, up t o "Ash Wednesday." church In t h a t key t e x t , E l i o t acknowledges the as the t r a n s c e n d e n t a l s i g n i f i e r of a necessary, historical absolute signified. 32 It i s n e c e s s a r y as t h e g u a r a n t o r o f semantic c l o s u r e and c e n t r e d n e s s , an e x t r a t e x t u a l l i m i t i n g framework t h a t c l o s e s t h e a n a r c h i c meaning and r e f e r e n c e (Margolis play of 1973: 137; Gordon 1977: 132-133). Indeed, such a commitment t o c l o s u r e and u n i t y c o n s t i t u t e s implicitly a s t a b l e " r e a l i t y " beyond t h e t e x t t h a t E l i o t ' s l a t e r work, from "Ash Wednesday" o n , c u l m i n a t i n g This in Four explores Quartets, and r a t i f i e s . " r e a l i t y " coincides i n part f o r E l i o t with the s o c i a l everyday l i f e ; t h e r e l i g i o u s s e t t l e m e n t f u n c t i o n s as an a b s o l u t e "Ash r e a l i t y of t h a t encompasses t h i s "reality" framework t h a t E l i o t t a k e s f o r g r a n t e d a f t e r Wednesday" and i t s guarantees a l l o w E l i o t t o take p a r t i c u l a r a t t i t u d e s towards " r e a l i t y . " These a t t i t u d e s c o n s t i t u t e n o t , as Richards would have i t , a p a r t i c u l a r tone towards " r e a l i t y " as an i n t e r n a l proj e c t i o n o f t h e t e x t , s i m p l y a f e a t u r e o f i t s i n t r i n s i c meaning, but something much more a c t i v e and outward. And i t i s t h e purpose o f t h i s s t u d y t o i n v e s t i g a t e t h e p a r t i c u l a r s o f t h a t a c t i v i t y and t h a t outwardness. F o r tone i s not j u s t s i m p l y a formal category; crudely i n the conceptualizations of formalism, concrete t o a fundamental and r e l a t i o n s h i p between t e x t and w o r l d . Having an contained, attitude personal, towards something i n l i f e i s n o t a s i m p l e , self- i n t e r n a l s t a t e o f mind o r f e e l i n g ; i t i s a s o c i a l p r a c t i c e , and, i f t h a t (in i t points, albeit attitude towards audience o r t h i n g i s i n s c r i b e d a poem, s a y ) , then i t i s a l s o a c u l t u r a l and, p e r h a p s , even a political practice. imaginative E l i o t , I b e l i e v e , came t o r e a l i z e t h i s . His works, l i k e h i s e s s a y s , were c o n c e i v e d and w r i t t e n i n a s p i r i t o f s o c i a l and c u l t u r a l engagement; i n d e e d , I w i l l t o say t h a t t h e i r p r i m a r y purpose was p o l e m i c a l go so f a r as i n the c o n t e x t o f 33 English l i f e i n the f i r s t h a l f o f the t w e n t i e t h will not be l o o k i n g at will become obvious as I p r o c e e d , I would l i k e c h a p t e r with a b r i e f interpretations Four in t h i s Quartets after practical In the c o n t e x t o f t h i s that first formalist how the r i c h l y c r i t i c i s m was not matched, i n by a comparably r i c h and criticism, d e t a i l e d development i n the a n a l y s i s world. to c l o s e t h i s N o r t o n " i n o r d e r to i l l u s t r a t e p r o d u c t i v e development o f an i n t r i n s i c Although I study f o r reasons look at one o f the most i n f l u e n t i a l o f "Burnt the twenty y e a r s century. o f the r e l a t i o n s illustration, between t e x t and I a l s o want to begin p u t t i n g i n p l a c e some i d e a s , drawn from the s o c i o l o g y o f knowledge, t h a t make t h i s that long-delayed c r i t i c a l does j u s t i c e development f i n a l l y both to the i n t r i n s i c might p o s s i b l e i n a way c o m p l e x i t y o f the i n d i v i d u a l t e x t and to the l i v e d d e n s i t i e s o f h i s t o r y . In h i s e a r l i e s t c r i t i q u e of d i s c u s s i o n o f the three poems t h a t D. W. H a r d i n g ' s comment t h a t the a t t r a c t i o n s Four Quartets, F. R. L e a v i s begins h i s had been p u b l i s h e d i n 1942 by e n d o r s i n g the a u t h o r i t y o f "Burnt to thought o f any " g i v e n i n t e l l e c t u a l Norton" l i e s and d o c t r i n a l framework": The g e n i u s , t h a t o f a great p o e t , m a n i f e s t s i t s e l f i n a profound and acute apprehension o f the d i f f i c u l t i e s o f h i s age. Those d i f f i c u l t i e s are such t h a t they c e r t a i n l y cannot be met by any simple r e c o m p o s i t i o n o f t r a d i t i o n a l frames. E l i o t i s known as p r o f e s s i n g A n g l o - C a t h o l i c i s m and c l a s s i c i s m ; but h i s poetry i s remarkable f o r the e x t r a o r d i n a r y r e s o u r c e , p e n e t r a t i o n and stamina w i t h which i t makes i t s e x p l o r a t i o n s i n the c o n c r e t e a c t u a l i t i e s o f e x p e r i e n c e below the conceptual c u r r e n c y ; i n t o t h a t l i f e t h a t must be the raison d'etre o f any f r a m e — w h i l e t h e r e is beyond life at all. With a l l i t s p o s i t i v e a s p i r a t i o n and movement, i t i s at the same time e s s e n t i a l l y a work o f r a d i c a l a n a l y s i s 34 and r e v i s i o n , e n d l e s s l y i n s i s t e n t i n i t s c a r e not t o confuse t h e frame w i t h a l i v i n g r e a l i t y , and h e r o i c i n i t s r e f u s a l to accept. ( L e a v i s 1943, 1965: 103) To a r r i v e here L e a v i s (and Harding b e f o r e him) p e n e t r a t e d to a level of a n a l y s i s which seemed t o r e f l e c t t h e l e v e l a t which t h e poem was being composed, o r t o put i t a n o t h e r way, t h e l e v e l the poem, gathered up i n t o t h e conceptual t o s t r a t a where anterior apparatus of i t s s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l and c u l t u r a l m i l i e u x , might be heard t o be making s i m p l e d o c t r i n a l i n e l u s i v e language. points L e a v i s saw t h e poem's "immediacy" o f e x p e r i e n t i a l c o n t a c t as t h e " e q u i v a l e n t i n p o e t r y o f a work--to do by s t r i c t l y p o e t i c a l means t h e b u s i n e s s o f an e p i s t e m o l o g i c a l and m e t a p h y s i c a l inquiry" (94). We s h o u l d note i n p a s s i n g t h a t L e a v i s ' " l i f e " and " l i v i n g r e a l i t y , " i f these terms have any p r e c i s i o n a t a l l , borrow t h e i r p h i l o s o p h i c a l substance from t h e m e t a p h y s i c s o f Being c r y s t a l l i z e d i n the p e r i o d between Hegel and Max S c h e l e r ( L e a v i s 1932, 1954; 94-95; 1972: 20-21). Indeed, the c h o i c e o f these f o r m u l a t i o n s t o d e s c r i b e t h e e n a b l i n g c o n t e x t o f Eliot's ' i n q u i r y ' i s s i g n i f i c a n t i n a number o f ways. r e a l i t y " are uttered with a confidence hundred-and-fifty-year specific gravity. " L i f e " and " l i v i n g s u s t a i n e d by t h e u n d e r l y i n g one- p h i l o s o p h i c a l t r a d i t i o n t h a t g i v e s them t h e i r Yet., w h i l e they seem t o draw a boundary around some p a r t i c u l a r zone o f o b j e c t i v e r e f e r e n c e , when t h e boundaries o f t h a t zone are a c t u a l l y s o u g h t , they recede l i k e t h e h o r i z o n . of the Quartets, In h i s f i n a l reading p u b l i s h e d i n 1975, L e a v i s , l i v i n g i n a time more s e v e r e l y concerned w i t h d e f i n i t i o n and w i t h the i n t e n t behind t h e use o f such g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s , attempted t o d e v e l o p h i s sense o f t h e a c t u a l i z e d s t r u c t u r e o f E l i o t ' s " r e a l i t y " along a l i n e o f thought suggested by 35 Michael Polanyi 207; L e a v i s , as the t a c i t dimension o f knowledge 1975: 3 9 , 243). thought t h a t p r o v i d e s t h i s It is this latter (Polanyi development i n study w i t h one o f i t s points of the a c t u a l movement from word to word, l i n e structure, proceeds t e n t a t i v e l y of a s s e r t i o n . quality of The e f f e c t structure of E l i o t ' s to l i n e , t h a t i s , 'ambiguity' the poem's ' p o l y s e m y ' , though L e a v i s the p a r t i c u l a r i t y 1 to concrete positive i n an e v i d e n t d i f f i d e n c e and h e s i t a n c y o f t h i s procede, i n the "reality" poem, i t s Leavis w r i t e s , " u n s e i z a b l e n e s s " (1943, 1965: 9 5 ) , a q u a l i t y have c a l l e d Leavis' departure. P u t t i n g to the s i d e f o r the moment the q u e s t i o n o f the which the poem r e f e r s , 1974: 121- is a certain t h a t we might 1950s and 1960s and today might word c a r r i e s , perhaps, a greater o f h i s encounter with the poem. call flavour His a n a l y s i s "Burnt N o r t o n " i s famous f o r i t s and s h i f t s o f thought and f e e l i n g i n the movement, the c o n t i n u o u s n e s s , o f the v e r s e , c a t c h i n g "the He sees t h i s specific.indeterminate f u n d a m e n t a l l y as the to the the opening o f (95). sensitiveness of of s t a t u s o f the e x p e r i e n c e " "complex e f f e c t of a d e - r e a l i z i n g o f the r o u t i n e commonsense world t o g e t h e r with the evoking o f a that is hidden among the u n r e a l i t i e s q u e s t i o n e d , paradoxes i t s e l f . In the . . . " i n t o which l i f e in time, assertiveness reality closely (96). "Burnt N o r t o n " o p e n i n g , the sudden s l i p p a g e , a f t e r propositional pressures o f the f i r s t ten l i n e s , the at But to what purpose D i s t u r b i n g the dust on a bowl o f r o s e - l e a v e s I do not know. (CP 189) a n d , superadded, the a t t e n d a n t stays are p u l l e d , anxiety of s l i p p i n g f u r t h e r , i n t o a more r a d i c a l rupture, a f e l t once anxiety, the figured 36 even i n the l i n e a t i o n , t h a t g i v e s the word " D i s t u r b i n g " i t s menacing n o t e , is marvellously conveyed by L e a v i s faintly as a "sudden drop to another p l a n e , to a d i s t a n c i n g comment, t h a t b r i n g s out by c o n t r a s t the immediacy o f what goes b e f o r e , w h i l e at the same time c o n t r i b u t i n g to the sensuous p r e s e n t a t i o n o f the whole" of the whole" (96). The "sensuous p r e s e n t a t i o n i s n e g o t i a t e d by the s p a t i a l i z i n g a c t i o n o f the "sudden d r o p , " the r e s u l t o f a p r o g r e s s i v e widening o f the d i s c o u r s e o f p h i l o s o p h y , a s p e c u l a t i o n inaugurated by " F o o t f a l l s fully achieved echo . . . " i c o n i c space--the garden--"our f i r s t w o r l d . " becomes the a b s t r a c t s i t e where c e r t a i n condense as the r e s u l t o f the s p e c i a l states It is widening, f i n a l l y of p e r c e p t i o n , revery 'takes' preternatural real, not to an a r t i f i c i a l To put i t baldly, it however, i n t o the t r u t h o f E l i o t ' s ciation for their interim"ttances, "reality," confronts enacted i n final a s s e r t i o n s , but i t Yet i n the poem's e c h o e s , its "unseizableness" in vertigoes, short, that "the s p i r i t with the n e c e s s i t y o f supreme d e c i s i o n s , c h o i c e s , and so g i v e [ s ] a meaning to l i f e " some deeper l e v e l that actualizes h i s o r i g i n a l , and most p o t e n t i a l l y truth. does demand an a p p r e - sought as an " a b s o l u t e r e f e r e n c e " the poem by r e a d i n g out a r e f e r e n t hears c r i t i c i s m does not demand an e n q u i r y pauses, h e s i t a t i o n s , is the Leavis as having the f o r c e o f i n c o n t e s t a b l e literary all towards p a r a d i s e won back from memory. contestabi1ity. Leavis w r i t e s , heightened case the dream o f o r i g i n s . harmony, t h a t press u s , r e p r o v i n g l y , the r e p r o o f and accepts identity coherences p e r m i s s i b l e i n these s p e c i f i c c o n d e n s a t i o n s , however f e e l i n g l y their That world o f s e l f and and dream, i n t h i s to a (97). structure ultimate In the need to close (Chatman 1980: 41-42) a 'meaning o f l i f e ' , productive, apercu, Leavis the from abandons very 37 " u n s e i z a b l e n e s s " o f the poem's o r g a n i z a t i o n . scatter, diffract, o r d i s s o l v e the poem's meaning. the poem's " u n s e i z a b l e n e s s " marks i t s and, t h e r e f o r e , T h i s q u a l i t y does not constitutes unavoidable e l u s i v e n e s s practical a semantic f e a t u r e . t h a t attends On the contrary, engagement with Leavis hears o n l y For us there but o t h e r w i s e or is the the u t t e r i n g o f gnomic c o u n s e l s . For him the poem's " u n s e i z a b l e n e s s " o b s t r u c t s meaning r a t h e r duces i t . reality than pro- no need to read the poem as an i n t e n s e l y s i m p l e , p r o p o s i t i o n about a g e n e r a l i z a t i o n c a l l e d felt, 'life' 'reality'. Critical closure of this sort, the c r i t i c i s m , needs some a b s o l u t e r e f e r e n t But such c l o s u r e r a t i o n a l i z e s from l i n e a text's sine qua non of formalist to l i m i t the play of meaning. microstructural diversity, evident to l i n e as a m u l t i p l i c i t y o f o r g a n i z a t i o n s , by r e - w r i t i n g poem's unique and i r r e d u c i b l e d e t a i l s l e s s resounding c u l t u r a l the and sequences i n terms o f more o r commonplaces without r e c o g n i z i n g t h a t the texts so r e - w r i t t e n are themselves comments on the commonplaces i n t o which are r e s o l v e d . Formalist obscure the work's re-writing detailed r e l a t i o n s h i p to the s o c i a l p r o c e s s , the c o n c r e t e h i s t o r y work's utterances o f a work c o n t a i n s determinants i n which i t as statements is about s t a t e s "human kind / Cannot bear very much r e a l i t y " with which we ought o r ought not agree as L e a v i s would have i t , of a f f a i r s the in g e n e r a l : not a b a l d p r o p o s i t i o n ( L e a v i s 1975: 177). quasi-scriptural. Nor i s The meanings o f it, "reality" and "human k i n d " are not a b s o l u t e d e n o t a t i o n s ; they a r e , in f a c t , which p a r t i c u l a r men and women at p a r t i c u l a r particular conditions privilege as p a r t o f a wider times under social that and h i s t o r i c a l l o d g e d , by r e c a s t i n g is they practice. This usages practice 38 involves the appropriation of a network of 'absolute' references as a validating condition and limiting case of an historically determined structure of signifiers. This structure of signifiers and their refer- ences, conventionalized over time, constitute an intelligible universe. No one can argue that the sort of formalist reading we see here is not attentively and feelingly done; Leavis' actual responsiveness to the shifts and movement of the text are paradigmatic for practical criticism. Where the weakness lies is in how these shifts, word choices, linebreaks, syntactic pressures are to be made sense of, how the delicacy of the poem's positive structure, as i t is sensitively constructed, is to be interpreted. The appeal to " l i f e , " "living reality," or any other reification of the lived complexity of historically active social structures and processes cannot function as adequate interpretation because its explanatory power is hidden from sight, is simply implicit and unnamed in the shared intersubjectivity of the lived. Having won a mag- nificently complex sense of the poem's positive activity, Leavis closes his eyes when he turns to the world about which the poem seems to be making some point. He closes his eyes by collapsing the irreducible complexity of the social world to which the poem refers into generalized concepts--"life," "living reality"--with contents that are never made explicit. Criticism needs to grow eyes in order to examine more closely what a phrase like the "concrete actualities of experience" actually names in a poem. experience i t s e l f . Clearly, a poem cannot deliver in some unmediated form The question is how we are to account for the media- tions which transform experience into a poetic object. Plainly, the poem's language assembles and mobilizes, to some 39 e x t e n t , a t t i t u d e s towards t h e e x p e r i e n c e s which i t p r e s e n t s . But no language comes i n t o a poem t h a t has not a l r e a d y had a v i v i d l i f e and history i n a variety of recuperable social discourses, discourses that can be mapped a c r o s s a r e a l s o c i a l t e r r a i n ( B a k h t i n 1929, 1973: 163-167). Thus, how we a r e t o t a k e t h e d o n n i s h tone o f t h e opening o f "Burnt Norton" w i l l depend on what a t t i t u d e we t h i n k t h e poem i s a s k i n g us t o take towards i t , an a t t i t u d e which can be made sense o f as a f u n c t i o n o f t h a t p a r a d i g m a t i c s e t o f a t t i t u d e s towards dons and t h e i r professional d i s c o u r s e s which can be r e c o v e r e d from t h e common i n t u i t i v e l i f e o f a p a r t i c u l a r community. T h i s l i n e o f thought o b v i o u s l y f o r e g r o u n d s a poem's language, but not language i n some a b s t r a c t s e n s e , not t h e system of language (what s t r u c t u r a l i s m c a l l s medium o f t h e poem i s language as p a r t i c u l a r times and p l a c e s . the la la langue). parole, Instead, the verbal language as i t i s used i n Language i n t h i s sense i s c o n s t i t u t i v e o f e n t i r e c o n t e n t s o f what I am c a l l i n g t h e common i n t u i t i v e l i f e o f a community. One cannot use language o u t s i d e t h e a s s o c i a t i o n s , d e n o t a t i o n s , c o n n o t a t i o n s , h i s t o r i e s , meanings, e t c . t h a t make up t h i s shared i n t u i t i v e life ( H a l l i d a y 1978: 8-35, 211-235). Thus, t o use any l o c u t i o n i s t o e s t a b l i s h a r e l a t i o n w i t h t h e purposes t o which t h a t l o c u t i o n o r tone or s y n t a x has been put i n t h e s o c i o - v e r b a l h i s t o r y o f t h e community. we read t h e opening l i n e s o f "Burnt N o r t o n " s o l e l y f o r t h e i r If propositional c o n t e n t , o r , i n o t h e r words, f o r what t h e y might o r might not say about "Time," we miss t h e same dimension o f t h e poem t h a t we miss i n Rene M a g r i t t e ' s famous p a i n t i n g o f a p i p e w i t h i t s legend pipe" (The Treachery (or Perfidy) representation there i s a pipe. of Images, "ceci n'est pas une 1928-1929), i f we t h i n k t h e 40 Language does not s i m p l y r e f l e c t , but a c t i v e l y c o n s t i t u t e s , s o c i a l r e a l i t y ; t h a t i s , language i s not an autonomous o r d e r o f s i g n s t h a t p a r a l l e l s an autonomous o r d e r o f t h i n g s ; nor i s i t n a r r o w l y Although stipulative. the r e l a t i o n o f s i g n i f i e r t o s i g n i f i e d i n language i s a r b i t r a r y , the r e l a t i o n i s n o n e t h e l e s s s t a b l e ( W i l l i a m s 1977: suggests, "we c o n v e n t i o n a l and, more o r l e s s , 43-44). historically F u r t h e r m o r e , as Benjamin Lee Whorf d i s s e c t r e a l i t y a l o n g l i n e s l a i d down by our n a t i v e languages": And every language i s a v a s t p a t t e r n - s y s t e m , d i f f e r e n t from o t h e r s , i n which are c u l t u r a l l y o r d a i n e d the forms and c a t e g o r i e s by which the p e r s o n a l i t y not o n l y comm u n i c a t e s , but a l s o a n a l y s e s n a t u r e , n o t i c e s o r n e g l e c t s types o f r e l a t i o n s h i p and phenomena, channels h i s r e a s o n i n g , and b u i l d s the house o f h i s c o n s c i o u s n e s s . (1956, 1978: 252) In an i m p o r t a n t a r t i c l e i n 1962, W i l l i a m Haas d e f i n e d the r e l a t i o n between the s t r u c t u r e o f s i g n i f i e r s and the panta rhei of t h i n g s : I t i s o f c o u r s e , u l t i m a t e l y , some r e l a t i o n o f l i n g u i s t i c expressions to other things that c o n s t i t u t e s t h e i r meanings. The q u e s t i o n i s : What s o r t o f r e l a t i o n ? My p o i n t i s t h a t i t i s n o t , and cannot be, a r e l a t i o n between two d i s t i n c t o r d e r s o f t h i n g . The a l l e g e d c o n f r o n t a t i o n o f language w i t h f a c t s , the a l l e g e d reference of expressions to things uninvolved i n l a n g u a g e — t h i s we cannot make sense o f . I f we d i v i d e language from o t h e r t h i n g s i n t h i s d u a l i s t f a s h i o n , both are d i s s o l v e d i n a general b l u r . I t i s only i n t h e i r a c t i v e i n t e r p l a y w i t h one another t h a t e i t h e r assumes d e t e r m i n a t e shape; and i t i s t h i s interpiay-t h i s a c t i v e co-operation of utterances with t h i n g s — t h a t c o n s t i t u t e s the meaning o f u t t e r a n c e s . (223) Whorf and Haas are not t a l k i n g about some s p e c i a l the r e a l i t y o f everyday l i f e . And poems, t o o , l i k e Four r e a l i t y , but o f Quartets, are 41) meaningful o n l y w i t h i n the c o n t e x t o f the semantic the everyday. i n t e r s u b j e c t i v i t y of D e v i a t i o n s from the r e a l i t y o f everyday marked and are meaningful s h i p s e t up between f i n i t e l i f e are c l e a r l y o n l y i n the s p e c i f i c s o f the c o n c r e t e relation- p r o v i n c e s o f meaning and the c o h e s i v e , ligible, l i n g u i s t i c a l l y generated and m a i n t a i n e d everyday e x i s t e n c e ( B e r g e r and Luckmann 1979: i t s e l f as a r e a l i t y i n t e r p r e t e d by men intel- paramount r e a l i t y o f 39). Everyday l i f e presents and s u b j e c t i v e l y meaningful them as a c o h e r e n t w o r l d ; t h a t i s , the r e a l i t y o f everyday hended as an o r d e r e d r e a l i t y ( B e r g e r and Luckmann: 3 3 ) . r e a l i t y i s o r g a n i z e d around the here and now life to i s appre- T h i s paramount o f the p r e s e n t ; the past and the f u t u r e , and the ways i n which the grammatical c a t e g o r y o f tense d i s c r i m i n a t e s t h e i r v a r i e t i e s , no doubt e x i s t , but they e x i s t i n terms o f d i f f e r i n g degrees o f c l o s e n e s s and remoteness from the p r e s e n t . o t h e r words, the 'past' and the In ' f u t u r e ' are o n l y s u b - c a t e g o r i e s o f , o r a t t i t u d e s b e l o n g i n g t o and d e r i v i n g from, the p r e s e n t , which are t h e r e f o r e , r a d i c a l l y c o n t i n g e n t upon the p r e s e n t . T h i s may seem t o be o n l y a s t a t e - ment o f t h e o b v i o u s , but t o o . o f t e n f o r m a l i s m has t r e a t e d n o t i o n s o f the 'past' and the ' f u t u r e ' as a b s o l u t e s - - u n c h a n g i n g , e s s e n t i a l l y incontes- t a b l e t r a n s c e n d e n t a l s - - i n s t e a d o f the s o c i o - h i s t o r i c , s p e c i f i c , human, p r o d u c t i v e , c o n t e s t a b l e , q u o t i d i a n n o t i o n s they r e a l l y a r e . o f everyday The reality l i f e f u r t h e r p r e s e n t s i t s e l f as an i n t e r s u b j e c t i v e w o r l d , a w o r l d shared w i t h o t h e r s (Berger and Luckmann: 3 7 ) . o f t h i s s h a r i n g i s n a r r a t i v e (Havelock 1963: The primary 87-89; Jameson 1981: modality 74-102), a l t h o u g h w i t h the s p e c i a l i z a t i o n o f f u n c t i o n i n s o c i e t y c e r t a i n ways o f s h a r i n g the w o r l d are i n s c r i b e d by n o n - n a r r a t i v e means, f o r i n s t a n c e , the d i s c o u r s e s o f s c i e n c e . Compared to the r e a l i t y of everyday life, 42 other r e a l i t i e s appear as f i n i t e the paramount r e a l i t y experience. write, "All p r o v i n c e s o f meaning, enclaves marked by c i r c u m s c r i b e d meanings and modes o f finite p r o v i n c e s o f m e a n i n g , " Berger and Luckmann "are c h a r a c t e r i z e d by a t u r n i n g away o f a t t e n t i o n of everyday within from the reality 1ife." While t h e r e a r e , of c o u r s e , s h i f t s i n a t t e n t i o n within everyday l i f e , the s h i f t to a f i n i t e p r o v i n c e o f meaning i s Of a much more r a d i c a l k i n d . A radical change takes place in the tension of consciousness. In the c o n t e x t o f r e l i g i o u s e x p e r i e n c e t h i s has been a p t l y c a l l e d 'leaping . It is important to stress, however, that 1 the reality status even else, language available grounded it even everyday such me in as life I for take sure the everyday employ retains 'leaps' makes to is of as of this. paramount If The to and of keeps interpret nothing common objectification life it its place. language my pointing experiences back experiences to in finite Typically, therefore, I 'distort' the r e a l i t y of the l a t t e r as soon as I begin to use the common language i n i n t e r p r e t i n g them, t h a t i s , I ' t r a n s l a t e ' the non-everyday e x p e r i e n c e s back i n t o the paramount reality. T h i s may be r e a d i l y seen i n terms o f dreams, but i t i s a l s o t y p i c a l o f those t r y i n g to r e p o r t about t h e o r e t i c a l , a e s t h e t i c o r r e l i g i o u s worlds o f meaning. The t h e o r e t i c a l p h y s i c i s t t e l l s us t h a t h i s concept o f space cannot be conveyed l i n g u i s t i c a l l y , j u s t as the a r t i s t does with regard to the meaning of h i s c r e a t i o n s and the m y s t i c w i t h r e g a r d to h i s encounters w i t h the divine. Yet a l l these--dreamer, p h y s i c i s t , a r t i s t and m y s t i c - - a i s o l i v e i n the r e a l i t y o f everyday l i f e . provinces Indeed, the of one meaning. of their co-existence enclaves into of which important problems this reality they have with is the to interpret reality ventured. (39-40, my emphasis) It i s an assumption o f t h i s writing study t h a t the a e s t h e t i c and r e a d i n g o f poetry f o r example, c o n s t i t u t e s j u s t p r o v i n c e o f meaning s i t u a t e d w i t h i n As a f i n i t e subvert, experience, paramount r e a l i t y p r o v i n c e o f meaning, a r t and r e v i s e paramount r e a l i t y such a finite and a c t i n g upon can comment o n , a t t a c k , symbolically. the support, it. 4.3 The general concept f o r our purposes here i s world c o n s t i t u t e s the o r d e r o f us a c c e s s . an e x p e r i e n c e o f a r e a l i t y 'things' from to which unmediated e x p e r i e n c e i s supposed to give at the elementary sensory c o n t a c t with the m a t e r i a l i n the s o c i a l which makes the c o n t a c t Materiality around man and c r e a t e s 19). i n the c o n t e x t o f paramount 1979a: 22-24). u n i v e r s e o r g a n i z e s the 'world' (Lotman and Our making o f the common i n t u i t i v e life o c c u r s by use o f language i n the c o n t e x t o f the need, language i s a way o f opening us towards the social the s i l e n c e and namelessness o f things. it AIT e x p e r i e n c e , the i n s t a n t is socialized, i s always i n s c r i b e d w i t h meaning by p r i o r knowledge o f the words which encompass and envelope to the r e l a t i o n o f t e x t i n "Burnt N o r t o n " a c t u a l l y kind" is potential significant, meaning t h a t i s traditionally concept o f tone as the c r i t i c a l to c o n t e x t should here be p l a i n , f o r i t 'man-made' r e a l i t y the common i n t u i t i v e already it. The inadequacy o f R i c h a r d s ' uses a l a t e n t the 1845-46, 1970: universe, transforming, p r a c t i c a l l y , constructed, As life o f i n t e r c o u r s e with o t h e r men (Marx and Engels In o t h e r words, reality. r e a l i z e d common i n t u i t i v e o f our i n d i v i d u a l necessity, immediate u n i v e r s e except i n the envelope o f meaning s i g n s , the s o c i a l a fully level, world around u s , but each such c o n t a c t intelligible a system o f c o n s t i t u t i v e virtue physical cannot evade s e m i o t i c a p p r o p r i a t i o n (Eco Uspensky 1978: 213). the t h a t i s very d i f f e r e n t We may e n j o y , has no e x i s t e n c e that experience of t h a t words l i k e refer. "reality" They a c t u a l i z e life. Thus, E l i o t ' s not because o f i t s imagined by f o r m a l i s m to e x i s t the and "human k i n d " of their universe o f f e r s use of a phrase l i k e abstract i s to i n the v a r i e t y f o r meaning which the s o c i a l access denotation—a as "human positive in a u n i v e r s a l , neutral or 44 a b s o l u t e s p a c e — b u t because such a phrase e x i s t s i n s t e a d i n a semantic space whose c o n t o u r s a r e marked by a l l t h e phrases and f o r m u l a t i o n s w i t h which "human k i n d " s h a r e s , r e l a t i o n s o f synonymy, hyponomy, antimony, o r i n c o m p a t a b i l i t y , e t c . (Lyons i d e o l o g i c a l accumulations 1977: 270-335). The phrase a l s o t r a i l s t h e which usage o f a l l these p a i r s and s e t s o f terms has i n s c r i b e d i n t h e paradigm they c o n s t i t u t e . s i g n i f i c a n c e of the p r e c i s e syntagmatic S i m i l a r l y , the p o s i t i o n i n g o f "human k i n d , " i n t h i s case t h e c o u p l i n g , as a momentary b u t p o s s i b l y s i g n i f i c a n t o p p o s i t i o n , o f ". . . b i r d : human . . . " (CP 190), i s e f f a c e d when t h e a r r a y o f a r t i c u l a t i o n s and c o n j u n c t i o n s i n which i t appears a r e e n c l o s e d by c r i t i c a l e x p e c t a t i o n s and assumptions o f a b s o l u t e o r g e n e r a l i z e d r e f e r ence. T h i s i s n o t t o argue t h a t no statements p e r m i s s i b l e ; c l e a r l y they a r e . o f general r e f e r e n c e a r e But what must be i n s i s t e d upon i s t h a t c r i t i c i s m s h o u l d n o t be seduced i n t o t a k i n g f o r g r a n t e d t h e a b s o l u t e s t a t u s o f t h e r e f e r e n c e ; a g e n e r a l statement for s h o u l d f i r s t be examined the f u n c t i o n i t serves i n p a r t i c u l a r contexts of utterance: literary, social, political, linguistic, ideological,etc. These c o n t e x t s help c o n s t i t u t e t h e ' w o r l d ' , not t h e 'world' o f unmediated e x p e r i e n c e , n a t u r a l o b j e c t s , p h y s i o l o g i c a l e n t i t i e s and p r o c e s s e s as such are meaningless, processes; those b u t , s e t back i n s p e c i f i c c o n t e x t s , they share i n t h e p l e n i t u d e o f meaning which t h e 'world' as a whole makes p o s s i b l e . Thus, E l i o t ' s poems (and a l l poems) a r e n o t organ- i z a t i o n s o f e x p e r i e n c e , but a r e , as i t were, o r g a n i z a t i o n s o f meaning, t h a t i s , forms t h a t a c t u a l i z e p o t e n t i a l meaning i n t h e common i n t u i t i v e life. They make p l a i n E l i o t ' s own grasp o f and a t t i t u d e towards not s i m p l y "audience," but t h e s p e c i f i c forms o f l i f e i n which h i s poems and 45 h i s e x p e r i e n c e have t h e i r o r d e r s and h i e r a r c h i e s , of s i g n i f i c a n c e , its its historical its privileged accumulations and c o n d e n s a t i o n s l e g i t i m a t i n g s a n c t i o n s and c o n d i t i o n s , i t s discourses, literatures, systematic, s e n s e , an environment with a l l cognitive and s i g n i f i c a n t , styles, 'cooking' possible v o i c e s , and, f i n a l l y , of physical its nature: Laughing s h o u l d , i f i t s e x p r e s s i o n does not come by n a t u r e , be c a r e f u l l y t a u g h t . Nor need there be any a r t i f i c i a l i t y i n t h i s , f o r , a f t e r a w h i l e , i t becomes as n a t u r a l as the c o r r e c t p r o n u n c i a t i o n o f words a f t e r a s e r i e s o f e l o c u t i o n l e s s o n s , a n d , as everybody knows, d i s t i n c t e n u n c i a t i o n does not come by n a t u r e . But who c o u l d d e s c r i b e i t as a r t i f i c i a l ? In the same, way the p r e t t y harmonious laugh i s a second nature w i t h many. The o n l y t h i n g to be guarded a g a i n s t i s t h a t the i n c u l c a t e d laugh i s apt to grow s t e r e o t y p e d , and few t h i n g s are more i r r i t a t i n g than to hear i t over and over a g a i n , begin on the same n o t e , run down the same s c a l e , and c o n s e q u e n t l y express no more m i r t h than the keys o f the p i a n o . (Humphrey 1897: 13) Formalism d i r e c t s to the i n t e r n a l our a t t e n t i o n in a poem, no l e s s than i n a l a u g h , o r g a n i z a t i o n o f the t e x t ' s p o s i t i v e form. However, a second and more important o r g a n i z a t i o n emerges i n the d i a l e c t i c a l a c t i o n between the work, common i n t u i t i v e life c o n c e i v e d o f as a s i g n i f y i n g p r a c t i c e , to which i t poem, from t h i s p e r s p e c t i v e , is And what the poem i s doing i s refers d e f i n e d by what i t reality. which e x p e r i e n c e s c a r r y society. but the way e x p e r i e n c e s are text generally, life e x p l o r e s the i n the common i n t u i t i v e The procedures i t operates. The does i n t h a t a r e n a . i n s c r i b e d , i n the common i n t u i t i v e A poem, a l i t e r a r y it and the f o r e g r o u n d i n g , not immediate e x p e r i e n c e as some accounts o f p o e t r y would have i t , sented, that i s , and on which inter- employs to do t h i s life of a repre- o f paramount significations particular are many and complex. 46 The uniqueness o f l i t e r a r y o r d i n a r y language. the r e a l i t y it is still c l i c h e " which i t but i t is accurate triumphantly d i s p l a c e s . access has p r e c i s e l y because o f The uniqueness o f i n the work o f t r a n s f o r m a t i o n . Eliot, in the common i n t u i t i v e i s negative to l o c u t i o n or literary In t h i s respect, often to provoke a new v i s i o n of the to r e s t o r e life. some o l d e r o r d e r o f This d i a l e c t i c a l because i t world signi- a c t i o n produces urges c r i t i c i s m to take n o t i c e o f and t r a n s f o r m a t i v e i n the l i n e s d i s c u s s e d e a r l i e r , d e n o t a t i v e meaning, but a c t i v e l y 'the general the matrix o f p o s s i b l e meanings, some o f which are chosen and some o f which are r e f u s e d . some one p a r t i c u l a r the structure. environment as a f o r m a t i v e 'the m a s s e s ' , o r it accuracy. r e l a t i o n s h i p between s i g n i f i e r and s i g n i f i e d i s the poem's n e g a t i v e It Rather a c c u r a c y of e x p r e s s i o n not because o f any i n t r i n s i c as i n the case o f T. S. fication text rather w e l l . as a kind of f e l i c i t o u s subverted or o v e r t u r n e d so as e i t h e r or, to d i g r e s s f o r a p o w e r f u l , c r i t i q u e o f the c o n v e n t i o n a l discourse, then, l i e s the c o n v e n t i o n a l transforms naming (remember how many such words and phrases q u i c k l y become c l i c h e s ) , i m p l i c i t , yet the way i t we might now understand the nature o f i t s is accurate mot juste view o f the l i t e r a r y mot juste snatched from the a i r , Le in just The d o c t r i n e o f i.e mot juste, moment, underscores t h i s than t h i n k o f le discourse l i e s "Human k i n d , " i s a phrase t h a t has both a p o s i t i v e , excludes i t s public', near synonyms, such as 'body p o l i t i c ' , e t c . f o r m u l a t i o n i s an act both p o s i t i v e and both an i n c l u s i o n and an e x c l u s i o n . Choosing negative, And the c h o i c e cannot be e x p l a i n e d 12 on f o r m a l i s t p r i n c i p l e s a l o n e . i m p l i e s an a t t i t u d e To choose one thing over another towards those t h i n g s t h a t have been r e j e c t e d and the wider s o c i a l meanings the r e j e c t e d c a r r y with them. That which is c l u d e d and the process o f e x c l u s i o n , c o n s c i o u s o r n o t , shape the form o f a work; speak about: on i t s "the value o f [Jane] A u s t e n ' s f i c t i o n t h r i v e s insight: novels cannot p o s s i b l y know t h a t they do" (Eagleton because there leans. i s an e f f e c t work, To r e c a s t relations Richards' between w r i t e r (or speaker) that or the development, earlier and audience formulation, complex l i n k s , (Richards audience e x p e r i e n c e i n the p a s t , and subject s h i p to t r a n s p e r s o n a l collective [representation l o g i c of History" more i n c l u s i v e l y d e s c r i b e d as a w r i t e r ' s , it. is allows relation- s t r u c t u r e or The a c t u a l d e s c r i b e d c r u d e l y by Richards as an a t t i t u d e used = DARSTELLUNG] which such as the s o c i a l (1981: 3 0 ) . the ideology to c o n c e i v e o r imagine h i s or her l i v e d realities writer I give Basing h i s d e f i n i t i o n on Louis A l t h u s s e r , Jameson w r i t e s t h a t the i n d i v i d u a l links 1929, 1946: 182), and the dominant d i s c o u r s e s by which the structure of "tone," the sense i n which F r e d r i c Jameson has r e c e n t l y "a r e p r e s e n t a t i o n a l usually s i g n a l s o n l y the e x i s - and the dominant i d e o l o g y o f h i s o r her t i m e . term ' i d e o l o g y ' form negative tend to de-form internal f o r m , of s e v e r a l inscribed intersubjective (or speaker) relations, o f the way a poem c o n c r e t e l y the a r t i c u l a t e d has a l r e a d y i s so much the a c t i o n o f a dominant t h e o r y and p r a c t i c e t e n c e , but not (or speaker) q u i t e as much know what they d o , and i n the symmetries towards which a work's literature, writer they is p r o v i d e s access to the e x t e r n a l a r r a y e d by the g e n e r a t i v e then, it to 1976: 71). s t r u c t u r e , o f the l i t e r a r y abstract overall they are o f t e n the t h i n g s a t e x t c a n n o t , o r r e f u s e s , ignorance as on i t s 'Tone' ex- the form o f these links, towards an a u d i e n c e , can be and a t e x t ' s , attitude towards 48 that i n the environment which the t e x t f a c e s , and beyond t h a t , complex r e l a t i o n s i n t o which a work e n t e r s r a i s e d to a h i g h e r power, as a s o c i a l words, to use our e a r l i e r comment ( g e n e r i c , objects, events i n the r e a l i t y form t h i s ("our as a s i g n i f y i n g a c t i v i t y , or p o l i t i c a l practice. t e r m i n o l o g y , the l i t e r a r y about, the way c e r t a i n f i r s t world") o f everyday comment takes has a l r e a d y which, modal) is life the text In other i s a kind of particular experiences, have been or are normally inscribed (Berger and Luckmann: 152-153). But not the simple r e - e x p e r i e n c i n g o f t h a t been i n s c r i b e d ; i n s t e a d , i t or the which takes the form o f a r e v i s i o n , i n the case o f modernism, i n c o r p o r a t e s the r h e t o r i c a l strategy o f p r e s e n t i n g the r e v i s i o n as g i v i n g access to the seed e x p e r i e n c e s obscured o r p e r v e r t e d by the o r i g i n a l revision i n the p a s t . is The form of the w r i t e r chooses to take i s determined by the a t t i t u d e the way e x p e r i e n c e i s It inscription. being o r has been The s i t e o f t h i s revision important to n o t e , and t h i s a writer's or t e x t ' s . a t t i t u d e is i n paramount a finite the common i n t u i t i v e always an a t t i t u d e towards towards reality study, life is that always to an environment always a l r e a d y o r g a n i z e d , d e n s e l y i n s c r i b e d with meaning and s t r u c t u r e d i n d e p t h . example, an a t t i t u d e towards p r o v i n c e o f meaning. i s an assumption o f t h i s towards to be understood as an a t t i t u d e 'cooked' the "reality" So t h a t , or "human k i n d " or " t r u t h " the way these s i g n s a l r e a d y e x i s t for is i n the w o r l d . 49 Notes t o Chapter One * The most i n f l u e n t i a l approaches to l i t e r a r y following: attacks on h i s t o r i c i s t c r i t i c i s m i n our e r a Ransom 1972; L e a v i s and c o n t e x t u a l ( s i n c e 1940) are the 1962: 182-194 and 195-203; Welleck and Warren 1973: 71-135; Wimsatt 1954; Frye 1968; 1973; C u l l e r 1975; de Man 1979; R i f f a t e r r e 1978. But see E a g l e t o n 1983: 51-53 on W i l l i a m Empson. 2 By Anglo-American f o r m a l i s m I mean the text-based c r i t i c i s m widely p r a c t i c e d i n the academies o f the North A t l a n t i c from the 1940s to the 1970s, although i t s l a i d two decades e a r l i e r . its and c a t e g o r i c a l f o r m a l i s m , now c a l l e d world f o u n d a t i o n s were in America, base came under by a new g e n e r a t i o n o f f o r m a l i s t s and a more s y s t e m a t i c rule-governed) its theoretical In the 1960s and 1970s, p r i m a r i l y unevenly developed conceptual scrutiny literary intense (i.e. " s t r u c t u r a l i s m , " was proposed i n place. 3 The p r i n c i p a l has been i t s think conceptual reticence 'intention' i n h i b i t i o n f o r Anglo-American f o r m a l i s m i n d e a l i n g with 'intention 1 in a t e x t . We cannot as a semantic o r formal element of a t e x t w i t h o u t some n o t i o n o f an a c t i v e s i g n i f y i n g c o n t e x t . Formalism's myopia on t h i s q u e s t i o n can be c o r r e c t e d i f edges l a n g u a g e ' s i n s e p a r a b i l i t y no matter t o what s p e c i a l self-inflicted our view of language acknowl- from the semantics o f the s o c i a l uses language i s put. process, "An i n t e n t i o n can o n l y be deduced by a hearer o r reader from language and s i t u a t i o n , and moreover i t cannot s i m p l y be assumed t h a t i n t e n t i o n s are always f u l l y known 50 to a speaker h i m s e l f , even when i t intention" (Turner 1973: 147). rather not h i s i n t e n t i o n to conceal The whole d i s c u s s i o n o f c o n t e x t c h a p t e r f i v e o f T u r n e r ' s book i s literary, is particularly the area o f semantics John Lyons' l u c i d and w r i t t e n from a (1978: 570-635). views o f In r e c e n t summaries and d i s c u s s i o n s of For an e x c e l l e n t 'intention' Of l i n g u i s t i c discussions of context. the n o t i o n are now the best i n t r o d u c t i o n t o the c o m p l e x i t i e s of literary in than a l i n g u i s t i c or p h i l o s o p h i c a l , p e r s p e c t i v e . c o u r s e , there are many e x c e l l e n t issue his the b r i e f summary o f the contemporary see Chandler 1982: 4 6 4 - 4 6 5 n . i l . 4 Since 'tone as a c r i t i c a l within a developed l i t e r a r y orient interpretation on i n t e r p r e t a t i v e features. rarely t h e o r y by p r a c t i c a l silently. It discussed e x p l i c i t l y critics, continues provides i m p l i c i t c r i t i c a l The most i n t e r e s t i n g examples o f the s i l e n t criticism, it judgements seemingly d e r i v e d from a survey o f through the concept o f in concept i s 'tone' and C l e a n t h Brooks are F. R. Leavis, i n most o f h i s , but e s p e c i a l l y "The Case o f Miss A r a b e l l a F e r m o r , " in control intrinsic reading of i n most o f h i s to context practical visibly so (1947: 80-104). 5 Lodge 1970: 367; and see a l s o E l i o t ' s i n sw 24-32, but c o n t r a s t C h a r l e s Whibley, whose r e l i g i o u s own, i n SE 439-440 et g I literary seq. remarks on another gentleman-amateur, sentiments were more congenial his Victorian scene and s i t u a t i o n from many primary and secondary a s e n i o r undergraduate. to Stead 1967: 52-53. have d e r i v e d my knowledge o f the l a t e and post over a number o f y e a r s , still Eliot's comments on George Wyndham having f i r s t However, sources s t u d i e d the e a r l y modern p e r i o d as C. K. S t e a d ' s The New Poetic seems to me to assemble an a c c u r a t e account of the (1967) literary 51) environment o f the time and the common i n t u i t i v e their publics shared. on t h i s landscape and o f t h e i r from r e a d i n g two e x c e l l e n t period: The crisis of intellectual social imperialism, this Revolution I have a l s o p r o f i t e d 1868-1914 1865-1915 culture (1961) and moral commitment to and p o l i t i c a l Donald Read's England chapters o f Raymond W i l l i a m s ' and The Long which w r i t e r s and His account o f the p l a c e o f the Georgian poets l i b e r a l i s m remains unsurpassed (86-87). this life first h i s t o r i e s o f England (1979) (1974). greatly and R i c h a r d The r e l e v a n t and society, Shannon's s e c t i o n s and 1780-1950 spurred my i n t e r e s t , in (1958, 1961) years ago, in period. ^ The pre-romantic view o f a poem's f u n c t i o n , t h a t i t instruct, is logically consequent o r i e n t a t i o n l i n k e d to p o e t r y ' s towards rhetorical d e l i g h t and b a s i s and its the author-audience r e l a t i o n s h i p . See Stone 1967: 16-17. 8 It is i n t e r e s t i n g to note t h a t when the "new c r i t i c i s m " became the r e i g n i n g orthodoxy i n the 1950s and 1960s i t critical approaches i t had c h a l l e n g e d to r e - v i t a l i z e and i n some cases d i s c r e d i t e d , methods. example, r e p r e s e n t , to some e x t e n t , forced visible Deconstruct!"ve p r a c t i c e s , the renewal 1979: 19. This Deconstruction, in might be c h a r a c t e r i z e d as p h i l o l o g y ' s revenge on c l o s e r e a d i n g . of reading scattered by "new c r i t i c i s m " have a l s o from a p e r i o d o f s e l f - e x a m i n a t i o n . has r e - s u r f a c e d i n the l a s t Rhetorical for of a c o n c e p t u a l l y more i n the work o f those t r a i n e d at Yale i n the l a s t decades; s e e , f o r example, Parker traditions the t h e i r own d i s r u p t e d , d a r i n g and p s y c h o l o g i c a l l y a g g r e s s i v e p h i l o l o g i c a l t r a d i t i o n . especially itself analysis, is two fact, Other profited f o r example, decade o r so and won back, to some c o n s i d e r a b l e 52 extent, its pre-formalist v i r i l i t y , b o l s t e r e d by the e m p i r i c a l o f modern and post-modern p e r c e p t u a l this r e s p e c t , Angus F l e t c h e r ' s methodological Rhetoric's discursive affects c o n t r o l apparatus attention study o f a l l e g o r y interest stylistics," in a text (1964) of i t s in a reader's has been p o w e r f u l l y the name o f " a f f e c t i v e figurative and c o g n i t i v e p s y c h o l o g i e s . importance equals the b r i l l i a n c e d i s c u r s i v e mode. recast i s a work whose analysis of a reception of as a phenomenology o f the aspects o f the r h e t o r i c a l In by S t a n l e y F i s h , under (1972: 383-427). reception Renewed i n t e r e s t tradition has a l s o to schematic processes i n f i g u r e and t r o p e . 1976; de Man, 1971; White, 1973. authority in the directed See Barthes 1971; Indeed the o l d b i o g r a p h i c a l a p p r o a c h , which bore so much o f the weight of E l i o t ' s , and f o r m a l i s m ' s , t o n g u e , has a l s o been renewed i n a number o f f o r m s , n o t a b l y as p s y c h o b i o g r a p h y , say S a r t r e on F l a u b e r t , o r , as what can o n l y be c a l l e d e c o b i o g r a p h y , o f which the s o l e exemplar so f a r Marxist c r i t i c a l criticism," practice i s Hugh Kenner's The Pound Era (1971). has a l s o p r o f i t e d from the c h a l l e n g e s o f challenges f i r s t taken up by an I t a l i a n , d e a l t e x t e n s i v e l y with Anglo-American l i t e r a r y "new though h i s work and c r i t i c a l practices: D e l i a Volpe 1960, 1978. g The standard d i s c u s s i o n i s Abrams 1958: 235-241, but see Kant's own comments i n Human R e a s o n , " Smith, Hegel's ^ century in his "The F i n a l critique 1929, 1968: 549-570. The Science of Logic of Purpose o f the Natural Pure Reason See a l s o the f i r s t practice Dialectic translated p a r t , on B e i n g , of by Kemp in (1929: 79-197). Henry F i e l d i n g acknowledges t h i s legal (1781), Immanuel new a u t h o r i t y as a 'modern' o p i n i o n . See Joseph in mid-eighteenthAndrews, 1742, 53 1980: 85. ^ John H o l l a n d e r has suggested t h a t s p e c i f i c a l l y personal p r a i s e o f the a c t u a l the seventeenth century i n the My p o i n t about Beethoven o f the "musical visible and at the end o f odes" o f John Dryden (1970: i s t h a t by 1800 the s h i f t o f a t t e n t i o n H o l l a n d e r d e s c r i b e s can c a l l tradition musician is c l e a r l y professional f o r support on an a c h i e v e d 422). that philosophical Subject. 12 Eliot understood very w e l l F u n c t i o n o f C r i t i c i s m , " i n SE the semantics o f 14-15. choice . 1 See "The 54 Chapter Two: The d e s t r u c t i o n o f " l i t e r a t u r e " T. S. E l i o t ' s e a r l y prose and p o e t r y a r e e n t i r e l y devoted t o t h e t r a n s f o r m i n g o f t h e common i n t u i t i v e l i f e o f t h e Anglo-American geoisie. Eliot's --his This p r o j e c t , o f course, d i d not s p r i n g f u l l y forehead. bour- formed from I t g a t h e r e d f o r c e s l o w l y i n s e v e r a l areas o f endeavour p h i l o s o p h i c a l s t u d i e s , l i t e r a t u r e , c r i t i c i s m , and l a t e r , h i s s o c i o - cultural Eliot's criticism. Remarkably, i t began t o take shape v e r y e a r l y i n l i f e , as e a r l y as 1910-1911, t h e w i n t e r he spent i n P a r i s as a s t u d e n t and f i r s t encountered the formative ideas o f Charles Maurras, the w i n t e r o f t h e f i r s t v e r s i o n o f "The Love Song o f J . A l f r e d P r u f r o c k " ( K o j e c k y 1971: 58-62; Gordon 1977: 54). c e r t a i n r e c u r r i n g themes, which chapters. I will This renovatory project focussed be examining i n t h e next few But e q u a l l y as i m p o r t a n t as these themes a r e i n u n d e r s t a n d i n g h i s e a r l y work i s t h e audience t o whom t h i s work i s addressed and which must be kept c o n s t a n t l y i n mind. I will be a r g u i n g t h a t E l i o t spoke t o and f o r an i m p o r t a n t segment o f s o c i e t y , b r i e f l y t h e Anglo-American b o u r g e o i s i e , and through them t o t h e w i d e r b o u r g e o i s c u l t u r e o f Europe ( H a r r i s o n 1967: 27, 159-160; Kojecky 1971: 47-52, 117-120; E a g l e t o n 1976: 145-146; G l o v e r s m i t h 1980: 36). I t i s f o r the t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f the common i n t u i t i v e l i f e o f t h a t c l a s s t h a t E l i o t ' s work has i t s p r i m a r y social significance. The f a c t t h a t he c a s t h i s thought i n u n i v e r s a l i s t terms i n d i c a t e s c l e a r l y the proximity of this social region to authority and power, a p r o x i m i t y t h a t g i v e s t o b o u r g e o i s c o n s c i o u s n e s s t h e n o t i o n 55 that i t occupies a p r i v i l e g e d point-of-view over the s o c i a l o r d e r as a whole In s h o r t , E l i o t ' s (Miliband in c a s t i n g a d i r e c t i v e 1977: 49-65; Lowe 1982: 28-29). work gains i n p o i n t and f o r c e through i t s work on the a f f e c t i v e life o f the s o c i a l detailed c l a s s t h a t came to occupy the commanding h e i g h t s o f s o c i e t y d u r i n g the n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . c o n c e i v e d and executed as a war on the hearts this It i n the f i r s t was and minds, as i t were, c l a s s d u r i n g , what seemed to him, to be the moment o f i t s crisis, eye decades o f the p r e s e n t c e n t u r y . After of deepest 1930, Eliot devoted more and more o f h i s i n t e l l e c t u a l energy to the l a r g e r debate on culture the b o u r g e o i s i e as the and s o c i e t y t h a t developed w i t h i n intensified i n the i n t e r w a r However, found t h e i r y e a r s b e f o r e the sea-change a f t e r i t was in h i s e a r l y first expression. literary Very e a r l y he saw as the moral and i n t e l l e c t u a l made i n t e l l e c t u a l l y etiolated just the Pound 1917: 6-7). i n which Anglo-American l i t e r a t u r e stewards socio-political situation 'softheaded p a l l i a t i v e s ' of l i b e r a l authority the push from below i n the form o f a v a r i e t y o f m a i n t a i n i n g a symbolic canopy o f v a l u e s , s a c r a m e n t a l i z e d by a n a t i o n a l work, i n which r e f o r m , through democratic t e n d e n c i e s , through the e v a s i o n of the i d e o l o g i c a l literary He r e c o i l e d o f s t a t e power were d r i b b l i n g away t h e i r s u r r e n d e r to the p o l i t i c a l bility was moribund by the p e r s i s t e n c e of a p a l l i d r o m a n t i c i s m , as v i g o r o u s l y from a p a r a l l e l through the elites He r e c o i l e d , i n theme, i n t e c h n i q u e , i n p o i s e , i n s e n s i b i l i t y . 'natural' concerns was a p p a l l e d by what weakening o f the d i r e c t i v e i n t o which he h i m s e l f had been born ( c f . f o r example, from a s i t u a t i o n 1945. work t h a t those l a t e r on, E l i o t crisis of responsi- b e l i e f s , and customs church (Berger 1969: 134). His early t h e n , was aimed at the d e s t r u c t i o n o f what he saw as the 56 t a i n t e d l e g a c y o f t h e immediate l i t e r a r y p a s t . The c r i t i q u e o f t h i s l e g a c y can be seen a t work i n one o f h i s g r e a t e s t e a r l y "The Love Song o f J . A l f r e d P r u f r o c k . " poem, I want t o make a f i r s t approach achievements, But b e f o r e I l o o k a t t h i s signal t o the l i t e r a r y romanticism Eliot helped t o r o u t i n these e a r l y y e a r s . W i l l i a m Wordsworth's The Prelude closes i n the f i n a l books by t u r n i n g back on t h e t e r r a i n i t has c r o s s e d i n o r d e r t o s i t u a t e i t s e l f as a whole w i t h i n a g r e a t e r encompassing t o t a l i t y , a t o t a l i t y t h a t v e r i f i e s t h e u l t i m a t e and programmatic c o n n e c t i o n o f c o n s c i o u s n e s s and Nature s t r e n u o u s l y won repose in a (Abrams 1965: 558; Hartman 1966: 148-149; Wasserman 1968: 2 1 8 ) . The c h a r a c t e r i s t i c movement which d e f i n e s The i s t h a t o f d i s t a n c i n g , o f g a i n i n g p e r s p e c t i v e (hence t h e impor- Prelude tance o f m o u n t a i n s ) , by s i t u a t i n g i n t e n s e l y e x p e r i e n c e d p a r t i c u l a r s i n the p h i l o s o p h i c a l t o t a l i t y t h a t a u t h e n t i c a t e s them. ' s o l u t i o n ' was, o f c o u r s e , no s o l u t i o n a t a l l . This philosophical By t h e m a t i z i n g t h e f r a m i n g t o t a l i t y as t h e c o n n e c t i o n between c o n s c i o u s n e s s and N a t u r e , Wordsworth helped put i n p l a c e t h e c o n d i t i o n s which brought about what Robert Langbaum has c a l l e d t h e " p o e t r y o f e x p e r i e n c e " (1963: 35-36). The c h a r a c t e r i s t i c p s y c h i c movement o f t h i s k i n d o f p o e t r y , as i n The Prelude, tial i s the f i n a l surmounting by access t o t h e m e t a p h y s i c a l o f the i n t e n s e l y experienced existen- frame t h a t r a i s e s t h e ' a c c i d e n t s ' o f e x p e r i e n c e t o a n o t h e r plane where e x p e r i e n c e , now recoded to a higher, u n i v e r s a l i z i n g s e m i o t i c , can be a s s i m i l a t e d t o an a c c u m u l a t i n g t r a n s c e n d e n t a l wisdom (Abrams 1958: 131-132). store of What i s ' l e f t b e h i n d ' i n t h i s a s c e n t i s a w o r l d o r r e a l i t y t h a t t h e languages of philosophical i d e a l i s m cannot make sense o f , except through t h e d o c t r i n e o f t h e r e a l 5Z as i l l u s i o n . In t h i s d i s j u n c t i o n between the r e a l and the i d e a l , the n o t i o n o f the world as an irredeemable c h a o s , born i n P l a t o ' s work, romanticism (Durrant 1969: 1 0 1 ) , but c a r r i e s shaped by the s o c i a l and economic f a c t s form i n the l a t e e i g h t e e n t h and e a r l y and p o l i t i c a l thematics which t h i s subsumes the l i n k e d a t t i t u d e s ' m a s s e s ' , the "lower "Strange a contemporary o f an i n d u s t r i a l i s m t a k i n g mature nineteenth c e n t u r i e s . The s o c i a l p h i l o s o p h i c a l i d e a l i s m helps inscribe ensnared i n the heavy c h a i n s o f first e r a o f mechanical 1975: 155-156, 174; Hobsbawm 1962: 296, 321). and e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l production is ideological b o u r g e o i s i e to a v e r t i t s It i n the context o f 1800s a n d , c o n s e q u e n t l y , to widen the s o c i a l and the new wage s l a v e s allows the managerial gaze from the s o c i a l d i s t a n c e between s t a n d i n g by the machines. . It relations irretrievably themselves a l s o served to social t h a t e x i s t e d i n them, were d i s r u p t e d a n d , i n some smashed. The w e l l known e f f e c t was the displacement o f a r u r a l T h i s i s what makes the i n 1838 u n i n t e n t i o n a l l y condi- communities, and the l i v e d d e n s i t y o f the o f the great m i d - V i c t o r i a n c o n u r b a t i o n s 93). catas- early v i t i a t e the bad c o n s c i e n c e o f those who had helped to s e t up the t i o n s by which a n c e s t r a l the ( W i l l i a m s 1961: 48-64; trophe t h a t the long adjustment to i n d u s t r i a l i s m caused i n the adjustments' the Profession.""'' The ' s o l u t i o n ' p h i l o s o p h i c a l i d e a l i s m o f f e r s cases, the to use the n e o - p l a t o n i s t terms o f Malcolm Lowry's Comfort A f f o r d e d by the and c u l t u r a l in content, o f contempt and p i t y towards t h o s e , 'mob, 'human k i n d ' , prison," re-appears 'liberal' ironic. o f these 'structural people to the mob s o c i e t i e s (Deane 1967: 260; Hobsbawm 1970: a b o l i t i o n of slavery i n the Empire 58 Of c o u r s e , i n t h i s process romantic poetry and i t s i d e a l i s m played an important i d e o l o g i c a l spheres. It role underlying i n the s o c i a l and cultural helped l i n k t h r e e s k e i n s o f thought t h a t smoothed the way f o r the bourgeois mind to surmount the c o n t r a d i c t i o n s economic p r a c t i c e s and l i b e r t a r i a n i n t o which d u r i n g i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n had p l a c e d i t s rhetoric. its emancipatory The high value placed on Nature both as an o b j e c t o f e x p e r i e n c e and as a metaphysical 1967; Abrams 1958: 105-106; L i t z abstraction ( W i l l e y 1940, 1977: 470-488) combined with a second development, namely the socio-economic c o n s t r u c t i o n o f the atomic vidual i n the n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y (Tawney 1922, 1977: 179-196; Lukes 1971: 6 5 ) , complemented by the n o t i o n o f the e x p e r i e n c i n g s u b j e c t essential indi- as the u n i t o f c o n s c i o u s n e s s (Lukacs 1923, 1971: 124-125; Horkheimer and Adorno 1944, 1972: 82-83). However, the l o g i c o f t h i s conjunction tends towards an encompassing m a t e r i a l ism which bourgeois thought was not e n t i r e l y practices ready to f o r m u l a t e to i t s e l f , were i r r e v o c a b l y nature o f s o c i e t y . although bourgeois economic based on m a t e r i a l i s t assumptions about the Why bourgeois thought f e l t compelled to hold on to the n o t i o n o f the transcendence o f the m a t e r i a l i n the d e - s a c r a l i z e d form o f p h i l o s o p h i c a l i d e a l i s m makes f o r an i n t e n s e l y interesting i n the i d e o l o g i c a l demands put on the new governors o f the c i v i l by the o l d (Goldmann 1973: 4 3 ) . For the b o u r g e o i s i e , i d e a l i s t episode world philosophy was to do the work o f l e g i t i m a t i o n t h a t r e l i g i o n had accomplished f o r the ancien definitive regime. T h i s i d e o l o g i c a l episode was t r a n s l a t e d into a third development i n the making o f romantic a e s t h e t i c s . d i s t a n c i n g o f e x p e r i e n c e helped p r e s e r v e abyss towards which i t s political romanticism from the and economic p r a c t i c e s The idealist materialist seemed to 59; 'condemn' i t . Thus, t h e movement o f the e x p e r i e n c i n g s u b j e c t towards Nature was r e v e r s e d by a r e c i p r o c a l d i s t a n c i n g o f t h e s u b j e c t , accomp l i s h e d by t h e a b s t r a c t i o n from t h e c o n c r e t e c o n t a c t o f and Nature o f t h e i d e a l form o f t h a t c o n t a c t . consciousness T h i s move i n s t a l l s t h e i d e a l as t h e g r e a t e r encompassing t o t a l i t y , t h e t o t a l i t y t h a t a u t h e n t i cates experience and, u l t i m a t e l y , r e j e c t s i t . In r e a c t i o n t o t h i s c o n j u n c t i o n o f i d e a s , e a r l y m o d e r n i s t poetry, the p o e t r y o f t h e s c r u p u l o u s l y and c l o s e l y observed p a r t i c u l a r , delib- e r a t e l y r e f u s e d t o so d i s t a n c e i t s e l f by heading f o r t h e ' h i g h e r of the kind The Prelude endorses. ' s u b j e c t ' had dwindled ground I t a l s o refused to i n f l a t e the value o f ' p e r s o n a l i t y ' (the c l i c h e ' i n t o which t h e m e t a p h y s i c a l the K a n t i a n 1 abstractions of a t t h e end o f t h e romantic epoch [Hobsbawm 1962: 296]) and, f i n a l l y , r e f u s e d t o f i n d s a l v a t i o n i n Nature or t h e n a t u r a l by s i t i n g i t s e l f i n t h e urban and man-made. The marks o f those r e f u s a l s can be found i n most e a r l y m o d e r n i s t 2 poems. "The Love Song o f J . A l f r e d P r u f r o c k , " f o r example, i s an i n t e n s e l y r e a l i z e d poem t h a t from i t s f i r s t r e f u s a l whelming q u e s t i o n " t o i t s f i n a l t o ask t h e "over- p l a c i n g r e f u s a l : "No! I am not P r i n c e Hamlet, nor was meant t o be" d e f e r s t h e q u e s t i o n o f t h e l a r g e r framework. The poem does n o t l o c a t e i t s semantic and i t s s y n t a g m a t i c orderliness i n the benign c l o s u r e s o f some h i g h e r realm through t h e o p e r a t i o n o f a master code, l i k e a t h e o l o g y , t h a t both s i t u a t e s t h e m a t t e r and manner o f t h e t e x t and encourages a p a r t i c u l a r a t t i t u d e towards i t . Instead, the s p e c i f i c coherences o f E l i o t ' s poem a r e l o c a t e d i n t h e a c t i o n o f a f u l l y realized social speech t h a t l e a d s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n t o t h e common i n t u i t i v e l i f e of a particular social scene.within the wider bourgeois 60 ethos, rather than a t t e n u a t i n g o r o t h e r forms o f i d e a l i s m . towards mystery. i n o r d e r to p r e s e r v e "Prufrock" compositional is the poem's p o s i t i v e tonal structure the l e v e l structure. speech o f a p a r t i c u l a r "Prufrock" takes this origin social Hugh Kenner hears t h i s speech. deliberately Formalist (8), Tennysonian " f a t u i t y " however, i n those and (10). literary terms, (1966: 6-8). The the forte Kenner w r y l y in i t " pedal-point" . . the literary (9), voice asserts, thus The poem, a c c o r d i n g to "reverberates mere s o n o r i t y " it," the (Edwards 1976: 44-45). is clearly to t h i n k (8). presses out a "monotonous emotional tousness o v e r l a y s This poem's c r i t i c i s m of displaces "He l e a r n e d to use s e c t i o n on Time (CP 14) simply hesitation. sound-shape of speech i n almost e n t i r e l y "he never made the mistake o f t r y i n g the e s p e c i a l finally, The r e s u l t i n g p r o d u c t i o n o f a p l a c i n g as a s o r t o f duet between Tennyson and Edward Lear i n the P r u f r o c k which between a s p e c i f i c communal l i f e community. "Tennysonian medium" or "norm" step i n some n o n - s o c i a l , step without has tended to pursue i t p l a c e s which the poem i t s e l f the impenetrable process, and, us to r e c o g n i z e the p a r t i c u l a r sound, however, as an where we become aware o f the as a r e l a t i o n allows directed "ministering frost" the myth o f i t s non-human e s s e n c e . structure, are p r o c e d u r e s , and thus creation the nature o f the i m a g i n a t i v e level devices essences at M i d n i g h t " c o u l d o n l y take t h i s through the metaphor o f the both i l l u m i n a t e s negative "Prufrock's" notion of a r t i s t i c Coleridge in "Frost symbolically, it Further, u n v e i l i n g the poem's own c o m p o s i t i o n a l s u b v e r t i n g o f the Romantic veils the poem i n terms o f a e s t h e t i c (10). . while escaping Kenner, The famous long . . . porten- 6(1) What "murder and c r e a t e " may mean we cannot t e l l , though i t i s p l a i n what the phrase can do; the words have l o s t t h e i r connexion with the a c t i v e w o r l d , l o s t i n f a c t e v e r y t h i n g but t h e i r p o t e n t i a l f o r n e u r a s t h e n i c shock. "Time f o r you and time f o r me" i s as h y p n o t i c and as meaningless as a phrase on the ' c e l l o s . (10) In many ways t h i s account o f the P r u f r o c k the c r i t i c i s m and i s s t i l l (7). sound remains unsurpassed i n extremely p e r s u a s i v e in i t s phonic "embryology" Y e t , though p e r s u a s i v e , t h i s account cannot say why E l i o t i n the f i r s t place. When Kenner suggests we know what a phrase "murder and c r e a t e " can do, even though we may not know what i t we can h a r d l y agree t h a t what we take away from t h i s the sense t h a t If "the words have l o s t t h e i r by knowing what a phrase to understand how 'can d o ' within from a t e x t ' s something distinct But if from a l l a particular text, s e n s e , then i t 'doing' phrases, c l a u s e s , syntax, pauses, e t c . that is is world." is, rather can be d i s t i n g u i s h e d a phrase or u t t e r a n c e those means, of a f f a i r s i n t r i n s i c meaning, u n l e s s we want to separate from "meaning f u n c t i o n . " 'do' sort of this like connexion with the a c t i v e do something i n the c o n s t r u c t i o n o f the t e x t ' s difficult state bothered "meaning" can be s a i d to 'meaning f u n c t i o n s ' which words, 'do' i n c o n s t r u c t i n g something t h a t might be c o n s t r u e d as i n t r i n s i c meaning, and thus making a phrase like "murder and c r e a t e " m e a n i n g f u l , then such a phrase must t h i n g beyond the t e x t ' s m a r g i n s , in away from i t . Indeed, bothered i n the f i r s t i f we b e l i e v e place, the it legitimate "active is century that suggested to E l i o t that w o r l d , " not as a t u r n i n g legitimate to ask why to ask what s o r t o f Tennyson o r Lear or C o l e r i d g e o r Swinburne ' d o ' some- had i n the l a t e Eliot privilege nineteenth " P r u f r o c k " was f o r some reason worth 62 d o i n g , we might have the b e g i n n i n g s o f an answer to how the t e x t connects with the a c t i v e w o r l d . Indeed j u s t such a c r i t i c a l tion of " P r u f r o c k . " and Swinburne this project is implicit i n Kenner's d e s c r i p - While speaking o f the world o f words t h a t Tennyson bequeathed to the younger g e n e r a t i o n o f p o e t s , he makes general 'structuralist' point: Coherence was o b t a i n e d by e x p l o i t i n g the sounds o f the words and the i m p l i c a t i o n s c o n c e a l e d i n t h e i r sounds; "A c r y t h a t s h i v e r e d to the t i n g l i n g s t a r s " would be a s t r i k i n g l y impoverished l i n e i f the E n g l i s h language c o u l d be suddenly purged o f the words " t w i n k l i n g " and " t i n k l i n g . " (7) No doubt i t would. But i s the s t r i k i n g n e s s o f the l i n e the sound e q u i v a l e n c e s or " i m p l i c a t i o n s " t h a t e x i s t paradigm which Kenner a l e r t l y constructs? i n the sound-image Doesn't t h i s too narrow a sense to h i s word " i m p l i c a t i o n s " ? simply based on give, Substituting however, "twinkling" o r " t i n k l i n g " i n the p l a c e o f " t i n g l i n g " makes suddenly a l i n e by Brooke. Doesn't the p l a s t i c i t y "tinkling" " t i n g l i n g " carry its major semantic c h a r g e , not from o f common phoneme paradigms, but and the way they are used i n t e x t s , were p e r c e i v e d , b e f o r e modernism's a t t a c k a c e r t a i n social privilege in Edwardian England; a f t e r it carries, users' a l l , who did o f the Edwardian middle c l a s s ? effect; against like "twinkling" the G e o r g i a n s ' , on Georgian p o e t i c s , as and p r e s t i g e , perhaps even a p r e s t i g e to them as a consequence o f t h e i r negatively Rupert and that having clinging and consumers' p r o x i m i t y to power make Rupert Brooke the "Tingling" darling i s more than a r e f i n e d musical i n the r e j e c t i o n s from o u t s i d e the Edwardian p o e t i c and v e r b a l and r e f u s a l s it norms, a statement makes, about 63 those norms and the " a c t i v e w o r l d " f o r which these words a c t as metonyms. In o t h e r words, to use a word l i k e margins o f the l i n e like "twinkling" towards an a t t i t u d e settle major c r i t i c . an i d e n t i t y c o m f o r t a b l y i n the c o l l o c a t i o n a l the linguistically At l e a s t subtle description is for a character of identity the named P r u f r o c k ; she c a l l s 'Prufrock' persona f o r P r u f r o c k , still at best the best by a spends s e v e r a l is a pages o f her TSE: i n the t e x t some s t a b l e i s to be l o c a t e d . persona i n t h i s 'Prufrock' actualize Gertrude P a t t e r s o n , who quotes t r y i n g to show where poems What she adopts as a c o n t e x t d e f i n e d as a set o f " c o n f l i c t i n g emotions" which are given ' " a name p l u s a v o i c e , ' " to quote Kenner a g a i n , i s a f o r m u l a t i o n which she borrows from Yvor W i n t e r s , term Winters uses i n '"Prufrock,"' Qualitative "Qualitative m Defense Patterson w r i t e s , to a t t a c k in short, 'Prufrock' the a r t i c u l a t i o n s pared to a C u b i s t p a i n t i n g is (117). For Winters, sequencing almost lower on (Winters 1947: o f the poem i t s e l f gaps and d i s c o n t i n u i t i e s t h a t c o n s t i t u t e identity; E l i o t ' s modernism. (1971: 116). s o p h i s t i c a t i o n than l i s t i n g is a " i s more s p e c i f i c a l l y an assembled P r o g r e s s i o n " means a p a r a t a c t i c What P a t t e r s o n means by i t its Reason P r o g r e s s i o n , heightened by i r o n y " the s c a l e o f syntagmatic all of like norms ( F i r t h 1957: Kenner does not waste h i s time t r y i n g to passage i n Kenner a p p r o v i n g l y , making attitude c u l t u r e o f those r e g i o n s . " p o s s i b l e zone of c o n s c i o u s n e s s " (35). this c o n t e x t s , but a l s o an and the r e g i o n s t h a t v a l o r i z e them, where words 194-196) t h a t c h a r a c t e r i z e the verbal Kenner's out beyond the towards not o n l y the aptness of words i n the same l i n g u i s t i c those t e x t s "twinkling" "tingling" carries Prufrock's 31ff.). in elusive the poem, the poem's form being comPatterson's laborious formalism 64 obscures f o r her the more p r o d u c t i v e way o f a s k i n g the q u e s t i o n about the 'Prufrock' persona. What d i d i t mean i n 1911 and 1917, when the poem was w r i t t e n and p u b l i s h e d r e s p e c t i v e l y (Gordon 1977: 45), to do the persona o f a speaker i n a poem i n t h i s way? be s p e c i f i e d between the e l u s i v e l y constituted s t r e n u o u s , male speakers o f Henry Newbolt's From where does such a ' p e r s o n a l i t y ' privilege does i t carry What r e l a t i o n s h i p 'Prufrock' imperial derive? be compared to the norms o f p o e t i c v o i c e , and the trumpet blasts? And what kind of i n the environment where i t identity can social c o u l d not help but c o n d e n s a t i o n , and 3 even gender s p e c i f i c a t i o n ? subject With the p r i v i l e g i n g o f the e x p e r i e n c i n g i n the t h e m a t i c s o f romanticism and with the f u r t h e r of the 'voice' as access to the substance o f personal it mean, i n the p e r i o d o f the a p p r o p r i a t i o n and thus the i z a t i o n of romanticism, that E l i o t 'Cubist' persona? Pound's Homage 'done' like to identity, what does institutional- should p r e s e n t — o f a l l things-- a The q u e s t i o n has been w e l l asked o f the persona Propertius, sextus in deliberate Vergil valorization contrast where the to the (Pound 1926, n . d . : historical Propertius ' h o n k i n g ' o f Imperial 228, 230). The r e l e v a n c e in is apologists, o f the Propertius p e r s o n a , as done by Pound, would not have been l o s t on the a p o l o g i s t s of the B r i t i s h to the imperium, which helps e x p l a i n the harsh contemporary 'translation'. It would have been more p r o d u c t i v e , p e r h a p s , approach the i s s u e o f the i d e n t i t y of a s o c i o s e m i o t i c a p p r o a c h , at as Anton E h r e n z w e i g ' s uates all creative c o n s t i t u t e d by a t e x t , least (Ehrenzweig But even Gertrude P a t t e r s o n ' s if not i n to terms p s y c h o l o g i c a l l y by some such schema "ego rhythm" t h a t he b e l i e v e s work reaction u n d e r l i e s and i n d i v i d - 1976: 120-121). ponderous f o r m a l i s m i s more interesting than Ann B r a d y ' s c l a u s t r o p h o b i c g e n e r i c schemata. Tennyson and Lear Where Kenner hears i n the P r u f r o c k sound, Brady n o t i c e s a b l e n d i n g o f satire and l y r i c . For h e r , the s a t i r e by the "use of rime" and the l y r i c (1978: 13). i s almost e n t i r e l y by the use of These terms are so general substantiated "rime and r e f r a i n " in reference that i t is difficult to d i s c r i m i n a t e e x a c t l y what sounds they are supposed to convey. when Brady identifies music h a l l phonics o f " p l a t t e r - m a t t e r , " crisis," the " s a t i r i c As v a r i e d , are, in alertness they do a l l influences cataract or r h e t o r i c a l object this poem in another. these They c o n c e i v e i n t o which from the a p p r o p r i a t e , l i t e r a r y identity, the certain contexts. These o r d e r s Whether the The v a r i a b i l i t y "Prufrock," seen p r i n c i the and f u n c t i o n as a kind o f cinema are r e s o l v e d i n some more or l e s s standards o f i n t e l l i g i b i l i t y c r i t i q u e of g e n r e , mode, by Jakobson as o r d e r s o f formal o f the mimesis e f f e c t c o n c e p t i o n o f the work o f a r t historical i n f l u e n c i n g process i s [1964: 358-359]) screen where the p r o j e c t i o n s specific p r o j e c t i o n s on the formal o r d e r s o f (characterized l i n g u i s t i c equivalences and c u l t u r a l l y or o f a p a r t i c u l a r r o u t i n e , the e x t e r n a l p a l l y as a system o f i n t e r n a l ventional o f r e s p o n s e , as share one t h i n g i n common. p r e c i p i t a t i o n of h i s t o r i c a l l y notions of personal form. and " i c e s - i n one breath and " l y r i c a l " and s e n s i t i v i t y the i s o f a p a r t i c u l a r w r i t e r or style--Tennyson say--or a p a r t i c - ular textual work. by p o i n t i n g to "flicker-snicker," t e x t as a d i s c r e t e , autonomous, and s t a t i c influence (13) one can h a r d l y expect to make much sense o f them i n by s i m p l y c a l l i n g them " s a t i r i c " critiques use o f r i m e " Even mimetic i s c o n t r o l l e d by the i n a given s o c i e t y . This u n d e r l i e s a l s o the most i m p o r t a n t , i n which a f o r m a l i s t account o f the contacit recent Prufrock 66 sound as s o c i a l speech i s attempted. A. D. Moody's account o f the sound-shape o f some l i n e s are a c o n v e n i e n t p l a c e to b e g i n . t h a t "a m e t r i c a l l a i d by n a t u r a l the phrase i s settles substructure He d i s c e r n s , as o t h e r s [mainly iambic i n p u l s e ] from the poem have b e f o r e him, . . . . is over- speech rhythms, which f o l l o w the p h r a s i n g , and i n which shaped by i t s i n on the famous pattern of stresses" (1979:. 3 1 ) . Then he refrain: In the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo. (CP 14) For Ann Brady the r e f r a i n lyrical grace" primarily offers i n the poem (13). evidence of the "touches o f Moody's a n a l y s i s o f the two l i n e s is c o n s i d e r a b l y more s o p h i s t i c a t e d . In the f i r s t l i n e , the f i r s t and l a s t phrases match, and the middle one i s a v a r i a t i o n . The second l i n e , though a p p a r e n t l y l i g h t e r i n w e i g h t , i s i n f a c t p r e cisely equivalent. The long phrase ' o f M i c h e l a n g e l o has the same d u r a t i o n and s t r e s s - p a t t e r n as the l a t t e r two phrases o f the same l i n e , which i t a c c u r a t e l y echoes. Thus we have a perfectly correct couplet, e l e g a n t , l a n g u i d l y d r a w l e d , and with the form i n m i n i a t u r e o f i t s s o c i a l scene and e t h o s . One h a r d l y n o t i c e s the presumption o f i t s being so much at ease with M i c h e l a n g e l o : r h y t h m i c a l l y , i n s e n s i b i l i t y , he seems p e r f e c t l y subdued to the drawing-room. 1 ( 3 1 , my emphasis) No one can s e r i o u s l y d i s p u t e Moody's c o n c l u s i o n , but what t h a t c o n c l u s i o n has to do with the p r e c e d i n g p r o s o d i c a n a l y s i s p o i n t about the i n t e r p l a y of metrical phrase and c l a u s e s t r u c t u r e o f the most 'regular' is d i f f i c u l t to s e e . p a t t e r n and the l a n g u a g e ' s can be made about any p i e c e o f p o e t r y , His 'natural' even c o u p l e t s turned by the poets of Queen Anne's r e i g n . 67, Why the l i n e s may be " e l e g a n t " or ically long phrase to do w i t h whether "the " l a n g u i d l y drawn" has nothing d u r a t i o n and s t r e s s - p a t t e r n as the l a t t e r which.it accurately is a distinctive languid. least feature of There i s an arguable one (the . really support i t . .) f o r an e m p i r i c a l analysis the at they ought to be l a n g u i d l y t h a t on c l o s e r i n s p e c t i o n does not but o f i t s c o n c l u s i o n to negative, maps, h e a r i n g s i l e n t l y do i f we s h a r e , or l e a r n a b o u t , t h i s signifies social the s a r d o n i c weariness fragment in his head, c o n t e x t , the o f the drawl preand i n which h i s name i s embedded the acknowledged emptiness of s a l o n c h a t t e r - - a l l this, and more, Moody's competence to make any sense o f these l i n e s Yet at the same t i m e , he i s poetic t e x t , struc- i n the r e p r e s e n t e d c o n t e x t o f s i t u a t i o n , the c h o i c e o f M i c h e l a n g e l o h i m s e l f and o f the syntax constitutes we r e f e r e n c e which the poem's tone s i g n a l s . "Prufrock" c i s e a c c e n t i n g o f the v o w e l s , committed e x p l i c i t l y 79). at to the autonomy o f an i s o l a t e d o r d e r o f words t h a t generates own meaning (Moody: actions as i f Moody's c o n c l u s i o n here i s the a c t u a l o f Anglo-American s o c i e t y analysis t h a t echoing so f a m i l i a r with the s o c i o s e m a n t i c environment of the as we a l l line, t h a t an a c c u r a t e judgement, or r e a d i n g not o f the poem's p o s i t i v e , Moody i s within no reason to b e l i e v e l i n e s do f e e l that structure of external what i t two phrases of the f i r s t suddenly pops out and i s presented as the c o n c l u s i o n [Thus have . a silent has the same " e l e g a n c e " or the unmistakeable s i g n of What has happened here i s drawled), ture, echoes." 'of Michelangelo' specif- and c o n t a i n s T h u s , he imagines an i r r e l e v a n t to cover s a y i n g something he knows t a c i t l y all. the its empirical from h i s own inter- i n the world and h i s a c q u i r e d knowledge o f the Edwardian social milieu that "Prufrock" enacts. 68 His actually intimate knowledge o f the P r u f r o c k w o r l d , however been won, i s an u n d e c l a r e d given o f h i s r e a d i n g . going through the g e s t u r e s o f 'deriving' 171) t h a t v a l o r i z e s split plays it. i n t o two p a r a l l e l may have He may be the knowledge, i n the proper p o s i t i v i s t mode, but t h a t i s an empty e x e r c i s e with l i t t l e beyond the f u n c t i o n i t it i n the i n t e r p r e t a t i v e real community ( F i s h 1980: In e s s e n c e , Moody's r e a d i n g o f E l i o t critical activities. The c r i t i q u e seems to slips one to the o t h e r as need r e q u i r e s , at one moment doing v a r i o u s i n d u c t i o n as a necessary (because judgements d e r i v e d s i l e n t l y u n d e r l i n e s the t e x t ' s from elsewhere. literariness, from o r d i n a r y d i s c o u r s e , i t s the s o c i a l relations critical tacit social features This c r i t i c a l interactions. as s p e c i f i c s o c i a l local But social culture selves all of o p e r a t i o n widens the verse-specific universalist e m b a r r a s s i n g l y , c o n t i n g e n t on context a r t i c u l a t e d by s p e c i f i c it i s a ' r e a d i n g ' of those i n t e r a c t i o n s enacted relations i n the poem, now s e t back, s i l e n t l y , in h i s t o r y where they make s e n s e , t h a t provokes h i s c o n c l u s i o n . particular for difference c o n t e x t by emphasizing the r e g i s t e r or idiom t h a t i s n ' t , of His c o n c e n t r a t i o n on prosody o f the t e x t and p r o v i d e s him with a knowledge o f t h i s feats emphasizing the poem's the poem mimes. from p r e l u d e and c o n t e x t disengagement from the verbal d i s t a n c e between t e x t and s o c i a l distinctive valorized) meaning It the is a s e l f - i n f l i c t e d b l i n d n e s s t h a t has prevented f o r m a l i s t s them- from s e e i n g the i l l e g i t i m a c y o f a somnabulist c r i t i c i s m t h a t walks around the neighbourhood w h i l e i n s i s t i n g i t chaste bed. primarily At bottom, t h i s from a l i t e r a r y has never l e f t peculiar contradiction results, training I its own think, i n r e c e n t pedagogical t r a d i t i o n s r e f u s e s to pursue language beyond the no-man's-land of the l i t e r a r y that and 68 to i n v e s t i g a t e it i n the p l a c e s where a g a i n s t the w o r l d . In t h i s its magic powers run up hard r e s p e c t , the methods of the Greek are i n advance o f the r e i g n i n g f o r m a l i s m . way o f l i s t e n i n g to men and back a g a i n . least, had found a w h i l e walking from the Academy to the talk And the a c t u a l not a s e l f - c o n t a i n e d o r a l They, at rhetoricians talk text, agora they h e a r d , they soon r e a l i z e d , was a simply o r e l a b o r a t e l y ornamented c o n - t a i n e r of information plus e f f e c t s , but "a s t r a t e g y situation" (Burke 1941, 1961: 9 7 ) . In o t h e r words, when speaking about a poem (or any t e x t f o r t h a t matter) an o b j e c t , but to an a c t i v i t y and i n t e r a c t s t a i n e d by we are not r e f e r r i n g p r i m a r i l y i n the w o r l d . This a c t i v i t y with the world as s o c i o s e m i o t i c r e a l i t y , ' t e x t s ' , which i n s c r i b e common i n t u i t i v e 125; Berger f o r encompassing a and Luckmann 1979: 172-173; Jameson life is to semantic a reality (Halliday main1978: 1982: 7 4 ) . Nor i s t h i s verbal a c t i o n a l l there i s to i t . For a l l these words are grounded i n what Malinowski would c a l l ' c o n t e x t s o f s i t u a t i o n ' . And very i m p o r t a n t among these ' c o n t e x t s o f s i t u a t i o n ' are the kind o f f a c t o r s c o n s i d e r e d by Bentham, Marx, and V e b l e n , the m a t e r i a l i n t e r e s t s (of p r i v a t e o r c l a s s s t r u c t u r e ) t h a t you s y m b o l i c a l l y defend or s y m b o l i c a l l y a p p r o p r i a t e or s y m b o l i c a l l y a l i g n y o u r s e l f with i n the course o f making your own a s s e r t i o n s . These i n t e r e s t s do not ' c a u s e ' your d i s c u s s i o n ; . . . . But they g r e a t l y a f f e c t the Idiom i n which you speak, and so the idiom by which you t h i n k . (Burke 1941, 1961: 96) The words o f " P r u f r o c k " situation, a social context that which the poem r e f e r s its assumptions. of thought: are grounded i n a p a r t i c u l a r in i t s is historically content, The c r i t i c a l task, 1) the kind of a t t i t u d e in i t s context of r e c u p e r a b l e and to formal p r o c e d u r e s , and i n t h e n , i s to c o n j o i n s e v e r a l the t e x t in i t s compositional lines 70 procedures d i r e c t s of i t s d a y ; 2) subjectivity, us to have towards the l i t e r a r y conventions and norms the use the t e x t makes o f the idioms i n which identity, and e x p e r i e n c e are d i s c u s s e d , t h a t i s , a s s i g n e d a p l a c e and a v a l u e i n a s o c i o - e t h i c a l o r d e r ; 3) groups i n which these s p e c i f i c idioms o r i g i n a t e ; and 4) forms o p p o s i t i o n to the system o f s o c i a l the i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o f social the range of norms takes at d i f f e r e n t of society. For example, i n a s o c i e t y p o w e r f u l l y 'aristocracy of the s w o r d ' , what form does o p p o s i t i o n take to i- Library Home /
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Tone and voice in T.S. Eliot’s early poetry and prose Cooper, John Xiros 1984
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| Title | Tone and voice in T.S. Eliot’s early poetry and prose |
| Creator |
Cooper, John Xiros |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Date Issued | 1984 |
| Description | This study examines 'tone' and 'voice' in T. S. Eliot's early poetry and prose from sociological and historical perspectives. A procedural framework is proposed drawn from recent work in the sociology of knowledge, social anthropology, and the sociology of language which helps to elucidate the specific relationship between a literary text and the concrete historical moment in which it is lodged. In this study a literary work is not conceived of as a discrete textual object, but as a signifying practice which shares with all uses of language the important feature of occurring in a particular social context that is already always deeply inscribed with meaning. The shared knowledge of this system of meaning in a society I call 'common intuitive life'. Works of art impinge on the common intuitive life as operations, of certain, specific kinds, on this system of settled significations. I argue that Eliot's early work actively aimed to subvert, disrupt, and, ultimately, transform the aesthetic and socio-political regions of the common intuitive life of bourgeois society. This study, thus, contests the traditional critical practice of assigning to Eliot's enactments of experience in his poetry and to his formulations of critical axioms in his prose a universalist or essentialist value. Instead his early work is read as embodying more limited aesthetic and cultural practices, which, on occasion, use universalist notions, like myth, instrumentally in the service of the more limited project. "Hearing the dissonances" introduces the concept of 'tone' and explores the paradoxical services this notion has rendered Anglo-American formalism from I. A. Richards to American 'new criticism’. This chapter rethinks 'tone' sociologically. "The destruction of 'literature'" examines "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" as Eliot's witty attempt to annul late Romantic notions of the 'literary' and of the verbal practices which follow from such notions. "Undermining the foundations" extends this analysis to other short poems and ends with a discussion of a fragment of The waste Land, bringing to bear concepts and themes developed in previous chapters and looking forward to the fuller treatment of The waste Land in Chapter Five. Chapter Four, "An incessant activity," examines tone and form in The sacred wood, discovering and interpreting the overall unity of this signal text as a function of its iconoclastic encounter with settled notions and theories of literature and literary practice. "A deep closed song; or the argument of The waste Land" examines Eliot's early masterpiece as a work whose unity lies, not in putative intrinsic coherences, but in its relationship to the common intuitive life of bourgeois readers in post-Great War England. The chapter, in short, explores the poem's negative or dialogical 'unity'. The study concludes in "A very long perspective" with a brief discussion of "Ash Wednesday" and For Lancelot Andrewes. It assesses the mutations of tone and voice consonant with Eliot's migration in English society from an uneasy marginality to a socially and institutionally more central place. |
| Genre |
Thesis/Dissertation |
| Type |
Text |
| Language | eng |
| Date Available | 2010-05-31 |
| Provider | Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
| DOI | 10.14288/1.0096399 |
| URI | http://hdl.handle.net/2429/25284 |
| Degree |
Doctor of Philosophy - PhD |
| Program |
English |
| Affiliation |
Arts, Faculty of English, Department of |
| Degree Grantor | University of British Columbia |
| Campus |
UBCV |
| Scholarly Level | Graduate |
| Aggregated Source Repository | DSpace |
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