Lecture 14: Influence (ENGL 300)
This lecture explicates Harold Bloom's theory of poetic influence, particularly the "anxiety of influence" and the concept of misprision, through a close examination of T.S. Eliot's "Tradition and the Individual Talent" and Bloom's response. It explores the struggle between poets and their literary precursors, drawing connections to Freudian psychoanalysis.
Introduction to Theory of Literature (ENGL 300)
In this lecture on the psyche in literary theory, Professor Paul Fry explores the work of T. S. Eliot and Harold Bloom, specifically their studies of tradition and individualism. Related and divergent perspectives on tradition, innovation, conservatism, and self-effacement are traced throughout Eliot's "Tradition and the Individual Talent" and Bloom's "Meditation upon Priority." Particular emphasis is placed on the process by which poets struggle with the literary legacies of their precursors. The relationship of Bloom's thinking, in particular, to Freud's Oedipus complex is duly noted. The lecture draws heavily from the works of Pope, Borges, Joyce, Homer, Wordsworth, Longinus, and Milton.
Lecture 13: Jacques Lacan in Theory (ENGL 300)
Next · Lecture 15Lecture 15: The Postmodern Psyche (ENGL 300)
Seminar notes & discussion
No public seminar notes on this lecture yet.