Module B Study Guide: T.S Eliot - main ideas Flashcards
Textual integrity and canonical status
What is Textual Integrity?
NESA: “The unity of a text; its coherent use of form and language to produce an integrated whole in terms of meaning and value.”
Essentially, coherence.
Example of Textual Integrity in T.S Eliot
Preludes (1911) uses enjambment and slant rhyme in “The morning comes to consciousness/ Of faint smells of beer… To early coffee stands,” represents dysfunction structurally. They present an integreted whole.
Define Integrity
It is the quality of being honest and showing a consistent adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values.
How can I talk about Textual Integrity in T.S Eliot’s corpus*?
(*collection of texts) In terms of the thematic cohesion. Eliot consistently critiques:
- modernity
- corruption caused by liberalism
- individuals struggle against against difference and loneliness.
Or consider his intertext-uality and form to convey and reinforce meaning.
What is canonical status?
It is found through form. It engages with universal human concerns such as the human condition.
How to decide a text’s canonical status?
- Is this theme relevant to wide group of individuals?
- Is this poem conveying a universal human condition?
- Does this text engage with the human condition?
- Does this poem use form in interesting or unique ways?
- Does this text combine form and meaning? Is it using form to develop meaning?
What are key contextual points of T.S.Eliot?
- Modernism
- Secularity
- Technology
What is modernism?
It is a movement that arose during the 1800s and became popular after WWI. Modernists explored the individiual mind and criticised rules, tradition and routines. They were experimental and broke traditonal rules.
What is secularity?
What is it in relation to T.S.Eliot?
In Eliot’s time, the world was becoming secular. Meaning, they were rejecting religion. There was also an increased understanding of individual psychoanalysis. Eliot struggled to find his own faith. It wasn’t until the 1920s and his conversion to Anglo-Catholicism we can see change in his poems.
What is technology in relation to Eliot’s context?
The 2nd Industrial Revolution (mid 1800s-1900s). Factories began to use more efficient tech to mass-produce goods.
There was a focus on productivity and capitalist ideals. People were expected to work long hours for money.
Eliot was highly critical of this lifeless routine.
