Western Canon Great Writers and Immortal Works

Author: (American) Bloom, H. (Author), Jiang Ningkang (Translator)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-06-13
Features: Amidst the rise of various trendy theories such as feminism, pluralism, cultural materialism, New Historicism, and Afrocentrism, Harold Bloom stands against the tide, rejecting the ideologicalization of literary criticism and reaffirming the indispensability of intellectual and aesthetic standards. In this book, Bloom champions the doctrine of "aesthetic autonomy" while upholding his theory of "the anxiety of influence." With Shakespeare as the center of Western classics, he examines over two dozen leading Western writers—from Dante, Chaucer, Cervantes to Joyce, Kafka, Borges, and Beckett—by comparing them with Shakespeare, revealing the mystery of literary classics: classic works are all masterful fusions of tradition and originality. This book provides a guide to understanding hundreds of years of great Western writers and important works, undoubtedly sparking your desire to revisit the classics. However, it is far more than just a must-read list of Western literary works. It blends a love for scholarship and a passion for aesthetics, eloquently and brilliantly defending a unified and coherent literary culture. In the years to come, it will lead us to rediscover the joy of reading that Western literary tradition has bestowed upon us.