Bridge Course - Tradition and the Individual Talent

 Thinking Activity 

' Bridge Course - Tradition and Individual Talent '

 Hello readers! Here I am going to write down One another blog. This blog is assigned and Inspired by Dr.Dilip barad sir - Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University.  This blog is a part of our thinking activity.  In this blog I will deal with some of the important question answers about T.S.Eliot's essay - ' Tradition and Individual Talent' on the basis of my understanding. 

 

  T.S.Eliot ( Thomas Stearns Eliot) Considered one of the 20th century major poets. The 1948 winner of the Nobel prize in literature, T.S.Eliot is highly distinguished as a Poet, literary critic, a dramatist, an editor and a Publisher. His awards and honors include the British order of Merit and the Nobel prize for Literature. Despite his enduring Popularity Eliot and his work have been Criticised as having Prejudiced views, Particularly anti - Semitism.  

  □  Tradition and Individual Talent :- 

 Often hailed as the successor to Poet critics Such as John Dryden, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Matthew Arnold and T.S.Eliot 's literary criticism informs his Poetry just as his experience as a poet shape his critical work. Perhaps his best known essay -  'Tradition and Individual Talent' was first published in the year 1919 and soon after included in The Sacred wood : essays on poetry and Criticism (1920). 

 Eliot attempts to do two things in his essay. He first redefinies tradition by putting  emphasis on the history of writing and understanding poetry. He then argued in his essay that Poetry should be essentially impersonal that is separate and distinct from the personality of its writer. T.S.Eliot's idea of tradition is complex and unusual. This essay - Tradition and Individual talent has had many detractors, especially those who question Eliot's insistence on canonical works as standard of greatness. It is difficult to overemphasize the essay ' s influence. It has shaped generation of poets, critics and theorists and also is a key text in modern literary criticism. 

 

    Now I am going to answer some of the questions as per my understanding which is related to T.S.Eliot's essay - Tradition and Individual talent given by sir. 

  Question 1 :- How would you like to explain Eliot's concept of Tradition? Do you agree with it? 

Answer  :-T.S.Eliot talked about the Concept of Tradition in the very first part of the essay. In literature the term tradition is that ; 

       " Unrecognised element." 

Usually when we say that someone is traditional. What we are trying to say is that he is very old fashioned or he is not someone who will accept the new changes very easily. This is the same case literature also. For ex:- when we say that this writer is traditional. It is about how much that writer is imitating the predecessors. In this part of the essay Eliot challenged the perception that when a writer imitates his predecessors, it means that the writer is lacking originality.  According to Eliot ; 

    " The best parts of a Poet's work are those in which the dead Poets, his ancestors assert their immorality most vigorously. " 

 According to T.S.Eliot Tradition is about reflecting earlier works and not merely copying. It is difficult to agree or disagree with the idea of Eliot's concept of Tradition.  Eliot is not asking us to repeat what already exists and loose our originality.  He says that whenever we create something new we should have a historical sense that is an awareness and understanding of the works that have been written earlier.

  So, that is how T.S.Eliot explained in very detail about the Concept of tradition in the very first part of the essay.

  Question 2 :- What do you understand by Historical sense? 

 Eliot has described in detail that What he means by historical sense. He says that ; 

  " The historical sense involves a Perception , not only of the pastness of the past , but of its Presence."

 Eliot believed that Tradition is not something that can be inherited. It can be obtained only by hard work. To be traditional it not just enough to know that past, the writers should have a historical sense that is along with knowing the past. The writer should also know the importance of the past in the present.

   A poet or writer should be familiar with the distant past. It means that the writer should aware the whole literature of Europe from Homer. This is what creates Historical sense and this makes the writer traditional. 

   Question 3 :- What is the relationship between Tradition and the Individual talent, according to the Poet T.S.Eliot? 

  Answer :-  Eliot is of the Opnion that the writer must have faith in some systems of writing and that a work of art must conform to tradition in such a way that it alters the tradition as much as it is directed by it. According to T.S.Eliot' s thinking and Conception tradition and the Individual talent go together.

  So Individual talent becomes very much important which one cannot sideline when they are learning about literary criticism. Through the essay of Eliot we can come to a point that only historical sense is not enough and require for any literary work. But For that One has to be creative also in his / her own way and Individual talent is also important. 

  Question  4 :- Explain : "Some can absorb knowledge, the more tardy sweat for it. Shakespeare accquired more  essential history from plutarch than most men could from the whole British museum."

 Answer :-  T.S.Eliot uses this lines this lines - " Some can absorb knowledge, the more tardy sweat for it. " in his essay. It means that To become a Creative writer is not an easy. As T.S.Eliot also mentioned that one can not inherent Tradition. But it can be only gain through lots of efforts and hard work by a writer or a poet.

  For a Creative literary work a writer or poet should have a habit of wide reading and vast knowledge not only about the present , but also of the past. Shakespeare accquired so much historical sense about different histories. So from this lines used in the essay we get an idea that the people who are intelligent they can absorb knowledge and the others have to sweat for gaining and accquring vast knowledge. 

  Question  5 :- Explain : " Honest Criticism and Sensitive appreciation is not directed upon the poet but upon the Poetry."

 Answer :-  In the second part of the essay Eliot argues that ; 

   " Honest Criticism and Sensitive appreciation is not directed upon the poet but upon the Poetry." 

  From his Perspective this lines hints at the actual beginning of New Criticism where the focus will shift from an author to text. Eliot here defines the responsibility of a poet. The poet is not supposed to compose poetry which is full of emotions or rather we can say personal emotions. We are consider more a poet rather than his work. But that is not correct. So we have to understand that For an Honest Criticism and Sensitive appreciation it is important and notable that it should be directed upon the Poetry and not the poet.

 Question  6 :- Explain : " Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion. It is not the expression of Personality, but an escape from personality. 

 Answer :-  Through this line we can get an idea that Eliot does not deny Personality or emotion to the Poet. Only he must depersonalize his emotion. There should be an extinction of his personality. This impersonality can be achieved only when the poet surrenders himself completely to the work that is to be done.

  And the poet can know what is to be done only if he acquires a sense of tradition, the historic sense which will make him conscious not only of the present but also the present moment of the past. This is what new critics want from literature. They want to appreciate good Literature and do not want their opinion of the poet to cloud their Judgement. 

 I hope that this blog will be useful to you..

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