Hi Tim, I wouldn't at all exclude radicalism in poetry, just that we don't share a view of the richness of this particular debate. With his reference to Eliot as 'an old fart' I can't anyway imagine Sean will be too troubled by anything in mine.
I'm in deep Devon where coverage is minimal so excuse this skimpy reply.
Best,
Jamie
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Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2012 13:08:28 +0100
Subject: Re: Blake in Cambridge
Sorry Jamie, but I think that's a bit cheap. The argument between Ben and Sean, which I admit has its funny side, is in fact a real one. Both are writers who have a view of poetry as being a radical tool and if you see poetry as being a possible radical tool then you are going to have such arguments, however silly they might appear to those who just don't get that. That political radicalism used to be an important source of much of the British avant garde's particular texture and force, and it lives on in poets like Bonney, however much bourgeois aesthetics and the American influences have cooled it down over recent years.
Cheers
Tim A.
On 1 Jul 2012, at 17:32, Jamie McKendrick wrote:
Good game - can anyone play? To outradical the opponent with illuminating references to Finnegans Wake and adjust readings of Blake to the shifting exigencies of domestic politics between 2010-2012. Perhaps the SWP and the Cambridge English Dept could go halves on the trophy.
