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Horizons: A Book of Criticism
Excerpt from Horizons: A Book of Criticism
But I do not propose, on this account, to defer to the current American superstition that pedantry is the equivalent of ideas. To quote Simon Gry preface to the Lyons Plato of 1548 may be the clinching blow of an argument; it may also be, it is much more likely to be, a bit of portentous nonsense. A critic should be a linguist, a philolo gist, a psychologist, a man who knows literary and aesthetic ideas as well as history, social and economic and political: but all of it is cold inanimation un less the flame of sympathy is touched to it. Criti cism is an art limited by the capacity of the critic for emotion. Without rapport, there can'be no criticism. In the newspaper world it is unnecessary to say this. In the newspaper world the clown issupposed to be as close to the marvel of Cleopatra as Antony himself. The newspapers look on the critical as persons who are unable to take a gener ous attitude toward life, puny persons, persons who fancy themselves, persons thin-blooded and finespun. They represent their own patrons as rugged, power ful, straightforward, good red blood in their veins. Silly as it is to have the herd traits exalted and imposed in this fashion, the contrary superstition of exclusiveness is more serious. My objection to the pedant is not based on the fact that he is excluding, but that his exclusiveness is cold, snobbish, Sterile. If anything is clear in the history of men it is their pretentiousness. Prophets and kings and priests and judges, the guise of authority is myriad, its deceits multitudinous. To challenge authority may not be the last step toward liberty, but it is the first step, the step most disputed, the step most needed in dealing with reputable American criticism.
When literary demagogues appear, one must be prepared to resist them, but not at the cost of vitality that our professors of English literature have de creed. Whether or not the cause of the professors' feebleness is a buried inferiority complex, as the analysts term it, the fact is patent; they do not savor the wine of literature until they see the ortho dox date and the orthodox name'on the orthodox cobwebbed bottle. Our universities are crowded with such teachers. They do not arouse and foster the feeling for literature, they thwart and kill it, and they have made the American college graduate a by-word for literary insensitiveness.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
But I do not propose, on this account, to defer to the current American superstition that pedantry is the equivalent of ideas. To quote Simon Gry preface to the Lyons Plato of 1548 may be the clinching blow of an argument; it may also be, it is much more likely to be, a bit of portentous nonsense. A critic should be a linguist, a philolo gist, a psychologist, a man who knows literary and aesthetic ideas as well as history, social and economic and political: but all of it is cold inanimation un less the flame of sympathy is touched to it. Criti cism is an art limited by the capacity of the critic for emotion. Without rapport, there can'be no criticism. In the newspaper world it is unnecessary to say this. In the newspaper world the clown issupposed to be as close to the marvel of Cleopatra as Antony himself. The newspapers look on the critical as persons who are unable to take a gener ous attitude toward life, puny persons, persons who fancy themselves, persons thin-blooded and finespun. They represent their own patrons as rugged, power ful, straightforward, good red blood in their veins. Silly as it is to have the herd traits exalted and imposed in this fashion, the contrary superstition of exclusiveness is more serious. My objection to the pedant is not based on the fact that he is excluding, but that his exclusiveness is cold, snobbish, Sterile. If anything is clear in the history of men it is their pretentiousness. Prophets and kings and priests and judges, the guise of authority is myriad, its deceits multitudinous. To challenge authority may not be the last step toward liberty, but it is the first step, the step most disputed, the step most needed in dealing with reputable American criticism.
When literary demagogues appear, one must be prepared to resist them, but not at the cost of vitality that our professors of English literature have de creed. Whether or not the cause of the professors' feebleness is a buried inferiority complex, as the analysts term it, the fact is patent; they do not savor the wine of literature until they see the ortho dox date and the orthodox name'on the orthodox cobwebbed bottle. Our universities are crowded with such teachers. They do not arouse and foster the feeling for literature, they thwart and kill it, and they have made the American college graduate a by-word for literary insensitiveness.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
374 pages, Paperback
First published July 15, 2015
About the author
Francis Hackett
70 books1 followerFrancis Hackett was born in Kilkenny, Ireland in 1883 to the daughter of a farmer and a medical officer. He is most famous for writing a detailed book about Henry VIII but was also a noted critic and published several other books most of which were either non-fiction or biographies.
He was educated in St Kieran's College, where Thomas MacDonagh was his teacher.
He married the Danish writer Signe Toksvig, and the couple lived in Ireland in the early years of the State, and then moved to Denmark, to the US during World War II, and back to Denmark.
"Hackett immigrated to the United States in 1901 for various reasons, among them being his dissatisfaction with the British Government ruling Ireland, and his family’s inability to finance his college education. When he arrived in New York he published articles in Standish O’Grady’s All Ireland Review, Arthur Griffith’s United Irishman, and Samuel Richardson’s The Gael. Hackett took a series of jobs as a clerk in a law firm, for the advertising department of Cosmopolitan Magazine, and literary editor of various periodicals, such as the Chicago Evening Post. In 1906 Hackett moved into Hull-House and taught English to Russian Immigrants. As writer and critic, Hackett attacked Chicago’s genteel and commercial cultures, racism, and the subordination of women. He left his position as literary editor of the Post in 1911 to pursue a career as a novelist."
-Wikipedia
He was educated in St Kieran's College, where Thomas MacDonagh was his teacher.
He married the Danish writer Signe Toksvig, and the couple lived in Ireland in the early years of the State, and then moved to Denmark, to the US during World War II, and back to Denmark.
"Hackett immigrated to the United States in 1901 for various reasons, among them being his dissatisfaction with the British Government ruling Ireland, and his family’s inability to finance his college education. When he arrived in New York he published articles in Standish O’Grady’s All Ireland Review, Arthur Griffith’s United Irishman, and Samuel Richardson’s The Gael. Hackett took a series of jobs as a clerk in a law firm, for the advertising department of Cosmopolitan Magazine, and literary editor of various periodicals, such as the Chicago Evening Post. In 1906 Hackett moved into Hull-House and taught English to Russian Immigrants. As writer and critic, Hackett attacked Chicago’s genteel and commercial cultures, racism, and the subordination of women. He left his position as literary editor of the Post in 1911 to pursue a career as a novelist."
-Wikipedia
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