Harold Bloom interview on "The Western Canon" (1994)

Professor at Yale and New York University Harold Bloom shares his new book, "The Western Canon," and analyzes the state of literature today.
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[@ManufacturingIntellect]

Check out these GREAT Harold Bloom books on Amazon: "How to Read and Why": amzn.to/318PRW8 "Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds": amzn.to/315ucy8 "Possessed by Memory: The Inward Light of Criticism": amzn.to/2UJGxpd Join us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/ManufacturingIntellect Donate Crypto! commerce.coinbase.com/checkout/868d67d2-1628-44a8-b8dc-8f9616d62259 Share this video! Get Two Books FREE with a Free Audible Trial: amzn.to/2LBdkZl Checking out the affiliate links above helps me bring even more high quality videos by earning me a small commission! And if you have any suggestions for future content, make sure to subscribe on the Patreon page. Thank you for your support!

[@rellman85]

He came to class an hour and a half early, every class day, to have lunch and hold office hours with his students. What a sweet man, a dedicated teacher.

[@CarlKandutsch]

In several classes he was brought to tears. Incredibly kind and generous man

[@nickcalabrese4829]

@@CarlKandutsch what kinds of things brought him to tears

[@CarlKandutsch]

@@nickcalabrese4829 reading the poems - Whitman, Stevens

[@ottodetroit]

@@SmoothInvestigator 2sd

[@sxnico]

how marvelous to to have known, been taught by and spoken to him.

[@Crowborn]

"Pseudo-historicists calling themselves new but nothing more than a mixture of the French theorist Foucault and a lot of salsaparilla" is a quote for the ages

[@AnaLuizaHella]

Not to mention that they don't understand anything about Foucault. He is not a "theorist". His work is invaluable.

[@SatanPanda]

@@AnaLuizaHella Agree. That traditional aesthetic values are dismissed as a bourgeois mystification says it all. Or maybe the Frankfurt School were actually bourgeois post-modernists lol

[@abrahamgomez653]

Your saying your smarter than Foucault. He didn't break a new ground because we cannot escape our precursors. However, give him some credit he did see something that none of us could see.

[@tgrizz5]

@@abrahamgomez653 *You're

[@magnuskallas]

It's crazy how hard it hit the nail. Even far from USA, in a little country called Estonia I originate from, little leftists, feminists and neo-marxis have their little magazines and gatherings and the these nuts really screw on Foucault and cream over it! What a bunch of LOSERS (saying this in a tone like a kid observing something truly peculiar).

[@VocalEdgeTV]

Who's here 2020 and appreciating how relevant this is now...unfortunately?

[@baroquecat2295]

I’m here

[@thyliasmoss9672]

Me too. I’m here

[@grahamhill470]

I am here as well. The Western Cannon is still talking to us clearly and resoundingly.

[@AdamGeest]

The school of resentment and PC culture asserted itself with some force in the early 90s ... and then vanished for a time before emerging again in its present form.

[@CesarClouds]

Me.

[@harrisonmccartney4878]

Harold Bloom was an enormous proponent for reading the "best of what has been written". He's not speaking to the average person, although the average person is invited to listen, but rather he is addressing the aspiring intellectual. Not as a label or some other phoney lifestyle substance, but for truly intelligent people who understand and appreciate the value that poetry and literature has in giving us insight into how other people think and feel. How applicable these myriad of situations are in relation to our own lives. One lives a fuller life with the lessons of poetry and literature. One loves others more fully with poetry and literature. One forgives more readily, accepts more readily, and embraces more readily with poetry and literature, and not just towards other people but towards oneself as well. Literature is as close to a gesture of love from one person to another as anything there is. That being said, some writers have done this better than others, and it takes a long time for books to find relevance in the Canon, which are foundational works that emphasize a certain novel writing style or become so widely read and discussed amongst critics in reference to other works that they pass into casual conversation when the topic of newer works arise. A work is canonical if one mentions it frequently in reference to what other books have attempted to achieve. The influence of that work becomes inescapable, and therefore it serves to inform what other writers have drawn from it, either directly or indirectly. Bloom tried to keep as contemporary as he could, and he made a wonderful appraisal of Blood Meridian as one of the most recent novels to enter the American Canon, but so few writers can even match, let alone imitate McCarthy's level, but nearly everything else goes back to the early 20th century, as those works have matured into their relevancy in discussing their impact on future novels. People can and should see their own personal value in literature, and hold their opinions as boldly as Bloom does here. But for the literary critic, or the brightest minds who feel up to the challenge, understanding the Canon produces a wealth of delight in further reading. Countless are the number of scholars and intellects who have found endless pleasure in thumbing through the pages of Ulysses because their knowledge of Shakespeare, Dante, Milton and so on produce such deeper meaning on the page. A person without this knowledge may be at a loss or think some sentences or phrases just plain random, but for those familiar with the Canon it illuminates so much more than just the words on the page. It harkens to what might comparatively be called an "in-joke", or something where the experience of readers who understand is vastly different than the experience of readers who don't.

[@mymind1615]

how does one start with understanding the technical works like ulysses. Should we start by reading Shakespeare, Dante and Cervantes ?

[@czarquetzal8344]

Cite Matthew Arnold.

[@womenandchildren]

COUNTLESS ARE THE NUMBER!

[@MaximilianonMars]

I suppose you fancy yourself an intellectual. One symptom is an aversion to writing in a clear and easily communicated manner.

[@zachd4693]

@@MaximilianonMars There's nothing at all unclear about the OP's post

[@Beastw1ck]

I'm so thankful for podcasts. This would have been so much better as a 3-hour conversation. TV interviews never felt like they had room to breathe.

[@ytsucksnowwiththisrealname1096]

Truly. Biggest bandwidth shift since the printing press.

[@josh-rz3uq]

Yeah, you look like you listen to fucking podcasts.

[@carefulconsumer8682]

I could listen to Bloom speak and discuss issues for hours.

[@RussellWestcoast]

This is a very longform interview for TV, and every second is packed. Three hours would not be the same. I doubt a thinker like Bloom would ramble for three hours, as it dilutes the arguments. Three hours is suffocating for a great thinker.

[@redcatofdeath]

Unfortunately, the podcast has arrived a little too late. There are very few now who can speak intelligently and seriously about great literature.

[@margarinetaintedgreen8140]

Amazing. He’s saying everything that should be said in 2023, in 1994.

[@svalbard01]

💯

[@SerWhiskeyfeet]

It's insane how relevant this is right now.

[@julianblake8385]

Read the introduction for that book, the western cannon, maaaaan it seems as if he were speaking about 2018 golleges.

[@threedragonstalk2123]

Every idea that gains traction in intellectual and academic circles eventually finds its way into the minds of the general public in due time.

[@user-vf8ti4dq3d]

heeeeel yeeeeee

[@viljamtheninja]

@@myemailaccount3046 I am 100% certain that you are not an English major. Actual English majors know how to use punctuation generally write in a way that isn't painful to the eyes and brain.

[@myemailaccount3046]

@@viljamtheninja hahahahahahahaha this is one of the funniest things I've seen. Hahahaha. A precise study of irony. The pot that looked at the kettle and said I am better, darn it! In short, the hypocrite.

[@cryptaker]

This guy is a prophet for what is currently happening in the universities. He saw what was coming

[@neilkulick6560]

Yes, Bloom prophesied the death of the Western Canon. He has nearly been proven right. In a few years, who will be left to read Shakespeare or Milton or Chaucer? Professor Bloom’s passing makes me sad.

[@kylebernadyn2465]

@Gary Nelson Certainly you're not saying that you need a good story to care about those who sit on the margins of society for no good reason other than powerful people "disagree" with their nature.

[@kylebernadyn2465]

@Gary Nelson Do you recognize that the characters, whether they reside in a good story or a bad one, are nevertheless important to that story?

[@alphonseelric5722]

@@kylebernadyn2465 Maybe that's why there is journalism. It is not Literature's duty to teach you social values, well at least not explicitly so. Reading about their plight in a mediocre book...better yet, being pushed to read about their plight in a mediocre book does nobody any good. That is not to say minorities can't produce great literature but with the current model in fashion, I find it unlikely.

[@kylebernadyn2465]

@@alphonseelric5722I think it's hard to try and make that argument when you have people like Bloom and his ardent supporters lamenting the undressing of the Canon and their marking of the possible negative societal and academic effects. We obviously turn to literature for *some* reason, a clearer idea of The Good I would say is a good candidate.

[@imPloRaL]

As someone who just graduated with a degree in English (duel majored with economics) what he is saying about the state of literary study is painfully true. I never in my 3 years read Dickens or Wordsworth. I wouldn’t even call it a degree in literate. It should be known as a degree in Postmodern Ideology. Multiple professors said with righteous joy that we would not dwell on the dead white male authors but expand our consciousness through critical race theory or by offering “representation” to people of color. I am obviously not saying we should reject works of literature by people of non European descent but works should be judged on their merit, not by the color of the authors skin, as professor Bloom states. He questions if the war was lost to this virus in 1994, I was not alive then so I can’t say, but I can say it’s lost now. If you’re considering getting a degree in English: don’t. Get membership to your local library. It’s cheaper and much more beneficial for the psyche.

[@abanana2561]

Thank you for this mate, I'm sorry for your experience, but thankful for your insight. Theres still a great number of us who loves and values literature and the act of solitary reading.

[@josemarcosegurajaubert8108]

We´re going backwards on Martin Luther King words... INSANE.

[@boyizheng6913]

It is not economically feasible for universities to pay for professors to entertain nobody but themselves. If you think it through, therer is actually never a golden age when this many scholars are employed just to read the Republic over and over. Critical race theories just happen to be a little bit more capable in contributing new knowledges and attracting funds. You know, if you don't worry about money, go to Yale or Columbia and you can study dead white men all you want! Seriously, white men, where is your money? Can we fund more tenure tracks so that I can do what I like for a living?

[@erickaL4]

wow. I was considering studying English but glad I didn't.

[@imPloRaL]

@@erickaL4 Please do not let my comment deter you from any self-study of literature. There is wisdom, beauty, moral instruction, communication about topics we can't normally talk about, enjoyment, along with many other redemptive traits embedded within literature. It may seem hyperbolic but it is true that literature is life changing. There is also much scientific research indicating that those who read literature receive an array of psychological benefits (including but not limited too: being more empathetic and being able to read both people and situations better). My experience as an English major is becoming more and more common, which is tragic, but there are exceptions. Harold Bloom may have been paddling against the current but he was not alone. I hope you read many great books in your life and that my comment has no negative impact on your impression of literature.

[@Tsnore]

A canon is such because it has survived generations of scrutiny, giving pleasure and meaning to good minds across societies. Post-modernism poisoned this with its crude political reductionism and dissections. This Bloom loves aesthetics, brains, and high-quality skillful work. And hats off to him and his seeking cognitive, rhetorical, and open-minded power. It enriches our lives.

[@lilliannieswender266]

You could not be more right. Thank God for people like professor Bloom.

[@nickford17]

Bloom is a fan of many postmodern authors.

[@Se7s95]

Nick Ford postmodern literature is fine, some of it is great. Applying postmodern thinking in literary criticism is cancerous.

[@RMT192]

You are an idiot. You don't realize that most great books in the Canon over the last 75 years, as acknowledged by Harold Bloom himself who hates literary-relativism and the way social issues have taken over the humanities, are nearly all post-modern texts!!! Good luck with fighting the march of history, unless you want to pretend Charles Darwin never happened, go ahead and start burning books you don't like and see where that gets you: Auschwitz.

[@emreakilic2475]

@@RMT192 You brought up the holocaust because someone hates post mordernism. I bet you compare American politicians to Hitler on a regular basis 😂😂.

[@haribo687]

Good literature will always be relevant. As Ezra Pound once said: "Literature is news that stays news!"

[@mileskeesey983]

He also said: fascism sounds good to me

[@dionysianapollomarx]

Thanks for making the point. The communist Fredric Jameson, the conservative Nassim Taleb, and the liberal Isaiah Berlin are fans of Pound. Common denominator? Men. There, made my point.

[@henriquebraga5266]

@@dionysianapollomarx Victoria Ocampo, a friend of Borges, was enthralled by Italian fascism and wrote various articles in praise of Mussolini. She was a woman.

[@jamesnetwall1193]

@@dionysianapollomarx so the importance of good writing boils down to a battle of the sexes? This just sounds like a simple way to broadly dismiss. I'm sure it wouldn't take much of a Google search to find out that there were women who are fans of Pound as well.

[@apostoliagkolfinopoulou3776]

@@mileskeesey983 almost died laughing

[@bk2524]

I'm, at 35, just now reading Harold Bloom's work. It's a tool for me to learn the literary culture of our modern, and yes, Western world. Bloom's arguments are misrepresented frequently. This interview doesn't help clarify them too much either. That is, in part, because Bloom's strength is in literary appreciation, not the argumentative qualities cultivated in Philosophy. The general misrepresentation of Bloom's work is expressed well by Charlie Rose attempting to point out the "contradictions" in Bloom's work by bringing up the diversity of writers he recommends. There is no contradiction. Bloom never argued against minorities. What he argued against, and was remarkably prescient about, was a (literary) culture that overvalued diversity over merit, collectivism over individuality, and writing that put politics above the universal experiences of humanity, which he felt was expressed best by the best authors. His argument could stand completely intact even if his recommended authors were nothing but Black Lesbians from the Far East because his reason for putting then in the Canon would be the merit of their work in influencing and touching individual readers, not a superficial checklist of racial/ethnic/sexual/gendered requirements. Bloom was making this argument at a time everyone thought he was an extreme alarmist. We now see he predicted "Cancel Culture", the death of Individualism, and the complete erosion of the Western Canon perfectly.

[@James-gk8ip]

Yes. Ironically, his writing is not so cogent as his teaching.

[@HakuYuki001]

Come on baby. Keep telling me more about how oppressed you are and how your culture is being genocided. 😂

[@valpergalit]

Bloom was well ahead of his time with these ideas. I recently graduated high school, and everything Bloom mentioned about inadequate literature being forced into curriculum is 100% true. I can’t count the number of terrible, insignificant novels I read in English class while great canonical texts sat untouched in our library.

[@legatrix]

Where are you now studying, out of interest?

[@raymondfrye5017]

Finally, a young person with a thinking cap.Sadly, it's true!...English majors no longer read Shakespeare, nor Milton as examples.

[@TheDWlover]

Raymond Frye That’s not true for the most part. I just graduated with a BA in English and read ten or so plays of Shakespeare and about half of Milton’s paradise lost. Only a few mediocre “identity politics” texts were pushed on myself and my classmates. But also read the god of small things, Toni Morrison, Jean toomer, and enjoyed them very very much. Really, the problem Bloom discusses is more relevant in public schools, specifically high schools, in my opinion.

[@aclark903]

@@TheDWlover Bro, my English degree encouraged us to read all of Paradise Lost, and most (35+) of Shakespeare's plays. My first tutorial they expected you to read all the sonnets.

[@indialavoyce95]

Undergrad Lit Review I agree❣️

[@hughmanatee7657]

Bloom's answer to Rose's question about "What we get out of reading Shakespeare" is magisterial, and I'm grateful to Charlie that this time he did not interrupt Harold Bloom.

[@BestFilmproducer]

This interview might truly be a testament to the fact that intellect supersedes appearance in any way. I listened to this entire interview (not just this video) while bicycling, and I was amazed by many of Bloom's insights and his soothing and calm voice. Of course, I may disagree with some of his arguments, but that's beside the point, I am trying to make.

[@k.s.9400]

Hey I listened to this while biking too. Somehow it fits the topic.

[@sergiolobato1798]

I'm always in awe of this man's intellect and comprehension of humanity! I've always had great sympathy for Profs Bloom's literary proselytizing RIP dear Prof.!

[@rechtsoffmann1296]

Wow, not only writes so well but so very articulate in conversation too...amazing

[@maxproductions4896]

Very interesting guy.

[@williamjohn314]

Well, I guess that's what reading every damn book you can find does to you.

[@SodyPopInSpace]

It’s difficult to find a great writer who isn’t articulate

[@SodyPopInSpace]

szs voc You must be a great writer

[@SodyPopInSpace]

szs voc Makes a lot of sense

[@samanarfaie2751]

More than ever we need deeply penetrative thinkers like Professor Bloom. Our society needs people who can critique and challenge the intellectual status quo. His departure leaves a great legacy of scholarship. You will be missed, Harold. Greatly.

[@johnmatrix3664]

​@@johnmulligan455 People are always saying literature is dead lol. They said that when Lawrence published "Sons and Lovers", but it's in Bloom's canon

[@Violetcas97]

While I may not always agree with everything he had to say, I would be lying to say I do not owe a great debt to Harold Bloom for my mind and its freedom. I think my greatest advocacy of Bloom is that I disagree with him often, because the journey of academia begins in healthy disagreement and from disagreement we discover the passion and the joy of discussion, and inevitably the climax of consensus. This is the fruit of academia, and I have Bloom to thank for engendering this attitude in me and many, many other people. We lost perhaps the last true classical academic when he died.

[@lvanni8564]

Why did it took me this long to discover this intellectual giant? Thanks for sharing! 🙏🏼

[@dantescave1]

You don’t read enough...or are very young...?

[@orenthiadillard8993]

The important thing is that you are now aware of him. Do not chide yourself needlessly. So many books and so many great minds, but not enough time. Shalom fam.

[@aclark903]

You didn't do English at college? He's only really big in the humanities..

[@czarquetzal8344]

"intellectual giant ,"? I don't think so

[@myimorata7678]

I know it was probably time, but his passing is a sad occasion for me. RIP Prof. Bloom. You will be missed.

[@TheMaxer03]

I love this guy. I am reading his book Omens of Millenium right now.

[@TheNutmegStitcher]

When I was in college, I befriended a fellow English major who had never read a book completely through. That was in 1989.

[@allen5455]

Did he read "Tip and Mitten"?

[@jackjohnhameld6401]

I think it was Sibelius who said that no one ever raised a monument to a critic. Harold Bloom deserves a civic memorial as does Lionel Trilling (not that they would have cared). Trilling and Bloom, along with the many future professors they taught, encouraged us to read attentively. Bloom was agreeable company even in the artificial environment of a television studio. I imagine Trilling was too, and he wrote *The Moral Obligation To Be Intelligent*.

[@deQI-vx3pv]

Very insightful interview

[@userseaf]

Rest in peace, Professor Bloom.

[@Raj-ku8vk]

Nah, Rest in pain, Professor Bloom 🪦💀

[@zohebiqbal4560]

@@Raj-ku8vk Raj is completely right dawg! Rest in pain 💀💀

[@Raj-ku8vk]

@@zohebiqbal4560 fax ong real shit

[@zohebiqbal4560]

@@Raj-ku8vk Intellectual play Touche!!!

[@zohebiqbal4560]

wassusp monkey im back

[@jimnewcombe7584]

"Language most shows a man. Speak that I may see thee." - Shakespeare's friend & rival, Ben Jonson

[@simonwillis4395]

Here I am again listening to this. So important…

[@clemfarley7257]

Bloom persuasively warned us in great detail.

[@ottodetroit]

8:15 power of reading. Every educator and parent should hear this

[@roc7880]

honestly I took some adult education classes in classics where I was the youngest member in audience and the content and quality was amazing. almost nobody was offended but listened to learn.

[@shadowofthevoices]

1994 and absolutely relevant today. Same can be said about music, and perhaps all the arts.

[@danielfitzgerald2561]

I was 3 when this was recorded Slowly working my way through his list of recommendations

[@appidydafoo]

Came here from the mention in the Chuck Jones interview, thank you so much

[@gargleblasta]

1:30 even then, he already knew 😮

[@nathanpickering9253]

So Interesting.

[@fuferito]

The earliest parts of the Old Testament were written by a very high status woman at the court of King Solomon. Never heard of that, but I trust his judgment, yet retain a healthy scepticism.

[@infinitafenix3153]

I deeply admire this man

[@instanceTu]

Ye he seem like a nice dude

[@jimnewcombe7584]

@@instanceTu I'm sure she has far greater reasons for admiration than the incredible banality of your comment.

[@zacharyzapata8559]

@@jimnewcombe7584 I'll bet that she doesn't.

[@thomasmiller2686]

My son graduated from a top 200 national High School this year (2019). He couldn't tell me who Longfellow or Emerson were and he remembers a passing comment about Thoreau and Whitman (but did not read them), but they did read The House on Mango Street.

[@blakehunt3546]

HOMS is commonly in hs literature right now. It's fine, but very much a minor work, strong for its imaginative treatment of identity search and finding one's place, weak in its execution. There is such a blatantly false choice here--my students read Homer, Shakespeare, et al. Other times they read stuff like HOMS.

[@MrUndersolo]

Could have been worse. They tried to force feed us French poststructualist work while so many of my colleagues had not even read Kafka, Dickens, Joyce or Tolstoy...

[@renzo6490]

Blake Hunt ...pardon my ignorance. What is HOMS?

[@Mkundera]

@@renzo6490 HOMS is The House on Mango Street, mentioned in the thread above.

[@renzo6490]

@@Mkundera ..Of course. Thank You.

[@trojanostar]

I like that he spoke like one of us beyond all his knowlegedment

[@OsirisIxchel]

RIP Professor 🎓💋 “Harold Bloom’s large-minded and large-hearted book about the great books has many of the virtues that it sees and shows in the works he so fiercely admires.” -Christopher Rick

[@aleksandar.sakovic]

9:58 Memory is the main element in cognition. 17:58 Also this one is very true and interesting.

[@kevinriley2261]

He speaks beautifully.

[@CesarClouds]

I love Mr. Bloom, I deeply enjoyed his _Western_ _Canon_ , pure joy to read.

[@Raj-ku8vk]

well i didn't

[@CesarClouds]

@@Raj-ku8vk Why not?

[@Raj-ku8vk]

@@CesarClouds the intellectual play that Bloom is experiencing may be considered unordeal with touché as its representative. Hence it was quite unenjoyable to read!!,? 😡😡😡👿😠😈😈💩💩🤡😻😙

[@deanellis3468]

2023 Western Canon: 1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2. How to be an Antiracist Baby 3. Captain Underpants 4. Harry Potter and Sorcerer’s Stone 5. The DaVinci Code

[@bbilltthompson]

God bless Harold Bloom.

[@jamestiburon443]

As an Educated Cockney Rat, who can't Escape the accent, I really enjoy listening to such a well-educated American Articulate Voice. And, I think he understood Shakespeare better than Anyone. Anywho, with the world going to ....wherever, Shakespeare, on a treadmill every day seems a wise way of starting one's 60's.

[@andreawolff-macdonald2232]

The wonderful Bloom

[@SuperBookdragon]

Booktube has brought new life to the classics.

[@kevinjones8488]

I love how Harold Bloom speaks. He follows (the first time I heard) the pronunciation ˈa-və-ˌlanch with the New Yorker ‘lettas.’ He is likely the last of his kind. People don’t read this much nor this deeply anymore. RIP

[@beastl8rsk8r02]

Mid Atlantic mixed with Yorker

[@jonathangilmore3193]

The best book IMO on the aesthetic, revelatory or ontological values of imaginative literature (poetry, fiction), that is, it’s expressive component is the late Colin Falck’s Myth, Truth and Literature. It is dense, but exciting in its ability to make one think and dream; to imagine, like the Romantic period, outside the confines of rigidly dogmatic French literary posturing!

[@poppo509]

Thoughts of today, and important views for the future.

[@roc7880]

to me education in college is not training or improving skills, it is scholatic inquiry where you learn to challenge everything you know. the goal is self discovery and building of people able to handle life and its problems, educating leaders and future parents. sadly the effect is the opposite, people learn to feel victims and insecure.

[@donovanmedieval]

I like the face he makes when Charlie Rose says the next guest is Chuck Jones.

[@gaspardpi]

Every literature professor I had, except one or perhaps two, was a failed, untalented, and uninspired novelist or poet who acted as a hired hand for the social justice movement and often complained about the time spent teaching instead of writing.

[@CesarClouds]

Really?

[@ninjablack4347]

While I agree we need to appreciate the classics more I can't say Harold Bloom did much to get people interested in them. I read two of his books, the western canon and how to read, and it felt like they written for people who already agreed with him, rather than trying to persuade the layman

[@gaspardpi]

I don't know that his purpose was popularizing real literature. I think he may have tried to point out the death of an aspect of the academic world--a move away from what is beautiful or sublime or true to what is politically convenient or correct.

[@eggymayo3271]

@@ninjablack4347 kind of agree. How to read and why was written at a level aimed at people that have already deeply read and analysed the western canon

[@pag9128]

This makes me want to go read the aeneid right now

[@iggykarpov]

It's been three years now. Have you read the Aeneid?

[@allen5455]

Or, the "Iliad." A waste of time.

[@MrGunwitch]

One of the true geniuses.

[@chrischu9551]

Id be quaking in my shoes to interview Prof Bloom

[@thomascreeley867]

I miss him. I never met him, but I've read and seem enough of him to somehow feel the lack.

[@fredklein3829]

I enjoyed Maya Angelou's poem about FROOT LOOPS -- loops of fruity goodness!

[@jonathan889]

happy bday bloomy

[@vandolmatzis8146]

I am going to read this book gddammitt

[@felawes]

Great man.

[@artgurrl]

We so need more voices like Harold Bloom in this day and age entering 2020.

[@guaporeturns9472]

He was another “literary elitist” that we have no need for. Tried to act like he was the arbiter of what is “good”literature and what isn’t. Said Harry Potter was “slop” and “garbage” and kids shouldn’t read it because it’s not classic children’s literature. Funny thing is it will be remembered as classic children’s literature in years to come and he will be all but forgotten.

[@artgurrl]

@@guaporeturns9472 Most elitists we have no need for. But at least he balanced out the nonsense from the post modern elitist bullshit of the current academia.

[@guaporeturns9472]

@@artgurrl I wouldn’t say he really had a balanced view on muck of anything but whatever.. be well.

[@artgurrl]

@@guaporeturns9472 Not what I said. His view added to the pot of views balances the bullshit of post modern identity politics. He makes good points unless your are ideologically possessed on the left. Then of course he is probably considered a fascist by such extremists points of view.

[@rolanddeschain9880]

@@guaporeturns9472 classic?it is 2023 and classic stories still are considered cinderella,snow white etc Not Harry Potter

[@thyliasmoss9672]

I am mentioned by Harold Bloom, and I T-H-Y-L-I-A-S am mentioned in “The Western Canon”!

[@insightwisdom830]

Thylias Moss Congratulations!

[@thyliasmoss9672]

InsightWisdom thank you very much!

[@ROBYN_ONEIL]

Rightfully so!

[@rpsu2b]

Thylias we love you!!!

[@rpsu2b]

uberdriver & scratch-poet @rashaunps wuz here: dropout & former mfa candidate @usfmfaw (silicon valley-sf, ca) 1 8 1 0 0 1

[@indialavoyce95]

I am interested in discovering the works of Thylias Moss and Jay Wright. I had never heard of them.

[@thyliasmoss9672]

India Lavoyce Well, this is Thylias Moss right here. I am 66 now and have an Amazon writer’s page. I hope to add about 5 additional books to my page next week. The photo is of me and another poet who is also my collaborator, Spoken Word Artist, Mr. Bob Holman.

[@magnuskallas]

Whoah, that rings a bell in 2022!

[@billyb6001]

for real.

[@mitchellkato1436]

I am a philosopher so I like Alan Bloom better. But H Bloom got so much on his shoulder. We need several of these guys in Universities. To keep depth to writing. And to give possibilities and survival of aspiring writers.

[@kevinyee9550]

So relevant

[@thaneknight]

He's absolutely right literature today and art in general has become so politicized that it resembles propaganda more than art.This has seeped into all areas of academia.

[@Pienotto]

What an interesting man. He's absolutely right when he says that literary criticism today is much too much politicized, particularly in Europe. Literary criticism must talk about aesthetic value. But today we must do that on the basis of darwinian and cognitive studies: probably Bloom wouldn't like that, but I don't think that this is a bad thing for literature. Moreover, literary criticism is not a single subject, but a really specific sector of Philosophy, AND a sector of history, and sociology, and psychology, and anthropology... But, more importantly, as Bloom says, the best literary criticism is a discourse on life, and so, it's a sector of ethics, it tell us how we should live. So, why one should today, in the age of science, be interested in literature, and in literary criticism? It's probably the most strange and isolated subject, but it's not only about books, it's not only an useless exercises. It's about how other people express their individual differences in perception and in how they see the world, and about the ability to think about that using every other discipline. It doesn't produce technical instruments or drugs, but I don't think that the prosperity of a State is only about engineering or economy. I would rather die with a view of the Mediterranean than live in dirty city totally covered with cement.

[@raymondfrye5017]

Could you please define or describe your terms: darwinian and cognitive studies?

[@starry_lis]

On the other hand, it's easy to dismiss politicality as unnecessary when you're a white well-off man. I feel like this focus solely on aesthetics is a class privilege.

[@Pienotto]

@@starry_lis it's like saying that to focus solely on empirical evidence in physics is a class privilege. It's just its "proper", it's what physics is about. Literary criticism is about aesthetic, as it's about value. You can use a literary text to discuss a political problem, but it's just a dumb thing to do, you could do it better without any literary text.

[@adsones]

The most important video on the internet.

[@thyliasmoss9672]

I am mentioned at 12:01! Thylias Moss!

[@stevenleejobe]

My nomination for what we can already determine to be one of Harold Bloom’s “howlers“? The fact that he’s submitted Sigmund Freud. This is absurd, nearly obscene. See Vladimir Nabokov. Otherwise, I deeply respect and admire this man for what he’s tried to do. Bravo Harold Bloom!

[@SerWhiskeyfeet]

Sigmund Freud is one of the most cited individuals in the history of our species. If that isn't canon nothing is.

[@stevenleejobe]

@@SerWhiskeyfeet Well then nothing is. What appears to be "canon" now can change over tine; Freud only died in 1939. "Most cited" proves nothing except that he has ideas that are easily understood, fodder for the media machine that creates popular option and general ideas. Or, Freud is a way for mediocrities to look insightful by bringing greek myths into the discussion. You want psychological depth, try CG Jung.

[@wasteland70]

I graduated 20 something years ago. A professor said, concerning a novel, that when a character felt like a man it meant he got an erection. I said, "Do you really think that's all there is to being a man? You need to rethink it.". The rest of the class just sat in silence. All Bloom is asking is for people to think.

[@carrion_man3700]

Watch this back to back with a Paglia interview on the topic.

[@mikethompson8354]

He speaks wonderfully.

[@vinm300]

4:00 "Except for Leviticus, everything in the Hebrew Bible is of immense literary power" Melvyn Bragg's Roots of English claims 3 major threads produced modern English :- a) Bible translation Tyndale (1530) b) Shakespeare (1600) c) Milton (1650)

[@orenthiadillard8993]

I am going to give that a read. Thank you.

[@vinm300]

@@orenthiadillard8993 It is called "The Adventure of English" by Melvin Bragg. The Radio 4 program was called "Roots of English". The most interesting part was how French changed ;British' culture :- For example, Beowulf and Grendel are described with the adjectives power, strength and force ; but Robin Hood is described by Chivalry, courtesy and honour. Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon hero Robin Hood is a post Eleanor of Aquitaine English hero.

[@senateb]

Harold Bloom on a channel called "Manufactured Intellect"

[@spb7883]

The original goal, it seems to me, was “expansion”: certainly read Dickens and Shakespeare, but also *broaden* the canon to include other writers. But that switched at some point starting in the 80s to “ignore the dead old white dudes”. I don’t understand that mentality. I have a friend who teaches film studies and has the same mentality. She refuses to show Citizen Kane in her survey class. I find that abhorrent. Progressivism and conservatism are often two sides of the same coin. Restriction is restriction, regardless of how nicely you dress it up.

[@Rehhhhhhhhhhhhh]

Citizen Kane isn't even Orson's best movie. But yeah, I agree.

[@spb7883]

@@Rehhhhhhhhhhhhh In your opinion. Point being that you (presumably) had to *see* Kane to form that opinion. These kids aren’t even being exposed to it.

[@maximilian200057]

They believe that there's blatant white supremacism and racism, but also that all "whiteness" is what underlies it. Thus to get rid of racism you need to get rid of "whiteness." What is whiteness ideology? The idea that whites have any superior ideas in any way, shape, or form. They see curriculum in all fields as being "colonized" by white Europeans, and they believe that all curriculum must be "decolonized" in much the same way that foreign nations were decolonized. They have at least deep suspicion towards science and math as just another tool and creation of whites to suppress everyone. So if you teach that European author X or Y had nice ideas, you are implying that they had ideas superior to other peoples, thus promoting whiteness. They want to in effect create a "cultural revolution" in their war to "decolonize" academia and subjects. Now, what is the end game of this? I have no idea, and I'm pretty sure they don't, either. What is problematic seems to grow every week. But they are certain they will create a utopia when they're done. They're certain of it. They have absolutely nothing nice to say about any of the western canon, because their hostility towards it is ideological in nature. They consider the entirety of the canon as engaging in subtle white supremacy.

[@spb7883]

@@maximilian200057 Madness

[@nynland2163]

@@maximilian200057 what's so striking about this is that I dont see any sort of connection between most of the ideas of the western canon and the concept of toxic whitness, racism or whatever you wanna call it Like how can you look at something like democracy and say it was created just for the white males to prosletize their power Or idea of individualism Different perception Morality Freedom Civil Liberties Different philosophical concepts Etc. And ignore their history, significance and impact which they had on the world and just reduce it to white male trying to be dominent.

[@robertalenrichter]

Given that 2023 seems a lot like 1994, I wonder where it goes from here. Perhaps the most important change is that Humanities degrees only account for less than 4% of the total in today's US. Is it a combination of economic pressure and the fact that people are turned off by what they've heard about the Humanities?

[@rookpoetry1322]

This man is brilliant

[@zacharyzapata8559]

Not really.

[@rookpoetry1322]

@@zacharyzapata8559 your opinion 👌

[@zacharyzapata8559]

@@rookpoetry1322 Indeed it is my opinion. Spot on analysis of my comment.

[@Mkundera]

Miss Harold Bloom and Charlie Rose.

[@ramicule]

Bloom actually seems sharp here. You can really see that his health issues are affecting his intellect in later interviews.

[@ryanjavierortega8513]

ramicule Well, people age, right? (I mean, if we're lucky, we age, if we're unlucky, we aren't around to complain about aging.)

[@brian22067]

10:12 an interesting point.

[@ggrthemostgodless8713]

I agree with his stance on Tenure in universities, though the threshold for taking it away should be high, just as the threshold for obtaining it should also be high; as it is, it seems at times all a teacher has to do is last long enough at the institution and publish ANYTHING and s/he gets it. A similar problem (for which our kids pay a dearly high price) is the teacher's unions that will defend the most mediocre and inept teachers and cannot get fired but at most are moved around!! Their values or standards are skewed. They refuse what to everyone else is logical and what is done in any other job: the ability to evaluate the person performing a specific job.

[@ececaglakahya8274]

As a turk and socially muslim woman i agree with him. I hate to be marginilized but i find being seen as a constant victim even more insulting. What is with this obssesion of being repesented? Writers dont owe minorities or any other group anything. Art is for the soul which we all possess. Soul does not have fixed religion, race or gender. These are social concepts that has been drilled in our heads since childhood. Books we choose to read should be like cleansing of these concepts not contunie poison our minds.

[@NeuroSquire]

A legend

[@habanerojones2169]

He was right in 1994. He's (posthumously) right today.

[@gjeacocke]

The bible has survived longer than many authors and books. It has received a head-start for it deals with the aesthetics of human yearning - ironically.

[@ciaranmulroy9325]

The bible survived because it was a state sponsored text

[@JeansiByxan]

Amazing that it was already happening to universities then. Knowledge is dying.

[@vagbloom6380]

All he wrote and said is pure wisdom. A great and beautiful mind. Everyone must read the Western Canon, especially.

[@laurasalo6160]

God Bless this man!!

[@Raj-ku8vk]

no

[@BillyMcBride]

Pure Eros. The teacher.

[@DrainKats]

It's getting hot in here y'all!

[@mattmarkus4868]

+DrainKats haha

[@tailoredatelier2610]

There is certainly a problem when people do not believe there can be students and professionals who are at heart aesthetic formalists in art and literature. Such people (who care for aesthetic value by any and all authors and artists) will continue to work towards and believe in the value of a merit based view of aesthetics. And this point of view can and ought to be wholly inclusive politically and socially.

[@aclark903]

But #aesthetic merit is debatable. #Aesthetics is really part of philosophy, not literary studies per se.

[@chopin65]

He saw all of this coming. The perfect storm of Postmodern destruction, Paglia, a student of his has narrowed the focus and revealed the rotton core in almost every American college today. What do we do? How do we fix it?

[@MrUndersolo]

We read...and we check our spelling? Does?

[@chopin65]

@@MrUndersolo A typo. Do you never make mistakes?

[@Johnny-mp2ew]

@@chopin65 Nope!

[@die_schlechtere_Milch]

It hasn''t gotten any better since 1994.

[@ubermensch826]

what do you think he'd say about Rupi Kaur? great poet, or greatest poet of our time?

[@andrealiberta5298]

When he was more perky, Harold Bloom would set fire to. In a fateful interview he said that Dario Fo was "simply ridiculous", that Toni Morrison was not worthy of the Nobel Prize for literature ("We are old friends and I love her. But after beloved she only wrote supermarket fiction, pursuing a socio-political crusade ”), That the young Holden“ in 30 years, who will remember him? ”. He refused an invitation to court by John Paul II ("Christianity is synonymous with anti-Semitism"), defended the great literature of "males, Europeans, whites, deceased", aligned in the epoch-making Western Canon (in Italy it prints Bur), going against half the academy