T S Eliot, The Waste Land

Lecture by Kevin McNeilly for the "Monster in the Mirror" theme. For more, see artsone-open.arts.ubc.ca/2013/....
For a version of this video with slides, go to mediasitemob1.mediagroup.ubc.c....

[@trevorbailey1486]

Thank you very much indeed for posting this lecture, comprehensive & comprehensible as it was. Considering The Waste Land took an intellect of Eliot's calibre three years to write, I don't think Kevin McNeilly wasted a moment of our time. Well done! It was absorbing.

[@aliceinwonderland1120]

Wonderful lecture on The Wasteland. It opened the door to the many rich layers of meaning in this epic poem. Eloquent description of some of the “bones” of Western literature and philosophy buried in the poem. Regarding Madame Sosostris and her wicked pack of cards, there is also no drowned Phoenician sailor card in the traditional tarot deck. “These are the pearls that were his eyes” is said by Ariel in Shakespeare’s The Tempest,to deceive Ferdinand into thinking his father died in a shipwreck. I would love to see an artist create a deck adding The Drowned Phoenician Sailor card to her wicked pack of cards. Maybe I’ll try creating that card. This lecture also shows what a magpie TS Eliot was, grasping twigs from so many famous philosophers, authors, artists, Christian saints, and Vedic texts, and weaving them higgledy piggledy into a nest. Like a magpie, the nest can look ragged and tossed together, but the end result is a beautiful structure of great beauty and durability. I’m glad you quoted Eliot’s famous admission that he shamelessly stole from others. We are grateful that he ranged so widely to create this masterpiece which is endlessly interesting to read and research. Bravo!

[@marianagaita7627]

Thank you a lot for posting this lecture, it has been very helpful! Compliments to Mr. Kevin McNeilly! Best regards from Italy!

[@UBCArtsOne]

We're so glad you found it useful! Thanks for the comment!

[@stuartgoodwin1]

Genius. What a great guide to take you through this poem.

[@infinitafenix3153]

Wonderfully contextualized and organized lecture. Thanks very much, sir!

[@barbarajohnson1442]

Really a rich commentary, wonderful! Thank you.

[@annecorr]

thank you so much - I have been so transformed by his poetry - don't understand it always, but so much o fit moves me at a defining level

[@catherinehazur7336]

This is a very detailed and comprehensive exposition of our own time and a catalogue of our day to day progressive dissolution through the computer age! TS ELLIOT and many other literaturists in the 19th and 1st half of the 20th century foreshadowed this heap of broken images and the rise of the pieced together "unreal city" in ersatz virtual reality. Each age reconstructs the next through the arts and the poet delineates and describes this thread that weaves through our history The fragmentations are now coming to us through our hourly news feeds. Ongoing Division of society is a result of this fragmentation

[@drvilson]

This is great, very well done.

[@zhengruwu1419]

this lecture is really inspiring, thank you! best regards from China

[@terence6470]

Thank you for a very professional presentation

[@palefire]

Beautiful. Thankyou.

[@mandys1505]

I didn't know the chaucer connection : wow great reading of that line of his, also love the singing :D

[@Tinatempa]

Thank you very much. Great lecture, very enjoyable. very informative.

[@mohamedelsayeed397]

Amazing n quite enlightening contextually, linguistically n content-wise. Best regards to you from Egypt!

[@UBCArtsOne]

Thank you!

[@annwilliams7705]

a brilliant lecture and teacher

[@theislam3403]

Thanks a lot sir for this great lecture.

[@codylawrence100]

great lecture, thanks for the post.

[@lifelong2469]

59:40 "shanti Shanti Shanti" is not a iteration rather it is the exact Mantra of sanskrit ( three times 'shanti' word is used as a unit)

[@fieryjack6396]

fascinating lecture thanks!

[@sarahcornew4276]

Thank you so much for this video. I write an exam on this text tomorrow and thanks to your amazing lecture, I finally understand! Couldn't have happened at a better time!

[@aliceinwonderland1120]

PS. More on Madame Sosostris’ wicked pack of cards: There is a blank card in the Thoth tarot deck of the famous Satanist Aleister Crowley. In fact, in some editions, there is a blank white card and a blank white card. Crowley was English and a contemporary of Eliot. Maybe some biographer has traced a connection. In The Wasteland Eliot says: “And here is the one-eyed merchant, and this card / Which is blank, is something he carries on his back, / Which I am forbidden to see.” The Five of Pentacles in the traditional deck is a one-eyed (seen in profile) merchant or rich man dispensing alms to the poor. In tarot, the Ten of Staves is an exhausted man carrying a heavy burden of staves on his back. This card is usually interpreted as being weighed down by ones burdens. I wonder whether this unseen burden the one-eyed merchant carries on his back has something to do with Eliot’s burdensome relation with his wife? Or it could follow the modernist theme of the crushing existential burdens of modern life. Like the fragments of history and literature depicted in the entire poem, this short section of The Wasteland on the tarot describes intriguing fragments of images in a tarot deck, evocatively rich in possible meanings.

[@dhahbiasma4173]

thank youuu so helpful

[@sahilbhat4454]

Hi Asma.... Are you a literature major??

[@Cameron9182]

Bookmark - 1:17:28 - II A Game of Chess

[@LunaLu-00]

give, be compassionate and have self-control :)

[@francescociaramitaro832]

Excuse me, What is the name of the French photographer that took a picture of the reflection of the glass of a store with the manikins in the background?

[@UBCArtsOne]

I haven't looked back over the lecture right now, but I suspect it's Eugène Atget, who has a number of photographs like that: www.google.ca/search?q=atget+mannequins

[@francescociaramitaro832]

Perfect, that is the man I expected to be, thank you very much, I really appreciate, and I liked your video as well, sir.

[@zandewilson]

Brilliant, cheers. I expect I will get a great deal more from another read

[@Bocapreto]

Thank you for this wonderful and rich lecture about The Wasteland. Can you share the powerpoint with us?

[@UBCArtsOne]

Bocapreto Hi, you can see the presentation with slides at mediasitemob1.mediagroup.ubc.ca/Mediasite/Play/b1a234ab02ba45e7bf7e369ea4a1ef371d.

[@UBCArtsOne]

Bocapreto And thanks for your appreciation of the lecture! :)

[@sahilbhat4454]

Hi.... Are you a literature major???

[@pradeepbhandari1813]

@@UBCArtsOne thank you very much

[@aaronwu5124]

@@UBCArtsOne Sir can you please send the link of this presentation again. Im trying to access it, but it's showing that i need to contact the presenter. I would be really grateful for your help.

[@msummers4470]

He really knows his stuff but a bit of brevity and focus wouldn't go amiss. Speed it up!

[@stellaboulton9531]

Charming

[@iancrossley6637]

In other words Don't spare the whip.

[@williamd.costigan3]

Doesn't it help to read it out loud?

[@jaqmart]

Lots of info but a bit too long winded and missing an overall synthesis. It picked up later - thanks

[@williamwilson3458]

Uh…. Uh….. Uh….Uhm….

[@moicecibon4768]

Great lecturer but I’m distracted by too many “uhm”.

[@sgsmozart]

As a lecturer, you use too many "uhs" and "ums"....just a comment from someone who was in competitive speech and debate in high school.

[@sophiebelton9414]

Lol in high school.... debate kids suck. shut up

[@bronosgravato1115]

ok boomer

[@franzliszt3195]

Wasteland stinks.