Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 13:23:38 -0500 From: tomdill-AT-wc.stephens.edu (TOM DILLINGHAM) Subject: PLC: searc sophistication 1757-1827 to be more precise. Perhaps I underestimated the sophistication of searc's flashy provocation. Now we see that it does indeed parrot the postcolonial theorists' line (which has certain strong points and real value, no doubt), though the suggestion that Blake's "Tyger" is most anthologized *because* it is "racist" (a wildly implausible assertion) and that is shares, with "all the romantics" a fascination with the "exotic" (closer, but still no cigar, buddy) rendered the initial posting on the subject completely worthless. The response and second posting made some more useful references, but the sweeping generalizations (as though all postcolonial theory were unassailable and as though no one else had thought deeply about Blake's place in relation to European or English Romanticism--certainly as places go, very problematic-- or in relation to his views on race and "the other"--what a tired and frayed cliche that poor little word has become at the hands of some theorists) do not bode well for useful discussion. Of course all concepts require careful attention and re-vision in the light of new theory about the relationships of Europe with the colonialized and oppressed peoples, but flippant (and undefended) dismissals, not to mention rash and indefensible assertions, are unlikely to put new theory in a positive light. IN fact, they are very much the stuff of the backlash against even the most careful and valuable theoretical explorations. By the way, Harmon doesn't answer the question of "why" The Tyger is the most anthologized--he merely asserts that it is so if Granger's is to be believed. Tom Dillingham
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