Bloom on Canonical Strangeness

Jump to Comments

I’m making my way through Bloom’s The Western Canon and one of his recurring themes concerning the canon is that of “canonical strangeness.”

I have argued throughout this book that originality, in the sense of strangeness, is the quality that, more than any other, makes a work canonical.

It is funny to me then, that Bloom tends to shy away from what he terms cultural prophecy when it comes to the twentieth century (a body of literature that he firmly places in the Chaotic Age).

I do not disagree about the classification of twentieth century literature being placed into the chaotic age, but I do think if we look for works from this age that will stand the test of time we can use Bloom’s strangeness as our guide.  I will attempt to do so as a side project on this blog.

1 Comment

Filed under Harold Bloom, Western Canon

Tags: 20th Century Literature, Canonical, Guides, Harold Bloom, Side Projects, Strangeness, The Western Canon