RE: Universitatlity

On Sun, Dec 7, 2003, mkozusko@ursinus.edu said:

>Of course, and it will continue to do well for some time. But Holden's
>world will become less and less familiar to readers over time, and the
>notion of Holden's plight having a universal appeal will incrementally
>become less and less tenable.

Matt, we crossed in the mail! Indeed, this is what my lament about the
past was about. Geez, can I sign up to audit your class? <grin>

>Shakespeare, too, will eventually be unseated as the primum mobile immotum.
>All-seeing Shakespeare's universal appeal will fade--is fading--and if we
>make it far enough, those exquisite iambs will some day be irrelevant.

Yes, indeed. I have a friend, one of my closest friends, who is a
Shakespearean scholar, who seems to have much of Shakespeare committed to
memory and who has virtually every recording (sound, video, movie) made
of any Shakespeare work, and I am painfully aware of how out-of-joint (to
steal a notion from Philip K. Dick) he is when something happens and he
responds with a few analogous words from Willy.

On the other hand: He has a son who recently became a lawyer, and the son
was saturated with Shakespeare growing up, and that is still in his head
regularly. (I mean, beyond the "pound of flesh, but not one drop of
blood" part.)

>Anglo-Saxonists argue that *Beowulf's* cultural relevance was revived after
>WWI, bringing us reworkings like *Lord of the Rings*--which might suggest
>that *Beowulf* addresses universal concerns. "It's human nature!" comes the
>cry.

Even the intensely modern John Gardner felt compelled to tell the Beowulf
story, though from the point of view of Grendel. Anyhow, the wise-ass in
me can't help recalling this quote from Woody Allen, about adult or
continuing education courses:

    "Just don't take any course where they make you read Beowulf."
(Annie Hall)

Anyway, about Shakespeare: one point I'll never forget is that I grew up
with a bunch of roughnecks who went to public school when I went to a
Catholic "prep" school. We all read Macbeth at the same time, though,
and these guys were utterly entranced by it. OK, they pronounced one
name "MacDoooof," granted, but they really responded to the (dare I say
it?) universal story that was to be found under the language, under the
iambs, under the stagecraft. I thought it was pretty neat -- they
reacted a hell of a lot better to it than did the jokers in my allegedly
elite school. (For an example of the kinds of graduates we turned out, I
direct you to any Martin Scorsese movie. Goodfellas would be a fine
example of the kinds of schoolmates I had. The Pope of Greenwich Village
too.)

--tim

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Received on Sun Dec 7 13:17:41 2003