Debate on Canon-Formation and Harold Bloom's Defence of the Canon

Essay from the year 2016 in the subject Literature - Comparative Literature, , language: English, abstract: The present paper shall seek to explore in brief a historical evolution and criteria of the canon-formation. It will further analyse the contemporary debate on canon-formation and Harold Bloom's defence of the canon. The contemporary academic world is intensely involved in the debate on the process of canon-formation (I am limiting my focus on the western literary canon). Sometimes, some of these theorists demand to open the canon since they see some politics behind the canon. Such an offence on the canon, sometime it may be right, aims to reduce the canonical stature of an author of genius to the level of either an historian or a propagandist. The present paper shall seek to explore in brief a historical evolution and criteria of the canon-formation. It will further analyse the contemporary debate on canon-formation and Harold Bloom's defence of the canon.

Siddhartha Singh (Head of the English Department, M. M. P. G. College, Kalakankar, Pratapgarh, U. P. India) studied at Allahabad, U. P. India, for his post graduate degree. He worked on the critical theories of Harold Bloom. An exhaustive study of Harold Bloom's critical writings earned him a D. Phil. degree in 2008. Along with his ground-breaking work Understanding Harold Bloom and T. S. Eliot (2012), he has published several papers on theory, diasporic and Indian writing in English and has participated in many international and national conferences and seminars. His next book, a full length study of Harold Bloom, will be published shortly.