8 Comments
Jan 23, 2023Liked by John Pistelli

Great! I was also very taken by the Merve Emre piece. Very interesting what you're saying - how bizarre it is that aesthetic judgments are verboten in the academy. Something that definitely bothered me as an undergrad; I think you're right that it's symptomatic of a larger issue.

Expand full comment

I've read much of Harold Bloom--so prolific and powerful. Going up against him and to great interest and controversy is Cynthia Ozick in _Art and Ardor_, particularly her essay "Literature as idol: Harold Bloom"—fascinating. I'm wondering if you've read her?

I'm also going to send you a personal message from my personal email: <mltabor@me.com>. New idea coming ...

Expand full comment
author

Yes, I love that essay. It was one of the first things I ever read that made me take a basically religious criticism of the arts seriously, since I'd dismissed all that after leaving Catholic school in the eighth grade! (I may have need to hear it from a non-Christian source, to defamiliarize it enough to forestall a knee-jerk dismissal.) I've written a bit about Ozick over the years: https://johnpistelli.com/tag/cynthia-ozick/

Expand full comment

I've read much of Ozick's work and am off to your link. My favorite is Puttermesser Papers that I think should've won the National Book Award when Cold Mountain won--though I love that novel too. I'm Jewish and need to re-read that chapter to comment intelligently from that perspective. My book Art and Ardor is highlighted heavily in her chapter "Literature as Idol"--so back to you on this at some point.

Expand full comment

A minor novel by the great Charles Williams was titled "The Greater Trumps", which means the same, but there's no reason to let that stop you

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, I did see that in a literary history of the Tarot. I think "Major Arcana" is the richer phrase.

Expand full comment

It’s always seemed strange to me that university professors in literature and the humanities are expected to (at least pretend to) contribute “original research” to justify their positions. What sort of church demands that every parish priest be also a theologian? [*grumble-something-something* about the legacy of the German research university...]

Expand full comment
author

Yes, perfect analogy!

Expand full comment