In the beginning Elliot talkes about every nation and race having their own tradition. According to Elliot, tradition can not be inherited, and if you want it you must obtain it by great labour. Eliot also says that when a writer comes to write at present, He should be aware of the tradition and to learn the tradition he should have a great labor . When a writer is new, he or she is becoming part of a tradition, Elliot says that they will be judged by the standards of the past, but not judged to be as good, or worse than the dead.
If the new writer has imitated the tradition, it should be discouraged because it is not part of the writers’ individual talent. Individual talent is the uniqueness or newness and if the writer has brought something unique to their writing, it is called individual talent. This type of writing should be encouraged because it suggests the intelligence of the writer.
I see where Elliot is getting at with his whole idea of Traditon and it being incorportated in writings, but not allowing tradition to take over your writing and allow it to not be your own.
You might look again at how Eliot treats innovation. He isn't entirely against it, but he thinks it only works if it manages to fit itself into the tradition - which, in turn, transforms the tradition. It's similar to the way Ecclesiastes says there is nothing new under the sun.
ReplyDeletePut this way, the question becomes, "Is this a too rigid view of tradition?"