What books within the past century could be / should be potentially considered a part of the Western canon?
the past century is a long time. or do you mean since 2000?
>>7994653
I mean since 1916, my man. I'm curious to see what people would consider the best of the West's contribution to literature.
Probably high school-core like 1984, Animal Farm (representative of concerns regarding totalitarianism and Stalinism - reflective of political concerns during the century); The Great Gatsby (representative of how "the american dream" is superficial and false); Ulysses (some of the most expressive literature conceived); and then I'm at a bit of a loss.
>>7994646
L'engrenage by Sartre
>>7994685
>Probably high school-core like 1984, Animal Farm (representative of concerns regarding totalitarianism and Stalinism - reflective of political concerns during the century); The Great Gatsby (representative of how "the american dream" is superficial and false);
the great gatsby is the only one of those that stands a chance of being canonized further down the line
orwell's fame rests entirely on 1984 and how easily it was to market it as part of the cold war narrative, and we're seeing the fallout from that with recent stuff. it will fade in importance and relevance.
Blood Meridian
The Grapes Of Wrath
Death of a Salesman (and maybe The Crucible)
Lord of the Flies
Absalom, Absalom!
and if genre fiction was to ever be eligible, then possibly Tolkien
The Crying of Lot 49
>>7994685
I hate The Great Gatsby but I agree that it should be canonised.
>>7994716
Blood Meridian
lol no
The Grapes Of Wrath
already canon
Death of a Salesman (and maybe The Crucible)
already part of a regional (american) canon; not convinced on its universal-ness
Lord of the Flies
meh it's ok. minor canon. high school core but it has its place.
Absalom, Absalom!
sure
What makes a book eligible to be canon?
>>7994716
Does it count as genre fiction if he basically invented the genre?
>>7994728
when harry blum declares it to be so
>>7994724
> The Crucible
> not convinced on its universal-ness
Whenever there's false allegations and injustice within the judiciary system, The Crucible is highly relevant. Would argue that it is terrifyingly universal, despite it's Salem witch hunt setting.
>>7994730
Y'see, it's partly why I think it should be considered. Tolkien holds such an influence on literature and he had created a detailed and dense fictitious world. It's very admirable.
>>7994728
Wiki says: "The Western canon is the body of books, music and art that scholars generally accept as the most important and influential in shaping Western culture. It includes work of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, music, art and sculpture generally perceived as being of major artistic merit and representing the high culture of Europe."
I'm sure there's better definitions elsewhere, but that should answer your question
>>7994734
i mean it's been canonized in america for a considerable time already, but it's unknown and unread outside of america.
>>7994724
Bloom already considers blood meridian in his version of the western canon
Harry Potter (you think I jest, but it created influence and caused the influx and over-abundance of YA fiction we've come to know and loathe today).
I really hate the idea of a canonical group of books like literary criticism is some hard science that needs a taxonomy
>>7994758
even the best of us can err here and there. he also considers toni morrison canon. i forgive him and still love him.
my diary desu
>>7994760
>we've come to loathe today
john green pls go
>>7994781
do you know what loathe means
>>7994771
Toni Morrison is good.
You sound like an undergrad who wants to appear incisive
>>7994789
>toni morrison
>good
wew
anon i think you are the undergrad
Ulysses
Gravity's Rainbow
Pale Fire
The Waves
Slaughterhouse-Five
Underworld
The Satanic Verses
The Sot-Weed Factor
Stoner
The Dying Grass
The Recognitions
The Beetle Leg
The Waste Land
Catch-22
Gödel, Escher, Bach
The Scarlet Letter
Naked Lunch
The Great Gatsby
Lolita
>>7994797
>meme response
that's what I thought.
>>7994808
>Ulysses
>Gravity's Rainbow
>Pale Fire
>The Waves
yes. already canon.
>Slaughterhouse-Five
no
>Underworld
possibly.
>The Satanic Verses
doubtful.
>The Sot-Weed Factor
hard to say. not impossible but who knows.
>Stoner
getting revived. probably yes.
>The Dying Grass
hard to say. not impossible but who knows.
>The Recognitions
getting revived. probably yes.
>The Beetle Leg
don't know it
>The Waste Land
already canon
>Catch-22
sort of canon, but i think will fall out soon
>Gödel, Escher, Bach
meh.
>The Scarlet Letter
already fell out of the canon/diminishing in importance. also >1850
>Naked Lunch
no
>The Great Gatsby
>Lolita
yes
Principia Mathematica (kind of cheating, but 2nd edition in 1927)
Tratatus Logico-Philosophicus
Philosophical Investigations
Intention
Naming and Necessity
Lewis Philosophical Papers I+II
Syntactic Structures
Studies in the Way of Words
A Theory of Justice
Reasons and Persons
Knowledge and Its Limits
>>7994808
I wish John Hawkes would be recognized for his genius.
>>7994818
"toni morrison is good"
"bloom said so"
"you're an undergrad"
>gets butthurt when memes are met with memes
wew
>>7994677
>the past century
>since 1916
>>7994821
*barfs*
The furthest thing from art
>>7994825
I didn't say anything about Bloom?
>>7994840
you brought up bloom re: BM as if bloom listing him alone is argument enough.
>>7994821
Works proven false in their own time are not usually canonized.
>>7994830
I guess I should have rephrased it from "past century" to "the last 100 years"
My bad
>>7994842
That wasn't me genius.
>>7994848
ok whatever
my point stands
"toni morrison is good"
"you're an undergrad"
>gets butthurt when memes are met with memes
there happy?
>>7994646
He looks so old in this picture.
>>7994856
so does mine.
You are stupid
>>7994875
you sound like such an undergrad right now
>>7994860
He aged like wine, compadre.
>>7994877
>>7994724
I think the only thing standing between Death of a Salesman and universal canonization is the fact that, in our current global climate, not every country can identify with the life of an American worker.
Life fucking sucks for Willy Loman, and the metaphorical "rat race" is really identifiable to Americans.
>>7994885
>/reddit/
>>7994896
> ;^)
I think Arthur C Clarke has a good chance, especially how much of what he wrote about is becoming reality.
>>7994821
>principia
I wouldn't recommend it bub
Bloom has a list though I think he included way too many
>>7995125
what the fuck are these moon runes wow no wonder asians are good at math it's written in a language they natively speak
>>7994716
both Harry Potter and Tolkien are part of western canon but not western literary canon
>>7995161
what do you mean, they are all latin/greek/phoenician based
>>7995161
> no wonder asians are good at math it's written in a language they natively speak
>>7995161
you figured it out
>>7995161
