tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post8877549030291807377..comments2024-03-28T08:27:51.420-04:00Comments on Tellers of Weird Tales: Skilled DestroyersTerence E. Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08268641371264950572noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-60462842818249833662023-04-08T10:32:47.195-04:002023-04-08T10:32:47.195-04:00Hi, Pietro,
After a very long time, I found your ...Hi, Pietro,<br /><br />After a very long time, I found your comments in the spam category on Blogger. i don't know why they went to spam, but I have restored them all here.<br /><br />Thanks again for writing.<br /><br />THTerence E. Hanleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08268641371264950572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-44948593021368386032021-10-11T20:40:50.612-04:002021-10-11T20:40:50.612-04:00Precisely.Melville has also this.He was critical o...Precisely.Melville has also this.He was critical of utopianism and was ambivalent about democracy.His last novel Billy Budd and Poem Clarel are a great example of this.He has a radical and a conservative side.Another great example of a conservative figure might be Chekhov,he denied being a liberal , socialist and a conservative.He didn't care about politics!Pietrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05475152481167448734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-18922646035371333282021-10-11T19:00:14.526-04:002021-10-11T19:00:14.526-04:00Hi, Pietro,
As you know, in "Absalom, Absalo...Hi, Pietro,<br /><br />As you know, in "Absalom, Absalom!" two young men attempt a deep exploration of the past. To them and in the book, the past and its events are not remote. And in "Requiem for a Nun," there is this famous line: "The past is never dead. It's not even past." Anyone who has read Faulkner can see that to him the past was alive and was worthy of treatment and respect. A progressive writer, if he were even to treat the past, might only want to destroy it or denigrate it. That was not Faulkner or even most American authors of any standing.<br /><br />THTerence E. Hanleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08268641371264950572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-3702400743354081382021-10-11T12:59:42.805-04:002021-10-11T12:59:42.805-04:00Now about Faulkner.Absalom,Absalom,Requeim for a n...Now about Faulkner.Absalom,Absalom,Requeim for a nun and The Reivers are kind of conservative books.As you noted, there's no way that him wasn't conservative.Hs fiction is a humane conservatism.He wanted the gradual change of society,preserving the past with the present.Pietrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05475152481167448734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-4624657774669257352021-10-11T12:50:41.070-04:002021-10-11T12:50:41.070-04:00Hi, Pietro,
I'll bet that's what happened...Hi, Pietro,<br /><br />I'll bet that's what happened: you used a word in your comments that Google doesn't allow.<br /><br />Anyway, thank you. I do my best. And if you're looking for a list of conservative and reactionary philosophers, writers, thinkers, etc., you might look for Peter Viereck's book "Conservatism," published in 1956 by Van Nostrand.<br /><br />THTerence E. Hanleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08268641371264950572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-90106168988924699122021-10-11T12:39:46.485-04:002021-10-11T12:39:46.485-04:00Okay.I was justin saying about that Melville view ...Okay.I was justin saying about that Melville view as a radical progressive.Also,your blog is awesome.You could make a list of conservative and reactionary philosophers!Pietrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05475152481167448734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-40960800833968881092021-10-11T12:22:09.474-04:002021-10-11T12:22:09.474-04:00Hi, Pietro,
I keep receiving notice that you have...Hi, Pietro,<br /><br />I keep receiving notice that you have made new comments (and I can read the text of your comments), but they're not showing up in this section on comments. I don't know why. Maybe you should change the wording, specifically one word that Google might find objectionable.<br /><br />THTerence E. Hanleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08268641371264950572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-48518346327615882402021-10-11T12:05:32.374-04:002021-10-11T12:05:32.374-04:00Thank for the explanation.Melville now is taken as...Thank for the explanation.Melville now is taken as a radical progressive egalitarian figure by many students.I think because Moby Dick contains some homoerotic tones and a good image of the working class they think this!Pietrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05475152481167448734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-27879833343499423862021-10-10T19:57:22.093-04:002021-10-10T19:57:22.093-04:00I am asking about Melville because many seem him a...I am asking about Melville because many seem him as a radical progressive egalitarian figure,despite his skepticism of the cause and so on.I think because Moby Dick has homoerotic tones and a good portrait of the working class,many think this!Pietrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05475152481167448734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-32218310402250507222021-10-10T19:44:51.673-04:002021-10-10T19:44:51.673-04:00Because Moby Dick has homoerotic tones and a good ...Because Moby Dick has homoerotic tones and a good portrait of the working class many think of him as a radical progressive egalitarian, despite his skepticism of the causePietrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05475152481167448734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-44214483954061189112021-10-10T19:35:37.069-04:002021-10-10T19:35:37.069-04:00It's because Moby Dick has homoerotic tones an...It's because Moby Dick has homoerotic tones and a good image of working class that many take him today as a radical progressive egalitarian, despite his skepticism.Pietrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05475152481167448734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-86465124690057890272021-10-10T19:30:20.499-04:002021-10-10T19:30:20.499-04:00I think that Baudelaire helped to make Poe into th...I think that Baudelaire helped to make Poe into this antidemocratic aristocratic figure.His essay on Poe is funny and a well written.Mabye Baudelaire was putting his own political views into Poe!Pietrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05475152481167448734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-11481839004926855012021-10-10T19:28:41.855-04:002021-10-10T19:28:41.855-04:00Yes,I know but because Moby Dick portraits the wor...Yes,I know but because Moby Dick portraits the working class is a good way and has homoerotic tones,many takes Melville as a radical progressive egalitarian,despite his skepticism of many things.Pietrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05475152481167448734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-1133710325217043392021-10-10T19:16:53.919-04:002021-10-10T19:16:53.919-04:00Hi, Pietro,
I don't think there's any dou...Hi, Pietro,<br /><br />I don't think there's any doubt that Melville and Faulkner were conservative. Most of our best and greatest authors have been, I think. The simplest explanation for that might be that conservatives have a keen understanding of human nature and human history. That understanding passes over into their works, as long as they also have the skill and the heart to make them lasting and human works.<br /><br />Thanks for writing.<br /><br />THTerence E. Hanleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08268641371264950572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-34664330371471402422021-10-10T19:12:37.380-04:002021-10-10T19:12:37.380-04:00Hi, Pietro,
I'm careful when using the word &...Hi, Pietro,<br /><br />I'm careful when using the word "reactionary" in reference to American authors. Unlike their European counterparts, American conservatives have had little or no interest in restoring monarchy or Church to positions of authority, even if they are sometimes in favor of aristocracy and a more traditional economic order. In other words, they may be somewhat anti-liberal sometimes, even to today, but they are not monarchists and only seldom have they been religious reactionaries. That's how I see it.<br /><br />Despite that, Burkean conservatism/classical liberalism is strong in America, as are romanticism, individualism (versus collectivism), self-reliance (versus reliance upon the State), self-actuation (versus feudalistic or class-based passivity), republicanism (versus democracy), etc. Americans are practical while being idealistic, and forward-looking while still honoring custom and tradition. Americans don't swing wildly from one tyranny to another, the way Europeans tend to do, Europeans who can't seem to figure out that the place to be is in the middle rather than at one extreme (socialism) or the other (despotism).<br /><br />Anyway, I would not argue with your characterization of Poe as a reactionary conservative. It's just not the characterization that I would make. Also, thanks for bringing Maistre to my attention again. He is in Peter Viereck's book, but it's interesting to read about him again.<br /><br />TH Terence E. Hanleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08268641371264950572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-46949749952101109222021-10-10T18:05:36.088-04:002021-10-10T18:05:36.088-04:00Edgar Allan Poe was a reactionary conservative,jus...Edgar Allan Poe was a reactionary conservative,just like his admirer Charles Baudelaire who loved Maistre.Pietrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05475152481167448734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-88827013700305429352021-10-10T17:24:25.301-04:002021-10-10T17:24:25.301-04:00Yes.Many people laugh when I say that Melville was...Yes.Many people laugh when I say that Melville was a conservative.They often ignore his poetry and his last novel "Billy Budd".About Faulkner,he literally opposed the New Deal and was individualistic.His last work "The Reivers" is a highly conservative book.But,you can't talk this to some people..Pietrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05475152481167448734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-20285664855374885332021-10-10T13:18:16.516-04:002021-10-10T13:18:16.516-04:00Hi, Pietro,
I relied pretty heavily on Peter Vier...Hi, Pietro,<br /><br />I relied pretty heavily on Peter Viereck's "Conservatism" (Van Nostrand, 1956) in writing this article. One section of that book, from which I quoted, is called "Cultural Conservatives: Melville, Hawthorne," and it is in that section alone that Faulkner received mention. Hawthorne and Melville, fairly close in age and both born in the Northeast, would seem more closely associated with each other than Faulkner would with either of them.<br /><br />In his "Love and Death in the American Novel" (rev. ed., 1966), Leslie A. Fiedler placed all three authors firmly in the tradition of gothic literature in America. If they were indeed that, then I think it safe to say that all three were also conservative, or even sometimes reactionary conservative, authors. Dr. Fiedler often mentioned Melville and Faulkner in the same chapter or section and even the same sentence in his book.<br /><br />I have a booklet called "William Faulkner" by William Van O'Connor (Univ. of Minnesota, 1959) in which the author compared Faulkner to Hawthorne, Dostoevski, Coleridge, and other writers recognized or accepted as conservative. "And in at least one respect," O'Connor wrote, "Faulkner is reminiscent of Melville: both writers, out of an inherited tradition of hope and expectation, can create a vision of pure innocence, and they can create, out of personal skepticism of profound depths, a vision of nightmarish horror." (p. 40)<br /><br />Skepticism is, I think, a hallmark of conservatism. Horror might also be a characteristic of conservative writing. In any case, Herman Melville was conservative and William Faulkner was conservative. One was a nineteenth-century author from the North. The other was a twentieth-century author from the South. Despite those differences, I think we can place them in a category together, as Leslie Fiedler did in his masterful book.<br /><br />I hope this helps. Thanks for writing.<br /><br />THTerence E. Hanleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08268641371264950572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-160539055393206212021-09-23T12:43:54.065-04:002021-09-23T12:43:54.065-04:00Was Herman Melville conservative just like William...Was Herman Melville conservative just like William Faulkner?Pietrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05475152481167448734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-57489958821252204572021-07-15T09:48:08.536-04:002021-07-15T09:48:08.536-04:00Hi, Constantin,
Thank you. I'm a little late ...Hi, Constantin,<br /><br />Thank you. I'm a little late in saying it, but thank you.<br /><br />THTerence E. Hanleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08268641371264950572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-42617279124999533102021-07-15T09:47:16.049-04:002021-07-15T09:47:16.049-04:00Hi, Unknown,
And thank you. I didn't know wha...Hi, Unknown,<br /><br />And thank you. I didn't know what to expect when I began reading The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. Even as I was reading, I didn't know where this narrative might go. And then the end comes, and despite the lack of a clear resolution, you find that you have had a most extraordinary reading experience. If the re-echoes of a story after you have finished reading it are a measure of its effectiveness, then Poe's Narrative is a very effective story. And I agree with you about the most horrific scene. What makes it more horrific is the matter-of-fact way in which Poe wrote about it. I think he chose exactly the right way.<br /><br />Thanks for reading and for writing.<br /><br />THTerence E. Hanleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08268641371264950572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-19922986973190450462020-09-25T03:17:13.671-04:002020-09-25T03:17:13.671-04:00This is a well-thought out article. I don't h...This is a well-thought out article. I don't have any philosophical observations to add; but I'd like to say how much I love Poe's novel. Barring any humor, it has a little (and sometimes a lot) of all the elements in Poe's fiction: adventure, fantasy, mystery, symbols, and the single most horrific scene, to my mind, in his entire oeuvre. Arkangelrockshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04573069309712886235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-62840269993234276452017-11-13T14:26:51.903-05:002017-11-13T14:26:51.903-05:00Fantastic article. I'll bookmark this one to r...Fantastic article. I'll bookmark this one to read it more in the future. I'll also purchase in the future the works you mentioned, since they sound very fascinating.Constantinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16004527641791623130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-17873666698437210542017-05-22T09:50:56.820-04:002017-05-22T09:50:56.820-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14988975398862092215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3852401976091776228.post-77745051823467718672017-05-21T21:22:09.528-04:002017-05-21T21:22:09.528-04:00Randy,
Thank you. I hadn't read Melville'...Randy,<br /><br />Thank you. I hadn't read Melville's poem either before coming across the quote in Viereck's Conservatism. It's a really amazing bit of prediction (although I don't think "prediction" is the right word for these visions conservative writers have of the future). I found and read the Kipling poem you recommended. It can seemingly go in the same category of conservative visions of the future (or present).<br /><br />To restate my thoughts, I expect writers of weird fiction and fantasy to have a conservative, though not necessarily anti-modern, sensibility. Science fiction would seem a more comfortable genre for the liberal or progressive writer. However, I can also see possibilities for conservative writers of science fiction. Stories of apocalypse, post-apocalypse, and dystopia are only the most obvious of those possibilities, but conservative values I think easily carry through stories of exploration, space travel, war and conflict, etc. The quip that came to me is that liberals/progressives are unlikely to blaze a trail into outer space because they'll be too busy arguing what color their square wheels should be (a reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy).<br /><br />The durability of ERB's stories, which are fantasy more than science fiction, would seem evidence in favor of my hypothesis that the more conservative genres have what you call "a longer shelf life" than the more liberal/progressive genres.<br /><br />If conservatives "have abandoned attempts to influence culture," that may not have been a recent development. See Viereck's reference to conservatism as "lonely soul-searching by American artists," above. One of the reasons contemporary conservatives have given up on influencing culture is that they, like conservatives in so many spheres, are savaged by the opposition when they speak out. On the other hand, conservative authors (Cormac McCarthy), moviemakers (Clint Eastwood), singers (just about anybody with a twang), and others are still influential, while liberal/progressive artists and projects continue to fail. Many of them make the most painful of pratfalls. Beyond that, conservatism, which, by definition, conserves traditions and customs, still functions in culture. I can't think of any better examples than classical music and opera. I wouldn't be too pessimistic about these things.<br /><br />Thanks for writing.<br /><br />TH<br />Terence E. Hanleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08268641371264950572noreply@blogger.com