tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360167919886596728.post1483929850650115467..comments2024-02-05T04:41:02.489-05:00Comments on Pansy Poetics: On Gay Poets James Allen Hall's and Christopher Hennessey's Curious Class PoliticsSteve Fellnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11383222975171349962noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360167919886596728.post-16027762091887667702009-06-22T16:38:21.642-04:002009-06-22T16:38:21.642-04:00Gosh, sometimes I feel like the majority of Americ...Gosh, sometimes I feel like the majority of American literature was written by the rich and privileged (with notable exception).<br /><br />My poetics class read through the major poetics essays of the 20th century. The bios almost all said, "Such and such poet went to [list Ivy League school here, but probably Harvard]."Charleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05222297450888695352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360167919886596728.post-70550330454952945202009-06-22T14:44:56.685-04:002009-06-22T14:44:56.685-04:00Ivy League IS upper-class. There are scholarships,...Ivy League IS upper-class. There are scholarships, but they're a minority, so far as I know. And not all the Ivy League schools are the same, some are more "privileged" than others. I spent a summer at Cornell, studying language on a grant. <br /><br />That said, I disagree with you to an extent. "Beauty" to me is a word that does not denote class or political/economic status: there is no inherent politics to the word, unless one believe that there is inherent politics to everything. Perhaps there is: but there is also the sense of relative application or overtness of politics within concepts. I don't think Hennessey's points about beauty are particularly a denial of class awareness; I think they say that class isn't relevant to beauty.<br /><br />And that's a fair argument: One doesn't have to be born upper-class to be able to appreciate beauty; or lower-class either. One doesn't have to be well-educated at the best universities to know appreciate beauty. Advantage may provide access to the schooling that allows one to articulate WHY one appreciates beauty: but that is education in critical analysis, which is a separate thing entirely from the appreciation of beauty. <br /><br />Aesthetic awareness is not class-based. Where class might affect it is, as I say, in the access to the training that allows one to articulate one's aesthetic viewpoint. <br /><br />So unless you really believe that class politics are inherent to every aspect of life, I think you're reading more into Monette's case than maybe is necessary.<br /><br />having said that, I DO agree that class is under-discussed. We like to believe that we live in a classless democratic society, but that is manifestly untrue.<br /><br />For my own part, I think all sides of this discussion have made some relevant points. The truth may lie in a terrain near the middle.Art Durkeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463180236975988432noreply@blogger.com