The Canon Theory Of Harold Bloom

Because of the rise of cultural studies, the debate around classic is becoming increasingly fierce. The classic maintainers are completely in bad situation. Bloom is a representative of the classic defenders, and his canonical theory produced very big repercussions and controversy in academic circles. Mainly in the book'western Canon', the canon theory came into being. The paper discussed it from three aspects:first, explaining'effect'and'misreading', which are two key concepts in this theory. Secondly, we'll discuss why the aesthetic autonomy in genius has the core status. Thirdly, we'll interpret the relationship between the canon and literary tradition. Emphasizing Shakespeare as an eternal center is this theory's prominent characteristic. Through this research, we can understand this theory's real appeal and limitation more concretely.At last, this paper has a reflection on this theory. The canon theory ultimately formed a depressive structure. First, Bloom inherited Nietzsche's aristocratism, and so the history of literature became a huge depressive field. Secondly, the depressive structure was an inevitable result because of his'self' fanaticism,'pure literature'is in fashion for a period, and this has a close association with the canon theory. As the same as canon theory, the seeking of'pure literature'is just a theory Utopia.