A Study Of T.S.Eliot’s Poetic Theory In The Horizon Of Modernity

T.S.Eliot was one of the classical figures in the Western Modernism Literature.He has made great achievements both in the field of literary creation and poetics.Eliot’s Modernism poetry practice and poetic theory had great relation with the dramatic changes in the late 19 th and early 20 th century in western society.The tension of modernity lies in the conflicts not only between two types of modernity,but also the inner factors.The instrumental rationality,represented by science and technology,had brought a series of consequences,which had become the basis of anti-modernity practice.The main feature of Eliot’s poetic theory is the negative criticism to instrumental rationality.He criticized the instrumental rationality from two different paths,one of which is the perspective of substantive rationality,the other from aesthetic criticism.The substantive rationality contains two factors,which embodied in Eliot’s poetic theory,are poetic tradition and classical humanism value.To criticize the instrumental rationality form the aesthetic point has closely relationship with the modern literature and art practice,which embodied in Eliot’s poetic theory,is strongly formalistic characteristics.This article focuses on Eliot’s poetic theory.Based on the perspective of modernity,this paper aims to explore the inner collection between Eliot’s poetic theory and modernity in western society,find out the true value of Eliot’s poetic theory,reveal crisis of western modernity and present the background of the transformation of western modern ideology with the purpose of better understanding of the complexity and tension of modernity.This article develops from three important aspects of Eliot’s poetic theory,which includes poetic tradition,modern formalism and new humanism.It criticizes instrumental rationality from the three aspects.With this research,it reveals that modernity contains tradition and modernism and presents the importance of modernity.In this regard,this article is divided into three parts.The first part mainly discusses Eliot’s poetic tradition.It aims to solve the problem that as the representative figure of modernism why Eliot would advocate a return to the classical tradition.Eliot’s theory of poetic tradition is the product of the inner contradictions of modernity.It reflects the substantive rationality in poetic level.Standing on this position,Eliot reinterpreted the true value of tradition.Eliot called for revitalization of modern poetic drama,and promoted classical education to criticize instrumental rationality both in the level of artistic style and function.Eliot appealed the return of tradition to resist the crisis of highly rationality.The second part focuses on Eliot’s modern formalism theory.As the embodiment of aesthetic modernity,the practice of modern literature and art resists modernity.Formalism is one of the core characteristics of Modernism.Formalism is the result of the expansion of object.This part aims to solve the problem why modernism pays so much attention on form and how can this issue presented in Eliot’s poetic system.The Modernism literature and art pursuit form in order to keep a distance with the mechanical ordinary reality and arose the sensory experience.Eliot attached great importance on the form and structure of works and emphasized the paradigm of objective criticism.Eliot’s impersonality theory pays attention on the literary form of main body,which aims to bridge the subject-object dichotomy in western subjectivity philosophy.His objective correlatives theory is about the literary form of object that is related to materialized theory.The expansion of object causes the objectification of subjective feeling.Formalism is kind of materialization.It is the reflection of object in the aspect of artistic conception.This part aims to reveal the tension of modernism by the inquiry of Eliot’s formalism theory.The third part explores Eliot’s poetic value standpoint.It criticizes the modernity from the level of tradition value and aims to solve the problem of paradigm.In the fear and resistance of industrial civilization and capital ration,Eliot called for return of Western rational tradition.He advocated the combination of the spirit of Western rational tradition and Christianity.To return to humanism tradition can resist the disorder of modern society by the way of ration and order.Eliot thought that the society could be reshaped by the aid of Christian spiritual beliefs in order to build the common belief,behavior patterns and cultural consciousness.Eliot was longing for the pre-industrial organic society in 17 th century and advocated the return to traditional hierarchical society.His ideal social model is based on rigid hierarchy and class division.By the interpretation of Eliot’s tradition value,this part revels Eliot’s conservative standpoint and the elitism tendency of modernism.