17 May 2009

Expanding

As is likely clear from the less than frequent posting, I haven't been able to blog as much as I would like to (or at all, really). But rather than give up, I've decided to expand the scope of this project: not only will I be reading and writing about the great literature of the South (my reading lists will be subject of a future post), I will also be reading through and commenting about the Southern Agrarians of the early to mid twentieth century--as well as some more recent Agrarians--and two closely related literary groups: the Fugitive poets of Vanderbilt, and the New Critics.

Agrarian Reading List

I’ll Take My Stand
by Twelve Southerners
The Southern Tradition at Bay of Richard M. Weaver
The Art Of The Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays Of Wendell Berry
The Southern Tradition by Eugene Genovese
The New Agrarian Mind by Allan Carlson


New Criticism Reading List


The Well-Wrought Urn by Cleanth Brooks
Understanding Poetry by Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren
The Verbal Icon by W. K. Wimsatt and Monroe K. Beardsley

Fugitive Poetry List

Collected Poems, 1919-1976 by Allen Tate
Selected Poems by John Crowe Ransom
The Collected Poems of Robert Penn Warren

Wish me luck. This may take a few years...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Matthew, In response to your post on Agrarianism / Wendell Berry :

Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment.

Industrial Society is destroying necessary things [Animals, Trees, Air, Water and Land] for making unnecessary things [consumer goods].

"Growth Rate" - "Economy Rate" - "GDP"

These are figures of "Ecocide".
These are figures of "crimes against Nature".
These are figures of "destruction of Ecosystems".
These are figures of "Insanity, Abnormality and Criminality".


The link between Mind and Social / Environmental-Issues.

The fast-paced, consumerist lifestyle of Industrial Society is causing exponential rise in psychological problems besides destroying the environment. All issues are interlinked. Our Minds cannot be peaceful when attention-spans are down to nanoseconds, microseconds and milliseconds. Our Minds cannot be peaceful if we destroy Nature [Animals, Trees, Air, Water and Land].

Chief Seattle of the Indian Tribe had warned the destroyers of ecosystems way back in 1854 :

Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you realize that you cannot eat money.


To read the complete article please follow any of these links.

Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment

Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment

Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment

Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment

sushil_yadav
Delhi, India