New Criticals

Image by Amie LeGette

The apparitions of yesterday were valid for yesterday's ego, not for today's. — Samuel Beckett

At the turn of the twentieth century, Guillaume Apollinaire’s manifesto, “The New Spirit and the Poets,” (1917) was published, urging artists and writers to inherit a “good sense, a sure critical spirit” from the classics, in tandem with “a sense of duty which lays bare our feelings and limits.” This is insightful considering what characterized the modern era. Not being an imperialist, Apollinaire invoked a raison d’etre that appeals to revelation, not explanation or dogmatism. Let me not explain but ask.