FUSING THE VOICES: THE APPROPRIATION AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE WASTE LAND

Authors

  • Martin John Fletcher UFRGS

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22456/2236-6385.57180

Keywords:

T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, The Waste Land, Modernism, English poetry, critical discourse

Abstract

Although T. S. Eliot’s masterpiece, The Waste Land, is a defiantly enigmatic and bewildering poem, the text still occupies a central place in the literary canon nearly a century after its conception. Eliot’s initial idea was to publish the work as several separate poems, yet despite this, The Waste Land is still studied as a unified whole with a unifying voice and an identifiable “message”. In this paper I argue that the poem’s reputation today rests upon a mass of critical discourse which insists on interpreting “meaning” at the expense of considering the poem’s musical, allusive and hypnotic power.

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Author Biography

Martin John Fletcher, UFRGS

Martin John Fletcher is an experienced English teacher and native speaker who has taught at universities and language schools in London, Spain and Brazil. Martin is currently studying for a doctorate in English Literature at UFRGS.

Martin’s qualifications include:

  • a Master's Degree in English Literature (Sussex University)
  • the RSA Diploma in TEFLA from Cambridge University

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Published

2016-01-07

How to Cite

FLETCHER, Martin John. FUSING THE VOICES: THE APPROPRIATION AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE WASTE LAND. Cadernos do IL, [S. l.], n. 51, p. 051–066, 2016. DOI: 10.22456/2236-6385.57180. Disponível em: https://seer.ufrgs.br/index.php/cadernosdoil/article/view/57180. Acesso em: 29 aug. 2025.

Issue

Section

Artigos de estudos literários