On Tue, 27 Jan 1998, Erin Templeton wrote:
 
>         I hardly think that the reason younger scholars and stdents of
> literature have "hardly even heard of [Pound]" is because the Cantos aren't
> available on the Web.  While electronic access might be convenient, it isn't
> preventing students and aspiring scholars from reading EP.  Perhaps a more
> likely reason is his conspicuous absence from the classroom--whether because
> his poetry is "too difficult" or because many instructors find his politics
> distasteful or inappropriate for the classroom.  As an undergraduate, I was
> always curious about Pound, but never got the chance to read him.  It wasn't
> until my second semester of graduate school that I found his work on a
> syllabus, and even still, I find that the pre-dominant attitude among
> professors and students is one of grudging appreciation--yes, he was an
> important figure, but his poetry is difficult to understand and often  best
> left to interested individuals with lots of free time and additional
> references.  Availability of texts, in my opinion, isn't the problem--it's
> Pound's troubled position within the institution.
 
As another 20-almost-30-nothinger, I'll second Erin's observations. A lot
of academics just don't want to deal with Pound, especially when it comes
to the politics. Comments I've heard in my academic career (quotations
somewhat approximate):
 
"Social credit was an idea Pound got from Wyndham Lewis, who was a
fascist." (End of that topic)
 
"Who was that mentor of Eliot's who loved Mussolini?" (meaning Pound).
 
I think Pound, despite his difficulty, can be friendlier to non-academics,
especially by way of his often delightfully irreverent prose (I found
solace in the ABC of Economics during a bad unemployed period between grad
programs).
 
Back to lurk mode.
 
--WC
 
__________________________________________________________________
William Cole                        <[log in to unmask]>
Dept. of English
University of Georgia
 
"A sound poetic training is nothing more that the science of being
discontented." --Ezra Pound