<snip>
 
>>>if the Cantos were to become available
>in hypertext format on the 'Net (infinite Borgesian
>links, etc.) we would see a tremendous upsurge in
>interest in EP among the twenty-nothing and thirty-
>nothing generation that has hardly even heard of
>him.  ND might be smart to offer, let's say, the
>first 30 Cantos in this format on the Net for
>free and hope to rope in buyers of a CD-hypertext
>version of the whole work.  Maybe even the book
>itself.<<
>
 
As a lurking member of the so-called "twenty-nothing and thirty-nothing
generation," I resent the condescension in this thread.  Not all Poundians
are over forty, and it seems to me that younger Poundians should be
encouraged, not mocked.  We are all on the same side here aren't we?  I
thought the point of the list was to engage in a discussion  about a poet
whose work interests all of us.
        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.
 
Erin Templeton
Dept. of English
Penn State University
University Park, PA  16802