Postmodernism in T. S. Eliot’s Major Poems

As one of the most influential men of letter of the twentieth century, Thomas Stearns Eliot has impressed different generations of readers and stimulated a substantial amount of critical analysis. Eliot''s general and historical reception has been in terms of his attachment to French Symbolism, Imagism, Metaphysical Poetry, Classicism, mysticism, and Modernism. As a poet, critic, and dramatist, Eliot has been hailed as one of the founders of New Criticism and one of the best representatives of Modernist writing, both of which present some radical contrasts with postmodern aesthetics. However, major writers can be re-read in the light of novel critical and philosophical theories, and a poet of Eliot''s calibre is not an exception. This book explores similarities and differences between postmodern writing, theorised by such authors as Michel Foucault, Jacque Derrida, Jacque Lacan, Roland Barthes, and Paul de Man, and Eliot''s major poems including “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” “Geronion,” “The Waste Land,” “The Hollow Men,” “Journey of the Magi,” “Ash Wednesday,” and Four Quartets.