Ezra Pound's Eriugena - (Historicizing Modernism) by Mark Byron (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Winner of the Ezra Pound Society Book Prize 2014

Ezra Pound's sustained use of ancient and medieval philosophical sources, particularly those within the Neoplatonic tradition, is well known. Yet the specific influence of the ninth-century theologian Johannes Scottus Eriugena on Pound's poetry and prose has received limited scholarly attention. Pound developed detailed plans to publish a commentary on Eriugena alongside his translations of two of the books of Confucianism, plans that ultimately went unrealised. Drawing on unpublished notes, drafts and manuscripts amongst the Ezra Pound papers held at Yale University, this book investigates the pivotal role of Eriugena in Pound's thought and, perhaps surprisingly, in his deployment of non-Western philosophical traditions.

Review Quotes

"Close reading of Pound's ongoing conversation with Eriugena demonstrates the importance of expanding the parameters of the critical debate. Byron's fluid and engaging prose proves that conscientious and original scholarship of Anglo-American literary modernism's central figure need not be stuffy or turgid. A good resource for Pound enthusiasts as well as specialists. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above." --CHOICE

"Deftly orchestrated, rich in archival discoveries, substantial in its preoccupations (philsophical, theological and aesthetic), and argued with agility and nuance, Mark Byron's understanding of a somewhat neglected figure in the Poundian pantheon is powerfully rewarding. The range of learning here is impressive in its understanding of the Carolingian history from which Eriugena emerges as a figure of controversy. . . A powerful foray into aesthetic and intellectial history. . . One of the best lessons we have for reading the machinations of the poetry." --Journal of American Studies

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