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"Not an idle spectator": Geoffrey Hill as model reviewer

Vincent, Bridget

"Not an idle spectator": Geoffrey Hill as model reviewer Thumbnail


Authors

Bridget Vincent



Abstract

Geoffrey Hill’s prose has prompted longstanding critical controversy, much of which turns on the perceived difficulty, intransigence and anachronism of his oeuvre as a whole. This paper proposes that new ways to navigate this controversy can be found in Hill’s preoccupation with the exemplary dimensions of writing – that is, in his interest in the poet’s capacity to offer examples (positive and negative) to a community of readers. The discussion pays particular attention to the connections Hill’s reviews establish between style and ethical choice and between literary difficulty and democracy; connections which are intertwined with his ethics of exemplarity in fundamental ways. The paper also engages with those dimensions of literary exemple-use which emerge in new or unusual ways in his prose: his presentation of ‘models’ or ideals for the organisation of civil society; his treatment of certain literary works as exemplars or embodiments of philosophical ideas; and his procedural tic of ‘sampling’ regularly for the purpose of chastisement the ‘bad example’ set by some of the works he criticises.

Citation

Vincent, B. (2014). "Not an idle spectator": Geoffrey Hill as model reviewer. Diogenes, 60(1), https://doi.org/10.1177/0392192113520095

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 14, 2012
Publication Date Apr 16, 2014
Deposit Date Aug 24, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Diogenes
Print ISSN 0392-1921
Electronic ISSN 1467-7695
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 60
Issue 1
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0392192113520095
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/726942
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0392192113520095

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