--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "gsp.schoo@..." <gsp.schoo@...> wrote:
> Gonzalo: Of course Shakespeare is Anglo-centric. He is the writer
most credited with inspiring and influencing the English view of the
world, which in no small part led them to create the biggest empire in
the history of the world, spreading their cultural influence around
the world thereby making Shakespeare the most influential writer in
the world. That's not a knock against any non-Anglo writer. But the
title of "best" is always arbitrary, and the powerful get to make the
arbitrary decisions. If they make decisions that work for them they
get to stay powerful and make more such determinations.
Kerry: I wasn't accusing Shakespeare of being Anglo-centric. That
would be absurd. What I was saying is that Bloom could be considered
Anglo-centric if he in fact said that Shakespeare was "the" writer
that defined what a person was for Europeans. This, because there were
other writers at the time such as Cervantes who were just as
influential. I don't know whether the British empire was larger than
the Spanish empire either demographically or economically (I sincerely
don't know, pardon my ignorance) but Cervantes' influence in both
Europe and the Spanish-speaking world is of a magnitude that makes me
question the validity of Bloom's assertion. Having said that, I don't
consider it a knock on non-Anglo writers but just an exaggerated
judgment on his part.
-Gonzalo.
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