Introduction: “Antithetical Criticism: An Introduction” by Harold Bloom
“Antithetical Criticism: An Introduction” by Harold Bloom was written and published in 1971 ina journal, Diacritics. This essay holds great significance in literary criticism and literary theory due to its unique perspective and main points. Bloom argues that literary criticism often falls into two opposing camps: either too reverent or too dismissive of authors and their works. He proposes a new approach, “antithetical criticism,” which focuses on the inherent tension and conflict between an author and their predecessors. Bloom believes that by understanding these antagonistic relationships, we can gain deeper insights into the originality and significance of an author’s contribution to literature.
Summary of “Antithetical Criticism: An Introduction” by Harold Bloom
Antithetical Criticism and Poetic Influence
- Harold Bloom explores the anxiety of influence in poets, focusing on how later poets are influenced by their predecessors, often through a process of misinterpretation. Bloom builds on Nietzsche’s and Emerson’s ideas of influence as a creative force rather than an obstacle, but counters with the notion that for many poets, this influence brings anxiety rather than vitality.
“Influence, and more precisely poetic influence, has been more of a blight than a blessing, from the Enlightenment until this moment.”
Poetic Misprision as Creative Process
- Bloom introduces the concept of “misprision,” where poets deliberately misinterpret their predecessors to create new work. This misinterpretation, or “swerve,” is a necessary part of a poet’s creative process, as they must struggle to differentiate themselves from their influences.
“In the strong poets, this misprision of the precursors is necessarily a process of misinterpretation.”
The Anxiety of Influence
- The central idea of Bloom’s theory is that poets experience anxiety when they feel overshadowed by their precursors. This anxiety manifests in a need to both emulate and reject their influences, leading to a paradoxical relationship between past and present poets.
“The anxiety of influence is so terrible because it is both a kind of separation-anxiety, and the beginning of a compulsion-neurosis.”
Antithetical Criticism: A New Approach
- Bloom proposes “antithetical criticism” as an approach that acknowledges the influence of previous poets but emphasizes the creative misinterpretation of that influence. This method rejects traditional criticism’s tautology (where a poem is seen as meaning only itself) and reduction (where a poem’s meaning is reduced to non-poetic terms).
“Antithetical criticism must begin by denying both tautology and reduction.”
Poetry as Anxiety and Misinterpretation
- Bloom suggests that every poem is a product of anxiety and misinterpretation. The creative act is a response to the fear of being overshadowed by predecessors, and this anxiety fuels the poet’s drive to create something new.
“Poetry is the anxiety of influence, is misprision, is a disciplined perverseness.”
The Double Bind of Poetic Influence
- Poets are caught in a double bind, where they are compelled to be like their predecessors but also unlike them. This tension drives the process of creative misinterpretation and is a key element of the poet’s struggle for originality.
“Be like me but unlike me” is the paradox of the precursor’s implicit charge to the ephebe.”
The Role of the Muse and Family Romance in Poetic Creation
- Bloom connects the poet’s creative process to a psychological “family romance,” where the poet’s relationship with their precursor mirrors a child’s relationship with their parents. The poet must metaphorically “kill” their predecessor to establish their own identity, but in doing so, they risk repeating the same patterns.
“The strong poet-like the Hegelian great man-is both hero of poetic history, and victim of it.”
Antithetical Criticism as a Critical Tool
- Bloom argues that critics, like poets, engage in a form of misprision, interpreting poems through the lens of their own understanding. Antithetical criticism recognizes this process and seeks to read both the precursor and the later poet through their mutual deviations.
“The meaning of a poem can only be another poem.”
Conclusion: Poetic Influence as an Endless Cycle
- Bloom concludes that poetic influence is an ongoing cycle of anxiety, misinterpretation, and creative renewal. Poets are both creators and victims of this cycle, forever striving to surpass their predecessors while being shaped by them.
“Poetry is misunderstanding, misinterpretation, misalliance.”
This article provides a theoretical framework for understanding the dynamics of influence in poetry, positioning misinterpretation as a central creative force. It advocates for a new form of criticism that fully embraces the complexities of poetic influence and anxiety.
Literary Terms/Concepts in “Antithetical Criticism: An Introduction” by Harold Bloom
| Term/Concept | Definition | Explanation from Bloom’s Text |
| Anxiety of Influence | A poet’s fear or anxiety of being overshadowed by their predecessors. | Poets experience anxiety when they feel creatively influenced by earlier poets, which can inhibit originality. |
| Misprision | The deliberate misinterpretation or distortion of a predecessor’s work to create something new. | Strong poets misinterpret their precursors as a way of escaping their influence and creating new poetry. |
| Clinamen | A “swerve” or deviation from a precursor’s work. | Derived from Lucretius, it refers to the poet’s creative move away from a precursor’s work to establish their own poetic identity. |
| Tessera | A process of completing or “completing” a predecessor’s work. | The poet views the precursor’s work as incomplete and seeks to complete it in their own poetic vision. |
| Antithetical Criticism | A form of criticism that focuses on how poets misinterpret their predecessors. | Bloom’s proposed criticism highlights the tension between a poet and their precursor, reading newer works in light of deviations from older ones. |
| Family Romance | A psychological concept borrowed from Freud, used to describe a poet’s relationship with precursors. | Poets relate to their predecessors as children relate to parents, seeking to assert their independence but often repeating patterns. |
| Primal Words | Words that carry opposing meanings, reflecting ambivalence. | Bloom links this concept to Freud’s discussion of primal words, noting that poets’ works often contain inherent contradictions or oppositions. |
| Ephebe | A young or beginning poet. | The ephebe (or young poet) struggles to overcome the influence of older, more established poets. |
| Swerve | A deviation or shift from an earlier poetic model. | This is another term for “clinamen,” referring to the poet’s movement away from the path of a precursor to create their own work. |
| Misinterpretation | A crucial aspect of the creative process where the poet distorts the work of their precursor. | Bloom argues that every poem is a misinterpretation of an earlier poem, and this misinterpretation is essential for poetic creation. |
| Metaphor of Combat | Poets are engaged in a struggle with their precursors. | Bloom uses the metaphor of combat to describe the poet’s effort to “overcome” the influence of their literary ancestors. |
Contribution of “Antithetical Criticism: An Introduction” by Harold Bloom to Literary Theory/Theories
- Intertextuality
- Contribution:
Bloom’s theory provides a distinct perspective on intertextuality, where texts are seen as not merely interconnected but deeply shaped by the anxiety of influence. Unlike traditional intertextuality, which often views literary works as equal participants in a dialogue, Bloom emphasizes that later poets engage in a struggle with their precursors. - Key Reference:
- “Every poem is a misinterpretation of a parent poem. A poem is not an overcoming of anxiety, but is that anxiety.”
- Here, Bloom positions each poetic creation as inherently derivative, not in a collaborative sense, but in a competitive and revisionary relationship with earlier works. This reshapes the discussion of how texts are interconnected by introducing the notion of misreading or misprision as an essential part of creation.
- Relation to Theory:
Intertextuality in Bloom’s view is not merely about reference or homage, but about deliberate distortion of predecessors to assert originality, distinguishing his approach from scholars like Julia Kristeva, who emphasize a more symbiotic relationship between texts. - Reader-Response Theory
- Contribution:
While Bloom’s essay does not directly engage with reader-response theory, his focus on misprision highlights the active role of the poet as a reader who reshapes the meaning of precursor texts through personal anxiety and struggle. In this way, poets are readers first, and their interpretation (or misinterpretation) of earlier works is crucial in shaping their own creations. - Key Reference:
- “To imagine is to misinterpret. But alas—to misinterpret is not necessarily to imagine (or re-imagine).”
- Relation to Theory:
In Bloom’s view, each poet’s reading of past works is subjective and creative. This anticipates the reader’s role in co-creating meaning in reader-response theory, where the meaning of a text is not fixed but is generated through the interaction between text and reader. Bloom applies this idea to poets, who as readers engage in a highly personal, psychological interpretation of earlier poetry. - Connection to Stanley Fish’s Reader-Response Theory:
Bloom’s idea aligns with Stanley Fish’s theory that meaning is not embedded in the text but generated by the reader. Here, the poet as reader becomes an active participant in generating new meanings by misreading past poets. - Psychoanalytic Literary Theory
- Contribution:
Bloom’s theory is deeply informed by psychoanalysis, particularly in its focus on the family romance and the Freudian concept of repression and sublimation. He frames the relationship between poets and their predecessors in terms of psychological conflict and anxiety, which becomes a driving force behind poetic creation. - Key Reference:
- “The strong poet-like the Hegelian great man-is both hero of poetic history, and victim of it.”
- This reference to Hegelian dialectics in combination with the Freudian family romance illustrates how Bloom views poets as both creators and victims of their psychological inheritance, paralleling the familial struggle for identity. Poets must “kill” their precursors, similar to the Oedipal complex, to establish their own creative autonomy.
- Relation to Theory:
Bloom’s theory directly engages with Freudian psychoanalytic theory, applying the notion of family dynamics (the precursor as symbolic father) to literary influence. This shifts psychoanalytic criticism from a focus on character analysis within texts to an examination of the creative process itself as a form of psychological drama. - Historicism and the Role of Tradition
- Contribution:
Bloom challenges traditional historicism and tradition, particularly the ways in which past texts influence the present. He argues that poets are both burdened and inspired by the literary tradition, but must revise and misinterpret this tradition to create something new. He rejects the positivist historical view that places poets as mere products of their times or literary traditions. - Key Reference:
- “Poetry is thus both contraction and expansion, for both clinamen and tessera are contracting movements, yet making is an expansive one.”
- Relation to Theory:
Bloom’s approach critiques traditional historicism, which often sees texts as firmly rooted in the context of their production. Instead, he positions poets as revisionary figures who engage with history not by simply inheriting it but by reworking it. His work aligns with New Historicism, in its focus on the dynamic relationship between past and present texts, but Bloom emphasizes the psychological struggle over the socio-political context. - Deconstruction
- Contribution:
Bloom’s idea that all interpretation is misinterpretation has echoes of deconstruction, particularly its emphasis on the instability of meaning. Like deconstruction, Bloom argues that no text can fully transcend its influences or achieve absolute originality. There is always a degree of misinterpretation involved in any creative or critical act. - Key Reference:
- “There are no interpretations but only misinterpretations, and so all criticism is prose poetry.”
- Relation to Theory:
This statement aligns with the deconstructive idea that meaning is always unstable and that texts are constantly being reinterpreted and revised. Bloom takes this a step further by focusing on poetic creation as a form of deconstructive misreading where the poet’s work is always already entangled with past texts. - Romanticism and Post-Romanticism
- Contribution:
Bloom’s theory is also a contribution to the understanding of Romanticism, especially in his use of ephebe and the struggle for originality. He highlights the Romantic poet’s need to reconcile individual genius with the influence of predecessors. - Key Reference:
- “Romanticism’s quest is to re-beget one’s own self, to become one’s own great original.”
- Relation to Theory:
Bloom provides a Post-Romantic revision of traditional Romantic ideals of genius and originality, asserting that true creativity arises not in isolation but in response to the anxiety caused by earlier works. This reinterpretation emphasizes the paradox of originality in Romantic and post-Romantic poetry.
Examples of Critiques Through “Antithetical Criticism: An Introduction” by Harold Bloom
| Literary Work | Precursor/Influence | Bloom’s Antithetical Critique | Key Concepts |
| “The Waste Land” by T.S. Eliot | The Bible, Shakespeare, and Dante | Eliot’s poem deliberately misinterprets the sacred and mythic texts (The Bible, Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Dante’s Divine Comedy) to convey modern disillusionment. He appropriates fragments from these precursors but subverts their meanings, signaling a clinamen or “swerve” that reflects his struggle with the overwhelming literary past. | Misprision, Clinamen (swerve), Anxiety of Influence |
| “Ulysses” by James Joyce | Homer’s Odyssey | Joyce’s Ulysses is a revisionary retelling of Homer’s Odyssey, where he re-envisions the heroic quest in a modern, mundane setting. Through his misprision of the classical epic, Joyce diminishes the grandeur of Homer’s characters, showing that modern heroes are ordinary people like Leopold Bloom. This is Joyce’s way of both embracing and defying Homer’s literary dominance. | Tessera (completion), Misprision, Family Romance |
| “Paradise Lost” by John Milton | The Bible, Greek Epics (Homer, Virgil) | Milton engages in a profound struggle with his precursors, especially The Bible and classical epics like The Iliad and The Aeneid. Milton attempts to surpass these texts by presenting Satan as a tragic, almost heroic figure, thereby misinterpreting the traditional Christian depiction of the fall. This signals a radical swerve from religious orthodoxy, re-casting epic traditions through a lens of individual freedom and rebellion. | Clinamen, Misprision, Anxiety of Influence |
| “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman | Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bible | Whitman’s work can be seen as a tessera, where he seeks to complete Emerson’s vision of self-reliance and transcendentalism, extending it into a more radical, democratic embrace of the individual’s connection to the cosmos. However, Whitman misinterprets Emerson by focusing less on the spiritual and intellectual aspects and more on the sensual, bodily experience of existence. This is Whitman’s way of asserting his own poetic authority. | Tessera (completion), Misprision, Anxiety of Influence |
Key Concepts in the Table:
- Clinamen (Swerve): A poet’s deviation from their precursor’s work, signaling an effort to escape being overwhelmed by past influence.
- Tessera (Completion): A poet seeks to “complete” the precursor’s work, viewing it as incomplete or lacking in some aspect.
- Misprision: The act of deliberately misinterpreting or revising a predecessor’s work to establish originality.
- Anxiety of Influence: The psychological struggle poets experience when they feel overshadowed by their precursors.
- Family Romance: A psychoanalytic lens where the relationship between poets and their predecessors is akin to a child’s relationship with their parents, filled with both admiration and rebellion.
Criticism Against “Antithetical Criticism: An Introduction” by Harold Bloom
- Overemphasis on Psychological Conflict
Bloom’s theory heavily relies on the psychological struggle between poets and their precursors, often framing literary creation as a personal conflict rooted in anxiety. Critics argue that this reduces the complexity of literary production to a singular psychoanalytic model, ignoring broader social, political, and cultural factors that also shape creative processes. - Neglect of Collaborative and Symbiotic Influences
Bloom’s focus on misprision and the competitive struggle for originality between poets overlooks more collaborative and symbiotic relationships between writers. Some literary traditions, especially non-Western or communal cultures, may not experience influence through the anxiety Bloom emphasizes but rather through mutual enrichment and dialogue. - Dismissal of Non-Canonical Writers and Voices
Bloom’s theory primarily centers on a Eurocentric, male-dominated literary canon (e.g., Shakespeare, Milton, and Dante), often disregarding non-canonical, female, or marginalized voices. His framework has been criticized for perpetuating a narrow literary tradition that excludes diverse authors who do not fit into his model of agonistic literary relations. - Reduction of Literary Creativity to Influence
Critics contend that Bloom’s focus on poetic influence diminishes the role of original creativity. By asserting that all literary creation is essentially a product of anxiety and influence from predecessors, Bloom underplays the possibility that poets and writers generate new, independent ideas and innovations that are not simply responses to past works. - Limited Applicability Across Genres and Forms
Bloom’s theory is largely focused on poetry, particularly on the relationship between strong poets and their predecessors. This narrow focus raises concerns about the theory’s applicability to other genres like prose fiction, drama, or contemporary experimental forms, which might not follow the same dynamics of influence and anxiety. - Neglect of Reader’s Role in Interpretation
While Bloom emphasizes the role of the poet as a reader of precursors, he gives little attention to the role of the audience or reader in the interpretation of texts. This exclusion undermines the relevance of reader-response theory and suggests that the meaning of a text is primarily determined by the author’s relationship with their precursor, not by the interaction between the text and its readers. - Overemphasis on Western Romantic and Modernist Traditions
Bloom’s ideas are deeply rooted in Western Romantic and Modernist traditions, with a strong focus on individual genius and originality. This has drawn criticism for being too narrow and specific to certain literary movements, making it less relevant to other literary traditions, such as postcolonial, feminist, or collective literary movements, which may not prioritize individual struggle in the same way. - Exaggeration of the Struggle for Originality
Some critics argue that Bloom’s preoccupation with the anxiety of originality is overstated. They believe many poets and writers do not experience creativity as a struggle against predecessors, but instead see it as a process of inspiration, adaptation, or homage, where influence can be a positive force rather than a burden.
Representative Quotations from “Antithetical Criticism: An Introduction” by Harold Bloom with Explanation
| Quotation | Explanation |
| “Every poem is a misinterpretation of a parent poem.” | Bloom asserts that all poetry is fundamentally influenced by previous works and that each poem is, in essence, a deliberate misreading or reinterpretation of its predecessors. This underscores his concept of misprision, where new poems rework and distort older ones to assert their originality. |
| “A poem is not an overcoming of anxiety, but is that anxiety.” | Bloom highlights that the act of poetic creation is driven by the anxiety of influence. Poets do not simply overcome their predecessors’ influence; instead, this anxiety is embedded in the poem itself and fuels its creation. |
| “To imagine is to misinterpret.” | Imagination, in Bloom’s framework, is equated with misinterpretation. To create something new, a poet must first misinterpret the work of predecessors, reimagining it in a way that allows the new poem to emerge. |
| “Influence is Influenza—an astral disease.” | Bloom uses this metaphor to suggest that influence is a pervasive and unavoidable force in poetry, much like a contagious disease. It affects all poets, often unconsciously, shaping their work in ways they cannot control. |
| “Poetry is misunderstanding, misinterpretation, misalliance.” | Here, Bloom summarizes his view that poetry is inherently a process of misunderstanding and reworking previous texts. The creative act is not about producing something entirely new, but about reinterpreting past works through deliberate misreading. |
| “The meaning of a poem can only be another poem.” | Bloom argues that the meaning of a poem is not self-contained. It can only be understood in relation to other poems, particularly those that influenced it. This is a key aspect of his theory of antithetical criticism, where poetry is always in dialogue with past works. |
| “The strong poet, like the Hegelian great man, is both hero of poetic history, and victim of it.” | Bloom suggests that the strongest poets are those who actively engage with and transform literary tradition, but they are also victimized by it, as their work is forever marked by the anxiety of trying to escape the shadow of their predecessors. |
| “To imagine is to misinterpret. But alas—to misinterpret is not necessarily to imagine (or re-imagine).” | Bloom acknowledges the difficulty of true creative imagination. While misinterpretation is a central part of poetic creation, not all misinterpretations result in successful re-imaginings. This points to the uncertainty and difficulty in producing truly original poetry. |
| “A poem is a poet’s melancholy at his lack of priority.” | This quote reflects Bloom’s idea that poems are born from a melancholic recognition that the poet is not the first to explore certain themes or ideas. The act of writing is, in part, an expression of the poet’s struggle to achieve originality in a world where much has already been said. |
| “Poetry is the enchantment of incest, disciplined by resistance to that enchantment.” | Bloom uses the metaphor of incest to describe the close, often uncomfortable relationship between poets and their predecessors. Poets are drawn to their precursors but must discipline this intense attraction by resisting their influence to create something new. |
Suggested Readings: “Antithetical Criticism: An Introduction” by Harold Bloom
- Bloom, Harold. “Antithetical Criticism: An Introduction.” Diacritics, vol. 1, no. 2, 1971, pp. 39–46. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/465081. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.
- Barzilai, Shuli. “A Review of Paul de Man’s ‘Review of Harold Bloom’s Anxiety of Influence.’” Yale French Studies, no. 69, 1985, pp. 134–41. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2929930. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.
- Bloom, Harold. “The Necessity of Misreading.” The Georgia Review, vol. 55/56, 2001, pp. 69–87. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41402122. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.
- Colilli, Paul. “Harold Bloom and the Post-Theological Dante.” Annali d’Italianistica, vol. 8, 1990, pp. 132–43. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24004257. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.