T. S. Eliot and Theological Modernism: A Close Reading of “Syllabus: Modern French Literature”

Abstract

The main aim of the article is to uncover how T. S Eliot’s view of classicism and romanticism is deeply intertwined with the theological confrontation between neo-scholasticism and Modernism at the turn of the 20th century by probing into his “Syllabus of a Course of Six Lectures on Modern French Literature” (1916). Heavily Influenced by T. E. Hulme’s writings, Eliot draws a binary distinction between classism and romanticism on the syllabus and transfigures them into two opposing worldviews (Weltanschaung) that underpin modern French literature. In Eliot’s view, there exists the deep-rooted affinity between classicism and neo-scholasticism while Modernism is to some extent a theological heir of romanticism. Though quite implicit, Eliot’s support of classicism and neo-scholasticism on the syllabus is a tell-tale sign that the seed of his conversion to Anglo-Catholicism in 1927 was already sprouting around 1916.