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A Scholar's Lament
Oct. 8th, 2004 01:48 pmLately I've been doing some research on Robert Graves's beautiful, bizarre, deeply influential monstrosity of attempted anthropological research, The White Goddess. It's quite frustrating, because all the criticism I've found so far fits into three categories:
1. Scholarship that proclaims The White Goddess to be utter trash, bearing no resemblance to actual religious beliefs and practices of early medieval Britain.
2. Scholarship that examines The White Goddess as it relates to Graves's warped personal life.
3. "Scholarship" that assumes The White Goddess is a factual and important account of the true, formerly-neglected Triple Goddess of the Celts.
I'm looking for, and have not found, work that treats The White Goddess as a fascinating literary invention in its own right, and examines it for its content and, perhaps, its influence on other authors.
Usually, when I find a large hole in current scholarship, it excites me. There's clearly a great deal of research left to be done here, and I can do it. The problem is that I have very different plans for my dissertation. Will not become obsessed with Robert Graves. Will not become obsessed with Robert Graves.
1. Scholarship that proclaims The White Goddess to be utter trash, bearing no resemblance to actual religious beliefs and practices of early medieval Britain.
2. Scholarship that examines The White Goddess as it relates to Graves's warped personal life.
3. "Scholarship" that assumes The White Goddess is a factual and important account of the true, formerly-neglected Triple Goddess of the Celts.
I'm looking for, and have not found, work that treats The White Goddess as a fascinating literary invention in its own right, and examines it for its content and, perhaps, its influence on other authors.
Usually, when I find a large hole in current scholarship, it excites me. There's clearly a great deal of research left to be done here, and I can do it. The problem is that I have very different plans for my dissertation. Will not become obsessed with Robert Graves. Will not become obsessed with Robert Graves.
