C.S. Lewis and T.S. Eliot: Questions of Identity

Jonathan Fruoco (1)

1 CEMRA - Centre d'Etudes sur les modes de la représentation anglophone - EA 3016

Much has been written in the last decades about C.S. Lewis and his friendship with men such as Charles Williams or J.R.R. Tolkien but the nature of his opposition with T.S. Eliot has somewhat remained obscure. Indeed, very few people are today aware that the Christian apologist and author of The Chronicles of Narnia had found his nemesis in the acclaimed poet and receiver of the Nobel Prize in Literature. However, that enmity was more than a simple battle of wits between two intellectuals. Consequently, this paper studies what could possibly be Lewis's reasons for hating Eliot and underlines that their religious, academic and national identities were central in their opposition.

De nombreuses études existent sur l'amitié entre C.S. Lewis et J.R.R. Tolkien ou Charles Williams, toutefois la nature de l'opposition entre Lewis et T.S. Eliot est restée obscure. En effet, rare sont aujourd'hui sachant que le célèbre apologiste et romancier vouait une haine farouche envers le prix Nobel de littérature. Or, cette inimitié fut bien plus qu'une simple rivalité intellectuelle. L'objet de cette étude est donc de montrer quelles furent les raisons de cette confrontation et de mettre en lumière que celle-ci fut alimentée par leur différence d'identité religieuse, nationale et académique.

Mots clés: poetry; identity; Paradox; Modernism

Mots clés: Modernisme; poésie; identité intellectuelle; C.S. Lewis; T.S. Eliot; Persona

Domaines: Littératures

Jonathan Fruoco. C.S. Lewis and T.S. Eliot: Questions of Identity. Persona and Paradox: Issues of Identity for C.S. Lewis, His Friends and Associates, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp.285, 2012, 1443839663. ⟨hal-00871082⟩