So like where 'left-affiliated' (whatever) writers use puns/ ambiguities/ etc I am reasonably clear on what One Generally Says about it, which is blah blah Levinasian ethics blah blah rejection of empirical violence blah blah Irigarayan plurality blah blah blah Momus. Which like may or may not be true true on a case by case basis but is always pretty interesting and useful.
But, (and I realise this is a "do my homework" question but I think it's really interesting as a topic and I'm totally keen to go off and read anything anyone recommends on the topic) what would it mean for a politically right-wing poet to do the same thing? To consistently undermine their own points with intentional ambiguities? Because this happens, in Tennyson, lots. What should I look at/for? (Should I read Empson?)
― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 17:49 (twenty-one years ago)