Untitled - Sexey's School Moodle

While the rationale for de-emphasizing the shock-value of The Iliad’s most
gruesome passages and the subversive potential of Ovid’s Ars Amatoria might never be
fully uncovered, what the previous discussion highlights is that amidst various efforts to
overlook or repress them, the elements of shock and subversion have formed an inherent
part of Western literary canons since their early beginnings. The question that remains,
however, is the nature of the response of the literary establishment and popular opinion
when these elements are over-emphasized in works that purposely “transgress”
established norms of morality and society by toppling social and cultural taboos.
Following Hans Robert Jauss’ suggestion, this is specifically what the following study
will attempt to assess. How are so-called “transgressive” texts dealt with and possibly
assimilated within canonical discourses of the Western literary tradition throughout
specific periods in history? In exploring this subject, this study will also investigate how
these works affect their respective audiences and how, in turn, they are affected by
critical responses determining their literary potential and prospective influence. In
addition, what perspectives—or “solutions,” to adopt Jauss’ terminology—do they offer
regarding the moral, social, and artistic guidelines they transgress?
The first chapter, “Canonicity and Canon-formation: A Brief Historical
Overview,” reviews various theories pertaining to canon-formation. Beginning from the
etymological significance of the word kanon in Greek; it examines why Plato—perhaps
the first-ever “canonizer”—determines which books should be taught in the academic
institutions of his beloved Republic. The chapter next moves to the Middle Ages to
explain the criteria of selection for the Biblical canon, before exploring the various shifts
of paradigms outlined by Trevor Ross and Jonathan Krammick that have occurred in
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