Tom Paulin Critical Essay | Critical Review by Dudley Young

Critical Review by Dudley Young

SOURCE: Young, Dudley. “The Sins of the Father.” Spectator 268, no. 8533 (1 February 1992): 29.

In the following review, Young argues that Paulin's critical writings in Minotaur: Poetry and the Nation State are marred by academic political correctness.

What is remarkable about these essays [in Minotaur: Poetry and the Nation State] on various poets (mostly English and American) of the past two centuries is the way they suddenly cave in here and there. Admirably and unfussily alert to what quickens and what deadens imagination, Paulin's lively prose is nevertheless frequently hijacked by the widespread modern malaise that would reduce life's complexities to a simple war between Us (the blamelessly victimised children) and Them (the wickedly empowered fathers). One might call this ‘Puritan Paranoia’, and it is an old complaint: its current version (aka PC = Political Correctness) is already disrupting academic life in America and looking to gain a...
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