Question

According to Eliot, what is essential for understanding tradition?

• A. Copying past works
• B. A sense of historical continuity
• C. Rejecting all past influences
• D. Strictly adhering to modernist principles

Answer 1

Answer:

B. A sense of historical continuity

According to T.S. Eliot, the essential element for understanding tradition is a "historical sense," which means not only recognizing similarities to past works but also actively understanding how one's own work relates to and builds upon the literary tradition that came before, allowing a poet to engage with the past while still expressing their contemporary voice; essentially, tradition is not a static inheritance but a dynamic process of continuous reinterpretation.