Manuscript Title:

MODERNISM IN RETROACTIVITY; ITERABILITY IN THE WASTE LAND

Author:

ASIF GULZAR BHAT, SYED MUNTAZA HUSSAIN, JUNAID RASHID LONE

DOI Number:

DOI:10.5281/zenodo.13738842

Published : 2024-09-10

About the author(s)

1. ASIF GULZAR BHAT - Research Scholar, Department of English, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202002.
2. SYED MUNTAZA HUSSAIN - Research Scholar, Department of English, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202002.
3. JUNAID RASHID LONE - Research Scholar, Department of English, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202002.

Full Text : PDF

Abstract

The introduction of hermeneutics and deconstruction as models of linguistic analysis has led to an increase in the re-examination and reinterpretation of classical texts. Iterability, as an analytical tool, has been frequently employed by postmodern scholars. According to Derrida, Iterability is the ability of a text to communicate even when the addressee or the source of the message is absent. The intrinsic ability of the text allows it to transcend its original context and extend its influence beyond its intended audience. Derrida argues that this trait is only feasible when we take into account all the citations of linguistic elements of the text, which forge new meanings when placed in a new context. This paper focuses on T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land (1922), which exhibits to have a different stylistic approach. While reading, one finds difficulty in getting meaning out of it. It seems that the ‘Pseudo-statements’ have been derived from the tradition of literature throughout the world. Rereading the poem with Iterability as an analytical tool could aid in deciphering different meanings. The Iterability of the text, therefore, enables it to ‘be’ and make communication possible. The text uses different aspects to communicate even when a proper addressee is absent. This paper aims to analyse how the language, the scenes, the characters, and the allusions to different religions and philosophies are taken out of their proper context and used in a new style. They create retroactive meanings, make communication possible, and embody the perfect conditions of the time in which the poem was written.


Keywords

Iterability, Pseudo-Statements, Tradition, Context.