El-Youssef / The Levantine Review Volume 1 Number 2 (Fall 2012)
THE LEVANT :
ZONE OF CULTURE OR CONFLICT?
Samir El-Youssef∗
2012
The Levantine Review: The Journal of Near Eastern and Mediterranean Studies at Boston College 1(2) 200-204
Boston College
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
I didn’t read Philip Larkin until the publication of his Selected Letters (1940-1985,) and the heated debate that they provoked. Larkin had been seen as one of the most beloved contemporary English poets, but in 1993, the year of the Letters’ publication, it was revealed that in some of his private correspondence this great poet had expressed views that could only be deemed to be those of a racist. Some insisted that Larkin must be seen as the good poet he’d ever been. Others thought he should be dismissed. The intransigent question about Art and Politics had managed to make its way into the centre of attention again.
My
first
reading
of
Larkin
was
more
like
a
detective
mission;
thorough
text
searching
for
clues,
which
could
link
his
poetry
to
those
few
offending
letters.
Larkin’s
poems
are
riddled
with
signs
of
nostalgic
yearning.
In
themselves
such
signs
would
have
been
deemed
harmless
were
they
not
issuing
from
an
English
writer.
In
them
were
also
hints
of
resentment
towards
anything
modern
or
abroad.
But
there
was
no
real
evidence,
no
proof
as
it
were,
of
a
racist
expression
that
could
be
used
or
brandished
by
way
of
indictment
in
any
serious
debate.
My
mission
to
impeach
Larkin,
I’m
happy
to
report,
was
an
absolute
failure.
-Why
happy?
-Happy
because
as
I
read
Larkin’s
poems
I
came
to
enjoy
quite
a
good
number
of
them.
Indeed
I
enjoyed
more
poems
now
than
when
reading
many
other
poets
whom
I’d
explored
without
the
grudge
of
a
detective-reader.
Enjoying
so
many
poems
in
such
a
small
output
made
me
come
back
to
Larkin
time
and
again,
reading
him
with
open
mindedness
and
with
no
other
purpose
than
the
pleasure
of
reading
poetry.
Repeated
readings
over
the
years
made
Larkin
one
of
my
most
favourite
poets.
Still,
racism
is
a
serious
matter,
and
when
one’s
favourite
poet
is
branded
a
racist,
one
must
explain
how
it
is
possible
to
reconcile
the
irreconcilables.
Some
commentators
and
friends
of
the
late
poet
tried
the
usual
method
of
playing
down
the
issue
of
racism.
Some
insisted
that
art
and
politics,
especially
politics
expressed
in
private
correspondence,
are
two
separate
realms
that
mustn’t
be
confused.
Others
argued
that
those
letters
should
only
been
seen
within
the
historical
and
cultural
context
in
which
they
were
written.
But
none
of
these
arguments
holds
water.
Larkin
is
a
bigot
and
there
is
no
way
of
getting
around
this
disgraceful
fact.
So
how
could
one
read
him
knowing
what
he
is
or
what he was?
