T. S. Eliot direttore di «The Criterion»: strategie e scelte editoriali

T. S. Eliot launched The Criterion as a quarterly in 1922, almost lost it for want of funds in 1925, resumed it as a quarterly over the Faber imprint in 1926, made it a monthly in 1927, cut it back to quarterly appearance in 1928, and then issued it steadily until 1939. During the Interbellum, Eliot and his review were part of an international network of intellectuals that shared an open-minded Europeanness. Authors like Mann, Benda, Ortega y Gasset, Curtius and Hofmannsthal emphasized their common European roots and shared cultural legacy. Eliot brought some of the most distinguished European writers, such as Proust, Cocteau and Hesse, to the attention of English-speaking audiences, and he helped establish the next generation of English poets and critics (e.g., Auden, Spender, and Empson). He also championed and published key writers of his own generation, such as Joyce, Moore, and Pound, This essay revisits Eliot’s international connections and reception and invites a reappraisal of his efforts on behalf of (what he referred to as) “the unity of European culture.”