Introduction: Reconsidered Passions

Abstract

One important test for writing, drama, and all other art-forms, is the degree of connection between what we see in something, what we sense behind it, how strange or familiar it is, what it prompts us to — and our emotional engagement with it. Anybody committed to the long-term study of language and literature is likely to recall several different ways in which new texts have struck them, or in which well-known ones have suddenly come back to life or revealed new qualities, new issues, or new aspects deepening or contradicting our earlier understanding; but almost always these will involve an inextricable blend of perception, participation and emotion. Some of these moments are all the more rewarding through being unanticipated, whether they start from a chance encounter or a programmed meeting. Some are sparked off while we are working alone, trying to anticipate the testing of our arguments by those best qualified to judge them. Some arise quite awkwardly as, seeking to persuade others of the importance of a text, or the value of our approach to it, we are finishing some writing or delivering a scripted lecture or paper.