Translations of the Self: A.E. Housman and Anne Carson,
Between Scholarship and Creativity

Abstract

In my PhD thesis I have explored some aspects of the interface between classical scholarship and creativity, through the work and careers of two scholar-poets, Anne Carson (1950 - ) and A.E. Housman (1859-1936). I have shown how, within their social and cultural contexts, they attempted to craft their careers by using both genres of their work to help them construct carefully-crafted public profiles, and how these self-translations within their careers relate to received versions of their work by different readerships. By connecting explorations of their social and cultural contexts with their biographies and with close readings of their scholarly and creative work, I explore the shifting relationship between creative and scholarly ‘cultural fields’, as well as the recent social, cultural, and institutional changes which have turned these fields from ‘homogeneous poles’ to ‘heterogeneous poles’ (to use Pierre Bourdieu’s terms). I examine the surprising similarities in the unusual personalities of Carson and Housman, who both have, or had, a tendency to use their reputations for independence and reclusiveness to help them navigate around important issues and conflicts which could have threatened their success. I show how they have constructed versions of themselves, both within and beyond their writings, which have enabled them to make grand assertions of the self in the teeth of social and cultural necessities.