View source for Allusions in Context

by Elizabeth Behm

    Understanding the allusions Eliot uses in the poem, and understanding the context in which the poem was originally published,
    are two extremely important parts of reading "The Wasteland."    
    Allusions: See [[Shoring Up Fragments Against Our Ruin: Quotations and Allusions]].    
    Context: See [[Archival Evidence]].

==Introduction==

The allusions within “The Wasteland” get a lot of attention because the poem’s internal structure and content rely so heavily on allusions. Eliot purposely uses them to convey certain messages. But perhaps equally important are the allusions surrounding the poem. By looking at what other pieces of literature (poetry, drama, fiction) that were published simultaneously with “The Wasteland” in two literary magazines of 1922, the intricate web of things available to be referenced in the minds of Eliot’s audience and contemporaries can be better filled out. With this knowledge, “The Wasteland” itself may even make more sense, especially for modern readers cannot already have all the same background information that someone in Eliot’s time would have had. Indeed, modern readers are mostly unaware of popular music from that era, and they must be wholly unfamiliar with the feeling of living in a post-“war to end all wars” society.

Really, the concept of allusion surrounds “The Wasteland” in surprising ways. For example, in The Dial, there is paged entitled “Notes on the Contributors.” The magazine’s publishers find it relevant to allude to the previous work and the outside life of the authors and artists whose work is found in the magazine. The motivation behind including the page is clear: it is to give credibility to their contributors so that readers will take the magazine and its contents seriously. Interestingly, this is similar to what Eliot did in “The Wasteland”: by alluding to previously accepted works of literature, he gives his poem validity; by alluding to familiar issues, he gives his poem relatability. Apparently this is a concern of both author and publisher. perhaps it may even be generalized to all people in the postwar environment, as they asked themselves questions like, Was the war worth it? Is what I do worthwhile? People longs for validation.

Further on the idea of validation, one way to measure the validity of a work would be to become the object of allusion oneself. On some of the pages with advertisements, The Dial includes the following request: “When writing to advertisers please mention the Dial.” When a reader mentions (alludes to) the Dial, the advertiser knows his ad in that publication was profitable (worthwhile), so they renew the advertisement, which shows the magazine that readers are responding to what they’ve published. Both sides make sales: both sides are validated. Allusion has the potential to be a rather powerful force.