established critics

[Jeffrey Meikle]

Come on, Steve.  I didn't say that "established critics" just "couldn't get
it."  You and I both know of some who did.  What I said was that "most of
the established critics" in their 40s and 50s between 1963 and 1973 "simply
*couldn't* get it."  That includes critics (and not only academicians
either) who were born between 1904 and 1933.  Most, owing to training,
experience, and a firm belief in the superiority of elite high culture to
low pop culture, either didn't get it or couldn't allow themselves to get
it.  The mainstream reviews of TRP's first three books indicate that quite
clearly.

There was indeed a great culture divide at about the time TRP was
publishing his first three works.  Sure, individuals of all ages could be
found on both sides of it.  But it's clear that our cultural landscape now
is separated by a full twist of the kaleidoscope from that of 1960.  It was
much harder then for "a graybearded full professor" to want to understand
what TRP was doing.



Jeffrey Meikle
Director, American Studies Program
303 Garrison Hall, University of Texas at Austin 78712
512-471-7277; fax 512-471-3540