ELIOT⇨His poetic mission is to create a new symbolic system , based upon both significant fragments of the old and a fusion between western traditions with those of other cultures

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a MODERNIST POET

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Why did he choose Modernism?
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He justified his modernism as follows:

MODERN CIVILIZATION is characterized by COMPLEXITY→ What is the origin of that COMPLEXITY? 

It is due to the fragmentation of the western cultural, mythological and religious tradition, caused by the process of 

industrialization,

mass production 

and consumerism

• Modern man is alienated (he's empty morally and spiritually)
• There is no longer a shared code of values

The poet must represent that complexity in language, as well.

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Such representation leads to DIFFICULT POETRY

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The poet must become " MORE ALLUSIVE", " MORE INDIRECT" to express that complexity
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Unfortunately for the ordinary reader that means a kind of poetry characterized by OBSCURITY