I don't think the "feedback loop" concept explains why only a handful of artists have fallen into that loop and been declared to be among the greatest ever. I think it's far more plausible to conclude that Shakespeare's plays are actually, by and large, better than those of his contemporaries, and that these other writers were not, as you say, equally talented. I would make the same claim for Dylan and the Beatles. This doesn't mean that others have not written truly great plays or songs, but I am certain that my response to Shakespeare, Dylan, and the Beatles is one that is true to my sense of great art and not because I have been subject to the feedback loop that tells me what to think and how to feel. As evidence for that, I observe that there are many other "greats" I've never taken to in nearly the same way. For example, I have never fallen deeply into the feedback loop of Tennyson or Hardy, though each has written poems that I admire.
|