Reflections on “Authenticity”

Abstract

‘They’re always changing, aren’t they? And what’s almost more important than what’s in them is the dialectical element: they’re what you react against. I know I sound like a tricksy academic, but in some ways a canon reveals to you not so much what is there as what’s not there. And so, it changes itself; it’s self-destructive. [. . .] It’s making me ask, “Why is it like this?”’ 1