T·S·艾略特的文学评论集中撰写于上世纪两次世界大战期间,他的宗教保守主义思想与大众时代人文主义的批判热情构成复杂的对位关系。其当代性主要体现在三个方面:一是人文主义者对大众提出为生活而艺术既是个人主义的指引也是享乐主义的源头;二是传统不构成艺术标准,作品留传构成艺术传统,以作品资料库形态存在的艺术史可克服传统与个人才能之间的时间焦虑;三是大众崛起叠加社会转型危机时,人文传统和个人才能在新技术支持下有了和解的新可能。 TS Eliot’s literary criticism was written in the midst of the two world wars of the last century. His religious conservatism constituted a complex counterpoint to the critical zeal of humanism in the mass era. Its contemporaryity is mainly reflected in three aspects: First, the humanist proposed to the public that art is both an individualistic guide and the source of hedonisticism; second, tradition does not constitute an artistic standard, and works remain part of the artistic tradition, The art history that exists in the form of a library can overcome the time anxiety between tradition and personal ability. Third, when the rise of the general public superimposes the crisis of social transformation, humanistic traditions and individual talents have new possibilities of reconciliation with new technical support.