Leo Strauss, in his 1952 book, Persecution and the Art of Writing, argues that great writers tend to write with multiple levels of meaning. Often writers have an exoteric message to avoid displeasing the king, censors, or fashion of the times. At the same time, they maintain an esoteric message concealed within irony, paradoxes, and even deliberate self-contradiction. (more…)
Counter-Currents