The Central Poem as a Transcendental Ideal. Wallace Stevens on Metaphor and Resemblance

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14210%2F17%3A00096721" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14210/17:00096721 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

The Central Poem as a Transcendental Ideal. Wallace Stevens on Metaphor and Resemblance

Original language description

Poetic language has, for Wallace Stevens, a higher expressive power than plain language. What can be, then, expressed by the most articulate poem, to which Stevens refers as the “central poem” (the “essential poem at the centre of things”, a supreme fiction)? First, I shall investigate Stevens’ concepts of resemblance and metaphor in order to portray the supremacy of poetic language. He distinguishes several kinds of resemblances involving real or imagined things and thereby elaborates an intricate concept of resemblance leading to the use of metaphors. In order to strengthen the theoretical background, Stevens’ understanding of metaphor will be compared with contemporary accounts of metaphor in analytical philosophy, most notably by the seminal, but also controversial account by Donald Davidson. In the second part, Stevens’ poetic practice with metaphors will be illustrated by means of some examples from his poetic work: Study of Two Pears and, primarily, The Motive for Metaphor. The third and final section will be devoted to the construction of a bridge between the philosophical theory of relations and Stevens’ aesthetics and lyrical production. In order to be understandable, every poem has to be rooted in the reality external to it. The central poem, however, cannot be related to something external; it comprises of internal relations only. Although metaphor is able to turn external relations into internal ones, this cannot be achieved completely. The conclusion is that the central poem is not attainable and can best be thought of as the transcendental condition of all poetical practice, as a transcendental ideal.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

O - Miscellaneous

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

60300 - Philosophy, Ethics and Religion

Project

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Continuities

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Publication year

2017

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů