The Poetry of Emily Dickinson: Philosophical Perspectives (Oxford Studies in Philosophy and Literature)

Pour comprendre toutes les implications de la métaphore - en fait de la rhétorique et des "figures" dans le langage -, ces huit études suivent une progression qui va du mot à la phrase, puis au discours.Des origines à nos jours, la rhétorique a pris le mot pour unité de référence. En ce sens, la métaphore n'est que déplacement et extension du sens des mots.Dès lors que la métaphore est replacée dans le cadre de la phrase, elle n'est plus une dénomination déviante mais un énoncé impertinent. Emile Benveniste est ici l'auteur qui permet à l'analyse de franchir un pas décisif, avec l'opposition entre une sémiotique, pour laquelle le mot n'est qu'un signe dans le code lexical, et une sémantique, où la phrase porte la signification complète minimale.En passant de la phrase au discours proprement dit (poème, récit, discours philosophique), on quitte le niveau sémantique pour le niveau herméneutique. Ici, ce qui est en question n'est plus la forme de la métaphore (comme pour la rhétorique), ni son sens (comme pour la sémantique), mais sa référence, c'est-à-dire la "réalité" en dehors du langage. La métaphore, en dernier ressort, est pouvoir de redécrire la réalité, mais selon une pluralité de modes de discours qui vont de la poésie à la philosophie. Dans tous les cas, nous sommes fondés à parler de "vérité métaphorique". One of America's most celebrated poets, Emily Dickinson was virtually unpublished in her lifetime. When a slim volume of her poems emerged on the American scene in 1890, her work created shockwaves that have not subsided yet. Famously precise and sparse, Emily Dickinson's poetry is often described as philosophical, both because her poetry grapples with philosophical topics like death, spirituality, and the darkening operations of the mind, and because she approaches those topics in a characteristically philosophical manner: analyzing and extrapolating from close observation, exploring alternatives, and connecting thoughts into cumulative demonstrations. But unlike Lucretius or Pope, she cannot be accused of producing versified treatises. Many of her poems are unsettling in their lack of conclusion; their disparate insights often stand in conflict; and her logic turns crucially on imagery, juxtaposition, assonance, slant rhyme, and punctuation.00The six chapters of this volume collectively argue that Dickinson is an epistemically ambitious poet, who explores fundamental questions by advancing arguments that are designed to convince. Dickinson exemplifies abstract ideas in tangible form and habituates readers into productive trains of thought?she doesn't just make philosophical claims, but demonstrates how poetry can make a distinct contribution to philosophy.00All essays in this volume, drawn from both philosophers and literary theorists, serve as a counterpoint to recent critical work, which has emphasized Dickinson's anguished uncertainty, her nonconventional style, and the unsettled status of her manuscripts. On the view that emerges here, knowing is like cleaning, mending, and lacemakingL a form of hard, ongoing work, but one for which poetry is a powerful, perhaps indispensable, tool One of America's most celebrated poets, Emily Dickinson was virtually unpublished in her lifetime. When a slim volume of her poems emerged on the American scene in 1890, her work created shockwaves that have not subsided yet. Famously precise and sparse, Emily Dickinson's poetry is often described as philosophical, both because her poetry grapples with philosophical topics like death, spirituality, and the darkening operations of the mind, and because she approaches those topics in a characteristically philosophical manner: analyzing and extrapolating from close observation, exploring alternatives, and connecting thoughts into cumulative demonstrations. But unlike Lucretius or Pope, she cannot be accused of producing versified treatises. Many of her poems are unsettling in their lack of conclusion; their disparate insights often stand in conflict; and her logic turns crucially on imagery, juxtaposition, assonance, slant rhyme, and punctuation. The six chapters of this volume collectively argue that Dickinson is an epistemically ambitious poet, who explores fundamental questions by advancing arguments that are designed to convince. Dickinson exemplifies abstract ideas in tangible form and habituates readers into productive trains of thought—she doesn't just make philosophical claims, but demonstrates how poetry can make a distinct contribution to philosophy. All essays in this volume, drawn from both philosophers and literary theorists, serve as a counterpoint to recent critical work, which has emphasized Dickinson's anguished uncertainty, her nonconventional style, and the unsettled status of her manuscripts. On the view that emerges here, knowing is like cleaning, mending, and lacemakingL a form of hard, ongoing work, but one for which poetry is a powerful, perhaps indispensable, tool. ## Abstract The six chapters of this volume collectively argue that Dickinson is an epistemically ambitious poet, who explores fundamental questions by advancing arguments with the purpose of convincing their audience. At the same time, Dickinson doesn’t just make philosophical claims, but demonstrates concretely how poetry can make a distinct contribution to philosophy, by exemplifying abstract ideas in tangible form and habituating readers into productive trains of thought. In this way, she doesn’t just make philosophical claims, but demonstrates how poetry can make a distinct contribution to philosophy. All of the essays in this volume, which are drawn from both philosophers and literary theorists, thus serve as a counterpoint to recent critical work, which has emphasized Dickinson’s anguished uncertainty, her nonconventional style, and the unsettled status of her manuscripts. On the view that emerges here, knowing is a form of hard, ongoing work, much like cleaning or lacemaking, but one for which poetry is a powerful, perhaps indispensable, tool. Cover 1 Series 3 The Poetry of Emily Dickinson 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Series Editor’s Foreword 8 Contributors 12 Introduction: Emily Dickinson’s Epistemic Ambitions for Poetry 16 1. Forms of Emotional Knowing and Unknowing: Skepticism and Belief in Dickinson’s Poetry 46 2. Interiority and Expression in Dickinson’s Lyrics 74 3. How to Know Everything 98 4. Form and Content in Emily Dickinson’s Poetry 123 5. The Uses of Obstruction 160 6. Dickinson and Pivoting Thought 197 Index 222 This brings philosophers and literary theorists together in a sustained, coherent conversation about the philosophical status and implications of Emily Dickinson's poetry. Written in an accessible, jargon-free way, the volume's six chapters demonstrate that Plato's famous quarrel between poetry and philosophy can in fact be a productive and enjoyable one, and that both modes of thought can make a practical difference in how we live and make sense of our everyday lives