The Evolution of Blake's Myth

1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8153-6371-2
Verlag: ROUTLEDGE

Buch, Englisch, 392 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 231 mm, Gewicht: 680 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in Romantici

Interpreting Blake has always proved challenging. Hermeneutics, as the on-going negotiation between the horizon of expectations and a given text, hinges on the preconceptions that structure thought. The structure, in turn, is derived from myth, a cultural narrative predicated on a particular set of foundational principles, and organized in terms of the resulting symbolic form. The primary impediment to interpreting Blake has been the failure to recognize that he and much of his audience have thought in terms of two radically different myths.

In The Evolution of Blake’s Myth, Sheila A. Spector establishes the dimensions of the myth that structures Blake’s thought. In the first of three parts, she uses Jerusalem, Blake’s most complete book, as the basis for extrapolating the components of the consolidated myth. She then traces the chronological development of the myth from its origin in the late 1780s through its crystallization in Milton. Finally, she demonstrates how Blake used the myth hermeneutically, as the horizon of expectations for interpreting not only his own work, but the Bible and the visionary texts of others, as well.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Spector, Sheila A.

Spector, Sheila

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde Volkskunde: Sitten, Traditionen, Mythen, Legenden
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Soziologie des Brauchtums und der Traditionen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface: Myth and Hermeneutics

Introduction: The Theory of Myth

PART I: THE CONSOLIDATION OF BLAKE’S ESOTERIC MYTH

Chapter 1. The Foundational Principles and Symbolic Form

Chapter 2. The Narrative

PART II: THE DEVELOPMENT OF BLAKE’S ESOTERIC MYTH

Chapter 3. The Foundational Principles

Chapter 4. The Symbolic Form

Chapter 5. The Narrative (1): The Logic of Complementarity

Chapter 6. The Narrative (2): The Function of Self-Annihilation

PART III: THE IMPLEMENTATION OF BLAKE’S ESOTERIC MYTH

Chapter 7. Blake Interpreting Blake: The Gates of Paradise

Chapter 8. Blake Interpreting the Bible: The Book of Job

Chapter 9. Blake Interpreting the Visions of Others: The Divine Comedy

Conclusion: The Truth of Myth

Über Autor(innen)

Sheila A. Spector, an independent scholar, has devoted her career to studying the

connection between Blake and Kabbalism. Her companion volumes “Wonders Divine”: The

Development of Blake’s Kabbalistic Myth, and “Glorious Incomprehensible”: The

Development of Blake’s Kabbalistic Language, establish the foundation for her current

study, The Evolution of Blake’s Myth.