Pearl: IMAGE OF THE INEFFABLE: A Study in Medieval Poetic Symbolism

Theodore Bogdanos

ISBN 10: 0271003391 / ISBN 13: 9780271003399

Verlag: Penn State University Press, 1990

Dust jacket in very good condition. Minor shelf and handling wear, overall a clean solid copy with minimal signs of use. The binding is tight; the pages are clean and unmarked. Secure packaging for safe delivery. 1.05. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 1206677679

Inhaltsangabe:

A new interpretation of the rich and highly complex medieval English poem Pearl is presented in this book. Medieval symbolism as a whole, especially the artistic problem of representing the apocalyptic and the ineffable, gains illumination from the author's approach. Deriving its critical premises from medieval aesthetics and symbolic theory, the book employs two key metaphoric concepts: the anagogic dissimilar similitude and the incarnational symbol. The former emphasizes the incongruity between the finite means and the infinite object of representation, physical image and spiritual essence, the human and the divine. The incarnational symbol seeks the reconciliation of these opposing natures on a sacramental level. The Pearl Poet, like Dante, translates the tension among levels of perception―sensory, affective, intellectual ―into an existential drama. Pearl presents man and God as antagonists in a drama of faith, the pearl as a symbol for the kingdom of God―a symbol at once alluring and terrifying. Through the experience of the poem's chief character, the dreamer, the reader learns the Eucharistic reconciliation: "divine pleasure takes on the warm familiarity of earthly pleasure, and earthly pleasure is redeemed and elevated to its ideal form, which is in God."

Reseña del editor: A new interpretation of the rich and highly complex medieval English poem Pearl is presented in this book. Medieval symbolism as a whole, especially the artistic problem of representing the apocalyptic and the ineffable, gains illumination from the author's approach. Deriving its critical premises from medieval aesthetics and symbolic theory, the book employs two key metaphoric concepts: the anagogic dissimilar similitude and the incarnational symbol. The former emphasizes the incongruity between the finite means and the infinite object of representation, physical image and spiritual essence, the human and the divine. The incarnational symbol seeks the reconciliation of these opposing natures on a sacramental level. The Pearl Poet, like Dante, translates the tension among levels of perception--sensory, affective, intellectual --into an existential drama. Pearl presents man and God as antagonists in a drama of faith, the pearl as a symbol for the kingdom of God--a symbol at once alluring and terrifying. Through the experience of the poem's chief character, the dreamer, the reader learns the Eucharistic reconciliation: "divine pleasure takes on the warm familiarity of earthly pleasure, and earthly pleasure is redeemed and elevated to its ideal form, which is in God."

Bibliografische Details

Titel: Pearl: IMAGE OF THE INEFFABLE: A Study in ...
Verlag: Penn State University Press
Erscheinungsdatum: 1990
Einband: Hardcover
Zustand: Very Good
Zustand des Schutzumschlags: Very Good