
Blake's Critique of Transcendence
Love, Jealousy, and the Sublime in The Four Zoas
Peter Otto(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 19. October 2000
Book
Hardback
388 pages
978-0-19-818719-6 (ISBN)
Description
Blake's Critique of Transcendence is the first full-length book to examine in any detail or consistency the relation between Blake's text and the visual designs in The Four Zoas, one of the most important works in Blake's oeuvre. It uncovers a Blake deeply engaged with the cultural discourses of his time, in profound dialogue with Swedenborg, Locke, and Young. In the course of this conversation, Blake anatomizes a remarkable variety of cultural practices (including religion, science, and art) designed to achieve transcendence. He focuses in particular on the fate of the body in cultures of transcendence, developing perhaps the first theory of sexual sublimation. Blake's radical visual and verbal strategies in this poem are part of an attempt to defer the movement of transcendence, long enough for the reader to see the warring elements of the fallen world as the dismembered body of humanity.
Reviews / Votes
A useful teaching tool ... it does allow for clarity, something to be viewed as premium in these notoriously difficult poems and Blake's twists and turns of perspective are rendered more manageable as a result ... one actually leaves Blake's Critique of Transcendence with a much stronger sense of what the poem is about. * Literature & Theology * A central text for those studying the poem in the foreseeable future ... excellent index and useful bibliography ... excellent scholarship. * Literature & Theology *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
8 pp black and white plates
Dimensions
Height: 224 mm
Width: 146 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
575 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-818719-6 (9780198187196)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Peter Otto is Senior Lecturer in English, University of Melbourne
Content
LIST OF PLATES; KEY TO REFERENCES; ABBREVIATIONS; INTRODUCTION; 1. BLAKE, BLAKE CRITICISM AND THE SUBLIME; 3. THE BIRTH OF LOS(S) FROM THARMAS; 7. THE ELABORATION OF LOS(S); 8. URIZEN EXPLORES HIS DENS; 11. DEATH OF THE BODY / LIBERATION OF THE SPIRIT; BIBLIOGRAPHY; INDEX