Thursday 27 April, 2017
4.30pm, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, 2 Hope Park Square.
Katherine Hinzman (University of York): Edward Burne-Jones: An Artistic Exegete; Adam Clay (University of Edinburgh): Phenomenology and Ontology in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Texts on Poetry.
[PERCHANCE Nineteenth-Century Research Seminars]
Katherine Hinzman, University of York
"Edward Burne-Jones: An Artistic Exegete"
The theological background of Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898), particularly his early passion for the teachings of Oxford Movement leader John Henry Newman, integrally informs his artistic approach. Burne-Jones' education in theology, not art, allowed him to later conceptualize his many designs for projects in paint, stained glass, tapestry and book illustration as inherently related to the expansive, exegetical schemes of Incarnation discussed by the Tractarians. Ultimately, even his most ‘allegorical’ or ‘aesthetic’ works are informed by the nuance, subtlety and complexity of High Church typology. Although Burne-Jones set aside his desire for ministry when he left his theological study Oxford University in 1857, he not only makes explicit references to Newman as a formative ‘hero’ later in his life, but continues to implicitly exercise Newman's language in his own discussion and creation of art. Comparative analysis of drawings for projects across media, Burne-Jones' many, often disparate themes reveal his unique exploration of the ineffable ideals of love, beauty and divinity in the material world; each connected by the underlying narrative of God’s creation. The Virgin Mary proves central as he attempts to ‘figure’ the embodiment of the most profound ‘mystery,’ – like Newman, he will continue to return to her and all the miraculous paradox she represents. By beginning to understand the theology behind Burne-Jones’ work, we can more pertinently place it within the crises of Victorian spirituality.
Adam Clay, University of Edinburgh
"Phenomenology and Ontology in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Texts on Poetry"
For Emerson, poetry is more than a form of literary art. It refers to a particular way of experiencing the world and things that yields new understandings of what these genuinely are. In order to explore how poetry is phenomenologically and ontologically enriching according to Emerson, this paper will discuss the ways in which he describes the figure of the poet. For instance, what does Emerson mean when he writes that the poet is “nearer” things, experiencing them “from within”? How does this relationship let the poet access “the inmost truth of things” which poetry conveys? Moreover, why, according to Emerson, is poetry linked to who we are; that is to say, why is the poet “the healthy, the wise, the fundamental, the manly man”?
While answering these questions, this paper will additionally point out that Emerson’s 19th century ideas find a striking echo in the 20th century works of Martin Heidegger. Drawing parallels between both writers is pertinent not only because they admired Romantic poets such as Wordsworth and Hölderlin respectively, but also because Emerson was read by Nietzsche who was, in turn, studied by Heidegger. In fact, both writers’ thoughts on poetry’s philosophical relevance overlap to such an extent that, as Stanley Cavell argues, “Emerson’s thought is, on a certain way of turning it, a direct anticipation of Heidegger’s”. New insights will therefore be gained from reading Emerson’s texts in light of Heidegger’s, and these will highlight the philosophical depths and legacies of the American thinker’s ideas.