Rilke’s and Stevens’s Eschatological Mysticism
Philipp Reisner
Wallace Stevens Journal September 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1353/wsj.2024.a945707 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Key points | Argues that Wallace Stevens's poetry contains a deep mystical dimension akin to negative theology, partly inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke. Both poets use aphorisms and linguistic play to express the ineffable and transcendent, and reading Stevens through Rilke challenges interpretations of his work as purely philosophical. |
Abstract
ABSTRACT:Wallace Stevens is often recognized as a philosophical poet, but his work also reveals a deep mystical dimension that places him in the tradition of negative theology. Stevens’s mystical tendencies are similar to, and in part inspired by, those of Rainer Maria Rilke, who also explored mysticism, eschatology, and the influence of Friedrich Nietzsche. Both poets use aphorisms and play with language to express the ineffable and transcendent while engaging in a broader conversation with German literature and philosophy. Read through the prism of Rilke’s poetry, Stevens’s complex relationship to mysticism challenges conventional interpretations of his work as purely philosophical.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mysticism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Problem of Pure Consciousness: Mysticism and Philosophy | 1993 | Edited collection of essays | |
| Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mysticism and schizophrenia: A phenomenological exploration of the structure of consciousness in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |