T.S. Eliot’s Translation of Religious Mysticism to Literature: Richard of Saint Victor and Saint John of the Cross
Rosanna Rion
International Journal of Arts, Humanities & Social Science December 15, 2022 DOI: 10.56734/ijahss.v3n12a3 (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 T.S. Eliot's style and imagery parallel the religious concepts of the mystics he read, particularly the disappearance of the ego, and that his theory of imagination uses visible things to convey the invisible, with poetry serving to awaken humanity to its need to turn to God. |
Abstract
T.S Eliot read and quoted the great European mystics, among them Richard of Saint Victor and Saint John of the Cross and was influenced by the Biblical prophets. Their works coincide not only in religious believes, but there is a parallelism between Eliot`s linguistic devices and style and religious concepts like the disappearance of the Ego. The expression of the mystical experience through images implies a theory of imagination which uses visible things to explain the invisible and provides a source for meditation, in the same way as Eliot understands poetry as a means to make humanity aware of its need to turn to God.
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 |