Transcending immanence : poetic reason and mysticality in twentieth century Christian and Jewish Latin American poetics

Abstract

This dissertation considers the notion of “mysticality” in the works of Cubans Fina García Marruz and Cintio Vitier, Brazilian Clarice Lispector, and Argentine Jacobo Fijman, (the latter two both born Jewish in Russian-controlled territory). The present research engages with mystical, gender, and poetic studies in Latin American literature; broadly, I look at the way religion is incorporated into Latin American post-modern poetics. I analyze how Latin American writers use mystical language to address high-stakes secular issues, such as political revolution, feminism, and cultural identity. I will also discuss female writers whose poetic product is an exploration of a feminine Latin American lineage. Following the work of Spanish philosopher, María Zambrano, I develop her theory of poiesis, showing how these Latin American poets conflate the Divine and the quotidian in order to “divinize” aspects of everyday life. I contend that this poetic strategy of rhetorical divinization reveals both the profane and transcendent nature of their poetics.