Creating States: Studies in the Performative Language of John Milton and William BlakeAlthough the concept of the performative has influenced literary theory in numerous ways, this book represents one of the first full-length studies of performative language in literary texts. Creating States examines the visionary poetry of John Milton and William Blake, using a critical approach based on principles of speech-act theory as articulated by J.L. Austin, John Searle, and Emile Benveniste. Angela Esterhammer proposes a new way of understanding the relationship between these two poets, while at the same time evaluating the role of speech-act philosophy in the reading of visionary poetry and Romantic literature. Esterhammer distinguishes between the 'sociopolitical performative,' the speech act which is defined by a societal context and derives power from institutional authority, and the `phenomenological performative,' language which is invested with the power to posit or create because of the individual will and consciousness of the speaker. Analysing texts such as The Reason of Church-Government, Paradise Lost, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, and Jerusalem, Esterhammer traces the parallel evolution of Milton and Blake from writers of political and anti-prelatical tracts to poets who, having failed in their attempts to alter historical circumstances through a direct address to their contemporaries, reaffirm their faith in individual visionary consciousness and the creative word – while continuing to use the forms of a socially or politically performative language. |
From inside the book
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... literature . Esterhammer distinguishes between the ' socio- political performative , ' the speech act which is defined by a societal context and derives power from institutional authority , and the ' phenomenological performative ...
... Sociopolitical Performatives : The ' J ' Myth 54 Scenes of Creation in Philosophy and Literature 58 3 The Language of Inspiration in Milton's Prose 65 Milton's Word : Theology and Logology 65 ' General ' and ' Special ' Inspiration 70 Self.
... literature. In chapters 3 and 4, I address what I take to be two cruxes in Milton's concept of visionary language: first, his self-presentation as an inspired writer in the prose works, which ironically employ the discourse of law and ...
... literature ; the influence of popular rhetorical forms and the language sanctioned by societal institu- tions makes itself felt throughout his work . Milton and Blake go through a parallel evolution from writers of political and anti ...
... literature . The remainder of the book seeks to illustrate the significance of the sociopolitical and phenomenological performative , of the scene of dis- course and subjectivity in language , through readings of two central poets in ...
Contents
10 | |
16 | |
23 | |
31 | |
42 | |
48 | |
The J Myth | 54 |
3 | 65 |
5 | 119 |
Relations in the State of Innocence | 132 |
Relations in the State of Experience | 143 |
Naming in The Book of Urizen | 152 |
The Argument of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell | 158 |
A Song of Liberty | 167 |
Statements and States | 174 |
A Revision | 184 |
General and Special Inspiration | 70 |
Miltons Promise | 77 |
The Elision of the Performative | 85 |
The Performativity of Divine Speech | 99 |
Naming and Subjectivity | 110 |
A Division | 191 |
Creating States | 201 |
The Community of Phrases | 216 |
Index | 239 |
Other editions - View all
Creating States: Studies in the Performative Language of John Milton and ... Angela Esterhammer No preview available - 1994 |