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
Results 1-5 of 41
... Function of the Performative ' in the Canadian Review of Comparative Literature / Revue Canadienne de Littérature Comparée 20 ( 1993 ) ; part of chapter 3 as ' Med- dling with Authority : Inspiration and Speech Acts in Milton's Prose ...
... function not as a description of a state of mind but as a request or an imperative : ' Don't leave ! ' Similarly , someone who says to a dinner - table companion , ' Can you reach the salt ? ' does not expect a yes - or - no answer ...
... function as illocutions , it is significant that Austin himself was never able to develop a full - fledged theory of speech acts . Rather , the arrangement of How to Do Things with Words as a succession of red herrings , or blind alleys ...
... function in particular circumstances , they argue that the serious / non - serious distinction highlights precisely the significance of parole , because it demands that con- texts be investigated even further . Situating an utterance in ...
... functions of language and uses them to create a context for its own interpretation . The linguistic and philo- sophical problem of reference adjoins speech - act theory at this point , along with the question of world - making as it has ...
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 |