Hopkins' Achieved Self Book

A central subject in the writings of Gerard Manley Hopkins is his understanding of the self, what he called "selving." While Hopkins scholars have studied the phenomenology of Hopkins' notions of selfness, few scholars have studied in depth the hermeneutics of what Hopkins called "selving." This book is the first to explore, in depth, the hermeneutics of Hopkins' notions of the self and to apply his ideas of "selving" to his poetry. The author applies Paul Ricoeur's notions of the human self to the major English poet. He then surveys Hopkins' religious poetry to exhibit the creative dynamic of "selving." In a postscript, Downes contrasts the "passion for the possible" of Ricoeur and "the great sacrifice" of Christian hope in Hopkins with the agonies of "the disappearing self" rooted in Modernist culture. This unique and thoughtful book will appeal to Victorian scholars and Hopkins scholars worldwide. Contents: Preface; Prologue: Hopkins' Hermeneutical Stages of Consciousness; Hopkins' Selving Hermeneutics; The Poetics of Volition in Hopkins; The Poetics of the Sacramental Word: Hope and Freedom; Poems of Existence; Postscript: The Poetics of Redemption; Bibliography; Index.Read More