Document Type

Dissertation

Date of Award

1977

Keywords

Jiménez, Juan Ramón, 1881-1958, Tagore, Rabindranath, 1861-1941, Criticism and interpretation, Consciousness in literature, Hinduism, Influence

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Comparative Literature

First Advisor

Frederick Garber

Second Advisor

Haskell Block

Third Advisor

George Wellwarth

Abstract

This dissertation presents a study of the Hindu concept of pure consciousness in the poetry of Juan Ramon Jimenez, Rabindranath Tagore, and W. B. Yeats. The main emphasis of the study is on affinities and influences——a product of shared values, contacts and cross—fertilizations. The poetry of these three artists strongly parallels the psychology and philosophy of Vedanta, which is that aspect of Hinduism which probes the nature of consciousness by distinguishing between the ultimate Reality or the Absolute (Brahman) and the cosmic illusion or the phenomenal flux (fiaya). Central to Vedanta psychology is the state of pure consciousness, which is defined as Turiya, the all-pervading unity underlying apparent diversity in man and nature; pure consciousness is that state in which all life is perceived asja projection of an undiffferentiated oneness, a level of Reality/which is infinite, eternal, and absolute. This conceptualization of Reality is common to all three poets, but each expresses it in the terminology unique to his individual poetic vision. Although Hindu thought lies at the core of the philosophical world—view of each poet, its meaning and function vary in terms of the individualistic artistic interpretation of pure consciousness.

This dissertation develops a criterion for a comparative investigation into the various nuances of pure consciousness in each of the three poets. It establishes that although they share a common philosophy and psychology which reflects Hindu thought and motifs, each of them artistically transforms this mode into a distinctly different poetic vision. This transformation emanates from the underlying psychology of spiritual evolution which regards poetry as Sadhana: a psychological process which transforms the artists consciousness by restructuring his inner experience and accelerating the growth of an expanded perception of ultimate Reality. Therefore, the focus of this study is on the theoretical framework of Sadhana: the seven states of consciousness which are the cornerstone of Hindu psychology and philosophv.

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