Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
1977
Keywords
Juan Ramón Jiménez (1881-1958), Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), W. B. (William Butler) Yeats (1865-1939), 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 Ramón Jiménez, 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 (Maya). 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 as a projection of an undifferentiated 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.
Since Tagore was a Hindu by birth, Vedanta represented a religious philosophy which was the very basis of his cultural milieu; for Yeats it was an aspect of the Philosophia Perennis and an occult, esoteric psychology of higher consciousness which was intricately interwoven with Theosophy and Parapsychology; for Jiménez, Vedanta was largely a confirmation of his own natural, spontaneous adventures into the realm of pure consciousness. The assessment of the individual experience, interpretation, and application of pure consciousness is the point of departure for this comparative study of the philosophy and poetic technique of the three artists. However, the study also emphasizes the important role Tagore played, either directly or indirectly, in introducing the other two poets to Hindu thought: Yeats knew Tagore personally, and, deeply admiring the Indian artist’s poetry, sought to promote it in Western literary circles; Jiménez came to know Tagore’s poetry intimately from working with his wife, Zenobia Camprubí Aymar, on her Spanish translations of Tagore’s English versions of his more popular works. Above all, both Yeats and Jiménez were well acquainted with Vedanta through their reading of the Upanishads and other major Hindu works.
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 artist’s 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 philosophy.
Recommended Citation
Mirza, Gail Anne, "The Hindu concept of pure consciousness in the poetry of pure consciousness in the poetry of Juan Ramón Jiménez, Rabindranath Tagore, and W. B. Yeats: a comparative study" (1977). Graduate Dissertations and Theses. 365.
https://orb.binghamton.edu/dissertation_and_theses/365