The topic of this thesis is the problem of love in the work and life of Rainer Maria Rilke, especially his notion of “non-possessive love” which has given rise to a great deal of controversy in the Rilke-Literature. The essential motive underlying the thesis is my concern for the relationship between art and life, and specifically the conflict between the demands of intellectual and spiritual development and the biological-social imperatives to which the artist, like all human beings, is subject. To speak in general terms, my interest in Rilke’s view of love is part of a broad study of alienated and rebellious individualists, bent on developing themselves at all costs in an environment which is hostile to their inner impulses, and for whom the problem of love has been a focal point of their conflict with themselves and the world. The view of love put forth by such individualists as Kierkegaard, Baudelaire, Nietzsche, Shaw, Unamuno, Camus, Sartre, - to name only a few authors mentioned in my bibliography – despite their many individual variations, have at least these characteristics in common: they are penetrating, uncompromising, unsentimental and disquieting. The same holds true for Rilke’s view of love. Rilke emphatically opposed the values implicit and explicit in the notions and practices of his culture in the areas of the relations between the sexes, the institution of marriage, the status of women and the function of sex in the life of the individual. Furthermore, his own experience, which, as he often pointed out, was by no means meant to be exemplary or typical, led him to investigate and reflect upon the nature of love as a principle of nature and of the human psyche. The fruit of this preoccupation was a fascinating, very complicated body of writings in which the problem of love plays a major role. In investigating this theme my primary aim has been to accurately represent and illuminate what Rilke meant by his provocative and often obscure statements about love; that is, it is first and foremost and interpretative paper.

In this study, I have analyzed the poems from the Corpus Sulpicianum (3.8–3.18) as the creation of a single author, Sulpicia. My argument in favour of the uniformity of the cycle is based on the consistency of the authorial persona, poetic concerns, and author-specific blending of some elegiac tropes. Through a metaliterary analysis of the poems, an authorial identity emerges based on the trope of the docta puella. Unlike the doctae puellae of other Roman elegists who are constructed predominantly as recipients of male-authored poetry, Sulpicia through her doctrina enhances her persona as a creatrix of poetry. In the opening poems 3.8 and 3.13, for example, Sulpicia constructs her body as part of her literary program, while also developing her persona of elegiac lover. I also show how Sulpicia’s literary concerns arise in her preoccupation with literary fama, for which Sulpicia introduces an image that reflects a creative and maternal dimension, and which diverges from the predominant elegiac tradition. In most of the poems of the remaining cycle (3.9, 3.10, 3.11, and 3.12), not only does Sulpicia represent her persona consistently as a docta poeta, but she also includes amor mutuus and servitium aequum as part of her other poetic materia. From this perspective, I argue, Sulpicia again differs drastically from the rest of elegiac tradition, by considering the reciprocity of feelings to be the base of her valuable poetic discourse. The absence of mutuality, in fact, is also reflected in the exhaustion of both her body and her literary corpus in 3.16 and 3.17. / Graduate / 2023-01-12

This essay aims to examine the expressions of love in classical Persian poetry and the European, medieval courtly love. The main focus is to analyze the Persian divine love using a selection of poems from Jalal al-din Rumis Vassflöjtens sång and Fakhr al-din Araqis Gnistornas bok, both translated and commented by Ashk Dahlén. The method used for this study is to analyze the Persian divine love with the perspective of the courtly love using the questions how the love in the poems are expressed and how it relates to the rules of courtly love. The knowledge behind the Persian poetry is mostly provided by Ashk Dahlén, Bo Utas and Simon Sorgenfrei with Kärleken begär att detta tal skall fram. The divine love is in the analysis compared with different expressions of medieval courtly love throughout the century supported by Anders Cullheds chapter about courtly love in Tidens guld: essayer om kanon, liv, poesi and Carin Franzéns Jag gav honom inte min kärlek: Om hövisk kärlek som kvinnlig strategi. I do a comparative analysis between the Persian poetry and different examples from the courtly love highlighting mostly the similarities but also some important differences. It also examines the use of eros and agape with the help of Anders Johanssons Kärleksförklaring: Subjektiveringens dialektik for a more in depth analyze. In conclusion, I found that there are a lot of similarities in the expression of both worldly and divine contexts but that it is built on different foundations. The essay ends by discussing the predominant similarities and why it might be similar but also problematizes and highlights a few differences like the use of eros and agape and the use of motives. The intention of this essay is to open up for further research regarding the subject and examine why it is possible to find such similarities at the same historical time but in two different parts of the world. / Denna uppsats ämnar jämföra kärleksuttrycket i klassisk persisk poesi med den europeiska, medeltida höviska kärleken. Syftet med denna uppsats är att utifrån ett höviskt kärleksperspektiv analysera hur kärleken kommer till uttryck hos två namn inom den klassiska persiska poesin, Jalal al-din Rumi och Fakhr al-din Araqi. Den gudomliga kärleken har analyserats med hjälp av Rumis samling Vassflöjtens sång och Araqis Gnistornas bok, båda översatta och kommenterade av Ashk Dahlén. Metoden för denna uppsats är att analysera den persiska poesin med hjälp av den höviska kärleken som ett verktyg. Detta kommer att göras med hjälp av frågorna hur kärleken i poesin tar sig uttryck och hur den förhåller sig till den höviska kärleksmodellen. Vetskapen om den persiska poesin tillhandahålls av bland annat Ashk Dahlén, Bo Utas och Simon Sorgenfrei med antologin Kärleken begär att detta tal skall fram. Den gudomliga kärleken jämförs i analysen med olika uttryck av höviska kärlek genom århundradet med hjälp av Anders Cullheds kapitel om hövisk kärlek i Tidens guld: essay om kanon, liv, poesi och Carin Franzéns Jag gav honom inte min kärlek: Om hövisk kärlek som kvinnlig strategi. Jag gör en komparativ analys mellan den persiska poesin och diverse exempel från den höviska kärleken och framhäver framförallt dess likheter men också en del större olikheter. Uppsatsen undersöker också användningen av eros och agape med hjälp av Anders Johanssons Kärleksförklaring: Subjektiveringens dialektik för en djupare analys. Sammanfattningsvis visar analysen en rad likheter i uttrycket inom både värdsliga och andliga sammanhang men också att dessa likheter grundar sig på olika utgångspunkter. Uppsatsen avslutas med att diskutera de övervägande likheterna och varför dessa går att finna men problematiserar och framhäver även de olikheter som går att finna som användadet av eros och agape samt användningen av motiv. Intentionen med denna uppsats är att öppna upp för mer forskning inom området och att undersöka varför det är möjligt att finna dessa likheter under samma tidsperiod i olika delar av världen.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.