Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University, missing page 106 / This thesis is an investigation into the nature of mysticism as it is represented in the sixteenth century Spanish Christian mystic, St. John of the Cross, and the nineteenth century Hindu mystic, Ramakrishna. In the problematic development of the thesis St. John was considered first. The order of consideration was an investigation into the nature of the way of approach to the full mystic experience, followed by a discussion of the theory of reality derived from the examination of the way. The consideration of Ramakrishna followed that of St. John. Finally mysticism as such was analyzed and illustrated according to the two above named mystics. The method in the final two chapters was the same. The way according to St. John is the way of agony. God is separate from the soul of man. Yet God is discovered, and the way to God is manifest. This way is conceived in terms of the active and passive nights of the sense and spirit. The seeker purges his soul and spirit of sensual attraction. He gains pleasure in nothing save God. In the passive night of the spirit, he waits in detachment for the "inflowing of the spirit of God into the soul." This is known in union which is the goal of the way. It is characterized as a union of wills in love [TRUNCATED]

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Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-08-30T12:56:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Helena Haenni Zimerman.pdf: 902911 bytes, checksum: a62ef2245ef8dfdf747e74745d1c4968 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-30T12:56:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Helena Haenni Zimerman.pdf: 902911 bytes, checksum: a62ef2245ef8dfdf747e74745d1c4968 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-25 / The research approaches the poetic work of St John of the Cross and performs an interlocution with the psychoanalytic concept of invoking drive. Specialized bibliographies were sought based on the life and work of the catholic mystic, as well as writings of the saint himself. The considerations on the peculiarities of the poetry of St John of the Cross are analyzed from bibliographical references which deal specifically with the esthetic and stylistic question of the mystic. The theoretical axis for articulation with the mystical field is the psychoanalytic field, based on the works of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan. St. John of the Cross expressed his mystical experience poetically. The context in which the beginning of his poetic creation takes place, in a moment of intense anguish and helplessness, as well as the dimension assumed by his art, compose an interesting perspective for reflection within the psychoanalytic clinic. It is sought to investigate, by this study, if the aesthetic resource, used by St John of the Cross, privileging the sonority in its verses and, at the same time, maintaining the enigmatic character of its experience, reveals itself as a resource that allowed him to recreate a new way of being and relating to his existence. Such interlocution provides a fertile field for reflection on psychoanalytic practice / A pesquisa aborda a obra poética de São João da Cruz e realiza uma interlocução com o conceito psicanalítico de pulsão invocante. Buscou-se bibliografias especializadas na vida e obra do místico católico, bem como, escritos do próprio santo. As considerações sobre as peculiaridades da poesia de São João da Cruz são analisadas, a partir de referenciais bibliográficos que tratam especificamente da questão estética e estilística do místico. O eixo teórico para a articulação com o campo místico é o campo psicanalítico, embasado nas obras de Sigmund Freud e Jacques Lacan. São João da Cruz expressou sua experiência mística de modo poético. O contexto em que se deu o início de sua criação poética, em um momento de forte angústia e desamparo, bem como, a dimensão que assumiu sua arte, compõem uma perspectiva interessante para a reflexão no âmbito da clínica psicanalítica. Busca-se averiguar, a partir do exposto, se o recurso estético, utilizado por São João da Cruz, privilegiando a sonoridade em seus versos e, ao mesmo tempo, a manutenção do caráter enigmático de sua experiência, revela-se como um recurso que permitiu-lhe recriar um modo novo de estar e se relacionar com sua existência. Tal interlocução, propicia um campo fértil para reflexão da clínica psicanalítica

Part I of this thesis has been written with a view to exploring the relevance a text over 2500 years old has for contemporary ars poetica. From a detailed study of ‘The Book of Job’ I highlight three main tropes, ‘cognitive dissonance’, ‘tĕšuvah’, and ‘dark saying’, and demonstrate how these might inform the working methods of the contemporary poet. In the introduction I define these tropes in their theological and historical context. Chapter one provides a detailed examination of ‘Job’, its antecedents and its influence on literature. In chapters two and three I examine in detail techniques of Classical Hebrew poetry employed in ‘Job’ and argue for a confluence between literary technique and Jobian cosmology. Stylistically, the rest of the thesis is a critical meditation on how the main tropes of ‘Job’ can be mapped onto contemporary ars poetica. In chapter four I initiate an exploration into varying responses to cognitive dissonance, suggesting how the false comforters and Job represent different approaches to, and stages of, poetic composition. A critique of an essay by David Daiches is followed by a detailed study of Seamus Heaney. In chapter five I map the trope of tĕšuvah onto contemporary ars poetica with reference to the poetry of Pilinszky, Popa, and to the poems and critical work of Ted Hughes. The chapter concludes with a brief exploration into the common ground shared between the terms tĕšuvah and versus as a means of highlighting the importance of proper maturation of the work. Chapter six consists of a discussion of how the kind of ‘dark saying’ found in ‘Job’ 38-41 impacts on an understanding of poetic language and its capacity to accelerate our comprehension of reality. I support this notion with excerpts from Joseph Brodsky and a close reading of Montale’s ‘L’anguilla’. Chapter seven further develops the notion of poetry as a means of propulsion beyond the familiar, the predictable or the clichéd, by examining the function of metaphor and what I term ‘quick thinking’, and by referring to two recently published poems by John Burnside and Don Paterson. In chapter eight I draw out the overall motif implied by a close reading of ‘Job’, that of the weathering of an ordeal, and map this onto ars poetica, looking at two aspects of labour, which I identify as ‘endurance’ and ‘letting go’, crucial for the proper maturation of a poem or body of poems. The concluding chapter develops the theme of the temple first discussed in chapter one. I argue for a connection between Job as a temple initiate, who has the capacity to atone for the false comforters, and poetry as a form of ‘at-one-ment’. This notion is supported by reference to Geoffrey Hill and Rilke. Part II of the thesis consists of a selection of my own poems, titled ‘Bedrock’.

An examination of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, applying modern theories of gender and sexuality to the textual analysis of a selection of primary written works and biographical works, in order to determine the roles that they play, not only in the case of these two saints of the Catholic Church, but also within the mystical tradition as a whole.