The expression of the inexpressible in Eugenio  Montale's poetry
Subtitle: metaphor, negation, and silence
By: Clodagh J. Brook.
Series: Oxford modern languages and literature monographs
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Oxford [U.K.]; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 196
Subjects: Montale, Eugenio, 1896- -- Criticism and interpretation.; Metaphor in literature.; Negation (Logic) in literature.; Silence in literature.
Description: "'It is impossible to say just what I mean!' Prufrock's frustration in Eliot's celebrated poem underlines the pessimistic view of language at the heart of much Modernist poetry. Locating the greatest Italian poet of the twentieth century, Eugenio Montale, firmly within European Modernism, this book examines the struggle with language that is central to his work. What can a poet do when words fail him? Does he put down his pen, retreat into silence? Does he seek instead to push language towards its limits, and, if so, what tools can he employ? What part does metaphor, the via negativa, allusive or understated writing have in this process? These are just some of the issues that Clodagh J. Brook seeks to address. In its unravelling of the inexpressibility paradox, her book offers a new reading of Montale's early verse, and reveals how in articles and metapoetic comments Montale gives us insights into both his poetics and the whole process of expression."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [180]-191) and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: ABOUT THIS BOOK ix; title: I. INTRODUCTION: THE DEVELOPMENT OF; title: THE INEXPRESSIBILITY TOPOS IN; title: EUROPEAN LITERATURE; title: 2. EUGENIO MONTALE AND THE; title: INEXPRESSIBLE '5; title: Writing: Expression or Creation? 15; title: Identifying the Inexpressible 29; title: Re-Evaluating Terms 47; title: 3. METAPHOR AND FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE 49; title: Disparity and Tension 52; title: Defamiliarization 6i; title: Networks of Metaphor 70; title: The Montalian 'Object' 76; title: 4. NEGATION 97; title: Hypothesis and Doubt 97; title: The via negativa Ioi; title: The Way of De-Anthropomorphism 103; title: The Way of Erasure 112; title: The Way of Contradiction I30; title: Negation: The Rhetoric of Failure? 140; title: 5. SILENCE I45; title: Silence: The Potent Myth I46; title: The Purpose of Silence i51; title: Silence as Withholding: The Woman and God164; title: Silence as Withholding: Secrecy and Mystery 71; title: APPENDIX 177; title: BIBLIOGRAPHY 18o; title: GENERAL INDEX 193.