Abstract
The function of epigraph in Eliot’s poetry has become the
focal point of a perennial debate for a long time. As it is the case,
there have been different researches conducted on this inquiry in the
scholarly field. Some critics argue that Eliot uses epigraph in homage
to the literary tradition. They tend to undervalue the contribution
of epigraph in his poetry since they regard its use as obscure and
incomprehensible. On the other hand, some other critics consider it as
a significant part of his poetry. They argue that Eliot’s poetry would
have lost its integrity without epigraph. Although both groups have
a fair share in their studies on Eliot’s use of epigraph, this argument
still needs further considerations to have more insight into the role of
epigraph in Eliot’s poetry. To bridge this gap and to further discuss the
complexity of the role of epigraph in Eliot’s poetry, this study traces
Eliot’s use of epigraph in light of Deleuze and Guattari’s theory of
assemblage, which is expounded in A Thousand Plateaus, the second
volume of their book, Capitalism and Schizophrenia (1980). Similar to
Deleuze-Guattarian assemblage theory, epigraph may function as one
of poem’s production components without losing its own integrity. It
may function both as a unit of production and a product in itself. As
such, it juxtaposes individual and universal aspects of poetry without
distorting the poetic harmony. In this context, this article aims to study
the role of epigraph in Eliot’s poetry in line with Deleuze-Guattarian
assemblage. To theoretically ground the argument, this article firstly
explores the nature of Eliot’s poetry, and then elucidates Deleuze-Guattarian assemblage in detail. Lastly, it examines this function of
epigraph in some of Eliot’s selected poems.
Keywords
References
- Abrams, M. H. The Mirror and the Lamp. NY: Oxford UP. 1953.
- Barzinji, M.R.H. “The Function of Epigraphs to T. S. Eliot’s Poetry”, Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol. 6, No. 9. (2016): 79-84. ISSN (Paper) 2224-5766
- Bloom, Harold. Bloom’s Guides: The Waste Land. New York: Infobase Publishing. 2007.
- Buchanan, I. “Assemblage Theory and Its Discontents”. Deleuze studies, 9(3), 2015): 382-392.
- Crawford, Robert. Eliot after The Waste Land. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022.
- de Assis, Paul. “Assemblage and Artistic Research” in Machinic Assemblages of Desire: Deleuze and Artistic Research 3. Eds. P. de Assis & P. Giudici, (Leuven University Press, 2021), pp. 11-25.
- Deleuze, Gilles, and Claire Parnet. Dialogues II, Trans. Hugh Tomlinson and Rev. ed. Barbara Habberjam, New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. First published in 1977 as Dialogues Paris: Flammarion.
- Deleuze, Gilles, and Felix Guattari. Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, Trans. Robert Hurley, Mark Seem, and Helen
- R. Lane. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1983. First published in 1972 as Capitalisme et schizophrénie: L’antiOEdipe (Paris: Minuit). Translation first published 1977 (New York: Viking Press).
- Derrida, Jacques. “Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences”, in The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends, ed. David H. Richter St. Martin’s Press, 1989. 915-926.
- ---. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, Trans. Brian Massumi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1987. First published 1980 as Mille plateaux: Capitalisme et schizophrénie (Paris: Minuit).
- Donoghue, Denis. “Beginning” in Modern Critical Views: TS Eliot. Ed. Harold Bloom. Infobase Publishing. 2011. Eliot, Thomas Stearns, Collected Poems of TS Eliot 1909–1962. New York. Harcourt, Brace World Inc., 1963.
- ---. The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism. New York: Walter A, 1921.
- Eliot, Thomas Stearns, David E. Chinitz, and Ronald Schuchard. The Complete Prose of TS Eliot: The Critical Edition: The War Years, 1940− 1946. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017.
- Eliot, Thomas Stearns. The Poems of TS Eliot: Volume I: Collected and Uncollected Poems. Eds. Christopher Ricks and Jim McCue. Faber&Faber. 2015.
- Eshelman, William R. “Eliot’s Gerontion”, The Explicator, 4:(6), (1946): pp. 88-91, DOI: 10.1080/00144940.1946.11481244
- Ferraz, Silvio. “Time Music between Lines and Images: Time in Between”, in Machinic Assemblages of Desire: Deleuze and Artistic Research 3. Eds. P. de Assis & P. Giudici, (Leuven University Press, 2021) (pp. 77-92). Leuven University Press.
- Haggerty, Kevin & Ericson, R.. “The Surveillant Assemblage”, The British Journal of Sociology. 51/4, (2001): 605-22.
- Howard, J. G.. “T. S. Eliot’s The Hollow Men”, The Explicator, 70(1), (2012): 8-12.
- Huang, Guiyou. “Ezra Pound: (Mis)Translation And (Re)Creation”, Paideuma 22, no. 1/2 (1993): 99–114. http://www.jstor.org/ stable/24726090.
- Johnson, “T. S. Eliot’s Gerontion and Journey of The Magi”, in Bloom’s Modern Critical Views: T. S. Eliot, Ed. Harold Bloom, Infobase Publishing, 2011. pp. 61-77.
- Kirk, Russell. Eliot and His Age: TS Eliot’s Moral Imagination in the Twentieth Century. Open Road Media, 2014.
- Major, J. M. “Eliot’s “Gerontion” and As You Like It”,Modern Language Notes, 74(1), (1959): 28–31. https://doi.org/10.2307/3040102
Abstract
References
- Abrams, M. H. The Mirror and the Lamp. NY: Oxford UP. 1953.
- Barzinji, M.R.H. “The Function of Epigraphs to T. S. Eliot’s Poetry”, Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol. 6, No. 9. (2016): 79-84. ISSN (Paper) 2224-5766
- Bloom, Harold. Bloom’s Guides: The Waste Land. New York: Infobase Publishing. 2007.
- Buchanan, I. “Assemblage Theory and Its Discontents”. Deleuze studies, 9(3), 2015): 382-392.
- Crawford, Robert. Eliot after The Waste Land. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022.
- de Assis, Paul. “Assemblage and Artistic Research” in Machinic Assemblages of Desire: Deleuze and Artistic Research 3. Eds. P. de Assis & P. Giudici, (Leuven University Press, 2021), pp. 11-25.
- Deleuze, Gilles, and Claire Parnet. Dialogues II, Trans. Hugh Tomlinson and Rev. ed. Barbara Habberjam, New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. First published in 1977 as Dialogues Paris: Flammarion.
- Deleuze, Gilles, and Felix Guattari. Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, Trans. Robert Hurley, Mark Seem, and Helen
- R. Lane. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1983. First published in 1972 as Capitalisme et schizophrénie: L’antiOEdipe (Paris: Minuit). Translation first published 1977 (New York: Viking Press).
- Derrida, Jacques. “Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences”, in The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends, ed. David H. Richter St. Martin’s Press, 1989. 915-926.
- ---. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, Trans. Brian Massumi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1987. First published 1980 as Mille plateaux: Capitalisme et schizophrénie (Paris: Minuit).
- Donoghue, Denis. “Beginning” in Modern Critical Views: TS Eliot. Ed. Harold Bloom. Infobase Publishing. 2011. Eliot, Thomas Stearns, Collected Poems of TS Eliot 1909–1962. New York. Harcourt, Brace World Inc., 1963.
- ---. The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism. New York: Walter A, 1921.
- Eliot, Thomas Stearns, David E. Chinitz, and Ronald Schuchard. The Complete Prose of TS Eliot: The Critical Edition: The War Years, 1940− 1946. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017.
- Eliot, Thomas Stearns. The Poems of TS Eliot: Volume I: Collected and Uncollected Poems. Eds. Christopher Ricks and Jim McCue. Faber&Faber. 2015.
- Eshelman, William R. “Eliot’s Gerontion”, The Explicator, 4:(6), (1946): pp. 88-91, DOI: 10.1080/00144940.1946.11481244
- Ferraz, Silvio. “Time Music between Lines and Images: Time in Between”, in Machinic Assemblages of Desire: Deleuze and Artistic Research 3. Eds. P. de Assis & P. Giudici, (Leuven University Press, 2021) (pp. 77-92). Leuven University Press.
- Haggerty, Kevin & Ericson, R.. “The Surveillant Assemblage”, The British Journal of Sociology. 51/4, (2001): 605-22.
- Howard, J. G.. “T. S. Eliot’s The Hollow Men”, The Explicator, 70(1), (2012): 8-12.
- Huang, Guiyou. “Ezra Pound: (Mis)Translation And (Re)Creation”, Paideuma 22, no. 1/2 (1993): 99–114. http://www.jstor.org/ stable/24726090.
- Johnson, “T. S. Eliot’s Gerontion and Journey of The Magi”, in Bloom’s Modern Critical Views: T. S. Eliot, Ed. Harold Bloom, Infobase Publishing, 2011. pp. 61-77.
- Kirk, Russell. Eliot and His Age: TS Eliot’s Moral Imagination in the Twentieth Century. Open Road Media, 2014.
- Major, J. M. “Eliot’s “Gerontion” and As You Like It”,Modern Language Notes, 74(1), (1959): 28–31. https://doi.org/10.2307/3040102
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | North American Language, Literature and Culture |
| Journal Section | Research Article |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | June 15, 2023 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2023 Issue: 59 |
JAST - Journal of American Studies of Turkey