The Italian poet Eugenio Montale experienced a lifelong search for, and struggle with, the Divine—the latter oxymorically manifesting/hiding itself mainly as a “Deus Absconditus”—or embodied in angelic female figures. The poet’s troubled spiritual quest is mirrored in his whole corpus of poetry (1925-1977 ca.) from the initial skeptical expectation of unattainable miracles to the final, disillusioned, bitter irony and biting parody of belief/s, dogmas, theological concepts, metaphors, images, and texts. Montale’s painful and anguished search for a historical and transcendental meaning of Life, Suffering, Love, and Sacrifice most compellingly manifests itself in the central and most dramatic phase of his poetry (“La Bufera e altro”). In the poem ‘Iride’ (1943/44) he emblematically defines himself a “povero Nestoriano smarrito” (a poor Nestorian at a loss.) This definition—more poetical and existential than theological—mirrors Montale’ spiritual eclecticism (which also shows traces of Gnosticism, Manichaeism, nihilism and Stoicism) and heralds a sincere, quasi-mystical acceptance of the mystery and silence of the Absolute.
Autori: | |
Titolo: | Eugenio Montale, "The Poor Nestorian at a Loss" |
Tipo: | book part - contributo in volume |
Lingua: | eng |
Data di pubblicazione: | 2015 |
Serie: | TRANSATLANTIC STUDIES IN BRITISH AND NORTH AMERICAN CULTURE |
Volume: | 10 |
Pagina iniziale: | 89 |
Pagina finale: | 115 |
Numero di pagine: | 27 |
Nazione editore: | DE |
Luogo di pubblicazione: | Frankfurt am Main |
Nome editore: | Peter Lang |
Keywords: | Eugenio Montale: biography, poetry, religious belief, skepticism/agnosticism; Apophatic Mysticism and Negative Theology in Eugenio Montale’s poetry; Heresy and Nestorianism in Eugenio Montale’s poetry; Holy Writs in Eugenio Montale’s poetry: parody and irony. |
Abstract: | The Italian poet Eugenio Montale experienced a lifelong search for, and struggle with, the Divine...—the latter oxymorically manifesting/hiding itself mainly as a “Deus Absconditus”—or embodied in angelic female figures. The poet’s troubled spiritual quest is mirrored in his whole corpus of poetry (1925-1977 ca.) from the initial skeptical expectation of unattainable miracles to the final, disillusioned, bitter irony and biting parody of belief/s, dogmas, theological concepts, metaphors, images, and texts. Montale’s painful and anguished search for a historical and transcendental meaning of Life, Suffering, Love, and Sacrifice most compellingly manifests itself in the central and most dramatic phase of his poetry (“La Bufera e altro”). In the poem ‘Iride’ (1943/44) he emblematically defines himself a “povero Nestoriano smarrito” (a poor Nestorian at a loss.) This definition—more poetical and existential than theological—mirrors Montale’ spiritual eclecticism (which also shows traces of Gnosticism, Manichaeism, nihilism and Stoicism) and heralds a sincere, quasi-mystical acceptance of the mystery and silence of the Absolute. |
Citazione: | Eugenio Montale, "The Poor Nestorian at a Loss", 2015. |
Appare nelle tipologie: | 2.01 Contributo in volume (Capitolo o Saggio) |
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