Hopkins' Achieved Self

by David A. Downes

Overview

The central issue in the writings of Gerard Manley Hopkins is his understanding of the self. While Hopkins' scholars have studied the phenomenology of Hopkins' notions of selfness, no scholar has studied in depth the hermeneutics of what Hopkins called 'selving.' Hopkins' Achieved Self is a study of 'selving' in Hopkins. Downes examines Hopkins' ideas of the self as a hermeneutical concept, shows how Hopkins formulates in his concept the role of the mental acts Hopkins called 'selving,' and discussed the formation of religious consciousness as a vital component of achieving full selfhood.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761823865
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	10/10/2002
Edition description:	Revised Edition
Pages:	230
Product dimensions:	5.34(w) x 8.56(h) x 0.71(d)

About the Author

David A. Downes is Emeritus Professor of English at California State University, Chico, California.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 Prologue: Hopkins' Hermeneutical Stages of Consciousness Chapter 3 Hopkins' Selving Hermeneutics Chapter 4 Selving The 'I Am' in G.M. Hopkins Chapter 5 The Poetics of Volition in Hopkins Chapter 6 The Poetics of the Sacramental Word: Hope and Freedom Chapter 7 Poems of Existence Chapter 8 The Poetics of Redemption Chapter 9 Readers' Responses Chapter 10 Bibliography Chapter 11 Index

What People are Saying About This

Joseph J. Feeney

"How is Hopkins to be encountered? In a deeply original book, David Anthony Downes studies Hopkins' concepts of self and "selving", using the hermeneutics of Paul Ricoeur, to reestablish Hopkins as a modern, even modernist, poet."
— Joseph J. Feeney

Michael E. Allsopp

"This book brings together the thought of Victorian Hopkins and the reflections of contemporary French philosopher Paul Ricoeur to examine "selving." A lasting and original contribution to Hopkins scholarship."
— Michael E. Allsopp

Frank Fenwell

"An excellent book. Downes offers a provocative analysis of the relationships evident between Ricoeur's phenomenology and Hopkin's evolving ideas about creating his "self" in and through his poetry. Chapters 4 and 5 will be particularly rich for Hopkins' scholars."
— Frank Fenwell

Editorial Reviews

'Hopkins' Achieved Self' will attract the attention of specialist students and scholars, be they in fields of theology, religious literature or linguistic philosophy.

Notes and Queries - Tray E.A. Martin

The book is new and original...It joins the notions of selfness and selving that the Victorian Hopkins sketched in his poetry and prose with the thought of Ricoeur...This is a challenging study.

Christianity and Literature - Michael Allsopp

I find particularly original and significant Prof. Downes' critique of the denigration of 'selving' in Modernism...I am also persuaded that applying Ricoeur to Hopkins in this context is original and that insufficient attention has been paid to Hopkins' philosophic exploration of 'selving.'

Catholic University Press of America - Reviewer

The book is new and original...It joins the notions of selfness and selving that the Victorian Hopkins sketched in his poetry and prose with the thought of Ricoeur...This is a challenging study.--Michael Allsopp "Christianity and Literature "

'Hopkins' Achieved Self' will attract the attention of specialist students and scholars, be they in fields of theology, religious literature or linguistic philosophy.--Tray E.A. Martin "Notes and Queries "

I find particularly original and significant Prof. Downes' critique of the denigration of 'selving' in Modernism...I am also persuaded that applying Ricoeur to Hopkins in this context is original and that insufficient attention has been paid to Hopkins' philosophic exploration of 'selving.'--Reviewer "Catholic University Press of America "

From the Publisher

'Hopkins' Achieved Self' will attract the attention of specialist students and scholars, be they in fields of theology, religious literature or linguistic philosophy.

Notes and Queries - Tracy E. A. Martin

Hopkins' Achieved Self' will attract the attention of specialist students and scholars, be they in fields of theology, religious literature or linguistic philosophy.
— Tracy E. A. Martin

Notes and Queries

The book is new and original...It joins the notions of selfness and selving that the Victorian Hopkins sketched in his poetry and prose with the thought of Ricoeur...This is a challenging study.
— Michael Allsopp

Christianity and Literature

I find particularly original and significant Prof. Downes' critique of the denigration of 'selving' in Modernism...I am also persuaded that applying Ricoeur to Hopkins in this context is original and that insufficient attention has been paid to Hopkins' philosophic exploration of 'selving.'
— Reviewer

Catholic University Press Of America

"The value...is in the book's implication of an intellectual life-cycle. The phenomenological hermeneutics of Ricoeur ...is split open to expose the seeds of its own origin in the faithfulness of word and world to the divine Word."
— Frank Fenwell

Notes And Queries