“A Vague, Invarious Delight”: Ezra Pound’s “Middle-Aging Care” and Bernard Hart’s Psychology of the Complex
This article compares Ezra Pound’s use of the word “complex,” a term he employs to define imagism, with British integral psychologist Bernard Hart’s use of the term. Pound cites Hart in “A Few Don’ts by an Imagiste” as the source of the term. This study first surveys the prominent role of emotion in...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | deu |
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Russian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature
2019-11-01
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| Series: | Литература двух Америк |
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| Online Access: | http://litda.ru/images/2019-7/LDA-2019-7_394-413_Forman.pdf |
| _version_ | 1819123501412384768 |
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| author | J. Rhett Forman |
| author_facet | J. Rhett Forman |
| author_sort | J. Rhett Forman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article compares Ezra Pound’s use of the word “complex,” a term he employs to define imagism, with British integral psychologist Bernard Hart’s use of the term. Pound cites Hart in “A Few Don’ts by an Imagiste” as the source of the term. This study first surveys the prominent role of emotion in Pound’s literary theory before it investigates how George Mead’s Quest Society introduced Pound to British integral psychologists like Hart. Finally, it considers the influence of British integral psychology on two of Pound’s poems. While living in London among the burgeoning school of what Arthur McDougall calls British “integral psychology,” Pound borrowed terms from this school to compose two poems that express contrasting understandings of the term “complex,” namely, “Middle-Aged: A Study in an Emotion” (1912) and “Villanelle: The Psychological Hour” (1915). As this study demonstrates, in “Middle-Aged” the emotional content of the imagist complex revitalizes the speaker’s creativity, whereas in “Villanelle” the speaker deteriorates into hysteria via the Hartian complex. A careful analysis reveals that, while “Villanelle” adheres more closely to Hart’s sense of the term “complex” as a pathogenic, destructive concept, “Middle-Aged” expresses a different, more constructive understanding of the term in accord with Pound’s usage in “A Few Don’ts by an Imagiste.” |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T07:09:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-065e32f45acf44deac269834e06ee03c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2541-7894 2542-243X |
| language | deu |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T07:09:21Z |
| publishDate | 2019-11-01 |
| publisher | Russian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Литература двух Америк |
| spelling | doaj.art-065e32f45acf44deac269834e06ee03c2022-12-21T18:34:33ZdeuRussian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World LiteratureЛитература двух Америк2541-78942542-243X2019-11-01739441310.22455/2541-7894-2019-7-394-413“A Vague, Invarious Delight”: Ezra Pound’s “Middle-Aging Care” and Bernard Hart’s Psychology of the ComplexJ. Rhett Forman0Tarleton State University, Stephenville, Texas, USAThis article compares Ezra Pound’s use of the word “complex,” a term he employs to define imagism, with British integral psychologist Bernard Hart’s use of the term. Pound cites Hart in “A Few Don’ts by an Imagiste” as the source of the term. This study first surveys the prominent role of emotion in Pound’s literary theory before it investigates how George Mead’s Quest Society introduced Pound to British integral psychologists like Hart. Finally, it considers the influence of British integral psychology on two of Pound’s poems. While living in London among the burgeoning school of what Arthur McDougall calls British “integral psychology,” Pound borrowed terms from this school to compose two poems that express contrasting understandings of the term “complex,” namely, “Middle-Aged: A Study in an Emotion” (1912) and “Villanelle: The Psychological Hour” (1915). As this study demonstrates, in “Middle-Aged” the emotional content of the imagist complex revitalizes the speaker’s creativity, whereas in “Villanelle” the speaker deteriorates into hysteria via the Hartian complex. A careful analysis reveals that, while “Villanelle” adheres more closely to Hart’s sense of the term “complex” as a pathogenic, destructive concept, “Middle-Aged” expresses a different, more constructive understanding of the term in accord with Pound’s usage in “A Few Don’ts by an Imagiste.”http://litda.ru/images/2019-7/LDA-2019-7_394-413_Forman.pdfezra poundbernard hartpierre janetsigmund freudbritish psychologycomplexemotionimagismmodernismpersonae“middle-aged: a study in an emotion” “villanelle: the psychological hour”. |
| spellingShingle | J. Rhett Forman “A Vague, Invarious Delight”: Ezra Pound’s “Middle-Aging Care” and Bernard Hart’s Psychology of the Complex Литература двух Америк ezra pound bernard hart pierre janet sigmund freud british psychology complex emotion imagism modernism personae “middle-aged: a study in an emotion ” “villanelle: the psychological hour”. |
| title | “A Vague, Invarious Delight”: Ezra Pound’s “Middle-Aging Care” and Bernard Hart’s Psychology of the Complex |
| title_full | “A Vague, Invarious Delight”: Ezra Pound’s “Middle-Aging Care” and Bernard Hart’s Psychology of the Complex |
| title_fullStr | “A Vague, Invarious Delight”: Ezra Pound’s “Middle-Aging Care” and Bernard Hart’s Psychology of the Complex |
| title_full_unstemmed | “A Vague, Invarious Delight”: Ezra Pound’s “Middle-Aging Care” and Bernard Hart’s Psychology of the Complex |
| title_short | “A Vague, Invarious Delight”: Ezra Pound’s “Middle-Aging Care” and Bernard Hart’s Psychology of the Complex |
| title_sort | a vague invarious delight ezra pound s middle aging care and bernard hart s psychology of the complex |
| topic | ezra pound bernard hart pierre janet sigmund freud british psychology complex emotion imagism modernism personae “middle-aged: a study in an emotion ” “villanelle: the psychological hour”. |
| url | http://litda.ru/images/2019-7/LDA-2019-7_394-413_Forman.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jrhettforman avagueinvariousdelightezrapoundsmiddleagingcareandbernardhartspsychologyofthecomplex |