Writing as a Way of Existence: Existentialism in Robert Lowell’s <i>Life Studies</i>
- 1 Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
Abstract
This article takes Robert Lowell’s first confessional book of poems, Life Studies as the object of study, and instead of focusing primarily on the oft-discussed autobiographical and historical factors, concentrates upon the philosophical pursuit — existentialism conveyed in this work. The article shall contextualize Lowell’s continual artistic creation for renewed existence as part of the process of realizing “being-for-itself” that is central to the existentialist school, to provide a new perspective for understanding Lowell’s writing and life. Lowell’s poetry reveals the condition of human existence in a lonely and hollow state and under the restrictions imposed by the others. The way to transcend this predicament, as the poet in Life Studies shows, is to realize “being-for-itself” through writing, enabling the poet to become more open-eyed and to revive his existence. The ceaseless improvement of the poet’s comprehension of self and the other in the process of composition indicates a typical existential life in which the individual revives by free choices and decisions.
- Ames, V. M. (1951). Existentialism and the Arts. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 9, 252-256. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540_6245.jaac9.3.0252
- Axelrod, S. G. (1978). Robert Lowell: Life and Art. Princeton University Press.
- Bishop, E. (2011). Poems. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
- Calhoun, R. J. (1963). Existentialism, Phenomenology, and Literary Theory. South Atlantic Bulletin, 28, 4-8. https://doi.org/10.2307/3196789
- Cooper, P. (1970). The Autobiographical Myth of Robert Lowell. The University of North Carolina Press.
- Hamilton, I. (1982). Robert Lowell: A Biography. Random House.
- Heidegger, M. (1996). Being and Time. State University of New York Press.
- Lowell, R. (1964). Life Studies and For the Union Dead. The Noonday Press.
- Lowell, R. (1988). Robert Lowell: Interviews and Memoirs. The University of Michigan Press.
- Sartre, J.-P. (1989). No Exit, and Three Other Plays. Vintage Books.
- Sartre, J.-P. (1993). Being and Nothingness. Philosophical Library.
- Sartre, J.-P. (2004). Critique of Dialectical Reason Volume 1: Theory of Practical Ensembles. Verso.
- Sartre, J.-P. (2007). Existentialism Is a Humanism. Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv15vwkgx
- Tong, M. (2008). A History of American Literature. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
- Wallingford, K. (1988). Robert Lowell’s Language of the Self. University of North Carolina Press.