A New Historical Approach to John Donne’s A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
Keywords:
New Historicism, discourse, culture, religion, science, love, sexuality, power
Abstract
A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning is one of John Donne’s most celebrated and most significant poems in which he declares, quite ingeniously, his ideal of spiritual love which transcends the ordinary and inferior love of others that is based on mere physicality. This essay applies New Historicism, a school of literary theory since the early 1980s, to Donne’s seventeenth-century poem. The study begins with elaborating on the major concepts and principles of New Historicism. Then, the historical, cultural and biographical circumstances that surrounded and motivated the composition of Donne’s poem are discussed. Finally, the discourses of religion, science, love, sexuality, space and time and the circulation of power implicit in the compass imagery, the metaphysical conceit used in this poem, are explored.Downloads
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References
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Abrams, M. H. (1999). A glossary of literary terms (7th ed.). Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
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Fox-Genovese, E. (1989). Literary criticism and the politics of the New Historicism. In H. A. Veeser (Ed.), The new historicism (pp. 213-224). New York: Routledge.
Freccero, J. (1963). Donne’s Valediction: Forbidding mourning. ELH, 30(4), 335-376. [CrossRef]
Gallagher, C., & Greenblatt, S. (2001). Practicing new historicism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Geertz, C. (1994). Thick description: Toward an interpretive theory of culture. In M. Martin, & L. C. McIntyre (Eds.), Readings in the philosophy of social science (pp. 213-232). Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Gorton, L. (1998, September). John Donne’s use of space. Retrieved June 28, 2009, from http://purl.oclc.org/emls/04-2/gortjohn.htm
Lindberg, D. C. (2003). Galileo, the church, and the cosmos. In D. C. Lindberg, & R. L. Numbers (Eds.), When science & christianity meet (pp. 33-60). Chicago Press: University of Chicago Press.
Martin, M., & McIntyre, L. C. (1994). Interpretation and meaning. In M. Martin, & L. C. McIntyre (Eds.), Readings in the philosophy of social science (pp. 157-162). Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Meakin, H. L. (1998). John Donne’s articulations of the feminine. New York: Oxford University Press. [CrossRef]
Napierkowski, M. R. (Ed.). (1998). A valediction: Forbidding mourning. In Poetry for students. Retrieved May 28, 2009, from http://www.enotes.com/valediction-forbidding
Patrick, J. (2007). Renaissance and reformation. New York: Marshall Cavendish.
Pebworth, T. L. (1989). John Donne, coterie poetry, and the text as performance. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, 29(1), 61-75. [CrossRef]
Rosenblum, J. (2002). A valediction: Forbidding mourning. In Masterplots II: Poetry, revised edition. Retrieved May 21, 2009, from http://www.enotes. com/ valediction-forbidding-salem/
Tyson, L. (2006). Critical theory today (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
Abrams, M. H. (1999). A glossary of literary terms (7th ed.). Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
Bennett, A. (2005). The author. New York: Routledge.
Bussey, J. (2001). An overview of imagery in Donne’s poem. In M. R. Napierkowski (Ed.), Poetry for students. Retrieved May 28, 2009, from http://www.enotes.com/valediction-forbidding/an-overview-imagery-donnes-poem
Cirillo, A. R. (1969). The fair hermaphrodite: Love-union in the poetry of Donne and Spenser. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, 9(1), 81-95. [CrossRef]
Corthell, R. (1997). Ideology and desire in renaissance poetry: The subject of Donne.Detroit, Mich.: Wayne State University Press.
Cummings, M. J. (n.d.). A valediction: Forbidding mourning. Retrieved May 21, 2009, from http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides3/Valediction. html#Top
Donne, J. (1987a). A valediction: Forbidding mourning. In M. H. Abrams (Ed.), The Norton anthology of English literature (5th ed., pp. 600-601). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Donne, J. (1987b). The ecstasy. In M. H. Abrams (Ed.), The Norton anthology of English literature (5th ed., pp. 601-604). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Donne, J., & Keynes, G. (1923). X sermons: Preached by that late learned and Rev. Divine John Donne. London: The Nonesuch Press.
Forster, M. (2008). Johann Gottfried von Herder. In The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Retrieved May 24, 2009, from http://plato.stanford.edu/ archives/fall2008/entries/herder/
Foucault, M. (1978). The history of sexuality (Vol. 1). (R. Hurley, Trans.). New York: Pantheon.
Fox-Genovese, E. (1989). Literary criticism and the politics of the New Historicism. In H. A. Veeser (Ed.), The new historicism (pp. 213-224). New York: Routledge.
Freccero, J. (1963). Donne’s Valediction: Forbidding mourning. ELH, 30(4), 335-376. [CrossRef]
Gallagher, C., & Greenblatt, S. (2001). Practicing new historicism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Geertz, C. (1994). Thick description: Toward an interpretive theory of culture. In M. Martin, & L. C. McIntyre (Eds.), Readings in the philosophy of social science (pp. 213-232). Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Gorton, L. (1998, September). John Donne’s use of space. Retrieved June 28, 2009, from http://purl.oclc.org/emls/04-2/gortjohn.htm
Lindberg, D. C. (2003). Galileo, the church, and the cosmos. In D. C. Lindberg, & R. L. Numbers (Eds.), When science & christianity meet (pp. 33-60). Chicago Press: University of Chicago Press.
Martin, M., & McIntyre, L. C. (1994). Interpretation and meaning. In M. Martin, & L. C. McIntyre (Eds.), Readings in the philosophy of social science (pp. 157-162). Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Meakin, H. L. (1998). John Donne’s articulations of the feminine. New York: Oxford University Press. [CrossRef]
Napierkowski, M. R. (Ed.). (1998). A valediction: Forbidding mourning. In Poetry for students. Retrieved May 28, 2009, from http://www.enotes.com/valediction-forbidding
Patrick, J. (2007). Renaissance and reformation. New York: Marshall Cavendish.
Pebworth, T. L. (1989). John Donne, coterie poetry, and the text as performance. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, 29(1), 61-75. [CrossRef]
Rosenblum, J. (2002). A valediction: Forbidding mourning. In Masterplots II: Poetry, revised edition. Retrieved May 21, 2009, from http://www.enotes. com/ valediction-forbidding-salem/
Tyson, L. (2006). Critical theory today (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
Published
2011-05-04
How to Cite
Changizi, P., & Ghasemi, P. (2011). A New Historical Approach to John Donne’s A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning. K@ta, 12(2), 169-181. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.9744/kata.12.2.169-181
Section
Articles
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