The Space Between: Literary Epiphany in the Work of Annie Dillard PDF
Preview The Space Between: Literary Epiphany in the Work of Annie Dillard
The Space between : Literary Epiphany in title: the Work of Annie Dillard author: Johnson, Sandra Humble. publisher: Kent State University Press isbn10 | asin: 0873384466 print isbn13: 9780873384469 ebook isbn13: 9780585262284 language: English Dillard, Annie--Criticism and interpretation, subject Space and time in literature, Epiphanies in literature. publication date: 1992 lcc: PS3554.I398Z72 1992eb ddc: 818/.5409 Dillard, Annie--Criticism and interpretation, subject: Space and time in literature, Epiphanies in literature. Page iii The Space between Literary Epiphany in the Work of Annie Dillard Sandra Humble Johnson ©1992 by The Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio 44242 All rights reserved Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 91-11437 ISBN 0-87338-446-6 Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Johnson, Sandra Humble, 1943 The space between : literary epiphany in the work of Annie Dillard / Sandra Humble Johnson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-87338-446-6 (alk. paper) 1. Dillard, AnnieCriticism and interpretation. 2. Epiphanies in literature. I. Title. PS3554.I398Z72 1992 818'.5409dc20 v 91-11437 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication data are available. Page v For Dan and Brooke Page vii Contents Preface ix 1. The Same Old Vision 1 The Appearance of Epiphany 2. The Cheshire Cat's Grin 25 The Need for Epiphany 3. The Circle Is Unbroken 62 The Shape of Epiphanic Time 4. Upstream and Down 103 Surfaces and Directions in Epiphanic Time 5. When Everything Else Has Gone 127 Epiphanic Landscapes 6. Feints at the Unknown 178 Epiphany on and off the Page Notes 198 Works Cited 199 Index 204 Page ix Preface Long before I came to the writing of Annie Dillard, I was fascinated by a moment in language I had perceived as glowing. Wordsworth had talked about it and called it a "spot of time"; but what intrigued me most was his achievement of that moment when he provided no explanation for its power. So when I first read Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, a work suggested as part of a wilderness study, I was astounded by its condensed, gemlike language that not only considered the phenomenon of illumination as a central theme, but offered up these fiery moments page after page with poetic power and biting energy. Dillard's writing seemed at once ancient and contemporary. With its metaphysical elasticity and glittering words, it echoed the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Pilgrim, I realized then, is not a "wilderness" study or an environmental casebook, unless it is the wilderness of the spirit, which in one sense is its subject. And the redeeming force throughout is Dillard's epiphanic moment. I later discovered that all of Annie Dillard's writing was a perusal of illumination and, thus, I set out to discover the dynamic of this language phenomenon. But I wanted to understand its meaning as something more than the bloodless operations of a literary device; I wanted to verify what I had sensed as the intuitive patterns of epiphanists as they poured their most personal spiritual events into wordsWordsworth's childhood "spot" refracting the image of a woman with wind-whipped garments, Hopkins's "inscape" reflected from the wing of a falcon, T. S. Eliot's agonized "still point'' whispered in a deserted English garden, and Dillard's ecstatic "dot" of self reacting to a cedar tree filled with doves. Most of all, I wanted to discover why these moments became my moments; why I felt a mysterious ownership of certain words, particular passages. Page x This book is the culmination of that search; it reveals that the organic energy of literary epiphany springs as much from the absence of language as from its presence. Along the way I have corroborated my initial reactions to epiphany by uncovering the study of others, whom I have come to regard as my "epiphanic family," although they are no doubt unaware of our relationship. Robert Langbaum, Morris Beja, Ashton Nichols, and Martin Bidney have all thought long on the subject, evidenced by their scholarly and what seems to me joyous appraisal of a particularly rarified topic. I now offer back to them, and to all readers who have come to value the magnificent prose-poetry of Annie Dillard, my own findings on the dynamics of language when it approaches the glowing event known as literary epiphany. I want to thank those teachers, colleagues, and friends at Bowling Green State University who first read my manuscript and encouraged me in the completion of this project. Dr. Ralph Wolfe's enthusiastic intelligence and spirited knowledge of Wordsworth has sustained me since the beginning. Dr. James Harner graciously offered to continue his careful reading and commenting on the manuscript, even after a move to Texas A&M University. Both Dr. Howard McCord and Dr. Ruth Schneider participated in the joy of the subject matter. In addition, I want to acknowledge the assistance of the Department of English, particularly Dr. Alice Philbin, who provided me with two doctoral fellowships in 1988 and 1989 so that I could continue to write. Several other occasions and persons have helped my progress toward this publication. First, Dr. August Nigro and the National Endowment for the Humanities allowed me to increase my knowledge of the literary epiphany in an especially significant setting when I received a grant for study at Manchester College, Oxford, England, in the summer of 1988. Also, Barbara Korn at Wittenberg University gave me invaluable assistance with the mechanical aspects of the manuscript. I am extremely grateful to the editors at Kent State University Press for their sensitive and intelligent handling of this work: John Hubbell, Julia Morton, and Linda Cuckovich have been consistently encouraging. To my parents, Dorothy and Tracy Humble, I owe the foundation on which the concept of epiphany rests: their dreams, energy, and unconditional love have been the models for my life. My daughter Brooke has helped me in that she continued to be an understanding child in the midst of piles of books, legions of notes, and long writing hours. Finally, Dan my friend and husband, gave me the emotional luxury of writing in an environment where I received only support and love. Without him I could not have written this book.
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