Here and now: The immanence of Rilke's angel

The dissertation's focus consists of analyses of Rainer Maria Rilke's figuration of the angel over the course of his career. Proceeding chronologically and drawing on biographical information, as well, this study considers nearly all of Rilke's articulations of the angel for the first time in nearly sixty years and with a new objective. The analysis takes place before the backdrop of Rilke's historical and cultural environment: the German-language avant-garde of the early 20th century and the looming influence of Nietzsche. While both angels and Rilke's poetry are frequently associated with spirituality, religious transcendence, and metaphysical concerns, this study attempts to show that Rilke's articulation of the angel shifted away from conventional representations and predominant critical reception. The angel of Rilke's crowning achievement, the Duineser Elegien , can be understood immanently and on a level that can obtain to latent political implications. This is because a representation of the angel that eschews connotations of eternal salvation or of some heavenly after-life points to the fact that humainty's here-and-now is of more importance -- indeed, the only importance.