A Bergsonian Study Of Philip Whalen’s Poems

Philip Whalen is a key figure of the Beat poets in the second half of the twentieth century. Meanwhile, he plays an essential role in the San Francisco Renaissance. Nevertheless, few people know him though he creates various poems with distinguished characteristics and themes. This thesis focuses on the theme of time. His poems are put into The Collected Poems of Philip Whalen, published in 2008. Henri Bergson, a notable French philosopher, contributes his life philosophy and time theory to the world. A Bergsonian study is based on Bergson’s theory of time, including his ideas of real time, memory, dream, and space. This thesis aims to incorporate Bergson’s time theory into the analysis of Philip Whalen’s poems. It mainly focuses on two Bergsonian types of time reflected apparently in Philip Whalen’s poems. One is the physical time, namely, space; the other, the principal type, is the real time, which is called duration, involving in a variety of aspects with the memory and dream in Philip Whalen’s poems. It mainly deals with two aspects. The first is to enable readers to experience space and time in Whalen’s poems aesthetically, through a Bergsonian study of his poems; the second is for readers to have a comprehensive understanding of Philip Whalen’s contributions to American postmodern poetry as well as Bergson’s achievements in the European philosophical circle.There are six chapters including the Introduction and the Conclusion. Introduction offers a detailed description of Philip Whalen’s life and his poems as well as the literature review. Chapter Two gives a detailed introduction of Bergson’s time theory, interpreting Bergsonian space and time. Chapter Three and Chapter Four make the major parts of this thesis. Chapter Three analyzes one type of Bergsonian time, namely space, which is reflected in the visual space poems, the auditory space poems, and the kinaesthetic space poems to show the art of space in Whalen’s poems. As for Chapter Four, it subdivides Whalen’s poems into three types with Bergsonian real time, namely, seasonal time poems, memorial time poems, and dream time poems in order to present the art of time. Chapter Five discusses how Whalen projects himself in space-time to disclose the art of space and time. The last part, Conclusion, summarizes the whole thesis and explicates the significance of this study.