Stillness and Temporality in the Work of Louis MacNeice
This essay brings into focus letters and poems by Louis MacNeice (1907-1963) that engage with the museum as a place of silence, stillness, and refuge. From memories of the British Museum formed in his youth to encounters with art institutions in Britain and the USA, it looks afresh at four poems ref...
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| Xuất bản năm: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/polysemes, |
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| Tác giả chính: | |
| Định dạng: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Ngôn ngữ: | Anglais |
| Được phát hành: |
Polysèmes
2017
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| Những chủ đề: | |
| Truy cập trực tuyến: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:polysemes_2288 |
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openedition |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:polysemes_2288 https://doi.org/10.4000/polysemes.2288 urn:doi:10.4000/polysemes.2288 en https://journals.openedition.org/polysemes/2288 2017-11-30T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/j67p All rights reserved Stillness and Temporality in the Work of Louis MacNeice Polysèmes SAIT info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2496-4212 info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/0999-4203 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/polysemes Brown, Karen ekphrasis word/image temporality stillness museum-mausoleum refuge museum wartime ekphrasis texte/image guerre temporalité immobilité musée-mausolée refuge musée This essay brings into focus letters and poems by Louis MacNeice (1907-1963) that engage with the museum as a place of silence, stillness, and refuge. From memories of the British Museum formed in his youth to encounters with art institutions in Britain and the USA, it looks afresh at four poems reflecting on the intense immobility of the museum experience: “Museums” (1933), “The British Museum Reading Room” (1939), “Picture Galleries” (1940), and “The National Gallery” (1945). These poems are read here in literary critical terms in relation to the history and theory of ekphrasis, and museology. The aim in so doing is to pursue these references as a poetics of stillness and refuge in the face of upheaval, both personal and societal. The essay shows how MacNeice offered both a critique of the immobility such retreat engendered, and an appreciation of its space of refuge, indicating that the museum was for him a layered or deeply resonant trope. Themes to emerge include voices of silence in the museal space, idleness and temporality in the ekphrastic encounter, enargeia and, ultimately, inspiration and Pentecost. In his words from “Autumn Sequel, Canto VIII”, MacNeice put the issue succinctly: “So to the galleries: to escape mankind / By rediscovering it” (MacNeice 2007, 409, l. 77). Cet article se concentre sur des lettres et des poèmes de Louis MacNeice (1907-63) qui abordent le musée comme lieu-refuge, de silence et d’immobilité. Des souvenirs du British Museum accumulés dans sa jeunesse jusqu’à ses découvertes des institutions muséales de Grande-Bretagne et des États-Unis, l’article se penche sur quatre poèmes méditant sur l’« immobilité vive » qu’est l’expérience du musée : « Museums » (1933), « The British Museum Reading Room » (1939), « Picture Galleries » (1940), and « The National Gallery » (1945). Ces poèmes sont relus ici en termes d’analyse littéraire, en lien avec l’histoire et la théorie de l’ekphrasis, et la muséologie. Le but que se donne cette analyse est de retracer dans ces références une poétique de l’immobilité et du refuge face aux événements affectant l’individu, tout comme l’ensemble de la société. L’article montre comment MacNeice offre à la fois une critique de l’immobilité engendrée par ce type de retraite hors du monde et une appréciation du lieu-refuge, qui montrent combien le musée était pour lui un trope aux multiples implications et aux multiples échos. Les thèmes qui se dégagent de cette analyse sont ceux des voix silencieuses de l’espace muséal, de la contemplation et de la temporalité de la rencontre ekphrastique, de l’enargeia, et finalement de l’inspiration et de la révélation de la Pentecôte. MacNeice résuma ainsi le sujet, dans le poème « Autumn Sequel, Canto VIII » : « Allons visiter les musées pour échapper à l’homme / et le redécouvrir » (MacNeice 1966, 364, v. 77). |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
ekphrasis word/image temporality stillness museum-mausoleum refuge museum wartime ekphrasis texte/image guerre temporalité immobilité musée-mausolée refuge musée |
| spellingShingle |
ekphrasis word/image temporality stillness museum-mausoleum refuge museum wartime ekphrasis texte/image guerre temporalité immobilité musée-mausolée refuge musée Brown, Karen Stillness and Temporality in the Work of Louis MacNeice |
| description |
This essay brings into focus letters and poems by Louis MacNeice (1907-1963) that engage with the museum as a place of silence, stillness, and refuge. From memories of the British Museum formed in his youth to encounters with art institutions in Britain and the USA, it looks afresh at four poems reflecting on the intense immobility of the museum experience: “Museums” (1933), “The British Museum Reading Room” (1939), “Picture Galleries” (1940), and “The National Gallery” (1945). These poems are read here in literary critical terms in relation to the history and theory of ekphrasis, and museology. The aim in so doing is to pursue these references as a poetics of stillness and refuge in the face of upheaval, both personal and societal. The essay shows how MacNeice offered both a critique of the immobility such retreat engendered, and an appreciation of its space of refuge, indicating that the museum was for him a layered or deeply resonant trope. Themes to emerge include voices of silence in the museal space, idleness and temporality in the ekphrastic encounter, enargeia and, ultimately, inspiration and Pentecost. In his words from “Autumn Sequel, Canto VIII”, MacNeice put the issue succinctly: “So to the galleries: to escape mankind / By rediscovering it” (MacNeice 2007, 409, l. 77). |
| author |
Brown, Karen |
| author_facet |
Brown, Karen |
| author_sort |
Brown, Karen |
| title |
Stillness and Temporality in the Work of Louis MacNeice |
| title_short |
Stillness and Temporality in the Work of Louis MacNeice |
| title_full |
Stillness and Temporality in the Work of Louis MacNeice |
| title_fullStr |
Stillness and Temporality in the Work of Louis MacNeice |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Stillness and Temporality in the Work of Louis MacNeice |
| title_sort |
stillness and temporality in the work of louis macneice |
| publisher |
Polysèmes |
| publishDate |
2017 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/polysemes |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/polysemes.2288 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/polysemes/2288 |
| _version_ |
1877242168446287872 |