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The Non-Place of Eros. On John Keats and the Logic of Flowers and Bees

Henning, Peter LU (2017) In Romantik: Journal for the Study of Romanticisms 6(1). p.63-83
Abstract
The following article investigates Keats's expansion of the notion of Eros, arguing that it forms a dialectic relation between the self-sufficiency of the lover and a dream of mutual exchange between the subject and its object of desire. In order to discern the specific concerns of Keats in this regard, the study analyzes a letter sent to his friend John Hamilton Reynolds on the 19th of February 1818, suggesting that it constitutes a paradigmatic focal point from which a Keatsian logic of desire may be subsequently outlined. The letter in question is well known to romantic scholars, famous for its positing and purported contrasting of two different modes of subjectivity: that of the flower, and that of the bee. As I want to contend,... (More)
The following article investigates Keats's expansion of the notion of Eros, arguing that it forms a dialectic relation between the self-sufficiency of the lover and a dream of mutual exchange between the subject and its object of desire. In order to discern the specific concerns of Keats in this regard, the study analyzes a letter sent to his friend John Hamilton Reynolds on the 19th of February 1818, suggesting that it constitutes a paradigmatic focal point from which a Keatsian logic of desire may be subsequently outlined. The letter in question is well known to romantic scholars, famous for its positing and purported contrasting of two different modes of subjectivity: that of the flower, and that of the bee. As I want to contend, however, the issues of subjectivity raised by this text have not been adequately addressed, either with regard to their psychological or literary significance. Tracing the bee motif historically, the article discusses its appropriation by Keats, in order to highlight its problematical role in his
lyrical work. Against this background, the letter to Reynolds is shown to exemplify a conflicting, utopian, discourse of being and loving: a non-place of Eros.
(Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
The following article investigates Keats’s expansion of the notion of Eros, arguing that it forms a dialectic relation between the self-sufficiency of the lover and a dream of mutual exchange between the subject and its object of desire. In order to discern the specific concerns of Keats in this regard, the study analyzes a letter sent to his friend John Hamilton Reynolds on the 19th of February 1818, suggesting that it constitutes a paradigmatic focal point from which a Keatsian logic of desire may be subsequently outlined. The letter in question is well
known to romantic scholars, famous for its positing and purported contrasting of two different modes of subjectivity: that of the flower, and that of the bee. As I want to contend,... (More)
The following article investigates Keats’s expansion of the notion of Eros, arguing that it forms a dialectic relation between the self-sufficiency of the lover and a dream of mutual exchange between the subject and its object of desire. In order to discern the specific concerns of Keats in this regard, the study analyzes a letter sent to his friend John Hamilton Reynolds on the 19th of February 1818, suggesting that it constitutes a paradigmatic focal point from which a Keatsian logic of desire may be subsequently outlined. The letter in question is well
known to romantic scholars, famous for its positing and purported contrasting of two different modes of subjectivity: that of the flower, and that of the bee. As I want to contend, however, the issues of subjectivity raised by this text have not been adequately addressed, either with regard to their psychological or literary significance. Tracing the bee motif historically, the article discusses its appropriation by Keats, in order to highlight its problematical role in his
lyrical work. Against this background, the letter to Reynolds is shown to exemplify a conflicting, utopian, discourse of being and loving: a non-place of Eros.
(Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Apiculture, Roland Barthes, Chronophilia, Chronophobia, Desire, Utopia, Apiculture, Roland Barthes, Chronophilia, Chronophobia, Desire, Romanticism, Keats, Utopia
in
Romantik: Journal for the Study of Romanticisms
volume
6
issue
1
pages
63 - 83
publisher
V&R unipress
ISSN
2245-599X
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2520e2ac-524a-41f5-9285-130ed28dec41
date added to LUP
2018-01-31 16:04:52
date last changed
2020-04-15 14:26:45
@article{2520e2ac-524a-41f5-9285-130ed28dec41,
  abstract     = {{The following article investigates Keats's expansion of the notion of Eros, arguing that it forms a dialectic relation between the self-sufficiency of the lover and a dream of mutual exchange between the subject and its object of desire. In order to discern the specific concerns of Keats in this regard, the study analyzes a letter sent to his friend John Hamilton Reynolds on the 19th of February 1818, suggesting that it constitutes a paradigmatic focal point from which a Keatsian logic of desire may be subsequently outlined. The letter in question is well known to romantic scholars, famous for its positing and purported contrasting of two different modes of subjectivity: that of the flower, and that of the bee. As I want to contend, however, the issues of subjectivity raised by this text have not been adequately addressed, either with regard to their psychological or literary significance. Tracing the bee motif historically, the article discusses its appropriation by Keats, in order to highlight its problematical role in his<br/>lyrical work. Against this background, the letter to Reynolds is shown to exemplify a conflicting, utopian, discourse of being and loving: a non-place of Eros.<br/>}},
  author       = {{Henning, Peter}},
  issn         = {{2245-599X}},
  keywords     = {{Apiculture, Roland Barthes, Chronophilia, Chronophobia, Desire, Utopia; Apiculture; Roland Barthes; Chronophilia; Chronophobia; Desire; Romanticism; Keats; Utopia}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{63--83}},
  publisher    = {{V&R unipress}},
  series       = {{Romantik: Journal for the Study of Romanticisms}},
  title        = {{The Non-Place of Eros. On John Keats and the Logic of Flowers and Bees}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/38854375/104382_214195_1_SM.pdf}},
  volume       = {{6}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}