“the Rates - lie Here”: Dickinson’s Reflections on Value and Quantity

IF 0.2 2区 文学 0 LITERATURE, AMERICAN
G. Sevik
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Abstract

Abstract:Scholars have long recognized the prevalence of economic metaphors and mathematical concepts in Emily Dickinson’s poetry, and several studies have illuminated the role of quantitative reasoning within her work. However, the scholarship has yet to unify these insights into a clear picture of Dickinson’s understanding of value. This essay brings together various threads in order to argue that Dickinson invokes quantitative forms of value ironically, for the purpose of extolling higher, qualitative forms. In this respect, the paper suggests, Dickinson could be described as a counter-quantitative transcendentalist. The study begins by exploring conceptions of value in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century German philosophy, the intellectual origin of American Romanticism and Transcendentalism, with which Dickinson is often associated. The theoretical framework begins by describing Dickinson as a Kantian transcendentalist and culminates in Karl Marx’s famous distinction, in Capital, between use value and exchange value. Marx’s schema demonstrates how quantitative forms of valuation tend to erase qualitative differences, promoting abstraction and dehumanization. This framework opens to a taxonomy of higher values that Dickinson posits as beyond quantification, namely, elusiveness, irreplaceability, wholeness, transcendence, and self-sufficiency. Examples from Dickinson’s poetry illustrate how she satirizes quantitative thought while engaging with these higher, more transcendent values. Finally, a close reading of the poem “For Death - or rather” (Fr644, M 325) showcases Dickinson’s use of poetic techniques to deepen her reflection on worth.
“利率就在这里”:狄金森对价值和数量的思考
摘要:学者们早就认识到艾米丽·迪金森诗歌中经济隐喻和数学概念的普遍性,一些研究阐明了定量推理在她的作品中的作用。然而,学术界尚未将这些见解统一为狄金森对价值理解的清晰画面。这篇文章汇集了各种线索,以论证狄金森讽刺地援引了价值的数量形式,目的是赞美更高的、定性的形式。在这方面,论文认为,狄金森可以被描述为一个反数量的超验主义者。本研究首先探讨了18世纪和19世纪德国哲学中的价值观,这是美国浪漫主义和超验主义的思想渊源,狄金森经常与之联系在一起。该理论框架从将狄金森描述为康德超验主义者开始,并在卡尔·马克思在《资本论》中对使用价值和交换价值的著名区分中达到高潮。马克思的图式表明,数量形式的估价往往会消除质的差异,促进抽象和非人化。这个框架打开了一个更高价值的分类,狄金森认为这是超越量化的,即难以捉摸、不可替代、完整性、超越性和自给自足。狄金森诗歌中的例子说明了她是如何讽刺定量思维的,同时又融入了这些更高、更超然的价值观。最后,细读一首诗《为了死亡——或者更确切地说是为了死亡》(Fr644,M325),展示了狄金森使用诗歌技巧来加深她对价值的反思。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
0.40
自引率
50.00%
发文量
8
期刊介绍: The Emily Dickinson Journal (EDJ) showcases the poet at the center of current critical practices and perspectives. EDJ features writing by talented young scholars as well as work by those established in the field. Contributors explore the many ways in which Dickinson illuminates and challenges. No other journal provides this quality or quantity of scholarship on Dickinson. The Emily Dickinson Journal is sponsored by the Emily Dickinson International Society (EDIS).
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