{"title":"“鸦片食者自诩为哲学家”:德1821年《忏悔录》中的身体主体性和智力自我塑造","authors":"D. S. Roberts","doi":"10.3366/rom.2021.0518","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"De Quincey's assertion in the 1821 ‘Confessions’ that the effects of opium were ‘always, and in the highest degree, to excite and stimulate the system’, establishes him in contemporary medical discourse as a follower of Brunonianism. Yet, against this indubitably pharmacological and bodily strain, the ‘Confessions’ also insists upon an intellectual aspect to the opium-eater's dreaming, his ability to dream imaginatively. This essay seeks to relate these discursive tensions in De Quincey, rooted in Enlightenment ideas of the human nervous system held in equilibrium, to his self-presentation as an addict and a philosopher in his autobiographical writings, and to his critical thinking. As I argue, the physiological theory of Brunonianism in the ‘Confessions’ is complemented by an equal emphasis on moral and intellectual development embedded in the ideas of Hartleian psychology which provide a balancing view of body and (embodied) mind in De Quincey's thinking.","PeriodicalId":42939,"journal":{"name":"Romanticism","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3000,"publicationDate":"2021-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"‘The Opium-Eater Boasteth Himself to be a Philosopher’: Bodily Subjection and Intellectual Self-fashioning in De Quincey's 1821 ‘Confessions’\",\"authors\":\"D. S. Roberts\",\"doi\":\"10.3366/rom.2021.0518\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"De Quincey's assertion in the 1821 ‘Confessions’ that the effects of opium were ‘always, and in the highest degree, to excite and stimulate the system’, establishes him in contemporary medical discourse as a follower of Brunonianism. Yet, against this indubitably pharmacological and bodily strain, the ‘Confessions’ also insists upon an intellectual aspect to the opium-eater's dreaming, his ability to dream imaginatively. This essay seeks to relate these discursive tensions in De Quincey, rooted in Enlightenment ideas of the human nervous system held in equilibrium, to his self-presentation as an addict and a philosopher in his autobiographical writings, and to his critical thinking. As I argue, the physiological theory of Brunonianism in the ‘Confessions’ is complemented by an equal emphasis on moral and intellectual development embedded in the ideas of Hartleian psychology which provide a balancing view of body and (embodied) mind in De Quincey's thinking.\",\"PeriodicalId\":42939,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Romanticism\",\"volume\":\" \",\"pages\":\"\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.3000,\"publicationDate\":\"2021-09-29\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"1\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Romanticism\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.3366/rom.2021.0518\",\"RegionNum\":2,\"RegionCategory\":\"文学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"0\",\"JCRName\":\"LITERATURE\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Romanticism","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3366/rom.2021.0518","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LITERATURE","Score":null,"Total":0}
‘The Opium-Eater Boasteth Himself to be a Philosopher’: Bodily Subjection and Intellectual Self-fashioning in De Quincey's 1821 ‘Confessions’
De Quincey's assertion in the 1821 ‘Confessions’ that the effects of opium were ‘always, and in the highest degree, to excite and stimulate the system’, establishes him in contemporary medical discourse as a follower of Brunonianism. Yet, against this indubitably pharmacological and bodily strain, the ‘Confessions’ also insists upon an intellectual aspect to the opium-eater's dreaming, his ability to dream imaginatively. This essay seeks to relate these discursive tensions in De Quincey, rooted in Enlightenment ideas of the human nervous system held in equilibrium, to his self-presentation as an addict and a philosopher in his autobiographical writings, and to his critical thinking. As I argue, the physiological theory of Brunonianism in the ‘Confessions’ is complemented by an equal emphasis on moral and intellectual development embedded in the ideas of Hartleian psychology which provide a balancing view of body and (embodied) mind in De Quincey's thinking.
期刊介绍:
The most distinguished scholarly journal of its kind edited and published in Britain, Romanticism offers a forum for the flourishing diversity of Romantic studies today. Focusing on the period 1750-1850, it publishes critical, historical, textual and bibliographical essays prepared to the highest scholarly standards, reflecting the full range of current methodological and theoretical debate. With an extensive reviews section, Romanticism constitutes a vital international arena for scholarly debate in this liveliest field of literary studies.