Rilke, Phenomenology, and the Sensuality of Thought

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Speaker: Rochelle Tobias

This paper considers the implications of Husserl’s philosophy for understanding Rilke’s poetry, which more than any other explores the space of consciousness. Rilke presents consciousness as a world and in so doing overcomes the distinction between inside and outside, self and other, or subject and object. The self in his poetry is identical with what it observes, be it a bird in flight, the unfolding petals of a rose bud, or a discarded doll gathering dust in an attic.