The Poet as Phenomenologist : Rilke and the New Poems

The Poet as Phenomenologist: Rilke and the New Poems opens up new perspectives on the relation between Rilke's poetry and phenomenological philosophy, illustrating the ways in which poetry can offer an exceptional response to the philosophical problem of dualism. Drawing on the work of Husserl, Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, Luke Fischer makes a new contribution to the tradition of phenomenological poetics and expands the debate among Germanists concerning the phenomenological status of Rilke's poetry, which has been severely limited to comparisons of Rilke and Husserl.

Fischer explicates an implicit phenomenology of perception in Rilke's writings from his middle period (1902-1910). He argues that Rilke cultivated an artistic perception that, in a philosophically significant manner, overcomes the opposition between the sensuous and the intelligible while simultaneously transcending the boundaries of philosophy. Fischer offers novel interpretations of central poems from Rilke's Neue Gedichte (1907) and Der neuen Gedichte anderer Teil (1908) and frames them as the ultimate articulation of Rilke's non-dualistic vision. He thus demonstrates the continuity between Rilke and phenomenology while arguing that poetry, in this case, provides the most adequate response to a philosophical problem.

“This thick volume's appeal will be limited to two small but intellectually impassioned audiences: scholars of the interrelations of philosophy and poetry in general and those specifically interested in Rilke as a philosophical poet in the tradition of Hölderlin ... Fischer's command of the vast secondary literature of his chosen fields is remarkable. The author does a good job reminding readers of what has been covered as the text moves along ... A remarkable effort of great erudition and insight, this book will find a place in the field of phenomenology of literary aesthetics as well as Rilke studies. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and researchers.” —M. McCulloh, Davidson College, CHOICE

“Fischer manages expertly to balance a compelling theoretical interpretation of Rilke’s New Poems with all the sensitivity to form of a practitioner … By reading Rilke’s New Poems as a form of phenomenology in their own right, Fischer performs the original hermeneutic task of proceeding from the unity of what is actually being said, to explain what the poem wishes to say. He does so with an exquisite attention to form that offers compelling new readings of Rilke’s work. As such, The Poet as Phenomenologist makes a substantial and original contribution to scholarship on Rilke as a “philosophical poet” … as well as to broader attempts … to break down the dichotomy between literature and philosophy in German letters.” - Monatshefte

“While the New Poems have already been the subject of much critical inquiry and commentary, Fischer makes the case for reading them freshly. ... This is a cogent and enlightening volume that brings a new, systematic and thoughtful set of perspectives to the understanding of Rilke’s New Poems.” -Paul Hetherington, University of Canberra, Cordite Poetry Review

“The analysis of Rilke’s practice and texts in Fischer’s book can also be read as an example – of what can be done at the crossroads of literary criticism and philosophy, and also, possibly, of a practice of seeing / writing that the phenomenologist can adopt.” ­– Phenomenological Reviews