The Symbolic Imagination: Coleridge and the Romantic Tradition (Studies in Religion and Literature) [Paperback]

Robert J. Barth (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 082322113X | ISBN-13: 978-0823221134 | Publication Date: July 1, 2001 | Edition: 2

The original edition of this book studied the nature of symbol in Coleridge's work, showing that it is central to Coleridge's intellectual endeavor in poetry and criticism as well as in philosophy and theology. Symbol was for Coleridge essentially a religious reality, that participates in the nature of a sacrament as an encounter between material and spiritual reality. The author shows how Wordsworth and Coleridge developed a poetry, unlike that of the eighteenth century, based on symbolic imagination. He then related this symbolic poetry to the tradition of romanticism itself Richard Harter Fogle wrote of the original edition: This is a just, graceful, and penetrating book. Considering the complexity of the material, it is lucid and often eloquent. Father Barth's interpretation of Coleridge's doctrine of symbol is essentially original, as are his illustrative readings from the poems. His substantial essay moves harmoniously from Coleridge's particular insights to their wider implications for romanticism.In this new edition, the author has enlarged the scope of his study, first reviewing in an introductory chapter the important scholarship of the past twenty years on symbol and imagination. He then goes on to give his work a deeper theological foundation, and to extend his argument to embrace what he calls Coleridge's scriptural imagination.As in the original edition, he concludes that symbol is a phenomenon profoundly linked with the experience of romanticism itself and with a fundamental change in religious sensibility that has echoes even in our own time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...No work will come close to this one in scholarship of the last fifty years on Coleridge and symbol." -- James Engell, Harvard University

"Barth's book is an important one." -- America

"This study's an excellent consideration o the religious dimension of symbol in Coleridge's thought and its relation to English Romanticism." -- Library Journal --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

J. Robert Barth, S.J. is James P. McIntyre Professor of English at Boston College and is author of several books, including Coleridge and Christian Doctrine and co-editor of The Symbolic Imagination: Coleridge and the Romantic Tradition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Fordham University Press; 2 edition (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082322113X
• ISBN-13: 978-0823221134
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,151,740 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Romanticism, Imagination and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, April 25, 2002

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This review is from: The Symbolic Imagination: Coleridge and the Romantic Tradition (Studies in Religion and Literature) (Paperback)

Catholic priest Robert Barth outlines Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Romantic thought in a concise and easy to read manner. No, Coleridge was not just a poet; he was also a learned theologian and classicist. His Romantic thought consists of elevating the Imagination above mechanical reason, especially in theology. The Imagination is where we perceive symbol, and where we create symbols, such as in art, poetry, or music. When we create symbols, we participate in the creative action of God, the great "I Am." Thus for Coleridge, a worship service is a much better way to meet God than say, compiling a systematic theology. This is because the worship service appeals to the imagination through the symbols: bread, wine, stained glass, liturgy, music, etc.

Symbols are not "mere" representations. Symbols participate in the reality they symbolize, so that a handshake actually participates in brotherhood. A symbol, such as a handshake, is translucent and reveals eternal truth in the temporal. A symbol is almost synonymous with "sacrament," in that speaking a word of forgiveness, or breaking bread and wine, are symbols that point to actions and realities outside of themselves. While allegory fades and may be deconstructed, symbols are lasting and enduring, and are all somehow united with one another and God. Thus Coleridge owes much to neo-Platonism and the early Christian writers.

As an example of the differences between mechanical and imaginative perception, Coleridge believes that the mechanical mind only sees juxtapositions and order. A doctrine such as the Trinity seems absurd when perceived rationally, but in the imagination, the three and the one may "interpenetrate." This has implications for interpretation of the Bible. Chapter 6 of Barth deals primarily with this. Coleridge believes that literalists and anti-Christian scoffers all err, because they interpret the Bible in a mechanical way. They miss truths for words. Coleridge does not deny the historicity of the Bible per se, but believes that literal interpretation asks the wrong questions. Rather Biblical symbols, such as Jesus as both priest and sacrifice, while absurd to the literal mind, enrich the Bible's testimony when perceived by the Imagination.

This book is a great primer on Coleridge's thought. I seem to have been a kind of Romantic/Platonist since birth, so what Coleridge says resonates. Barth offers a clear summary of Coleridge's thought and current implications. If you have ever thought that mechanical "rational" thought misses meanings in life that you experience, Coleridge's philosophy might be for you. If not, buy it for historical study. The chapters are:

1. Theological Foundations of Coleridge on Imagination
2. Symbol as Sacrament
3. The Poetry of Reference
4. Poetry of Encounter: Wordsworth
5. Poetry of Encounter: Coleridge
6. The Scriptural Imagination
7. Symbol and Romanticism
8. Symbol and Religion: Past and Future