W.H. Andenと「劇化」 : 現代詩と批評に関するノート

概要

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(1) W. H. Auden's love of 'role-playing' left its traces on his theory and practice of poetry. His characteristic poetic technique can be described in terms of 'dramatization'. In his poetry Auden does not assert his ideas or beliefs, but represents them in the role of dramatic characters. Sometimes he presents a scene or a situation by giving a series of shots which have no connection with each other. Sometimes he focuses on one character and lets the character reveal himself by means of dramatic monologues. In both cases, the poet completely detaches himself from the poem, and manipulates the feelings or attitudes of the character behind the scene. Auden's technique of dramatization can be explained by his own idea of beliefs in poetry. According to Auden, a poet can use any kind of beliefs, whether the poet himself believes them or not, because they provide him with 'interesting poetic possibilities'. He does not deal with the value of beliefs, but rather exploits the emotions or attitudes of those who hold them. (2) Auden's idea of dramatization can be seen in a broader context when it is connected with the criticism of his contemporaries (like C. Brooks, K. Burke, and I. A. Richards). Cleanth Brooks's concept of poetry is based on the idea of dramatization ('A poem is a little drama'), and the application of this concept to Auden's poems results in his emphasis on the 'complexity of attitudes' in Auden. Burke's critical approach, 'Perspective by Incongruity', is similar to Auden's poetic approach in that the poet utilizes any 'ideas' available to him without personally comitting to them. Also I. A. Richards' breadth of knowledge and wide perspectivism are comparable with Auden, although Auden's negative aspect is revealed in Richards' relativism: 'an inability to hold to a consistent point of view'. Which is exactly one important phase of the 'poetry of attitudes'. (3) The lack of center or the absence of physically felt presence was considered to be one of the defects of poetry which arrived after modernism. Some younger poets of the 50's revolted against it. The result is poetry which was written out of the direct confrontation with human experiences: a poetry with the poet inside it. The critical attitudes which supported these poets can be attributed basically to those expressed by F.R. Leavis and the Scrutiny School. But the criticism represented by Leavis reveals a curious fact (and at the same time defines the essential nature of Auden's poetry), when applied to the 'poetry of attitudes'. The criticism sounds valid when it is applied to the description of the characteristic features of the poetry, and points out its absence of personality or its lack of center. But, going a step further, when it is directed to the moralistic side of the poet, i.e. to the poet's intellectual maturity or his mental development, the criticism begins to lose its point. (Hence the inability of Leavis to deal squarely with the later Auden.) The reason is that in the 'poetry of attitudes' the poet himself does not develop, much less mature. What actually develops is not the poet as a man, but his attitudes. (In Auden's case, they get much broader as he grows older.) The 'poetry of attitudes' can go hand in hand with the criticism which is centered in objectivity (like the New Criticism), whereas it easily slips out of the hands of a critic who looks through the poet's technique for his intellectual maturity. Such are the implications of Auden's poetry in relation to the criticism of both England and America during the 40's and 50's, and also to the English and American poetry of the 50's and after.
1981-11-30

W.H. Andenと「劇化」 : 現代詩と批評に関するノート

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