Time, Flux, and Freewill: Henri Bergson’s Influence on Literature
Document Type
Event
Faculty Mentor
Yishai Cohen
Abstract
From a contemporary perspective on literature the focus on the past can often be situational and separated depending on academic disciplines. The aim of this presentation is to instead showcase the interconnectedness of literature and philosophy in the modernist period as influenced by Henri Bergson. Bergson a French philosopher emphasized freewill, creative exploration, and a rejection of social influences he felt interfered with a purer sense of human existence. Among those social issues he concerned himself with was the regimented quality of living by clock time, the spatialization of existence, and the mechanization of human life. These concerns resonated with literary figures of his time and were then incorporated into their work. Writers such as James Joyce and Virgina Woolfe utilized Bergon’s concepts with themes present in their texts relating to passage of time, emphasis of internal experience, and fragmented narratives. An even more direct connection is poet T.S. Eliot, who studied Bergon’s philosophies and though Eliot did not always maintain agreement with Bergon’s ideas they are echoed heavily in his work. “The Waste Land” showcases this with the speaker’s quest for meaning, time as a flowing force, and the duality of internalized and externalized experiences. It is these themes and connections that place the philosophy of Bergson as an integral influence on modernist literature and by extension authors after the era who were influenced by the modernist period as a continued evolution and interaction with the themes presented.
Time, Flux, and Freewill: Henri Bergson’s Influence on Literature
From a contemporary perspective on literature the focus on the past can often be situational and separated depending on academic disciplines. The aim of this presentation is to instead showcase the interconnectedness of literature and philosophy in the modernist period as influenced by Henri Bergson. Bergson a French philosopher emphasized freewill, creative exploration, and a rejection of social influences he felt interfered with a purer sense of human existence. Among those social issues he concerned himself with was the regimented quality of living by clock time, the spatialization of existence, and the mechanization of human life. These concerns resonated with literary figures of his time and were then incorporated into their work. Writers such as James Joyce and Virgina Woolfe utilized Bergon’s concepts with themes present in their texts relating to passage of time, emphasis of internal experience, and fragmented narratives. An even more direct connection is poet T.S. Eliot, who studied Bergon’s philosophies and though Eliot did not always maintain agreement with Bergon’s ideas they are echoed heavily in his work. “The Waste Land” showcases this with the speaker’s quest for meaning, time as a flowing force, and the duality of internalized and externalized experiences. It is these themes and connections that place the philosophy of Bergson as an integral influence on modernist literature and by extension authors after the era who were influenced by the modernist period as a continued evolution and interaction with the themes presented.
