That literary scholarship is experiencing an "ethical turn" has become something of a commonplace, and seminal to this "turn" is the use of literary works as examples in moral-philosophical arguments. So far, however, ethical criticism has dealt almost exclusively with narrative texts—little work has been done on poetry. I argue that considering poetry in this context not only expands the corpus of exemplary works but also reveals methodological caveats applicable to ethical critics of poetry and fiction alike. Poetic examples raise new doubts about the moral authority of literature—doubts elided in the narrative-based discussions that currently prevail.
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Ekphrastic mode, with its emphasis on visual art, affords poets unique opportunities for exploring the limits of verbal art: for some writers, ekphrasis becomes almost a form of ars poetica by proxy. This is the case in many of Derek Mahon's ekphrases, as is well documented: Hugh Haughton proposes that for Mahon, paintings 'become…a site of metamorphosis and a figure for poetry'; 1 Terence Brown observes that 'Mahon's poems on paintings are striking occasions in his work when the claims of art itself are tested.' 2 Mahon's self-reflexive use of ekphrasis has received substantial critical attention not only from Haughton and Brown but also
The introduction gives essential background on critical and philosophical debates about the moral exemplarity of literature. It shows how debates about the use of literary works as examples in moral philosophy have focused on narrative writing while, in the main, ignoring poetry. The chapter introduces the value of bringing lyric poetry into these debates, proposing that reading Seamus Heaney and Geoffrey Hill from the perspective of their preoccupation with moral exemplarity can offer transformative new critical perspectives. Most importantly, it argues for the importance of the concept of exemplarity in the moral thought of both poets.
This chapter shows how ideas of exemplarity provide a key to understanding some of the ongoing critical questions surrounding Hill’s prose. The lack of linearity of Hill’s prose has prompted considerable critical attention and scepticism. I propose that treating exemplarity as a structuring principle of his prose style—as well as the focus for some of its content—provides a way into some of these interpretative difficulties. The chapter offers a close analysis of ‘Civil Polity and the Confessing State’ and other essays in order to show how the associative structure of Hill’s writing proceeds through the presentation of exemplary instances. An analysis of reviews in Style and Faith shows how adherence (or lack thereof) to the example set by earlier writers emerges as one of Hill’s key critical desiderata: a guiding principle in his assessment of other writers.
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