The inspired intellect

: Neoplatonism and its reception in Robert Graves, Jorge Luis Borges, Suzanne Lilar, and Kathleen Raine

Abstract

This thesis argues that Neoplatonic philosophy made a significant contribution to the understanding and expression of inspiration in twentieth-century literary culture. In emphasising the importance of a text- based body of philosophical knowledge as well as its extra-textual, ritual aspects, Neoplatonism provided writers with a method of fostering inspiration that highlighted lived, bodily experience in addition to literary and cultural influences. Expounded by thinkers like Plotinus (ca.205-ca.270 CE), Porphyry (ca.234–ca.305 CE), Iamblichus (ca.240–ca.325 CE), and Proclus (ca.410/12-485 CE), Neoplatonism depended on discursive and non-discursive philosophical techniques that sought to develop a person’s capacity to contemplate intelligible reality and to achieve divine union with the transcendent first principle, the One. Within this metaphysical framework, the works of certain poets were viewed as resonating on a higher, noetic level. Although largely dismissed within mainstream academia, Neoplatonism nonetheless offered twentieth-century writers a way of cultivating an intuitive intellect that combined disciplined rationality with the rush of inspiration.

To demonstrate this, I focus on four twentieth-century writers: Robert Graves (1895-1985), Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), Suzanne Lilar (1901-1992), and Kathleen Raine (1908-2003). The analysis of Borges opens up South American receptions of Neoplatonism, while the examination of Lilar and Raine shifts attention to twentieth-century female writers, both of which are overlooked areas of research. These writers used Neoplatonic ideas to help construct their own literary identities and to add metaphysical and symbolic depth to their work. Neoplatonism offered a compelling way of articulating supra-rational experiences of inspiration amid the challenges and possibilities raised by both literary modernism and the social, political, cultural, scientific, and technological changes of the twentieth century. Their reading of Neoplatonism emphasised the “receptivity” of the reader and acknowledged how different responses (emotional, psychological, cognitive, physical) to an ancient text could alter one’s overall understanding of it. This thesis therefore shows how reception studies may be enriched through consideration of a fuller spectrum of readers’ responses. It also foregrounds the ability of writers outside the academy to make visible important and otherwise neglected aspects of literary and philosophical history.

Date of Award	30 Jul 2020
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of St Andrews
Supervisor	Crystal Addey (Supervisor) & Emma Buckley (Supervisor)