The Space Between: Literary Epiphany in the Work of Annie Dillard

461 Pages·1992·1.16 MB·English

by  Sandra H. Johnson

The Space between : Literary Epiphany in
title:
the Work of Annie Dillard
author: Johnson, Sandra Humble.
publisher: Kent State University Press
isbn10 | asin: 0873384466
print isbn13: 9780873384469
ebook isbn13: 9780585262284
language: English
Dillard, Annie--Criticism and interpretation,
subject Space and time in literature, Epiphanies in
literature.
publication date: 1992
lcc: PS3554.I398Z72 1992eb
ddc: 818/.5409
Dillard, Annie--Criticism and interpretation,
subject: Space and time in literature, Epiphanies in
literature.
Page iii
The Space between
Literary Epiphany in the Work of Annie Dillard
Sandra Humble Johnson
©1992 by The Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio 44242
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 91-11437
ISBN 0-87338-446-6
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Johnson, Sandra Humble, 1943
The space between : literary epiphany in the work of Annie Dillard / Sandra Humble Johnson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-87338-446-6 (alk. paper)
1. Dillard, AnnieCriticism and interpretation. 2. Epiphanies in literature. I. Title.
PS3554.I398Z72 1992
818'.5409dc20 v 91-11437
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication data are available.
Page v
For Dan and Brooke
Page vii
Contents
Preface ix
1. The Same Old Vision 1
The Appearance of Epiphany
2. The Cheshire Cat's Grin 25
The Need for Epiphany
3. The Circle Is Unbroken 62
The Shape of Epiphanic Time
4. Upstream and Down 103
Surfaces and Directions in Epiphanic Time
5. When Everything Else Has Gone 127
Epiphanic Landscapes
6. Feints at the Unknown 178
Epiphany on and off the Page
Notes 198
Works Cited 199
Index 204
Page ix
Preface
Long before I came to the writing of Annie Dillard, I was fascinated
by a moment in language I had perceived as glowing. Wordsworth had
talked about it and called it a "spot of time"; but what intrigued me
most was his achievement of that moment when he provided no
explanation for its power. So when I first read Pilgrim at Tinker
Creek, a work suggested as part of a wilderness study, I was
astounded by its condensed, gemlike language that not only
considered the phenomenon of illumination as a central theme, but
offered up these fiery moments page after page with poetic power and
biting energy. Dillard's writing seemed at once ancient and
contemporary. With its metaphysical elasticity and glittering words, it
echoed the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Pilgrim, I realized then,
is not a "wilderness" study or an environmental casebook, unless it is
the wilderness of the spirit, which in one sense is its subject. And the
redeeming force throughout is Dillard's epiphanic moment.
I later discovered that all of Annie Dillard's writing was a perusal of
illumination and, thus, I set out to discover the dynamic of this
language phenomenon. But I wanted to understand its meaning as
something more than the bloodless operations of a literary device; I
wanted to verify what I had sensed as the intuitive patterns of
epiphanists as they poured their most personal spiritual events into
wordsWordsworth's childhood "spot" refracting the image of a woman
with wind-whipped garments, Hopkins's "inscape" reflected from the
wing of a falcon, T. S. Eliot's agonized "still point'' whispered in a
deserted English garden, and Dillard's ecstatic "dot" of self reacting to
a cedar tree filled with doves. Most of all, I wanted to discover why
these moments became my moments; why I felt a mysterious
ownership of certain words, particular passages.

Page x
This book is the culmination of that search; it reveals that the organic
energy of literary epiphany springs as much from the absence of
language as from its presence. Along the way I have corroborated my
initial reactions to epiphany by uncovering the study of others, whom
I have come to regard as my "epiphanic family," although they are no
doubt unaware of our relationship. Robert Langbaum, Morris Beja,
Ashton Nichols, and Martin Bidney have all thought long on the
subject, evidenced by their scholarly and what seems to me joyous
appraisal of a particularly rarified topic. I now offer back to them, and
to all readers who have come to value the magnificent prose-poetry of
Annie Dillard, my own findings on the dynamics of language when it
approaches the glowing event known as literary epiphany.
I want to thank those teachers, colleagues, and friends at Bowling
Green State University who first read my manuscript and encouraged
me in the completion of this project. Dr. Ralph Wolfe's enthusiastic
intelligence and spirited knowledge of Wordsworth has sustained me
since the beginning. Dr. James Harner graciously offered to continue
his careful reading and commenting on the manuscript, even after a
move to Texas A&M University. Both Dr. Howard McCord and Dr.
Ruth Schneider participated in the joy of the subject matter. In
addition, I want to acknowledge the assistance of the Department of
English, particularly Dr. Alice Philbin, who provided me with two
doctoral fellowships in 1988 and 1989 so that I could continue to
write.
Several other occasions and persons have helped my progress toward
this publication. First, Dr. August Nigro and the National Endowment
for the Humanities allowed me to increase my knowledge of the
literary epiphany in an especially significant setting when I received a
grant for study at Manchester College, Oxford, England, in the
summer of 1988. Also, Barbara Korn at Wittenberg University gave
me invaluable assistance with the mechanical aspects of the
manuscript.
I am extremely grateful to the editors at Kent State University Press
for their sensitive and intelligent handling of this work: John Hubbell,
Julia Morton, and Linda Cuckovich have been consistently
encouraging.
To my parents, Dorothy and Tracy Humble, I owe the foundation on
which the concept of epiphany rests: their dreams, energy, and
unconditional love have been the models for my life.
My daughter Brooke has helped me in that she continued to be an
understanding child in the midst of piles of books, legions of notes,
and long writing hours. Finally, Dan my friend and husband, gave me
the emotional luxury of writing in an environment where I received
only support and love. Without him I could not have written this book.