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Document Details : Title: Kunst, religie en de gestorven geliefde Subtitle: Over de filosofische relevantie van Gerrit Achterbergs poëzie Author(s): FAURE, Gerbert Journal: Tijdschrift voor Filosofie Volume: 87 Issue: 4 Date: 2025 Pages: 561-586 DOI: 10.2143/TVF.87.4.3295731 Abstract : When one leafs through the approximately 1,000 pages of Gerrit Achterberg’s (1905-1962) Collected Poems, it becomes apparent how often a first-person figure addresses an absent beloved whom he attempts to resurrect from the dead. In this paper, I argue that the metaphor of the deceased beloved in Achterberg’s work carries a dual philosophical significance. On the one hand, there are poems in which the speaker tries to preserve the memory of the deceased beloved through language. On the other hand, there are poems in which the speaker reflects that the beloved is not truly dead, but continues to exist on a metaphysical level. These two roles of the deceased beloved represent two distinct human desires: the desire to capture reality in language, and the desire to become one with reality. The first is of an artistic nature, while the second is religious. Achterberg’s poetry is philosophically intriguing because it simultaneously expresses and problematizes both desires. |
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