Black Suns of Melancholy Hart Crane’s Treatment of the Sun Motif in the Light of Mircea Eliade’s Study of Solar Cults

The aim of the article is to examine Hart Crane’s use of solar imagery in the light of Mircea Eliade’s study of solar cults. The Crane poem under consideration is his elegy for Harry Crosby, a publisher, fellow poet and friend, who was a sun devotee and one of the most flamboyant figures on the 1920...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Alicja Piechucka
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Association for American Studies 2013-01-01
Series:European Journal of American Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/9946
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1841558110496358400
author Alicja Piechucka
author_facet Alicja Piechucka
author_sort Alicja Piechucka
collection DOAJ
description The aim of the article is to examine Hart Crane’s use of solar imagery in the light of Mircea Eliade’s study of solar cults. The Crane poem under consideration is his elegy for Harry Crosby, a publisher, fellow poet and friend, who was a sun devotee and one of the most flamboyant figures on the 1920s American literary scene. The work by Eliade on which the article draws is his seminal book Patterns in Comparative Religion. Filtered through the insights provided by the Romanian-born scholar, Crane’s elegy, all too often dismissed as a minor poem, takes on new meanings. In the light of Eliade’s illuminating analysis of solar symbolism and the role the sun plays in different cultures, the poem emerges as a carefully constructed reflection on the artist’s fate. The article demonstrates that Crane’s use of seemingly familiar solar imagery may in fact serve to highlight the need for inspiration, the pursuit of perfection and completeness or the yearning for artistic immortality - issues inscribed into a neo romantic view of the artist’s condition.
format Article
id doaj-art-4b858ffe884d40ca9d567353437340e2
institution Kabale University
issn 1991-9336
language English
publishDate 2013-01-01
publisher European Association for American Studies
record_format Article
series European Journal of American Studies
spelling doaj-art-4b858ffe884d40ca9d567353437340e22025-01-06T09:10:42ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362013-01-018110.4000/ejas.9946Black Suns of Melancholy Hart Crane’s Treatment of the Sun Motif in the Light of Mircea Eliade’s Study of Solar CultsAlicja PiechuckaThe aim of the article is to examine Hart Crane’s use of solar imagery in the light of Mircea Eliade’s study of solar cults. The Crane poem under consideration is his elegy for Harry Crosby, a publisher, fellow poet and friend, who was a sun devotee and one of the most flamboyant figures on the 1920s American literary scene. The work by Eliade on which the article draws is his seminal book Patterns in Comparative Religion. Filtered through the insights provided by the Romanian-born scholar, Crane’s elegy, all too often dismissed as a minor poem, takes on new meanings. In the light of Eliade’s illuminating analysis of solar symbolism and the role the sun plays in different cultures, the poem emerges as a carefully constructed reflection on the artist’s fate. The article demonstrates that Crane’s use of seemingly familiar solar imagery may in fact serve to highlight the need for inspiration, the pursuit of perfection and completeness or the yearning for artistic immortality - issues inscribed into a neo romantic view of the artist’s condition.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/9946Harry CrosbyJosephine BigelowHart CraneF.Scott FitzgeraldErnest HemingwayEdith Wharton
spellingShingle Alicja Piechucka
Black Suns of Melancholy Hart Crane’s Treatment of the Sun Motif in the Light of Mircea Eliade’s Study of Solar Cults
European Journal of American Studies
Harry Crosby
Josephine Bigelow
Hart Crane
F.Scott Fitzgerald
Ernest Hemingway
Edith Wharton
title Black Suns of Melancholy Hart Crane’s Treatment of the Sun Motif in the Light of Mircea Eliade’s Study of Solar Cults
title_full Black Suns of Melancholy Hart Crane’s Treatment of the Sun Motif in the Light of Mircea Eliade’s Study of Solar Cults
title_fullStr Black Suns of Melancholy Hart Crane’s Treatment of the Sun Motif in the Light of Mircea Eliade’s Study of Solar Cults
title_full_unstemmed Black Suns of Melancholy Hart Crane’s Treatment of the Sun Motif in the Light of Mircea Eliade’s Study of Solar Cults
title_short Black Suns of Melancholy Hart Crane’s Treatment of the Sun Motif in the Light of Mircea Eliade’s Study of Solar Cults
title_sort black suns of melancholy hart crane s treatment of the sun motif in the light of mircea eliade s study of solar cults
topic Harry Crosby
Josephine Bigelow
Hart Crane
F.Scott Fitzgerald
Ernest Hemingway
Edith Wharton
url https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/9946
work_keys_str_mv AT alicjapiechucka blacksunsofmelancholyhartcranestreatmentofthesunmotifinthelightofmirceaeliadesstudyofsolarcults