An alternative modernism : Yeats, Jung and Gibran

Abstract

This thesis will examine the poetry of Gibran Kahlil Gibran and W.B. Yeats within the context of Modernism. It will highlight the parallels between the two poets styles, particularly in their use of symbolism and, using Jungs explanations of alchemy and the unconscious, prove how the work of these authors was distinct from those of their contemporaries. Being a post-war time of self-experimentation, Modernism produced many artists who indulged in different forms of automation and stream-of-consciousness writing, séances, and psychoanalysis. Symbolism and the reformation of ancient texts were also very common among the most popular Modernists, such as T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. This thesis will show, however, that Gibran and Yeats revived ancient texts in a more retrospective, timeless manner, with a hybrid style that falls somewhere between Symbolism, Modernism, Romanticism and Occultism. Furthermore, the conclusion will briefly point out how this style greatly influenced the subsequent culture, and set the stage for an aromantic era of hippies and beatniks.