Date of Award
Fall 1999
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
English
First Advisor
Bates, Milton J.
Second Advisor
Duffy, Edward
Abstract
Terry Teachout, a music critic, quotes a passage from the famous painter Fairfield Porter's book, Art in Its Own Terms: Selected Criticism, 1935-1975: "Some art has a very open meaning, and can be written about in terms of this meaning; but the chances are that if the meaning is the most interesting thing about it, it does not stand alone, it does not assert itself. It leans on what it means. An implied meaning is richer." When Teachout first read these words, he says, "I immediately snapped to attention-it was as if an invisible man had clapped his hands next to my ear. These words-both Porter's and Teachout's-might well be spoken about Wallace Stevens...