Coleridge and Hinduism: The Unstruck Sound
This book extensively investigates Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s profound ties with the Oriental Tales he read throughout his life, from a philosophical, poetical and metaphysical point of view. It is the only comprehensive and dedicated study on how Hindu works, in particular Charles Wilkins’s first translation of the Bhagavadgītā into English (1785), influenced Coleridge’s poetic imagination, affecting all his writings, his poetry above all. In analysing Coleridge’s quest for what he calls the “One life”, the author’s wish is that readers may find some “joyance” in reading this book, and feel inspired to go deeper into the anāhata nāda, the unstruck sound of the heart, fully enjoying the subtle inner resonances of Coleridge’s poetic word.
Antonella Riem Natale, Australia Medal (AM), founder of the Partnership Studies Group, Director of the Master in Partnership Studies and Native Traditions, University of Udine, is Full Professor of English Literature and Language and President of the Association of Anglistics (ANDA). She has previously served as President of the Italian Deans, and as Director of the Department of Languages and Literatures, Deputy-Vice Chancellor and Pro-Vice Chancellor International at the University of Udine (Italy). She is an editorial advisor for Cambridge Scholars Publishing (UK), and editor-in-chief of the book series ALL and of the online Directory of Open Access Journals journal on world literatures Le Simplegadi. She has more than one hundred and thirty publications, including Ecosustainable Narratives and Partnership Relationships in World Literatures in English (2022) co-edited with Tony Hughes-d’Aeth.
"Reconstructing the relationships between Hinduism and the poetic and essayistic productions of Coleridge, who has always been in search of a sense of unity extending from the individual to the entire society, Coleridge and Hinduism: The Unstruck Sound – the latest in a series of decades-long studies dedicated by the author to the subject – illustrates the intricate interweaving that bound the author of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, “The Aeolian Harp” and “Kubla Khan” to the Eastern philosophies associated with the Advaita Vedanta. This immensely rich volume by Riem Natale, in addition to encompassing an impressive quantity of textual and cultural references of both a literary and a philosophical nature (not exclusively limited to Hinduism), presents itself as one of the most lucid analyses of the characteristic “dialogic dialogism” of Coleridge’s thought and writing methods, once again demonstrating the incredible scope and significance of his poetics."
Professor Saverio Tomaiuolo Lecturer in English Literature and Language, Cassino University, Italy
"… it is precisely with The Unstruck Sound that Riem investigates this universe of poetic, philosophical and metaphysical connections in detail, through a careful textual analysis of both the major Coleridge poems and the works considered early and minor. Drawing on the most recent critical debate, analogies and precise references emerge here to most of the best known production of the English poet; but Riem also explores a lot of unpublished material with passionate dedication and scientific accuracy. In conclusion this work is not only able to provide a detailed critical study of the constant perception of Hindu doctrines in Coleridge’s writings and in particular in his poetry, but is also able to portray the English poet as a sort of ambassador of the very concept of dialogicity, paraphrasing Raimon Panikkar (1918-2010), a world-renowned interreligious and intercultural scholar."
Stefano Beggiora Associate Professor, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italy, in Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale Vol. 59 (2023)
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