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The Zen Of Stevens, Rebecca Dickens

Masters Theses

Using comparative studies as background, I develop a Zen model for reading Stevens, arguing that his poetry works in the manner of Zen anecdotes and that it can be understood better by understanding Zen. Three critical studies of Wallace Stevens and Zen assert the Zen-like qualities of Stevens' poetry. Stevens has affinities with Zen writers in three areas: use of language, explorations into the nature of thought, and the structure of anecdotes and poems.

I develop a terminology in order to construct my model, giving attention to the definitions and interrelations of terms such as logical thought, figurative thought, paradox, …