%0 Journal Article 
%A Cardone, Anastasia
%T Where the twin oceans of beauty and horror meet: an aesthetic analysis of Annie Dillard's "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek"

%D 2016
%@ 2171-9594
%U http://hdl.handle.net/10017/27377
%X Although  Annie  Dillard's  masterpiece “Pilgrim  at  Tinker  Creek” (1974)  has  conventionally  been analyzed as a piece of nature writing  embedded in the Thoreauvian tradition and it has extensively been studied, little attention has been paid to the aesthetic concepts that underlie the text and that may serve to better comprehend Dillard's take on nature. Therefore, this research applies the concepts of Baumgarten’s “science of sensible knowledge” to the narrator's perceptions in order to demonstrate that Dillard's ultimate message is the acceptance of the whole nature, even in its seemingly inhuman places. The study begins  with  the  analysis  of  the  structure  of  the  book,  which  outlines  two  types  of  experience  of  nature related  to  mystical  paths  that  lead  to  God  in  Neoplatonic  theology.  The “via  positive” is  associated  to  the aesthetic  concept  of  beauty  and  to  the  subject’s active participation in the experience of seeing, which is defined as a verbalization. On the other hand, the “via negative” is linked to the concept of the sublime and the experience of seeing as a letting go.  Furthermore,  the  analysis  employs  and  develops  Linda  Smith's valid conclusions (1991) to show how these two paths join in a third mystical and aesthetic path, the “via creative”.  By  leaving  the  interpretation  of  natural  signs  open-ended,  Dillard's  modern  vision  enables  the author's  total  acceptance of  nature's  freedom,  which  fosters  its  beautiful  intricacy  as  well  as  its  horrible fecundity. Thus, nature's creativity becomes the basis for an aesthetics of the totality of nature, which can be defined as nature’s wholeness and which leads human beings to accept and respect nature for what it truly is, freed from any prejudices.

%K Annie  Dillard
%K Pilgrim  at  Tinker  Creek
%K Aesthetic  experience
%K Beauty  and  sublime
%K Via creativa
%K Nature’s wholeness
%K Experiencia estética
%K Belleza y sublime
%K Vía creativa
%K Integridad de la naturaleza
%K Literatura
%K Literature
%K Medio ambiente
%K Environmental science
%~ Biblioteca Universidad de Alcala