The Split World of Gerard Manley Hopkins: An Essay in Semiotic Phenomenology by Dennis Sobolev (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 605 intellectual who is also a creative artist" (1) means that Fleishman's undertaking entails a separation of the "intellectual" from the "creative:' The works that suffer most from this split are of course the novels for, conversely, Fleishman's reading of Eliot's non-fictional pieces and even of the several poems that he explicates, where ideas "unincarnated" reign, is often tremendously illuminating. Indeed, his last chapter, on Eliot's last essays, does a great service in bringing to light the value of this post-fictional work and reminding us of the tremendous intellect still at work. For readers of Christianity and Literature who are familiar with Eliot's novels, Fleishman's identification of her as "a longstanding secularist" (205), particularly noteworthy in coming in the midst of his effort to understand how she could create in her last novel, Daniel Deronda, such a vivid and respectful picture of a seriously religious Jew, may seem to reflect his own view rather than that of his subject. This impressive intellect sees her best as an impressive intellect, and in doing so he offers Eliot readers fresh and profound insights into her ideas qua ideas. Marilyn Orr Laurentian University The Split World ofGerardManley Hopkins: An Essay in Semiotic Phenomenology. By Dennis Sobolev. Washington, DC. The Catholic University of America Press, 2011. ISBN:978-0-8132-1855-7. Pp. xiv + 360. $69.95. Dennis Sobolevs study of the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins is an extraordinarily ambitious undertaking, as the page count alone reveals. Sobolev maintains that it is his "emphasis upon the synchronic analysis of the complex configuration of conscious meanings in his [Hopkins'] writings that makes it possible to solve several pivotal problems of Hopkins studies which-for approximately four decades-have been considered insoluble" (4-5). Sobolev identifies "three major approaches" in Hopkins criticism ("'historical: 'linguistic', and 'biographical"), all of which consider the meaning of his poems to be "more or less clear;' although it "remains extremely controversial" (7-8). Attempts to give an account of Hopkins' poetry "have revealed various antinomies;' such as "the most orthodox doxological statements" combined with "apparent heterodoxy;' "rationalism with mysticism;' "ecstatic declarations of faith with bouts ofloneliness and inner emptiness;' and so on (8). What is more, Sobolev continues, "this is much more than just a semantic clash between different poems; diverse and often mutually exclusivereadings appear to have exposed the fact that this semantic multiplicity exists within single poems as well" (8). Sobolev sets out to resolve the equivocal implications of Hopkins' poetry by 606 CHRISTIANITY AND LITERATURE the method named "phenomenological semantics" in his subtitle. The approach is phenomenological because it "aims to analyze the configuration of meanings in his poems, as well as within the philosophical experiential world of his writings in general" (1). The qualifier semiotic is "related to the necessity of stressing the textual aspect of analysis, as opposed to the more familiar phenomenological orientation toward the contents of consciousness" (3), as well as to the vague, popular associations of "phenomenology" taken by itself. After a fairly substantial introductory chapter, "Toward Hopkins;' in which the interpretive method of semiotic phenomenology is explained and justified, Sobolev propounds his argument in four lengthy chapters, each divided by several sub-headings. "Being and the World" deals largely with Hopkins' philosophical orientation, including a section on those two vexing Hopkins neologisms, "inscape" and "instress," along with sections entitled "Between Epistemology and Ontology" and "Contemplation and Being" among others. Chapter 2, "Hopkins' Existential Perspective;' considers "Hopkins' representation of the existential"what I should call the concrete world as it is experienced by the individual-from various perspectives; and chapter 3, "Identity and Culture;' takes up the relation of Hopkins' poetry to society and the opposition between nature and civilization. The fourth chapter, "Techniques of Retention;' expounds "the long-delayed question of the relationship between the intellectual and existential dimensions of Hopkins' poetry" (253), and a comparatively brief-but still substantial-conclusion, "The Split Consciousness;' summarizes Sobolevs particular assessment of the origin and nature of the poet's "split world:' There is much to admire in this book. Sobolevconsiders the scholarly literature on Hopkins with great care and strives to deal fairly...