Blurring the Boundaries: A Deconstructive Exploration of Representation and Reality in the Poetry of Wallace Stevens
Mashael Kareem Th. Faraj, Asst. Prof. Rudaina Abdulrazzaq M. Saeed
This critical study of Wallace Stevens' poems "A Postcard from the Volcano" and "The Poem That Took Place of a Mountain" investigates how the use of binary oppositions and difference concepts in poetry reveals the relationship between representation and reality. This study utilizes the theoretical structures of Jacques Derrida to analyze how Stevens' poems disrupt the supposed stability of meanings and question the traditional boundaries within artistic expression and real-life experience. This analysis employs a deconstructive reading approach that focuses on the interplay of differences and the rupture of binary systems. It sheds light on how Stevens' poems challenge the oversimplified notion that representation and reality are equivalent. The texts serve as locations of ongoing bargaining, where significance is continuously postponed and the distinctions between the envisioned and the experienced become progressively penetrable. This method ultimately encourages a more profound involvement with the intricacies of life for humans as conveyed through the art form of poetry.
Keywords: Wallace Stevens, Binary Opposition, Difference, Representation, Reality
