TITLE:
Writing as a Way of Existence: Existentialism in Robert Lowell’s Life Studies
AUTHORS:
Yining Ma
KEYWORDS:
Robert Lowell, Life Studies, Existentialism, Writing and Life
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Literary Study,
Vol.10 No.1,
December
13,
2021
ABSTRACT: This article takes Robert Lowell’s first confessional book of poems, Life Studies as the object of study, and instead of focusing primarily on the oft-discussed autobiographical and historical factors, concentrates upon the philosophical pursuit—existentialism conveyed in this work. The article shall contextualize Lowell’s continual artistic creation for renewed existence as part of the process of realizing “being-for-itself” that is central to the existentialist school, to provide a new perspective for understanding Lowell’s writing and life. Lowell’s poetry reveals the condition of human existence in a lonely and hollow state and under the restrictions imposed by the others. The way to transcend this predicament, as the poet in Life Studies shows, is to realize “being-for-itself” through writing, enabling the poet to become more open-eyed and to revive his existence. The ceaseless improvement of the poet’s comprehension of self and the other in the process of composition indicates a typical existential life in which the individual revives by free choices and decisions.