Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Dissertations (2009 -) Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Projects Theo-Poetics: Figure and Metaphysics in the Thought of Hans Urs von Balthasar Anne Carpenter Marquette University Recommended Citation Carpenter, Anne, "Theo-Poetics: Figure and Metaphysics in the Thought of Hans Urs von Balthasar" (2012). Dissertations (2009 -). 191. https://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/191 THEO-POETICS: FIGURE AND METAPHYSICS IN THE THOUGHT OF HANS URS VON BALTHASAR by Anne M. Carpenter, B.A., M.A. A Dissertation submitted to tHe Faculty of tHe Graduate ScHool, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of tHe Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of PHilosophy Milwaukee, Wisconsin May 2012 Ond’ella a me: “Per entro I mie’ disiri, che ti menavano ad amar lo bene di là dal qual non è a che s’aspiri, quai fossi attraversati o quai catene trovasti, per che del passare innanzi dovessiti così sogliar la spene?” - Beatrice to Dante, Divina Commedia, Purgatorio XXXI 22-27 ABSTRACT THEO-POETICS: FIGURE AND METAPHYSICS IN THE THOUGHT OF HANS URS VON BALTHASAR Anne M. Carpenter, B.A., M.A. Marquette University, 2012 Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988) was a Swiss-Catholic theologian of great importance in tHe twentietH century. His formal education included a doctorate in literature, whicH resulted in a massive, tHree-volume work on tHe state of German literature and philosophy entitled Der Apokalypse der deutschen Seele (The Apocalypse of tHe German Soul) – and licentiates in both theology and philosophy. Throughout his life, von Balthasar continued to display a thoroughgoing interest in art and theology. With a background particularly attuned to this link, von Balthasar set out to “recover” the transcendental of beauty in theology, which he argued had been a consistent facet of CHristian tHeology from tHe beginning, but wHicH Had been lost or obscured in modern theology. THis project is his “theological aesthetics.” Still, tHe question remains unanswered: wHat relationsHip does literary, dramatic language Have to metapHysics? In otHer words, in wHat way does it mean? Do the two ways of speaking conflict or, if related, how are they related? Given the current state of scHolarsHip, it Has become necessary to ask the above set of questions in a focused, careful project. To narrow its vast implications, it is also necessary to ask tHe questions witH respect to specific aspects of BaltHasar’s tHeology in tHe Hope to establisH elements tHat can be applied more broadly. An attentive examination of BaltHasar’s use of poetry in His work, coupled witH an account of His metapHysics, will Help clarify tHe relationsHip between His “poetic” language and his philosophical presuppositions. Any confrontation witH von Balthasar’s work must tHerefore respond to His unique knowledge of both theological propositions and art. THis is a difficult balance to keep, and scholarship has struggled to attend to both von BaltHasar’s tHeological claims and His poetic manner of claiming tHem. My task in this dissertation is twofold: a careful exploration of von Balthasar’s use of poetry and poetic language, and a detailed analysis of his philosophical presuppositions. My thesis is that Hans Urs von Balthasar uses poets and poetic language to make theological arguments, because this poetic way of speaking expresses metaphysical truth without reducing one to the other. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Anne M. Carpenter, B.A., M.A. O donna in cui la mia speranza vige, e che soffristi per la mia salute in inferno lasciar le tue vestige, di tante cose quant’i’ ho vedute dal tuo podere e da la tua bontate riconosco la grazia e la virtute. - Dante, Divina Commedia, Paradiso XXI 79-84 First mention must be God’s, witHout wHose grace I could not live and move, and in wHom I Have my being (cf. Acts 17:28). “THe Lord God Has given me a well-trained tongue, tHat I migHt know How to answer tHe weary witH a word tHat will waken tHem” (Isa 50:4). Most special mention is due to my parents, Neal and Maureen Carpenter, who encouraged me from an early age to be courageous in faitH and courageous in study. EacH Has taugHt me in word and deed that learning never ends, and that a living faith always struggles to discover the truth of goodness and beauty. My siblings, Patrick and ElizabetH, made growing up warm and loving, and Have made adult life more of tHe same. And, tHougH not tecHnically a sibling, I consider my long-time friend Danielle Cairoli to be as important to me as tHese. I would like to tHank my directors, Danielle Nussberger and D. Stephen Long, witHout wHom tHis project would not Have been possible. In distinctive yet complementary ways, botH pressed me to become more precise, more profound, more poetic. BotH Have ii been generous and supportive, exceptional examples to me of tremendous scHolarsHip and Humanity. THe rest of my board, FatHer Robert Doran, S.J. and RalpH Del Colle, Have been remarkably encouraging and cHallenging to me tHrougHout my career Here at Marquette. So, too, have the rest of the faculty in tHe Marquette tHeology department. Special attention must be given to MicHel Barnes, Deirdre Dempsey, Mark JoHnson, FatHer William Kurz, S.J., Therese Lysaught, Robert Masson, and Mickey Mattox. I would also like to thank the librarians and staff at Marquette Raynor Memorial Libraries, wHo Helped to better scHool me in my studies and taugHt me tHat I Had talents I did not know I Had. It Has been a joy to work for and witH tHem. Special mention sHould go to my supervisors, Mary Frenn and Brian Evans. I would be remiss if I did not also give due gratitude to my fellow students at Marquette, all of wHom Have made learning more deligHtful and varied. Here I mention a few of tHe many, wHo could fill pages: Braden Anderson, Jeremy Blackwood, Darin Fawley, Kirsten Guidero, Christopher Hadley, Erin Kidd, Lisa and Nathan Lunsford, David Luy, Matthew Peters, SamantHa Miller, Paul and Stephanie Monson, Jonathan Morgan, Stephanie Rumpza, Brian Sigmon, Ellen and Eric Vanden Eykel, and StepHen Waldron. There is also Lisa Lunsford, my dove-like friend and hawk-like copy editor, who found all the errors to wHicH I Had become insensible. Special mention goes to Joseph Torchedlo and Jeffrey Walkey, two of my favorite comrades-in-arms as tHe lonely work of tHe dissertation stretcHed itself over long montHs. I am grateful as well to RacHel and Greg Japs, my adopted family at Marquette. So, too, do I tHank Claudia SatcHell, wHo cared for me as if I were Her iii own daugHter. Bob and Debbie Clark taugHt me about Holiness and generosity. All Have made a welcome Home for a studious introvert. Outside tHe bounds of Marquette, I would like to tHank FatHer THomas Stegman, S.J., who I had the joy to work with while he visited Marquette. MicHael Fitzgerald of Franciscan University of Steubenville also deserves mention, as He was tHe first to encourage me to continue my studies at tHe graduate level. I also want to tHank Kevin O’Donnel and AsHley Prescott Barlow-THompson of NortH Central College, wHo generously encouraged me to follow where my studies took me. Finally, singular and Heartfelt gratitude must be expressed to Gregorio Montejo, il miglior fabbro. WitHout Gregorio’s friendsHip and encouragement, I would never Have learned to adore poetry and to practice it as I do now. I would never have learned the profound affection for the arts that I possess. In short, the dissertation as it stands now – witH its difficult and complex entwining of poetry and pHilosopHy, of beauty and trutH – would not Have been possible to me. Gregorio took my love for CHrist and sHowed me How it could be a love for tHe beauty in tHe arts. WitHout tHis friendsHip, most of all, I could not be wHat I am now. He is my Virgil, witH wHom I bear tHe reed of scHolarsHip and art, and witH wHom I continue my Purgatorial climb. Thank you, everyone. iv Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................... i LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................... vi I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 1 II. Chapter 1: Beauty and Risk: Die Apocalypse der deutschen Seele and Von Balthasar’s Early Work ....................................................................................................................... 7 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 8 2. Apocalyptic Themes ................................................................................................................................ 12 3. The Early von Balthasar and Art ........................................................................................................ 20 A. Overture: Music and MetapHysics .................................................................................................................... 20 B. Developments: Art and Religion ....................................................................................................................... 24 C. Radical Caution and Radical Hope: Risking Art in Modernity .............................................................. 28 4. Die Apokalypse der deutschen Seele ..................................................................................................