The Irony Of Continuity In Mark Strand's The Continuous Life

This thesis probes into the irony of continuity haunting in The Continuous Life, a collection of poetry by Mark Strand, the renowned American Surrealist. It consists of three parts as follows: the ironical self-effacement of Strand persona, the ironical continuity of human civilization, and the poetical irony of Mark Strand.Chapter One examines the self-effacement of Mark Strand persona in which the persona is focalized and removed out of the readers' attention as well. The reason why Strand focuses on self-scrutiny includes two aspects: the dissolution of belief and authority in both life and art, Strand's multicultural identity resulting from his personal growth. The effacement of Strand persona, which turns out to be a strategy against the bandage of reason, is characterized by uncertainty and omnipresence. There lies the open sesame to the demystification of Strand's poetry.Chapter Two exemplifies that the continuity of civilization the human race experiences is simply an irony. Based on explicating such crucial themes as absence, death, and exile in the book under discussion, the thesis highlights the facts that the world, in Strand's poetry, is a process in which the rational system encroaches upon the irrational nature, and that human beings complete with their various senses like fear are also constructed through the rational terms, and so the process of self construction results in the loss of human innocence and absence of human nature. Consequently, any endeavor to maintain continuity of civilization ends up with alienation of human beings.Chapter Three analyzes the irony confronted by the poet when he establishes his poetic uniqueness. On the one hand, Strand embraces surrealist principles so as to break the bandage and fetters of the rational systems. On the other hand, the poet has to abide by some aesthetic doctrines based on the rational systems. The author points out that through dismantling binary opposition (like beautiful / terrifying), which are conventionally involved in imagery, Strand succeeds in creating poetical "espace" that allows more space for one's imagination.To sum up, the irony of continuity permeating the book is two fold: the poet, a reason-constructed creature, employs rational terms to depict human beings' irrational nature, which is supposed to be uncontaminated by reason. Thus the endeavor to identify subject position and maintain the continuity of civilization turns out to be a further development of the rational system and such a kind of continuity simply results in the permanent exile of human beings.