Date of Award
5-1-2012
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
English
First Advisor
Netzley, Ryan
Abstract
The poetry of George Herbert asks its readers to seriously engage with the visual aspects of how information is arranged, and this prompts a style of reading that depends more on how space is utilized rather than the semantics of the word sequences. Though his use of space, Herbert develops of form of simultaneity that gives his readers a conception of a non-reducible whole. This project begins with a spatial reading of four of Herbert's poems: "The H. Scriptures II," "Coloss. 3.3," "The Water-Course," and "Deniall," then moves into a reading that depends on quantum information theory. Quantum information theory, in the form of the qubit, provides a concise language for Herbert's simultaneity and his conception of the whole.
Access
This thesis is only available for download to the SIUC community. Current SIUC affiliates may also access this paper off campus by searching Dissertations & Theses @ Southern Illinois University Carbondale from ProQuest. Others should contact the interlibrary loan department of your local library or contact ProQuest's Dissertation Express service.