READING 2: The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard

Reading: 
A reading from the book Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard, Chapter 3, Drawers, Chests and Wardrobes. 

"This is a deep, magical, densely captivating book about space, our homes, how we live in them, and how dwellings and space affect us; it is as much a book of philosophy as a work of serious literature. It requires careful, preferably leisurely reading, with the possibility of moments to pause and digest and re-read the words. It will change the way you look at your home and your life, providing a deeper, more insightful relationship with the spaces you occupy." Amazon Review. Amazon Review

                                                             Gaston Bachelard Biography

VOCAB LIST-

(in terms of Gaston Bachelard's writing)

-metaphor- give concrete substance to an impression that is difficult to express
-image-products of the imagination

-fabricated image-products of the imagination, lacking genuine roots

-ephemeral expression- a transitory expression

-concept-drawers in which knowledge can be classified

-hybrid objects- have quality of intimacry

-“poet of furniture”- a poet that uses pieces of furniture in writing to depict a metaphor or image

-intimate space- space that is not open to just anybody

-order- a center of order protects the entire house against disorder

-exaggeration- always at the summit of any living image

-white: symbolic of purity

-“need for secrecy”: an intuitive sense of hiding places

-lock: psychological threshold, invitation to thieves

-“complexualistic”: type of cabinet work that feeds false secrets and can often mislead the viewer

-casket: memory of what is immemorial, dungeon for objects

-chest: objects that may be opened, differential in discovery compared to a casket

-Jean-Pierre Richard: writer who analyzes literary works in terms of their dominants images

OUTLINE-

Main Focal Point: 

Bachelard comments on the difference between image and metaphor, explaining that a metaphor presents a tangible object as an intangible notion that is otherwise difficult to express. A metaphor stands for the idea but has no phenomenological value itself.

I. 

(a)Discussion on drawers, chests, & wardrobes

       i.Hiding places for human beings, great dreamers of locks, keep or hide their secrets

      ii.Introduction of the difference between images & metaphors: metaphors give concrete substance to an impression that is difficult to express, while images are products of the imagination

     iii. Bergson's writings contain mostly metaphors about drawers

    iiii. Fabricated image:product of the imagination with no real, genuine roots; ephemeral expression

II. 

(a)Drawer Metaphor

       i.Is used by Bergson to convey the inadequacy of philosophy of concept

      ii.Concepts:drawers in which knowledge may be classified

     

III.

(a)Deeper into the Metaphor

       i.Metaphor is a false image, since it does not possess the direct virtue of an image formed in spoken revery

      ii.Henri Bosco represents the reverse drawer metaphor: it is not the intelligence that is the filing cabinet, it is the filing cabinet that is the intelligence

     iii.Bosco's reasoning cabinet presents the "philosophy of having"

IV.

(a)The Psychology of the drawer

       i.Wardrobes and drawers all share a quality of intimacy

      ii.The deep,inner space of a wardrobe is considered intimate space or in other words, space that is not available to just anybody

     iii.To put just anything in any piece of furniture is the mark of unusual weakness in the function of inhabiting

    iiii.In the wardrobe there exits a "centre of order" that keeps the entire house functioning

      iv.A memory is a wardrobe

       v.If we give objects the friendship they should have, we do not open the wardrobe without a slight start

      vi.Beneath the wood is white almond; to open it, is to experience an event of whiteness which is symbolic of purity

V.

(a)The Anthology devoted to small boxes

       i.Chests are witnesses to the "need for secrecy":an intuitive place for hiding places

      ii.All locks are a psychological threshold: an invitation to thieves

     iii.Denise Paulme argues that the power that opens and shuts must possess the power of life

    iiii.Idea of false secrets to grab curiosity

VI.

(a)Locks

       i.Dreams and daydreams of locks & keys correlate directly to our confessions

      ii.Symbolism of content the key opens is critical

     iii.Every secret has its casket

VII.

(a)Exterior & Interior Space

       i.When a casket is closed, it is returned to the general community of objects; exterior space

      ii.When a casket is opened it is a discovery

     iii.The dimension of intimacy is dissevered

    iiii.Sometimes there is a whole house hidden in a small contained space