Abstract
The intermeaving of philosophy into literature runs through Maurice Merleau-Ponty's thought. From his perspective, literature is the expression of existence rather than a tool for the conception of his phenomenological philosophy. In the course of Merleau-Ponty's thought, the interweaving of literature and philosophy presents a dual orientation and evolutional trajectory from philosophization of literature to literalization of philosophy, which corresponds to his creative opinion on the relationship between literature and philosophy in the dimension of concept and discourse, and reflects his approach to constructing metaphysical criticism and perceptual phenomenology. Expression and metaphor play significant roles in this interwoven relationship. Attempting to innovate on philosophical terms through metaphor in his later texts, Merleau-Ponty manages to ease the tension between philosophical concepts and discourses, providing an effective way to eliminate the idealistic remnants in the early perceptual theory and achieving self-consistency within his own theory.
Keywords
Maurice Merleau-Ponty, philosophized literature, literalization of philosophy, expression, metaphor
First Page
122
Last Page
129
Recommended Citation
Cui, Xinxin. 2024. "From Philosophization of Literature to Literalization of Philosophy: Revisiting Maurice Merleau-Ponty's Thought on the Affinity between Literature and Philosophy." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 43, (6): pp.122-129. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol43/iss6/14
