A relay passed on

About a literary scholar's 25-year attempt to understand and use phenomenology in the study of literature

Abstract

The article is a personal account of my attempt to understand what phenomenology is and to use it as a foundation for a literary method. It spans the period from 1996 to 2024. Since the word phenomenology often confronts people as an insurmountable barrier, the article begins by addressing the question of what a phenomenon is, followed by an exploration of what phenomenization and phenomenality are, and more generally, what the phenomenological fundamental attitude, transcendentality, is. Toward the end of the article, the shift in phenomenology advocated by Michel Henry, from intentionality to the self-referential inner perspective, is presented. In this context, the connections between phenomenology and Christianity are discussed. Finally, the relationship between phenomenology and literature is clarified as two movements within the same domain, human consciousness; the first is inward towards the essence of the domain, while the second is outward, in a constant repetition across different materials.