The Poetics of Space
How does Gaston Bachelard use imagery in The Poetics of Space?
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In Bachelard's theories, poetry has dimensions of imagination that touch one's soul without apparent cause or scientific reason. Poetic imagery in itself stimulates a response in the reader that seems to be a forgotten image. The author claims other scientists, i.e., psychoanalysts and psychologists interpret these images from their own analytic, hence biased, points of view. In contrast, Bachelard proposes that imagination is a major power of human nature. The fact that poetic imagery is not subject to the rules of logic does not lessen its reality. The author uses the idea of a house, which is full of sensations and subjective imagination native to anyone who lives in one, as a vehicle to illustrate the reality of poetic imagery. He uses the term "topophilia" to describe his comments on happy spaces.
The Poetics of Space