Schutzian Research

Volume 10, 2018

Jerry Williams
Pages 221-238

The Meaning Contexts of Poetry
A Schutzian Analysis

In this essay, the meaning contexts of poetry are considered. It is argued that poetry represents a pairing of semantic meaning with that of music. The analysis first proceeds by exploring Alfred Schutz’s ideas about the constitution of meaning and the experience of music. Next, using these insights the essay turns to an analysis of my poem “Perspective” in order to investigate how poetry is composed and how it is experienced by a reader / listener.