Sunday, March 21, 2010
Was W. B. Yeats autistic?
Brown, Julie (2010) Writers on the spectrum: how autism and Asperger syndrome have influenced literary writing. Jessica Kingsley, 2010.
[writers discussed in this book by a literary academic include Hans Christian Andersen, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, Lewis Carroll, William Butler Yeats, Sherwood Anderson and Opal Whiteley.]
Condon, Deborah (2004) Did Yeats and de Valera have autism? irishhealth.com 9/1/2004.
http://www.irishhealth.com/?level=4&id=5508
[brief review of the book Autism and Creativity by Fitzgerald, many discussion postings follow the review]
Fitzgerald, Michael (2006) Autism, Asperger’s syndrome and creativity. Autism2006: AWARES Conference Centre. October 4th 2006.
http://212.74.184.44:8083/BM_DIRECTORY/E/BM000001662/7679/FIT1.PDF
http://awares.nemisys.uk.com/conferences/show_paper.asp?section=000100010001&conferenceCode=000200020002&id=42
[W. B. Yeats and many other famous people discussed]
Fitzgerald, Michael (2005) The genesis of artistic creativity: Asperger’s syndrome and the arts. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
[W. B. Yeats, J. B. Yeats and many other famous people discussed]
Fitzgerald, Michael (2004) Autism and creativity: is there a link between autism in men and exceptional ability? Brunner-Routledge, 2004.
[W. B. Yeats and other famous people discussed, this book is at least partially available to read through Google Book Search]
Royal College of Psychiatrists (2006) Royal College of Psychiatrists Annual Meeting 2006 Glasgow: Thatcherism founder had Asperger's Syndrome. (press release) The Royal College of Psychiatrists. 11th July 2006.
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pressparliament/pressreleases2006/pr820.aspx
[Sir Keith Joseph, Enoch Powell, Eamon de Valera, W. B. Yeats, Sir Isaac Newton]
Walker, Antionette and Fitzgerald, Michael (2006) Unstoppable brilliance: Irish geniuses and Asperger’s syndrome. Liberties Press. 2006.
[“… many of the most notable people in Irish politics, the arts and sciences may have exhibited traits of Asperger's syndrome …”, Robert Emmet, Pádraig Pearse, Éamon de Valera, Robert Boyle, William Rowan Hamilton, Daisy Bates, WB Yeats, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett]
There was a really really good Yeats quote about friendship, and I lost it.
ReplyDeleteYeats just seemed to get better as he aged.
The relevant poem begins: "Though you are in your shining days"...
And the second important quote about friendship comes from THE RAGGED WOOD.
ReplyDeleteThe Oxford Companion to Philosophy (1995 rev 2005) quoted the Yeats line: "Love me for myself, not my yellow hair'.
[Gilbert, Paul. {2005} Friendship. Oxford: Oxford Companion to Philosophy, p 324].
The first important quote came from THE BOOK OF VIRTUES by Bennett (1993). The poem has the title "Lover" in it and is a plea to a lover about old friends and new friends, and the relative merits of each.
I must admit I know practically nothing about Yeats or his poetry.
ReplyDelete