Philosophical and existential dimensions of the last poetry collection Winter recipes from the collective by Nobel prize laureate Louise Glück

Анісімова, Людмила Вікторівна (2026) Philosophical and existential dimensions of the last poetry collection Winter recipes from the collective by Nobel prize laureate Louise Glück Актуальні питання іноземної філології (24). pp. 3-11. ISSN 2410-0927

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Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the philosophical and existential quest of the renowned American poet Louise Glück (1943–2023), the 2020 Nobel prize laureate in literature. Drawing on her own life experience, marked by trauma and upheaval, the poet repeatedly turned throughout her long creative career to such existential questions as the search for the meaning of existence and identity, alienation, and the inevitable approach of death. The aim of this study is to determine the specific features of the representation of philosophical and existential issues in her final collection of poetry, “Winter Recipes from the Collective” (2021), published a year after she was awarded the Nobel Prize and two years before her death. Despite a number of literary reviews, only a few scholarly publications have appeared that are devoted to her last poetry collection. As for the philosophical aspects, it is noteworthy that the collection engages with Eastern philosophy – particularly Taoism, (Zen) Buddhism – as well as rethinking the key motifs of Existentialism. In this collection, Louise Glück does not depict her favorite mythological or personified natural images; instead, she turns to representations of ordinary people, many of them elderly. Related thematic features can be observed in her late collection “Faithful and Virtuous Night” (2014). Both works are characterized by a blending of memories of the past with the present, reality with imagination, and by the actualization of motifs such as aging, the transience of life, and the inevitable approach of the end. The article also highlights the author’s representation of private and individual life experience, which in her poetry acquires a complex, generalized, and universal dimension. For Glück, poetic work becomes a means of spiritual and existential self-exploration and of articulating her identity. Although her poetry conveys a sense of the determinacy of existence, her lyrical figures often seek to transcend the limits of a traumatic reality, finding solace in the elusive realm of imagination and dreams, and rethinking the eternal themes of human existence.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	philosophical and existential issues; contemporary American poetry; the cyclical nature of existence; motifs of aging and death; life journey; the meaning of life; Taoism; Buddhism; Zen Buddhism
Subjects:	Статті у базах даних > Index Copernicus Статті у періодичних виданнях > Фахові (входять до переліку фахових, затверджений МОН)
Divisions:	Факультет української філології, культури і мистецтва > Кафедра світової літератури
Depositing User:	Людмила Вікторівна Анісімова
Date Deposited:	01 Jun 2026 17:47
Last Modified:	01 Jun 2026 17:47
URI:	https://elibrary.kubg.edu.ua/id/eprint/57754

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