Negative Capability
Definition:
The use of negative capability in literature is a concept promoted by poet John Keats, who was of the opinion that literary achievers, especially poets, should be able to come to terms with the fact that some matters might have to be left unsolved and uncertain. Keats was of the opinion that some certainties were best left open to imagination and that the element of doubt and ambiguity added romanticism and specialty to a concept.
Example:
The best references of the use of negative capability in literature would be of Keats’ own works, especially poems such as Ode on a Grecian Urn and Ode to a Nightingale.
Comments
2 comments postedExactly like the end of Inception, Lost and the original Total Recall. Open for imaginative interpretation. Very UNLIKE anything written by M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs, The Village) where all the answers are clearly given.
An excellent case of this literary device happens in the Gospel of Luke. In 1:56 the author writes that "Mary remained with her (Elizabeth) for three months and returned to her home." Hey. Mary and Elizabeth had just finished having a one-of-a kind encounter filled with Holy Spirit and inspiration. Mary had just finished delivering a beautiful praise to God. And her cousin should be having her baby any time soon. Why does she leave at that moment? Traditionally interpreters looking at that verse from a doctrinal viewpoint even say that Mary left after her cousin's delivered her baby. They take for granted what should be normal. But the text says in the next verse that John the Baptist was born after Mary left. Should not that make people wonder if something happened in that house that the author thinks is better left unsaid?
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