Poetic faith and a willing suspension of disbelief in Zygmunt Haupt’s prose

Abstract

This article was inspired by the importance which Zygmunt Haupt attached to the “willing suspension of disbelief” on behalf of the reader. It discusses how Coleridge’s formula may function in a context that is not strictly poetic. A “suspension of disbelief” and poetic faith are complementary concepts which encourage in literary and cultural studies deep reflection on the demise of religious faith in favor of “poetic faith,” which, as M.H. Abrams writes, may essentially be described as “natural supernaturalism.” The article argues that this modernist experience may be found in Haupt’s works.