The Problem with Self-Expression

by Dr. Gabriel Haley

I’m an English professor. I teach poetry. Yet I dislike “self-expression.”

That may sound strange, given the assumptions people have about poetry. What is it besides self-expression?

There’s also the chance that the clever readers out there have already dismissed my dislike of self-expression as a contradictory utterance. Isn’t that statement just an expression of my self? Please allow me to explain.

First, I might say that the phrase itself brings to mind something dehumanizing—like an orange being expressed, juice and pulp squirting everywhere. But that alone is probably not a very good reason.

Second, I would also point out that a focus on “self-expression” can detract from the fact that good writers are good readers. In order to know what a good poem is, you have to read good poetry. Poetry is defined by the practice of poets, which is a historical endeavor. Preoccupation with self-expression can obscure this fundamental point. However, even that is not the issue here.

The real problem with the phrase is not a matter of personal preference. Rather, what “self-expression” offers is simply a poor substitute for a Christian worldview. As Christians, we know from Scripture that the heart is deceitful. We know we aren’t supposed to be egocentric. If we are focusing on expressing ourselves, we are looking in the wrong direction.

One of my favorite bits of Biblical poetry begins, “I lift my eyes up to the mountains.” Now that’s a direction worth looking!

I mean that literally. Looking at mountains is a fantastic activity. We should do it more often. Here in Nebraska, we should look at the Sandhills more often. These are habits that will orient us in a way that is not self-centered.

Going back to the passage from the Psalms, we move from this very literal action—looking towards the mountains—to a figural meaning, given in question-and-answer form: “Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth.”

That’s beautiful. The natural perspective of the mountains leads us to a higher truth (mountains—get it?). We are consoled, knowing that God, the Creator of all things, is there to help us. And, boy, do we need it.

This movement from natural observation to spiritual insight is something students could very well practice as they go through classes at Concordia. I hope my English students learn from their science classes that nature is richly complex and that the heavens declare the glory of God. And I hope that they learn from my classes that poetry can orient us outward to the world, to others and to higher truths.

Now, I know that when people talk about “self-expression” they are usually not trying to transform themselves in to some version of Satan. (However, the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley did try to do this, and his influence is one of the reasons that poetry is still associated with self-expression today. There’s a lesson here.)

What I’m saying is this: We should try to conform our language and our habits of mind to Biblical realities. We decrease, so that He may increase. It is by turning away from ourselves that we are made whole. The surprising and paradoxical and beautiful part of it all is that by dying to self, we live again.

I lift my eyes up to the mountains. Come, look.

Dr. Gabriel Haley is an assistant professor of English at Concordia University, Nebraska.