20 Words in Performance: The Art and Poetics of Language Poetry
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Hannah Moeckel-Rieke
Abstract
Language poetry has been one of the most influential and long-lasting movements in American literature since its beginning as an avant-garde in the 1960s. While poets associated with this group vary widely, they share a common interest in the international modernist tradition of Stein, Olson, Mandelstam, Dada, Celan, and others, as well as in semiotics and poststructuralist philosophy. Their experimental texts have radicalized how poetry draws attention to the construction of meaning and the social and political implications of language. Language poetry attracts readers due to its philosophical resonances and aesthetic quality as well as its passion for social justice and humor.
Abstract
Language poetry has been one of the most influential and long-lasting movements in American literature since its beginning as an avant-garde in the 1960s. While poets associated with this group vary widely, they share a common interest in the international modernist tradition of Stein, Olson, Mandelstam, Dada, Celan, and others, as well as in semiotics and poststructuralist philosophy. Their experimental texts have radicalized how poetry draws attention to the construction of meaning and the social and political implications of language. Language poetry attracts readers due to its philosophical resonances and aesthetic quality as well as its passion for social justice and humor.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Editors’ Preface V
- Contents VII
- Introduction XI
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Part I: How Poetry Makes Things Happen
- 1 Framing Modern Subjectivity: Poetry and Experience 1
- 2 Poetry, Politics, and the Politics of Poetry: How Poems Interfere 29
- 3 Tuning in on Sister Arts: Poetry and Music 53
- 4 Poetry and Modes of Humor 73
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Part II: American Poetry and Poetics Up Close: From the Puritans to Postmodernity and Beyond
- 5 Poetry and the Puritan Ethic: Anne Bradstreet, Samuel Danforth, Edward Taylor 97
- 6 Neoclassicism and Nation-Building: The Poetry of Phillis Wheatley and Philip Freneau 113
- 7 The Price of Poetry: Horton, Larcom, Longfellow, Lowell, Holmes 131
- 8 Romanticism, Transcendentalism, Environmentalism: The Ecological Poetics of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller 151
- 9 Mind, Body, and Consciousness: The Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson 173
- 10 Poetry at War: Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, and Stephen Crane 195
- 11 Modern(ist) American Poetry 215
- 12 Modernist Materialities: Objects in Poetry 237
- 13 Poet-Anthropologists and Boasian “Culture”: Edward Sapir, Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead 259
- 14 The Poet-Critics, Regionalism, and the Rise of Formalism 279
- 15 Unconventionally Conventional: Elizabeth Bishop and the Modernization of Traditional Forms 301
- 16 Poetic Modes of Early Postmodernism: Black Mountain School, Beat Movement, New York School 317
- 17 Poetry as Confession? The Cases of Anne Sexton, W. D. Snodgrass, and Sylvia Plath 343
- 18 African American Poetry: From the Harlem Renaissance to the Black Arts Movement and Beyond 359
- 19 Poetry as Feminist Critique 375
- 20 Words in Performance: The Art and Poetics of Language Poetry 395
- 21 How Poetry Matters Now 417
- Name Index 437
- Subject Index 451
- List of Contributors 463
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Editors’ Preface V
- Contents VII
- Introduction XI
-
Part I: How Poetry Makes Things Happen
- 1 Framing Modern Subjectivity: Poetry and Experience 1
- 2 Poetry, Politics, and the Politics of Poetry: How Poems Interfere 29
- 3 Tuning in on Sister Arts: Poetry and Music 53
- 4 Poetry and Modes of Humor 73
-
Part II: American Poetry and Poetics Up Close: From the Puritans to Postmodernity and Beyond
- 5 Poetry and the Puritan Ethic: Anne Bradstreet, Samuel Danforth, Edward Taylor 97
- 6 Neoclassicism and Nation-Building: The Poetry of Phillis Wheatley and Philip Freneau 113
- 7 The Price of Poetry: Horton, Larcom, Longfellow, Lowell, Holmes 131
- 8 Romanticism, Transcendentalism, Environmentalism: The Ecological Poetics of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller 151
- 9 Mind, Body, and Consciousness: The Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson 173
- 10 Poetry at War: Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, and Stephen Crane 195
- 11 Modern(ist) American Poetry 215
- 12 Modernist Materialities: Objects in Poetry 237
- 13 Poet-Anthropologists and Boasian “Culture”: Edward Sapir, Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead 259
- 14 The Poet-Critics, Regionalism, and the Rise of Formalism 279
- 15 Unconventionally Conventional: Elizabeth Bishop and the Modernization of Traditional Forms 301
- 16 Poetic Modes of Early Postmodernism: Black Mountain School, Beat Movement, New York School 317
- 17 Poetry as Confession? The Cases of Anne Sexton, W. D. Snodgrass, and Sylvia Plath 343
- 18 African American Poetry: From the Harlem Renaissance to the Black Arts Movement and Beyond 359
- 19 Poetry as Feminist Critique 375
- 20 Words in Performance: The Art and Poetics of Language Poetry 395
- 21 How Poetry Matters Now 417
- Name Index 437
- Subject Index 451
- List of Contributors 463
