You are on page 1of 5

Davidson

Words as a Snapshot: Relating Historical Criticism to the Poetry of Alicia Ostriker


Poetry is more than just entertainment, and can tackle subjects that go beyond love
and loss the stereotypical topics its detractors like to point to. It can be, and many times
over has been, used as a form of social commentary. What that commentary means,
exactly, can be grasped more fully when the time period in which it was created is better
understood. The works of Alicia Ostriker are a striking example of such poetry. Ostrikers
poetry is ferocious in its wording and carries a powerful effect. Her poetry is significantly
influenced by the events surrounding her as she wrote it, making her poetry an excellent
target for historical criticism.
Historical criticism is officially defined as the practice of analyzing a literary work
by investigating the social, cultural, and intellectual context that produced it (Gioia and
Kennedy 588). Historical criticism can be confused with several other forms of literary
examination, such as sociological criticism or gender criticism all three exist under a
similar umbrella, linked together as criticisms that attempt to understand not only the
world surrounding the poet, but that poets feelings about that world and its myriad
triumphs and insufficiencies. Where historical criticism differs, however, is that it looks
less into the meaning of the words themselves for clarification, and looks more into the
background of those words, the aforementioned social, cultural and intellectual context.
Those who abide by historical criticism seek to understand a work by examining its root
rather than its branches.
Oscar Wilde, when ruminating on historical criticism, seemed to believe that it was
part of a cycle of despotism, dissatisfaction, and rebellion. Namely, it was his opinion that

Davidson

historical analysis helped newly sparked revolts flare dramatically to life. In his essay The
Rise of Historical Criticism, he wrote, it is part of that complex working towards freedom
which may be described as the revolt against authority. It is merely one facet of that
speculative spirit of innovation, which in the sphere of action produces democracy and
revolution. Historical criticism, then, serves a snapshot of times when anger was coursing
through the veins of society, times when society teetered on the brink of a rebellion. The
significance of historical criticism does not end there, however; it serves as a catalyst for
change as often as it examines the state of the world that preceded change. Historical
criticism is an integral part of any understanding of the world and how it has come to be
how it is now. Society cannot comprehend how it came to its current state without first
understanding its past.
Ostrikers poetry lends itself well to historical criticism in part because of how
unrelentingly honest and brash it is. In a review of Ostrikers poetry collection The Little
Space: Poems Selected and New, reviewer Diana Hume George said of Ostriker, her
vision of how things might be is grounded in anatomy of how things are. In other words,
she is well aware of the state of the world in which she lives otherwise, how would she be
able to dream of a world that is different?
For example, her poem Gaia Regards Her Children serves as a bitter
condemnation of societys disregard for the Earth. Casting the Earth herself as the speaker
of the poem, Ostriker writes Ingratitude after all I have given them ingratitude/is the term
that springs to mind (1 -2). In an afterword regarding the poem, she insists we are
meaningless creatures until we live for others beside ourselves, and the time to do so is

Davidson

nowit is incumbent upon all of us to contribute what we can to the healing of the earth.
The poem is rich with melancholy and seething with anger, and Ostrikers afterword only
adds to the emotion. Historical criticism serves as a highly important tool that helps
readers understand where Ostrikers anguish is stemming from. The message of the poem
one that begs for a change in the way society treats the environment is lost unless the
reader understands the reason for its existence.
In addition to her commentary about society and the world as a whole, Ostrikers
personal life and history make her a rich subject for historical critical analysis. While
investigating the general conditions of the world at the time of a works creation is an
important facet in looking at the work through a historical lens, it is equally important to
take the individual poets biography into account. Ostriker has been hailed as Americas
most fiercely honest poet, with much of her poetry stemming from her Jewish roots and
feminist leanings (Roth). When asked herself what she wrote about, Ostrikers answer was
blunt. She replied, love, sex, death, violence, family, politics, religion, friendship, painters
and painting, the body in sickness and in health. Joy and painI write as an American, a
woman, a Jew, a mother, a wife, a lover of beauty and art, a teacher, an idealist, a skeptic.
Her poems often read as an autobiography, one that becomes more compelling and more
easily understood when read through the lens of historical criticism.
Many of Ostrikers works have heavy religious and feminist themes, obviously
influenced by her life experiences. Her poem Covenant, a four-part poem that tells of the
suffering and discrimination faced by her Jewish ancestors before seguing into other
examples of discrimination is an example of the former. Meanwhile, psalm, in which she

Davidson

declares herself an independent woman who will never love you again (15), only to
immediately quantify it by adding unless you ask me (16) is an interesting twist on the
latter. These poems, while beautiful in their own right, make less sense and therefore lose
some of their effectiveness when taken outside the context of Ostrikers personal life and
experiences.
Historical criticism of poetry comes with two benefits. First of all, it allows for a
deeper understanding of both the work itself, and of the times and issues that inspired its
maker to create it. Poetry does not exist in a vacuum it is a reflection of the society in
which it was made, and therefore serves as an invaluable tool in understanding life both as
others knew it, and as it is known by others now. Second, historical criticism takes into
account the life of the author of the poem. To some extent or another, a work cannot be
understood in its entirety unless the author who created it is, in some capacity, also
understood a poem is a reflection of the person who created it. For an author as brutally
honest as Alicia Ostriker, historical criticism becomes doubly important; in fact, it is
essential.
Works Cited
George, Diana Hume. Repairing the World. The Womens Review of Books, Vol. 16,
No. 3. Old City Publishing, Inc., 1998. Web. 29 Oct 2013.

Gioia, Dana, and X.J. Kennedy. An Introduction to Poetry. 13th ed. New York: Longman,
2010. Print.

Davidson
Ostriker, Alicia. Gaia Regards Her Children. Web. 29 Oct 2013.

---. psalm. Web. 29 Oct 2013.

Roth, Zack. Fiercely honest poet next for VWS. ButlerMFA. Web. 29 Oct 2013.

Wilde, Oscar. The Rise of Historical Criticism. The Literature Network. Web. 29 Oct
2013.

You might also like