American Literature

Professor Rodica Mihaila

Spring Semester 2011
Poetry after Modernism: Postmodernism
Contemporary poetry seen as being shaped by productive tensions created in the
confrontation bet. 2 poetics and aesthetics: modernism and postmodernism (
-Numerous obituaries of modernismfinal one in the early 990sJonathan olden: The
Fate of American Poetry (9!" #$he %nd of &odernism' (the final e)haustion of modernist
poetic informed by 3 main elements:
!. rhetorical e)pressed in %liot*s theory of impersonality (subverted since the +0s
by the rise of confessionalism in poetry (,insberg- .o/ell and /omen poets"
2. political evo0ed by the #elitism and intellectuality' of %liot and 1ound
(subverted by the replacement of the institutional authority of a #scholarly- t/eedy
professor' /ith #democrati2ed' universities as custodians of poetry"
3. epistemological incorporated in %liot*s definition of the sub4ect-matter of poetry
as #consisting of synthetic art-emotions' (remains a 0ind of #modernist hangover'
rooted in the modernist dogma that there is no distinction bet. 5orm and content-
or #the poem should not mean- but be' (&c.eish"
-$erm postmodernism applied to poetry:
-!. $o point out the lin0s bet. ,enerations of modernists6 a" 7andal Jarrell*s revie/ on
.o/ell*s .ord 8eary*s 9astle (!9:;": a modernist paradigm< %liot=1ound9rane
.o/ell 6 b" 9reeley and >uncan in the +0s and ;0s (connection of cont. poetry /ith igh
&odernism."
-2. 9harles ?lson (1ro4ective @erse" (5irst to see 1ostm.Adiscontinuous
(shift in poetic sensibility and vision produced by technology- history
and ascendancy of Ne/ 9riticismBerryman: first generation of poets
after :+--$o escape the tyranny of %liot*s impersonality and the Ne/
9rit. of the %ngl. >epartments: #Ceats someho/ saved me from the
crushing influence of 1ound and %liot.'"
-.andmar0s: 1ro4. verse- o/l (!9+:"6 .ife Dtudies (!9+9"
-5eatures: from the modernist poem turned into official period style by Ne/ 9ritical poets
(Ender %liot*s tyranny: $ate- 7ansom": see 7ansom in Ne/ 9riticism- !9:!: produced a
generic model for an ideal poem: autonomous- perfectly polished- classical restraint- formalist
grace- erudite- academic- formalist closed styles- irony- /it- parado) and mythical allusion as
means of impersonality and moral 4udgement
to reaction against formalism and the institutionali2ation of the academic- formalist-
impesonal Ne/ 9ritical poem of neo-classical rigor /hich led to stagnation and crisis felt all
through the +0s < postmod.rebelion:
Fnfluences: impact of phenomenology- 5reudianism- e)istentialism liberates the self-
e)plores ne/ territories- uninhibited- totally free e). o/l (violates synta)- collage- free
versification- special typography- syncopated rhythms and improvisations of 4a22
!"open styles, all-inclusive organicity (infinite possibilities to encomapss e)perience
and accommodate the self- poem of e)perience- poem as process (%merson"- na0ed poetry-
1ound< The Pisan Cantos6 8illiams: Paterson <set e)ample for long poems typical of
postmod.: ?lson: &a)imus 1oems- Berryman: >ream Dongs6 6 .o/ell: History
e).: >uncan- a theorist of open form #1oetry a Natural $hing':
#$he 1oem=feeds upon thought- feeling- impulse-= to breed itself-= a spiritual urgency
at the dar0 ladders leaping.'
%).: .ouis Dimpson #Gmerican 1oetry' citat p.H0!
2" Personalization, confessionalism (neo-romantic aestheticism"- visionary-
prophetic. Fdentification poet-poem (citat 9orso- p.;92"9onfessionalism p.;I9
3" nternationalization ($he Ne/ Cor0 1oets6 >eep Fmage (Dpanish
(&innessota": Bly- 8right
After 19!: 2 main trends: .o/ell (coo0ed J ra/ verse"6 5erlinghetti (the poetry of the ivory
to/er and of the streets"6 others: closed styles and open styles
!.-Gcademic poetry of poets-critics: %li2abeth Bishop6 >elmore Dch/art2- 7andall
Jarrellthe Ne/ 9riticism6 intellectual- self-sufficient
-$urning point !9;0 >onald Gllen: The New Poets of America (:: poets"
2.-$he Blac0 &ountain (liberal arts inst.-!933": chancelor in the +0sA?lson
group: composer John 9age- arh. Buc0minster 5uller- dancer &erce 9unningham-
9reeley- >uncan- - .e 7oi Jones- >enis .evertov
1ro4ective @erse (repudiation of closed forms in favor of open styles6 poetry in immediate rel.
to man*s e)perience6 form is an e)tension of content- the e)pression of the /hole organism 6
the breath has the role of organi2ing the poetic substanceli0e 8hitman #$he poet*s
uninhibited self is the primary source of the poem- its sub4ect and its spea0er.'--
3.-9onfessional poetryterm used by 7osenthal in a revie/ of .o/ell*s .ife Dtudies6
;I9(p.2I $$8" definition in $he Ne/ 1oets (!9;H": 2 ma4or forces of rom. Gestheticism: !.
$he confessional poetry of .-1- Berryman- ,insberg- De)ton A'one cultmination of the
7omantic and modern tendency to place the literal self more and more at the center of the
poemK' 2. 1ro4ectivist &ovement :9reeley- ?lson- >uncan- .evertov- .e 7oi Jones.
G confessional poemA 5reudian interpr. of the self6 gloomy puritan vie/s on man
-under stress of psychol. or cultural crisis the poem descends into the lo/est reaches
of the self to bring out shoc0ing and humiliating details of private and family lifeli0e a cure
for vulnerability- madness. %fforts to brea0 through the boundaries that separate him from the
/orld.
-best poems: those /hich point beyond the private meaning to aspects in culture and
socity of /hich it becomes symbolic (1lath: .ady .a2arus and >addy
9ontributions: enriched poetry. Gbolished many taboos- opened ne/ fields of emotion
and e)perience- ne/ imagery and vocabulary.
>eaths of 1lath- De)ton- 7oth0e- Berryman
7ich evolved to/ard an autobiographical poetry /hich engaged her in the public
/orld of actuality.
$he feminists of the H0suse conf. $o Luestion the cultural and social construction of
the category of /oman- and roles traditionally ascribed to /omen in a patriarchal society
-San "rancisco Ren#$fusion conf.MbeatMBlac0 &ountain --ob4ectivist poetics
;9! (29-30 $$8": .a/rence 5erlingetti (9ity .ights boo0storeAmeeting place- small presses
published"6 ,ary Dnyder- ,regory 9orso- 1hilip .amantia
-%eat Mo&ement: ;92 ( o/lAmanifesto
-outburst of radicalism- bohemian revolt against conventions and values of
repressive technological mass societypoets of counter culture ethos
-e)pressed in shoc0ing life-styles- emphatically confessional verse
-inspiration: %astern and Gm.religious cults- poetry of Bla0e- 8hitman- 7imbaud-
9rane- 1ound and 8illiams
-prophets and spiritual leadershope to create a poetic vision to redeem the /orld.
Na0ed- all-inclusive poetry- --their e)travagan2a dre/ attention to confessionalism and
change.
-'he (e) *or+ School (%u: and also >eep Fmage"- parta0e of a larger
surrealist movement < the internationali2ation of poetry ;92 (3!-32 $$8". Fnfusion of
surrelism reached a pea0 in the !9;0s
?*ara- Nenneth Noch- John Gshbery (students at arvard"moved to Ne/ Cor0
avant-garde: painting (action painting M abstract e)pressionism" and theatre (the living
theatre"
Gims: anti-formalism- egos at the center of the poem- cosmopolitan poetry
Fnfluences: 5rench surrealism (7imbaud- $2ara- Breton M action painting
1oetry is no longer e)perience.
Gshbery: 1oetry is the e)perience of an e)perience' (Gn )-ray of the poet*s response
to the reality of an instant. 1oetry is 0ineticpasses from one response to the ne)t: ?*ara
#F do this- F do that' poems 9itat din Fntroduction: ;93= p.32
Deep Image poetry7obert Bly and James 8right in &innesota--- Dpanish and
Douth Gmerican surrealism: ,arcia .orca- 7aphael Glberti- 1ablo Neruda- ?ctavio 1a2
-anti-formalist and anti-intellectual
-Bly: p.;9: : #the movement to deepen association in poetry- to open the corridor to
the unconscious'. $hey too0 the surface of things li0e a springboard from /hich to dive into
the self citat p.33
- Bly*s poetic method called >eep Fmage: influence of %uropean romantics7ainer
&aria 7il0e- ,eorg $rac0l and hai0u verse p.3:" 6 8.D.&er/in (poetry of silence ;9+ (3:"
- ,omen-s Poetry 6 ;9I p.3I De)ton- 7ich- .evertov- Broo0s- .orde- 7ita >ove-
ar4o- 9arolyn 5orche- --confessionalism
-Blac0 1oetry ve2i notite p.3= ;99
-9oncrete poetry6 ($$8 3H"
-$he ne/ formalism (:+"
-.anguage 1oets (p.:;"