History of American Poetry

Informationen zum Autor Richard Gray has been Professor or Distinguished Visiting Professor at several universities in the UK and USA, including Essex, Georgia and South Carolina. He is the first specialist in American literature to be elected a Fellow of the British Academy and has published over a dozen books on the topic, including the award-winning Writing the South: Ideas of an American Region (1986) and The Life of William Faulkner: A Critical Biography (1994). Klappentext A History of American Poetry presents a comprehensive exploration of the development of American poetic traditions from their pre-Columbian origins to the present day. Richard Gray, one of the leading authorities on American literature, situates the story of American poetry within the historical, political, cultural, and societal contexts that contributed to shaping the genre. Through close readings of individual poems, Gray reveals how American poetry evolved to reflect the rich diversity and multicultural character of the United States. While the primary focus is on poetry of the 20th- and 21st-centuries, numerous formative and influential figures from the colonial and revolutionary eras through the 19th century are not overlooked, with coverage of voices ranging from Edward Taylor, Anne Bradstreet, and Phillis Wheatley to Poe, Whitman, and Dickinson. Presenting the full breadth of American poetry in an accessible and engagingly written manner, A History of American Poetry is an invaluable guide to all facets of this essential component of the nation's rich literary heritage. Zusammenfassung A History of American Poetry presents a comprehensive exploration of the development of American poetic traditions from their pre-Columbian origins to the present day. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface and Acknowledgments x1 The American Poem 1The United States ... the Greatest Poem 1The Poem is You 8The Breaking of the New Wood 21Forging the Uncreated Conscience of the Nation 272 Beginnings 39In My Beginning is My End 39The word and the Word: Colonial Poetry 44Towards the Secular: Colonial Poetry 53Writing Revolution: The Poetry of the Emergent Republic 57Across the Great Divide: Poetry of the South and the North 63To Sing the Nation: American Poetic Voices 69To Sing of Freedom: African American Voices 89Looking Before and After: Poetic Voices of Region and Nation 913 The Turn to the Modern: Imagism, Objectivism, and Some Major Innovators 106The Revolution is Accomplished 106The Significance of Imagism 111From Imagism to Objectivism or Dream 115From Imagism to the Redemption of History 128From Imagism to Contact and Community 136From Imagism to Discovery of the Imagination 1414 In Search of a Past: The Fugitive Movement and the Major Traditionalists 153The Precious, the Incommunicable Past 153The Significance of the Fugitives 157Traditionalism and the South 160Traditionalism Outside the South 174Traditionalism, Skepticism, and Tragedy 179Traditionalism, Quiet Desperation, and Belief 185Traditionalism, Inhumanism, and Prophecy 1915 The Traditions of Whitman: Other Poets from Between the Wars 201Make this America for Us! 201Whitman and American Populism 205Whitman and American Radicalism 211Whitman, American Identity, and African American Poetry 217Whitman and American Individualism 224Whitman and American Experimentalism 232Whitman and American Mysticism 2376 Formalists and Confessionals: American Poetry since World War II 250A Sad Heart at the Supermarket 250From the Mythological Eye to the Lonely "I": A Progress of American Poetry since the War 253Varieties of the Personal: The Self as Dream, Landscape, or Confession 258From Formalism to Freedom: A Progress of American PoeticTechniques since the War 264The Imagination of Commitment: A Progress of AmericanPoetic Themes since the War 270The Uses of Formalism 274The Confessional "I" as Pri...

List of contents

Preface and Acknowledgments x
 
1 The American Poem 1
 
The United States ... the Greatest Poem 1
 
The Poem is You 8
 
The Breaking of the New Wood 21
 
Forging the Uncreated Conscience of the Nation 27
 
2 Beginnings 39
 
In My Beginning is My End 39
 
The word and the Word: Colonial Poetry 44
 
Towards the Secular: Colonial Poetry 53
 
Writing Revolution: The Poetry of the Emergent Republic 57
 
Across the Great Divide: Poetry of the South and the North 63
 
To Sing the Nation: American Poetic Voices 69
 
To Sing of Freedom: African American Voices 89
 
Looking Before and After: Poetic Voices of Region and Nation 91
 
3 The Turn to the Modern: Imagism, Objectivism, and Some Major Innovators 106
 
The Revolution is Accomplished 106
 
The Significance of Imagism 111
 
From Imagism to Objectivism or Dream 115
 
From Imagism to the Redemption of History 128
 
From Imagism to Contact and Community 136
 
From Imagism to Discovery of the Imagination 141
 
4 In Search of a Past: The Fugitive Movement and the Major Traditionalists 153
 
The Precious, the Incommunicable Past 153
 
The Significance of the Fugitives 157
 
Traditionalism and the South 160
 
Traditionalism Outside the South 174
 
Traditionalism, Skepticism, and Tragedy 179
 
Traditionalism, Quiet Desperation, and Belief 185
 
Traditionalism, Inhumanism, and Prophecy 191
 
5 The Traditions of Whitman: Other Poets from Between the Wars 201
 
Make this America for Us! 201
 
Whitman and American Populism 205
 
Whitman and American Radicalism 211
 
Whitman, American Identity, and African American Poetry 217
 
Whitman and American Individualism 224
 
Whitman and American Experimentalism 232
 
Whitman and American Mysticism 237
 
6 Formalists and Confessionals: American Poetry since World War II 250
 
A Sad Heart at the Supermarket 250
 
From the Mythological Eye to the Lonely "I": A Progress of American Poetry since the War 253
 
Varieties of the Personal: The Self as Dream, Landscape, or Confession 258
 
From Formalism to Freedom: A Progress of American Poetic
 
Techniques since the War 264
 
The Imagination of Commitment: A Progress of American
 
Poetic Themes since the War 270
 
The Uses of Formalism 274
 
The Confessional "I" as Primitive 278
 
The Confessional "I" as Historian 281
 
The Confessional "I" as Martyr 285
 
The Confessional "I" as Prophet 289
 
New Formalists, New Confessionals 292
 
7 Beats, Prophets, and Aesthetes: American Poetry since World War II 302
 
Who Am I? 302
 
Rediscovering the American Voice: The Black Mountain Poets 306
 
Restoring the American Vision: The San Francisco Poets 316
 
Recreating American Rhythms: The Beat Poets 323
 
Resurrecting the American Rebel: African American Poetry 330
 
Reinventing the American Self: The New York Poets 340
 
And the Beat Goes On: American Poetry and Virtual Reality 351
 
8 The Languages of American Poetry and the Language of Crisis: American Poetry into the Twenty-First Century 367
 
What is the Language of American Literature? 367
 
The Actuality of Words: The Language Poets 376
 
The Necessity of Audience: The New Formalists 384
 
Remapping the Nation: Chicano/a and Latino/a Poetry 395
 
Improvising America: Asian American Poetry 418
 
New and Ancient Songs: The Return of the Native American

Report

"In his preface to this work, Richard Gray says that he has "tried to be faithful to the sheer range and plurality of the American poetic tradition," and much the most impressive feature of this work is the "sheer range" of authors it covers. Extending from Philip Freneau at the end of the eighteenth century to emerging Asian-American poets at the beginning of the twenty-first, this book offers the reader a compendious, almost encyclopaedic range, which treats every facet of American poetry ... Gray writes fluently and with stylistic brio about a very large range of American poets, and he manages to convey a strong sense not only of his commitment to this field but also his enjoyment of it."--Paul Giles, University of Sydney
"Richard Gray's History of American Poetry has great appeal for both specialized scholars and general readers. Gray's lucid prose style and sensitive analyses allow us to gain valuable insights into American poetry seen within its historical context."--Susan Castillo, King's College London

Product details

• Authors: Gray, Dave Gray, R Gray, Richard Gray, Richard (University of Essex Gray
• Publisher: Wiley, John and Sons Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 20.03.2015
• EAN: 9781118795347
• ISBN: 978-1-118-79534-7
• No. of pages: 544
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > English linguistics / literary studies; Literaturwissenschaft, Lyrik, Amerikanische Literatur, Literaturkritik, Literature, Amerikanische Lyrik, USA /Literatur, Literaturgeschichte, Literaturkritik u. -geschichte, Literary Criticism & History, American Literature, American poetry