A Social Biography of Contemporary Innovative Poetry Communities - The Gift, the Wager, and Poethics

This book offers a new reading of Marcell Mauss' and Lewis Hyde's theories of poetry as gift, exploring poetry exchanges within 20^th and 21^st century communities of poets, publishers, audiences and readers operating along a gift economy.  The text considers trans-Atlantic case studies across fields of performance and ecopoetics, small press publishing and poetry institutions, with focus on Joan Retallack, Bob Holman, Anne Waldman, Bob Cobbing, and feminist performance. Elizabeth-Jane Burnett focuses on innovative poetry that resists commodification, drawing on ethnography to show parallels with gift giving tribal societies; she also considers the ethical, philosophical and psychological motivations for such exchanges with particular reference to poethics. This book will appeal to researchers in modern poetry, poetry teachers, advanced students of modern literature, and those with an interest in poetry.

List of contents

1 Gifts.- 2 Wagers.- 3 Rapport as Return: Bob Holman, Spoken Word and Bowery Poetry.- 4 Becoming a Bridge - The Poet's Bodhisattva Vow: Anne Waldman and Naropa.- 5 A Circuit of Energies: Bob Cobbing, Sound Poetry and Writers Forum.- 6 Gendered Gifts: Feminist Performance Practice.- 7 Difficult Gifts: Ecopoethics and the Task of Environmentalism.- 8 Conclusion.

About the author

Dr. Elizabeth-Jane Burnett is Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Newman University, Birmingham. She studied English at Oxford and Royal Holloway, University of London. Her poetry includes Rivering (2017) and Swims (2014). She is currently writing a book titled A Dictionary of the Soil.

Summary

This book offers a new reading of Marcell Mauss’ and Lewis Hyde’s theories of poetry as gift, exploring poetry exchanges within 20^th and 21^st century communities of poets, publishers, audiences and readers operating along a gift economy.  The text considers trans-Atlantic case studies across fields of performance and ecopoetics, small press publishing and poetry institutions, with focus on Joan Retallack, Bob Holman, Anne Waldman, Bob Cobbing, and feminist performance. Elizabeth-Jane Burnett focuses on innovative poetry that resists commodification, drawing on ethnography to show parallels with gift giving tribal societies; she also considers the ethical, philosophical and psychological motivations for such exchanges with particular reference to poethics. This book will appeal to researchers in modern poetry, poetry teachers, advanced students of modern literature, and those with an interest in poetry.

Product details

• Authors: Elizabeth-Jane Burnett
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.11.2017
• EAN: 9783319622941
• ISBN: 978-3-31-962294-1
• No. of pages: 217
• Dimensions: 155 mm x 218 mm x 18 mm
• Weight: 390 g
• Illustrations: IX, 217 p. 3 illus.
• Series: Modern and Contemporary Poetry and Poetics; Modern and Contemporary Poetry and Poetics
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; Literaturtheorie, Kickstarter, B, Literaturwissenschaft: 1900 bis 2000, Poetry, Crowdfunding, Contemporary Literature, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, grants, Literary theory, Poetry and Poetics, Literature, Modern—20th century, Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000, Literature, Modern—21st century, Literature—Philosophy, barter, benefactor