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Experimentation and the Lyric in Contemporary French Poetry offers a new theoretical approach and historical perspective on the remarkable upsurge in creative poetic practices in France that have challenged traditional definitions of poetry and of the lyric. Focusing on the work of Pierre Alferi, Olivier Cadiot, Emmanuel Hocquard, Franck Leibovici, Anne Portugal and Denis Roche, this book provides an analysis of the most influential poets in French poetry of the last few decades. It contextualizes the theoretical models that inform their investigations, analyzing them alongside the history of the avant-garde and the heated theoretical debates that have taken place over whether to continue or bring an end to the lyric. Systematically addressing the various strategies employed by these poets and drawing on reception theory and cognitive studies, Jeff Barda argues that French radical poetics re-evaluates the lyric in cognitive terms beyond the personal. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in twenty-first-century forms of experimental writing and the connections between literature and the arts today.
List of contents
Chapter 1. Introduction: 'It was the war between the literalist and the lyric poets. Starwars. The grammatical-communist Robots against the real Humans'.- Chapter 2. Materials.- Chapter 3. Tools and Operations.- Chapter 4. Techniques of Assemblage.- Chapter 5. The Lyric Reading Performance.- Chapter 6. Conclusion: Towards and Ecology of Attention.
About the author
Jeff Barda is Junior Research Fellow in French at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge, UK.
Summary
Experimentation and the Lyric in Contemporary French Poetry offers a new theoretical approach and historical perspective on the remarkable upsurge in creative poetic practices in France that have challenged traditional definitions of poetry and of the lyric. Focusing on the work of Pierre Alferi, Olivier Cadiot, Emmanuel Hocquard, Franck Leibovici, Anne Portugal and Denis Roche, this book provides an analysis of the most influential poets in French poetry of the last few decades. It contextualizes the theoretical models that inform their investigations, analyzing them alongside the history of the avant-garde and the heated theoretical debates that have taken place over whether to continue or bring an end to the lyric. Systematically addressing the various strategies employed by these poets and drawing on reception theory and cognitive studies, Jeff Barda argues that French radical poetics re-evaluates the lyric in cognitive terms beyond the personal. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in twenty-first-century forms of experimental writing and the connections between literature and the arts today.
Additional text
“Barda’s work testifies of an in-depth knowledge of a difficult and extremely innovative field, which he perfectly masters. … this book reframes our way of thinking the relationship between the lyric and the experiment. It can be used as a user’s manual to contemporary French poetry, which may seem very difficult to read without this kind of help (but it’s more than worth the effort).” (Jan Baetens, Leonardo, leonardo.info, August, 2021)
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"Barda's work testifies of an in-depth knowledge of a difficult and extremely innovative field, which he perfectly masters. ... this book reframes our way of thinking the relationship between the lyric and the experiment. It can be used as a user's manual to contemporary French poetry, which may seem very difficult to read without this kind of help (but it's more than worth the effort)." (Jan Baetens, Leonardo, leonardo.info, August, 2021)
