Postmodernism - Literary Movements, 20th Century American Literature - Post WWII - Literary Criticism, U.S. & Canadian Poetry - 20th Century - Literary Criticism

Poetry after Modernism

Name: Poetry after Modernism
Author: Robert McDowell
ISBN: 9781885266347

by Robert McDowell

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Overview

Poetry After Modernism, Story Line's most successful anthology of criticism, was recognized and widely praised for raising the level of discourse on poetry. This expanded edition retains seven original essays and adds seven new pieces. As editor Robert McDowell points out, "Poets who can write good critical prose from distinctive points of view are the most reliable guides to the news we need to hear most".

Synopsis

Publishers Weekly

The purpose of this compendium of essays, as Story Line Press publisher McDowell ( Quiet Money ) states in his introduction, is ``to make sense . . . of Modernism and its aftermath'' without representing any one theoretical or critical school of thought. Dick Allen criticizes the ``trivializing of poetry'' by a late-20th-century society ``which turns for its truths to psychologists, journalists and politicians.'' Even more heavy-handed is Bruce Bawer's essay, which groans about young people turning to the composition of poetry to ``pour out their guts'' in a ``peculiar, idle, self-indulgent'' way. Rather than taking as their subject the multitude of dedicated poets writing today, both of these critics apply rigid aesthetic principles to our pop-obsessed society. The most successful essays are the less polemical pieces, which tackle specific aspects of modern poetry. Carol Oles and Hilda Raz's ``The Feminist Literary Movement'' and Rita Dove and Marilyn Nelson Waniek's ``A Black Rainbow: Modern Afro-American Poetry'' are a pleasure to read, providing insightful overviews of these respective literary movements. (Jan.)

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Library Journal

This is a collection of critical essays on the state of contemporary American poetry. As editor McDowell states, ``In agreeing to write for this book, the authors accepted broad suggestions on topics, then followed their individual, aggressive instincts.'' Herein lies the anthology's salient flaw--its fundamental lack of unity. The reader emerges with the feeling of having read 12 essays that just happen to have been sewn together in one volume. Thus, it is difficult to generalize about the book, but two unfortunate tendencies are noticeable. First, although there is certainly some enlightening analysis, the writing is often marred by pat, reductive pronouncements. Second, several essays are little more than superficial surveys of the topic in hand, devoting one paragraph to each poet covered, then attempting in vain to synthesize a mass of disparate material in a brief conclusion. Not recommended.-- Jeffrey R. Luttrell, Youngstown State Univ., Ohio

Booknews

Adds seven new essays to seven of the essays, some updated, that appeared in the original edition, for a total of 14. They discuss the feminist literary movement; poetry in terms of religion, the armor of outside, the university, audience, business, rhyme, and shape; modern Afro- American poetry; new formalists and the techniquization of poetry; American male poetry of sensibility; two cultures at the end of the 20th century; the epic; and the foundation of cognition. No index. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.