A Poetics of Global Solidarity - (Modern and Contemporary Poetry and Poetics) by Clemens Spahr (Hardcover)
About this item
Highlights
- Tackling topics such as globalization and political activism, this book traces engaged poetics in 20th century American poetry.
- About the Author: Clemens Spahr is a Junior Professor in the Department of English/American Studies at the Mainz University, Germany.
- 255 Pages
- Literary Criticism, American
- Series Name: Modern and Contemporary Poetry and Poetics
Description
About the Book
"A Poetics of Global Solidarity traces the transformations of the engaged tradition of modern and contemporary American poetry and its imagination of a collective subject position rooted in a vision of global solidarity. The presence or absence of social and political movements has crucially shaped the imagination of writers who see poetry as a form of cultural practice with the potential of sparking political activism. The trajectory of this book is provided by the various social and political movements in whose context politically committed poets and lyricists imagined global poetic subjectivities beyond the ideologies that maintain the exclusionary mechanisms of the modern world-system. A Poetics of Global Solidarity offers readings of the poetry of the Great Depression, the Harlem Renaissance, post-World War II political poetry, the Beats, and contemporary poetry by writers such as Amiri Baraka and Mark Nowak. Broadening the poetic archive, the book includes discussions of song lyrics ranging from those of IWW songwriter Joe Hill to contemporary Rap lyricists and hardcore punk bands, all of which have contributed to the creation of a poetics of global solidarity in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries"--Book Synopsis
Tackling topics such as globalization and political activism, this book traces engaged poetics in 20th century American poetry. Spahr provides a comprehensive view of activist poetry, starting with the Great Depression and the Harlem Renaissance and moving to the Beats and contemporary writers such as Amiri Baraka and Mark Nowak.Review Quotes
"This book will be a game-changer for the study of modern American poetry. It argues for the first time that there is a century-long progressive tradition of poetic efforts to create an American voice and subject position that is fundamentally international in its scope and political/aesthetic positioning. Because its historical reach is so wide and its thesis so timely, it deserves a wide audience." - Cary Nelson, Emeritus Professor of English, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
"Dealing with widely- and under-read poets in the age of liberalism and neoliberalism, this impressive study is an essential addition to the history of poetic 'tradition.' Following (and complicating) such formations of 'tradition' as the avant-garde (Perloff), 'opposing poetries' (Lazer), and marginalization (Moten, DuPlessis), Spahr has brilliantly excavated our tradition of politically committed poetry. No tradition could feel more necessary now." - Jennifer Ashton, Associate Professor of English, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
About the Author
Clemens Spahr is a Junior Professor in the Department of English/American Studies at the Mainz University, Germany.
