Ezra Pound and the Spanish World - (Clemson University Press: The Ezra Pound Center for Literature Book) (Hardcover)

About the Book

This collection gathers for the first time criticism on Ezra Pounds lifelong involvement with Spain and Spanish culture, from his early visits to the dedication of the first monument to him in Spain in 1973. Part One includes an introduction and chapters on Pounds study of classical Spanish literature, the Spanish dimension in The Cantos, his contemporary Spanish connections, and his Spanish legacy, while Part Two gathers Pounds own writing on Spain not accessible elsewhere.

Book Synopsis

Award for the Best Collection of Essays on Culture in English Language in its 2024 by by AEDEAN (The Spanish Association of Anglo-American Studies)

This collection offers for the first time criticism, biographical essays, analysis, translation studies, and reminiscences of Ezra Pound's extensive interaction with Spain and Spanish culture, from his earliest visits to Spain in 1902 and 1906 and his study of significant Spanish writers to the dedication of the first monument erected anywhere to Pound in the small Spanish village of Medinaceli in 1973. Divided into two sections, Part One: "ON EZRA POUND AND THE SPANISH WORLD" includes a general introduction on Pound's lifelong involvement with Spain, together with chapters on Pound's study of classical Spanish literature, the Spanish dimension in The Cantos, Pound's contemporary Spanish connections, and his legacy in contemporary Spanish letters. Part Two: "EZRA POUND AND THE SPANISH WORLD: A READER," then gathers for the first time Pound's own writings (postcards, letters, and essays) concerning Spain and Spanish writers, as well as his correspondence with Spanish poets Miguel de Unamuno and Juan Ramón Jiménez and with José Vázquez Amaral, the first Spanish translator of The Cantos in its entirety. The volume includes reminiscences by Spanish Novísimos poets, Antonio Colinas and Jaime Siles, written explicitly for this collection. Besides providing a thorough exploration into Pound's engagement with Spain, this volume pays homage to Pound's considerable influence on Spanish culture.

Review Quotes

'Ezra Pound and the Spanish World productively digs into an underexplored aspect of Pound's intellectual and cultural legacy, paving the way for new avenues for research into his relationship with Spanish civilization. This collection not only provides critical insights into the historical context of Pound's life and work but also invites readers to reconsider the broader implications of his transnational influence on 20th-century literature.'

Jorge Braga Riera, Nexus

'This is an insightful, meticulous and wide-ranging study which comprises original criticism on the boundless figure of Pound - the specificity, conciseness and precision of each essay is clearly an asset. Highly illustrative and clearly informative, this collective volume will appeal to anyone interested in Pound and the Spanish tradition, and not only to specialists in the field.'

Carles Granel Sales, EPOS

About the Author

Viorica Patea is Professor of American Literature at the University of Salamanca, where she teaches American and English literature. Her published books include Entre el mito y la realidad: Aproximacin a la obra potica de Sylvia Plath (1989), a study on Whitman, La apologa de Whitman a favor de la pica de la modernidad (1999) and T. S. Eliots The Waste Land (2005), forthcoming in a second edition with a new translation, extended notes, and a new introduction. She has edited various collections of essays such as Critical Essays on the Myth of the American Adam (2001) and, together with Paul Scott Derrick, Modernism Revisited: Transgressing Boundaries and Strategies of Renewal in American Poetry (2007). Her edited collection of essays, Short Story Theories: A Twenty-First-Century Perspective (2012) received the Javier Coy Research Award for the best edited book (2013). In addition, Patea is an accomplished translator: from Romanian into English (with Paul Derrick), several editions of the poetry of Romanian poet Ana Blandiana, My Native Land A4 (2014) and Five Books (2021); from Romanian into Spanish, the poetry of Blandiana as well as the poetry of Patrizia de Rachewiltz; and from Romanian into Spanish, an annotated edition of El diario de la felicidad by Nicolae Steinhardt (2007).
John Gery is an American poet, critic, collaborative translator, and editor. He has published seven books of poetry, a critical work on the treatment of nuclear annihilation in American poetry, two co-edited volumes of literary criticism and two co-edited anthologies of contemporary poetry, as well as, a co-authored biography and guidebook on Ezra Pound's Venice.
Walter Baumann was born in Switzerland and studied at the Universities of Zurich and Aberdeen. His academic teaching career in German Studies started at Toronto University and continued at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. He published on J. W. Goethe, H. Broch, and M. Frisch.