This book elucidates the uses of autobiography and constructions of personhood in American poetry since World War II, with reference to American literature in general since Ralph Waldo Emerson. Taking on one of the most crucial issues in American poetry of the last fifty years, the book explores what is lost or gained when real-life experiences are made part of the subject matter and source material for poetry. In five extended, scholarly essays, it looks specifically to bridge the chasm between formal and experimental poetry in the United States. Regardless of form, the book argues that recen ... More
Keywords: autobiography, personhood, American poetry, autobiographical material, formal poetry, experimental poetry, United States, World War II, American literature, Ralph Waldo Emerson
Print publication date: 2007 | Print ISBN-13: 9780226103815 |
Published to Chicago Scholarship Online: February 2013 | DOI:10.7208/chicago/9780226103846.001.0001 |