| Description |
One of the most exciting moments in contemporary poetry, in Britain as well as in the United States and other English-speaking literatures, is the return of form. It started in the early 1990s with a fierce debate that quickly gained momentum, most notably with Dana Gioia’s famous essay Can Poetry Matter? In this essay, Gioia, who later became Poet Laureate of California, claims that the neglect of meter, form and rhyme in modern poetry has led to the decline not only of poetic diction, but also of such notions as beauty, meaning and consolation that once where at the core of poetry. In this seminar we will discuss the highly influential movements of “New Formalism”, “New Aestheticism” and “New Expansive Poetry” that made it their mission to revitalize form and beauty in poetry and life. We will analyze their poetry as well as their critical writings, while also taking into account the objections of ‘non-formalist’ poets and critics. |
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