Poetry Off the Page

Twentieth-Century British Women Poets in Performance

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book Poetry Off the Page by Laura Severin, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Laura Severin ISBN: 9781351910606
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: March 2, 2017
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Laura Severin
ISBN: 9781351910606
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: March 2, 2017
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

This study examines the performed poetry of Charlotte Mew, Anna Wickham, Edith Sitwell, Stevie Smith, Liz Lochhead, and Jackie Kay as an alternative radical tradition of British poetry, developed to convey women's experience. Through a historical treatment in which the poets are discussed in pairs, the chapters trace how these six women used a performative poetry to deal with difficulties regarding women's representation: from simply presenting difference in the case of Mew and Wickham, to deconstructing difference in the case of Sitwell and Smith, to avoiding the recapture of cultural imagery in the case of Lochhead and Kay. Laura Severin claims that twentieth-century British women poets have been neglected by both feminist and more traditional literary critics because they cannot be read within available literary frameworks. Feminist criticism, in particular, has overlooked the value of other poetic ancestries by locating the only radical tradition of modern poetry in fractured form. At least one alternative radical tradition can be found in a narrative and performed poetry that maximizes its transgressive potential with multiple framing devices. Though a female poet always experiences difficulty in controlling both cultural imagery and her own public presentation, these framing devices work together both to deconstruct the essentialized category of woman and to recover the multiplicity of women's experience.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

This study examines the performed poetry of Charlotte Mew, Anna Wickham, Edith Sitwell, Stevie Smith, Liz Lochhead, and Jackie Kay as an alternative radical tradition of British poetry, developed to convey women's experience. Through a historical treatment in which the poets are discussed in pairs, the chapters trace how these six women used a performative poetry to deal with difficulties regarding women's representation: from simply presenting difference in the case of Mew and Wickham, to deconstructing difference in the case of Sitwell and Smith, to avoiding the recapture of cultural imagery in the case of Lochhead and Kay. Laura Severin claims that twentieth-century British women poets have been neglected by both feminist and more traditional literary critics because they cannot be read within available literary frameworks. Feminist criticism, in particular, has overlooked the value of other poetic ancestries by locating the only radical tradition of modern poetry in fractured form. At least one alternative radical tradition can be found in a narrative and performed poetry that maximizes its transgressive potential with multiple framing devices. Though a female poet always experiences difficulty in controlling both cultural imagery and her own public presentation, these framing devices work together both to deconstruct the essentialized category of woman and to recover the multiplicity of women's experience.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book From Crisis to Growth in Africa by Laura Severin
Cover of the book American Literature by Laura Severin
Cover of the book American Constitutional Law, Volume II by Laura Severin
Cover of the book Terrorism by Laura Severin
Cover of the book Markets of English by Laura Severin
Cover of the book Medieval Herbal Remedies by Laura Severin
Cover of the book The Iranian Military in Revolution and War (RLE Iran D) by Laura Severin
Cover of the book Administrator's Guide to School-Community Relations, The by Laura Severin
Cover of the book British Women and the Spanish Civil War by Laura Severin
Cover of the book First and Last Things by Laura Severin
Cover of the book Practice of Public Relations by Laura Severin
Cover of the book Politics, Economics, and Welfare by Laura Severin
Cover of the book Giordano Bruno and the Geometry of Language by Laura Severin
Cover of the book Non-Governmental Organizations and the State in Asia by Laura Severin
Cover of the book Managing Staff in Early Years Settings by Laura Severin
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy