Crisis and the US Avant-garde : Poetry and Real Politics

## Charts the energies and tensions of avant-garde poetics and vanguard politics __Crisis and the US Avant-Garde__ examines the politics of poetry through the lens of crisis. A timely commentary on the role poetic culture might play in political struggle going forward into our own various contemporary crises, the book connects major twentieth-century poets and movements, including Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka and Language Poetry, with their various moments of political upheaval. Reading poems as attempted interventions in ‘turning-points’ or ‘moments of decision’ within American culture, Crisis and the US Avant-Garde looks at how poetry seeks to go beyond poetic language, and investigates how experimental American poetry has attempted to responds to imperialism, war, class conflict and capitalism itself. ## Key Features: * Reassesses the US avant-garde’s relation to political events * Explains how we might talk about a ‘context’ for avant-garde art * Provides detailed readings of major poets, including Louis Zukofsky, Charles Olson, Denise Levertov, George Oppen, Amiri Baraka and others * Key reference point for experimental cultural politics today Crisis and the US Avant-Garde charts the energies and tensions of avant-garde poetics and vanguard politics. Crisis and the US Avant-Garde examines the politics of poetry through the lens of crisis. A timely commentary on the role poetic culture might play in political struggle going forward into our own various contemporary crises, the book connects major twentieth-century poets and movements, including Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka and Language Poetry, with their various moments of political upheaval. Reading poems as attempted interventions in ‘turning-points'or ‘moments of decision'within American culture, Crisis and the US Avant-Garde looks at how poetry seeks to go beyond poetic language, and investigates how experimental American poetry has attempted to responds to imperialism, war, class conflict and capitalism itself. 　 Key features: Reassesses the US avant-garde's relation to political events Explains how we might talk about a ‘context'for avant-garde art Provides detailed readings of major poets, including Louis Zukofsky, Charles Olson, Denise Levertov, George Oppen, Amiri Baraka and others Key reference point for experimental cultural politics today Ben Hickman is the author of John Ashbery and English Poetry (Edinburgh, 2012) and has published numerous essays on the New York School, the New American Poetry, John Clare and others. He studied at University College, London and currently teaches at the University of Kent. Crisis and the US Avant-Garde charts the energies and tensions of avant-garde poetics and vanguard politics. Crisis and the US Avant-Garde examines the politics of poetry through the lens of crisis. A timely commentary on the role poetic culture might play in political struggle going forward into our own various contemporary crises, the book connects major twentieth-century poets and movements, including Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka and Language Poetry, with their various moments of political upheaval. Reading poems as attempted interventions in turning-points or moments of decision within American culture, Crisis and the US Avant-Garde looks at how poetry seeks to go beyond poetic language, and investigates how experimental American poetry has attempted to responds to imperialism, war, class conflict and capitalism itself. Key Ben Hickman is the author of John Ashbery and English Poetry (Edinburgh, 2012) and has published numerous essays on the New York School, the New American Poetry, John Clare and others. He studied at University College, London and currently teaches at the University of Kent. Examining The Politics Of Poetry Through The Lens Of Crisis, The Book Provides A Commentary On The Role Poetic Culture Might Play In Political Struggle Going Forward Into Contemporary Crises. Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Longing For Perfection: History And Utopia In Louis Zukofsky -- Atlantis Buried Outside: Muriel Rukeyser, Myth And War -- Slipping The Cog: Charles Olson And Cold War History -- Husky Phlegm And Spoken Lonesomeness: Poetry Against The Vietnam War -- You Can Be The Music Yourself: Amiri Baraka's Attitudes, 1974-80 -- Figures Of Inward: Language Poetry And The End Of The Avant-garde -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index Ben Hickman. Includes Bibliographic References (pages 185-197) And Index. Focusses on a major revaluation of experimental poetry's social function in the US. The author explores the direct and practical relationships avant garde poets have had with power politics, social organization and cultural movements. It provides detailed readings of major poets.