Epic Negation: The Dialectical Poetics of Late Modernism (Modernist Literature and Culture)

The history of the epic-ranging from the heroic narratives of cultural origin found in Homer and Virgil to the tumultuous theological and political conflicts depicted by Dante or Milton-is nearly as old as literature itself. But the epic is also made and remade by its present, adapted to the pressures and formal necessities of its particular cultural moment. Examining modernist poetry's epic turn in the years between the two World Wars, C.D. Blanton's ambitious study charts the inversion of what Ezra Pound called "a poem including history" into a fractured and hollowed form, a "negated epic" that struggles not only to acknowledge the distant past but also to conceive its immediate present. Compelled to register the force of a larger historical totality it cannot directly represent, the negated epic reorients the function of poetic language, trading expression or signification for concrete but often buried reference, remaking the poem as an instrument of dialectical reason in the process. Epic Negation turns first to T. S. Eliot, productively pairing The Waste Land with The Criterion , the literary review it announced in 1922, to argue that Eliot's journal systematically realizes the editorial and critical method through which modernism's epochal poem sought to think its moment whole, developing a totalizing account of interwar culture. Dividing the epic's critical function from its style, The Criterion not only includes history differently, but also formulates an intricately dialectical account of the crisis facing bourgeois society, formed in the image of a Marxism it opposes. World War II's approach serves to organize the second half of Blanton's study, as he traces the dislocated formal effects of a serial epic gone underground. In the tense elegies and pastorals of W. H. Auden and Louis MacNeice, lyric forms cryptically divulge the determining force of unmentionable but universal events, dividing experience against consciousness, what can be said in a poem from what cannot. And, finally, with H.D.'s Trilogy-written under bombardment in a terse exchange with Freud's famous rewriting of biblical history in Moses and Monotheism --the poetic image itself lapses, consigning epic to the silent historical force of the unconscious. Uniquely conceived and deftly executed, Epic Negation transforms our understanding of modernist poetics and the concept of epic more broadly. Contents 6 Series Editors’ Foreword 8 Part One: Including History 14 1. The Dialectical Poetics of Late Modernism 16 Dialectical Poetics 16 Negated Epics 25 The Dialectics of Late Modernism 32 2. An Organ of Documentation: Eliot and Order 35 Notes on Order and Method 35 Eliot’s Nomology 43 Allusion and Reference: Against the Mythic Method 56 O swallow swallow 67 Eliot’s Indication: The Waste Land as Method 76 And down we went: The Waste Land as Epic 89 3. Date Line: Including History 99 A Literary Program 99 Including History 106 Date Line(s) 111 Two Epics 117 4. Eliotic Marxism: Notes Toward a Dialectic of Culture 121 Last Words 121 Another Date Line 124 Toward Definition: Eliotic Epistemology 134 An Absolute Criterion: Eliotic Praxis 144 Eliotic Marxism: Culture as Praxis 159 Negation: Epic as Critique 169 Part Two: Including Negation 172 5. A poem is not poetry 174 War Poetry 174 Seriality 180 Silence 187 6. Auden’s Monadology 193 Killing Ernst Toller 193 Including History Occasionally 201 Monadology: The End of Lyric 212 Elegy and Daybook: Two Allusions 218 Goliath 233 Ways of Happening 242 7. MacNeice’s Dying Fall 246 Enforming: Poetry’s Ends 246 September 1, 1939, Again 253 Pastoral and Epic: The Orchestra and the Bonfire 264 Air Wars 282 Dying Fall: Epic as Elegy 289 8. H.D.’s Incidents 297 Freud and Words 297 The Hieroglyph of the Unconscious 306 Mosaic Visions and Revisions 311 Pararhyme and Afterimage 317 Angles of Incidence: Experiencing Totality 328 Cryptonymy: Two Universals 337 Notes 348 Index 370 "Epic Negation examines the dialectical turn of modernist poetry over the interwar period, arguing that late modernism inverts the method of Ezra Pound's "poem including history" to conceive a negated mode of epic, predicated on the encryption of disarticulated historical content. Compelled to register the force of a totality it cannot represent, this negated epic reorients the function of poetic language and reference, remaking the poem, and late modernism generally, as a critical instrument of dialectical reason. Part I reads The Waste Land alongside the review it prefaced, The Criterion, arguing that the poem establishes the editorial method with which T.S. Eliot constructs the review's totalizing account of culture. Dividing the epic's critical function from its style, Eliot not only includes history differently, but also formulates an intricately dialectical account of the interwar crisis of bourgeois culture, formed in the image of a Marxian critique it opposes. Part II turns to the second war's onset, tracing the dislocated formal effects of an epic gone underground. In the elegies and pastorals of W.H. Auden and Louis MacNeice, lyric forms divulge the determining force of unmentionable but universal events, dividing experience against consciousness. With H.D.'s war trilogy, produced in a terse exchange with Freud's Moses, even the poetic image lapses, associating epic with the silent historical force of the unconscious as such." -- Založnikova predstavitev "Epic Negation examines the dialectical turn of modernist poetry over the interwar period, arguing that late modernism inverts the method of Ezra Pound's "poem including history" to conceive a negated mode of epic, predicated on the encryption of disarticulated historical content. Compelled to register the force of a totality it cannot represent, this negated epic reorients the function of poetic language and reference, remaking the poem, and late modernism generally, as a critical instrument of dialectical reason. Part I reads The Waste Land alongside the review it prefaced, The Criterion, arguing that the poem establishes the editorial method with which T.S. Eliot constructs the review's totalizing account of culture. Dividing the epic's critical function from its style, Eliot not only includes history differently, but also formulates an intricately dialectical account of the interwar crisis of bourgeois culture, formed in the image of a Marxian critique it opposes. Part II turns to the second war's onset, tracing the dislocated formal effects of an epic gone underground. In the elegies and pastorals of W.H. Auden and Louis MacNeice, lyric forms divulge the determining force of unmentionable but universal events, dividing experience against consciousness. With H.D.'s war trilogy, produced in a terse exchange with Freud's Moses, even the poetic image lapses, associating epic with the silent historical force of the unconscious as such"-- Provided by publisher Epic Negation Examines The Dialectical Turn Of Modernist Poetry Over The Interwar Period, Arguing That Late Modernism Inverts The Method Of Ezra Pound's Poem Including History To Conceive A Negated Mode Of Epic, Predicated On The Encryption Of Disarticulated Historical Content. Compelled To Register The Force Of A Totality It Cannot Represent, This Negated Epic Reorients The Function Of Poetic Language And Reference, Remaking The Poem, And Late Modernism Generally, As A Critical Instrument Of Dialectical Reason. Part I Reads The Waste Land Alongside The Review It Prefaced, The Criterion, Arguing That The Poem Establishes The Editorial Method With Which T. S. Eliot Constructs The Review's Totalizing Account Of Culture. Dividing The Epic's Critical Function From Its Style, Eliot Not Only Includes History Differently, But Also Formulates An Intricately Dialectical Account Of The Interwar Crisis Of Bourgeois Culture, Formed In The Image Of A Marxian Critique It Opposes. Part Ii Turns To The Second War's Onset, Tracing The Dislocated Formal Effects Of An Epic Gone Underground. In The Elegies And Pastorals Of W. H. Auden And Louis Macneice, Lyric Forms Divulge The Determining Force Of Unmentionable But Universal Events, Dividing Experience Against Consciousness. With H.d.'s War Trilogy, Produced In A Terse Exchange With Freud's Moses, Even The Poetic Image Lapses, Associating Epic With The Silent Historical Force Of The Unconscious As Such--