Pastoral, Pragmatism, and Twentieth-Century American Poetry (Modern and Contemporary Poetry and Poetics)

Pastoral, Pragmatism, and Twentieth-Century American Poetry argues that pastoral has remained a significant mode in modern American poetry, often as a means of talking about who the ideal self or poet should be and how the poet fits into the larger national community. Influenced by the work of William James and John Dewey, Ann Mikkelsen deftly argues that the “pragmatic pastoral” mode depicts a transitory, evolving, experimental state of being rather than a static, ironic, or nostalgic worldview. By re-evaluating relationships between the poet and the people, the poem and life experience, this book demonstrates that these pastorals reflect the ethical dilemmas of a society in flux. Coverpage......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Introduction......Page 12 1 Pastoral Ideology and the Pragmatic Response......Page 32 2 Tramp Culture and the Cult of Pan:Robert Frost’s Pastoral of Class Mobility......Page 50 3 “The Truth About Us”: Pastoral, Pragmatism, and William Carlos Williams’s Paterson......Page 78 4 “Fat! Fat! Fat! Fat!”: Wallace Stevens’s Figurations of Masculinity......Page 104 5 “The Mooring of Starting Out”: John Ashbery’s Pastoral Origins......Page 134 Conclusion: Late Twentieth-Century Pastoral: Gertrude Stein, Lyn Hejinian, Lisa Robertson, and the Continuity of a Mode......Page 162 Notes......Page 186 Bibliography......Page 220 Index......Page 240 Machine generated contents note: Introduction * Pastoral Ideology and the Pragmatic Response * Tramp Culture and the Cult of Pan: Robert Frost's Pastoral of Class Mobility * The Truth About Us" : Pastoral, Pragmatism, and William Carlos Williams's Paterson * Fat! Fat! Fat! Fat!" : Wallace Stevens's Figurations of Masculinity * The Mooring of Starting Out" : John Ashbery's Pastoral Origins * American Pastoral Futures. "In the first expansive study of American pastoral since Leo Marx's The Machine in the Garden, Ann Marie Mikkelsen reinvigorates discussion of this literary mode as a form of cultural commentary whose subjects extend beyond the simple or rustic life to encompass the major social, economic, and political transformations of the past century."--Provided by publisher.