Phenomenology and the Late Twentieth-Century American Long Poem (Modern and Contemporary Poetry and Poetics)

__Phenomenology and the Late Twentieth-Century American Long Poem__ reads major figures including Charles Olson, Lyn Hejinian, Nathaniel Mackey, Susan Howe and Rachel Blau DuPlessis within a new approach to the long poem tradition. Through a series of contextualised close readings, it explores the ways in which American poets developed their poetic forms by engaging with a variety of European phenomenologists, including Hannah Arendt, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Martin Heidegger, Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida. Consolidating recent materials on the role of Continental Philosophy in American poetics, this book explores the theoretical and historical contexts in which avant-garde poets have developed radically new methods of making poems long. Matthew Carbery offers a timely commentary on a number of major works of American poetry whilst providing ground-breaking research into the wider philosophical context of late twentieth-century poetic experimentation. This book reads major figures including Charles Olson, Lyn Hejinian, Nathaniel Mackey, Susan Howe and Rachel Blau DuPlessis within a new approach to the long poem tradition. Through a series of contextualised close readings, it explores the ways in which American poets developed their poetic forms by engaging with a variety of European phenomenologists, including Hannah Arendt, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Martin Heidegger, Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida. Consolidating recent materials on the role of Continental Philosophy in American poetics, this book explores the theoretical and historical contexts in which avant-garde poets have developed radically new methods of making poems long. Matthew Carbery offers a timely commentary on a number of major works of American poetry whilst providing ground-breaking research into the wider philosophical context of late twentieth-century poetic experimentation Front Matter ....Pages i-xi Coming to Terms with the American Long Poem: Introduction (Matthew Carbery)....Pages 1-35 Finding a Word for Ourselves: George Oppen’s Of Being Numerous (Matthew Carbery)....Pages 37-63 A Huge Companionship: Robin Blaser’s ‘Image-Nation’ (Matthew Carbery)....Pages 65-93 A Grand Essay on Perception: Lyn Hejinian and Leslie Scalapino’s Sight (Matthew Carbery)....Pages 95-124 A Massive System of Urgency: Susan Howe’s Pierce-Arrow (Matthew Carbery)....Pages 125-155 Adumbration Bound Our Book: Nathaniel Mackey’s ‘Song of the Andoumboulou’ (Matthew Carbery)....Pages 157-191 The Book Withdraws into Itself: Rachel Blau DuPlessis’ Drafts (Matthew Carbery)....Pages 193-223 An Ever-Renewed Experience of Its Own Beginning: Conclusion (Matthew Carbery)....Pages 225-230 Back Matter ....Pages 231-235