Poetic Machinations: Allegory, Surrealism, and Postmodern Poetic Form (Literature Now)

The shape, lineation, and prosody of postmodern poems are extravagantly inventive, imbuing both form and content with meaning. Through a survey of American poetry and poetics from the end of World War II to the present, Michael Golston traces the proliferation of these experiments to a growing fascination with allegory in philosophy, linguistics, critical theory, and aesthetics, introducing new strategies for reading American poetry while embedding its formal innovations within the history of intellectual thought. Beginning with Walter Benjamin's explicit understanding of Surrealism as an allegorical art, Golston defines a distinct engagement with allegory among philosophers, theorists, and critics from 1950 to today. Reading Fredric Jameson, Angus Fletcher, Roland Barthes, and Craig Owens, and working with the semiotics of Charles Sanders Pierce, Golston develops a theory of allegory he then applies to the poems of Louis Zukofsky and Lorine Niedecker, who, he argues, wrote in response to the Surrealists; the poems of John Ashbery and Clark Coolidge, who incorporated formal aspects of filmmaking and photography into their work; the groundbreaking configurations of P. Inman, Lyn Hejinian, Myung Mi Kim, and the Language poets; Susan Howe's "Pierce-Arrow," which he submits to semiotic analysis; and the innovations of Craig Dworkin and the conceptualists. Revitalizing what many consider to be a staid rhetorical trope, Golston positions allegory as a creative catalyst behind American poetry's postwar avant-garde achievements. This Companion Will Present, Lucidly, Systematically, And Expertly, The Various Threads That Comprise The Allegorical Tradition Over Its Entire Chronological Range. Beginning With Greek Antiquity, The Volume Shows How The Earliest Systems Of Allegory Arose In Poetry Dealing With Philosophy, Mystery, Religions, And Hermeneutics. Once The Earliest Histories And Themes Of The Allegorical Tradition Have Been Presented, The Volume Turns To Literary, Intellectual, And Cultural Manifestations Of Allegory Through The Middle Ages And Renaissance. The Essays In The Last Section Address Literary And Theoretical Approaches To Allegory In The Modern Era, From Reactions To Allegory In The Eighteenthy And Nineteenth Centuries To Reevaluations Of Its Power In The Thought Of The Twentieth Century And Beyond. -- P. [4] Cover. Early Greek Allegory / Peter T. Struck -- Hellenistic Allegory And Early Imperial Rhetoric / Dirk Obbink -- Origen As Theorist Of Allegory: Alexandrian Contexts / Glenn W. Most -- Allegory And Ascent In Neoplatonism / Daniel Boyarin -- Allegory In Christian Late Antiquity / Peter T. Struck -- Allegory In Islamic Literatures / Denys Turner -- Twelfth-century Allegory: Philosophy And Imagination / Jon Whitman -- Allegory In The Roman De La Rose / Kevin Brownlee -- Dante And Allegory / Albert R. Ascoli -- Medieval Secular Allegory: French And English / Stephanie Gibbs Kamath And Rita Copeland -- Medieval Religious Allegory: French And English / Nicolette Zeeman -- Renaissance Allegory From Petrarch To Spenser / Michael Murrin -- Protestant Allegory / Brian Cummings -- Allegorical Drama / Blair Hoxby -- Romanticism's Errant Allegory / Theresa M. Kelley -- American Allegory To 1900 / Deborah L. Madsen -- Walter Benjamin's Concept Of Allegory / Howard Caygill -- Hermeneutics, Deconstruction, Allegory / Steven Mailloux -- Allegory Happens: Allegory And The Arts Post-1960 / Lynette Hunter. Edited By Rita Copeland And Peter T. Struck. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Machine generated contents note: Introduction Rita Copeland and Peter T. Struck; Part I. Ancient Foundations: 1. Early Greek allegory Dirk Obbink; 2. Hellenistic allegory and early imperial rhetoric Glenn W. Most; 3. Origen as theorist of allegory: Alexandrian contexts Daniel Boyarin; Part II. Philosophy, Theology, and Poetry 200 to 1200: 4. Allegory and ascent in Neoplatonism Peter T. Struck; 5. Allegory in Christian late antiquity Denys Turner; 6. Allegory in Islamic literatures Peter Heath; 7. Twelfth-century allegory: philosophy and imagination Jon Whitman; Part III. Literary Allegory: Philosophy and Figuration: 8. Allegory in the Roman de la Rose Kevin Brownlee; 9. Dante and allegory Albert R. Ascoli; 10. Medieval secular allegory: French and English Stephanie Gibbs Kamath and Rita Copeland; 11. Medieval religious allegory: French and English Nicolette Zeeman; 12. Renaissance allegory from Petrarch to Spenser Michael Murrin; 13. Protestant allegory Brian Cummings; 14. Allegorical drama Blair Hoxby; Part IV. The Fall and Rise of Allegory: 15. Romanticism's errant allegory Theresa M. Kelley; 16. American allegory Deborah L. Madsen; 17. Walter Benjamin's concept of allegory Howard Cagill; 18. Hermeneutics, deconstruction, allegory Steven Mailloux; 19. Allegory happens: allegory and the arts post-1960 Lynette Hunter. "Allegory is a vast subject, and its knotty history is daunting to students and even advanced scholars venturing outside their own historical specializations. This Companion will present, lucidly, systematically, and expertly, the various threads that comprise the allegorical tradition over its entire chronological range. Beginning with Greek antiquity, the volume shows how the earliest systems of allegory developed in poetry dealing with philosophy, mystical religion, and hermeneutics. Once the earliest histories and themes of the allegorical tradition have been presented, the volume turns to literary, intellectual, and cultural manifestations of allegory through the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The essays in the last section address literary and theoretical approaches to allegory in the modern era, from reactions to allegory in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to reevaluations of its power in the thought of the twentieth century and beyond"--Provided by publisher. "This Companion will present, lucidly, systematically, and expertly, the various threads that comprise the allegorical tradition over its entire chronological range. Beginning with Greek antiquity, the volume shows how the earliest systems of allegory arose in poetry dealing with philosophy, mystery, religions, and hermeneutics. Once the earliest histories and themes of the allegorical tradition have been presented, the volume turns to literary, intellectual, and cultural manifestations of allegory through the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The essays in the last section address literary and theoretical approaches to allegory in the modern era, from reactions to allegory in the eighteenthy and nineteenth centuries to reevaluations of its power in the thought of the twentieth century and beyond."--Page [4] cover The shape, lineation, and prosody of postmodern poems are extravagantly inventive, imbuing their form with as much meaning as their content. Through a survey of American poetry and poetics from the end of World War II to the present, Michael Golston traces the proliferation of these experiments to a growing fascination with allegory in philosophy, linguistics, critical theory, and aesthetics, introducing new strategies for reading American poetry while embedding its formal innovations within the history of intellectual thought. Beginning with Walter Benjamin's explicit understanding of Surrea "The shape, lineation, and prosody of postmodern poems are extravagantly inventive, imbuing both form and content with meaning. Through a survey of American poetry and poetics from the end of World War II to the present, Michael Golston connects the proliferation of these experiments to a growing fascination with allegory in philosophy, linguistics, critical theory, and aesthetics, introducing new strategies for reading American poetry while embedding its formal innovations within the history of intellectual thought"--Jacket Table of Contents Polemical Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Etymologies, 1980—the Allegorical Moment 1. Entomologies: Louis Zukofsky and Lorine Niedecker 2. Epistemologies: Clark Coolidge 3. A=L=L=E=G=O=R=I=E=S: Peter Inman, Myung Mi Kim, Lyn Hejinian 4. Semiologies: Susan Howe 5. Fictocritical Postlude: The Melancholy of Conceptualism Notes Works Cited Index Traces the proliferation of formally experimental poetry to a growing fascination with allegory in philosophy, linguistics, critical theory, and aesthetics.