Procedural Form in Postmodern American Poetry: Berrigan, Antin, Silliman, and Hejinian (Modern and Contemporary Poetry and Poetics)

During the second half of the twentieth century, avant-garde American poets experimented with procedural forms—inventive, predetermined methods or rules for generating poetry. In Procedural Form in Postmodern American Poetry, David Huntsperger suggests that this mode of poetic production calls attention to the changing dynamics of intellectual labor at large. Procedural forms foreground literary labor, and in doing so, they remind us of the extent to which other forms of intellectual production have become formulaic. In this book, Huntsperger combines explication of avant-garde poetry with a discussion of the rapidly changing forms of labor in the postindustrial United States. During The Second Half Of The Twentieth Century, Avant-garde American Poets Experimented With Procedural Forms - Inventive, Predetermined Methods Or Rules For Generating Poetry. In Procedural Form In Postmodem American Poetry, David Huntsperger Suggests That This Mode Of Poetic Production Calls Attention To The Changing Dynamics Of Intellectual Labor At Large. Procedural Forms Foreground Literary Labor, And In Doing So, They Remind Us Of The Extent To Which Other Forms Of Intellectual Production Have Become Formulaic. In This Book. Huntsperger Combines Explication Of Avant-game Poetry With A Discussion Of The Rapidly Changing Forms Of Labor In The Postindustrial United States.--jacket. Introduction: A Social Reading Of Postmodern Poetic Form -- Procedural Form: An Overview -- Making Poems: The Method Of Ted Berrigan's Sonnets -- The Tactics Of The Text: Experimental Form In David Antin's Novel Poem -- A New Content: Procedural Form And Concrete Reality In Ron Silliman's Tjanting -- Objectivist Form And Feminist Materialism In Lyn Hejinian's My Life -- Afterword. David W. Huntsperger. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgments......Page 8 Permissions......Page 10 Introduction: A Social Reading of Postmodern Poetic Form......Page 12 1 Procedural Form: An Overview......Page 32 2 Making Poems: The "method" of Ted Berrigan's Sonnets......Page 52 3 The Tactics of the Text: Experimental Form in David Antin's "Novel Poem"......Page 82 4 "A new content": Procedural Form and Concrete Reality in Ron Silliman's Tjanting......Page 108 5 Objectivist Form and Feminist Materialism in Lyn Hejinian's My Life......Page 142 Afterword......Page 176 Notes......Page 180 Works Cited......Page 194 B......Page 202 H......Page 203 N......Page 204 W......Page 205 Z......Page 206 Cover 1 Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 Permissions 10 Introduction: A Social Reading of Postmodern Poetic Form 12 1 Procedural Form: An Overview 32 2 Making Poems: The "method" of Ted Berrigan's Sonnets 52 3 The Tactics of the Text: Experimental Form in David Antin's "Novel Poem" 82 4 "A new content": Procedural Form and Concrete Reality in Ron Silliman's Tjanting 108 5 Objectivist Form and Feminist Materialism in Lyn Hejinian's My Life 142 Afterword 176 Notes 180 Works Cited 194 Index 202 A 202 B 202 C 203 D 203 E 203 F 203 G 203 H 203 J 204 K 204 L 204 M 204 N 204 O 205 P 205 Q 205 R 205 S 205 T 205 V 205 W 205 Y 206 Z 206 This book explores the political significance of formal experimentation in American poetry written during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. It focuses on the use of procedural forms, which involve the invention of rules or methods designed to structure the production of a poem's content.