1st Edition

Overheard Voices Address and Subjectivity in Postmodern American Poetry

By Ann Keniston Copyright 2006
    172 Pages
    by Routledge

    184 Pages
    by Routledge

    Overheard Voices examines poetic address and in particular apostrophe (the address of absent or inanimate others) in the work of four post-World War II American poets, with a focus on loss, desire, figuration, audience, and subjectivity. By approaching these crucial issues from an unexpected angle--through a study of the seldom-examined lyric "you"--Overheard Voices offers new insight into both contemporary lyric and the lyric genre more generally. The book offers detailed readings of Sylvia Plath, James Merrill, Louise Glück, and Frank Bidart.

    Introduction: The fluidity of damaged Form: Theorizing Postmodern Address Chapter One: Recovering You: Apostrophe in Sylvia Plath's Ariel Chapter Two: Familiar Projections: James Merrill's Changing Light at Sandover Chapter Three: Buried with the Romantics: Louise Glück's The Wild Iris Chapter Four: Homo Faber: Frank Bidart's Desire and Elegy Conclusion: A dream of this room: Self-Effacement, Lyric Space, and Negative Identification Works Cited

    Biography

    Ann Keniston