Description
In this course we will read the work of the Modernist poets Ezra Pound and Wallace Stevens. The title of the course is taken from the influential essay by Marjorie Perloff of 1982, in which she used the critical evaluation of these two poets as a means of coming to terms with what Modernist poetry was/is. Twenty years later, she reconsidered her essay in the light of the ongoing debate on the nature of Modernism and the scholarly work done on the two poets. In this course, we will study their works not only in their biographical-historical contexts, but we will also analyze them from a technical-theoretical perspective. Topics for discussion will be, inter alia, the relation between Romanticism and Modernism, versification, intertextuality, the use of prose in poetry, the relation between ‘lyrical’ and ‘narrative’, ‘open’ and ‘closed forms of poetry’, syntaxis/parataxis. Given the high degree of abstraction and allusion in Ezra Pound’s work, especially The Cantos, students for this course will be expected to prepare their reading from time to time in the (university) library to consult reference books and commentaries.
Teaching method
Two-hour seminar per week
Course objectives
This course will extend and deepen the power of students- literary critical analysis through in-depth consideration of texts. Students will explore critical debates surrounding the notion of Modernism, and the position of Pound and Stevens in this. Regarding literary works, the course will also aim to extend the students- skills in the reading of poetry and the understanding of the relationship of a text to its cultural/social context. Students will be encouraged to share analytical and critical views on the texts ascribed in class discussion, including short presentations, and will focus research skills in the writing of a final research paper. This paper will be on a relevant subject of their own choice within the parameters of the course.
Required reading
Wallace Stevens, Collected Poems.
John N. Serio, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Wallace Stevens (2007).
Ezra Pound, Early Writings: Poems and Prose, ed. Ira B. Nadel (Penguin 2005).
Ezra Pound, The Cantos (London: Faber; New York: New Directions).
Ira B. Nadel, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Ezra Pound (1999).
copies of articles (to be handed out in class or made available electronically).
Test method
Active involvement in class discussion and class presentation 30%; essay (4.000 – 5.000 words) 70%.
Time table
The timetable will be available from June 1st on the Internet.
Information
English Department, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 102c. Phone: 071 527 2144, or by mail: English@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Registration
Students can register through U-twist before 15 July, After 15 July students can only register through the Departmental Office.
Blackboard
No.