LALL 916 The Contemporary Poem

Division of Liberal Arts

3 credits 45.0 hours
400 level undergraduate course

The Contemporary Poem explores the ways in which the post-war lyric defined itself by negotiating the tensions between the subjective first person confessional’ voice, and the social and political anxieties of the post-war period. In doing so, the course will explore how poets’ styles emerge from just such tensions, rejections, and adoptions. The course will begin by comparing two extremes, the demotic, politically engaged Ginsberg and the reclusive, private Elizabeth Bishop. It will then move to the confessional voice. The course will also consider how poets with different cultural and political priorities have borrowed, appropriated, added to, or challenged the contemporary tradition.

Prerequisites LACR*102 or LACR*103

This course is not repeatable for credit.
This course can fulfill an art history elective.