Module Identifier ENM4220  
Module Title POSTMODERN POETICS AND CONTEMPORARY POETRY, 1970-1990  
Academic Year 2004/2005  
Co-ordinator Professor Peter T Barry  
Semester Intended for use in future years  
Next year offered N/A  
Next semester offered N/A  
Other staff Professor Timothy S Woods  
Course delivery Seminars / Tutorials   Seminar. 2 hours per week  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Assessment Essay: 1 x 5,000 word essay 

Learning outcomes

On completion of the module, students should be able to:

1. demonstrate an understanding of a range of postmodern poetic practices;

2. explain some of the relationships and connections between them;

3. explain some of the key distinctions between British and American versions of postmodern poetic practice.

Content

This module is intended to explore the varieties of linguistic experimentation within contemporary poetics and poetry in both North America and the United Kingdom. Since the advent of the postmodern poetics of Charles Olson in the 1950s, a whole range of alternative poetic practices set in opposition to orthodox poetries has developed, embracing sound poetries, concrete poetries, 'language' poetries, ethnic poetries, feminist poetries.

1. A Poststructuralist/Postmodern Poetics?

Essays by Eric Mottram, Charles Bernstine, Peter Middleton, Steve McCaffrey

2. L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Poetry and the New York Scene

Paul Hoover (ed), Postmodern American Poetry (1994); The L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Book, (eds.) Andrews and Bernstein

3. The Bay Area and Linguistic Expermentation

Paul Hoover (ed) Postmodern American Poetry, (1994); The L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Book, (eds.) Andrews and Bernstein

4. Radical Poetries in Britain I: A Class Apart

Tony Harrison, V; Allen Fisher, The Place project

5. Radical Poetries in Britain II: Dissonant Voices

Iain Sinclair (ed), Conductors of Chaos (1996)

Set Texts

The module wil work from the following core texts:

Iain Sinclair (ed), "Conductors of Chaos" (1996);
Paul Hoover (ed) "Postmodern American Poetry" (1994).

Owing to the difficulty in purchasing material from small presses which is now out-of-print, these texts will be supplemented by a brochure of selected extracts.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 7