Lyriktheorien/ Theorising the Lyric

In this seminar we will centre our discussion of lyric poetry on Jonathan Culler's Theory of the Lyric. The book is advertized thus:

What sort of thing is a lyric poem? An intense expression of subjective experience? The fictive speech of a specifiable persona? Theory of the Lyric reveals the limitations of these two conceptions of the lyric—the older Romantic model and the modern conception that has come to dominate the study of poetry—both of which neglect what is most striking and compelling in the lyric and falsify the long and rich tradition of the lyric in the West. Jonathan Culler explores alternative conceptions offered by this tradition, such as public discourse made authoritative by its rhythmical structures, and he constructs a more capacious model of the lyric that will help readers appreciate its range of possibilities.

We will explore these "alternative conceptions" and the "range of possibilities" paying close attention to issues of rhythm, sound and the form of poems.

With Culler's text as our theoretical focus, we will read, perform and discuss poems in our seminar, so everybody who is interested in lyric poetry is welcome.