In this seminar we will look at the long tradition of poetry as praise
and identify current trends that tap into this tradition. With the ode
as a formal lyric poem that celebrates a person, an object, a place or
an idea, and psalms as their religious counterpart, we will identify the
tone of a poem that makes it celebratory. The idea is to import methods
and theories from literary criticism to bring out what makes these
poems cheerful and positive. Within our conflicted world, our focus is
not a form of escapism, it is rather a utopian visison of poetry being
part of an active life.
The poems for discussion will be distributed as part of a reader that
will also inlude texts discussing poetics and theories of the lyric, If
you want to know where this is heading, consider this poem:
Grace Nichols
Praise Song for My Mother (1984)
You were
water to me
deep and bold and fathoming
You were
moon's eye to me
pull and grained and mantling
You were
sunrise to me
rise and warm and streaming
You were
the fishes red gill to me
the flame tree's spread to me
the crab's leg/the fried plantain smell replenishing replenishing
Go to your wide futures, you said
Or listen to/watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhWT9WIWsQs
- Dozent/in: Felix Sprang