The stamp of class : reflections on poetry and social class / Gary Lenhart.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lenhart, Gary.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892--Political and social views.

Whitman, Walt.

Yearsley, Ann, 1753-1806--Criticism and interpretation.

Yearsley, Ann.

Duck, Stephen, 1705-1756--Criticism and interpretation.

Duck, Stephen.

American poetry--20th century--History and criticism.

American poetry.

Working class in literature.

Literature and society--English-speaking countries.

Literature and society.

Working class writings--History and criticism.

Working class writings.

Social classes in literature.

Physical Description:

xviii, 152 p.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, c2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Stamp of Class addresses an important area that has not received sufficient attention. Lenhart directly confronts and deeply analyzes these questions while offering readers his clear, informative discussion. -Lorenzo Thomas The Stamp of Class explores the nature of reading poetry in the context of class and its themes and sheds new light on how this important yet little-heralded subject affects the poet's life and work. While numerous works have taken up the question of race and gender as they relate to literary creation, this is the first book of its kind to probe the interplay between class and American poetry. Author Gary Lenhart considers poetry and class across a wide variety of time periods and poetic trends and reflects on a range of influential poets from the eighteenth to the twenty-first centuries. The essays in The Stamp of Class deal with the question of class as reflected in the works of Tracie Morris, Tillie Olsen, Melvin Tolson, William Carlos Williams, Walt Whitman, and others. The work is rooted in the author's own experiences as a working-class poet and teacher and is the result of more than a decade of exploration. Poet and scholar Gary Lenhart is Lecturer in English at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. His most recent books of poetry are Father and Son Night, Light Heart, and One at a Time. His essays and reviews have appeared in numerous magazines and journals, including the American Poetry Review, American Book Review, and Exquisite Corpse.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Introduction:"Distortion" or "Unexamined Factor"?

1 The "Uneducated Poets": Stephen Duck and Ann Yearsley

2 A Song for Occupations: Whitman the Rough

3 "Poor Doc, Nobody Wants His Life or His Verses": W. C. Williams and The New Masses

4 Special Handling: David Schubert and Marcia Nardi

5 Caviar and Cabbage: The Voracious Appetite of Melvin Tolson

6 Opening the Field: The New American Poetry

7 Literary Men in Blue Jeans: Ted Berrigan and Ron Padgett

8 Burning Beauty: Diane Wakoski, Eileen Myles, Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel, Tracie Morris

Afterword

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-145) and index.

ISBN:

1-282-42278-2

9786612422782

0-472-02152-4

OCLC:

646796083