Skip to main content
Department of English
Search
Log in
Navigation
About
Current Office Hours
Diversity Resources
English Library
Faculty Statement Archives
Internal Dept Resources
Medieval and Early Modern Studies
University Writing Program
Video Guides & Worksheets
Visit us on Facebook
Major/Minor in English
Advising
Creative Writing Application
Honors Program
Internships
Literary Magazines
Major Requirements Guide & FAQ
Minor Requirements
Study Abroad
Why Major in English?
MFA in Creative Writing
Admissions
Events, Prizes, and Resources
MFA Program Faculty
Newly Admitted Grad Students
Resources
Ph.D. in Literature
About
Admissions
Newly Admitted Grad Students
PhD Alumni Directory
Resources
Courses & Schedules
People
News & Events
Off the Syllabus Podcast
Recent News
Contests
Contest Winners
Previous Contest Winners
Newsletters
You are here
Home
»
Courses & Schedules
English 165 - Winter, 2012
Topics in Poetry
Topic: Topic: Radical Poetry/Radical Politics in the 21st Century
Class Information
Instructor:
Clover, Joshua
CRN:
53864
Time:
TR 4:40-6:00
Location:
101 Olson
Description
This is a pretty straightforward course. We'll read the best (and perhaps the worst, too) poetry from the U.S. and Canada written since 2000, about a single slim volume per week, as long as it meets three basic criteria:
1) it provides a sense of what poetry can be that isn't largely a continuation or refinement of the tradition;
2) it engages (formally, thematically, hysterically, or etc) social/economic/political issues that are themselves of the present rather than universal or traditional;
3) it pursues a relationship between the two, between poetics and politics.
We'll also read some critical texts both in relation to the poetry, and in relation to the politics of the era.
There are very good arguments that this is a terrible frame through which to read poetry. I think that's true. Fortunately, this isn't really a course about reading poetry, but a course about reading the times.
Grading
Grading will be based on one serious paper, one brief in-class presentation, one final exam, and participation. This policy subject to minor revisions.
Texts
a/s/l
, Uyen Hua
Fidget
, Kenneth Goldsmith
Plummet
, Christopher Nealon
The Golden Age of Paraphernalia
, Kevin Davies
This Connection of Everybody With Lungs
, Juliana Spahr
R's Boat
, Lisa Robertson
Zong!
, M. NourbeSe Philip
The Long Twentieth Century
, Giovanni Arrighi
Stars-down
, Jasper Bernes