Castings : monuments and monumentality in poems by Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Lowell, James Merrill, Derek Walcott, and Seamus Heaney
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Castings : monuments and monumentality in poems by Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Lowell, James Merrill, Derek Walcott, and Seamus Heaney
Vanderbilt University Press, 2004
- : pbk
Available at / 10 libraries
-
No Libraries matched.
- Remove all filters.
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 203-213) and index
Contents of Works
- Elizabeth Bishop "The monument"
- Robert Lowell "For the union dead"
- James Merrill "Losing the marbles" and "Bronze"
- Derek Walcott "The sea is history", Omeros, and others
- Seamus Heaney "The Grauballe Man," "In memoriam Francis Ledwidge," and others
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Whether looming over public squares or dotting old battlefields, monuments certify a culture's present by securing its past and pledging its future. They embody exemplary persons or events and the shared ideals they stood for, prompting an obligation to keep those ideals standing now and forever. But monuments also exaggerate the staying power of civilizations and of art. In the second half of the twentieth century, postmodern critics often decried monuments not only for their pretensions and stiffness but also for their supposed role in perpetuating oppressive cultural conventions. Even so, many artists and thinkers of the same period tried to reimagine monuments in ways that were humbler and more provisional but still culturally confirming. In Castings, Guy Rotella examines the work of five important poets who have engaged in that effort: Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Lowell, James Merrill, Derek Walcott, and Seamus Heaney.
by "Nielsen BookData"
