LIT094 CM - American Women Poets

The history of American poetry is unthinkable without the contribution of a central lineage of female poets. This course offers an in-depth examination of their work; we will open with the beginnings of the American literary tradition (Anne Bradstreet) and the nineteenth century (Emily Dickinson), then focus on twentieth-century poetry (from modernists Gertrude Stein and Marianne Moore to postwar poets Elizabeth Bishop and Sylvia Plath), and conclude by looking at exciting contemporary voices. We will consider poets and poems both individually and in their literary and socio-historical contexts, examining poetic movements (Imagism, Objectivism, the New York School, Confessionalism, Black Mountain, Language), the relationship of poetry to the other arts, and the role of poetry in American culture. While we will home in on gender poetics and politics, we will also explore broader questions of poetic form, the relations between modernity and history, and America and the world, as well as the poetic treatment of race, class, sexuality, and nation.

Offered: Every other year

Credit: 1

Course Number: LIT 094 CM