Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, and May Swenson
Subtitle: the feminist poetics of self-restraint
By: Kirstin Hotelling Zona.
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Ann Arbor
Language: eng
Number of pages: 187
Subjects: Moore, Marianne, 1887-1972 -- Criticism and interpretation.; Bishop, Elizabeth, 1911-1979 -- Criticism and interpretation.; Swenson, May -- Criticism and interpretation.; American poetry -- Women authors -- History and criticism.; Feminism and literature -- United States -- History -- 20th century.; Women and literature -- United States -- History -- 20th century.; American poetry -- 20th century -- History and criticism.; Feminist poetry, American -- History and criticism.; Self-control in literature.
Description: "This book examines the strategic possibilities of poetic self-restraint. Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, and May Swenson all wrote poetry that is marked by a certain reserve - precisely the motive against which most feminist poets and critics of the last thirty years have established themselves. Kirstin Hotelling Zona complicates this dichotomy by examining the conceptions of selfhood upon which it depends. She argues that Moore, Bishop, and Swenson expressed their commitment to feminism by exposing its most treasured assumptions: they not only challenge the ideal of autonomous self-definition, but also contest the integrity of a bodily or sexual authenticity by which that ideal is often measured." "These poets are appearing more frequently in the feminist canon, but the price of this inclusion is usually the suppression of their strategies of self-restraint. While Zona questions the poetic privileging of self-expression, she establishes contiguity between feminist poetry and developments in American poetry at large. In doing so she asserts the centrality of feminist poetry within discussions of contemporary American poetry, thereby challenging the common perception of feminist poetry as an "alternative" genre."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 169-183) and index.