Close listening
Subtitle: poetry and the performed word
By: edited by Charles Bernstein.
Contributors: Bernstein, Charles, 1950-
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 390
Subjects: Poetics; American poetry -- History and criticism; English poetry -- History and criticism
Description: Close Listening and the Performed Word brings together seventeen essays, especially written for this volume, on the poetry reading, the sound of poetry, and the visual performance of poetry. While the performance of poetry is as old as poetry itself, critical attention to modern and postmodern poetry performance has been surprisingly slight.

From the performance styles of individual poets and types of poetry to the relation of sound to meaning, from historical and social approaches to poetry readings to new imaginations of prosody, the entries gathered here investigate a compelling range of topics for anyone interested in poetry. Taken together, these essays encourage new forms of "close listenings" - not only to the printed text of poems but also to tapes, performances, and other expressions of the sounded and visualized word.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 385-390).