Contemporary poets are often willing to talk about their motives for writing poetry, to discuss aspects of the creative process, to reflect on their understanding of language, to express thematic concerns and poetic principles, to explain their relation to certain traditions and their indebtedness to certain poets. An intriguing form of such self-definition and reflection are the so-called ‘metapoems’, poems about the writing of poetry (also sometimes the dissemination and reception of poetry).
In this seminar we will read metapoems by Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney, Charles Tomlinson, Edwin Morgan, Anne Stevenson, Vernon Scannell, Michael Hamburger, Roy Fisher, Wendy Cope, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Carol Ann Duffy and more recently successful poets. The focus will be on how poetic techniques are employed to engage readers in reflections on the art of poetry and its socio-cultural significance.
All the texts used in class will be made available through Moodle.
Assessment/requirements:
Übung: test at the end of term
Seminar: 12-page research paper
- Kursleiter/in: Uwe Klawitter