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Modernist LegaciesWarring Clans, Podsolized Ground: Language in Contemporary UK Poetry

Modernist Legacies: Warring Clans, Podsolized Ground: Language in Contemporary UK Poetry [Why does modernist American poetry look so different to its British counterparts? Tom Leonard, in an article first published in 1977 in that indispensable magazine Poetry Information, argues that a poet such as William Carlos Williams was inclined “to sec and treat language as an object in itself,” while modern British counterparts have not been able to do this so readily because of the degree to which language is thought of in terms of proper and improper usage. The ability to use standard English is a marker of education and social status, and because “correct” voice or pronunciation is such a social value, the force field of correctness distorts all perceptions of language, so that it appears as if “in reality, correct spelling and correct syntax arc synonymous with correct pronunciation.” Radical poets of course arc aware of this, but in order to counter its force they have had to precipitate out three components of the cultural voice, its “lexis, syntax and phonology,” in effect “dissecting the ‘voice’ of poetry.” This has led to specialization whereby poets have tended to concentrate on just one of these constituents. Amongst leading avant-garde British poets, Leonard identifies three who have taken this route: Hugh MacDiarmid has concentrated on vocabulary, Ian Hamilton Finlay on syntax, and Bob Cobbing on sound.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

Modernist LegaciesWarring Clans, Podsolized Ground: Language in Contemporary UK Poetry

Part of the Modern and Contemporary Poetry and Poetics Book Series
Editors: Lang, Abigail; Smith, David Nowell
Middleton, Peter
Modernist Legacies — Dec 22, 2015
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22 pages

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References (2)

Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan US
Copyright
© Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Nature America Inc. 2015
ISBN
978-1-349-56699-0
Pages
17 –39
DOI
10.1057/9781137488756_2
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[Why does modernist American poetry look so different to its British counterparts? Tom Leonard, in an article first published in 1977 in that indispensable magazine Poetry Information, argues that a poet such as William Carlos Williams was inclined “to sec and treat language as an object in itself,” while modern British counterparts have not been able to do this so readily because of the degree to which language is thought of in terms of proper and improper usage. The ability to use standard English is a marker of education and social status, and because “correct” voice or pronunciation is such a social value, the force field of correctness distorts all perceptions of language, so that it appears as if “in reality, correct spelling and correct syntax arc synonymous with correct pronunciation.” Radical poets of course arc aware of this, but in order to counter its force they have had to precipitate out three components of the cultural voice, its “lexis, syntax and phonology,” in effect “dissecting the ‘voice’ of poetry.” This has led to specialization whereby poets have tended to concentrate on just one of these constituents. Amongst leading avant-garde British poets, Leonard identifies three who have taken this route: Hugh MacDiarmid has concentrated on vocabulary, Ian Hamilton Finlay on syntax, and Bob Cobbing on sound.]

Published: Dec 22, 2015

Keywords: Burial Mound; Poetic Language; British Poetry; Brown Loam; Poetic Work

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