Louis zukofsky, a modernist american poet with a long career spanning from the 1920s to the 1960s, is known primarily today for his formalist experimentation, which inspired later generations of poets including robert creeley and charles bernstein. Here is the complete musicfilled arc of louis zukofskys shorter verse collected in one volume. This study of zukofsky and two others in the objectivist constellation, george oppen and lorine niedecker, elaborates the dialectic between the formal experimental features of their. The son of jewish immigrants from russia, zukofsky grew up in new york, attended columbia university m. Like ezra pound, zukofsky saw himself as a participant in the transformation of a modern american poetics. Notable writers included within the issue are william carlos williams admittedly the most tame of the submissions, charles reznikoff, zukofsky himself, and translations of charles rimbaud. A partial alphabet of objects for louis zukofsky and hd. The career of louis zukofsky 19041978 has been overlooked by all but the most fervent students of american poetry, a situation that legendary house new directions hopes to correct with its doublebarreled publication of zukoskys booklength epic a and anew, a somewhat less menacing companion volume of shorter poems. Byl jednim ze zakladatelu a primarnim teoretikem skupiny basniku zvane objektiviste. This is the first collection to draw on the full range of zukofsky s poetry containing short lyrics, versions of catullus, and generous selections from a, his 24part poem. The collected critical essays, published first in 1967 and then in an expanded edition in 1981, was a definitive set of critical statements by louis zukofsky, one of the most important poets of the 20th century. In this paper i address louis zukofskys london, tracing representations of the city and of europe and the development of his treatment of.
By zukofskys definition, objectivist poets were distinguished by their focus on sincerity and objectification, or treating the poem as an object. Zukofsky s masterwork is his epic a, a long poem of 24 sections written and published over the period from 1928 to 1968. Inaugurated in 1932 by louis zukofsky, objectivist poetry gave expression to the complex contours of culture and politics in america during the great depression. This, i will argue, is integral to zukofskys fugal conception of his poem, which. Paul zukofsky, prodigy who became, uneasily, a virtuoso. Inaugurated in 1931 by louis zukofsky, objectivist the zukofsky era johns hopkins university press books. This commentary examines the triangular relationship between zukofsky, pound and williams and consists of three parts. The son of immigrant russian jews, he was born into the jewish ghetto of the lower east side of manhattan in 1904.
Words ranging forms a reading of louis zukofskys a. Jan 28, 2011 louis zukofsky spent fortysix years writing his masterwork a, and died before he could see the completed version published. In 2009, in an act that engendered astonishment and rage among scholars, mr. Mark scroggins is a poet, biographer, and literary critic. I first tracked down a library copy of leggotts book not long after its own publication in 1989, but i didnt read it, really, just her citations. These central expositions of zukofsky s own poetics, and. The first chapter introduces zukofskys poetic principles and examines the relationship between his work and ezra pounds imagism. A24 is a collage created by zukofskys wife, who pieced together fragments from his earlier writings and set them to a five part musical score taken from handels harpsichord pieces. The zukofsky era is a significant and compelling contribution to the growing body of scholarship on the objectivists, the group of secondgeneration modernist poets including lorrine niedecker, george oppen, carl rakosi, charles reznikoff, louis zukofsky, and others. Zukofsky, protege and friend of both ezra pound with whom he shared a lenghty correspondence.
A detailed reading of the first seven movements of zukofsky s a, paying particular attention to the original published version of the texts and the poets conception of the formal coherence of his long poem. Everyone seems to know that louis zukofsky, at the instigation of ezra pound and invitation of harriet monroe, guestedited the february 1931 issue of poetry magazine now famously known as the objectivists issue. Louis zukofsky and quantum criticism aone conclusion. A 8, composed from 19351937 exhibits, among many other things, zukofsky s engagement with the political and economic crises of the decade, despite the difficulty, the aesthetic elitism, of his work. Louis zukofsky louis zukofsky biography poem hunter. The primary theorist of objectivism, an avantgarde poetry movement of the 1930s, zukofsky paradoxically remained the. Louis zukofsky was born in 1904 on the lower east side of new york, the child of yiddishspeaking parents who had emigrated from russia or, more precisely, lithuania, just before louis was born. With respect to a criticism that is concerned with social justice, parability shares certain commonalities with jacques derridas sense of the relationship between history and justice as expressed in.
This is conceived as a collaborative project, and all additions, corrections and suggestionshowever smallare appreciated. The fourteenth section of louis zukofskys massive poem, a, a14 contains a passage that deserves to be called the first poetic erasure in en glish, composed. His father, a religious and deeply sensitive man, was a presser in a clothing. Read aloud, zukofskys poems sometimes show how he used sound effects to add additional layers of meaning to the text. He is perhaps bestknown for a, a monumental poem in 24 parts, and for inventing the term objectivists to describe himself and a looseknit group of avantgarde poets. The collection documents the life and writing career of the twentieth century american poet and editor. April 1997 zukofsky conference in buffalo two essays by lorine niedecker. Louis zukofsky, lorine niedecker, and the surrealist. Louis zukofsky was the son of russianjewish immigrants and was reared on the lower east side of new york city.
The poems louis zukofsky 19041978 was, along with charles reznikoff, one of the leading figures in the objectivist movement of second generation american modernist poets. Louis zukofsky, american poet, the founder of objectivist poetry and author of the massive poem a. An inventory of his collection at the harry ransom center descriptive summary creator zukofsky, louis, 19041978 title louis zukofsky collection 19101985 dates. Jennisons account focuses on niedecker, oppen, and zukofsky, although it clearly provides a. Zukofskys definition of the poem as a kind of lens poetry, 268 implies that it should bring the world outside oa, 15 into clearer focus in the imagination of the. A workable approach writing about the poems seems to be that method used by the poets who write about. Apr 02, 2006 over the past twenty years, louis zukofskys sestina mantis and its companion poem, mantis, an interpretation, have come to occupy a prominent position in the reception of the poets work and in general discussions of the objectivist movement.
Zukofsky escalated prevailing tensions by posting a manifesto on zsite, the official online companion to louis. Louis zukofsky, lorine niedecker, and the surrealist praying. Commentary on louis zukofskys a 17 jeffrey twitchellwaas the following. Mar, 2014 at the requests of ezra pound and harriet monroe, louis zukofsky decided to act as temporary editor of the february 1931 issue of poetry magazine. Jun 20, 2017 in 2009, in an act that engendered astonishment and rage among scholars, mr. From pound to pastoral richard parker the university of gaziantep, turkey the literary london journal, volume 11 number 1 spring 2014 abstract. While grounded in personal experience and the everyday, his work holds itself aloof from traditional modes of selfexpression in poetry. In 1927, an aspiring young poet from new york sent some of his.
My aim in this thesis is to examine louis zukofsky s poetry in relation to his stated objectivist principles using those principles and zukofsky s unpublished statements as a test for his theory and practice. Louis zukofsky and the transformation of a modern american. My aim in this thesis is to examine louis zukofskys poetry in relation to his stated objectivist principles using those principles and zukofskys unpublished statements as a test for his theory and practice. His graduate degrees in creative writing and literature were from cornell university. First, there is a biographically based discussion of zukofskys relationships with both pound and williams, then an examination of. Read aloud, zukofsky s poems sometimes show how he used sound effects to add additional layers of meaning to the text. Louis zukofsky january 23, 1904 may 12, 1978 was an american poet. In this paper i address louis zukofskys london, tracing representations of the city and of europe and the development of his treatment of these subjects in his work. Zukofsky also experiments with different metrical forms. This is the first collection to draw on the full range of zukofskys poetry containing short lyrics, versions of catullus, and generous selections from a, his 24. By 1929, he had made himself known to ezra pound, who liked his work and encouraged the editors of poetry magazine to have zukofsky edit a special edition. The only one of his siblings born in america, zukofsky grew up in a yiddishspeaking family and community. I think you should go ahead and buy the work of the important poets. A selection by his wife from 55 poems, anew, some time, barely and widely 19251958.
He is the author of louis zukofsky and the poetry of knowledge u of alabama p, 1998 and the poem of a life. Born january 23, 1904, louis zukofsky grew up in new yorks lower east side, to orthodox jewish immigrants from what is now lithuania. Reproduced by permission c cid corman, literary executor for lorine niedecker. The collected shorter poems, zukofskys writing includes one of the major booklength poem sequences of american modernism, a, and a massive theoretical work, bottom.
Selected letters of ezra pound and louis zukofsky, edited by barry ahearn. This is the first collection to draw on the full range of zukofskys poetry containing short lyrics, versions of catullus, and generous selections from a, his 24part poem. This companion to the works of the american modernist poet louis zukofsky 19041978 is a site in progress, and for a quick overview of the current state of its contents, see the editors notes. First, there is a biographically based discussion of zukofsky s relationships with both pound and williams, then an examination of. The first chapter introduces zukofsky s poetic principles and examines the relationship between his work and ezra pounds imagism. He was one of the founders and the primary theorist of the objectivist group of poets and thus an important influence on subsequent generations of poets in america and abroad. The primary theorist of objectivism, an avantgarde poetry movement of the 1930s, zukofsky paradoxically remained the most obscure objectivist. Improve yourself, find your inspiration, share with friends. I daresay that, for most of my readers, louis zukofsky, though an equally accomplished poet, will be a somewhat less recognizable, and more inaccessible, figure. Velmi ovlivnil nasledne generace basniku v americe i v zahranici.
Louis zukofsky spent fortysix years writing his masterwork a, and died before he could see the completed version published. Like stuart gilbert in 1930, under cover of criticism. Page edited by jenny penberthy and typeset by patrick f. Viewing louis zukofsky as a reader, writer, and innovator of twentiethcentury poetry, sandra stanley argues that his works serve as a crucial link between american modernism and post modernism. These central expositions of zukofskys own poetics, and. Over the past twenty years, louis zukofskys sestina mantis and its companion poem, mantis, an interpretation, have come to occupy a prominent position in the reception of the poets work and in general discussions of the objectivist movement. The collected shorter poems, zukofsky s writing includes one of the major booklength poem sequences of american modernism, a, and a massive theoretical work, bottom.
The resulting narrative is a historically sensitive, thorough, and innovative account of objectivisms depressionera modernism. Richard powers is an accomplished novelist whose five soon to be six novels plumb the controversies, latent and teeming, inherent to our highly technological milieu. Poet, translator, fiction writer, essayist, anthologist, critic, teacher, wpa worker, and binding force of the objectivist poets, zukofsky was born in new york city and lived in or near the city his whole life. Louis zukofskys late poetry in the book a constitutes a kind of intratext, a poem that resides between two languages, dependent on a source text, but. As objectivists, their work has been said to be patterned after jewish culture, judaism, jewishness, and other denominations for that denomination. A rich analysis of american avantgarde poetic forms and politics, the zukofsky era convincingly situates objectivist poetry as a politically radical movement comprising a crucial chapter in american literary history. The zukofsky era johns hopkins university press books. The collection documents the life and writing career of. Zukofsky, oppen, and niedecker wrote with a diversity of formal strategies but a singularity of purpose. As the harriet blog reported, the digerati have already responded by putting louis zukofskys famous long work a online in full pdf format to be downloaded as a deliberate screw you to pz. That issue would become part of literary history not only for zukofskys contributions, and those of basil bunting, george oppen, charles reznikoff, kenneth rexroth. Mark scroggins scroggins very readable biography mixes impeccable scholarship with an astute sensitivity to the life of a cerebral, private man and a lucid appraisal of a poetry notable for its musicality and. With an ear tuned to the most delicate musical effects, an eye for exact and heterogeneous details, and a mind bent on experiment, louis zukofsky was preeminent among the radical objectivist poets of the 1930s.
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