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Dramatic poetics and American poetic culture, 1865-1904

Giordano, Matthew

Abstract Details

2004, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, English.
This dissertation offers a reassessment of American poetic culture from 1865 to 1904. Beginning with E. C. Stedman in 1885 and extending throughout the twentieth century, critics of American poetry have considered this period a poetic wasteland, and thus have almost totally neglected it. In recent years, however, there has been an increased scholarly interest in improving current formulations of nineteenth-century poetic history. To that end, I illuminate the function of meaning of poetry in the late nineteenth century, and particularly the range of ways poets conceptualized their roles in American culture. I uncover a tradition of late-nineteenth-century poetry steeped in dramatic forms and techniques, including dialogue, characterization, and the dramatic monologue. I use the term “dramatic poetics” to refer to this pervasive aesthetic, and I demonstrate how it intersects with performative culture more broadly. Most specifically, I argue that a range of poets used this aesthetic to perform the terms of their authorship. These performances make legible the professional and cultural roles these poets assumed, the audiences they wrote for, and the political and cultural work they pursued. The Introduction explains the dramatic poetic tradition and diagnoses the reasons why scholarship has overlooked it. Arranged chronologically, the chapters explore the dramatic poetry of individual authors to illustrate particularly significant and representative brands of late-nineteenth-century poetic authorship. Chapter 1 analyzes Walt Whitman’s role as a national poet, Chapter 2 Sarah Piatt’s role as a periodical poet, Chapter 3 Herman Melville’s role as a coterie poet, and Chapter 4 Elliott Blaine Henderson’s role as a local poet. The Coda gestures towards the continuities between the twilight interval and modernism. This dissertation reaches three conclusions that provide a new framework for understanding late-nineteenth-century poetry. First, poetry was a popular, performative, and public form of literary discourse. Second, poetry was produced and received in various sites, from nationally distributed magazines to self-published books disseminated to small groups of readers. Third, the concept of dramatic poetics presents an alternative to dominant literary histories, revealing an American poetic tradition that does not conform to those that have been studies and canonized.
Elizabeth Renker (Advisor)

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Citations

  • Giordano, M. (2004). Dramatic poetics and American poetic culture, 1865-1904 [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1092701770

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Giordano, Matthew. Dramatic poetics and American poetic culture, 1865-1904. 2004. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1092701770.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Giordano, Matthew. "Dramatic poetics and American poetic culture, 1865-1904." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1092701770

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)