Australian Poetry
Australian Poetry
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This book offers a comprehensive and original reading of Australian poetry, from the colonial period to the present, through the dual lenses of Romanticism and negativity. Paul Kane argues that the absence of Romanticism functions as a crucial presence in the poetry of all the major Australian poets. This absence or negativity is both thematic and structural, and Kane's scrupulous analyses uncover important relations between Romanticism and negativity. Chapters on nine individual poets explore and substantiate the theoretical claims informed by the work of contemporary critics of Romanticism and by various philosophers of negativity. These chapters can serve as a series of self-contained readings of Australian poets for the use of students, scholars, and informed general readers. Australian Poetry is unique in its sustained argument and theoretical sophistication.
- Offers a comprehensive look at the history of Australian poetry, from colonial times to the present, with a focus on the major poets
- Introduces the critical concept of negativity, which has become increasingly important in contemporary criticism and theory
- Chapters on individual poets offer sustained analyses of important poems
Product details
- Published: January 1998
- Format: Paperback
- ISBN: 9780521438247
- Length: 262 pages
- Dimensions: 228 × 152 × 16 mm
- Weight: 0.375kg
- Availability: Unavailable - out of print November 2002
Table of Contents
- Introduction: framing the question: 'What is Australian poetry'?
- Part I. Origins and Absences:
- 1. The absence of romanticism
- 2. Poetic origins and negativity
- Part II. Reinventing Romanticism:
- 3. Charles Harpur and the myth of origins
- 4. Henry Kendall's negations
- 5. Christopher Brennan and the allegory of poetic power
- Part III. Visionary Negativity:
- 6. Nihilism in Kenneth Slessor
- 7. A. D. Hope and romantic displacement
- 8. Ern Malley: the mystic and the demystified
- Part IV. Evasions and Convergences: A Negative Romanticism:
- 9. Judith Wright and silence
- 10. Gwen Harwood and capable negativity
- 11. Les Murray and poetry's otherworld
- Conclusion: the negative strain in Australian Romanticism
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index.
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