Pastoral, pragmatism, and twentieth-century American poetry

255 Pages·2011·1.801 MB·English

by  Mikkelsen, Ann Marie

Pastoral, Pragmatism, and Twentieth-Century
American Poetry
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Modern and Contemporary Poetry and Poetics
Modern and Contemporary Poetry and Poetics promotes and pursues topics in the
burgeoning field of 20th and 21st century poetics. Critical and scholarly work on
poetry and poetics of interest to the series includes social location in its relationships
to subjectivity, to the construction of authorship, to oeuvres, and to careers; poetic
reception and dissemination (groups, movements, formations, institutions); the in-
tersection of poetry and theory; questions about language, poetic authority, and the
goals of writing; claims in poetics, impacts of social life, and the dynamics of the po-
etic career as these are staged and debated by poets and inside poems. Topics that are
bibliographic, pedagogic, that concern the social field of poetry, and reflect on the
history of poetry studies are valued as well. This series focuses both on individual
poets and texts and on larger movements, poetic institutions, and q uestions about
poetic authority, social identifications, and aesthetics.
Language and the Renewal of Society in Walt Whitman,
Laura (Riding) Jackson, and Charles Olson
The American Cratylus
Carla Billitteri
Modernism and Poetic Inspiration
The Shadow Mouth
Jed Rasula
The Social Life of Poetry
Appalachia, Race, and Radical Modernism
Chris Green
Procedural Form in Postmodern American Poetry
Berrigan, Antin, Silliman, and Hejinian
David W. Huntsperger
Modernist Writings and Religio-scientific Discourse
H.D., Loy, and Toomer
Lara Vetter
Male Subjectivity and Poetic Form in “New American” Poetry
Andrew Mossin
The Poetry of Susan Howe
History, Theology, Authority
Will Montgomery
Ronald Johnson’s Modernist Collage Poetry
Ross Hair
Pastoral, Pragmatism, and Twentieth-Century American Poetry
Ann Marie Mikkelsen
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Pastoral, Pragmatism, and
Twentieth-Century American
Poetry
Ann Marie Mikkelsen
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PASTORAL, PRAGMATISM, AND TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICAN POETRY
Copyright © Ann Marie Mikkelsen, 2011.
All rights reserved.
Excerpts from poems and unpublished material by John Ashbery reprinted
by permission of Georges Borchardt., Inc., on behalf of the author, and
Houghton Library, Harvard University.
Excerpts from unpublished material by William Carlos Williams Copyright ©
2010, by the Estates of Paul H. Williams and William Eric Williams. Used by
permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation.
Portions of Chapter 4 appeared previously as “ ‘Fat! Fat! Fat! Fat!’: Wallace
Stevens Figurations of Masculinity,” Journal of Modern Literature 27.1/2 (Fall
2003): 105–121. © Indiana University Press. Reprinted with permission
from the publisher.
Portions of Chapter 3 appeared previously as “ ‘The Truth About Us’ ”:
Pastoral, Pragmatism, and William Carlos Williams’s Paterson,” American
Literature 75.3 (September 2003): 601–627. Copyright © 2003. Reprinted
by permission of the publisher, Duke University Press.
First published in 2011 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
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Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
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Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN: 978–0–230–10583–6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mikkelsen, Ann Marie.
Pastoral, pragmatism, and twentieth-century American poetry / Ann
Marie Mikkelsen.
p. cm.—(Modern and contemporary poetry and poetics)
ISBN 978–0–230–10583–6 (hardback)
1. Pastoral poetry, American—History and criticism 2. American
poetry—20th century—History and criticism 3. Pragmatism in
literature. I. Title.
PS309.P37M55 2011
811(cid:1).509358209734—dc22 2010028253
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: February 2011
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
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For Dan, Saul, and Abe.
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 Pastoral Ideology and the Pragmatic Response 21
2 Tramp Culture and the Cult of Pan:
Robert Frost’s Pastoral of Class Mobility 39
3 “The Truth About Us”: Pastoral, Pragmatism,
and William Carlos Williams’s Paterson 67
4 “Fat! Fat! Fat! Fat!”: Wallace Stevens’s Figurations
of Masculinity 93
5 “The Mooring of Starting Out”: John Ashbery’s
Pastoral Origins 123
Conclusion: Late Twentieth-Century Pastoral: Gertrude Stein,
Lyn Hejinian, Lisa Robertson, and the Continuity of a Mode 151
Notes 175
Bibliography 209
Index 229
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Acknowledgments
This project on pastoral has had many shepherds. When this book
was no more than a vague idea, several people at the University of
California, Irvine, helped me turn it into something more substan-
tial. Laura O’Connor has been an insightful reader, adviser, and friend,
always ready to offer advice from the front lines of the profession. Ever atten-
tive to nuance, J. Hillis Miller always took the time to read and listen, even
in retirement. Chris Beach, Brook Thomas, and Michael P. Clark were ex-
tremely liberal with their time and encouragement. I continue to be thank-
ful to Cathy Jurca and Cindy Weinstein for inviting me to join their seminar
on Place in American Literature at the Huntington Library, and especially
for Cathy’s continued enthusiasm for my work. From the moment I heard
her glorious readings of Joyce in seminar, I have considered myself lucky to
count Margot Norris as a mentor. Her steady confidence and quiet determi-
nation have emboldened me and countless others.
I also deeply appreciate the support of a Faculty Fellowship and a Regents
Fellowship from University of California, Irvine, as well as a W. M. Keck
Foundation Fellowship from the Huntington Library.
As a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,
I was privileged to spend many enjoyable hours in the company of Joseph
Entin, Andrew Jewett, Page Fortna, Jay Grossman, David Greenberg, Eric
Bettinger, Rob Chodat, Jona Hansen, Matthew Lindsey, Eileen Babbitt,
Crystal Feimster, Adam Webb, and Jim Carroll. I am grateful to the
Academy for hosting me for two years, and to Leslie Berlowitz, who inau-
gurated the Visiting Scholars program. I was especially privileged to meet
Leo Marx as well as Bonnie Costello during my years in Cambridge, both
of whom offer inspiring models of scholarship and generosity. At Harvard’s
History and Literature program, I could not have asked for a better director
than Steve Biel. I am especially grateful for the intellectual challenge and
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