“Oh Say Can You See”

Abstract

Claudia Rankine’s fifth book, Citizen: An American Lyric (2014), a volume of poetry and also a New York Times bestseller in the nonfiction category, represents her evolving use of form from lyric toward multiple genres and media. Her first book, Nothing in Nature Is Private (1992), utilizes the individual, lyric poem; thereafter, The End of the Alphabet (1998) expands into lyric sequences. PLOT (2001) employs multiple genres, including fragment, lyric, dialogue, prose, and boxes of text. The first of her “American Lyric” pairing, Don’t Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric (2004), is also the first volume to include a wide variety of visual images, employing parataxis as a mode to activate meaning in the “gaps” between individual elements. While her previous books explore individual identities within the context of the social, with Citizen, Rankine sought to more explicitly take poetry into public conversations, shaping discussion of racial inequality. Indeed, Citizen has held a spot on the public stage since its release.