World Poetics Research Articles

Introduction: Communist World Poetics

Introduction: Communist World Poetics

From Weltpoesie to Weltpoetik : World Poetics as Third-Order Observing

From Weltpoesie to Weltpoetik : World Poetics as Third-Order Observing

World Poetics: Some Reflections on Its Rise and Conception

World Poetics: Some Reflections on Its Rise and Conception

World Poetics, Narrative Poetics, and Genre Studies

World Poetics, Narrative Poetics, and Genre Studies

From Comparative Poetics to World Poetics: A Proposed Theoretical Construction

From Comparative Poetics to World Poetics: A Proposed Theoretical Construction

The Nature-Nurture Controversy: The Nucleo-genre Paradigm as a Means of Understanding Gender

The relation between the sexes has long been founded on the basis of masculine domination. Interpreting biological differences as evidence of male superiority, social institutions - the family, religious and educational institutions as well as the state - have succeeded in grounding this culture in the collective unconscious so that it has come to be viewed as natural. As a result, dominated women internalized this vision and believed in their unworthiness and inability to compete with the dominating male gender. Even the changes in the condition of women brought about by feminist movements obeyed the logic of the traditional sexual division. Such a division, Pierre Bourdieu notes, extends to homosexuals who emulate the relations of domination among heterosexuals. Biological studies, on the other hand, proved that sexual orientations are based on genetic or hormonal differences. The tendency to naturalize the social and socialize the natural has thus created a gender dilemma, reinforcing the binary division of gender and masculine domination. In this context, Alaa Abd al-Hadi’s Nucleo-genre Paradigm (2008), a world poetics paradigm for the study of literary genres, offers a new way of understanding gender that helps resolve the age-old nature-nurture controversy through its distinction between the “Homogeneous Medium” without which gender does not ontologically exist, the “Isomers" or epistemological structural elements that are shared by various genders, and the “Isotopes” or infinite number of aesthetic characteristics that differ from one individual to another. Moreover, it predicts the formation of new gender identities through its notion of the “Arch-isomer,” which results from the union of two different isomers.

Beyond Comparative Poetics: An Evaluation of The Nucleo-genre Paradigm

The dominance of Western theories in an age of globalization and swift technological advances, which brought to collective consciousness manifestations of literary and artistic genres in distant geographical places that were once viewed as primitive or exotic, necessitates raising the question of comparative poetics anew. During the second half of the twentieth century, scholars such as James J.Y. Liu, Earl Miner, Stephen Owen, and Wai-lim Yip engaged in comparing Western to Eastern poetics. However, their work fell short of reaching a unifying approach to the study of world poetics. This is the gap that Alaa Abd al-Hadi, a thinker, poet and postcolonial critic, came to fill out. Abd al-Hadi’s Nucleo-genre Paradigm is universally oriented. Based on qualitative logic and Lutfi Zadeh's fuzzy sets, it posits that there are essential elements common to various cultural manifestations of a single genre across time and space. It is these common elements, which help decide whether a certain manifestation belongs to a certain genre, that allow for cross cultural communication and understanding while respecting cultural specificities, manifested by an infinite number of aesthetic elements. Unlike the other approaches to the field of comparative poetics, Nucleo-genre Paradigm distinguishes between two levels of genre, the poetic level of production and the aesthetic level of reception, and gives primacy to reception, which is often disregarded in genre theories. In this paper, an attempt is made to evaluate the contribution of the Nucleo-genre Paradigm beyond comparative poetics.

Crossing Cultures and the Poetic Worlds of Forrest Gander, Thomas King, and Margaret Atwood

Forrest Gander is a major American poet who crosses poetic, cultural, and linguistic bounds. This review article discusses the poetry and poetics of Gander in the context of two other poets, Thomas King and Margaret Atwood, providing a close reading of Gander’s Be With (2018), King’s 77 Fragments of a Familiar Ruin (2019), and Atwood’s Dearly (2020). King, an Indigenous writer and scholar born and educated in the United States, and Atwood, some of whose ancestors lived in the American colonies and who had been a student at Radcliffe/Harvard, also have American experience. Poets may be rooted in the local and national, but they are also part of a comparative or world poetics. These poems express their beauty, understanding, and wisdom in a world too often devoid of poetry. Nature underwrites culture, and the natural world pervades these three collections, which also address human feeling, especially grief and loss.

The World Poetics of Lockdown in Pandemic Poetry

Abstract This essay uses contemporary theories on World Literature to discuss two anthologies of pandemic poetry: Singing in the Dark: A Global Anthology of Poetry Under Lockdown, and And We Came Outside and Saw the Stars Again: Writers from Around the World on the Covid-19 Pandemic. These anthologies develop a new criticality on issues of migration, biopower, and inequality that have long “plagued” cultures of late capitalism. As they represent various states of lockdown imposed around the world due to the spread of the coronavirus, the anthologies grapple with the paradoxical experience of the “singular-universal” that comes with living in a pandemic. By emphasizing the untranslatability of diverse bodies, races, cultures, and languages, these anthologies deconstruct the perceived synchrony of experiencing lockdown. This essay reveals how they attempt to deconstruct the Eurocentrism of “World Literature” by reconfiguring the category of the “global” and representing collective trauma.

The Translational Horizons of Iranian Modernism: Ahmad Shamlu’s Canon of the Global South

This article explores how the Iranian poet and translator Ahmad Shamlu (1925–2000) reconceives the configuration of world poetics. Working at the intersection of global modernism and translation studies, it traces the formation of a Persian modernist poetics of solidarity on the basis of translations from so-called third-world literatures and explores how Shamlu’s political aesthetic traverses national borders to embrace ignored and marginalized poetic traditions. Rather than relying on French and other European modernisms to reinvigorate his national literature, Shamlu made available to his Iranian contemporaries a broad panorama of world literature that brought together Global Southern literatures, modernist poetics, and transnational political commitments. In tracing the literary and political forms shaped by Shamlu’s poetics of global solidarity, this article develops a post-Eurocentric framework for the study of Iranian literary modernism.

Atomic Time and Quantum Literacy

Michel Serres is well known as a strong advocate of science becoming a way of life. As a contribution to the growing literature seeking to address the Anthropocene, this article develops how we could relate the strong and underlying motif of quantum optics that is at work throughout Serres’s oeuvre, and the implications Serres exposes in terms of a natural philosophy (Bühlmann 2020), through what the author sees as the quantum literacy of a world poetics of the current present. Such a literacy is literacy for which the constitutive relation for theoretical thought—between light, vision, and speculation—turns into an intellectual and yet material and physical power. Such a literacy would be an impersonal kind of literacy, a literacy for which poetics, mathematics, and the sciences are inextricably linked in the domain of what is here called—in distinction to atom time—atomic time.

A Few Words on the US Literary Canon

A Few Words on the US Literary Canon Duane Niatum (bio) The term “literary canon” refers to a body of books, narratives and other texts considered the most important and influential writings of a particular place during a particular time period. The most important point of this discussion of the US Literary Canon is that any literary canon excludes works no matter how inclusive or selective the canon makers are. The ever-growing body of works by minority writers in general, and American Indian writers in particular, will be discussed in light of this characteristic. Through our education system, writes Jordan Bates, “when one is asked to read any novel, essay, poem or another sort of text, it is because a teacher or some other entity [or organization] decided that particular text should be canonized. Canons, then, are understood as value-determining [or value-defining] lists that are ingrained in our education system.” However, the political process of deciding whether a particular text is included or excluded from a given canon has long been controversial and debated by schools of all academic levels and disciplines. “According to the scholar Paul Lauter,” says Gregory Rutledge, “who historicized the American canon, the first American Literature classes began in the mid-to-late 1890s, during the same period the first American literature textbooks started.” “The upper Midwest was at the forefront of this development,” he continues, “probably because the East Coast schools were captivated by ‘tradition,’ which adhered to British, Old World poetics.” Midwest schools were not as dominated by adherence to British literature and were more free to discuss American writing. The American canon was taking shape in the upper Midwest as teachers and professors chose texts to assign and discuss. As these works were shared, the American Literary Canon began to take form. Accordsing to Stephen Behrendt, many of the educators who contributed to early canonization efforts were teachers and clergymen. Northern Midwest protestant clergymen were no doubt particularly influential. Comments Behrendt, [C]lergymen selecting texts that agreed with their morality is an early instance of selective canonization and suggests the way in which canons come to represent the ideology of those who select them. Apart from religious beliefs, other important factors characterized the demographic of the early dictators of the canon. Behrendt continues, “The Western Literary Canon has historically been dictated by economically secure, traditionally educated, socially privileged white men.” “Plus,” says Behrendt, “literacy was historically the province of the privileged and so, the uneducated or minimally educated — which included some women but most working-class citizens of both sexes, as well as children — were automatically excluded.” “We see the remnant of this class-based exclusionary thinking in today’s society in its disdain of ‘popular’ art like Harry Potter,” concludes Behrendt. This collection of commonly used writings was first referred to as a “canon” in the 1920s. It changed very little until the 1960s came along. As women and minorities were more widely accepted in universities, they challenged the narrow focus in the reading assignments and curricula and clamored to read and discuss works that reflected their own experiences and family histories. Behrendt points out canons by nature are exclusive. They are about closed communities — who is excluded is as important as who is included. A major problem with canons is they tend to allow others to choose what to read and discuss, causing people to sacrifice their ability to be free-thinking beings. It gives “away our liberty and independence of mind and action to the judgment of others,” says Behrendt. “Go a little further down that road and you meet Big Brother,” he continues. “[T]otalitarianism,” claims Behrendt, “is convincing people they don’t need to think for themselves, that the authorities — the Establishment — will take care of all that for them.” This battle for the mind is won by empowering readers to think critically. Canons can steal our power. Giving the power back to people in judging the truth of things, and “speaking truth to power” is the road for us to take now. A point to keep in mind regarding the fiction and poetry from American Indian authors is the interior landscape of the psyche...

World Poetics and Comparative Poetics

Possibly, there cannot be some kind of comprehensive or systematic view of comparative poetry or world poetry but that is not what we are suggesting here. The main idea of this special issue is to encourage distinguished scholars to explore the idea in their own way or to interpret particular examples of the comparative and the global in poetics – that is, the theory and practice of poetry – hence, the debate and the conversation among the articles. These multiple points of view open up discussion in many ways that should prompt others to think and work more in the area. Thus, the issue is an exploration and not some fixed theory of comparative and world poetry. Moreover, poetry matters in its vulnerability, fragility, and alternatives or possibilities. Poems – their writing and their reading – are at the heart of this exploration. Almost all of the contributors to this special issue address poems and pay close attention to them.

French Theories in China and the Chinese Theoretical (Re)construction

Abstract Of all the Western critical theories received in China, French theories have exerted the greatest influence on China’s literary theory and criticism. Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialist philosophy and literary theory have had tremendous influence not only on China’s contemporary literature but also on its literary theory and criticism; Jacques Derrida’s deconstructive critical theory has helped form a unique version of Chinese postmodernism; and Alain Badiou’s Maoist passion and his critical reception in China’s cultural and intellectual circles have spurred Chinese intellectuals to reflect on the legacy of Maoism. Inspired by these theorists, this article puts forward a theoretical construction of world poetics that is not founded merely on Western or Eastern literature, and is not simply Eastern and Western literary poetics put together, but offers a new theory, based on substantial studies of world literatures and theories, that can be used to interpret all literary phenomena, Eastern and Western alike.

On the Construction of World Poetics

Since “world literature” has in recent years become a topic of heated international discussion in the humanities, we need to formulate a concept of world poetics. This is for the following theoretical reasons. Firstly, world poetics is a natural theoretical sublation of research achievements in the field of world literature and comparative poetics. The current dominance of Western literary theories does not do justice to the experience of the literatures and literary theories of other countries and peoples. Secondly, to date, all influential literary interpretations and theories have been produced in a Western setting. However, due to the limitations of the linguistic and cultural background of such interpretations, they cannot simultaneously cover the categories and experiences of Eastern and Western literatures and literary theories. Thirdly, Chinese scholars have a long history of research in cutting-edge Western literary theories and abundant experience in indigenous Eastern literatures and critical theory. Formulating the concept of world poetics will improve world literary theories and concepts and will remap the scenario of existing world literatures and literary theories.

Earl Miner: from comparative literature to comparative world literature

This essay is divided into two parts. The first one intends to make a summary of Earl Miner’s cross-cultural comparative poetics. The author asserts that Earl Miner, as a distinguished scholar in comparative literature studies, has made innovative contribution in three aspects: his proactive global vision, his pioneering research methods, and his insightful academic thoughts. The second part, starting from Miner’s pioneering work and his theory in comparative literature, focuses on the comparative studies in China. The author argues that comparative literature studies in China has generally ignored its uniqueness in discipline status and academic community, mainly on “the positioning of discipline” and the Chinese comparatists. Under the circumstances of Chinese comparative literature studies, moving toward a conscientious construction of world poetics, the author is committed to the idea of “comparative world literature” with the great help of translation. Such “a study of foreign literatures in translation” will enable scholars to conduct researches on literary relations, cultural studies and/or interdisciplinary studies.

Earl Miner: comparative poetics and the construction of world poetics

In current international comparative literature scholarship, Earl Miner’s significant contribution seems to be overlooked, although comparative poetics is still discussed periodically. To the author, Miner is not the first to shift critical attention from a traditional Eurocentric or West-centric mode to East-West comparative literature and theoretical studies. But he should, however, be regarded as having transcended what was achieved by his contemporaries such as Rene Etiemble, Douwe Fokkema and James Liu; and as having reached the level of general literary studies. His practice is close to current studies of world literature, although he seldom used this term. But the present discussion on the issue of world literature lacks the construction of world poetics. Inspired by Miner’s preliminary work, the author tries to continue his incomplete project and offer his own theoretical construction of such a world poetics as crossing the boundary of languages and cultures. To the author, even in today’s global cultural context, Miner’s legacy should still be considered important and pioneering in the construction of world literary theory.

Hart Crane in Mexico: The End of a New World Poetics

While critics usually read Hart Crane in national terms as a U.S. poet, this essay looks at Crane transnationally, focusing on the time he spent in Mexico shortly before his death, in order to suggest that Crane's personal interactions with Mexican culture and Mexicans of indigenous descent destabilized his visionary poetics.

New World Poetics: Nature and the Adamic Imagination of Whitman, Neruda, and Walcott; Prehistoric Digital Poetry: An Archaeology of Forms, 1959–1995; Singing in a Strange Land: A Jewish American Poetics

New World Poetics: Nature and the Adamic Imagination of Whitman, Neruda, and Walcott; Prehistoric Digital Poetry: An Archaeology of Forms, 1959–1995; Singing in a Strange Land: A Jewish American Poetics

The Importance of Place in Post-Everything American Studies

The Importance of Place in Post-Everything American Studies Matthew Pratt Guterl (bio) New World Poetics: Nature and the Adamic Imagination of Whitman, Neruda, and Walcott. By George B. Handley. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2007. 448 pages. $39.95 (cloth). Blackface Cuba, 1840–1895. By Jill Lane. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005. 288 pages. $59.59 (cloth). Waves of Decolonization: Discourses of Race and Hemispheric Citizenship in Cuba, Mexico, and the United States. By David Luis-Brown. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2008. 352 pages. $89.95 (cloth). $24.95 (paper). The Borderlands of Culture: Américo Paredes and the Transnational Imaginary. By Ramón Saldívar. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2006. 536 pages. $89.95 (cloth). $24.95 (paper). Degrees of Freedom: Louisiana and Cuba After Slavery. By Rebecca J. Scott. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005. 392 pages. $29.95 (cloth). $18.95 (paper). Reconstructing the World: Southern Fictions and U.S. Imperalisms, 1898–1976. By Harilaos Stecopoulos. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2008. 203 pages. $69.95 (cloth). $22.95 (paper). In the first decades of the twentieth century, white supremacy was rarely a provincial affair. Although the Virginian Earnest Sevier Cox (1880–1966) could trace his family to William the Conqueror, his intellectual roots were at the University of Chicago, where he studied “the Negro problem” with Frederick Starr, E. A. Ross, and other scholars of race in America. Armed with this formidable lineage, he set out in 1910 to explore the world, aiming to “[find] out how other peoples control their negroes.”1 He spent a year working in the Kimberley diamond mines in South Africa, studying apartheid at [End Page 931] its founding moment, and earning venture capital for visits to his “racial kin” around the world. Modeling himself after Henry Morton Stanley, he traveled the “Cape to Cairo” route, offering a comparative assessment of the European colonies, showing a preference for those administered by Germany. He surveyed the global color line in all its fullness, including the settler societies of Australia and New Zealand, the new American colony in the Philippines, the major port cities of the Far East, and much of South America. At every stop, he presented himself as an expert on the race problem and a student of “Negro” psychology. On the road or on rail, at sea or in port, he wrote countless newspaper articles, granted numerous interviews, and shared remarks over dinner or lunch to anyone who agreed to pay for a meal and was willing to flatter his image as a renowned explorer. Often, he would present his famous slide show: a panorama of the world’s darkest peoples, often naked or in tribal dress. After completing his travels in 1914, he explained that his years of social scientific study and vagabondage had confirmed what he knew already to be true: that “the Negro” needed stricter, potent, even deadly, controls if “he” was to serve as captive labor; that blacks would have to be “returned” to Africa at some point soon or they would “outbreed” whites; and that whites needed to better manage their own racial capital. The fate of the world and of “civilization,” Cox insisted, was at stake.2 Cox was a southern preacher, a businessman, a cyclorama enthusiast, a blue blood and aristocrat. With connections to Chicago and Vanderbilt—and a heavy file of press clippings from his sojourns—he was no minor figure in white supremacist circles. After a chance meeting in Washington, he became an occasional collaborator with James K. Vardaman, the man who turned Mississippi’s Parchman prison plantation into something “worse than slavery,” establishing debt peonage and forced labor for the state as a southern rite.3 Later, he supported the Garvey movement, which he understood as a literal “black to Africa movement,” and advertised White America, his first book, in Garvey’s publications. When Garvey was imprisoned, Cox successfully petitioned the president to have him released. But he wasn’t an especially significant man. Nor were his global connections extraordinary, then or now. Cox wasn’t a diplomat or a statesman. He never held an elected office. He wasn’t an academic or entrepreneur. He was...