Access Type
Open Access Dissertation
Date of Award
2-3-1992
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Department
English
First Advisor
Charles Baxter
Abstract
This dissertation is an investigation into the "origins" and developments of the concepts of open and closed forms in American poetics and poetry. After a brief overview of the form these concepts take in the poetics of Walt Whitman and William Wordsworth, I trace the development of these concepts through the critical work of Charles Olson, Barbara Herrnstein-Smith, Joseph Frank and William Spanos. My argument is twofold: (1) that the concepts of open and closed forms are predicated on philosophical notions concerning form, image, space and time, and (2) these concepts are all interrelated, i.e., open forms are closed in certain ways and closed forms are open in certain ways. I close the dissertation with readings that show how the open forms of David Antin's talk poems and Barrett Watten's language poetry are closed in specific ways.
Recommended Citation
Williams, Tyrone, "The poetics of open and closed forms" (1992). Wayne State University Dissertations. 1770.
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/1770