Is 21st-century poetry witnessing the revival of poetry? Is performance poetry an effective tool of activism? Are #instapoets the side-effect of a dying art or a new breath that gives it life? In this seminar, we will take seriously the notion of “the contemporary” as that which co-exists with us, shapes us and is shaped by us, and is relevant to our times and our spaces. All poetry on the syllabus have been published in the last twenty-one years, most within the past ten years. This seminar concerns the new poetics that is ever-forming and explores the connections to and departure from the poetic trends that came before. In this class, we will read, watch, listen to, and look at poetry alone and together. The seminar introduces twenty-first-century poetry in its multimodal, experimental, transnational form while engaging with poetry of various themes such as protest poetry, eco-poetry, migrant and border poetry, as well as poetry of the body, sexuality, and more. To do so, in addition to the assigned poetry, we will engage with historical and theoretical readings when necessary. In addition, students will be given writing tasks (academic) throughout the semester. Thus, please note that this class will be both reading and writing intensive. It will ask for your readiness to spend time, think and talk about poetry both in an affective and analytical manner.
- Lehrende/r: Dorit Neumann