Prose poetry

Prose poetry

:"This article refers to a poetic form. For the competitive speech event, see Prose & Poetry."

TOCright

Prose poetry is usually considered a form of poetry written in prose that breaks some of the normal rules associated with prose discourse, for heightened imagery or emotional effect.

Characteristics

Arguments continue about whether prose poetry is actually a form of poetry or a form of prose, or a separate genre altogether. Most critics argue that prose poetry belongs in the genre of poetry because of its use of metaphorical language and attention to language.

Other critics argue that prose poetry falls into the genre of prose because prose poetry relies on prose's association with narrative and its reliance on readers' expectation of an objective presentation of truth in prose.

Yet others argue that the prose poem gains its subversiveness through its fusion of poetic and prosaic elements.

History

.

At the time of the prose poem's emergence, French poetry was dominated by the alexandrine, an extremely strict and demanding form that poets such as Aloysius Bertrand and Charles Baudelaire rebelled against. Further proponents of the prose poem included other French poets such as Arthur Rimbaud and Stéphane Mallarmé.

The prose poem continued to be written in France and found profound expression, in the mid-20th century, in the prose poems of Francis Ponge.At the end of the 19th century, British Decadent movement poets such as Oscar Wilde picked up the form because of its already subversive association. This actually hindered the dissemination of the form into English because many associated the Decadents with homosexuality, hence any form used by the Decadents was suspect. Notable Modernist poet T. S. Eliot wrote vehemently against prose poems, though he did try his hand at one or two. He also added to the debate about what defines the genre, saying in his introduction to Djuna Barnes' highly poeticized 1936 novel "Nightwood" that this work may not be classed as "poetic prose" as it did not have the rhythm or "musical pattern" of verse.

In contrast, a couple of other Modernist authors wrote prose poetry consistently, including Gertrude Stein and Sherwood Anderson. In actuality, Anderson considered his work to be short fictions—in the current term, "flash fiction." The distinction between flash fiction and prose poetry is at times very thin, almost indiscernible. "By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept" by Canadian author Elizabeth Smart, written in 1945, is a relatively isolated example of English-language poetic prose in the mid-20th century. Then, for a while, prose poems died out, at least in English—until the early 1960s and '70s, when American poets such as Allen Ginsberg, Russell Edson, Charles Simic, Robert Bly and James Wright experimented with the form. Edson, indeed, worked principally in this form, and helped give the prose poem its current reputation for surrealist wit. Similarly, Simic won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for his 1989 collection, "The World Doesn't End".

At the same time, poets elsewhere were exploring the form in Spanish, Japanese and Russian. Octavio Paz worked in this form in Spanish in his [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811206238| "Aguila o Sol?" (Eagle or Sun?)] . Spanish poet Ángel Crespo (1926-95) did his most notable work in the genre. Giannina Braschi, postmodern Spanish-language poet, wrote a trilogy of prose poems, "El imperio de los suenos" (Empire of Dreams, 1988). Translator Dennis Keene presents the work of six Japanese prose poets in "The Modern Japanese Prose Poem: an Anthology of Six Poets". Similarly, Adrian Wanner and Caryl Emerson describe the form's growth in Russia in their critical work, "Russian Minimalism: from the Prose Poem to the Anti-story". The two best-known examples of this literary form in Russian are Gogol's "Dead Souls" and Venedikt Erofeev's "Moscow-Petushki". In Poland, Bolesław Prus (1847-1912), influenced by the French prose poets, had written a number of poetic micro-stories, including "Mold of the Earth" (1884), "" (1884) and "Shades" (1885).

The form has gained popularity since the late 1980s, and literary journals that previously refused to acknowledge prose poetry's unique contributions to both poetry and prose have now conceded its worth and currently display prose poems next to sonnets and short stories. Journals have even begun to specialize, publishing solely prose poems/flash fiction in their pages (see external links below). Some contemporary writers who write prose poems or flash fiction include Michael Benedikt, Robert Bly, Anne Carson, Kim Chinquee, Richard Garcia, Ray Gonzalez, Lyn Hejinian, Louis Jenkins, Campbell McGrath, Sheila Murphy, Naomi Shihab Nye, Mary Oliver, David Shumate, James Tate, and J. Marcus Weekley.

It used to be said that prose poetry was impossible in English because the English language was not so strictly governed by rules as was the French language. In the twentieth century, when English prose became increasingly ruled by the iron laws of America's Strunk and White, this may no longer have been the case.

Rapturous, rhythmic, image-laden prose from previous centuries, such as that found in Jeremy Taylor and Thomas de Quincey, strikes 21st-century readers as having something of a poetic quality. Using figurative language to provoke thought, it invites a reader into unusual perspectives to question what is traditionally thought of, as in Richard Garcia's "Chickenhead."

ee also

*Flash fiction
*Vignette (literature)
*"Double Room"
*"The English Mail-Coach"
*"Suspiria de Profundis"

External links

* [http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5787 Poetic Form: Prose Poem]
* [http://pw2.netcom.com/~pprater/prosepoetry.html Prose Poetry]
* [http://www.haibuntoday.com/ Haibun Today -- prose + poetry hybrid]
* [http://ogdenian.com/prose_poetry.html Ogdenian Prose Poetry]
* [http://ridercreations.com/CJ%27s/Prose%20Poetry.htm Is there really such a thing as "prose-poetry"?]
* [http://www.zafusy.com zafusy: contemporary poetry journal]
* [http://firewheel-editions.org Sentence: A Journal of Prose Poetics]
* [http://www.u.arizona.edu/~mschuldt/CUE.html CUE: A Journal of Prose Poetry]
* [http://www.quickfiction.org Quick Fiction]
* [http://www.quarteraftereight.org Quarter After Eight]
* [http://www.wildstrawberries.org Wild Strawberries]
* [http://www.madhattersreview.com Mad Hatters' Review]
* [http://webdelsol.com/Double_Room/issue_six/David_Shumate.htm William Stafford and David Shumate describe prose poetry]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Prose & Poetry — Prose Poetry, or Prose Poetry (sometimes Original Prose Poetry), is a competitive speech event practiced by state high school forensics or debating associations such as the Ohio High School Speech League and the California High School Speech… …   Wikipedia

  • prose poetry — prose poetry, = polyphonic prose. (Cf. ↑polyphonic prose) …   Useful english dictionary

  • Poetry — This article is about the art form. For other uses, see Poetry (disambiguation). Literature Major forms Novel · Poem · Drama Short story · Novella …   Wikipedia

  • prose poem — a composition written as prose but having the concentrated, rhythmic, figurative language characteristic of poetry. [1835 45] * * * Work in prose that has some of the technical or literary qualities of poetry (such as regular rhythm, definitely… …   Universalium

  • prose poet — /ˈproʊz poʊət/ (say prohz pohuht) noun a writer who writes with a poetic sensibility in a prose genre. –prose poetry, noun …  

  • Poetry analysis — is the process of investigating a poem s form, content, and history in an informed way, with the aim of heightening one s own and others understanding and appreciation of the work.The words poem and poetry derive from the Greek poiēma (to make)… …   Wikipedia

  • Prose or Sequence — • A liturgical hymn used on certain festivals before the Gospel in the Mass Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Prose Or Sequence     Prose or Sequence      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Prose — Prose, n. [F. prose, L. prosa, fr. prorsus, prosus, straight forward, straight on, for proversus; pro forward + versus, p. p. of vertere to turn. See {Verse}.] 1. The ordinary language of men in speaking or writing; language not cast in poetical… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Prose interpretation — (also known as prose reading ) is a non memorized event in which competitors choose a published piece of work that is not poetry or drama. The piece should be cut to no more than 10 minutes (with an additional 30 second grace period, the use of… …   Wikipedia

  • Poetry for Poetry's Sake — Poetry for Poetry’s Sake was an inaugural lecture given at Oxford University by the English literary scholar Andrew Cecil Bradley on June 5, 1901 and published the same year by Oxford at the Clarendon Press. The topic of the speech is the role of …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”