- Teacher: Patrick Jones
The title of this seminar is drawn from Hugh Kenner's landmark study of Anglophone modernist literature: The Pound Era (1971). In a recent special issue of Nonsite magazine, several prominent critics assess the relevance of The Pound Era on the fiftieth anniversary of its publication. Joshua Kotin, to take one example, describes the book as “idiosyncratic”, “virtuosic”, and “even genius”, whilst also drawing attention to Kenner’s “untenably narrow” conception of the modernist canon and his “wildly irresponsible” insouciance regarding the fascist politics of the poet who is his central object of study: Ezra Pound. In this seminar, we will read the notoriously difficult and allusive poetry of Pound and his circle (which included T.S. Eliot, H.D., Wyndham Lewis, and Marianne Moore) alongside extracts from The Pound Era. In addition to grappling with some of the most influential and controversial poems in twentieth-century literature, we will also reflect extensively on the limitations and strengths of Kenner’s critical method, as well as the vexed question of what it might mean to read Pound “responsibly” as we enter into the second quarter of the twenty-first century.
To avoid overcrowding in seminars, and to ensure the quality of your learning, the BA6 team have collectively decided to limit class sizes to 18 (including the teacher). If you try to sign up and find that there are no places left, you will have to follow another of the exciting BA6 seminars on offer this semester. Please do not come to class on the 25.02.2025 if you are not enrolled on Moodle.