Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0268 - Extreme Language: Modern Lyric

The modern lyric has often been identified with extreme forms of language. But what does it mean for language to be extreme, to be the outlier or the limit case? Extreme with respect to what? In this course we will examine ideas about "extremity" and language through the corpuses of five major poets who wrote or who are writing in French: Charles Baudelaire, Stephane Mallarme, Aime Cesaire, Michel Deguy, and Edouard Glissant. How does the question of lyric extremity frame or bring out the tensions between autobiography, intimacy, and singularity and universalist claims? How are these claims connected with trauma and disaster? How to understand the tensions between ideas about lyric negativity and finitude (monolingualism, risk, chance) and ideas about lyric opening (translation, creolization, survival)? All texts will be made available in translation; students who are able to read in French will be strongly encouraged to do so. Practitioners as well as students taking critical and theoretical approaches to poetry are welcome. Creative as well as analytical responses to the poetry will be invited.

Multiple Cultural Perspectives In this course, students are expected to spend 6-8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time