Tackling topics such as globalization and political activism, this book traces engaged poetics in 20th century American poetry. Spahr provides a comprehensive view of activist poetry, starting with the Great Depression and the Harlem Renaissance and moving to the Beats and contemporary writers such as Amiri Baraka and Mark Nowak.

"This book will be a game-changer for the study of modern American poetry. It argues for the first time that there is a century-long progressive tradition of poetic efforts to create an American voice and subject position that is fundamentally international in its scope and political/aesthetic positioning. Because its historical reach is so wide and its thesis so timely, it deserves a wide audience." - Cary Nelson, Emeritus Professor of English, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA

"Dealing with widely- and under-read poets in the age of liberalism and neoliberalism, this impressive study is an essential addition to the history of poetic 'tradition.' Following (and complicating) such formations of 'tradition' as the avant-garde (Perloff), 'opposing poetries' (Lazer), and marginalization (Moten, DuPlessis), Spahr has brilliantly excavated our tradition of politically committed poetry. No tradition could feel more necessary now." - Jennifer Ashton, Associate Professor of English, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA

Autorentext
Clemens Spahr is a Junior Professor in the Department of English/American Studies at the Mainz University, Germany.

Inhalt

Introduction

1. "Blazing Signals of a World in Birth": Lyrical Expression and International Solidarity from the Literary Left to the Popular Front
2. Global Harlem: The Internationalism of the Harlem Renaissance
3. Remapping America: The Epic Geography of Post-World War II American Poetry
4. From Cuba to Vietnam: Anti-Imperialist Poetics and Global Solidarity in the Long Sixties
5. Contemporary American Poetry and the Legacy of the Third World
6. Contemporary American Poetry, Literary Tradition, and the Multitude
   Conclusion