Professor Weaver

Independent Study/ CCBES Project

Spring 2003

Postmodern American Poetry in the Ecocritical Context

Abstract:
This paper examines the way in which postmodern conceptions facilitate the implementation of ecocriticism, specifically in the milieu of American poetry. Under particular examination is the work of Audre Lorde and Philip Levine, both poets who interpret the urban environment, as well as that of Robert Hass, James Schuyler and Elizabeth Bishop, quintessential postmodernists fascinated by the relationship between people and their natural surroundings. As depicted in the following pages, postmodernism enables pragmatic thought and action, both valuable for solving environmental problems. By dismissing metanarratives as well as teleology, postmodernism allows for case-specific analysis and the coexistence of diverse perspectives. Also, the destabilization of modern structure and the dethroning of the male human subject, both emblematic functions of postmodernism, provide a niche for radical politics as well as a consequent interest in formerly peripheral subjects, including Nature. The empowerment of the Other, gives an opportunity for increased communication between once privileged speakers and previously disenfranchised entities. The poets included in this study have sought to provide a voice for the environment and to earnestly engage it in dialogue. Through the work of Lorde, Levine, Hass, Schuyler and Bishop, the reader perceives the confluence of postmodern ideas and ecocritical perceptions.