Bibliography
Ezra Pound and the Representative Theory of Language
Ahearn, Barry, ed. Pound/Cummings : The Correspondence of Ezra Pound and E.E.Cummings. Ann Arbor : Michigan UP, 1996.
E.E. Cummings corresponded with Ezra Pound from 1926 to 1962 .E.E. Cummings radical experiments with language and his pronounced championing of individual liberty attracted Pound's notice . Pound believed that if Cummings could be shaken from his lethargy he would work toward the rejuvenation of society envisaged by himself . Cummings, on the other hand , was not interested in political activity . Cummings' refusal to participate in Pound's 'grand narrative ' did not terminate their relationship which extended to their families . This correspondence forces the reader to acknowledge the impossibility of reading Pound's poetry divorced from his economic and political convictions .
Bornstein, George, ed. Ezra Pound Among The Poets : Homer, Ovid , Li-Po, Dante, Whitman, Browning, Yeats, Williams, Eliot. Chicago : Chicago UP, 1985.
Pound believed that a poet must articulate himself in apposition to the poetic tradition of Europe. Not only was a thorough knowledge of the Classics necessary but also of the Romance languages. This book discusses the interrelationships between Pound's poetry and that of Yeats Williams and Eliot. It also attempts to delineate Pound's debts to his predecessors. The transformations of the poetics of the Chinese poet Li-Po in Pound's poetry are explored.
Chace , William M . The Political Identities Of Ezra Pound & T.S. Eliot Stanford : Stanford UP , 1973.
An early attempt to interrogate Modernism's ostensible affinity for the Fascist agenda. The crystallization of the politics of Pound and Eliot between the two wars is discussed. Despite their close collaboration on The Wasteland they diverged on a number of points.
Drucker, Johanna . The Visible Word : Experimental Typography And Modern Art , 1909-1923. Chicago : Chicago UP ,1994.
This book offers a 'poetics of the marked text' by focussing on the materiality of the words on the page. Though it does not discuss Pound's work directly it offers a way of theorizing about Pound's assertion that in poetry the word must be the thing in itself.
Hesse, Eva. New Approaches to Pound : A Coordinated Investigation of Pound's Poetry and Ideas . Berkeley : California UP ,1969.
An early attempt to grapple with Pound's controversial politics as an integral part of his poetry. She concentrates on his attempts to translate into practice Shelley's vision of poets as legislators.
Holder , Alan. Three Voyages in Search of Europe : A Study of Henry James, Ezra Pound , and T.S. Eliot. Philadelphia : Pennsylvania UP , 1996.
Holder compares James', Eliot's and Pound's flights to Europe in the light of their poetic theories. Pound's efforts were directed towards the construction of a poetic tradition which would enable the poet to regain the position of a seer in society. Such a position implied that poetry had to engage with the totality of life and could not simply be an exercise in language. Holder argues that the Jamesian approach to Europe was almost antithetical to that of Pound.
Homberger, Eric. Ezra Pound : The Critical Heritage. London & Boston : Routledge, 1972.
This book is an invaluable refernce for tracing the historical developement of Pound criticism. It anthologizes reviews of Pound's poetry and reactions to it by contemporary poets.
Longenbach , James. Modernist Poetics of History : Pound , Eliot , and the Sense of thePast. Princeton : Princeton UP , 1987 . Ch. 5.
Longenbach in this chapter discusses Pound's attempts to overthrow the then dominant philological method in literary studies. He explores Pound's opposition to Positivism coupled with his skepticism of mysticism. He also discusses the way in which history enters the Cantos.
Nagy , Christophe de Franck. Ezra Pound's Poetics and Literary Tradition : The Critical Decade. Bern : Verlag , 1966 .Ch. 6.
Nagy focusses on Pound's literary criticism. He argues for considering it independently of Pound's poetry. Nagy considers the 1910's as the crucial decade for Pound's critical thinking. In chapter 6 he discusses Pound's Ideogrammatic method which explains "not by abstraction but by citing " introduced in Pound's translation of Confucius.
Redman , Tim. Ezra Pound and Italian Fascism. Cambridge : CUP , 1991.
Redman documents Pound's contacts with the Italian Fascists. Pound's uneasy co-habitation with the Italian Fascists is argued for by the author.
Schneidau , Herbert N. Ezra Pound : The Image and the Real. Baton Rouge : Louisiana UP , 1969.
Schneidau unearths the epistemological presumptions behind Pound's striving to achieve what J. Hillis Miller has termed "the poetry of reality". He advances the intriguing argument that the core of the word "Imagism"may be 'magus'. He delineates Pound's attempts to free language from the 'curse of mediacy'.
Simpson , Louis. Three on the Tower : The Lives and Works of Ezra Pound , T.S. Eliot , and William Carlos Williams. New York : Morrow , 1975.
This book is an engaging biography of Pound which places him in relation to other prominent Modernist writers who experimented with the visual aspect of poetry.
Ueda , Makoto. Zeami , Basho , Yeats , Pound : A Study in Japanese and English Poetics. The Hague : Mouton , 1965.
This book approaches Pound's and Yeats' attempts to incorporate the principles of Haiku poetry in their writing. The comparativist point of view deals with Pound's translations effectively.
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