Here's a declaration I want to follow out. Join me if you'd like:
GIVEN that Nietzsche carried Emerson around in his back pocket,
GIVEN that Emerson is arguably the single most recognizable name of 19th cent. American literature,
GIVEN that the quest for the ordinary is, as Melville and Wittgenstein taught us, fraught on all sides,
GIVEN that Wallace Stevens was a philosopher, William Carlos Williams was a scientist, and Robert Creeley was, simply, a badass,
GIVEN that a recent article on Frost's notebooks only added more fuel to these ideas which I've been mulling over for some time,
RESOLVED: we need a revolution in the way we think about "American" literature.
Posted by pjaussen at February 13, 2007 05:54 PM | TrackBackyou don't happen to have a canlit manifesto handy, do you?
Posted by: jeremy at February 13, 2007 08:00 PMnot really. but we can take the route of most US english depts and just lump it in with "contemporary fiction." or, which happens more often, ignore it altogether.
Posted by: paul at February 14, 2007 09:14 AMtwo words: robert service.
Posted by: andy at February 14, 2007 10:34 PMMight I couple Robert with Anne Carson?
Posted by: Jentery at February 21, 2007 11:00 PMthat's the beauty of manifestos. they replicate themselves.
Posted by: paul at February 22, 2007 08:27 AM