Book contents
- The Cambridge Introduction to American Poetry since 1945
- The Cambridge Introduction to American Poetry since 1945
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I American Poetry from 1945 to 1970
- Chapter 1 The Raw and the Cooked
- Chapter 2 The Black Mountain Poets
- Chapter 3 The Beats and the San Francisco Renaissance
- Chapter 4 The New York School of Poetry
- Chapter 5 The Middle Generation, Elizabeth Bishop, and Confessional Poetry
- Chapter 6 Deep Image Poetry
- Chapter 7 African American Poetry from 1945 to 1970
- Part II American Poetry from 1970 to 2000
- Part III Into the New Millennium American Poetry from 2000 to the Present
- Works Cited
- Index
- Cambridge Introductions to Literature
Chapter 5 - The Middle Generation, Elizabeth Bishop, and Confessional Poetry
from Part I - American Poetry from 1945 to 1970
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 December 2022
- The Cambridge Introduction to American Poetry since 1945
- The Cambridge Introduction to American Poetry since 1945
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I American Poetry from 1945 to 1970
- Chapter 1 The Raw and the Cooked
- Chapter 2 The Black Mountain Poets
- Chapter 3 The Beats and the San Francisco Renaissance
- Chapter 4 The New York School of Poetry
- Chapter 5 The Middle Generation, Elizabeth Bishop, and Confessional Poetry
- Chapter 6 Deep Image Poetry
- Chapter 7 African American Poetry from 1945 to 1970
- Part II American Poetry from 1970 to 2000
- Part III Into the New Millennium American Poetry from 2000 to the Present
- Works Cited
- Index
- Cambridge Introductions to Literature
Summary
This chapter discusses the poets associated with the so-called “Middle Generation,” a transitional group of writers who were younger than the modernists but older than the poets of the New American poetry discussed in Chapters 1–4. It addresses how the poets of this cohort struggled with the long shadow of their modernist predecessors and addresses their struggles with alcoholism, personal crises, and mental illness. The chapter charts their move away from the New Critical formalist mode that reigned at mid-century toward a looser, more personal mode, which eventually gave rise to Confessional poetry. Focusing especially on Elizabeth Bishop (who distanced herself from Confessionalism), Robert Lowell, John Berryman, Sylvia Plath, and Anne Sexton, this chapter discusses the major stylistic and thematic features of Confessionalism, controversies surrounding this movement, and its profound influence on contemporary poetry.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Introduction to American Poetry since 1945 , pp. 87 - 112Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022