American Political Poetry in the 21st Century

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

   PDF

2. Introduction: Political Poetry in the United States

   • Michael Dowdy

   Pages 1-33

3. Embodied Agency

   • Michael Dowdy

   Pages 35-75

4. Equivocal Agency

   • Michael Dowdy

   Pages 77-115

5. Migratory Agency

   • Michael Dowdy

   Pages 117-152

6. Contestatory Urban Agency

   • Michael Dowdy

   Pages 153-187

7. Conclusion

   • Michael Dowdy

   Pages 189-199

8. Back Matter

   Pages 201-234

   PDF

Dowdy uncovers and analyzes the primary rhetorical strategies, particularly figures of voice, in American political poetry from the Vietnam War-era to the present. He brings together a unique and diverse collection of poets, including an innovative section on hip hop performance.

• 21st century
• America
• performance
• poetry
• present
• rhetoric
• Vietnam War

"American Political Poetry into the Twenty-First Century creates a new kind of discourse. Inclusive in its assessment of much 20th century U.S. poetry, the book reads mainstream poets alongside a number of Latina/o writers, the culture of poetry Michael Dowdy finds much more active politically. His concluding section takes on the issue of whether or not academic study can legitimate hip-hopo, clearly the most political of current poetry forms. This is a truly

helpful book." - Linda Wagner-Martin, Frank Borden Hanes Professor of English

& Comparative Literature, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

MICHAEL DOWDY is an adjunct assistant professor of English at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, USA.

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