Rhetorical Interpretation

T/W/TH 2:00 PM – 4:30 PM, Dwinelle 243; Section Wed 11:30 AM – 2:00 PM, Dwinelle 247 /// 

This course approaches the study of poetry from a process-oriented perspective. Following the work of critics like Oren Izenberg and Alexander Weheliye, it examines writing poetry as an act of individuation, where the poem signifies a site and set of conditions that produces, configures, and yields humans.

Our questions are simple: What types of persons does poetry create? What are the poetic and political stakes surrounding identity? -how might these differ for different poets? How does an I become an I?

We will direct these questions at a series of poetry books and collections and poetics and essays including, Lyn Hejinian’s My life, Chris Soto’s Neplanta: An Anthology for Queer Poets of Color; J. Michael Martinez’ Museum of the Americas, and Claudia Rankine’s Citizen.