Includes bibliographical references (pages 190-198) and index.
Contents:
Introduction -- Voice in Poetry: Opening up a Concept -- 1. A Natural Scale -- 2. Vibration and Difference -- 3. Turnings of the Breath -- 4. 'The Multitudinous Tongue' -- 5. Getting the Measure of Voice.
Summary:
"What do we mean by 'voice' in poetry? In this work, David Nowell Smith teases out the diverse meanings of 'voice' - from a poem's soundworld to the rhetorical gestures through which poems speak to us - to embark on a philosophical exploration of the concept of voice itself. His study encompasses renaissance lyrics and concrete poetry, analyses of metre and discussions of technological treatments of voice, and radical and far-reaching readings of Augustine, Baudelaire, Derrida, Hopkins and Kristeva alongside contemporary poets such as Sean Bonney, Lisa Robertson, and John Wilkinson. It places voice at the crux of debates including political representation through rhythm and melody, the 'origin' of languages and the psychology of language acquisition. Throughout, this informs a reflection on how sounds come to have meaning, and on the ways in which we articulate ourselves as subjects"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.