Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Zamsky, Robert

Keywords

Poetry, Aurality, Performance, Authority, Sound

Area of Concentration

English

Abstract

A common hallmark of poetry is its emphasis on brevity, or its ability to say more with less. Language that is "poetic" possesses a certain ambiguous, yet strong significance, but what is it that makes this language so powerful? This is the question this thesis aims to address. The goal of the first chapter is to explore and establish the concept of poetic significance, primarily using Robert Von Hallberg's Lyric Powers as a touchstone. The second and third chapters explore the source of this significance in breath poetry and sound poetry, both of which are genres that highly emphasize the aural, or heard, form of poetry. To summarize the findings, what makes poetic language significant is primarily its attention to aurality, or the sound of the language. Both breath and sound have in common an inclination towards performance, as well as an emphasis on aurality through, most prominently, the use of space, sound patterns, and the charisma of the performer.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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