“Whimsies and Crochets”: Pragmatism, Poetry, and Literary Criticism’s Founding Gesture 

Using as its key texts George Oppen’s 21 Poems and I.A. Richards' introduction to The Principles of Literary Criticism, this essay argues, first, that in the early decades of the twentieth century pragmatist epistemology and ethos of participation had a transformative effect on U.S. poetry, and...

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Main Author: Kristen Case
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Association for American Studies 2020-05-01
Series:European Journal of American Studies
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Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/15631
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author Kristen Case
author_facet Kristen Case
author_sort Kristen Case
collection DOAJ
description Using as its key texts George Oppen’s 21 Poems and I.A. Richards' introduction to The Principles of Literary Criticism, this essay argues, first, that in the early decades of the twentieth century pragmatist epistemology and ethos of participation had a transformative effect on U.S. poetry, and second, that in these same decades, the then-emergent profession of literary criticism refused to absorb the participatory ethos, even as other disciplines, perhaps most notably education and anthropology, were being transformed by it. It concludes with some thoughts about what the adoption of a participatory approach might look like in literary critical studies, with special attention to the transactional model of reading theorized by Louise Rosenblatt beginning in the late 1930s.
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spelling doaj-art-2ee839590a6649d085f70deb238399152025-01-06T09:09:01ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362020-05-0115110.4000/ejas.15631“Whimsies and Crochets”: Pragmatism, Poetry, and Literary Criticism’s Founding Gesture Kristen CaseUsing as its key texts George Oppen’s 21 Poems and I.A. Richards' introduction to The Principles of Literary Criticism, this essay argues, first, that in the early decades of the twentieth century pragmatist epistemology and ethos of participation had a transformative effect on U.S. poetry, and second, that in these same decades, the then-emergent profession of literary criticism refused to absorb the participatory ethos, even as other disciplines, perhaps most notably education and anthropology, were being transformed by it. It concludes with some thoughts about what the adoption of a participatory approach might look like in literary critical studies, with special attention to the transactional model of reading theorized by Louise Rosenblatt beginning in the late 1930s.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/15631poetry; literary criticism; literary education; participation; William James; George Oppen; I.A. Richards
spellingShingle Kristen Case
“Whimsies and Crochets”: Pragmatism, Poetry, and Literary Criticism’s Founding Gesture 
European Journal of American Studies
poetry; literary criticism; literary education; participation; William James; George Oppen; I.A. Richards
title “Whimsies and Crochets”: Pragmatism, Poetry, and Literary Criticism’s Founding Gesture 
title_full “Whimsies and Crochets”: Pragmatism, Poetry, and Literary Criticism’s Founding Gesture 
title_fullStr “Whimsies and Crochets”: Pragmatism, Poetry, and Literary Criticism’s Founding Gesture 
title_full_unstemmed “Whimsies and Crochets”: Pragmatism, Poetry, and Literary Criticism’s Founding Gesture 
title_short “Whimsies and Crochets”: Pragmatism, Poetry, and Literary Criticism’s Founding Gesture 
title_sort whimsies and crochets pragmatism poetry and literary criticism s founding gesture
topic poetry; literary criticism; literary education; participation; William James; George Oppen; I.A. Richards
url https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/15631
work_keys_str_mv AT kristencase whimsiesandcrochetspragmatismpoetryandliterarycriticismsfoundinggesture