New Formalist Criticism
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New Formalist Criticism Theory and Practice Fredric V. Bogel Professor of English, Cornell University, USA
Fredric V. Bogel 2013 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-1-137-36258-2 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-47272-7 ISBN 978-1-137-36259-9 (ebook) DOI. 10.1057/9781137362599 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Contents Acknowledgments vi Introduction 1 1 Method, Meaning, New Formalism 17 2 Old and New Formalisms 59 3 New Formalist Interpretation 102 4 Textual Infatuation, True Infatuation 153 Coda: New Formalisms 183 Notes 187 Bibliography 223 Index 234 v
Acknowledgments This study has been a long time in the making. Its distant origins lie in an undergraduate seminar on modern critical theory taught at Dartmouth College by the late Frank Brady, and in a graduate seminar, Theories of Poetry, taught at Yale University by the late William K. Wimsatt. Between that time and the present, I have profited from generous conversations and written exchanges with a variety of colleagues and friends at Yale University, Connecticut College, The University of Washington, Cornell University, and elsewhere, including: M. H. Abrams, Charles Altieri, G. Thomas Couser, Jonathan Culler, Heather Dubrow, Michel Ferber, Debra Fried, John M. Fyler, Janet Gezari, H. Marshall Leicester, Marjorie Levinson, Douglas Mao, Neil Saccamano, Susan Sandman, the late Raman Selden, Mark Seltzer, James Simpson, J. Mark Speyer, and Susan Wolfson. Over many years, I have also enjoyed the extraordinary stimulation of conversations in and out of the classroom with a remarkable group of undergraduate and graduate students, among whom I will single out for special thanks: Michael Barany, Mark Blackwell, Lauren Boehm, Colin Dewey, Ryan Dirks, Andrew Dreyfus, Sarah Ensor, Reed Flaschen, Richard Halpern, Elisa Jillson, Suvir Kaul, Jess Keiser, Sarah Senk, and Marty Wechselblatt. My children have sustained and encouraged me throughout, in ways impossible to describe or count. In addition to their love and support, Alexander has provided an example of inspired teaching and literary analysis, including a timely and dazzling discussion of Raymond Carver s Cathedral ; Liz has set the bar for lucid and eloquent prose dauntingly high; and Nicholas has shared his wonderful formalist reading of the conclusion of Thoreau s Walden. Catherine has read everything, edited everything, improved everything. Far beyond this, she has been a continuing source of strength, joy, and love. Ben Doyle, Commissioning Editor, and Sophie Ainscough, Editorial Assistant, at Palgrave Macmillan and Rajeswari Balasubramanian, Project Manager at Integra, have been swift, shrewd, supportive, and encouraging; I am very grateful to have worked with them. I also want to thank the anonymous reader of the manuscript for a thoughtful, vi
Acknowledgments vii detailed, informed, and encouraging report. Finally, this book adapts portions of an essay published in a collection edited by Verena Theile and Linda Tredennick, New Formalisms and Literary Theory, 2013, Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. The full published version of this publication is available from: http://www.palgrave.com/products/title. aspx?pid=579198 and http://www.palgraveconnect.com/pc/doifinder/ 10.1057/9781137010490