Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Characters and characteristics in literature; Negation (Logic) in literature; Poetics; Dream songs (Berryman, John); Berryman, John--Dream songs; Academic theses;
Abstract
John Berryman's The Dream Songs encompasses an extensive and complex negation of characterization and structure, offering a method of interpretation that focuses on the negations and the absences expressed in and presented by the song cycle. Through his nonlinear account of his life and through the historical and literary allusions he uses to express himself, Henry obscures any effort for readers to discover a stable, absolute identity. Like Henry himself, his unnamed companion unsuccessfully fulfills a variety of roles that critics have attempted to prescribe for him; he fails to perform any notable thematic or structural purpose for the poem, demonstrating a similar negated existence. The Dream Songs simultaneously affirms and negates the form of the sonnet and the sonnet series by utilizing traditional forms, exposing their shortcomings and then exposing too the limitations of reactions against these traditions. Following these negations of identity and narrative, Henry and the poetic structure of the poem develop an interdependent relationship on each other in order to sustain and perpetuate themselves. In Ireland, Henry's inability to sustain a linear narrative and the irresolute, superficial final Song of the series both affirm that The Dream Songs and Henry thrive on a detached existence that alludes to various other characters and structures but ultimately remains a sustained negation. While Berryman doesn't deliberately work within the modernist tradition of the "twentieth century 'long poem,"' his extensive use of negations effectively sustains his song cycle and staves off the problems- of structure, of voice, of history- that haunted Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, and other twentieth century poets.
Year of Submission
2010
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of English Language and Literature
First Advisor
Jim O'Loughlin
Second Advisor
Vince Gotera
Third Advisor
Jeremy Schraffenberger
Date Original
2010
Object Description
1 PDF file (85 leaves)
Copyright
©2010 Joseph Russell Hendryx
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Hendryx, Joseph Russell, "Locating Henry in the “Un-”: Proto-Postmodern Negation of Character, Allusion, Narrative and Structure in John Berryman’s the Dream Songs" (2010). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2935.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2935
Comments
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