About the book
In Echo and Critique, Florian Gargaillo skillfully charts the ways that poets have responded to the clichés of public speech from the start of the Second World War to the present. Beginning around 1939, many public intellectuals on both sides of the Atlantic lamented that the political lexicon had become saturated with bureaucratic stock phrases such as “the fight for freedom,” “revenue enhancement,” and “service the target,” designed for the mass media and used to euphemize, obfuscate, and evade.
Instead of ridding their writing of such language, many poets parroted these tropes as a means of exploring the implications of such expressions, weighing their effects, and identifying the realities they distort and suppress. With its attentiveness to linguistic particulars, poetry proved especially well-suited to this innovative mode of close listening and intertextual commentary. At the same time, postwar poets recognized their own susceptibility to dead language, so that co-opting political clichés obliged them to scrutinize their writing and accept the inevitability of cant while simultaneously pushing against it.
This innovative study blends close readings with historical context as it traces the development of echo and critique in the work of seven poets who expertly deployed the method throughout their careers: W. H. Auden, Randall Jarrell, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Robert Lowell, Josephine Miles, and Seamus Heaney. Gargaillo’s analysis reveals that poetry can encourage us to listen diligently and critically to the insincerity ubiquitous in public discourse.
Editions of Echo and Critique
- PDF
- ISBN 9780807180006
Read an Excerpt
In Echo and Critique, Florian Gargaillo skillfully charts the ways that poets have responded to the clichés of public speech from the start of the Second World War to the present. Beginning around 1939, many public intellectuals on both sides of the Atlantic lamented that the political lexicon had become saturated with bureaucratic stock phrases such as “the fight for freedom,” “revenue enhancement,” and “service the target,” designed for the mass media and used to euphemize, obfuscate, and evade.
Instead of ridding their writing of such language, many poets parroted these tropes as a means of exploring the implications of such expressions, weighing their effects, and identifying the realities they distort and suppress. With its attentiveness to linguistic particulars, poetry proved especially well-suited to this innovative mode of close listening and intertextual commentary. At the same time, postwar poets recognized their own susceptibility to dead language, so that co-opting political clichés obliged them to scrutinize their writing and accept the inevitability of cant while simultaneously pushing against it.
This innovative study blends close readings with historical context as it traces the development of echo and critique in the work of seven poets who expertly deployed the method throughout their careers: W. H. Auden, Randall Jarrell, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Robert Lowell, Josephine Miles, and Seamus Heaney. Gargaillo’s analysis reveals that poetry can encourage us to listen diligently and critically to the insincerity ubiquitous in public discourse.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Echo and Critique about?
In Echo and Critique, Florian Gargaillo skillfully charts the ways that poets have responded to the clichés of public speech from the start of the Second World War to the present. Beginning around 1939, many public intellectuals on both sides of the Atlantic lamented that the political lexicon had become saturated with bureaucratic stock phrases such as “the fight for freedom,” “revenue enhancement,” and “service the target,” designed for the mass media and used to euphemize, obfuscate, and evade.
Instead of ridding their writing of such language, many poets parroted these tropes as a means of exploring the implications of such expressions, weighing their effects, and identifying the realities they distort and suppress. With its attentiveness to linguistic particulars, poetry proved especially well-suited to this innovative mode of close listening and intertextual commentary. At the same time, postwar poets recognized their own susceptibility to dead language, so that co-opting political clichés obliged them to scrutinize their writing and accept the inevitability of cant while simultaneously pushing against it.
This innovative study blends close readings with historical context as it traces the development of echo and critique in the work of seven poets who expertly deployed the method throughout their careers: W. H. Auden, Randall Jarrell, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Robert Lowell, Josephine Miles, and Seamus Heaney. Gargaillo’s analysis reveals that poetry can encourage us to listen diligently and critically to the insincerity ubiquitous in public discourse.
What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in Echo and Critique?
Biography, Literature and Literary studies > Literature: history and criticism > Literary studies: poetry and poets
Where can I read a sample of Echo and Critique?
You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9780807180006
How long is Echo and Critique and how many pages does it have?
Echo and Critique has 196 page(s)
Who is/are the Author/s of the book Echo and Critique?
Florian Gargaillo
Who is the Publisher of the book Echo and Critique?
LSU Press
What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?
Echo and Critique is available as pdf(ISBN 9780807180006)
Where can I buy Echo and Critique online or support local independent bookshops?
You can buy Echo and Critique from below
Where can I buy Echo and Critique?