Abstract
This research project is meant to contribute to the process of reading the canonical modernist poet Wallace Stevens (1879-1955) as a transnational and global poet. It seeks to provide a more systematic focus to such readings, present a variety of relevant data not yet available to Stevens scholarship, evaluate what is critically at stake in transnationalizing the poet, and recalibrate current theories on world literature and ecocriticism by confronting them with Stevens' complex poetic thinking in this regard. The project will investigate Stevens as a "world poet" from a variety of complementary angles that may be organized into three main parts, consisting of two large case studies each: "Wallace Stevens in the World" (which is to be based on archival research into the poet's library and correspondence), "The World through Wallace Stevens" (which will draw on theories of world literature and ecocriticism), and "The World after Wallace Stevens" (which will involve case studies about Stevens' influence on a cluster of non-American poets, on the one hand, and the painter David Hockney, on the other).
Researcher(s)
Research team(s)
Project type(s)