Modernist poetics of distance: George Seferis and Ezra Pound

Demetriou, Galateia (2018). Modernist poetics of distance: George Seferis and Ezra Pound. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This thesis offers the first full-length comparative study of George Seferis and Ezra Pound. The analysis begins by establishing, in the first chapter, a field of research by looking at the ways in which Pound was read, translated and received in Greece from 1935 onwards, and, in doing so, maps out the important Greek publications on Pound. Prominent among the discussed poets and translators, it is argued, Seferis showed a deeper affinity with Pound and developed a significantly similar modernist poetics at once singularly Greek and aligned with the Anglo-American example. This thesis, then, proceeds to elucidate the affinities between the two poets through a detailed comparative reading. The second chapter offers an in-depth analysis of the two poets’ views on translation theory and practice, building on Hugh Kenner’s concept of ‘touching distance’. The third chapter concentrates on the two poets’ responses to place in both their poetry and their travel writings, by problematising the conceptual ‘mobility’ of place at work in their writings. Through these explorations, this project offers insights on both poets individually and helps to broaden current understandings of their poetry and poetics comparatively, ultimately demonstrating that Seferis’ modernism, despite being articulated in Greek, was never far removed from high modernist poetics as represented by Pound.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):