Tradition and innovation in the poetry of Gary Snyder, 1952-1982

Easy, Peter Alfred James

Abstract

Previous studies of the poetry of Gary Snyder have frequently concentrated upon the surface, esoteric nature of his work, claiming for it a uniqueness which overlooks his debt to tradition. This thesis proposes that Snyder's poetry can be divided into two modes, the mythic and the lyric, each a contribution to well-established modern American poetic traditions. The discussion of the mythic poems traces Snyder's indebtedness to the Modernist long poem and, in particular, sees T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land as an important structural model for Myths & Texts, a poem which is also closely related to Joseph Campbell's delineation of the quest monomyth. In the chapter on the lyric poems, it is suggested that Snyder is one of the inheritors of an experimental lyric tradition initiated by the work of Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams. Both chapters also indicate how such past models have given Snyder's poetry a stability which allows for a measure of profitable innovation. Examples which are isolated are the extensive use of American Indian oral literature in the mythic poems, and the original application of aspects of Chinese poetry and poetics in the lyrics. These two chapters take the study of the poetry up to 1968. This date, which marks Snyder's return to the United States after a long period of residence in Japan, is seen as a watershed after which his work enters a critical and problematical phase.
The principal objective of the chapter on the later poems is to show that when Snyder turns away from his Modernist inheritance to seek the role of overt social prophet, he sacrifices much of his earlier technical accomplishment, thus making further innovation more questionable. As part of its researches, the thesis also provides the first comprehensive bibliography of Snyder, including a complete list of his uncollected work.

Citation

Easy, P. A. J. (1983). Tradition and innovation in the poetry of Gary Snyder, 1952-1982. (Thesis). University of Hull. Retrieved from https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4224188

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: May 24, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 24, 2023
• Keywords: American studies
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4224188
• Additional Information: Department of American Studies, The University of Hull
• Award Date: Sep 1, 1983