“Un-American Confessions”: Translation as Subversion in Robert Lowell’s Life Studies (1959)
This article argues that Robert Lowell’s employment of techniques of poetic "imitation" - a liberal form of translation - during the composition of the Life Studies poems allows him to simultaneously stage and to conceal his reliance upon foreign poetic sources. Lowell’s Life Studies imita...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Association for American Studies
2017-08-01
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12031 |
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| author | Simon Van Schalkwyk |
| author_facet | Simon Van Schalkwyk |
| author_sort | Simon Van Schalkwyk |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article argues that Robert Lowell’s employment of techniques of poetic "imitation" - a liberal form of translation - during the composition of the Life Studies poems allows him to simultaneously stage and to conceal his reliance upon foreign poetic sources. Lowell’s Life Studies imitations thus represent an attempt to “cover-up” poetic collusions with foreign sources at a time when cold war “containment culture” and the specter of McCarthyism threatened to render any such collusion increasingly suspect, if not entirely “Un-American.” The Life Studies imitations, by this account, offer furtive testimony to Lowell’s potentially subversive poetic preoccupation and engagement with cold war cultural anxieties circulating around terms such as containment, conspiracy, domesticity, paranoia, security, secrecy. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b7f0b89df79b4572af5015fcaeefb6ab |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2017-08-01 |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-b7f0b89df79b4572af5015fcaeefb6ab2025-01-06T09:09:34ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362017-08-0112210.4000/ejas.12031“Un-American Confessions”: Translation as Subversion in Robert Lowell’s Life Studies (1959)Simon Van SchalkwykThis article argues that Robert Lowell’s employment of techniques of poetic "imitation" - a liberal form of translation - during the composition of the Life Studies poems allows him to simultaneously stage and to conceal his reliance upon foreign poetic sources. Lowell’s Life Studies imitations thus represent an attempt to “cover-up” poetic collusions with foreign sources at a time when cold war “containment culture” and the specter of McCarthyism threatened to render any such collusion increasingly suspect, if not entirely “Un-American.” The Life Studies imitations, by this account, offer furtive testimony to Lowell’s potentially subversive poetic preoccupation and engagement with cold war cultural anxieties circulating around terms such as containment, conspiracy, domesticity, paranoia, security, secrecy.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12031translationAmerican poetrycold warconfessioncontainmentcovert sphere |
| spellingShingle | Simon Van Schalkwyk “Un-American Confessions”: Translation as Subversion in Robert Lowell’s Life Studies (1959) European Journal of American Studies translation American poetry cold war confession containment covert sphere |
| title | “Un-American Confessions”: Translation as Subversion in Robert Lowell’s Life Studies (1959) |
| title_full | “Un-American Confessions”: Translation as Subversion in Robert Lowell’s Life Studies (1959) |
| title_fullStr | “Un-American Confessions”: Translation as Subversion in Robert Lowell’s Life Studies (1959) |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Un-American Confessions”: Translation as Subversion in Robert Lowell’s Life Studies (1959) |
| title_short | “Un-American Confessions”: Translation as Subversion in Robert Lowell’s Life Studies (1959) |
| title_sort | un american confessions translation as subversion in robert lowell s life studies 1959 |
| topic | translation American poetry cold war confession containment covert sphere |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12031 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT simonvanschalkwyk unamericanconfessionstranslationassubversioninrobertlowellslifestudies1959 |