Lyric Beyond Containment

This special issue expands on debates in lyric theory by reconsidering the bounds of poetic and lyric forms. Contributors explore the fictions of lyric subjectivity and aesthetic autonomy, the presumed whiteness of the lyric “I,” and the colonial legacies of key lyric theorists. At the same time, they theorize lyric tropes beyond these limitations by considering abstraction, figuration, apostrophe, confessionalism, and intimacy apart from the presupposed individual expression that still largely defines and derails lyric studies. The collection reflects on records of subjectivity enmeshed in complex political and historical worlds, opening new possibilities for reading lyric and for poetry studies more broadly. 

Contributors: Andrea Brady, Susan Briante, Whitney DeVos, Amy De’Ath, Sarah Dowling, Keegan Cook Finberg, Claire Grandy, Sarah Hakeem Grewal, Jacques Khalip, David Marriott, Jan Mieszkowski, Heather Milne, Ren Ellis Neyra, Forest (Tres) Pyle, Tristram Wolff