'Black Phones': postmodern poetics in the Holocaust poetry of Sylvia Plath

Boswell, MJ 2008, ''Black Phones': postmodern poetics in the Holocaust poetry of Sylvia Plath' , Critical Survey, 20 (2) , pp. 53-64.

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Abstract

This essay offers a fresh perspective on the Holocaust verse of the American poet Sylvia Plath, taking issue with the accusation that in her poetry she uses the Holocaust as a metaphor to figure her own personal pain. This essay offers close readings of the eccentric monologue 'Lady Lazarus' and the 'German trilogy' of 'Little Fugue', 'Daddy' and 'The Munich Mannequins'. Paying particular attention to the recurring motif of the 'black phone', this essay argues that Plath's Holocaust verse offers a self-aware response to the genocide that is identifiably postmodern in its innovative, self-reflexive treatment of history.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedited version of an article published in Critical Survey. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Boswell, MJ 2008, ''Black Phones': postmodern poetics in the Holocaust poetry of Sylvia Plath', Critical Survey, 20 (2), pp.53-64 is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.3167/cs.2008.200206
Themes:	Subjects / Themes > P Language and Literature > PS American literature Subjects / Themes > D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D731 World War II Memory, Text and Place
Schools:	Schools > School of Humanities, Languages & Social Sciences > Centre for English Literature and Language Schools > School of Humanities, Languages & Social Sciences
Journal or Publication Title:	Critical Survey
Publisher:	Berghahn Journals
Refereed:	Yes
ISSN:	00111570
Related URLs:	Publisher Publisher
Depositing User:	MJ Boswell
Date Deposited:	19 Jan 2009 09:21
Last Modified:	08 Aug 2017 14:00
URI:	http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/1692

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