The Heat of Beowulf

The book explores the relationship between the aesthetics of Beowulf and the avant-garde poetics of Robin Blaser and Jack Spicer, utilizing translation theory and early medieval discourses on sensory-affective experience. It reconsiders the scholarship on Old English poetics in the mid-twentieth century and its intersection with post-war avant-garde poetics, offering a new perspective on how to read Beowulf.

Format: Hardback
Length: 328 pages
Publication date: 06 December 2022
Publisher: Manchester University Press

The intensity of Beowulf's exploration of aesthetics takes a novel approach by delving into the works of twentieth-century poets Robin Blaser and Jack Spicer. These avant-garde poets, influenced by a profound engagement with the poem in the seminar of medievalist Arthur G. Brodeur, brought a fresh perspective to their poetics. By examining the influence of Beowulf on Blaser and Spicer's artistic expressions, the book uncovers intriguing questions about the poem's non-representational poetics. This revitalizes a mid-century aesthetic approach, embarking on a new critical trajectory. The book explores the poem's aesthetics through the lens of relationship translation theory, as well as early medieval discourses on sensory-affective experiences and twentieth-century phenomenology. Furthermore, The heat of Beowulf reevaluates the scholarship on Old English poetics from the mid-twentieth century, focusing on its intersection with post-war avant-garde poetics. By understanding these critical histories, we gain a deeper understanding of how to approach Beowulf today, shedding new light on its rich and complex artistic merits.

Dimension: 216 x 138 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781526150585