Review: “Democracy, Culture and the Voice of Poetry” by Robert Pinsky

 
image source: amazon.com

Robert Pinsky is a Poet and Writer that provides insight into the mechanisms of poetry in our modern day. “Democracy, Culture and the Voice of Poetry” is one of Pinsky’s books on poetry that provides readers and fellow poets information and a space of reflection when it comes to Poetry in America.

I found this book helpful since I have been recently researching the role of poetry in American Culture, specifically when it comes to a surge of political writing and poetry during tumultuous times. Keeping in mind the protest poets of the past, I wanted to gain a more complex view of the role of poetry in America. What does it mean to write ‘political’ poetry? To write protest poetry? Do these poems last, are they cherished by audiences in another time and country? Or are they encapsulated in their own time and place as relics of specific events and times?

Pinsky’s book answered some of these questions I had although with a more complex response that pulled conversations and philosophical theories from people such as Alexis de Tocqueville . I also kept in mind that this book was published in 2005, not that old but it has been more than a decade since its first release. What is important is that Pinsky dismisses the idea that poetry is only for entertainment and that it does in fact (sometimes inadvertently) reflect the democratic culture of the U.S. at a specific time.

This book was insightful and interesting, a quick read too. I felt like it did a good job at bringing depth to Pinsky’s discussion and his own projects such as Favorite Poems Project. I did think that its purpose was to argue Pinsky’s own argument on the importance and role of poetry in America rather than discussing the ways in which one can write such poetry. I would recommend this book for any Pinsky reader and contemporary poet interested in the subject.

-Alina

 

Coming Soon: My Personal Response on ‘Surviving 2017 in the Trump Era’ and ‘Combating the quote-unquote brainwashed College Student Theory’

I have been thinking about two topics recently in light of personal experiences and conversations I have had with numerous people such as family, friends, and fellow students.

These two topics I plan on writing MY OWN PERSONAL RESPONSES to:

“Surviving 2017 in the Trump Era”….did anyone really survive? and how do I feel now that 2017 is coming to an end. This will be my own little synopsis of how my year has gone including my reflections on the insanely horrifying events that have happened this year…so far… in American.

“Combating the quote-unquote Brainwashed College Student Theory” this has been a reoccurring conversation that has been happening between me and my family. I found this theory (as I am going to call it) to be more laughable than a serious issue to address. But after talking to other students in my Major (English, the Humanities) and doing a bit of research on my own, it appears that this little theory is a persistent issue that conservative parents and families have been “dealing with” for a very long time in America.

My responses will be posted by the end of this year so keep a lookout. I would also love to hear about any experiences that college students have had dealing with this “brainwashed liberal” thing. I find it an interesting little concept that now aides in dividing families and the nation even more than it has been this year.

This is also me lighting a candle in my own little lighthouse in this continuous storm, is there anybody out there with similar thoughts?

I want to thank my faithful and regular readers and followers that take time out of their day to read my work on my blog. Thank you so much for the support you give to me and my writing! I hope you will (and others) return in the future! 

-Alina