Practicing poetry, producing theory: Op/positional poetics in contemporary multi-ethnic American poetries

Contemporary multi-ethnic American poetries do not receive the critical attention that they deserve. This critical neglect stems from misconceptions about the genre of poetry in general, particularly regarding poetic identity (many contemporary theorists view poetic identity as overly simplistic, nostalgic, and unified) and the relationship between aesthetics and politics (some view poetic concerns over aesthetics and traditional forms as politically compromising, while others view political commitments in poetry as aesthetically compromising). Op/positional poets construct an active, theorized poetics that counters these misconceptions by (1) emphasizing the interconnectedness of politics and aesthetics; (2) producing the poetic "I" as dynamic, unfixed, and capable of multiple forms of agency; (3) examining the intersectionality of identities and systems of power; (4) revising familial, social, and mythic histories; and (5) situating poetry as an important sight for theorizing. The dissertation begins by analyzing the op/positional aesthetics of Gwendolyn Brooks and Rafael Campo, who utilize and transform traditional sonnets in their critiques of racism and heterosexism respectively. Cherrie Moraga, Minnie Bruce Pratt, and Ntozake Shange all combine poetic with more traditional prose forms to situate poetry as a crucial site for theorizing about race and sexuality. The second section of the dissertation analyzes op/positional poetic identities in persona poems. Willie Perdomo, Marilyn Chin, Lucille Clifton, David Mura, Cathy Song, Lois-Ann Yamanaka, Ai, Pat Mora, and Paula Gunn Allen all produce "I" and/or "Other" persona poems---speaking as the self and/or the other in complex challenges to the notion of poetic identity (or any identity) as fixed, knowable, and consumable. The third and final section of the dissertation analyzes six op/positional multi-ethnic, multicultural, and/or interethnic poetry anthologies. Settling America (1974) and Unsettling America (1994), for example, function as objects that produce knowledge about contemporary multi-ethnic American identities. These anthologies as well as each of the individual poets analyzed in previous sections, position poetry as an important site for engaging in contemporary cultural debates over relations of power, narratives of immigration and assimilation, and the politics of identity and difference.