Beyond the biblical and millenarian: Place, space, & meaning in the poetic landscapes of Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaragua, 1950 to the present

Nicaraguan poet Ernesto Cardenal's exteriorista brand of verse is devoid of abstract metaphors. The objective tone of his poetry obscures underlying subjective inclinations. This dissertation analyzes Cardenal's exteriorista poetic landscapes to decode the subjectivity of place embedded within them. The study begins with Alexandra Kogl's equation "place = space + meaning," which invites interpretation of place both from the perspective of cultural studies, with a focus on the culturally contested terrain of meaning, as well as from an ecocritical vantage point as it pertains to physical space and how human relationships and interactions with the natural environment can influence identities of place. Kogl's equation is modified to show that Cardenal's landscapes are not static, monolithic, or biblical backdrops, but rather are in dialogue with historical and autobiographical moments as well as with competing narratives that contest meanings of place. Meaning and space are not mutually exclusive addends. Meaning in Cardenal's poetry is influenced by material spaces as well as by activities themselves that alter space. That is to say, Cardenal also responds to the space addend, to the narrative that imperialist incursions and exploits have physically "written" over the land and the bodies of its inhabitants.;Cardenal's poetry is considered chronologically across four periods based upon "ruptures" found in his memoirs and in historiographical accounts. Chapter 1 (1950--1970) focuses on the poems "Con Walker en Nicaragua" and "Hora 0." The analysis highlights a trend in his verse which leads from "transcultural identity conflict" regarding U.S.-Nicaraguan relations towards a more sharply defined polarization of identities, linking changes in landscape representation to the heating up of the Cold War in the 1950s. Chapter 2 (1970--1977) locates linkages between Cardenal's "Canto nacional," "Oraculo sobre Managua," and "Viaje a Nueva York," historical events, and competing narratives prevalent at the time. It is shown how the poet depicts nation as a natural habitat of organisms which form synergetic webs of life, support, and self-defense. The focus on the first-person lyrical voice is amplified as the need for self-realization and self-preservation become increasingly intertwined with national renewal in a time of upheaval. Chapter 3 (1977--1990) considers the collections Vuelos de victoria and Cantico cosmico, written in the midst of revolution, Sandinista rule, and the Contra War. Landscape representations shift from the euphoria of national renewal towards the "starscapes" of exile. The poet retools landscapes on the scale of the cosmos and enters into competitive dialogue both with narratives emanating from U.S. empire as well as with the autobiographical and historical events that challenge the poet to reframe his nationalist vision. Chapter 4 (1990--2014) explores how the poet wrestles with the neoliberal conceptual apparatus and the fragmentation that it has exacerbated. He advances a unifying perspective of the universe, advocates for a renewed sense of history and for the protection of the "commons." Cardenal's poetry assumes a more transnational character, a transition that coincides with the rampant globalization of free-market capitalism.;This study makes clear that the changing texture of Cardenal's landscapes are not merely the product of a liberation theologian or of an adherent to Marxist ideologies, but the result of a man responding to the historical and autobiographical context of his own life and times. Nicaraguan transformation throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries is strongly registered across Cardenal's poetry. By adopting an ecocritical stance, this dissertation makes evident the intersection of the literary, historical, and the ecological and highlights their multiple configurations within the dynamic and primary referent of Cardenal's poetic landscapes.