“Oblique refractions”: Simon Armitage’s poetics of commemoration in Still, A Poetic Response to Photographs of the Somme Battlefield (2016)
Simon Armitage, perhaps in part owing to his formidable popularity as a plain-speaking poet, has been, throughout his recent poetic career, particularly sought after by memorial commissions. Before his appointment as Poet Laureate in 2019, his consecration as public poet came with the commission of...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès
2022-10-01
|
| Series: | Miranda: Revue Pluridisciplinaire du Monde Anglophone |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/miranda/47832 |
| _version_ | 1811326627869622272 |
|---|---|
| author | Montin Sarah |
| author_facet | Montin Sarah |
| author_sort | Montin Sarah |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Simon Armitage, perhaps in part owing to his formidable popularity as a plain-speaking poet, has been, throughout his recent poetic career, particularly sought after by memorial commissions. Before his appointment as Poet Laureate in 2019, his consecration as public poet came with the commission of Still in 2016, an intermedial collection commemorating the centenary of the Battle of the Somme. This Poetic Response to Photographs of the Somme Battlefield, encapsulates and highlights the tensions that can already be sensed under the everyday, effortless verse (Armitage, 2010) of his previous commemorative poems written in the 2000s. How to write history when one is not a primary witness, and what issues of authority and legitimacy inevitably arise from poetry commissioned for memorial purposes? Simon Armitage’s artistic solution to these questions is to veer away from his usual plain-speaking style and rely in Still on strategies of indirection and distanciation. Offering “manipulations”, in his own words, of Virgil’s Georgics rather than first-hand poems, his versions of the classical Latin text, rife with echoes of the First World War poets, allow Armitage to renegotiate his relationship with memorial poetry and reveal the ambiguities of his public voice. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T14:52:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-205997d934b24178a2f9362292083cbe |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2108-6559 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T14:52:13Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Miranda: Revue Pluridisciplinaire du Monde Anglophone |
| spelling | doaj.art-205997d934b24178a2f9362292083cbe2022-12-22T02:42:33ZengUniversité Toulouse - Jean JaurèsMiranda: Revue Pluridisciplinaire du Monde Anglophone2108-65592022-10-012610.4000/miranda.47832“Oblique refractions”: Simon Armitage’s poetics of commemoration in Still, A Poetic Response to Photographs of the Somme Battlefield (2016)Montin SarahSimon Armitage, perhaps in part owing to his formidable popularity as a plain-speaking poet, has been, throughout his recent poetic career, particularly sought after by memorial commissions. Before his appointment as Poet Laureate in 2019, his consecration as public poet came with the commission of Still in 2016, an intermedial collection commemorating the centenary of the Battle of the Somme. This Poetic Response to Photographs of the Somme Battlefield, encapsulates and highlights the tensions that can already be sensed under the everyday, effortless verse (Armitage, 2010) of his previous commemorative poems written in the 2000s. How to write history when one is not a primary witness, and what issues of authority and legitimacy inevitably arise from poetry commissioned for memorial purposes? Simon Armitage’s artistic solution to these questions is to veer away from his usual plain-speaking style and rely in Still on strategies of indirection and distanciation. Offering “manipulations”, in his own words, of Virgil’s Georgics rather than first-hand poems, his versions of the classical Latin text, rife with echoes of the First World War poets, allow Armitage to renegotiate his relationship with memorial poetry and reveal the ambiguities of his public voice.http://journals.openedition.org/miranda/47832Simon ArmitageFirst World Warmemorycommemorative poetryintermedial poetrywar Poetry |
| spellingShingle | Montin Sarah “Oblique refractions”: Simon Armitage’s poetics of commemoration in Still, A Poetic Response to Photographs of the Somme Battlefield (2016) Miranda: Revue Pluridisciplinaire du Monde Anglophone Simon Armitage First World War memory commemorative poetry intermedial poetry war Poetry |
| title | “Oblique refractions”: Simon Armitage’s poetics of commemoration in Still, A Poetic Response to Photographs of the Somme Battlefield (2016) |
| title_full | “Oblique refractions”: Simon Armitage’s poetics of commemoration in Still, A Poetic Response to Photographs of the Somme Battlefield (2016) |
| title_fullStr | “Oblique refractions”: Simon Armitage’s poetics of commemoration in Still, A Poetic Response to Photographs of the Somme Battlefield (2016) |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Oblique refractions”: Simon Armitage’s poetics of commemoration in Still, A Poetic Response to Photographs of the Somme Battlefield (2016) |
| title_short | “Oblique refractions”: Simon Armitage’s poetics of commemoration in Still, A Poetic Response to Photographs of the Somme Battlefield (2016) |
| title_sort | oblique refractions simon armitage s poetics of commemoration in still a poetic response to photographs of the somme battlefield 2016 |
| topic | Simon Armitage First World War memory commemorative poetry intermedial poetry war Poetry |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/miranda/47832 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT montinsarah obliquerefractionssimonarmitagespoeticsofcommemorationinstillapoeticresponsetophotographsofthesommebattlefield2016 |