For
his association with the New Criticism, as well as for his early alliance with the
conservative Agrarian writers of the South, some might dismiss Robert Penn Warren as a
right wing defender of the old guard of American poetry. However, by the time he
published his 1966 essay "A Plea in Mitigation: Modern Poetry and the End of an
Era," Warren could proclaim that both Modernism and the New Criticism were definitely
dead. To what extent does Warren enter into the Postmodern era through his later
poetic texts? Any approach related to this topic is welcome: papers may focus on
individual poems and volumes, may take a comparative approach with another poet, or may
consider broader issues such as Warren's legacy and the canon. |