Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

This dissertation interrogates three conscientious objector poets’ refusal to participate in WWII, and the ways in which they articulated and realized that refusal through their poetry and actions. Their poetry relies on a rhetoric of deliberate refusal—a kind of “active inaction,” which I label herein as “recessive action”—to negotiate its thorny relationship to sociopolitics and to counter pro-war sentiment. The objectors discussed herein, William Stafford, Robert Lowell, and Kenneth Patchen, also use recessive action in particular, distinct ways to grapple with accepted notions of morality. In my first main chapter, I argue that Stafford reenvisions patriotism as a community-oriented, pacifistic anti-war enterprise. In my second main chapter, I argue that Lowell structures his poetry around the use of dramatic irony and the dramatic monologue to showcase his concern for the human toll of WWII, and his resignation at a United States that refuses to learn from its grievous mistakes. In my third main chapter, I argue that Patchen uses a “poetics of anger” to germinate reader anger opposition to war through his poetry, and that this makes the seeming paradox of “recessive anger” a viable method for Patchen to oppose a war that was beyond his personal influence.

These writers frame their objection to war chiefly through poetry because poetry itself is a direct analogue to their ethos. Poetry can function as the purest literary form of conscientious objection because of its persistence despite societal diminishment relative to other literary genres. I also discuss why these poets’ overarching focus on non-disruption and resistance is important to examine; how these poets were isolated from mainstream American society; and what that pushback suggests about the zeitgeist in which these writers found themselves.

These poets’ employment of recessive action also informs the poetry of our current, highly political moment. In the epilogue of this work, I unpack contemporaneous criticism of twentieth-century poetry and suggest how the presence and role of recessive action in that writing has been overlooked. I also discuss the potential for applications of the concept to poetry of the current American moment—particularly as it relates to war.

Date

7-12-2024

Committee Chair

Rovee, Christopher

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.6544

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Available for download on Friday, July 11, 2031

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