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Toward Innumerable Futures: Frank Stanford & Origins

Walton, Adam LU (2015) LIVR07 20151
Master's Programme: Literature - Culture - Media
English Studies
Abstract
This thesis is a combined critical, biographical, and bibliographical study of American poet Frank Stanford (1948-1978). A prodigious, prolific poet's poet, Stanford is a long-underappreciated artist whose unwavering legacy, in recent years, has grown to be an undeniable force in contemporary American poetry. Stanford was an adoptee, and this study investigates his preoccupation with his loss of identity—and his perpetual quest for identifying origins—as manifested across his poetry.

My introduction contextualizes the dichotomous state of Stanford's legacy (i.e., neglected yet formidable) and broaches the subject of origins. A biographical-bibliographical background chapter chronologically pieces together the complicated fragments of... (More)
This thesis is a combined critical, biographical, and bibliographical study of American poet Frank Stanford (1948-1978). A prodigious, prolific poet's poet, Stanford is a long-underappreciated artist whose unwavering legacy, in recent years, has grown to be an undeniable force in contemporary American poetry. Stanford was an adoptee, and this study investigates his preoccupation with his loss of identity—and his perpetual quest for identifying origins—as manifested across his poetry.

My introduction contextualizes the dichotomous state of Stanford's legacy (i.e., neglected yet formidable) and broaches the subject of origins. A biographical-bibliographical background chapter chronologically pieces together the complicated fragments of his life and publications. Three critical chapters follow: respectively, excavations into Stanford's poetic portrayals of his biological and adoptive parents, children and orphans, and his own chameleonic—yet typically autobiographically presented—self. An appendix—a first-ever compendium of characters in Stanford's poetry—functions as a reference guide for readers, and extensive endnotes augment biographical/bibliographical points, clarifying prior discrepancies and confusions.

Frank Stanford was an imaginative virtuoso—one of the preeminent American poets of the latter 20th century. This study aims to help advance his literary legacy to its right place. (Less)
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author
Walton, Adam LU
supervisor
organization
course
LIVR07 20151
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Parents, Adoption, Origins, Poetry, Poet, Children, Orphans, Identity, Compendium of Characters, The Battlefield Where the Moon Says I Love You, Bibliography, Critical, Biography, Francis Gildart, Frank Stanford
language
English
id
7409832
date added to LUP
2015-06-25 11:13:44
date last changed
2015-06-26 08:17:39
@misc{7409832,
  abstract     = {{This thesis is a combined critical, biographical, and bibliographical study of American poet Frank Stanford (1948-1978). A prodigious, prolific poet's poet, Stanford is a long-underappreciated artist whose unwavering legacy, in recent years, has grown to be an undeniable force in contemporary American poetry. Stanford was an adoptee, and this study investigates his preoccupation with his loss of identity—and his perpetual quest for identifying origins—as manifested across his poetry.

My introduction contextualizes the dichotomous state of Stanford's legacy (i.e., neglected yet formidable) and broaches the subject of origins. A biographical-bibliographical background chapter chronologically pieces together the complicated fragments of his life and publications. Three critical chapters follow: respectively, excavations into Stanford's poetic portrayals of his biological and adoptive parents, children and orphans, and his own chameleonic—yet typically autobiographically presented—self. An appendix—a first-ever compendium of characters in Stanford's poetry—functions as a reference guide for readers, and extensive endnotes augment biographical/bibliographical points, clarifying prior discrepancies and confusions. 

Frank Stanford was an imaginative virtuoso—one of the preeminent American poets of the latter 20th century. This study aims to help advance his literary legacy to its right place.}},
  author       = {{Walton, Adam}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Toward Innumerable Futures: Frank Stanford & Origins}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}