A Made Place, An Eternal Place: Robert Duncan's Poetics of Space

Abstract

This dissertation examines the poetry of Robert Duncan and the dominant role space plays in that poetry. By examining the foundations of Duncan's poetics, particularly his anarchist political views, how those views pertain to the law, and his spiritual belief in immanence, I clarify the nature of the many kinds of spaces found throughout Duncan's work. Focusing on three volumes specifically, The Opening of the Field, Roots and Branches, and Bending the Bow, I argue for a conception of space I call temenos, a conception that allows for a reading of Duncan's poetry in terms of a poetics of space that informs every aspect of his work. I examine three spaces in particular: the body, the dance-ground, and the household, and through this examination argue for a reading of Duncan's work as creating space and as a space created, exemplified by Simon Rodia's Watts Towers, memorialized in Duncan's poem, "Nel Mezzo del Cammin di Nostra Vita." Finally, reading Duncan in terms of temenos allows for a placement of Duncan in postmodern terms and to consider the ways in which temenos can be used as a model for considering other spaces, such as Hakim Bey's Temporary Autonomous Zone and Gilles Delueze's fold.