Theories of Poetry and the Poetic

Poetry, poésie, poesìa carries a double meaning in many Western languages, since it can refer to a foundational principle of literary art in general as well as to a specific literary genre. Accordingly, the accent may be on poetic activity, derived from one or several meanings of the Greek poiein, or on the textual product, the poem. The course is interested in the problems and perspectives of this double meaning in a series of texts by poets and literary theorists from different periods, mainly Romanticism and 20th century modernism. Taught in English.