Final Blogpost

1. What did I learn from this class?

I came into this class already knowing a bit about poetry, so I was familiar with many of the craft aspects of writing poetry, but not the history of poetry. I was unfamiliar with many famous poets and works from the last century that were brought up in class. So it was nice to get a list of poets that I can read and enjoy over summer.

I learned about different historical movements in poetry, as well as the related art movements. I also learned of significant poets from each of those movements. This class really broadened my formal knowledge of different types of poetry. I am better able to recognise whether a poem is ekphrastic, cubist, impressionist, symbolist, found, list -- or at least if they are referencing those movements, which can be very important in reading literature. Each type of poetry is itself inspiring when beginning a poem: what kind of shape would best fit the feeling or experience I'm trying to convey in this poem?

Because of the mostly chronological order of the syllabus, it was also something of a history lesson. And it always shakes me to know how much the surrounding sociological and cultural circumstances impact the art that people create. Things like WWII, the AIDS crisis, 9/11, and whatever the hell is going on right now -- these things had such a huge impact (at least, in the Western hemisphere) and the type of work, if not subject matter, that was created really reflects that. It makes me wonder how much my work reflects the social/cultural/political climate I live in, since I'm not consciously writing to reflect that.

 I also learned some new methods for starting a poem. That's always handy.

2. Given what you have learned about the last 100 or so years in the visual and literary arts, what would you say the role of the artist is in society today?

I would say the role of the artist is to tell their story, to write or create work that they feel is important and worth creating. Art tends to be an artist's response to things going on in their lives, or events that truly affect them or just things they feel strongly about. It's a record of humanity in a certain era.

Art also has the power to move people, to challenge norms, to be a force for change. But I don't think it's a requirement for an artist to be an activist in that sense. It's just kind of neat, and it's there if it's needed. It would be grandiose to suggest that the role of the artist is anything more than to make things they feel compelled to make; I don't believe that an individual should be robbed of the joy of creating things because they feel like they have to make something that's political or bigger than themselves in order to be worthy of the "artist" label. 

I don't think the role of the artist has changed over the last 100 years. From what I know of art history (although I am by no means an expert), people just made stuff in response to what they saw, because they thought it was important and needed to be said, or just kind of interesting or appealing. I think that's all any artist or student of art can reasonably be expected to do.