Theory of the lyric

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25094/rtp.2026n48a1244

Keywords:

Lyric, Poetics, Dramatic Monologue, New Criticism

Abstract

Illustrating the argument of Cullers Theory of the Lyric with examples from American poetry, this paper contests the New Criticisms model of lyric as dramatic monologue by a fictional persona, arguing instead for a default model of lyric as poetic discourse about our world, which subordinates fictional and representational elements to ritualistic features of poetic discourse, such as sound patterning, lyric address, and the lyric present tense. For a great many lyrics it is counterproductive to ask who is speaking or on what situation.

Author Biographies

Jonathan Culler, Cornell University

Lecionou francês no Selwyn College, em Cambridge, e depois no Brasenose College, em Oxford, antes de se mudar para a Cornell University em 1977, onde é professor de inglês e literatura comparada da turma de 1916. Escreveu vários livros sobre teoria crítica contemporânea, incluindo Structuralist Poetics, On Deconstruction e The Literary in Theory. Seu livro Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction foi traduzido para 26 idiomas.

Alexandre Pilati, Universidade de Brasília (UnB)

Professor de literatura brasileira do Departamento de Teoria Literária e Literaturas da Universidade de Brasília e membro permanente do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Literatura da UnB. Brasília, Brasil. É autor, entre outros, de Pier Paolo Pasolini: poesia, paixão e política (Editora UnB, 2023).

References

CULLER, Jonathan. Theory of the lyric. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674425781

GREENE, Roland. Post-Petrarchism. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991.

KENNER, Hugh. A homemade world. New York: Knopf, 1975.

LEWIS, C. S. English literature in the Sixteenth Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1954.

MINER, Earl. “Why lyric?”: Renewal of song. Calcutta: Seagull Books, 2000.

RANSOM, John Crowe. The world’s body. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1938.

SMITH, Barbara Herrnstein. Poetic closure: A study of how poems end. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968.

SMITH, Barbara Herrnstein. On the margins of discourse. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979.

STEWARD, Susan. Poetry and the fate of the senses. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002.

VENDLER, Helen. Poems, poets, poetry. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2002.

Capa Texto Poético 48

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Published

2026-05-31

How to Cite

Culler, J., & Pilati, A. (2026). Theory of the lyric. Texto Poético, 22(48), 170–196. https://doi.org/10.25094/rtp.2026n48a1244

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 48 (2026): Poetry: territory to be shared

Section

Translation

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