Reading the city: The urban environment in modern poetry.

摘要

In the twentieth century, the city has become a focal point for criticism of the modern condition. Critics often blame capitalistic influences for creating the anonymity, crowding, isolation, and other urban problems. However, for all the unhuman impulses the city contains, it also creates fantastic moments of possibilities and options. A study of the city presents a study in contrasts, from the soulless towers to places full of art and culture.;Many modern poets have used the city to discuss problems of identity in light of modernity. Poets like Allen Ginsberg and T. S. Eliot, both revolutionary in their own right, discuss the coercive potential of the city and its limitations on constructing identity. Other poets, such as William Carlos Williams and Frank O'Hara, are more optimistic about the potential the city provides in terms of possibilities, and suggest ways of integrating the human and city.