Poetics

Chinua Achebe is one of Africa's most renowned writers. However, the excellence of his work is compromised by the assumptions of Western poetics, that is, mimesis. European critics contend African writing suffers from the prevalent use of proverbs, and obtrusive authorship, among others. But, Earl Miner, through his discourse on the poetics of the affective-expressive, challenges mimesis. He shows that only Western poetics is rooted in drama, all others are rooted in lyric. This fact reverses the table. African writing, rather than being an oddity, represents a global poetics. Miner shows new ways of analyzing literature by incorporating monogatari, re-evaluating the relationship between history and fiction, looking at points of attention, and examining a lyrical poetics. By taking another look at Achebe's work, particularly Things and Fall Apart and Anthills of the Savannah in the affective-expressive mode, Achebe's real genius as a writer is all the more evident.

The titles of Wallace Stevens's poetry assist in an explication of the poems. Stevens's titling techniques force the reader into a complicit involvement with the text before the commitment to read is even made. By asserting a strong presence in his titles, Stevens is able to engage the reader in an exploration of what is possible for the imagination. He presents his poetry as a foil for the actualization of his audience. Potentials are experienced and made real by this active involvement with the poems, which in turn permits them to reveal their hidden meanings. A recursive responsiveness to Stevens's titles during the enjoyment of his poems rewards the reader with some answers to Wallace Stevens's masterful mystery. His management of titles is a part of the syntactical expression that is central to a full experience of his poetry.