During my search for primary sources of epic poetry, I first established a few of the classic, canonized epic poems worth including, not only because they are "well-known" but also because they are often attributed with setting the precedent for what we as readers tend to expect from an epic poem. However, information on epics outside of those written by white male authors in a Western literary landscape - such as reception, background context specifically relating to the author - is sparse. Because more contemporary epics from the 20th and 21st century are much more experimental, it was also difficult to pick poems that both adhere to the traditional structure while also creating something new with the existing form.
For example, William Carlos Williams's poem Paterson is considered an epic, but its structure slightly deviates from the expectation of an epic poem. Written from 1946 to 1958, the poem resembles other epic poems such as The Odyssey in that it follows a central "hero" figure who speaks on behalf of, and also navigates, the city of Paterson, New Jersey, following the epic trope of a hero who stands in for his people, culture, or nation. However, Paterson also deviates from traditional epic structure in that it does not directly invoke muses, flashbacks, heroic battles, et cetera, as its protagonist primarily spends time alone navigating the city and reflecting on topics such as poetry and machinery. It also switches between poetry and prose, further blurring the line between an epic and a text that merely borrows from an epic. In the end I still chose to include it to demonstrate the epic poem's influence on even modernist and experimental poetry.
Another difficulty I faced with finding primary sources was picking between translations and various editions, especially since many famous epics are from ancient civilizations, like the Mesopotamian epic The Epic of Gilgamesh, which is not only an important epic but considered to be one of the earliest forms of literature. I decided to choose Stephen Mitchell's translation because although it abandons some loyalty to original structure for sake of more accurately translating the story's narrative, it is extremely clear and thus is a good reference for pointing to how the story uses epic tropes.
When I think of an epic, Homer is the first poet that comes to mind. For this reason, I like that you included Williams's epic, since it shows how the genre can be adapted to narratives that aren't about gods and heroes. I wonder what some of the "epic tropes" you referred to are?
ReplyDeleteI think the struggle to choose between translations, which like you said, sacrifice some original structure in order to more accurately tell the story, is so important. As someone who would rather hear the story than struggle with direct translations, which might involve further interpretation, I would appreciate Mitchell's version. However, I wonder if the first people to write epics would agree with this choice. Is this story more important or the illustration of culture through the carefully employed language? It's also interesting that some contemporary "epics," lose the direct evocation of the muses, heroic flashbacks, and other characteristics of the genre. But is it possible that these still occur in more modernized ways? I'm not familiar with Patterson, but could it be possible that these aspects are still present, yet just altered to fit the time period?
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