In researching for secondary sources on epic poetry, the main difficulty I faced was finding sources that would provide a comprehensive look at the subgenre, while simultaneously narrowing these sources down so as to not be so overwhelming. Balancing out the two proved especially hard because the tropes and frameworks for epic poetry have such an expansive history, involving nearly every continent and across centuries - from the Ancient Mesopotamian epic The Epic of Gilgamesh to American modernist poet William Carlos Williams's Paterson in 1946. Picking and curating excerpts from these works is not only hard because there are simply so many, but also because I am faced with the task of choosing to include or exclude certain epics based on their perceived "importance" by critics. And the notion of an "important" epic is a loaded one.
But, for example, do I leave out a West African epic simply because scholarship focuses more on The Odyssey? To avoid such repetition of biased canon-building, I tried to find secondary sources focusing on lesser known, underappreciated epics that still have or point to important cultural and historical moments. My main focus, outside of research identifying the basic form of an epic, was on epics written by women, epics from non-Western regions, and epics that challenge or experiment with the traditional epic structure. In one of my sources, a study on American epics in pre-1910 America, I found that not only did epics from around the world have a significant influence on American literature, but also that American epics did, in fact, exist - many tend to associate the epic with Medieval Europe, Ancient Greece, or other "ancient" times.
Focusing on these narratives actually helps my argument on the pervasiveness of certain tropes in the genre like heroism, muses, flashbacks, confrontation with death, et cetera, because I would be proving that the strength of the epic, latent with political commentary and notions of human capacity and limitations, is not a narrative limited to white, Western male authors and audiences, and is thus universally appealing across time and space.
What are some of the specific texts you found not written by white European men? It's really cool how you're choosing to focus on less popularized examples of epic poetry. History and literature are commonly white-washed so it will be interesting to learn more about the genre and not just how we understand it in western culture.
ReplyDeleteI think you're angle of focusing on the lesser known epics and their importance within the drama is unique and interesting though I think it would be important to find a source or two on the more known ones such as the Odyssey just because they are such a large part of the drama. The wider known epics could be used for some examples on the subgenre cards while it would be helpful to the class from a learning stand point to use the less known works for text cards.
ReplyDeleteI think that you should bring in sources that we may have already heard of. It will create a level of familiarity between the class and your sub genre. Will you be only focusing on sources between a certain time period or will you just pull from those you find interesting?
ReplyDeleteAdding on to this post: I was able to find more resources and articles on the epic genre that went more in depth on the history and context, though I still faced the same difficulty of narrowing down my scope of research. The genre has been around for so long so pinning down literary criticism has been somewhat of a daunting task, but I am still continuing my research and I think going back to my primary sources and refreshing my memory on what epics are about and what the text itself presents was really helpful.
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