University of Kentucky UKnowledge University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2004 THE SOCIAL LIFE OF POETRY: PLURALISM AND APPALACHIA, 1937-1946 Christopher Allen Green University of Kentucky,
[email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Green, Christopher Allen, "THE SOCIAL LIFE OF POETRY: PLURALISM AND APPALACHIA, 1937-1946" (2004). University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations. 349. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gradschool_diss/349 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Christopher Allen Green The Graduate School University of Kentucky 2004 THE SOCIAL LIFE OF POETRY: PLURALISM AND APPALACHIA, 1937-1946 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Christopher Allen Green Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Dale Bauer, Professor of English Lexington, Kentucky 2004 Copyright © Chris Green 2004 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION THE SOCIAL LIFE OF POETRY: PLURALISM AND APPALACHIA, 1937-1946 This dissertation demonstrates how poetry about Appalachia expanded American considerations of democracy, ethnicity, and cultural values. I argue that poetry is profoundly communal in its construction and investigate how the value of poetry changes based upon its transfer through varying networks of production, circulation, and reception. Informed by theories of cultural capital and rhetoric, the chapters trace three books of poetry from their composition and publication to their reception and influence, noting how central political and social institutions and individuals shaped that process.