Love and the postmodern: The poetry of Angel Gonzalez

Abstract

This dissertation considers the discourse of love in Angel Gonzalez's poetry and the affinity that the poet's amorous verse has with a postmodern aesthetic. Beginning with his first collection and continuing through his last, the study focuses on how the amorous sentiments of the poet are manifested in his work. The evocation of love is quite varied throughout Gonzalez's poetic trajectory. In chapter one, the foundation of the study is set as the poetry of Aspero mundo (1956) is revealed to exhibit some early signs of a postmodern bent. The theoretical works of Julia Kristeva, Roland Barthes and Catherine Belsey are used in order to illustrate and support the relationship of the poetry with postmodernism. Chapter two examines Sin esperanza con convencimiento (1962) and Palabra sobre palabra (1965). Here, the manifestation of a markedly postmodern irony and the apparent fusion of love, language and poetic creation is studied. Among the critical references employed in this chapter are the ideas of Ihab Hassan, Jean Francois Lyotard, and others. Tratado de urbanismo (1967) is the focus of chapter three. Specifically, this chapter considers the use of intertextual elements and their manifestation in the love poetry of this work. The critical ideas of Kristeva, Barthes, Jonathan Culler and Mikhail Baktin form the theoretical underpinnings of this chapter. In addition, the revelation of the manner in which Gonzalez uses love poetry as a tool for social commentary is also explored as the poet assumes a more public voice within the discourse of love. Chapter four studies the next three books of the poet, Breves acotaciones (1967), Procedimientos narrativos (1972) and Muestra (1977). Here, the poet examines his ability to control the linguistic medium, parodies traditional love poetry and many times employs what Michael Riffaterre has termed "ungrammaticalities." In the fifth and final chapter of this dissertation, Prosemas o menos (1985) and Deixis en fantasma (1992) are studied. The importance of poetic ordering as well as the poet's retrospective views on his own mortality and the immortality of his amorous verse are investigated in these final works.