Article
Reviewed by Poetry International
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
_w336.jpg)
October 03, 2012
What makes this £27 better than Wikipedia, then? Quite frankly, though the Encyclopedia took six years to update, it’s still far more comprehensive than Wikipedia on nearly every topic. Not only that, but Wikipedia also quotes older versions of the Encyclopedia with surprising frequency on matters of poetry, meaning that if you’re going to turn to one or the other, you might as well go straight to the source.
The only distinct disadvantage to the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics on this front is its size. Despite the small (though expertly typeset and still very legible) type, the volume comes to what Princeton’s website ironically calls “a slim 1,664 pages”, and the paperback edition is too heavy for me to lift with one hand. Not something you can easily tote around for quick reference, then. Fortunately, there’s also a Kindle edition, which at the moment doesn’t include indexing, though this is something the publisher is working hard to rectify. Those who purchase the Encyclopedia before this problem is fixed will receive an updated file free of charge.
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics begins with an acknowledgement of its origins, and of the Western roots of the school of poetics, “the theoretical and practical study of poetry [. . .] founded by Aristotle along with ethics, logic, and political science”. Despite this Western foundation, the introduction also does its best to make it perfectly clear that as far as the editors are concerned, the “scope of the Encyclopedia has always been worldwide, concerning (as the original editors put it) the history, theory, technique, and criticism of poetry from earliest times to the present.”
Though a distinct percentage of its contributors work at American universities, a large amount of entries from also come from the international scholarly community, and the Encyclopedia also includes numerous entries on international, non-Western poetry, avoiding the Anglocentric focus that many contemporary English-language publications these days still seem to have. Almost a quarter of the encyclopedia’s 1,000-plus entries are new to this edition, reflecting the change in the poetry world since the last edition was published almost twenty years ago, and the new entries on slam poetry and digital poetry are informative and up-to-date.
One potential drawback to the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics is that its tone is distinctly scholarly, and for this reason I would hesitate to recommend it to international readers who struggle with English. Though many topics in poetry are explained clearly and concisely, the vocabulary utilized in the Encyclopedia would likely require most people outside the academic world to keep a dictionary handy. The writing and content are at a level most clearly suited to people in the English-speaking world already interested in poetry and the critical discourse that surrounds it, though most of the entries in the Encyclopedia would also be readily accessible to a poetry novice, and the general subject matter of the Encyclopedia will be as interesting to an international audience as it is to an American one.
While you could easily open the Encyclopedia and find an interesting entry at random to read over your lunch break, the exhaustive index also makes quick searching very easy. Entries range anywhere from a brief paragraph to extensive, 15,000 word essays, and all are written by current experts in the field.
There are also a number of well-written entries about the process of translating poetry into different languages (usually English, but occasionally other languages and cultures as well). These articles also explore some of the cultural factors involved in the selection and translation of said work, a process not everyone is equally aware of, but which is an important aspect of poetry in today’s multicultural literary environment.
As a cultural organisation dedicated to the appreciation and dissemination of poetry, at Poetry International we would naturally have liked to see more of a focus on local poetry publishers and institutions (if not as an entry, then in some kind of appendix). Some publishers, like Poetry magazine, are mentioned a number of times under other entries, but for those not yet familiar with a country’s major poetry organisations, it could have been very useful to have more information on who they are, how they work, and how they’ve influenced the popularity and distribution of poetry – especially as the people most actively involved in (and in charge of) these organisations are very often poets themselves.
There are a number of other topics that could have done with a bit more attention in the new Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. It is worth noting that entries on a number of Asian poetry communities (China and Japan, for example) fail to really explore the contemporary poetry scene in these counties, or to share the same level of specificity as the entries on, say, British, Croatian, American or Dutch poetry. Many international poetry communities are covered to a surprisingly satisfying degree, however, and much of the Middle Eastern and African poetry world is very well represented. In general the new team of editors seem to have done an admirable job of making the fourth edition extremely comprehensive and international despite the immensity of the project.
Besides, with an encyclopedic work like this it’s more productive to focus on what it does include than what it doesn’t. Naturally it’s physically impossible to list every poet and every poetry movement, but the editors do their best to be as thorough as possible, and succeed admirably. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics goes far beyond a beginner’s guide to poetry, and the new Fourth Edition is a worthy update to an already excellent encyclopedia series.
FURTHER READING
This preview article on the Princeton University website talks about two millennia of poetry, and 'making a statement' in the 21st century.
Cornell University discusses the many contributers to the Encyclopedia who studied English at Cornell, and their perspectives on the new edition.
Lybrary.com reviews the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics: Fourth Edition.
A lovely overview of the new Fourth Edition on the Poetry Foundation, with excerpts.
Buy the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics on Amazon.co.uk
When Poetry International was first approached to review this Fourth Edition of the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics I was intrigued.
Like many others who were educated in the United States, I am already familiar with the Encyclopedia, because as its jacket blurb so boldly asserts, in the USA it really does have “an unrivaled reputation as the most comprehensive and authoritative reference for students, scholars, and poets on all aspects of its subject”. With the advent of the internet, however, the paper encyclopedia seems to be in trouble, and I doubt whether contemporary students will be as familiar with the Encyclopedia as they were in my time. Before poring over the new Fourth Edition, I must admit I was also uncertain about whether it would still be useful as a reference text, but now that I’ve had the opportunity to give it a good long look, I can safely say that if you’re a student of poetry, you’ll want to own a copy – especially as you can take one home for a very reasonable price (£27 on Amazon).What makes this £27 better than Wikipedia, then? Quite frankly, though the Encyclopedia took six years to update, it’s still far more comprehensive than Wikipedia on nearly every topic. Not only that, but Wikipedia also quotes older versions of the Encyclopedia with surprising frequency on matters of poetry, meaning that if you’re going to turn to one or the other, you might as well go straight to the source.
The only distinct disadvantage to the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics on this front is its size. Despite the small (though expertly typeset and still very legible) type, the volume comes to what Princeton’s website ironically calls “a slim 1,664 pages”, and the paperback edition is too heavy for me to lift with one hand. Not something you can easily tote around for quick reference, then. Fortunately, there’s also a Kindle edition, which at the moment doesn’t include indexing, though this is something the publisher is working hard to rectify. Those who purchase the Encyclopedia before this problem is fixed will receive an updated file free of charge.
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics begins with an acknowledgement of its origins, and of the Western roots of the school of poetics, “the theoretical and practical study of poetry [. . .] founded by Aristotle along with ethics, logic, and political science”. Despite this Western foundation, the introduction also does its best to make it perfectly clear that as far as the editors are concerned, the “scope of the Encyclopedia has always been worldwide, concerning (as the original editors put it) the history, theory, technique, and criticism of poetry from earliest times to the present.”
Though a distinct percentage of its contributors work at American universities, a large amount of entries from also come from the international scholarly community, and the Encyclopedia also includes numerous entries on international, non-Western poetry, avoiding the Anglocentric focus that many contemporary English-language publications these days still seem to have. Almost a quarter of the encyclopedia’s 1,000-plus entries are new to this edition, reflecting the change in the poetry world since the last edition was published almost twenty years ago, and the new entries on slam poetry and digital poetry are informative and up-to-date.
One potential drawback to the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics is that its tone is distinctly scholarly, and for this reason I would hesitate to recommend it to international readers who struggle with English. Though many topics in poetry are explained clearly and concisely, the vocabulary utilized in the Encyclopedia would likely require most people outside the academic world to keep a dictionary handy. The writing and content are at a level most clearly suited to people in the English-speaking world already interested in poetry and the critical discourse that surrounds it, though most of the entries in the Encyclopedia would also be readily accessible to a poetry novice, and the general subject matter of the Encyclopedia will be as interesting to an international audience as it is to an American one.
While you could easily open the Encyclopedia and find an interesting entry at random to read over your lunch break, the exhaustive index also makes quick searching very easy. Entries range anywhere from a brief paragraph to extensive, 15,000 word essays, and all are written by current experts in the field.
There are also a number of well-written entries about the process of translating poetry into different languages (usually English, but occasionally other languages and cultures as well). These articles also explore some of the cultural factors involved in the selection and translation of said work, a process not everyone is equally aware of, but which is an important aspect of poetry in today’s multicultural literary environment.
As a cultural organisation dedicated to the appreciation and dissemination of poetry, at Poetry International we would naturally have liked to see more of a focus on local poetry publishers and institutions (if not as an entry, then in some kind of appendix). Some publishers, like Poetry magazine, are mentioned a number of times under other entries, but for those not yet familiar with a country’s major poetry organisations, it could have been very useful to have more information on who they are, how they work, and how they’ve influenced the popularity and distribution of poetry – especially as the people most actively involved in (and in charge of) these organisations are very often poets themselves.
There are a number of other topics that could have done with a bit more attention in the new Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. It is worth noting that entries on a number of Asian poetry communities (China and Japan, for example) fail to really explore the contemporary poetry scene in these counties, or to share the same level of specificity as the entries on, say, British, Croatian, American or Dutch poetry. Many international poetry communities are covered to a surprisingly satisfying degree, however, and much of the Middle Eastern and African poetry world is very well represented. In general the new team of editors seem to have done an admirable job of making the fourth edition extremely comprehensive and international despite the immensity of the project.
Besides, with an encyclopedic work like this it’s more productive to focus on what it does include than what it doesn’t. Naturally it’s physically impossible to list every poet and every poetry movement, but the editors do their best to be as thorough as possible, and succeed admirably. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics goes far beyond a beginner’s guide to poetry, and the new Fourth Edition is a worthy update to an already excellent encyclopedia series.
FURTHER READING
This preview article on the Princeton University website talks about two millennia of poetry, and 'making a statement' in the 21st century.
Cornell University discusses the many contributers to the Encyclopedia who studied English at Cornell, and their perspectives on the new edition.
Lybrary.com reviews the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics: Fourth Edition.
A lovely overview of the new Fourth Edition on the Poetry Foundation, with excerpts.
Buy the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics on Amazon.co.uk
© Megen Molé
Sponsors
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère