South of Our Selves: Mexico in the Poems of Williams, Kerouac, Corso, Ginsberg, Levertov and Hayden

This title is printed to order. This book may have been self-published. If so, we cannot guarantee the quality of the content. In the main most books will have gone through the editing process however some may not. We therefore suggest that you be aware of this before ordering this book. If in doubt check either the author or publisher’s details as we are unable to accept any returns unless they are faulty. Please contact us if you have any questions.

This study examines the work of six American poets who visited Mexico in the 1950s, discussing the complex relationships between location, writing, society, history, and dislocation. By interacting with Mexican culture and writing about the experience, these poets had to come to terms with the foreign as well as explore their own identities as Americans. Experiencing Mexico inspired these poets to use many different voices in their poetry, a style in opposition to the hegemony of 1950s American culture. This study compares and contrasts the poets, particularly in terms of class, race, sexual orientation, and gender, and which strategies of
going foreign
each uses. Each chapter examines a poem or series of poems based upon a trip to Mexico. Analyzed in detail are Williams’ The Desert Music, Kerouac’s Mexico City Blues, Corso’s Mexican Impressions and
Puma in Chapultepec Zoo,
Ginsberg’s Siesta in Xbalba, Levertov’s Tomatlan and others, and Hayden’s An Inference of Mexico.