In her now-classic The Pink Guitar, Rachel Blau DuPlessis pioneered a new way of thinking about poetry and gender. Now, in Blue Studios, she continues that important work with 12 compelling essays that examine how experimental poets have created innovative forms to disrupt deep-seated assumptions about gender and cultural power.
Blue Studios tackles two fundamental questions: what does a feminist reading of cultural texts actually involve, and what is the nature of the essay itself as a mode of knowing? DuPlessis masterfully explores how poetry can be discursive while the essay can be poetic, breaking down the artificial barriers between different forms of expression. This approach allows her to reveal the political dimensions of seemingly purely aesthetic choices.
The "Marble Paper" section offers groundbreaking studies of major poets including William Wordsworth, Ezra Pound, and Charles Olson, suggesting entirely new terms for understanding poetry through a feminist lens. DuPlessis doesn't simply reevaluate these canonical figures; she shows how their work can be read differently when we consider the power dynamics embedded in their language choices and structural decisions.
In the "Urrealism" section, DuPlessis examines poets from various schools—the Objectivists, the New York School, the surrealists—who embody Theodore Adorno's dictum that "perspectives must be fashioned that displace and estrange the world." Writers like George Oppen, Lorine Niedecker, H.D., and Barbara Guest used radical deployment of line, sound, and structure not just as artistic choices, but as political statements.
Finally, in "Migrated Into," DuPlessis probes how these issues have informed her own work as both poet and critic. She demonstrates how the political has "migrated into" and suffused her writing, showing how the practice of poetry itself can be an arousal to a deeper understanding of our values and commitments. This collection bridges academic rigor with personal insight, making complex theoretical ideas accessible and meaningful.
