“Tempus Tacendi, Tempus Loquendi”: Manifestations of Madness in “Canto 74”

Seda Şen

Article Details

“Tempus Tacendi, Tempus Loquendi”: Manifestations of Madness in “Canto 74”

Authors:

Seda Şen

Publisher:

Istanbul University

Main Topics:

Sanat ve Edebiyat

Journal:

Litera: Dil Edebiyat ve Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi Vol.33 Issue 2, pp.417-435

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

12/2023

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001310718

pISSN:

2602-2117

Keywords:

Abstract:

 On May 24, 1945, Ezra Pound was arrested for treason by the US Army authorities near Pisa and confined in a gorilla cage for two and a half weeks. He spent a total of 6 months in a prison camp. After being brought to America on December 21, 1945, he was declared medically unfit for trial and was committed to St. Elizabeths Hospital. However, there was a group of skeptical people who claimed that the poet was in fact quite sane. Studies about Pounds life after his imprisonment and years at St. Elizabeths portray the poet as either an old delusional man who was once a prominent poet or as a great schemer who followed the advice of his lawyer and faked madness. Pounds biographers pointed out that during his years at St. Elizabeths, the place became a literary mecca for aspiring poets, implying that the poet was in a rational state of mind. After more than 70 years since the poet entered the hospital, it is crucial to investigate not whether the poet was mad but rather how the poets words in Canto 74 were utilized as evidence to persuade the jury and doctors of his insanity. This article aims to analyze Canto 74 in light of Foucaults approaches to madness and its relation to language. It further explores why The Pisan Cantos, which was declared the Bollingen prize winner in 1948, could be mistaken for the rambling manifestations of a madman.

 On May 24, 1945, Ezra Pound was arrested for treason by the US Army authorities near Pisa and confined in a gorilla cage for two and a half weeks. He spent a total of 6 months in a prison camp. After being brought to America on December 21, 1945, he was declared medically unfit for trial and was committed to St. Elizabeths Hospital. However, there was a group of skeptical people who claimed that the poet was in fact quite sane. Studies about Pounds life after his imprisonment and years at St. Elizabeths portray the poet as either an old delusional man who was once a prominent poet or as a great schemer who followed the advice of his lawyer and faked madness. Pounds biographers pointed out that during his years at St. Elizabeths, the place became a literary mecca for aspiring poets, implying that the poet was in a rational state of mind. After more than 70 years since the poet entered the hospital, it is crucial to investigate not whether the poet was mad but rather how the poets words in Canto 74 were utilized as evidence to persuade the jury and doctors of his insanity. This article aims to analyze Canto 74 in light of Foucaults approaches to madness and its relation to language. It further explores why The Pisan Cantos, which was declared the Bollingen prize winner in 1948, could be mistaken for the rambling manifestations of a madman.

 On May 24, 1945, Ezra Pound was arrested for treason by the US Army authorities near Pisa and confined in a gorilla cage for two and a half weeks. He spent a total of 6 months in a prison camp. After being brought to America on December 21, 1945, he was declared medically unfit for trial and was committed to St. Elizabeths Hospital. However, there was a group of skeptical people who claimed that the poet was in fact quite sane. Studies about Pounds life after his imprisonment and years at St. Elizabeths portray the poet as either an old delusional man who was once a prominent poet or as a great schemer who followed the advice of his lawyer and faked madness. Pounds biographers pointed out that during his years at St. Elizabeths, the place became a literary mecca for aspiring poets, implying that the poet was in a rational state of mind. After more than 70 years since the poet entered the hospital, it is crucial to investigate not whether the poet was mad but rather how the poets words in Canto 74 were utilized as evidence to persuade the jury and doctors of his insanity. This article aims to analyze Canto 74 in light of Foucaults approaches to madness and its relation to language. It further explores why The Pisan Cantos, which was declared the Bollingen prize winner in 1948, could be mistaken for the rambling manifestations of a madman.

 On May 24, 1945, Ezra Pound was arrested for treason by the US Army authorities near Pisa and confined in a gorilla cage for two and a half weeks. He spent a total of 6 months in a prison camp. After being brought to America on December 21, 1945, he was declared medically unfit for trial and was committed to St. Elizabeths Hospital. However, there was a group of skeptical people who claimed that the poet was in fact quite sane. Studies about Pounds life after his imprisonment and years at St. Elizabeths portray the poet as either an old delusional man who was once a prominent poet or as a great schemer who followed the advice of his lawyer and faked madness. Pounds biographers pointed out that during his years at St. Elizabeths, the place became a literary mecca for aspiring poets, implying that the poet was in a rational state of mind. After more than 70 years since the poet entered the hospital, it is crucial to investigate not whether the poet was mad but rather how the poets words in Canto 74 were utilized as evidence to persuade the jury and doctors of his insanity. This article aims to analyze Canto 74 in light of Foucaults approaches to madness and its relation to language. It further explores why The Pisan Cantos, which was declared the Bollingen prize winner in 1948, could be mistaken for the rambling manifestations of a madman.

Article Details

“Tempus Tacendi, Tempus Loquendi”: Manifestations of Madness in “Canto 74”

Authors:

Seda Şen

Publisher:

Istanbul University

Main Topics:

Sanat ve Edebiyat

Journal:

Litera: Dil Edebiyat ve Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi Vol.33 Issue 2, pp.417-435

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

12/2023

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001310718

pISSN:

2602-2117

“Canto 74

” Ezra Pound

language of madness

modernist poetry

poetry and madness

Issues

Article Details

“Tempus Tacendi, Tempus Loquendi”: Manifestations of Madness in “Canto 74”

Authors: Seda Şen

Publisher: Istanbul University

Main Topics: Sanat ve Edebiyat

Journal: Litera: Dil Edebiyat ve Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi Vol.33 Issue 2, pp.417-435

Document Type: Article

Publication Date: 12/2023

Document Language: English

Document ID (Org No.): 2001310718

pISSN: 2602-2117

“Canto 74

” Ezra Pound

language of madness

modernist poetry

poetry and madness

Issues

Authors:

Seda Şen

Publisher:

Istanbul University

Main Topics:

Sanat ve Edebiyat

Journal:

Litera: Dil Edebiyat ve Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi Vol.33 Issue 2, pp.417-435

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

12/2023

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001310718

pISSN:

2602-2117