The Poetics of the Ordinary: William Carlos Williams and Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson

KOKH, Mariia. The Poetics of the Ordinary: William Carlos Williams and Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson. In Lucia Mareková. 2nd Nitra Postgraduate Conference in English Studies: Trends and Perspectives. Conference Proceedings. 1. vydání. Verbum: Praha: Filozofická Fakulta UKF, Nitra, 2023, p. 66-73. ISBN 978-80-88507-13-0.

Basic information

• Original name: The Poetics of the Ordinary: William Carlos Williams and Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson
• Authors: KOKH, Mariia (804 Ukraine, guarantor, belonging to the institution).
• Edition: 1. vydání. Verbum: Praha, 2nd Nitra Postgraduate Conference in English Studies: Trends and Perspectives. Conference Proceedings, p. 66-73, 8 pp. 2023.
• Publisher: Filozofická Fakulta UKF, Nitra

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Proceedings paper
• Field of Study: 60206 Specific literatures
• Country of publisher: Czech Republic
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• Publication form: printed version "print"
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14210/23:00133783
• Organization unit: Faculty of Arts
• ISBN: 978-80-88507-13-0
• Keywords in English: William Carlos Williams; Jim Jarmusch; poetry; Paterson; routine
• Tags: Reviewed

Abstract

William Carlos Williams’ Paterson, a poem in almost six volumes, could be considered a tangible manifestation of the fact that there is virtually no subject unsuitable for poetry. The idea of drawing inspiration in the outwardly wonted everyday objects and mundane phenomena grew to be even more palpable after having resonated with the American director and screenwriter Jim Jarmusch, who took the kernel of Williams’ work (together with its very name) and put it into the cinematic ode of his own – the drama film Paterson. The focus of the analysis is laid on the synergy of these two different art forms which share the same aim and are reinforced by the same impulses – to pay homage to the ordinary; it examines the peculiarities resulting from and intrinsic to such intention and the ways in which the conceptual and philosophical underpinnings of both works manifest themselves. Apart from Williams’ pictorially vivid verbal images specifically and their echo in Jarmusch’s work, the paper also discusses how poetry generally is woven into the film as well as Jarmusch’s own connection with this form of literature. Finally, delving into the director’s cinematic imagery, this paper explores the facets that, in the realm of the film and through Jarmusch’s lens specifically, characterize the celebration of the quotidian as we know it.

Links

• MUNI/A/1054/2022, interní kód MU: Name: Paradigms, strategies and developments - Anglophone literary and cultural studies III

Investor: Masaryk University, Paradigms, strategies and developments - Anglophone literary and cultural studies III