Adaptation of literary works in Susan Howe's the liberties and pythagorean silence

Abstract EN

Susan Howe, American poet, has adapted and appropriated some canonical texts and characters in her writings, and these texts inspired her to write in a way that suits the modern/postmodern readers.

Doing so, Howe tried to give importance to adaptations as works that have their own originality and uniqueness through her own manipulation and modification.

Adaptation is a term used by critics in the late twentieth century to refer to the process of making a work of art on the basis of a preexisting one, it has a wide range of connotations like imitation, copying, borrowing, appropriation, intertextuality, etc.

Howe is very much preoccupied with the texts of the past which contain voices that are marginalized especially women, she gave them value through adapting and appropriating those texts.

The present paper is about selected poems from Howe's 1980s anthology entitled The Europe of Trusts.

The first poem is The Liberties.

This poem is about Howe's correlation with Ireland on one level.

At another level, it uses the character of Swift as an emblem of paternally coded law.

It is also about exile and withdrawnness which is constructed around the relationship involving Jonathan Swift and Esther Johnson, a major one addressee in Swift's Journal to Stella.

The second one is Pythagorean Silence which contains references and allusions to Ovid as well as Shakespeare and it predominantly tackles the perception of transmutation.

American poet, has adapted and appropriated some canonical texts and characters in her writings, and these texts inspired her to write in a way that suits the modern/postmodern readers.

Doing so, Howe tried to give importance to adaptations as works that have their own originality and uniqueness through her own manipulation and modification.

Adaptation is a term used by critics in the late twentieth century to refer to the process of making a work of art on the basis of a preexisting one, it has a wide range of connotations like imitation, copying, borrowing, appropriation, intertextuality, etc.

Howe is very much preoccupied with the texts of the past which contain voices that are marginalized especially women, she gave them value through adapting and appropriating those texts.

The present paper is about selected poems from Howe's 1980s anthology entitled The Europe of Trusts.

The first poem is The Liberties.

This poem is about Howe's correlation with Ireland on one level.

At another level, it uses the character of Swift as an emblem of paternally coded law.

It is also about exile and withdrawnness which is constructed around the relationship involving Jonathan Swift and Esther Johnson, a major one addressee in Swift's Journal to Stella.

The second one is Pythagorean Silence which contains references and allusions to Ovid as well as Shakespeare and it predominantly tackles the perception of transmutation.