Tony Harrison, Continuous

Erik Martiny (Paris Science et Lettres)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of Glasgow), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1981

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poem collection

Resources

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The Meredithian sonnet sequence that makes up

Continuous

should properly be considered along with

From the School of Eloquence

(1978), the slim volume of lyrics that stands as a prequel to it. They are intended as an ongoing series of poems that focus on memories of Harrison’s childhood in Leeds, his uprooting from that milieu, and his troubled, but intense, relationship to his parents as a result of his academic and literary proclivities. Although the title emphasizes continuity with the poet’s past, the sonnets often dwell on discontinuity and disconnection: the sense of continuity is very often aspired to rather than attained, even though, in the last instance, language itself is foregrounded as possessing emotionally connective properties. The poems centre on rupture also because…

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1546 words

Citation: Martiny, Erik. "Continuous". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 February 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=9807, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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