Constructed oppositions in postmodern poetry:A case study of Jorie Graham s 2/18/97

The present paper investigates if the ambiguities of postmodern poems can be figured out if their constructed oppositions are detected and analyzed. This paper applies Lesley Jeffries s theory of constructed oppositions to a postmodern poem by Jorie Graham, 2/18/97 as a case study. the analysis evinces despite its linguistic and poetic fragmentations, the poem yields to the adopted methodology and reveals its central tensions. The study concludes Graham s poem mostly draws on parallel constructions, negations, and subversive use of conventional oppositions in order to develop its argument

Keywords:

Graham , postmodern , constructed oppositions , poetry