Publication details
The Poetics of the Ordinary: William Carlos Williams and Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | 2nd Nitra Postgraduate Conference in English Studies: Trends and Perspectives. Conference Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Keywords | William Carlos Williams; Jim Jarmusch; poetry; Paterson; routine |
| Description | 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. |
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