Approaches to Teaching Pound's Poetry and Prose

Book excerpt: Known for his maxim "Make it new," Ezra Pound played a principal role in shaping the modernist movement as a poet, translator, and literary critic. His works, with their complex structures and layered allusions, remain widely taught. Yet his known fascism, anti-Semitism, and misogyny raise issues about dangerous ideologies that influenced his work and that must be addressed in the classroom. The first section, "Materials," catalogs the print and digital editions of Pound's works, evaluates numerous secondary sources, and provides a history of Pound's critical contexts. The essays in the second section, "Approaches," offer strategies for guiding students toward a clearer understanding of Pound's difficult works and the context in which they were written.