5 210 sanaa metalyriikan tutkimisesta

• Outi Oja Jyväskylän yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30665/av.74596

Abstract

5 210 Words about the Theory of Metapoetry

The term metapoetry refers to a distinct category of lyric texts that addresses directly or indirectly the issue of poetics. Although metareflexive elements have significantly increased in poetry, especially in the twentieth century, metapoetry has not gained the same attention as its narrative counterpart metafiction - now regarded as a well-established contemporary genre. This article aims at introducing English, German and Finnish studies on metapoetry. In English, the commonly used term is self-reflexive poetry, whereas German critics usually talk about poetological poetry (poetologische Lyrik). Metarunous (metapoetry) and metalyyrisyys (metapoetic) are the terms generally favoured by Finnish scholars. The greatest problem that arises, then, is how the terms metapoetry, self-reflexive poetry and poetological poetry should be defined. This article provides an overview of the terminology and the research history of metapoetry.

The article gives also a short introduction to the most influential theoretical works on metapoetry: Lyrik und Metalyrik (2000) and Narrating the Lyric: Ideologies, Generic Properties, Historical Modes (2003) by Austrian Eva Müller-Zettelmann. By providing exemplary readings of Finnish and German poems, the article demonstrates Müller-Zettelmann’s structural, state-of-the-art typology of the metalyric.