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: Kerry Myler (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

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 …

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

1546 words

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

Save this article