Classical reference in Silvina Ocampo's poetry

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (peer-reviewed)peer-review

Abstract / Description of output

Ocampo’s poetry, like her short stories, abounds in classical references, yet the purpose and effect of these classical references in her poetry have not been fully explored by critics. As might be expected of Ocampo, the ways in which she uses these references to classical mythology (sometimes mediated via other poets’ allusions to the classical world) are frequently perverse, twisting well-known (and in some cases lesser-known) myths through gender ambiguity, geopolitics or juxtaposition in order to illuminate her own idiosyncratic poetic subjects. This chapter explores key examples of classical reference in Ocampo’s poetry, first giving an overview of the wide repertoire of classical figures used as a single reference to illuminate a poem, then focusing on the significant corpus of Ocampo’s poems which allude to or centre on the myth of Narcissus. The chapter draws conclusions about the extent to which Ocampo manifests a defiantly different cultural identity whilst simultaneously displaying her knowledge of the European classical canon and demonstrating her worthiness as successor to that tradition.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationNew Readings of Silvina Ocampo
Subtitle of host publicationBeyond Fantasy
EditorsPatricia N. Klingenberg, Fernanda Zullo-Ruiz
Place of PublicationWoodbridge
PublisherTamesis
Chapter7
Pages143-172
Number of pages30
ISBN (Electronic)9781782048251
ISBN (Print)9781855663084
Publication statusPublished - 15 Sept 2016

Publication series

NameMonografías A
PublisherTamesis
Number359

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Silvina Ocampo
  • Poetry
  • Classical reference
  • Narcissus

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Classical reference in Silvina Ocampo's poetry'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this