Who Gets a Statue in the Canon? Power, Poetry, and Forgetting

Introduction: Canon as Infrastructure

The canon isn’t a museum; it’s a power grid. Anthologies, curricula, and awards route attention—and blackout others. Who’s kept in the light?

Recoveries

Scholars and editors have resurrected extraordinary poets erased by gender, race, class, or language politics. These aren’t “add-ons” but structural repairs.

Criteria vs. Customs

We inherit customs (heroic themes, certain meters) and mistake them for criteria (intensity, precision, surprise). Swap customs for criteria and the map changes.

Conclusion

Build a canon that behaves like a living table—leaves added, center re-set. Not relativism—renovation.