‘Lyric Poetry after Auschwitz’?: Kent Johnson and Political Satire

[para. 1]: "Many recall Theodor Adorno’s claim that, following the atrocities at Auschwitz, it had become impossible, in the West, to write lyric poetry. Of course, that has not stopped anyone from trying. But poets who desire to engage with issues of public relevance often have abandoned the lyric in favor of satire, social documentation, modernist assemblage, and other strategies of poetic engagement. Groups of activists like PIPA (Poetry Is Public Art), moreover, combine a skilful use of poetic language with social commentary that can be adapted to specific public environments, creating textual spaces that transform the area in which readers pass."