Chapman, Michael2023-02-062023-02-062022-07-03Chapman, M. 2022. Poetry in South Africa : towards a language of aesthetic response. Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa. 34(2): 99-139. doi:10.1080/1013929x.2022.21141421013-929X2159-9130 (Online)https://hdl.handle.net/10321/4589This article has two interrelated aims: first, to offer readers a critical survey of poetry production in South Africa over the last thirty years, the thirty-year period being preceded by a consideration of key markers in the poetry of the 1970s and 1980s; second, to engage in debates on distinctions between the poetry of the high mimetic and the low mimetic; on poetry of the page and the stage; and on women’s poetry and the womanist poem. With consideration of women’s poetry having raised debates among US-based poet-critics on Lyric/L.A.N.G.U.A.G.E. Poetics, the overarching objective is to pursue a language of criticism that is responsive to the aesthetic range and variety of poetry in South Africa.65 pen2005 Literary StudiesPoetry in South Africa 1970-2022Aesthetics/politicsWritten and oral expressionThe lyricL.A.N.G.U.A.G.EPoeticsPage/stageWomen’s voices/the womanist poemArticle2023-02-0310.1080/1013929x.2022.2114142