STEVEN MONTE’S CONCEPT OF THE GENRE OF THE PROSE POEM

Abstract

The present article aims to discuss the elusive genre of the prose poem, bringing into focus Steven Monte’s Invisible Fences: Prose Poetry as a Genre in French and American Literature (2000). By making comparisons between French and American literature, he looks not only at the formative contexts of the prose poem, but also at its reception, which influences how we read and how we understand the details of such works. Accordingly, the present paper delves into some theoretical aspects of Monte’s book such as its terminology, its concepts and their practical applications. Special emphasis has been placed on his interpretation of prose poetry against the backdrop of his concepts of genre.