Paper Summary:

The paper reveals that Blaise Cendrars was one of the first writers to interpret modern travel through poetry. In his poems "Trans-Siberian Prose and Little Jeanne from France" and "Easter in New York", Cendrars illustrates a thoughtful human reaction to rapid travel, modernity and the human experience within these new areas. The paper is of the opinion that Cendrars, as one of the first poets to discuss modernity in his poetry, plays an important role in the ongoing cycle of human culture and understanding. The paper demonstrates how both poems, through intense imagery, use of place, metaphor and strong motifs, more than adequately express a vision of modernity in Blaise Cendrars' world.

From the Paper:

"While the first of the poems may appear to be a glorified travelogue of the author's possibly fictional trip across Asia, it still stands to represent the modern changes in the late 1800s and early 1900s. "Easter in New York," conversely, might be criticized as mocking Christians or Christian religion, though it is intended to illustrate the changes in modern religion through a discourse of change in tradition and Christian ideals. Cendrars, in accordance with the theories of Foucoult, successfully fulfills the role of author by producing these two poems; he not only creates art that is a mirror of the modern changes in travel and the world, but he also becomes an object of the modern world that he illustrates."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Cendrars, Blaise. Interview with Michel Manoll, 25 April 1950. Trans. Bertrand Mathieu. American Poetry Review May 1980: 40-44.
• Cendrars, Blaise. "Easter in New York." Poetry Library of the South Bank, 16. Trans. Cristina Viti. London, 2000. Modern Poetry in Translation. 5 May 2006 <http://www.poetrymagazines.org.uk/magazine/print.asp?id=13055>.
• Cendrars, Blaise. "Trans-Siberian Prose and Little Jeanne from France." The Drunken Boat. Trans. Ekaterina Likhtik. 5 May 2006 <http://www.thedrunkenboat.com/cendrars.html>.
• Foucault, Michel. "What is an Author?" Critial Theories Since 1965. Ed. Hazard Adams, Leroy Searle. Tallahassee, FL: Florida State University Press, 1986. 138-148.
• Houston, John Porter. "Cendrar's Modernism." The Southern Review 6.2 (1970): 561-565.

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