Un postmodernismo inconsueto
La poesia di Yusef Komunyakaa tra intertestualità, frammentazione ed etica della testimonianza
Abstract
This article analyses the poetry of Yusef Komunyakaa – a major African American poet, Pulitzer Prize winner – investigating the problematic position within American postmodernism. The object of the study is the relationship between formal postmodern strategiesand the representation of historical trauma. Through a methodology that combines close reading and theoretical references to postmodernism as well as Trauma Studies, the contribution shows how Komunyakaa adopts such postmodern techniques not in a playful or self-referential sense, but to confront the traumatic experience of the Vietnam War and collective memory. The results highlight the emergence of an unconventional postmodernism, in which formal experimentation intertwines with an ethics of testimony.
Presentato: 29 Aprile 2026 | Accettato: 28 Giugno 2026 | Pubblicato 12 Ottobre 2026 | Lingua: it
Keywords Postmodernism • Trauma Studies • Vietnam Literature • Yusef Komunyakaa • Dien Cai Dau
Copyright © 2026 Giulio Segato. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.