Power Politics (poetry collection)

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First edition (publ. Anansi) PowerPolitics.jpg
First edition (publ. Anansi)

Power Politics is a book of poetry by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1971.

It contains her famous simile:

You fit into me

like a hook into an eye

a fish hook

an open eye

The violent surprise of this poem is typical of Atwood’s imagery. [1]

Gender is a crucial theme in Power Politics. The collection was often dismissed as a poetic version of Women's Lib although Atwood herself rejected the notion that the Women's Movement influenced the conception of Power Politics. [2]

Notes

  1. Montagnes, Anne (Oct 4, 1980), "Violence and humor in Margaret Atwood and poets flabby in comparison", The Globe and Mail, pp. E. 14
  2. Reingard M. Nischik. Engendering genre: the works of Margaret Atwood. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 2009, p. 19, ISBN   978-0-7766-0724-5.


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