"Beyond My Outrage or My Admiration": Postnational Critique in Robert Pinsky's An Explanation of America

This paper examines Robert Pinsky's book-length poem An Explanation of America (1979) through the lens of postnational critique. Although at first glance the poem embodies Pinsky's commitment to the unitary idea of American nation and culture, it also provides a useful vantage point from which to explore late twentieth-century poetry's engagements with global and local frameworks. An Explanation of America upholds the value of patriotism as a form of social attachment, but also acknowledges the role of cosmopolitan consciousness in the construction of American identity. In doing so, the poem clarifies the issues of identity, alterity, and multiculturalism at the heart of current conversations about American postnation.