Poëzie die ernaar streeft oud nieuws te worden. Een herijking van het autonomiebegrip in het licht van topicale gedichten en liederen

This article calls for a structural broadening of the scope of modern literature research in order to shed a clearer light on the dynamics between so-called autonomous and heteronomous literature (in casu: poetry) since the Romantic era. The process of poetical autonomization which is said to be typical of modern literature can be mapped more convincingly if more attention is paid to those forms of poetry which bridge the gap between the allegedly ‘high’ Lyric and ‘lower’ forms like the popular song. Today’s functionalist literary historiography might also benefit from this focus when specific qualities of texts can be linked to the function of several (sub)genres.