19 pages • 38 minutes read
Margaret AtwoodBackdrop Addresses Cowboy
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1974A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“Pioneers! O Pioneers!” by Walt Whitman (1864)
In this long poem written over a century before “Backdrop Addresses America,” celebrated poet Walt Whitman presents an uncritical version of American settlers, in contrast to the depiction of the cowboy in Atwood’s work. Whitman’s poem exhorts the pioneers to fell “primeval forests” and blaze a new trail. Though the poem may seem to celebrate a warring spirit, it must be noted that it was written as an appeal for more soldiers to join the liberal forces in the American Civil War.
“Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood (1974)
“Siren Song” was published in the same volume of poems as “Backdrop Addresses Cowboy.” Like “Backdrop …,” “Siren Song” too is an example of Atwood’s reversal of expectations around personae and mythic figures. While in “Backdrop …” the poet presents the heroic cowboy in a new light, in the feminist poem “Siren Song,” she overturns sexist stereotypes around the sirens of Greek mythology.
“They Don’t Love You Like I Love You” by Natalie Diaz (2019)
In this poem, Mojave American poet Natalie Diaz retells the history of America from the viewpoint of its indigenous people. Unlike the mainstream narrative of American progress, Diaz’s poem details the history of the United States as a history of violence and oppression.
Further Literary Resources
“On Being a Poet: A Conversation with Margaret Atwood” by Joyce Carol Oates (1978)
In this interview for the New York Times, novelist Joyce Carol Oates questions Atwood, her contemporary, about the art of poetry. Atwood offers important insights about her poetic influences as well as her skill at balancing the “statement” her poetry makes with its playful aesthetics.
“'Witness is what you must bear': Politics in Margaret Atwood’s Poetry” by Pilar Somacarrera (2007)
Professor of English and Postcolonial Studies at the University of Madrid, Somacarrera asserts that understanding Atwood’s politics is essential to fully appreciating her poetry. Amongst other poems, Somacarrera examines “Backdrop Addresses Cowboy” to show how depicting a distinct Canadian identity - a witness to America’s excesses – is central to the politics of Atwood’s poetry.
“An Ecofeminist Reading of Margaret Atwood’s Work” by Deya Bhattacharya 2019
Writing for the blog The Curious Reader, Bhattacharya looks at the manner in which Atwood identifies the feminine with nature in her works. Like in “Backdrop Addresses Cowboy,” Atwood often links patriarchy’s marginalization of women and other gender minorities with capitalism’s degradation of the environment.
Related Titles
By Margaret Atwood
