19 pages • 38 minutes read
Backdrop Addresses Cowboy
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Summary and Study Guide
Overview
“Backdrop Addresses Cowboy” is an unrhymed lyric poem of 37 lines by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood. First published in 1974 in Atwood’s collection of poems Selected Poems 1965-1975, “Backdrop Addresses Cowboy” is a postmodernist critique of imperialist America. The poem uses satire and irony to deconstruct the Hollywood cliché of the heroic American cowboy. Its speaker is the personified land the cowboy desecrates. The speaker’s tone ranges from playful to mocking to accusatory and acts as the voice of those sidelined by myopic notions of development.
An early example of Atwood’s political poetry, the poem also explores the theme of ecological damage by humans, a key concern in the writer’s work. Like much of Atwood’s political poems, “Backdrop Addresses Cowboy” uses vivid imagery, metaphors, and references from popular culture to state its position.
Poet Biography
One of the most important voices in 20th-century North American literature, Canadian writer Margaret Atwood is a two-time recipient of the prestigious Booker Prize for fiction as well as the Governor General's Awards, Canada’s foremost prize in literature. Over a career spanning seven decades, Atwood has written more than 50 books of fiction, poems, essays, and graphic Unlock all 19 pages of this Study Guide Plus, gain access to 8,900+ more expert-written Study Guides. Including features:
Related Titles
By Margaret Atwood
