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A national poet or national bard is a poet held by tradition and popular acclaim to represent the identity, beliefs and principles of a particular national culture.[1] The national poet as culture hero is a long-standing symbol, to be distinguished from successive holders of a bureaucratically-appointed poet-laureate office. The idea and honoring of national poets emerged primarily during Romanticism, as a figure that helped consolidation of the nation states, as it provided validation of their ethno-linguistic groups.[1]
Most national poets are historic figures, though a few contemporary writers working in relatively new or revived national literatures are also considered "national poets". Though not formally elected, national poets play a role in shaping a country's understanding of itself.[2] Some nations may have more than one national poet; the idea of a single one is always a simplification. It has been argued that a national poet "must write poetry that closely identifies with the nation's cause – or is thought to do so",[3] with an additional assumption being that "a national poet must write in a national language".[4]
The following is a list of nations, with their associated national poets. It is not a list of sovereignstates or countries, though many of the nations listed may also be such. The terms "nation" (as cultural concept), "country" (as geographical concept) and "state" (as political concept) are not synonyms.
^ abcNemoianu, Virgil (2002). Esterhammer, Angela (ed.). "'National Poets' in the Romantic Age: Emergence and Importance." Romantic Poetry. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 537. ISBN 9789027234506.
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^John Neubauer, "Figures of National Poets", in Marcel Cornis-Pope and John Neubauer, eds., Figures of National Poets (2004), p. 11.
^Michael Baron, Language and Relationship in Wordsworth's Writing (1995), p. 13.
^Brugnatelli, Vermondo (1 November 2016). Vermondo Brugnatelli «Mi spezzo ma non mi piego» - La poesia di Si Mohand (1849-1905) – via www.academia.edu.
^"Professor John Atukwei Okai An Appreciation Of A Pan-African Bard".
^Awoonor, Kofi; Anyidoho, Kofi; Dawes, Kwame Senu Neville (26 January 2014). The promise of hope: new and selected poems, 1964-2013. African poetry book series. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-5493-0 – via Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.
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^"Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo | African Studies Centre Leiden". www.ascleiden.nl.
^"What is the national flower of Mali, Meaning and Symbolism". Symbolic Meaning Of A Flower. 9 October 2023.
^"Allama Iqbal's philosophy gives depth, height to human imagination: PM". 8 February 2019.
^apa, livia (1 January 2011). Akyeampong, Emmanuel K.; Gates, Henry Louis (eds.). Dictionary of African Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195382075.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5 – via www.oxfordreference.com.
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^Nwakanma, O. (2010:90). Christopher Okigbo, 1930-67: Thirsting for Sunlight. Nigeria: James Currey.
^The Oxford Handbook of Nigerian Politics. (2018:623). United Kingdom: OUP Oxford.
^Moore, G. (1980:38). Twelve African Writers. United Kingdom: Hutchinson University Library for Africa.
^Rice, G. T. (1985:238). The Bold Experiment: JFK's Peace Corps. United States: University Press of Virginia.
^"Hadraawi, Shakespeare of Somalia, dies". New Age | The Most Popular Outspoken English Daily in Bangladesh.
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^J. Cameron; W. A. Dodd (17 May 2014). Society, Schools and Progress in Tanzania: The Commonwealth and International Library: Education and Educational Research. Elsevier Science. pp. 57–. ISBN 978-1-4831-5914-0.
^Valisi, Khalid (24 January 2021). ""Canticles of the life" by Aboul-Qacem Echebbi".
^"Poetry Translation Centre features two poets from this project in an upcoming translation workshop – Western Sahara Poetry". 21 June 2023.
^Morgenstierne, G. (1960). "Khushhal Khan—the national poet of the Afghans". Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society. 47: 49–57. doi:10.1080/03068376008731684.
^Toledo Lezeta, Ana María (2008). «Linguae Vasconum Primitiae, bi partetan banaturik». Jean Haritschelhar-i omenaldia. pp. 625–644.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
^Martin, T. D. (2001:436). The Affirmative Action Empire: Nations and Nationalism in the Soviet Union, 1923-1939. United Kingdom: Cornell University Press.
^Tourist Mosaic of Belarus. (2017:480). Russia: ЛитРес.
^ ab"Émile Verhaeren. The Only National Poet Belgium Has Ever Had". the low countries.
^Cultures in Flux: Lower-Class Values, Practices, and Resistance in Late Imperial Russia. (1994:140). Ukraine: Princeton University Press.
^"The Deportation by Ismail Kerimov". Waynakh Online.
^Sabah, Daily (21 February 2019). "Homage to Bosnian national poet". Daily Sabah.
^Mahmutćehajić, R. (2015). The Praised and the Virgin. Netherlands: Brill.
^Brennan & O'Dea, Paul & Michael (2004). Entrelacs franco-irlandais, langue, mémoire, imaginaire. Presses universitaires de Caen. p. 81.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
^Hristo Botev’s birth anniversary Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Radio Bulgaria History and Religion, posted January 6, 2007, updated on January 12, 2007, accessed 9 March 2007
^Ellinor Grogan (1922). "Ivan Vazov". The Slavonic Review. 1 (1): 225–227. JSTOR 4201601 – via JSTOR.
^Ioannides, C. P. (2018:12). Cyprus Under British Colonial Rule: Culture, Politics, and the Movement Toward Union with Greece, 1878–1954. United States: Lexington Books.
^ abDović, M., Helgason, J. K. (2016:63). National Poets, Cultural Saints: Canonization and Commemorative Cults of Writers in Europe. Netherlands: Brill.
^Salcman, M. (2016:90). A Prague Spring, Before & After. United States: Evening Street Press.
^"September 8 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of the people's poet of Dagestan Rasul Gamzatov". slavfond.eu.
^Baunvig, Katrine Frøkjær; Nielbo, Kristoffer Laigaard (12 March 2023). Gilbert, Sofie; Rockenberger, Annika (eds.). "Benign Structures: 7th Conference Digital Humanities in the Nordic and Baltic Countries". Book of Abstracts: 9–11 – via Aarhus University.
^SHARMA, KOMAL. "In An Honor To 'The Father of English Poetry' - Geoffrey Chaucer". reflections.live.
^Michael Dobson (17 November 1994), The Making of the National Poet - Shakespeare, Adaptation and Authorship, 1660-1769, Clarendon Press, ISBN 978-0-19-818323-5
^Lachman, G. (2013). The Caretakers of the Cosmos: Living Responsibly in an Unfinished World. United Kingdom: Floris Books.
^"William Wordsworth, the worldly recluse | Digitens". www.digitens.org.
^"Philip Larkin, racist, bigot and poet". Socialist Worker.
^Linguist. (1962). United Kingdom: Linguists' Club..
^Simpson, Harold L. (1967). "The Poetic Image of the Soldier from Baudelaire to the First World War". The South Central Bulletin. 27 (4): 23–33. doi:10.2307/3188918. JSTOR 3188918 – via JSTOR.
^"Victor Hugo - French Poet, Novelist, Playwright | Britannica". www.britannica.com.
^The Harp and the Constitution: Myths of Celtic and Gothic Origin. (2015). Netherlands: Brill.
^"Two new fine editions of Georgia's national poet - European studies blog".
^Elliott, Mark (2003). "Beyond Left and Right: The Poetic Reception of Stefan George and Rainer Maria Rilke, 1933-1945". The Modern Language Review. 98 (4): 908–928. doi:10.2307/3737933. JSTOR 3737933. S2CID 161795959 – via JSTOR.
^"Poet in a landscape: the drawings of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - European studies blog".
^"Schiller: National Poet – Poet of Nations: A Birmingham Symposium". Schiller: National Poet – Poet of Nations. Brill. 9 August 2016. ISBN 978-94-012-0297-8 – via brill.com.
^"Biographical Sketch of Jónas Hallgrímsson (1)". digicoll.library.wisc.edu.
^Þórðarson, Sigurður Árni (27 March 2020). "Hymns of the Passion – The Suffering King".
^"Declan Kiberd: Irish writers were an early warning system about abuse". The Irish Times.
^Nolan, Emer (15 October 2007). Catholic Emancipations: Irish Fiction from Thomas Moore to James Joyce. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815631750 – via Google Books.
^Campbell, Matthew (18 November 2013). Irish Poetry under the Union, 1801–1924. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107471559 – via Google Books.
^O'Rourke, Ciarán (10 October 2020). "Did Seamus Heaney write political poems?".
^O’Shea, Edward J. (30 December 2022). Seamus Heaney's American Odyssey. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781000816648 – via Google Books.
^Dović, Marijan; Helgason, Jón Karl (1 January 2017). "Commemorative Cults of Poets and Writers: A Historical Perspective". National Poets, Cultural Saints: Canonization and Commemorative Cults of Writers in Europe. Brill. pp. 35–70. doi:10.1163/9789004335400_004. ISBN 978-90-04-33540-0 – via brill.com.
^"CorDon - About Donelaitis". titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de.
^Kučinskienė, Aistė (10 February 2021). "The Making of the Lithuanian National Poet: Maironis". Literary Canon Formation as Nation-Building in Central Europe and the Baltics. Brill. pp. 256–272. doi:10.1163/9789004457713_016. ISBN 978-90-04-45771-3. S2CID 240725403 – via brill.com.
^Zilys, Arunas (12 March 1989). "1941-1952" – via Victoria & Albert Museum.
^"Dicks (Edmond de la Fontaine) (1823-1891) – Luxembourg Music Publishers".
^"Knowledge Bites: Michel Lentz - Luxembourg's 'National Poet'". today.rtl.lu.
^"Biography: (Dun) Karm Psaila". Times of Malta. 18 October 2023.
^"Diaspora commemorated the poet Grigore Vieru". e Moldova ta.
^"Great national poet celebrated in Moldova at 167 years from birth". www.moldpres.md.
^"Joost Van Den Vondel | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com.
^"CATS, Jacob Alle de wercken. Amsterdam J.J. Schipper 166… | Drouot.com". drouot.com.
^ abGriffiths, Gwyn. "Frédéric Mistral – poet and folk historian of Provence" – via www.academia.edu.
^Universalis, Encyclopædia. "Biographie d'ARNAUD ou ARNAUT DANIEL". Encyclopædia Universalis (in French). Retrieved 24 March 2024.
^Ippolito, Marguerite-Marie (11 January 2003). Troubadour Limousin du XIIème siècle, prince de l'amour et de la poésie romane. Editions L'Harmattan. ISBN 9782747500173.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
^"Épisode 8 : Béatrice de Die, la vengeresse". France Musique (in French). 18 June 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
^GIERGIELEWICZ, MIECZYSŁAW (1960). "KRASIŃSKI IN THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD (A Bibliographical Review)". The Polish Review. 5 (4): 68–102. JSTOR 25776332 – via JSTOR.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^"Luis de Camoes | Biography & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 20 February 2024.
^"Pessoa, Fernando (1888–1935) | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com.
^"Épisode 8 : Béatrice de Die, la vengeresse". France Musique (in French). 18 June 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
^Neghina, Raul; Neghina, Adriana Maria (12 March 2011). "Medical controversies and dilemmas in discussions about the illness and death of Mihai Eminescu (1850-1889) Romania's national poet". Medical Problems of Performing Artists. 26 (1): 44–50. doi:10.21091/mppa.2011.1007. PMID 21442137 – via PubMed.
^"Alexander Pushkin". Russian and East European Studies. 12 September 2017.
^McVay, Gordon (1972). "Yesenin's Posthumous Fame, and the Fate of His Friends". The Modern Language Review. 67 (3): 590–602. doi:10.2307/3726127. JSTOR 3726127 – via JSTOR.
^Porter, Richard N. (1969). "The Criteria of Turgenev's Literary Criticism". The Russian Review. 28 (4): 441–452. doi:10.2307/127163. JSTOR 127163 – via JSTOR.
^MacDiarmid, H., MacGill-Eain, S. (2010:44). The Correspondence Between Hugh MacDiarmid and Sorley MacLean: An Annotated Edition. United Kingdom: Edinburgh University Press.
^Foundation, Poetry (11 March 2024). "Robert Burns". Poetry Foundation.
^Balazsr2=Michal Kopecek (1 November 2006). National Romanticism: The Formation of National Movements. Central European University Press. p. 431. ISBN 978-963-7326-60-8. Characteristically, although Njegoš saw himself as a definitely Serbian poet, his epic came to be later canonized as the most important work of 'Yugoslav' literature [...]{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^"Nazis killed 100 Serbs per dead German – DW – 10/21/2021". dw.com.
^Berend, Ivan T. (June 2003). "Romanticism and Nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe". History Derailed: Central and Eastern Europe in the Long Nineteenth Century. doi:10.1525/california/9780520232990.003.0003. ISBN 9780520932098.
^Aleksov, Bojan (12 March 2009). "Jovan Jovanović Zmaj and the Serbian Identity between Poetry and History". We, the People : Politics of National Peculiarity in Southeastern Europe. CEUP collection. Central European University Press. pp. 273–305. ISBN 978-615-5211-66-9 – via OpenEdition Books.
^"An Evening with Gustaf Fröding". Anglo-Swedish Society.
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^"Encyclopedia of Romantic Nationalism in Europe | Public Interface | Encyclopedia of Romantic Nationalism in Europe | Tegnér, Esaias". Encyclopedia of Romantic Nationalism in Europe.
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^"Tatar Leaders and Icons: The Top 10 Notable Personalities". Ulastempat International. 23 January 2024.
^"Museum of national poet Ravil Fayzullin opens in Tatarstan". World Congress of the Tatars.
^"The Museum of poet Yarullin Fanis, Russia". pArtify.
^Pública, Agencia Digital de Innovación. "Casa del Poeta Ramon López Velarde: A Poet's House in Roma Norte".
^Neville, Tim (27 November 2017). "The Inescapable Poet of Nicaragua". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
^Daniel Balderston, Mike (2004). Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Literature, 1900-2003. Routledge. p. 666. ISBN 0-415-30687-6.
^"hackwriters.com - Ruben Dario, Nicaragua's poet of vision, the cultural invasion of Central America and remains of a Central American dreams of renewal, Roger Smith explores Leon". www.hackwriters.com.
^"Overlooked No More: Julia de Burgos, a Poet Who Helped Shape Puerto Rico's Identity (Published 2018)". The New York Times. 3 May 2018 – via NYTimes.com.
^Tió, Elsa (12 August 2020). "Nimia Vicéns: Corazón de la patria con semillas silvestres en sus versos" [Nimia Vicéns: Heart of the country with wild seeds in her verses]. El Adoquín Times (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
^Rojas, Enrique (2 February 2015). "Cuba y Puerto Rico tienen la presión" [Cuba and Puerto Rico Have the Pressure]. ESPN Deportes.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
^García, Marta Yazmín (7 November 2008). "Alabanza al poeta nacional" [Praise to the national poet]. University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
^Poets, Philosophers, Lovers: On the Writings of Giannina Braschi. Pittsburgh, 2020. ISBN 9780822946182
^"Gaston Miron, Poetic Voice of Quebec Nationalism". The New York Times. 2 April 1978. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
^"Monument à Louis-Octave Crémazie". Art Public Montréal.
^Cole, Teju (21 February 2014). "Poet of the Caribbean (Published 2014)". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
^"Lasana M. Sekou - Paths of Love, Labour, Liberation". jamaica-gleaner.com. 30 December 2018.
^TALKS, SXM (3 December 2018). "'National poet' of St. Maarten honoured with anniversary show | THE DAILY HERALD | SXM Talks".
^Nathanael O'Reilly, "Imagined America: Walt Whitman's Nationalism in the First Edition of 'Leaves of Grass'", Irish Journal of American Studies.
^O'Reilly, Nathanael (2009). "Imagined America: Walt Whitman's Nationalism in the First Edition of Leaves of Grass". Irish Journal of American Studies. 1: 1–9. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
^Runcie, Charlotte (5 March 2017). "How did recluse Emily Dickinson become America's national poet?". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
^"Celebrating Robert Frost: An American Poet". smithsonianassociates.org.
^Williams, S. E. (8 March 2016). "Celebrating Maya Angelou in the Face of Conservative Criticism". Black Voice News.
^Foundation, Poetry (25 December 2020). "Gwendolyn Brooks". Poetry Foundation.
^Poets, Academy of American. "Our National Poets". Poets.org.
^Cusic, D. (1991:82). The poet as performer. United Kingdom: University Press of America.
^Staff Writers (1 September 2022). "From the Archives, 1922: Henry Lawson, Australia's poet of the bush, dies". The Sydney Morning Herald.
^""Banjo" Patterson, Australian poet and author of "Waltzing Mathilda" is born in the New South Wales outback | House Divided". hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu.
^"Roots and Routes: Tracing the Trends of Indo-Fijian Fiction – Journal of Migration Affairs A Bi-Annual Journal".
^James Woodall, Borges: A Life, Basic Books (1996). ISBN 0-465-04361-5. Relevant excerpt available on the New York Times web site, accessed 9 March 2007.
^"Antônio Gonçalves Dias | Romanticism, Indigenous Peoples, Lyrical Poetry | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 6 March 2024.
^"Olavo Bilac: Biography and Poems | Brazilian Poetry". Retrieved 28 May 2021.
^Gurría-Quintana, Ángel (13 November 2012). "What now for Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Brazil's national poet?". The Guardian.
^"Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis". Afro-Rio Walking Tour.
^"Gabriela Mistral". National Women's History Museum.
^Ospino, Luis (22 September 2023). "Rafael Pombo: The Immortal Poet of Colombian Children's Literature". Colombia One: News from Colombia and the World.
^"David Francis, Residential College Dean - Grace Hopper College | Ethnicity, Race, and Migration". erm.yale.edu.
^"Remigio Crespo Toral - Ecuadorian Literature". 28 October 2020.