Elizabeth Bishop's "Brazil, January 1, 1502" and Max Jacob's "Etablissement d'une communaute au Bresil": A Study of Transformative Interpretation and Influence
The A. establishes the relation between Max Jacob's brillant poem on Brazil and Elisabeth Bishop's more politically positive response to it, convincingly arguing a greater political thrust to Bishop's poetry than is generally perceived.
The Unbeliever: The Poetry of Elizabeth Bishop
Robert Parker ranges widely through literary history and theory to give the poems of Elizabeth Bishop (1911-79) the serious critical attention they deserve. The Unbeliever shows that Bishop's poems, already famous for their clear and quiet tone, also struggle with confusion and wonder about things she can never make quiet or clear.
Analysis: The Agenda 2007 Proposals: Evolution or Revolution?
On 10 February 2004 the Commission published its proposal for the financial perspective 2007-2013. A week later it adopted the third report on economic and social cohesion. These two documents form the basis of the so-called ‘Agenda 2007 reforms’. They will be the greatest challenge for the enlarged EU after the intergovernmental conference, since they will determine the financial basis for EU policy-making until the middle of the next decade. The Agenda 2007 proposals certainly hint at courageous reforms, because they place a previously unheard-of emphasis on performance and quality. Under the proposals, structural operations should generate value for money, and the funds should focus on projects which generate added value at a European level. Overall the Commission’s proposals point in the right direction, because they balance, on the one hand, solidarity for the new Member States and weak regions in the old Member States with, on the other hand, investments in future tasks. Moreover, they constitute a paradigm shift. For the first time, the Common Agricultural Policy will not be the dominant expenditure category. Now it is up to the Member States to examine the proposals politically and find a compromise between sometimes very divergent interests. It is to be hoped that, during the debate over expenditure limits and division of funds, national interests do not outweigh European interests.