<< Groups form for several reasons. The three that apply here are I think
that
a. One finds both irrelevant and abhorrent what another crowd is doing
b. One joins with others to protect a position of power
c. One joins with others to challenge a position of power. >>
If we move the argument back to anthologies, then one can say
I find most of what you (the anthologist) have selected irrelevant
if not abhorent, but you've left me and those of my poetic ilk
out, so I/we want in.
Was it Groucho Marks who said "I wouldn't join a club that would
have me as a member." (which can be read a couple of ways)?
If one is going to potray oneself as avantgarde/outre'/innovapoe,
or whatever the term of the moment is, one can't act all hurt
and dismayed when the gates of the g(u)ilt-edged pages don't
swing open easily.
After a recent flap about its exclusivity (centered primarily
around race & gender, but also in terms of aesthetics), the Academy
of American Poets named Michael Palmer to its fellowship.
But isn't that a Pyrrhic victory for avantgarde?
Finnegan
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