Michael wrote:
...So - language. And aren't sounds, visual representations, gestures
equally forms of human communication? But if they are, doesn't Levinas's
argument apply to music, painting, dance, as well as poetry?
Henry replies:
Michael, from the little I've read it seems to me that the distinction
Levinas applies to poetry - its uniqueness - stems from the fact
that it is verbal. One of Levinas' themes is the alienating power
of "discourse" per se, the inability of philosophy to "say" the ethical
situation as it is. He thinks that poetry - some poetry anyway - is
closer to this saying. So it's not so much that he distinguishes poetry
from the other arts, it's that he focuses on the phenomenon of poetry
as a verbal reality which does something that discourse fails to do.
Michael wrote:
... about vain self-presentation, this seems to me a
poet's reaction, and it's unhelpful to be a poet sometimes. I don't think
you necessarily get the best of what a poem might be able to give if you're
always listening for what it betrays about the author.
Though often, I concede, there's nothing much else to listen for.
Henry replies:
I agree. But perhaps my reaction is not so much a poet's as a librarian's.
Across my desk come the soon-to-be entries to one of the largest collections
of US & Canadian poetry anywhere. I see a lot of puffed-up cliches wrapped
in blurbs go by. It can be frightening - I identify with them all.
Henry
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