Nobody sings 'Me Myself and I' better than Billie. Nobody.
On 09/06/07, Anny Ballardini <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBRNfWGxBp8
>
> I wanna be by myself
>
> Joan Armatrading:
> Me Myself I
>
> On 6/9/07, Joseph Duemer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > Christopher, thank you for this. In that long discussion about the lyric I,
> > I (whoever that is) wanted to point out that any person is a collection of
> > selves. This is of course as old an idea as William James. One supposes that
> > lyric practice has tended to select out one or another I for the duration of
> > the poem, or perhaps (more or less unconsciously) to let a couple of Is jump
> > rope for awhile together. There are a lot of I that are not lyric, too. It's
> > amazing we can keep our heads from exploding.
> >
> > jd
> >
> > On 6/9/07, Anny Ballardini <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > >
> > > I am also glad you got it out that way with my congratulations for
> > > this short essay.
> > >
> > >
> > > On 6/9/07, Roger Day <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > > > Just a few thoughts on this, most of which are wild assertions.
> > > >
> > > > I think the problem with the "I" stems from the Romantics. when I look
> > > > at the "I" in the translations of Catullus or even later up until the
> > > > 18th Century, the I has to bear very little weight. The I is MIA for a
> > > > large chunk of the medeival period, when often, there wasn't even an
> > > > author. Later, the I is a praise-singer or elegist, towards either god
> > > > or king. Compare and contrast with Hugo:
> > > >
> > > > "In "Reflexions sur mes contemporains", Baudelaire compares Hugo to a
> > > > biblical prophet whom God has ordered to eat a book. The poet consumes
> > > > the French lexicon, and it emerges from his mouth as "a world, a
> > > > colored, melodious and moving Universe" (Oeuvres completes, p. 705).
> > > > This is a somewhat monstrous version of the important topos of
> > > > Romantic poetry describing the world as a book and the poet as
> > > > privileged reader whose verse deciphers the mysteries of the
> > > > universe."
> > > >
> > > > (Nathaniel Wing, A New History of French Literature, p738)
> > > >
> > > > That's a helluva difference. The poet is now privileged, interpretes
> > > > the mysteries of the universe, becomes a prophet etc etc.
> > > > Baudelaire's alienated "I" was the effective death-knell of the
> > > > prophetised "I", although I wonder if Modernism totally erased it.
> > > >
> > > > So now we live in times where poets want to obliterate the I. I always
> > > > thought this un-healthy, a self-erasure that was almost psychotic.
> > > > What is more, even if you erase all the pro-nouns, I think the poet
> > > > will still be there, somewhere, and someone with the right tools will
> > > > ferret out the author, their gender etc. A poet's selection of words,
> > > > and a big-enough data-set, will always brand them. So hiding from the
> > > > I is pointless, a fiction, as Joe says. But resurrecting the I as used
> > > > by Catullus is of neccesity, difficult, living both in the comet-tail
> > > > of romanticism and it's reactionary child, Modernism. The quiet I that
> > > > acknowledges it's interpretative limits, is neither privileged, nor
> > > > has swallowed a lexicon. I guess this is a nostalgic I, but it has
> > > > some value in the world even today. If one is looking for an I to
> > > > suit the modern world, then I would argue for a fractured I,
> > > > reflecting the mass of data out there, abroad in the world, pretending
> > > > to be I, killing I when someone throws a switch, spending credit that
> > > > I haven't got. In the spirit of Superman, a Bizarro I. But hey, I
> > > > suspect this is *my* hobby horse, so I'll let it ride away into the
> > > > dusk.
> > > >
> > > > I think that the lyric I never strode the theatre's boards in any
> > > > serious sense. Poetry and theatre parted company in the 18th century
> > > > when prose replaced classicism , certainly in France.
> > > >
> > > > Glad I got that out the way.
> > > >
> > > > Roger
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > My Stuff: http://www.badstep.net/
> > > > "In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons."
> > > > Roman Proverb
> > > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Joseph Duemer
> > Professor of Humanities
> > Clarkson University
> > [sharpsand.net]
> >
>
--
Andrew
http://hispirits.blogspot.com/
http://www.inblogs.net/hispirits
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