In the past, Janet, I'd have been on the wine myself after reading
stuff like that. I find I have the clear these demons out of my head,
having raised the Jeremy spectre I've had to go back to his stuff
again and I know where I stand towards it now. There's a piece of, the
Plant Time Manifold transcripts, which discloses a deal of Rupert
Sheldrake. Now, whatever one thinks of Sheldrake's notions, one thing
is sure and that is that their methodology as 'science' is heavily
questioned. The useful aspect of that is that the 'appeal to the
higher authority', to wit science, that some of Prynne's advocates
insinuate, is subverted. So then Prynne becomes a matter of take it or
leave it poetry, which is the only demand any poetry has a right to,
rather than a poetry somehow justified on Higher Grounds.
The Prynne piece in question works as a mildly funny academic joke.
I feel sorry for the shade of Veronica F-T. G.S.Fraser, you know, was
also simultaneously a
sympathetic commentator on Ezra Pound and, as the chief anonymous
poetry reviewer on the TLS in the 50s, a key figure in establishing
Larkin's reputation. The poetry wars in England are never quite what
they seem. Maybe one of the best ways to think of the various fictions
that make up the 'literary scene' anywhere is to bear in mind the word
'scene' and its make-believe connotations.
If we take them too much to heart there's the likelihood of ending
bonkers. For sure, if one takes a cue from poor Veronica F-T's words
and treat poetry in earnest as linguistic Rorschach blots it soon
starts galloping brain-rot.
A good way to keep any avant-gardeist of the evangelical mental
door-knocking sway at bay is to think of Raymond Queneau, the founder
of Oulipo, whose poems nost definitely have a wink on display. Prynne
seems to be bit of a mix of the deadly serious and the joker.
It's like an F.R.Leavis who's discovered a liking for Dada.
2008/5/30 Janet Jackson <[log in to unmask]>:
> David says
>
>
>>
>> It's a bit different to James Keery's 50-page essay in Jacket on
>> Veronica Forrest-Thompson and a reading of a single poem of Prynne's
>>
>> http://jacketmagazine.com/20/vft-keery.html
>>
>>
> in which Veronica F-T is quoted thus on Prynne's lines:
>
> They resist the reader by making him work; they positively repel him by
>> implying that no amount of arcane knowledge will help him to produce an
>> interpretation, that however hard he tries he will not get away with (or
>> through) these lines into a non-poetic realm. He will have to recognise that
>> he is stuck with the lines on the page, that these words have a meaning but
>> not an extended reference to the world outside...
>>
>
> Which I translate thus:
>
> They're a load of shite that *know* they're a load of shite and force the
> reader to eventually admit it. <g>
>
> Janet (influenced by wine)
>
> --
> Janet Jackson <[log in to unmask]>
> www.proximity.webhop.net (Poetry)
> www.myspace.com/poetjj (Includes occasional arts & culture blog)
>
> The Line Mine, bulletin board for Perth poetry & spoken word:
> [log in to unmask]
> groups.yahoo.com/group/thelinemine
>
> Breastfeeding info & help: www.breastfeeding.asn.au
>
--
David Bircumshaw
Website and A Chide's Alphabet http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/
The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk
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