While recognizing the importance of those he cites, I don't necessarily agree with Jeffrey's thesis. To me, that would be forgetting the importance of many others. Off the top of my head, Queneau and the whole OULIPO group, Jackson Mac Low and John Cage with their chance poetry. There are probably others. I don't know that Breton and the other Surrealists or Picabia, Schwitters, et al of Dadaist fame were presaged by Joyce or anyone else.
Oh, and thank you to Doug Barbour who has agreed to be my guest today on 'Speaking of Poets' heard Sundays from 4:30 to 5:00 p.m. CST on CKUW 95.9 FM and available for live, download or streaming from the CKUW website.
John Herbert Cunningham
-----Original Message-----
From: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jeffrey Side
Sent: April-25-10 7:09 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Adventurous rejected: Magma Blog
Tim, I agree it never ended there. My main point was that nothing since has been as acute in changing the way we write poetry. Any innovation that came later has always been regarded as marginal in comparison. It’s hard to re-invent the wheel, so to speak. Eliot, Joyce, Stein et al. kicked open a door, others are now walking through it. For me, it is the opening of the door that is of more significance.
Original Message:
I don't agree with Jeffrey either, which makes a nice change. I think,
considering all the evidence, it is a huge claim to make. I love the
Waste Land. I love Finnegans Wake, both were immense innovations
within the context of high modernism, but it never ended there as Bob
points out below. What those works did achieve though was iconic
status, which is very understandable, but I think Jeffrey is confusing
that iconic status with something else.
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