James' point is the point I made long ago. If you want to change things then
you must write in a language that can be understood. The
language has to be effective and efficient, and perhaps in the vernacular
of the day . Since the market for poetry is around two percent of the total
market, and of that two percent those who read alternative or nonmainstream
poetry is even less, one has to wonder whether writing in a difficult
language is going to have an any impact? Obviously those who have the
greatest influence in today's world are the songwriters and singers. Their
writing does reach a wide audience. We already saw how difficult it is to
get a copy of J.H. Prynne's difficult writing! I can however easily get a
copy of the latest gangstar cd or whatever. Does accessibility entail a
sell-out? Or must alternative poetry always be in the cellar of a run-down
pub, with those who talk about consumerism and capitalism like fanatical
Luddites used to --who see poetry as a form of cottage industry for those
afficionadoes who braved the number 13 bus to get there on a wet Sunday
afternoon. Must alternative poetry eschew life? Must it be so dour?
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