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Hi Barry I deliberately used the one word so that it could refer to place and linguistic process simultaneously. My Greek is far too limited for me to know how far that works. It would jar on me if someone referred to Trafalgar Square as Trafalgar. I'd think, initially, they meant the battle. Same, I imagine, with Times Square in NY. I'm thinking through the cities I know with big squares whose names I know; and I can't find a variation. (But I do get the train to Victoria rather than Victoria Station. So the move is possible.) That I have been in Athens and said in English "I was near Syntagma and..." is not evidence except potentially of the incoherence of a Brit tourist. But I did it. In the poem. I was primarily interested in the linguistic connection, knowing that at present many would be aware of the "disturbances" in "Constitution Square" My understanding is that Syntagma does not quite mean constitution but rather something like "the arrangement" which has some interesting overtones. Because this arrangement is the one that tells them how they do their politicking, it is understood synonymically. It goes back to the wars of independence on which I am no expert, barely struggling to make it to ignoramus; but one may imagine the bubbling mixture of interests and desires and power which had to be reconciled. It seems to me I fell asleep somewhere in the middle of the chapter on Venizelos, whichever of the several books I read at one time, and then forgot much of the earlier stuff. It's not that it's not interesting; but that I tend to read too many books at the same time. In theory I have read the Middleton book and have no recollection of ever reading the Cubitt, but your summary of it is very familiar to me; and that linguistic - epic - connotation was what I was seeking and hoping to reference. Thank you so much for your attention. Lawrence On Wed, June 15, 2011 20:47, Barry Alpert wrote: > Lawrence, > > > After a number of readings, your work still presents an intriguing > interpretive challenge. Doing a google search on the title (a word I > don't remember encountering previously), I assumed you started with the > news of a political demonstration in Syntagma (Constitution) Square in > Athens Greece. Then I noticed the linguistic aspect of the word, for > example, that syntagmatic structure is the mode of time-awareness in > which listeners are placed, such as narrative, epic, or lyrical. > Particularly striking: the relationship between the diction of your > second stanza and Sean Cubitt's description of epic structures as tending > towards privileging repetition and thereby creating a mythic state of > recurrence which empties out the subject (as cited in Richard Middleton's > Studying Popular Music--a book with which perhaps you might be familiar). > > > Barry > > > > On Wed, 15 Jun 2011 15:20:59 +0100, Lawrence Upton <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > > >> Syntagma >> >> >> This is the arrangement. I say, you do. >> How long will it take you to learn? I rule. >> Be guided by your own tension. Or die. >> We could kill you. This is the arrangement. >> >> >> Privilege repetition. Create a myth. >> Empty the square of its circularity. >> Forget all this nonsense egotism. >> >> >> Democracy will lie with tyranny. >> Tyranny will down democracy. Fuck you. >> Why are you taking this attitude, terrorist? >> Organise your particular stretch of time. >> >> >> >> >> >> ----- >> solo poems >> http://www.landscapeandlanguagecentre.au.com/current_journal.html >> http://www.landscapeandlanguagecentre.au.com/Peripatetica/Peripatetica_U >> pton_Try%20Valley.pdf >> http://www.landscapeandlanguagecentre.au.com/Peripatetica/Peripatetica_U >> pton_Walking.pdf ----- >> collaborative visual work:- >> http://www.poetrybeyondtext.org/upton-begbie.html >> http://www.poetrybeyondtext.org/begbie-upton.html >> ---- >> Lawrence Upton >> AHRC Creative Research Fellow >> Dept of Music >> Goldsmiths, University of London >> > ----- solo poems http://www.landscapeandlanguagecentre.au.com/current_journal.html http://www.landscapeandlanguagecentre.au.com/Peripatetica/Peripatetica_Upton_Try%20Valley.pdf http://www.landscapeandlanguagecentre.au.com/Peripatetica/Peripatetica_Upton_Walking.pdf ----- collaborative visual work:- http://www.poetrybeyondtext.org/upton-begbie.html http://www.poetrybeyondtext.org/begbie-upton.html ---- Lawrence Upton AHRC Creative Research Fellow Dept of Music Goldsmiths, University of London