Tim,
Of course, there's no choice - and that's one reason it irks. In filling
out forms, I have to put British as my nationality. That too sticks in my
craw - but at least I prefer it to English. Even worse with poetry. When any
of us began to write poems, I imagine, there was no sense of wanting to
belong to any group we knew of. It's solitary, though haunted by voices -
usually at that stage, the dead.
It's a solace to include the living, but I don't want to have to keep
checking their passports.
I'm not pretending to be above prejudices - I have many - but any
qualifying adjective before the word poetry always seems to diminish it.
That said, I suppose we all have to put up with it.
Best wishes,
Jamie
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim Allen" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, August 30, 2009 10:12 AM
Subject: Re: "Has British Poetry had any significance since Wordsworth?"
> There is no choice. When we are talking about this stuff we have to use
> names so that in the most unproblematic way a reader will know what we
> are referring to. We can't back up every word we use with an endless list
> of qualifiers. Why do people get so hung-up about this? Anyway, hiding
> back somewhere in the archive there should still be a record of quite an
> exchange on this topic, can't remember what the thread was called though.
>
> Tim A.
>
> On 30 Aug 2009, at 03:04, Jamie McKendrick wrote:
>
>> Your revulsion at these "reductive terms" (mainstream and avant garde)
>> which I share - just having to use them in this discussion has filled me
>> with self-loathing - might also argue against re- inforcing the walls
>> between them.
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