On Sun, October 11, 2009 17:25, Jeffrey Side wrote:
> Intemperate comment by Jane Holland:
And I wonder why it was posted.
Is the title Ms Holland's or Mr Side's?
What is here appears to be about Keston Sutherland's poetry. Is whoever
wrote the title saying that avant-garde poetry IS avant garde poetry?
Whatever the answer, I should like a definition please of avant-garde
poetry so that I may undertstand what is being said, if anything.
I'll skip the pompous first paragraph and much of the rest because the
opening of the second paragraph
> It makes me suspect utter charlatanism
may eventually sum up my response; so I'll keep it short.
I doubt very much whether Keston is TRYING to provide stable ground from
which to form a measured opinion.
One of the joys of hearing Keston read, and I haven't done that for some
years but due to reasons unbconnected with my judgement of his poetry, is
that it is indeed like trying to get a spirit level to balance on the wing
of a tilting airplane. There's glory for you
I have never thought about the altitude
Ms Holland seems to be saying that, because she doesn't know how to judge
Keston's poetry, it is therefore not serious art. Whatever that is. She
puts the term in quotation marks herself. If so, this is egotism of a high
and dangerous order; though somewhat familiar from other encounters.
I have to ask if this is serious critical comment.
She speaks of "that kind of work" without saying what that is. Familiar
again.
But what most prompted me to write was the remark "when the red flag was
flying above Poetry HQ!!!"
Now I am guessing here... Assuming that "Poetry HQ" refers to The Poetry
Society although whether the apparently nomme de guerre is used
facetiously or satirically or just for pomposity it is impossible to say;
but, assuming that, I do not believe that the red flag was ever flown
above any address of the Society
David Mitchell, on R4 earlier, spoke of the wholemeal loaf of misjudged
metaphor; and this may be a like case.
I don't know how good Ms Holland is at metaphor. The pleasures of her
poetry have evaded me; but perhaps it is worse than I fear... I have seen
this image of the red flag used in the past in other contexts, usually by
charlatans trying to make a point that suits them for which they have no
knowledge or to hide their lack of knowledge. It's the sort of thing I'd
expect from a telly evangeslist or a tory
So I find the whole thing unsatisfactory, unless Mr Side is trying to show
us just how confusing opinions dressed up as argument can be; but I knew
that. I'm sure we all did
If the term "avant garde" is his in this context, then I would welcome his
clarification. It is a term I try to avoid myself because I can never find
out what people mean when they use it.
--
Lawrence Upton
AHRC Creative Research Fellow
Dept of Music
Goldsmiths, University of London
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