Ideas of space in contemporary poetry

209 Pages·2007·0.985 MB·English

by  Davidson, Ian

Ideas of Space in
Contemporary Poetry
Ian Davidson
Ideas of Space in Contemporary Poetry
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10.1057/9780230595569 - Ideas of Space in Contemporary Poetry, Ian Davidson
February2007 MAC/ICY Page-i 1403_997713_01_preiv
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10.1057/9780230595569 - Ideas of Space in Contemporary Poetry, Ian Davidson
February2007 MAC/ICY Page-ii 1403_997713_01_preiv
Ideas of Space in
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10.1057/9780230595569 - Ideas of Space in Contemporary Poetry, Ian Davidson
February2007 MAC/ICY Page-iii 1403_997713_01_preiv
©IanDavidson2007
Foreword©PeterBarry2007
Allrightsreserved.Noreproduction,copyortransmissionofthis
publicationmaybemadewithoutwrittenpermission.
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Firstpublished2007by s
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PALGRAVEMACMILLAN o
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Companiesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld ot
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PALGRAVEMACMILLANistheglobalacademicimprintofthePalgrave bi
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AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. on
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Davidson,Ian,1957(cid:3) gr
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1.Englishpoetry“21stcentury“Historyandcriticism. 2.English al fr
poetry“20thcentury“Historyandcriticism. 3.Americanpoetry“21st eri
century“Historyandcriticism. 4.Americanpoetry“20th at
m
century“Historyandciriticism. 5.Modernism(Literature)“English- ht
speakingcountries. 6.Postmodernism(Literature)“English-speaking g
countries. 7.Spaceandtimeinliterature 8.Materialisminliterature. pyri
I.Title. Co
PR612.D382007
821(cid:2).09“dc22 2006052950
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16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07
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10.1057/9780230595569 - Ideas of Space in Contemporary Poetry, Ian Davidson
February2007 MAC/ICY Page-iv 1403_997713_01_preiv
Contents
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ListofFigures vii gra
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Acknowledgements viii o -
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ForewordbyPeterBarry ix Tro
et i
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Introduction 1 bli
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1 AestheticsofSpace:CubismtoLanguagePoetry 6 sit
er
v
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2 SpatialTheoriesandPoeticPractices 24 o U
Spaceandplace 28 ed t
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Spatialpractice,representationsofspace,andspacesof en
c
representation 33 m - li
Therhizomaticandthenomadic 39 co
ct.
Spaceandthebody 48 e
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3 TheSpaceAge:The1950stothe1970s 59 av
gr
Poetriesofplaces 59 al
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Mapsandmapping 60 ww.
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CharlesOlson 65 m
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EdwardDorn 70 al fr
eri
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4 HistoriesofSelves:Space,IdentityandSubjectivity 80 m
Historiesandspace 80 ght
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5 Space,PlaceandIdentity 89 C
CatherineWalshandEavanBoland 103
RalphHawkins 106
FannyHowe 114
Oldendingsandnewbeginnings 122
v
10.1057/9780230595569 - Ideas of Space in Contemporary Poetry, Ian Davidson
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vi Contents
6 Now You See It: Visual Poetry and the Space of
thePage 124
Historiesofvisualandconcretepoetry 124
Visualpoetryandthepoeticline 131
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The1950sand1960s 138 2
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Graffitiartists:fromcleanconcretetodirtyvisuals 141 1-
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Pagesandspaces 149 2
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7 ThroughtheLookingGlass:PoetryinVirtualWorlds 163 on
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WorksCited 186 Pal
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Index 193 ms
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10.1057/9780230595569 - Ideas of Space in Contemporary Poetry, Ian Davidson
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List of Figures
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1.1 ‘Karawane’,HugoBall(1917) 10 nn
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2.1 ‘Text1’,Warw/Windsor,BillGriffiths(1974) 44 eC
v
a
6.1 ‘Intermedia’,DickHiggins(1995) 126 gr
al
6.2 ‘UnCoupdeDésjamaisn’aboliraleHasard’,Stéphane o - P
Mallarmé 130 ms
o
6.3 ‘Silencio’,EugenGomringer(1954) 133 Tr
6.4 Carnival,SteveMcCaffery(1999).Panel1:2,3,4and ket i
e
Panel2:CHANGEOFADDRESS 134 ot
bli
6.5 ‘WORM’,BobCobbing(1966) 140 bi
s
et
6.6 ‘bebacocacola’,DécioPignatari(1957) 142 sit
6.7 ‘rubber-stamppoem’,EmmettWilliams(1958) 143 ver
ni
6.8 ‘insitu’,CarolineBergvall 151 o U
6.9 ‘LanguedocVariorum’,HighWestRendezvous,EdDorn ed t
s
(1996) 152 en
c
7.1 PeterHoward’swebsite–‘LowProbabilityofRacoons’ 180 m - li
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Acknowledgements
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Thisbookcomesoutofalongprocessofengagementwithpoetsand 1-
1
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pnoametreyailnlthBroisteaipne,oIprelleawndh,othhaevUentaitlekdedStaabtoeustatnhdeCidaenaasdina.tThoebbeogoikn,otor ect - 2
n
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havetalkedabouttheirpoetry,providedmewithnewleadsorgiven Co
e
me more formal feedback through attendance at conference papers av
gr
oraseditors,wouldbeanimpossibletask.AllIcandoisregistermy al
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thanksfortheirunfailinggenerosity. o -
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Some of the ideas in this book are otherwise explored in papers o
Tr
that have either been published or are forthcoming in Performance et i
k
Research,TheSaltCompaniontoLeeHarwood,RemovedforFurtherStudy: e
ot
ThePoetryofTomRaworth(TheGig),AdditionalApparitions(ThePaper) bli
bi
andPoetryWales.Mythankstotheeditors. ets
The research and writing of this book has been supported in part ersit
v
byanAHRC/WelshAcademyCreativeandResearchfellowship,and ni
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byresearchleavefromtheUniversityofWales,Bangor.Withoutthat d to
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support the book would have been less than it is and I thank them s
n
e
forThthiseboopopkorttaukneistieasdtvhaentfaugnedionfgtphreovpirdinedci.ple of fair dealing in its m - lic
o
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quotation of copyright material. Every effort has also been made to ct.
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traceholdersofcopyrightmaterialandpermissionhasbeenregistered nn
o
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below.Ifanyhavebeenoverlooked,thepublisherswillbepleasedto ve
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makethenecessaryarrangementatthefirstopportunity. gr
al
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I would like to thank the following for permission to quote their w.
w
material in this book: Denise Riley, Jim Bennett, Ralph Hawkins, w
m
GFaenranlydiHnoewMeo.nk, Peter Riley, Tom Raworth, Carcanet, Bill Griffiths, erial fro
at
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Foreword
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Back in the early 1990s, when I was a lecturer at LSU College in 1-
1
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SfrooumthMamanpctohnes,tIehrewaards voinsittihneggtrhaepeUvniniveetrhsiattya. Icommamnaigsseidontoinggeetdhitiomr ect - 2
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to call at LSU as well, and we had lunch in the Inner Avenue, just Co
e
across the road from the college, at a born-again local which was in av
gr
processofbecomingverytrendy.TheprojectIwantedtoputforward al
P
was an edited volume on contemporary avant-garde poetry, a book o -
s
m
whichIhadbeenplottingwithRobertHampsonsincethemid-1980s. o
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Over the years, lists of potential contributors and possible topics in et i
k
Robert’smeticuloushandwritingweredone(literally)onthebacksof e
ot
envelopes, usually in pubs in the vicinity of Tottenham Court Road bli
bi
after poetry readings or day conferences, as I prepared to head back ets
to Waterloo and the train to Southampton. I used those notes to ersit
v
typeupafull-scale‘proposal’whichIhandedovertotheManchester ni
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commissioningeditorinthehalf-lightofthebackroombarinInner d to
e
Avenue (in retrospect, most discussions about contemporary poetry ns
e
saenedmtehdetboohoakpwpaesndiunlyhaclofm-limtbiasscikornoeodm,rbeasursl)t.inTgheinpNreeswswBraistiisnhtPeroeestrtieeds,: m - lic
o
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TheScopeofthePossible,jointlyeditedbyRobertHampsonandPeter ct.
e
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Barry,in1993.Itwasthefirstbookaboutcontemporaryavant-garde, n
o
c
or ‘neo-Modernist’, poetry to appear in the United Kingdon from ve
a
a major press and designed for a wide readership of academics and gr
al
p
practitioners. Before that, the only critical material available was of w.
w
a much more fugitive kind and was aimed at a coterie readership of w
m
thTeoadlraeya,dtyhiensititiautaetdio.n is transformed, and the welcome appearance erial fro
ofIanDavidson’sbookisoneoftheindicationsofthatchange.Ashe mat
says,iftherearestill‘distinctionsbetweenamainstreamcentreand ght
anexperimentalmargin,theyarenolongersustainedbyavailability pyri
o
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or visibility’. In other words, ‘small press’ (and ‘micro-press’) work
todayisaswidelydistributedastheworkofpoetswhoarepublished
byFaberorPicador.Informationaboutthemisinstantlyavailableon
the Internet, and new imprints like ‘Salt’ and ‘Shearsman’ maintain
extensive lists of poets in print, and publish full-scale critical books
ix
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