Phenomenal reading : essays on modern and contemporary poetics

280 Pages·2012·2.845 MB·English

by  Reed, Brian M

Phenomenal Reading
Mo dern and Co nte Mpo r ar y po eti Cs
series editors
Charles Bernstein
Hank Lazer
series advisory Board
Maria damon
rachel Blau duplessis
alan Golding
susan Howe
nathaniel Mackey
Jerome McGann
Harryette Mullen
aldon nielsen
Marjorie perloἀ
Joan retallack
ron silliman
Jerry Ward
Phenomenal Reading
essays on Modern
and Contemporary poetics
Brian M. reed
tH e Univers it y of aLaBaMa press
tuscaloosa
Copyright © 2012
The University of alabama press
tuscaloosa, alabama 35487- 0380
all rights reserved
Manufactured in the United states of america
typeface: Minion & stone sans
Cover design by Burt&Burt
∞
The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of ameri-
can national standard for information sciences—permanence of paper for printed Li-
brary Materials, ans i Z39.48- 1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-publication data
reed, Brian M.
phenomenal reading : essays on modern and contemporary poetics / Brian M. reed.
p. cm. — (Modern & contemporary poetics)
includes bibliographical references and index.
isBn 978-0-8173-5694-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) — isBn 978-0-8173-8601-6 (electronic)
1. poetics. 2. Literature, Modern—20th century—History and criticism. 3. Literature,
Modern—21st century—History and criticism. i. title.
pn1042.r39 2012
808.1—dc23
2011034 717
i would like to thank all of the editors, journals, and presses involved in the publication of ear-
lier versions of chapters 1 to 11. “Carl sandburg’s The people, yes, Thirties Modernism, and the
problem of Bad political poetry,” Texas Studies in Language and Literature 46.2 (summer 2004):
181–212. “Carry on england: tom raworth’s ‘West Wind,’ intuition, and neo- avant- Garde poet-
ics,” Contemporary Literature 47.2 (summer 2006): 170–206. “ezra pound’s Utopia of the eye: The
Chinese Characters in the rock- drill Cantos,” Paideuma 26 (fall- Winter 1997): 111–21. “now not
now: Gertrude stein speaks,” English Studies in Canada 33.4 (dec. 2007): 103–13. “The Baseness
of robert Grenier’s visual poetics,” Verdure no. 3–4 (Winter- spring 2001): 67–70. “ ‘Lost already
Walking’: Caroline Bergvall’s ‘via,’ ” Jacket no.34 (oct. 2007): n.p. “Modernist ohio: Hart Crane and
the Challenge of akron,” Hiram Poetry Review no. 69 (spring 2008): 47–62. “robert duncan and
Gertrude stein from Writing Writing to Ground Work II,” (Re:)Working the Ground: Essays on the
Late Writings of Robert Duncan, ed. James Maynard (new york: palgrave, 2011) “reginald shep-
herd at Hart Crane’s Grave,” Callaloo 32.4 (fall 2009): 1274–92. “splice of Life: rosmarie Waldrop
renews Collage,” How2 no. 8 (fall 2002): n.p. “The time Has Come to talk of Queens: John ash-
bery’s ‘Coma Berenices,’ ” Seattle Review 1.1 (summer 2007): 159–77.
To Jody, Laura, Rebecca, and Nick.
Primite s ulybkoiu, moi druz’ia,
svobodnoi muzy prinoshen’e.

Contents
preface: How reed Wrote Certain of His essays ix
i. poLiti CaL read inG
1. Carl sandburg and the problem of Bad political poetry 3
2. tom raworth and poetic intuition 32
ii. siGHt and soUnd
3. ezra pound’s Utopia of the eye 61
4. Gertrude stein speaks 69
5. The Baseness of robert Grenier’s visual poetics 78
6. Caroline Bergvall Begins again 83
iii. Writers read inG
7. Hart Crane and the Challenge of akron 93
8. robert duncan and Gertrude stein 110
9. reginald shepherd at Hart Crane’s Grave 131
iv. asso Ciative read inG
10. rosmarie Waldrop renews Collage 155
11. John ashbery after all These years 176
viii / Contents
12. The aBCs of substitutional poetics 191
notes 215
Works Cited 231
index 243
Preface
How Reed Wrote Certain of His Essays
Beginning Again
This book gathers twelve essays written over a twelve- year span. eleven of them
were published previously in a range of diἀerent venues, from ezines to refereed
journals. each essay focuses on one or more twentieth- or twenty-first-century
poets known for formal and linguistic experiment. together, they oἀer a discon-
tinuous partial overview of several storylines: modernism’s unpredictable shifts
and self- reinventions, the links between the historical and neo- avant- gardes,
and collaboration between poets and artists working in other media. The ac-
count might be slightly oἀ-c enter—gay men and women predominate—but the
goal is less revisionism than affirmation. Here are writers worth reading. “taste
them and try . . . sweet to tongue and sound to eye” (rossetti 2).
A Body Does Get Around
The oldest essay in this book dates back to my time as a graduate student at stan-
ford University during the height of the dotcom boom. i had the opportunity to
study with such eminent scholars as terry Castle, George dekker, albert Gelpi,
robert Harrison, seth Lerer, diane Middlebrook, stephen orgel, and Jeἀrey
schnapp. above all, i had the chance to work with Marjorie perloἀ. from “in-
troduction to Graduate studies” to my dissertation defense, she was my men-
tor; she taught me to write and think as a literary critic. over the last decade,
she has remained an adviser, an interlocutor, and a constant inspiration. Her
imprint will be obvious throughout Phenomenal Reading.
Less obvious might be the rhetorical agenda that unites these essays, which
can in fact be traced back to a moment of insight that predates my arrival in