Contemporary “Experimental
Literature” In America, Emphasizing Poets, Poetry, And Poetry
Journals*
by Clara B. Jones
As
every writer knows, it is important to use words intentionally.
However, the term, “experimental poetry,” is used variously in
the literature and is difficult to define. Paul Stephens of Columbia
University titled one of his papers, “What do we mean by 'literary'
experimentalism?”, choosing to review uses of the term rather than
to settle on a single definition. Stephens points out that several
terms are employed interchangeably with “experimental literature,”
especially, avant garde
and Postmodern [rejection of the previous periods' universal truths
(e.g., humanism, psychoanalysis, Marxism, Fascism)], and I have
noticed in my research that the term, “innovative,” has been used
to describe experimental poets who are female. As a sub-title for one
of my manuscripts, I have used the words, “exploratory poems,” to
describe innovative pieces, a figurative substitute for the word,
“experimental.”
Writing,
primarily, about experimental poetry, Stephens states that,
historically, “experimental literature” has been associated with
Symbolism, Surrealism, Dadaism, Imagism as well as, other schools
(e.g., Futurism, Bauhaus) and that the term, “experimental,” did
not come into common usage until the 1970s and 1980s. Despite the
word's diverse interpretations and uses, Stephens agrees with Ann
Lauterbach that, “in the world of poetry, to be experimental is
sometimes taken to mean you have...an aversion to form....” I
suggest a more restrictive version of the previous statement—that
literary experimentation exhibits an aversion to the aesthetics
dominating mainstream standards at a given time (the “canon”),
especially, standards of form, language, and function.
Gertrude Stein as an exemplar of
“experimental literature”
Speaking of
Gertrude Stein and other experimental authors, Stephens asserts,
“Writers like Stein...seek to confront us with massive blocks of
information [e.g., “epic” poems] that...thwart what we
traditionally expect from poetry as a formal expression of carefully
crafted sound and meaning.” Using “conceptual” writing as an
example, Stephens goes on to suggest that this form of experimental
literature, in particular, poetry, “is not necessarily a careless
literature,” contrary to some critics who have claimed that many
experimental works are produced “arbitrarily.” Natalia Cecire
considers Stein's epic poems “unreadable” and “boring,”
suggesting that “it is not scale but rather something about her
style that is an impediment to reading; not the how much, but simply
the how.”, particularly, Stein's penchant for “repetition.”
Yet, consistent with the idea that experimental literature opposes
mainstream standards, Cecire states that Stein's poetry challenges
“the status of reading” and that other experimental writers
(e.g., Kenneth Goldsmith, Vanessa Place) negate “the need for
reading in the traditional textual sense.”
The
latter comment is reminiscent of current experiments in American
poetry whereby information technology (e.g., texting, Twitter,
Facebook, video, music) intersect with conventional ways to use
words, and the highly-regarded, young experimental poet and internet
artist, Steve Roggenbuck, promotes the terms, “internet poetry,”
“vlogging formats,” “essay film,” “collage poetry,” as
well as other sub-genres for utilizing technology and text (“emergent
poetry” in Roggenbuck's lingo). One might suggest additional ways
of describing media poetry, such as, “cyber-poetry” or
“cyborg-poetics;” “neo-poetry” or “neo-poetics;” or
,“anti-poetry.” “Text art,” related to “media poetry,”
though, a simpler sub-genre, is famously represented by the work of
African-American artist, [William] Pope.L (University of Chicago),
producing stylized printing composed as highly provocative
statements, usually, innovative phrases about race, class, or gender.
These novel ways of conceptualizing poetry and other text require a
new aesthetics, a project in progress judging by Stephens' recent
publications, including, a book and critical articles in the journal,
Convolution,
which he edits.
A case study of contemporary
“experimental poetry”: “video erasure poetry”
I
encountered Claire Peckham's media (or “internet”) poetry (
http://www.houndlit.com/claire-peckham-whispering-gallery)
when reading an issue of the poetry journal, HOUND,
a relatively new publication edited by Danielle Susi.
The venue's webpage states, “We...tend to lean more toward
experimental pieces and work that takes risks.” Based upon an
e-mail interview with Claire, I learned that she is an “artist”
in Seattle with a background in English (Creative Writing) and
Photomedia, concentrating on “image and language.” More
precisely, she said, “My work, among other things, is concerned
with levels of perception and their intersections.” Claire began
illustrating and binding books when she was about nine, finding that
“games were not worth playing without characters; imaginary
adventures were not interesting without plot.” When visiting
libraries, she was, especially, interested in audiobooks. She
reported, “I started saying, 'I am a poet.' as often as I said, 'I
am a writer.'”
I
asked Claire to relay her process for creating, “Whispering
Gallery,” the “video erasure poem” published in HOUND.
She responded, “'Whispering Gallery' was the culminating project
for the last photography class I took at university. It was a class
dedicated to exploring and re-appropriating the concept of books made
explicitly as works of art. The piece is visual art and poetry [as
well as sound], though I would not call it 'performance art'.” I
asked Claire to be more specific about her process, in particular,
what she means by a “video erasure poem.” She replied that her
use of the term is “literal” and that “Whispering Gallery”
was created “by erasing words from 'found' text,” specifically,
entries in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). She thinks of the
poem as a combination of “poetry and visual art” [and sound] with
video as the format and, I would suggest, using video as the vehicle
for the experiment, though the mediation of text by technology might,
also, be considered a form of facilitation or enhancement.
Claire's
current project is another “video erasure poem” using text “from
an ancient study on the distance at which something becomes invisible
to the human eye [perception].” Claire's work is one of several
sub-genres of contemporary experimental poetry, and readers
interested in exploring the wide variety of these forms are referred
to journals such as Posit,
Inpatient Press,
Otoliths,
Experiential-Experimental-Literature,
in addition to, HOUND
and other venues (see below). In most of these journals one observes
that the most common techniques and strategies utilize the
manipulation of electronic technology, including, sound and music,
with text, though Roggenbuck and others point out that other
poetic/textual forms are “emerging.”
Experimental Literature concerns
artistic function as well as form
Paul
Stephens, referred to above, points out that experimental literature
has political and social components. I conduct research on
experimental poetry, and it seems clear to me that movements in this
genre have often served as mechanisms of resistance and forms of
protest against political and social ideologies and institutions, as
well as, opposition to mainstream aesthetics. These tactics are often
utilized by members of marginalized groups, some of whom have been
political activists as well as artists (e.g., Amiri Baraka, Nikki
Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez). Contemporary experimental movements have
included the Harlem Renaissance, the Beats, the San Francisco School,
the New York School of Poetry, the L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E movement, and the
Black Arts Movement. Women have been important participants in all of
these initiatives, including, for example, the “innovative” poets
Harryette Mullen, Alice Notley, Gloria Evangelina Anzaloúa,
Susan Howe, Leslie Scalapino, Eileen Myles, and Alice Fulton. Among
these female poets, Alice Notley's and Susan Howe's work has become
part of the mainstream “canon,” suggesting, perhaps, that there
may be a fuzzy line between what is conventional and what is
“experimental” and that, as the Caribbean-British sociologist,
Stuart Hall, has suggested, activities “at the margins” can
impact the dominant, majority culture and, possibly, change it. In
poetry, Allen Ginsberg might be a good example of Hall's theory and
an interesting subject for research.
Finally,
perhaps reflecting roles played by females as well as racial and
ethnic minorities in experimental poetry projects, several active
journals of experimental poetry have diverse editorial boards (e.g.,
Door Is Ajar,
Counterexample Poetics,
Rhizome,
Winter Tangerine Review,
Really System),
and this phenomenon may differ significantly from the, purportedly,
mostly white, mostly male, editorial boards of journals privileging
formalist and other mainstream poetic forms (but see, for example,
mastheads of the highly-regarded online mainstream poetry venues,
Memorious and
Blackbird, as
well as the print journal, Prairie
Schooner). Possible
differences between experimental and mainstream journals is a topic
worthy of systematic investigation. The present article is intended
to alert readers to the burgeoning sub-genres in contemporary
experimental literature driven, primarily, by varied combinations of
technology, text, visual art, and sound or music and is a call for
reviewers of journals and books to focus on the creative experiments
of these writers and publications, part of a new avant
garde in literature.
*Originally appearing in The Review Review, 2015
Current Art In
America presents several events/concepts/neolisms that can be adapted
to poetry [Poetry substituted for Art in what follows]...
1. Symposium of
[Poetry] and Technology
2. Post-Globalism
[idea: might Poets speak of Post-Formalism?]
3. Opera [Poem]
4. Basquiat and
Queer Contemporary [Poetry]...
"Artist and
poet Juliana Huxtable, California College of the Arts professor Dr.
Jordana Saggese, Black Contemporary Art founder Kimberly Drew, and
The Very Black Project (photographer Justin Fulton and
artist-educator André D. Singleton) will discuss the influence of
Jean Michel-Basquiat in a queer context. Their conversation will
touch on the phenomena that precipitated his success, as well as the
effects of his legacy within African diasporic communities." AiA
5. The Future of
[Poetry] and Criticism in an Evolving Digital WorldThe Outsider [The
Other?] [Poetry] Fair #generateideas
Adding to my
comments inspired by issues of AiA...
1. would there be
any rationale in dividing Poetry into 3 classes...1. Canon [poetry that
has passes the test of time...Keats' "eternal"; 2. Applied
[poetry whose relevance is time-limited...such as much poetry written
by marginalized groups that might be categorized as, say, Lyrical
Sociology or Political Science or, even, Journalism]; and, 3. Experimental...categories can be fluid [e.g., Alice Notley probably
belongs in Canon as well as Experimental; Allen Ginsberg &
Gertrude Stein, Experimental poets, have reached Canon status; none
of these poets began their careers as part of the mainstream]...
2. [Poetry]
Concert
3. Are there Racial Hierarchies in the Poetry world?
4. In addition to
benefactors & museums, galleries are, also, important conduits
for the proliferation of marginalized art into the mainstream...can
Poets be more pro-active in linking their practices to organizations
and institutions with "clout" in the Poetry world...other
than, say, academic institutions & big publishing houses?...how,
for example, can a poetry collective attract support from a
benefactor...can we train poets to curate their own practices in
order to create demand for their work?...is there a poetry market or
can we create a poetry market comparable to the market for art...can
Black Nationalist Poets like Morgan Parker negotiate terms in their
interest as, say, Kara Walker & Pope.L have done, & Basquiat
did, for their practices?...
