Representing Absence
poetry workshopI feel the need to start by saying how much I’ve enjoyed the size and shape of this book. There’s something about the way such a small creation can contain such huge ideas (not to mention insert the world of Moby-Dick) that made me happy every time I opened it. I felt as though I was holding open and peering into another world that was sometimes, all of a sudden, my world. Plus, I found that the closer my nose was to the page the less I was understanding, which served the dual purpose of entertaining me and letting me know when it was time to re-read.
After reading the blogs and interviews thus far, I found myself trying to wrap my brain around the meaning of “unified subjectivity” in relation to Meadow’s work. My handy statement, which may or may not be accurate, follows these lines: If a “unified subjectivity” means a theory/interpretation/view that comes from within each reader and is unaffected by the external world (i.e., what we inhale from society, the very syntax of our language) then part of Meadows’ project seems to be to question the possibility of unified subjectivity in a world full of the “crowded backwash of cultural clutter.” That phrase resonated with me, as did the idea that poetry can call into question our cultural, economic, historical, etc. assumptions. And now, having just re-re-re-re-read the first stanza of Chapter I (“Having little or no subjectivity / brought into the world carrying cargo / or amor or moral precept to the street”) my wondering seems pretty basic, but hey, at least I feel like I accomplished something.
I was glad Bijun mentioned identity and selfhood as a theme since I’ve been mulling what is going on in these poems with regard to identity and how that relates to the question of community construction. At least they seem to relate, as in the beginning of Chapter 11: “Entirely social this self we inhabit drawing / upon pronominal identification, saying / “we” when our little community / experiences nappishness getting out of / the future tense” (34). Any thoughts about the relationship?
Certain sections of these poems (Chapter 8, for example) made me wish I were more familiar with Moby-Dick since it is incorporated in such an intriguing manner. Actually, I’ve been wishing that since Meadows’ reading on campus last year which was nifty, to say the least, and helpful in hearing the poems as I read. I particularly enjoyed the music and rhythm of that poem’s last stanza and the way it works with image: “Clouds. There floated the shed thing, / a beam of light shone forth / from an angel’s face on something. / Radiance upon the shores / where Time / struggles / with the physical project, / beaded beats, scroll work / —what conspires to pattern these forms is earth’s deepest ponds, / the water comes first and first.” I’d be curious to know the relationship between the book and Chapter 8 if anyone knows. Hmmm. I’ll have to read the tome.
Thanks Everyone,
Eve
After reading the blogs and interviews thus far, I found myself trying to wrap my brain around the meaning of “unified subjectivity” in relation to Meadow’s work. My handy statement, which may or may not be accurate, follows these lines: If a “unified subjectivity” means a theory/interpretation/view that comes from within each reader and is unaffected by the external world (i.e., what we inhale from society, the very syntax of our language) then part of Meadows’ project seems to be to question the possibility of unified subjectivity in a world full of the “crowded backwash of cultural clutter.” That phrase resonated with me, as did the idea that poetry can call into question our cultural, economic, historical, etc. assumptions. And now, having just re-re-re-re-read the first stanza of Chapter I (“Having little or no subjectivity / brought into the world carrying cargo / or amor or moral precept to the street”) my wondering seems pretty basic, but hey, at least I feel like I accomplished something.
I was glad Bijun mentioned identity and selfhood as a theme since I’ve been mulling what is going on in these poems with regard to identity and how that relates to the question of community construction. At least they seem to relate, as in the beginning of Chapter 11: “Entirely social this self we inhabit drawing / upon pronominal identification, saying / “we” when our little community / experiences nappishness getting out of / the future tense” (34). Any thoughts about the relationship?
Certain sections of these poems (Chapter 8, for example) made me wish I were more familiar with Moby-Dick since it is incorporated in such an intriguing manner. Actually, I’ve been wishing that since Meadows’ reading on campus last year which was nifty, to say the least, and helpful in hearing the poems as I read. I particularly enjoyed the music and rhythm of that poem’s last stanza and the way it works with image: “Clouds. There floated the shed thing, / a beam of light shone forth / from an angel’s face on something. / Radiance upon the shores / where Time / struggles / with the physical project, / beaded beats, scroll work / —what conspires to pattern these forms is earth’s deepest ponds, / the water comes first and first.” I’d be curious to know the relationship between the book and Chapter 8 if anyone knows. Hmmm. I’ll have to read the tome.
Thanks Everyone,
Eve
posted by Eve at 6:41 PM
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