Sunday, September 07, 2008
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Reading Claire Colebrook's 'Deleuze' (Routledge Critical Thinkers) on and off throughout the week. The chapter on 'Minor Literature' makes me realise I have to do a complete rethink of 'Riddles of Form'. So much she touches on is relevant and suggests ways of developing ideas. e.g. my reiteration that I do not know how to read Ray DiPalma.
The good news: that I can now see ways to explore.
The bad news: five classes to teach Monday-Friday. And that's before marking.
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Tomorrow: 'Jabberwocky'. (Which, I see, forms a key part of 'The Logic of Sense').
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Il était Roparant, et les Vliqueux tarands
Allaient en gibroyant et en brimbulkdriquant
Jusque-là où la rourghe est à rouarghe à ramgmbde et rangmbde à rouarghambde:
Tous les falomitards étaient les chats-huants
Et les Ghoré Uk'hatis dans le Grabugeument
(Antonin Artaud)
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Il e'tait grilheure; les slictueux toves
Gyraient sur l'alloinde et vriblaient:
Tout flivoreux allaient les borogoves;
Les verchons fourgus bourniflaient.
«Prends garde au Jabberwock, mon fils!
A sa gueule qui mord, à ses griffes qui happent!
Gare l'oiseau Jubjube, et laisse
En paix le frumieux Bandersnatch!»
Le jeune homme, ayant pris sa vorpaline épée,
Cherchait longtemps l'ennemi manziquais...
Puis, arrivé près de l'Arbre Tépé,
Pour réfléchir un instant s'arrêtait.
Or, comme il ruminait de suffêches pensées,
Le Jabberwock, l'oeil flamboyant,
Ruginiflant par le bois touffeté,
Arrivait en barigoulant.
Une, deux! Une, deux! D'outre en outre!
Le glaive vorpalin virevolte, flac-vlan!
Il terrasse le monstre, et, brandissant sa tête,
Il s'en retourne galomphant.
«Tu as donc tué le Jabberwock!
Dans mes bras, mon fils rayonnois!
O jour frabieux! Callouh! Callock!»
Le vieux glouffait de joie.
Il e'tait grilheure; les slictueux toves
Gyraient sur l'alloinde et vriblaient:
Tout flivoreux allaient les borogoves;
Les verchons fourgus bourniflaient.
(Henri Parisot)
(sourced: http://www.waxdog.com/jabberwocky/translate.html)
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Today, boys and girls, we’re going to look at ‘Song of the Chinchilla’ by Lisa Jarnot*. I liked the poem immediately – and I’ve given it to ...
2 comments:
That was a nice glimpse of la vie belgique -- a street market of some kind? jazz busker? Funny how the sound is continuous but the picture a slight delay -- has a vaguely unreal quality, like a dream . . . Ever come across Baudelaire's Amoenitates Belgicae? He says some very scurrilous things about Belgian women : "Il ne me suffit pas qu'un sein soit gros et doux; / Il le faut un peu ferme, ou je tourne casaque." I quite agree, but really . . .
Ah yes, Logic of Sense/Meaning, Artaud, Jabberwocky -- it's a long time since I thought about such things -- will have to brush up . . .
Minor literature -- have you come across D&G's book Kafka: Towards a Minor Literature? There's a chapter called "What is Minor Literature"? (You know the phrase comes from Kafka's Journal, I think) -- There's also Critique et Clinique (tr. as Essays Critical and Clinical), Deleuze's book on literature (plus they added his essay on Beckett -- L'Epuise -- at the end) -- a fine collection -- as is, now I think of it, the more recent Two Regimes of Madness, but this could go on all night!
I'm working flat out on Jack Spicer at the moment -- looking at My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry (in proof -- it's out in November), plus Poet Be Like God: Jack Spicer & the San Francisco Renaissance (my God, the bitchy catfighting between Spicer & Duncan is astonishing!) + The House that Jack Built: The Collected Lectures of Jack Spicer. His notion of the Outside (Martians, etc) seems to chime with Blanchot's notion, as picked up by Deleuze. I shall have to think upon't some more, but well done Wesleyan University Press for pushing Spicer out there . . . Oh, one other thing, Spicer's idea of "taking poetry as coming from the outside rather than from the inside" derives to some extent from his reading of Alfred Bester's Demolished Man -- an acclaimed sci-fi novel from the 1950s -- Have just ordered a copy from the Book Depository. I fancy some weird sci-fi about empaths . . .
Good luck with the teaching -- a thankless task but someone has to do it . . .
All the best,
Walrus
My mobile's video is really poor but the result has its own cruddy charm.
A gesture towards Deleuze's movement-image?
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Yes, you read my mind. The Kafka volume I stumbled through in French (long before the translation) and so it'll probably make a lot more sense in English. I've ordered it and the Critical Essays.
There is absolutely no doubt that Riddles of Form will benefit from a massive Deleuzeian injection of ideas.
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re. Spicer - I don't know much of the poetry directly. Peter Gizzi is obviously saturated with his influence. I really like the Lectures & the whole Spicer 'take' on poetry & influence.
As for the Biog. I read it mostly for what light it threw on Duncan and found Spicer the man pretty horrible. Such calculated nastiness towards people! And the self-destruct mission is also depressing reading.
Lisa J sees much more that's positive in him (and knows the poetry). So maybe I should shut up and wait until I've read more of the actual texts.
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re. teaching: when it's good, it's really good. When it's not ...
The main trouble is that I make all sorts of resolutions to keep up the momentum of writing & reading & blogging and one thing after another intervenes.
As of Wednesday I'm in the UK - my father will have a heart op. - so postings will be a bit erratic.
Good luck with the Martians!
The C.
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