Anarchists in the Academy: Machines and Free Readers in Experimental Poetry (The University of Alberta Press)

Dani Spinosa takes up anarchism's power as a cultural and artistic ideology, rather than as a political philosophy, with a persistent emphasis on the common. She demonstrates how postanarchism offers a useful theoretical context for poetry that is not explicitly political—specifically for the contemporary experimental poem with its characteristic challenges to subjectivity, representation, authorial power, and conventional constructions of the reader-text relationship. Her case studies of sixteen texts make a bold move toward politicizing readers and imbuing literary theory with an activist praxis—a sharp hope. This is a provocative volume for those interested in contemporary poetics, experimental literatures, and the digital humanities. Case Studies Jim Andrews Christian Bök Mez Breeze John Cage Andy Campbell Robert Duncan Kenneth Goldsmith Susan Howe Jackson Mac Low Erín Moure [Erin Mouré] Harryette Mullen bpNichol Vanessa Place Juliana Spahr Brian Kim Stefans W. Mark Sutherland Darren Wershler Front cover 1 Title page 4 Copyright page 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Acknowledgements 10 Introduction 12 1 Precursors to Digital Writing 40 Jackson Mac Low Is Something Something 42 John Cage Making Excessive Noise 53 Robert Duncan Plagiarizing 64 bpNichol for the Curious Viewer/Reader 74 2 Feminism, Print, Machines 90 Susan Howe Sleeping in the Library 93 Erín Moure’s Name in Quotation Marks 110 [Juliana Spahr Prefers Both 123 Harryette Mullen Making Kimchee in a Museum 134 3 Easy Concepts 146 Kenneth Goldsmith Talking to Himself 150 Vanessa Place Without Serifs 163 Christian Bök Obsolesces the Avant-Garde 173 Darren Wershler andor Any Number of Readers 181 4 Digital Interventions 192 Jim Andrews Drifts Apart 195 W. Mark Sutherland Puts the Cedar in Abecedarian 205 Brian Kim Stefans Alphabetizes Dreams 216 Andy Campbell, Mez Breeze, and the Constrict(l)ure of Code 225 Conclusion 238 Notes 244 Works Cited 254 Permissions 272 Index 274 About the Author 294 Other Titles from The University of Alberta Press 297

Dani Spinosa takes up anarchism's power as a cultural and artistic ideology, rather than as a political philosophy, with a persistent emphasis on the common. She demonstrates how postanarchism offers a useful theoretical context for poetry that is not explicitly political—specifically for the contemporary experimental poem with its characteristic challenges to subjectivity, representation, authorial power, and conventional constructions of the reader-text relationship. Her case studies of sixteen texts make a bold move toward politicizing readers and imbuing literary theory with an activist praxis—a sharp hope. This is a provocative volume for those interested in contemporary poetics, experimental literatures, and the digital humanities.Case StudiesJim AndrewsChristian BökMez BreezeJohn CageAndy CampbellRobert DuncanKenneth GoldsmithSusan HoweJackson Mac LowErín Moure [Erin Mouré]Harryette MullenbpNicholVanessa PlaceJuliana SpahrBrian Kim StefansW. Mark SutherlandDarren Wershler

1 Precursors to Digital Writing 1 Jackson Mac Low Is Something Something 3 John Cage Making Excessive Noise 14 Robert Duncan Plagiarizing 25 bpNichol for the Curious Viewer/Reader 35 2 Feminism, Print, Machines 51 Susan Howe Sleeping in the Library 54 Erín Moure’s Name in Quotation Marks 71 Juliana Spahr Prefers Both 84 Harryette Mullen Making Kimchee in a Museum 95 3 Easy Concepts 107 Kenneth Goldsmith Talking to Himself 111 Vanessa Place Without Serifs 124 Christian Bök Obsolesces the Avant-Garde 134 Darren Wershler andor Any Number of Readers 142 4 Digital Interventions 153 Jim Andrews Drifts Apart 156 W. Mark Sutherland Puts the Cedar in Abecedarian 166 Brian Kim Stefans Alphabetizes Dreams 177 Andy Campbell, Mez Breeze, and the Constrict(l)ure of Code 186 "Postanarchism seeks to reframe and rethink our ontological and epistemological practices within and outside the academy. Anarchists in the Academy adopts postanarchism as a productive reading strategy for contemporary literature, particularly experimental poetry. Dani Spinosa takes up anarchism's power as a cultural and artistic ideology, rather than as a political philosophy, with a persistent emphasis on the common. Her micro-case studies of sixteen texts make a bold move toward politicizing readers and imbuing literary theory with an activist praxis--a sharp hope. This is a provocative volume for those interested in contemporary poetics, experimental literatures, and the digital humanities."-- Provided by publisher