Close Listening: Poetry and the Performed Word (W.E.B. Du Bois Institute (Paperback))

Close Listening and the Performed Word brings together seventeen strikingly original essays, especially written for this volume, on the poetry reading, the sounds of poetry, and the visual performance of poetry. While the performance of poetry is as old as poetry itself, critical attention to modern and postmodern poetry performance has been negligible. This collection opens many new avenues for the critical discussion of the sound and performance of poetry, with special attention to innovative work. More important, the essays collected here offer brilliant and wide-ranging elucidations of how twentieth-century poetry has been practiced as a performance art. The contributors--including Marjorie Perloff, Susan Stewart, Johanna Drucker, Dennis Tedlock, and Susan Howe--cover topics that range from the performance styles of individual poets and types of poetry to the relation of sound to meaning, from historical and social approaches to poetry readings and to new imaginations of prosody. Such approaches are intended to encourage new forms of ''close listenings''--not only to the printed text of poems, but also to tapes, performances, and other expressions of the sounded word. With readings and ''spoken word'' events gaining an increasing audience for poetry, Close Listening provides an indispensable critical groundwork for understanding the importance of language in--and as--performance. Close Listening And The Performed Word Brings Together Seventeen Essays, Especially Written For This Volume, On The Poetry Reading, The Sound Of Poetry, And The Visual Performance Of Poetry. While The Performance Of Poetry Is As Old As Poetry Itself, Critical Attention To Modern And Postmodern Poetry Performance Has Been Surprisingly Slight. From The Performance Styles Of Individual Poets And Types Of Poetry To The Relation Of Sound To Meaning, From Historical And Social Approaches To Poetry Readings To New Imaginations Of Prosody, The Entries Gathered Here Investigate A Compelling Range Of Topics For Anyone Interested In Poetry. Taken Together, These Essays Encourage New Forms Of Close Listenings--not Only To The Printed Text Of Poems But Also To Tapes, Performances, And Other Expressions Of The Sounded And Visualized Word. Letter On Sound / Susan Stewart -- The Aural Ellipsis And The Nature Of Listening In Contemporary Poetry / Nick Piombino -- Praxis : A Political Economy Of Noise And Information / Bruce Andrews -- After Free Verse : The New Nonlinear Poetries / Marjorie Perloff -- Ether Either / Susan Howe -- Visual Performance Of The Poetic Text / Johanna Drucker -- Voice In Extremis / Steve Mccaffery -- Toward A Poetics Of Polyphony And Translatability / Dennis Tedlock -- Speech Effects : The Talk As A Genre / Bob Perelman -- Sound Reading / Peter Quartermain -- Understanding The Sound Of Not Understanding / Jed Rasula -- The Contemporary Poetry Reading / Peter Middleton -- Neon Griot : The Functional Role Of Poetry Readings In The Black Arts Movement / Lorenzo Thomas -- Was That Different, Dissident Or Dissonant? Poetry (n) The Public Spear : Slams, Open Readings, And Dissident Traditions / Maria Damon -- Local Vocals : Hawaiʻi's Pidgin Literature, Performance, And Postcoloniality / Susan M. Schultz -- Who Speaks : Ventriloquism And The Self In The Poetry Reading / Ron Silliman. Edited By Charles Bernstein. Includes Audio Resources (p. 379-384). Includes Bibliographical References (p. 385-390). Close Listening and the Performed Word brings together seventeen strikingly original essays, especially written for this volume, on the poetry reading, the sounds of poetry, and the visual performance of poetry. While the performance of poetry is as old as poetry itself, critical attention to modern and postmodern poetry performance has been negligible. This collection opens many new avenues for the critical discussion of the sound and performance of poetry, with special attention to innovative work. More important, the essays collected here offer brilliant and wide-ranging elucidations of how twentieth-century poetry has been practiced as a performance art. The contributors--including Marjorie Perloff, Susan Stewart, Johanna Drucker, Dennis Tedlock, and Susan Howe--cover topics that range from the performance styles of individual poets and types of poetry to the relation of sound to meaning, from historical and social approaches to poetry readings and to new imaginations of prosody. Such approaches are intended to encourage new forms of "close listenings"--not only to the printed text of poems, but also to tapes, performances, and other expressions of the sounded word. With readings and "spoken word" events gaining an increasing audience for poetry, Close Listening provides an indispensable critical groundwork for understanding the importance of language in--and as --performance. Close Listening brings together seventeen strikingly original essays, especially written for this volume, on the poetry reading, the sound of poetry, and the visual performance of poetry. While the performance of poetry is as old as poetry itself, critical attention to modern and postmodern poetry performance has been surprisingly slight. This volume, featuring work by critics and poets such as Marjorie Perloff, Susan Stewart, Johanna Drucker, Dennis Tedlock, and Susan Howe, is the first comprehensive introduction to the ways in which twentieth-century poetry has been practiced as a performance art. From the performance styles of individual poets and types of poetry to the relation of sound to meaning, from historical and social approaches to poetry readings to new imaginations of prosody, the entries gathered here investigate a compelling range of topics for anyone interested in poetry. Taken together, these essays encourage new forms of'close listenings'--not only to the printed text of poems but also to tapes, performances, and other expressions of the sounded and visualized word. The time is right for such a volume: with readings, spoken word events, and the Web gaining an increasing audience for poetry, Close Listening opens a number of new avenues for the critical discussion of the sound and performance of poetry. Contents......Page 8 Contributors......Page 10 Introduction......Page 14 I. SOUND'S MEASURES......Page 38 1 Letter on Sound......Page 40 2 The Aural Ellipsis and the Nature of Listening in Contemporary Poetry......Page 64 3 Praxis: A Political Economy of Noise and Information......Page 84 4 After Free Verse: The New Nonlinear Poetries......Page 97 5 Ether Either......Page 122 II. PERFORMING WORDS......Page 140 6 Visual Performance of the Poetic Text......Page 142 7 Voice in Extremis......Page 173 8 Toward a Poetics of Polyphony and Translatability......Page 189 9 Speech Effects: The Talk as a Genre......Page 211 10 Sound Reading......Page 228 III. CLOSE HEARINGS/HISTORICAL SETTINGS......Page 242 11 Understanding the Sound of Not Understanding......Page 244 12 The Contemporary Poetry Reading......Page 273 13 Neon Griot: The Functional Role of Poetry Readings in the Black Arts Movement......Page 311 14 Was That "Different," "Dissident" or "Dissonant"? Poetry (n) the Public Spear: Slams, Open Readings, and Dissident Traditions......Page 335 15 Local Vocals: Hawaiis Pidgin Literature, Performance, and Postcoloniality......Page 354 Afterword: Who Speaks: Ventriloquism and the Self in the Poetry Reading......Page 371 Audio Resources......Page 390 Bibliography......Page 396 Close Listening and the Performed Word brings together seventeen essays, especially written for this volume, on the poetry reading, the sound of poetry, and the visual performance of poetry. While the performance of poetry is as old as poetry itself, critical attention to modern and postmodern poetry performance has been surprisingly slight. From the performance styles of individual poets and types of poetry to the relation of sound to meaning, from historical and social approaches to poetry readings to new imaginations of prosody, the entries gathered here investigate a compelling range of topics for anyone interested in poetry. Taken together, these essays encourage new forms of "close listenings" - not only to the printed text of poems but also to tapes, performances, and other expressions of the sounded and visualized word. Contains 17 original essays, commissioned for this volume, on the reading of poetry, the sound of poetry, and the visual performance of poetry. Opens new avenues for the critical discussion of the sound and performance of poetry, and offers a critical base for understanding language and its performance.