The Sound of Poetry / The Poetry of Sound

Sound—one of the central elements of poetry—finds itself all but ignored in the current discourse on lyric forms. The essays collected here by Marjorie Perloff and Craig Dworkin break that critical silence to readdress some of the fundamental connections between poetry and sound—connections that go far beyond traditional metrical studies. Ranging from medieval Latin lyrics to a cyborg opera, sixteenth-century France to twentieth-century Brazil, romantic ballads to the contemporary avant-garde , the contributors to The Sound of Poetry/The Poetry of Sound explore such subjects as the translatability of lyric sound, the historical and cultural roles of rhyme, the role of sound repetition in novelistic prose, the connections between “sound poetry” and music, between the visual and the auditory, the role of the body in performance, and the impact of recording technologies on the lyric voice. Along the way, the essays take on the “ensemble discords” of Maurice Scève’s Délie, Ezra Pound’s use of “Chinese whispers,” the alchemical theology of Hugo Ball’s Dada performances, Jean Cocteau’s modernist radiophonics, and an intercultural account of the poetry reading as a kind of dubbing. A genuinely comparatist study, The Sound of Poetry/The Poetry of Sound is designed to challenge current preconceptions about what Susan Howe has called “articulations of sound forms in time” as they have transformed the expanded poetic field of the twenty-first century. Contents......Page 6 Introduction: The Sound of Poetry / The Poetry of Sound (Marjorie Perloff and Craig Dworkin)......Page 8 Prelude: Poetry and Orality (Jacques Roubaud; Translated by Jean-Jacques Poucel)......Page 25 Part I: Translating Sound......Page 34 Rhyme and Freedom (Susan Stewart)......Page 36 In the Beginning Was Translation (Leevi Lehto)......Page 56 Chinese Whispers (Yunte Huang)......Page 60 Translating the Sound in Poetry: Six Propositions (Rosmarie Waldrop)......Page 67 "Ensemble discords": Translating the Music of Maurice Scève’s Délie (Richard Sieburth)......Page 73 The Poetry of Prose, the Unyielding of Sound (Gordana P. Crnković)......Page 86 Part II: Performing Sound......Page 102 Sound Poetry and the Musical Avant-Garde: A Musicologist's Perspective (Nancy Perloff)......Page 104 Cacophony, Abstraction, and Potentiality: The Fate of Dada Sound Poem (Steve McCaffery)......Page 125 When Cyborgs Versify (Christian Bök)......Page 136 Hearing Voices (Charles Bernstein)......Page 149 Impossible Reversibilities: Jackson Mac Low (Hélène Aji)......Page 156 The Stutter of Form (Craig Dworkin)......Page 173 The Art of Being Nonsynchronous (Yoko Tawada; Translated by Susan Bernofsky)......Page 191 Part III: Souding the Visual......Page 204 Writing Articulation of Sound Forms in Time (Susan Howe)......Page 206 Jean Cocteau's Radio Poetry (Rubén Gallo)......Page 212 Sound as Subject: Augusto de Campos's Poetamenos / Antonio Sergio Bessa)......Page 226 Not Sound (Johanna Drucker)......Page 244 The Sound Shape of the Visual: Toward a Phenomenology of an Interface (Ming-Qian Ma)......Page 256 Visual Experiment and Oral Performance (Brian M. Reed)......Page 277 Postlude: I Love Speech (Kenneth Goldsmith)......Page 292 Notes......Page 298 List of Contributors......Page 340 Index......Page 344 Sound Has Been All But Ignored In The Current Discourse About Lyric Forms. This Collection Of Essays Seeks To Readdress The Fundamental Connections Between Poetry And Sound - Connections That Go Far Beyond Traditional Metrical Studies. The Sound Of Poetry, The Poetry Of Sound / Marjorie Perloff And Craig Dworkin -- Prelude: Poetry And Orality / Jacques Roubaud ; Translated By Jean-jacques Poucel -- Pt. 1. Translating Sound. Rhyme And Freedom / Susan Stewart ; In The Beginning Was Translation / Leevi Lehto ; Chinese Whispers / Yunte Huang ; Translating The Sound In Poetry: Six Propositions / Rosmarie Waldrop ; Ensemble Discords: Translating The Music Of Maurice Scève's Délie / Richard Sieburth ; The Poetry Of Prose, The Unyielding Of Sound / Gordana P. Crnković -- Pt. 2. Performing Sound. Sound Poetry And The Musical Avant-garde: A Musicologist's Perspective / Nancy Perloff ; Cacophony, Abstraction, And Potentiality: The Fate Of The Dada Sound Poem / Steve Mccaffery ; When Cyborgs Versify / Christian Bök ; Hearing Voices / Charles Bernstein ; Impossible Reversibilities: Jackson Mac Low / Hélène Aji ; The Stutter Of Form / Craig Dworkin ; The Art Of Being Nonsynchronous / Yoko Tawada ; Translated By Susan Bernofsky -- Pt. 3. Sounding The Visual. Writing Articulation Of Sound Forms In Time / Susan Howe ; Jean Cocteau's Radio Poetry / Rubén Gallo ; Sound As Subject: Augusto De Campos's Poetamenos / Antonio Sergio Bessa ; Not Sound / Johanna Drucker ; The Sound Shape Of The Visual: Toward A Phenomenology Of An Interface / Ming-qian Ma ; Visual Experiment And Oral Performance / Brian M. Reed ; Postlude: I Love Speech / Kenneth Goldsmith. Edited By Marjorie Perloff And Craig Dworkin. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The sound of poetry, the poetry of sound / Marjorie Perloff and Craig Dworkin Prelude: poetry and orality? / Jacques Roubaud (translated by Jean-Jacques Poucel) pt. 1. Translating sound. Rhyme and freedom / Susan Stewart ; In the beginning was translation / Leevi Lehto ; Chinese whispers / Yunte Huang ; Translating the sound in poetry: six propositions / Rosmarie Waldrop ; "Ensemble discords": translating the music of Maurice Scève's Délie / Richard Sieburth ; The poetry of prose, the unyielding of sound / Gordana P. Crnkovi pt. 2. Performing sound. Sound poetry and the musical avant-garde: a musicologist's perspective / Nancy Perloff ; Cacophony, abstraction, and potentiality: the fate of the Dada sound poem / Steve Mccaffery ; Wwhen cyborgs versify / Christian Bök ; Hearing voices / Charles Bernstein ; Impossible reversibilities: Jackson Mac Low / Hélène Aji ; The stutter of form / Craig Dworkin ; The art of being nonsynchronous / Yoko Tawada (translated by Susan Bernofsky) pt. 3. Sounding the visual. Writing articulation of sound forms in time / Susan Howe ; Jean Cocteau's radio poetry / Rubén Gallo ; Sound as subject: Augusto de Campos's poetamenos /Antonio Sergio Bessa ; Not sound / Johanna Drucker ; The sound shape of the visual: toward a phenomenology of an interface / Ming-Qian Ma ; Visual experiment and oral performance / Brian M. Reed ; Postlude: I love speech / Kenneth Goldsmith.