Nobody's business : twenty-first century avant-garde poetics / Brian M. Reed.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Reed, Brian M.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American poetry--21st century--History and criticism.

American poetry.

Experimental poetry, American--History and criticism.

Experimental poetry, American.

Poetics--History--21st century.

Poetics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (248 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Since the turn of the new millennium English-language verse has entered a new historical phase, but explanations vary as to what has actually happened and why. What might constitute a viable avant-garde poetics in the aftermath of such momentous developments as 9/11, globalization, and the financial crisis? Much of this discussion has taken place in ephemeral venues such as blogs, e-zines, public lectures, and conferences. Nobody's Business is the first book to treat the emergence of Flarf and Conceptual Poetry in a serious way. In his engaging account, Brian M. Reed argues that these movements must be understood in relation to the proliferation of digital communications technologies and their integration into the corporate workplace. Writers such as Andrea Brady, Craig Dworkin, Kenneth Goldsmith, Danny Snelson, and Rachel Zolf specifically target for criticism the institutions, skill sets, and values that make possible the smooth functioning of a postindustrial, globalized economy. Authorship comes in for particular scrutiny: how does writing a poem differ in any meaningful way from other forms of "content providing"? While often adept at using new technologies, these writers nonetheless choose to explore anachronism, ineptitude, and error as aesthetic and political strategies. The results can appear derivative, tedious, or vulgar; they can also be stirring, compelling, and even sublime. As Reed sees it, this new generation of writers is carrying on the Duchampian practice of generating antiart that both challenges prevalent definitions or art and calls into question the legitimacy of the institutions that define it.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface: What Now?

1. In Praise of Obsolescence

2. New Consensus Poetics and the Avant-Garde

3. Mechanical Form and Avant-Garde Aesthetics

4. Flarf, Folly, and George W. Bush

5. Andrea Brady's Peculiar Dissidence

6. Danny Snelson's Disco Operating System

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780801469572

0801469570

9780801469589

0801469589

OCLC:

922998416