Jack Spicer and the Phenomenology of Meaning

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Kossak, Benjamin J.
Language:	English
Published:	Oberlin College Honors Theses / OhioLINK 2008
Subjects:	American Literature English literature Literature Jack Spicer L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poetics phenomenology
Online Access:	http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1212172211

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spelling	ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-oberlin12121722112021-08-03T05:42:16Z Jack Spicer and the Phenomenology of Meaning Kossak, Benjamin J. American Literature English literature Literature Jack Spicer L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poetics phenomenology Jack Spicer’s poetry is often a mess of obscenity, convoluted references, and opaque language. It resists any attempts to reduce it to a system of proscriptions or abstract ideas. However, it consistently engages the reader on the level of bodily interaction. In the introduction to <i>Admonitions</i>, Spicer describes his poetry as a “frightening hall of mirrors,” and this grotesque exploration of the body demands a sympathetic awareness in the body of the reader. Further, the obscenity scattered throughout his work evokes a response not only through the attractive/repulsive paradox of any obscenity, but also in that it showcases an orality of his words which co-opts the voice of the reader as participant in the violent language. Even when Spicer is at his most obstinate in refusing interpretation, the frustration in approaching his poetry is another way of forcing the reader to become involved with his poetry physically. Each of these methods leads to a poetics that shifts the site of meaning making from the author/poem complex to the reader/poem relationship. It is in the way that the body responds to the writing that the force of the poetry comes through. This device shows similarities to the more explicit poetics of later L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E writers, who, with their postmodern sensibilities, intentionally crafted poems in order to create a more democratic production of meaning: one in which, again, the reader is the agent of meaning production. The connection here leads to a methodology of reading where searching for a locked-away meaning from the poem is set aside, and the reader is free to explore a fruitful, constructive relationship of body with poem. 2008 English text Oberlin College Honors Theses / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1212172211 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1212172211 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection	NDLTD
language	English
sources	NDLTD
topic	American Literature English literature Literature Jack Spicer L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poetics phenomenology
spellingShingle	American Literature English literature Literature Jack Spicer L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poetics phenomenology Kossak, Benjamin J. Jack Spicer and the Phenomenology of Meaning
author	Kossak, Benjamin J.
author_facet	Kossak, Benjamin J.
author_sort	Kossak, Benjamin J.
title	Jack Spicer and the Phenomenology of Meaning
title_short	Jack Spicer and the Phenomenology of Meaning
title_full	Jack Spicer and the Phenomenology of Meaning
title_fullStr	Jack Spicer and the Phenomenology of Meaning
title_full_unstemmed	Jack Spicer and the Phenomenology of Meaning
title_sort	jack spicer and the phenomenology of meaning
publisher	Oberlin College Honors Theses / OhioLINK
publishDate	2008
url	http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1212172211
work_keys_str_mv	AT kossakbenjaminj jackspicerandthephenomenologyofmeaning
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Jack Spicer and the Phenomenology of Meaning

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