The Prerequisites of Poetry

Feb18

For the past hundred years or so, poetry — like many of the other arts — has been at war with itself. The rejection of historical models for new forms (what the art critic Robert Hughes refers to as the “shock of the new”) has left many readers confused. The rejection of rhyme for free verse, the oral tradition for concrete poetry, the tactile oeuvre for performance art… Each step forward baffles, and disconcerts the uninitiated in the audience. To those not “up” with the latest styles, it all seems more like hijinks than high art.

So here we stand — artists and audience — on either side of the chasm. The artists sneering at the “popular” audience, as a preemptive attack against their likely response. And the audience poo-pooing the artists as haughty and incomprehensible, for making them feel uninformed.

Andrew Gent @ INCREDIBLY DULL: read full post HERE

Body vs. Antibody

Jan25

“There is one Tradition, one Body (made of actual works that comprise a recognized canon) and not two. We can see this logically: there is one universe and we can divide the universe up in any number of ways without violating the idea of one universe, and so, without quibbling about the fluctuating content of the Tradition, we acknowledge with simple logic the Tradition as definitionally one.

Waiting impatiently in the wings, of course, is the “other” tradition, waiting for its moment on stage, the anti-tradition, the new tradition, the different tradition, etc, etc, the inevitable shadow to the body.”

These words from Scarriet refer to the antagonistic dynamic between the accepted poetic canon opposed by subversive, deconstructive Modernity in poetry.
But they also perfectly describe the relationship between *orthodox Christianity (the True Church which is the Body of Christ) and the Gnostic/Mystic/New Age/Liberationist interpretations which seek to subvert and redefine orthodox doctrine).

*By “Orthodox” I mean what most Christians across all denominations can agree on concerning essentials of the faith.