Sunday, September 26, 2004

Barrett Watten's troisième installment to his Weekly Reader presents a meaty chew concerning Zukofsky. worth reading. a description of the contumelious contretemps that arose between Watten and Duncan at the Zukofsky memorial. the intensity seems to rise from concerns other than literature and poetry, something timely rather than timeless. peek at the comments on Silliman's post of 9/21 (and of course you notice that the comments are hardly on Silliman's post), and see that it's a busy onramp to something off. well, you also see that comments boxes, like listservs, are not the best place for dialectics. anyway, Watten's piece puts another light on Zukofsky, the one who reappeared last week. he mentions in passing the sexual innuendo early in A, which I have been noticing. Zukofsky's writing is not, as I would say, picturesque. the careful evocations of sound and sense (that is, meaning) are not sensual in that way. the dance is mental in a way both cunning and lovely. some great photos of Z around. I like the one on Silliman's blog, that sharp edged profile and nifty hat. I don't know enough about the US in the 1st half of the century, Z's milieu, that is. or I should say, revelations thereof are useful in approaching Z.

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