POETRY & PEDAGOGY

THE CHALLENGE OF THE CONTEMPORARY

EDITED BY

]OAN RETALLACK AND ]ULIANA SPAHR

* POETRY & PEDAGOGY

© joan Retallack and juliana 5pahr, 2006. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 2006 978-1-4039-6912-5

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Copyright and Permissions

Versions or parts of several of these essays have been previously published. A shorter version of Alan Golding's "'Isn't the Avant-Garde Always Pedagogical': Experimental Poetics and/as Pedagogy" originally appeared in the Jowa Review. Earlier versions and parts ofJonathan Monroe's ")Writing Writing(" originally appeared in Diacritics and in Local Knowledges, Local Practices: Writing in the Disciplines at c'ornell(University ofPittsburgh Press, 2003). Roland Greene's "New World Studies and the Limits of National Literatures" originally appeared in the Stanford Humanities Review. Charles Altieri's "Reading for Affect in the Lyric: From Modern to Contemporary" is a revised version of an essay that originally appeared in the e1ecuonic journal Romantic Praxis in September 2002 under the tide "From Two Wordsworths to One Contemporary Poetics." Charles Bernstein's "The DiHicult Poem" originally appeared in Harpers Magazine. Maria Damon's "Post-literary Poetry, COllnterperformance, and Micropoetries" is a revised and lIpdated version of an essay that originally appeared in Cl,zss [ssues (New York University Press, 1997). Lisa Samllels and Jerome McGann's "Deformance and Interpretation" originally appeared in NeU! Literary History and in Radiant Textuality: Literature Mter the Worldwide Web (New York: Palgrave/St. Martins, 2001). Diane Glancy's "He Has More Than One Ear" originally appeared in The W0st Pole (University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1997). We are thankful for permission to reprint these essays.

The images by Tom Phillips, copyright 1980 and 1997, are reproduced with the permission of the artist. Ronald Johnson materials from the Spencer collection of University of Kansas (c) 2004, used by permission of the Ronald Johnson Literary Estate. Excerpts from Charles Reznikoff are reprinted with the permission of Black Sparrow Press. Excerpts from Joan Retallack's Afterrimtzges. copyright 1995 by Joan Retallack, are reprinted by permission of Wesleyan University Press. Excerpts from George Oppen's c'ollected Poems. copyright 1975 by George Oppen, are reprinted by permis­sion of New Directions Publishing Corp. SALES TERRITORY: World rights. Excerpts from Ron Silliman's Lit. published by Potes and Poets Press,

iv COPYRIGHT AND PERM ISS IONS

copyright 1987 by Ron Silliman, are reprinted by permISSIOn. Wing Tek Lum's "Coloring a Rainbow" is used by perrnission ofWing Tek Lurn. "Ho Just Cause I Speak Pidgin No Mean I Dumb" is reprinted by perrnis­sion of Diane Kahanu. Diane Kahanu now uses Hina Kahanu as her name in support of the original people of Hawai'i who continue to be punished for truly having what we all want, Hawai'i. Excerpts reprinted from Smldl Kid Time Hawaii are used by permission of Bamboo Ridge Press.

On the cover is a sculpture by Janet Zweig, Thinking Contest, 1995. (The two computers have two different vocabularies. Each computer thinks up things using its own vocabulary and writes them down. The big red needle gauges their brainpower.)

We need to think abour the practical educative force of poetry and, from another angle, about the performative poetic practice of pedagogy. Auden's dictum that "poetry makes nothing happen" is the pervasive assumption that we will question. Poetry has a political role in society and in the schools that serve society. Schools so often treat poetry as ornamental or value it for its conceptual form, but not for its performative practice. Poets, for their part, often don't seem willing to take seriously the political role of poetry. They don't want to do the work of changing education, and they sort of enjoy Auden's boast that poetry makes nothing happen. With Richard Rorty, I believe that it is not arguing weil but speaking differently that changes a culture. Poetry is the place where speaking differently is most prevalent.

-Paul Conllolly, director, Institute for Writing and Thinking (1982-1998) in email correspondence

with Joan Retallack in 1998 on the need for a conference at Bard College on poetry and pedagogy.

This book is dedieated to all those poets and teaehers who suspeet that there are vital things that ean be explored only by means ofpoetry and wtmt to engage in thllt e>'1Jloration with their students.

Introduction: Why Teach Contemporary Poetries? JOlm Retllilack Ilnd Julitmll Spllhr

I WHAT'S THE USE OF CONTEMPORARYPOETR~

"Isn't the Avant-garde Always Pedagogical": Experimental Poetics and/ as Pedagogy 13 Alan Golding

2 FFFFFailing with Poetry: The Centrifugal Classroom 30 Lynn Keller

3 Reading for Affect in the Lyric: Prom Modern to Contemporary 39 C'harles Altieri

4 )Writing Writing( 63 Jonathlln Monroe

5 NewWorid Studies and the Limits ofNational Literatures 80 Roland Greene

6 Beyond Rainbows: What Hawai'i's "Local" Poetry Has Taught Me about Pedagogy 105 A10rris Young

11 A NEW "HOW TO"

7 Post-Literary Poetry, Counterperformance, and Micropoetries 129 MariaDamon

8 The Difflcult Poem 148 Charles Bernstein

9 Deformance and Interpretation Jerome McGann and Lisa Samuels

10 Performance as Critical Practice: Nourbese Philip's "Discourse on the Logic of Language" A11lrk McMorris

11 The Didactic: Learning at Goethe's Knee LytleShaw

12 Stages of Encounter with a Difficult Text Lyn H~jinian

151

181

194

205

13 "My Sllsan Howe" or "Howe to Teach" 213 G. Mattheu; Jenkins

14 Language as Visible Vapor: Skywriting throllgh Lyn Hejinian's Happily 224 Jim Keller

15 "Other" Voices: Teaching Kimiko Hahn's The Unbearable Heart 234 Juliana Chang

16 Gumshoe Poetry 239 Jena Osman

17 Giving Beginning Adult Language Learners a Voice: A Case for Poetry in the Foreign Language Classroom 251 HiramMaxim

18 Sex Oo11s, Mice, and Mother's Suitcase 260 Derek Ou;ens

19 CreativeWreading: A Prim er 275 Charles Bernstein

20 Between Jihad and McWorld: A Place for Poetry 282 Harryette Mullen

21 He Has More Than One Ear 293 Diane Glancy

22 Notes toward Exploding "Exploding Text: Poetry Performance" 295 Bob Holman

Some Places to Find Neu; Poetries and Pedagogies 299

Notes on Contributors 303

Index 307

List of Figures

16.1 Page 10 from the 1980 edition of Tom Phillips's A Humumertt 242

16.2 Page 10 from the 1997 edition of Tom Phillips's A /Jumument 243

16.3 Ronald Johnson's mark-up of his 1892 edition of Paradise Lost 244

18.1 Work by Roseanne Gatto; photo by Derek Owens 265 18.2 Work by Terrence Riley; photo by Derek Owens 266 18.3 Work by Nicolette Porochnia; photo by Derek Owens 268 18.4 Work by Kevin DiCamillo; photo by Derek Owens 268 18.5 Work by Antonia Alberga; photo by Derek Owens 269 18.6 Work by Alana PheitTer; photo by Derek Owens 270 18.7 Work by LaUfen Fratangelo; photo by Derek Owens 270

PREFACE

Poetry 6- Pedagogy depart the station

in the middle 0/ the 20th century.

IfP-1 6- P-2 move at diffirent rates

and must meet in the 21st century ...

In the second half of the twentieth century, there were dramatic departures from the fa miliar in both poetry and pedagogy in America. Interestingly, reform-minded poets and pedagogs were addressing similar problems in reading and writing: misplaced aurhoritativeness, tired convemions, prac­tices that fostered resistance or (worse) compliance drained of energy or real caring. The 1960s and 1970s were revolutionary times that brought with them the inception of studem-centered learning, the critique of Western etlmocentricity, and most importantly the recognition that learning had to

be active, had to awaken the student to critical engagement. Book~ like Paolo Friere's Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Herben Kohl's What Do I Do on Monday were animatedly discussed by people who had previously yawned uncontrollably at the very mention of the word pedagogy. These were also revolutionary tim es in poetics, a fact reflected in the various tiers of the academy in the teaching of creative writing more than in the teach­ing of the new poetries themselves. Kenneth Koch's Wishes, Lies and Dreams was widely lIsed by reachers in e1ememary and high schools to wrest poetry exercises out of the "imitation of great models" mode. Ir and other books like it introduced playful procedures to stimlliate invention. Innovative pedagogies for teaching poetry writing have continued to be developed, clearly stimlliated by contemporary innovative poetries. There are many reasons for this, not least of which is the fact that most teachers of poetry writing are poets themselves. More and more innovative poets have

xii PREFACE

been teaching in the schools, particularly in large urban areas where they have been influencing pedagogy.

Unfortunately, a similar reviviflcation of the teaching of poetry as literature has not occurred, or at least not anywhere near as widely. With some notable exceptions, most teachers of literature are not avant garde poets, not that they should be, and/but a gap has occurred that this book uies to address. Contemporary literary pedagogy is chronically behind contemporary literature by about half a century. In this book, a discllssion of the importance of reading contemporary poet ries takes place in conver­sation with the question of how new pedagogical vailles and practices can help us teach them. What the authors in this voillme make clear is that this ll111st happen, in part, bya rethinking of the processes and purposes of reading itself.

Acknowledgments

This book has been a long time in the making and there are many people who have been inspiring and instrumental in bringing it to fruition. It would not luve happened without the context of the Bard College Institute for Writing and Thinking, whicb sponsored tbe 1999 symposium, Poetry 6-Pedagogy: The Challenge 0/ the Contemporary, out of which come the questions discussed here, as weil as a number of the essays. Our gratitude to the late Paul COl1nolly is enormous. He and Joan Retallack were planl1ing the symposium together at the time of his sudden death in 1998. Teresa Vilardi, the present director of the Institute, sllpported our continuing work on it. In addition to the authors in this volume, whose dedication and patience made it possible, Eirik Steinhoff, Kristin Palrn, and Sara Wintz gave lIS knowledgeable and precise editorial assistance. A Mills College Facllity Research Grant provided so me financial assistance.