PJAS 11 Autumn-5
Jacek Partyka
Stitch, Stich and Stichomancy: Poetry by Other Means in Susan Howe’s
Spontaneous Particulars: The Telepathy of Archives
Polish Journal for American Studies, vol. 11 (Autumn 2017), pp. 311-325
Abstract:
Drawing on Marjorie Perloff’s concept of “unoriginal genius” as well as on the contextual framework provided by the works of Walter Benjamin, William S. Burroughs, and Dodie Bellamy, the article analyses Susan Howe’s Spontaneous Particulars: The Telepathy of Archives (2014), a printed version of a lecture, which, as is argued, not only offers an illuminating perspective on the notion of originality in contemporary poetics, but can, as such, be read as an instance of “poetry by other means.”
Keywords: innovative poetics, cut-up, literary montage, originality, copying, archive
DOI: 10.7311/PJAS.11/2/2017.05