05 August 2009

Quote of the day

'Creativity' may well be one of those words that must be abandoned as irredeemable at the growing garbage dump destroyed by advertising and politics. The list of such words is long, but it includes nearly every word used by politicians, professional inspirational speakers, preachers, and degreed poets, with the possible exception of conjunctions and some adverbs.

- Andrei Codrescu (a degreed poet), The posthuman Dada guide

I'm very much enjoying this book, lent to me by my assessor (who recently signed an email 'Tineye'). The first two sentences are: 'This is a guide for instructing posthumans in living a Dada life. It is not advisable, nor was it ever, to lead a Dada life.'

It is written in a very readable, chatty style, as the above quotes should make clear. I'm a little dubious about some of what he says. He likes the Dada language. The contrast between Tzara and Lenin seems a bit forced.

It draws quite heavily on Dada East, a very interesting book (though also a bit forced) on the Romanian origins of Dada, but Codrescu is very selective in what he draws from it – no criticism of Tzara for him, no, no! I suppose these Romanian poets stick together.

Also, it's a small point, but Codrescu coins a new pronoun 'herm' to use instead of 'he or she' when there's the perfectly good 'they' available. Wanker.

Hmm, these comments are not exactly a glowing endorsement, but it is a good book that's well worth reading. I want to get my own copy.

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visitors since 29 March 2004.