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The Poet As Activist in Experimental English-Canadian Poetry

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The Poet As Activist in Experimental English-Canadian Poetry Dissensus and Poetry: The Poet as Activist in Experimental English-Canadian Poetry Natalie Leduc A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Masters degree in English Literature Department of English Faculty of Arts University of Ottawa © Natalie Leduc, Ottawa, Canada, 2019 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page …….…………………………………………….……………………..……… i Table of Contents .…….………………………………….…………………..………….. ii List of Figures ….……………………………………..…………………………………. iv List of Tables ….…………………………………………………………………….…… vi Abstract ……………….………………………………………….…………………..….. vii Acknowledgements ……………………….……………………………………….…….. viii Introduction …………………………..……………………………………….………… 1 Chapter 1: Concrete Poetry: R u p t u r i n g the Modes of Doing Poetry …….…..… 15 Steve McCaffery’s Carnival: Panels, Over Saturation, and the Typewriter…..……. 20 Judith Copithorne’s Runes: Poem-drawings, Authenticity, and the Hand ….……… 24 bpNichol’s The Captain Poetry Poems: Borderblur, Comics Books, and the Body.. 31 Reading: A Physical Act? ………………………….………….………….…….….. 40 uoısnlɔuoƆ ……………………………………………………….………………… 46 Chapter 2: Eeeeooowwww! Sound Poetry: An Inaudible Poetry ……………………. 49 An Unsound History …………………………………………………………….…. 53 O! Canadada and The Four Horsemen: Sound, Poetry, and Performance ..……….. 62 SoundCloud and Penn Kemp: Birthing A New Type of Sound ……………………. 69 Christian Bök and The Cyborg Opera: Machinic Poets for Machinic Audiences .… 77 Okuuuuuuuurt! ………………………………………………….…………………. 85 Chapter 3: #instapoetry and the Blog: In Defence of rupi kaur …….…………..…… 89 Beyond the Blog …….…………………………………..….……………………… 94 kaur: A Proletarian Writer………………………………….……………………….. 102 A Digital Undercommons ……………………….………………………………… 121 #like4like #follow4follow #solidarity ……….…….……………………..………. 123 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………….…..….. 125 iii Appendix A: Names of Indigenous women, Two-Spirit and Trans people who have gone missing or died as a result of violence according to It Starts With Us….……… 131 Labour Cited …………………………………………………………………….………. 134 Other Labour Consulted ……………………………………………………….……….. 142 iv LIST OF FIGURES 0.0 Judith Copithorne, Runes (1970) ……………………….….………………..…..… 9 1.0 Steve McCaffery, page from Panel 2, Carnival (1975) ……..…….…….….…….. 18 1.1 Steve McCaffery, Panel 2 booklet, Carnival (1975) …..………………………..…. 20 1.2 Steve McCaffery, page from Panel 1, Carnival (1975) ……..…….…….….…..…. 23 1.3 Judith Copithorne, Runes (1970) ……………………….….………………..…..… 25 1.4 Judith Copithorne, Runes (1970) ……………………….….………………..…..… 27 1.5 bpNichol, The Captain Poetry Poems (1971) .…….…..…..…………..………….. 32 1.6 bpNichol, The Captain Poetry Poems (1971) ..……..…………..………….……… 34 1.7 bpNichol, The Captain Poetry Poems (1971) ..……..…………..………….……… 38 1.8 Steve McCaffery, Panel 1 assembled, Carnival (1970) …..………………..……… 42 1.9 Rita Wong, “nervous organism,” The Broadview Introduction to Literature (2013). 43 1.10 Judith Copithorne, Runes (1970) ……………………….….………………..…..… 44 1.11 bpNichol, The Captain Poetry Poems (1971) ..……..…………..………….……… 45 2.0 The Four Horsemen, “The Dream Remains,” The Prose Tattoo (1984) ……..…… 67 3.0 @rupikaur_ , Instagram Account Screenshot taken August 15th 2018…………….. 95 3.1 @rupikaur_ , Instagram Account Screenshot taken August 15th 2018………….…. 95 3.2 @rupikaur_ , Instagram Account Screenshot taken August 15th 2018…………….. 95 3.3 @selenagomez, Instagram Account Screenshot taken August 15th 2018…….….… 97 3.4 @rupikaur_, “! a throwback. Page 169 from #milkandhoney,” posted August 8th 2018, Instagram, Screenshot taken August 15th 2018………..……………………. 99 3.5 @rupikaur_, “thank you@instagram for providing me with the…,” posted March 25th 2015, Instagram, Screenshot taken August 15th 2018……..……………..……. 103 3.6 @rupikaur_,“" my deepest apologies to those affected by my…,” posted September 6th 2015, Instagram, Screenshot taken August 15th 2018………….…… 107 3.7 @rupikaur_, “Page 107 # #Thesunandherflowers,” posted March 29th 2018, Instagram, Screenshot taken August 15th 2018………………………………..…… 108 v 3.8 @rupikaur_, “larger than life,” posted March 6th 2018, Instagram, Screenshot taken August 15th 2018………………………………………………………..…… 110 3.9 @rupikaur_, “i am haunted by the chilling and inhuman…,” posted June 19h 2018, Instagram, Screenshot taken August 15th 2018…………………………………….. 111 3.10 @rupikaur_, “3 years ago today i self…, ” posted November 14th 2014, Instagram, Screenshot taken August 15th 2018………………………………………………… 114 3.11 @rupikaur_, “the preface…,” posted July 11th 2017, Instagram, Screenshot taken August 15th 2018…………………………………………………………………… 115 3.12 @mustagathepoet, Instagram Account Screenshot taken August 15th 2018…..….. 117 3.13 @andrianhendyx, Instagram Account Screenshot taken August 15th 2018……….. 117 3.14 @najwazebian, Instagram Account Screenshot taken August 15th 2018………….. 117 3.15 @atticuspoetry, Instagram Account Screenshot taken August 15th 2018.…………. 118 3.16 @nikita_gill, Instagram Account Screenshot taken August 15th 2018……..………. 118 3.17 @rtylerknott, Instagram Account Screenshot taken August 15th 2018……….….… 118 3.18 @ladybookmad, Instagram Account Screenshot taken August 15th 2018……….… 118 3.19 @langleav, Instagram Account Screenshot taken August 15th 2018……….………. 118 3.20 @nayyirah.waheed, Instagram Account Screenshot taken August 15th 2018……… 118 vi LIST OF TABLES Christian Bök, Key to Notation, “When Cyborgs Versify,” The Sound of Poetry / 2.0 The Poetry of Sound (2009)……………………………………………………… 83 vii ABSTRACT Many of us believe that poetry, specifically activist and experimental poetry, is capable of intervening in our society, as though the right words will call people to action, give the voiceless a voice, and reorder the systems that perpetuate oppression, even if there are few examples of such instances. Nevertheless, my project looks at these very moments, when poetry alters the fabric of our real, to explore the ways these poetical interventions are, in effect, instances of what I have come to call “dissensual” poetry. Using Jacques Rancière’s concept of dissensus and the distribution of the sensible, my project investigates the ways in which dissensual poetry ruptures the distribution of the sensible—“our definite configurations of what is given as our real, as the object of our perceptions and the field of our interventions”—to look at the ways poetry actually does politics (Dissensus 156). I look at three different types of dissensual poetry: concrete poetry, sound poetry, and instapoetry. I argue that these poetic practices prompt a reordering of our society, of what is countable and unaccountable, and of how bodies, capacities, and systems operate. They allow for those whom Rancière calls the anonymous, and whom we might call the oppressed or marginalized, to become known. I argue that bpNichol’s, Judith Copithorne’s, and Steve McCaffery’s concrete poems; the Four Horsemen’s, Penn Kemp’s, and Christian Bök’s sound poems; and rupi kaur’s instapoems are examples of dissensual poetry. viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this opportunity to bring attention to “It Starts With Us,” an Indigenous organization that consists of No More Silence, Families of Sisters in Spirit, and the Native Youth Sexual Health Network. Together, they are working toward compiling a database to “document [the] indigenous women, two-spirit and trans people who have gone missing or died as a result of violence” (“Why a Community-Led Database?”). The aim of this database is to “provide family members with a way to document their loved ones’ passing while asserting community control of … record-keeping” (“Why a Community-Led Database?”). To date, they have compiled 108 names, although they acknowledge that the number in reality is much larger. They are independent of government and institutional funding. To learn more or to donate, visit www.itsstartswithus-mmiw.com. Below are the names as they appear on the list. I have handwritten them as an act of personal meditation; I hope my reasons for handwriting them and for my misuse of the page will become clearer after Chapter 1. A list of the names in Times New Roman can be found in Appendix A. ix x I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the University of Ottawa English Department as well as Professor Robert Stacey, my thesis supervisor, whose guidance allowed me to work on a project that reflects both my academic and personal interests. There are countless others I would like to name, such as Olivia Vanderwal, my roommate and good friend, who I think is more goddess than human for putting up with me these last few months; Liz White, the English Department’s secretary, who not only had a constant supply of candy to keep me going but also a constant supply of encouragement; and Patricia Magazoni whose support in the last few weeks of this project was invaluable. Unfortunately, if I were to name everyone who has helped and supported me, this list would be far too long. There are also countless others I cannot name but whom I would like to thank, such as the various baristas who asked me about my progress and helped me work through my ideas in our brief conversations, the UberEats delivery folks who did not judge me when they delivered chicken nuggets often at 2:00 in the morning to my home, the University of Ottawa custodians who were my working companions when I was on campus late at night to very early in the morning, and my various Tinder matches who engaged with my project.1 Therefore, to those named and unnamed, counted and unaccounted,
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