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The International Concrete Poetry Movement, 1955-1971

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The International Concrete Poetry Movement, 1955-1971 DESIGNED WORDS FOR A DESIGNED WORLD: THE INTERNATIONAL CONCRETE POETRY MOVEMENT, 1955-1971 by JAMIE HILDER B.A., The University of British Columbia, 2000 M.A., Simon Fraser University, 2002 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (English) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) September 2010 © Jamie Hilder 2010 Abstract This dissertation positions the International Concrete Poetry movement within its historical moment and links it to the emergence of a new global imaginary around the middle of the 20th century. It makes the argument that contemporaneous social and technological shifts directly influenced the compositional strategies of a group of poets who aimed to transform poetry’s communicative power in a rapidly shifting media environment. By positioning primary materials – poems, manifestos, and statements by the poets themselves – against contemporaneous cultural phenomena across various disciplines, I perform a critical examination that allows for new strategies for engaging work that has historically frustrated readers. I identify in a series of permutational poems the influence of rudimentary computer technology and the implications that technology has for poetic subjectivity. I locate the international character of the movement in modernization projects such as Brasília, and in technologies that held significance for the entire globe, such as reinforced concrete, satellite photography, and nuclear weapons. As concrete poetry takes shape in both books and galleries, I investigate the spatial implications of the work in its various forms, and analyse its often fraught relationship with Conceptual Art, which also presented language in innovative ways though in pursuit of different purposes. Across this terrain my methodological approach oscillates between art history and literary and cultural studies, paying close attention to how the poetry circulated within and imagined global spaces at a time that predated but in some ways initiated the trends we now see more fully developed in current concepts of globalization. ii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iii List of Figures .................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ vi Dedication ......................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Poetics of the Global ........................................................................................ 36 Global Poetics ....................................................................................................... 36 Bombs and Bombes ............................................................................................... 40 Language Machines ............................................................................................... 47 Leibnitz’s Machine ................................................................................................ 52 Mapping the Transnational .................................................................................... 60 A New World Literature ........................................................................................ 68 Chapter 3: Utopias of Concrete ......................................................................................... 82 Fleeing the Nation ................................................................................................. 82 Fifty Years Progress in Five .................................................................................. 85 Reinforcing “Concrete” ......................................................................................... 92 The International Typographical Style .................................................................. 98 Cidade / City / Cité .............................................................................................. 100 Unnational Space ................................................................................................. 114 Chapter 4: Concrete Poetry and Conceptual Art: A Difference of Opinion ................... 125 Chapter 5: Spaces of Concrete ........................................................................................ 167 Technology Art .................................................................................................... 185 The Mathematical Way of Thinking ................................................................... 192 Situating Concrete Poetry .................................................................................... 200 Moving Beyond Concrete ................................................................................... 208 Chapter 6: Conclusion: Designed Words in the World ................................................... 214 Works Cited ..................................................................................................................... 221 iii List of Figures Figure 1.1. Ian Hamilton Finlay. “Au Pair Girl.” ............................................................. 23 Figure 1.2. Augusto de Campos. “Sem um numero.” ....................................................... 27 Figure 1.3. bp Nichol. “Blues.” ......................................................................................... 28 Figure 1.4. Ian Hamilton Finlay. “Homage to Malevich.” ................................................ 30 Figure 2.1. Decio Pignatari. “Beba coca cola.” ................................................................. 37 Figure 2.2. Decio Pignatari. “LIFE.” ................................................................................. 39 Figure 2.3. Haroldo de Campos. “ALEA I – Variacões Semánticas.” .............................. 43 Figure 2.4. Henri Chopin. “Poem to be Read Aloud.” ...................................................... 44 Figure 2.5. Ferdinand de Saussure. Diagram of communication model ........................... 48 Figure 2.6. Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver. Diagram of communication model .... 49 Figure 2.7. Diter Rot. “Some Variations on 44.” ............................................................... 56 Figure 2.8. Emmett Williams. “Like attracts Like.” ......................................................... 58 Figure 2.9. Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore. [excerpt from The Medium is the Massage] ............................................................................................................................ 59 Figure 2.10. Jean-François Bory. “Femme.” ..................................................................... 62 Figure 2.11. Victor Burda. “[Ich].” ................................................................................... 63 Figure 2.12. Allison Knowles. “Poem” ............................................................................. 65 Figure 2.13. Augusto de Campos. “Ôlho Por Ôlho” ......................................................... 72 Figure 2.14. Decio Pignatari. “Semiotic Poem.” ............................................................... 75 Figure 2.15. Eugen Gomringer. “Wind.” .......................................................................... 76 Figure 2.16. Josef Hiršal and Bohumila Grögerová. “The Old / New (from the book of JOB:BOJ.)” .............................................................................................................. 78 Figure 2.17. Josef Hiršal and Bohumila Grögerová. “Developer (Vývoj I).” ................... 81 Figure 3.1. Republic of Rose Island .................................................................................. 82 Figure 3.2. M.V. Laissez Faire .......................................................................................... 84 Figure 3.3. Ronaldo Azeredo’s. “Velocidade.” ................................................................. 86 Figure 3.4. José Lino Grünewald. “Preto.” ....................................................................... 87 Figure 3.5. Augusto de Campos. “Concreto.” ................................................................... 90 Figure 3.6. Le Corbusier. Diagram of architectural scale ................................................. 94 Figure 3.7. Heinz Gappmayr. “Untitled poem.” ................................................................ 96 Figure 3.8. Augusto de Campos. “Cidade / city / cité.” .................................................. 102 Figure 3.9. Lucio Costa. Plan for Brasilia ....................................................................... 104 Figure 3.10. Pierre Garnier and Ilse Garnier. “Texte Pour une architecture.” ................ 107 Figure 3.11. Franz Mon. From et 2 ................................................................................. 108 Figure 3.12. Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Stephen Izenour. Las Vegas Street Signage ............................................................................................................... 112 Figure 3.13. Mary Ellen Solt. “Moonshot
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