Spatial Poetics, Proprioception and Caring for Country in Charles Olson’s The Maximus Poems by Nathanael Finbar Pree 27th June, 2017 A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences © 2017 Nathanael Finbar Pree All Rights Reserved Statement of Authorship and Originality I certify that this thesis has been written by me, and reserve my rights as the author of this work. I certify that all sources of information and assistance used in the research for and writing of this thesis have been properly acknowledged. I certify that the work in this thesis has not been previously submitted, whole or in part, for the requirements of any other degree. Nathanael Finbar Pree 27th June 2017 ii Spatial Poetics, Proprioception and Caring for Country in Charles Olson’s The Maximus Poems Abstract This thesis looks at the significance of space and place within Charles Olson’s poetics of the archaic postmodern, as a means of clearing a field within which a poetics of custodianship is enunciated. It applies and extends the concept of “nomadology”, formulated by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, to argue that Olson’s protagonist in The Maximus Poems can be seen as an exemplification of Pierre Joris’ concept of “a nomad poetics”. Olson’s triad of “topos, typos and tropos” helps structure the thesis and provides a means to approach and explain the Maximus gestalt as human geography: an organic entity arising from and embodying space in order to redefine place. This poesis needs a fully articulated sense of being and a poetics that can encompass human activity in a myriad of dimensions: physics and metaphysics, languages, images and sounds that express a full, corporal sense of the myths and history that Maximus embodies and re-enacts to ensure the survival of a liminal polis, or community of attentions. A specific scene of reading in this respect is Aboriginal Australia, as the thesis expands on tropes that connect ancient cultures to postmodern poetic concerns, and demonstrates that Olson’s ultimate aim is akin to that of recreating country itself. It should be noted that the recreation of country and ownership of the ground upon which Olson’s poetry and poetics are enacted remain the preserve of the original owners, and that his sense of recreation and expansion of a poetic field is not to be conflated with a desire for appropriation, while acknowledging that these operations are inevitably taking place in colonised locations. The thesis concludes by proposing that with due respect to these considerations, the Maximus project remains of vital relevance to a twenty-first century, international readership. iii Acknowledgments I would like to begin by thanking my supervisor, Peter Minter, for his patience, generosity and skill in guiding the focus of this thesis. His input and inspiration have been vital in discerning and developing a sense of direction from an initially tangled array of ideas. His concept of “transnational projectivism” has been fundamental to my understanding of Charles Olson’s poetry and poetics when viewed from the contexts within which this thesis operates. Specifically, as a result of his supervision, I have been privileged to receive insights into approaching the knowledge and wisdom contained in Aboriginal Australian culture. It is with this is mind that I would also like to extend my respect to all Indigenous people named in this thesis: writers, academics and custodians of Country, past and present. Gratitude is also due to my assistant supervisor, Mark Byron, for indicating the transnational potential of my work, and for encouraging me to participate more widely in the academic community, both here at the University of Sydney and overseas. I would also like to thank both David Brooks and Bernadette Brennan for inspiration: David introduced me to Olson’s poetry through a series of inspirational seminars, and both he and Bernadette lent their support to my application when the ideas for the thesis were in their formative stages. Thanks also to Bruce Gardiner, who kindly and proactively provided advice when the thesis was at a critical stage. I would like to acknowledge the work done by all the staff within the Department of English, the School of Literature, Arts and Media and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, which has helped facilitate the progress of the thesis, and afforded me the opportunity to contribute to the field of study. I remain grateful for the funding that has enabled me to travel and participate at conferences both within Australia and abroad, both from the university and the Commonwealth of Australia, and it is to the latter that I am indebted for the Australian Postgraduate Award, which enabled me to undertake research on a full-time basis. iv More broadly, I would like to acknowledge and thank members of the international academic community, whose input has provided motivation and inspiration at various stages of my research. Foremost among these is the late Ralph Maud, for the warmth of his welcome to the field of Olson studies. I would also like to thank Jeffrey Gardiner, whose comments on my paper presented at the American Literary Association conference were perceptive and of great assistance in understanding Olson’s later poetics. Gary Grieve-Carlson, who chaired the panel for my initial presentation to the association, provided sources that have also been helpful for my work. My thanks also go out to Melissa Watterworth-Batt, curator at the Olson archive at the University of Connecticut, for her kind assistance during the stimulating and productive time I spent there. Finally, a sense of appreciation beyond that which words can adequately express is reserved for family: Katinka and Barney Pree, for their unconditional love and consistent moral support, and to my wife, Aya Murasawa, for looking after me in so many ways during this time. I dedicate this thesis to the memory of my father, Barry Pree, who taught me how to love reading, and in remembrance of Alan Seymour, whose friendship saw me through so much. This one’s for the both of you. v Spatial Poetics, Proprioception and Caring for Country: the Archaic Postmodern Gestalt of Charles Olson’s The Maximus Poems CONTENTS Certificate of Authorship and Originality ii Abstract iii Acknowledgments iv List of Figures viii Key to Abbreviations for Frequently Cited Works ix Introduction 1 Reading The Maximus Poems from Aboriginal Australia 11 Topos, Typos, Tropos 22 Nomadology 25 Background 27 Poetics 30 Critical Reception 44 Maximus, Construction and Gestalt 58 Space/Place 62 Preview 68 Chapter One: Towards a Spatial Poetics 70 Spatial Background and Types 71 Spatial Morphology 81 Space, Estranged and Familiar 87 Riparian Space 97 Chapter Two: Forms of Mapping 108 Typos/Vectors and Mathematics 112 Prehensions 120 vi Ancient Inscription 123 Geo-Typos 139 Circling the Local and the Past 148 Chapter Three: Singing, Building, Making 170 Sound and Space 172 Architectural Space 187 Crafting Universal and Specific Words 192 Glyphs 206 Chapter Four: Totemic Spatial Presences 212 Bird Space 216 Fish Town Tropos 224 Chapter Five: Archaic Postmodern Gestalt 233 Proprioceptive Body 235 Verticalisms 241 Kinesis 248 Butoh 252 Propriocepion/Country 255 Conclusion 272 In/completion 282 Final Self-Objects 293 Maximal Achievement / Country and the Transnational Archaic 298 Bibliography 302 vii List of Figures Figure 1: from The Maximus Poems, I.145 133 Figure 2: from The Maximus Poems, I.151 134 Figure 3: from The Maximus Poems, III. 110 136 viii Key to Abbreviations for Frequently Cited Works CP: Olson, Charles. The Collected Poems of Charles Olson, Excluding The Maximus Poems Ed. George F. Butterick. (Berkeley: University of California Press), 1997. CPR: Olson, Charles. Collected Prose, Ed. Robert Creeley, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. ML: Olson, Charles. Ed. Robert Creeley. Mayan Letters, London: Jonathan Cape, 1968. MP: Olson, Charles. The Maximus Poems, Ed. George F. Butterick, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983. MU: Olson, Charles. Muthologos: Lectures and Interviews. Ed. Ralph Maud, Revised Second Edition (Vancouver: Talonbooks). 2010. N: Deleuze, Gilles and Guattari, Felix. Nomadology: The War Machine, Trans. Brian Massumi, New York: Semiotext(e), 1986. OC: Olson, Charles and Creeley Robert: The Complete Correspondence, Vol. 1-10, Ed. George F. Butterick, Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1985. OL: Olson, Charles. OLSON: Journal of the Charles Olson Archives, Storrs, CT: University of Connecticut, 1974-1978. ix Introduction It was said of Charles Olson the poet that his way of projection and articulation comprised “full body reading.”1 It was noted that from the perspective of a student, just as the pre-Socratic Heraclitus contemplating a stream of water, it was impossible to step into the same Olson lecture twice.2 These comments reflect the impact of his presence, the spontaneity of his nature and the quite literal expanse of his themes. On being presented, late in his life, with a copy of French philosopher Gaston Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space, his first reaction was to exclaim: “that’s my title!”: 3 not a charge of plagiarism, as not only were the writers probably unaware of one another’s existence, but more likely admiration for a phrase that he saw as a succinct way of expressing his own life’s work and concerns. Investigations into the movement and morphology of space: bodily, externally and through the vectors and conduits of both natural and human construction, comprised the basis for some his century’s most startling and original poetry, not to mention his seminal essays on poetics. Yet, if anything, the brevity of that title would be insufficient to summarise the multitudes that went into composing the poet and his most imposing creation, Maximus.