Susan Howe’s Caesurae

Readings of Susan Howe’s visual poetry tend to focus on how she uses the space of the page to act on language, through an opposition, then, between the visual and the textual. This paper argues that Howe’s works are specified precisely by the way they obscure the line between what is and is not ling...

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Autor principal: Andrew Eastman
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FR
Publicado: Association Française d'Etudes Américaines 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/d45f272c6a914d0dae247a93cfafd2fb
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:d45f272c6a914d0dae247a93cfafd2fb2021-12-02T10:14:15ZSusan Howe’s Caesurae1765-276610.4000/transatlantica.17044https://doaj.org/article/d45f272c6a914d0dae247a93cfafd2fb2021-07-01T00:00:00Zhttp://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/17044https://doaj.org/toc/1765-2766Readings of Susan Howe’s visual poetry tend to focus on how she uses the space of the page to act on language, through an opposition, then, between the visual and the textual. This paper argues that Howe’s works are specified precisely by the way they obscure the line between what is and is not linguistic. The paper looks into the ways in which Susan Howe’s poems, specifically in her recent collection Debths, depend on and work with the line unit, use and abuse our sense that poems appear in typographic lines. Three examples from Debths look at problems raised by the various ways in which Howe scissors the line, arguing that the line is a place where something happens to language, a frame for a caesura, a space where a silence can take place—as seen in the book’s title. Syntax and its caesuring then “make” the line, a line which works as a way of intimating voice, exploring the interstices of language and body.Andrew EastmanAssociation Française d'Etudes AméricainesarticleSusan Howevisual poetrypoetic lineline-breakoralitycaesuraHistory AmericaE-FAmericaE11-143ENFRTransatlantica : Revue d'Études Américaines, Vol 1 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
FR
topic Susan Howe
visual poetry
poetic line
line-break
orality
caesura
History America
E-F
America
E11-143
spellingShingle Susan Howe
visual poetry
poetic line
line-break
orality
caesura
History America
E-F
America
E11-143
Andrew Eastman
Susan Howe’s Caesurae
description Readings of Susan Howe’s visual poetry tend to focus on how she uses the space of the page to act on language, through an opposition, then, between the visual and the textual. This paper argues that Howe’s works are specified precisely by the way they obscure the line between what is and is not linguistic. The paper looks into the ways in which Susan Howe’s poems, specifically in her recent collection Debths, depend on and work with the line unit, use and abuse our sense that poems appear in typographic lines. Three examples from Debths look at problems raised by the various ways in which Howe scissors the line, arguing that the line is a place where something happens to language, a frame for a caesura, a space where a silence can take place—as seen in the book’s title. Syntax and its caesuring then “make” the line, a line which works as a way of intimating voice, exploring the interstices of language and body.
format article
author Andrew Eastman
author_facet Andrew Eastman
author_sort Andrew Eastman
title Susan Howe’s Caesurae
title_short Susan Howe’s Caesurae
title_full Susan Howe’s Caesurae
title_fullStr Susan Howe’s Caesurae
title_full_unstemmed Susan Howe’s Caesurae
title_sort susan howe’s caesurae
publisher Association Française d'Etudes Américaines
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/d45f272c6a914d0dae247a93cfafd2fb
work_keys_str_mv AT andreweastman susanhowescaesurae
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