The Language Book

Andrews, Bruce; Bernstein, Charles

ISBN 10: 0809311062 / ISBN 13: 9780809311064

Published by Southern Illinois University Press, 1984

Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0809311062I5N00

Synopsis:

This selection of essays and poetry from the first three volumes of L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E magazine dis­cusses a “spectrum of writing that places its attention primarily on language and ways of making meaning, that takes for granted neither vocabulary, grammar, process, shape, syntax, program, nor sub­ject matter.” (Bernstein and Andrews) The various writers shun labels, slogans, or catch-phrases; their exploration of the ways that meanings and values are re­vealed through the written word is in­tended to open the field of poetic activity, not close it.

The common thread of these essays is the multitude and scope of words’ refer­ential powers―denotative, connotative, and associational; and studying these powers is ultimately a social and political activity as well as an aesthetic one.

About the Author: Bruce Andrews’ essays are collected in Paradise & Method: Poetics & Praxis. Recent books of poetry and performance scores in collaboration with choreographer Sally Silvers include Ex Why Zee, Tizzy Boost, I Don’t Have Any Paper So Shut Up, and Give Em Enough Rope. Andrews teaches political science at Fordham University in New York City.

Charles Bernstein is the author of twenty collections of poetry, including Republics of Reality: Poems 1975-1995, Dark City, and Rough Trades, and two collections of essays, Content’s Dream: Essays 1975-1984 and A Poetics. He is David Gray Professor of Poetry and Letters at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he teaches in the Poetics Program.

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Language Book
Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press
Publication Date: 1984
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Fair
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket