damn that’s true — the video form is so much more imposed from top-down. I hadnt quite considered that enough here — so much of the decisions driving this form arent made by creative people but by business people or, perhaps, not even people at all!
What happens with the meme is that, although it can be understood as a form of poetry, it is also a kind of pop art. And pop art, by definition, is much more conditioned by its medium and by the material demands of that medium than other artistic forms. Nothing resembling pop poetry had ever existed before—neither in the twentieth century nor in any earlier period.
Today, as poets, we face that challenge: working with a kind of poetry embedded in the commercial flow of its era. It is not a poetry reserved for intellectual exclusivity or the doctorates of an elite, but one subjected to the scrutiny inherent to a commercial medium, positioned at the very heart of an industry.
This profoundly reshapes the rules of the game and, at the same time, opens unexpected possibilities. In a way, a poet has never been as close to becoming an Elvis as they are now.
Really didn’t buy the linkage between memes and poetry as anything but a sad desire to attach erudition to your scrolling but dammit you convinced me you conniving bastard
lol I honestly don't know myself at the end of the day. it's simultaneously both cope and a sincerely-arrived at conclusion -- that's the special sauce
What an interesting perspective. I’ve never thought about the work that people go into when making memes. Im a poetry lover myself, but I’ve not actually studied it in a collegiate setting outside of some low level English classes. I think the furthest I’ve gone is reading Mary Oliver’s book On Poetry.
Who are some of your favorites besides the poets most know like Frost, Eliot, Shakespeare, and Cummings?
“ Churches are best for prayer, that have least light” is the first line that always comes to mind when anyone mentions Donne. And not too many mention him anymore.
Precarity of the imaginative act. That’s a good one, maybe a book title
the one difference, of course, is that nobody was imposing sonnet structure to profit off your enjoyment.
always love your analysis aidan. thank you for the poetry
damn that’s true — the video form is so much more imposed from top-down. I hadnt quite considered that enough here — so much of the decisions driving this form arent made by creative people but by business people or, perhaps, not even people at all!
What happens with the meme is that, although it can be understood as a form of poetry, it is also a kind of pop art. And pop art, by definition, is much more conditioned by its medium and by the material demands of that medium than other artistic forms. Nothing resembling pop poetry had ever existed before—neither in the twentieth century nor in any earlier period.
Today, as poets, we face that challenge: working with a kind of poetry embedded in the commercial flow of its era. It is not a poetry reserved for intellectual exclusivity or the doctorates of an elite, but one subjected to the scrutiny inherent to a commercial medium, positioned at the very heart of an industry.
This profoundly reshapes the rules of the game and, at the same time, opens unexpected possibilities. In a way, a poet has never been as close to becoming an Elvis as they are now.
Really didn’t buy the linkage between memes and poetry as anything but a sad desire to attach erudition to your scrolling but dammit you convinced me you conniving bastard
lol I honestly don't know myself at the end of the day. it's simultaneously both cope and a sincerely-arrived at conclusion -- that's the special sauce
What an interesting perspective. I’ve never thought about the work that people go into when making memes. Im a poetry lover myself, but I’ve not actually studied it in a collegiate setting outside of some low level English classes. I think the furthest I’ve gone is reading Mary Oliver’s book On Poetry.
Who are some of your favorites besides the poets most know like Frost, Eliot, Shakespeare, and Cummings?
Stage v. Platform
Do not wake me on Sunday, for there be a sponge and upon it an egg, so long.
“ Churches are best for prayer, that have least light” is the first line that always comes to mind when anyone mentions Donne. And not too many mention him anymore.