Contents Dream (Sun and Moon Classics) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As co-editor of the journal L=A=N= G=U=A=G=E, poet and critic Bernstein has published writers whose shared goal is the transformation of society. Since words encode social values, the writer must break with routine thought patterns, and, in doing so, help readers outgrow the "hierarchialized" structures that warp both capitalist and communist societies, argues Bernstein. This collection of 26 of his essays explores such topics as commercial movies' idealization of society, writing as a form of psychic surgery, William Carlos Williams's break with "official verse culture," Arakawa's conceptual paintings and Ginsberg's poetics of breath. Several pieces employ fractured syntax and shifting frames of reference; a poem about the nature of work concludes, "There's no escape from the nine-to-five self." Bernstein explores multiple ways of viewing reality as he ranges from Blake to Zukofsky. (June 15
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Charles Bernstein, poet and co-founding editor of the magazine L= A=N=G=U= A=G=E, has here compiled a selection of his essays and criticism written between 1975 and 1984. The collection as a whole comprises a cogent and comprehensive account of the aesthetic, philosophic, political and cultural views of a group of writers whose work is language-centered and who are often thought of as forming the language movement in poetry which emerged in the early 1970s. Language-centered writing posits that all that is known in the world is language -structured. Bernstein writes that all of the elements of language production and consumption are foregrounded and mobilized in an effort to regain control of language through providing alternate modes of discourse to the currently dominant "techno-rational" mode. By encouraging new ways of approaching reading through non-narrative, multivocal textual productions, these writers hope to propel readers into new orientations of consciousness resulting in new political orientations. In terms of this project, aesthetics, philosophy, politics, and culture are all comprehended in language production, writing, poetry. -- From Independent Publisher --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 465 pages
• Publisher: Sun & Moon Press (May 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0940650568
• ISBN-13: 978-0940650565
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,675,154 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)