books
infidel poetics riddles nightlife substance
p poetry has long been regarded as the least accessible of literary genres . but how much does the obscurity that confounds readers of a poem differ from say the slang that seduces listeners of hip hop infidel poetics examines not only the shared incomprensibilities of poetry and slang but poetrys genetic relation to the spectacle of underground culture . br charting connections between vernacular poetry lyric obscurity and types of social relations networks of darkened streets in preindustrial cities the historical underworld of taverns and clubs the subcultures of the avant garde daniel tiffany shows that obscurity in poetry has functioned for hundreds of years as a medium of alternative societies . for example he discovers in the submerged tradition of canting poetry and its eccentric genres thieves carols drinking songs beggars chants a genealogy of modern nightlife but also a visible underworld of social and verbal substance a demimonde for sale . br ranging from anglo saxon riddles to emily dickinson from the icy logos of parmenides to the monadology of leibniz from mother goose to mallarme infidel poetics offers an exhilarating account of the subversive power of obscurity in word substance and deed .
paperback university of chicago press 2009 isbn13 9780226803104 isbn10 0226803104
abridged n isbn 13 9780226803104 number in series 1 number of pages 254 publisher univ of chicago pr release date 62135769600000