Well, let me throw my hat in here as well. I am skeptical of the little hypertext poetry I have seen so far, for reasons I have elaborated elsewhere ( see, for instance, my review of Stephanie Strickland, http://www.webdelsol.com/Perihelion/strickland.htm ), but I certainly don't feel that it would be a futile exercise. Nitoo asks for a definition of what poetry is, and what better than the one already given below by M Suri, namely, "to launch into space without a particular destination in mind, ultimately, to be lost in oblivion"? Whatever we do, we will learn from.
I'm not sure I fully understand the concern over "plagiarism". Now, let me be very clear, I am certainly disgusted by people who build their careers without giving credit where credit is due, but, that aside, we have to face the fact that poetry comes out of and goes into a commonly-shared pool of language. Are we outlawing the borrowing/modification of lines from other poets, which has happened for centuries and used to be called "alluding"? What do we do with the brilliant found poetry of poets like Edwin Morgan (who by the way has also rocked my mind with his purely visual, concrete poems which are not meant for oral performance but for display)? What do we do with the Ern Malley affair, where two poets created a third, hoax, "fake" poet who borrowed lines but went on to be far more famous and highly regarded than either of them ( http://www.jacketmagazine.com/17/index.html ) or, with the canonical German poet Hans Magnus Ensenzburger's poetry machine from the 60s ( http://www.jacketmagazine.com/17/enz.html ) which processes and regurgitates found text according to an algorithm? The very nature of poetry is in sampling and re-circulation (although just borrowing/stealing lines does not automatically make you a good poet): this, we have to come to terms with. Vivek M Suri wrote: > > Sometimes, it's best that one procrastinates and never shakes one's > self of that sweet yet nagging self-indulgence of inaction. Then ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater? Donate or volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/pkgkPB/SOnJAA/Zx0JAA/yqIolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Did you get this mail as a forward? Subscribe by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/join. Members are encouraged to post poetry, their own and others', respond critically to the poems circulated, and participate in discussions. Post via email at [email protected] OR online at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/post. ---theZESTcommunity-------------- [1] ZESTCurrent: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCurrent/ [2] ZESTEconomics: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTEconomics/ [3] ZESTGlobal: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/ [4] ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/ [5] ZESTPoets: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/ [6] ZESTCaste: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ [7] ZESTAlternative: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTAlternative/ [8] TalkZEST: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TalkZEST/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
