In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

NONNARRATIVE฀AN D฀TH E CONSTRUCTION฀O F฀HISTOR Y Poetry฀is ฀always฀a ฀dying฀language ฀but ฀never ฀a฀dead language. —฀Robert ฀Smithson You฀are ฀afraid ฀of ฀your฀finitude;฀we ฀are฀afraid฀of ฀our infinitude. —฀Arkadii฀Dragomoshchenko This฀essa y฀has฀a฀history,฀on e฀that฀i s฀still฀in฀the฀proces s฀of฀bein g฀made .฀The฀first written฀i n฀this฀volume,฀i t฀was฀originally฀presented฀at฀a฀symposium,฀"Th e฀Narrative Construction฀o f฀History, "฀a t฀Souther n฀Exposur e฀Galler y฀i n฀Sa n฀Francisco฀i n฀March 1990.฀I t฀i s฀safe฀to฀sa y฀that฀th e฀anxietie s฀abou t฀th e฀generall y฀unquestione d฀foun dational ฀statu s฀o f฀narrativ e฀fo r฀literar y฀an d฀Cultural฀Studie s฀it฀engage d฀wer e฀substantial ,฀and฀that฀these฀responses฀were฀internalized,฀sequentially฀i f฀not฀narratively , in฀the฀constructio n฀o f฀the฀essa y฀itself.฀At฀the฀tim e฀th e฀essa y฀was฀first฀presented , the฀epocha l฀horizon฀shift฀o f฀the฀en d฀o f฀the฀Col d฀War฀had฀just฀occurred ;฀I฀was฀in the฀proces s฀of฀collaborating฀o n฀Leningrad,฀a ฀multiauthored฀an d฀in฀fact฀nonnarrative historical฀accoun t฀of฀a n฀avant-garde฀poetics฀symposium฀in฀th e฀Sovie t฀Unio n฀as฀it was฀comin g฀apar t฀i n฀Augus t฀1989 ,฀an d฀I ฀wa s฀als o฀a t฀wor k฀o n฀Under ฀Erasure, ฀a poem฀tha t฀take s฀u p฀th e฀undoin g฀o f฀horizona l฀structure s฀throug h฀tha t฀historica l moment฀i n฀a ฀more฀abstract฀mode฀of฀reckoning .฀Processe s฀of฀historica l฀devolutio n and฀loss฀were฀very฀much฀on฀everyone's฀mind,฀an d฀there฀was฀an฀immediate฀question of฀ho w฀to฀think฀throug h฀th e฀narrativ e฀experienc e฀one฀was฀then฀having .฀Certainly , a฀triumphalist฀accoun t฀of฀th e฀en d฀o f฀th e฀Col d฀War,฀along฀th e฀line s฀suggeste d฀b y Francis฀Fukuyama ,฀was฀th e฀las t฀thin g฀a ฀write r฀concerne d฀with฀nonnarrativ e฀aesthetics ฀woul d฀b e฀interested฀in.฀This฀essay฀is฀an฀attempt฀t o฀describ e฀how฀and฀why one฀migh t฀see k฀an฀alternative฀t o฀teleologica l฀narratives ,฀full y฀equippe d฀wit h฀mo tivation ฀an d฀closure,฀through฀a ฀knowledge฀gaine d฀from฀the฀practice฀of฀nonnarrative poetics.฀I n฀doing฀so,฀I ฀want฀t o฀juxtapos e฀thre e฀historica l฀moments :฀the฀present writing฀of฀a n฀historica l฀accoun t฀in฀which฀th e฀narrativ e฀structure฀one฀is฀i n฀ha s฀not been฀fully฀declared฀(fro m฀it s฀original฀formulatio n฀i n฀1990฀t o฀the฀present฀revision฀of the฀essa y฀in฀2002) ;฀th e฀er a฀of฀stagnatio n฀experience d฀by฀post-Sovie t฀writers฀an d 5AN฀ERA฀OF฀STAGNATION, THE฀FALL฀OF฀SAIGON artists฀in฀the฀mid-1970s ;฀and฀the฀Fal l฀of฀Saigon฀that฀ended฀the฀Vietnam฀War฀in฀May 1975.฀Triangulating฀these฀moment s฀of฀nonnarrative฀history,฀and฀thus฀triangulating the฀presen t฀constructio n฀o f฀histor y฀with฀nonnarrativ e฀form s฀o f฀art ,฀i s฀the฀tas k฀of this฀essay. NONNARRATIVE฀POETIC S What฀i s฀nonnarrative ,฀as฀a ฀wa y฀o f฀makin g฀art ;฀an d฀wha t฀i s฀th e relation฀of฀nonnarrative฀forms฀of฀art฀to฀historical฀narratives?฀To฀begin฀with, this฀i s฀a฀reciprocal฀relation ,฀but฀no t฀on e฀o f฀identity:฀the฀wa y฀a฀work฀o f฀art represents฀a n฀historica l฀event ,฀i n฀it s฀ow n฀for m฀o f฀tempora l฀organization , turns฀ou t฀t o฀b e฀a n฀even t฀o f฀anothe r฀order .฀Mimesi s฀is฀not฀restricte d฀t o฀a reproduction฀o f฀the฀event .฀T o฀call฀a n฀epi c฀" a฀poem฀containin g฀history,"฀as Ezra฀Poun d฀did ,฀i s฀t o฀clai m฀tha t฀th e฀epi c฀make s฀histor y฀i n฀anothe r฀way , intervening฀i n฀histor y฀a s฀muc h฀a s฀representing฀it.฀While฀narrativ e฀is฀con ventionally ฀hel d฀t o฀b e฀bot h฀th e฀implici t฀goa l฀an d฀explici t฀nor m฀o f฀art...

Share