The Constructivist Moment: From Material Text to Cultural Poetics

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION /฀feel฀my ฀"I"฀is ฀much ฀too฀small ฀for ฀me. —฀Vladimir ฀Mayakovsky The฀contraction ฀which ฀is฀felt. —฀William ฀Carlos ฀Williams The฀Constructivist฀Moment฀is฀a฀series฀of฀essays,฀written฀over฀the past฀te n฀years ,฀that฀addres s฀the฀ga p฀between฀constructivis t฀aesthetic s฀and฀a larger฀cultura l฀poetics.฀By฀constructivist฀aesthetic s฀I฀mean,฀broadl y฀put,฀the imperative฀in฀radical฀literature฀and฀art฀to฀foreground฀their฀formal฀construction ;฀cultura l฀poetics ,฀discusse d฀below ,฀ma y฀b e฀minimall y฀defined฀a s฀th e reflexive฀relatio n฀o f฀artistic฀form฀and฀cultura l฀context.฀The฀essay s฀take฀their primary฀examples฀from฀the฀wor k฀o f฀American฀modernist฀an d฀postmoder n avant-gardes,฀contrastin g฀them ,฀o n฀th e฀on e฀hand,฀wit h฀th e฀art฀and฀writing of฀th e฀1920 s฀Sovie t฀Unio n฀an d฀1990 s฀post-Sovie t฀period ,฀an d฀o n฀th e฀othe r with฀aspect s฀of฀modern฀an d฀postmoder n฀productio n฀tha t฀ar e฀usually฀kept outside฀th e฀bound s฀o f฀th e฀aesthetic .฀Th e฀essay s฀themselve s฀continu e฀th e formal฀experimen t฀o r฀cultura l฀interventio n฀o f฀thei r฀example s฀i n฀arguin g across฀disciplinary ,฀historical,฀o r฀generi c฀boundaries,฀thu s฀continuin g฀th e project฀o f฀constructio n฀begu n฀wit h฀thei r฀prio r฀occasions .฀I n฀puttin g฀thi s collection฀together฀fro m฀its฀separate฀occasions,฀my฀intention฀i s฀to฀construct , by฀means฀of฀thematic฀juxtaposition,฀theoretical฀unveiling,฀and฀textual฀reading ,฀a ฀poetic s฀tha t฀lay s฀bare฀th e฀device ,฀i n฀th e฀sens e฀o f฀th e฀Russia n฀Formalists ,฀of฀more฀than฀just฀the฀forma l฀organization฀of฀the฀work฀of฀art.฀I฀seek perhaps฀no t฀"th e฀gol d฀o f฀time "฀afte r฀Andr e฀Breto n฀—฀as฀i f฀ther e฀wer e฀a single฀standard฀that฀would฀endure฀throughout฀the฀ages฀—฀but฀"the฀currency of฀history "฀i n฀relatio n฀t o฀th e฀radica l฀forma l฀meaning s฀o f฀the฀avant-garde . In฀orde r฀t o฀achiev e฀this฀currency ,฀I ฀alternate฀i n฀thes e฀essay s฀between฀tw o distinct฀aspects฀of฀the฀ide a฀of฀construction:฀the฀principle฀of฀formal฀construc tion ฀i n฀modernis t฀an d฀postmoder n฀literatur e฀an d฀ar t฀(wit h฀th e฀Russia n constructivists,฀post-Sovie t฀poet s฀an d฀artists ,฀an d฀America n฀avant-gardes , from฀Gertrud e฀Stei n฀an d฀Loui s฀Zukofsky฀to฀th e฀Languag e฀School)฀and฀th e principle฀of฀social฀construction฀in฀modern฀culture฀(from฀unrealize d฀Utopian FROM MATERIAL TEXT TO฀CULTURAL฀POETICS visions฀to฀dominan t฀socia l฀forms฀such฀as฀Fordism฀an d฀alternativ e฀responses such฀as฀Detroit฀techno). 1 ฀The฀sequenc e฀of฀essays฀in฀this฀book฀proceeds฀from essays฀located฀firml y฀i n฀question s฀o f฀poetics,฀however฀muc h฀the y฀may฀con test ฀traditiona l฀literar y฀genres ,฀towar d฀contextualis t฀an d฀culturalis t฀ap proaches ฀t o฀th e฀meanin g฀of฀radical฀forms. My฀thinkin g฀o n฀th e฀questio n฀o f฀social฀construction฀begin s฀with฀literar y examples฀fro m฀modernis t฀an d฀postmoder n฀avant-gardes ,฀a s฀they฀revea l฀a discontinuity฀tha t฀i s฀everywhere฀implicated฀i n฀th e฀kind s฀o f฀cultural฀agency they฀pursue .฀Th e฀framin g฀epigraph s฀fro m฀Vladimi r฀Mayakovsk y฀an d฀Wil liam ฀Carlos฀Williams฀above฀may฀give฀a฀sense฀of฀the฀literary฀stakes,฀historical and฀present ,฀o f฀this฀moment .฀I ฀found฀both฀—฀as฀indices฀o f฀larger฀aesthetic and฀cultura l฀horizon s฀—฀to฀b e฀deepl y฀generative฀when฀I ฀firs t฀encountere d them฀i n฀th e฀1970s .฀"Th e฀contractio n฀whic h฀i s฀felt, "฀a s฀a ฀momen t฀o f฀self negating ฀self-disclosure ,฀occur s฀a s฀ga p฀o r฀eruptio n฀i n฀th e฀discontinuou s prose฀o f฀Williams's฀Spring฀an d฀All,฀that฀generic฀hybrid฀o f฀poetry฀an d฀pros e which฀ha s฀been฀rightl y฀seen฀a s฀an฀importan t฀precurso r฀of฀Language฀School aesthetics.2 ฀I n฀tha t฀text ,฀William...