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THE฀SECRE T฀HISTORY OF฀TH E฀EQUA L฀SIGN The฀Languag e฀School฀is฀known฀for฀it s฀productio n฀of฀material฀texts,฀bu t฀an฀equally important฀dimension ,฀i n฀fac t฀th e฀on e฀tha t฀define s฀i t฀a s฀a ฀school ,฀i s฀th e฀wa y฀i t constructs฀the฀relatio n฀betwee n฀material฀text฀and฀literary฀community.฀In฀this฀chap ter ,฀I ฀read฀a฀number฀of฀key฀works฀of฀the฀Languag e฀School฀to฀show฀how฀the฀move ment ฀from฀text฀to฀communit y฀takes฀place฀through฀the฀us e฀of฀strategies฀of฀multiple authorship.฀Avant-gardes ,฀in฀breakin g฀dow n฀th e฀boundarie s฀of฀th e฀autonomou s author฀in฀favor฀of฀both฀the฀work฀and฀its฀reception฀within฀its฀community,฀frequently use฀such฀strategies,฀in฀which฀the฀work฀is฀positioned฀between฀two฀or฀more฀authors, toward฀a ฀horizo n฀o f฀collectiv e฀practice฀or฀politics .฀Example s฀of฀avant-gard e฀multiauthorship ฀develope d฀b y฀writers฀of฀the฀Languag e฀School฀taken฀up฀her e฀includ e the฀collectiv e฀authorshi p฀represente d฀by฀L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E ฀an d฀other฀literar y journals;฀Legend,฀a฀multiauthored฀experimental฀poem฀by฀five฀authors;฀two฀poem s written฀unde r฀the฀titl e฀"Non-Events "฀by฀Stev e฀Benso n฀and฀myself ;฀an d฀Carl a฀Harryman ฀an d฀Ly n฀Hejinian' s฀collaborativ e฀nove l฀Th e฀Wide ฀Road. ฀Michel฀Foucault's concept฀o f฀discursiv e฀formation฀and฀Juli a฀Kristeva' s฀dialectic฀of฀symboli c฀and฀semiotic ฀provide฀critical฀terms฀for฀the฀relation฀of฀text฀and฀community฀enacted฀in฀works of฀the฀avant-garde.฀The฀avant-garde's฀cultural฀politic s฀continu e฀in฀the฀contemporary form฀of฀the฀Poetic s฀Listserv ,฀which฀I฀discuss฀in฀terms฀of฀a฀representative฀month฀of debate,฀seen฀as฀a฀form฀of฀multiauthorship. AVANT-GARDE฀PARADO X The฀avant-gard e฀ha s฀bee n฀characterize d฀a s฀being฀i n฀a ฀paradoxica l historical฀situation :฀whil e฀i t฀undertake s฀th e฀overturnin g฀o f฀th e฀prio r฀aes thetic ฀orde r฀a s฀an฀irreversibl e฀act,฀i t฀cannot฀surviv e฀a฀reentry฀int o฀history , as฀a฀form฀o f฀representation,฀withou t฀losin g฀either฀creativ e฀potential฀o r฀crit 2L =A=N=G=U=A=G=E BETWEEN DISCOURSE฀AND฀TEXT ical฀force .฀A s฀a ฀critique ฀of฀representation ,฀i t฀woul d฀follo w฀from฀thi s฀argu ment ,฀the฀avant-gard e฀ca n฀onl y฀contradic t฀itsel f฀as฀a฀stabl e฀form฀o f฀representation .฀I n฀academia ,฀th e฀historica l฀contradictio n฀o f฀the฀tenure d฀radica l ironically฀indicate s฀suc h฀a ฀devolutio n฀o f฀politica l฀agency ,฀in฀movin g฀fro m public฀spher e฀t o฀educationa l฀institution ,฀profession ,฀and฀tenure .฀I n฀radica l politics,฀Leo n฀Trotsk y฀trie d฀t o฀counte r฀th e฀historica l฀iron y฀o f฀th e฀avant garde ฀part y฀wit h฀a ฀notio n฀o f฀permanen t฀revolutio n฀tha t฀woul d฀b e฀trans parent ฀to฀history,฀an d฀that฀would฀not฀rigidif y฀in฀any฀form฀of฀representation.1 Significant฀tendencie s฀o f฀th e฀historica l฀avant-gard e฀in฀Europ e฀(surrealis m central฀among฀them)฀sa w฀their฀claims฀to฀political฀agency฀and฀cultural฀meaning ฀i n฀term s฀o f฀a ฀dialectic s฀o f฀representatio n฀i n฀thi s฀sense. 2 ฀Bu t฀whil e฀a surrealist฀politic s฀o f฀desir e฀ha s฀bee n฀a ฀centra l฀exampl e฀o f฀th e฀overcomin g of฀stable฀forms฀of฀representation฀i n฀the฀historical฀avant-garde,฀it s฀particular claim฀t o฀history ,฀a s฀a ฀concret e฀for m฀o f฀representatio n฀o r฀a n฀identifiabl e style,฀risk s฀suppressin g฀it s฀iconoclasti c฀method s฀onc e฀i t฀ha s฀achieve d฀rec ognition .฀A s฀a ฀resul t฀o f฀th e฀seemin g฀inevitabilit y฀of฀th e฀historica l฀reversal of฀the฀avant-garde' s฀critique฀of฀representation,฀it s฀political฀claims฀have฀often been฀see n฀a s฀failed฀o r฀irrelevant . In฀his฀account฀of฀the฀structural฀logi c฀of฀this฀"failure,"฀Paul฀Mann's฀Theory Death฀o f...

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