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NEW฀MEANIN G฀AN D POETIC฀VOCABULARY Until฀then ฀I'll฀type฀out฀here,฀surrounded฀by ฀papers,฀dictionaries, file฀folders, ฀notebooks, ฀Coronamatic ฀cartridges. Is฀this ฀the ฀word ฀"Coronamatic" ฀'s ฀first฀appearance ฀in ฀verse? Would฀Eliot've ฀allowed ฀"Coronamatic" ฀in ฀his ฀verse? If฀so,฀under ฀what ฀circumstances? —฀Jackson฀Mac฀Low, ฀"56th฀Light ฀Poem: For฀Gretchen ฀Berger ฀— ฀29฀November ฀1978" Toward฀a ฀cultural฀poetic s฀o f฀th e฀materia l฀text ,฀I ฀will฀begi n฀wit h฀a ฀construction฀of "the฀word s฀themselves."฀Thi s฀chapter฀charts฀the฀development฀— ฀in฀American฀modernist ฀an d฀postmoder n฀poetry฀— ฀of฀the฀us e฀of฀preestablished ,฀nonauthoria l฀poetic vocabularies฀fo r฀literar y฀composition .฀Whil e฀Coleridge' s฀concep t฀o f฀poeti c฀dictio n is฀normativ e฀an d฀hierarchica l฀in฀it s฀selectio n฀o f฀appropriat e฀vocabularies฀for฀liter ature ,฀wha t฀I ฀am฀going฀to฀cal l฀poeti c฀vocabulary฀i s฀bot h฀open-ende d฀an d฀critical , allowing฀the฀ne w฀meaning฀o f฀jargons ,฀dialects ,฀idioms ,฀and฀technical฀senses฀int o poetry.฀Th e฀emergence฀of฀the฀concep t฀of฀poeti c฀vocabulary฀may฀be฀discerned฀in฀a historicist฀readin g฀of฀Coleridge' s฀account฀of฀poeti c฀diction฀b y฀means฀of฀the฀critica l term฀desynonymy, ฀whic h฀I ฀will฀use฀to฀unlin k฀Coleridge' s฀synthesis฀of฀the฀ethics฀o f new฀meaning฀i n฀experimental฀poetry฀(a t฀the฀time,฀the฀poetr y฀of฀the฀Lyrical ฀Ballads) from฀hi s฀cal l฀fo r฀a ฀readershi p฀of฀"suitabl e฀interpreters "฀(lookin g฀forwar d฀t o฀hi s culturally฀conservative฀notion฀o f฀a ฀national฀clerisy)฀who฀woul d฀preserv e฀—฀and฀enforce ฀— ฀distinctions฀betwee n฀word฀meanings .฀Coleridge's฀synthesis฀directly฀influ enced ฀the฀inventio n฀an d฀popularizatio n฀o f฀BASI C฀Englis h฀by฀I .฀A.฀Richards฀and฀C.฀K. Ogden,฀wh o฀wishe d฀t o฀reduc e฀th e฀vocabular y฀o f฀Englis h฀i n฀orde r฀to฀creat e฀a฀uni versal ฀secon d฀languag e฀tha t฀woul d฀b e฀transparen t฀t o฀ne w฀meaning s฀i n฀science, industry,฀an d฀commerce .฀Ogden฀an d฀Richards' s฀experimen t฀i n฀moder n฀linguisti c hygiene฀wa s฀quickl y฀notice d฀b y฀modernis t฀experimenta l฀poets ,฀an d฀i n฀193 2฀the expatriate฀journa l฀transition ฀publishe d฀a ฀translatio n฀o f฀Jame s฀Joyce' s฀Finnegans Wake฀int o฀BASIC ,฀thus฀placin g฀sid e฀b y฀side฀"th e฀simplest฀an d฀most฀comple x฀lan guages ฀o f฀man. "฀As฀a ฀modernist ,฀Loui s฀Zukofsk y฀wa s฀als o฀inspire d฀b y฀BASIC' S reduced฀vocabulary฀of฀850฀words,฀an d฀in฀turn฀mad e฀literary฀work s฀using฀preestab1FROM COLERIDGE TO JACKSON฀MAC฀LOW lished฀vocabularies ,฀suc h฀a s฀his฀earl y฀experimen t฀"Thank s฀to฀th e฀Dictionary. "฀Zukofsky ฀also฀wrote฀a ฀critique฀o f฀Ogde n฀an d฀Richards' s฀BASI C฀an d฀continued฀to฀us e delimited฀vocabularie s฀i n฀hi s฀experimenta l฀texts.฀In฀the฀1950s ,฀postmoder n฀poe t Jackson฀Ma c฀Lo w฀directl y฀incorporate d฀th e฀850-wor d฀BASI C฀vocabular y฀i n฀man y experimental฀texts.฀In฀his฀work,฀vocabularies฀such฀as฀BASIC฀provide฀the฀source฀text that,฀through฀the฀application฀of฀compositiona l฀rules ,฀yields฀the฀target฀form฀o f฀his poetic฀output .฀This฀movemen t฀from฀source฀text฀to฀targe t฀form฀i s฀reenacte d฀i n฀the reading฀and฀production฀of฀Mac฀Low's฀work฀according฀to฀the฀carefu l฀instructions฀of his฀prefaces .฀I n฀the฀targe t฀forms฀o f฀Ma c฀Low's฀text s฀themselves,฀we฀ma y฀identify both฀an฀ethics฀of฀readin g฀and฀a฀notion฀of฀community฀in฀the฀arbitrarines s฀and฀con structedness ฀of฀hi s฀pregiven฀poeti c฀vocabularies. POETIC฀VOCABULARY Jackson฀Ma c฀Low' s฀questio n฀fo r฀T .฀S.฀Eliot,฀whether฀th e฀wor d฀Coronamatic ฀could฀unde r฀an y฀circumstance s฀have฀occurred฀i n฀poetr y฀a s฀Eliot understood฀it ,฀mark s฀a n฀importan t฀paradig m฀shif t฀i n฀America n฀poetics . While฀Mac฀Low฀was฀not฀th e฀first฀American฀poet฀t o฀consider฀language฀itself as฀a ฀materia l฀fo r฀th e฀constructio n฀o f฀poetr y...

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