tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11295909.post113746686577055714..comments2024-02-23T03:28:33.435-05:00Comments on Culture Industry: [intermission]Mark Scrogginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01431113440875342809noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11295909.post-1137523262448189412006-01-17T13:41:00.000-05:002006-01-17T13:41:00.000-05:00What if we were to hold criticism and philosophy i...What if we were to hold criticism and philosophy in abeyance for a while and instead consider the claim made by some poets, including a number with whom you are quite familiar, Mark, that poetry is in itself a way of thinking. At issue then is not primarily what is "theorized" about poetry, but what poetry itself "theorizes." Furthermore, the fact that this kind of thinking takes place within the rigors of <I>form</I> makes it not merely a description of ideas but an enactment of ideas. If nothing else, this practice makes us take poets more seriously as thinkers and makes us read poetry more closely. What we discover, I think, is that poets tell us as much about poetry, as an art and as mode of thinking, as do "theoretically-inflected" (or infected) critics.<BR/><BR/>PS This from someone who is currently teaching Contemporary American Poetry in addition to grad and undergrad theory courses!Norman Finkelsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03673105579717018812noreply@blogger.com